CHAPTER
THREE
WHITE WORLD
When the French in Canada founded their first permanent colony, Quebec, in 1608, the fur trade was already an established enterprise around the Gulf of Saint Lawrence for at least sixty years. The pelts obtained from the Indians, especially beaver, was their main occupation.
First Quebec Settlement, 1608
From Champlain’s The Voyages 1613 National Library of Canada image from
the Virtual Museum of New France
As
a result of this trade, the Redman was fast becoming dependent upon the basic
essentials that were supplied by the traders, such as kettles and
hatchets. The goodwill generated by
this trade enabled the French to learn woodland skills. It contributed to their knowledge of winter
snowshoe traveling, the making and use of birch bark canoes, and even supplied
the native guides to man them. The
English, on the other hand, were generally intolerant of the Indians, seeking
to destroy the Redman's presence around their settlements whenever
possible. The Indian was in turn
strengthened and weakened through his white encounters.
It was in this
timeframe that the Great League (or Five Nations
Iroquois) shaped the crucial chapter in the story of colonial North
America. It came about this way:
The French were good friends with the Huron for some time. The founder of present day Quebec, Samuel de Champlain, who was then a lieutenant of the owner of a French fur trade monopoly started out with a Huron war party toward the lake that now bears his name. Here the group engaged a rival war party of Iroquois and Champlain managed to win the battle for the Huron, single-handedly, against the small party of the Huron's hated enemies.
Samuel de Champlain
(1567-1635)
Samuel killed two and wounded the third member of the
hostile band, despite their wearing arrow-proof body armor of plaited
sticks. The thunder, lightning and
smoke from his blunderbus would echo down the corridors of time for the next
hundred and fifty years. The enemy war
party had been Mohawk and for this the Iroquois nursed a deadly animosity
toward the French.
By
the year 1614, the Dutch had built a trading post near modern-day Albany, on
the Hudson River. These interlopers
were likewise interested in securing the services of the region's Indian tribes
as possible district jobbers. The next
quarter of a century would witness the Iroquoian Confederacy acting as fur
salesmen to procure guns from the Dutch or any other European power who was
willing to trade with them.
As
the spheres of influence expanded, clear areas of contention and conflict came
into being between the Indians and the French, Swedish, Dutch and English
interests. The Indian Nations were
being sucked into this maelstrom mainly because of their trade with the
Europeans. There were still tribes far
enough from the settlements to remain, for the time being, reasonably
independent. Two distinct frontiers had
developed by this time; one Indian- versus-Indian, the other stimulated by
European interference. It was from
these two frontiers that the combined winds reached gale proportions; affecting
and determining the course of Early North American history.
The
Indian-versus-Indian frontier centered on competition among the tribes to
secure the best trade agreements for themselves and control prime fur
country. The latter frontier was
directly influenced by the increasing white population infringement on their
tribal lands and the resulting decline of game animals from over-hunting.
Replica of a Blunderbus
The
Great League played the determining role in shaping this Indian-versus-Indian
conflict in the northeast region. Their
strategic location, coupled with the fact that they traded with whomever
offered the best deal, gave European powers justifiable reasons to doubt where
their loyalty lay.
During the first half of the 1600's, the Iroquois were in
constant agitation with their neighbors to the north and west, the Montagnais,
Huron and the long established river traders--the Ottawas. Several attempts to form a confederacy with
the Great League were rebuffed by the Huron, because of French interference.
The
Huron Nation traded exclusively with New France channeling in whole canoe
fleets of prime pelts taken from the country to the west and north of the Great
Lakes. The French were not about to
have this setup jeopardized, if they could prevent it, and they feared more to
lose it to the independent Iroquois.
French
interests always managed to stir up anti-Iroquois sentiment whenever required
through their missionaries. The Huron
were of Iroquoian stock but the missionaries always differentiated between the
two, calling the Huron the 'good
Iroquois' and the Great League 'those
demons, tigers or wolves'.
Epidemics related to their white contact and the constant feuding with
their neighbors took a heavy toll on the Huron Nation. From an estimated population of 30,000 in
the 1630's they declined to about 10,000 by the 1650's.
The
Great League capitalized on the Huron's rapid decline. In 1648 Mohawk and Seneca warparties broke
the truce established between them and the Huron; because of inter-League
tribal politics. The Iroquoian
statesman-councilor Skandawati, Onondaga, invoked the ultimate diplomatic
protest of killing himself over this matter.
Still the breach of truce prevailed.
In
the winter of 1648-49, 1,000+ warriors of the combined Mohawk and Seneca
Nations invaded the heartland of the Huron, camping in the vicinity of Georgian
Bay and somewhat north of modern day Toronto, Canada. Living off the land without the Huron even suspecting their
presence as they prepared for a massive strike.
In
two days of heavy hand-to-hand combat two Huron villages were over-run and
plundered by the intruders before being repulsed from the third and vanishing
into the woods with their captives and loot. Panic spread like wildfire throughout the Huron Nation, which had
not suffered a serious defeat, causing most of the tribesmen to flee in the
dead of winter. By winter's end many
had died from exposure and starvation, while some of the survivors would continue
to flee for years.
The
Age of the mighty Huron Confederacy, which had outnumbered in population nearly
three-to-one over the Iroquoian Confederacy, was over. The refugees would later find homes among
their conquerors, the neutral tribes, or the Erie Nation. Others scattered to the four winds calling
themselves what had been their name for their confederacy--the Wendat, becoming
the Wyandot, in our literature. The
feelings of utter defeat, where no serious defeat was present, sent shock waves
of panic rippling throughout the Indian world.
Tribes boarding the Great League were thrown into turmoil which the
League interpreted as hostility and anti-Iroquoian agitation.
Part of the Iroquoian Confederacy to the southwest of the
Huron was referred to as the Neutral Nations by the French because of the
un-involvement in the fracas of the Mohawk-Seneca expedition against the
Huron. These tribes met their doom at
the hands of the League by 1651. The
next Iroquoian Nation--the Erie, were attacked by the Great League in
1653. A counter-attack against the Erie
followed the next summer taking by storm an important Erie village; but two
more years were required before this Nation was vanquished by the "Tree of
Peace".
Early in 1653, Native
conflicts paralyzed the trade. According to Jesuit missionary François-Joseph Le
Mercier, New France was on the verge of bankruptcy:
". . .At no time in the past were the beavers
more plentiful in our lakes and rivers and more scarce in the country's stores
[...] The war against the Iroquois has exhausted all the sources [...] the
Huron flotillas have ceased to come for the trade; the Algonquin are
depopulated and the remote Nations have withdrawn even further in fear of the
Iroquois. The Montréal store has not purchased a single beaver from the Natives
in the past year. At Trois-Rivières, the few Natives that came were employed to
defend the place where the enemy is expected. The store in Québec is the image
of poverty . . ."
It
was during the war between the Iroquois and the Erie that the French and Great
League honored a truce. When this war
between the two Indian Nations ended, the French, broke the pact and launched a
full scale military invasion of the Iroquoian Confederacy's territory. They burned villages and cut a wide swath of
devastation, rivaling everything the League had done to their neighbors. It should have been sufficient to destroy any
Indian nation; but it wasn't. Mainly
because of the lightly populated country.
The Great League did manage to make an enforced peace with the French.
The
league was now faced with wolf-pack attacks from it's neighbors--those still
able to fight them from the north and west.
A new threat now loomed on the horizon to the south taking the shape of
the Delaware, who themselves had just given a beating to the Seneca. The Susquehanna united with the Delaware and
both Indian Nations were preparing to obliterate the Great League from the face
of the earth.
Fate intervened.
The
Susquehanna lost large numbers of their population from a sudden epidemic. English settlers quickly took advantage of
the situation. Over the objections of
the English colonial governments of Maryland and Virginia and the policies
which favored the Susquehanna Nation.
The settlers attacked the crippled tribe. Whatever was left of the Susquehanna was destroyed or absorbed
into the Great League without a major confrontation by 1675.
In
the arena of conflict the Iroquoian Great League now stood alone in blocking
the European invaders and holding the key to the interior of the North American
continent. The next two decades would see the French and English with their
Indian auxiliaries wearing away at this barrier. Iroquoian crops and villages were burned and destroyed mainly by
the French but the Indian political structure somehow managed to remain
intact. The League was, because of this
political unity, quite capable of delivering heavy reprisal raids and
frequently did.
In
1640, British traders from New England attempted to lure the Mohawk from the
Dutch by selling them firearms(violation of British law). The Dutch responded
by providing guns and ammunition in any amounts the Iroquois demanded, and the
Iroquois suddenly were the best-armed military force in North America. A
dramatic escalation of violence that was later called the Beaver Wars followed.
In
the middle 1600's, French policy had become crystallized into holding the
country west of the Appalachian Mountains; from New Orleans to Quebec. Toward this region the English frontier was
slowly but constantly advancing. In
every colonial scheme to penetrate the continent's interior, the Iroquoian
Confederacy had to be taken into account.
By this time the Dutch and Swedish interests were eliminated from the
arena. The contention and conflict now
centered between the French, Great League and British interests.
The repercussions from this three-way struggle were sending shockwaves rippling across the face of the continent's interior. Bands of Huron and Ottawa migrated westward to the upper Mississippi, fought the Sioux and were repelled and driven
French coureurs-de-bois
back east. They joined and divided again among
themselves while others started villages at, or near, the trading posts of the
Great Lakes region. More and more bands
formed their villages around forts or end-of-the-world French trading
towns. These were settlements that were
Indian in everything but language.
The
French coureurs-de-bois(voyageurs) were at home
in the network of lakes and streams in the interior of the North American
continent and it was relatively easy to keep communications open from New
Orleans to Detroit. No attempt was made
to colonize this region, but the French missionaries tried to induce the
Indians to live in peace with one another.
The French were careful in providing an outlet for the Redman's raiding forays by channeling these drives against the English frontier settlements and English Indian allies. When the French did attempt to colonize, as in eastern Canada or in Louisiana, they were no different than their English rivals. They, too, would enter into wars of extermination against the Redman. Their success in holding the upper Mississippi and Ohio regions as long as they did was mainly because they did not form extensive settlements and shared a common enemy with the Indians: the western thrust of the English frontier. It should be pointed out that the French were weakest in the center, along the Ohio River, just the very place the British frontier was to strike the hardest.
Within a few years the Iroquois had driven the Algonquin from the lower Ottawa River and cut the trade route to the west. The French established a new post at Montreal to shorten the distance to the Great Lakes, but with Iroquois war parties in the Ottawa Valley, only large canoe convoys were able to fight their way past. By 1645 the French had been forced to sign a peace with the Mohawk which required them to remain neutral in future wars between the Huron and Iroquois.
Although
isolated, the Huron continued to trade with the French and deny the Iroquois
permission to enter their territory. After two years of diplomacy failed to
resolve this problem, the Iroquois attacked the Huron homeland. The death blow
came in March, 1649 when in a series of coordinated attacks, 2,000 Iroquois
warriors overran and destroyed the Huron Confederacy.
After
the Huron Nation had collapsed the Neutral nations fell during 1651 followed by
the Erie (1653-56). Very few escaped
death or capture by the Iroquois. A few
Tionontati and Huron fled west to the Ottawa villages at Mackinac, and then to
Green Bay. In time these
Iroquoian-speaking refugees would merge to become the Wyandot and revive the
French fur trade, but for the moment, all was lost.
The
defeat of the French allies brought no relief to the tribes in lower
Michigan. The Iroquois swept into the
peninsula and finished the task of driving them from their homes. By the late 1650s, 20,000 battered and
disorganized refugees had crowded into northern Wisconsin and were overwhelming
its resources. Many farming tribes
found it difficult to grow corn this far north, and facing starvation, they
were fighting among themselves for hunting territory.
In
the constant turmoil which prevailed, the Sac were drawn into a loose alliance
with the villages near Green Bay with their mixed populations of Fox,
Potawatomi, Menominee, Ottawa, Huron, Winnebago,
Noquet, Miami, and Mascouten. Iroquois war
parties had followed the Wyandot west and were threatening everyone, but there
were also frequent skirmishes between the Green Bay tribes and the Ojibwe to
the north and the Dakota (Santee or Woodland Sioux) in the west.
S T U R G E O N W A R
The
Sturgeon War erupted in the area in the 1660s after a Menominee village at the
mouth of a river erected a series of fish weirs which prevented sturgeon from
reaching the Ojibwe villages upstream. After the Menominee refused to remove
them, the Ojibwe attacked and destroyed both the weirs and village. The
survivors fled to their relatives at Green Bay who called on the Sac, Fox,
Potawatomi, and others to help them against the Ojibwe, and the fighting
expanded well-beyond the original antagonists.
The Fox participated in this war, but in general, they remained aloof from other tribes. Their strongest ties at this time were with the Kickapoo and Mascouten in warfare with the Illinois to the south, but in northern Wisconsin, they became involved in three-way struggle with the Ojibwe and Dakota for control of the St. Croix River Valley.
The
destruction of the Huron Confederacy in 1649 had left the French fur trade in
shambles. In danger themselves of being
overrun, the French had not intervened, and when the western Iroquois offered
peace in 1653 so they could attack the Erie, the French jumped at this
chance.
To
protect this fragile truce, the French halted their travel to the Great Lakes,
but to keep their fur trade alive, they continued to invite their old trading
partners to bring their furs to Montreal. truce, the French halted their travel
to the Great Lakes, but to keep their fur trade alive, they continued to invite
their old trading partners to bring their furs to Montreal.
A Indian Fishing
Wier
With
Iroquois war parties haunting the entire Ottawa River Valley, this was an
extremely dangerous undertaking, but the Ottawa and Wyandot (Huron-Tionontati) were willing to try and recruited
Ojibwe warriors to help them in forcing their way to Montreal. The Iroquois attempted to stop this by going
after the source. Their war parties
journeyed to Wisconsin and began attacking just about anyone supplying fur to
the French through the Ottawa and Wyandot.
Under constant attack and with beaver dwindling near Green Bay, the
Wyandot left in 1658 and moved inland to Lake Pepin on the Mississippi River.
Most
of the Ottawa also left but went to the south shore of Lake Superior at
Keweenaw and Chequamegon (Ashland, Wisconsin)
which provided them with better access for trade with the Cree to the
north. That same year, the French peace
with the Iroquois ended with the murder of a Jesuit ambassador. Seeing this as
an opportunity to renew trade in Great Lakes, Pierre Radisson, Médart Chouart
des Groseilliers, and Father Réné Ménard ignored the official ban on travel and
accompanied the Wyandot on their return journey from Montreal. Radisson and
Groseilliers reached the west end of Lake Superior and then traveled overland to
trade with the Dakota.
The
French government showed its gratitude for their effort by arresting them on
their return to Quebec in 1660, but the Dakota meanwhile had become aware of
the value of beaver and would no longer tolerate the Wyandot presence on Lake
Pepin, and their threats during 1661 forced the Wyandot to relocate north to
Lake Superior near the Ottawa at Chequamegon.
This concentration of beaver-hunting refugees did not please the Dakota
either, and with a fourth competitor added to the contest, the three-way
struggle in western Wisconsin became increasing violent.
Meanwhile,
the French had tired of living under the constant threat of annihilation by the
Iroquois, and the king assumed control of Canada and sent a regiment of
soldiers to Quebec in 1664 to deal with them. The following year, Nicholas
Perot, Father Claude-Jean Allouez, and six other Frenchmen accompanied 400
Ottawa and Wyandot on their return to Green Bay. Although the Jesuits had
learned of the Fox and the Sac as early as 1640, actual contact did not occur
until Allouez met them in Wisconsin during 1666.
At
first, the Sac were wary of the "blackrobe," whom they suspected of
witchcraft, but relations improved. The
Fox were hostile from the onset and remained that way. The French and their fur trade had brought
nothing but grief so far, and the previous winter, the Seneca (Iroquois) had attacked a number of Fox villages
killing 70 women and children and dragging 30 prisoners away to an uncertain
fate. The Fox did not want the French
in Wisconsin and, having been on the receiving end of French weapons before,
they especially did not want them trading with the Dakota and Ojibwe.
By
1667 attacks by French soldiers on villages in the Iroquois homeland had
produced a peace which extended to French allies and trading partners in the
western Great Lakes. It lasted until
1680 and bought much needed relief for the refugee tribes. The conditions the French discovered when
they came to Wisconsin were appalling: warfare, epidemic, and near starvation
--- none of which were conducive for traade or religious conversion.
Although
intending to line their pockets and fill their churches, the French used their
control over trade goods to perform a service for Wisconsin tribes and began
acting as mediators to resolve intertribal disputes and end the warfare. Some
of their most notable successes are attributed to Daniel DeLhut (Duluth) who came to Sault Ste. Marie during
1678. Two years later DeLhut arranged a
truce between the Saulteur Ojibwe and the Dakota which endured for several
years.
Tensions
along the south shore of Lake Superior eased after Father Jacques Marquette
convinced the Ottawa and Wyandot to leave and move east to his new mission at
St. Ignace. Unfortunately, Delhut's
agreement had not included the Fox or Keweenaw Ojibwe who continued fighting
the Dakota, but it did produce unusual allies. The Fox and Keweenaw joined
forces to defeat a large Dakota war party, while the Saulteur Ojibwe allied
with the Dakota against the Fox.
The
French succeeded in ending most infighting between the refugees in Wisconsin,
but with the exception of the Saulteur Ojibwe, virtually all still considered
the Dakota as enemies. Serious problems
developed when French traders began visiting the Dakota villages to trade. The
Sac murdered two Jesuit donné and joined a Potawatomi conspiracy at Green Bay
to form an anti-French alliance. Meanwhile, the Menominee and Ojibwe of Chief
Achiganaga robbed and killed two French traders enroute to the Dakota.
DeLhut
decided to hold a European-style trial for Chief Achiganaga and the other
offenders, but he faced a revolt by several important tribes if the punishment
was too severe. In the end, DeLhut was
able to execute only one Menominee—from
a small tribe. The Beaver Wars had resumed in 1680 with Iroquois attacks
against the Illinois, and the French could not afford to offend an important
ally like the Ojibwe. With the
exception of an attack at Mackinac in 1683, the fighting during the next four
years was mainly to the south.
The
Illinois took a terrible beating, but in 1684 the Iroquois failed in their
attempt to take Fort St. Louis at Starved Rock on the upper Illinois River, a
defeat considered to be the turning point of the Beaver Wars. The French afterwards attempted to organize
an alliance of the Great Lakes Algonquin against the Iroquois, but its first
offensive was such a catastrophe that Joseph La Barre, the governor of Canada,
signed a treaty with the Iroquois conceding most of Illinois.
He
was replaced by Jacques-Rene Denonville who promptly renounced La Barre's
treaty, built new forts, strengthened old ones, and provided guns to Algonquin
allies. Coinciding with the King
William's War between Britain and France (1688-97), Denonville's new alliance
took the offensive in 1687 and began driving the Iroquois back across the Great
Lakes towards New York. Both Fox and
Sac warriors took part, but Fox participation was less than the French
expected. Instead of fighting the Iroquois with the guns they were given, the
Fox used them in western Wisconsin against the Dakota and Ojibwe.
Even
though they were well-armed, the Fox were hard-pressed and had managed to
defeat a Dakota-Ojibwe war party in 1683 only with heavy losses to themselves.
The French and Fox had traded since 1667, but relations were still
antagonistic. The Fox tolerated the
French so long as they provided firearms, but they remained hostile and
distant. The French viewed the Fox as
troublemakers and laggards in the war against the Iroquois.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
FRENCH FORTS IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY
1701-1763
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
1.
FORT ASCENSION—(ca.1757-1759),
Metropolis, IL (name changed to Fort
Massaic in 1759)
2.
FORT BEAUHARNOIS—(ca.??),
near Lake Pepin, on the Mississippi River
3.
FORT CREVECOEUR—(ca.1730-?),
Creve Coeur, IL—State Historic Park (fort
was also called FORT LEWIS)
4.
FORT de BUADE—(ca.??),
across the straits from FORT MICHILIMACKINAC
5.
FORT de CHARTRES—(ca.1719-1761),
Prairie du Rocher, IL
6.
FORT de RENARDS—(ca.??),
in IL
7.
FORT KASKASKIA—(ca.1756-1766),
Kaskaskia, IL
8.
FORT LA BAYA—(ca.??),
Green Bay, WI
9.
FORT LA JONQUIÉRE—(ca.1750-1754), on the west side of
Lake Pepin, near
Frontenac, MN
10. FORT MIAMI—(ca.1719-1761), Miami, IN
11. FORT MICHILIMACKINAC—(ca.1718-1760), Mackinaw, MI
12. FORT OUIATENON—(ca.1717-1761), West Lafayette, IN
13. FORT PIMITOUI—(ca.??), on the Illinois River
14. FORT PONTCHARTRAIN—(ca.1701-1761), Detroit, MI
15. FORT SANDESKI—(ca.1755-?), near Sandusky, OH
16. FORT STE. ANTOINE—(ca.??), near Lake Pepin, WI on the Mississippi River
17. FORT STE. FRANCIS—(ca.1717-1760), Green Bay, WI
18. FORT STE. JOSEPH—(ca.1755-1761), Niles, MI
19. FORT STE. XAVIER—(ca.??), near Green Bay, WI
20. FORT TAMARANS—(ca.1755-?), at or near East St. Louis, IL
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Since the fighting along the St. Croix was tying up Ojibwe warriors, the French arranged a truce between the Fox and Ojibwe in 1685. This lasted for five years until warfare renewed over hunting territory along the upper Mississippi between the Dakota and an alliance of the Fox, Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Kickapoo and Mascouten.
The
Algonquin tribes harassed French traders to keep them from supplying the
Dakota, but the Fox went beyond normal bounds when they began charging tolls to
pass through their territory. This
practice exasperated Nicolas Perot, the French commandant at La Baye (Green Bay), and he asked the Ojibwe in 1690 to make
the Fox stop. This was all the
encouragement needed. Allied with the
Dakota, the Ojibwe drove the Fox from the upper St. Croix River while a
French-Ojibwe expedition attacked the Fox village at the Fox Portage forcing
its abandonment.
After
the 1690s the Iroquois were on the defensive and near defeat. The war between
Britain and France had ended in 1697 with the Treaty of Ryswick, but the French
were unable to convince the Algonquin alliance to make peace with the Iroquois
until 1701. In the meantime, they were
losing their authority over their allies because, oddly enough, the fur trade
had become too successful.
As
victory followed victory, the French and their allies advanced across the Great
Lakes seizing most of the best beaver producing areas. Fur flowed east to Montreal in unprecedented
amounts creating a glut of beaver on the European market and the price
dropped. As profits plunged, the French
monarchy decided the time had come to heed Jesuit protests about the corruption
the fur trade was creating among Native Americans and suspended the fur trade
in the Great Lakes in 1696. Since trade
was what bound the alliance together, French authority crumpled.
This
was immediately apparent in the inability of the French to effect a truce along
the upper Mississippi. Shortages and
higher prices for trade goods combined with abuse by Coureurs de Bois (unlicensed traders) added to the crisis. French traders were robbed and murdered at
an alarming rate, and even Nicholas Perot found himself tied to a Mascouten
torture stake ready for burning. He was
saved by the Kickapoo but soon went back to Quebec and never returned to the
Great Lakes.
Besides
their continuing war with the Dakota, the Fox joined with the Winnebago during
this time to drive the Kaskaskia (Illinois) from southern Wisconsin
(1695-1700), and even the Sac managed to kill a French trader who was living
among the Dakota. Meanwhile, the
alliance became increasingly concerned the French would abandon them to make a
separate peace with the Iroquois.
The
French never did, but their allies had good reason to be suspicious. Even as they were going down in defeat, the
Iroquois sensed the problems the French trade suspension had created and
offered peace with access to British traders if the Ottawa would break with the
alliance. The Ottawa refused, but after
the peace in 1701, the lure of British trade (higher
quality and cheaper than French goods) proved irresistible.
Ottawa
and Ojibwe traders began taking their furs to Albany rather than Montreal. Other French allies followed, and the
Iroquois came closer to destroying the French with economic competition than
they had ever managed by warfare. After
several pleas to Paris, the French in Canada were finally able to convince
their government to allow a single trading post at Detroit to retain the loyalty
of the Great Lakes tribes. Responsibility
for this was given to Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac.
Cadillac built Fort Pontchartrain at Detroit in July, 1701 and
immediately invited the Ottawa and Wyandot to settle nearby. Queen Anne's War (1701-13) between Britain
and France began that year, but it had little effect in the Great Lakes. British and Iroquois traders continued
making inroads, and to keep French allies from trading with them, Cadillac
asked other tribes to come to Detroit.
The
result was exactly as it had been 50-years previous in northern Wisconsin--too
many tribes and too few resources. Even
the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Wyandot (long-time friends) began quarreling over
territory, and in 1706 the Ottawa and Miami fought a brief war over this same
issue.
Rather
than sensing this as a warning, Cadillac kept inviting more tribes. Eventually, 6,000 Ojibwe, Wyandot, Ottawa,
Potawatomi, Miami, Illinois, Osage, and Missouria were living near
Detroit. The only thing positive about
the situation was the overcrowding in Wisconsin ended when many of the refugee
tribes left. The final straw was added
to this tense situation in 1710 when Cadillac invited the Fox. About 1,000 Fox accepted his invitation and
came east bringing with them a large number of their Mascouten and Kickapoo
allies.
Returning
to their original homeland, the Fox found it overrun with other French allies
who were not pleased to see them. Their
feelings about this can only be imagined, but the Fox apparently were not
reluctant to claim special privileges or tell the other tribes who originally
owned the area around Detroit. The
Ottawa, Huron, Peoria, Potawatomi, and Miami were in no mood to listen to this
and began pressing the French to send the Fox and their allies back to Wisconsin.
Cadillac ignored this but made no attempt to assign territories. As a result, several skirmishes occurred between the Fox and other French allies; meanwhile, the French heard rumors the Fox were negotiating with Iroquois for permission to trade with the British. In 1711 Cadillac was called back to Quebec for a meeting and left Joseph Dubuisson in charge at Fort Pontchartrain.
In
his absence, the Potawatomi and Ottawa decided to solve the Fox problem on
their own and, in the spring of 1712, attacked a Mascouten hunting party near
the headwaters of the St. Joseph River in southern Michigan. The Mascouten fled
east to their Fox allies near Detroit.
As the Fox prepared to retaliate, Dubuisson attempted to stop them, and
at this point, the Fox had just about enough from the French.
F I R S T F O X
W A R ( 1 7 1 2 – 1 7 1 6 )
The
First Fox War began when Fox, Kickapoo, and Mascouten attacked Fort
Pontchartrain on May 13th. The initial assault failed and was followed by a
siege. With over 300 well-armed
warriors pitted against 20 French soldiers inside a fort with crumbling walls,
there is good reason to ask if the Fox intended to kill the French or just
scare them. In any case, a relief party
of Wyandot, Ottawa, Potawatomi and Mississauga (Ojibwe)
arrived and fell upon the Fox from behind.
In
the slaughter which followed, more than 1,000 Fox, Kickapoo, and Mascouten were
killed. Only 100 of the Fox escaped to find refuge with the Sac(English traders called them Squawkies). Otherwise, only a few Fox returned to
Wisconsin with the Kickapoo and Mascouten. They joined the Fox who had remained
behind and made the French and their allies pay dearly for the massacre at
Detroit.
The
Fur Wars were essentially a civil
war between members of the French alliance and an indication of how much the
coalition had fallen apart after the restriction of French trade. The Iroquois must have watched with great
amusement as their enemies fought each other.
The Fox, Kickapoo, and Mascouten killed French traders and attacked
their native allies, but the French were unable to assemble a large enough
force to retaliate. It was first
necessary to repair their alliance, and this took almost three years.
The
most difficult task facing the French in Canada was to convince Paris to revive
the fur trade in the Great Lakes, but permission was not received until after
the death of Louis XIV in 1715.
Coureurs de Bois were legalized and 25 trading permits issued, and this
allowed the French to mediate disputes between the Ojibwe and Green Bay tribes
and arrange peace between the Illinois and Miami. This accomplished, the French
were ready to deal with the Fox.
A
French-Potawatomi expedition attacked the Kickapoo and Mascouten in 1715 and
forced them to make a separate peace.
Even without allies, the Fox refused to quit and gathered into a
fortified village in southern Wisconsin.
Louis de Louvigny arrived with a large number of Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and
Ottawa warriors in 1716 and laid siege (during which
the Sac brought food to the Fox), but the French and their allies were
finally forced to withdraw. Soon
afterwards, the frustrated French offered peace, and the Fox accepted,
officially ending the First Fox War. However, this was more a temporary truce
than a peace, since both sides remained bitter and distrustful of each other.
Fort
Michilimackinac
(restoration photograph)
To meet British competition, the French reoccupied old posts and
opened new ones. The more important
included: Michilimackinac, La Baye, Miamis, Ouiatenon, Chequamegon (La Pointe), St. Joseph, Pimitoui, Niagara, De Chartres, and Vincennes (Au Post). but the damage was done.
In 1727 the British opened a post in the Iroquois homeland at Oswego to
shorten the distance Great Lakes tribes had to travel for trade. The following year 80% of the beaver on the
Albany market came from French allies in the Great Lakes.
Peace between the Fox and French in 1716 did not stop the fighting
between the Fox and Peoria Nations. The
Peoria had tortured the Fox prisoners they had captured at Detroit in 1712, and
the Fox afterwards gave similar mistreatment to Peoria prisoners. In 1716 the Peoria refused to return their
Fox prisoners, and French attempts to mediate failed. War between the Fox and Peoria renewed and was complicated by
encroachments by the Fox, Kickapoo, Winnebago, and Mascouten when they began
coming south from Wisconsin to hunt buffalo on the northern Illinois prairies
without permission from the Illinois.
In 1722 the Illinois expressed their displeasure with this when
they captured Minchilay, the nephew of the Fox chief Oushala, and burned him
alive. This drew the Kickapoo,
Mascouten, and Winnebago into the war as Fox allies during 1724. The Peoria took refuge at their fortress at
Starved Rock (Utica,
Illinois) and
asked the French to intervene. A relief
expedition was sent from Fort de Chartres, but the Fox and their allies
withdrew before it arrived leaving behind over 100 of their dead.
At the same time west of the Mississippi, the Fox had joined with
the Iowa to fight the Osage, Otoe, and Missouria which disrupted the developing
French fur trade along the Missouri River.
The French held councils during 1723 with the Kansa, Pawnee, Comanche, Nakota (Yankton Sioux),
Osage, Missouria, Otoe, Iowa, Fox, and Dakota.
This brought some peace for the tribes on the Missouri River, but
fighting erupted along the Des Moines River in southeast Iowa between the Fox
and Iowa and the Osage and Missouria.
The councils had a result which the French never intended.
To fight all of their enemies, the Fox needed more allies, and
they did this by forming an alliance with the Dakota against the Illinois. After almost 70 years of constant warfare
between them, this sudden alliance of the Fox and Dakota would have made anyone
suspicious, but the French needed little help in this regard. They were becoming convinced the Fox could
not possibly be creating this much trouble on their own initiative and were
probably part of a British plot to form a secret alliance directed against
themselves.
The French decided that drastic measures would be necessary to
deal with the Fox, and most of their allies agreed with them. Besides the Illinois, they had the support
of the Mackinac Ojibwe, who were skirmishing with the Fox in northern Wisconsin
and upper Michigan, and the Detroit Tribes (Wyandot, Ottawa, Saginaw Ojibwe, Mississauga, and Potawatomi). As
they gathered their allies in preparation for war, a series of meetings were
held about the "Fox problem."
One suggestion was to relocate the Fox at Detroit where the French
garrison could watch them. For obvious
reasons, this met with a very cool reception from Detroit tribes.
Meanwhile, the French in Illinois sent an expedition with 20
soldiers and 500 Illini warriors to attack the Fox in 1726, but the Fox
anticipated its approach and withdrew.
The following year, the French made their first proposals of
genocide.
Following a war of extermination, any Fox who survived would be
sold as slaves to the West Indies. No
decision was made at the time. Although
unsure about extermination(not
an official policy until it was approved by the king in 1732), the French had decided on war. They first took the precaution of using
diplomacy to isolate the Fox from their allies. The Fox were aware of this effort but could do little about
it. The Menominee refused the Fox
request for an alliance and told them that in the event of war they would side
with the French. The power of French
trade goods caused the Dakota, Winnebago, and Iowa to withdraw their support,
and the French even won a reluctant agreement from the Sac near Green Bay.
S E C O N D F O X
W A R ( 1 7 2 8 – 1 7 3 7 )
At the beginning of the Second Fox War, only the Kickapoo
and Mascouten stood with the Fox.
Despite this, the French expedition sent against them under Sieur de
Lignery was unsuccessful, but afterwards the Fox managed to antagonize the few
friends they had. Following an argument
about the refusal of the Kickapoo and Mascouten to kill the French prisoners
they were holding, the Fox stalked out of the meeting and murdered a Kickapoo
and Mascouten on their way home.
Furious, the Kickapoo and Mascouten went over to the French in 1729.
Without
the protection of allies, the Fox were battered from all sides. During the
winter of 1729, a combined Winnebago, Menominee, Ojibwe war party attacked a
Fox hunting village killing at least 80 warriors and capturing some 70 women
and children. The Fox retaliated by
besieging the Winnebago fort on the Fox River, but the attack was abandoned
after the arrival of a relief force of French and Menominee warriors from Green
Bay. By the summer of 1730, about 1,000
of the Fox had decided to leave Wisconsin and accept an offer of sanctuary
received from the Seneca (Iroquois) in New
York. But to get there, they had to
pass through territory controlled by the Illinois. In a very uncharacteristic manner for them, the Fox actually sent
an envoy to the Illinois to ask their permission to pass, but a quarrel
developed. Perhaps as their way of
saying farewell, the Fox captured the nephew of a Cahokia chief near Starved
Rock and burned him at the stake. Angry
Illinois warriors pursued the Fox column and caught them on the open prairie
east of present-day Bloomington, Illinois.
The
Fox retreated and built a rude fort to protect their women and children. It would probably have been best if they had
kept going. The Illinois surrounded
them and sent for help, and the French and their allies descended on the Fox
fort from all directions. St. Ange
arrived in August from Fort de Chartres with 100 French and 400 Cahokia,
Peoria, and Missouria. De Villiers
brought 200 Kickapoo, Mascouten, and Potawatomi, while Reaume came from St.
Joseph (Michigan) with 400 Sac, Potawatomi, and Miami. In September Piankashaw and Wea warriors led
by de Noyelle arrived from a Miami post with instructions from the Governor of
Canada that no peace was to be made with Fox.
Apparently
some Sac ignored this order and provided the Fox with food, but it was not
enough. Surrounded by over 1,400
warriors, the Fox fought off everything, but their food and water gave out. They began throwing their children out of the
fort, telling their enemies to eat them.
Many apparently were adopted by other tribes, but the fate of their
parents was far worse. After 23 days, a
thunderstorm struck on the night of September 8th, and the Fox took advantage
of this to break out and flee. They did
not make it. The French and their
allies caught up and killed between 600 and 800 of them. There were no prisoners.
Extract of a Letter from Gilles Hocquart to the
French Minister(January 15, 1731) Hocquart in: Wisconsin Historical Collections, XVII, pp. 129-130.
(page 129)I have no doubt, Monseigneur, that you have learned,
by way of the Mississipi of the defeat of the Renard savages that happened on
September 9th last, in a Plain situated between the River Wabache and the River
of the Illinois, About 60 Leagues to the south of The Extremity or foot of Lake
Michigan, to The East South East of le Rocher in the Illinois Country. 150
French both from Louisiana and from Canada, and (page 130) many savage Tribes, to the number of 8 or
900 men, stopped them, blockaded them in their fort and compelled them to issue
from it through press of hunger; And they pursued them, killing 200 warriors;
200 women or Children met the same fate, and the remainder to the number of 4
or 500, also women and Children, were made Slaves and scattered among all the
Nations. Messieurs de Villiers, the Commandant at the River St Joseph; des
Noyelles, the commandant among the Miamis; and Messieurs de St. Ange, Officers
in Louisiana, behaved with all the bravery and Prudence that could be expected
of Them. Monsieur de Villiers, Lieutenant of the Troops, who was the senior
officer, had the Command of this Expedition. We Were greatly mortified,
Monseigneur, at not being the first to convey Information of this happy success
to you. Monsieur the general had dispatched the Sieur Villiers, the younger,
who was present in The action, to convey The news to you; But The incident that
happened to the Ship, le Beauharnois, Prevented His doing so.
I have the honor to send you by this ship,
Duplicates of several of my Letters, the first whereof relates to Monsieur de
Lignery's affair.
I remain with very profound respect, Monseigneur,
Your very humble and very obedient Servant,
HOCQUART
QUEBEC, January 15th, 1731.
The
600 Fox who had remained in Wisconsin were all that were left after this. Up to
this point, the Sac had usually maintained good relations with the French and a
relatively low profile in history, but this changed. With everyone their enemy, the Fox remembered the Sac had given
them food in 1716 and again during the siege in Illinois. They turned to the Sac to save them, and the
Sac not only gave them refuge but appealed to the French in 1733 to make peace
with the Fox.
The
answer came in 1734 when a French expedition under Sieur de Villiers
accompanied by Ojibwe and Menominee warriors arrived at the Sac village west of
Green Bay to demand the Sac surrender of the Fox. The Sac refused, and during the assault which followed, Villiers
made the fatal error of placing his body in the path of a speeding bullet. In the confusion which followed, the French
and their allies fell back to regroup, and the Sac and Fox abandoned the
village and fled west. They crossed the
Mississippi and settled in eastern Iowa in 1735.
The
French sent another expedition after them in 1736, but by this time, the French
Indian allies were beginning to have doubts about their commitment to
genocide. The Illinois Nation voiced
the general concern that if the Fox could be destroyed like this, who might be
the next victim? As things turned out,
the Illinois had good reason to worry.
Even the Ottawa, the staunchest and most anti-Fox of the French allies,
said in council that "they no longer wanted to eat the Fox." De Noyelle's expedition against the Fox and
Sac in Iowa that year ended in failure after its Kickapoo guides led him in
circles and through every swamp in western Wisconsin.
At a meeting in Montreal during the spring of 1737, the Menominee and Winnebago asked the French to show mercy to the Fox while the Potawatomi and Ottawa made a similar request on behalf of the Sac. The irony of this role reversal should not be lost--French Indian allies mediating an intertribal dispute between the French and Fox. Beset by a new war between the Ojibwe and Dakota in Minnesota and a major confrontation with the Natchez and Chickasaw which closed the lower Mississippi to them, the French bent to the concerns of their allies and reluctantly agreed.
The
French attempt at genocide failed, but it came very close succeeding. Only 500 Fox survived the Fox Wars. After the peace in 1737, the Sac (with the permission of the Iowa) remained west of
the Mississippi until 1743 despite French assurances intended to lure them
back, but the Fox did not return to Wisconsin until 1765, two years after the
French had left North America.
Although
they kept their separate traditions and chiefships, the two tribes afterwards
were bound so close together by their experience that the British and Americans
later had trouble distinguishing between them.
The Fox had suffered severely from the war, so the more-numerous Sac
were the dominant tribe. The close
relationship lasted for more than a century until it nearly dissolved on the
plains of Kansas. The Fox and Sac forgave
most of the tribes which had fought them, but not the Illinois, or the Menominee
and Ojibwe who had attacked the Sac village in 1734.
By
the mid-1700's a large concentration of Indian Nations were located in the
Northwest Territory, generally under
French influence. Other tribes
who wandered into the region drew together under the influence of the
French. In turn, the French supplied
them with arms and relied on these Indian allies to hold back the British
advances.
The
most important French forts, that to some extent controlled the situation, were
at Detroit, Niagara, Mackinac Island, Pittsburgh and Vincennes with a score of
minor posts stretching all the way from New Orleans to Quebec. When France and England were at war in
Europe, the French would lead larger groups of Indian auxiliaries against the
British colonists. The training and
experience turned the Indians into hardened fighters, good marksmen and
geniuses in ambushes and surprise attacks.
Fort Detroit –
1764
formerly Fort Pontchartrain under
the French
(artist conception)
The
French and Indian War, 1754-63, was the final stand the French would take in
the Northwest Territory. A main arena
of combat centered around Lake Champlain and Quebec. Despite the French bringing in a large number of Indian warriors
to aid Montcalm in defending Fort Ticonderoga and other strategic points, the
French lost. When the British took
Quebec, they also acquired all the French territory east of the Mississippi
River.
Generally, when enough of a population had accumulated, then
a frontier policy in clearing out the Redman came into existence. This policy was mainly vocal in nature,
since the frontiersmen relied on the colonial governments to come in and clear
out the Indians for them. Because of
the attitude, many of the pioneers tended to be more vicious than brave,
initiating forceful measures against the tribes with troops and Indian
auxiliaries. The frontiersman's
effectiveness in the field of Indian conquests was not important, but
indirectly, their influence in shaping official policy was something else.
The fissures that opened internally among the tribes from the disruptive influences of these two fronts were spreading throughout the Northwest Territory. The main avenue was the march of white settlements westward that started through the Delaware Confederacy, cracked initially from the Susquehanna crisis. Many of the remnants from the Delaware drifted westward into this region and settled on the upper Ohio River.
Other tribes, that were still intact in this developing
hotbed, sided with the Indian Alliance of the Ottawa leader, Pontiac. In 1763, Pontiac at the head of Indian
forces composed of the following tribes:
Miami, Potawatomi, Shawnee, Ottawa, Ojibwe and the Delaware attacked and
laid siege to the forts at Detroit and Pittsburgh. While in the meantime, settlers were being massacred, towns
burned and a large scale Indian war was being fought in every way.
Though
Pontiac laid siege to the forts, while victorious in other actions against the
English, he failed. His training with
the French earlier was put to good use, but lacking the heavy guns, he was
unable to carry the forts by
assault. After many months of siege
operations the tribes of Pontiac's Alliance disbanded one by one. Pontiac finally gave up the war on the
unkeepable British promises to restrain further settlement in the Territory if
he would demobilize his remaining Indian forces.
The
Northwest Territory was then seized by the English and became part of the
encroaching frontier for the next sixty years.
The Pontiac Wars had succeeded in holding off the British, mainly in the
Detroit region, for about three years.
When Pontiac retired to St. Louis he was murdered by one of his own
race. In the final analysis, he was a
great Indian leader; he stood alone with his race, abandoned by the French,
against the might of England.
By
the late 1760's England secured permission from the Iroquois to expand their
settlements in the Ohio River Valley, occupied by the now shattered
tribes. Land promotion companies were
formed, some getting grants and charters from the Crown. Prices asked by these speculators were so
high that the poor once again took their chances as squatters on tribal
lands. As the influx spread, Indian wars
were once more established.
A
new situation started to develop becoming the most explosive ingredient for
both Red and White worlds. The
emergence of a new nation--the United States of America. From time to time, between 1765 through
1776, the white frontier was tolerated and even abetted by the Indians. After the American Revolution the white
frontier became a major issue all its own.
Indian wars broke out with alarming frequency all over the Northwest
Territory, with secret encouragement from English interests. The Revolution transferred the Indian's
confidence to the English, especially after Washington's government claimed
their lands demanding that they become loyal and keep the peace.
George Washington
1ST President of the United States (1789-1797)
The
British in Canada entertained hopes of eventually recovering the Northwest
Territory. To attain this goal they
encouraged the Indians to resist the American advance. As far as the tribes were concerned, the war
was still on, with the British supplying them with needed firearms and
ammunition.
At the time of the Revolution, portions of the Northwest Territory
were claimed by several of the Thirteen Colonies, through charters and other
land grants. When the Virginia
Legislature organized it's claim in the Ohio Valley, Governor Patrick Henry
outlined the situations and responsibilities that would be encountered by the
new Illinois County Lieutenant-Commandant, John Todd.
Patrick Henry
The following letter
of appointment is the only thing Patrick Henry gave Todd and accounts as one of
the reasons why conditions in the Territory degenerated rapidly into
administrative chaos.
WILLIAMSBURG, DECEMBER 12, 1778
TO MR. JOHN TODD, ESQ.
By
virtue of the act of the General Assembly which establishes the County of
Illinois, you are appointed County Lieutenant-Commandant there, and for the
general tenor of your conduct I refer you to the law.
The
grand objects which are disclosed to your countrymen will prove beneficial, or
otherwise, according to the nature and abilities of that remote country. The present crisis, rendered so favorable by
the good disposition of the French and Indians, may be improved to great
purposes; but if, unhappily, it should be lost, a return of the same attachment
to us may never happen. Considering,
therefore, that costly prejudices are so hard to wear out, you will take care
to cultivate and conciliate the affections of the French and Indians.
Although
great reliance is placed on your prudence in managing the people you are to
reside among, yet, considering you as unacquainted in some degree with their
genius, usages and manners, as well as the geography of that country, I
recommend it to you to advise with the most intelligent and upright persons who
may fall in your way, and to give particular attention to Colonel Clark and his
corps, to whom the State has great obligations. You are to cooperate with him on any military undertaking, when
necessary, and to give the military every aid which the circumstances of the
people will admit of. The inhabitants
of Illinois must not expect settled peace and safety while their and our
enemies have footing at Detroit and can intercept or stop the trade of the
Mississippi. If the English have not
the strength or courage to come to war against us themselves, their practice
has been and will be to have the savages commit murder and depredations. Illinois must expect to pay these a large
price for her freedom, unless the English can be expelled from Detroit. The means for effecting this will not perhaps be in your or Colonel Clark's power,
but the French inhabiting the neighborhood of that place, may be brought to see
it done with indifference, or perhaps join in the enterprise with
pleasure. This is but conjecture. When you are on the spot, you and Colonel
Clark may discover the fallacy or reality of the former appearances. Defense, only, is to be the object of the
latter, or a good prospect of it. I
hope the French and Indians at your disposal will show zeal for the affairs equal
to the benefit to be derived from establishing liberty and permanent peace.
One
great good expected from holding the Illinois is to overawe the Indians from
warring on the settlers on this side of the Ohio. A close attention to the disposition, character and movement of
the hostile tribes is therefore necessary.
The French and militia of Illinois, by being placed on back of them, may
inflict timely chastisement on those enemies whose towns are an easy prey in
the absence of their warriors. You
perceive, by these hints, that something in the military line will be expected
from you. So far as the occasion calls
for assistance of the people composing the militia, it will be necessary to
cooperate with the troops sent from here, and I know of no better general
directions to give than this: that you
consider yourself as the head of the civil department, and as such having
command of the military until ordered out by the civil authority, and to act in
conjunction with them.
You
are, on all occasions, to inoculate on the people the value of liberty, and the
difference between the state of free citizens of this Commonwealth and that
slavery to which the Illinois was destined.
A free and equal representation may be expected by them in a little
time, together with all the improvement in jurisprudence and police which all
other parts of the State enjoy.
It
is necessary, for the happiness, to increase the prosperity of that country,
that the grievances that obstruct those blessings be known, in order to their
removal. Let it therefore be your care
to obtain information on the subject, that proper plans may be formed for the
general utility. Let it be your
constant attention to see that the inhabitants have justice administered to
them for any injury received from the troops.
The omission of this may be fatal.
Colonel Clark has instructions on this head, and will, I doubt not,
exert himself to quell all licentious practices of the soldiers, which, if
unrestrained, will produce the most baneful effect. You will also discontinue and punish every attempt to violate the
property of the Indians, particularly on their land. Our enemies have alarmed them much on that score, but I hope from
your prudence and justice that there will be no grounds of complaint on that
subject. You will embrace every
opportunity to manifest the high regard and friendly sentiments of this
Commonwealth towards all subjects of his Catholic Majesty, for whose safety,
prosperity and advantage you will give every possible advantage. You will make a tender of the friendship and
services of your people to the Spanish Commandant near Kaskaskia, and cultivate
the strictest connection with him and his people. The detail of your duty in the civil department I need not give;
its best direction will be found in your innate love of justice, and the zeal
to be useful to your fellow men. Act
according to the best of your judgement in cases where these instructions are
silent and the laws have not otherwise directed. Discretion is given to you from the necessity of the case, for
your great distance from the government will not permit you to wait for orders
in many cases of great importance. In
your negotiations with the Indians confine the stipulation, as much as
possible, to the single object of obtaining peace with them. Touch not the subject of lands or boundaries
till particular orders are received.
When necessity requires it presents may be made, but be as frugal in
that matter as possible, and let them know that the goods at present is scarce
with us, but we expect soon to trade freely with all the world, and they shall
not want when we can get them.
The
matters given you in charge of being singular in their nature and weighty in
their consequences to the people immediately concerned, and to the whole State,
they require the fullest exertion of your ability and unwearied diligence.
From
matters of general concern you must turn, occasionally, to others of less
consequence. Mr. Roseblove’s wife and
family must not suffer for want of that property of which they were bereft by
our troops. It is to be restored to
them, if possible; if this cannot be done, the public must support them.
I
think it proper for you to send me an express once in the month, with a general
account of affairs with you and any particulars you wish to communicate.
It
is in contemplation to appoint an agent to manage trade on public accounts, to
supply Illinois and the Indians with goods.
If such an appointment takes place, you will give it any possible
aid. The people with you should not
intermit their endeavors to procure supplies on the expectation of this, and
you may act accordingly.
P. Henry (signed)
Congress,
in 1780, took steps that pledged the Original Thirteen States having claims in
the Northwest Territory would give them up.
However certain land tracts were
reserved for special purposes, such as the Military District (Virginia) and the Western Reserve (Connecticut), both were located in modern day Ohio. President Jefferson proposed a plan
of government for this region and Congress later approved it in 1784.
Considered
to be one of the most significant achievements of the Congress of the
Confederation, the Northwest Ordinance
of 1787 put the world on notice not only that the land north of the Ohio
River and east of the Mississippi would be settled but that it would eventually
become part of the United States. Until then this area had been temporarily
forbidden to development.
Increasing
numbers of settlers and land speculators were attracted to what are now the
states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. This pressure
together with the demand from the Ohio Land Company, soon to obtain vast
holdings in the Northwest, prompted the Congress to pass this Ordinance.
The
area opened up by the Ordinance was based on lines originally laid out in 1784
by Thomas Jefferson in his Report of Government for Western Lands. The
Ordinance provided for the creation of not less than three nor more than five
states. In addition, it contained provisions for the advancement of education,
the maintenance of civil liberties and the exclusion of slavery.
Above
all, the Northwest Ordinance accelerated the westward expansion of the United
States.
The following
excerpted correspondence comes from the military commander of the Northwest
Territory, Brigadier-General Harmar, to the Secretary of War. Harmar had been sent by Congress on an
inspection tour of the Territory, following up complaints of deteriorating
conditions from the settlers. This
letter provides some insight on French, English and Spanish settlements and
addresses itself at length on the current Indian situation.
Brigadier-General
Harmar
TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR
FORT HARMAR, NOVEMBER 24, 1787
Sir;--In my last letter from Post Vincennes, 7 August, after having
published in French and English the Resolve of Congress respecting the
intruders upon the public lands at Post Vincennes, together with my orders
relative thereto, and after having sent messages to the several Indian Chiefs
on the Wabash to assemble at the Post, and hear what I had to say to them, as
there was no probability of these chiefs coming in less than a month, I
informed you that it was my intention to employ that time in visiting
Kaskaskia, in order that I might be enabled to render a statement of affairs in
that part of the United States.
Accordingly,
I marched on the 9th of August, from the Post with a subaltern (Ensign
McDowell) and thirty men, through the prairies, and arrived at Kaskaskia on the
16th of the same month. Our march was
very fatiguing, as the weather was excessively warm and water was very bad and
scarce on our route. I was accompanied
by two Indians--Paoan, a Miami chief and his comrade, who hunted and supplied
the party with meat (buffalo and deer) both on the march and on our return. These prairies are very extensive natural meadows,
covered with long grass. One in
particular which we crossed was eight leagues in breath. They run, in general, north and south, and,
like the ocean, as far as the eye can see, the view is terminated by the
horizon. Here and there a copes of woods
is interspersed. They are free from
bush and underwood, and not the least vestige of their ever having been
cultivated. The country is excellent
for grazing and abounds in buffalo, deer, bear, etc… It is a matter of speculation to account for the prairies. The western side of the Wabash is overflowed
in the spring for several miles.
On
the 17th, I was visited by the magistrates and principal inhabitants of
Kaskaskia, welcoming us on out arrival.
Baptiste du Coigne, the Chief of the Kaskaskia Indians, paid me a visit
in the afternoon, and delivered me a speech, expressive of the greatest
friendship for the United States, and presented me with one of the calumets, or
pipe of peace, which is now sent on.
Some of the Peoria Indians likewise visited me. The Kaskaskia, Peoria, Cahokia and Mitcha
tribes compose the Illinois Indians.
They are almost extinct at present, not exceeding forty or fifty total. Kaskaskia is a handsome little village,
situated on the river of the same name, which empties into the Mississippi at
two leagues from the mouth of the Ohio.
The situation is low and unhealthy, and subject to inundation. The inhabitants are French, and much the
same class as those at Post Vincennes.
Their number is 191, old and young men.
Having
very little time to spare, I left Ensign McDowell with the party at Kaskaskia,
and on the 18th, set out accompanied by Mr. Tardiveau and the gentlemen of the
village, for Cahokia. We gained Prairie
du Rocher, a small village five leagues distant from Kaskaskia, where we halted
for the night. On the 19th we passed
through St. Philp, a trifling village three leagues distant from Prairie du
Rocher, and dined at La Belle Fontaine, six leagues further. La Belle Fontaine is a small stockade,
inhabited altogether by Americans, who have seated themselves there without
authority. It is a bueautiful
situation, fine fertile land, no taxation, and the inhabitants have abundance
to live upon. They were exceedingly
alarmed when I informed them of their precarious state respecting a title to
their possessions, and have now sent on a petition to Congress by Mr.
Tardiveau. On the same day we passed
another small stockade, Grand Ruisseau, inhabited by the same sort of Americans
as those at La Belle Fontaine, and arrived at Cahokia that same evening. Cahokia is a village of nearly the same size
as that of Kaskaskia, and inhabited by the same kind of people. Their number was two hundred and thirty-nine
old men and young. I was received with
the greatest hospitality by the inhabitants.
There was a decent submission and respect in their behavior. Cahokia is distant from Kaskaskia by
twenty-two French leagues, which is about fifty miles.
On
the 21st, in consequence of an invitation from Monsieur Cruzat, the Spanish
Commandant at St. Louis, we crossed the Mississippi, and were very politely
entertained by him. After dinner we
returned to Cahokia. St. Louis
(nicknamed Pancour) is much the handsomest and genteelist village I have seen
on the Mississippi. The inhabitants are
of the same sort as described, excepting that they are more wealthy. About twenty regular Spanish troops are
stationed here. On the 22nd, I left
Cahokia to return to Kaskaskia.
Previous to my departure, at the request of the inhabitants, I assembled
them, and gave them advice to place the militia upon a more respectable footing
than it was, to abide by the decision of the courts, etc… and if there were any
turbulent or refractory persons to put them under guard until Congress should
be pleased to order a government for them.
Exclusive of the intruders already described, there are about thirty
more Americans settled on the rich fertile bottoms on the Mississippi, who are
likewise petitioning by this conveyance.
Brigadier-General Josiah Harmar
On
the 23rd, I passed by the ruins of Fort Chartres, which is one league above
Prairie du Rocher, and situated on the Mississippi. It was built of stone, and must have been a considerable
fortification formerly, but the part next to the river had been washed away by
the floods, and is of no consequence at present. I stayed about a quarter of an hour, but had not the time to view
it minutely, as it was all thicket within.
Several iron pieces of cannon are here at present, and also at the
Indian villages. This evening I
returned to Kaskaskia.
* * * *
*
On
the 27th, I left Kaskaskia, after having received every mark of respect and
attention from the inhabitants, in order to set out for the Post. We marched by a lower route. Several of the French, and the Kaskaskia
chief, with his tribe (about ten in number), accompanied us, and we arrived
safe at Post Vincennes on the afternoon of the 3rd of September. I made the distance by the lower route to be
about one hundred and seventy miles.
On
the 5th, the Plankishaw and Weea Indians arrived at the Post from up the
Wabash, to the number of about one hundred and twenty. Every precaution was taken. We had a fortified camp, two redoubts were
thrown up on our right and left, and the guard in front entrenched. The troops were all new clothed, and made a
truly military appearance. The Indians
saluted us by firing several volleys on the Wabash, opposite our camp. Their salute was returned by a party of our
firing several platoons. I was
determined to impress upon them as much as possible the majesty of the United
States, and at the same time informed that it was the wish of Congress to live
in peace and friendship with them, likewise to let them know that if they
persisted in being hostile that a body of troops would march to their towns and
sweep them off the face of the earth.
On
the 7th, I invited them to camp, and made the enclosed speech, and, in strong
figurative language, they expressed their determination to preserve perfect
peace and friendship with the United States, as long as the waters flowed,
etc… They utterly disavowed any
knowledge of the murder that had been committed, and assured me that inquiry
would be made for the prisoner. They
presented me with a number of calumets and wampum, which I now have the honor
of transmitting, enclosed in a rich otter skin; they will be delivered by Mr.
Coudre. Mr. Coudre has acted as
volunteer for a considerable time in the regiment, and has conducted himself
with propriety. If a vacancy should
happen in the Connecticut quota, I beg leave to recommend him to your notice.
On
the 9th, the young warriors were drinking whiskey and dancing before our tents
all morning, to demonstrate their joy.
On the 10th, I made them presents from the commissioner's goods, to no
great amount.
On
the 12th, the chief part of them left the Post for their different villages up
the Wabash. They returned highly
satisfied with the treatment they received.
Indeed, it was a proper tour of fatigue for me. I found it polite to pay the greatest
attention to them. They are amazingly
fond of whiskey, and destroyed a considerable quantity of it. I trust that you may find this conference
with the Indians attended with very
little expense; I question whether the whole, whiskey, provisions and presents,
will cost the public more than one hundred and fifty dollars. Their interpreter is a half-Frenchman, and
married to a Weea squaw. He has very
great influence among them. I judged it
necessary to pay extraordinary attention to him.
I
have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of several letters from you, which I
shall fully answer by the next conveyance, particularly one of the 2nd of
August, enclosing me a brevet commission of brigadier-general.
After
finishing the conference with the Indians, and obtaining the enclosed petitions
of the inhabitants of Post Vincennes to Congress, relinquishing their charter,
and trusting to that honorable body, I judged it expedite to leave a garrison
at the Post, as it would have been impolitic, after the parade we had made, to
entirely abandon the country.
Accordingly, Major Hantramck commands there. His command consists of Captain Smith's company, fifty-five, and
a part of Fergusion's company, forty; total ninety-five. I have ordered him to fortify himself, and
to regulate the militia, who are to join him in case of hostilities.
Having
arranged all matters to my satisfaction, as we had a long and tiresome voyage
before us, I began to think of winter quarters. Accordingly, on the 1st of October I marched by land with the
well men of Captain Zeigler's and Strong's companies (total: seventy-one), for
the Rapids of the Ohio. I gave orders
to Major Wyllys to command the fleet, and to embark for the rapids the next morning,
with the late Captain Finney's and Mercer's companies, and the sick of the
other companies, and a brass three-pounder.
I omitted mention of my taking into our possession some ordinance and
ammunition (public property) at Louisville and at the Post. At the former we got a brass six-pounder
with swivels; at the latter, from Mr. Dalton, two brass three-pounders. I thought it best that the public property
should be under our own charge.
We
marched along what is called Clarke's Trace, and arrived on the 7th of October
at the Rapids of the Ohio. I was
mistaken, in a former letter, concerning the distance; it is about one hundred
and thirty miles. We saw no sight of
Indians nor signs of Indians.
Little
Turtle, a Miami chief, defeated two American forces, one commanded by Harmar,
with his army composed of regional tribes.
His Indian forces were finally defeated when pitted against the third
American army commanded by General 'Mad' Anthony Wayne at Fallen Timbers. Blue Jacket, a Shawnee, appears to have been
commanding the Indian forces during this engagement. It is an established fact that a number of Canadian English were
fighting with the Indians at Fallen Timbers.
A
long series of land-ceding treaties followed wrung from the Indians between
1794 to 1832. A major Indian stand
against the American encroachment occurred in 1811. The engagement composed of Tecumseh's followers at Prophet's Town
and General Harrison's troops. It was
fought on the west bank of the Tippecanoe River, in modern day Indiana. Though the losses were about equal on both
sides, the Indians were forced to retire from the field of combat and
Tecumseh's vision of a pan-Indian Union
failed to materialize.
The
victories of Wayne, at Fallen Timbers, and Harrison's success at Tippecanoe
prepared the Americans to some extent for the War of 1812. Before the time of Tecumseh, the American
frontier policy had crystallized--'clear
the Indians out !!'
It later became
national policy, thinly disguised behind enforced treaties and there was
virtually no Indian Nation capable to resist that onslaught. The paper storm of these treaties drove the
Indian survivors before it to the west banks of the Mississippi River and
beyond.