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| As the French were the first to
explore the region known as
the Northwest, so they were the first to improve the opening thus made.
The earliest settlements were in that part of the country east oi the
Mississippi and south of the Great Lakes, occupied chiefly by the
Illinois tribes of the Great Algonquin family of Indians. The Illinois
were divided into the Tamaroas, Michigamies, Kakokias, Kaskaskias, and
Peorias, and were sometimes designated as the Five Nations. The three
last-named tribes occupied the country between the Illinois and
Mississippi rivers; the Michigamies the region bordering on Lake
Michigan, and the Tamaroas, a small tribe, in the same region occupied
by the Kahokias, and now embraced in the counties of Jersey, Madison,
and St. Clair, in the state of Illinois. The French opened the way for
colonization by the establishment of missions among these tribes, their
efforts in this direction having been attended with great success in
Canada. A mission was founded at Kaskaskia by Father Gravier abont the
year 1698. This at the time of the visit of Marquette and Joliet, in
1673, was the largest and most important of the Illinois villages, and
contained
seventy-four lodges, or about fifteen hundred inhabitants. By the early
explorers it was called by the several names of " Kaskaskia," "La
Vantum," and "Great Illinois Town." Here, in 1675, Father Marquette had
attempted to
christianize the Indians by establishing the mission of the Immaculate
Conception. For years it was nothing more than a missionary station,
occupied only
by the Nations and the missionary. About the year 1700 missions were
also established at Kahokia and Peoria, the latter being near the site
of
old Fort Crevecoeur. Another of the early French settlements was at
Vincennes on the Oubache (Waba, now Wabash) river. Authorities disagree
as to the date of this settlement, but it was probably about 1702. For
many years this was an isolated colony of French emigrants from Canada,
and several fenerations of their descendants lived and passed away in
these vast
soUtudes, before either they or their savage neighbors were disturbed
by the
encroachments of an expanding civilization. During all this time they
had maintained friendly relations with the natives. In July, 1701, a
station was
established by De la Motte on the Detroit river, called Fort
Ponchartrain. Wtile
these attempts to colonize the Northwest were in progress, similar
efforts
were being made by France in the Southwest, but without maintaining
like friendly relations with the natives, for in a conflict with the
Chickasaws, an entire colony at Natchez was cut off. As these
settlements in the
Northwest were isolated but little is known of their history prior to
1750. In
this year Vivier, a missionary among the Illinois, near Fort Chartres,
writes of five French villages, with a population of eleven hundred
whites, three
hundred blacks, and sixty red slaves or savages. He says there were
whites, negroes and Indians, to say nothing of halt-breeds. They then
raised
wheat, cattle, swine and horses, and sent pork, grain and flour to New
Orleans. On the 7th of November, 1750, the same priest writes: "For fifteen leagues above the mouth of the Mississippi one sees no dwellings, the ground being too low to be habitable. Thence to New Orleans the lands are only partially occupied. New Orleans contains black, white and red, not more, I think, than twelve hundred persons. To this point come all lumber, bricks, salt-beef, tallow, tar, skins and bear's grease; and above all, pork and flour from the Illinois. These things create some commerce, as forty vessels and more have come hither this year. Above New Orleans plantations are again met with; the most considerable is a colony of Germans some ten leagues up the river. At Point Coupee, thirty-five leagues above the German settlement, is a fort. Along here, within five or six leagues, are not less than sixty habitations. Fifty leagues further up is the Natchez post, where we have a garrison, who are kept prisoners through fear of the Chickasaws. Here and at Point Coupee they raise excellent tobacco. Another hundred leagues brings us to the Arkansas, where we have also a fort and a garrison for the benefit of the river traders. From the Arkansas to the Illinois, nearly five hundred leagues, there is not a settlement. There should be, however, a fort at the Oubache (Ohio), the only path by which the English can reach the Mississippi. In the Illinois country are numberless mines, but no one to work them as they deserve." The fame of Robert Cavelier de La Salle was not achieved alone by his explorations of the Valley of the Mississippi, for in 1669, four years before the discovery of the Mississippi by Marquette and Joliet, La Salle discovered the Ohio river, or La Belle Riviere (Beautiful River), as the French called it. Being conversant with several Indian dialects, he had learned from some Senecas of a river called Ohio which rose in their country and flowed a long distance to the sea. La Salle then held the belief that the river flowing to the west emptied into the Sea of California, and longed to engage in the enterprise of discovering a route across the continent. He obtained the approval of the government at Quebec, but no allowance to defray the expense. He sold his property in Canada for two thousand eight hundred dollars, and with the proceeds purchased canoes and the necessary supplies. With a party of twenty-four persons he embarked in seven canoes on the St. Lawrence, July 6th, 1669. Crossing over Lake Ontario, they were conducted by Indian guides to the Genesee, about where the city of Rochester, New York, is now located. The enterprise did not receive the approbation of the Indians at the Seneca village then situated on the bank of the Genesee at this point, and they refused to furnish him guides to conduct him further. After a month's delay he met an Indian belonging to the Iroquois tribe on Lake Ontario, who conducted them to their village, where they received a more friendly welcome. From the chief of the Irioquois at Onondaga he obtained guides who conducted the party to a river south of Lake Erie. This proved to be a tributary of the Ohio. They descended it, and thence down the Ohio to the great falls where Louisville now stands. By virtue of this discovery the French claimed the country along the Ohio, and many years after established military and trading posts at different points. One of these was Fort Du Quesne, erected in 1654, which was taken from them by the English a few years later and called Pittsburg, in honor of William Pitt, then prime minister of England. Notwithstanding the discovery of the Ohio by the French under La Salle as early as 1669, the English claimed from the Atlantic to the Pacifie on the ground that her sea-coast discoveries entitled her to the sovereignly of all the country from "sea to sea." In 1684, Lord Howard, Governor of Virginia, held a treaty with Indian tribes known as the Northern Confederacy, to-wit: the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas. The Tuscaroras being subsequently taken in, these tribes became known as the Six Nations, and the English assumed their protection. They purchased from them large tracts of land and aimed to obtain a monopoly of the Indian trade. Die English government made grants of land west of the Alleghanies, and companies were formed for their settlement. France, seeing the English obtaining a foothold by planting trading posts in the Northwest, in 1749 sent Louis Celeron with a small force of soldiers to plant in mounds at the mouths of the principal tributaries of the Ohio, plates of lead with the claims of France inscribed thereon. The English, however, still continued to make explorations and establish trading posts. One of these grants of England was to a company known as the "Ohio Company" and embraced a tract of land on the Great Miami, described as being one hmidred and fifty miles above its mouth. Christopher Gist was sent by this company in 1750 to inspect thier lands and to establish a trading post. In 1752 a small party of French soldiers, assisted by Ottawas and Chippewas, attacked this post and captured the traders after a severe battle. The English called this post Pickawillany - the name being subsequently contracted to Pickaway or Piqua. The location of this post was doubtless near that of the present town of Piqua, on the Great Miami, about seventy-eight miles north of Cincinnati. Thus on the soil of what becaine a part of the state of Ohio was shed the first blood between the French and English for the possession of the Northwest. In 1744 the English had entered into a treaty with the Six Nations at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, by which they acquired certain lands described as being within the "Colony of Virginia." The Indians subsequently complained of bad faith on the part of the English in failing to comply with some of the stipulations of the treaty. The Governor of Virginia appointed commissioners to hear the grievances of tie Indians. They met at Logstown, on the north bank of the Ohio, about seventeen miles below the present city of Pittsburg, in the spring of 1752. Notwithstanding the complaint of the Indians that the English had failed to supply them with arms and ammunition as they had agreed, they succeeded in obtaining a confirmation of the treaty of Lancaster. In the meantime the French were quietly preparing to maintain their claims to the country in dispute. They provided cannon and military stores in anticipation of the coming conflict. The French were notified to give up their posts, but they failed to comply. Governor Dinwiddie finally determined to learn definitely their intentions, and for this purpose selected Major George Washington, then twenty-wo years of age, as a messenger. With Christopher Gist as guide, and four attendants or serrants, Washington set out through the wilderness on his perilous journey. He held a conference with the chiefs of the Six Nations at Logstown in November, 1753. He learned something of the condition of the French, hut the Indians desired to remain neutral and were disposed to be non-committal. Washington proceeded to Venango, where there was a French post called Fort Machault. Here he delivered to the French governor Dinwiddie's letter and received the answer of St. Pierre, the commander of the fort, declining to give up without a struggle. Preparations for war were made in all the English colonies while the French continued to strengthen their lines of fortifications. It will thus be seen that what is known as the French and Indian war had its origin in this dispute about the possession of what is now one of the fairest and richest portions of our Republic. It resulted not only in England maintaining her right to the territory in dispute, but in wresting Canada from France. It was a war of eight years duration, commencing with the attack of the French and Indians on the English post at Piqua in 1752, and virtually ending with the fall of the city of Montreal in April, 176D. Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Niagara, and Quebec had all previously surreiidered to the English, the first two without resistance. After the fall of Montreal the Governor of Canada signed a capitulation surrendering the whole of Canada to the English. One post, however, that of Detroit, still remained in possession of the French. Major Rogers was sent from Montreal to demand its surrender. Beletre, the commander of the post, at first refused, but on the 29th of November, having heard of the defeat of the French arms in Canada, he also surrendered. September 29th, 1760, the treaty of peace between France and England, known as the treaty of Paris, was made, but not ratified until February 10th, 1763. Meantime the Northwest territory was entirely under English rule and settlements began to extend. The Indians who had been the friends and allies of the French during the war were not reconciled to the English, claiming that they had not carried out their promises. Under the famous Ottawa chief, Pontiac, they united in a general conspiracy to cut off all the English posts on the frontier. The Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandots, Miamis, Shawnese, Delawares and Mingoes buried the hatchet in their local quarrels, and united to exterminate the English. Owing to treachery on the part of some of Pontiac's followers, he failed in the complete execution of his plans, but in May, 1763, several British posts fell and many whites were victims of the merciless tomahawk. In the arrangement among the Indians it was agreed that Pontiac's own immediate field of action was to be the garrison at Detroit. He laid siege to the post May 12th, and continued it until October 12th. To obtain food for his warriors during this time, he issued promissory notes, drawn upon birch bark and signed with the figure of an otter. All these notes were faithfully redeemed. Being unsuccessful in reducing the garrison, the tribes generally sued for peace, but Pontiac remained as yet unsubdued. To Alexander Henry, an Englishman who visited Missillimacinac the next spring, he said: "Englishman, although you have conquered the French, you have not yet conquered us. We are not your slaves! These lakes, these woods, these mountains, were left us by our ancestors. They are our inheritance, and we will part with them to none. Your nation supposes that we, like the white people, cannot live without bread, and pork and beef; but you ought to know that He, the Great Spirit and Master of Life, has provided food for us upon these broad lakes and in these mountains." Pontiac still entertained the hope that the French would renew the war and finally conquer the English, and endeavored to incite the Indians on the Miami, and in other parts of the West, to continue hostilities. He applied, but unsuccessfully, to the French commander at New Orleans. Being unable to unite again those who entered so eagerly into his original conspiracy for destroying the English settlements, he went to the Illinois country, where he made a stand, and had for a time the sympathy and co-operation of the French fur traders in that region. Soon, however, all but his immediate followers deserted his cause, and he then reluctantly accepted peace on the terms offered by the English. From this time he had but little influence with the tribes. He was killed by an Illinois Indian, while drunk, at Kahokia, in 1769. At the time of his death he was about fifty-seven years of age. Great Britain now held sovereignty over the entire Northwest, and to prevent Louisiana from also falling into the hands of the English, France by secret treaty, in 1762, ceded it to Spain. The next year the treaty of Paris formally gave to England possession of the Northwestern Territory. The English now began to prepare for settlement and occupation of the country. In 1770 persons from Virginia and other British provinces took up the valuable lands on the Monongahela and along the Ohio to the mouth of the Little Kanawa. In October of the same year George Washington with a party descended the Ohio from Pittsburg to the Kenawa, which last named stream they ascended about fourteen miles, and marked out several large tracts of land. Buffalo were then abundant in the Ohio valley, and several of them were shot by Washington's party. Pittsburg was then a village of twenty houses, the inhabitants being mostly Indian traders. The British government was inclined to observe a liberal policy toward the French settlers in the West. In 1763 the king, by royal proclamation, had forbidden his subjects from making settlements beyond the sources of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic; but his subjects in the colonies were little disposed to observe this restriction. Finally, in 1774, Governor Dunmore of Virginia began to encourage emigration to the West. A number of settlements were made in the Ohio valley, the settlers often coming in conflict with the Indians. Several battles were fought, ending in the battle of Kenawa, in July, when the Indians were defeated and driven across the Ohio. During the years following, up to 1776, several land companies were formed, and engaged in extensive operations. One, called the "Illinois Land Company," obtained from the Indians large tracts of land on the Mississippi river, south of the Illinois. An association, styling itself the "Wabash Land Company," obtained a deed from eleven chiefs to 37,497,600 acres of land. The War of the Revolution interfered with these and many other similar schemes of speculation. The parties interested subsequently made efforts to have these land grants sanctioned by Congress, but did not succeed. In 1771, according to the best information we have, Kaskaskia contained eighty houses, and nearly one thousand inhabitants, white and black. Kahokia contained fifty houses, with three hundred white inhabitants and eighty negroes. There were a few families at Prairie du Rocher, on the Mississippi river, opposite St. Louis. At Detroit, there were in 1766 about one hundred houses. This place was founded by Antoine de la Motte Cadillac in 1701 and is the oldest town in the Northwest. When the War of the Revolution commenced the British held Kaskaskia, Kahokia, Vincennes, Detroit, and other important posts in the West. Col. George Rogers Clark, a master spirit of the frontier, who was familiar with all the important movements of the British in the West, and also with the disposition of the Indians, formed a plan unequalled in boldness for subjugating these posts. He repaired to the capital of Virginia, Patrick Henry being then Grovernor, and presented to the authorities his plan of operations, which was approved by Governor Henry. He was accordingly furnished with two sets of instructions - one secret and the other open. His open instructions authorized him to enlist seven companies to go to Kentucky, subject to his orders, and serve three months from their arrival in the West. The secret order authorized him to arm and equip his troops at Pittsburg and proceed to subjugate the country. Col. Clark succeeded in raising but three companies, but with these and a few private volunteers, he descended the Ohio as far as the falls in the spring of 1777. Here he fortified a small island, known as Corn Island, and then announced to his men their real destination. Leaving a small garrison, on the 24:th of June, during a total eclipse of the sun, he moved down the river. Under a burning July sun, with his chosen band, he marched to Kaskasia, reaching that post on the evening of July 4th. Without the loss of a man on either side, the fort and village were captured. He easily induced the Indians to give their allegiance to the American cause. They accompanied him to Kahokia on the 6th, and through their influence the inhabitants of that place surrendered without resistance. The priest at Kaskaskia, M. Gibault, hastily Joined in rendering all the aid he could to forward the purposes of Clark. He established a government for the colonies he had taken, and then made ready to march upon St. Yincent, or Vincennes as it is more commonly known. But Gibault offered to go alone and induce the post on the "Oubache" to throw off the authority of England. Clark accepted the offer, and on the 14th of July Gibault started on his mission. On the 1st of August he returned with intelligence of entire success, the garrison at Vincennes having taken the oath of allegiance to Virginia. Col. Clark placed garrisons at Kaskaskia and Kahokia, and sent orders for the erection of a fort at the Falls of the Ohio, where the City of Louisville now stands. He also sent Rocheblave, the former commander of Kaskaskia, a prisoner of war to Richmond. The county of Illinois was established in October of the same year, by the Legislature of Virginia. John Todd was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel and acting governor. Courts were established, and the colony was provided with a government complete. The Indians acknowledged allegiance to the new government. While Col. Clark was arranging for the government of the Illinois colonies, the British Governor, Hamilton, was planning an expedition to move from Detroit down the Wabash to Vincennes, intending to recapture the posts which had surrendered to Clark, and thence extend his operations to Kentucky. He knew nothing of the capitulation of Vincennes until his arrival, when he found the fort in command of Capt. Helm, who had been sent by Col. Clark to take charge of the garrison. Hamilton demanded the surrender of the fort, and being granted the rights of a prisoner of war, Capt. Helm surrendered to a superior force. On the 29th of January, 1879, Clark received intelligence of what had transpired at Vincennes, and of the intended operations of Hamilton. Having sufficiently garrisoned Kaskaskia and Kahokia, and dispatched a force down the Mississippi to ascend the Ohio and operate with the land forces in that direction, on the 5th of February he set out himself with one hundred and twenty men on his hard march to Vincennes. He reached the fort on the 22d and was joined by the remainder of his command, which had come by water. He immediately commenced his attack on the fort, and on the 25th Gov. Hamilton surrendered. He was sent as a prisoner of war to Virginia, where he was kept in close confinement, and thus failed to accomplish his purpose of uniting the Indian tribes against the Americans. All the important posts in the Northwest, except Detroit, were now in the hands of the Americans. Had Clark received reinforcements, which had been promised, he would doubtless have captured Detroit also; but Virginia and the other colonial governments at this time doubtless had all they could do to attend to the operations of the war east of the Alleghanies. The Legislature of Virginia passed resolutions complimenting Col. Clark and his men, and in 1781 he was promoted to the rank of general. Previous to this he had taken part with Steuben against Arnold when the latter invaded Virginia in 1780. Subsequently, Virginia gave to Gen. Clark and his men one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land, wherever they might choose to locate it, north of the Ohio. They made selection of a tract opposite the Falls of the Ohio, between New Albany and Jeffersonville, Indiana. Gen. Clark died near Louisville, Kentucky, February 13th, 1808. The years 1781 and 1782 weredark years in the history of the infant settlements of the Northwest, in consequence of the many outrages practiced by the Indians. Many deeds of cruelty were committed under the leadership of the outlaw Simon Girty, occurring chiefly in the Ohio Valley. Several battles between the Indians and frontiersmen occurred north of the Ohio, while in Kentucky the famous Daniel Boone and his companions were engaged in protecting the frontier outposts. In 1783 the treaty of peace, which ended the Revolutionary struggle, was concluded, and by its terms the boundaries of the West were defined as follows: On the north, to extend along the center of the Great Lakes; from the western point of Lake Superior to Long Lake; thence to the Lake of the Woods; thence to the head of the Mississippi river, down its center to the 31st parallel of latitude; thence on that line east to the head of Appalachicola river, down its center to the junction with the Flint; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's river; and thence down along its center to the Atlantic Ocean. For some time after the cessation of hostilities, General Haldimand, the British commander at Detroit, refused to evacuate on the ground, as he claimed, that his king had not ordered him to do so. It shortly, however, passed under the control of the United States, and so remained, except when held by the British, through the surrender of Gen. Hull, for a few weeks in August and September, 1812. The war of independence had been fought and gained, and England, as we have seen, had renounced her claim to the Northwest, but the Indian title was not yet extinguished. From 1783 to 1786 various treaties were made, by which the Indians relinquished their title to extensive tracts of territory. The individual States also held claims to the territory surrendered by Great Britain, and acts of cession were necessary to vest the title to the soil in United States; but of this we shall treat more fully in another place. In 1779 Virginia had passed her "land laws," by which grants made to settlers were confirmed, and providing for selling the rest at forty cents per acre. Kentucky was included in the territory of Virginia until 1792. It was originally explored by Daniel Boone and his compeers about the year 1769. Harrodsburg was founded in 1774, and Lexington a year or two later, when the news of the battle of Lexington was fresh in the minds of its founders. |
