USA > Vermont > Grand Isle County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 3
USA > Vermont > Franklin County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 3
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A person who understands how to produce a tone upon the class of wind instruments with which the tone is made by an impulse, not by
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INDIAN OCCUPATION AND RELICS.
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PLATE 3.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
blowing, can, with any one of these tubes, sound a clear, penetrating tone of great carrying power. They range in pitch according to length and size. A person, with the necessary skill and practice, can produce the tones represented by the open tones of a cornet called the first, fifth and the octave; and possibly by long continued practice could make the third, fifth and double octave in the higher register. Furthermore, there are methods by which scales and tunes can be produced from these tubes; the writer himself has heard a skilled musician play upon one of these the complete diatonic scale, a portion of the chromatic scale, and also such simple melodies as are written within their compass. The writer has been informed by Mr. Carlton Pratt of Highgate, Vt., a gen- tleman of unquestioned veracity, that some fifteen years ago he found in a grave, at this ancient burial- place, a tube perforated with four holes, like a flute. Unfortunately it was afterwards stolen from him, and he has since been unable to get any trace of it. With a tube like this of course a greater number of tones could be produced, each perforation in fact giving a new range of two octaves; a practiced musician can un- derstand that a company of performers, provided with tubes of different size and pitch, some of them perforated, could produce music of no mean order. The natural tone or pitch of No. 2 is E, fourth space, G clef; that of No. 3 is G, second line, G clef, the larger tubes of course running lower, a tube fifteen inches long being pitched well down in the bass clef. No. 4 is a miniature celt, beautifully wrought and polished, and probably used as a toy. Objects of this kind are quite often found, and can only be considered as the work of some idle aborigine, and be- ing purposely made for children's toys. No. 5 is a perforated object that was probably intended for a rub-stone, although this particular specimen shows no marks of use. All others that the writer has seen like it have such marks. No. 6 is a typical two-hole stone. These are usually made from ribbon slate, and are singularly uniform in size and shape. There has been advanced a theory that these were to tie to the wrist to protect it from the bow string, but this is questionable, as the shape and the po- sition of the perforations would render them unsuitable for that purpose. The writer is inclined to consider them as having been ceremonial ob- jects, or emblems of authority. No. 7 is a remarkable specimen made from soapstone, hollowed out upon the plane side quite deeply, with
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INDIAN OCCUPATION AND RELICS.
two parallel perforations running through on either side of the apex of the convex side. It is difficult to conceive of any use to which this object might be put; the only reasonable theory that can be advanced is that it was used as a shuttle for weaving. It is known that the process of weaving was understood by the Indians, for in some of the graves there has been found traces of a coarse fabric, made probably from fibers of hemp. The writer has seen six of these objects, all found in or near the the Frink burial-ground. No. 8 is a unique object, made from slate, the handle of which is broken off. This specimen is proba- bly classed with the agricultural implements. Nos. 9 and 10 are pipe bowls, made of soapstone. No. 9 is very rare in form ; in fact, the only one of the kind the writer has ever seen. It has two bowls precisely alike, and with but one orifice for the insertion of the stem. No. 10 is in shape very like a modern pipe, and may be one made after the intro- duction of the English tobacco pipe. However, we must remember that the American Indians were the first to introduce the pipe and tobacco. No. 10 is a pipe of convenient form and the one likely to be adopted by the Indians. Nos. 11, 12, and 13 are types of drills. They were probably used in making pipes, hole-stones and other perforated objects, and in slate or soapstone will make rapid progress. Nos. 14, 15 and 16 are objects that the writer has never seen described, yet they are quite numerous in this region. They are sharply convex or beveled upon one side, and are as concave upon the other as the skill of the workman and the character of the material would permit. They were probably used as scrapers for dressing skins and removing adhesive bits of flesh. Nos. 17 and 18 are pestles. These are comparatively common in this region, much more so than what we should consider to be their necessary adjunct - the mortars. They range from eight to twenty inches in length. Pestles are often found that are made to represent some object. No. 17 is a good example of the serpent pestle ; the shape of the head and the undulations of the body being well shown. In the college museum at Burlington is a pestle found at St. Albans Bay, which has a nicely wrought and well defined bird's head upon it.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
CHAPTER III.
Early Explorations and Discoveries-The French in the Canadas-The English in the East and South-The Puritans in New England-The Dutch in New York-Sam- uel Champlain Visits the Lake-Its Name-Occupants of this Region in 1609-Early French Settlements in Vermont-Fort St. Anne on Isle La Motte-Captain De la Mothe -Troubles Among the Indian Nations-Beginning of Troubles Between the French and English.
A LL authorities unite in according to Christopher Columbus, sailing from Spain, the honor of having discovered the American continent, . in the year 1492. The news of this event having spread throughout the European countries, other powers sought to fit out expeditions of exploration and discovery in the new world, but it was not until the six - teenth century that this business appears to have commenced in earnest, although adventurous navigators were pressing the rulers of their respec - tive countries to that end some years before the royal permission was obtained. And singular as it may appear, when these expeditions were being carried along, the commanders of them seem to have reached dif- ferent points along the Atlantic coast and not to have interfered with the explorations of other governments. Thousands of miles was it be- tween the points of operation and discovery of Columbus and James Cartier, the latter sailing under the government of France during the year 1534, at which time was explored the region of the Gulf of St. Law- rence, and where, in 1535 he founded what afterwards became the city of Montreal. Cartier returned to France, but twice afterward visited this region, last in 1540 when an unfortunate and devastating malady lost him the lives of many of his followers. More than half a century passed before any further extensive effort at exploration was made by Europe, and it was not until the beginning of the seventeenth century, the year 1603, that France sent another navigator to this part of the world ; and this year's voyage was more of a private character than otherwise, being that commanded by the French nobleman, Samuel Champlain. However, it was not until the year 1608 that this able nav- igator could persuade his government to fit out a fleet for the purpose
39
EARLY EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES.
of further explorations with a view to settling a colony in America. And about this time, too, other powers were making preparations to the same end. In the year 1607 the English voyagers succeeded in effect- ing a settlement in Virginia on the banks of the James River, and about the same time planted another colony in what afterward became the State of Maine. "In 1614," says Thompson, "Captain John Smith ex- plored the sea coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod, drew a map of the same and denominated the country New England." In 1609 Captain Hendrick Hudson, in the service of Holland, made a voyage to America, and up the stream which he called Hudson River, in allusion to his own name. At the mouth of this river Hudson planted a colony on the is- land which he named New Amsterdam, and to the whole region of his explorations he gave the name New Netherlands. The island is now the great city of New York, and the range of country to which the name of New Netherlands applied extended up the river to the vicinity of what is now Albany and Schenectady, although it was some time later that permanent settlements were effected at both these places. They built a fort on the site of the first named city, which was called Fort Orange, while at the latter was constructed a stockade of no sub- stantial strength.
In 1620 that famous band of Puritans, English subjects who had been driven out of their native country and taken refuge in Holland, landed in this country on the New England coast at Cape Cod, and soon there- after, during the same year, founded a colony at a place called by them New Plymouth, now the municipality of Plymouth, in Massachusetts.
Thus the reader will observe that settlements were made in this coun- try during the early years of the seventeenth century by these different European nations; each of which grew to acquire considerable power and strength in the land. On the north were the French, on the south were the Puritans, on the east the English and on the west were the Dutch; and from each of these there germinated other settlements, all extending toward the region of the then uninhabited district that after- ward became the State of Vermont. On the east the English extended their frontier settlements and outposts gradually up the valley of the Connecticut River, as far as Deerfield, and later in the year 1724, to the point where Fort Dummer was built, now near Brattleboro in this State.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
And up the Hudson came the Dutch, branching out from their set- tled communities on both sides of their river; and there is evidence tending to show that they made settlements within the jurisdiction of what is now this State, in the particular region of Bennington county, where their peculiar names were applied to streams and localities. But the Dutch dominion and authority in the Netherlands was overthrown by the English, and that government became the recognized power in the region of New York and New England, except in such portion of of the latter as the French had possession by virtue of discovery and oc- cupation.
But it is hardly within the proper scope of this work to inquire into or discuss these events of early national history, except as may be nec- essary by way of introduction for succeeding chapters, that the reader may have a sufficient understanding as to how settlement by various powers was made; and as these powers or nations afterward fell into disputes over the territory, and had recourse to arms to determine the questions, not of rights, but of mastery, some reference to these events of general history is unavoidable; and not only that, but necessary.
As has already been stated, Samuel Champlain first visited this coun- try in the year 1603. He extended his explorations over the same re- gion as had Cartier, and then returned to France to communicate the results of his investigation to the king and court, with the hope that his government should be-induced to found a permanent colony in the new land. But it was not until the year 1608 that the hopes of the adven- turous navigator were realized, and not until then that he again visited the scene of his former explorations. At the expense of the French government a fleet was fitted out and in the spring of that year set sail for this country, at which he arrived during July and founded a colony at the place called by the Indians Quebec. Here he remained until the next year engaged in exploring various localities and winning the na- tives over to his interests, advancing both the power of France and the Roman Church.
In the spring of 1609 Champlain, having won the affections and con- fidence of the natives, set out on an expedition of discovery, accompan- ied by two other Frenchmen and a party of Indians. Proceeding up the rivers St. Lawrence and Richelieu, Champlain arrived at a vast body
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EARLY EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES.
of water, which, after his own name he called Lac Champlain; a name, which, translated into English has been preserved to the present day, and which will be, in all human probability, so long as time endures to man. To the Indians themselves the lake was known as "Pe-Tonbon- que," or "The waters which lie between;" that is, between their country and the land of the Iroquois. The Iroquois called it "Caniaderi Guar- unte," "The Lake, the Gate of the Country; " but to the Dutch and English it was known as "Corlear."
And it is recorded that Champlain and his companions voyaged up the lake for many leagues; and as they passed along, the commander saw, off to the east, some high mountains, and asked the natives if the country there was inhabited. To which they replied that it was; that it had "villages of their enemies, who grew corn and vegetables and fruit." The mountains referred to were undoubtedly the Green Mountains, and the heights most noticeable to Champlain were probably Mansfield and Camel's Hump. The "enemies" were the Iroquois beyond question, for they were the only people in the region who were at enmity with the Canadian Indians. But here it may be said, parenthetically perhaps, that the Iroquois could not have long inhabited this region after the commencement of the frequent wars between England and France, for the country here was too isolated from the chief seat of the Iroquois pos- sessions, that being west of the lake, and there their greatest power was concentrated. But it is well established that the men of the confeder- acy claimed right of possession to the country east of the lake, and claimed, furthermore, compensation at the hands of the local govern- ment for lands alleged to have been taken from them by the encroach- ments of advancing white settlement. And the Legislature of this State has frequently been importuned, by claimants under the Iroquois titles, for remuneration for lands alleged to have been taken.
Returning from this digression, history further tells us that Champlain continued his passage up the lake to its very head, and that he discov- ered another body of water, smaller than that named for himself, and to which he gave the name Lac St. Sacrament, but which was variously known to the Indians as "Horicon," and "Canideri-oit," the latter mean- ing "the tail of the lake," from its connection with "Caniaderi-Guar- unte," the greater body. This body of water was the same now called Lake George. 6
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
Many past writers, particularly those who treated of general history, have speculated at some length regarding the various points of land at which Champlain probably touched in the course of his voyage up the lake; and one of these has indulged largely in romancing about the navigator's probable feelings as he entered the waters of the lake and comprehended the splendid view that opened before his vision. That it must have been grand no one can doubt; it is so even to this day, not- withstanding the destruction of the forests by the hand of man. Some writers have endeavored to show that Champlain must have made land- ings at various points along the lake, and he probably did do so; but if there was any particular place more than another, which should have attracted the first attention of the doughty navigator, that place natur- ally would be one of the beautiful islands in the main channel of the lake; and of these the first of considerable extent would have been Isle La Motte, one of the subdivisions of the present Grand Isle county. Whether Samuel Champlain touched this point of land is not known, nor would the fact be particularly important if it could be shown; but to this same island there attaches at least one event of historic promi- nence, for here it was that there was made the first white civilized set- tlement in what became Vermont; and that settlement was the build- ing of a fort by the French during the year 1665. This occupation and construction was a part of the plan pursued by the French in extending their possessions up the lake, and was built for the purpose of protect- ing any settlement thereafter made. The work of erecting Fort St. Anne, for such was its name, was done by Captain De la Mothe, an of- ficer in the service of France. In his honor, the island itself was named "La Mothe," but subsequent changes brought to it the present name of Isle La Motte.
It has been generally conceded until quite recent years that the first white settlement within what is the state of Vermont was made by Eng- lish pioneers, coming up from the province of Massachusetts and estab- lishing an outpost and fort (Fort Dummer) near the site of the present village of Brattleboro. This was done in the year 1724, and soon after that time other settlements were made further up the valley of the Con- necticut River, as far as the point called Newbury. But the work of more recent investigators has developed the fact that the French settle-
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EARLY EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES.
ment on Isle La Motte was made more than a half century earlier than that at Fort Dummer. And it is claimed too, on good authority, that a settlement was made within this state, and in what is now Chittenden county, at Colchester Point, at about the same time as that on Isle La Motte; and further, that during the spring of 1666, a party of ten or twelve men and two French officers were killed while out hunting, by a party of Mohawk Indians. After this occurrence Captain de Sorel, a French officer, was sent with a force of some three hundred men to the vicinity to "chastise the barbarians."
Between the various Indian tribes of the Canadas and the Iroquois confederacy there existed a long continued and deadly enmity, and nei- ther ever lost an opportunity of making a sudden and unexpected attack upon the other. And the colonization of Canada by the French and of the southern localities by the English, had not the effect of subduing this feeling of hatred between these great Indian nations. In fact, both the French and the English cultivated the most friendly relation with the savages of their respective localities, and each in order to hold them within their power, were compelled to promise aid in making war upon the other; and when these wars commenced the Mohawks, who were allied to the Iroquois, were obliged to quit the country east of Lake Champlain and find refuge with the main body of the confederacy, whose abode lay west of the Hudson, though their claim to possessions of land was never limited.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
CHAPTER IV.
Relations of the French and English Colonies in America-Arming the Indians- Progress of French Settlement-Events of the Early Wars-An Occasional Peace- Operations in the Champlain Region-Forts Built-The Outbreak in 1744-Treaty of Aix La Chapelle-Convention of the Colonies at Albany-Campaigns against French Strongholds-Their Results-The French Abandon their Forts-Retire to Isle Aux Noix-Major Rogers's Expedition against St. Francis Indians-Decline of the French Power-Its final Overthrow-Surrender of Montreal -- France Cedes to Great Britain -The French Seigniories on Lake Champlain-The Grants in Franklin and Grand Isle Counties-British Government Declines to Confirm Them.
C OMMENCING with the closing years of the seventeenth century, and from that continuing down to the final overthrow of the French power in America, the French and English on this side of the Atlantic were in a state of almost continual hostility, if not of open war. Dur- ing this period of nearly three quarters of a century, or from about 1689 until 1763, on the other side of the ocean the mother govern- ments, France and England, had frequent recourse to arms to settle their disputes, and with each outbreak, the American colonies were likewise engaged. But in America there was no cessation of hostilities when the mother countries were at peace, for the Indians were not accustomed to the same manner of terminating warfare as were their white neighbors, and they refused to be appeased when the govern- ments were under treaty of peace. The result of this condition of things was that the colonies were kept at war through the acts of their allied Indians, when harmony prevailed on the other side of the ocean. The whites, among other things, furnished the Indians with firearms, and taught them their use, thus making them more formidable antagon- ists than they would have been with only their simple weapons.
The French by extending their possessions up the lake as far as Fort St. Frederic (Crown Point) were in a position to learn much concerning the movements and progress made by the English ; and more than this, they could not only watch the gradual progress of English settlement, but they cherished a strong desire to themselves possess and settle the country of the Iroquois, and at the same time to lend assistance to their
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FRENCH AND ENGLISH.
allied Indian brethren in the extermination of the latter. But by this time the English had succeeded, by divers arts, in forming an alliance with the confederated Five Nations, and the latter were desirous of Eng- lish assistance in a war upon the Canada Indians. The English settlers, too, looked with feelings of alarm and suspicion at the French advance in settlement in the southern lake region, and were anxious to oppose its further progress.
But the French were first to move in offensive operations. In 1689 they planned an expedition against Fort Orange, at Albany, and other English posts in the locality, but before it could be carried into execu- tion the Iroquois made a sudden descent upon Montreal, burned and plundered the settlement and destroyed other villages. The result was that the French were unable to gather their forces for the attack upon Albany, so the project was abandoned. But to offset this calamity and to appease the anger of the Indians, General Frontenac, the French commander, determined upon two other expeditions against English settlements, the first upon the fort at Salmon Falls in the province of New Hampshire, and the other against Schenectady in the province of New York.
In March, 1690, M. Hertel set out with a party of Canadians and Indians and on the 18th of that month attacked the settlement at Sal- mon Falls, killed thirty of the settlers, and carried fifty-four others cap- tives to Canada. The other expedition was no less successful, the as- sault upon Schenectady being made on the evening of February 8th, when the people were in their houses, and least prepared for an attack. This resulted in the killing of no less than sixty persons, while twenty- seven more were made prisoners and taken to Canada.
To avenge these depredations, Colonel Schuyler, in the summer of 1691, with a party of English and Iroquois, made an attack upon the French outposts on the Richelieu River, and killed 300 of the French and savages, and destroyed the settlements. This was met in 1695 by a French and Indian attack upon the Mohawks, who were with Schuy- ler on his expedition to the Richelieu region, but the savages were met by an equal force of English and Iroquois and put to rout. This ended the depredations for the time, as two years later, 1697, France and England made a treaty of peace, which was respected on both sides for about five years.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
With the beginning of the Eighteenth Century, there came a renewal of hostilities between the English and French colonists and their allied Indian followers. In 1702 the mother countries again had recourse to arms, and of course that outbreak extended to this side of the ocean. The first and principal move was made by the French in an expedition against Deerfield, a frontier settlement in the colony of Massachusetts, during the latter part of the winter of 1804. The attacking party pro- ceeded up Lake Champlain, the great thoroughfare of travel during this period, as far as the river Winooski; thence up that stream as far as boats could be used, and thence to the Connecticut and down the same to the place of attack, where the battle was fought on February 29th, and which resulted in the capture and destruction of the Deerfield set- tlement.
These disastrous events became of such frequent occurrence that the English determined upon a complete conquest of Canada and the sub- jugation of its Indian tribes ; but it appeared that as often as such an expedition was planned, so often did some untoward event occur that prevented its carrying out. In 1710, both the English colonists and the mother country provided for a strong force to make a descent upon the troublesome French colonists, but by the time the arrangements were completed, the season was so far advanced that it became necessary to delay until the next year. When the time at length arrived, the expe- ditions, one against Quebec, and the other against Montreal and neigh- boring settlements, set out with the full determination of destroying the enemy. But that part of the force that proceeded through the valley of Lake Champlain, on their way to attack Montreal, had proceeded but a short distance when it was learned that the fleet which had previously sailed to reduce Quebec was overtaken by a terrible storm, eight ships lost and at least 1,000 of the force drowned. This ended the expedi- tion for the year, and the land force returned to Fort Orange.
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