The Indian wars of the United States, from the first settlement at Jamestown, in 1607, to the close of the great uprising of 1890-91

Front matter

OF THE

U N I VERS ITY Of ILLINOIS

970./

Introduction

The history of the Indian wars of the United States is a history of one continuous series of blunders, frauds, oppression, injustice, and crime that is a reproach to our nation. Here and there, in the record, a bright page shines out all the more vividly because of its contrast with the surrounding darkness. None can estimate the amount of property destroyed, the number of lives sacrificed, and the injury done to civilization and progress by our dealings with the Indians.

We have two classes of extremists : those who maintain that there is only one good Indian and he is dead, and those who believe that the red man has been the invariable victim, instead of the wrongdoer, in all the troubles of the white men with his people. That the latter has been the truth in a majority of instances is undeniable, but it is equally true that more than once the treachery, the cruelty, and the atrocity of the Indian have had no shadow of palliation or excuse. The Indian problem still confronts us, but a knowledge of our history, and an acquaintance with the views of those who have studied for years the red man’s traits, habits, characteristics, and nature, and who comprehend his anomalous position among us, must enable all to read the true answer to the question which has caused the waste of so much treasure and life.

Chapter V

King Philip’s War (concluded) — The Attack on Hadley — Burning of Deerfield — The Fight at Bloody Brook — Defeat of the Narragansetts — The Victory and Defeat at Turner’s Falls — Death of King Philip — The War in New Hampshire — Death of Major Waldron — Exploit of Mrs. Dunston — Memorial Hall in Deerfield, Mass.,

Chapter VI

Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia Caused by Trouble with the Indians,

Chapter VII

The Struggle Between England and France for Mastery in the New World — The Part Taken by the Indians, .

CHAPTER Hill.

Pontiac’s Conspiracy— Major Rogers’s Expedition Westward — Meeting with Pontiac — The Plot — Its Betrayal to Major Gladwyn — The Baffled Chief Throws the Mask Aside — Pontiac’s Treachery,

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Contents

PAGS

* CHAPTER IX.

Pontiac’s Conspiracy (continued) — A Remarkable Man — Loss of

Chapter I. The North American Indians

O one knows where the North American Indians came from. There

T are many ingenious theories to explain their presence on our continent. The one now generally accepted is that their ancestors found their way from Asia across Bering Strait, many centuries ago, and migrating southward gradually overspread North and South America. The latest scientific researches add reasonableness to this theory.

With the exception perhaps of the Esquimaux, the Indians possess a general resemblance. Their characteristics, as given by Lawrence, are : S'dn brown or cinnamon-hued ; iris dark ; hair long, black, and straight; beard scanty ; eyes deep-seated ; nose broad, but prominent ; lips full and rounded; face broad across cheeks, which are prominent, but less angular than the Mongolian, and with features distinct. The general shape of the head is square, with low but broad forehead, back of the head elevated, top elevated, face much developed, and powerful jaws. The parietal region is also much developed, orbits large, feet and hands small and well proportioned, teeth white and sound, and the facial angle about 750.

The stature, while no greater than that of other races, shows in some instances a marked difference. The Osages are tall, while the Shoshones are below the average height. The muscular development of the American Indian is not great, and he shows a tendency to grow fat when food is abundant, and his habits indolent. He is inferior to the white race in labors requiring compactness of muscle and long-continued exertion. The complexion varies from the dark-brown of the Californian tribes to the almost white of the Mandans and the Chinooks. The beard is scanty, except among the Athabascans, and is prevented from growing by their custom of plucking it out. The Indian has a dull, sleepy eye, with little fire

2 THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.

>9

unless when his passions are aroused. The features are frequently regular and express nobility. Many of their women are handsome. The skin of the Indian is smoother, softer, and thinner than that of the white races. He is of haughty demeanor, taciturn and stoical to the last degree. He is alert and cunning in the surprise, persevering in the pursuit, and revengeful in the destruction of his enemies. He is cruel to prisoners taken in war, without regard to sex or age, and when himself a captive, endures stoically the most frightful tortures. He is idle and grave in peace, except when engaged in hunting or amusements ; hospitable and grateful for favors, with a poetic and imaginative temperament, which is often exhibited by an eloquence simple but of the highest order.

As a race, however, the American Indian is more animal than intellectual. While he shows a reverence for age and a strong love of children, he is superstitious to a degree. Their war dances, pow-wows, sorceries, and numerous ceremonies are marked by excesses and absurdities characteristic of the lowest forms of barbarism. Marriage among them is generally dissoluble at the pleasure of the parties. Polygamy is common and the women undergo all the drudgery of labor. They believe in the existence of a Supreme Being, embodying a principle of unusual benevolence, to whom is due gratitude for all blessings. On the other hand, they stand in fear of a spirit of evil, who they believe takes an active concern in all the affairs of life.\)

The Indians of "North and South America have more than four hundred languages and two thousand dialects. Yet each tribe possesses its own peculiar physiognomy and its members are readily distinguished by their features and their dress.

With such an enormous number of tribes, many of which include only a few hundred members, classification is difficult. The Indians, however, that at present occupy our territory may be classed as follows :

The Panis,-Araparhoe -family, including (i) the Panis or Pawnees; (2) the Arapahoes ; (3) the Jetans, named Comanches by the Spaniards.

The Columbian family, including (1) the Tushapaws; (2) the Multnomah ; (3) the Chahala ; (4) the Snake or Flatheads ; (5) the Shoshones ; (6) the Chopunish ; (7) the Sokulks ; (8) the Esheluts ; (9) the Enishurs; (10) the Chilluckittequaws.

The Sioux-Osage family, including (1) the Sioux or Dakota, the most powerful of the independent aborigines, which are divided into the Dakota proper and the Assiniboine, the latter living in alliance with the Chippewas ; (2) the Omawha or Maha, subdivided into several tribes; (4) the Mandans ; (5) the Mawsash, commonly called Osages, subdivided into three tribes.

The Mobile-Natches or Floridian family, comprising six principal or

THE VARIOUS TRIBES.

independent branches, each subdivided into several tribes : (i) the Natches, who are almost extinct, the remnant being scattered among the Creeks and Choctaws ; (2) the Muskohges or Creeks, the most numerous of the original tribes, consisting of the Upper and Lower Creeks, the latter of whom are called Seminoles; (3) the Chickasaws; (4) the Choctaws; (5) the Cherokees, the most enlightened of the independent aborigines.

The Mohawk, Huron, or Iroquois family, which once formed the most powerful Indian confederation on this continent, includes a great variety of tribes: (1) the Mohawks, who with the Senecas and Onondagas originated the Five Nations, which afterward became Six Nations, by the addition of the Tuscaroras of the South. It includes also the Oneidas, ^ ugas, Canoys, Mohegans, and Nanticokes.

T The Lenape family, including (1) the Shawanoes; (2) the Kickapoos ; (3) the Sacs, Sawhees, and Ottogamies, called also the Foxes ; (4) the Miamis; (5) the Illinois; (6) the Pottawatomies ; (7) the Winnebagoes; (8) the Delaware or Leni-Lenape ; (9) the Mohicans; (10) the Abenaqui ; (ii) the Micmacks; (12) the Algonquin; (13) the Chippewa; (14) the Knistenaux ; (15) the Nenawehk ; (16) the Abbitibes ; (17) the Chippewyaus; (18) the Carrurs. The Apaches, who have played such a prominent part in our late Indian wars, belong to the Mexican family.

Chapter II. The First English Settlement And The First Indian Wars

THE history of the Indian wars in this country properly begins with the first settlement. It has been wittily said, and with some truth, that when the New England pioneers landed on our shores, they first fell upon their knees and then upon the aborigines.

More than a hundred years rolled away after the discovery of America by Columbus, before a French, Dutch, or English colony secured a permanent footing on its soil. Spain had a small settlement at St. Augustine, founded in 1565, which through much suffering held fast, but the remaining territory, embracing millions of square miles, was inhabited only by the red Indian and wild beasts.

After several ineffectual attempts by England to establish a colony in this country, King James I. granted a patent or charter to two companies, by which they received a gift of the whole continent of North America, from the thirty-fourth to the forty-fifth parallel of latitude. This did not interfere with the French in the north, nor the Spaniards in the south, but the grant included all the present States along the Atlantic seaboard, north of South Carolina, except a part of Maine. The name given to this immense tract was “Virginia.”

The charter of the king divided the territory into two parts. The southern half belonged to the London Company and the northern half to the Plymouth Company, with the wise condition that their nearest colonies must be a hundred miles apart, and must indulge in no quarreling.

Attempts at settlement followed. The Maine colonists arrived at the mouth of the Kennebec, in August, 1607, but were so discouraged by the outlook that they did not stay long. Most of them went back to England in the autumn. A few remained until the following spring, when their leader, George Popham, having died, the rest returned to their homes. They took with them such dismal reports of the inhospitable climate that nearly twelve years passed before the next attempt to settle New England.

In “The Youths’ History of the United States,” you will find the particulars of the first English settlements in America. The London Company sent out three vessels in the month of December, 1606, containing one hundred and five men and no women. The most famous member of the company was Captain John Smith, who had led a life of strange adventure,

FOUNDING OF JAMESTOWN.

which was continued in the New World. The colony landed upon a peninsula, about forty miles from the mouth of the river, which they named the James, in honor of the king, and began the settlement of Jamestown. Only a few ruins remain to mark the site of the first English settlement in this country.

The new colony suffered from the heat and other discomforts. There came a time when probably all the settlers would have perished, but for the

INDIAN MEDICINE MAN.

kindness of the Indians, who gave them food. Everyone is familiar with the story of the rescue of Captain John Smith from death by Pocahontas, the daughter of the great Indian chief Powhatan, the result of which was that Powhatan became a fervent friend of the English as long as he lived.

The marriage of Pocahontas to the Englishman Rolfe took place in 1613. Powhatan died five years later, and his successor was his brother,

OPECANCANOUGH.

Opecancanough, who hated the English invaders with an inextinguishable hatred. But he was shrewd, and possessed all the proverbial cunning of his race. He determined to exterminate all of the intruders.

The chief was too wise to make an open attack or to let it be known that he was an enemy of the English. He, therefore, acted as their friend, while laying his plans for their massacre. For four years he plotted so

CAPTAIN smith. {From the portrait in his “ Virginia .”)

carefully that the neighboring tribes, who were friendly to the whites, did not suspect his purpose. In the depths of the solemn woods, the dusky plotters held many secret meetings, at which they fanned the fires of hate and perfected their fearful scheme of blotting from the face of the earth every white person that had entered their hunting grounds.

The appalling blow was struck by Opecancanough in March, 1622, when

MASSACRE OF THE SETTLEMENTS.

his warriors burst upon the settlements with the fury of the cyclone. The pioneers, nearly all of whom were absorbed in the cultivation of tobacco, were overwhelmed by the fierce hordes ^ >

which seemed to spring from the very earth. With their frightful yells, they desended upon the settlers, many of whom were so unprepared that they had

OPECANCANOUGH AROUSING THE INDIANS.

nothing but farming utensils in their hands with which to defend themselves. Age, sex, illness, former friendship availed nothing to stay the awful tempest of wrath. In the space of a single hour, three hundred and forty-seven men, women, and children were massacred, and eighty flourishing plantations planted along the James were reduced to six. These escaped through the warning of a friendly Indian, who brought word to Jamestown, on the night before the

PUNISHMENT OF THE INDIANS.

day fixed upon for the massacre. Runners were sent out to warn the other settlements, but they were scattered at such a great distance along the river that they could not be reached in time.

Swift retribution followed this work. The settlers spent the following summer in strengthening themselves against further attacks, and in pre-

OPECANCANOUGH IN CAPTIVITY.

thing else, even the planting of their crops. Where such furious resentment raged, it need not be said that the white men equaled the atrocity of the Indians. They showed them no mercy and resorted to the same methods that their enemies had employed. They went so far as to pretend to make peace with them, and, when the unsuspicious warriors

DEATH OF OPECANCANOUGH.

and chiefs met them in council, they sprang upon and put many to death. In this respect, their treachery was not surpassed by the Indians, who had received solemn assurances that their lives would be held sacred.

For a time it was believed that the great war chief Opecancanough was among the slain, but the old fellow turned up twenty-two years later and struck another fearful blow at the colonists. No one understood better than he the virtue of patience, for, when the hour came to act, he was a hundred years old, and so feeble that he had to be carried on a litter at the head of his warriors.

Opecancanough did his task well. All the Indians for six hundred miles around were in the plot. The fateful drama opened in April, 1644, when an attack was made along the frontier, the plan being to carry it to the sea. The massacre continued for two days, during which from three to five hundred whites were slain, the destruction being greatest along the York and Pamunky rivers, where Opecancanough commanded in person ; but at the end of the time mentioned, Sir William Berkeley, with an armed force, checked the progress of the Indians, who were pressed hard in turn.

The fighting was desperate. Not only were the assailants repulsed, but the great chieftain was taken prisoner. By this time he was so emaciated and worn out that it is said he was unable so much as to raise his eyelids. Nevertheless, he was borne in triumph to Jamestown.

A soldier was appointed to guard him, but, influenced probably by the recollection of the number of lives that had been lost through the agency of the veteran leader, the guard deliberately fired upon Opecancanough and fatally wounded him. He heard the bustle made outside by the crowd that was striving to get a look at a dying sachem. He ordered his attendant to lift his eyelids. The sight filled his worn frame for the moment with unnatural strength, and, rising undauntedly to his feet, he commanded that the governor be brought to him. When Berkeley appeared, the wrathful chieftain said :

“ Had it been my fortune to take Sir William Berkeley prisoner I would not have meanly exposed him as a show to my people.”

A few minutes later he died.

Peace followed the defeat of the Indians, and Jamestown and the surrounding colonies were prosperous for a long time.

Chapter III. 1/

THE FIRST INDIAN WAR IN NEW ENGLAND — EXTERMINATION OF THF

PEQUOTS.

/^VN the 2 1 st of December, 1620, the Pilgrims, to the number of 102, landed from the Mayflower , on the bleak coast of Cape Cod. They were strong, sturdy people, all of them, driven from their homes in the Old World by religious persecution, and well prepared to become the founder? of a nation in the New World.

Their sufferings were appalling. After a time half of the little band died, and there was one woful period when only seven well persons were in the colony. But they held on grimly and by and by prosperity dawned, though it was a long while in coming.

Fortunately the Indians did not disturb them. Had they done so they could have readily exterminated the little band. The astonishment of the pioneers was great, one day in early spring, when an Indian came out of the woods and saluted them with the words:

“Welcome, Englishmen! welcome, Englishmen ! ”

This red man was Samoset, who had picked up a few words of English a few years before from some fishermen on the coast of Maine. He belonged to the tribe of Wampanoags, whose chief was Massasoit.

Samoset was treated so kindly that he became a devoted friend of the settlers, and, a few days later, made another visit, accompanied by Massasoit, chief of the tribe. The sachem was entertained with the same hospitality, the result of which was that he formed an alliance with the English, by which it was pledged that the two people should abstain from harm and aid each other against all enemies. This treaty was faithfully kept for half a century, and Massasoit secured the submission of nine other sachems to King James.

The result of such humanity and wisdom on the part of the pioneers, taken with that of William Penn, who adopted a still more enlightened policy, forms one of the most striking lessons in the history of our country.

While the Pilgrims were toiling and suffering at Plymouth, other feeble settlements were made along the coast. On the 29th of June, 1629, five vessels, one of which was the famous Mayflower , entered what is now Salem harbor. They brought four hundred passengers, as well as cattle, goats, and agricultural implements. They were sent by the new English corporation styled “ The Governor and Company of the Massachusetts gallup’s attack on the Indians.

JOHN GALLUP OF BOSTON 1 3

Bay in New England.” Their grant extended from the Merrimac to the Charles River.

The new colony was known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony. John Winthrop came over the following year, as the new governor, bringing eight hundred colonists with him. Among the new arrivals were many wealthy, cultured, and powerful men, and it overshadowed the humble colony at Plymouth. They founded the town of Salem and afterward settled Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Charlestown, Watertown, and less important places.

The two colonies for a long time were independent. The Massachusetts Bay prospered more than Plymouth, and, in 1692, the two united under the name of Massachusetts, the word being derived from one of the Indian tribes in the neighborhood.

jy>ne pleasant day in the summer of 1636 John Gallup, of Boston, was sailing in a small fishing boat, with a man and two boys, when his attention was attracted by the peculiar action of another fishing boat near Block Island. It was drifting along with the sails flapping, and he would have felt sure no one was on board had he not seen a number of persons moving about the deck.

“ There is something wrong,” he said to his companions, as he headed his own boat toward the other, which he soon recognized as belonging to a neighbor.

While yet some distance away, Gallup saw a canoe leave the boat and hurriedly paddle for shore. A scrutiny of the figures on deck showed they were Indians. This told the fearful story. The red men had killed those on board and taken possession of the vessel.

But Gallup was a brave man and did not flee. He had two guns, two pistols, and plenty of ammunition. He ordered his companions to steer straight for the other boat, and, stationing himself at the prow, opened fire on the Indians. He was one of the best marksman on the frontier, and aimed with such care that every time he pulled trigger a warrior fell.

Gallup’s vessel bore directly down on the other, whose occupants became so terrified that many ran below to escape the whistling bullets, for the boys and the other man joined in the fusillade. A minute later, Gallup’s boat crashed into the other and six of the frightened Indians leaped into the water. Rebounding, the vessel struck a second time, and all the savages sprang into the sea, excepting four. Gallup and his companions leaped over the gunwale and assailed them with such fierceness that two ran below, while the remaining couple begged for mercy. It was granted and they were made prisoners.

The Indians concerned in this outrage were Pequots. Governor Vane, on learning of the occurrence, sent ninety men to Block Island, where they

EXPEDITION AGAINST THE PEQUOTS.

attacked and scattered the savages, burned their lodges and came back to ‘Boston without the loss of a man. The campaign against the Pequots was on such a small scale that, instead of cowing, it exasperated and spurred them to greater hostilities. Like Opecancanough, they determined^) exterminate all the ..white-peo p 1 e in the country. ~ —

This was a grand scheme, but the Pequots knew the madness of entering upon the work without the help of the other tribes. Their old enemies, the Narragansetts, could place five thousand warriors on the warpath, and, if they should join forces with the Pequots, there was reason to hope for success. Accordingly, messengers were sent to the Narragansetts, and every art known to Indian oratory and persuasion was used to bring them into the alliance. Success was almost reached, when Roger Williams, the preacher that had been banished from New England, and who was living among the Narragansetts, turned the scale and they declined to join the Pequots.

Desperate as the latter knew the chances to be, they plunged into the war single-handed, beginningin the usual way, by stealthy attacks on cabins and by shooting down laborers in the fields. When they secured a prisoner, as happened quite often, they put him to death by torture. Growing bolder through success, they attacked the little town of Weathersfield, and well-nigh succeeded in capturing it. They had a thousand braves on the warpath and became so menacing that Connecticut begged Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay to save her.

The response was met by the dispatch of ninety men under Captain Mason, who was a veteran soldier. Before leaving Hartford most of the night was spent in prayer. Seventy Mohicans, under Uncas, a sachem of the tribe, went with the English. There was some suspicion of the loyalty of these dusky allies, but though they amounted to little, they remained true to the white men.

Mason was joined by 'Captain Underhill, in command of the Connecticut troops, and it was wisely decided to attack the Pequots in the rear, by marching through the country of the Narragansetts. Accordingly, the three small vessels containing the troops sailed easterly along the coast, and entered Narragansett Bay on the evening of May 20. The following day, being Sunday, was spent in religious exercises, and a storm prevented the landing until the 23d.

When the troops approached the Pequot fort, which stood on an eminence, in the present town of Groton, Connecticut, the Mohican and Narragansett allies were frightened almost into a panic. They stayed at a safe distance until the fight was over, helping, however, in the closing scenes of the tragedy.

Just as night was shutting in, on the evening of the 25th, the settlers

THE PEQUOT FORT.

came in sight of the fort, which consisted of a circular inclosure, containing more than an acre. It was surrounded by palisades, a dozen feet high, set so close that no person could force his body between, while there was

ATTACK ON THE FEQUOl' FORT.

plenty of room for the Indians to use their bows and arrows. Within the palisades were rows of wigwams.

Crouching in the woods, the settlers heard the sounds of rough mirth and revelry from the stockades. With no suspicion of danger, the red men

1 6

ANNIHILATION OF THE PEQUOTS.

were enjoying themselves in their boisterous fashion, and perhaps engaging in the torture of some prisoner, powerless to help himself.

A cautious reconnoisance disclosed two entrances to the Pequot stronghold. They were opposite each other and protected by only a few bushes. It was decided to make a simultaneous rush through the two openings.

The first streakings of light had not yet appeared in the east when a watch dog, near the eastern entrance, discovered several of the shadowy figures in the moonlight, stealing over the ground toward the fort. He barked and the drowsy sentinels, starting up, uttered the cry :

“ Owanux ! Owanux ! ” (The Englishmen ! The Englishmen !)

Captain Mason sprang through the bushes, and, sword in hand, opened the fight, holding his ground until his soldiers could hasten to his help. Underhill, on the other side, knew what the sounds meant and attacked with equal energy.

The Pequots were among the bravest of Indians, and they fought with a desperation and valor which soon compelled the assailants to give ground. At the moment when defeat threatened, Mason snatched up a firebrand and, whirling it into a quick blaze, flung it on the roof of a wigwam, which almost immediately broke into flames. Underhill was hardly a minute later in doing the same on his side of the stronghold.

The slaughter now became fearful. Men, women, and children were slain without mercy. When the fire was fairly under way, the soldiers ran ©utside and waited until the victims, in their frantic efforts to escape, were outlined against the vivid flames, when they shot them down. If any perchance escaped, they fell victims to the cowardly Mohicans and Narragansetts in the woods beyond the white men. The loss of the Pequots, while siot definitely known, was probably a thousand. Two of the whites were killed and many wounded.

On their return to their ships, Mason met three hundred more Pequot warriors. A fight instantly opened, but the whites got to the rear of the Indians and reached the harbor, fighting all the way.

Having begun the war of extermination, the settlers continued it without mercy. Mason, with a strong force, scoured the country from near New London to the English fort at Saybrook. The Pequots were destroyed to that extent that the survivors made haste to surrender. Some were sent to the Bermudas, others were enslaved in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and the rest were absorbed by the neighboring tribes. Thus the Pequot Indians soon disappeared from the face of the earth, and a long period of peace and prosperity came to the New England colonies.

Chapter IV. King Philip’s War— Attacks On Swansea, Brookfield, And Other

PLACES.

THE most famous early uprising of Indians in this country is known as King Philip’s war. It has already been shown that Massasoit, the great Wampanoag chieftain, in return for the kindness shown to him by the English, continued their loyal friend through life. He died in 1660* and was succeeded by his two sons, Wamsutta and Pometacom, whose English names were Alexander and Philip.

In 1662 the English were disturbed by so many reports that Alexander was plotting with the Narragansetts, that he was ordered to appear before the Court of Plymouth and make explanation. He expressed a willingness to come, insisting that he was, as he had always been, a good friend of the white men. On the day appointed, however, he not only failed to present himself, but went among the Narragansetts, who he pretended were his enemies. Thereupon he was brought by force to Plymouth. While there he fell ill and died. The English said that his excessive rage and mortification brought the fever which carried him off* but his people declared that he had been poisoned by the physician wh© attended him. His death left Philip the chief sachem of the Wampa^ noags.

The younger brother was the superior of the elder in every respect* and was one of the most remarkable men of his race that ever lived. The distrustful English asked him to come to Plymouth and make known his sentiments. He did so and solemnly denied that he was concerned in m knew of any plot against them. He offered his younger brother as a host* age until the truth of what he declared could be established. The court declined the offer and the former covenant of friendship was renewed* Philip and five of his subordinate sachems signed an agreement to live peaceful and loyal subjects of the king, while the Court promised to give them and their tribe what help they might need. As a result, five years of quiet followed.

The real cause of King Philip’s war has never been established. He probably shared the race hatred of most of his people, and had besides a number of personal grievances. The widow of his brother insisted that Alexander had been poisoned, and it is likely Philip shared the beiieL Possibly he was right.