:. ' LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 977.3375 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT UR2AIMA-CHAMPAIGN ILL. HIST. SURVEY I .H.S. RECORDS OK, FIFTY YEARS ON THE PRAIRIES. KMBRACING SKETCHES OF THE DISCOVERY, EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY, TICK ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTIES OF PUTNAM AND MARSHALL, INCIDENTS AND REMINISCENCES CONNECTED THERE- WITH, BIOGRAPHIES OF CITIZENS, POR- TRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. BY SFE3STOER. ELLSWORTH. LACON, ILL. HOME JOURNAL STEAM PRINTING ESTABLISHMENT. MDOCCLXJCX. Q PREFACE. In the following pages we have endeavored to trace the early settle- ment of that portion of our State embraced in the counties of Putnam and Marshall, gathering up the forgotten records of each township and neighborhood, and telling for the benefit of their descendants the story of the brave men and women who wrested their homes from the savage, and turned a desert into the fairest land that beams beneath the sun. It is not a "history," and does not claim to be, nor should it be judged as such, but in its pages we have sought to tell in plain, simple language, the story of our ancestors' lives, and string together for the amusement and instruction of their descendants 1he hiddenls and happenings- solemn, grotesque or ludicrous as they were that made up the warp and ?woof of their daily existence. The old settlers are fast passing away. Many prominent actors in the scenes here depicted have paid the debt of nature, and the story of their lives is well nigh forgotten. But a few years more, and we shall see the last of that noble band carried to their final home. Much that is valuable has already passed into oblivion, and to rescue what 'remains has been our study. The faithfulness with which it has been per- ; formed can best be judged by the public. At the outset of our task it was found that to reconcile dates and even statements of the same occurrence was impossible. Our sole depend- I ence was restricted to the uncertain memory of a few feeble men and women, who had reached the stage of life when the "grasshopper is a bur- den," and forgetfulness is courted rather than deprecated. Human nature r is weak, and forty years of slowly revolving time dims the brightest , images graven on the tablets of the mind. At first we strove to reconcile - these conflicting variations and strike a balance of probabilities, but the task was so hopeless that it was abandoned, and the plan adopted of giv- ing each statement as received and allowing it to pass for what it was worth. Circumstances have compelled a more hurried preparation of the literary portion of the work than was intended or desirable, but such as it is we send it forth. Success in life is not the effect of accident or of chance; it is the result of the intelligent application of certain fixed principles to the affairs of every day. Each man must make this application according to the circum- stances by which he is surrounded, and he can derive no better assistance or encouragement in his struggles than from the example of those whose advantages were meagre and worthless compared witli ours. He who peruses the records of those early pioneers will surely find principles which he can safely cairy into his own life and use for his own advancement. In these latter days, when every acre nearly is appropriated by the husbandman or covered with thriving towns and cities, it seems strange to read of the trials of those who first broke the soil and opened the way for them that followed. It seems so far back when these incidents oc- curred that one can hardly imagine it was only the fathers of the people of to-day of whom we write. With every comfort the mind of man can devise, with every want supplied by the creations of these later years, we look back upon the lives of our nearest ancestors as tales of an olden time, coeval almost with the days when "Adam delved and Eve span." But those deeds of hero- ism, those days of toil, those nights of danger were all experienced, were all accomplished by the sires whose descendants we are. There lives to-day but a remnant of that pioneer band, fast drifting on to the confines of time, where they shall leave behind forever the recol- lections of those early days, and pass beyond into the glorious rewards of their trials and sorrows. But their good deeds will live after them; they will not be "interred with their bones." The record of their lives is the property of their descendants, and in the pages of this volume we shall endeavor to tell their story so that "he who runs may read," and take some useful lessons from the experience of those gone before. In conclusion we desire to thank all who have aided in furnishing the information desired. Everywhere we met nothing but kindness, and gladly would we name them, were it not that it would involve another volume to contain them all. Individually they are due, and we desire to thank J. G. Armstrong, who industriously assisted in collecting and col- lating our information ; the Revs. J. G. Evans, Price and Bruce ; John Bettis, of Truckee, Cal.; Jas. G. Allen, of Omaha; Thomas Judd, of Evans; Nathaniel Smith, of Nineveh, N. Y.; and the Hon. G. L. Fort; also Frank B. Hazleton, of Chicago, overseer of the mechanical part, who has patiently and faithfully performed his work ; and finally the com- positors, one and all, who assisted in its preparation. We desire likewise to express our indebtedness to Henry A. Ford's "History of Marshall and Putnam Counties," "Ford's History of Illinois," N. M. Matson's "Reminis- cences of Bureau County," Baldwin's "History of La Salle County," and A. N. Ford for access to his newspaper files. As regards the literary value of the work we have nothing to say, and do not now expect to see it appreciated ; but there will assuredly come a time when the information laboriously sought and perhaps clumsily gi r -en will be valued, and then our labors will be appreciated. THE AUTHOR. CONTENTS. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. PAOES . CHAPTER [.Christopher Columbus His Theory, Plans and Difficulties First and Second Voyage*, and Discovery of the West Indies Other Exph.rtrf, Tbiid Vojage of Columbus Americus Vespucci Honor to whom honor is due 17 19 CHAPTER II. Evidences of Former Discovery Icelandic Explorations from A. D. 986 to 1437-Herjnlfson, Lief Erickson. I horwald Erickson, Thorfin Karlsefne Belies of Icelandic Occupancy ' 20 21 THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. CHAPTER III. The Garden Spot of the World The Father of Waters Discovered by the Spaniards Ex- plorations of Ponce de Leon, Narvaez and De Soto Other Spanish Expeditions 2226 SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. CHAPTER IV. French Fishermen in Newfoundland French'Explorations Cortereal, Cartier, Le Jenne, Marauette, Nicolet Discovery ot the St. Lawrence Founding Catholic Missions Voyage down the Mississippi and up the Illinois 27 36 CHVPTEHV. Cavalier de La Salle and his explorations Hospitality of the Natives Dangers and Hard- ships Encountered Father Hennepin, his Relijious Zaal and latreput Courage 36 42 CHAPTER VI. Further Explorations of La Salle Down the Mississippi to its mouth A mid-winter trip through Illinois- Starved Kck fortified 43-48 PRE-HISTORIC RACES. CHAPTER VII. The Mound Builders Evidences of their Civilization. Occupations and Characteristics Mounds and Earthworks in Putnam and Marshall Counties 49 51 ABORIGINES AND EARLY SETTLERS. CHAPTER VIII. The Indians Their Habits, Customs, Characteristics, Religion and Superstitions In- dians of Putnam and Marshall Counties 52 58 CH VP PER IX. First Permanent settlement of lllionis Early French Settlers Kaskaskia in 1763-The County of Illinois Mikts and Jtkes Peoria in 1778 5965 CHAPTER X. The Massacre at Fort Dearborn Gen. Hull orders the Fort evacuated Implacable Hostility of the Indians Heroism of the Women Murder of the wounded after the surrender 66 70 CHAPTER XI. Destruction of Peoria Isolated condition of the People Dastardly Conduct of Capt. Craig and his " Troops" Hospitality of the Indian Chief Gomo 71- 73 CHAPTER XII.- Extermination of the Buffalo Frozen by thousands and Suffocated in Droves Father Buche'n Description of a Buffalo Hunt and his Narrow E-usipe from Death 7476 ILLINOIS BECOMES A STATE. CHAPTER XI11- The Compact of Freedom Indian Territory and the "Vinsain Legislator" The Territory of Illinois First Legislature and First Governor Admi-wion as a State The Randolph County Cove- nantersThe nrst Wedding , 7678 PUTNAM COUNTY. CHAPTER XlV.-Earliest Settlers First Houses Boundaries of the County Location of the County Seat First Election -County Offices and Incumbents Court House and Jail Ferry and Ferry Kates- Revenues, Surveys, etc., Division of the County Early Records 79 97 THE BLACK HAWK WAR. PAOES . CHAPTER XV. The Treaty of 1804 Character of Black Hawk- Beginning of Hostilities Fruitless Cam- paign of General Gainea A Brief Peace and Renewal of Hostilities 98104 CHAPTER XV I. -Disastrous Defeat of Major Stillman Narrative of E. S. Jones Particpanta in the Still- man Campaign sinoe Famous Incident* of the Defeat Shaubena'a Friendly Warning Savage Cru- elty of the Indians, and Shameless Indignities upon the bodies of murdered Females 106-112 CHiPTER XVII. The Captivity of Sylvia and Rachel Hall Their Treatment by the Indians, and Final Ransom -Other Fiendish Murderi and Outrages by the Indians 115120 CHAPTER XVIII. The Militia called out- Muster Rolls of Putnam County Volunteers Measures taken for Local Defenae-The Murder of Elijah Phillips Death of Adam Payne 121127 CHAPTER XIX. Continuation of the Campaign -Murder of 8. Vrain Attack by Blank Hawk upon Apple River Fort, and its vigorous and successful defense by the brave little garrison Battle of Pecatonica Instances of Individual Heroism 128138 CH U'TK K XX. OH plain Stephenson's Desperate Skirmish . . A Spirited Campaign Inaugurated Black Hawk Driven Northwest Burnt Village I he Bad Lands of Wisconsin Improvidence of the Volunteers- Operations Suspended to Procure Supplies 187142 CHAP1ER XXI. -A New Disposition of Forces Insubordination at the Outeet Treacherous Guides i Forced March Rapid hetreat of the Indians, and a Vigorous Pursuit Brought to Bay and Badly- Whipped Indians Retreat by Night across the Wisconsin River Pursuit, and Battle of Bad Axe Treaty of Peace Signed Death of Black Hawk 143^164 HENNEPIN TOWNSHIP. CHiPTEB XXII. Topography -The City of Hennepin -Old Time Records-Pioneers The Ferry Stage Lines Religous Organizations Schools Benevolent Societies Bnel Institute - Mills 165176 CHAPTER XXItl. Incidents and Anec lotes Great Suows-OJd Characters- A Negro gold under the Vag- rant Act- Hard for Bachelors A Preacher Atihwi rid - Out of Mfat A Wolf Story A Still Hunt A Starved Recruit Jail Burned A Pioneer Express Indians Outwitted Fastidious Travelers The Indian's Ride 177191 CHAPTER XXIV. A Noted Burglary Discovery, Pursuit and Capture of the Burglars Brazen Conduct ot Molly Holbrook Escape and Re-capture of the Pris-iners 192197 CHAPTER XXV.- Union Grove First Bettlein-Schools An Early Bible Society A Pioneer's Story The First Church The Village of Florid Fort Cribs- Newspapers of Putnam County 19820* MAGNOLIA TOWNSHIP. CHAP TEB XXVI. General Description Railroads The Earliest Settlers The Village of Magnolia The Society of Friends The Old School House-Jeremiah Strawn's Fort 207217 CHAPTER XXVII.-The Good Old Times Joys and Sorrows of Pioneer Life-Social Customs and Domes- tic Economy Wages and Cost of Living Strawn's Prairie Robbery of Jerimiah Strawn Birch's Con- fession Aaron Payne - Pioneer Plows Recollections of Mrs. Geo. Hiltabrand 218231 CHAPTER XXVIII. -Benjamin Lundy, Philanthropist and Abolitionist Efforts in Behalf of Universal Emancipation Old Time "Shivarees" Stealing a Squaw Indian Neighbors An Indian Sign of Peace A Girl who wanted to Marry 232245 CHAPTER XXIX. Ox Bow Prairie Early Settlers David Boyle's Primitive Cabin- Hard Times Indian Alarms Game Wolf Hunts The Devil Turned Informer Misplaced Confidence 246251 C'HAPTCR XXX Old Mills of Magnolia and Vicinity The First Orchard The Great Snow Incidents of the Sudden Freeze An Underground Railway Station Hunting Stories Home-made Cloth The Village of Mt. Palatine Churches Accidents and Incidents An Immense Pigeon Roost 252265 SENACHWINE TOWNSHIP. CHAPTER XXXI.- Topography and General Description Early Settlers- First Religious Services-Senach- wine's Indian Village Indians at Senachwine's Grave How a Woman Shot a Deer Senachwine Branch U. G. Railway-The Murder of McKee Sickness- Old Time Surgery 266275 GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP. CHAPTER XXXII.-Topograpby First Settlers-The Village of Granville Churches Labors in behalf of Education (Jranville Academy-Old School Houses An Obliging Tramp The Hopkin's Tragedy The Ramsay Tragedy Lynching of " Joe Smith "Harder of Dowhower Lost on the Prairie Anec- dotes. Incidents, Etc 276304 MARSHALL COUNTY. p Al}Eg> CHAPTER XXXIII.- Organization of the County Selecting a County Seat- -Topography of the County Election ot County Officers County Commissioners' Court Attempt to Impeach County Clerk dban- non Revenue from Taxes Organization of Townships Early Records Court Houses and Jails 307319 CHAPTER XXXIV. The Western Air Line Railroad-Miserable Failure of a Grand and Meritorious Pro- jectLiberal Local Investments in the Capital Stock President Schenck's Mission in Europe The Enterprise linineo. by the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion 320 321 LACON TOWNSHIP. CHAPTER XXXV. Topography and General Description The City of Lacon, its Location and Surround- ingsBusiness Beginnings Early Settlers Flouring Mill Built Ferry Established Pork Packing- Educational Interests Lacon Woolen Mill The Ferry 822344 CHAPTER XXXVI.! irganization of the Presbyterian Church in Licon, and List of Original Members M. E. Church Organized Successive Pastors of Lacon Circuit and Lacon Station The Baptist Church of Lacon Catholic Cnurch Congregational Church Episcopal Church Benevolent Societies News- papers The Bar Lacon in the War 345356 CHAPTEK XXXVII. Crow Creek and Vicinity First Settlers Crow Creek Mills Crow Creek Council " Free State '< *n Old Pioneer In Incident of the Black Hawk.War Wild Hogs An Indian Riot- Frozen to Death Cy Bowles and Big Bill Hoover 357-370 HENRY TOWNSHIP. CHAPTER XXXVIII.--General Description Pioneers of the Township The Town of Henry Early Im- provements Religions Organizations of Henry Educational Institutions Benevolent Societies Ni-wspapers of Henry Crow Meadow Prairie Dorchester Webster Hooper Warren Incident* and Items 371-390 HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP. CHAPTER XXXIX.- General Description Pioneer Settlors The First School House Saw and Grist Mills An Old-time Preacher Friendly Neighbors Mrs. White's Long Tramp Garni Incidents and Mis- " cellaneous Items 393402 ROBERTS TOWNSHIP. CHAPTER XU. Topography Shipping Facilities Early Settlers Varna Churches of Varna Lyons- Jesse T. Roberts James Hoyl Shaw's Point Chicago as a Grain Market in '29 Pioneer Fruit Cul- ture Forts Frozen to Death Tuefts and Robberies ADen of Wolves A Night of Terror Snakes- Ague Incidents 403421 BELLE PLAIN TOWNSHIP. CH VP PER XLl. Description and Origin of the Name Old Settlers The First Schools La Rose Pattons- burg Churches of l':ittonsburu Births, Deaths and Marriages Indians A Horse plays Detective- Hydrophobia Horse Stealing Accidents and Incidents 422433 BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. CHAPTER XLII. Organization and Topography Rutland Antioch Church Geological Puzzles V Tor- nado A Deer Hunt Daring the Deep Snow of 1854 Losing a Midwife 434- 439 EVANS TOWNSHIP. CHAP I EH XLIII. General Description Pioneers Survev of Lands Other Pettlers Valuable Improve- ments Thoroughbred Cattle and Blooded Horses Sandy Precinct Politics Churches Schools Wenona Schools of Wenona Benevolent Societies Churches of Wenona Wenona Union Fair Evans Station Incidents and Items Newspapers i 440463 HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP. CHAPTER XLIV. Topography Round Prairie First Settlers Col. John Strawn Bell's Tavern- Early Schools Phelps Chapel The Barnes and Dever Fort John Wier The Murder of McNeil First Funeral in Marshall County Kapid Growth of Timber Nathan Owen's Grave Yard Anecdotes and Inciden-s 464-490 LA PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP. CHAPTER XLV. Description The Banner Township H,.w Named First Settlers-Schools-Edwin S. Jones Churches of the Township The Town Hall Stages Lawn Ridge Chambersburg Troy City Lost and Frozen in the Snow Mystery- of Mike W.vle> Sad Death of Widow Evaus Mysterious Disappearance of Willis Wolf Hunting The D. G. R. B. A Scotchman's Apostacy Patriotic Citi- zensAccidents and Incidents 491516 SARATOGA TOWNSHIP. p AOEg CHAPTER XLVI. Topography and General Description Saratoga Lake First Settlers War Record of Saratoga Township A Mirage on the Prairie Centreville 517621 WHITEFIELD TOWNSHIP. CHAPTER XLVII. General Description Firt Settler*- Religious Societies Schools Reeves, the Outlaw, and his dang Their Expulsion and Subseqent History The Harder of James Shine Incidents and Miscellaneous Items 522538 STEUBKN TOWNSHIP. CHAPTER XLTIII.-How Named Description of the Township Early Settlers The Old Schools Relig- ious Iteins Indians of Sparland anu Yicinitj Scalped by Indians Doc. Allen Anecdotes and In- cidents 539-654 TH3: UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. CHAPTER XL1X. Slavery in the Colonies Early Efforts ti Extinguish the System Rapid growth of Pub- lic Sentiment Pioneers in the Cituse of EniHncipation Anecdotes and Incidents The "Agents" of the Road 655573 THE INDIANS. CHAPTER L. Black Partridge Illinois Indians in the vVar of 1812-The Hunter Hermit of Crow Creek Shick Shack and his Tribe Indians making Sugar 574- 584 THE ILLINOIS RIVER. CHAPTER LI.- Early Steamboating Terror with which the first Steamboat Inspired the Indians Keel and Flatboating 685587 THE GRAVES TRAGEDY. CHAPTER I.H. The Reed and Donner Party Overwhelmed in a Snow Storm in the Sierra Nevada Moun- tainsDeath of John Snyder Other Deaths from Starvation and Exposure A Forlorn Hope 588601 CHAPTER Llll.-Contmuation of the Narrative of the Graves Tragedy Horrible Suffering at Starved Cainp A Relief Party organized for the Rescue of the Survivor? 602610 CHAPTER LIV. The Narrative of the Graves Tragedy continued A Mother at Starved Camp 611-618 CHAPTER LV. Continuation of the Narrative of the Graves Tragedy The Rescue Arrival of Capt. Fal- lon's Relief Party The Awful Spectacle which met their sight Keseburg's Statement The Sur- vivors 619632 BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT. Hennepin Township. Putnam County 635 653 Magnolia " " " 654-662 Grmville " ' " . 663-670 Senachwine " " '" 671680 Lacou " Marshall " : 681-695 Henry " " " 696-707 Evans " " " 708-728 Hopewell " " " 729-733 Roberta " " 734-737 BellePlain " " 738-789 Bennington " " " ' 740-741 Riciiland " " 742-743 LaPrairie " " " 744750 Stenben " " " 761756 Saratoga " " " 757758 Whitefield " " ' " 759-763 APPENDIX. Sandy Creek O. S. Baptist Church Clear Creek Cumberland Presbyterian Church Eman- uel Church of Granville - Mt. Palatine Congregational Church First Baptist Church of Lacon Cum- beiland Presbyterian Church of Evans Township -Bethel Church, Steuben Sparland Additional Biographies 766 771 ERRA.T4 '. 772 xvi. n "TliLr T~ ""1 " L ZEE ID RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME; ]?ifTY -OR,- ON THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. CHAPTER I. VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS. the 14th of October, 1492, Christopher Columbus, a Genoese mariner in the service of the King of Spain,. while sailing westward in search of a new route to the Indies, discovered the island of San Salvador, then believed to be a new con- tinent. This voyage of Columbus, in its results of so vast importance to the civilized world, was inspired by a firm belief in the theory of the earth's rotundity, and an enthusi- astic desire to demonstrate its correctness; for though in the year 1356, one hundred and thirty-six years before, Sir John Mande- ville, in the first English book ever written, had advanced this idea, and clearly proved its correctness by astronomical observations and deductions of rejnarkable accuracy ; and though others had vaguely entertained a similar belief, none possessed the hardihood to attempt its practical demon- stration. For ten years Columbus, an enthusiast upon the subject, (aban- doning his profession, had traveled from court to court throughout Europe, seeking a patron of intelligence, enterprise and means, and finally succeeded in securing for his plans the earnest sympathy and approval of the noble Isabella, Queen of Castile, and her husband Ferdinand, King of Spain, through whose material aid he was enabled to test the correctness of his views. Immediately upon the result of this wonderful expedition becoming known, different nations vied with each other in endeavors to advance their knowledge of this strange land, and each sought to secure to itself 18 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. t the greatest possible advantages to be derived from conquering, subduing and colonizing the new world. To Columbus was due the honor of finding, if not the lost and long soxight Atlantis, what was of greater consequence, vast coiintries, destined in time to contain half the popula- tion of the whole earth. While he discovered San Salvador, Ciiba, Hayti and Jamaica the rich West Indies he merely got a glimpse of South America, at the mouth of the Orinoco, and never saw any portion of the northern half of the continent, the future seat of empire of the new world. Though he was the actiial discoverer of the Western Hemisphere, to which his name should have been given, he was denied that honor. He first landed upon San Salvador, after which he visited Conception, Cuba and Hayti. On the shores of the Bay of Caracola, in the last-named island, was erected out of the timbers of one of his vessels a fort, the first stnic- ture built by white men in the new world. While correct in his opinions regarding the figure of the earth, Colum- bus made a great mistake in his estimate of its size, believing it to be not more than ten or twelve thousand miles in circumference; and upon this assumption he was confident that by this route he could reach, if, in- deed, he had not already reached China and the East Indies. Encour- aged by his partial success, in September of 1493 he sailed on a second voyage, which resulted in the discoveiy of the Windward group of islands. On this voyage, also, he established a colony in Hayti, appointing his 1 >rother Governor. After an absence of three years, he returned to Spain, to find himself the victim of jealousies and suspicions, but so far overcame them as to organize another expedition. On this third voyage he discovered Trinidad and the main land of South America at the mouth of the Orinoco. Sailing thence to Hayti, he found his colony in disorder, his brother deposed, and was himself seized by Bobadilla, the usurping Governor, and sent to Spain in irons. A disgraceful imprisonment followed, but through the influence of friends he was liberated and sent on his fourth and last voyage. He coasted along the main shore of South America for some time, but disap- pointed in the object of his search a route to the East Indies he re- turned to Spain, and soon after died, a broken-hearted old man. After Columbus, the work of discoveiy was prosecuted with untiring energy. One of his captains was Americas Vespucci, who in 1499 visited the main land and coasted along its shores for several leagues; but beyond demonstrating that the land to the west of the Windward group of islands NAMING THE NEW WORLD. 19 was not connected with them or with the Bahamas, he accomplished veiy little. He was a pompous man, with a plausible way of expressing himself, and on his return gave glowing accounts of his achievements, in which he adroitly omitted all reference to Columbus, and took the credit to himself of having discovered the new continent, likewise ignoring the fact that it was the genius of Columbus which had organized the first expedition, his courage that sustained the enteiprise, brought the voyage to so successful a teraiination, and rendered further discoveries an easy matter. It was Columbus who demonstrated that the earth was round, and that islands, and even continents yes, a hemisphere, was to be frmnd in the world of waters toward the setting sun. The wily Spaniard undermined the worthy Genoese, and won the honor due alone to him. The New World was named America, but the great, the lasting fame of its discovery remains with him whose prow first ploughed the Western seas. While the adventurous of all nations participated in the exploration of the New World during the succeeding century, the Spaniards, disappointed in their thirst for gold and plunder among the natives of North America, . their rapacity inflamed by glowing accounts of the wealth of the Incas, and doubtless also influenced by the more congenial climate, directed their attention almost wholly to Mexico and South America, inflicting upon those countries to this day the enervating heritage of their own indolent, lawless and revolutionary propensities. Important discoveries within the territory now embraced by the United States were made by Spanish explorers, of which brief mention will be made in their proper connection, but the colonization and development of North America was fortunately left almost wholly to hardy pioneers from the more northerly European countries. 20 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. CHAPTEK II. ANCIENT EXPLORERS. *HILE to Spain is accorded the honor of having discovered the new world, there is a strong probability that the little sea-girt, ice-bound island in mid-ocean between Greenland and Norway, appropriately named Iceland, may justly dispute this distinguished claim. Away back as far as A. D. 986, an Icelandic navigator named Herjulfson, who had made a few voyages for trading purposes between his country and Greenland, while heading toward the land of the Esquimaux, was caught in a storm and driven on the coast of Lab- rador. He saw there a low outline of rocky and wooded shore, far different from that of Greenland. Although sufficiently near, a heavy sea prevented him from landing, and he coasted along until a favorable wind bore him homeward to tell to incredulous ears the wonderful story. Fourteen years afterward Lief Erickson, another Icelander, inspired by the story of Herjulfson, determined to test its truth, and gathering a crew of hardy Norse sailors, embarked, and in the spring of 1001 touched the coast of Maine, and thence drifted southward. Here he saw wonderful woods and flowers and wild game such as he had never before beheld, be- sides strange red men, wholly unlike the Esquimaux. _ This to him was a tropical clime, a region of enchanting loveliness, and his crew were loth to leave it. His brother Thorwald came in the following season, and died near Fall River, Massachusetts. Afterward others followed, including Thorfin Karlsefne, who, with a crew of 150 men, explored the entire coast of the New England States, entered New York Harbor, and established friendly relations with the Indians, giving the region the name of Vinland. From time to time as late as 1437, Icelandic explorers visited the north-eastern shores of this continent, but failed to establish permanent commercial relations with the Indians, having little to exchange, and small demand for what the aborigines had to barter. The gradually increasing ICELANDIC EXPLORATIONS. 21 severity of the arctic climate finally caused all Icelandic voyages hither to cease; but the story of their adventures and discoveries exists in legend and histoiy, and the claim that they first discovered America has a sub- stantial basis of fact to rest upon. Subsequently, in various places along the New England coast have been found relics of a strange race, such as spears and shields, helmets, lances, battle axes, and other weapons of war siich as the Northmen iised in the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth centuries. Culinary utensils have like- wise been found of the exact pattern of those of ancient Norway. The people of Iceland, unlike the Esqiiimaux, are clearly Europeans, in form, habits, religion and color, and their resemblance to their neighbors of Norway, six hundred miles eastward, is unmistakable. Between Iceland and the northernmost point of Scotland the distance is about five hundred miles, with the Faroe Isles intervening midway. But there seems little question of the Norwegian descent of the Icelanders. They connect them- selves by their chronicles with the former country, which they left in open boats ages ago. They have old legends, religious beliefs and superstitions and ancient traditions in common with the mother country, and trace themselves to European ancestry. Their chronicles of the discovery of America are equally clear and credible. That they could have crossed from Norway 500 or 600 miles of sea, in open boats, with island resting places between shores, is no longer doubtful, since only recently the broad Atlantic was crossed in a frail craft navigated by a single daring mariner and his adventurous wife. A few years ago, beneath a rock near the coast was found the skeleton of a man encased in armor; and an ancient paper among the archives of Iceland tells how a sailor was killed in a skirmish with the natives, and his remains buried where he fell, at the foot of a precipice. 22 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. CHAPTER III. THE GARDEN SPOT OF THE WORLD. discovery of America was an event of great consequence to Europe. It not only marked out a new career for many of her people, but changed the destinies of whole nations. The safety of a tyrant lies in the ignorance and supersti- tion of his subjects. Knowledge is not only power, but freedom itself. The people were becoming enlightened, and in proportion as they advanced in wisdom, so the chains of political servitude became more galling, and far-off America, with her grassy plains, broad savannahs, leafy woods and crystal streams, loomed up before the oppressed as a land of promise. Monarchy was in danger when the spirit of freedom was aroused, and it became a question of Revolution or Emigration; and both the people and their rulers saw in the latter the surer, safer course. The people who first settled here found a wonderful contrast between the sterile soil of the old world, where the fanner forced a scanty subsis- tence from land not his own, and the broad forest regions of New England or the mountainous declivities of Virginia or North Carolina; for the land, though hilly, was rich virgin soil ; and above all, it was free. Whatever the farmer raised was his own beyond the reach of rapacious tithes-gath- erers. To fell and clear these vast forests and remove from the sunny hillsides the stone was joyful work, since it was to make free homes for free men and their children forever. This labor of love would cause the wilderness to blossom as the rose. Luckily, the hardy pioneers who cleared the bleak hills of New Eng- land little dreamed of the far-off Eden of the West, made by nature ready for the plow, the richest, freest soil under the sun. For thousands of years, ever since man began to till the soil to get from it his bread, it had lain untamed, waiting the white man's coming. No soil had heretofore been found so rich as to require no dressing. No farm was believed possible until some one cut down the trees and removed the stumps and roots, or THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 23 dug up and carried away or sunk out of sight and reach of the plow the larger stones that cumbered the surface. To tell the Puritans of a land still more perfect than their own was to insult their judgment with a fictitious impossibility! And yet here lay this broad, beautiful, unsurpassably rich garden spot of the world. Here, extending from the copper mines and along the southern shore of the largest fresh water lake in the world Lake Su- perior, stretching around to the base of the Rocky Mountains, and thence eastward to the AUeghanies and south to the Gulf of Mexico, enclosing the mightiest lakes and the longest livers of the world the peerless Mississippi, the turbulent but even larger Missouri, the Platte, the Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Tennessee, and many others, forming together a perfect system of drainage and fertilization, lay this grand country, the great Mississippi Valley, the richest agricultural region under the sun, so far as human knowledge goes. A great discoveiy was that of this grand central plain, once the basin of a vast inland sea long ages ago, when hideous monsters of the coal period disported themselves among the luxuriant weeds that grew as trees, and gigantic saurians hid beneath their branches or lazily wallowed in the oozy marsh. Long cycles of time have passed since this great inter-conti- nental ocean between the rising hills of the East and the frowning moun- tains of the West subsided its flood and slowly, by degrees marked by centuries, the finished world emerged from its Chaotic beginning. During that vast intermediate, space what mighty throes of nature has it witnessed, what Titanic convulsions has it experienced? Then came great floods of water and intense heat, followed by the glacial or cold period, when for centuries fields of ice hundreds of feet in depth ploughed up the surface and harrowed down the hills till, after eons of ages, came man- not historic man, with his progressive faculties, but the pre-historic first attempt of nature toward the genus homo, the dweller in caves, possessing an abun- dance of low cunning,, and fighting his way with sticks and stones among the swarming monsters .of earth and sea. Then came the mound-builders and what is known as the Stone Age, supplemented "by what are termed the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Whether these periods resulted from gradual progress, or were rudely broken off by long intervals of time, is not certain. History tells that after the fall of Greece and Rome came the Dark Ages, and man seemed to have degenerated thousands of years. So between the strongly marked characteristics of pre-historic races there 24 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. may have been wide gaps of time, and nations rose and fell unnoted and unknown. The Indians whom our ancestors found here, in arts and sciences were far behind the ancient people who once inhabited this country. They did not have the sagacity to provide for inclement weather or old age. Each day was for itself; and so their lives ran, either a feast or a famine. They had no traditions of former races, and knew nothing of their own previous history. The numerous mounds that covered the country excited neither interest nor. enthusiasm, and the red man is best described by Pope in the following lines : " To be, contents his natural desire ; He asks no angel's wing nor seraph's fire, But thinks, admitted to that equal sky, His faithful dog shall beat him company." THE FATHER OF WATERS. The Mississippi River was first discovered by the Spaniards, in- the year 1541, at a point near its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico. Two years later Father Hennepin voyaged down the Illinois River to its confluence with the Mississippi, and launching his craft upon its rapid current, jour- neyed to the falls of St. Anthony, and returning, went as far southward as the thirty-third parallel, near the mouth of the Arkansas. These long voyages were prompted by Utopian dreams, the Spaniards seeking the fabled fountain of eternal youth, and the French a shorter route to China. In 1512, Juan Poncj de Leon, Spanish Governor of Porto Rico, one of the West India Islands, rich and avaricious, but growing old, fitted out a fleet and sailed in search of the fabled spring. On ths 27th of March, he came upon the coast of a wonderful land, abounding in limpid springs and wood-crowned hills, gay with gorgeous flowers, and tenanted by gaudy plumaged bii'ds. He named this enchanting country Florida, " the land of flowers." Landing near the site of what is now the city of St. Augustine, the oldest town built by white men on this continent, and claiming the country for the King of Spain, he promptly organized and vigorously prose- cuted his search for the fabulous fountain. After many weeks of fruitless exploration among the everglades and flower-laden groves, he turned southward, discovered and named the Tortugas, doubled Cape Florida, and returned to Porto Rico. The king, to compensate him for the discovery, NARVAEZ DE SOTO PONCE DE LEON. 25 made him Governor of Florida, and sent him to establish a colony. He re- turned in 1521, to find the natives intensely hostile, instead of friendly and hospitable as before, and had scarcely landed ere they fell upon him in overwhelming numbers and drove his men to their ships, Ponce de Leon himself being so severely wounded that he died soon after reaching Cuba, for which point his expedition sailed in precipitate haste. In A. D. 1528, Narvaez was appointed Governor of Florida by the King of Spain, and sailed for that province with a force of two hundred and sixty footmen and forty horsemen. He landed at Tampa Bay in April, and went northward in search of gold and conquest; but where he hoped to find ancient cities and vast empires abounding in wealth, he discovered only morasses, lagoons and savages. After weeks of peril and hardship they reached the coast, built light barges, and put to sea, but were driven by storms again upon the shore. Here Narvaez died. His lieutenant, De Vaca, at length reached the Spanish settlements in Mexico with a handful of men, having, as some historians allege, discovered the Mississippi on his way. As he seems not to have claimed that honor, however, and failed to formally take possession of it in the name of the King of Spain, as other Spanish discoverers were wont to do, his government never accred- ited him with that achievement. In 1537, Ferdinand de Soto, a distinguished cavalier of Spain and bosom friend of Pizarro, who as conqueror of Peru had just returned loaded with the wealth of the Incas, was made Governor of Florida, and came with six hundred men to conquer and subdue the country, expecting to find it a second Peru in wealth. His. men were representatives of the nobility of Spain, clad in knightly armor, and they came with all the pomp and cir- cumstance of conquerors, bringing shackles for slaves, bloodhounds for hunting, and priests to conduct their religious exercises. In June, 1539, they first caught sight of land, but instead of the wondrous beauty deline- ated in Ponce de Leon's painting, they beheld but a silent beach of marshy waste and gloomy morass. Somu of the mon deserted and returned to Cuba. Landing. with the remainder of his forco, DJ Soto marched north- ward, wading swamps, .swimming rivers, and fighting the Indians who hovered about his line of march, harrassing his column and seeking to im- pede his progress. They wintered in the country of the Apalachiana, on the left bank of Flint River, and in the spring of 1540 resumed their tedious journey, wandering through the interminable wilderness until about April or May of 1541, when they reached the lower Chickasaw Bluff, a 26 KECOEDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. little north of the thirty-fourth parallel, where they discovered the Missis- sippi River. After crossing the " Father of Waters," a tedious process, requiring several weeks' time, they journeyed to the north-west tlmnigh Arkansas to the southern limits of Missouri, in the vicinity of New Mad- rid, thence west about two hundred miles, then south to the Hot Springs, where they arrived in the winter of 1541-2. They were guilty of many cruelties to the Indians, who were superstitious, and became easy victims to the duplicity of the gaudily attired Spaniards. Disappointed in finding wealth and spoils, they destroyed Indian towns and villages on their route, and cruelly mutilated their captives or burned them alive in pun- ishment for real, imaginary or pretended offences. But in the mean- time De Soto and his followers suffered terribly, sickness and death rapidly decimating their ranks. At length they turned eastward and again reached the Mississippi River, where De Soto, broken in health and spirits, gave way to melancholy, succumbed to the malarial fever incident to the climate and country, and finally died. His body was taken to the middle of the stream by his sorrowing companions, a requiem was chanted, and in a rustic coffin enclosing them, the remains of Ferdinand De Soto were buried be- neath the rolling waters of that mighty river whose discovery was the only important result of all his weary wanderings. His companions, after many months of further desultory travel over Texas, again reached the Missis- sippi, near the mouth of Red River, where they built seven brigantines. In these they floated down the river to its mouth, whence they steered southwesterly across the Gulf of Mexico, and after fifty-five days' buffeting the terrible coast waves, three hundred and eleven survivors of this ill-fated expedition reached a Spanish settlement at the mouth of the River of Palms. Other Spanish expeditions, notably those of Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, Pamphilo de Narvaez and Pedro Melendez, visited portions of North America now comprised within the limits of the United States, mainly in- stigated by greed and characterized by atrocious cruelties, but devoid of important results. Spain retained possession of Louisiana, Florida and Texas, the former until the year 1800, when it was ceded to France and in turn purchased by the United States; Florida until' Feb. 22, 1819, when it was likewise purchased by the United States; and of Texas until 1821, when it passed into the nominal possession of Mexico, only, however, to raise the standard of insurrection, achieve speedy independence and sue for ad- mission to the glorious sisterhood of States when the galling hand of des- potism bore too heavily upon the rights and liberties of her people. FRENCH EXPLORATIONS. 27 SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. CHAPTER IV. EXPLORATIONS OF THE FRENCH. | 8 EARLY as 1 504, fishermen from the north of France sought the shores of New Foundland to ply their trade. A well executed map made in 1 50ft, and found among the archives of the nation, defines the outlines of the Gulf of St. Law- rence and the fishing grounds very accurately. In 1508 two Indians picked up at sea were carried to France and edu- cated, afterward becoming very serviceable as interpreters. In 1501 Gaspar Cortereal, a Portuguese seaman, sailed on a voyage of discovery, and striking the continent somewhere near the latitude of Maine, coasted northward a distance of seven hundred miles, until near the fiftieth parallel, when floating ice stopped further progress. Returning, he captured about fifty Indian fishermen, and took them to Portugal, where they were sold as slaves. In 1523 an expedition was fitted out in France, consisting of four small vessels, three of which were wrecked in a storm before leaving the coast, but the fourth, the Dolphin, reached the coast of North Carolina, from whence the commander sailed northward as far as New Foundland, where he landed and took possession of the country in the name of the king, his master, and named it New France. In 1534 France sent a new and successful explorer to further view her new possessions here, in the person of James Cartier, who, after cruising about Nova Scotia and New Foundland, went north and westward, enter- ing the estuaiy of a broad river, which he named, in honor of his patron, St. Lawrence. He sailed up this great river past the island of Orleans, and extending his journey, reached a beautiful village at the foot of a hill in the middle of an island, the location of which had been described to him by captive Indians. Ascending the hill and discovering the surroundings fully confirmative of what had been described by his Indian guides, he named the place Mont Real, and with the usual ceremony took possession in the name of the King of France. 28 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. In 1541, about the date of De Soto's discovery of the Mississippi River, Cartier organized a new expedition from France. The fabulous stories of great wealth to be had without labor in the new world were now exploded, and the spirit of adventure was dying out; volunteers were slow to offer their services, and the king being appealed to, opened the prisons, filled with vei-rain from all parts of Europe, and proclaimed a free pardon for all who enlisted, excepting only such as were under sentence for coun- terfeiting or treason. By this means Cartier's complement was speedily made up, and with a crew of thieves, robbers and cut-throats, the future founders of a western empire, he reached the present site of Quebec, where he passed the winter. For the next fifty years the French seem to have made no effort to colonize New France, or to explore its territory. In 1(503 De Monts was appointed Governor of the country from the latitude of Philadelphia to one degree north of Montreal. In 1604 he arrived, and after some reverses of fortune, in 1 (505 founded a permanent settlement on the northwest coast of Nova Scotia, and the whole countiy and surrounding islands, with the mainland as far south as the St. Croix River, was named Acadia. In 1(508 Champlain, discoverer of the lake which bears his name, fore- seeing in the fur trade of that region a profitable business, susceptible of unlimited expansion, established trading posts for the advancement of that industry, and founded Quebec. He vigorously prosecuted this industry, the new world's contribution to commerce, yearly extending it up the river. until 1(524, when Fort St. Louis was completed, securing the French in their permanent occupancy of the St. Lawrence Valley. During this period the Jesuits of France were turning their attention to the far-off region of the then Northwest in America, with a view to planting the cross of the Catholic Church and converting to its tenets the inhabitants of this benighted wilderness. While priests had accompanied every expedition here, none had come as missionaries; but in 1(532 Paul La Jeune, De None, and a lay brother named Gilbert sailed from Rouen for "that miserable country," as they called it, arriving at Quebec in the month of July. Le Jeune's first missionary effort was made while seated on a log, an Indian boy on one side, arid a little negro, an attache of the garrison, on the other. As neither understood the language of the others, their pro- gress in spiritual mattere must have been small. After learning the Indian language, he was better satisfied with his MARQUETTE PRIEST AND EXPLORER. 29 labors. Others joined him, ambitious young missionaries from the mother country, and sometimes folowing, more often preceding the fur traders up to and around the chain of the great lakes, they founded posts and missions throughout the far North-west to the southern shores of Lake Superior. Brave, resolute and self-sacrificing men were those pioneer missionaries. Voluntarily forsaking home, friends and country, they went out into the far-off wilderness before untrodden save by savage feet, devoting their lives to the propagation of their religious faith. Sublime faith, indeed, which prompted these heroic apostles of Christianity to place their lives in momentary jeopardy, with death in its most terrible fomi a continual menace. The death of Jean De Brebeuf, the founder of the Huron Mis- sion in Canada, together with his companion, Lalemont, was horrible be- yond description, and has never been exceeded in brutal ferocity or intensity of suffering. Savage ingenuity in torture could no farther go than in the horrible maiming, flaying alive and burning of these martyr pioneers. In 1632, four years before the missions were formed among the lake tribes, a grand council of Indian tribes was held at the falls of St. Mary, at the outlet of Lake Superior. In 1660 Mesnard established a station near the lake, but perished in the woods soon after. In 1668 Claude Dablon and James or Jacques Marquette, afterward a leading character in the history of Western exploration, established the mission of Sault Ste. Marie, and two years later Nicholas Perrot, agent for M. Talon, Governor General of Canada, explored Lake Michigan (then Lake Illinois) to its southern limits, or near the present site of Chicago. Marquette also founded a mission at Point Saint Ignace, across the Strait of Mackinaw. During Marquette's residence in that region he learned of the existence of a great sea or river away to the west, the Indian descriptions of which varied greatly; also, that great tribes of Indians inhabited this far off region, among them the Winnebagoes, or sea tribe, who had never seen the face of white man, nor heard of the Gospel. In 1634 Jean Nicolet, a Frenchman who had come to Canada in 1618, was sent to the Green Bay country to visit the Winnebagoes. He was the first white man they had ever seen. To produce the greatest possible effect, "when he approached their town he sent some of his Indian at- tendants to announce his coming, put on a robe of damask, and firing his pistols, advanced to meet the expectant crowd. The squaws and children fled, screaming that it was a manitou [god] or spirit, armed with SO fcECORDS 6F THE OLDEN TIME. thunder and lightning; but the chiefs and warriors regaled him with so bountiful a hospitality that a hundred and twenty beavers were devoured at a single feast." Paul Le Jeune in 1640 also wrote of the sea tribe, or Winnebagoes, and their mighty water, or sea. Nicolet undertook to visit this far away region. Ascending Fox River, he crossed the portage to the Wisconsin, and thence floated down to where his guides assured him he was "within three days of the great water," which he mistook for the sea; but he returned without visiting it. Aboxit this time the Governor of New France, excited by vague reports of a great unknown river in the far West, and believing it might empty into the Pacific or the South Sea, set on foot an expedition to solve the question and open up new territories for his sovereign. He cast about for some one qualified to undertake this expedition, and settled upon Louis Joliet, a daring fur trader of Quebec and a native Canadian, educated by the Jesuits for the priesthood ; and to accompany him as priest, the equally venturesome and brave Marquette was chosen. Their outfit was simple, consisting of two birch-bark canoes and a supply of smoked meat and Indian corn. On the 17th of May, 1673, they set out from Mackinaw with five French Canadians as assistants, and passing the straits, and along the northern shores of Lake Michigan, reached Green Bay and sailed up Fox River to a village of the Miamis and Kickapoos. Here Marquette was delighted to find a beautiful cross in the middle of the town, orna- mented with white skins and bows and arrows, offerings of the heathen to their Manitou, or god. The pioneers were regaled with mineral waters, and instmcted in the secrets of a root which cured the bite of the rat- tlesnake. Marquette assembled the chiefs and pointed out Joliet to them as an envoy of France, while he introduced himself as an embassador of God to enlighten them with the Gospel. Two guides were furnished to conduct them to the Wisconsin River. The guides led them across the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, and left them to launch their barques on its xuiknown waters and float to regions where white men had never yet ventured. As they started on that strange voyage, they remembered the warnings received at an Indian village a few days before, on Fox River, where they tarried. The chiefs advised them "to go no further; that the banks of the great river were inhabited by ferocious tribes, who put all strangers to death; that the river was full of frightful monsters, some of which were large enough to swallow a canoe with all its DISCOVEKY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 1 contents; that at a high cliff by the river side lived a demon, whose roar was so loud as to shake the earth and destroy all boats passing up or down the stream ; and that the great liver was full of cataracts and whirl- pools which would surely engulf and destroy them." But Father Marquette had before starting put all his tnist in the "Blessed Virgin," and made a solemn vow that if he discovered the great river he would give it the name of "The Conception," in her honor. So the voyagers floated on, and were not afraid. After four days of rapid sailing they reached the mouth of the river, and on their right lay the ter- raced plain afterward the site of the fort and city of Frame du Chien. A couple of days they tarried, and then launched their frail barques on the broad bosom of the "Father of Waters," "with a joy that could not be expressed." Turning southward, they paddled down the rapid stream, their voyage unrelieved by the faintest trace of civilized life, but encountering at inter- vals and viewing with wonder great herds of buffalo. Marquette describes the fierce yet stupid and bewildered look, the mixture of fear and defiance of the old bulls of the herds who stood staring at the intruders through the tangled manes of their bushy heads as the canoes floated past. They proceeded with extreme caution, not knowing what moment the savage war-whoop might startle their ears, the prelude to their capture or speedy death ; landing at night to cook their meals, and hiding their retreat as well as they could, or anchored in the stream, always keeping a sentinel on watch. Thus they journeyed a fortnight without meeting a human being, when on the 25th of June they saw foot-prints of men in the mud on the west branch of a stream. Joliet and Marquette followed the trail at a hazard- ous venture across a prairie two leagues, when they discovered an Indian village on the banks of a river, probably near the present site of Burling- ton, Iowa. Here they found a tribe of Illinois Indians, and were welcomed in the fashion of these people. "An extensive feast of four courses was set. First came a wooden bowl of Indian meal, boiled with grease, the master of ceremonies feeding his guests like infants, with a spoon; next a platter of fish, the same functionary carefully removing the bones with his fingers and blowing on the morsels to cool them before placing them in the strangers' mouths. A large dog, killed for the occasion, furnished the next course; but not relishing this, a dish of fat buffalo meat ended the feast." S2 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. Next morning, escorted by six hundred of the people, the Frenchmen re- turned to the river and resumed their journey. They passed the mouth of the Illinois, discovering "The Ruined Castles," as they named the fantastic markings of the rocks at that point, produced by the action of the elements. The superstitious fears of the Canadian attendants were here aroused by the sight on the face of the rock of a pair of painted monsters, "with horns like a deer, red eyes, and a beard like a tiger; the face resembled that of a man, the body was covered with scales, and the tail was so long that it passed entirely around the body, over the head and between the legs, ending like that of a fish." This rock was near the site of the present city of Alton, and represented the Indian manitou, or god. Soon after passing these monsters they encountered another terror, a torrent of yellow mud, rushing across the current of the clear, blue Missis- sippi, boiling, surging, and sweeping in its course logs, branches, and uprooted trees. " This was the great Missouri River, where that savage streajn, descending in its mad career through a vast unknown region of barbarism, potired its turbid floods into the bosom of its gentle sister." Their light canoes were whirled on the surface of the muddy vortex like dry leaves in the eddies of an angry brook. They passed the lonely forest which covered the site of the future city of St. Louis, passed the mouth of the river upon which the Indians be- stowed the well-deserved name of "Ohio," meaning "Beautiful River," and still floating onward, reached the region of perpetual summer, the reedy, marsh-lined shores buried in dense forests of cane, with its tall, straight stems and feathery foliage, the land of cotton and siigar. Above the mouth of the Arkansas they found a tribe of Indians who had evidently been in communication with Europeans, for they were armed with guns, knives and hatchets, wore garments of cloth, and carried their gunpowder in bottles of thick glass. Here they were cheered by the in- telligence that they were only ten days from the mouth of the great river, when in fact more than one thousand miles remained to be traversed ere its waters found an outlet and mingled with those of the Gulf of Mexico. Floating down the stream day after day, past marsh-lined shores covered with evergreens, from which depended long streamers of funereal moss, the dreary monotony and awful stillness almost frightened them, and they grew strangely superstitious. Near the mouth of the Arkansas River they landed at an Indian village, and found the inhabitants intensely MARQUETTE'S RETURN TIP THE ILLINOIS. 33 hostile, threatening extermination; but a little strategy saved them. A few days later they encountered another tribe of naked savages, who proved as hospitable as the others were hostile. They were feasted pro- fusely, and in return Marquette made them some simple presents and set up a large cross on shore. By this time they were convinced the Mississippi neither flowed into the Pacific Ocean nor the Gulf of California, and disheartened by reports of savage tribes below, and wearied with their long voyage, Marquette determined on returning, and on the 17th of June the voyagers turned their prows up the stream. The fierce rays of the sun beat upon their unprotected heads, and Marquette was prostrated with dysenteiy, which came near ending his life ; but his strong constitution carried him through until a healthier climate was reached, when he rapidly recovered. VOYAGE UP THE ILLINOIS RIVER. These intrepid travelers had discovered the Mississippi, and rode upon its broad bosom from the Wisconsin to within a few hundred miles of its mouth, passing successively, at the confluence of each with the majestic stream upon which they journeyed, the Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas and other mighty rivers, and were now about to extend their discoveries by a voyage up the Illinois, whose limpid waters and wood-crowned hills no white man had ever yet beheld. They entered its mouth probably in August, 1673, and followed its course, "charmed as they went with its placid waters, its shady forests, and rich plains grazed by the bison and the deer." The beauty of the river was highly extolled by Marquette. He says : "Nowhere on this journey have I seen a more pleasant country than on the banks of that river. The meadows are covered with wild oxen, stags, wild goats, and the rivers and lakes with bustards, swans, ducks and beavers. We saw, also, an abundance of parrots. Several small rivers fall into this, which is deep and broad for sixty-five leagues, and therefore navigable all the year long." On the way they stopped at a place ever afterward famous in the annals of western discovery, the great Illinois Town (near Utica, in 34 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. LaSalle County), called "Kaskaskia," a name afterward transferred to a French village in another pail of Illinois. Here a young chief with a band of warriors offered to guide the explorers to Lake Illinois (now Lake Michigan), whither they went, and coasting its shores, reached Green Bay at the end of September, having, in an absence of about four months, paddled in their Jcanoes a distance of over two thousand five hundred miles, traversed the Wisconsin, the Illinois and Lake Michigan, discov- ered the Mississippi, and explored the great valley for two-thirds of its entire length from north to south. Marque tte rested awhile from the severe strain to his mental and physical organization resulting from his long and perilous expedition, and then resumed his labors among the Indians. He visited the Illinois tribes again, established " missions " at several places in the Northwest, and finally, when, old and worn out, as he was traversing the southern shore of Lake Michigan, death overtook him. Retiring to pray, as was his wont, and being absent longer than usual, his attendants sought his retreat and found him dead upon his knees. His faithful Indians placed the remains in a rude bark coffin and bore him upon their shoulders for sixty miles, to his friends, where he was accorded Christian burial. Afterward the little chapel be- neath which he was interred was burned down, the mission was moved elsewhere, and for many years the site of his grave was lost, until acci- dent revealed |it. Nearly two hundred years later a project was set on foot to erect a monument to his memory, but which has not at this writ- ing been carried into effect. It is said that for many years after the death of Marquette, French sailors on the lakes kept his picture' nailed to the masthead of their ves- sels, as a guardian angel, and when overtaken by storms, would pray to him, beseeching him to calm the winds and still the troubled waters, that they might reach port in safety. Joliet, on leaving Marquette at Green Bay, at the conclusion of their eventful voyage, started to Quebec to make his official report to Governor Frontenac; but at the foot of the rapids of La Chine his canoe was over- turned, two of his men drowned and all his papers lost, himself narrowly escaping. In his letter to Count Frontenac, he says : "I have escaped every peril from Indians, I have passed forty-two rapids, and was on the point of disembarking, full of joy at the final completion of so long and difficult an enterprise, when my canoe capsized, and I lost two men and THE DEATH OF JOLIET. 35 my box of papers within sight of the French settlements which I had left two years before." After a long and useful life in the employ of his government, he died in 1699 or 1700, and was buried on one of the Islands of Mignon. 36 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. CHAPTER V. CAVELIER DE LA SALLE. 1643 was born at Rouen, France, Robert Cavelier, known as La Salle. He had wealthy parents, and was well educated. A Catholic, his training was conducted by the Jesuits, but he seems not to have been over-zealous in his religion. He had an older brother in Canada, and to him he sailed to view the new country and carve out a career for himself. Soon after his arrival his genius began to manifest itself. The priests of St. Surplice, of which order his brother was a member, desired to establish a line of posts along the great lakes to the farthest limits of French discovery, to secure the fur trade and control the Indians. Young La Salle was chosen to lead this enterprise. He did his work well, and in the meantime mastered the Iroquois and seven or eight other Indian languages and dialects. He had heard of a river which the Indians called the Ohio, which he was told by them rose in their country, flowing into the sea, but its mouth was eight or nine months' journey from them. He concluded that the Ohio and Mississippi merged into one, and, thus united, flowed into the " Vermillion Sea" or Gulf of California, and must be the long-sought route to China. After many de- lays, he succeeded in fitting out an expedition, descended the Ohio to the falls at Louisville, and returned. During the years 1669-70 and '71, La- Salle's whereabouts seem to have been an enigma to all historians. He has left records which establish a possibility that he discovered the Illi- nois and even the Mississippi Rivers, before Joliet and Marquette, but there is nothing positive to assure it. It is agreed that he seceded from an expedition of Jesuits organized at Fort St. Louis, Sept. 30, 1669, near the head of Lake Ontario, and, receiving the blessings of the priests, left them, ostensibly to return to Montreal. It seems that he busied himself in active explorations, kept a journal, and made maps, which were in ex- istence in the hands of his neice, Madeline Cavelier, as late as 1756, and then disappeared. It is claimed that among these papers was a statement showing that after leaving the priests he went from Lake Erie down the THE EXPLORATIONS OF LA SALLE. 37 Ohio, and thence followed the Mississippi to the thirty-third parallel ; also, another statement that in the winter of 1(><>9-70 he embarked on Lake Erie, passed around to Lake Michigan, crossed over to a river flowing westward (the Illinois), and following it down, entered a larger one flow- ing south (the Mississippi), and descended it to the thirty-sixth degree of latitude, where he stopped, assured that it discharged itself, not into the Gulf of California, hut that of Mexico. As he and the prietts had started on the same mission, that of discovering the great river, it may be that this report was manufactured so as to take the glory of this first dis- covery away from them ; but La Salle was a man of a far higher order of integrity and character than this supposition would imply. That he dis- covered the Ohio is certain, but whether he saw the Illinois before Joliet and Marquette is doubtful, and the alleged voyage by him to the Missis- sippi is still more so. In 1678 La Salle seemed to have determined upon achieving what Champlain had vainly attempted the opening of a passage across the continent to India and China, to occupy the Great West, develop its re- sources, and anticipate the English and Spanish in its possession ; and now that he was convinced that the Mississippi flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, he would establish a fortified post at its mouth, thus securing the outlet for the trade of the interior, and check the progress of the Span- iards, the enemies of his king. Spain already laid claim to the mouth of the Mississippi and what afterward came to be known as Louisiana, by virtue of discovery, and the ambitious Count Frontenac, Governor Gen- eral of Canada, determined to prevent an extension of their territory, worked out the plan before referred to, and selected La Salle as the right man to execute it. He chose his men for the voyage, but when all was in readiness Fron- tenac had not the necessary means, and La Salle was obliged to seek aid in France. There, also, he received nothing better than the privilege of doing anything he could for the glory of France, at his own expense ! Not only that, he was limited in the accomplishment of his mighty schemes to five years' time. His relatives, who were rich, finally helped him to money, and he sailed to Canada with thirty men, sailors, carpenters and laborers, among whom was the afterward famous Henry de Tonti, an Italian officer, one of whose hands had been blown off in the Sicilian wars, and he wore a substitute of iron. La Salle needed a priest for his exploring party, and Father Louis 38 KECOKDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. Hennepin was secured for that service. When arrayed for his journey the priest wore a coarse gray capote with peaked hood, sandals on his feet, the cord of St. Francis about his waist, and a rosary and crucifix hanging at his side. He carried a sort of portable altar with him, which he could strap on his back like a knapsack. The party rendezvous was at Fort Frontenac, where Kingston now stands. La Salle at once dispatched fifteeiwmen in canoes to Lake Michigan, to open a trade with the Indians and collect provisions, while La Motte and Hennepin, with a crew of men in a small vessel, were sent up the Niagara River, and after many hard- ships discovered the Great Falls. In the meantime La Salle, sailing with the Tinto to bring supplies to the advance party at Niagara, had suffered the loss of his vessel, which was wrecked, and he reached the rendezvous at Niagara on foot. But not discouraged, he set about the construction of a fort and palisade, and also a new vessel, the Griffin. Leaving his men at work, he made his way back to Frontenac, a distance of two hun- dred and fifty miles, through snow and over ice, for fresh supplies. He returned in July, the Griffin was launched, and they sailed away Au- gust 7, 1679, in all thirty-four men. He made his voyage around the lakes to Green Bay, and loading the Griffin with furs, sent her back to appease his clamorous creditors. She foundered on the way, and was never more heard of. La Salle, with fourteen men in four canoes, now started southward on Lake Michigan, and after escaping perils by storm and suffering from hunger and cold, reached St. Joseph, on the southern shore of the lake, in safety. Here Tonti was to have joined him with twenty men, but did not arrive until twenty days afterward, bringing a sad tale of disaster to his men and loss of supplies. On the 8th of December, 1679, La Salle, with a party of thirty-three pei'sons, ascended the St. Joseph until the well-known portage was reached, where they dragged their canoes a distance of five miles to the waters of the Kankakee, a confluent of the Illinois, down which they paddled. While looking for the crossing La Salle was lost in a snow storm, remain- ing out one day and a night before reaching camp. "The stream, which at its source is narrow and fed by exudations from a spongy soil, widens quickly into a river, down which they floated through a lifeless solitude of dreary, barren oak openings. At night they built fires on the ground, made firm by frost, and bivouacked among the rushes. A few days brought them to the prevailing characteristic scenery of the THE EXPORATIONS OF LA SA1LE. 39 Illinois. On the right and left stretched boundless prairies, dotted with leafless groves and bordered by gray forests, scorched by the fires kindled in the dried grass by Indian hunters, and strewn with the bleached skulls and bones of innumerable buffalo. At night the horizon glowed with distant fires, and by day the savage hunters could be descried roaming on the verge of the prairies." This soon changed to woody hills, which from their summits disclosed a rolling sea of dull gray prairie, recently swept by fire, and everywhere, as far as the eye could reach, a boundless pasture for vast herds of rumi- nant animals. They' passed the mouth of Fox River, the future site of Ottawa, saw Buffalo Rock towering isolated in the valley, and below it the far-famed Starved Rock, a lofty cliff, crested with trees that overhung the rippling current, while before them spread the broad valley of the river, along whose right bank was the "Great Illinois Town," or chief village of the Illinois Indians, containing, according to Hennepin, four hundred and sixty lodges. The town was deserted. The people had gone away on their annual fall hunt, but La Salle supplied himself with corn from their caches, and pursued his voyage to perhaps near the mouth of what is now Bureau Creek, where he landed, and sent out a party to hunt buffalo a herd being seen a short distance from the river. Two animals were killed, when the hunters returned to camp. The following day being New Year's, Jan. 1st, 1680, the voyageurs went on shore at a point thought by some writers to have been in the vicinity of Hennepin, where they set up an altar and celebrated mass. Re-embarking, the party passed down the river, through what are now Marshall and Putnam counties, on the 1st, 2d and 3d days of January, 1680, two hundred years ago, and on January 4th entered Lake Pimiboni, "a place where there are many fat beasts," or Peoria Lake, and thence down to the lower end, where La Salle proposed to erect a fort. The na- tives who met him were kind,*but told of adjoining tribes who were hostile. Continuing their journey, and passing through a somewhat narrow passage, they rounded a point, and beheld about eighty wigwams along the bank of the river. The Indians crowded the shore at the unwonted sight, while La Salle marshalled his men, and with the canoes abreast and every man armed, pulled into the bank and leaped ashore. The In- dians were disposed to resent the strange intrusion, but La Salle held 40 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. aloft the calumet, the Indian sign of peace, and the amicable token was accepted, and a feast of welcome was spread for the weary voyagers. The Indians, as a token of highest courtesy, conveyed the food to the mouths of their guests, and rubbed their feet with bear's grease. When these somewhat extravagant courtesies were over, and all had eaten to repletion, La Salle told whence he came and whither he was going ; spoke of the great king, his master, who owned all the countiy, and gra- ciously promised them protection provided they remained his friends ; to all of which they assented. La Salle had left behind him in Canada some bitter and relentless ene- mies, who had followed him even to this remote region in the West. During his first night here, an emissary from them, a'Mascoutiri chief, and four or five Miamis, came bringing knives, hatchets and kettles to the Illi- nois, and while La Salle was in his camp, after leaving the tribe who had been feasting him, and whose friendship he thought he had secured, these intriguers assembled the chiefs in secret conclave and denounced La Salle as a spy from the Iroquois, the deadly foe of the Illinois. Hennepin, in his work printed in 1724, charges the Jesuits with being at the bottom of this work, naming Allouez, a prominent member of that order, and La Salle's enemy, as one of' the' prime movers. In the morning, La Salle saw a change in the countenances and be- havior of his hosts. They looked at him askance and sullen. At length one of them, whom the day before he had more completely won over than the rest, by liberal presents, came and gave him the secret. La Salle saw in this the device of his enemies, and his suspicions were confirmed at a feast given in the afternoon. The chief told the Frenchmen, before eat- ing, that they had been invited there to refresh their bodies and cure their minds pf the dangerous purpose of descending the Mississippi. Its shores were not only beset by savage tribes in fearful numbers, against whom their courage would avail nothing, but its waters were infested by ser- pents, alligators and unnatural monster^, while hidden rocks, whirlpools and other dangers awaited them. La Salle, however, cared not for these; he feared more the secret machinations of his enemies. He astonished them by a knowledge of the secret council of the previous night, and charged that the presents given by his enemies were at the very moment of his speech hidden under the floor where they sat. He demanded the presence of the spies and liars who had come in the night to traduce him, LA SALLE IIENNEPIN. 41 and dare not meet him to his face, in the light of day. This speech qui- eted the chiefs, and the feast went on. Next morning LaSalle found that six of his men, two of his best car- penters, had deserted and left him. This loss, together with the lurking, half mutinous discontent of o'thers, cut him to the heart. Not only this, but an attempt was actually made to poison him. Tonti informs us, "that poison was placed in the pot in which the food was cooked, but LaSalle was saved by a timely antidote. Feeling insecure in his position he determined to leave the Indian camp and erect a fort, where he could be better able to protect himself. He set out in a canoe with Hennepin to visit the site for this projected fort. It was half a league below on the southern bank of the river, or lake, and was intended to be a very secure place. On either side was a deep ravine, and in front a low ground, which overflowed in high water. It was completely isolated by the ravine and ditches, and surrounded by lofty embankments, guarded by a chevaux de frise, while a palisade twenty-five feet high surrounded the whole. This fort he called Creve Cceur (broken heart). The many disasters he had encountered the toil, suf- fering and treachery, coupled with the attempt to take his life, were quite enoiigh to suggest the idea of a broken heart. After a time he took courage, "and not having abandoned his grand scheme of going down to the sea, collected and organized such scanty means as he had and began to build another ship. While engaged upon this work, he concluded that he might get more vahiable service out of Hennepin as a voyageiir than as a preach- er, and much to that priest's surprise, remonstrance and regret, put him in a canoe, provided him with two men as companions, gave him food and presents for the Indians, and instructed him to explore the Illinois River to its mouth. Hennepin wrote, "Anybody but me would have been very much frightened at the dangers of such a journey, and, in fact, if I had not placed all my trust in God, I should not have been the dupe of La- Salle, who exposed my life rashly." HENNEPIN S EXPLORATIONS. This intrepid explorer was inspired by extreme religious fervor, and possessed a courage almost superhuman. He left an extensive accoxmt of his experience in the wilderness, but historians are compelled to recognize 42 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. in him habits of exaggeration especially commendatory of his own lofty achievements, far above his merit. His vicious attempts to malign his commander, LaSalle, and defraud him of laurels justly won, have materi- ally detracted from an otherwise glorious record. He published a book soon after his return, and while LaSalle was still alive, in which he says he went down to the mouth of the Illinois River, and thence followed the Mississippi to the moiith of the Wisconsin, where he was captured by Indians. Fourteen years later, and after LaSalle was dead, he issued a new edition in which he makes a new and surprising revelation, claiming to have explored the whole course of the Mississippi to the sea, and returning went up the Wisconsin, where he was captured. He gives as a reason for not divulging this before, that "his personal safety required him to keep silent while LaSalle lived, who wished to re- tain all the glory and honor of the discovery. But the two statements conflict so materially as to dates and in other circumstances, and especially improbable is the time given for the accomplishment of his southern voy- age and return, that he is very justly disbelieved. Enough, however, of both stories has been gathered and corroborated by other testimony to make it certain that the party of three men, of whom Accau, or Ako was the leader (and not Hennepin, as he pompously pretends), did proceed down the Illinois in the spring of 1680, to. its mouth, and thence to the Wisconsin, where on the llth or 12th of April, as they stopped one after- noon to repair their canoe, a war party of Sioux swept down and carried them off. The prisoners, after innumerable hardships, were taken up the Mississippi two hundred miles north-west of the falls of St. Anthony, and after two years, were released by a small party of fur traders under Greylson du Thut, or (Du Luth), who obtained their freedom, and Hen- nepin went to Canada, and thence to France, where he . died at an ad- vanced age. LA SALLE RETURNS TO CANADA. On the 2d of March, 1680, LaSalle, leaving Fort Creve Co3ur in com- mand of Tonti, with five men embarked for Canada. They reached Peoria Lake and found it sheeted with ice, and had to drag their canoes up the bank and through the forest lining its shores. They constructed two rude sledges, placed the canvas and baggage upon them, and dragged them four leagues through the woods, till they LA SALLE'S RETURN TO CANADA. 43 reached an open current above the lake. Launching their frail barks they paddled on until masses of ice too heavy to be broken stopped further pro- gress, again they loaded their canoes and hauled them two leagues over a frozen marsh, where they encamped in a rain storm in an old Indian hut. On the morning of the 3d of March they piirsued their way on land a league and a half further, then launched them and breaking the ice with hatchets, forced their way up stream. Thus on land and ice and in the water they plodded their weary way until at length they reached the great Illinois town, still without inhabitants. On the following day Chas- sagoac, the principal chief of the town, and two followers, returned from their hunt, and a friendly acquaintance was made, the chief promising to send fresh meat to Tonti at Creve Coeur. Here LaSalle first observed the remarkable and afterwards historic cliff since called " Starved Rock," and determined to erect a fort thereon, sending word to Tonti of his intention, and instructing him to make it his strong- hold in time of need. On the 15th he continued his journey. The trip was a repetition of their experience below. On the 18th they reached a point near the present site of Joliet, where they hid their canoes and struck across the country for Lake Michigan. This part of their route was even more laborious and difficult than what had been passed. For many miles the country was a vast morass covered with melting snow and ice. A river (the Calumet) and innumerable swollen streams had to be crossed ere they reached the shores of Lake Michigan, around which they passed, and traversing the peninsula of Michigan, arrived at Detroit, and finally on Easter Monday reached Niagara, after sixty-five days of severe toil. He had in the meantime received disastrous news from Tonti, whose men, described as "two faithful persons and twelve knaves," had revolted. "The knaves," after destroying Fort Creve Cceur, had followed LaSalle, and having gained recruits now numbering twenty men had plundered the magazine at Niagara, and were on the road to waylay and murder LaSalle. Hastily gathering a few brave men, he went back to give them battle. Taking position where neither himself nor men could be seen, he watched the enemy slowly approach, their canoes widely separated. At- tacking them in detail, he killed two men and took the restprisoners, sending them to Fort Frontenac for trial. LA SALLE'S SECOND VOYAGE. With characteristic energy, La Salle prepared for another voyage of 44 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. discovery. With the aid of friends, lie appeased his creditors and raised the means to equip an expedition; and with twenty-five men, on the 10th of August, he set out, taking his former course around the lakes and down the Kankakee, arriving at Starved Rock, Dec. 1, 1(580, to find the great Indian town at its base in utter ruin and desolation. The Iroquois had, only a few days before, swept down upon its people and massacred them, men, women and children, leaving their charred re- mains and ghastly skeletons only, to tell the awful tale. Six posts painted red, on each of which was drawn in black the figure of a man with eyes bandaged, led him to infer that these represented Tonti and his party, as prisoners. He pushed on down to Fort Creve Cceur, which he found demolished, though the vessel which he had built was entire, save the nails and iron spikes, which had been drawn. Leaving this, he continued his voyage, until he reached the mouth of the Mississippi, the great object of his dreams and ambition. Leaving a sign and a letter for Tonti, he returned the same way, to Canada. LA SALLE'S THIRD VOYAGE. Although failure and disaster had attended all previous efforts to cany out his grand scheme, the intrepid explorer determined on another effort. Much time was spent in oi-ganizing a new expedition. He had heard of Tonti's safe arrival among the Pottawatomies, near Green Bay, and sent for him. He next journeyed to the Miami Village, at the head of the Kankakee, made a speech to the Indians there assembled in grand council, and set forth some of his plans, going thence to Michilimacinac, where he found Tonti and his followers, and returned again to Port Frontenac, Some time was spent in organizing another expedition, but in the fall of 1081 his party, consisting of twenty-three Frenchmen, ten women, three children, and eighteen Indians who had fought with King Philip against the Puritans of New England -- in all fifty-four persons em- barked, and reached the present site of Chicago December 21. The rivers were tightly frozen up, arid constructing sledges, they loaded up their canoes and hauled them over the ice and snow to Peoria. Dwellers along the river can appreciate the^ hardships of transporting a FURTHER EXPLORATIONS OF LA SALLE. 45 party of fifty-four persons, with clothing, baggage and provisions, a dis- tance of two hundred miles, in mid-winter. On the 6th of February, 1682, LaSalle and his party entered the Missis- sippi, and sailed down to its mouth. They found a different reception from what was experienced upon former expeditions, and occasionally had to fight their way ; but on the 6th of April they gained the sea, where La Salle erected a column bearing the arms of France, and in a formal proclamation took possession of the country of Louisiana in the name of the king, from the mouth of the Mississippi to the Ohio, and from the River of Palms (the liio Grande) on the west, and all nations, peoples, provinces, etc., to the frozen northernmost limits. The Louisiana of La Salle stretched from the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Gulf of Mexico to British America the great Mississippi Valley. Here he rested until his recovery from a severe illness, and then re- turned to the Straits of Michilimacinac, where, hearing the Iroquois were about to renew their attacks on his friends the Illinois, he ordered Tonti to fortify Starved Rock, where he joined him in December, 1682. The work was named Fort St. Louis, and consisted of earthworks, with strong palisades in the rear, while wary sentinels mounted guard at the only practicable approach. The remains of these works are still visible, after a lapse of two hundred years. La Salle proposed founding a colony and a trading depot for the West, where he should rule and reign like some great feudal lord, and thus con- trol the entire country. The Illinois Indians were delighted at seeing such a redoubtable warrior begin to fortify here, not only to defend him- self, but to protect them, as he had promised. They returned to their ruined city, and began to rebuild it on a larger scale than ever. Other tribes also came to join in a confederacy of peace and unity, and make the Indian town their capital. But La Salle was becoming the victim of new and complicated difficulties. La Barre, the new Governor, a most despicable character, became his enemy, and began to undermine and traditce the great explorer to the king. La Salle was thus compelled to return to France, and lay the his- tory of his many adventures before His Majesty. His character was fully vindicated, new honors were heaped upon him, and he was sent to the Gulf of Mexico to conquer the Spanish, then at war with France. He sailed with four ships, two hundred and fifty men, and a good sup- ply of provisions and materials with which to start a colony. Associated 46 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. with him in command was a man named Beaujeau, who proved the evil genius of the expedition. He quarrelled with La Salle, and did all in his power to thwart him. One of the ships was lost on the way, another was taken by the Spaniards, and Beaujeau deserted with one ship and returned. La Salle was wrecked on the coast, and endured all manner of hardships while wandering in the interior of what is now Texas. At length, while making his way overland- to Canada, at a point sup- posed to be somewhere near Arkansas Post, he was assassinated by one of his followers, March 19, 1687. Thus perished, at the age of 43, one of the most remarkable of men, whose history is embalmed in the imperishable records of the New World. MILITARY OPERATIONS INDIAN WARS. 47 CHAPTER IV. FROM MONARCHY TO REPUBLICANISM. "HE death of LaSalle practically ended the era of discovery on this continent. The great lakes had been located and the lines of the principal rivers marked out, and what remained to be done was hereafter to be accomplished by private en- tei-prise. The English colonized New England and laid the basis of the great Republic, and the French settled Canada, establishing a series of military and trading posts in the Northwest to control the fur trade and hold possession of the country. The English colonists pushed across the Alleghanies, and in the deep forests of the Ohio encountered the French, and sharp contests ensued that were duly reported at the Court of St. James and at Versailles. Great events were rapidly ripening, and the French and Indian war of 1754-63, ending in the discomfiture of the French, and the transfer of the country to the English, was the result. In this contest, the few colonists in the Mississippi Valley, took little part or interest. The Northern In- dian nations sympathised with the French, and parties from the prairies joined them in incursions against the New England colonists, but when peace came they returned to their homes, and the belligerent tribes sub- mitted to the "long knives." For ten years or more peaee reigned, and the few settlers pursued their avocations unmolested. A few remote frontier posts in the northwest were held by the English, and a plan was set on foot by Capt. Clark to surprise and capture them. Gathering his forces at what is now Louis- vile, he embarked his men and sailed down to the mouth of the Ohio, and thence up the Mississippi to Kaskaskia, which surrendered without a blow. Without delay he marched to surprise Vincennes, a fortified post on the Wabash, which also fell into his hands, and the influence of the British over the tribes of the prairies, was ended. They were not wholly paci- fied, however, and numbers of Illinois Indians fought Gen. Harmar and aided in defeating him near Fort Wayne, in 1789, and also Gen. St. RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. Clair, on the St. Maiy, a tributary of the Maumee, where the latter lost six hundred men. In 1794 "Mad Anthony" Wayne signally defeated them at the Rapids of the Maumee, and compelled them to sue for peace. In that battle, Black Partridge, Gomo, Black Hawk, Shaubena, Senachwine, and most of the Illinois Indians participated and lost heavily. Peace followed, and continued until British emissaries incited them to fresh massacres in the war of 1812. THE MOUND BUILDERS. 49 P HE-HISTORIC RACES. CHAPTER VII. THE MOUND BUILDERS. OME notice, though a brief one, is due the mysterious people tli at inhabited the valleys of the Great West previous to the advent of the red man. From the shores of Hudson's Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Alleghanies to the Pacific, are evidences of an extinct race, a mysterious people, far su- perior to those whom the first explorers found in possession of the country. They have passed away and left no records from which the historian can gather the story of their lives, except such as are disclosed in the singular mounds found along the great rivers and water courses of the West. Although their works are every- where about us, whence they came, the age in which they flourished, and the time of their decay and fall are all buried in the unknown past. No p?>et has chanted their stoiy; no adventurous Layard has \inveiled their secrets. The cities they built have vanished; the temples they reared, are overthrown, their names are forgotten, their records obliterated, and their very existence doubted! This much is known, or rather conjectured. They were below the aver- age stature of to-day- were a purely agricultural people, industrious, pa- tient, easily governed, in strict subjection to their rulers, and dwelt in large communities. They possessed a knowledge of metals, and were probably the artisans who long ago toiled in the mines of Lake Superior, and left behind evidences of their work. They were peaceful and un- warlike, and to their incapacity for defence is probably due their over- throw. When Peru was overran by the Spaniards, they found there a civiliza- tion as far advanced as their own. There were houses built of stone and wood, and great temples and public works. Excellent roads extended into every part of the empire ; yet the people who reared these structures 50 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. were strangers to the soil, whom tradition said came from the far North, whence they were driven by a fiercely warlike people to found new homes in more propitious climes, and the theory is not difficult to maintain that the mound-builders of North America and the race inhabiting Mexico when Cortez invaded it are identical. There is reason for the belief that after their exodus from the Missis- sippi Valley, their homes were for centuries in Central America, where they built the great cities of Uxmal, Palenque and Copan, and reared the vast temples whose remains rival even Thebes in extent and magnificence. A portion, meanwhile, settled in Arizona, and built the "Seven Cities" described by Major Powell and others, where, in their rocky fastnesses, dwell the Moquis to-day, supposed descendants of the ancient mound- builders. Numerous remains of this exiled race are found in the counties of Marshall and Putnam, but extensive explorations fail to discover in them aught more valuable than a few implements and ornaments of stone, with an occasional jar of clay, of rude manufacture. Beneath . the moimds are usually found one or more skeletons, with ashes, coals, and other evidence going to show the bodies were first burned. Prof. Gifford, who has given the subject careful study, finds, upon micro- scopical examination, blood crystals mixed in large quantities with the earth, and cites it to prove the mounds were for sacrifice as well as sepul- ture. The skulls found show low and receding foreheads, long from front to back, narrow at the top and wide toward the base, indicating a patient people, with some intelligence, but wholly different from the crania of modern Indians. These remains indicate that this whole countiy was once populated with a race as old as those who built the pyramids of Egypt. While in some places a single mound is observable, in others they are in groups and series, in which some trace a resemblance to serpents, animals, etc., and teim them mounds of worship; but such conclusions are at best fanciful, and rest solely on a basis of conjecture. Some of these structures are of considerable extent, as witness the large mound north of Chillicothe, and the long line which crown the bluffs in the rear of ' Squire Taliaferro's, in Senachawine Township, in one of which the old chief of that name was buried. In the immediate vicinity of Lacon are still to be seen these evidences of a remote ancestry, while on the bhiffs of Sparland, extensive and well- LOCAL EVIDENCES OF FORMER RACES. 51 defined mounds are found, which have never been disturbed; and in the lower part of Lacon township, and across the line in Woodford county, near what is called "Low G-ap," they are specially numerous. The builders, it is supposed, used these works for the combined pur- poses of military defence, religious sacrifices and ceremonies, and burial places for the dead. The sites were carefully selected with reference to their surroundings of country, and generally near some large stream, though not always, for they crown the highest hills often, and when so found are called " mounds of observation," from which signals of danger were flashed in times of war. In a few localities, groups of mounds are found, covering a large space of ground and laid out with some sort of system, as at Hutsonville, 111., Fort Aztalan, Ind., and at different places in Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio. In some localities are found articles of finer manufacture, showing greater skill and proficiency, such as specimens of pottery, drinking cups, ornaments, pipes, etc., etc. From all the data that can be gathered, the people of whom we have written were overcome and driven from the country by a more warlike race, at a period many hundreds of years before the advent of the white man. Their conquerers were the supposed ancestors of the Indians found in possession, and probably belonged to some Eastern tribe, crossing in their boats from the Asiatic shore, though evidence is not wanting that the continents were once united, and passage by land easily effected. But their triumph was not forever. The "palefaces" came, with engines of fire, and the red man, with his bow and arrows, contended in vain against the superior intelligence of the new foe. Backward, step by step, he was driven towards the great sea, and the time is not distant when the last Indian and the buffalo shall disappear together. UNIVERSITY Of LIBRARY 52 RECORDS OF TIIK OLDEN TIME. THE ABORIGINES AND EARLY SETTLERS. CHAPTER VIII. % THE INDIANS. red men whom the first discoverers found inhabiting this continent possessed neither records nor written language, and all themselves knew concerning their history was veiled in tradition. Some tribes made a slight approach to "picture writing," embraced in roiigh and stupidly devised hieroglyphics, at best vague and uncertain to those for whom they were intended, and quite as liable to mislead as to con- vey correct information. Their language, though rough and uncouth to educated ears, is said to have possessed singular beauty, flexibility and adaptability. It had a general plan of formation, and its similes were derived from nature, partaking of the flowery prairies, the winds of autumn, the blackened plains of spring, the towering cliff, the craggy bluff, and the great river. The deer was the representative of fleetness, the eagle of vision, the. wolf of ferocity, the fox of cunning, the bear of endurance, the bison of usefulness. The passions were symbolized in the animals and birds around them. The elements- fire, water and air were mysterious agents for their use; the thunder the voice of their terrible Manitou, or God, and the lightning His avenging spear ! While the different tribes, in habits, customs, and even dispositions, were marked by great contrasts, in their general characters they were alike. Some were more advanced toward civilization than others. Some were in- clined to the pursuit of agriculture as a means of obtaining food, others re- jected it totally, and relied upon the spear, or the bow and arrow for food. The Indians of Maine lived wholly upon the products of the waters; those who dwelt about St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario were all hunters. The Algonquins, though ordinarily hunters, often subsisted for weeks upon roots, barks, the buds of trees, and the foulest offal. Even cannibalism HURONS IBOQUOIS. 53 was not unknown, but all historians agree it was never resorted to except upon occasions of dire necessity. The Hurons, a numerous tribe that once peopled a part of Canada, built hoiises of bark and lived on corn, smoked fish, etc. Among them was individual ownership of land, each family having exclusive right to so much as it saw fit to cultivate. The clearing process was a toilsome one, for Indians, like the first settlers in the West, preferred a field in the tim- ber or oak and hazel barrens, rather than one cleared by nature. The clearing was done by cutting off branches, piling them together with brashwood around the foot of standing trunks, and setting fire to them. The squaws worked with hoes of wood and bone, raised corn, beans, pumpkins, tobacco, simflowers, etc. At intervals of from ten to thirty years the soil was exhausted, and firewood difficult to obtain, so the village was abandoned and fresh soil and timber found. They pounded their corn in mortars of wood hollowed out by alternate burnings and scrapings. They had stone axes, spears and arrow heads, and bone fish hooks. They had birch bark canoes, masterpieces of ingenuity, and showed considera- ble skill in making a variety of articles. "Wampum, the money of all Indian tribes, likewise an ornament and evidence of value, consisted of elongated white and purple beads made from the inner part of certain shells. It is not easy to conceive how, with their rude and dull implements, they contrived to shape and perforate this intractable and fragile material. The New England Puritans beat the inventors in making wampum, and flooded the Indian markets with a counterfeit, which, however, was far more beautiful and valuable in the eye of the Indian than the best he could make. The bogus article soon drove the genuine out of existence! The dress of these Indians was chiefly made from skins, cured with smoke. The women were modest in their dress, but condemned at an early age to a life of license or drudgery. The Iroquois, who drove out the Illinois, were a warlike, cunning race. -Each clan bore the name of some animal, as bear, deer, wolf, hawk etc., and it was forbidden for any two persons of the same clan to inter- marry. A Hawk might marry a Wolf, or Deer, or Tortoise, but not a Hawk. Each clan had what was called its totem, or emblem. The child belonged to the clan not of the father, but of the mother, on the ground that "only a wise child knoweth its own father, but any fool can tell who his mother is !" All titles and rank came through the mother, and not 54 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. the father, and a chief's son was no better than the son of the humblest in the tribe. He could neither inherit title nor property from his father, not even so much as a tobacco pipe. All possessions passed of light to the brothers of the chief, or to the sons of his sister, since all were sprung from a common mother. This rule of transmission of property and titles ap- pears to have been universal among all Indians. The Iroquois were divided into eight clans, and claimed to trace their descent to a common mother. Their chiefs were called sachems, and numbered from eight to fourteen in each of their five nations, making about fifty in all, which body when met constituted their government. This great tribe of Indians, which once ruled the greater part of the Mississippi Valley, had a form of government closely allied to republican- ism. They had various bodies between the people and the High Council, or Cabinet, and a completely organized system of ruling on a demo- cratic plan. Their deliberations in the Congress of Sachems would shame our American Congress in dignity, decorum, and often, we fear, in good sense ! Here were some of their rules : "No haste in debate. No heat in arguing questions. No speaker shall interrupt another. Each gave his opinion in turn, supporting it with what reason or rhetoric he could com- mand, first stating the subject of discussion in full, to show that he un- derstood it. Thus says Lafitau, an eminent writer : " The result of their deliber- ations was a thorough sifting of the matter in hand, while the practical astuteness of these savage .politicians was a marvel to their civilized con- temporaries, and by their subtle policy they were enabled to take com- plete ascendency over all other Indian nations." RELIGION AND SUPERSTITIONS. "The religious belief of the North American Indians," says Foster, ' was anomalous and contradictory, yet they conceived the existence of one all-ruling Deity, a thought too vast for Socrates and Plato ! To the Indian, all the material world was intelligent, and influenced human des- tiny and had ears for human suffering, and all inanimate objects had the power to answer prayer ! Lakes, livers, waterfalls and caves were the dwelling-places of living spirits. Men and animals were of close kin. Each species of animals had its progenitor or king somewhere, prodigious SUPERSTITIONS AND TRADITIONS. 55 in size, and of shape and nature like its subjects. A hunter was anxious to propitiate the animals he sought to kill, and woiild address a wounded bear in a long harangue of apology ! The beaver's bones were treated with especial tenderness, and carefully kept from the dogs, lest its spirit or its surviving brethren should take offense. The Hurons had a custom of propitiating their fishing-nets, and to persuade them to do their duty and catch many fish, they annually married them to two young girls of the tribe, with great ceremony! The fish, too, were addressed each evening by some one appointed to that office, who exhorted them to take courage and be caught, assuring them that the utmost respect should be shown their bones. They were harrassed by innumerable and spiteful evil spir- its, which took the form of snakes, beasts or birds to hinder them in hunting or fishing, or in love or war. Each Indian had a personal guardian or manitou, to whom he looked for counsel, aid and protection. At the age of fourteen the Indian boy blackened his face, retired to some solitaiy place and remained without food for days, until the future manitou appeared in his dreams, in the form of beast, or bird, or reptile, to point out his destiny. A bear or eagle would indicate that he must be a warrior; a wolf, a hunter; a serpent, a medicine man; and the young man procured some portion of the supposed animal seen in his vision, and always wore it about his person. All Indian tribes trace themselves back to one mighty pair, like the sun and moon, a flood, and some shadowy outline of creation similar to that of all other nations of the earth. Indian history rests on tradition alone, and they do not trace them- selves back beyond a generation or two. The Iroquois were the first In- dians in this country that white men could establish with any certainty. The Algonquins came nejrt. They embraced all the known tribes, inclu- ding the Illinois, Pottawatoniies, Sacs and. Foxes, Kickapoos, etc. The Dakotas occupied the Great West, and claimed sovereignty from the Alle- ghanies to the Rocky Mountains. The Illinois occupied the region now comprised in this State, the name meaning "superior men." They were a confederation of several Indian tribes, who built arbor-like cabins covered with waterproof mats, with generally four or five fires to a cabin, and two families to a fire. After an eventful career, they were nearly all exterminated or driven from the State. They gave place to the Sacs, Foxes and Pottawatomies. The latter, in about 1600, were numerous about the Southern Peninsula 56 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. of Michigan. The Iroquois drove them to Green Bay, whence they spread over Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. They lived in this region until expelled by the whites, at the close of the disastrous Black Hawk war. INDIANS OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. After Tonti's garrison was dispersed, about 1718, the Pottawatomies and a few remnants of other tribes continued to inhabit the region of country between Peoria and Ottawa. They dwelt mainly at the places named, while Indian Town, now Tiskilwa, was always a favorite resort. Hennepin, Lacon, Sparland, Senachwine and other localities along the river were the homes of certain members of the clan. They raised small fields of corn, trapped for muskrats and beavers, hunted wild game, and sold honey to the settlers in exchange for such "necessaries" as beads, whisky, brass jewelry, tobacco, and the like. They were true to all their superstitious beliefs and customs, notwithstanding the teachings of the missionaries and the example of the whites around them. They seemed attached to their hunting and fishing grounds, but chiefly because the river afforded plenty of fish and the country an abundance of game. Here were their sugar-camps, and in the bottoms their kindred were buried, and many years^after their departure small parties were in the habit of re- turning and looking upon the graves of their departed friends. The set- tlers plowed over the burial grounds and destroyed the landmarks around them, so that now the locality of most of these is lost. They had a great veneration for their dead, and buried them with great ceremony. In the winter of 1831-2, Hemy K. Cassell, an old settler of Lacon, witnessed a curious performance by the Indians of this region. They had received word from Lieut. Governor Menard that they must leave their homes along the Illinois River, and prepared at once to obey, as by treaty they were compelled to do. Their first movement was to collect the dead upon, the frozen liver, packed in wooden troughs. When this was done, all hands joined, and with a mighty push they were moved across the channel. The white men were asked to assist, but it looked to them very much like robbing a grave-yard, and they declined. The Indians found here were Pottawatomies, with a mixture of Winne- bagoes, Kickapoos, Sacs and Foxes. The leading chiefs were Senachwine, whose principal village was on the creek that commemorates his nanie ? one SEN ACH WINE SHAUBENA SHICK-SIIACK. 5 7 mile north of Chillicothe ; and Shaubena, whose village was above Ottawa, on the Illinois River. Senachwine was a flue-looking Indian, and education would have made him a leader in any community. In early life he joined the British, and was with Tecumseh when the latter lost his life. When peace was declared, he returned to his people, and was always after the fast friend of the white man. About 1828-9, there came where Rome now stands a settler named Taliaferro, the first to rear his cabin upon the site of the "eternal city." His nearest neighbors were four miles away, and when sickness came, and neither doctor nor nurse were to be had, he felt that he was indeed a stranger in a strange land. Old settlers say the "ague never kills;" but it was wonderfully annoy- ing, and when the emigrant saw his wife tossing in the delirium of fever and no arm to help or assist, he realized how poor, and helpless, and im- potent is man, cut off from his fellows. One sultry afternoon, while fanning the fevered brow and bathing the burning temples of his wife, there dismounted at his door a band of twenty or more Indians, at the head of whom was Senachwine. The old chief, who was not unknown to the white man, entered unceremoniously, and with a gutteral "How," took his seat at the bedside. For some time he gazed upon the sufferer, and knowing that woman's aid was most needed, asked why he did not go for white squaw to help take care of her. Mr. T. replied that he could not leave her alone, when the Indian proposed to take his place and tend the patient until his return. The off er was ac- cepted, and the chief, first forbidding his people to enter the cabin, sat down and fanned her brow and bathed her temples as gently and tenderly as could her husband, until the latter's return. Senachwine died somewhere about 1830, and was buried upon a high mound half a mile north of Putnam Station, in Putnam County. His name is given to the township in which he is buried. Shaubena was another chief of prominence and influence among the Indians of this neighborhood. He was a friend to the whites, and was well known to the old settlers. He followed his people to the West, but re- turned with his family, and died about 1859. Another well-known In- dian chief had a village at the mouth of Clear Creek, in Putnam County. This was Shick-Shack, who was converted and became an earnest preacher of the Gospel. He was an ardent temperance reformer, and his code of morals would rival the Draconian code of ancient Sparta. 58 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. On the site of Chillicothe was an Indian village ruled over by a chief named Gomo. He was sent as a hostage to St. Louis, to insure the per- formance of certain treaty stipulations entered into by his tribe. Across the river, in Woodford County, at what has long been known as the Big Spring, was the village of the noted chief, Black Partridge. He was long a friend of the whites, but in revenge for the wanton de- struction of his village became their relentless enemy, and during the years 1813-14 raided the settlements in the southern part of the State. He died peacefully at home. Where Lacon stands a band of Indians had their village, led by a chief named Markwhet. Their winters were passed in the bottoms west of the house of the late Benjamin Babb. They were removed west of the Mississippi after the Black Hawk war. There was also a village at Sparland, but the name of the chief is not now known. It was probably governed by one of those previously named. FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT. 59 CHAPTER IX. EARLY FRENCH ' SETTLEMENTS. > HE first permanent settlement in the State was begun in 1(598, when Father Gravier established a mission at Kaskaskia. Here came a portion of the dwellers at Starved Rock, where LaSalle in 1682 built a fort, which he named St. Louis, and founded a colony. It had a somewhat precarious existence until 1718, when the site was abandoned, and its occupants joined their friends in the southern pail of the (future) State. Cahokia was settled in 1702, by Father Pinet. In after years it became a town of considerable importance, but its glory long since departed. In 1699, D' Ibeifcdlle, a distinguished Canadian officer, was appointed Governor of Louisiana, by which name the French possessions in the North and West were known ; and after his death the King of France granted it to M. Antoine Crozat, a wealthy nabob, who, failing to real- ize as hoped for, abandoned it in 1717, and the notorious John Law, an enterprising but visionary Scotchman, became its owner under cer- tain conditions. He was the original "Colonel Sellers," and organizer of a scheme for acquiring sudden wealth, since known as the famous "Mississippi Bubble." He made Louisiana the principal field of his op- erations, where gold and silver mines abounded( ! ), out of which the share- holders in the "greatest gift enterprise of the day" were to become mil- lionaires. His schemes all failing, in 1732 the charter was surrendered to the king and the territory divided into nine cantons, of which Illinois formed one. After the destruction of Fort St. Louis by the Indians, and the expul- sion of Tonti's garrison, a few white men continued in the vicinity until about 1720, when all left, and the country reverted to the possession of its~original inhabitants. In 1718 New Orleans was settled, and trading posts established at different points along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. As early as 1690 some Canadian Frenchmen had located 60 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. themselves at a few points, primarily as attaches of tradesmen, and later as regular settlers. In the summer of 1711, Father Marest, a Jesuit priest from Can- ada, preached at Cahokia and made a convert of an Indian chief named Kolet, who persuaded Father Marest to go with him to Peoria and preach to the heathen there. The proposition was accepted, and in November of that year, with two warriors, the missionary started in a bark canoe. The season was late, and after progressing about five leagues, the ice became so firm they had to abandon their canoes, and after twelve days wading through snow and water, crossing big prairies and subsisting on wild grapes with a little game, they rt ached the Indian village of Opa, a half a mile above the lower end or outlet of the lake, and were hospitably re- ceived by the natives. In the following spring some French traders began a trading post here, and a number of families came from Canada and established themselves, living at peace with the Indians and generally intei marrying with them. Until 1 750 but little was known of the various French villages or set- tlements in the State. In that year a French missionary, named Vevier, writes from "Aux Illinois," six leagues from Fort Chartres, June 8 : " We have here whites, negroes and Indians, to say nothing of cross-breeds. There are five French villages and three villages of the natives within a space of twenty-one leagues between the Mississippi and Karkadiad (Kaskaskia) Riveis. In them all there are perhaps eleven hundred peo- ple, three hundred whites and sixty red slaves, or savages. Most of the French till the soil. They raise wheat, cattle, pigs and horses, and live like princes. Three times as much is produced as can be consumed, and great quantities of grain and flour are shipped to New Orleans." In 1750 the French had stations at Detroit, Michilimacinac, Green Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, and were the only possessors, save the Indians, of the great valley east of the Mississippi River. In 1761, Robert Maillet built a dwelling one and a half miles lower down, and moved his family there. This was called the " New Town," in contradistinction from "Old" or "Upper Town." The new place was known as La ville de Maillet (Maillet's Village). For fifty years the sole settlers of the town were Frenchmen and Indians. So far back as 1750, the English began to assert their claims to the country west of the Alleghanies, and adventurous explorers sailed down its rivers and explored the great lakes. English traders penetrated the "THE COUNTY OF ILLINOIS." 61 forest, and competed for the fur trade with their ancient enemies. Collis- ions were frequent, and in the deep woods were fought sanguinary battles between adherents of the rival nations. A long and bloody war followed, ending in the final discomfiture of the French and the transfer of sover- ereignty over the northern part of the continent to England. In 1763, Canada and all of Louisiana north of the Iberville River and east of the Mississippi were ceded to England. The British flag was hoisted over old Fort Chartres, in what is now Monroe County, 111., in 1 765. At that time, it is computed, there were about three thousand white people residing along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. The oldest town Kas- kaskia contained about one hundred, and Cahokia about fifty persons. After the capture of these posts .by Gen. Clark, as before stated, "he sent three men to Peoria to notify the inhabitants of the change of sover- eignty, and require their allegianc3. One of these messengers was Nich- olas Smith, a Kentuckian by birth, whose son Joseph, under the nickname of "Dad Joe," became in after years a noted border character, and the place where he once lived ten miles from Princeton still bears the name of "Dad Joe's Grove." In that year the County of Illinois was established, " in the State of Virginia," which was to include within its boundaries as citizens "all who are already settled or may;" which leads to the belief that the then mem- bers of the House of Burgesses of Virginia had a very crude idea of the country over which by the right of conquest they assumed sovereignty. With peaca came the establishment of various colonies in the West, and in 1773 the "Illinois Land Company" obtained a grant from the Indians by treaty and purchase of a tract embracing all the territory "east of the Mississippi and south of the Illinois River." In like manner the Wabash Company obtained a grant for thirty- seven millions of acres. After the Revolution, efforts were made in Con- gress to obtain governmental sanction to these enormous land grabs, but fortunately without avail. In 1781, a colony from Virginia settled in what is now Monroe County, but the hostility of the Kickapoos, a fierce and warlike tribe of Indians, compelled them to live in forts and block-houses, and their improvements were limited. MIKES AND JAKES. During the devastating border wars that preceeded the final breaking 62 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. of the Indians' strength by "Mad Anthony" Wayne, the infant settle- ments suffered severely, but with peace came a new impetus to emigration, and adventurous hunters, trappers, boatmen and land surveyors invaded the quiet French towns of Illinois. The former were termed " Mikes," from a noted flat-boatman named Mike Fink, while the surveyors and land- hunters were styled "Jakes," from Jacob staff, a surveyor's implement. They were a lawless, turbulent race, given to whisky and broils, but in a certain way open-hearted, and generous to a fault. Their advent among the quiet, simple-minded French was neither conducive to the happiness or good morals of the latter, who are thus described by Grov. Ford, from whom we quote: "No genuine Frenchmen in those days ever wore a hat, cap or coat. The heads of both men and women were covered with Madras cotton handkerchiefs, tied around in the fashion of nightcaps. For an upper covering of the body, the men wore a blanket garment, called a 'capote' (pronounced cappo), with a cap to it at the back of the neck, to be drawn over the head for protection in cold weather, or in warm weather to be thrown back upon the shoulders in the fashion of a cape. Notwithstanding this people had been so long separated by an immense wilderness from civilized society, they still retained all the suav- ity and politeness of their race, and it is a remarkable fact that the rough- est hunter and boatman amongst them could at any time appear in a ball- room, or other polite and gay assembly, with the carnage and beha- vior of a well-bred gentleman. The French women were noticeable for the sprightliness of their conversation and the grace and elegance of their manners. The whole population lived lives of alternate toil, pleasure, in- nocent amusement and gaiety. "Their horses and cattle, for want of proper care and food for genera- tions, had degenerated in size, but had acquired additional vigor and toughness, so that a French pony was a proverb for strength and endur- ance. These ponies were made to draw, sometimes one alone, sometimes two together one hitched before the other, to the plow, or to carts made entirely of wood, the bodies of which held about the contents of the body of a wheelbarrow. The oxen were yoked by the horns instead of the neck, and in this mode draw the cart and plow. Nothing like reins were used in driving; the whip of the driver, with the handle about two feet and a lash two yards long, stopped or guided the horse as effectually as the strongest lines. "Their houses were built of hewn timber, set upright in the CHARACTERISTICS OF EARLY SETTLERS. 63 ground or upon plates laid xipon a wall, the intervals between the uprights being filled with stone and mortar. Scarcely any of them were more than one story high, with a porch on one or two sides, and sometimes all around, with low roofs extending, with slopes of different steepness, from the comb in the center to the lowest part of the porch. They were surrounded by gardens filled with fruits, flowers and vegetables, 'and if in town, the lots were large and the houses neatly whitewashed. " Each village had its Catholic church and priest. The church was the great place of resort on Sundays and holidays, and the priest the adviser, director and companion of all his flock."* Prior to 1818 the immigration was chiefly from Kentucky, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Some of the emigrants had served under Gen. Clark in 1778, and the beauty and fertility of the country induced them to make their homes here. In 1816, the American Fur Company, with headquarters at Hudson's Bay, established trading-posts throughout this region, one being located near Hennepin, and another about three miles below Peoria, with a dozen or so at interior points between the Illinois and Wabash Rivers. Gurden S. Hubbard, for many years a resident of Chicago, a Vermonter by birth, when sixteen years of age was in the service of the company, in 1818, going from post to post, distributing supplies and collecting furs. In the autumn of 1821, Joel Hodgson came to this region from Clin- ton County, Ohio, in behalf of a number of families, to seek a location. He traveled on horseback, stopping wherever night overtook him, and sleeping in his blanket. He crossed the State of Indiana to where Danville now stands, and then, with his compass for a guide, traveled northward until he struck the Illinois at the mouth of Fox River, whancs he journeyed southward. He crossed the river several times, exploring both sides thoroughly, as well as its tributaries, and continued xintil he reached Dillon's Grove, in Taze- well County, when he turned homeward, reporting that he found no suita- ble place for the proposed colony. The prairies were supposed to be bleak, cold and inhospitable, and covered with a rank grass of no value, while the streams were lined with thickets, the homes of fierce beasts and deadly reptiles. It was a paradise for Indians, but a poor place for white men. But when he saw the coun- try rapidly filling up, and the new settlers growing rich, comfortable and * Ford's History of Illinois. 64 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. happy, he changed his opinion, and coming West, settled in Tazewell County in 1828. When the State was admitted, the Government ordered a survey of the country bordering the Illinois, and its division into townships. The work was performed by Stephen, Stycia, and Charles Rector, in the years 1 8 1 9-20. It was further divided into sections by Nelson Piper, George Thomas and J. F. McCollum, and all of the northern part of the State named Sangamon County. PEORIA IN 1778. The messenger sent by General Clark found a large town built along the margin of the lake, with narrow streets and wooden houses. Back of the town were gardens, yards for stock, barns, etc., and among these was a wine-press, with a large cellar or underground vault for storing wine. There was a church, with a large wooden cross, an unoccupied fort on the bank of the lake, and a wind-mill for grinding grain. The town contained six stores, filled with goods suitable for the Indian trade. The inhabitants were French Creoles, Indians and half-breeds, not one of whom could speak a word of English. Many of them had intermarried with the natives, and their posterity to this day show certain characteristics of their Indian ancestry. They were a peaceable, quiet people, ignorant and superstitious. They had no public schools, and but few of them, except priests and traders, could read or write. In after years there was consid- erable trouble about conflicting titles, growing out of certain " French grants," and .out of eighteen litigants but three could sign their names." Some of their merchants made annual trips in canoes to Canada, carrying peltries and furs, and returning with goods for the Indian market. "They were a gay, joyous people, having many social parties, wine suppers and balls, and lived in harmony with the Indians, who were their neighbors, relatives and friends. Real estate was held by the title of pos- session, and each settler had a garden adjoining his residence. They had likewise extensive farms west of town, enclosed in one field, though the lines of each separate owner were well defined. When a young man was married, a village lot or tract of land in the common field was assigned him, and if he had no house the people turned out and built him one. They had fine vineyards, and yearly made large quantities of wine, which the Indians eagerly sought in exchange for furs." INDIANS THREATEN TO BURN THE CITY. 65 The pioneer French were said to have domesticated the buffalo, and crossed him with their domestic cattle, producing a tough, hardy breed which could winter in the river bottoms without feed. Indian ponies were the only horses known here, or anywhere in the North-west, until about 1760, when some were brought from Canada. Hogs and cattle were in- troduced by the Spaniards, and through them by the French, about A. D. 1700. In 1781 a Frenchman killed an Indian, and for a time the white peo- ple of Peoria were threatened with destruction by the excited savages, who surrounded the place and demanded . the murderer, supposing him to be hidden in the town. They gave the French three days in which to sur- render the culprit, failing in which they threatened to burn the town. A great panic prevailed ; some of the people fled to Cahokia ; others took refuge in the fort. But at length the solemn protestations of the whites that the murderer was not secreted in the village quieted the Indians, who made pledges of friendship and departed. 66 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. CHAPTER X. MASSACRE AT FORT DEARBORN. BESIDES the usual and expected horrors, every war furnishes exceptional scenes of wholesale slaughter or merciless cruelty that stand out in bold relief and commemorate themselves in history as specially infamous. Among the occurrences of the war of 1812, the massacre of Fort Dearborn, at Chicago, was one of unusual ferocity, and worthy of record in our brief histoi-ical resiune. The garrison consisted of fifty-four men, under Capt. Heald. The resident families at the post were those of Capt. Heald, Lieut. Helm, a Mr. Kenzie, and several French voyageurs with their wives and children were there. One evening in April, 1812, Mr. Kenzie sat playing on his violin, to the music of which the children were dancing, when Mrs. Kenzie came rushing into the house, pale with terror and anguish, exclaiming: "The Indians! The Indians are up at Lee's, killing and scalping!" The fright- ened woman had been attending Mrs. Barnes (just confined), living not far off. Mr. Kenzie and his family at once crossed the river to the fort, to which Mrs. Barnes and her infant were speedily transferred, and where soon all the settlers and their families took refuge. The alarm was caused by a scalping party of Winnebagoes, who, after hovering about the neigh- borhood several days, disappeared. On the 7th of August, 1812, Gen. Hull, of infamous memory, sent orders from Detroit to Capt. Heald to evacuate Fort Dearborn and distrib- ute all the United States property among the Indians ! The Pottawatomie chief who brought the dispatch, foreseeing the fearful effects of such a base, cowardly and treacherous order, advised Capt. Heald not to obey, as the fort contained among its supplies several barrels of whisky, and knowing its effects upon the infuriated savages, burning with hatred of the whites and full of revenge, he foresaw that an indiscriminate massa- cre of all who were incapable of defense would inevitably follow. He PREPARING TO EVACUATE THE FORT. 67 said, "Leave the fort and stores as they are, and while the Indians are making the distribution, the white people may escape to Fort Wayne." Capt. Heald called a council with the Indians on the afternoon of the 12th, in which his officers refused to join, as they had reason to fear treachery. A cannon pointed at the place of council, however, had its intended effect, and the suspected plot was frustrated. Mr. Kenzie, well knowing the character of the foe, influenced Captain Heald to withhold the distribution of the powder, and on the night of the 13th, after the property and stores had been given out to the shriek- ing mob of savages, the liquors and ammunition were thrown into the river, and the muskets broken up and rendered useless. Black Partridge, an influential chief and true friend of the whites, came that afternoon to Captain Heald, and said: "The linden birds have been singing in my ears all day ; be careful on the march you take." The Indians had watched the fort all night, and took note of the pre- parations for its abandonment, and the next morning, when they saw the powder floating upon the surface of the river, were exasperated beyond bounds. After the fort had been dismantled and the dejected inmates were on the point of starting, a band of friendly Miamis, under Captain Wells, appeared on the lake shore, and inspired the garrison with new hope. But alas ! their arrival was too late to avert the threatened calamity. Wells was an uncle of Mrs. Heald, and bore among the Indi- ans the name of " Little Turtle." Learning the ignominious and fatal order to Captain Heald, he had secretly left Detroit with his warriors, hoping to reach Chicago in time to avert the catastrophe he knew was in- evitable; but it was too late. On the morning of the 15th, the little garrison marched out of the fort at its southern gate, in solemn procession. Captain Wells, who had blackened his face with gunpowder, in token of his fate, took the lead with his Miamis, followed by Captain Heald, with his wife by his side, on horseback. Mr. Kenzie hoped by his personal influence over the savages to save his friends, and accompanied the retreating garrison, leaving his family in a boat in charge of a friendly Indian. The procession moved slowly along the lake shore till they reached the sand-hills between the prairie and the beach, when the Pottawatomies, commanded by Blackbird, flled in front. Wells, who, with his Miamis had been in the advance, finding the enemy before him, returned, giving 68 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. word that the foe were about to make an attack. Scarcely had the words been uttered ere a storm of bullets confirmed* the story. The Indians, though ten wamors to one of the whites, in accordance with their charac- teristic cowardly mode of fighting were ambushed among the sand-hills, which the white troops charged, and drove them out upon the prairie. The cowardly Miamis fled at the outset, and the brave little band defended themselves heroically against five hundred savages, resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible. Capt. Wells, who was by the side of his niece, Mrs. Heald, when the conflict began, said to her, "We have not the slightest chance for life. We must part to meet no more in this world. God bless you," and dashed forward. Seeing a young warrior, painted like a demon, climb into a wagon in which were twelve children, and tomahawk them all, he cried out, unmindful of his personal danger, "If that is your game, butchering women and children, I will kill too." He spurred his horse toward the Indian camp, where they had left their squaws and pappooses, hotly pur- sued by swift-footed young warriors, rapidly firing. One of these killed his horse and wounded him severely in the leg. He was killed and scalped, and his heart cut out and eaten while yet warm and bloody. Mrs. Heald, who knew well how to load and fire, engaged bravely in the fray. She was several times wounded, and when, weak from loss of blood, a brawny savage was about to tomahawk her, she looked him in the eye, and in his own language exclaimed, "Surely you will not kill a squaw!" Ashamed, his arm fell and he slunk away. Mrs. Helm, Mr. Kinzie's step-daughter, also had her full share of the bloody work. A stout Indian tried to strike her with a tomahawk, but she sprang aside and the weapon glanced upon her shoiilder as she grasped the foe around the neck with her arms, trying at the same time to seize the scalping knife in his belt; but while struggling with the desperation of despair she was seized by a powerful Indian, who bore her to the lake and plunged her into the water. To her astonishment, she was so held that she could not drown, nor be seen by any of the Indians, and soon dis- covered that he who was thus shielding her was the friendly chief, Black Partridge, who thus saved her life. The wife of Sergeant Holt displayed amazing courage and prowess. She was a very strong woman, and was mounted on a high-spirited horse. The Indians coveted the animal, and tried in vain to dismount or kill her, but she warded off the blows by which they strove to beat her down, and MASSACRE OF THE WOUNDED INCIDENTS. GO defended herself bravely, with her husband's sword. She escaped from her enemies and dashed across the prairie, the admiring Indians shouting, " Brave squaw ! brave squaw ! No hurt her ! " but was overtaken by an Indian who pulled her from her horse by the hair, and made her cap- tive. She was kept prisoner for several years, and forced to marry among them. When nearly two-thirds of the little band were killed or wounded, the Indians drew off. Numbers of their warriors had been killed, and they proposed a parley. The whites, upon promise of good treatment, agreed to surrender. Mrs. Helm had been taken, bleeding and suffering, to the fort by Black Partridge, where she found her step-father and learned that her husband was safe. The soldiers gave up their arms to Blackbird, and the survivors became prisoners of war, to be exchanged or ransomed. With this understanding, they were marched to the Indian camp near the fort. Here a new horror was enacted, for the Indians claimed the wounded were not included in the surrender, and they were mercilessly slaughtered, their scalps being taken to the infamous British General Proctor, at Maiden, Canada, who had offered the Indians large rewards for the scalp of every soldier brought to him. In connection with the massacre of Foil Dearborn, Matson, in his work upon the Indians of the Illinois, gives the following incident which he professes to have learned from one of the survivors : "A Mrs. Bee- son, whose maiden name was Mary Lee, was a little girl at the time, but well remembers the frightful event. Her father's dwelling stood on the beach of the lake, near the fort, and back of it was a small garden where he raised vegetables for the garrison*, at a good profit. His family at the time of the massacre consisted of his wife, an infant two months old, a son, a daughter Lillie, two little boys, and Mary. When the troops left for Fort Wayne, Mr. Lee's family accompanied them, the mother and in- fant and two younger children in a covered wagon, and the two girls on horseback. Little Lillie, ten years old, was a very handsome child, a great pet among the soldiers and citizens, but she never appeared more beautiful than on that fatal morning. She was mounted on a large gray horse, and to prevent her from falling off, was securely tied to the saddle. She wore a white ruffled dress, trimmed with pink ribbon, and a black jockey hat with a white plume on the side. As the horse pranced and champed its bits at the sound of martial music, little Lillie in a queenly manner sat in her saddle, chatting gaily with her sister, uncon- 70 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. scious of the awful fate so near. When the Indians opened fire, Lillie was badly wounded and lost her seat, but was restrained from falling off the horse by the cord with which she was bound. Her horse ran back and forth until caught by an Indian named Waupekee, who knew her well, and at her father's cabin had often held her on his knee. In relat- ing it afterward, he said it grieved him to see the little girl suffer so, and out of kindness he split open her head with his tomahawk and ended her misery. He used to say ' it was the hardest thing he ever did.' ' Mr. Lee and his three sons were killed in the battle, but Mrs. Lee and infant and Mary were taken prisoners by Waupekee, who had a village on the Des Plains River. This chief was kind to them, and wanted to many the mother, notwithstanding the trifling impediment of having three other wives on hand at the time ! But she declined the honor. During her stay with him her child became very ill, and both Indian skill and en- chantment and her own knowledge failed to restore it to health. She consented to let Waupekee take it to Chicago, where lived a French trader named DuPin, in high reputation among the Indians as a "medicine man." One cold day in the latter part of the winter succeeding the massacre, Waupekee wrapped the baby in blankets, and mounting his pony, traveled across the bleak prairie twenty miles, and arriving at Du Pin's dwelling, laid his package upon the floor. " What have you there ? " queried the surprised trader. " I have brought you a young raccoon as a present," replied the chief, unwrapping the blankets and disclosing the nearly smothered child. Du Pin cured the child, and afterward not only ran- somed the widow, but married her. Mary, who relates this affair, says she was carried a prisoner to an In- dian village after the battle referred to, thence to St. Louis, and ransomed by General Clark, where she married a French Creole, and never after the fatal day met her mother, but supposed her to have been killed. RUDE AWAKENING FROM PASTORAL LIFE. 71 CHAPTER XI. THE DESTRUCTION OF PEORIA. the wars of the Federal Government against the Indians, and the war with England, in 1812, the French people of Peoria remained neutral, and, as is now known, neither aided nor abetted either party. They were two hxmdred miles from the nearest American settlement, in the midst of a wil- derness. They knew no laws of any king or country save their own. They lived so far away from the world, that revolutions came, kings were overthrown and new governments erected, while they neither knew of nor interested themselves in the changes. A peaceful and happy people they were, living to themselves, making and ex- ecuting their own laws, paying no taxes, and acknowledging no sovereignty or ruler, simply because no one came to claim their allegiance. They had lived thirty-four years within the jurisdiction of the United States Govern- ment before called upon to cast a ballot. They had a Representative in Congress who never knew them. They had been subjects of France, then of England, and finally of the Federal Union, and only learned the changes of sovereignty through accident. They were a people "unto themselves," speaking a language of their own, and fearing only God, their priests, and the hostile Indians. The massacre at Fort Dearborn excited widespread horror and ani- mosity, not only against the Indians, but all who were believed to be friendly with them. Reports had got abroad that their supplies of am- munition came through Peoria traders, and that here were incited and set on foot raids and expeditions against the defenceless settlers along the borders. It was charged that they were cattle thieves, and that Captain John Baptiste Maillette, the chief military man of their village, had an organ- ized band of thieves, and made forays upon the settlements on Wood River, in Madison County, driving off nocks and herds, which found their way to the common enemy. These reports were believed, and Gov- 72 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. ernor Edwards called for volunteers to rendezvous at Shawneetown, under the command of Captain Craig. Four keel-boats were prepared, with rifle-ball proof planking, and mounted with cannon. Two hundred sol- diers were taken on board, and on the 5th of November, 1812, the "fleet " appeared before Peorla. The people, wholly unconscious of danger, were at church, and the priest celebrating mass for it was Sunday, when suddenly they were startled by the booming of cannon. Fear and curiosity brought them to the beach, when four boats loaded with armed men met their astonished gaze. Capt. Craig landed and took position, with guns loaded and bayonets fixed, ready for any emergency. Father Racine went to meet and welcome the strangers, but neither could understand the other until an interpreter was found in the person of Thomas Forsythe. No explanation was vouchsafed, but meat and veg- etables were demanded, and promptly furnished. The soldiers dispersed about town and committed various outrages, such as breaking into Felix La Fontaine's store and taking from it two casks of wine. Numbtis got drunk, and entering houses,, helped themselves to whatever pleast d them. It was after dark before Captain Craig succeeded in gett ing th< m on board the boats and pushed the boats from shore to prevent further outrages upon the citizens. During the night a high wind arose, and to escape the waves the boats raised their anchors and dropped down into " the narrows," a half mile below, where they remained till morning. About daylight several guns were fired in -quick succession in the adjoining tember. Captain Craig, thinking it the signal for an attack by the Indians, ordered the boats pushed farther from shore arid cannon trained to sweep the woods. A council of war was held on board, and it was determined to burn the town and make the men prisoner's of war, as a punishment for incit- ing the Indians to attack the boats. The Frenchmen afterward claimed the firing was done by hunters, and as no attack was made and no enemy appeared, the statement is doubtless correct. Capt. Craig next landed his troops, and taking all able-bodied men prisoners, set fire to their houses and burned them down, while the women and children looked on in terror from a vacant lot where they had congre- gated, in the rear of their burning church. The church, with its sacred vestments and furniture, was destroyed. The wind-mill on the bank of the lake, filled with grain, the stables, corn bins, and everything about the GOMO's HOSPITALITY TO THE HOMELESS. 73 town of any value were reduced to ashes ! The stores of La Fontaine, La Croix, Des Champs, and Forsyth, full of valuable goods, shared the same fate. An old man named Benit, a former trader, who had amassed some money, rushed through the flames to rescue it, and perished, his charred remains being found the following spring. Mrs. La Croix, a lady of refinement and great personal attraction, who afterward became the wife of Governor Reynolds, being alone with three small children, appealed in vain to the soldiers to save the clothes of herself and little ones. Thomas Forsythe, a short time previous, had been appointed a Govern- ment agent here, and on exhibiting his commission to Captain Craig, he pronounced it a forgery ! When the destruction was complete, the boats returned down the river with their prisoners. Two miles below the present site of Alton, they were set ashore in the thick timber, without blankets, tents or pro- visions, and told they might return to their homes ! Meantime, the women and children, left without food or shelter, were in a pitiful condition. Some of them had been left without sufficient clothing, and suffered greatly. It was growing cold, and the nights were freezing. Snow fell, sharp frosts came, and the roaring wind lashed the troubled waters or moaned in the leafless oaks. Could any situation have been more desolate ? The hungry mothers could only weep and pray, and draw the forms of their little ones to their bosoms ! While thus brooding over their despair, an Indian chief named Gomo made his appearance. He lived in a village of his tribe, where Chilli- cothe now stands. On the approach of Captain Craig's forces, his people fled and secreted themselves in the grove of timber at Kickapoo Creek, and now the invaders were gone, he had come to render such aid as it was in his power to give. Provisions were supplied, temporary huts erected for all who desired to remain, and homes in his village given to the older women and the children. Afterward, the women (fearing a return of the soldiers, and crazed with anxiety to know the fate of those they loved,) prevailed upon Gomo to furnish them with canoes and rowers to go down the river, hoping their presence might mitigate the fate of their captive kindred. After several days of hardship, camping each night on the banks, suffering from fatigue, cold and storm, they reached Cahokia, where they were provided for by their countrymen, and afterward joined by their husbands.* *Matson's "French and Indians." 74 KECOEDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. CHAPTEE XII. EXTERMINATION OF THE BUFFALO. y ^ARLY travelers assert that the Illinois Valley was the favor- ite resort of the American buffalo, or bison, and though they had disappeared years before, the first settlers found the ground strewn with countless thousands of bones, re- mains of the great herds that had been destroyed. Their range was confined to no particular locality, except in winter, when they resorted to groves and river bottoms for shelter and greater supplies of food. It does not appear that the white man had much to do with their final disappearance. The French were the only settlers, and they so few in number that the buffalo slaughtered by them and the Indians were insignificant as compared with their annual increase. About ninety years ago, according to Indian tradition, there came an Arctic winter, which for depth of snow and severity never had a parallel in Indian tradition. Nearly all living animals perished. The intense cold drove them to the ravines for shelter, where thousands were overwhelmed and suffocated. According to the statements of the Indians, they huddled together for warmth, and died in countless droves; and not the buffalo alone, but the deer likewise ; and when the first settlers crossed the big prairie this side of the Wabash River, the ground was strewn with ant- lers, skulls and the larger bones of both deer and buffalo. The statement that the survivors voluntarily left the country after the cold winter is not borne out by the evidence, and the writer who drew the fanciful picture which follows must have relied largely upon his imagination for facts. "Next spring a few buffalo, poor and haggard in appearance, were seen going westward, and as they approached the carcasses of their dead com- panions, which were lying on the prairies in great numbers, they would stop, commence pawing and bellowing, and then start off again on a lope for the west."* Father Buche, a missionary about Peoria in 1770, in a manuscript left *Matson's " French and Indians." I NARROW ESCAPE OF FATHER BUCHE. 75 by him, describes a buffalo hunt. He says he accompanied thirty-eight of his countrymen and about three hundred Indians when they killed so many buffalo that only their hides could be taken away, their carcasses being left for the wolves. Three leagues west of the great bend in the Illinois Kiver they discovered a herd of many thousand buffalo, feeding on a small prairie surrounded on three sides by timber (now probably known as Princeton prairie). It being about sundown, the hunters encamped for the night in a grove near by, with the intention of attacking them the next day. Next morning before it was light, the Indians, divested of clothing, mounted on ponies, and armed with guns, bows, arrows, spears, etc., anxiously awaited the command of their chief to commence the sport. They formed on three sides, secreting themselves in the timber, while the French occupied a line across the prairie. At a given signal the advance began, when as soon as the animals scented the ap- proaching enemy, they arose and fled in great confusion. On approaching the line the Indians fired, at the same time yelling at the top of their voices. The frightened creatures turned and fled in an opposite direction, where they were met by the hunters and foiled in like manner. Thus they continued to run back and forth, while the slaughter went on. As they approached the line, the Indians would pierce them with spears or bring them down with the more deadly rifle. The line continued to close in, and the frightened buffalo, snorting and with flashing eyes, charged the guards, broke through the line, overthrowing horses and riders, and made their escape. Father Buche continues: "By the wild surging herd my pony was knocked down, and I lay prostrated by his side, while the frightened buffalo jumped over me in their flight, and it was only by the interposi- tion of the Holy Virgin that I was saved from instant death." t 7G RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. ILLINOIS BECOMES A STATE. CHAPTER XIII. THE COMPACT OF FREEDOM. jFTEIi the War of the Revolution and the recognition of American Independence, the Western Territories were claimed by Virginia, New York, and other States. After much discussion, the claimants agreed to transfer their sev- eral interests to the General Government, and in pursu- ance of the aii'angement, Virginia, in 1784, ceded the ter- ritory that now constitutes the States of Indiana, Wiscon- sin, Ohio and Michigan, to the Federal Government, with the stipulation that when divided into States they were to be guaranteed a republican form of government, " with the same sover- eignty, freedom and independence as the other States." The celebrated "Compact of 1787" followed. It was the triumph of Thomas Jefferson's foresight and unceasing labors in the cause of freedom. He was ably as- sisted by Dr. Cutler, of Massachusetts, and to them jointly is mainly due the credit that " slavery was forever excluded from this great territory." Yet slaves were held in Southern Illinois for years, having been brought thither by the early French settlers, and it was not until 1850 that the last bondsmen disappeared from the census. On the 13th of July, 1787, Congress established the Northwest Ter- ritory, and General St. Clair was appointed Governor. He came to Kas- kaskia in 1 790, and organized the county of St. Clair, the first in the State. The population of Illinois was then about 2,000, and it took ten years to add another 1,000. May 7, 1800, Indiana Territory including our State was set apart, Gen. William Henry Harrison appointed Governor, and Vincennes made the capital. The first Legislature assembled in 1805, but its doings were not popular with the Illinoisans, who termed it the " Vinsain Legislate!'." THE RANDOLPH COUNTY COVENANTERS. 77 In that year the population numbered about 5,000, which in 1810 (>ad in- creased to 12,282. In 1809 the State was severed from its "Hoosier" connection, and permitted to set up a territorial government of its own, with Ninian Ed- wards for its first Governor. In 1812, a Legislature was chosen, consisting of five Councillors and seven Representatives, which met at Kaskaskia, November 25. Wai' with Great Biitain was raging at the time, and much anxiety was felt as to the Indians, who, bought over with liberal promises, had generally arrayed themselves with the enemy. In 1815 peace was restored, and a great im- petus given to immigration. In January, 1818, the Territorial Legislature of Illinois petitioned Congress for admission into the Union as a State. A bill was introduced at once, but was not acted on till April, when it became a law. As first intended, the northern boundary of the State was to begin at the southern shore of Lake Michigan, running westward, but as this would have left Chicago in what is now Wisconsin, the Delegate in Con- gress sought and obtained a change to the line that now exists, thus secur- ing to the State fourteen additional counties in the fairest portions of the West, Wisconsin afterward claimed the territory, denying that Congress had a right to alter the petition of the Illinois Territorial Legislature, but the question quieted down, and the disputed territory is now ours as much as any other portion of the State. A Convention was called to frame a constitution in the summer of 1818, and assembled in Kaskaskia. During the session^ the Rev. Mr. Wiley and his congregation, a sect of so-called "Covenanters," in Randolph County, sent a petition asking the members to declare in the instrument they were preparing, that "Jesus Christ was the head of all governments, and that the Holy Scriptures were the only rule of faith and practice." The Convention not only failed to embody this doctrine in the Constitution, but treated the petition with no especial courtesy beyond its mere reception. Therefore, as Gov. Ford states, "The Covenanters refused to sanction the State Government, and have been con- strained to regard it as an heathen and unbaptized government, which de- nies Christ, for which reason they have constantly refused to work on the roads, serve on juries, hold any office, or do any act whereby they are sup- posed to recognize the Government." They steadily refused to vote until 1824, when the subject of admitting slavery was submitted to the popular 78 KECOKDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. vote. Their suffrages were unanimously cast for freedom and a free State. Shadrach Bond was elected the first Governor, in October, 1818. Nin- ian Edwards and Jesse B. Thomas were chosen Senators, and John Mc- Lean, Representative in Congress. Joseph Phillips was chosen Chief Jus- tice, and Thomas C. Brown, John Reynolds and William B. Foster, Asso- ciate Justices of the Supreme Court. Gov. Ford, who afterward wrote a histoiy of the State, did not speak in flattering ternis of some of these men, and was particularly severe on Foster, whom .he styled a "great rascal." He was a polished gentleman, and drew his salary with commend- able regularity, but never sat upon the bench, and after one year resigned and left the State. The first Legislature assembled at Kaskaskia in 1818, from whence the seat of government was changed the succeeding year to Vandalia. In 1823, Peoria County was formed, with Peoria as the county-seat. In 182G the Commissioners of that county fixed the boundaries of Fox River Precinct, which extended from Senachwine Creek to the River La- Page (Du Page), or from Chillicothe northward, including the counties of Putnam, Marshall, Bureau and La Salle, and the territory west to the Mississippi River. Gideon Hawley and James Beersford were Justices of the Peace, with jurisdiction equal with the territory. The voting place was at David Walker's house, at the mouth of Fox River (Ottawa). Marriages were solemnized only at Peoria, and the first on record within the jurisdiction was as follows : STATE OF ILLINOIS, PEORIA Co., July 29, 1829. This is to certify that Willard Scott and Caroline Hawley were this day united in mar- riage by me. ISAAC SCABKETT, Missienary. The ceremony, if short, was binding, and we may believe the parties enjoyed quite as much happiness as follows the elaborate nuptials of to- day, supplemented with cards, cake, bridesmaids, an expensive trousseau, a trip to Europe, and winding up, as is too often the case, with a sensa- tional suit for divorce. ORGANIZATION OF PUTNAM COUNTY. 79 PUTNAM COUNTY. CHAPTER XIV. GURDEN S. HUBBARD. earliest know white settlers who came to what is now Putnam County were certain fur traders, who located at the most eligible points for their business along the Illinois River. The first of these represented the American Fur Company. Antoine Des Champs, a Canadian Frenchman, was the general agent. He established himself at Pe~ oria in 1816, and in 1817 was succeeded by Gurden S. Hubbard, now (1880) of Chicago, who will introduce him- self in the letter below, addressed to the Hon. A. T. Purviance, County Clerk of Putnam County: CHICAGO, April 8th, 1867. A. T. PURVIANCE : Dear Sir : Yours of the 4th received. The trading house occupied by Thomas Hart- zell was erected in 1817, and occupied by Beaubien, in the employment of the American Fur Company. The following year I was with him as his clerk, for he could not read or write ; besides, was old, and passed most of his time sick in bed. I was then sixteen years old, and the had entered the employment of American Fur Company in May of that year. Hartzell was at that time trading on the river below, in opposition to the American Company. Some years after, I think about 1824 or 5, he succeeded Beaubien in the employment of the American Fur Company. There was a house just below, across the ravine, built by Antoine Bourbon- ais, also an opposition trader, who, like Hartzell, went into the employ of the American Fur Company under a yearly salary. My trading post, after leaving Beaubien, was at the mouth of Crooked Creek till 1826, when I located on the Iroquois river, still in the employ of the American Fur Company, and so continued till 1830, when I bought them out. * * * The last time that I visited the old spot where the trading house stood, the chimney was all that remained. This was made with clay and sticks. Four stakes were driven firmly in the ground, then small saplings witlied across about two feet apart. Clay mortar tempered with ashes laid on long hay cut from the low lands, kneaded and made into strips about three feet long and three thick, laying the center over the first round of saplings, twisting them in below, until the top was reached, when the chimney inside and out was daubed with the clay and mortar smoothed off with the hand. The hearth of dry clay, pounded. It was our custom to keep rousing fires, and this soon baked and hardened the chimney, which gave it durability. The roof was made of puncheons, I think ; that is, split boards, the cracks 80 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. well daubed with clay, and then long grass put on top, held down by logs of small size to keep the grass in its place. The sides of the house consisted of logs, laid one on top of the other, about seven feet high. The ends of these logs were kept in place by posts in the ground. The ends were sapling logs set in the ground, upright to the roof, pinned to a beam laid across from the top of the logs, comprising the upper sides of the building. A rough door at one end, and a window at the other, composed of one sheet of foolscap paper, well greased. It was a warm, comfortable building, where many an Indian was hospitably enter- tained, and all were jolly and happy. There I first knew Shaubena. His winter lodge was on Bureau River, at the bluffs. I became very much attached to him, and he to me. I never knew a more honest man, and up to the time of his death our friendship did not seem diminished. Yours, etc., G. S. IIUBBAKD. s We copy the above because it is reliable and valuable as historical fact, and for the reason that it describes the first house ever built by a white man in this section of country. At these trading houses pelts and furs were obtained from the Indians in exchange for powder, balls, tobacco, knives, and beads and other trink- ets, and shipped in boats called batteaux to the headquarters of the Fur Company, or to the larger independent traders at New Orleans or in Canada. In 1821, two cabins were built near that of the Fur Company, one of which was occupied by Bourbonais, or " Bulbona," as he was called, and the other by Rix Robinson, a Connecticut Yankee. Both had married squaws, and were raising half-breed children. The Frenchman went to what became known as Bulbona's Grove, and established a trading post, which he occupied for many years. At this time there were few white people north of Springfield, and the entire northern part of the State was a wilderness, inhabited by In- dians and wolves. Hubbard affirmed that in passing from his trading post at Hennepin he found no white settlers until within eighteen miles of St. Louis. In 1825, says Peck's Gazetteer: "In Northern Illinois there was not an organized county, a post-road or a considerable settlement. Chicago was little more than a village in Pike County, situated on Lake Michigan, at the mouth of Chicago Creek, containing twelve or fifteen houses and about sixty or seventy inhabitants. Peoria was a small settlement in Pike County, situated on the west bank of the Illinois River about two hundred miles above its junction with the Mississippi. A few lead miners had clustered about the lead mines at Galena, but a road through the wil- derness was not made until late this year, when ' Kellogg's Trail ' pointed PIKE, PEORIA AND PUTNAM COUNTIES. 81 the devious way from Peoria to Galena. Not a white man's habitation nor a ferry was to be seen along its entire route." The Military Bounty Land Tract was the first to be settled by Ameri- can emigrants. It was surveyed by the Government, in 1815 and 1816, and the greater part subsequently appropriated in bounties to soldiers of the war of 1812. It extended from the junction of the Illinois and Mis- sissippi Rivers, running north 169 miles to a line drawn from the great bend of the river above Peru to the Mississippi, containing 5,360,000 acres. Pike County was laid off in 1821, and was immense in its boundaries. It included all that part of the State north and west of the Illinois River, from its junction with the Kankakee to the Mississippi River, and east of the Kankakee to the Indiana line, and running north to Wisconsin ! In 1823 it had seven or eight hundred inhabitants. January 13, 1825, among other counties, Putnam was created. It em- braced a territory extending from the present northern limit of Peoria County, along the Illinois and Kankakee Rivers to the Indiana line, and thence north to Wisconsin, and west to a point thirty-five miles from the Mississippi; thence due south 105 miles, and east to beginning, com- prising 11,000 square miles! In 1830, Putnam and Peoria Counties united contained 1,310 whites, Putnam alone about 700. But this county was never organized, however. Its judicial business appears to have been transacted at Peoria, when there was any. In 1829, '30 and '31, settlers had begun to come in and locate along the margins of the timber and at the edges of the larger groves. But still they were few and far between. There being no ferries, goods were taken across the river in canoes, while horses were made to swim. In 1831 Thomas Hartzell established a ferry at Hennepin, the first on the river above Peoria. In 1831 Putnam County was again created, with new boundaries, and in the spring of that year organized in accordance with the act of the Legislature of the January previous. Chicago had not then a municipal existence, but was a lively village of 250 inhabitants, including the garrison of Fort Dearborn. The Indian title to most of the land in Northern Illinois had not been extinguished, and no land outside of the military tract was for sale. But a single steamer had yet troubled the waters of the Illinois River above Peoria. There were a few settlers in the vicinity of Lacon and Hennepin, and on ^ KECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. Round and Half Moon Prairies, in what is Marshall County now, as well as on the Ox Bow Prairie, and at Union Grove, in Putnam County. The new county, as created in 1831, comprised thirty-eight full and thirteen fractional townships, and included nearly the whole of what is now Bureau, Putnam, Marshall and Stark Counties a greater territory than the entire State of Rhode Island. Commissioners to locate a county seat were appointed, consisting of John Hamlin, of Peoria; Isaac Perkins, of Tazewell, and Joel Wright of Canton. The act of incorporation pro- vided it should be located on the Illinois River, "as near as practicable in the center of the county, with a just regard to its present and future sus- ceptibility of population, and to be named Hennepin." The Commissioners accordingly met early in May, and after examina- tion of the various sites along the river, were about deciding to locate the county seat where Henry, in Marshall County, now stands, when the inhabitants of the Spoon River region interposed a plea that its location there would delay them in the formation of a new county, which they desired to have set off as soon as population would justify. The Commis- sion gave due attention to this plea, and resolved upon another site. As an understanding had already gone abroad that the location would be made at Hemy, a chalked board was set up at that point, giving notice that another locality had been chosen. On the 6th of June, a report was made to the County Commissioners' Court, then sitting near Henne- pin, that "they have selected, designated, and permanently located the said seat of justice " where it now is. Provision was made in the organic act for its location upon Congress lands, if deemed advisable.* The boundaries of the new county, as fixed by the act of January 15, 1831, were defined as "commencing at the south-west corner of Town 12 north, Range 6 east, running east to the Illinois River; thence down the middle of said river to the south line of Town 29 north; thence east with said line to the third principal meridian ; thence north with said meridian line forty-two miles ; thence west to a point six miles due north of the north-west corner of Town 17 north, Range (> east; thence south in a right line to the place oi ? beginning." The first election under the law was to choose county officers, and was held at the house of Wm. Hawes, on the first Monday of March, 1831. The judges of election were Thomas Hartzell and Thomas Gallaher, while James W. Willis performed the duties of clerk. *Ford's " History of Marshall and Putnam Counties." FIRST PUTNAM COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT. The day was cold and dreaiy; roads were unknown save here and there a bridle-path ; there were no bridges, and not a great deal of en- thusiasm was manifested. But twenty-four votes were cast, and as there was but one set of can- didates, they were declared elected. They were: Thomas Gallaher, George Ish and John M. Gay for County Commissioners, Ira Ladd for Sheriff, and Aaron Cole for Coroner. Hooper Warren was Clerk of the Circuit Court, Recorder of Deeds, County Clerk, and also, when he had nothing else to do, was Justice of the Peace. Putnam was assigned to the Fifth Judicial Circuit, comprising fifteen counties, of which Hon. Richard M. Young was Judge and Hon. Thomas Ford (afterward Governor) District Attorney. The new county seat was named in honor of Father Hennepin, the well-known explorer, and the first white man who is supposed to have set foot on the shores of the Illinois at this locality. The name was fixed by the law creating the county, so that all the different places seeking the location of the seat of justice, and failing, thus escaped the honor of bear- ing the name of Hennepin. CIRCUIT COURT. The first Circuit Court in Putnam County was held on the first Mon- day of May, 1831. In accordance with law, the County Commissioners' Court had selected the house of Thomas Gallaher, Esq., on the bank of the Illinois River, about one-fourth of a mile above Thomas Hartzell's trading house, as a suitable place for holding court. Accordingly, on the day named the Court met, and there being no Clerk as yet provided, the Judge appointed Hooper Wan-en to the posi- tion, and fixed his official bond at $2,000. John Dixon and Henry Thomas became his sureties. The Sheriff made due proclamation, and the Circuit Court of Putnam was declared in session. The Grand Jurors for the term were : Daniel Dimmick, Elijah Epper- son, Henry Thomas, Leonard Roth, Jesse Williams, Israel Archer, James Warnock, John L. Ramsey, William Hawes, John Strawn, Samuel Laughlin (foreman), David Boyle, Stephen Willis, Jeremiah Strawn, Abraham Stratten, and Nelson Shepherd, 84 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. Summoned, but did not appear : Thomas Wafer, George B. Willis, John Knox, - - Humphrey, Jesse Roberts, and Lemuel Gaylord, Sr. The Petit Jurors were : Wm. Boyd, Hugh Warnock, Wm. H. Ham, Lewis Knox, Samuel Patterson, Joseph Ash, Christopher Wagner, Joseph Wallace, John Whittaker, Wm. Cowan, Wm. Wright, Ashael Hannum, Anthony Turk, John Burrow, John Myers, Ezekiel Thomas, Mason Wil- son, Smiley Shepherd, Justin Ament, and William Morris. The Grand Jury held its sessions on a log under the shade of the trees. The only work done was the finding of an indictment against a man named Resin Hall and a woman named Martha Wright. He had a cabin in the woods, where he openly lived with two wives, to the great disgust of his bachelor neighbors, who thought where women were so few there should be a more equal distribution. Before the setting of the next court, Mr. Hall and his two wives folded their tents and disappeared. There was no further business before this court, which lasted but one day and adjourned. At the next term, September, 1831, James M. Strode, Esq., was appointed Prosecuting Attorney, pro tern, in the absence of State's Attorney Thomas Ford, and Clark Hollenback indicted for malfeasance in office as Magistrate. Court was afterward held at the house of Geo. B. Willis, and where- ever it could find room for a year or two, until more permanent quarters could be had. At the May term, 1832, John Combs, summoned as a juror, failed to appear. The Court sent an officer, armed with an attachment, after the delinquent, brought him in a prisoner, and fined him $5.00 and costs. David Jones, of rather tempestuous fame, was recognized to keep the peace, and gave bonds in the sum of $50.00, with Roswell Blanchard and Elijah Epperson as his sureties that he would be peaceful to all the world, and especially as to George Ish. In May, 1832, Clark Hollenback's case came up, but for some unknown reason the State's Attorney quashed it. He had been indicted for some crookedness as Justice of the Peace, but the affair never came to trial. COURT HOUSES AND JAILS. A new Court House and jail had been contemplated, and October 8th, 1831, the County Commissioners "ordered that a new Court House be built on plans furnished by John M. Gay, Esq., by May, 1832." CONSTRUCTION OF COURT HOUSES AND JAILS. 85 December 9th, 1831, a jail was ordered to be built. It was to be seven feet in the clear, the upper and under floors to be made of hewn timber, one foot sqiiare, the roof "raved clapboard," three feet long. "The door to be made of inch boards doubled, nailed together with hammered nails six inches apart, to be Imng with iron hinges, the hooks one inch square, six inches long, boarded, the hasp of the lock to go two-thirds of the way across the door, the window to be a foot square, with two bars of iron each way. To be twelve feet square, and cost eighty dollars." This costly structure was erected according to specifications, and ac- cepted ; and it is on record that one of its first prisoners, with a little out- side help, pried out a log and escaped. August 14th, 1832, "Notice was ordered given in The Sangamon Journal (Springfield), that three several jobs of building a court house will be sold the third Monday of September, 1832. "1st. The foundation to be of stone, fifty fee't on the ground each way, out to out; wall three feet high, two feet thick, one foot six inches under ground. " 2d. Brick wall to be equal in extent to foiindation, twenty-two feet high, first story twelve feet, two and a half brick thick; second story ten feet high, two brick thick. "3d. Carpenter work all to be done in good style, and the whole to be finished by September, 1833." Until 1833, the Circuit Court had no regular place for holding its ses- sions, and among bills audited were several for payment of rent of room used, the usual price charged being two dollars for the term, which if in winter included the firewood used. In March, 1833, Ira Ladd was employed to build a new jail, of the following dimensions : " Lower floor to be double, of hewn timber white or burr oak, one foot square sixteen feet square ; the lower tier of timber to be laid close side by side ; second tier to be of same material and size laid crosswise, so as to make both solid making it two feet thick, sixteen inches square, and sunk in the ground to a level with the top of the floor, four to eight inches above the ground. The outer wall to be sixteen feet from out to out, and each way sixteen feet high, of square timber hewn or four-sided ; walls one foot thick, logs to be close, the corners plumb, notched dove- tail, corners cut down true and smooth, iron spikes in each log at the cor- ners, of three-quarter inch iron, to be driven in in presence of wit- 86 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. nesses; the lower seven feet to be of white or burr oak. Inner wall twelve feet square^ one foot thick, seven feet high, corners notched; one foot of space between inner and outer wall, to be filled with good hard timber, except walnut or ash. Space to be filled with one foot square timber seven feet long, set on end. Second floor of timber one foot square, sixteen feet long; upper story nine feet nine inches high. One window, one foot square, in lower story between the fourth and fifth logs, grated double, with one and one-quarter inch iron rods, and a door and window in upper stoiy, securely made. A hatchway connected the upper and lower stories. The cost of this model log fortress was fixed at $334 ! The next important record is found January 7, 1836, when it was "ordered that $14,000 be appropriated for a court house," and Wm. M. Stewart was appointed to make out the plans. The contract was to be let March 3, 1836, and an advertisement was ordered inserted in the Chicago Democrat and Sangamon Journal to that effect. Gorham , Town 31, Range 1 west. Also, on the petition of Wm. Smith and nineteen others, John B. Dodge, Charles Boyd and Sylvanus Moore were appointed Commissioners to locate a road from Hennepin to Smith's Ford, on Spoon River, and required to meet and begin their labors July 4th, 1831. June 17th, 1831, the Court, on the petition of Christopher Hannum and seventeen others, appointed Ashael Hannum, John Strawn and Ira Ladd to locate a road from Hennepin to the county line between Taze- well and Putnam Counties. The first tax levied in the county was fixed by the Commissioners' Court at one-half of one per cent on personal property only, for county purposes. James W. Willis was appinted the first County Treasurer, and his bond required to be one thousand dollars. Thomas Wafer, Samuel D. Laughlin and Stephen D. Willis became sureties, and the bond accepted. The county was at this term divided into four election precincts, viz: Sandy Including all the county south uf the south branch of Clear Creek to the Illinois River. Hennepin All the county south-east of the Illinois River, and north of the above mentioned line. Spoon River To include all of the county south of the direct line THE FIRST ELECTION IN PUTNAM COUNT?. 89 from the bead of Crow Prairie to Six Mile Grove, thence north-west to the county line. Bureau All of the county north-east of the above and northwest of the Illinois River. THE FIRST ELECTION. The first election after the organization of the county was held August 1st, 1834, and the officers to be elected were, a Member of Con- gress, a Justice of the Peace or Magistrate, as they were known, and a Constable for each precinct. The vote was small, and was taken by each elector calling the name of the party for whom he desired to cast his bal- lot, which the clerk reported, and, along with his name, inscribed in the poll book. This is what is termed voting "viva voce." We give for the benefit of their descendants a list of persons who voted at that election : SANDY PRECINCT. Judges Win. Cowan, Ashael Hannum and John Strawn. Election held at the houses of Jesse Roberts, John H. Shaw and Abner Boyle. The voters were: Ashael Hannum, Wm. Cowan, John Strawn, George H. Shaw, Abner Boyle, Lemuel Gaylord, William Hart, Lemuel Horram, Robert Bird, Wm. Hendrick, John Knox, James Finley, George Hilde- brand, Hiram Allen, Daniel Gunn, Zion Shugart, Jesse Roberts, Isaac Hildebrand, John S. Hunt, William Eads, Wm. H. Hart, John Hart, Ephraim Smith, Peter Hart, Obed Graves, Hartwell Hawley, William Graves, Wm. Lathrop, Jesse Berge, Ezekiel Stacey, Litel Kneal, William Hawes, Wm. Knox, Marcus D. Stacey, J. C. Wright, Thos. Gunn, John Bird, Samuel Glenn, Elias Thompson, Robert Barnes, James Adams and John G. Griffith 42. HENNEPIN PRECINCT. The Judges of Election were: Thornton Wilson, Aaron Payne and George B. Willis; Smiley Shepherd and John Short, Clerks. Election at the ferry house, opposite the moutu of Bureau Creek. The voters were : James W. Willis, Ira Ladd, Hooper Warren, Chris- topher Wagner, David Boyle, James C. Stephenson, Samuel McNamara, Alexander Wilson, John McDonald, Wm. H. Hamm, John Griffin, James G. Dunlavy, Colby T. Stephenson, James A. Warnock, John E. Warnock, 90 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. Jeremiah Strawn, Aaron Whittaker, Aaron Thomasson, Aaron Payne, Jos. Warnock, Steplien D. Willis, Madison Studyvin, Samuel D. Laughlin, Hugh Warnock, Anthony Turck, Jonathan Wilson, Joseph Wallace, James Garven, George Ish, Joseph D. Warnock, Robert W. Moore, James G. Ross, James Hayes, John L. Ramsey, Williamson Durley, Thos. D. Hayless, Thornton Wilson, John Short, George B. Wilson, Smiley Shep- herd, James S. Simpson 41. SPOON RIVER DISTRICT. Judges Win. Smith, Greenleaf Smith and Wm. B. Essex ; John C. Owing and Benj. Smith, Clerks. Election at the house of Benj. Smith. The voters were: W. D. Garrett, Sewell Smith, John B. Dodge, Syl- vanus Moore, Benj. Essex, Thomas Essex, Thomas Essex, Jr., David Cooper, Harris W. Miner, Isaac B. Essex, -- Greenleaf, B. Smith, Wm. Smith, Benj. Smith, John C. Owings 14. BUREAU PRECINCT. Judges- Henry Thomas, Elijah Epperson, and Leonard Roth, at the house of E. Epperson. The voters were : Henry Thomas, Elijah* Epperson, Leonard Roth, John M. Gay, Mason Dimmick, Samuel Gleason, Curtis Williams, Justice Ament, John Ament, John W. Hall, Henry M. Harrison, Abner Strat- "ton, Elijah Thomas, Hezekiah Epperson, Edward W. Hall, Adam Tay- lor, Daniel Dunnic, Thomas Washburn and Anthony Epperson. In all the precincts there were but one hundred and sixteen votes cast. SOURCES OF REVENUE, SURVEYS, ETC. By order of the County Coiirt, all business men were required to take out licenses, for which fees were charged according to their supposed profits. Peddlers were looked on with suspicion, and a fee was exacted double that required of the merchant, who could secure one while court was in session for eight dollars, but in vacation the Clerk was directed to assess sixteen. This we suppose was to make men respect the Court's dignity. The county being hard up, George Ish and Thomas Gallaher were au- thorized to borrow $200 on its credit, to purchase the land of the United SALE OF LOTS AT PUBLIC AUCTION. 91 States Government upon which the State had located the seat of justice, but here a new difficulty arose ; for County Surveyor Stevenson having, in accordance with the request of the Court, surveyed the fractional quar- ter section upon which the Commissioners had located the new county- seat, and found it to contain only twelve acres far too little for the future great metropolis, the Court appointed John M. Gay to proceed to the residence of any two of said Commissioners and get them to alter their report so as to include the south-east quarter, or else to make a new location. They were easily persuaded to amend it in accord- ance with the merits of the case; so they designated the south-east fractional quarter of Section 9, Town 32, Range 2 west as the future seat of justice, and George Ish was sent to Springfield to enter the same at the Government Land Office, for the benefit of the County of Putnam. September 5, 1831, John B. Dodge, Thomas Gunn, William Smith and Thomas G. Ross, having been elected Constables in August, pre- sented their bonds, and the same were approved. September (!, Dunlavy & Stewart took out a license to sell merchand- ' ise from August 1, 1831'; also a like legal authority to sell goods was granted to J. & W. Durley, from August 11, 1831. September 7, 1831, twelve blocks of the future town of Hennepin were ordered to be surveyed, and Ira Ladd allowed eighteen and three- fourths cents per lot for surveying. A road leading from Hennepin west to the State road from Peoria to Galena, was ordered to be surveyed ; also a road to Smith's Ford, on Spoon River, to be re-surveyed and marked, and another to be laid out from Hennepin to Holland's settlement in Tazewell County (now Washington) ; another was laid out from the county seat to the McComas place. The first sale of lots in Hennepin was ordered to be made, at public auction, on the third Monday of September, 1831, half the purchase money to be paid down, and the balance in two payments, in six and twelve months. A general sale was ordered to take place on the first Monday of December, 1831, on similar terms, to be advertised in the newspapers at Springfield and Galena, Illinois, and Terre Haute, Indiana, the then most considerable papers in the west. The first Commissioner of School Lands was Nathaniel Chamberlain, who was appointed September 26, 1831. *.. The ground where the new town was located was heavily timbered, if we may credit the following notice "from the Coiirt," which "Ordered, 92 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. that notice he given to all persons cutting timber on the streets of Ilenne- pin, to clear the whole tree they cut down from the street even with the ground, and all who infringe upon this rule will be prosecuted." Ira Ladd was next called upon to survey eight additional blocks, and he complied by laying out eighteen, for which he was paid $3.50. Sam- uel Patterson was auctioneer at this sale, and was allowed the surprising sum of one dollar for " crying " them. December 8, 1831, George H. Shaw, Thomas Wafer, Elijah Smith and Benjamin Smith were appointed Overseers of the Poor the first in this county. The same day the Court confirmed a permit issued in vacation to James S. Simpson, to sell goods; and also tranferred a license from Ira Ladd to Thomas Hartzell, for merchandizing. March 6, 1832, James W. Willis was appointed Treasurer, and filed his bond at the same time. Up to March 7, 1832, all efforts had failed to acquire title to the land set apart as the seat of justice, and a new endeavor was made. The taxes of 1832 were fixed at one and a half per centum on all per- sonal property. At this session of the Court, Erastus Wright and Wm. Porter, who were running a ferry at the mouth of Sandy Creek, were taxed $5.00 for the privilege. This was March 16, 1832, and was probably the first feny established at Hemy. July 2, 1832, the Precinct of Columbia was created out of Sandy Pre- cinct, and embracing " all the country east of the Illinois River, south and south-west of Geo. H. Thompson's. Robert Bird, James Dever and Rob- ert Barnes were appointed judges, and the first election was ordered to be held at the house of John Strawn. No title to the land where Hennepin stands had yet been acquired, although Hooper Warren had specially visited Springfield for the pur- pose, and at the July session James G. Dunlavy was dispatched to St. Louis upon the same errand. Elisha Swan was granted a license to sell goods at Columbia, Septem- ber 3, 1832. James W. Willis, for assessing the entire property of the county, was allowed $25.00. September % 1832, Thomas Gallaher, Jr., for selling goods without a license, was brought before Hooper Warren, a Justice of the Peace, and fined $10.00. FERRY RATES PUBLIC SCHOOLS ROADS. 93 September 10, 1832, Aaron Whittaker was employed to build a "stray pen, according to law." John Lloyd, John Myers, and Bradstreet M. Hays were appointed to locate a road from Hennepin to Ottawa, and a former survey on that route was ordered to be vacated. The Commissioners of Peoria County having granted a license, De- cember 3, 1830, to Thompson , 1832, ordered the same continued in the name of E. Wright and Wm. Porter, who seem to have in some way succeeded the former owners. The new ferrymen were required to pay to the county $2.00, and give bonds in the sum of $100 that they would run the ferry according to law and the following ferry rates : Foot passengers, each 6 J cents. Man and horse 12J Dearborn, or one-horse wagon 25 Sulky, gig, pleasure carriage with springs, chaise or other wheel car- riage drawn by one horse 50 Same, or wagon or cart drawn by two horses or beasts 37 Same, by four horses or beasts 75 Each additional horse G] Each head of cattle 61 Hog, sheep o r goat, each 3 Goods, per 100 pounds 6 J When the water is out of its banks, double the above rates. Ira Ladd was authorized to keep the Hennepin ferry. October (5, 1832, it was ordered that a lot be donated in Hennepin for the benefit of the public schools, and lot 17 of block 7 having been se- lected, the same was deeded to the school district. October (5, 1832, a road was ordered surveyed from Columbia (Lacon) past Strawn's and Dever's places, south to the county line of Putnam and Tazewell. John Robinson, Anthony Turck, and B. M. Hays, Com- missioners. October 6, 1832, "Lemuel Gaylord came before the Court and made affidavit that he was aged sixty-seven years ; that he entered the service of the United States Government for one Ithurial Hart, of the Quarter- master's Department, under command of Captain Tuttle, in June, 1 780 ; continued till December, 1780; re-enlisted in April, 1781 ; drove team till December 27, following ; was with the expedition to Yorktown, and after the taking of Cornwallis, hauled a piece of artillery to Newburg, and 94 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. baggage back. In April, 1782, enlisted again; went to headquarters at New burg, remained under the command of Major Skidmore till December 20, following, and believe myself entitled to a pension," etc. This affidavit bears the signature of Edward Hale and Peter Ellis, ministers of the Gospel, who certify to Gaylord's good character and truthfulness. In further explanation, it should be stated that Gaylord was a minor at the time, and his father was entitled to the pension, but the latter hav- ing been killed by the Indians at the massacre of Wyoming, it had never been allowed. Mr. Gaylord was fortunate in securing what he was so justly entitled to, and spent his remaining days at his home on Sandy. He was universally respected, and after living to an advanced age, was gathered to his fathers, and sleeps in an honored grave in Cumberland Cemetery. December 25, 1832, Roswell Blanchard surrendered his license to sell goods, and in its stead applied for one to keep a tavern at Hennepin, which was granted for a fee of fifty cents, and bonds required in the amount of $200 that he would, among the duties of landlord, strictly live up to the following rates of charges : Horse one night, 25c. ; one feed, 12Ac. ; one horse twenty-four hours, ST^c. ; man, one meal, 18fc; night's lodging, GJc. ; whisky one gill 6c., half-pint 12^c., one pint 18fc. ; brandy, rum, gin and wine, one gill 12Ac; half-pint 25c., pint 50c. December 29, 1832, Captain Brown's Rangers, a body of militia organ- ized to protect the white people of the frontier against the Indians, were quartered near Hennepin, and occasionally had to use the ferry. The Court made the following special order: "Captain Brown's company of Hangers are granted the use of the ferry to cross at Hennepin, for $2.00 over and back, or $2.00 per week, as Captain Brown may choose. March 6, 1833, Hooper Warren, Justice, reported that he had fined Roswell Blanchard $3.00 for an assault upon Leonard Roth. Also, George Wilmarth seems to have perpetrated an assault and battery upon the de- voted person of David Jones, somewhat noted as a pugilist. George hav- ing apparently got the best of this encounter, the Justice fined him $5.00 and costs. The entire taxes collected in 1832, in the County of Putnam, amounted to cash, $88.19, and county orders, $104.G2i. A road from the mouth of Crow Creek, up the Illinois River, under the bluffs, through Columbia, and along the bottom to the mouth of DIVISION OF PUTNAM INTO THREE COUNTIES. 95 Saudy (opposite Henry), was ordered to be laid out, and Jesse Sawyer and the County Surveyor were appointed Commissioners to perform the labor, June 3, 1833. Peter Earnhardt, paymaster of the Fourth Illinois Militia, filed his bond in $200, as by law required, and the same was approved. September 2, 183.3, J. W. Willis was sent to Springfield to get patents for the land occupied by Hennepin and the county buildings. All previ- ous efforts in this direction had regularly failed. The county had been selling and conveying property to which it had as yet no title, and ner- vous purchasers and tax-payers who feared that some audacious claim- jumper might steal the county property, or that which had been claimed for court house and jail purposes, kept the Honorable Commissioners' Court in the warmest of hot water, and every previous attempt to get titles having so wretchedly miscarried, they were becoming desperate. December 16, it was ordered that the Commissioners' Clerk and Sheriff relinquish their fees for this term of Court. No explanation is vouch- safed, and we are left in the dark as to whether the county was unable to pay its public servants, or the Treasurer had grown so weak he could not draw the necessary orders. FERRY LICENSES. September 1, 1834, Alex. Tompkins was granted a license to run a ferry at the mouth of Negro Creek, at the house of John Cole. Elisha Swan was allowed a ferry license at Columbia, March 2, 1835, and was taxed $15.00; and at the same time was granted a merchant's license. March 2, a license was given Wm. Hammett to run a ferry at the mouth of Crow Creek. FORMATION OF MARSHALL COUNTY. t By 1835 Putnam had 3,948 whites and eight negroes, of whom two were registered servants, or more plainly, slaves. The county was growing rapidly, and the location of the county seat being found inconvenient for many, the project for a new county was agi- tated, and the result was the formation of the magnificent county of Bu- reau, with Princeton for its county seat. 96 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. This was followed by another division, and Marshall County was formed. Thus from being the largest county in the State and leading all others in population, wealth and political influence, Putnam was shorn of its fair pYoportions, and made the very smallest. The student of his- tory as he reads this will wonder why this wrong was permitted, and ask if there were none in the Legislature to plead for .and protect her just rights. We cannot answer. In the "Bribery Act" of 1837, whereby millions of money was voted to railroads never constructed, the consent or silent approval of counties not benefitted was secured by loans of money, and under its provisions Putnam was entitled to and received $10,000 as her portion of the "steal." But "ill gotten gains are treacherous friends," the proverb hath it, and so it turned out, for the Treasurer, Ammon Moon, loaned it out so se- curely that it has never been recovered. The last act of the Commissoners was to divide the county into town- ships in accordance with an act of the Legislature and vote of the people, and this duty was assigned to Guy W. Pool and Jeremiah Strawn. The labors of the old County Commissioners' Court ceased April 16, 1856, when the new County Supervisors met at Hennepin and took upon themselves the dignity of office. The first Board consisted of Townsend G. Fyffe, of Magnolia, who was elected chairman, and James S. Simpson of Hennepin, Benjamin F. Carpenter of Senachwine, and Joel "W. Hopkins of Granville. RECORDS OF THE PROBATE COURT. Colby F. Stevenson was the first Probate Judge of Putnam County, and performed its duties in addition to those of Surveyor. The first case for adjudication was the estate of Daniel Bland, of Round Prairie, who died on the 8th day of February, 1831. The circumstances of his death will be more particularly referred to hereafter. His widow, Nancy Bland, was appointed administratrix, under bonds of $1,250. Rob- ert Bird became her surety. John P. Blake was the next Judge, and his first official act was admin- istering upon the estate of Zion Shugart, who died February 13, 1833. His widow was appointed administratrix, and Samuel Glenn became her surety. Dr. Condee, of Columbia (Lacon), appears to have been physician to deceased, since his bill is allowed. DEATH NOTICES OF EAKLY SETTLERS. 97 Aaron Payne, the missionary, 'presents a bill of $11.25 for officiating at the inquest of Daniel Gunn, who hanged himself on Oxbow Prairie, and the same was allowed. December 8, 1831, James Reynolds died, and Jane M. Reynolds was made executrix. Another record is the indenture of Caleb Stark to Elias Isaacs, who agrees "for three years' service" to instruct his apprentice in the "art, trade or mystery of currying." After one year's service the contract was abrogated. September 7, 1831, Wm. Wauhob, Sr., died on Round Prairie. January 5, 1835, Robert, his son, comes to the County Court and complains that his brother William has appropriated the entire estate of their father, and wants an account rendered and a division. After a long contest over the matter, the parties got into court and settled. James Dever died in December, 1834, and his will was proven in Jan- uary, 1835. We close our records with the following death notices of settlers whom many will remember: Thornton Wilson died March 9, 1835; Jos. Babb, April 7; Oliver Johnson, August 6; Alexander Wilson, July 22; William Britt, June 25 ; and Naomi Ware, October 3, of that year. The last named left by will a considerable portion of her estate to the New School Pres- byterian Church of Hennepin. 5)8 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. THE BLACK HAWK WAR. CHAPTER XV. THE TREATY OF 1804. important episode in the history of Marshall and Putnam Counties demands extended notice, and for what follows we are mainly indebted to Ex-Governor Thomas Ford, who was a personal actor therein, and probably the very best man that could be found to tell the story. In order to a full and complete understanding of the causes that led to it, it will be necessary to refer to a treaty made by General Harrison, at St. Louis, in 1804, with the chief of the Sac and Fox nations of Indians, by which those Indians ceded to the United States all their lands on Rock River, and much more elsewhere. "This grant was confirmed by a part of the tribe in a treaty with Governor Edwards and Auguste Chouteau, in September, 1815, and by another part in a treaty with the same Commissioners in May, 1816. The United States had caused some of these lands, situate at the mouth of Rock River, to be surveyed and sold. They included the great town of the nation, near the mouth of the river. The purchasers from the Gov- ernment moved on their lands, built houses, made fences and fields, and thus took possession of the ancient metropolis of the Indian nation. It consisted of about two or three hundred lodges made of small poles set upright in the ground, upon which other poles were tied transversely with bark at the top, so as to hold a covering of bark peeled from the neighboring trees, and secured with other strips sewed to the transverse poles. The sides of the lodges were secured in the same manner. The principal part of these Indians had long since moved from their town to the west of the Mississippi. "But there was one old chief of the Sacs, called Mucata Muhicatah, or Black Hawk, who always denied the validity of these treaties. Black Hawk was now an old man. He had been a warrior from his youth. He had led many a war party on the trail of an enemy, and had never been CHAKACTER OF BLACK HAWK. 99 defeated. He had been in the service of England in the war of 1812, and had been aid-de-camp to the great Tecumseh. He was distinguished for courage and for clemency to the vanquished. He was an Indian patriot, a kind husband and father, and was noted for his integrity in all his deal- ings with his tribe and with the Indian traders. He was firmly attached to the British, and cordially hated the Americans. At the close of the war of 1812 he did not join in making peace with the United States, but himself and band kept up their connection with Canada, and were ever ready for a war with our people. He was in his personal deport- ment grave and melancholy, with a disposition to cherish and brood over the wrongs he supposed he had received from the Americans. He was thirsting for revenge upon his enemies, and at the same time his piety con- strained him to devote one day in the year to visit the grave of a favorite daughter buried on the Mississippi River, not far from Oquawka. Here he came on his yearly visit, and spent a day by the grave, lamenting and be- wailing the death of one who had been the pride of his family and of his Indian home. With these feelings was mingled the certain and melan- choly prospect of the extinction of his tribe, and the transfer of his coun- try, with its many silvery rivers, rolling and green prairies, and dark forests, the haunts of his youth, to the possession of a hated enemy; while he and his people were to be driven, as he supposed, into a strange country, far from the graves of his fathers and his children. "Black Hawk's own account of the treaty of 1804 is as follows. He says that some Indians of the tribe were arrested and imprisoned in St. Louis for murder; that some of the chiefs were sent down to provide for their defence ; that while there, and without the consent of the nation, they were induced to sell the Indian country ; that when they came home, it appeared that they had been drunk most of the time they were absent, and could give no account of what they had done, except that they had sold some land to the white people, and had come home loaded with presents and Indian finery. This was all the nation ever heard or knew about the treaty of 1804. " Under the pretence that this treaty was void, he resisted the order of the Government for the removal of his tribe west of the Mississippi. In the spring of 1831 he re-crossed the river, with his women and children and three hundred warriors of the British band, together with some allies from the Pottawatomie and Kickapoo nations, to establish himself upon his ancient hunting-grounds and in the principal village of his nation. He 100 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. ordered the white settlers away, threw down their fences, unroofed their houses, cut up their grain, drove off and killed their cattle, and threat- ened the people with death if they remained. The settlers made their complaints to Governor Reynolds. These acts of the Indians were con- sidered by the Governor to be an invasion of the State. He immediately addressed letters to General Gaines, of the United States army, and to General Clark, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, calling upon them to use the influence of the Government to procure the peaceful removal of the Indians, if possible ; at all events, to defend and protect the American citizens who had purchased those lands from the United States, and were now about to be ejected by the Indians. General Gaines repaired to Rock Island with a few companies of regular soldiers, and soon ascertained that the Indians were bent upon war. He immediately called upon Gov- ernor Reynolds for seven hundred mounted volunteers. The Governor obeyed the requisition. A call was made upon some of the northern and central counties, in obedience to which fifteen hundred volunteers rushed to his standard at Beardstown, and about the 10th of June were organ- ized and ready to march to the seat of war. The whole force was divided into two regiments, an odd battalion and a spy battalion. The first regi- ment was commanded by Col. James D. Hemy, the second by Col. Daniel Lieb, the odd battalion by Maj. Nathaniel Buckmaster, and the spy bat- talion by Maj. Samuel Whiteside. The whole brigade was put under the command of Maj. Gen. Joseph Duncan, of the State Militia. This was the largest military force of Illinoisans which had ever been assembled in the State, and made an imposing appearance as it traversed the then un- broken wilderness of prairie. The army proceeded in four days to the Mississippi, at a place now called Rockport, about eight miles below the mouth of Rock River, where it met General Gaines in a steamboat, with a supply of provisions. Here it encamped for the night, and the two Generals concerted a plan of operations. General Gaines had been in the vicinity of the Indian town for about a month, during which time it might be supposed that he had made himself thoroughly acquainted with the localities and topography of the country. The next morning the volunteers marched forward, with an old regular soldier for a guide. The steamboat with General Gaines ascended the river. A battle was expected to be fought that day on Van- druff's Island, opposite the Indian town. The plan was for the volun- teers to cross the slough on to this island, give battle to the enemy if GENERAL GAINES' FRUITLESS CAMPAIGN. 101 found there, and then to ford the main river into the town, where they were to be met by the regular force coming down from the fort. The island was covered with bushes and vines, so as to be impenetrable to the sight at the distance of twenty feet. General Gaines ran his steamboat up to the point of the island, and fired several rounds of grape and can- ister shot into it to test the presence of an enemy. The spy battalion formed in line of battle and swept the island; but it was soon ascertained that the ground rose so high within a short distance of the bank, that General Gaines's shot could not have taken effect one hundred yards from the shore. The main body of the volunteers, in three columns, came fol- lowing the spies; but before they had got to the northern side of -the island, they were so jammed up and mixed together, officers and men, that no man knew his own company or regiment, or scarcely himself. General Gaines had ordered the artillery of the regular army to be sta- tioned on a high bluff which looked down upon the contemplated battle- field a half mile distant, from whence, in case of battle with the Indians in the tangled thickets^of the island, their shot were likely to kill more of their friends than their enemies. It would have been impossible for the artillerists to distinguish one from the other. And when the army arrived at the main river, they found it a bold, deep stream, not fordable for a half mile or more above by horses, and no means of transportation was then ready to ferry them over. Here they were in sight of the Indian town, with a narrow, deep river running between, and here the princi- pal part of them remained until scows could be brought to ferry them across it. " When the volunteers reached the town they found no enemy there. The Indians had quietly departed the same morning in their canoes for the western side of the Mississippi. Whilst in camp twelve miles below, the evening before, a canoe load of Indians came down with a white flag to tell the General that they were peaceable Indians, that they expected a great battle to come off the next day, that they desired to remain neutral, and wanted to retire with their families to some place of safety, and they asked to know where that was to be. General Gaines answered them veiy abruptly, and told them to be off and go to the other side of the Mississippi. That night they returned to their town, and the next morn- ing early the whole band of hostile Indians re-crossed the river, and tlrus entitled themselves to protection." Says Governor Ford: "It has been stated to me by Jiidge William 102 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. Thomas, of Jacksonville, who acted as Quartermaster of the brigade of volunteers, that Games and Duncan had reason to believe, before the commencement of the march from the camp on the Mississippi, that the Indians had departed from their village, that measures had been taken to ascertain the fact before the volunteers crossed to Vandruff's Island, that General Duncan, in company with the advanced guard, following the spies, preceded the main body in crossing, and that this will account for the con- fusion and want of order in the march of the troops. "I was myself in company with the spies, arriving at the river a mile in advance of the army. I saw General Gaines ascend with his boat to the point of the island; was within one hundred yards of him when lie fired into the island to test the presence of the Indians; I marched ahead with the spies across the island, saw with my own eyes the elevation of the land near the shore, which would have prevented cannon shot from taking effect more than one hundred yards. I also knew the condition of the island as to bushes and vines, and saw the artilleiy firing from the fort stationed on the high bluff on the opposite side of the river. I was on the bank of the main river when General Duncan came up, followed soon after by his brigade in the utmost confusion, and heard him reprimand John S. Miller, a substantial and worthy citizen of Rock Island, for not letting him know that the main river was on the north side of the island ; and I heard Miller curse him to his face at the head of his troops for re- fusing his services as guide when offered the evening before, and then cen- suring him for not giving information which he had refused to receive. I give the facts as I personally know them to be true, and leave it to others to judge whether the two Generals, knowing of the departure of the Indians, had taken proper measures to ascertain the presence of an enemy, or had made the best disposition for a battle if the Indians had been found either at their village or on the island. Much credit is undoubtedly due to Gov- ernor Reynolds and General Duncan for the unprecedented quickness with which the brigade was called out, organized, and marched to the seat of war, and neither of them are "justly responsible for what was arranged for them by General Gaines. " The enemy having escaped, the volunteers were determined to be avenged upon something. The rain descended in torrents, and the Indian wigwams would have furnished a comfortable shelter ; but notwithstand- ing the rain, the whole town was soon wrapped in flames, and tlms per- ished an ancient village which had once been the delightful home of six or A BRIEF PEACE RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES. 103 seven thousand Indians ; where generation after generation had been born, had died, and been buried ; where the old men had taught wisdom to the young ; whence the Indian yoiith had often gone out in parties to hunt or to war, and returned in triumph to dance around the spoils of the forest, or the scalps of their enemies; and where the dark-eyed Indian maidens, by their presence and charms, had made it a scene of delightful enchant- ment to many an admiring warrior. "The volunteers marched to Rock Island next morning, and here they encamped for several days, precisely where the town of Rock Island is now situated. It was then in a complete state of nature, a romantic wil- derness. Fort Armstrong was built upon a rocky cliff on the lower point of an island near the center of the river, a little way above; the shores on each side, formed of gentle slopes of prairie extending back to bluffs of considerable height, made it one of the most picturesque scenes in the Western country. The river here is a beautiful sheet of clear, swift-run- ning water, about three-quarters of a mile wide; its banks on both sides were uninhabited except by Indians, from the lower rapids to the fort, and the voyager up stream, after several days' solitary progress through a wilderness countiy on its borders, came suddenly in sight of the white- washed walls and towers of the fort, perched upon a rock surrounded by the grandeur and beauty of nature, which at a distance gave it the ap- pearance of one of those enchanted castles in an uninhabited desert so well described in the Arabian Nights Entertainment. General Gaines threatened to pursue the Indians across the river, which brought Black Hawk and the chiefs and braves of the hostile band to the fort to sue for peace. A treaty was formed with them, by which they agreed to remain forever after on the west side of the river, and never to recross it without the permission of the President or the Governor of the State. And thus these Indians at last ratified the treaty of 1804, by which their lands were sold to the white people, and they agreed to live in peace with the Government. "But notwithstanding this treaty, early in the spring of 1832, Black Hawk and the disaffected Indians prepared to reassert their right to the disputed territory. "The united Sac and Fox nations were divided into two parties. Black Hawk commanded the warlike band, and Keokuk, another chief, headed the band which was in favor of peace. Keokuk was a bold, sa- gacious leader of his people, was gifted with a wild and stirring eloquence 104 KECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. rarely to be found even among Indians, by means of which he retained the greater part of his people in amity with the white people. But nearly all the bold, turbulent spirits, who delighted in mischief, arranged them- selves under the banners of his rival. Black Hawk had with him the chivalry of his nation, with which he re-crossed the Mississippi in the spring of 1832. He directed his march to the Rock River country, and this time aimed, by marching up the river into the territoiy of the Potta- watomies and Winnebagoes, to make them his allies. Governor Reynolds, upon being informed of the facts, made another call for volunteers. In a few days eighteen hundred men rallied under his banner at Beardstown. This force was organized into four regiments and a spy battalion. Colonel Dewitt commanded the First Regiment, Colonel Fry the Second, Colonel Thomas the Third, Colonel Thompson the Fourth, and Col. James D. Henry commanded the spy battalion. The whole brigade was put under the command of Brigadier General Samuel Whiteside, of the State militia, who had commanded the spy battalion in the first campaign. STILLMAN S DEFEAT. 105 CHAPTER XVI. DEFEAT OF MAJOR STILLMAN. the 27th of April, General Whiteside, accompanied by Gov- ernor Reynolds, took up his line of march. The army pro- ceeded by way of Oquawka, on the Mississippi, to the mouth of Rock River, and here it was agreed between General Whiteside and General Atkinson, of the regulars, that the volunteers should march up Rock River about fifty miles, to the Prophet's town, and there encamp to feed and rest their horses, and await the arrival of the regular troops in keel boats, with provisions. Judge Thomas, who again acted as quartermaster to the volunteers, made an estimate of the amount of provisions required until the boats could arrive, which was supplied, and then General Whiteside took up his line of march. But when he arrived at the Prophet's town, instead of remaining there, his men set fire to the village, which was entirely con- sumed, and the brigade marched on in the direction of Dixon, forty miles higher up the river. When the volunteers had arrived within a short distance of Dixon, orders were given to leave the baggage wagons behind, so as to reach there by a forced march. And for the relief of the horses, the men left large quantities of provisions behind with the wagons. At Dixon, General Whiteside came to a halt, to await a junction with Gen- eral Atkinson, with provisions and the regular forces; and from here par- ties were sent out to reconnoitre the enemy and ascertain his position. The army here found upon its arrival two battalions of mounted volun- teers, consisting of 275 men, from tiie counties of McLean, Tazewell, Peoria, and Fulton, under the command of Majors Stillman and Bailey. The officers of this force begged to be put forward upon some dangerous service, in which they could distinguish themselves. To gratify them, they were ordered up Rock River to spy out the Indians. Major Stillman be- gan his march on the 12th of May, and pursuing his way on the south- east side, he came to "Old Man's" Creek, since called "Stillman's Run," a small stream which rises in White Rock Grove, in Ogle County, and X 106 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. falls into the river near Bloomingville. Here he encamped just before night, and in a short time a party of Indians on horseback were discov- ered on a rising 'ground about one mile distant from the encampment. A party of Stillman's men mounted their horses without orders or com- mander, and were soon followed by others, stringing along for a quarter of a mile, to pursue the Indians and attack them. The Indians retreated after displaying a red flag, the emblem of defiance and war, but were over- taken and three of them slain. Here Maj. Samuel Hackelton, being dis- mounted in the engagement, distinguished himself by a combat with one of the Indians, in which the Indian was killed, and Major Hackelton after- ward made his way on foot to the camp of General Whiteside. Black Hawk was near by with his main force,, and being prompt to repel an assault, soon rallied his men, amounting then to about seven hundred warriors, and. moved down upon Major Stillman's camp, driving the dis- orderly rabble, the recent pursuers, before him. These valorous gentle- men, lately so hot in pursxiit when the enemy were few, were no less hasty in their retreat when coming in contact with superior numbers. They came with horses on a full run, and in this manner broke through the camp of Major Stillman, spreading dismay and terror among the rest of his men, who immediately began to join in the flight, so that no effort to rally them could possibly have succeeded. Major Stillman, now too late to remedy the evils of insubordination and disorder in his command, did all that was practicable, by ordering his men to fall back in order, and form on higher ground; but as the prairie rose behind them for more than a mile, the ground for a rally was never discovered ; and besides this, when the men once got their backs to the enemy, they commenced a retreat without one thought of making a further stand. A retreat of undisci- plined militia from the attack of a superior lorce is apt to be a disorderly and inglorious flight. And so it was here ; each man sought his individual safety, and in the twinkling of an eye the whole detachment was in utter confusion. They were pursued in their flight by thirty or forty Indians for ten or twelve miles, the fugitives in the rear keeping up a flying fire as they ran, until the Indians ceased pursuing. " But there were some good soldiers and brave men in Stillman's de- tachment, whose individual efforts succeeded in checking the career of the Indians, whereby many escaped that night who would otherwise have been the easy victims of the enemy. Among these were Major Perkins and Captain Adams, who fell in the rear, bravely fighting to cover the WHAT A BARBEL OF WHISKY DID. 107 retreat of their fugitive friends. But Major Stillman 'and his men pur- sued their flight without looking to the light or the left, until they were safely landed at Dixon. The party came straggling into camp all night long, four or five at a time, each new corner being confident that all who had been left behind had been massacred by the Indians. The enemy was stated to be just behind in. full pursuit, and their arrival was looked for every moment. Eleven of Stillman's men were killed, and it is only astonishing that the number was so few. NARRATIVE OF EDWIN S. JONES. As this is mainly a local history, we give the individual recollections of Edwin S. Jones of this affair, now and for many years past a respected citizen of La Prairie. He was an Orderly Sergeant in Captain Eads' com- pany, and enlisted at Peoria, where they were several days in camp pre- vious to setting out. They were equipped with the old-fashioned musket of that day, and decidedly averse to discipline, each individual considering himself a free American citizen, able singly to subdue and capture a half dozen Indians. At Boyd's Grove, where they camped for the night, they were joined by Captain Barnes and his company, and at Bureau by Cap- tain Baughman and twenty-eight men, when they received orders to push on to Dixon, where the Indians stole many of their horses. While here they were joined by a detachment of the regular army under Col. Zack Taylor, and Lieuts. Jeff. Davis and Sidney Johnson. Between the volun- teers and regulars jealousy and ill feeling at once sprung up, the former looking upon the soldiers as "stuck up" and supercilious, while the reg- ulars frowned with contempt upon the "greenhorn farmers," fresh from the plow and hoe. The volunteers, burning with impatience to pounce upon the foe and capture them, and fearing lest that honor might in any way be divided with the regulars, could hardly be held within bounds, and when their commander, Major Stillman, received orders to reconnoitre the enemy's position, the men hailed it as a permission to attack the Indians if found. On the 10th of May, 1832, they started up Rock River in the midst of a pelting storm, the volunteers being without tents or shelter. They marched several miles and went into camp, cold, wet and cheerless, re- maining until Monday, when they moved forward to Rock River, where 108 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. Major Stillman took charge of the detachment to which the writer be- longed, known as the "odd battalion." A portion of the command came "from Tazewell County, and were an unusually "hard lot." They had brought with them a barrel of whisky, of which the men had partaken freely, and Major Stillman, fearing its demoralizing effects, ordered -it taken in charge by Mr. Jones, which duty he performed until relieved, when he proceeded to join his company. As he was mounting his horse an order came to "Forward," but the Tazewell troops refused to go until they had got their "bitters." They smashed in the head of the barrel and filled their coffee pots, besides drinking freely; then joined in the march. Arriving at what has since been known as "Stillman's Run," then called "Old Man's Creek," they found a region of swamps and morasses, into which they plunged, and found considerable difficulty in getting through, after which the command went into camp. While preparing their dinners a party of mounted Indians approached and fired from a distance, which set the horses to rearing, and created something of a panic. The cry of " In- dians! Indians!" was raised, when the drunken soldiers mounted their horses and went galloping forward, yelling like maniacs. The warriors came on in good style and began firing, by which several of our men fell, when, with scarcely a return shot, the cowardly rabble turned and ran for dear life, throwing away guns, hats and coats. They were frightened out of their wits, and their cowardly fear communicated to the whole camp, which broke up in wild disorder. But all were not cowards, and a few resolute men rode out and met the savages, giving them a blizzard which emptied a few saddles and sent them to the right about. Another party now appeared, and news came that the Indians had surrounded the men who had pursued them, and we pushed on to their relief. On the way several dead Indians were found, and three were taken prisoners. The captives said they came to make peace and not to fight. We rode on a hard canter for five miles, until a wide swamp was reached, beyond which the retreating Indians were seen. Orders came to plunge in, and in we went. Horses were mired and the men too, and when we had got well into the trap for trap it was we were surrounded by the painted devils, who came whooping and yelling and pouring the contents of their muskets right in our faces. No man who has ever heard an Indian yell will won- der that men who had never been under fire became panic-stricken. An officer in the rear shouted "Halt!" and then came the word to retreat to solid ground. We did so, but the Indians were shooting wickedly, PARTICIPANTS SINCE FAMOUS IN HISTORY. 109 and it was impossible to form a line. As fast as one was formed, the demoralized mob behind, covered with mud and mire, would break through and "streak it" as fast as their legs permitted. Captain Barnes came- up and did his best to rally the men, but in vain. "We arrived in camp at dark, the Indians in hot pursuit, yelling and firing upon us. A detach- ment of "the savages got in our front, which filled our men with greater terror than ever. All order was now lost, each man being chiefly inter- ested in getting off with his scalp. Mr. Jones and a man named Miner struck up the creek and, in crossing, Miner's horse fell, but both got over safely and joined Captain Eads, who had formed some of his men, and hav- ing reloaded their muskets, felt better. The Indians were everywhere, and several times deluded the whites by crying "Help!" in good English, and shooting at any one who responded^ The whites dare not shoot in the dark for fear of killing more friends than foes, and so the rout con- tinued until Dixon was reached, thirty-five miles away, the Indians dog- ging the retreating army at a distance, and watching for stragglers. Jones reached Dixon the morning after the inglorious action, about day- light, and shared the same blanket with Stillman, who remarked: "Well, Sergeant, the war has begun, and the Lord knows how it will end!" Jones credits Stillman with being a brave man and a thoroughly skilled tactician, but unable to manage recruits unused to military re- straint, and who would not submit to discipline. But the chief cause of this shameful defeat and flight and the demoralization of the entire force, was that barrel of whisky. Our soldiers captured three Indians, whom they shot on the retreat while prisoners, an act of barbarity wholly without excuse or apology. While .breakfasting at Dixon, Mr. Jones met at the sam^table a num- ber of men, some of whom in after years became famous, and others infa- mous in the history of the country. They were : Zach. Taylor, afteiward President of the United States; Jeff. Davis, Chief of the Southern Confed- eracy; Gen. Sidney Johnson, one of his ablest Generals ; General Atkinson, then a man of deserved fame as a good soldier, and Major Stillman, the hero of the inglorioiis defeat mentioned in this chapter. INCIDENTS OF STILLMAN's DEFEAT. The baggage train of Stillman's army consisted of six wagons, drawn 110 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. by oxen and guarded by fifty mounted Rangers, commanded by Captain Hackleton. Among his recruits was a tall, raw-boned lad, said to be the homeliest man in the company, and answering to the cognomen of "Abe." He was the wag of the command, and the best stoiy-teller in the service. When the march was over they gathered about him in crowds, and list- ened to his wonderful yarns with an interest that never slacked. In after years it was his fortune to command all the armies of the United States, and meet his death at the hands of an assassin. With such spirit of mischief embodied in one person as he possessed, fun was rife in the company, and Capt. Hackleton to test the courage of his command, man- ufactured an Indian scare. Having made his plans known to the guards, with a few trusty fellows he repaired to the brush and raised a terrific war-whoop, while the pickets fired off their guns. The whole command was aroused, and the men, fearing Indian warriors had attacked them, and would in a few moments be in their midst, cutting, slashing and scalping, rushed pell-mell, swearing, praying, and nearly frightened out of their wits, to the rear, where a guard with fixed bayonets stopped their retreat, explaining the joke. The surgeon of the company mounted his horse, but forgot to untie him from the tree. Under the spur the animal sprang forward the length of the rope, and then back again, striking the Doctor's head against the limb of a tree. Believing himself strack by an Indian, the frightened surgeon, at the top of his voice, in sup- plicating tones exclaimed : " Mr. Injun ! I surrender. Spare my life ! " This became the by- word of the camp, and was the standing joke among the heroes of the Black Hawk war for years. " In the night, after their arrival at Dixon, the trumpet sounded a sig- nal for the officers to assemble at the tent of General Whiteside. A council of war was held, in which it was agreed to march early the next morning to the fatal field of that evening's disaster. In consequence of the ill-advised and misjudged march from the Prophet's town, the waste- fulness of the volunteers, and leaving the baggage wagons behind to make a forced march without motive or necessity, there were no provisions in the camp, except in the messes of the most careful and experienced men. The majority had been living upon parched corn and coffee for two or three days. But Quartermaster Thomas, anticipating the result of the council, went out in search of cattle and hogs, which were obtained of Mr. John Dixon, then the only white inhabitant on Rock River, above its mouth. By this means, before daylight the next morning the army was SHATJBENA'S TIMELY WARNING UNHEEDED. Ill supplied with fresh beef, which they ate without bread; and now they began their inarch for the scene of the disaster of the night before. When the volunteers arrived there the Indians were gone. They had scattered out all over the country, some of them further up Rock River, and other toward the nearest settlements of white people. Soon as Black Hawk was relieved of the presence in his front of the volunteers, he determined on a general slaughter of all the whites north and west of the Illinois River, in what now constitutes parts of Marshall, Putnam, Bureau and La Salle Counties. Shaubena, learning that such fate was in store for all the settlers, hastened to give them warning, riding night and day, and calling at every man's cabin. He performed his often thankless work of mercy so promptly and thoroughly that all might have escaped had they heeded his advice and urgent appeals. He appeared at Indian Creek on the 15th of May, and told them of Black Hawk's pur- pose. Mr. J. W. Hall started for Ottawa with his family, but at the cabin of a Mr. Davis, a Kentuckian, a large, powerful and resolute man, he was persuaded to remain. Here were also gathered the families of Davis and Pettigrew. Davis had fled to the block-house fort at Ottawa the year before, when the Indian scare occurred, and been taunted with a want of courage when it was found to have been only a false alarm. Rather than be again subject to a suspicion of cowardice, he resolved to stay and fight the Indians, should they come. In the afternoon of May 20, seventy or eighty redskins appeared and began an attack upon these almost defenseless people, killing fifteen per- sons and taking prisoner* two girls, Rachel Hall, aged fifteen, and Sylvia Hall, aged seventeen, the details of whose captivity given in the next chapter are mainly taken from Matson's " Reminiscences of Bureau County." "The Indians immediately retreated into the Winnebago country, up Rock River, carrying the scalps of the slain and their prisoners with them. Indian wars are the wars of a past age. They have al- ways been characterized by the same ferocity and cruelty on the part of the Indians. To describe this massacre is only to repeat what, has been written a hundred times; but the history of this war would be imperfect without some account of it. The Indians approached the house in which the three families were assembled, in the day-time. They entered it sud- denly, with but little notice. Some of the inmates were immediately shot down with rifles, others were pierced with spears or despatched with the tomahawk. The Indians afterward related with infernal glee how the 112 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. women squeaked like geese when they were run through the body with spears, or felt the sharp tomahawk entering their heads. All the victims were carefully scalped ; their bodies were mutilated and mangled ; the little children were chopped to pieces with axes; and the women were tied up by the heels to the walls of the house ; their clothes falling over their heads, left their naked persons exposed to the public gaxe. THE STORY OF THE CAPTIVE GIRLS. 115 CHAPTEK XVII. CAPTIVITY OF SYLVIA AND RACHEL HALL. story of the captured girls, which fitly follows, is taken from Matson's " Reminiscences of Bureau County," and is mainly the personal narrative of Rachel, the elder of the two sisters: "After being placed on horseback and guarded by two Indians, who rode by our side, holding on to the reins of the bridles, we commenced our long, tedious journey. We rode most of the time on a canter, and the Indians fre- quently looked back, as though they were afraid of being followed by the rangers, who were at that time roaming through the country. We continued to travel at a rapid rate until near midnight, when we halted to rest our horses. After waiting about two hours, we continued our jour- ney, traveling all night and next day until noon, when we again halted. Here our captors turned out their horses to graze, built a fire, scalded some beans, and roasted some acorns, of which they off ered us some to eat, but we declined tasting. We remained in camp a few hours ; during that time the Indians were engaged in dressing the scalps, by stretching them on small willow hoops. Among these scalps I recognized my mother's, by the bright color of her hair. The sight of this produced in me a faintness, and I fell to the ground in a swoon, from which I was soon after aroused, in order to continue our journey. After leaving the camp we traveled more leisurely than before, until about nine o'clock at night we reached the camp of Black Hawk, after having rode near ninety miles in twenty-eight hours. " We found the Indian camp on the bank of a creek, surrounded by marshy ground, over which were scattered burr oak trees, being, as we afterward learned, near the Four Lakes, (now Madison City, Wisconsin). " On our arrival in camp, a number of squaws came to our assistance, taking us from our horses, and conducting us into a wigwam. These squaws were very kind to us, and gave us some parched corn and maple sugar to eat, it being the first food that we had tasted since our captivity. 116 BECOKDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. " Our arrival in camp caused great rejoicing among the Indians. A large body of warriors collected around ITS, beating on drums, dancing, and yelling at the top of their voices. Next morning our fear of massacre or torture had somewhat subsided, and we were presented with beans and maple sugar for breakfast. They also offered us coffee to eat, which had been taken from Davis's house, not knowing that it required to be ground and boiled before being used. About ten o'clock, the camp was broken up, and we moved five or six miles, crossing a creek, and encamped on high ground, which was covered with timber. We were provided with horses to ride, and behind us was packed camp equipage, which consisted of tents, kettles, provisions, etc. On arriving at our new camp, a white birch pole was stuck into the ground, on which were hung the scalps of our murdered friends, being exhibited here as trophies of war. About fifty warriors, who were divested of clothing and their faces painted red, danced around this pole to the music of drums and rattling gourds. Eveiy day during our stay with the Indians, this pole containing the scalps was erected, and the dance repeated. "One morning a party of warriors came to our lodge and took us out, placing in our hands small red flags, and made us march around the en- campment with them, stopping and waving the flags at the door of each wigwam. After this we were taken to the dance-ground, by the side of the white pole containing the scalps, and by the side of which a blanket was spread. After painting our faces, one half red and the other black, we were made to lie down on the blanket, with our faces to the ground. The warriors then commenced dancing around us, flourishing their toma- hawks and war clubs over our heads, and yelling like demons. We now thought our time had come, and quietly awaited our fate, expecting every moment to be our last. When the dance was over, we were taken away by two squaws, who we understood to be the wives of Black Hawk. By these squaws we were adopted as their children ; although separated, we were allowed to visit each other frequently. Each day our camp was moved a few miles, always traveling in a circular route. Along the trail, at short intervals, the Indians would erect poles, with tufts of grass tied on one side, showing to the hunters in what direction the camp could be found. Our fears of massacre had entirely disappeared, being adopted into the families of these squaws, not being required to do any work, but watched closely to prevent our escape. " Some days after our arrival in Black Hawk's camp, we were told that THEIR TREATMENT BY THE INDIANS. 117 we must go with two Winnebago chiefs, who had come for us. The sqiiaws with whom we lived were greatly distressed at the thought of parting with us. The Winnebago chiefs tried to make us understand that they were about to take us to white people, but we did not believe them. Thinking they intended to take us farther from home and friends, we ching to the squaws, and refused to go. " Contrary to our wish, we were placed on horses, behind each of the chiefs, and with us they galloped away, traveling twenty miles that same night. The chiefs said that they were afraid of being followed by some of the Sacs and Foxes, who were displeased at our departure. Every few moments the chiefs would look back to see if they were pursued, and then whip their ponies again into a gallop. "Some time after dark we arrived at the Winnebago camp, where we re- mained over night. Early next morning we continued our journey, trav- eling all day, when we arrived at an encampment on the Wisconsin River, where there were about one hundred warriors. During next day a party of Sac Indians, dressed in the clothes of murdered white men, came into camp. These Indians commenced talking to us, but the Winnebago chiefs told us to turn away from them, and not listen to what they said, which we did." It was afterward ascertained that a petty chief who had captured the girls, was off on a hunt at the time they were given up to the Winnebago chiefs, and not receiving his portion of the ransom, immediately started with a party of warriors to retake them, or kill them in the attempt. These warriors did not overtake the girls until they arrived safe at the Winnebago camp. "White Crow asked if we thought the whites would hang them if they took us to the fort. We gave them to understand that they would not. White Crow then collected his horses, and with Whirling Thunder and about twenty of the Winnebagoes, we crossed the river and pursued our journey, my sister and myself each on a separate horse. We encamped about dark, rose early next morning, and after a hasty meal of pork and potatoes (the first we had seen since our captivity), of which we ate heartily, we traveled on until we reached the fort, near Blue Mounds, Wis- consin Territory. "Before our arrival there, we had become satisfied that our protectors were taking us to our friends, and that we had formerly done them injus- tice. About three miles from the fort we stopped, and the Indians 118 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. cooked some venison, after which they took a white handkerchief which I had, and tying it to a long pole, three Indians proceeded with it to the fort.' About a quarter of a mile from there, we were met by a French- man. The Indians formed a ring, and the Frenchman rode into it, and had a talk with our protectors. The latter expressed an unwillingness to give us up until they could see Mr. Gratiot, the agent. Being informed by the Frenchman that we should be well treated, and that they should see us daily until Mr. Gratiot's arrival, they delivered us into the French- man's care. "We repaired immediately to the fort, where the ladies of the garrison (who in the mean time had assembled) received us with the utmost ten- derness. We were thereupon attired once more in the costume of our own country, and next day started' for Galena. " On reaching a little fort at White Oak Springs, we were met by our eldest brother, who, together with a younger one, was at work in a field near the house when we were captured, and when the massacre began, fled, and arrived in safety at Dixon's Ferry. On leaving Galena, we went on board the steamboat "Winnebago," for St. Louis, which place we reached in five days, and were kindly received by its citizens and hospita- bly entertained by Governor Clark. Previous to our leaving Galena, we had received an affectionate letter from the Rev. Mr. Horn, of Morgan Coxinty, Illinois, inviting us to make his house our future home. We ac- cepted the invitation, and left St. Louis in the steamboat "Caroline," for Beardstown, on the Illinois River, where we arrived on the third day thereafter. On landing, we were kindly received by the citizens, and in a few hours reached the residence of Mr. Horn, five miles distant, in the latter part of July, 1832, when our troubles ended." The Misses Hall's brother having married and settled in Putnam County, Illinois, about this time, he invited his sisters to come and reside with him. They did so in the fore part of August, 1832. The elder Miss Hall afterward, in March, 1833, married Mr. William Munson, and settled in La Salle County, about twelve miles north of Ottawa. The younger sister, in May, 1833, married Mr. William Horn, a son of the clergyman who had so kindly offered them a home' in his family, removed to Morgan County, Illinois, and afterward to Nebraska. The Misses Hall were captured May 21, 1832. According to the foregoing accoiint, they were three days in traveling with their captors, and continued five days with the Sacs at their camp. This would bring FURTHER OUTRAGES BY THE SAVAGES. 119 the time up to May 29. They were five days more in traveling with the Winnebagoes to the Blue Mounds, which comports with all the reliable statements of the time of their being delivered up to the whites, which was June 3, 1832. William Munson, who became the husband of Rachel Hall, a few years ago erected a beautiful marble- monument at the grave where the fifteen victims were buried. It is in view of the public road leading from north to south in Freedom Township, near the banks of Indian Creek and the scene of the massacre. The inscriptions are: First "Wm. Hall, aged 45; Mary J. Hall, aged 45; Elizabeth Hall, aged 8." Second - "Wm. Pettigrew, wife and two children, - - Davis, wife and five children, and Emery George." At the bottom, "Killed May 20, 1832." Mrs. Munson (Rachel Hall) died May 1, 1870. OTHER FIENDISH MURDERS. For some days after the massacre at Indian Creek the terrified settlers remained close around the Forts at Ottawa and Peru. As no Indians were seen, the whites took courage and sent out scouts here and there. Those who had hurriedly left their homes were becoming anxious to look after their stock and other property the savages had spared. For this purpose an expedition, accompanied by a few soldiers, left Ottawa for Holderman's Grove and Fox River. A Mr. Schemerhorn and his son-in- law, Hazleton, went up to Dayton, on Fox River, four miles north of Ottawa, and crossing there to join the expedition referred to, discovered on the Dunnovan farm a party of Indians, and turned and fled. A sol- dier who had lagged behind his comrades saw them, and also retreated, pursued by a dozen savages. The Indians, for fear of alarming the sol- diers, did not fire their guns, but threw their spears at him. He escaped to Ottawa, and getting help, returned to find Schemerhorn and Hazleton both killed and scalped. A small scalp was taken from Hazleton's head, but Schemerhorn being nearly bald, was flayed to the neck. On the same day, Capt. James McFadden, commander of a company of home guards in Ottawa, James Baresford, and Ezekiel and Daniel Warren were picking strawberries south of Indian Creek. They had been thus engaged for some time, when one of the Warren's remarked that they were too near the bushes, for Indians might be concealed there, and mounting his horse, 120 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. rode off. The others remained a short time, when a shot was fired from the timber, and a dozen Indians were seen. Baresford was killed and Mc- Fadden shot through the ankle, the bullet passing through the body of his horse, but the faithful animal carried his wounded master beyond the reach of Indians before it fell. The Warrens came to the assistance of the wounded man, and one of them dismounted and gave McFadden his horse, with the singular agreement that if the Indians pursued and were likely to overtake the man on foot, McFadden was to dismount and yield his scalp to the foe! But the Indians did not pursue, and the three escaped. THE MILITIA CALLED OUT. 121 CHAPTER XVIII. CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS. \ Y order of Governor Reynolds,, a call was made for two thou- sand additional volunteers, a part of whom were directed to rendezvous at Hennepin, and a part at Beardstown. The year previous the Adjutant General of the State had com- missioned John Strawn, of Putnam, a Colonel of Militia, and he was now ordered to assemble his command, desig- nated as the Fortieth Regiment of Mounted Volunteers, and rendezvouz at Hennepin for further orders. Word was swiftly sent among the settlers asking their immediate at- tendance, and in obedience to the request, nearly every able-bodied man presented himself for enrollment. Four companies were quickly organ- ized, commanded by Captain Barnes, Captain Willis, Captain Hawes, and Captain Stewart the last three named at Hennepin, and the first at Columbia. Captain Thompson, of Putnam, also commanded a company. Sunday morning, May 20, 1832, the day appointed for the rendezvous, the settlers of the infant colony gathered on the site of the future city of Lacon, then without a single inhabitant. From the south came Babb and Cassell and Easter, and from the north the Sawyers, the Forbes, etc., while from the immediate vicinity came John Wier, the Bullmans, Wau- hobs, Reeders, Buckinghams, Iliff, Swan, and others; but Round Prairie sent the greater number, with Robert Barnes, then in the prime of life, as a leader. They met on the ground where the Eagle Mill stands, and Colonel Strawn, dressed in full regimentals, with military chapeau, nod- ding plume and golden epaulets, formed them in line, and assuming a warlike attitude, addressed them as follows : " Ye sons of thunder ! Our coxmtry is in danger, and the call is ' to arms ! ' The great chief Black Hawk, with ten thousand warriors at his back, has invaded our State, defeated our armies, and slain our citizens ! Not a soldier can be spared for the defence of our frontier, and the safety of our homes and our firesides, our wives and little ones, depends upon ourselves. Our country calls for volunteers. As many of you as are 122 KECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. willing to enroll yourselves among her defenders will step three paces forward. Halt! The next thing is to choose your officers, and all who wish to present themselves as candidates for Captain will step forward. All those who wish Robert Barnes to be their Captain will step to his side, and those who wish - - to lead them will join him." In this way the officers were elected, and in the afternoon of the same day the men were mustered in at Hennepin. The force thus organized was divided into detachments, and detailed for scout duty. A close watch was kept at the various fords, all canoes were removed from the river, and a vigilant, active search for Indians kept up for weeks. They at one time went as far north as theWinnebago Swamp, but as a general thing service was confined to guarding the river from the mouth of Crow Creek to the mouth of the Vermilion. After the defeat of Stillman the Indians went northward, and the war was transferred to other fields. There being no longer any enemies to contend with, there was no necessity for keeping the men in the field, and they were paid off and mustered out of service on the 18th day of June. For their one month of soldiering, each volunteer, and all who could "ring in," received at the hands of the Government a title to 160 acres of land. The Putnam County volun- teers were also discharged. The muster rolls of a portion of Captain Barnes' and Captain Hawes' companies are hereby given, copied from the returns in the War Depart- ment, and are correct: Muster Roll of the Field and Staff Officers of the Fortieth Regiment of Mounted Volunteers, employed in the service of the United States, by order of the Governor and Commander-in-chief of the Militia of the State of Illinois, from the 20th day of May, 1832, to the 18th day of June, 1832, the day of disbandment: 1. John Strawn, Colonel. 2. William Cowen, Lieut. Colonel. 3. Elias Thompson, Major. 5. Jeremiah Strawn, Qr. Master, (i. Peter Barnhart, Paymaster. 7. B. M. Hayse, Surgeon. 4. Hemy K. Cassell, Adjutant. NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF. 8? Roland Mosley, Q. M. Sergeant. 9. Richard Hunt, Surgeon's Mate. 10. William Myers, Sergt. Major. 11. Ward Graves, Drum Major. 12. Michael Reeder, Fife Major. MUSTER ROLLS OF VOLUNTEERS. 123 Muster Roll of Captain Robert Barnes' Company of Mounted Volunteers, belonging to the Fortieth Regiment, Fourth Brigade, and First Division of Illinois Militia, called out by the Governor and Commander-in- chief; was mustered into the service of the United States by Colonel John Strawn, at Columbia, on the 20th day of May, 1832, and mus- tered out of service at Hennepin, Putnam Otmnty, Illinois, by the said Colonel John Strawn, on the 18th day of June, 1832: COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. Robert Barnes, Captain. | Wm. McNeal^lst Lieut. | JohnWier, 2d Lieut. NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. 1. James Dever, Sergeant. 2. James Hall, " 3. James N. Reeder, Sergeant. 4. Nathan Owen, 1. Belisha Griffith, Corporal. 2. Wm. Gallaher, 3. James Harris, 4. H. Buckingham, " PRIVATES. 1. John Kemp. 2. Joseph Burt. 3. Joseph Phillips. 4. Howell Doddy. 5. Milton Davis. 6. William A. Hendricks. 7. John G. Hendricks. 8. Samuel Hawkins. 9. John Darnell. 10. William Burt, 11. William Davis. 12. W. W. Davis. 13. John Bird. 14. Elmore Keys. 15. Robert Bird. 16. William Byrnes. 17. David Hamilton. 18. Hiram Barnhart. 19. William Forbes. 20. Jordan Sawyer. 21. Philip McGuyre. 22. Samuel Russell. 23. George Easter. 24. Benjamin Babb. 25. Peter Barnhart. 26. Jacob Smally. 27. Joshua Bullman. 28. Robert Ileff. 29. Elisha Swan. 30. John Johnson. 31. David Stateler. 32. George H. Shaw. 33. Johnson Edwards. 34. Henry K. Cassell. 124 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. Muster Roll of Captain William Hawes' Company of Mounted Volun- teers, belonging to the Fortieth Regiment, Fourth Brigade and First Division of Illinois Militia, commanded by Colonel John Strawn, called into service by the Governor of Illinois, and mustered out of the service of the United States at Hennepin, on the Illinois River, in the State of Illinois,*on the 18th day of June, 1832 : COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. Wm. Hawes, Captain. | Jas. Garvin, 1st Lieut. | Wm. M. Hart, 2d Lieut. NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS. 1. Thomas Gunn, Sergeant. 2. George Hiltebrand, Sergeant. 3. Jacob Greenwald, Sergeant. 4. John Hunt, Sergeant. 1. John Hant, Corporal. 2. William Kincaid, Corporal. 3' William Knod, Corporal. 4. William Lathrop, Corporal. PRIVATES. 1. Hiram Allen. 2. Julius Stacey. 3. Thomas Glenn. 4. Asel Hannum. 5. Obed Graves. (5. Samuel Glenn. 7. Reuben Ash. 8. Abner Boyle. 9. George Dent. 10. Joseph Ash. 11. William Hart. 12. John Loyd. 13. Christopher Winters. 14. Hartwell Healey. 15. Little Neal. 16. Aaron Whitaker. 17. Elias Isaacs. 18. Garrison Wilson. 19. Hosea Stout. 20. George Martin. LOCAL DEFENCES. Soon as the call was made for troops the settlers began building block- houses, or foils, which will be referred to more in detail hereafter. *The southernmost of these in the county was situated on the farm of James Dever, at the lower edge of Round Prairie, seven and a half miles from Columbia. It was about eighty feet in length from east to west, and seventy *Ford's History of Marshall and Putnam Counties. t MEASURES TAKEN FOR LOCAL DEFENCE. 125 in width ; and was built by strongly fastening pickets of some twelve feet height in the ground, with square bastions at the corners, pierced with port-holes and so placed as to rake the sides of the fort, in case of attack. The cabin of Mr. Dever was inside, and tents were pitched within to accommodate the numbers who fled there during the season of alarm. About twelve miles north-east of the Dever Fort, and four miles south of Magnolia, was a similar protection around the dwelling of Jesse Rob- erts, Esq., where seven or eight families gathered for safety; and five miles east, on the farm of Mr. Darnell, near the "head of Sandy," was another, the outpost in that direction. Several forts were constructed on the Ox Bow Prairie one on the land of Ashael Hannum, where Cale- donia now stands ; another in the woods within a few miles, at Mr. Boyle's ; and a third around a large barn belonging t> James W. Willis, near the site of Florid, where twenty-two families (including a hundred small chil- dren, one having been born there) and a number of rangers were "forted" at one time. This station was called Fort Cribs, from the number of corn-cribs in and about the building, and was generally in command of Captain Stewart. A portion is still standing. A good-sized block-house, wel^ adapted to resist a siege, was erected on Front street, in Hennepin, chiefly of the timbers of Hartzell's old trading-house; and a smaller one at a little distance from Granville, on the farm of Joseph Warnock. Still farther north was the outermost fort toward the scene of warfare a mere picket around the dwelling of Mr. John Leeper. There were no defenses of the kind west of the liver in Putnam County, that region being quite or nearly deserted. In that part of the county which was thus defended, hostile Indians were very rarely seen; and it is believed that attacks were prevented solely by the completeness of the arrangements for protecti< m and the vig- ilance of the rangers. Black Hawk's spies were occasionally skulking about. Two were noticed in the edge of the woods near Fort Warnock, and their trail followed to the river. Others in one instance a consider- able company were seen near Hennepin; but the savages made no hos- tile demonstrations on the east side of the river. THE MURDER OF PHILLIPS. On the 17th of June, Elijah Phillips was murdered at the Ament cabin, sixteen miles north-west of Hennepin. Along with J. Hodges, 126 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. Sylvester Biigham, John S. Ament, Aaron Gunn, James G. Foristal and Zeba Dinirnick, a lad of sixteen, he left Hennepin in the morning to look after their cattle, now running at large on the prairie. Arriving at Ament's cabin, in the edge of the timber, a mile and a half north of the present town of Dover, they prepared and ate their dinners, designing to return to Hennepin. Soon after it began to rain, and as no Indian signs had been seen, it was deemed perfectly safe, and the conclusion was reached to remain all night. The windows and doors were barricaded with puncheons, and the men with loaded rifles by their sides, extinguished the lights and lay down to sleep. Adjoining Ament's cabin was an extensive sugar camp, which for nearly fifty years a band of Indians had run, and every spring made sugar on the premises. The place was sacred to them, and when the white man came and opened a farm, it created bitter feelings of resentment. When Phillips and his company arrived at the cabin, a party of Indians from Black Hawk's camp were hiding in the woods. Cautiously they ap- proached to reconnoitre, with the intention of attacking the party as they came out of doors, but the rain continued to fall, and the party deciding to remain all night, no disturbance came, and at daylight Phillips rose first, and was going to the spring, when the Indians fired, and he fell pierced with two bullets. The savages, with deafening yells, rushed from their hiding places, tomahawked the victim, and surrounded the cabin. The inmates closed the door and made ready to fire, when the Indians re- treated, and as subsequently learned, went northward. After remaining on the watch for several hours, with Phillips' bloody corpse at the door, the settlers took courage and canvassed how best to extricate themselves. Young Dimmick volunteered to carry the news to Hennepin. It was a desperate undertaking, for the Indians were sup- posed to be still in the vicinity, but calling a horse to the window he bri- dled and mounted it, and was off with the speed of the whirlwind. Eager eyes watched his departure, and they listened with beating hearts for the expected crack of the rifle that should tell of his death. But when he disappeared in the distance, still safe, they took hope again. At Hennepin was a company of Rangers being mustered out of ser- vice. None dreamed of danger, and when the messenger, hatless and coatless, " Bloody with spurring, Fiery red with speed," A PREACHER MURDERED AND MUTILATED. 127 rode into town with the fateful news, it created an excitement those present never forgot. As usual, a variety of counsel prevailed, and some were so base as to propose leaving them to their fate. But volunteers be- ing called for, thirty brave men responded, and were quickly ferried across the river to their rescue. A gallop of fifteen miles brought them into the vicinity, when a slower pace was struck to give the now well blown horses a breathing spell, preparatory to the expected sharp work ahead. Belts were tightened, primings looked to, and every preparation for deadly con- flict made, when they saw a white flag rise above the cabin, and knew the inmates were safe. The body of Phillips lay where it fell. One bul- let had pierced his heart, and another his stomach. Several strokes of the tomahawk were visible, but the villains had not taken his scalp, and the remains were taken to Hennepin and buried. His body was prepared for sepulture at the house of Hooper "Warren, and he was the second per- son interred in the Hennepin cemetery. The Rangers followed the trail of the enemy a short distance and then returned. It afterward transpired that they remained in the vicinity until the next day, and then went north. DEATH OF ADAM PAYNE. Adam Payne, a Dunkard preacher, who had for many years been a missionary among the Indians, became a victim to savage barbarity during the fall of 1832. He had long been a preacher among the Indians, was a man of fervent piety, and guileless as a caild. When told of the risks he ran and warned to beware, he gave no heed, believing they would never harm one who had so often proven himself their friend. His long black beard reaching nearly to his waist gave him a venerable appearance, and every settler was his warm friend. He was murdered near Holderman's Grove, and when found his head had been cut off and stuck on a pole, where the red fiends had held a dance of jubilee around it. 128 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. CHAPTER XIX. CONTINUATION OF THE CAMPAIGN. E now take up the general history of the campaign. While the new levies were being raised, a volunteer force was made up for temporary service, and placed under the command of Colonel f"ry. The different companies of this regiment were so dis- posed as to guard all the frontiers. Captain AdamW. Snider was sent to range through the country between Rock River and Galena; and while he was encamped not far distant from Burr Oak Grove, on the night, of the 17th of June, his company was fired upon by the Indians ; the next moi'ning he pursued them, four in number, and drove them into a sink-hole in the ground, where his company charged on them and killed the whole of the Indians, with the loss of one man mortally wounded. As he returned to his camp, bearing the wounded soldier, the men suffered much from thirst, and scattered in search of water, when they were sharply attacked by about seventy Indians, who had been secretly watching their motions and awaiting a good opportunity. His men, as usual in such cases, were taken by surprise, and some of them commenced a hasty retreat. Captain Sny- der called upon General Whiteside, then a private in his company, to as- sist him in forming his men. The General proclaimed in a loud voice that he would shoot the first man who attempted to run. The men were soon formed into rank. Both parties took positions behind trees. Here General Whiteside, an old Indian fighter and a capital marksman with a rifle, shot the commander of the Indians, and they from that moment be- gan to retreat. As they were not pursued, the Indian loss was never as- certained; but the other side lost two men killed and one wounded. Cap- 'tain Snyder, General Whiteside and Colonel (now General) Semple are particularly mentioned as having behaved in the most honorable and courageous manner in both these little actions. On the 15th of June, the new levies had arrived at the places of ren- dezvous, and were formed into three brigades; General Alexander Posey THE MURDER OF ST. VEAIN. 129 commanded the First, General Milton K. Alexander the Second, and Gen- eral James D. Henry commanded the Third. On the march, each brigade was preceded by a battalion of spies, commanded by a major. The whole volunteer force at this time amounted to three thousand two hundred men, besides three companies of rangers, under command of Major Bogart, left behind to guard the frontier settlements. The object in calling out so large a force was to overawe the Pottawatomie and Win- nebago Indians, who were hostile in their feelings to the whites, and much disposed to join Black Hawk's party. But before the new army could be brought into the field, the Indians had committed several murders. One man was killed on Bureau Creek, some seven or eight miles above Princeton ; another in Buffalo Grove ; another between Fox River and the Illinois ; and two more on the east side of Fox River, on the Chicago road, about six miles north-east of Ottawa. On the 22d of May, General Atkinson had dispatched Mr. St. Vrain, the Indian agent for the Sacs and Foxes at Rock Island, with a few men, as an express to Fort Armstrong. On their way thither, they fell in with a party of Indians led by chief well known to the agent. This chief was called "The Little Bear." He had been a particular friend of the agent, and had adopted him as a brother. Mr. St. Vrain felt no fear of one who was his friend, one who had been an inmate of his house, and had adopted him as a brother, and approached the Indians with the great- est confidence of security. But the treacherous Indian, untrue in war to the claims of friendship and brotherhood, no sooner got him in his power than he murdered and scalped him and all his party, with as little compassion as if he had never known him or professed to be his friend. Not long after the new forces were organized on the Illinois River, Black Hawk, with a hundred and fifty warriors, made an attack on Ap- ple River Fort, situate about three-quarters of a mile north of the present village of Elizabeth, within twelve miles of Galena, and defended by twenty-five men, under the command of Captain Stone. This fort was a stockade of logs stuck in the ground, with block houses at the corners of the square, by way of towers and bastions. It was made for the protec- tion of a scattering village of miners, who lived in their houses in the vicinity during the day, and retired into the fort for protection at night. The women and children, as usual in the daytime, were abroad in the vil- lage, when three men on an express from Galena to Dixon, were fired on 130 RECORDS OP THE OLDEN TIME. by the Indians lurking in ambush within a half mile of the village, and retreated into the fort. One of them was wounded ; his companions stood by him nobly, retreating behind him, and keeping the Indians at bay by pointing their guns first at one and then at another of those who were readiest to advance. The alarm was heard at the fort in time to rally the scattered inhabitants; the Indians soon came up within firing distance; and now commenced a fearful struggle between the small party of twen- ty-five men in the fort, against six times their number of the enemy. The Indians took possession of the log houses, knocked holes in the walls, through which to fire at the fort with greater security to themselves, and while some were firing at the fort, others broke the furniture, destroyed the provisions, and cut open the beds and scattered the feathers found in the houses. The men in the fort were excited to the highest pitch of des- peration ; they believed that they were contending with an enemy who never made prisoners, and that the result of the contest must be victory or death, and a horrid death, too, to them and their families ; the women and children molded the bullets and loaded the guns for their husbands, fathers, and brothers, and the men fired and fought with a fury inspired by desperation itself. In this manner the battle was kept up about fif- teen hours, when the Indians retreated. The number of their killed and wounded, siipposed to be considerable, was never ascertained, as they were carried away in the retreat. The loss in the fort was one man killed and one wounded. One of the men who first retreated to the fort immediately passed on to Galena, and there gave the alarm. Colonel Strode, of the militia, who commanded in Galena, lost no time in march- ing to the assistance of the fort, but before his arrival the Indians had raised the siege and departed. Galena itself had been in imminent danger of attack ; at that time it was a village of four hundred inhabitants, sur- rounded on all sides by the enemy. Colonel Strode, like a brave and pru- dent commander, took every possible measure for its defence. Even here, in this extremity of danger, a number of the inhabitants yielded their assistance unwillingly and grudgingly. There were a num- ber of aspirants for office and command, and quite a number refused obedi- ence to the militia commander of the regiment; but Colonel Strode took the most effectual mode of putting down these discontents. He immedi- ately declared martial law; the town was converted into a camp; men were forced into the ranks at the point of the bayonet; and a press war- rant from the Colonel, in the hands of armed men, procured all necessary THE BATTLE OF PECATONICA. 133 supplies; preparations for defence were kept up night and day; and the Indian spies seeing no favorable opportunity for attack, no considerable body of Indians ever came nearer the town than Apple River Fort. About this time a band of Indians visited Fort Hamilton, near what is now Wiota, where they killed three men. Fortunately General Dodge arrived at this place a few hours later, and hastily gathering what forces he could twenty-one men in all, pursued the aavages, who hastily retreated. What follows is best told by Chas. Bracken, one of the actors, and if he still lives, a resident of Mineral Point, Wis. " The Indians re-crossed the branch at a point where it turned abruptly to the north, and ascended the hill; the General and those with him crossed after them, and bore to the right, toward some timber, as if to cut them off from it. Seeing this movement, I halted, and was at the same time joined by Fitch, Higgenbotham, and Deva. I said to them, 'That movement of the General will turn the Indians to the left; if you will follow me, we will get the first scalps.' They agreed to do so; turning up a hollow to the left, we ascended it to the ridge overlooking the East Pecatonica; turning then to the right, and looking down a hollow parallel to that which we had ascended, my surmise proved to be correct. There were the Indians approaching us; they were moving at what might be called common time. Their chief, a gray-headed warrior, was walking backward, and appeared to be earnestly addressing his young men. After observing them for a few moments, we fired, but I think without effect. My comrades, after discharging their guns, retreated down the hollow which we had ascended, and I turned westwardly up the ridge overlook- ing the East Pecatonica, keeping out of gun-shot, but watching the enemy closely. They descended the hill to the creek, turned up it a short dis- tance, and commenced crossing at some willows, a short distance below where the bridge now stands. "At this movement I advanced within gun-shot; with the report of my gun, I sent forth a shout that told the General and my comrades yet in the rear that I had secured the first scalp; at the same time I received the fire of the Indians without injury. "The General and the principal part of our men having come up by the time the Indians had fairly crossed the creek, a running fight took place, the enemy being on one side of the creek and we on the other, until they reached the thicket in the bend of the creek. Having effected a crossing at the old Indian ford, which is near Williams' Mill, and marching thence 134 RECORDS OK THE OLDEN TIME. up the stream, we formed on the open ground to the north-east of the thicket, so as to have the enemy in the bend of the creek. Parties were then, by order of the General, thrown out on the hills to give the alarm if the Indians should attempt to escape from the thicket when we en- tered it. We were then ordered to" renew our flints, re-prime our guns, unbutton our shirt-collars, and tighten our belts. All being ready, the General ad- dressed us: he said, "Within that thicket are the foe, whose hands are yet reeking with the blood of our murdered friends! That it was his inten- tion to enter it, and in doing so, some of us must fall ; that it might be his fate, but that his mind was made up to whip the enemy or die in the attempt ! If any feared to follow him, he wanted them to fall back then, and not when they encountered the Indians." The word was then given to advance, and in that little band no one was found who did not fear dis- honor more than death ! No one faltered or wavered, as with a coolness becoming veterans they followed the footsteps of their gallant leader, resolved with him to conquer or die. After advancing some distance into the thicket, the trail of the enemy was found; here the detachment was joined by Daniel M. Parkinson, who was on horseback. The center was ordered to keep the trail ; we then continued our advance slowly but firmly toward our hidden foe. The Indians had selected a most advantageous position for defense, had we fought them at long shot. It was the bank of a pond, once the bed of a creek ; on the edge of the bank was a natural breastwork nearly three feet high, formed by one of those tumuli so numerous in our prairies ; under this they awaited our approach. When they fired on us, our positions represented two sides of a triangle, they forming the base, and we the hypothenuse ; although we were close upon them, so dense was the thicket that we could not see the smoke of their guns. The General, who was on the right of the centre, and in front of their line, exclaimed, "Where are the Indians?" He was an- swered from the left, "This way." The order was then promptly given, " Charge 'em boys, damn them, charge 'em!" My position was on the ex- treme right; in the charge we obliqued considerably to the left; when I got to the pond I found no enemy before me, and at the same moment I heard the General, who was a little to my left, say, "There 's an Indian, kill him!" I tiirned toward him and heard a shot; as I came up, the Gen- INSTANCES OF INDIVIDUAL HEROISM. 135 eral said, "There, by God, I Ve killed him myself!" This was the Indian commander. " Passing on to the left, I mounted the natural embankment, and fonnd myself in the midst of the Indians ; after discharging my gun, I turned the breech and struck at a warrior I saw lying /under the bank before me, but seeing another very industriously snapping his piece at me, I fell back to reload. As soon as my gun was charged I advanced, with the brave but unfortunate Wells on my left, and William Cams, of Dodgeville, on my right. On coming hand to hand with the Indians, Wells fell mortally wounded ; Cams first shot and then bayoneted the warrior that killed Wells, and I put another in a condition to take his scalp. At the same time the only surviving Indian attempted to save himself by flight; he plunged into the pond, and was shot as he got out of the water on the opposite side. "Thus ended the battle. The enemy were completely exterminated ; not one was left to tell Black Hawk, his chief, and warriors, how " Old Hairy- face" (the Indian name for General Dodge) and his warriors fought. Our trophies were seventeen scalps ; our loss three men, Black, Wells and Morris mortally, and Thomas Jenkins severely wounded. "The annals of border warfare furnish no parallel to this battle ; never before was an entire war party exterminated with so small a loss on the part of the whites, when the numbers engaged were so nearly equal. Al- though on our advance into the thicket we outnumbered the Indians some five men, yet the advantage of their position, and our having to receive their fire, equalized our numbers. "None of us, from the General down, had ever heard a hostile gun, or burned powder at a foe ; the men had been promiscuously assembled, and were untrained soldiers ; they proved, however, by their gallant conduct, that American volunteers, when individually brave, will collectively fol- low to their death a brave and determined leader in whom they have,con- fidence. "There were individual acts of devotion and desperate bravery per- formed, which ought to have immortalized the actors. Our surgeon, Dr. Allen Hill, fell into the line, and did duty as a private soldier. When the sections were told off, his lot fell number four, a horse-holder; num- ber five in the same section was a sickly-looking .yoiith named Townsend about seventeen years of age. The doctor exchanged places with him, re- 136 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. marking that he thought he was better able to perfonn a soldier's duty in the coming fight than he was. "In the charge, Levin Leach encountered a warrior armed with a spear. Parrying the thrust of the Indian with his bayonet, he dropped his gun, sprang on him, wrenched his spear from him, and with it, ran him through the body." About the beginning of the fight each man took a tree Indian style. Thos. Jenkins, who was rather portly, got behind a small one, and when he saw an Indian aiming in his direction, drew himself up sideways as straight as possible. But the tree was too small to protect all parts of his body, and the Indian's bullet hit him in that portion of his anatomy where honor is supposed to abide. The slightest reference to being shot in the rear was always after sure to provoke his ire. One of those who afterward died was struck in the head, inflict- ing a severe scalp wound, but by no means dangerous. There was no surgeon in the fort, and a long-legged, tow-headed young man, who had been studying medicine, took the case in hand, prescribing a strong poul- tice of white oak bark. He did not improve under the treatment, and Dr. Philleo was sent for from Galena, but when he came the man was past surgery. The Doctor said that any old woman could have cured him with a poultice of bread and milk, but the bark had completely tanned the patient's head. The new doctor aftei-ward became a noted physician, but it is not probable he again prescribed white oak bark for a scalp wound. CAPTAIN STEPHENSON'S DESPERATE SKIRMISH. 137 CHAPTER XX. A VIGOROUS CAMPAIGN INAUGURATED. | BOUT this time Capt. James ~W. Stephenson, of Galena, with a part of his company, pursued a party of Indians into a small, dense thicket in the prairie. He commenced a severe fire upon them at random, within firing distance of the thicket, but the Indians having every advantage, succeeded in killing a few of his men, and he ordered a retreat. Neither he nor the men were willing to give up the fight, and they came to the desperate resolution of re- turning and charging into the thicket upon the Indians. The command to charge was given; the men obeyed with ardor and alacrity; the Captain himself led the way, but before they had penetrated into the thicket twenty steps, the Indians fired from their covert ; the fire was instantly returned. The charge was made a second and third time, each time giving and receiv- ing the fire of the enemy, until three more of his men lay dead on the ground, and he himself was severely wounded. . It now became necessary to retreat, as he had from the first but a small part of his company along with him. This attack of Captain Stephenson was unsuccessful, and may have been imprudent; but it equalled anything in modern warfare in dar- ing and desperate courage. The Indians had now shown themselves to be a courageous, active and enterprising enemy. They had scattered their war parties all over the North, from Chicago to Galena, and from the Illinois River into the Ter- ritory of Wisconsin ; they occupied every grove, waylaid eveiy road, hung around eveiy settlement, and attacked every party of white men that attempted to penetrate the country. But their supremacy in the field was of short duration; for, on the 20th, 21st and 22d of June the new forces assembled on the Illinois River were put in motion by General Atkinson, of the regular army, who now assumed the command over the whole. Major John Dement, with a battalion of spies attached to the First brigade, was sent forward in advance, while the main army was to follow 138 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. and concentrate at Dixon. Major Dement pushed forward across Rock River, and took position at Kellogg's Grove, in the heart of the Indian country. Major Dement, hearing by express, on the 25th of June, that the trail of about five hundred Indians leading to the south, had been seen within five miJes the day before, ordered his command to saddle their horses and remain in readiness, while he himself, with twenty men, started at daylight next morning to gain intelligence of their movements. His party had advanced about three hundred yards when they discovered seven Indian spies; some of his men immediately made pursuit, but their commander, fearing an ambuscade, endeavored to call them back. In this manner he had proceeded about a mile ; and being followed soon after by a number of his men from the camp, he formed about twenty- five of them into line on the prairie, to protect the retreat of those yet in pursuit. He had scarcely done this before he discovered three hundred Indians issuing from the grove to attack him. The Indians came up firing, hallooing and yelling to make themselves more terrific, after the Indian fashion; and the Major, seeing himself in great danger of being surrounded by a superior force, slowly retired to his camp, closely pur- sued by the Indians. Here his party took possession of some log houses, which answered for a fort, and were vigorously attacked by the Indians for nearly an hour. There were brave soldiers in this battalion, among whom were Major Dement himself and Lieutenant Governor Casey, a private in the ranks, who kept up such an active fire upon their assailants, and with such good aim, that the Indians retreated with the certain loss of nine men left dead on the field, and probably five others carried away. The loss on the side of the whites was five killed and three wounded. Major Dement had previously sent an express to General Posey, who marched with his whole brigade at once to his relief, but did not arrive until two hours after the retreat of the Indians. General Posey removed next day a little to the north in search of the Indians, then marched back to Kellogg's Grove to await the arrival of his baggage-wagons ; and then to Fort Hamilton, on the Pecatonica. When the news of the battle at Kellogg's Grove reached Dixon, where all the volunteers and the regular forces were then assembled un- der command of General Atkinson, Alexander's brigade was ordered in the direction of Plum River,- a short stream with numerous branches, BLACK HAWK PURSUED NORTHWARD. 139 falling into the Mississippi thirty-five miles below Galena, to intercept the Indians if they attempted in that direction to escape by re-crossing the river. General Atkinson remained with the infantry at Dixon two days, and then marched, accompanied by the brigade of General Henry, toward the country of the Four Lakes, farther up Rock River. Colonel Jacob Fiy, with his regiment, was dispatched in advance by General Henry, to meet some friendly Indians of the Pottawatomie tribe, com- manded by Caldwell, a half-breed, and Shaubena, the war-chief of the nation. General Atkinson having heard that Black Hawk had concentrated his forces at the Four Lakes arid fortified his position, with the intention of deciding the fate of the war by a general battle, marched with as much haste as prudence would warrant when invading a hostile and wilderness country with undisciplined forces, where there was no means of procuring intelligence of the number or whereabouts of the enemy. On the 30th of June he passed through the Turtle village, a consider- able town of the Winnebagoes, then deserted by its inhabitants, and en- camped one mile above it, in the open prairie near Rock River. He believed that the hostile Indians were in that immediate neighborhood, and prepared to resist their attack, if one should be made. That night the Indians were prowling about the encampment till morning. Con- tinual alarms were given by the sentinels, and the whole command was frequently paraded in order of battle. The march was continued next day, and nothing occurred until the army arrived at Lake Kuskanong, except the discovery of trails and Indian signs, the occasional sight of an Indian spy, and the usual abundance of false alarms amongst men but little accustomed to war. Here the army was joined by General Alexan- der's brigade ; and after Major Ewing and Colonel Fry, with a battalion of the one and the regiment of the other, had thoroughly examined the whole country round about, and had ascertained that no enemy was near, the whole force again marched up Rock River on the east side, to the Burnt Village, another considerable town of the Winnebagoes, on the White Water River, where it was joined by the brigade of General Posey and a battalion of a hundred men from Wisconsin, commanded by Major (now General) Dodge. During the march to this place the scouts had captured an old blind Indian of the hostile, band, nearly famished with hunger, who had been left behind by his friends (for want of ability to travel), to fall into the 140 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. hands of his enemies or to perish by famine. Being, as he said, old, blind and helpless, he was never consiilted or advised with by the Indians, and could give no account of the movements of his party except that they had gone further up the river. One historian of the war says that the army magnanimously conchided not to kill him, but to give him plenty to eat, and leave him behind to end his life in a pleasant way by eating him- self to death. The old man, however, was denied this melancholy satis- faction ; for falling in the way of Posey's men as they were marching to the camp, he was quickly despatched, even before he had satisfied his natural hunger. This barbarous action is an indelible stain upon the men of that brigade. At this place, also, Captain Dunn, at present a Judge in Wisconsin, acting as officer of the day of one of the regiments, was shot by a sentinel, and dangerously wounded. Up to the time of reaching the Burnt Village, the progress of the com- mand had been slow and uncertain. The country was comparatively an unexplored wilderness of forest and prairie. None in the command had ever been through it. A few, who professed to know something of it, volunteered to act as guides, and succeeded in electing themselves to be military advisers to the commanding General. The members of the hos- tile party were unknown; and a few Wiunebagoes who followed the camp, and whose fidelity was of a very doubtful character, were from necessity much listened to, but the , intelligence received from them was always delusive. Short marches, frequent stoppages, and explorations always unsatisfactory, were the result, giving the enemy time to elude the pursuing forces, and eveiy opportunity of ascertaining their probable movements and intentions. The evening the army arrived at the Burnt Village, Captain Early, with his company of spies, returned from a scout and reported the main trail of the Indians, not two hours old, to be three miles beyond. It was determined to pursue rapidly next morning. At an early hour next day, before the troops were ready to march, two regular soldiers, fishing in the river one hundred and fifty yards from camp, were fired upon by two Indians from the opposite shore, and one of them dangerously wounded. A part of the volunteers were immediately marched up the river in the direction indicated by Captain Early, and Colonel Fry's regiment, with the regulars, were left behind to construct bridges and cross to the point from which the Indians had shot the regular soldier. A march of fifteen miles up and across the river (fordable above), proved Captain Early's THE BAD LANDS OF WISCONSIN. 141 report to be incorrect. No trail was discoverable. On crossing the river, the troops entered upon the trembling lands, which are immense flats of turf, extending for miles in every direction, from six inches to a foot in thickness, resting upon water and beds of quicksand. A troop, or even a single horseman passing over, produced an undulating and quivering mo- tion of the land, from which it gets its name. Although the surface is quite dry, yet there is no difficulty in procuring plenty of water by cut- ting an opening through the stratum of turf. The horses would some- times, on the thinner portions, force a foot through, and fall to the shoulder or ham; yet so great is the tenacity of the upper surface, that in no in- stance was there any trouble in getting them out. In some places the weight of the earth forces a stream of water upward, which carrying with it and depositing large quantities of sand, forms a mound. The mound, increasing in weight as it enlarges, increases the pressure upon the water below, presenting the novel sight of a fountain in the prairie pouring its stream down the side of a mound, then to be absorbed by the sand and returned to the waters beneath. Discovering no sign of an enemy in this direction, the detachment fell back to the Burnt Village, and the bridges not being yet completed, it was determined to throw over a small force on rafts the next day. The Win- nebagoes had assured the General that the shore beyond was a large island, and that the whole of Black Hawk's forces were fortified on it. In consequence of this information, Captain Early's company were crossed on rafts, followed and supported by two companies of regulars, under Captain Noel of the army, which last were formed in order across the island, while Captain Early proceeded to scour it, reporting afterward at headquarters that he had found the trail of a large body of Indians ; but Col. William S. Hamilton,- having crossed the main river three miles below with a party of Menominies, reported the trail of the whole tribe on the main west shore, about ten days old, proceeding northward ; and it was afterward ascertained that no sign had been seen upon the island but that of the two Indians who had fired upon the regular soldiers. Eight weeks had now been wasted in fruitless search for the enemy, and the commanding General seemed further from the attainment of his object than when the second requisition of troops was organized. At that time Posey and Alexander commanded each a thousand men, Henry took the field with twelve hundred and sixty-two, and the regular force under Colonel Taylor, now Major General, amounted to four hundred and fifty 142 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. more. By this time the volunteer force was reduced nearly one-half. Many had entered the service for mere pastime, and a desire to partici- pate in the excellent fun of an Indian campaign, looked upon as a frolic ; and certainly but few volunteered with well-defined notions of the fatigues, delays and hardships of an Indian war in an unsettled and un- known country. The tedious marches, exposure to the weather, loss of horses, sickness, forced submission to command, and disgust at the unex- pected hardships and privations of a soldier's life, produced rapid reduc- tions in the numbers of every regiment. The great distance from the base of. operations ; the difficulties of transportation, either by water or land, making it impossible at any time to have more than twelve days' provisions beforehand, still further curtailed the power of the command- ing General. Such was the wastefulness of the volunteers, that they were frequently one or two days short of provisions before new supplies could be furnished. At this time there were not more than four days' rations in the hands of the commissary; the enemy might be weeks in advance; the volun- teers were fast melting away, but the regular infantry had not lost a man. To counteract these difficulties, General Atkinson found it necessary to disperse his command, for the purpose of procuring supplies. A NEW DISPOSITION OF THE FORCES. 143 CHAPTER XXI. THE CAMPAIGN RESUMED. j CCORDING to previous arrangements, the several brigades took up their lines of march on the 1 Oth of July, for their respective destinations. Colonel Ewing's regiment was sent back to Dixon as an escort for Captain Dunn, who was supposed to be mortally wounded ; General Posey marched to Fort Hamilton, on the Pecatonica, as a guard to the frontier country. Henry, Alexander and Dodge, with their commands, were sent to Fort Winnebago, situate at the Portage between the Fox and the Wisconsin Rivers; while General Atkin- son himself fell back with the regular forces near to Lake Koshkonong, and erected a fort, which he called by the name of the lake. There he was to remain until the volunteer Generals could return with supplies. Henry and Alexander made Fort Winnebago in three days, Major Dodge having preceded them a few hours by a forced march, which so fatigued and crippled his horses that many of them were unable to continue the campaign. Their route had been in a direct line, a distance of eighty miles, through a country which was remarkably swampy and difficult. On the night of the 12th of July a stampede occurred among the horses. This is a general wild alarm, the whole body of them breaking loose from their fastenings, and coursing over the prairie at full speed. By this means a hundred or more of them were lost or destroyed in the swamps, or on a log causeway three miles in length, near the fort. Two days were occupied at the fort in getting provisions ; on the last of which the Winnebago chiefs there reported that Black Hawk and his forces were encamped at the Manitou village, thirty-five miles above Gen- eral Atkinson, on Rock River. In a council held between Alexander, Henry and Dodge, it was detennined to violate orders by marching directly to the enemy, with the hope of taking him by surprise, or at least piitting him between them and General Atkinson, thus cutting off his further retreat to the north. Twelve o'clock on the 15th was ap- pointed as the hour to march. General Henry proceeded at once to reor- 144 RECOBDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. ganize his brigade, with a view to disencumber himself of his sick and dismounted men, that as little as possible might impede the celerity of his march. General Alexander soon announced that his men were un- willing, and had refused to follow ; and Major Dodge reported his horses so much disabled by their late march that ^he could not muster a force worth taking along. General Henry was justly indignant at the insubor- dination and defection of his companions in arms, and announced his pur- pose to march in pursuit of the enemy alone, if he could prevail upon but fifty men to follow him. But directly after this a company of mounted volunteers, under the command of Captain Craig, from Apple River and Galena, in Illinois, with fresh horses, arrived at Fort Winnebago to join Major Dodge's battalion, which now made his force of men and horses fit for service one hundred and twenty in the whole. General Henry's brig- ade, exclusive of Dodge's battalion, amounted to between five and six hundred men, but not more than four hundred and fifty had horses fit for service. From this place General Henry took up his line of march on the 15th of July, accompanied by Poquette, a half-breed, and the "White Pawnee," a Winnebago chief, as guides, in quest in the Indians. On the route to the head waters of Rock River he was frequently thrown from a direct line by intervening swamps extending for miles. Many of them were crossed, but never without difficulty and loss of horses. After three days' hard marching, his forces encamped upon the beautiful stream of Rock River. This river is not exceeded by any other in natural beauty. Its waters are clear; its bottom and banks rocky or pebbly. The country on each side is either rolling, rich prairie, or hills crowned with forests free from undergrowth, and its cun-ent sweeps to the Mississippi, deep and bold. Here three Winnebagoes gave intelligence that Black Hawk was encamped at Cranberry Lake, further up the river. Relying upon this information, it was settled by General Henry to make a forced march in that direction the next morning. Doctor Merryman, of Springfield, and W. W. Woodbridge, of Wisconsin, were despatched as expresses to Gen- eral Atkinson. They were accompanied by a chief called Little Thunder, as guide ; and having started about dark, and proceeded on their perilous roxite about eight miles to the south-west, they came upon the fresh main trail of the enemy, endeavoring to escape by way of the Four Lakes across the Wisconsin River. At the sight of the trail the Indian guide was struck Avith terror, and TREACHEROUS GUIDES A FORCED MABCIL 145 without permission retreated back to the camp. Merriman and Wood- bridge returned also, but not until Little Thunder had announced his dis- covery in the Indian tongue to his countrymen, who were in the very act of making their escape when they were stopped by Maj. Murray McCon- nell, and taken to the tent of General Henry, to whom they confessed that they had come into camp only to give false information, and favor the retreat of the Indians ; and then, to make amends for their perfidy, and perhaps, as they were led to believe, to avoid immediate death, they disclosed all they knew of Black Hawk's movements. General Henry prudently kept the treachery of these Indians a secret from his men, for it would have taken all his influence and that of all his officers to save their lives if their perfidious conduct had been known throughout the camp. The next morning (July 19) by daylight, everything was ready for a forced march, but first another express was despatched to General Atkin- son. All cumbrous baggage was thrown away. The tents and most of the camp equipage were left in a pile in the wilderness. Many of the men left their blankets and all their clothes except the suit they wore, and this was the case in every instance with those who had been so un- fortunate as to lose their horses. Such as these took their guns, ammuni- tion and provisions upon their backs, and traveled over mountain and plain, through swamp and thicket, and kept up with the men on horse- back. All the men now marched with a better spirit than usual. The sight of the broad, fresh trail inspired eveiy one with a lively hope of bringing the war to a speedy end ; and even the horses seemed to share somewhat in the general ardor. There was no murmuring, there was no excuse or complaining, and none on the sick report. The first day, in the afternoon, they were overtaken by one of those storms common on the prairies, black and terrific, accompanied by torrents of rain and the most fearful lightning and thunder; but the men dashed on through thickets almost impenetrable and swamps almost impassable, and that day marched upwards of fifty miles. During this day's march, General Hemy, Major McConnell and others of the General's staff often dismounted and marched on foot, giving their horses to tue footmen. That night the storm raged till two o'clock in the morning. The men, exhausted with fatigue, threw themselves supperless upon the muddy earth, covered with water, for a little rest. The rain made it impossible to kindle a fire or to cook, so that both officers and men contented them- 140 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. selves with eating some raw meat and some of the wet flour which they earned in their sacks, and which was converted into a soft dough by the drenching rains. A similar repast served them next morning for break- fast. The horses had fared but little better than the men. The Govern- ment furnished nothing for them to eat, and they were obliged to subsist that night upon a scanty grazing, confined within the limits of the camp. Next morning (July 20) the storm had abated, and all were on the march by daylight, and after a march as hard as that on the day before, the army encamped at night upon the banks of one of the four lakes form- ing the source of the Catfish River in Wisconsin, and near the place where the Indians had encamped the previous night. At this place the men were able to make fires and cook their suppers, and this they did with a hearty good will, having traveled about one hundred miles without tast- ing anything but raw food, and without having seen a spark of fire. That night they again laid upon the ground, many of them with .nothing but the sky for a covering, and slept soundly and sweetly, like men upon their beds at home. All were in fine spirits and high expectation of overtak- ing the Indians next day, and putting an end to the war by a general bat- tle. The night did not pass, however, without an alarm. One of the sentinels posted near the bank of the lake fired upon an Indian gliding in his canoe slyly and steathily to the shore. Every man was aroused and under aims in an instant, but nothing followed to continue the alarm. A small black speck could be seen by aid of the star-light on the surface of the lake, but no enemy was visible. This day's march was still harder than any which preceded it. The men on foot were forced into a run to keep up with the advancing horse- men. The men on horseback carried their arms and baggage for them by turns. Major William Lee D. Ewing (since a Major General) commanded the spy battalion, and with him was joined the battalion of Major Dodge, of Wisconsin. These two officers, with their commands, were in the ad- vance; but with all their ardor they were never able to get out of sight of the main body. General Henry, who remained with the main body, dis- patched Major McConnell with the advance guard, so as to get the earliest intelligence of any unusual occurrence in front. About noon of this day the advance guard was close upon the rear guard of the retreating enemy. It is to be regretted that we have no account of the management, the perils, and hair-breadth escapes of the Indians in conducting their retreat. A RAPID RETREAT AND VIGOROUS PURSUIT. 147 All that we know is that for many miles before they were overtaken their broad trail was strewn with camp kettles and baggage of various kinds, which they had thrown away in the hurry of their flight. The sight of these articles encouraged Henry's men to press forward, hoping soon to put an end to this vexatious border war which had so much disturbed the peace of our Northern settlements. About noon, also, the scouts ahead came suddenly upon two Indians, and as they were attempting to escape one of them was killed and left dead on the field. Dr. Addison Philleo coming along shortly after, scalped this Indian, and for a long time after- ward exhibited this scalp as evidence of his valor. Shortly after this the rear guard of the Indians began to make feint stands, as if to bring on a battle. In doing so, their design was merely to gain time for the main body to secure a more advantageous position. A few shots would be ex- changed, and the Indians would then push ahead, while the pursuing force would halt to form in the order of battle. In this way the Indians were able to Teach the broken ground on the bluffs of the Wisconsin River by four o'clock in the afternoon, before they were overtaken. About this time, while the advanced guard was passing over some uneven ground, through the high t grass and low timber, they were siid- denly fired upon by a body of Indians who had here secreted themselves. In an instant Major Ewing's battalion dismounted and were formed in front, their horses being removed to the rear. The Indians kept up a fire from behind fallen trees, and none of them could be discovered except by the flash and report of their guns. In a few minutes General Henry arrived with the main body, when the order of battle was formed. Colonel Jones' regiment was placed on the right, Colonel Collins' on the left, and Colonel Pry's in the rear to act as a reserve. Major Ewing's battalion was placed in front of the line, and Major Dodge's on the ex- treme right. In this order General Henry's forces marched into battle. An order was given to charge upon the enemy, which was handsomely obeyed by Ewing's battalion and Jones' and Collins' regiments. The Indians retreated before this charge obliquely to the right, and concentrated their main force in front of Dodge's battalion, showing a design to turn his flank. General Henry sent an order by Major McCon- nell to Major Dodge, to advance to the charge; but this officer being of the opinion that the foe was too strong for him, requested a reinforce- ment. Colonel Fry's regiment was ordered to his aid, and formed on his 148 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. right. And now a vigorous charge was made from one end of the line to the other. _ Colonel Fry's regiment made a charge into the bush and high grass where the Indians were concealed, and received the fire of their whole body. The fire was briskly returned by Fry and Dodge and their men, who continued to advance, the Indians standing their ground until the men came within bayonet reach of them, then fell back to the west, along the high, broken bluffs of the Wisconsin, only to take a new position among the thick timber and tall grass in the head of a hollow leading to the Wisconsin River bottom. Here it seemed they were determined to make a firm stand; but being charged upon in their new position by Ewing's battalion and Collins' and Jones' regiments, they were driven out of it, some of them being pursued down the hollow, and others again to the west, along the Wisconsin heights, until they descended the bluffs to the Wisconsin bottom, which was here about a mile wide and very swampy, covered with thick, tall grass, above the heads of 'men on horse- back. It being nov/ dark, further pursuit was stopped, and General Henry and his forces lay upon the field of battle. That night Heniy's camp was disturbed by the voice of an Indian loudly sounding from a distant hill, as if giving orders or desiring a conference. It afterward appeared that this was the voice of an Indian chief, speaking in the Win- nebago language, stating that the Indians had their squaws and families with them, that they were starving for provisions, and were not able to fight the white people, and that if they were permitted to pass peaceably over the Mississippi, they would do no more mischief. He spoke this in the Winnebago tongue, in hopes that some of that people were with Gen- eral Henry and would act as his interpreter. No Winnebagoes were present, they having ran at the commencement of the fight, and so his language was never explained until after the close of the war. Next morning early, General Henry advanced to the Wisconsin River, and ascertained that the Indians had all crossed it, and made their escape into the mountains between that and the Mississippi. It was ascertained after the battle that the Indian loss amounted to sixty-eight left dead on the field, and a large number of wounded, of whom twenty-five were afterward found dead along the Indian trail leading to the Mississippi. General Henry lost one man killed and eight wounded. It appeared that the Indians, knowing they were to fight a mounted force, had been trained to aim high, but as General Hemy had dismounted his forces and sent his f CAPTAIN THROCKMORTON SALUTES A WHITE FLAG. 151 horses to the rear, the Indians shot over them. This will account for so few of Henry's men being killed or wounded. After spending two days in preparation at the Blue Mounds, the whole force, now under the direction of General Atkinson, was again on the march in pursuit of the Indians. The Wisconsin River was crossed at Helena, and the trail of the Indians struck in the mountains on the other side. Day after day the whole force toiled in climbing and descend- ing mountains covered with dense forests, and passing through swamps of deep, black mud lying in the intervening valleys. But the march was slow compared with that preceding the battle of the Wisconsin. In this march were found, all along the route, the melancholy evidences of the execution done in the battle. The path of the retreating Indians was strewn with the wounded who had died on the march, more from neglect and want of skill in dressing their wounds than from the mortal nature of the wounds themselves. Five of them were found dead in one place where the band had encamped for the night. About ten o'clock in the morning of the fourth day after crossing the Wisconsin, General Atkinson's advance reached the bluffs on the east side of the Mississippi. The Indians had reached the bank of the river some time before. Some had crossed, and others were making preparations to cross it. The steamboat " Warrior," commanded by Captain Throckmor- ton, descended to that place the day before. As the steamboat neared the camp of the Indians, they raised the white flag ; but Captain Throckmor- ton, believing this to be treacherously intended, ordered them to send a boat on board, which they declined doing. In the flippant language of the Captain, after allowing them fifteen minutes to remove their squaws and children, he let slip a six-pounder at them, loaded with canister shot, followed by a severe fire of musketry ; " and if ever you saw straight blankets, you would have seen them there." According to the Captain's account, the " fight " continued for an hour, and cost the lives of twenty- three Indians, and a number wounded. The boat then fell down the river to Prairie du Chien, and before it could return the next morning, the land forces under General Atkinson had come up and commenced a general battle. It appears that the Indians were encamped on the bank of the Missis- sippi, some distance below the mouth of the Bad Axe River. They were aware that General Atkinson was in close pursuit ; and to gain time for crossing into the Indian country west of the Mississippi, they sent back 152 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. about twenty men to meet General Atkinson, within three or four miles of their camp. This party of Indians were instructed to commence an attack, and then to retreat to the river three miles above their camp. Accordingly, when General Atkinson (the order of march being as before), came within three or four miles of the liver, he was suddenly fired upon from behind trees and logs, the very tall grass aiding the concealment of the attacking party. General Atkinson rode immediately to the scene of action, and in person formed his lines and directed the charge. The In- dians gave way, and were pursued by General Atkinson with all the army except Henry's brigade, which was in the rear, and in the hurry of pursuit was left without orders. When Henry came up to the place where the attack, had been made, he saw clearly that the wily stratagem of the untutored savage had triumphed over the science of a veteran General. The main trail of the Indians wag plain to be seen leading to the river lower down. He called a hasty council of his principal officers, and by their advice marched right forward upon the main trail. At the foot of the high bluff bordering the river valley, on the edge of a swamp densely covered with timber, drift-wood and underbrush, through which the trail led fresh and broad, he halted his command and left his horses. The men were formed on foot, and thus advanced to the attack. They were pre- ceded by an advanced guard of eight men, who were sent forward as a forlorn hope, and were intended to draw the first fire of the Indians, and to disclose thereby to the main body where the enemy was to be found, preparatoiy to a general charge. These eight men advanced boldly some distance, until they came within sight of the river, where they were fired upon by about fifty Indians, and five of the eight instantly fell, wounded or dead. The other three, protected behind trees, stood their ground until the arrival of the main body \mder General Hemy, which deployed to the right and left from the centre. Immediately the bugle sounded a charge, every man rushed forward, and the battle became general along the whole line. These fifty Indians had retreated upon the main body, amounting to about three hundred warriors, a force equal if not superior to that now confronting them. It soon became apparent that they had been taken by surprise. They fought bravely and desperately, but seem- ingly without any plan or concert of action. The bugle again sounded the inspiring music of a charge. The Indians were driven from tree to tree, and from one hiding-place to another. In this manner they receded step by step, driven by the advancing foe, until they reached the bank of the A TREATY OF PEACE SICHSTED. 153 river. Here a desperate struggle ensued, but it was of short duration. The bloody bayonet, in the hands of excited and daring men, pursued and drove them forward into the waters of the river. Some of them tried to swim the river ; others sought shelter on a small willow island near the shore. After the Indians had retreated to the island in the river, Henry dis- patched Major McConnell to give intelligence of his movements to his commander, who, while pursuing the twenty Indians in another direction, had heard the firing where Henry was engaged. General Atkinson had left the pursuit of the twenty Indians, and hastened to share in the en- gagement. He was met by Henry's messenger near the scene of action, in passing through which the dead and dying Indians lying around bore frightful evidence of the stern work which had been done before his arrival. He, however, lost no time in forming his regulars and Dodge's battalion for a descent upon the island. These forces, together with Ew- ing's battalion and Fry's regiment, made a charge through the water up to their armpits to the island, where most of the Indians had taken their last refuge. All the Indians who attempted to swim the river were picked off with rifles or found a watery grave before they reached the op- posite shore. Those on the island kept up a severe fire from behind logs and drift- wood upon the men as they advanced to the charge ; and here a number of regulars and volunteers under Dodge were killed and wounded. But most of the Indians secreted there were either killed, captured, or driven into the water, where they perished miserably, either by drowning or by the still more fatal rifle. During these engagements a number of squaws were killed. They were dressed so much like the male Indians that, con- cealed as they were in the high grass, it was impossible to distinguish them. It is estimated that the Indian loss here amounted to one hundred and fifty killed, and as many more who were drowned in the river. Fifty prisoners were taken, mostly squaws and children. The residue of the Indians had escaped across the river before the commencement of the action. The twenty men who first commenced the attack, led by Black Hawk in person, escaped up the river. The American loss amounted to seventeen killed, one of them a captain of Dodge's battalion and one a lieutenant of Fry's regiment, and twelve wounded. September 21, 1832, General Scott and Governor Reynolds concluded a treaty of peace with the Winnebagoes, Sacs and Foxes, by which these 154 fcECOKDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. tribes ceded to the United States vast regions of country, and agreed to remain at peace with the whites; and for the faithful performance of this promise, they surrendered Black Hawk and his two sons, " The Prophet," and six other leaders or chiefs of the hostile bands, to be re- tained as hostages during the pleasure of the President. These Indians were afterward taken to Washington, and shown around the cities of the east, our navy and army, and our general arrangements for war, offen- sive and defensive. When presented to President Jackson, Black Hawk said: " I am a man and you are another. We did not expect to conquer the white people. I took up the hatchet to revenge injuries which could no longer be borne. Had I borne them any longer my people would have said, 'Black Hawk is a squaw; he is too old to be a chief. He is no Sac.' This caused me to raise the war-whoop. I say no more of it. All is known to you. Keokuk was once here. You took him by the hand, and when he wanted to return, you sent him back to his nation. Black Hawk expects that like Keokuk, he will be permitted to return too." The President told him that when he was satisfied that all things would remain quiet, Black Hawk might return. Black Hawk died October 3, 1840, and was buried with considerable pomp, on the banks of the Mississippi River, near the scenes of h^s boy- hood. DESCRIPTION OF HENNEPIN TOWNSHIP. 155 HENNEPIN TOWNSHIP. CHAPTER XXII. TOPOGRAPH^flftL. ENNEPIN commemorates the name of the great discoverer and explorer supposed to have been one of the first white men who set foot within its limits. It embraces about forty-five sections of land within its boundaries, or 29,800 acres, in round numbers, as indicated by a recent county map. The Illinois River washes its borders for twelve miles or more, and its surface is made up of wide-extended, fertile bottoms, wooded hills and productive prairies. Running through the Township is Coffee Creek, a considerable stream which rises in Section 18, thence runs in devious windings through Sec- tions 11, 12, 15 and 16, to the Illinois River below the city of Hennepin. South of Florid, in the edge of a small prairie united to Grand Prairie on the east, rises the stream known as "Nelson's Run," which leads southwest through Section 2 to the river. Further south Cedar Creek flows through a broken, timbered countiy, and in the northern part of the Township, Allfork Creek, an extremely tortuous stream rising in the prairie south of Greenville, makes a detour into Hennepin Township, in Section 36, and running west a mile and north another, enters the Illinois. East of the city is a fine prairie, covered with fertile and highly culti- vated farms. The southern portion is broken and diversified with deep ravines, wide valleys, rugged hills, " hog-backs," and small patches of bar- rens, or little sections of openings and prairies which industrous Germans have long since transformed into fine farms, thrifty orchards and large meadows. There is, or rather was, an abundance of excellent timber in this section of the County, but in many localities it has been cut down and the ground 156 RECORDS Ol THE OLDEN TIME. become cultivated fields. Saw mills put up here and there have been for years transforming the monarchs of the forest into lumber. There are small prairies here and there, one to the east of Hennepin, another at Union Grove and Florid. Here the first settlers built their houses, and a few still remain on farms taken up before the red man had ceased to be the sole possessor. The soil is fertile and adapted to raising grain, live stock or fruits, in all of which the township excels. THE CITY OF HENNEPIN. Hennepin, or rather the prairie on which the town stands, was an- ciently called Prairie de Pine, in honor of a French voyageur and trapper who once had a cabin there. The circumstances which called the town into being have been narrated elsewhere, and it need only be stated that under an act of the Legislature a committee was sent to examine vari- ous localities with a view to the location of a county seat, and select the one most appropriate and best fulfilling the required conditions. At this time a heavy belt of timber ran along its front, extending back to the Court House and beyond, so densely filled with underbrush as to shut out all view of the river, the bank of which in front of the town rose abruptly forty or fifty feet high, but has since been graded down to suit the demands of commerce. Properly the town should date back to 1817, when Beaubien, a Frenchmen in the employ of the American Fur Com- pany, built a trading house one mile above the town, on land now owned by A. T. Purviance. Thomas Hartzell at this time was trading at some point below in opposition to the American Fur Company, but in 1824-5 he became their agent and removed here. Beside the old building first referred to he had erected a substantial store of hewn logs, which he con- tinued to occupy until the location of Hennepin, when he removed there. Across the ravine south of Hartzell a Frenchman named Antoine Bour- bonais had a cabin built somewhere about 1820. The town was surveyed in 1831 by Ira Ladd, Sr., on Congress land. Twelve blocks were laid off at first, and eight afterward, to which several additions have since been made. Lots were extensively advertised, and the first sales were made at prices ranging from $11.68 to $87.86 each. (Ford's History). The first lot was sold to J. and W. Durley, at that time trading with the Indians in a cabin built by James Willis, opposite THE SETTLEMENT OF HENNEPIN. 157 the mouth of Bureau Creek, one mile above Hennepin. They proceeded at once to build on this lot, now the site of the Town Hall, corner of Front and Coiirt streets, and when finished, removed their stock there. Dunlavy & Stewart built a trading house at the same time, preceding the Durleys a few days in commencing business. J. S. Simpson and a man named Gleason each built log cabins that fall, and Ira Ladd, first Sheriff of the county. In the spring of 1832, the first hotel was built. It was a double log cabin, built by James S. Simpson, and run by John H. Simpson. About this time Hartzell built a store and removed here his stock of goods. The old trading house deserves more special notice. Its foundations are still seen adjoining the pleasant residence of A. T. Purviance, and are a pleasing reminder of the days when the red man held sway over this territory, and neither steamboats nor commerce, in the modern acceptation of the term, existed on the river. In 1832 came the Black Hawk war, and Hennepin was made the head- quarters and rallying point of the rangers. When news of the outbreak arrived, there was great consternation. Few of the settlers were armed, and no means of defense were available. In this predicament, Thomas Hartzell came forward and offered to donate his log store for a block house. It was a noble act, and bespeaks his character. Every man and team in the settlement was set at work, and in two days the building was taken down, the logs hauled to the vil- lage, and a commodious block house, with embrasures for riflemen and an upper story, constructed, in which the families of settlers took refuge until the scare was over. It stood on Front street, and for a dozen years was one of the landmarks of the town until the authorities ordered its re- moval. When the old building was torn down to be reconstructed into a fort, the chimney was left standing. A Frenchman with a half-breed wife oc- cupied the Beaubein cabin, and she often repaired to the old chimney to do her cooking. One day while thus engaged a high wind blew it down, killing her instantly. The first election in the new County was held at the house of William Hawes, near Magnolia, and beside the Judges of Election, but one voter appeared (Warner). Of course there were no "split tickets," and Thomas Gallaher, George Ish and John M. Gay were declared elected as County Commissioners, Ira Ladd as Sheriff, and Aaron Paine as Coroner. James 158 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. W. Willis was subsequently appointed Treasurer. Hooper Warren filled the offices of Kecorder, Clerk of the Circuit and County Courts, and Justice of the Peace. Among the members of the bar who attended Court here were : Sen- ator David Davis, who came from Bloomington on horseback, and Judge John B. Caton, who came down from Chicago, riding an Indian pony.* The first death in the Counties of Bureau, Putnam or Marshall was in the family of Aaron Mitchell, who lost a child in August or Septem- ber, 1829. There being no lumber in the country, a puncheon coffin was made by N. and S. Shepherd, and the child was interred near Captain Price's. The first corpse buried in Hennepin Cemetery was that of Phillips, shot by the Indians, June 4, 1831. No memorial stone marks the place, and his grave is unknown. OLD TIME RECORDS. Most of the early settlers were young men, and in those days a woman or a baby was as much of a novelty and excited as lively an interest as ever they did in "Roaring Camp." Some of the men, however, brought their wives," and with them came their " sisters, their cousins and their aunts," who speedily found husbands; and we find among the early records the following marriages : John Shepherd to Tennessee McComas, July 5, 1831; by George Ish, County Judge. Elisha Swan, of Lacon, was married to Zilpha Dent, February 25, 1832; by Rev. Zadok Hall. Livingston Roberts to Margaret Dent, January 24, 1843; by Hooper Warren, Justice of the Peace. Lemuel Russell to Sarah Ann Edwards, February 23, 1823 ; by Rev. Edward Hale. Wm. Munson to Rachel Hall, March 7, 1833, by John M. Gay, Jus- tice of the Peace. Wm. S. Horn to Sylvia Hall, May 5, 1833; by Rev. R. Horn. The ladies whose names appear in the last two notices were the Hall girls, whose thrilling experience with the Indians is given elsewhere. *Warren. LIST OF THE EARLY SETTLERS OF HENNEPIN. 159 The early ministers of the township were Revs. John McDonald, Elijah Epperson, Win. Heath and Joel Arlington. The first farm opened in the township was that of James Willis, at Union Grove, in 1828, and his was the first dwelling house outside of the village of Henuepin. Elizabeth Shepherd was one of the first white women in this locality, coming in 1829. Austin Hannum is claimed as the first white child born in the county. His parents lived in Magnolia. Isabel Patterson, since Mrs. R. W. Bowman, was born in 1832, and Augustus Shepherd in 1830. THE PIONEERS. In the Court House at Hennepin hangs a large frame with the por- traits and names of many old settlers, and the date of their coming to the County. It will better preface what follows than aught else we can give : 1817 Thomas Hartzell. 1827 Thos. Gallaher, Jas. W. Willis. 1828 Stephen D. Willis, Smiley Shepherd. 1829 James G. Ross, Nelson Shepherd, Elizabeth Shepherd. 1830 Harvey Leeper, Flora Zenor, Augustus Shepherd, Wm. Pat- terson, L. E. Skeel, David Richey, Lucy Dick, Olive Skeel, Wm. M. Ham, Anthony Turk. Samuel D. Laughlin, Catherine Shepherd. 1831 Alvira Zenor, Lewis Durley, Lucy Durley, Mary Stewart, Mary Shepherd, George Dent, Comfort Dent, Williamson Durley, H. K. Zenor, Emeline Durley, E. G. Powers, Louisa Nash, John Gallalier, Aaron Gunn. 1832 John G. Ross (born here), Stephen W. Stewart, Nancy Skeel, Sarah Stewart, John W. Stewart, B. F. Whittaker, J. W. Leech, Mary Leech, Robert Leech, Mary A. Templeton, S. G. Leech, Sarah Brumfield, Thomas Brumfield, Mary Ann Noys, John Brumfield, Aaron Barlow, John N. Laughlin. 1833 Bayliss Culter, Wm. H. Zenor, Elizabeth Durley, Joseph Fair- field, Wm. E. Fairfield, Joseph Cassell, Augustus Cassell, Thomas Cole- man, Chas. Coleman, Oaks Turner, Wilson Everett, Jeremiah Everett, Alex. Ross, Milton Robinson. 160 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 1834 Cyrus Shepherd, William Baxendale, Thomas W. Shepherd, Guy W. Pool, Thomas Atwater (the first lawyer), H. J. White, Wash- ington Webb. 1836 Lyle Shepherd, Samuel Holmes, Sr., Alfred Turner, David Cryder. SMILEY SHEPHERD, the oldest living person of Hennepin, visited this country in August, 1828, on a prospecting tour. He bought a claim from James Willis, at Magnolia, but sold it and selected the well-known farm east of Hennepin, where he has ever since lived. Keturning to Ohio in December, 1828, he married, and in June, 1829, settled permanently at Hennepin. When he came to Hennepin in 1828, Hartzell, the Indian trader, was doing a prosperous business. He was operating in his own name, and had several Indians, squaws and half breeds around him. He was assisted by a young man named Benny, who had charge of the business, buying and preparing the furs for market, and supplying hunters and traders in other localities, shipping his furs to Montreal. The American Fur Company had three stations at and near the mouth of Bureau Creek, under the management of Gurden S. Hubbard, who gen- erally made his headquarters at Chicago, but was often here to look after the interests of the company. WILLIAMSON DURLEY came to Hennepin August 8, 1831, and opened a store along with his uncle, John Durley. They bought their goods at St. Louis, brought them up on a boat to Pekin, and hauled them "by land " to their new store in the village, which had been laid out in Sep- tember, the goods reaching here in October, 1831. Mr. Durley first visited this locality in 1828, stopping on the way at Bailey's Point, La Salle County, where himself and friends found shelter, with permission to "board themselves" in the cornfield. The corn was but partially ripe, and had to be planed off the ears and then boiled. They found this fare and the hospitality of the people so agreeable that they remained two days on these terms. During their stay they explored the country thereabouts, returning to their host each night, who on their departure refused to take pay for their keeping, saying, "as he had freely given them the best he had, and didn't want to be insulted." At Covel Creek they found an Indian burial ground, in which the de- parted were placed in a sitting posture, back to back, between white oak EARLY SETTLERS OF IlENNEtIN TOWNSHIP. 161 poles fixed in the ground. Mr. Durley likewise remembers one two miles south of Hennepin, where the corpses were similarly arranged. The mails in early days were irregular. A line extended from Peoria to Galena, and a route was established about 1831 running from Henne- pin to Boyd's Grove. A few years later a stage line between Chicago and Peoria was established, with a cross line to Hennepin, connecting at Robert's Point. The next change was from Ottawa via Peru, Hennepin and Lacon to Peoria, making three trips a week each way. Mr. Durley's recollections of the old pioneers are valuable. He re- members Thomas Hartzell as a man of generous disposition, open-hearted and easily duped. He believed all men honest like himself, and lost his property by going security for others. About this time a wealthy rela- tive in Pennsylvania died and opportunely left him a considerable sum, which went in like manner. Again he inherited property, and not long after removed to Waukegan, where he died. DANIEL DIMMICK The Township of Dimmick, in La Salle County, takes its name from an early settler who formerly lived in this vicinity. He came to Peoria in 1828, to Princeton in 1829 or '30, and not long after to Putnam County, building a cabin in the timber near Hartzell's trading house. He is said to have made the first claim and broken the first prairie in Putnam County, and sold his "betterments" to George Mills. They are now a part of the farm of William Ham. Dimmick lived in great seclusion, avoiding society and companionship, and was chiefly in- tent on making money. It is said he never had a floor to his cabin, and never washed. His single tow shirt sufficed so long as it held together. He slept on a bundle of straw in the corner, and his coat was patched with an old saddle blanket. In 1833 he sent his son Elijah to Dixon to learn if it was safe to venture to the north side of the Illinois River, and if the Indians were really at peace with the whites, and the war over. On getting satisfactory answers, he packed up his household goods and moved over to the prairies and began his new and permanent home, where he built a fine residence in after years, and died much respected. THE GALLAIIER FAMILY played an important part in the early history of Putnam, and deserves a more extended notice. The first representative, Thomas Gallaher, Si 1 ., came here in September, 1827, and settled on the south-east quarter of Section 30, Town 32, Range 1 west, 3d principal 162 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. meridian, four miles south-east of Hennepin. He was accompanied here by his wife and eight children, viz : Thomas, Jr.- Born March 17, 1810; afterward moved to Henry, and died August 17, 1854. Eliza Born November 13, 1811; now Mrs. Ladd, wife of Ira Ladd, first Sheriff of Putnam County. She is now a resident of New Orleans. Mary Born March 17, 1814; married B. Willis, and afterward went to Hannibal, Mo. James Born April 13, 1816; lives at Sioux City, Iowa. William- Born July 19, 1818; moved to Henry in 1851, where he now resides. Nancy J. Born February 8, 1821; married Mr. Heath; died in Sep- tember, 1848. Samuel Born April 18, 1823; died in August, 1879. Margaret H. Born August 6, 1825; died May 27, 1874. After arriving here, there were born : Robert K. May 20, 1828, the "first white child born in Putnam County." Died March 4, 1845. John McDonald- October 6, 1830; living on the old farm. Nathaniel C. August 12, 1833; died of wounds received at Fort Donelson. Elizabeth, Margaret and Robert, born subsequently, remained on the old homestead until their death. Thomas Gallaher, Sr., was born April 22, 1782, and died of cholera, while on his way to Pennsylvania, June 5, 1852, aged 70 years. His wife (Elizabeth Kelly) was born March 17, 1792, and died April 23, 1878, aged 86 years. Mr. Gallaher, after arriving here put up a cabin in the fall of 1827, and in 1828 broke prairie for eighty acres of corn and wheat. The cabin was eighteen feet sqiiare, with a " shake " roof, and a fire- place so big that logs were hauled through the room by oxen to feed its capacious mouth. His first crop was exceeding fine, and Major Elias Thompson and Wm. Studyvin helped cut the wheat in 1829 ; wages, twenty-five cents per day. In 1828 he built a hewn log cabin, fifteen feet square, the first of the kind in this region of country. These were the first houses in this neighborhood of any description, and their rains may yet be seen on the old historic ground. AVERAGE WAGES OF FARM HANDS. 163 In the fall of 1827, after Grallaher had put up his log dwelling, James Willis built a house on ground afterward enclosed within the village plat of Florid. He left his family on this claim during the winter of 1827-8, and went to Bond County, 111., to close up some business affairs. He had in his employ- a likely colored boy who was a fugi- tive from slavery, whom he left in charge. The boy worked faithfully all winter, but when spring came and he found himself in debt, he con- cluded there was not so much difference between freedom and slavery as he had supposed. During the winter of 1827, there were no settlers south of Gallaher's, none at Magnolia, Roberts' Point, Lacon, or Crow Creek ; no one at all nearer than the Dillon settlement, on Mackinaw River. In those days farm laborers were not numerous, yet the prices for work were not extravagantly high, as three bushels of meal, equal to three "bits," was considered a just equivalent for cutting and splitting one hun- dred 11 -feet fence rails, and eight dollars per month and board and wash- ing were the wages for farm hands. THE HENNEPLN FERRY. Prior to 1831, when Putnam was set apart as a county, with a tangi- ble boundary and a real organization, the ferry at Hennepin, or rather at and above Hartzell's trading house, had been a private enterprise, and was generally "run" by whomsoever came along, white, red, or mixed. The Indian traders claimed to own the boats, and every one used them, such as they were. At the first term of the County Commissioners' Court, that wise body took the subject in hand and " Ordered that public notice be given of the letting of the building of a ferry boat." Alexander Wilson put in the lowest bid and got the job, for a sum not stated, to build the first boat capable of carrying loaded wagons. September 8, 1831, Ira Ladd, the Sheriff, was appointed to take charge of the ferry boat when finished. August 14, 1832, James Laughlin was appointed to take charge of the ferry boat till next term ; also to procure a skiff for the same. September 3, 1832, J. S. Simpson was allowed $11.00 for keeping the ferry. B. M. Hays was appointed to run the Hennepin ferry from December 164 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 17, 1832, one year. A committee was appointed to watch him, see that he did his whole duty, and say when the boat should or should not run in the season of ice, high water and other dangers. This committee were R. Blanchard, John H. Simpson, Geo. B. Willis, Williamson Durley and Nathan Skeel. In March, 1833, John H. Simpson, then ferryman, was instructed by the Court to allow footmen to go free; and citizens upon horseback on muster, election and court days, were not to be charged for themselves or their beasts. The ferry boat having been carried away by ice, Jonathan Wilson fol- lowed it down to the island below Henry, captured and returned it, and the Court, March 3, 1836, allowed him $6.00 for that service. The ferry, instead of proving a blessing to the County of Putnam, was a constant source of annoyance, and though its income some years was con- siderable, by reason of accidents and the large proportion of patrons who managed to shirk payment, it rarely made any profit for its managers. An embankment a mile or two in length was needed on the west side, be- sides expensive bridges. This territory was in Bureau County, beyond the jurisdiction of the Commissioners of Putnam County, and the people of Princeton could see no advantage in improving a road or building em- bankments and bridges for the convenience of a rival market at Hennepin. Things wore on for years until a goodly settlement of tax-paying people had gathered in the bottom and prairies beyond, who demanded a road to the river as an outlet for their products, and at length the Commissioners of Bureau County consented to meet with their equally exalted brethren of Putnam County, and jointly take action in the all-important question of improving the bottoms and making a road and suitable bridges across Bureau Creek and other water courses toward Hennepin. Accordingly these august bodies met at Hennepin, September 8, 1845, and after much deliberation leased the ferry for a term of eleven years to one Hugh Feeny, who, at his own expense, was to make all necessaiy improvements in the roadway, and in addition to the rents and profits of the ferry was to have the sum of $"275 in cash paid him, one- half of said sum by each of the counties. ? This arrangement lasted a couple of years, when Feeny failed to keep his contract. We find the two high joint powers at Hennepin again in session, declaring that Feeny had forfeited the contract, and legal proceed- ings in the nature a quo ivarranto were' instituted to make him surrender TRIBULATIONS OF FRONTIER TRAVELERS. 165 the ferry. After tedious litigation, lasting until February, 1850, Feeny voluntarily abandoned the fight, and the ferry was placed in charge of Wil- liam Ray. Subsequently an act of the State Legislature was passed giving the entire ferry and rights of way in Bureau and Putnam Counties to the ex- clusive control of the corporation of Hennepin, where they now rest. FRINK AND WALKER. This enterprising firm were the pioneer stage proprietors of Central Illinois. They controlled and operated most of the lines, with general headquarters in Chicago. Their monopoly of the business covered a per- iod of about thirteen years, from 1838 or 1839, during which their head- quarters in Hennepin were with John Lyons, an old hotel keeper. At* first they ran from Peru to Magnolia, and on to Peoria, but afterward took in Hennepin on the route, passing thence through Lacon and down the river. One night in the winter of 1839 the stage coach was lost upon the Hennepin Prairie. There were two passengers inside, and the driver vain- ly sought to find his destination. Afterward it was found he had traveled in a circle most of the time. Mr. Nicholls related how an old English " milord " was once his guest, and the trouble the great man experienced. The hotel was a good-sized log cabin, and had but a single sleeping room for the accommodation of guests, who were expected to be reasonable and share their beds with strangers. As nine o'clock came the traveler signified a desire to retire, and asked to be lighted to his quarters. Nicholls showed him up, and stated that one-half the bed would be occupied by another party. " Do you expect me to sleep in this room with other men?-" said "milord," al- most gasping for breath. Nicholls said he could either do that or sit up, as he preferred ; arid the old fellow sat in his chair all night, groaning over his aches and cursing the "blarsted country." RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. The early settlers were pre-eminently a religious people, and one of the first things provided for was the preaching of the Gospel. There was 166 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. no lack of earnest, devoted, self-sacrificing ministers, and in the absence of suitable places of worship, services were held at private houses or in the groves. These services were invariably well attended, and received earnest, respectful attention. The good these men did was not interred with their bones for most of them have gone to their reward, but it lives after them, and bears fruit to this day. THE M. E. CHURCH OF HENNEPIN. This society is an old one, dating back to 1833, when the first class was formed. The record of,the first proceedings, if any was made, has been lost, and such history as can be gathered of the organization thereof depends upon the recollection of one or two persons who helped at its inception. In July or August of the year named, a few of the earnest Methodists of Hennepin and vicinity bethought them that as their num- bers were nearly large enough to form a church society, it would be well to take initiative steps in that direction. After some preliminary conver- sation a small meeting was held at the house of Dr. Ritchie, in the vil- lage, and the first class was enrolled, consisting of the following members : Hiram P. White and wife, Dr. David Ritchie and wife, Miss Betsey Car- penter, afterward Mrs. Hays, Mrs. Sarah Bloomfield, and perhaps one or two other persons whose names have been forgotten. Another meeting was held at the same place in November, 1833, and further steps taken toward forwarding the work. About this time Linas B. Skeel was added to the list as the first convert, and Mrs. Olive Skeel and Mrs. Emeline Durley also added their names to the membership. For some time after they had no meeting house nor any convenient place of worship, and met from time to time at the dwellings of the brothers. In 1834, Rev. Zadok Hall, the first minister, on February 16, at Dr. Ritchie's, preached a sermon, taking his text from Matt, ix., 12. Rev. Wm. Arrington came the same season at a later date, and also Rev. John St. Clair, as Presiding Elder. Rev. Father Walker, from Ottawa, occasionally came here to look after the infant flock, as also did Rev. Jesse Hale and Wm. Royal, all Indian missionary preachers. During the year 1834 there was a revival of considerable strength, and many new converts were made and the Society largely increased in numbers and influence. IIENNEPIN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 167 In 1835, Rev. A. E. Phelps officiated, and Rev. Asa McMurtry in 1836. Mr. Phelps contributed his personal efforts largely toward build- ing the old church. The latter part of 1836, Hennepin and Pekin circuits were divided and changed to Hennepin and Washington circuits. In 1837, Rev. Wm. Condiff was the preacher, and died at the close of the year, at Caledonia. In 1838, Rev. Zadok Hall and Rev. Mr. Moffit were sent here to the work, and were aided by Rev. S. W. D. Chase', of Bloomington, who with them made excellent progress in procuring new members. Among the other reverend gentlemen who appeared at Hennepin from time to time from 1829 to 1835, was Rev. Mr. Cook, a Presbyterian, father of Hon. B. C. Cook, formerly of Ottawa, now of Chicago. Rev. Mr. Hays was a local preacher of Hennepin and vicinity for many years, and among the first who came to this locality. He put up the first frame house on Henry prairie, and one of the first frame houses in the village. In 1839, Rev. John Morris came and officiated occasionally, and Rev. John appeared and took charge of the Church about 1840. The first records commence in the Trustees' book, June 14, 1836. Efforts had been made to raise money to build a meeting house, but with ill success, and we find them in 1837 adopting an order to refund the small sums of money which had been raised for that purpose. At a meeting of the Lacon and Hennepin Conference, February 25, 1839, Joseph Caterlin, David Markley, Thomas Forney, Jacob G. Forney, Hiram P. White, Linus B. Skeel and J. P. Hays were appointed Trus- tees of the Hennepin Church, the first Board regularly chosen for this Society. March 2, 1839, the Trustees "met at Hennepin for the purpose of attempting to build a church." They figured out a plan for a modest frame meeting house, twenty-six by thirty-six feet. A subscription paper was circulated and the cash retxirns were such as to warrant the immedi- ate prosecution of the work. The house was accordingly built and occu- pied the same fall and for years after, and now stands, used as a private dwelling, a few rods to the rear of the larger and more pretentious strac- ture. The old house, however, was for some time under a cloud of debt, which for a long time the young and struggling pioneer church could not lift. At length they succeeded in removing this incubus, and on the 13th of August, 1842, the Trustees met and adopted a resolution, "That all 168 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. persons having claims against the Church present the same forthwith, by Saturday following, for full settlement." This seems to have been done, and the church dedicated on the next Sabbath, by Elder A. E. Phelps. In 1858, the congregation having outgrown the capacity of the old building, proceeded to erect the present church edifice, a handsome struc- ture of two stories, forty feet by sixty, divided below into lecture and class rooms, and above a finely decorated, finished and furnished church room, which bids fair to afford ample accommodations for the people for many years to come. It cost $10,000, has two good organs, and is well seated, having comfortable pews for 450 to 500 persons. It was dedicated November 29, 1866, by Rev. Joseph Cummings, of Lacon. Before being finished the basement was completed, and services held therein by Rev. A. C. Price. A neat parsonage stands near by in the same lot with the church, cost- ing about $600. In 1879, the Presiding Elder was J. D. Smith; Pastor, J. M. Murphy; Recording Steward, L. E. Skeel. The Society numbers about seventy-five in good standing, and the church and parsonage are free from debt. HENNEPIN CATHOLIC CHURCH. As early as 1845 the Catholic people of Hennepin and vicinity began to hold public religious exercises, and the Brothers of the Lazarus So- ciety of La Salle sent different priests there to minister to the spiritual wants of the communicants of the Church. The first remembered priest who visited this place was an Italian, Rev. Father , who also occasionally conducted services in Henry. Among the other earlier missionaries of this faith were Rev. Fathers Gregory and Anthony, the latter in 1848, both coming at intervals de- pending upon circumstances, such as deaths or the sickness of some Cath- olic who desired the last sacrament. When here upon such occasions, the people would be notified, an altar improvised in some one of the more commodious dwellings, and mass duly celebrated; and now and then a priest would come from Peoria, or even St. Louis, to minister to the spir- itual wants of the faithful and look after the temporal affairs of the Church. There was no successful attempt to have regular services oftener than once a month, until about June, 1852, when sufficient money was raised A CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH ORGANIZED. 169 for the erection of a church building. It was a plain frame structure, twenty-four by forty feet. This furnished ample room for the congrega- tion till aboil t 186(5, when an addition was put up, making the building twenty-four by sixty feet, with fifteen feet ceiling. The cost of both was about $2,500, and the organ, altars, seats and lamps about $1,000 more. About seventy-five families now constitute its regular membership. Those who next to the priests took the lead of the Church were An- thony Failing, Chas. Trerweiler, Henry Eeavey and Peter Feltes. The first resident priest was Rev. Father Deif en brock, who came about 1867. THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. In September, 1874, Miss Ella DeVoe, of Hennepin, wrote to Rev. Wm. E. Catlin, detailing the needs of a church at this place, and set forth the prospects of effecting an organization in such an eloquent manner as to induce that gentleman to come and co-operate in the movement. He arrived October 17, and on the following Sabbath preached by invitation in the M. E. Church, and at the Court House on Sunday, October 25. At a meeting for consultation immediately after the Sabbath morning service, it was decided to not then take any steps toward the form- ation of a society, but a prayer-meeting was appointed for the next Wed- nesday evening, and the following paper presented : We, the undersigned, believing that another Evangelical Church in this community would be for its spiritual and temporal good, have thought it best for the present to asso- ciate ourselves together for the purpose of holding public and social worship at such times and places as shall appear best, hoping in that way, with God's blessing, to develop such an interest as may in time warrant a more perfect organization. To this endeavor we pledge ourselves, and invite the hearty co-operation of all who are like-minded. This was circulated, but did not receive a single signature ! Weekly prayer-meetings were kept up and well attended, but Mi 1 . Catlin, discouraged with the propect, finally left the place. The next appeal was to John E. Roy, a Home Missionary, who came December 12, began and pursued his labors with great industry, and soon accomplished the desired end. The numbers increased from two to fifteen, when the Church was or- ganized with the following membership : Aug. Shepherd, Mrs. Ellen Shep- herd, David Field, James Adams, Miss R. Ellis and Mrs. Lucy Ham by letters from the Congregational Church, Granville; Martin Nash, letter 170 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. from the Presbyterian Church of Granville ; Miss Ella DeVoe, letter from the Congregational Church of Forrest ; T. J. Nicholl, certificate from Epis- copal Church; Mrs. Ellen Nicholl, same; Chas. M. Shepherd, letter from the Presbyterian Church, Memphis, Tenn. ; Miss Clara Lamm, Miss Emma Connelly, Mrs. Elizabeth Durley and P. B. Durley, on profession. The officers chosen were : David Field and James Field, Deacons ; Wil- liamson Durley, Aug. Shepherd and T. J. Nicholl, Trustees; Miss Ella DeVoe, Clerk; P. B. Durley, Treasurer. A council was called, and the Church organized December 22, 1874. Rev. A. J. Bailey was at once called as pastor, and began his labors Jan- uary 24, 1875, the Church in the meantime having been supplied by Rev. F. Bascom. Services were held in a room at the public school building, the exclusive use of which was offered the Society by the School Board. A Sunday School class was organized December 27, 1874. April 5, 1875, a business meeting was called for the purpose of considering the building of a church edifice. A building committee was appointed, and by the united efforts of the Society ground was broken May 16, 1875, and liberal aid obtained from the citizens generally. The Congregational Union contributed $450 in aid of the building, which was completed and dedicated December 22, 1875, just one year from the date of the organi- zation. The building and site cost $4,317.90. In 1878, a 1,050 pound bell was hung, at a total expense of $330.53. Forty persons had united with the Church up to April, 1878, in addi- tion to the original fifteen, but a few deaths and dismissals had made the membership forty-six persons. This religious Society, called the " Congregational Church of Christ of Hennepin," is organized on the "Declaration of Faith" adopted by the National Council of the Congregational Churches held at Boston in June, 18(55, on the spot where the first meeting-house of the Pilgrims stood. This Church, in a series of resolutions adopted soon after its organiza- tion, and circulated in a history of the Society published in pamphlet form, declared that, WHEREAS, There is a tendency to the desecration of the Lord's day, by turning it from its proper use to a day of social visiting, a time for unusual feasting, for walking the streets and driving for pleasure, and in many other ways destroying its sacredness and hindering its usefulness for religious edification ; therefore, Resolved, That we do earnestly protest against this prevailing sin, and call on Christians and all others to honor the Lord by a proper observance of His day ; and we do earnestly en- EARLY EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES. 171 treat all to " Remember the Sabbath day" by reading the Scriptures, by appropriate religious exercises at home, by meditation and prayer, by attending the ordinances of God's house, and by observing the day in every way as the Scriptures direct.'' Another resolution recommends daily family worship, another de- nounces intemperance, and a fourth is as follows : Resolved, That any deviation in business, society or politics, from the strict principles of integrity, as taught in the Scriptures, we deem a sufficient cause for censure. THE SCHOOLS. The first school in Hennepin was taught by Thomas Gallaher in 1833, in a log house almost diagonally opposite the present flouring mill site, on the lot now occupied by the public Hall. In 1835, school was kept in the old Simpson Tavern, in the room used sometimes as a hall. In 183(5 there was a school in the old Presbyterian meeting house. In 1837 another was held in the old Court House. Calvin Dickey in 1842 conducted a private school in a log cabin near where Mrs. Reed now lives. In 1843 a frame school house was erected on High street, and soon after moved further up to near and east of the present public school build- ing, where a school was taught until the new house was completed. All these schools were run on the subscription plan. The free public schools began in 1845, in the building put up by subscription as an acad- emy, that scheme having been abandoned and the property turned over to the district. School houses were poorly constructed, and the rooms were shared by others than those seeking to climb the hill of science. One person tells us of finding a huge rattlesnake coiled beneath the benches, and occasionally a skunk would get under the floor and make it decidedly "warm" for the inmates while he remained. Mice were frequent visitors, and one of the pupils, now a staid and dignified business man, remembers how he and a chum used to place a boy's cap on the floor, with a stick to hold one edge up and a string to pull the stick out when the unsuspect- ing mouse went under to eat a bit of bread temptingly displayed, and how 172 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. they caught the mouse and then a wholesome flogging at the hands of the irate pedagogue. BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES. MASONS. October 3, 1849, the Masons of Hennepin obtained a charter and or- ganized Lodge No. 70. The first members, as named in that instrument, were John Pulsifer, Thomas Hartzell, Ben. R. Wardlaw, Wm. D. Mann, Nathaniel Applegate, John Folger, John Hall, Abram Phillips, Brown Searls and E. Mott. The officers were : Abram Phillips, M. ; John Searls, S. W.; John Pulsifer, J. W. The first lodge rooms were in Hartenbower's house, north-west of the Court House. They now occupy rooms in Mrs. Flora Zenor's building. A Chapter is connected with this Lodge, organized in 1879. The fraternity are in a good financial condition, and keep their So- ciety in an active and sound state, numbering among its members many of the leading citizens of the community. HENNEPIN ODD FELLOWS. Hennepin Lodge No. 118, I. O. O. F., was installed March 24, 1853. The charter members were : Oakes Turner, Thomas H. Bradway, N. Pick- ering, John S. Margison and Wm. H. Smith. The first officers of the Lodge were : O. Turner, N. G. ; J. S. Margison, V. G. ; Wm. Eddy, Sec- retary; N. G. Pickering, Treasurer. The persons initiated the evening of the installation of the Lodge were: A. H. Turner, L. E. Skeel, Wm. Allen, Wm. Eddy, S. B. Wharton and Willard White. The Society is in a prosperous condition, and numbers among its mem- bers many of the prominent citizens of the town. THE BUEL INSTITUTE. This is not only the oldest Agricultural Society in Central Illinois, but the first formed in the entire West. The initiatory steps were taken to organize it, February 23, 1846, at Lowell, LaSalle County. J. S. Bui- FIRST AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY IN THE WEST. 173 lock was Chairman of the meeting, and Elmer Baldwin, Secretaiy. After some general debate and informal talk among the four or five farmers assembled, a resolution was adopted "To form a society out of the friends of the movement living in that part of La Salle County south of the Illi- nois River, and so much of the counties of Putnam and Marshall as may choose to unite." Elmer Baldwin, R. C. Elliot and L. L. Bullock, of La Salle, Ralph Ware, of Putnam, and Wm. M. Clarkson, of Marshall, were appointed a committee to draft a constitution and report. March 1 8 another meeting was had at the same place, where a consti- tution was reported by the committee, and adopted. The first officers were then elected, and were: Elmer Baldwin, President; Ralph Ware, Wm. M. Clarkson and John T. Little, Vice Presidents; Dr. J. S. Bullock, Treasurer; Oakes Turner, Corresponding Secretary; L. L. Bullock, Re- cording Secretary. They adjourned to meet at Granville the first Tuesday of June, when Mr. Baldwin was appointed to deliver an address. At this meeting and subsequent ones within a short time, one hundred and seventy persons were induced to sign the Constitution and pay into the treasury fifty cents, which constituted the membership fee. At this meeting arrange- ments were made for discussing important topics connected with fanning, stock-raising, fruit-growing and the like, the question to be agreed upon at the previous meeting. These meetings were to be held every three months, at some place easy of access within the boundaries of the Society. At the first meeting at Granville the subject was, "The best mode of cultivating corn." At this meeting also an annual fair was decided upon, to be held at Lowell, on the first Tuesday of October. These discussions took a wide range as to subjects, bringing within their scope everything relative to the farming interest, and at an early day, almost from the first meeting, people attended from a distance, com- ing on horseback many miles at inclement seasons of the year ; and the ladies, too, became regular attendants at these gatherings, looking forward to their recurrence with pleasing anticipation. They were really profita- ble to the thinking fanner, and should be a feature of every agriciiltural society. The meetings for debates were fixed for the first Tuesdays of Decem- ber, March, June and September each year, the place to be chosen at the 174 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. previous quarterly meeting; also, every member was requested to keep a memorandum of each crop planted, how tended, harvested, and the re- sults, and report. The Fair of 1846 was abandoned, in consequence of the great amount of sickness then prevailing throughout the country. The quarterly meet- ings, however, were regularly held at Lowell, Caledonia, Point Republic, Cedar Point, Granville and Magnolia in turn, and leading members deliv- ered addresses and read essays, while oral discussions were freely in- dulged in. Though the general Fair was not held, a local exhibition was gotten up at the farm of Wni. Groom, October 3, 1847, and held under the aus- pices of the Society, but the record makes no mention of any premiums having been awarded. The second regular Fair was appointed to be held at Granville, Octo- ber 6, 1848, and premiums were offered, probably badges and honorable mention, as no amount of premiums is stated. At the Third Annual Fair, which was held at Lowell, one hundred dollars was voted for prizes, and "two solicitors " were chosen to circulate among the people to raise the funds therefor. " The Executive Commit- tee were also notified that they place on their show bills a request that there be no horse racing in or near the show ground" ! All future fairs were to last two days; evidence that the last fair had been too extensive to be satisfactorily viewed in one day. Granville was honored with the Fourth Fair. Upon this occasion the Society adopted a resolution as follows: Resolved, That this meeting recommend that all male animals be not allowed to run at large. They also considered it wise to advertise the coming exhibition, and to this end directed the committee to procure one hundred show bills and one hundred premium cards, and the committee were directed if possible to procure a "derometer " / The membership fee in 1850 was raised to $1.50 per annum, and the next fair appointed at Hennepin. The Fifth Annual Fair, the first at Hennepin, was duly held, and was rather more expensive than any of its predecessors, but seems to have been proportionately successful. The musicians cost $5.00, and the door- MB. GALLAHER'S "NIGGER -HEAD" GRIST-MILL. 175 keeper $2. The exhibitors of fruits donated their samples to the Society, which goods being sold at auction, netted as follows: C. R. & N. Overman, Canton, Fulton County, $1.50. Arthur Bryant, Bureau, 60 cents. Underbill & Co., LaSalle, 65 cents. A. R. Whiting, Lee County, $1.10. Cyrus Bryant, Bureau, 65 cents. McWhorter & Co., Mercer County, $1.22. L. P. Pennington, Whiteside County, fl.20. H. N. Shooler, Putnam County, 70 cents. This indicates that the Fair was widely known and well patronized. The Treasurer's report for 1851 exhibited: Admissions $74.00. Ex- penses music $5.00; printer $22.25; premiums in full, $15.50; and cash above all expenses, $144.80. This Society is entitled to the credit of first suggesting to the Govern- ment a Bureau or Department of Agriculture. In June, 1851, the sub- ject came up and was fully discussed by the Institute, and the result of this debate was a petition, signed by the leading farmers of Putnam, Mar- shall and La Salle Counties, which was forwarded to our Representatives at Washington, in which was set forth the importance to the country of agriculture, the basis of all pursuits, and urging upon Congress to protect, foster and encourage it. Thus the matter came before that body from a respectable source, and was not only heard, but acted upon, and resulted in forming the Department of Agriculture, as stated. The Fairs were held at Peru one or two years, but the disadvantage of moving about without permanent buildings or grounds ; the growth of the Society, and the importance and increasing size of its annual exhibi- tions made a permanent location necessary, and the Society settled upon Hennepin as central and sufficiently accessible from all directions for the purpose. Fairs are held here every year, but of late years the exhibitions of this veteran Society are overshadowed by the greater magnitude of the neigh- boring fairs at Princeton, Wenona and Ottawa. THE GALLAHER AND OTHER MILLS. The pioneer mill for grinding any kind of grain in all this region of country was put up by Thos. Gallaher, Sr., in the fall of 1828. The 17(5 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. burrs were "nigger-heads," or dark granite boulders found upon the prairies, such as geologists tell us belong to the "drift" period, and were brought here from high northern latitudes some hundreds of centu- ries ago. Mr. Gallaher dressed these firm-grained rocks himself, drilled holes in them and wrought upon them at odd spells for a long time, ex- hausting a large stock of patience upon their stubborn and ragged outlines before he could reduce them to a fit shape and finish for his purpose. The mill was built on a hill or slight elevation in Section 30, one mile south of Florid. The building was of logs, sixteen feet square. A shaft was set up outside, and holes mortised in it for arms. A raw-hide band was stretched around, connecting the shaft with the upper stone, and with two or four horses was made to revolve, and thus turned the stones. In this primitive manner a couple of bushels of corn could be ground in an hour. One of taese old burrs was sold to a Mr. Trusten, who removed it to Sandy Creek, where it was used for 'a time, and afterward fell into the hands of Mr. Bowers, and now is a step in front of Merrill's store in the village of Magnolia. At first the corn-meal, bran and all were delivered to the customer, but a year or so after a sieve was added, when he also began to make wheat flour, improvising some sort of bolting apparatus. Two years thereafter Mr. Gallaher employed Mi 1 . Shugart to make cog-wheel gearing, which greatly accelerated the speed, and a bolt was also put in. With four horses two on each sweep, he could now grind and bolt about three bushels per hour. At this time there was no flouring mill nearer than Salt Creek, Sangamon County, eighty miles away. About 1832, Hollenback built a mill near Magnolia, the second in the County, greatly relieving the pressure on the Gallaher mill, which up to that time had done all the grinding for the settlers for many miles around. Gallaher's mill continued to run until about 1836. . In 1831, Simeon Crozier erected a water power mill on Cedar Creek, which attracted some little custom from the north-eastern corner of Gran- ville Township. A mill located at Vermilionville ground much of the wheat for the farmers of this region, and sometimes they patronized John Green's mills, at Dayton, four miles above Ottawa, on Fox River. INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES OF PIONEER LIFE. 177 CHAPTER XXIII. GREAT SNOWS. OE several years, beginning with 1828, heavy falls of snow were experienced, of which the early settlers have vivid remembrances. In that year Thomas Gallaher, Sr., brought up from Dillon's settlement 150 head of cattle, eighty sheep, and 100 hogs, known as the Shaker breed, having been brought from Ohio. He had secured a crop of hay, but it was beneath the deep snow that everywhere covered the ground, and could not be reached. There was an abund- ance of "mast" that season, and his hogs took to the woods, and rooting beneath the snow, fared well. Many of them escaped to the bottoms and became in a measure wild. His cattle and sheep fared worse, many of them dying. Seeing the necessity of procuring feed for his stock, Mr. Gallaher sent his son Thomas, Jr., and a young man named Kelly to Crozier's, in La- Salle County, where it was reported feed could be had. They had a sin- gle horse between them, which they alternately rode. They did not suc- ceed in finding corn, and were returning by Bailey's Point, when they struck a swampy place north and east of Granville, where Kelly got wet and froze both his feet. The locality was long after known as Frozen Point. Mr. Gallaher's stock became so weakened toward spring, by reason of scanty feed, that he feared their entire loss unless more nutritious food could be had, and the nearest or most feasible place where it could be procured was some distance below Peoria. He and Mr. Kelly went to Hennepin, (the young man's feet still much swollen, the result of the freezing), where they hoped to get boats from the Indian traders, but none were to be had. He next visited Shick- Shack's camp, hoping to obtain canoes, but the chief and his men had gone to "Coch-a-Mink," as the Indians called Fort Clark, with his boats loaded with furs. Although unsuccessful in both these attempts, Mr. Gal- laher was not a man to be discouraged. His cattle and sheep were 178 EECOBDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. not only on short allowance, but his family were " out of meat," and he felt that something must be done at once; so he determined to push on to the probable land of corn. Young Kelly, though suffering severely, insisted on accompanying him, and together they started on foot. The river was high, and the streams emptying into it were swollen by the melting shows. They had neither guides nor assistance, but reached their destination safely. They found there plenty of corn and meal, but no boats. Here again Mr. Gallaher's grit was put to the test, and getting a couple of axes, he and his man went into the woods, and cutting down a suitable tree, made and launched a large dug-out. Purchasing one hundred bushels of corn, fifty bushels of corn-meal, a barrel of salt and some groceries, they started for home, and after many days of hard work, they reached the head of what is now the Sister Islands, and landed. This was about the second week of April. Grass had begun to grow, but as yet there was but little feeding for stock. Having no way to haul his grain to the farm through the woods, he drove his cattle to the boat, and there fed such of them as could get to the river, and others were assisted until all were able to sus- tain themselves. But the great snow was in 1829-30, according to some, and in 1830- 31 according to others, though it is possible both seasons were noted in this respect, and each statement is correct. It made the prairies one uniform level, over the frozen surface of which footman easily trav- eled; but the sharp hoofs of the deer cut through and made their capture easy. Stock was kept in groves convenient to the cabins, and subsisted on the tender tops of trees cut down to "browse" upon. There was much suffering among the few settlers in the vicinity. A man traveling on horse- back was reported lost in the snow, and his remains were found the fol- lowing spring, south of Peru. According to Mr. Smiley Shepherd's recol- lection, it came between Christmas and New Year, falling constantly and drifting for three days, and then crusted over so that the Indians were enabled to run iipon the surface. It lasted until February 16, the day of the total eclipse of the sun. The next day the weather turned warm, and the snow melted and disappeared four days thereafter. A man traveling in a wagon, near Florid, was caught in the snow and had to abandon his vehicle, where it remained till spring. An- other person named Swainford, in attempting to cross from Granville to Florid, had to abandon his horse. Returning next day he found it had THE PIONEEB LASS WHO" " OUT -BUN DAD." 179 been killed by the wolves. Another man started with a hog in a sled to go from Gallaher's to Hennepin, and got fast in the drift. He went to a neighbor's, and on his return the hog had loosened the cords that bound her and struck out for itself. He cut off its tail as a mark, and let her go, and the next season found her and a litter of nice young pigs doing well. She had managed for herself in a creditable manner. The summer of 1836 was exceedingly cold and backward. Corn in the neighborhood of Hennepin, and especially on the bottoms and low places, was cut down when from eight to ten inches high, on the 16th of June, but as the stalks had not yet jointed, they grew again. The weather continued cold until fall, which came early, with freezing spells, and but little of it matured. The following spring the farmers had much difficulty in procuring seed corn, and many sent to the southern part of the State for supplies. ODD CHABACTEBS. The settlement of a country is usually preceded by a lawless, ungov- ernable, uncivilized race, that hang on the verge of civilization and seem to think their free and easy existence the acme of enjoyment. As a rule they are open-hearted, brave and generous, and their vices all "lean to virtue's side." They have a weakness for poor whisky, a contempt for danger, are prompt to resent an insult, and ready at all times for a fight. Usually they are honest, but being tempted, are liable to fall, and often become bandits and robbers. A representative man of this class was Dave Jones, of unenviable no- toriety. He was brave and fearless, and when news came of the massacre of the Hall family, and all were paralyzed with fear, he saddled a horse and rode alone to the scene of murder. He once ran a foot race with an Irishman for a sum of money. They were to go to a certain point and return, and the Irishman started off at his best, while Dave walked leis- urely down the track until meeting his opponent on the return, he knocked him down, came in first and claimed the stakes. The Irishman deter- mined to get even with him, and when Dave was drunk, beat him so badly that, believing the man would die, he fled the place. But Dave recovered, and lived for many a day after. For years there was not a session of court in which he did not figure as defendant in cases where the people were plaintiffs. He was the first occupant of the Hennepin jail, and its frequent tenant afterward For several years he lived in the tim- 180 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. ber west of Granville, where he raised a family as wild and untamed as himself. He had a stout, healthy daughter, a dozen or more years old, whom he undertook to send to school, but with the perverseness of her sire, she refused, telling him flatly she would n't go. She was fleet of foot, and when Dave essayed the persuasive virtues of a healthy-sized whip, she ran away, with her irate sire in hot pursuit. Not far from the house was a pond of water with a substratum of deep mud, round which she skipped, but Dave, hoping to cut her off on the opposite side, dashed through. The depth was greater than expected, and he emerged covered with mud and half drowned, though he continued the race to the school house, where pupils and teacher set up a laugh at his plight, in which Dave too joined, his hopeful daughter shaking her sides with mirthful- ness, and exclaiming, "Golly! I out-run dad." " In thenspring of 1832 a dead Indian was found in the creek, near the present site of the Bureau Valley Mills, with a bullet hole in his back, showing that he came to his death from a rifle shot. The corpse was taken out of the water by Indians, buried in the sand near by, and the affair was soon forgotten. Jones said while hunting deer in the creek bottom, he saw this Indian setting on a log over the water, fishing, when all of a sudden he jumped up as though he was about to draw out a big fish, and pitched headlong into the water, and was drowned when he came up to him. Two other Indians disappeared mysteriously about the same time, who were supposed to have been murdered, and on that account it is said the Indians contemplated taking revenge on the settlers. "One warm afternoon Jones, with a jug in one hand, came cantering his old mare up to the Hennepin ferry, saying that his wife was very sick, and would certainly die if she did not get some whisky soon. In great haste Jones was taken across the river, and on landing on the Hennepin side he put his old mare on a gallop up the bluff to Durley's store, where he filled his jug with whisky. Meeting with some old chums, he soon be- came intoxicated, forgot about his wife's sickness, and spent the afternoon and evening in wrestling, dancing ' Jim Crow,' and fighting with some of his friends. " It was long after dark when Jones started for home, but on arriving at the ferry he found the boat locked up, and the ferryman in bed. Jones rapped at the door of the ferryman's house, swearing if he did not get up and take him across he would pull the house down, and whip him besides. But all his threats were in vain ; the ferryman could not be moved. Jones THE ADVENTURES OF "DAVE*' JONES. 181 went down to the river, took off the bridle reins, with which he tied the jug of whisky on his back, then drove his old mare into the river, and holding on to her tail, was ferried across the river, as he afterward ex- pressed it, ' without costing him a cent.' "One afternoon, while Dave Jones was engaged in cutting out a road from Hennepin ferry through the bottom timber, his coat, which lay by the wayside, was stolen. Although the value of the old coat did not ex- ceed two dollars, it was all the* one Jones had, and he searched for it throughout the settlement. At last Jones found his coat on the back of the thief, whom he arrested and took to Hennepin for trial. The thief was at work in Mr. Hays' field, immediately west of Princeton, when Jones presented his rifle at his breast, ordering him to take up his line of march for Hennepin, and if he deviated from the direct course, he would blow his brains out. The culprit, shaking in his boots, started on his journey, while Jones, with his rifle on his shoulder, walked about three paces behind. On arriving at Hennepin, the thief plead guilty, being more afraid of Jones than the penalties of the law, and was therefore put in jail. After Jones had delivered up his prisoner, he got drunk, was en- gaged in several fights, and he too was arrested and put in jail. At that time the Hennepin jail consisted of only one room, being a log structure, twelve feet square, and Jones being put in with the thief, commenced beating him. Seeing that they could not live together, the thief was libe- rated and Jones retained. At this turn of affairs, Jones became penitent, agreeing to go home and behave himself if they would let him out. Ac- cordingly, the Sheriff took him across the river and set him at liberty; but Jones swore he would not go home until he had whipped eveiy person in Hennepin, so he returned to carry out his threats, but was again arrested and put in jail. "A short time after the Hennepin ferry was established, Dave Jones was on the Hennepin side of the river with a wild yoke of cattle, and wished to cross over, but was unwilling to pay the ferriage. He swore before he would pay the ferryman's extravagant price he would swim the river, saying that he had frequently done it, and could do it again. Jones wore a long-tailed Jackson overcoat, which reached to his heels, and a coon- skin cap, with the tail hanging down over his shoulders, the weather at the time being quite cool. He drove his oxen into the river, taking the tail of one of them in his mouth, when they started for the opposite shore. Away went the steers, and so went Dave Jones, his long hair and long- 182 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. tailed overcoat floating on the water, his teeth tightly fastened to the steer's tail, while with his hands and feet he paddled with all his might. Everything went on swimmingly until they came near the middle of the river, where the waters from each side of the island come together; here the current was too strong for the steers, they turned down stream, and put back for the Hennepin side. Jones could not open his mouth to say gee or haw, without losing his hold on the steer's tail, and was therefore obliged to go where the steers led him, but all were safely landed some distance below the starting place. Jones was in a terrible rage at his fail- ure to cross the river beat his cattle, and cursed the bystanders for laughing at his misfortune. After taking a big dram of whisky, he tried it again but with no better success. Three different times Jones tried this experiment, each time whipping his cattle and taking a fresh dram of whisky. At last he was obliged to give it up as a bad job, and submit to paying the ferryman the exorbitant price of twenty-five cents to be ferried over."* The influx of settlers and the establishment of law and order made it too sultry for Jones, who returned to Indiana, where he was hung by a party of regulators for his numerous crimes. He died as he vowed he would, "with his boots on." Another family of semi-outlaws were the Harts, living in the bottoms below Henry, between whom and the Bakers, living on Ox Bow Prairie, desperate war waged with varied success. They were of the class known in the South as poor white trash, and were idle, vicious and pugnacious, quick to take offense and prompt to resent an insult. The question of supremacy was never fairly settled, victory inclining first to one faction and then to another. At one time a Baker challenged a Hart, and the fight was arranged to come off on a certain day. Hart perhaps feared the result and was inclined to back down, but when his wife heard of it she declared with an oath, if he did not fight Baker and whip him too he should not live with her another day. Like most borderers, he wore his hair very long, and in preparation for the contest she sheared it close to his head, divested him of everything but his pants, smeared his body all over with soft soap, and sent him forth to battle. Baker canie on the ground stripped likewise to the buff, with a handkerchief "girt about his loins," and in the expressive language of the ring, "just spoiling for a fight," and * Beminiscences of Bureau County. HENNEPIN, PUTNAM Co. A NEGRO SOLD UNDER THE VAGRANT ACT. 185. vowing he could whip any two Harts on the ground. The latter was ar- rayed in a long camlet cloak that completely hid his warlike preparations, and when asked if he was ready, said " He guessed not ; he had no quar- rel with Mr. Baker, and did n't think he could whip him." This still more excited the latter, who pranced round likt a mad bull, sayijig Hart was a coward and dare not fight him. At last the preliminaries were arranged and a ring formed, into which the men stepped ; and Hart, throwing off his cloak, displayed his gladiatorial form and careful preparations. Baker's tactics were to grasp his antagonist, hold him fast and bite or gouge, as circumstances warranted; but the latter was slippery as an eel, and pounded his antagonist severely, easily winning the fight. NEGRO SOLD IN HENNEPIN. About 1835, a negro was sold in Hennepin under the operation of the infamous black laws of the State. He was a refugee from below, and probably reached here on board one of the many steamers plying on the Illinois. He possessed "no visible means of siipport," and either cared not to work or could not get the opportunity, and at the instigation of interested parties was arrested under the provisions of the vagrant act, and advertised for sale for his keeping and costs. There was an active Abolition element at Granville and elsewhere in the County, and on the day of sale the members were present, but finding there was no claimant present for his person, nor any arranged plan to return him to slavery, they allowed the sale to go on, and he brought, we believe, one dollar and costs. William M. Stewart, of Florid, became the purchaser, who put him in the harvest field and paid him regular wages. The "man and brother " earned a suit of clothes besides his freedom, and some money to take him on the road to Canada. A slave was brought to Union Grove in 1830 by Saml. D. Laughlin, and remained some time. He was taken to Chicago by Thomas Hart/ell, and sent on his way. HARD FOR BACHELORS. In 1833 there were eleven families, all told, in Hennepin, half a dozen marriageable females, and about forty eligible bachelors and wid- owers. Of course the former were in good demand among the young set- tlers wanting wives, but the widowers had the inside track and carried off the best ones. 1 86 RECORDS OF TttE OLDEN TIME. In those days an extensive outfit and wedding trip were not thought of, for both parties " meant business," and proceeded in a business way. The groom prepared his cabin for its new occupant, and she, dressed in a clean calico gown, with hair nicely combed, was ready for the ceremony. Next the services of a minister were invoked, a few friends called in, and a bountiful supper of venison and johnny-cake concluded the festivities, after which the bride was conducted to her future home, and their new life began. For ten years there was a marked scarcity of marriageable women, and the first indictment in the County (as stated elsewhere) was found against a man for having two wives. The culprit, a man named Hall, lived in the vicinity of Hennepin, in a small cabin, and claimed to have been lawfully married to the two women with whom he lived, and that his religious views justified his conduct. The jurymen, most of whom were bachelors, thought it smacked too much of monopoly, and some favored hanging as an example for the future, but their advice was not taken. What was strange about it was that the women seemed satisfied, and on hearing what had been done by the grand jury, voluntarily followed their much married husband elsewhere. A PREACHER ANSWERED. Somewhere about 1831, a minister named Jesse Hale came to Henne- pin to establish a mission among the Indians. He was a man of simple faith and very earnest, believing himself able to convert and civilize them if only a hearing could be obtained. Old Louis Bailey was sent for as an interpreter, and the Indians came from far and near. Hale mounted a stump in the woods below Henne- pin, and harangued his dusky audience for an hour. When the intrepre- ter had translated the last sentence into the Pottawatomie dialect, old Shaubena came forward, and motioning silence, made reply: "To what white preacher say, I say may be so ! Are all white men good \ I say may be so ! Do white men cheat Indian I I say may be so. Governor Cole gave me, Shaubena, hunting grounds, and told me to hunt. Your big White-sides (General Whiteside) come along and tell Shaubena puck a chee (clear out)." Here the angry chief exhibited his papers, bearing the sig- nature of the Governor and the great seal of the State, and throwing them upon the ground, stamped them under his feet. Hale tried to pacify the "JERKED" VENISON WOLVES THE MILITIA. 187 indignant chief by saying that "Whiteside is a bad white man;" where- upon Shaubena retorted, "If white man steal Indian's land, hang him!" Hale thought this meant himself, and he fled through the bushes for town, nor ever soiight to convert an Indian again. A PARSON OUT OF MEAT. During the year 1830 the Gallaher boys caught a fawn, which was easily domesticated, and became quite a pet. They tied a strip of red flannel about its neck, and turned it out to roam the woods at will. It grew rapidly, and the neighbors soon got to know it as the "Gallaher deer." It rambled through the woods, and even the Indians, though con- stantly hunting, never molested it. But one afternoon it ventured too near the smoke-house of a certain parson living near Union Grove, and was never after seen alive. It was not best to insinuate the minister after- ward lived on venison, but his influence with the Gallaher boys was gone from that day. A WOLF STORY. As previously stated, Mr. Gallaher's sheep did not suffer so much from scanty feeding as the cattle, and "came through," though in a very lean condition. Their worst foe was the gaunt and hungry wolves, which re- quired continual watching. One day the boys on whom devolved this duty allowed them to range beyond their sight, and stray over the hill into the woods beyond. At night they failed to appear as usual. Search was made, and soon the cause was apparent, as scattered along the course were the dead and mangled carcasses, but no living sheep. Several days later they came upon a ewe alive and unhurt, several miles from home. How she had escaped the fangs of the destroyer was a mystery. She was taken home and a bell put around her neck, and for several seasons she ran with the cattle, unmolested by dog or wolf, as if possessed of a charmed life. She was the only survivor of the flock of eighty originally brought to the country by Mr. Gallaher. A STILL HUNT. When the news of the Indian outbreak, the massacre of the whites on Indian Creek, and the killing of Phillips in Bureau had been promul- gated, the white settlers, with very few exceptions, turned out promptly to 188 RECORDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. fight the savages. They had no arms save fowling pieces and squirrel guns, but hastily arming themselves with these, they hurried to the front. Mr. Gallaher relates how he met about sixty of these brave defenders under Captain Hawes. They had no uniforms, each soldier coming out in such clothing as he had, and consequently no two were dressed alike. They came singing and shouting, yelling and cat-calling, like so many boys on a jamboree, and altogether presented a sight that would have in- spired unlimited mirthfulness instead of fear, even in a savage. This manner of marching became all the more ridiculous when it is remembered that they had started out on a "still hunt," to surprise a foe the most cunning and cat-like known to history. A STARVED RECRUIT. One evening during the Indian war excitement, while the rangers were searching the woods near the mouth of Bureau Creek, they were hailed in a weak, piping voice, and found a poor, emaciated fellow in soldier's uni- form, barely able to walk, who told his pitiful story with much difficulty. He was at Stillman's defeat, on Rock River, and had been hiding in the woods, with very little food, ever since, and was nearly starved. He be- lieved himself the only survivor, and thinking the country in the posses- sion of the Indians, had not dared to venture in the vicinity of the white settlements. He was taken to town and well cared for until he recovered and joined his company. JAIL BURNED. The Hennepin Jail was set on fire and burned down September 27, 1842. A fellow named Frederick was confined in it for burglary, having broken open the store of Pulsifer