USA > Indiana > Vigo County > Terre Haute > The history of early Terre Haute from 1816 to 1840 > Part 3
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THE HISTORY OF
CHAPTER VI
FORT IIARRISON
INDIANA territory was organized May 10th, 1800. The seat of government was fixed at Vincennes, and General Wm. H. Harrison on the 13th of the same month, was appointed governor. About this time the Indian tribes on the Wabash were stirred up in opposition to the surrendering of their lands to the whites. Incited by Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, they entered into a confederacy against the whites. In July, 1811, the Secretary of Virginia authorized Gov. Harrison to call out the militia of the territory ; also at his discretion to order Boyd's regiment of the United States Infantry to proceed at once against Prophet's Town, at the mouth of Tippecanoe river. On the 26th of September, of the same year, he set out on the march to the Upper Wabash, and on the 3d of October, encamped on the east bank of the river, some two miles north of the Indian village of Rising Sun, or Orchard Town, i. e., the future location of Terre Haute. Delighted with the location he proceeded on next day to carry out his intention of erecting a fort. Tradition fixes upon this point as the place where a bloody battle had been fought, which was called by the old French settlers, Bataille Illinois. While engaged in building the fort, the Governor received word from friendly Indians of the Dela- ware and Miami tribes, of the increasing hostility of the Shawanee Prophet and his confederates. That the Prophet's " tomahawk was up against the whites-that nothing would induce him to take it down unless the wrongs of the Indian were redressed." On the night of the tenth of October, some Shawance Indians approached Harrison's camp while en- gaged in building the fort, and wounded one of his sentinels.
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On the twenty-eighth of October, 1811, the fort was com- pleted.
The following account of the construction of the fort was originally taken from a lecture delivered by General Charles Cruft before the Vigo Horticultural society some years ago. " The inclosure was an hundred and fifty feet square, a stock- ade of heavy timber. The two corners to the west were the block houses, forming the outer walls, and the eastern corners were bastions two stories, and projecting from the second story sufficiently to command the outside of the walls in two directions. These were pierced on each face with embrasures above and below to fire upon the enemy; and guard against an approach to set fire to the building. The western line towards the river was formed by the soldiers' barracks, these were merely strongly built log huts. The entrance or gate was on the east, on the north side was the guard house, and on the south side, the well and magazine; the stables, shed, etc., for the stock were on the north side." By the request of the officers, the fort was named after the General, and called Fort Harrison.
Col. James Miller with a small garrison was left in com- mand of the fort, and Harrison with a force of some nine hundred men, resumed his march towards Prophet's Town On the fifth of November, 1811, the army arrived within nine miles of the town, and on the sixth, the General sent out scouts that he might determine the exact position of the enemy. He also moved his encampment in sight of Prophet's Town. Every precaution was taken in the way of putting out picket guards, while the soldiers received orders to sleep on their arms. Notwithstanding all this on the morning of the seventh, before daylight, an attack was made by the Indians. Although at a great disadvantage the troops got themselves into line, and when daylight came, by desperate fighting the Indians were totally defeated. This was the famous battle of Tippecanoe. The battle ground lies near the city of Lafayette. The grounds were purchased from the Government by General John Tipton, who was an ensign in
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one of the companies engaged in this battle, and presented by him to the State as a Park. Harrison's army returned, by the way of Fort Harrison to Vincennes. The far-reach- ing effects of this victory can scarcely be overestimated. One of the chief results was the overthrow of the Prophet's influence. He had so worked upon the superstition of the Indians, that they believed, that protected by the Great Spirit, the bullets of the white man could not harm them. Te- cumseh was in the South pleading for a confederation of all the tribes to drive out the white man from the Northwest.
FORT HARRISON IN 1812.
He was greatly chagrined and discouraged when he returned and learned what his brother had done in entering upon the struggle before his plans of a federation had been perfected.
It is well understood that the campaign of Harrison, as well as those of Wilkinson, Harmar and others, had opened up the valley of the Wabash to the knowledge of the whole country. The soldiers carried home with them glorious accounts of the beauty of the Wabash Valley, the mildness of the climate and the fertility of the soil. The result was that prospectors,
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and bona fide settlers, pressed into this country in advance even of Governmental surveys.
In 1812 Captain Zachary Taylor of the 7th U. S. Infantry was placed in command of the fort. On Thursday, Sept. 3d, two young men, who were making hay only a short distance from the fort, were shot by the Indians. Taylor was sus- picious of trouble. Although sick himself at the time, and many of his men incapacitated because of illness, he at once left his bed and gave out warning, that an attack by the In- dians might be expected at any time. On the evening of the 4th the sentinels began firing. Soon it was discovered that the Indians had set fire to the block house on the southwest corner. The fire raged fiercely, and threatened the whole structure. The yells of the savages, the cries of the women and children in the fort and the raging of the fire, were enough to make the stoutest heart quail. The commanding officer was equal to the occasion. The fire was extinguished and strong breast works were made to take the place of the burned gap. All through the dark night the Indians kept up their firing, but at daybreak they sneaked away fearing the deadly aim of the sharpshooters from the fort. They succceded, however, to keep out of rifle range, and to drive off some seventy head of cattle.
In his official statement Capt. Taylor reported only the loss of two killed and one wounded, and " these by their own care- lessness." Among others in the fort at the time were John Dickson and Jonathan Graham with their families. In the many accounts of this fearful night honorable mention is made of the women and children, who, so soon as they recov- ered from the first shock, carried water to put out the fire, and molded bullets for the riflemen. Captain Taylor imme- diately sent messengers by canoe down the Wabash to Gov. Harrison for aid, and considering the distance relief soon came. This Captain Taylor was none other than he who gained an enviable reputation as an Indian fighter, and as "Old Rough and Ready" was elected President of the United States. Maj. J. T. Chunn was the commandant at
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the fort in 1815. He was succeeded by Maj. R. Sturgis, who commanded the place till 1822, when the fort ceased to be a military post.
This account of the fort would be incomplete without some reference to Drummer Davis, who drummed his drun a little harder than ever, during that dreadful night of Sept. 4th, 1812. It was a common saying, that " with Zach Taylor to do the fighting and Davis the drumming, they could whip all creation." Davis was a deserter from the British at Detroit, and joined Harrison's army. Afterwards he became a citizen of Vigo county. When quite old he lived with his son-in-law across the river from Terre Haute. He was the center of attraction at 4th of July celebrations, and on election days. We are told that when the surveyors were laying out the Durkee ferry road, that they came up to Davis, who was sitting upon a knoll over which the road would naturally pass. In answer to their inquiries, he said: "My comrades were buried here. I helped to bury them; the road shall not run over their graves while I live." His demands were heeded, and the noticeable turn in the road made then and there, re- mains, as I am told, to this day. Davis lived till 1847, and doubtless there are many yet living who recall with deep in- terest the patriotic rubadub, rubadub, rubadub-dub of Drum- mer Davis' drum.
As a matter of historical interest special efforts have been made to gather from every possible source a complete list of the earliest pioneers who took refuge in the fort. Among these there is no one who has been so fully written up as Joseph Liston. This is no place to discuss the claims, and counter claims set up as to the turning the first furrow in what is now Vigo county, which is a matter of small impor- tance excepting as it indicates the earliest pioneers, who came here to establish homes for themselves and their families. In a published account of an Old Settler's meeting in Terre Haute in 1875, Martin Adams said: "I came with my father in 1809. We stopped at Curry's prairie ; there we met Joseph Liston, Drake and others, deliberating whether they
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would come to Fort Harrison prairie. They were in fear of hostile Indians. Joseph Liston said if any one would join him he would go. The two Adamses, Drake, my father and myself joined him, and we came with three wagons. This was in April, 1809. That spring I saw Joseph Liston plow the first furrow in the beautiful prairie. My father plowed that spring, where now the eastern portion of the city of Terre Haute is built. I can only determine its location as being west of a creek (Lost Creek) that disap- peared on the prairie in a swamp, and was east of the timber that lined the Wabash. His plowing was for the Miami In- dians, and I did the driving for him. There were two villages of Indians here at the time, pretty close together ; one was on a high rise that overlooked the river." This doubtless was We-au-te-no, known also as Orchard Town. "The squaws were very much delighted because if we had not done the work they would have to do it. Out on the other edge of the prairie we built our huts."
In another account, but not in this connection, Mr. Liston says : " In 18II, I turned the first furrow that was plowed in what is now called Vigo county, on the road leading from Terre Haute to Lockport, on what is represented as the Dean farm. I with my father Edward Liston, Williani G. Adams, William Drake, Reuben Moore, and Martin Adams, broke, fenced and planted seventy-five acres of corn, and sold the corn raised to Harrison's army, while building the fort near the Wabash river. Since that time I have not been absent from Vigo county to exceed four montlis at any one time. During that time I was engaged through the war pursuing Indians, who were committing depredations on the settlement below, and burying the dead, who were killed by them. Isaac Lambert, John Dickson, a Mr. Hudson, Mr. Chatery and Mr. Mallory, all cultivated the land under the protection of the fort."
The above testimony of Joseph Liston and Martin Adams is to be highly prized, but there were others besides those whom they mention that should be added to the list of
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THE HISTORY OF
these carliest pioneers, such as Samuel Middleton, Harold Hayes, who are known to have been here at the building of the fort. "Mr. Hayes died in 1820 and was buried in the old Indian Orchard grave yard." A modest sandstone is said marks his grave. Mr. William Naylor for many years a resident of Terre Haute was among the carliest pioneers. He was in Harrison's army and helped build the fort. He was in the battle of Tippecanoe, and was a great friend and defender of Gen. Harrison. In 1811 he stood upon the spot where Terre Haute now stands, and " saw no sign of habitation except the smoke from the Indian wig- wams in the distance."
Aunty East, as she was familiarly known, was an occupant of the fort. She became the wife of Joseph East, a chair- maker of the village, some of whose wares are still extant and testify to the conscientious work of the maker. Mrs. East lived to a good old age. She was fond of relating her experiences with the Indians. They made free to enter her house and to take whatever they could lay their hands on.
On one occasion in driving from the fort into the village, an Indian stopped her vehicle in the road, and wanted to " swap horses." She consented but as soon as he left to bring his horse, she whipped her horse into a run, and got to the village in safety. Mrs. Matilda Taylor was also an occupant of the fort. She was a daughter of Isaac Anderson, who was an orderly sergeant in Harrison's army. She was brought to the fort when eight years of age. In 1824 she was married to William Taylor. Their home was on North Third street. In the later years of her life she recalled much of life in the fort. Among other things she saw the Indians when in the act of setting fire to the fort. Mrs. Taylor's daughter is the wife of Mr. Isaac Ball, our respected citizen. Mr. Ball is a native of New Jersey, and came to Terre Haute in 1847. During all these years as city undertaker, also as a private citizen, a neighbor and friend, he has earned and sustained an enviable reputation for great sincerity, and uprightness of character. Deserving of mention is the name
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of the celebrated pioneer, Thomas Puckett, who was in the fort in 1814. His home was in the southeastern part of Fort Harrison prairie. Puckett's lane for some reason, be- came prominent as an early land-mark. The memory of Puckett is intimately connected with a romantic story of his capturing a bear single handed and driving it from the woods to his home.
In his official report of the attack on the fort, Captain Taylor incidentally says : " There were nine women and two children whose husbands and fathers had taken refuge in the fort. Already mention has been made of their heroism in aiding in the defense of the fort. Pages might be filled with the recorded accounts of the narrow escapes and hardships of these earliest pioneers which covered a period extending from 1809 to 1815. During this period Liston was a leading spirit. He is credited with build- ing the first cabin in the county, near the present site of Terre Haute, the floors and roof of which were cov- ered with bark. He was employed as a scout to give warning to the settlers, when there was danger from marauding bands of Indians, when whole families would take refuge in the fort. In addition to what has al- ready been said, I cannot forbear adding a condensed ac- count of the hardships endured, as given by Judge Gookins in his History of Vigo county. Unfortunately no names are given. He says : " Two families came here and built cabins near Walnut Springs, some three miles from the fort. In the absence of the men, who had gone to procure corn for seed and food, two Indians in war costumes, entered the cabin. The grandmother offered them food and after gorging them- selves, they quietly departed, leaving the women in hourly fear of their return. A few days after these same families learned that a band of Indians were out on a marauding ex- pedition, and heeding the warnings, they gathered up their ef- fects and fled to the fort. It is recorded that Captain Taylor saved these families on another occasion, from the tomahawk and scalping knife, but no particulars or dates are given.
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Brown and McCarty, two men from the fort about this time were drawn into ambush, by the gobbling of the Indians in imitation of wild turkeys ; and were shot and scalped." In 1814. about two years after Taylor's gallant defense of the fort, two Frenchmen ventured out of the fort to gather plums, in a grove, some distance away. Seeing signs that the Indians had been there they hurried back to the fort. Rein- forced with some ten others, they returned to the grove where the Indians awaited them. Five of the men were killed and one wounded. The wounded man was taken to the fort and afterwards to Vincennes in a canoe, but died soon after he arrived there. This period of Indian hostilities closed in 1818. The Indians gathered together and speedily sued for peace. And while the security of the settlers was not perfect, yet a new era had already begun to dawn.
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CHAPTER VII
FORT HARRISON-CONTINUED
THE second period of pioneer life in the Wabash valley extends from 1816 to 1823. The history of the times and especially the character of the pioneers justify this division. As we have seen, the earliest comers from 1809 to 1815 were a brave, hardy people. The women, as well as the men, were not lacking in courage in their combined efforts to estab- lish western homes. But in 1815-16 by treaty and by pur- chase millions of acres of land were now in the possession of the Government. The battle of Tippecanoe and especially that of the Thames, where the great Tecumseh was killed, settled the question of peace not only with the Indians but with Great Britain. The pioneer now was a prospector. He would buy large tracts of land, either as an individual or as an agent of a land company. He would select town sites, build grist-mills, lay out roads, set up fences, establish courts of justice, postoffices, open stores, in fact would do all that was needful in developing the country. True the Indian was abroad in the land, and although friendly, the Old fort as a refuge, could not as yet be dispensed with. It was at the fort where for the most part all who came by water landed. It was the " head house," whatever that may mean, for all the settlers in the Wabash valley. It was a boarding house for all who chose to enjoy its hospitality.
In 1815. Joseph Richardson and Abram Markle came to the fort on horseback. They were prospecting for homes in the Wabash valley. They were delighted with the "beautiful land," and after remaining some time, returned for their fam- ilies. Preparations fully made, they crossed the Alleghany mountains to Olean, on the Allegheny river. Here three
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boats were built, one by Mr. Richardson, one by Mr. Markle, and one by Captain Daniel Stringhan. Besides the owners and their families, there was Joshua Olds and his family ; also the Redford family, the father of whom having died on the way here. This family then consisted of the widow, four sons and one daughter. The daughter was afterwards mar- ried to John F. King, for many years a prominent druggist in the village. The Stringhams were a large family. One of the sons left home before the family came to Indiana, and in time became the "eminent Rear Admiral Silas H. String- ham." One of the daughters married Judge Randolph H. Wedding, who was a familiar personage on our streets, though his home was in the country. There were still others in the company, and together they formed " the first impor- tant colony that came into Vigo county." They floated their boats down to Pittsburg. then down to the mouth of the Wabash, and then poled their way up to Fort Harrison. On the 4th of July, 1816, when this little flotilla landed at the fort " a salute of fifteen guns was fired, as they hove in sight. The garrison was out in their gayest uniforms, and when the women and children began to clamber up the banks, the soldiers and officers hurrahed, and threw up their caps." The welcome was a hearty one, and long to be remembered by the members of this new colony, and by their descendants as well.
Mr. Joseph Richardson was the father of Geo. B. and Saralı Elizabeth, whose ages respectively at the time of landing at the fort. were twelve and three years old. Sarah E. after- wards became the wife of Dr. Edward V. Ball, who was a life-long physician in Terre Haute. Mr. Richardson in his prospecting tour, had already selected a farm on Fort Har- rison prairie, which he expected to purchase, and so brought with him in his boat, farming implements. He also brought with him a covered family carriage, which was the first car- riage in Vigo county. It is said that the carriage did not long retain its leathern top, since the Indians stealthily cut off strip after strip, till it was all gone. Mr. Richardson
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secured a small cabin, near the fort for his family. Soon afterwards he was called to Washington on business. About this time there was dissatisfaction among the Indians, which so increased as to create more or less alarm among the whites. Mrs. Richardson had been greatly annoyed by the Indians. She kept on her bureau a bright metal dish, and a silver castor. The Indians would enter the house, seize these articles, swing them over their heads, exclaiming: " In one moon" or "two moons," as the case might be, "this will be mine." Finally the Indians decked in their war paint danced in front of the settlers' cabins. They said it was their beggar's dance, as they were going on a hunt and wanted provisions for their squaws. Late the next night Mrs. Richardson was warned to go into the fort, as the Indians were crossing the river with muffled paddles, and evidently meant mischief. She remained in the fort for three days, when she determined to face all dangers, and take her family to Vincennes. This was done by the help of two boatmen. It is recorded that at the time of her leaving, the Indians lined the shore of the river, and watched hier movements in silence ; but when the boat was pushed off, "they jumped to their feet and shouted : 'Brave Squaw ! Brave Squaw!'" It is further said, " that Mr. Richardson instead of purchasing the farm was compelled, in order to secure money that he had loaned, to take land in Clark county, Illinois; where he laid out the town of York. Thus Vigo county was cheated of one of her earliest and best settlers." But we have with us at this writing many of his descendants, who are among the most reputable families of the city.
Mr. Abram Markle was a remarkable man. He was a stalwart, the right kind of material to build up a new country. He was born in Ulster county, New York. His family was one of the most prominent in the county. When quite young. he went to Upper Canada. Here he acquired fame and for- tune. He became a member of the Provincial parliament, but in the breaking out of the war in 1812, he returned to his home in New York, and entered the army with the rank of
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Major, for this his property in Canada was confiscated. The United States commissioners, however, made him large grants of land warrants, and extra pay. He was forehanded therefore when he landed at Fort Harrison. With these war- rants he took up several sections of land, among which was a large tract including the spot where Fort Harrison now stands. In building his grist-mill on Otter creek he became a benefactor to the whole of this Wabash country. Before the erection of this mill, the new settlers were compelled either to grate or pound the corn, for there was no mill to grind it short of Vincennes. Markle's mill therefore was a center of activity. The burring of the stones was music to the farmer's ear, as he drove up his horse or ox wagon, well filled with sacks of corn and wheat ; or rode up astride of a single sack, thrown across the back of his horse, to wait his turn to have his grain ground. Mr. Markle's eldest daughter married Nathaniel P. Huntington, noted as the first lawyer, who opened an office in Terre Haute. Major Markle died in 1826 at the age of fifty-seven years. He left a large family.
Mr. Curtis Gilbert, a native of Middletown, Connecticut, arrived at Fort Harrison in December, 1815, with a stock of goods from Vincennes. The goods were taken from the keelboat and deposited in the fort. In the summer of 1816. hie established a trading post at the mouth of the Vermillion river. In the fall of that year, he was taken sick and com- pelled to return to the fort. On December 4th, 1817, he was commissioned as Postmaster at the fort; and continued as such till October 26th, 1818, when the office was removed to the village of Terre Haute.
General Peter B. Allen was one among the early pioneers. He was born in Massachusetts, but came directly to Indiana from the State of New York in 1818, by the usual route, " down the Ohio," " up the Wabash," "by keel boat." He entered large tracts of land, northcast of the city. Among his large family of children, his daughter Catherine was married to Curtis Gilbert ; his son Henry, served in the war of 1812;
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and his son Ira, in the Black Hawk war. The Terre Haute Allens, Edward B. and George M., also Nathaniel, are the lineal descendants of General Peter B. Allen, of pioneer memory.
It must not be forgotten that the fort was honored by the presence of Mr. Chauncey Rose, who, as a prospector, stopped as a day boarder. In a published account of an old settlers' meeting held in Terre Haute, September, 1875, at which a paper by Mr. Rose was read by Col. R. W. Thompson, who presided. The following is a brief ex- tract: "In the fall of 1817 I traveled in the States of Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, looking for a locality at which to reside and engage in business. I spent several days in Terre Haute: it had been laid out the previous year. The following winter I spent in Kentucky. Favorably impressed with the location in and about Terre Haute, I returned and became a resident. In April, 1818, there were but two cabins in Terre Haute, occupied respectively by Dr. C. B. Modesitt, and William Mars. The nearest boarding place was at Fort Harrison, where I boarded, where also the county officers boarded at a house kept by Mrs. Stewart. The fall was very sickly and many settlers staid at the fort. Friendly Indians in various numbers and different tribes roamed in the neigh-
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