380 |
the deed as agreeing to it. Royce Area 74 is in this ceded area. This deed was a private transaction and was not recognized by the British or the United States governments.
In 1778 Henry Hamilton, Lieutenant-Governor of Canada, reported that there was some native dissatisfaction with this sale of lands by the Piankashaws. He felt this might indicate sufficient native unrest so that the Indians of the Wabash might not support the American rebels.31 Hamilton made a trip down the Wabash to secure the allegiance of the Wabash tribes for the British. He had planned, on this trip, to impress on the Indians that the British Government did not approve and did not recognize such private transactions.32 It was not until he reached the vicinity of Ouiatanon that he heard in person a complaint from the Indians about the Piankashaws' sale of lands.33 This would be a reasonable objection on the part of the Wea, since the sale had included lands close to their settlement at Ouiatanon.
No Indians were at the village at the Vermilion River when Hamilton passed it on his way down river in 1778. They were away at their winter hunting grounds.34
31. Historical Collections of the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society, vol.
9, p. 475;
Dft. Ex.
82.
32. Barnhart, Hamilton and Clark in the Revolution, p. 125; Dft. Ex. 66.
33. Barnhart, Hamilton and Clark in the Revolution, p. 132; Dft. Ex. 66.
34. Ibid., p. 139; Dft. Ex. 66.
381 |
Hamilton did not mention any Indian settlement at the site of present-day Terre Haute, but about one-and-a-half days' trip down river from Terre Haute he arrived at "the wintering ground of the Peankashaas," and later encamped at a place a little below their winter village which was called La Soupe, "from the boiling eddies in the river."35
These were Vermilion Piankashaws since the old chief of this winter village was La Mouche Noire36 who in 1752 had been associated with two other Vermilion Piankashaw chiefs in resisting English inducements to join them in their struggle against the French. Another argument in favor of this being a Vermilion Piankashaw winter settlement rests in the statement, reported by Hamilton, of a young Piankashaw chief here who said that some Piankashaws had made friends with the Virginians, but that the Piankashaws of his village had not.37 Since the Virginians had occupied Vincennes, the Piankashaws of that area had been friendly with the Americans.
On December 30, 1778 the "Grand Coete (great Queue), principal Chief of the Piankashaas," arrived with 35 followers on horseback, to visit Hamilton in Vincennes.38 Since it was winter, a season when the Indians were mostly at their hunting grounds, it can not be determined if these arrivals were Vermilion Piankashaw or were from the vicinity of Vincennes.
35. Ibid., pp.
142-143; Dft. Ex. 66.
36. Ibid., p. 143; Dft. Ex. 66.
37. Idem.
38. Ibid., p. 159; Dft. Ex. 66.
382 |
However, since Hamilton called him a "principal Chief of the Piankashaas," he may have been from the Vermilion area. The old Tobacco and his son were probably the principal chiefs in the Vincennes area at this time.
Ten years later, in May of 1788 after Vincennes was retaken by the United States, Major John F. Hamtramck, then in charge of the post at Vincennes, estimated the number of native warriors who were living in the villages along the Wabash River. He listed 30 men as being at Terre Haute. These were probably Piankashaws, since in July of 1787 Hamtramck recorded that eight Piankashaws had arrived at Vincennes from Terre Haute, who seemed pleased at the show of friendship of the United States.39 Also Arthur St. Clair Governor of the Northwest Territory, in discussing the Indian moves and possible war with the western tribes located Piankashaws at Terre Haute.40 St. Clair, however, did not visit the Wabash and based his statement on information furnished him by persons stationed in the area. At Vermilion River Hamtramck located 200 men. These were almost certainly Piankashaws, although not identified by Hamtramck as such, since he located the Kickapoos (with 100 men) as living opposite the Weas (with 300 men) farther upstream.41
39. Indiana Historical Society Publications, vol. 19, p. 37;
Dft. Ex.
79.
40. Smith, St. Clair Papers, vol. 2, p. 89; Dft. Ex. 95.
41. Indiana Historical Society Publications, vol. 19, p. 80; Dft. Ex. 79.
383 |
In June of 1788 Hamtramck reported that a few Vermilion and Wea Indians were raiding in Kentucky.42 The citizens of Kentucky, annoyed by these and many other raids and depredations committed by Indians of many tribes, organized their own raids into Indian country. Hamtramck reported in November of 1788 that as a result of one such raid led by the Kentuckian Patrick Brown in August of 1788, most of the Piankashaws who had been living at the village near Vincennes had gone to make a settlement near Kaskaskia on the Mississippi River, and that they had been joined there by most of the "Vermilion Indians and some other nations."43
In March of 1789 Hamtramck reported to his superior officer that he intended to take advantage of the fact that he had a Piankashaw chief, La Grosse T?e, in custody for killing an American the previous year, to bring the Piankashaws to peaceful terms. He wrote that he had "nothing to fear from their resentment, for they are inconsiderable in numbers."44 Another indication that there were few Piankashaws along the Wabash in 1789 was that in Hamtramck's reports for that year the Weas are mentioned more frequently than the Piankashaws.45
In 1789 a party of 220 Kentuckians also went on a raid to the Ouiatanon area and killed 12 Indians.46 In the fall
42. Ibid., vol. 19, p. 89;
Dft. Ex.
79.
43. Ibid., vol. 19, p. 139; Dft. Ex. 79.
44. Ibid., vol. 19, pp. 161-162; Dft. Ex. 79.
45. Ibid., vol. 19, e.g., pp. 178-179, 182; Dft. Ex. 79.
46. Ibid., vol. 19, p. 183; Dft. Ex. 79.
384 |
of the year, possibly as a result of this raid, some Piankashaws were still living in the vicinity of Kaskaskia, Illinois.47 However, by July and August of 1790 many of the Piankashaws must have returned to the Wabash region, since Hamtramck's estimates of Indians on the Wabash is almost the same (200 warriors at the Vermilion village) as that made in May of 1788.48
In April of 1790 Anthony Gamelin, a long-time resident of Vincennes, was sent out from Fort Knox, at Vincennes, to carry a message of peace to the Indians of the Wabash from Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory. St. Clair had been empowered by the United States Government to make a treaty of peace with these Indians.49 The first village Gamelin visited above Fort Knox was that of the Wea chief Kikapouguoi (Crooked Legs), who had separated from the other Weas to settle closer to the Americans, some place between Vincennes and the Vermilion River. This village accepted St. Clair's message.50 The second village Gamelin came to on his way up the Wabash was one at the Vermilion River, called "Peankeshaws." From the name, from the references to other Indians visited above the Vermilion River, and from Gamelin's later identification of an absent chief, Grosse T?e, this second village can be identified as a
47. Ibid., vol. 19, p. 199;
Dft. Ex.
79.
48. Ibid., vol. 19, p. 246; Dft. Ex. 79. Hamtramck to Sargent, Fort Vincennes, July 2, 1790; Dft. Ex. 75.
49. American State Papers, Indian Affairs, Vol. 1, pp. 93-94; Dft. Ex. 96.
50. Ibid., vol. 1, p. 93; Dft. Ex. 96.
385 |
Piankashaw village. The chiefs and chief warriors here said they were pleased with St. Clair's talk, but that they would not answer it until they learned the response of their "eldest brethren" (the Miamis) to it. They also warned Gamelin that the Shawnees who lived near the Miami town (present Fort Wayne, Indiana) might oppose the speech.52 The other Wabash villages (Kickapoos, Weas, and Eel Rivers) above the Vermilion River Piankashaws also deferred answering until the Miamis did so. The Miamis, in turn, postponed their answer until they had consulted the "Lake" Indians and the British.53
This lack of a reply was unsatisfactory to St. Clair, and consequently several raids and punitive expeditions against the Wabash River and Miami Indian villages were planned and executed. As part of a simultaneous attack on the Miamis by Brig. Gen. Josiah Harmar, and on the Indians of the western Wabash River, Hamtramck marched toward the Vermilion River on September 30, 1790 with 330 men. He arrived at the Piankashaw Vermilion River village on October 10, but found it had been deserted by the Indians a few days earlier, so he was forced to return to Fort Knox without meeting any Indians.54
51. Ibid., vol. 1, pp. 93,
94; Dft. Ex. 96.
52. Ibid., vol. 1, p. 94; Dft. Ex. 96.
53. Idem.
54. Indiana Historical Society Publications, vol. 19, p. 259; Dft. Ex. 79.
386 |
Two other expeditions besides Hamtramck's and Harmar's were sent out in the summer of 1791; these were led by Brig. Gen. Charles Scott and by Col. James Wilkinson. Both of these forces destroyed the villages and much Indian corn in the vicinity of Ouiatanon,55 but neither expeditionary force reached the Vermilion River Piankashaw village.
In March of 1792 Maj. Hamtramck, who was still stationed at Vincennes, negotiated an agreement with some Wea and Eel River chiefs whereby a treaty of peace would be made by the United States with them at a future date. It was also agreed that all parties should cease hostilities and depredations.56 The Piankashaws did not sign the agreement until April 20, 1792, because their chief had died on the way to the meeting and they had had to choose a successor. 57 Hamtramck felt there might be a chance for peace with the Wabash and other Indians, if the United States were generous in giving them trade goods and presents.58
In June, 1792 Hamtramck reported that
a great number of the Weya and Pyankeshaws have retired towards the Illinois
55. American State Papers, Indian Affairs, vol. 1, pp. 131-135;
Dft. Ex.
96.
56. Carter, Territorial Papers, vol. 2, pp. 374-375; Dft. Ex. 69.
57. Ibid., vol. 2, p. 380; Dft. Ex. 69. Hamtramck to St. Clair, Fort Knox, June 17, 1792; Dft. Ex. 74.
58. Carter, Territorial Papers, vol. 2, pp. 380-383; Dft. Ex. 69.
387 |
the reason of it cannot be well ascertained as yet, it must have been occasioned by some sudden fright they have had- however they no doubt can be brought back as it does not appear they are badly disposed59
Whatever may have been the cause of this sudden departure, some at least of the Weas, Piankashaws, and Kickapoos had returned for a short time to the Wabash by the fall of 1792, since chiefs of these groups signed the unratified Treaty negotiated by General Rufus Putnam on September 27, 1792 with the Wabash and Illinois Indian tribes.60
Scott's and Wilkinsons raids had wreaked havoc, in 1791, with the Kickapoo towns at and near Ouiatanon.61 By December of 1793 the Kickapoos had left the vicinity of Ouiatanon; at this date they were reported by Capt. A. Prior, then at Fort Know, as being at Vermilion River. The Kickapoos were however at Vermilion River only for a short time, since neither Capt. John Wade nor Ens. Thomas Bodley, who went up the Wabash in May and June, 1795, mention them at that location.63 Perhaps they only wintered there.
Wade's and Bodley's accounts of their trips up the Wabash in 1795, referred to above, were not specific about the kinds
59. Hamtramck to St. Clair, Fort Knox, June 17,
1792; Dft. Ex. 74.
60. Putnam Papers, List of Signers of 1792 Treaty, vol. 2, no. 142; Dft. Ex. 76.
61. American State Papers, Indian Affairs, vol. 1, pp. 131-135; Dft. Ex. 96. See also p. 386, this Report.
62. Prior to Wayne, Fort Knox, December 20, 1793; Dft. Ex. 74.
63. Wade, Extracts of a Journal; Dft. Ex. 74. Bodley, Observations; Dft. Ex. 74.
388 |
of ''Wabash"' Indians they met, until they reached the vicinity of Tippecanoe River, about 78 miles above the Vermilion River. Ens. Bodley did mention an old village site at the mouth of the Vermilion River, which had an extensive body of cleared land around it.64 Apparently in June, 1795 the Vermilion village was unoccupied.
By 1795 the Piankashaws do not seem to have been numerous, at least in the lower Wabash River region. Three Wea chiefs signed for them at the Greenville Treaty of August 3, 1795 65 (7 Stat. 49:54).65 By 1802 William Henry Harrison, Governor of Indiana Territory, wrote that the Piankashaws were reduced in numbers to about 25-30 warriors,66 or a total of 100-120 souls.
In 1803 there was another reference made to Kickapoo Indians on the Vermilion River.67 Also, on July 10, 1804, one Michael Brouillet received a trading license to trade with the Kickapoos at their towns on the Vermilion River.68
In the Treaty of Grouseland of August 21, 1805 (7 Stat. 91) the United States agreed to consider the Miamis, Eel Rivers, and Weas as joint owners of the country on the Wabash and its waters above the Vincennes tract, provided that nothing in
64. Idem.
65. See also p. 138, this Report.
66. Dawson, A Historical Narrative, p. 19; Dft. Ex. 125.
67. Ibid., p. 40; Dft. Ex. 125.
68. Indiana Historical Collections, vol. 7, pp. 102-103; Dft. Ex. 97.
389 |
the agreement
shall in any manner
weaken or destroy any claim which the Kickapoos,
who are not represented at this treaty, may have to the country they now
occupy on the Vermillion river. (7 Stat. 91:92).
In July or August of 1806 Harrison sent an emissary of peace to the Kickapoos
of the Vermilion River and to the Kickapoos in the prairies to the west.69
In 1807 Harrison sent a message to ''the Chiefs of the Illinois Kickapoos
through the Chief of that Nation who resides on the Vermilion."70
The Treaty of Fort Wayne of September 30, 1809 (7 Stat. 113) specifically stated that Kickapoos were living on the Vermilion River and contained a proviso that they would have to agree to the cession of Royce Area 73, which lay along the Wabash south of the Vermilion River, before this cession became valid.71 Then Harrison held a treaty with the Kickapoos subsequent to the Treaty of Fort Wayne, on December 9, 1809 (7 Stat. 117) the Kickapoos not only assented to the cession of Royce Area 73, but also ceded Royce Area 74, which contained their village on the Vermilion River. Harrison had tried to have the region now referred to as Royce Area 74 included in Royce Area 73 cession of the treaty of Fort Wayne of 1809, but the Miamis, Eel Rivers, Delawares, and Potawatomis refused to include it, because it contained the Kickapoo village.72
69. Dawson, A Historical Narrative, p. 87;
Dft. Ex.
125.
70. Indiana Historical Collection, vol. 7, p. 214; Dft. Ex. 97.
71. 7 Stat. 113:115. Royce, Indian Land Cessions, Map, Indiana, Pl. 19.
72. Harrison to the Secretary of War, Vincennes, December 10, 1809; Dft. Ex. 119.
390 |
Conclusions. Our review of the documentary materials shows that Piankashaw Indian exclusively used and occupied Royce Area 74 from about 1725 up to about the end of 1792.
In December of 1793 Kickapoo refugees from the vicinity of Ouiatanon were hunting (?) at the mouth of the Vermilion River, but in the summer of 1795 the old village there was reported deserted.
From 1803 through December, 1809 Kickapoos lived on the Vermilion River, within Royce Area 74, and are the only group we know of who were living there during this late period (1803-1809).
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