Dawson, Moses
William H. Harrison:
p. 28.
thence northeastwardly by a line drawn parallel to the general course of the said Wabash river until it will intersect an easterly line drawn from Point Coupee aforesaid, on the Wabash river, thence by the line last mentioned to Point Coupee, the place of beginning.
"And we, the undersigned Sachems and Chiefs, also authorize and empower you the said Little Turtle, Richarville, To-pinee-bik, and Winemak, or a majority of you, to transfer and make over to the United States the right and privilege of making salt for ever at the salt lick on the Saline river, and also a tract of land four miles square, including the salt lick aforesaid.
Done at Vincennes, the 17th day of September, 1802.
|
|
WONONGASEAH, X (or five
medals) |
DONE IN THE PRESENCE OF
|
|
W. WELLS, agent for the
district of Fort Wayne. |
Dawson, Moses
William H. Harrison:
Chapter 4.
_______
HAVING thus disposed of the important business of conciliating the Indians, frustrating the views of the intriguing British agent, M'Kee, and settling the claims for the tract of land on the Wabash and White rivers, we request the reader to revert back to some circumstances which occurred anterior to the final conclusion of the affairs to which we have just done referring him; circumstances, which we were obliged to pass over, in order to give him a more connected and comprehensive view of that important subject than if we had suffered it to fall in the regular order of time.
In the spring of this year (1802) some chiefs of the Delaware and Shawanese tribes had made a visit to the President of the United States at Washington city, where they made loud and bitter complaints against the white people hunting on their grounds and stealing their horses. They at the same time proposed leasing the great Saline spring, near the mouth of the Wabash, to the United States. On these subjects the secretary at war, by order of the President, wrote a letter to the Governor, wherein he advises that the Saline should be leased; that measures should be taken to protect the Indians in their persons and properties; that every exertion should be used to reconcile the jarring interests among the Indians themselves; and that all fair means should be taken to discourage a jealousy that was understood to have subsisted between the Indian chiefs of several tribes, and the one called Little Turtle, who was esteemed as a man of considerable talents and much respected both by the executive and the Governor himself; he at the same expressed and expectation that congress in the course of the then session would interdict the sale of spirituous liquors among the Indians, and would establish trading houses in some places northwest of the Ohio. In this letter he also recommended that boundaries should be run between the Delaware Indians and their neighbors, directing that those lines should be run and land marks fixed, at the expense of the United States.
On the subject of the salt spring the Governor answered as follows:- "With respect to the salt spring which the chiefs who were at the seat of government lately expressed a wish to lease, my opinion is, that it would be altogether improper to comply with their request, considering both the present advantage of the Indians and the interests of the white settlers, now
Dawson, Moses
William H. Harrison:
p. 40.
name. This town was laid out in the summer of 1802, and so well was it approved of that lots in it sold for 200 dollars in a few days after. At this time the Governor was aware of the vast advantage of having a canal cut round the falls, and such a project was then mentioned. It is worthy of remark that though the Governor had the power of naming the site of the county town in this case, as in many others, he gave the people of the county the choice of the ground on which Jeffersonville should be built, and only reserved to himself the plan which he made conformable to the ideas given by the President, with the exception of a range of squares which fronts the river.
This plan exactly represented the squares in a chess board, every alternate square to be built upon.
________________
CHAPTER VI.
________
BY despatches from the Governor to the secretary at war, under date 3d and 4th June, 1803, we find that an attack had been made by a party of Indians on the Kaskaskia tribe- and from the best information which he could procure, it was composed of a lawless banditti, belonging to no particular nation, but of outcasts from many tribes- the greater part of them however of the Potawatamies; but those of the latter nation who resided on the banks of the Wabash and the waters which fall into the south end of Lake Michigan, those of the Kickapoos on the Vermillion river (a branch of the Wabash) were well affected towards the United States- but the Kickapoos of the Prairie, at the heads of Kaskaskia river, had acted in a manner to excite some suspicions, not having returned any answer to repeated messages sent to them respecting horses which had been stolen from the white people. This branch of the Kickapoo nation had not had any of their chiefs at the treaty of Greenville, nor had the Governor ever seen any of them; their character was daring and insolent in the extreme. The Governor thought himself fortunate in having attached to himself a chief
Dawson, Moses
William H. Harrison:
p. 41.
of the Wea tribe, whose father was of this tribe of the Kickapoos, and whose half brother was one of their principal chiefs- this man, Popequon, or the Gun, he sent among them with a speech, calculated to dissuade them from any hostile act against the United States; he was considered the greatest orator among the northern nations, and his integrity was undoubted by the Governor, he therefore had the utmost confidence in the success of his mission. It appears that there was also a branch of the Potawatamies who had no chiefs at the treaty of Greenville, and that the other branches of those tribes having appropriated to themselves the annuities allowed by the United States, the Prairie Kickapoos and the Peoria Potawatamies did not consider themselves included in, nor bound by, the treaty of Greenville. This appears the more probable from the reason given by Mr. Parke, who was then on a mission from the Governor among them, for their then hostile intentions, viz: the murder of two of their warriors by the white people in 1794, the year before the treaty was made.
At this time the Governor was extremely anxious to have authority to have the Sack tribe attached to the United States by granting to them an annuity. They were a pretty strong nation, and capable of doing much mischief; and they had then set up a claim to the lands on the south side of the Illinois river, those on the north of that river being their without question. Governor Harrison was therefore much gratified at having permission from the President to make up to the Sacks an annuity of $500 per year, part of which he expected to obtain from the Kickapoos, and others whom he considered to have had more than was sufficient for them, and in proportion to their numbers.
The Governor having employed Captain Prince to visit the Indian villages lying between the Wabash and Lake Michigan, received from him a letter, by which it was very evident that the British agents had been tampering with the Indians, and that a war with the United States by Britain was in contemplation by that government at the time of the short peace with France.
Blue Jacket, a Shawanese, who had always been in the British interest, and had been employed to circulate their speeches among the Indians, was at the time we treat of, on a visit to the tribes on the Illinois river, which being so remote from his own place of residence, that it excited strong suspicions that his object was mischievous to the United States.
Colonel Vigo, of Vincennes, reported a conversation which he had held with a gentleman named Pratt, of St. Genevieve, who was both respectable and intelligent, and who understood the language of several of the tribes. He, Pratt, observed that it was singular that the British, after having made peace with France and Spain, should now seek to embroil themselves with
Dawson, Moses
William H. Harrison:
p. 47, Chapter 7.
__________
ABOUT the middle of April, 1803, the Governor set out for Fort Wayne, and on his way he visited all the Indian villages on the Wabash, for the purpose of inviting the chiefs to meet him at that place, and also ascertain as far as possible, their views and dispositions. On his arrival at the Fort, he was much disappointed to find that the agents of the contractors had made no arrangements for supplying the Indians who were to attend the treaty with provisions; but a very few barrels of flour had been left for the troops, and the prospect of obtaining more was both precarious and distant. He also found, that the goods for the factory had not arrived, and although the navigation had been opened for a considerable time, there was no certainty that they were on the way. A few of the goods for the payment of the annuities for 1802, which had been stored at the rapids of Miami during the winter, had arrived, but in such a damaged state as to give him the most serious apprehensions for the safety of those for the factory; it was, however, remarkable, that in the same boat there were goods conveyed for private persons perfectly free from injury. Having understood that goods for payment of annuities due in 1801, and which had not yet come forward, were stored at Detroit, and no movement made or likely to be made to have them forwarded, that he had heard of, the Governor thought it necessary to go there immediately, whence he calculated he could return before the Indians could be all assembled.
On the Miami river he met the goods for the factory, and found them also in such a damaged state, as to confirm him in the opinion which he had begun to entertain, that the persons employed to transport them were included in that combination which had been formed by a majority of the traders against that institution. It was, however, fortunate that he met them before the commencement of a violent rain, that he might make such arrangements for their preservation as, in some degree, baulked the malevolence of those unprincipled men.
The Governor also found it necessary to procure flour at Detroit to be forwarded to Fort Wayne for the treaty; and on his return, instead of finding the chiefs all assembled and waiting his appearance, to his great surprize, only the Little Turtle and the chiefs of the Potawatamies had arrived, and from many
Dawson, Moses
William H. Harrison:
p. 48.
of the rest only evasive answers had been returned to the invitations which had been sent them. From the Turtle he learnt, that the Owl, or Long Beard, had been busily employed in dissuading the Indians from meeting him, and that his representations had been effectual in many cases. The Owl was as subtle and artful as he was mischievous and wicked, and found means to detach the Miami nation almost entirely from the interests of the Turtle and Richarville, who were the real chiefs of the tribe. This he effected by asserting that the Turtle had sold to the United States the whole country, and that it would be claimed as it would be wanted. He earnestly advised them not to accept any annuities in future, assuring them that the United States would at a future day, claim a large tract of land for every annuity which they might pay to the Indians.
Although the Governor was satisfied that the treaty would be effected and completely ratified by the four chiefs appointed for that purpose at Vincennes, yet he was anxious to have it signed by as many chiefs as could be procured, particularly by those who had not been at the council of Vincennes. And further, he conceived it necessary and proper to endeavor to remove as far as possible, the unfavorable impressions which had been made upon them by the Owl and such other evil disposed persons. To procure as large a meeting as possible, therefore, he sent messengers to inform them that if they did not attend him, he would deliver the goods to those tribes who did attend, and withdraw from those who held back, the friendship and protection of the United States. This had a considerable effect, and brought a deputation from the Delawares, Shawanese, and Kickapoos. The Miamis had been before represented by the Turtle and Richarville, although three fourths of them, with the Eel river Indians, were still kept back by the intrigues of the Owl.
As soon as the chiefs were assembled, the Governor explained to them the benevolent intentions of the United States; and recounted to them the numerous acts of kindness which they had received from them, contrasting them with the favors which they had received from other nations. He endeavored to impress upon them, that the benefits which the United States were desirous of conferring upon them were intended for their permanent advantage, whilst those which they received from other nations, afforded only temporary relief, which by increasing their wants without teaching them the method of relieving those wants by their own exertions, made them more miserable and dependant then they had been before their acquaintance with the white people. He reminded them of the length of time which they had been under the direction of the British, and requested them to show any advantage which they had derived from their connexion with that nation. Had it not, on the
Dawson, Moses
William H. Harrison:
p. 49.
contrary, been productive of the greatest misfortunes. What had become of the numerous bands of the Delawares, the Wyandotts, the Shawanese, and Miamis, and the multitude of villages which had covered the banks of the Miami, the Sciota, the Wabash, and Ohio, the remains of which are now only to be seen. Was not their destruction to be traced to the fatal advice which they had received from that nation upon whom they had bestowed the endearing name of fathers. And if these things were true, which they could not disprove, was it not necessary that some plan should be adopted.
The United States, he said, which had lately become their fathers, and who were desirous of fulfilling most sacredly the duties of that character, would participate with them in all the advantages which they themselves enjoyed. They were particularly anxious to teach them those arts by which effectual and certain subsistence would be afforded, and which, by enabling their women to raise a number of children, would in a few years make them more numerous and powerful than they had ever hitherto been.
These arguments seemed to have made a deep impression; but when the transactions at the council of Vincennes was mentioned, it called forth all the wrath of the Delawares and Shawanese. The respected Buckingehelos so far forgot himself that he interrupted the Governor, and declared with vehemence, that nothing that was done at Vincennes was binding upon the Indians; that the land which was there decided to be the property of the United States, belonged to the Delawares; and that he had then with him a chief, who had been present at the transfer made by the Piankishaws to the Delawares of all the country between the Ohio and White rivers more than 30 years before. The Shawanese went still further, and behaved with so much insolence, that the Governor was obliged to tell them that they were undutiful and rebellious children, and that he would withdraw his protection from them until they had learnt to behave themselves with more propriety. These chiefs immediately left the council house in a body.
Notwithstanding all those discouragements, however, the Governor succeeded: for by repeating to the chiefs in private conversation what he had urged in council; by being powerfully, though privately, aided by the Turtle, and boldly seconded in every proposition by the Potawatamies (who, as was well known to the other tribes, were entirely devoted to the Governor,) all opposition was finally silenced. The Shawanese indeed, made another effort to defeat the treaty, by proposing to the Indians to go to Philadelphia and treat with the President in person.
Finding at length that this object could not be accomplished they submitted; and one of the chiefs, in the name of the rest, assured the Governor "that his, and the other tribes, had but one
Dawson, Moses
William H. Harrison:
p. 50.
mind, and desired that they might be permitted to sign the treaty." Thus the Governor, notwithstanding all difficulties and impediments, gained the important point of having the arrangement made at Vincennes completely ratified by a formal treaty; which differed in nothing from the stipulations agreed upon at the council of Vincennes, excepting the alteration to be made on the boundaries, so as to include within their limits, the settlements and locations, which would otherwise have been left out, and the permission which was given to form certain settlements on the post roads leading through the territory; which permission, however, was subject to the consent of some of the Swallow tribes.
The Governor made every exertion in his power to discover the persons who had been employed in disseminating amongst the Indians, stories hostile to the interests of the country; but being unable to secure sufficient proof, upon which to found legal prosecutions, all he could do, was to deprive some persons of bad character, and of whom he had strong grounds for suspicion, of their licenses, and send them out of the Indian country.
On the Governor's return home from fort Wayne, he was informed by Mr. Rivet, that there had been a French spy in Vincennes in his absence. He appeared to be a man of education and address; he affected great poverty, and associated with the poorest and most ignorant of the French settlers; yet a man of veracity declared, that he had seen in his possession, a small box filled with French guineas: The accounts which he gave of himself were contradictory; to some he represented himself as a native of Paris, and a member of one of the committees of police; and to others, he said he belonged to one of the provinces, and had never been in Paris. This business, however, for so far, remained a secret, and he left Vincennes without any thing transpiring as to its nature and tendency.
The appearance of this person in that quarter was a strong corroboration of the information which had been received by government in the spring of this year, 1803, that there had, the autumn before, been "certain persons among the Indian nations, whose conduct induced a belief that they were agents from the French or Spanish governments, employed to engage them in favor of measures hostile to the United States." This information was obtained from an Indian called Long Beard, a Miami, and from a young man named Conner, who lived with the Delawares on White river. On receiving this information the secretary at war in the same letter by which he forwarded to the Governor a commission appointing him a commissioner on the part of the United States, for holding such treaties with the Indian nations, as the President might direct, gave orders that all such persons thus described as should be found in the Indian country should be secured.
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