Tipton County IN Archives History - Books .....Events Prior To The County Organization 1883
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Book Title: Counties Of Howard And Tipton, Indiana

HISTORY OF TIPTON COUNTY.
EVENTS PRIOR TO THE COUNTY ORGANIZATION.
BY WESTON A. GOODSPEED.

THE county of Tipton possesses the historic peculiarity of having had the
southern portion thrown into market and settled quite extensively for a number
of years before the Indian title to the northern portion was extinguished. It
appears that the territory now comprising the county was formerly the undisputed
domain of the Miamis; but at some period during the latter part of the
eighteenth century, the Delawares seem to have acquired a claim to that portion
watered by White River, as is shown by the second article of the treaty of Fort
Wayne, September 20, 1809, between the United States and the Delawares,
Pottawatomies, Miamis and Eel River Miamis, the article reading as follows: "The
Miamis explicitly acknowledge the equal right of the Delawares with themselves
to the country watered by the White River. But it is also to be clearly
understood that neither party shall have the right of disposing of the same
without the consent of the others, and any improvements which shall be made on
the said land by the Delawares, or their friends, the Mohecans, shall be theirs
forever." By the first article of the treaty of St. Mary's, between the United
States and the Delawares, on the 3d of October, 1818, such tribe relinquished
their claim to all lands in the State of Indiana. Thus it seems that all that
portion of the county watered by White River became the property of the United
States in 1818. Three years later (1821), the Government survey took place.

   If any white persons located permanently within what is now Tipton County,
prior to the thirties, such fact is not now known. White people began to enter
what is now Hamilton County as early as 1819, or within a year after the
Delaware title to the soil was extinguished, and so rapid was the settlement
that, during the session of the State Legislature in 1822-23, the act was passed
creating the county of Hamilton. The lands of Hamilton County were subject to
entry at Brookville, and later at Indianapolis. The lands of Tipton County
(those south of the old Miami reservation) were subject to entry at Fort Wayne,
and remained thus until about the year 1848, when the land office was
transferred to Indianapolis. But the settlement of southern Tipton County was
postponed until about twelve years after the county of Hamilton was created, and
was thus a howling wilderness for that entire period, when the county on the
south was undergoing rapid settlement and improvement. It is, of course, certain
that the county of Tipton was often traversed by white hunters and speculators
from the south, and by traders who crossed the county on their way to traffic
with the Miamis in Howard and northern Tipton Counties. Various Indian trails
were the highways over which the traders traveled. Wild animals were found
abundantly in all portions of the county, especially along the streams, where
impenetrable swamps abounded, and where the animals sought refuge when pursued
by hunters. Old settlers of Hamilton County state that bears were numerously
found in all the region bordering Cicero Creek, and that such region was a
favorite hunting-ground of the Miamis on the north. The country was constantly
invaded by hunters and trappers from the south, and, erelong, the bears had
nearly all been killed or driven away, and even the deer had become
comparatively scarce and quite shy. Cicero Creek is said to have derived its
name from the following circumstance: The survey took place in 1821, under Judge
(William B.) Laughlin, of Brookville. One of his assistants was his son Cicero,
who undertook to drink, one day, from the stream, but while stooping down missed
his hold, and plunged into the water. This mishap so amused the father that he
is said to have then and there named the creek Cicero, to commemorate the event
of the ducking. This occurred in Hamilton County. Much more regarding wild
animals and Indians will be found in other portions of this volume.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

COUNTIES OF HOWARD AND TIPTON, INDIANA.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
ILLUSTRATED.

CHARLES BLANCHARD. EDITOR.
CHICAGO: F. A. BATTEY & CO.
1883.


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