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PUBLIC LIBRARY FORT WAYNE & ALLEN CO., IND."
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02324 118 2
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
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HISTORY OF OHIO
C THE Lain
History of Ohio
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EMILIUS O. RANDALL
THE CENTURY HISTORY COMPANY NEW YORK 1912
ARTHUR ST. CLAIR
Born at Thurso, Scotland in 1734. Officer in the British Army in America during the French and Indian War. Settled in Pennsylvania in 1764. Colonel in Colonial Army in the American Revolution. Member of the Continental Congress, 1785-87 and President of that body in 1787. In 1789 was made first Governor of the North- west Territory and in 1791 became commander-in-chief of the United States Army. Died in 1818 in poverty and obscurity. Engraving from the oil portrait in the Governor's office, State House, Columbus. This painting is a replica of the portrait in the Centennial Hall, Philadelphia.
Laing
History of Ohio
.
The Rise and Progress of an American State
By EMILIUS O. RANDALL and DANIEL J. RYAN
VOLUME Two By EMILIUS O. RANDALL
THE CENTURY HISTORY COMPANY NEW YORK 1912
Printed by John C. Rankin Company, New York for The Century History Company
COPYRIGHT 1912 BY THE CENTURY HISTORY COMPANY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Publication Office 54 Dey Street, New York, N. Y. U. S. A.
326587
PREFATORY NOTE
A MONG the original sources of authority relied upon in this and the preceding volume are: The "American Archives," nine folio vol- umes, published by the United States govern- ment, containing the "Documentary History of the American Revolution," the proceedings of the Colonies, the Congress of the Confederation, proceedings of the Continental Army, etc.
The "American State Papers," embracing the "Docu- ments, Legislative, and Executive, of the Congress of the United States, from March 3, 1789, to March 3, 1815. This includes the documents and reports upon Foreign Relation, Indian Affairs, Military and Naval Affairs, etc., in all thirty-eight folio volumes, published by Congress.
The "Draper Manuscripts," consisting of a vast collection of letters, diaries, account books and original documents, or handwritten copies of original docu- ments, accumulated by Lyman C. Draper, through correspondence and travel, covering a period of fifty years, beginning in 1838, in the states of Ohio, Ken- tucky, Virginia and Tennessee, the most valuable data extant concerning western history. This material is preserved, classified and catalogued in the Library of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wis- consin.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
THE MORAVIAN MISSIONS
Luther and Loyola. 3
The American Catholic Missions 4
Religious Belief of the Indian 5
Longfellow's Errand of the Priests 6
Influence of Jesuit Missions.
7
Moravian Missionaries in Ohio
9
The Moravian Brethren.
IO
David Zeisberger
II
Settlement at New Bethlehem
12
Shikellamy at Shamokin
I3
The Onondaga Mission.
14
Heckewelder and Post
15
The Ohio Delawares.
16
Initial Mission on the Tuscarawas.
18
Failure of the Mission
19
Journeys of Zeisberger 20
Conversion of Glikkikan. 2I
Zeisberger at Gekelemukpechunk. 22
Zeisberger Guest of Natawatwees
23
Settlement at Schoenbrunn 24 Laws of the Mission.
25
Mission at Gnadenhutten. 26
Journal of David Jones 27
Jones Meets Captain Killbuck. 29
Killbuck Favors Church of England. 30
CHAPTER II.
THE OHIO INDIAN CONFEDERACY
Geography of Ohio Tribes. 35
Mingoes, Ottawas and Wyandots. 36
Locations of the Mingoes. 37
The Shawnees 38
Cornstalk Their Chief. 39
Confederacy of Ohio Tribes. 40
First Congress of Ohio Indians 41
Second Congress. 43
viii
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Errand of Agastarax 44
Diplomacy of William Johnson. 45
Progress of the Ohio Confederacy 46
Shawnee Chiefs at Fort Pitt. 47
Lord Dunmore Claims Fort Pitt. 48
Efforts of John Connolly 49
Settlers on Ohio Warned. 50
CHAPTER III.
CRESAP'S WAR
History of the Cresaps. 55
Expedition to Yellow Creek. 57
Cabin of Joshua Baker 58
The Massacre at Baker's.
59
Killing of Logan's Sister
61
Logan's Family
62
Logan's Wives.
63
Innocence of Michael Cresap
64
Revengefulness of Logan.
66
Logan Threatens Roberts.
67
Killing of Bald Eagle and Silver Heels. 68
Dilemma of the Moravian Indians 69
Expedition of Angus McDonald 70
Result of the Expedition 72
Ohio Indians Consult Johnson 73
Conference at Johnson Hall. 74
Death of William Johnson. 75
CHAPTER IV.
DUNMORE'S WAR
Virginia Claims Ohio. 79
Quebec Act of 1774. 80
Dunmore Summons Burgesses 81
Dunmore Calls for Troops 82
Army in Two Divisions.
83
Dunmore Descends the Ohio
84
Builds Fort Gower.
85
General Andrew Lewis 86
Composition of His Army
87
Lewis Moves Down the Kanawha. 89
Reaches Point Pleasant. 90
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
ix
Cornstalk's Army of Braves 91
Battle of Point Pleasant 92 Defeat of Cornstalk. 97
First Battle of the Revolution
98
Motives of Lord Dunmore. 99
Cornstalk Retires to Pickaway Plains 104
Dunmore's Camp Charlotte. 105
CHAPTER V.
LOGAN'S SPEECH
Terms of Reconciliation. 109
Logan Summoned to the Council IIO
Gibson Received Logan's Speech. III
Jefferson Quotes the Speech. II2
Martin-Jefferson Controversy II3
Alleged Guilt of Cresap II4
Testimony of Tomlinson
115
Statement of Butterfield.
II6
Gibson's Affidavit.
II7
Conclusion as to the Speech. I18
Alfred Lee's Tribute. 119
CHAPTER VI.
RESULT OF THE DUNMORE WAR
Advance of Lewis into Ohio 123
Lewis and Dunmore in Accord 124
Return of Lewis to Virginia. 126
Crawford's Letter to Washington. I27
Declaration of Independence at Fort Gower
129
Site of Fort Gower. I32
Dunmore Returns to Williamsburg. I33
Bancroft on Dunmore's Campaign
134
Guy Johnson and the Six Nations 136
Continental Congress and the Indians
I37
Indian Departments Created. 138
Indian Congress at Fort Dunmore. 139
Heckewelder's Account of the Congress 140
Camp Charlotte Treaty Affirmed. 14I
X
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
CHAPTER VII.
THE WARPATH OF THE REVOLUTION
Virginian Claims to Ohio. 145
Plans of Richard Henderson 146
Treaty with the Cherokees. 147
Daniel Boone Starts for Kentucky 148
Boonesborough and Harrodstown 149
Scheme for Transylvania 150
Machinations of Connolly . 151
Tribal Gatherings at Detroit . I52
Continental Congress and Indians
I53
Resolutions of Congress
I54
Transylvania's Delegates to Congress
I55 156
Assassination of Cornstalk
157
Opening of Revolution in Ohio
I59
The Girtys. 160
Simon Girty, the Elder. 161
Dispersion of the Sons. 162
Simon Girty Friendly to England. 163
Embassy of James Wood. 164
CHAPTER VIII.
FIRST SIEGE OF FORT HENRY
Henry Hamilton at Detroit 169
The Chillicothes. 170
Girty Not at Fort Henry I71
Shepherd Commands the Fort 172
Bravery of Women Inmates
I73
Mccullough's Leap.
174
Fate of William Foreman.
177
English Employ Indians I78 179
Capture of Daniel Boone
Black Fish Adopts Boone
180
Escape of Boone. 181
Siege of Boonesborough . 182
The Renegade Triumvirate 183
The Renegades at Goschochgung 184
Delawares Adhere to Americans 185
County of Kentucky.
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
xi
CHAPTER IX.
CLARK'S CONQUEST OF THE WEST
English in Northwest 189
Structure of Western Posts. . 190
Patrick Henry Approves Clark's Plan. 191
Army of George Rogers Clark 192
Clark Starts from Redstone.
193
Clark Reaches Fort Massac
194
Capture of Kaskaskia
195
Aid of Father Gibault.
196
Detour of Joseph Bowman
197
Indian Chiefs at Vincennes. 198
Clark Pacifies the Indians
199
Attempt to Capture Clark. 200
News of Clark's Conquest
201
Indian Council at Detroit
202
British Use of Indians
203
Hamilton the Hair-Buyer.
204
Hamilton Starts for Vincennes
205
Surrender of Vincennes. 206
Clark Starts for Vincennes 207
Difficulties of the March. 208
Attack on Fort Sackville. 209
Hamilton Surrenders to Clark 210
Creation of County of Illinois 2II
CHAPTER X.
McINTOSH BUILDS FORT LAURENS
Detroit Western British Headquarters 215
Attack on Fort Randolph. 216
Squaw Campaign 217
Sullivan's Spying Tour. 218
Plan for Invading the West. 219
220
Indian Meeting at Fort Pitt.
22I
Death of White Eyes 222
Building of Fort McIntosh. 224
Site of Fort Laurens. 225
Gibson at Fort Laurens. 226
Activity of the Renegades 227
McIntosh Commands Fort Pitt
xii
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
CHAPTER XI.
CAPTIVITY OF SIMON KENTON
Kenton alias Butler 23I
Kenton with George Rogers Clark. 232
Kenton with Colonel Bowman. 233
Kenton a Prisoner 234
Kenton's Captivity .
236
Kenton Sentenced to Death
238
Kenton at Machecheek.
239
McClung's Account 240
Girty's Speech 242
Girty Entertains Kenton. 244
Death Decree of Kenton. 245
Appearance of Pierre Druillard. 247
Kenton Reaches Detroit 249
CHAPTER XII.
SIEGE OF FORT LAURENS
Girty's Indians Attack the Fort. 253
Repulse of Rescuing Parties. . 254
Captain Bird at Upper Sandusky. 255
Unsuccessful Sortie from the Fort. 256
Sufferings of the Garrison. 257
Relief Expedition of McIntosh.
257
Major Ward Left in Command.
258
Girty's Plot Against Zeisberger
259
End of Fort Laurens Siege
260
Evacuation of the Fort. 261
Scouting of Samuel Brady 262
Brady's Leap 263
Scene of Brady's Leap 265
CHAPTER XIII.
OHIO INVASION BY BOWMAN AND CLARK
Preparations of Bowman. 269
Attack on Old Chillicothe 270
Death of Black Fish . 27I
Distribution of Spoils 272
Result of Expedition 273
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
X111
Solicitude at Detroit. 274
Movements of the Girtys. 275
Benham's Adventure. 276
Depressing Year of 1780.
277
Simon Girty's Wife. 278
Advance on Louisville. 279
Sack of Ruddle's Station 280
Siege of Martin's Station. 28I
Last Glimpse of Logan. 282
Death of Logan. 283
Character of Logan. 284
Result of Bird's Licking Raid. 285
Clark's (1780) Ohio Expedition 286
Battle of Piqua. 287
Death of Joseph Rogers.
288
CHAPTER XIV.
BRODHEAD DESTROYS GOSCHOCHGUNG
Brodhead Plans against Detroit. 293
Lack of Supplies 294
Washington's Appeal to Congress 295
Hostility of the Delawares 296
Brodhead's Expedition ..
297
Brodhead Reaches Goschochgung.
298
Treatment of the Captives. 299
Report of Brodhead. 300
Results of Expedition 301
Moravians Invited to Fort Pitt 302
Moravian Missions Attacked.
303
Flight of the Moravians 304
Settle at Captives' Town.
305
Clark's Plan against Detroit.
306
Jefferson's Approval. 307
Clark Starts from Fort Pitt. 308
Lochery's Expedition. 309
Slaughter of Lochery's Party 310
Quarrel Between Brant and Girty 312
Clark Abandons Detroit Plan. 313
XIV
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
CHAPTER XV.
THE MORAVIAN MASSACRE
News of Cornwallis' Surrender 317
Moravians at Detroit. 318
De Peyster's Indian Policy 319
Williamson at Moravian Villages 320
Moravians at Tuscarawas Town 321
Zeisberger Hears of the Massacre.
322
Enemies of the Moravians 323
Neutrality of the Moravians. 324
Attack on Cabin of Wallace 325
Hostility of Pennsylvanians 326
Williamson's Expedition.
327
Authority for the Expedition.
328
Soldiers Assemble at Mingo River
330
Expedition Reaches Gnadenhutten
332
Question of the Slaughter. 333
The Scene of Butchery 334
Incidents in the Massacre. 335
Christy's Account of the Massacre.
337
CHAPTER XVI.
THE EXPEDITION AGAINST SANDUSKY
Sentiment of the Borderers. 34I
The Sandusky Plains. 342
Headquarters of the Wyandots 343
Names Sandusky 344
Importance of Little Sandusky.
345
Plans Against Upper Sandusky 346
Washington-Irvine Correspondence
347
Rendezvous at Mingo Bottom. 348
Attire of the Pioneer Soldiers. 349
William Crawford Chosen Captain. 350
Lieutenant John Rose 351
March to Sandusky 352
Activity of Simon Girty 353
The British and Indians. 354
Crawford Reaches Sandusky Plains
355
Approaching the Battlefield. 356
Contest for Battle Island. 357
Second Day's Contest 358
Retreat of Crawford. 359
Battle of Olentangy . 360
XV
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
CHAPTER XVII.
THE BURNING OF WILLIAM CRAWFORD
Flight of Crawford. 365
Capture of Crawford. 366
Decision to Burn Crawford. 367
Taken to Little Tymochtee. 368
Tortures of Crawford. 369
Dr. Knight's Account. 370
Death of Crawford. 371
Indian Motives for Revenge. 372
Fate of Dr. Knight 374
Escape of John Slover. 375
CHAPTER XVIII.
CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION IN OHIO
Indian Conclave at Wapatomica. 379
Proposed Attack on Fort Henry . 380
Caldwell Attacks Bryant's Station 38I
Americans Entrapped. 382
Battle of Blue Licks 383
Caldwell's Report to de Peyster. 384
Advance on Fort Henry 385
Second Siege of Fort Henry 386
Heroism of Betty Zane.
387
Secures Powder for the Fort. 390
Molly Scott not the Heroine. 391
Character of the Siege 392
Statement of De Haas 393
Battlefield of Blue Licks 394
Clark's Expedition into Ohio
395
Proceeds to Loramie's Post .
396
Indian Policy of Congress.
397
Three Expeditions Proposed 398
Girty's Last Raid. 399
CHAPTER XIX.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY
Treaty of Paris. 403
Provisions as to Debts. 404
Surrender of British Posts 405
xvi
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Indian Claims to the Country 406
Four Claimant States. 407
Claims of Massachusetts 408
Claims of Virginia.
409
Cession by New York 410
Cession by Virginia. 4II
Effect of the Cessions. 412
Treaty of Fort Stanwix 413
Cornplanter and Red Jacket 414
Joseph Brant in London. 415
Fort McIntosh Treaty 416
General Butler's Account. 417
Fort Finney Treaty Fruitless 418
Brant's Conferences with British. 419
Survey of Northwest Territory 420
CHAPTER XX.
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787
Petition of Rufus Putnam 425
The Jefferson Ordinance. 426
Ordinance Committee of 1786. 428
Manasseh Cutler . 429
Provisions of 1787 Ordinance. 430
Articles of the Ordinance 431
Nature of the Ordinance. 432
Authorship of the Ordinance 433
King's Slavery Clause 434
Ordinance a Composite Document. 436
CHAPTER XXI.
THE OHIO COMPANY OF ASSOCIATES
Poverty of the Revolutionary Veterans 439
Rufus Putnam 440
Surveyor in the Revolution 441
Benjamin Tupper 442
Project of Putnam and Tupper 444
Ohio Company of Associates 445
Agency of Manasseh Cutler 446
His Diversity of Talent 447
Putnam and Cutler 448
OF AN AMERICAN STATE xvii
Cutler before Congress 449
Colonel William Duer. 450
Ordinance of Purchase. 451
Contract of Sale. 452
Result of Purchase. 453
Meetings of Ohio Company . 454
Settlement to be on Muskingum. 455
The Rendezvous at Sumrill's Ferry 456
The Adventure Galley
457
Character of Migrants 458
Landing at Fort Harmar
459
Site of Marietta. 460
Plan of the Town 461
Fourth of July Celebration. 462
Officers of the Northwest Territory 463
Arrival of Governor St. Clair. 465
First Laws of the Colony 466
County of Washington 467
Cutler visits Marietta 468
CHAPTER XXII.
SYMMES' PURCHASE AND THE FRENCH COLONY
Opposition to Western Emigration 471
The Miami Country 472
Major Benjamin Stites 473
The Symmes Project. 474
Columbia and North Bend 475
Founders of Cincinnati 476
Robert Patterson.
477
Filson and Losantiville. 478
Disappearance of Filson 479
Erection of Fort Washington 480
Settlement of Dayton. 481
Scheme of William Duer 482
Scioto Company proposed. 483
Method of Land Sale. 484
Joel Barlow Foreign Agent. 485
Compagnie du Scioto 486
Operations in Paris. 487
Prospectus of the Company. 488
Brilliant Promises. 489
Hutchins Certifies to Prospectus. 490
Volney's Statement 491
XVI11
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Collapse of the Scioto Company .. 492
American Trust for the Company . 493
Troubles of the Company 494 Character of the Migrants 495
Napoleon's Intention . 496
Company Land at Alexandria. 497
Arrival at Gallipolis . 498
Friendliness of the Indians. 499
Invalidity of Land Titles 500
CHAPTER XXIII.
POST-REVOLUTION CAMPAIGNS
Indians Ignore the Treaties 505
Tribal Council at Detroit 506
Fort Harmar Council .. 507
Treaties of Stanwix and McIntosh Confirmed. 508 Indian Policy of St. Clair. 509
Embassy of Antoine Gamelin. 510
Incursion of General Harmar . 5II
Hostile Activities of the British. 512
Preparation for Harmar's Campaign 513
Harmar's March North. 514
Defeat of Harmar.
515
Harmar's Retreat. 516
Little Turtle and Wells
517
Court of Inquiry for Harmar
518
Big Bottom Massacre
519
Duplicity of the British Officials
520
Expedition of Scott and Wilkinson
521
Preparations for St. Clair's Campaign.
522
Start for Fort Hamilton. 523
Ambuscade at the Wabash 524
Slaughter of St. Clair's Army
525
St. Clair's Loss of Men and Stores 526
Wilkinson's Visit to the Field.
527
Washington Receives the News 528
Discomfiture of the Government. 530
Efforts for Peace with the Indians 531
Councils with the Tribes. 532
Attitude of British Government 533
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
Xix
CHAPTER XXIV.
FALLEN TIMBERS AND THE GREENVILLE TREATY
Wayne Assembles an Army 537
Lowry Attacked by Little Turtle. 538
Wayne Establishes Fort Greenville. 539
William Wells the Scout. 540
Possession of Site of Fort Recovery 54I
Little Turtle attacks Fort Recovery 542
British Occupy Fort Miami. 543
Hostility of British Authorities 544
Wayne Builds Fort Defiance 545
546
War Council of the Indians. 547
Advance to Fallen Timbers. 548
Wayne's Report of the Battle.
549
Rout of the Indians
550
Forces in the Battle. 551
Wayne Returns to Fort Wayne 552
Indian Council at Detroit. 553
The Chiefs Desire a Treaty
554
Indians assemble at Greenville 555
556
Articles of the Treaty
557
John Jay in England. 558
The Jay Treaty 559
Death of Wayne
560
Tarhe, the Crane
561
Tarhe, Friendly to the Whites
562
Tarhe at Franklinton Council.
563
Tecumseh, the Shawnee
564
Journeys of Tecumseh.
565
Tecumseh's Brother, the Prophet
566
Battle of Tippecanoe
567
Tecumseh Joins the British
568
Battle of the Thames. 569
Tecumseh's Heroic Traits
570
CHAPTER XXV.
THE WESTERN RESERVE
The Moravians at Detroit. 573
Settlement at Pilgerruh . 574
The Moravian Ohio Land . 575
Fate of Scout May.
Proceedings at Greenville.
XX RISE AND PROGRESS OF AN AMERICAN STATE
Connecticut's Charter 576
The Western Reserve.
577
The "Firelands"
578
Sale of the Western Reserve.
579
Connecticut Land Company
580
The Company Starts West. 581
Arrival at Post Independence
582
Council with the Indians
583
Settlement on the Cuyahoga.
584
Moses Cleaveland
585
Survey of the Western Reserve
586
The Land Speculation.
587
Non-Jurisdiction of the Reserve.
588
Controversy over Jurisdiction
589
John Marshall's Solution
590
Settlement of the Reserve.
59I
Nathaniel Massie.
592
Manchester Settlement.
593
Massie Founds Chillicothe.
594
Lucas Sullivant and Franklinton.
595
Territorial Legislature.
596
Ohio Becomes a State.
597
Ethnology of the Ohioan
598
The Fusion of the Races
599
The Ohioan the American. 600
ILLUSTRATIONS
Arthur St. Clair.
Frontispiece Facing page II
John Heckewelder
I5
Zeisberger Preaching .
25
Map of Pickaway Plains
105
Simon Kenton
66
233
Chief Joseph Brant.
312
Colonel William Crawford.
367
Burning of Crawford.
371
Rufus Putnam.
440
Home of Rufus Putnam
440
Manasseh Cutler
¥
447
Home of Manasseh Cutler
447
The Galley Adventure
66
459
The Campus Martius
459
Fort Harmar in 1790.
¥
467
John Cleves Symmes
473
Robert Patterson
477
John Filson.
481
Joel Barlow
485
Original Gallipolis
485
Land Grants and Surveys.
487
Cincinnati in 1800.
66
513
Fort Washington.
513
General Anthony Wayne
539
The Greenville Treaty
557
Chief Little Turtle
559
Chief Tecumseh.
66
565
Fort Defiance
57I
Moses Cleaveland.
580
Cleveland in 1800
584
Nathaniel Massie
¥
593
Lucas Sullivant.
595
463
Washington's Ohio Land Warrant.
66
497
General Josiah Harmar.
563
Elkswatawa, the Prophet
David Zeisberger .
CHAPTER I. THE MORAVIAN MISSIONS
T HE contrasts of history are ever interesting and often significant in teaching its develop- ment and philosophy.
While the courageous leader of the Refor- mation, the peasant-born Luther, was in voluntary confinement in the Castle of Wittenberg, Germany, preparing his translation that should unlock wide the Bible to the free reading of the people, another prisoner lay wounded in the Castle of Loyola in Spain, the very castle in which he had been born, twenty-five years before, and from which he took his name, Ignatius Loyola. These two contemporaneous castle captives were intellectually battling in that interminable war- fare between the Saxon and the Latin for the religious supremacy of the world. It was on that sick bed, racked with pain, that the chivalric Loyola thought out the marvellous scheme of the order of the Jesuits, whose members bound by the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, were to go forth to the four corners of the earth, check the tide of Luther's reformation and win the heathen of all lands to the true faith as pro- nounced from the papal palace of Rome.
The new continent discovered by Columbus, through the sympathy and support of their Catholic majesties Ferdinand and Isabella, in whose palace the boy Loyola had been a page, opened to the Order of Jesus, new fields for its disciples; fields of illimitable promise. We have seen how the Jesuit missionaries followed close upon the heels of the French discoverers and explorers-indeed how the Jesuits themselves were foremost in paddling the streams and rivers, sailing the Great Lakes and penetrating the unbroken forests
4
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
of Canada, the Northwest and the Valley of the Mississippi. John D. G. Shea, the learned historian of the Catholic Church in America, has truthfully writ- ten: "The American Catholic Missions are unparal- leled for heroic self-devotedness, energy of purpose, purity of motive or holiness of design. Nowhere can be found more that is sublime, even to the eyes blinded by the glare of human greatness. Nowhere can we show more triumphant proofs of the power of religion, even for the Temporal well-being of nations. Vast as the region was, it was to be conquered to Christ; the Latin service, chanted from Greenland to Narraganset, was to resound throughout the length and breadth of the land."
This religion, as professed or rather as enacted by the Jesuits, was well calculated to attract and impress the Indian mind. The untutored savage of the Ameri- can forest was truly the child of superstition and ceremony. Romanism with its rituals appealed to him more readily than the cold and unadorned homilies of the protestant preachers of the English colonies. The North American Indian, in his religious belief was a polytheist, to the extent that to him, nature in her different forms, was identical with a spirit or supernatural power. As one author puts it, "to the Indian, the material world was sentient and intelli- gent. Birds, beasts and reptiles have ears for human prayers and are endowed with an influence on human destiny." Hence the Indian fetishism and totemism. Lakes, rivers and waterfalls were dwelling places of spirits. The trees, the rocks, the rustling leaves, the rolling clouds, the roaring storm and the arching rain-
5
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
bow, the silent snow, the pattering rain, the crashing thunder and the flashing lightning, each was the embodiment and manifestation of a sort of personal power that could be angered or appeased, obeyed or defied. And to the animal kingdom no less than the inanimate, this credence held sway over him. The birds of the air, the game of the forest, the fishes of the streams, each in turn were possessed of a spirit or controlling influence to which invocation might be addressed. In its main features this polytheism pre- vailed in each tribe, though with differences of extent and variations of manifestation. Nearly all of the tribes, moreover, recognized in some vague conception great or universal power, corresponding to our Supreme Being. This was Manitou, the great spirit.
"Gitche Manito, the mighty, The Great Spirit, the creator, Smiled upon his helpless children."
But not always did Manitou smile. Often he broke forth in bursts of anger; often would he scourge his children, and around his wilful and all-powerful being clustered traditions and legends as plentiful and as poetic as were the myths and tales that enshrined the Zeus of classic days. The Indian ceremonies, innumerable as they were fantastic, extravagant, puerile, cruel or disgusting, we need not stop to describe. Suffice it to say the primitive Indian was as savage in his religion as in his life, strangely mingling the senti- mental with the brutal, the sublime with the ridiculous. His gods were the coinage of the imaginings of his untutored mind, and bore the attributes of his own unrestrained animal nature. His incantations, divina-
6
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
tions, propitiations, sacrifices and religious exercises of every form, were jumbled exhibitions of nebulous belief and sensuous exaltation.
To this people, given to the spectacular and the symbolic, came the Jesuit fathers, with their altars, crucifixes, chalices, cups of holy water, rosaries, robes and paraphernalia; their chants and intonations, genu- flexions and scenic rites. The ceremonies entertained the savage spectators if the admonitions did not influence. Longfellow in beautiful simplicity portrays the errand of the priests :
All the old men of the village,
All the warriors of the nation, In a circle round the doorway,
With their pipes they sat in silence, Waiting to behold the strangers, Waiting to receive their message; Till the Black-Robe chief, the Pale-face,
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