USA > Missouri > Caldwell County > History of Clinton and Caldwell Counties, Missouri > Part 14
USA > Missouri > Clinton County > History of Clinton and Caldwell Counties, Missouri > Part 14
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The young Zuni suffered the direst penalty, and gave his life for his tribe.
Coronado remained at this point about a month.
The French claim to the Louisiana Province was based on the dis- coveries of Marquette and Joliet in 1673. Marquette was of the patrician "Marquettes of Laon," thought to have been descendants of Celtic nobles whom Rome, in her wise policy, attached to her standard by leaving them in possession of their ancestral territory, but nominally dominated by the "eternal city."
Father Marquette was a young man of only twenty-nine when he first came to America. From all contemporary accounts of the expedition, it is evident that Father Marquette was its leader, its very soul. But as an ecclesiastic he could not take command of an army, however small; as an ambassador of Christ to foreign heathen nations, he could not act as the agent of a King of France. It was accordingly arranged that Sieur Joliet, a native of Canada, should command the expedition, and that Mar- quette should accompany it as its missionary. The choice of Joliet was a wise and happy one.
They left the connecting strait between Lakes Michigan and Huron on May 17, 1673. In the language of Marquette, "We were embarking on a voyage the duration of which we could not forsee. Indian corn, with some dried meat, was our only provisions. With this we set out in two
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bark canoes. M. Joliet, five other men and I firmly resolved to do all and suffer all for a glorious enterprise."
One June 17, 1673, they, with their attendants, in the two bark canoes reached the upper Mississippi. They followed in their frail bark canoes the swift current of the river to the mouth of the Illinois, and thence into the mouth of the Missouri, called by Marquette, Pekitonoui, that is, Muddy Water, thence the name "Big Muddy."
Shea, in his "Discovery of the Mississippi Valley," says that Petitonoui, or "Muddy Water," prevailed until Marest's time (1712), when it was called Missouri, from the name of a tribe of Indians known as Missouris, who inhabited the country at its mouth. More than 100 years after De Soto discovered the Mississippi the claim of the French was founded. Until 1762 these two nations contended for the right of sovereignty of the wilderness west of the Mississippi.
The limits of this work forbid the following of the varying fortunes of any of the explorers, and reference is made to them sufficient only to show the claims of France and Spain to that expanse of territory of which the present Caldwell County was a part.
Continuing these references, we must revert to La Salle. On July 14, 1678, with Tonti, an Italian, and about 30 other men, he arrived in Quebec. In September he sailed from Rochelle, France, and was joined by Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan friar. After leaving Fontenac, in November, 1678, they spent about eighteen months among the Indian tribes, exploring the northern lakes and rivers. They experienced many hardships. After returning to Canada for additional supplies, La Salle, with about 20 French- men, 18 Indian braves and 10 Indian women, descended the Illinois to the Mississippi, which they reached on February 6, 1662. On April 5th, La Salle accomplished the purpose of his expedition, which was to discover the three mouths of the Mississippi through which its great volume of water is discharged into the Gulf of Mexico.
By ceremony of great pomp, La Salle took possession of the country in the name of Louis XIV of France, in whose honor the country was named Louisiana. And here on an elevation La Salle, amid the solemn chants of hymns of thanksgiving, planted a cross with the arms of France; and in the name of the French King took possession of the river, of all its branches, and of the territory watered by them. The notary drew up an authentic act, which all signed. A leaden plate upon which was the arms of France and the names of the discoverers, was, amid the rattle of
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musketry, deposited in the earth. The plate bore this inscription: "Louis le Grand Roi de France et de Navarre, Regne; le Neuvieme Auril, 1682." Standing near the planted cross, La Salle proclaimed with a loud voice that in the name of the most high, mighty, invincible and victorious Prince, Louis the Great, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre, four- teenth of the name, this 9th day of April, 1682, he took possession of the country of Louisiana, comprising almost indefinite limits and including the present territory of Missouri.
The colonial policy of the Spaniards was not based on theory or fancy, although at this period, less enlightened than the French, they had the advantage of larger experience. The English, by reason of their indom- itable perseverance and fixedness of purpose, had, in these respects, an advantage over their rivals. Yet the French, by their superior attitude in assimilating with the savages, and adroitness in winning confidence, had a clear advantage over both.
The only settlements at that time in what is now Missouri were St. Genevieve and St. Louis. There were at least five settlements in what is now Illinois. These settlements were situated along the east bank of the Missouri to search for silver, and although they failed, they did a great deal of exploring of the country along the Missouri to the mouth of the Kaskaska.
Early in the eighteenth century the French sent men into what is now Missouri. This activity on the part of the French aroused the Spanish to action, and in 1720 an expedition known as the "Great Caravan" started out from Santa Fe. It consisted of a large number of soldiers, artisans and farmers, together with their families, flocks and herds. This expedi- tion failed owing to the hostility of the Indians and only one man returned to tell the story of this ill-fated company.
It is claimed, however, that this attempt of the Spanish to establish a post on the Missouri led directly to the founding of Fort Orleans by the French in 1723.
De Bourgmont, who previously spent some years in trading with the Indians along the Missouri, was captain and commandant of Missouri in 1720. The exact site of Fort Orleans can not be definitely determined. It has been claimed that it was on the south bank of the Missouri, near what is now Malta Bend, in Saline County. Recently ruins of an old fort, and the remains of French weapons, have been unearthed near this point,
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and these are taken by some as evidence supporting the claim that Fort Orleans was located here.
At the close of the "Old French War" in 1763, France gave up her claim to this territory, and, in fact, to all her share in the new continent, and Spain came into possession of the region west of the Mississippi River, while Great Britain retained Canada and the territory northward, having obtained the same by conquest in the war with France. For 37 years the territory now embraced within the limits of Missouri remained a part of the possessions of Spain, and then went back to France by the treaty of St. Ildefonso, Oct. 1, 1800.
CHAPTER IV.
LOUISIANA PURCHASE.
SPANISH SOVEREIGNTY-TREATY OF ILDEFONSO-FRENCH POSSESSIONS-NAPO- LEON'S PLANS-MONROE AND LIVINGSTON NEGOTIATE PURCHASE-ORGANI- ZATION OF TERRITORY-UPPER LOUISIANA-FIRST GOVERNOR-TERRITORY DIVIDED INTO DISTRICTS -- INDIAN CLAIMS-ADMISSION OF MISSOURI-CALD- WELL COUNTY ORGANIZED.
As has been said, from 1763 to 1800, Spain held undisputed sover- eignty over the Louisiana Province. In 1800, Europe was a seething caldron of contention and diplomacy. There were wars and rumors of wars. Napoleon Bonaparte was at the heighth of his glory. With the iron hand of power, guided by a wily diplomatic policy, and jealous of the growing sovereignty of Spain and England in the New World, Napoleon forced Spain into the treaty of Ildefonso, by which she ceded to France all the territory known as Louisiana, west of the Mississippi, in considera- tion that the son-in-law to the King of Spain should be established in Tuscany.
This treaty took its name from the celebrated palace of St. Ildefonso, which was the retreat of Charles V of Spain when he abdicated his throne in favor of his son. It was situated about 40 miles north of Madrid, in a ravine in the mountains.
Napoleon, in 1803, foreseeing that Russia, in conjunction with Austria and England, was preparing to send down her Muscovite legions into France, realized that he could not hold his possession in America and determined to dispose of them to the disadvantage of England. The treaty of St. Ildefonso had been kept a profound secret until 1803, and Thomas Jefferson, then President of the United States, was informed of the contents of this treaty. He at once dispatched instructions to Robert Livingston, the American minister to Paris, to make known to Napoleon that the occupation of New Orleans by the French government would
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bring about a conflict of interests between the two nations, which would finally culminate in an open rupture. He urged Mr. Livingston not only to insist upon the free navigation of the Mississippi, but to negotiate for the purchase of the city and the surrounding country, and to inform the French government that the occupancy of New Orleans might oblige the United States to make common cause with England, France's bitterest and most dreaded enemy.
Mr. Jefferson, in so grave a matter, apponted Mr. Monroe, with full power to act in conjunction with Mr. Livingston in the negotiations. Be- fore taking final action in the matter, Napoleon summoned his ministers and addressed them as follows: "I am fully aware of the value of Louisi- ana, and it was my wish to repair the error of the French diplomats who abandoned it in 1763. I have scarcely recovered it before I run the risk of losing it; but if I am obliged to give it up, it shall hereafter cost more to those who force me to part with it than to whom I sell it. The English have despoiled France of all her northern possession in America, and now they covet those of the south. I am determined they shall not have the Mississippi. Although Louisiana is but a trifle compared to their vast possessions in other parts of the globe, yet, judging by the vexation they have manifested on seeing it return to the power of France, I am certain that their first object would be to gain possession of it. They will prob- ably commence war in that quarter. They have 20 vessels in the Gulf of Mexico, and our affairs in San Domingo are getting worse since the death of LeClerc. The conquest of Louisiana might be easily made, and I have not a moment to lose in getting it out of their reach. I am not sure but that they have not already begun an attack upon it. Such a measure would be in accordance with their habits. and, if I were in their place, I should not wait. I am inclined, in order to deprive them of all prospect of ever possessing it, to cede it to the United States. Indeed, I can hardly say I cede it, for I do not yet possess it; and if I wait but a short time, my enemies may leave me nothing but an empty title to grant to the republic I wish to conciliate. I consider the whole colony as lost, and I believe that in the hands of this rising power it will be more useful to the political and even commercial interests of France than if I should attempt to retain it. Let me have both your opinions on the subject."
One of Napoleon's ministers agreed with him, and the other dissented. Ever quick to think and act, the next day he sent for the minister who agreed with him, and thus expressed himself :
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"The season for deliberation is over. I have determined to renounce Louisiana. I shall give up not only New Orleans, but the whole colony, without reservation. That I do not undervalue Louisiana I have suf- ficiently proved, as the object of my first treaty with Spain was to recover it. But though I regret parting with it, I am convinced that it would be folly to try to keep it. I commission you, therefore, to negotiate this affair with the envoys of the United States. Do not await the arrival of Mr. Monroe, but go this very day and confer with Mr. Livingston. Re- member, however, that I need ample funds for carrying on the war, and I do not wish to commence it by levying new taxes. For the last century France and Spain have incurred great expense in the improvement of Louisiana, for which her trade has never indemnified them. Large sums have been advanced to different companies, which have never been re- turned to the treasury. It is fair that I should require repayment for these. Were I to regulate my demands by the importance of the territory to the United States, they would be unbounded; but, being obliged to part with it, I shall be moderate in my terms. Still, remember, I must have fifty millions of francs, and I will not consent to take less. I would rather make some desperate effort to preserve this fine country."
The negotiations were completed satisfactorily to both parties to the contract. Mr. Livingston said, "I consider that from this day the United States takes rank with the first powers of Europe, and now she is entirely escaped from the power of England."
Napoleon Bonaparte, seemingly as well pleased, said, "By this cession of territory, I have secured the power of the United States and given to England a rival, who in some future time will humble her pride." How prophetic were the words of Napoleon. Not many years after in the very territory of which the great Corsican had been speaking the British met their signal defeat by the prowess and arms of the Americans.
On December 20, 1803, the Stars and Stripes supplanted the tri- colored flag of France at New Orleans. March 10, 1804, again the glorious banner of our country waved at St. Louis, from which day the authority of the United States in Missouri dates.
The great Mississippi, along whose banks the Americans had planted their towns and villages, now afforded them a safe and easy outlet to the markets of the world.
In the month of April, 1804, Congress, by an act, divided Louisiana into two parts, the territory of Orleans, and the district of Louisiana,
(14)
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known as Upper Louisiana. Upper Louisiana embraced the present State of Missouri, all the western region of country to the Pacific Ocean, and all below the forty-ninth degree of north latitude not claimed by Spain.
On March 26, 1804, Missouri was placed within the jurisdiction of the government of the territory of Indiana, its government put in motion by Gen. William H. Harrison, then Governor of Indiana, afterwards President of the United States.
On March 3, 1805, the district of Louisiana was organized by Congress into the territory of Louisiana, and President Jefferson appointed Gen. James Wilkinson Governor, and Frederick Bates secretary. The Legisla- ture of the territory was formed by Governor Wilkinson, Judges R. J. Meiger and John B. C. Lucas.
In 1807 Governor Wilkinson was succeeded by Capt. Merriweather. Lewis, who had become famous by reason of his having made the expedi- tion up the Missouri with Clark. Governor Lewis committed suicide in 1809, under very peculiar and suspicious circumstances, and the President appointed Gen. Benjamin Howard of Lexington, Ky., to fill his place.
Governor Howard resigned October 25, 1810, to enter the War of 1812, and died in St. Louis in 1814.
Capt. William Clark, of Lewis and Clark's expedition, was appointed Governor in 1810 to succeed General Howard. He remained in office until the admission of the state in the Union in 1821.
For purposes of purely local government, the settled portion of Mis- souri was divided into four districts. Cape Girardeau was the first and embraced the territory between Pywappipy Bottom and Apple Creek; Ste. Genevieve, the second, embraced the territory of Apple Creek to Merrimac River; St. Louis, the third, embraced the territory between the Merrimac and the Missouri; St. Charles, the fourth, included the settled territory between the Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers. The total population of these districts at that time, including slaves, was 8,670. The population of the district of Louisiana when ceded to the United States was 10,120.
The soil of Missouri has been claimed or owned as follows: First, from the middle of the sixteenth century to 1763, by both France and Spain. Second, in 1763 it was ceded to Spain by France. Third, in 1800, it was ceded from Spain back to France. Fourth, April 30, 1803, it, with other territory, was ceded by France to the United States. Fifth, Oct. 31, 1803, a temporary government was authorized by Congress for the newly acquired territory. Sixth, October, 1804, it was included in the "District
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of Louisiana," then organized with a separate territorial government. Seventh, June 4, 1812, it was embraced in what was then made the "Ter- ritory of Missouri." Eighth, Aug. 10, 1821, admitted into the Union as a state.
When France, in 1803, vested the title to this vast territory in the United States, it was subject to the claims of the Indians. This claim our government justly recognized. Therefore, before the government could vest a clear title to the soil it was necessary to extinguish this claim by purchase. This was accordingly done by treaties made with the Indians at various times.
When Missouri was admitted as a territory in 1812, it embraced what is now Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, west of the Mississippi, Oklahoma, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana and most of Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming. It has therefore been truly said that Missouri is the mother of all the great West.
After the admission of Missouri into the Union, the various counties were organized from time to time.
Caldwell County was organized Dec. 26, 1836. It was called for Capt. Matthew Caldwell, commander of Indian scouts and a hunter of Kentucky. Joseph Doniphan, father of Gen. A. W. Doniphan, belonged to his com- pany. General Doniphan was chiefly instrumental in having the county named in honor of his father's old comrade. More will be said later on in this history regarding the organization of Caldwell County.
CHAPTER V.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS.
FIRST HUT NEAR KINGSTON-FIRST TOWN ESTABLISHED-HUNTERS AND TRAP- PERS-EMIGRANTS ARRIVE-ABUNDANCE OF GAME-GOVERNMENT SURVEY -FIRST LAND ENTRY-FIRST SETTLER-OTHER EARLY SETTLERS-FIRST LAND CULTIVATED-A LIST OF FIRSTS.
It is hard to realize that little more than an ordinary lifetime has elapsed since the Indian roamed at will along the valleys and over the prairies of Caldwell County, kindling his campfire and setting up his tepee on the banks of turbid Shoal, and pursued buffalo, deer, elk and other game over the land now in such a high state of cultivation and improve- ment. Less than a hundred years have passed since civilized man first ventured within its confines to blaze the way for oncoming civilization. Only about 80 years ago the first settler built his rude hut within a quarter of a mile from where Caldwell County's fine brick courthouse now stands. The first town was establish in 1833, the first postoffice in 1838, the first church built in 1854, the first schoolhouse in 1837, the first bridge in 1859 and the first courthouse in 1843.
That part of northwest Missouri which afterward became Caldwell County was comprised of many fertile valleys and much fine prairie land, covered with tall and luxuriant prairie grass, wild and beautiful, as beautiful as ever the sun shone on.
While trappers and hunters visited this section frequently before 1830, the country was not favorably known, and at this time, when dwellers in this part of the state lived as much on the spoils of the chase, furs obtained by trapping and honey taken from bee trees, as from tilling the soil, there was too much prairie land to appeal to those in search of a home for the average pioneer. The prairie sod was too thick and compact and the plows then in use were shackly affairs, with wooden mold-boards, and at the best with cast iron points which had little or no effect upon the
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virgin soil. The timber land was more promising for cultivation, perhaps, for the reason that the settlers who came mostly from the hemmed-in hills of the East were accustomed to farming small patches of ground, and this rich, mellow soil was more easily accessible and more easily tilled. Consequently, the first settlements were along the valleys, where small patches were cleared of the timber and brush and a crop of corn, and perhaps a little garden truck, could be planted with a hoe and tended in a primitive fashion.
As late as 1837 Alphonso Wetmore, in "Gazetteer of Missouri," said that this section "has escaped the attention of land hunters by the un- favorable impression made on the travelers passing through the county by the river route. The best part of the county (then Ray) and a country equal to any part of the earth, lies back upon the high grounds. There is sufficient territory north of Ray, between the county proper and the state line, for two good counties. This territory is now attached to Ray for all civil and military purposes. The territory attached to this county has too large a portion of prairie land for very dense settlements."
In the light of present day developments, the latter statement shows the possibilities presented by the new country. At that time Ray County, embracing nearly half of that portion of the state lying north of the Missouri River, had a population of only a little more than 6,000 inhabit- ants, scattered mostly along the river; Kansas City had not been founded, neither had St. Joseph; in fact, at that time the western boundary of the state north of the Missouri River was a line drawn due north of the mouth of the Kaw River. There were no towns of any consequence in this terri- tory. At the present time, Caldwell County, embracing perhaps one- twentieth of the same territory, has a population of at least 10,000 more. There were no railroads west of the Mississippi. The Missouri River was the gateway to the West.
Up the Missouri, by small steamboats, came a flood of emigrants into this new and wonderful West, landing at various points; some pushing inland and settling along the smaller streams; some seeking adventure and the pursuit of game; others to permanently locate in this land so full of promise.
At the time of the first settlements in Caldwell County the timber lands were full of various kind of game. Bears, panthers and wolves were numerous. In Breckenridge Township is a small stream that yet bears the name of "Panther Creek" from the fact that in that locality
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there are so many of these animals. Their piercing screams were often heard at night, and many an early settler had just cause for alarm in the visits of these night prowlers. Wolves infested the country. There were three varieties, the large black, the gray and the prairie wolf. The flocks and herds of the pioneers were in constant danger from the forays of these snapping, snarling beasts. Deer were also very plentiful, as were also wild turkeys, squirrels and grouse, and there were some beavers. Up to the year 1830 the prairies abounded with large droves of elk and the hunters came up from the river settlements to chase them. Elk hunting was rare sport. A drove of elk was surrounded and forced into the timber and brush, where their long antlers became entangled with the brush so as to interfere with their flight and where men were lying in ambush, and there the animals became easy prey. As late as 1839 a large herd of elk was seen in Davis Township, but the larger game had left by this time, owing to the tide of emigration that began to come into the country.
The government survey of the lower tier of townships in Caldwell County was made in 1818, and the remaining townships were surveyed in 1823.
The first entry of land was made by Jeremiah McDonald, April 11, 1832, being the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 34, Township 55, Range 29. Other entries followed rapidly, and within five years the greater part of the lands now embraced in this county were shown entered on the plat book of original entries.
The first settler in Caldwell County was Jesse Mann, Sr., who came up from the settlements along the river in the spring of 1831 and built the first house in the county, on Shoal Creek, about a half mile northeast of where the courthouse now stands at Kingston, on the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 22, Township 56, Range 38. The first mortgage given in the county (then Ray) was recorded in July, 1822, from Jesse Mann to Samuel Crowley, for $100, the property being a Negro boy. Mann had several slaves which he brought with him into Caldwell County. He did not remain here very long. A little more than a year afterward the Black Hawk war caused great uneasiness among the settlers and he returned to the lower settlements with his family and remained there.
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