46              HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

to the said reservoir. Assurance has been given that two of the trustees
of the Wabash & Erie Canal will be present on the occasion.”
    This meeting was liberally attended, and on the part of a majority
of citizens present a compromise was effected through the influence of
Mr. Hanna. The trustees agreed to cut down and remove the timber
so far as practicable, which they practically did while reconstructing the
embankment, which delayed navigation south of Terre Haute for a
period of three months.
    On the 19th of October, Governor Wright issued this proclamation:

        EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, INDIANAPOLIS, IND., October 19, 1854.
                    FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD.
    WHEREAS, It has been represented to this department that certain evil-disposed
persons (supposed to reside in the county of Clay), in violation of law, and to the
disturbance of the public peace, are attempting to damage and destroy the Wabash
& Erie Canal by firing the wiers, locks, dams and other combustible works, cutting
the embankment, etc.; and whereas, it is also represented that during the past seven
months these evil-disposed persons (supposed to be few in number) have from time
to time actually destroyed a large amount of the property of said canal;
    THEREFORE, That the laws may be sustained, public property preserved, and
these offenders brought to punishment, I do hereby offer a reward of $500 for the
apprehension, arrest and lodgment in custody of said offenders, or any of them.
    In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the
state this 19th day of October, 1854. JOSEPH A. WRIGHT.
A.HAYDEN, Secretary of State.


    But this did not allay the trouble, which assumed a more serious
aspect in the spring and summer of 1855. On the 10th day of May of
this year, a body of men, said to have been 100 strong, repaired to Birch
Creek reservoir in open day and cut the embankment so completely as to
let out principally all the water. They were armed and disguised and
drove away the guards who had been stationed there some time before to
protect the work and repel any attacks which might be made.
    Immediately following this, Thomas Dowling, of Terre Haute, one
of the canal trustees, communicated the following to Governor Wright:

TRUSTEES’ OFFICE, W. & E. CANAL, Terre Haute, May 18, 1855.
    It is my unpleasant duty to communicate to you the destruction of the Birch
Creek reservoir, in Clay county, on Thursday, the 10th inst. This outrage was
perpetrated by a body of armed men at mid-day, who appeared in disguise with
blackened faces and other concealments of personal identity. There were, it is sup-
posed, 100 persons engaged in the lawless proceeding.
    It will be remembered that on the night of the 22d of June, 1854, a similar out-
rage was committed on the same work, doubtless by a portion of the actors in the
recent scandalous proceeding. Navigation on the canal was suspended south of
Terre Haute for three months, causing a large expenditure of money by the
trustees in repairs, and greatly embarrassing those having capital invested in boats
and produce. Though the repairs were promptly made, no rains fell to fill the reser-
voir, and no further use could be availed until the fall rains set in.
    In July last, after conferring with some 200 citizens of Clay county, near the
Eel River dam, the trustees caused all the standing timber to be cut down and
removed so far as was practicable. The persons there assented (but three or four
dissenters) expressed, by a vote, their entire satisfaction with the proposed expend-
iture, and we had no reason to anticipate any further annoyance on the part of
those living in the neighborhood. James McLean Hanna, Esq., was present at that
meeting, and he, being attorney for complainants, and employed by yourself, fully
concurred in the proceedings, and, by his influence, brought about the meeting pro-
posed and held. The contract for cleaning off the timber was awarded to Mr. W.
K.  Houston, a citizen of Bowling Green, and the expenditure is somewhere in the
neighborhood of $10,000. This outlay, let me add, was made solely to allay the
excitement prevailing, and not because the trustees concurred in the reasoning or