Grundy County IL Archives History - Books .....Chapter 2 1882 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com April 26, 2006, 9:29 pm Book Title: History Of Grundy County IL CHAPTER II* PREHISTORIC RACES—EARLIEST TRACES OF MAN—MOUND BUILDERS AND THEIR REMAINS— INDIAN TRIBES—RELATIONS WITH THE WHITES—WAUPONSEE—SHABBONA—NUCQUETTE. ROBINSON CRUSOE'S unexpected discovery of a human footprint upon the sands of his solitary island, was hardly more startling than have been the discoveries of antiquarians in Europe within the past twenty-five years. Scientific followers of Usher and Petarius, had placed the various migrations of men, the confusion of tongues, the peopling of continents, the development of types—the whole evolution of human society, within the narrow compass of little more than four thousand years, when the discoveries of the geologist and ethnologist developed the trace of human existence dating back to a possible period, 30,000 years ago. Nor are confirmatory evidences to the truth of these discoveries entirely wanting in the new world. The gold-drift of California has supplied abundant testimony to the high antiquity of man, and notably the "Pliocene Skull," the popular conception of which is derived more widely, perhaps, from a characteristic poem by Bret Harte than from scientific publications. Explorations in Illinois, Missouri and South Carolina, have yielded similar testimony, and while it should be stated, that in many cases these evidences rest upon the testimony of single observers, and that there is not that recurrence of "finds" *By J. H. Battle. which would render "assurance doubly sure," yet there seems to be no doubt in the minds of scientists that the "elder man" was also an inhabitant of this new world. Descending to a later time and one probably falling within the historic period,* we find the more tangible traces of an early race of men. Of this race, named from the character of their remains, the Mound Builders, we find the evidences vastly multiplied, and of such character as to afford means of forming a reasonable conjecture as to their mode of life, their advancement in civilization, and final destiny. These evidences, though first accepted with great distrust, have been so amplified and confirmed by more recent researches, as to leave no room for reasonable doubt as to the former existence of this race. The remains upon which this conclusion is based, "consists," says Mr. Foster, "of tumuli symmetrically raised and often enclosed in mathematical figures, such as the square, the octagon and circle, with long lines of circumvailation; of pits in the solid rocks, and rubbish heaps formed in the prosecution of their mining operations, and of a variety of utensils, wrought in stone or copper, or moulded in clay."** To the *Foster's "Prehistoric Races of the United States." **"Prehistoric Races, etc." uninstructed mind these mounds doubtless seem a very slight foundation upon which to construct the fabric of a national existence, and yet to the archaeologist they furnish "proofs as strong as Holy Writ;" in them they find as distinctive characteristics as mark the prehistoric remains of the Pelasgi, the "wall-builders" of Europe, a not dissimilar race in many respects, and one who long ago found a place in the realities of history; and while they differ in external form and are scattered over a wide scope of territory, — characteristics in marked contrast with those of the aboriginal race found here in possession of the country, yet the scientist finds in each mound the never failing marks of a race peculiarity. The widest divergence from the typical mound is found in Wisconsin. Here instead of the circular or pyramidal structure are found forms, for the most part, consisting of rude, gigantic limitations of various animals of the region, such as the buffalo, bear, fox, wolf, etc.; of the eagle and night hawk, the lizard and turtle, and in some instances the unmistakable form of man. These, though not raised high above the surface, and even in some cases represented intaglio, attain the largest dimensions; one representing a serpent extending 700 feet and another representing a turtle, had a body 56, and a tail 250 feet long. The significance of these peculiar forms has not been determined, but unmistakable evidences have been discovered which mark them as the work of the same race whose structures are found elsewhere, so numerous throughout the Mississippi valley. Typical structures are sometimes classified with reference to their purpose as "Enclosures—1. For defense; 2. Sacred; 3. Miscellaneous. Mounds—1. Of sacrifice; 2. For temple sites; 3. Of sepulture; 4. Of observation." Of the first class, the enclosures for defense seem to have been constructed simply for protection against hostile attack. The locations chosen are those best adapted naturally to repel, a military attack. The only approach is generally by a steep and narrow way, requiring the assailant to place himself at immense disadvantage, while the garrison provided with parapets often constructed of rubble stone, could fight under cover and may be found in these stones, his store of ammunition. The "sacred" enclosure included within its lines, the mounds of the three leading classes, as the uses to which they were put, were all sacred to this people, and yet in the "American Bottom" in Illinois, where the mound system reaches, perhaps its highest development, the mounds of these classes are not enclosed. The mounds of sacrifice or altars, as they are variously termed, are generally characterized by the fact "that they occur only within the vicinity of the enclosures or sacred places; that they are stratified; and that they contain symmetrical altars of burned clay or stone, on which were deposited various remains, which in all cases have been more or less subjected to the action of fire."* In relation to this latter characteristic it should be said, that it is not at all plain that the use of fire was intended for the purpose of cremation. A thin coating of moist clay was applied to the body nude, or wrapped in cloth, and upon this a fire was maintained *Squier and Davis' "Ancient Monuments," etc. for a more or less prolonged period, but in many cases the heat was not sufficient to destroy the cloth sometimes found in a good state of preservation. This evidently did not result from a lack of knowledge, as cremation and urn burial was also practiced. Temple mounds are described by Squier and Davis as "distinguished by their great regularity of form and general large dimensions. They consist chiefly of pyramidal structures, truncated and generally having graded avenues to their tops. In some instances they are terraced or have successive stages. But whatever their form, whether round, oval, octangular, square, or oblong, they have invariably flat or level tops," and upon these were probably constructed their temples, but which, constructed of perishable materials, have left no trace of their existence. This class of mounds are not found along the lake region or that line which seems to mark the farthest advance of this people. The principal structures of this class are found at Cahokia in Illinois, near Florence and Claiborne in Kentucky, at Seltzertown, Mississippi, at Marietta, Newark and Chillicothe in Ohio, and at St. Louis, Missouri. The mound at Cahokia, "the monarch of all similar structures in the United States," may well serve as a type. When in all its integrity, this mound formed a huge parallelogram with sides at the base, respectively 700 and 500 feet in length, towering to the height of 90 feet. On the southwest there was a terrace 160 by 300 feet, which was reached by a graded way, and the summit was truncated, affording a platform 200 by 450 feet. This structure, upon which was probably reared a spacious temple, perhaps the principal one in the empire, covered an area of about six acres, while in close proximity were four elevated platforms, varying from 250 to 300 feet in diameter. The great mound of St. Louis reached a height of thirty-five feet, and that at Marietta to about the same height. "Sepulchral mounds," says Mr. Foster in his volume on the Prehistoric Races, "consist, often, of a simple knoll, or group of knolls, of no considerable height, without any definite arrangement. Examples ot this character may be seen at Dubuque, Merom, Chicago, and Laporte, which, on exploration, have yielded skulls differing widely from the Indian type. The corpse was almost invariably placed near the original surface of the soil, enveloped in bark or coarse matting, and in a few instances fragments of cloth have been observed in this connection. Sometimes a vault of timber was built over it, and in others it was enclosed in long and broad flags of stone. Sometimes it was placed in a sitting position, again it was extended, and still again it was compressed within contracted limits. Trinkets were often strung about the neck, and water jugs, drinking cups, and vases, which probably contained food, were placed near the head. Over the corpse thus arrayed, a circular mound was often raised, but sometimes nothing more than a hillock." Other mounds have been found that favored the theory that many of these structures were used for miscellaneous burial. A notable example is the "Grave Creek Mound," in West Virginia, twelve miles below Wheeling. This mound is something over 70 feet high, of circular form, with a circumference at the base of about 900 feet. In the center of this mound, on a level with the original surface, was found a vault with twelve human skeletons, and thirty-four feet above this was found a similar vault, enclosing a skeleton which had been decorated with a profusion of shell-beads, copper rings, and plates of mica. In a mound at Vincennes "a bed of human bones, arranged in a circle eighteen feet in diameter, closely packed and pressed together." In another at Merom, three tiers of vaults were found, in each of which were found from five to seven human skeletons. Mounds of observation is a rather fanciful classification intended to mark mounds found on elevated points of land. The authors of this classification think that these may have been used as platforms on which to build signal fires, and such is their elevation and outlook that such signals could have been seen at great distance. This theory of a special purpose, however, has not been accepted, as supported by any special evidence. They may have been so used, or simply as an eligible site for residence. There is in addition to these mounds a large number which are not embraced in this classification, which following Mr. F. W. Putnam, whom Mr. Foster quotes at length, may be called "Habitation Mounds." A large number of these are described as located at Merom, Indiana, and "a group of fifty-nine mounds" at Hutsonville, Illinois, a few miles above the former place and across the Wabash River. These mounds were carefully examined "to ascertain if they were places of burial," without discovering a single bone or implement of any kind, but, on the contrary, the excavations "showed that the mounds had been made of various materials at hand, and in one case ashes were found which had probably been scraped up with other material and thrown upon the heap." In the ancient fort at Merom, in depressions found within the earthworks, were found striking evidences of food having been cooked and eaten there, and the conclusion drawn by Mr. Putnam is, "that these pits were the houses of the inhabitants or defenders of the fort, who were probably further protected from the elements and the arrows of assailants, by a roof of logs and bark, or boughs." Another writer,* in a paper read before the American Association for the Advancement of Science at their Boston meeting, August, 1880, says: "There is in this region a peculiar class of mounds that was for a long time a puzzle to me. They are usually found in groups of from two or three to twenty or thirty, and even more, and are generally on some pleasant knoll or rising ground in the vicinity of a spring or watercourse, especially in the vicinity of our prairies or level areas of land. These mounds are from one to three, and in a few instances, even four feet in height, and from twenty to fifty feet in diameter. One mound of the group is always larger than the rest, and always occupies the commanding position. Sometimes the group is arranged in a circle; other groups have no apparent design in arrangement. Numbers of these mounds can be seen in the cultivated fields. "Although I have made excavations in them, and dug trenches entirely through them, I have found nothing but ashes, charcoal, decayed portions of bones of fishes and animals partially burned, shells from the adjacent streams, flint chippings, and * Hon. Wm. McAdams, Jr., of Otterville, Ills. in one or two instances a flint implement of a rude character. "After examining many of these structures I am induced to believe that they are possibly the remains of ancient dwellings, made by placing in an upright position the trunks of young trees in a circle, or in parallel rows, the tops of the poles inclining inward and fastened together, the whole being covered with earth and sod to form a roof, or in the same manner as many Indian tribes make their mud lodges; as for instance, the Mandans and the Omahas. Such a structure, after being repaired from time to time by the addition of more earth on top, would finally, by the decay of the poles, fall inward and the ruins would form a slight mound. "Conant and Putnam describe such mounds in Missouri and Tennessee, some of the largest of these ancient towns being provided with streets and highways. They are also found in Southern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Putnam has described an enclosed town in Tennessee, in which were many low mounds, or rather, as he calls them, earth circles, that he has pretty conclusively shown to be sites of the lodges or houses of the people." To which of these classes the mounds found at Morris shall be referred, is difficult to determine. There were nineteen of these mounds, circular in form, from two to four feet high, and from seventeen to thirty in diameter at the base. These were superficially explored and evidences of the intrusive burials of Indians found, but nothing bearing upon their ancient origin. The growth of the village has encroached upon these ancient relics and their site so obliterated as to afford little inducement for any scientific investigation. There are mounds along the southern margin of the river that offer better prospects of reward to a properly conducted research, but at best such exploration is likely to develop little more than to connect their origin with this ancient people. These mounds, with the implements formed in stone, metal and pottery (of which the scope of this work allows no mention), form the data upon which is founded the historical speculation concerning this people. Once having reasonably established the former existence of this extinct race, the absorbing question presents itself—who were the Mound Builders? The limited space devoted to this subject, however, forbids any extended consideration of the interesting scientific deductions made from this data, though the conclusion arrived at may be briefly stated in the language of Mr. Foster,* as follows: "Their monuments indicate that they had entered upon a career of civilization; they lived in stationary communities, cultivating the soil and relying on its generous yield as a means of support; they clothed themselves in part at least, in garments regularly spun and woven; they modeled clay and carved stone, even of the most obdurate character, into images representing animate objects, even the human face and form, with a close adherence to nature; they mined and cast copper into a variety of useful forms; they quarried mica, steatite, chert, and the novaculite slates, which they wrought into articles adapted to personal ornament, to domestic use, or to the chase; unlike the Indians who were ignorant of the curative proper- *"Prehistoric Races," etc., p. 350. ties of salt, they collected the brine of the salines into earthen vessels moulded in baskets which they evaporated into a form which admitted of transportation; they erected an elaborate line of defense, stretching for many hundred miles, to guard against the sudden irruption of enemies; they had a national religion, in which the elements were the objects of supreme adoration; temples were erected upon the platform mounds, and watchfires lighted upon the highest summits: and in the celebration of the mysteries of their faith, human sacrifices were probably offered up. The magnitude of their structures, involving an infinitude of labor, such only as could be expended except in a community where cheap food prevailed, and the great extent of their commercial relations reaching to widely separated portions of the continent, imply the existence of a stable and efficient government, based on the subordination of the masses. As the civilizations of the old world growing out of the peculiar conditions of soil and climate developed certain forms of art which are original and unique, so on this continent we see the crude conception in the truncated pyramid, as first displayed in Wisconsin, Ohio and Illinois, and the accomplished result in the stonefaced foundations of the temples of Uxmal and Palenque. And finally, the distinctive character of the Mound Builder's structures, and also the traditions which have been preserved, would indicate that this people were expelled from the Mississippi Valley by a fierce and barbarous race, and that they found refuge in the more genial climate of Central America, where they developed those germs of civilization, originally planted in their northern homes, into a perfection which has elicited the admiration of every modern explorer." The obvious inquiry suggested by these conclusions is, who succeeded this extinct race? To this question science offers no answer. Two hypotheses are entertained as to the origin of Mound Builders here, the one supposes them to be of autothionic origin, and that semi-civilization originating here flowed southward and culminated in the wonderful developments of the Toltecs of Mexico; the other supposes to have originated in the South American continent or in Central America, and to have emigrated northward from natural causes, and later to have returned to Mexico, driven from their northern empire by an irresistible foe or by a powerful political irruption among themselves. Upon any theory, the line of their most northward advance is pretty clearly defined, and writers upon this subject generally agree that the line of defenses "extending from sources of the Alleghany and Susquehanna, in New York, diagonally across the country, through central and northern Ohio, to the Wabash," accurately indicates the region from whence attacks were made or expected, and marks the farthest extent of the Mound Builders' empire. But what was the character of the foe, what his action on the retreat of the Mound Builders, and what his final destiny, is an unwritten page of science, and for which there exists no known data. It is a late suggestion, that the North American Indian may be a degenerate but legitimate descendant of the dominant race, but there is a broad chasm to be bridged before the Mound Builder or his successful assailant can be linked with these aboriginal tribes. Without making any such attempt, however, the Indian naturally succeeds this people in regular historical order, and passing over the vexed question of his origin, it is sufficient for the purposes of this work that the whites found him everywhere in full possession of the country. With the advent of the white man in America, began an "irrepressible conflict" which was destined never to cease so long as the red man retained a vestige of power. In this struggle, the absence of national organization or affiliations on the part of the Indians, made the final success of the whites inevitable from the beginning. Taking each tribe or section of country in succession, the little band of adventurers conquered this vast country in detail, and planted here one of the mighty nations of the world. It was due to this lack of any bond of union that the Illinois tribes were allowed to rest so long undisturbed in their fancied security. Rumors of the conflict waging on the Atlantic border were borne to their ears by chance visitors from other tribes, and later by remnants of vanquished tribes who sought with them an asylum from their foes, but still no apprehension of impending disaster dawned upon their superstitions ignorance, while the reflection that the Iroquois, the enemy which their experience had taught them most to fear, had met an overpowering foe, gave them no little satisfaction. The great family to which these tribes were allied by language, physical and mental peculiarities, was the Algonquin. Before the encroachments of the whites the numerous tribes of this family occupied most of the territory now embraced in the United States, between the 35th and 60th parallels of latitude, and the 60th and 105th meridians of longitude. According to Davidson,* the starting point in the wanderings of the Algonquin tribes on the continent as determined by tradition and the cultivation of maize, their favorite cereal, was in the southwest. Passing up the western side of the Mississippi valley, they turned eastward across that river, the southern margin of their broad tract reaching about to the 35th parallel, while the center probably covered the present territory of Illinois. On reaching the Atlantic coast they seem to have moved northeasterly along the seaboard to the mouth of the St. Lawrence; thence ascending this river and the shores of the great lakes, they spread northward and westward to Hudson Bay, the basin of Lake Winnipeg and the valley of the upper Mississippi; and thence the head of the migratory column circling around the source of the great river, re-crossed it in a southeasterly direction above the Falls of St. Anthony, and passing by way of Green Bay and Lake Michigan came into the present limits of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Thus after revolving in an irregular ellipse of some 3,000 miles in diameter, they fell into the original track eastward. This extended course of migration induced by a variety of causes and circumstances, continued through a long period, the original stock probably receiving considerable accessions from the nomadic tribes of the Pacific slope, and leaving behind large numbers at each remove, until the head of the column came to rest from sheer lack of momentum or other moving influences. Thus scattered over a large *Davidson and Slueve's "History of Illinois." expanse of country, and broken into numerous tribal organizations, they lost much of their family affiliations and characteristics, and the early whites found the Algonquins everywhere possessing the border lands, and waged with them their first and bloodiest wars. Situated within the ellipse above described, were the nations of the Iroquois family, who held together by circumstances and posted advantageously on the inner side of the circle, able at any time to mass their forces upon a single point of the circumference, soon proved a devastating scourge to the Indian world, and especially so to the Algonquins. Of the tribes of this latter family this history has to do only with the tribes of the "Illinois Confederation." This was made up of the Tamaroas, Michigamies, Kaskaskias, Cahokias and Peorias. The name of the confederation, as explained by Gallatin, one of the ablest writers on the structure of Indian languages, is derived from the Delaware word Leno, and variously written Leni or Illini, meaning "superior men." Its present termination is of French origin. The Algonquin family, so far as cranial indications, were marked by a larger intellectual lobe than their great adversaries, the Iroquois, and their whole history adds force to these indications. While not so ferocious or fiendish in their warfare, they exhibited no less bravery and skill in their savage encounters, and were rewarded with no less success when circumstances admitted an equal contest. In courageous resistance to the superior numbers and arms of the whites and in savage strategy and diplomacy, the history of our Indian wars bears ample testimony to their high mental and physical qualities. Of the Illinois Confederation, however, this can not be said without qualification. Exposed like the rest of the Algonquin family to the powerful attacks of their ferocious enemy, though gaining some notable victories, they had been forced to leave their earlier location near Lake Michigan and settle west of the Mississippi, from whence, about 1670-73, they migrated to the Illinois River. Here they seem to have stood in great fear of their hereditary foe, and while proving their warlike superiority to other tribes, their only sure defense against the Iroquois appeared to be in flight. The early association of this confederacy with the whites was of an unusually peaceable and pleasant nature and did much to confirm their unwarlike character. As early as 1670, the Jesuit Missionary, Marquette, stationed at the western extremity of Lake Superior, mentions the visit of members of these tribes who earnestly requested that missionaries might be sent among them. When, therefore, Joliet and Marquette, returning from their exploration of the Mississippi, found the tribes on the banks of the Illinois in 1673, they were hailed with joy by the natives, who from that day never wavered in their allegiance to the French. In 1675, Marquette returned and established the "Mission of the Immaculate Conception" at their village, located near the present site of Utica. In December of 1679, La Salle* with his little band of adventurers found here a town of 460 lodges temporarily deserted, and passing on to where the city of Peoria now is, found another village of about eighty lodges, where he landed and soon established amicable and permanent relations. With the consent of the tribes, La Salle soon built the fort of * Rene—Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. Crevecoeur, a half a league below, and then early in March of 1680, set out for Fort Frontenac in Western New York, and thence to Montreal to repair the loss of his vessel, the Griffin. In the meanwhile the Jesuit faction, engaged in fierce competition with him in securing the peltry trade of the Indians, and jealous of La Salle's success, and the English of the Atlantic border, striving to overreach the French, in securing both territory and trade, united in stirring up the Iroquois to assault La Salle's Illinois allies in his absence. "Suddenly," says Parkman, "the village was awakened from its lethargy as by the crash of a thunderbolt. A Shawanoe, lately here on a visit, had left his Illinois friends to return home. He now reappeared, crossing the river in hot haste with the announcement that he had met on his way an army of Iroquois approaching to attack them. All was panic and confusion. The lodges disgorged their frightened inmates; women and children screamed; startled warriors snatched their weapons. There were less than five hundred of them, for the greater part of the young men had gone to war." Here Tonti, La Salle's able lieutenant, left in charge of the fort, found himself weakened by the early desertion of most of his force, and now an object of suspicion to his allies, in an awkward and dangerous predicament. Undaunted by the untoward circumstances, he joined the Illinois, and when the Iroquois came upon the scene, in the midst of the savage melee, faced the 580 warriors and declared that the Illinois were under the protection of the French King and the Governor of Canada, and demanded that they should be left in peace, backing his words with the statement that there were 1,200 of the Illinois and 60 Frenchmen-across the river. These representations had the effect of checking the ardor of the attacking savages, and a temporary truce was effected. It was evident that the truce was but a ruse on the part of the Iroquois to gain an opportunity to test the truth of Tonti's statements, and no sooner had the Illinois retired to their village on the north side of the river than numbers of the invading tribes, on the pretext of seeking food, crossed the river and gathered in increasing numbers about the village. The Illinois knew the design of their foe too well, and, hastily embarking, they set fire to their lodges, and retired down the river, when the whole band of Iroquois crossed over, and finished their work of havoc at their leisure. The Illinois, in the meanwhile, lulled into a false security, divided into small bands in search of food. One of their tribes, the Tamoroas, "had the fatuity to remain near the mouth of the Illinois, where they were assailed by all the force of the Iroquois. The men fled, and very few of them were killed; but the women and children were captured to the number, it is said, of seven hundred," many of whom were put to death with horrible tortures. Soon after the retreat of the Illinois, the Iroquois discovered the deception of the Frenchmen, and only the wholesome fear they had of the French Governor's power restrained their venting their rage upon Tonti and his two or three companions. As it was, they were dismissed, and bidden to return to Canada. It was in the wake of these events that La Salle returned in the winter of 1680 and found this once populous village devastated and deserted, surrounded by the frightful evidences of savage carnage. Disheartened but not cast down, he at once set about repairing his fortunes. Discerning at once the means and object of his enemies he set about building up a bulwark to stay a second assault. Returning to Fort Miami on the St. Joseph, by the borders of Lake Michigan, he sought to form a defensive league among the Indians whom he proposed to colonize on the site of the destroyed village of the Illinois. He found ready material at hand in remnants of tribes fresh from fields of King Phillip's war; he visited the Miamis and by his wonderful power won them over to his plans; and then in the interval, before the tribes could arrange for their emigration, he launched out with a few followers and hurriedly explored the Mississippi to the Gulf. Returning to Michillimackinac in September, 1682, where he had found Tonti in May of the previous year, La Salle, after directing his trusty lieutenant to repair to the Illinois, prepared to return to France for further supplies for his proposed colony, but learning that the Iroquois were planning another incursion, he returned to the site of the destroyed village and with Tonti began in December, 1682, to build the Fort of St. Louis on the eminence which is now known in history as "starved rock". Thus the winter passed, and in the meanwhile, La Salle found employment for his active mind in conducting the negotiations which should result in reconciling the Illinois and the Miamis and in cementing the various tribes into a harmonious colony. The spring crowned his efforts with complete success. "La Salle looked down from his rocks on a concourse of wild human life. Lodges of bark and rushes, or cabins of logs, were clustered on the open plain, or along the edges of the bordering forests. Squaws labored, warriors lounged in the sun, naked children whooped and gamboled on the grass. Beyond the river, a mile and a half on the left, the banks were studded once more with the lodges of the Illinois, who, to the number of six thousand, had returned, since their defeat, to this their favorite dwelling-place. Scattered along the valley, among the adjacent hills, or over the neighboring prairie, were the cantonments of a half score of other tribes, and fragments of tribes, gathered under the protecting aegis of the French,—Shawanoes, from the Ohio, Abenakis from Maine, and Miamis from the sources of the Kankakee."* In the meanwhile, a party was sent to Montreal to secure supplies and munitions to put the colony in a state of defense, which to the disappointment and chagrin of the sorely beset leader, he learned had been detained by his enemies, who by a change of Governors had come into official power. Devolving the com- *"Discovery of the Great West." Third part. Franquelin's map finished in 1684 and reproduced in part in this work, adds some further particulars which may be of local interest. From the location of the tribes on this map, it is ascertained that the Indian colony of La Salle, numbering, according to his representation to the French ministry, "about four thousand warriors or twenty thousand souls," occupied the country bordering both sides of the Illinois, from the present site of Morris to the junction of the Big Bureau Creek. Of the tribes represented, the Illinois proper numbered 1,200 warriors; the Miamis, 1,300; the Shawanoes, 200; the Weas, 500; the Pepikokia, 160; the Kilatica, 300; Onabona, 70; the Kankishaws, 150; in all, 3,880 warriors. This latter tribe occupied the present site of Morris village, while northeastwardly to the margin of the lake, the country was occupied by the Kickapoos, and other friendly tribes. mand of the enterprise upon his faithful lieutenant, La Salle set out in November, 1683, for Canada and France, where he hoped to thwart his enemies and snatch success from the very jaws of defeat. Triumphant over his enemies, he returned to America in 1685, and after wandering ineffectually for two years in the inhospitable wilderness of Texas, fell dead, pierced through the brain by the bullet of a treacherous desperado of his own band. It was not until the latter part of 1688, that Tonti with grief and indignation learned of the death of La Salle. In 1690, Tonti received from the French government the proprietorship of Fort St. Louis on the Illinois, where he continued in command until 1702, when by royal order the fort was abandoned and Tonti transferred to lower Louisiana. This fort was afterward re-occupied for a short time in 1718, by a party of traders, when it was finally abandoned. Hitherto, the Indians, faithful to the French, found vent for their savage nature in warfare upon their fellows, but events were rapidly hurrying forward the time when this state of affairs should be reversed. In turn the French power here gave way to the English, and they to the Americans; these momentous changes manifesting themselves to the Indian world in little more than the change of the national ensign on Fort Chartres. Upon the savages, however, a subtle change had been wrought. Unwillingly released from their fealty to the French, they became the fatal cats-paw of the warring whites. Incited by the French to hostilities against the English, they easily turned against the Americans under the influence of British goods and gold. Other influences were powerfully moving them to fulfill their destiny. The success of the American colonies in their war with the mother country, brought them in contact with the natives of the "far west." The whole Indian world viewed their conquests with alarm, and when the restless tide of emigration reached the natural boundary of the Ohio, tribal animosities were forgotten in the united struggle to hold the insatiable palefaces at bay. In the meantime, the abandonment of Fort St. Louis followed by the removal of Kaskaskia and the erection of Fort Chartres had drawn the remnant which their savage enemies had left of the Illinois Confederation, to the southern part of the State, while their deserted lands were occupied by the Sacs and Foxes, Pottawattomies and other tribes which the success of the Americans had forced to find a new home. The first cession of territory demanded of the tribes here was made by the treaty of Greenville, O., in 1795, consisting of "one piece of land, six miles square, at the mouth of Chicago River, emptying into the southwest end of Lake Michigan, where a fort formerly stood;" one piece 12 miles square near the mouth of the Illinois River; and one piece 6 miles square, at the old Peoria Fort and village, near the south end of the Illinois Lake, on the said Illinois River."* In 1803 by a treaty at Vincennes the greater part of southern Illinois was ceded by the Illinois Confederation and other tribes; and by a treaty in the following year signed at St. Louis, the Sacs and Foxes ceded a great tract of country on *At these points the National Government subsequently effected Forts. both sides of the Mississippi, extending on the east bank from the mouth of the Illinois River to the head of that river, and thence to the Wisconsin River. In 1816 a treaty was concluded with the "united tribes of Ottawas, Chippewas and Pottawattomies," at St. Louis. The treaty recites: "Whereas, a serious dispute has for some time existed between the contracting parties relative to the right to a part of the lands ceded to the United States by the tribes of Sacs and Foxes, on the third of November, 1804, and both parties being desirous of preserving a harmonious and friendly intercourse, and of establishing permanent peace and friendship, have for the purpose of removing all difficulties, agreed to the following terms:" etc. The boundaries established by this treaty are the only ones that have found a place upon the published county maps of the State. The territory ceded is marked by lines drawn from a point on Lake Michigan ten miles north, and south of the mouth of Chicago Creek, and following the general direction of the Desplaines to a point north of the Illinois on the Fox River, ten miles from its mouth, and similarly on the south on the Kankakee River. This treaty, it will be observed, ceded only that part of Grundy County north of the river. In 1818, however, the Pottawatomies ceded the larger part of their remaining possessions in Illinois, and with other territory, the balance of Grundy County. The Indians did not at once abandon the territory thus ceded, but under a provision of these treaties lived and hunted here for years, while numerous reservations in favor of individuals and families made these relics of a peculiar race, like the dying embers of a great fire, a familiar sight for years to many of the present generation. The Indians found in and about Grundy County by the first settlers, were bands of the Pottawatomie tribe, and while owning but little allegiance to any chief, recognized in Shabbona and Wauponsee the representatives of tribal authority. The band of the latter made their home at one time on the Illinois River, near the mouth of Mazon Creek, in Grundy County, but in 1824 they moved to Paw Paw Grove. Wauponsee is represented as a large, muscular man, fully six feet and three inches in height. His head presented an unusual feature for an Indian, being entirely bald save a small scalp lock at the crown. In manner he was markedly reserved and gave frequent evidences of an untamed savage disposition that needed only an opportunity to lapse into the cruel barbarity of earlier years. He was a war-chief and claimed to be one hundred years old, though this statement was but little credited by the whites. With the rest of his nation he was engaged in the battle of Tippecanoe and other Indian demonstrations in the following years. He is credited by some as being the Waubansee who befriended the family of Kinzie after the massacre at Fort Dearborn, but while such action, inconsistent as it is with the part he would naturally take in the attack upon the retreating garrison, it is not without parallel in Indian history. However, the strong impression is that these are two individuals. He moved with his band to the government reservations in the "far West" in 1839, signalizing his departure with a deed of barbarous cruelty that characterizes his memory here. This occurred in October, 1839, and is described by L. W. Claypool, who had ample facilities for learning the truth, as follows: "James McKeen residing on the north bank of the Kankakee River, a mile above the mouth, with a hired man, John Byers, had been burning logs in the afternoon. Some Indians asked the privilege of camping there for the night, which was readily granted. In the evening they gathered in to the camp to the number of some fifty, bringing a supply of whiskey. Soon Wauponsee and his family came, having camped the night before near our place (S. W. 1/2 Sec. 20, 33, 7). My father and visited his camp, as he was leaving in the morning, and curiously observed their preparations for moving. His family consisted of one wife, of middle age—very attentive to his wants, adjusting pillows on his pack-saddle and assisting him on a stump to mount his pony; an old squaw—a wife evidently not in favor; a son, sixteen or eighteen years old; son-in-law with wife and two or three children; and two slave squaws, poor, miserable, forlorn-looking wretches in every respect. "After supper McKeen and Byers went out to the fires where the Indians were having a drunken frolic. On approaching the Indians, they found a crowd of savages about a log heap, with one of the slave squaws lying on the ground near the fire, Wauponsee stooping over her and talking in a low voice. Immediately after he gave a signal when the other slave came up, and buried a squaw-ax into the brains of the unfortunate victim. The body was removed to a pile of rails lying near, and being joined by other Indians the orgie was continued far into the night. In the morning the Indians broke camp and went on their way, when McKeen and Byers buried the unfortunate squaw on the banks of the Kankakee. "The prevailing opinion here as to the reason for the deed, was that Wauponsee, realizing the truth of the old adage, 'Dead men tell no tales,' and that as their new reservation in the west joined that of the Winnebagos, to which tribe the squaw originally belonged, fearing that her relatives might be moved to avenge her ill treatment received at his hands, ordered her execution, and thus 'took a bond of fate.'" Waubonsie is said to have been killed by a party of the Sacs and Foxes for opposing them in the "Black Hawk War." "His scalp was taken off, the body mutilated, and left on the prairie to be devoured by wolves."* Shabbona, who shares with Shakespeare the distinction of having his name spelled in an endless number of ways, was born of Ottawa parents, on the Kankakee river in Will County, about 1775. In his youth he married the daughter of a Pottawatomie chief, who had his village on the Illinois a short distance above the mouth of the Fox River. Here at the death of Spotka, his father-in-law, he succeeded to the chieftainship of the band, which soon sought a more salubrious spot, and settled in De Kalb County, where he was found by the early settlers. Shabbona seems to have lacked none of those qualities which were required to command the respect and confidence of his band and yet he was possessed of rare discernment and decision of character, whieh led him early to see that war with the whites was hopeless, and that the only hope *"Memories of Shaubena," by N. Matson. of the savage was to make the best terms possible with the inevitable. To this policy, he was one of the first of his people to give earnest support, and once committed to this line of action, he allowed no influence, however strong, to swerve him from it for a moment. He was easily influenced by the eloquense of Tecumseh, and became an ardent admirer and devoted personal attendant of that celebrated warrior. He was absent from the battle of Tippecanoe with Tecumseh, and returned only to hear of the massacre at Fort Dearborn, and to assist in the defense of Kinzie on the following night. Believing that his nation would join the British in the war of 1812, he joined his hero-warrior, and acted as aid to Tecumseh until the latter was killed. In the general pacification of the tribes after this war, Shabbona seems to have imbibed his peace policy, to which he ever afterward adhered-While not gifted as an orator, his reputation for honesty, fidelity to his nation, and good judgment, gave him a wide influence among the more warlike of his people, and in 1827, he rendered valuable service to the whites in dissuading the Pottawatomie nation from joining the Winnebago war. In 1832, when Black Hawk strove to unite the Indian nations in a combined attack upon the whites, he met a fatal obstacle in the influence of Shabbona for peace. Notwithstanding every influence and inducement brought to bear upon him, the "white man's friend" stood firm, and was largely influential in bringing the aid of the Pottawatomies to the white forces. Subsequently, when "Black Hawk was betrayed into hostilities, and the news of the Indians' first blow and success reached him, he sent his son and nephew in different directions, while he went in still another, to warn the settlers of the impending danger, thus saving the lives of many in the isolated settlements, a service for which he suffered the loss of his son and nephew at the hand of the enraged Sacs and Foxes years afterward. In the military operations which followed with Waubonsie, "Billy Caldwell" and a considerable number of warriors, he enlisted with the army under Gen. Atkinson, who at once placed him in command of the Indian contingent. After performing valued service, he retired with his band at the close of the war, to his village in De Kalb County, where they remained to the date of their removal to the West in 1836. In consideration of his services the national government, beside many other tokens of esteem, reserved a tract of land for his use at Shabbona's Grove, and granted him a pension of $200 per annum. In the summer of 1836, however, the Indian agent notified him that his band must go to the lands assigned them in the West, as none but himself and family could remain on the reservation. Much as he regretted to leave the scenes of his manhood, about which gathered his dearest memories, he could not consent to a separation from his band, and so in September, the whole band came to Main Bureau Creek, and camping at the crossing of the Peoria and Galena road, they remained here about six weeks hunting and fishing. The government proposed to bear the expense of their removal as in the case of other tribes, but Shabbona rejecting this offer, set out one October day with his band of about one hundred and forty-two souls and one hundred and sixty ponies, for their lands in Western Kansas. Not long after this the government moved the Sacs and Poxes from the reservation in Iowa to lands adjoining the Pottawatomies. These tribes entertained the bitterest hostility against Shabbona for the part he took in the Black Hawk War, and Neopope, a chief of these tribes, had sworn to accomplish the destruction of the "white man's friend," together with his son and nephew. In the fall of 1837, Shabbona with his son and nephew and a few hunters went out on the plains to hunt buffalo, when without the slightest apprehension of danger they found themselves attacked by a band of the Sacs. Shabbona with his son Smoke and four hunters escaped, but knowing that a relentless Nemesis was on his track, he left his band and returned with his family to his reservation in De Kalb County; this consisted of 1,280 acres, most of which was fine timbered land. A clause of the treaty conveyed this, and other reservations granted them in fee simple, but the Senate struck out this clause making the property only a reservation. This fact escaped the notice of Shabbona, and in 1845 he sold the larger part of his land and returned to Kansas to visit his band. It was soon discovered by designing persons that this transfer was illegal, and on the strength of representations made at Washington, the authorities declared the reservation vacant and the transfer void. On his return in 1851, he found his whole property sequestered and himself homeless. This grove had been his home for nearly fifty years; here he had made the grave of his first squaw and two papooses, and here he had expected to lay his own bones. It was natural that he should feel a deep sense of injury at this ungrateful requital of devotion to the white race; but this was a new generation, the reservation had been technically abandoned, and none were greatly wronged save the Indian, who had not yet excited the romantic or humanitarian interest of a later day, and broken-hearted he went out to a retired place to implore the Great Spirit, after the fashion of his tribe. The case excited the interest of his early friends, who purchased a small tract of improved land, with house, out-buildings and fencing, situated on the bank of the Illinois near Seneca in Grundy County. Here he lived in a wigwam, his family occupying the house, until his death, at the age of eighty-four, on July 17, 1859. His remains were laid in lot 59, block 7, in the Morris cemetery with elaborate ceremony and grateful regard of the whole county. Here rest also eight of his family, five of whom were his children or grandchildren. Shortly after his death his family removed to their nation in the West, and while his land is held by the County Court in trust for the benefit of his heirs, there is no monument to mark the memory* of one whom General Cass once introduced to a distinguished audience at Washington as, "Shabbona, the greatest red man of the *There is in the Court House at Morris, a fine life sized oil portrait of Shabbona, representing him standing and arrayed in a dress coat, presented to him at Washington supplemented by Indian finery, which gives him a picturesque but noble appearance. This picture is still the property of the artist, and it is to be regretted that the State or National authorities do not see fit to place it in a position to which its artistic merit and the high character of the subject richly entitle it. West." His grandson, Smoke, is supposed to be acting as chief of his nation at this time. An Indian relic which has given rise to many conjectures, is a cedar pole about six inches in diameter at the base, and from twenty to twenty-five feet in height standing in the center of the largest of the ancient mounds found in the village of Morris. The pole stands at the lower end of Wauponsee street, its base protected by a close fitting piece of flagging, and surrounded by an iron fence. The universal respect on the part of the citizens for this monument of the past is, however, its surest protection. None of the Indians with whom the early settlers came in contact could give satisfactory accounts of its erection (indeed they did not claim to know), until the engineers who surveyed the line of the canal made some investigations in this mound. Some members of this party made some unauthorized explorations, and were rewarded by the discovery of some interesting Indian remains. The engineering party was subsequently joined by an Indian named Clark, who evidently belonged to the extinct Illinois nation, and of him Mr. A. J. Matthewson, the engineer in charge, obtained much valuable information, which he has embodied in a letter to L. W. Claypool, of Morris. By permission, the portion bearing upon matters of interest to this county is given as follows: Speaking of Clark, "when asked, he said—'Yes, the bones dug up at the cedar pole belonged to Nucquette, a celebrated chief who was killed upon the ground and buried in a dug-out'—a kind of rude trough which our boys found in 1837, and from which they took the bones, a bit of red rust which had once been a knife blade, and circular ornaments in silver. His squaw, who died years after, lay beside him, her blanket intact, with a profusion of silver brooches and silver rings with green glass sets, upon the bones of two or three fingers of each hand. The threads of the blanket would crumble upon touch, and yet the teeth and hair seemed nearly perfect. The pole, a red cedar, was very old, full of curious cuts and marks, giving in a rude way, as Clark said, the exploits of Nucquette. This brute had a story of his cruelties noted upon that pole, but the poor slave of a squaw lay there without a word being said of her. She was laid in her blanket,—nothing more. "I had found a curious mound at the west side of a small grove, north of the old river stage road and a little west of south from Seneca, and upon asking Clark about the stones carelessly thrown about it he said: 'Oh, yes, that was a very bad Indian! Steal horses, etc. They killed him; put him in this old mound by himself,' and then when any Indian passed the mound he felt bound to show his contempt for the outcast who would not, or did not take scalps—but horses (he was a horse fancier), and before reaching the place they would pick up finger stones and cast them upon the mound and spit upon it, showing their utter contempt for his want of good taste while living. "Clark said Nucquette was killed in battle—that the fight began at Blue Island. The Illinois tribe retreated, and again had a fight three miles east of Joliet, at a village on north bank of Hickory Creek, where Oakwood cemetery now is, then a retreat and a hard fight at Nettle Creek (Morris), the Indian name for which has escaped me; then a retreat and pursuit as far as Starve Rock, where Clark gave a description of the siege and the daring conduct of the devoted band, rushing up to the very edge of the cliff to challenge the foe to combat. Of course, these were the acts of a few men in a desperate situation, but when relating these things the eyes of Clark, usually mild enough, would assume a ferocious appearance quite shocking. He was evidently a friend of the weaker party. He gave also the exploits of a very few who escaped down the Illinois River in a skiff and were pursued for days, though finally escaping. Those left upon Starve Rock generally perished. "In regard to the cedar pole, Clark told me the tribe or some of them came at times, as late as 1837-8, to replace the white flag upon the pole, when the winds had blown it away. Our men went on the sly to dig about the cedar pole in the mound, and upon their return to camp were told decidedly to go back and fix the mound and the pole, and to leave everything as they found it or there would be trouble; that the savages were then about, and that they would miss their top-knots by delay. I went back with them to see the order executed, and it was. We had no trouble with the Indians on account of the act."* *Mr. Matthewson adds: "The death of Nucquette was probably between 1680 and 1700, and the cedar pole may have been placed there at that time." This date is not probably derived from the narrative of Clark. The description of the series of Indian engagements and the incident of Starve Rock corresponds with the historical account of the exterminating war waged by the Pottawatomies and their allies against the Illinois to avenge the murder of Pontiac by one of the latter nation at Cahokia in 1769. It is possible that Nucquette fell in a series of conflicts with the Iroquois, and that Clark confused the traditions of these fights with those which terminated at Starve Rock. Even the later date gives the pole a respectable antiquity. Additional Comments: HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY ILLINOIS; Containing a History from the earliest settlement to the present time, embracing its topographical, geological, physical and climatic features; its agricultural, railroad interests, etc.; giving an account of its aboriginal inhabitants, early settlement by the whites, pioneer incidents, its growth, its improvements, organization of the County, the judicial history, the business and industries, churches, schools, etc.; Biographical Sketches; Portraits of some of the Early Settlers, Prominent Men, etc.; ILLUSTRATED. CHICAGO: O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS, Lakeside Building. 1882. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/grundy/history/1882/historyo/chapter244nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 56.8 Kb