History of the border wars of two centuries : embracing a narrative of the wars with the Indians from 1750 to 1874

Preface

This Volume is simply what its title page indicates — a history of the Border Wars of the United States from the fall of Canada, in 1759, to and including the Indian troubles in the far West in 1874. The narrative opens with a brief history of the Indian Nations east of the Mississippi, and a short description of the outposts of both the English and French colonies as they appeared at the close of the French war. Then follows, in considerable detail, an account of the Pontiac War, which in its desolating march spread the horror of murder and massacre from the Carolinas to the most northern lake fort. From this desperate struggle the reader is conducted through the tempests of Border Warfare in its furious march across the Continent, from the Alleghanies and the lakes to the dangerous lava-cave ambuscades of the Modocs, in Arizona, and the wilds of the Pacific slope. At the proper point the narrative is interrupted to give place to a brief history of the Indian tribes, and a description of the outposts of civilization west of the Mississippi.

In the course of the history the reader is presented

4 PREFACE.

with interesting and authentic sketches of the lives ol Chiefs Pontiac, Brant, Tecumseh, Black Hawk, Captain Jack, and 'the great Indian warriors who have figured conspicuously in Border Warfare in North America ; the various treaties that have been made and broken, the boundary lines that have been agreed upon and invaded ; in short, all the events that have, for the time, either prevented or promoted these wars, are fully and truthfully represented, so that the reader, after carefully perusing this Volume, will, in the absence of any opinion expressed by the author, be able to judge intelligently for himself of the merits of the treatment which the native tribes have received at the hands of the United States government.

The demand for this work cannot be questioned. There is not a single person interested in the history of the United States who has not felt the want of a reliable History of the Wars between his country and the Indians ; and it is with a view to supply this want that this book is presented to the public. It has been compiled and written from the most reliable sources, and, it is confidently believed, w^ill be found complete, authentic and interesting. The various books, publications and reports which have been consulted, and to which the perfection of this Volume is largely indebted, require something more than a passing notice in this introduction. In compiling and writing a volume such as the followino-, where most of the materials used have been, in some way, connected with other books, it is impossible, in the course of the narrative, to give proper credit to the authors consulted ; and, in order that the reader may know to what extent books heretofore published have contributed to the perfection of this work, I take this opportunity of making the necessary explanation.

Mr. Francis Parkman deserves the first mention. From his valuable works on the Indians and Indian wars east of the Mississippi, has been gathered the materials which make up the first part of this book, and it is only necessary to make this reference to establish the authenticity of my history of the Pontiac war, for there is no more able, complete, or interesting narrative of this terrible border war than that given by Mr. Parkman, whose writings are justly regarded as an ornament to American literature.

In that part of the narrative which gives an account of Harmar's, St. Clair's and Harrison's campaigns against the Indians, Including Tecumseh's war, I have gathered much from the works of Messrs. James H. Perkins and J. M. Peck — a volume originally compiled by the former and revised by the latter — entitled "The Western Annals." I have frequently given this volume credit in the course of the narrative ; but, in addition, I wish to make this acknowledgment here.

My account of the Black Hawk war is materially dependent upon Mr. Upham's valuable little book which is entirely devoted to the Hfe of this wayward chief. In this volume, the author takes occasion, and I think, justly, to censure the acts of the United States authorities for needlessly irritating the Sacs to this bloody onset.

In the brief account of the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi, which precedes my history of the Indian wars in the same territory, Mr. Charles De Wolf Brownell is the most valuable contributor. His standard work, entitled the " Indian Races of North and South America," has been freely consulted, and, although the usual credit is given in the proper places, I cannot fail to mention it here.

In my account of the adventures of Colonel John C. Fremont, and Christopher Carson, I have freely used the official reports of the former, the " Life and Explorations of Fremont," and other volumes, but I shall not undertake to enumerate all the official reports and documents which have contributed to the thrilling catalogue of wars and adventures west of the Mississippi, which constitutes the last part of this book. It will suffice to say that some five or six hundred of these have been diligently consulted and always with good results.

A description of the principal battles during the conquest of Mexico, which has been thrown in to relieve the general current of Indian warfare, is largely dependent upon a neat little volume entitled "The Mexican War and its Heroes." I have no

PREFACE. 7

means of knowing the name of the author of this volume, since it has not been attached to its pages. I ought also to mention " The Life and Adventures of Kit Carson," by Col. DeWitt C. Peters, which came into my hands a few days before this volume was given to the publishers. It is a deeply interesting, strictly authentic work, that reflects scarcely less honor upon the name of the famous mountaineer than credit upon his biographer. Several important passages in this work have their origin in the labors of this author. The brief account of the Seminole war, which closes this volume has been compiled and written from Mr. Joshua R. Giddings' valuable book entitled, " The Exiles of Florida," a neat little work of surpassing interest.

I wish to claim for myself only the earnest labor of a compiler, and in presenting this book to the public, I do so in the belief that the materials have been so arranged as to constitute the most complete and satisfactory history of the wars with the Indians of the United States and Territories that has yet been written.

CHARLES R. TUTTLE.

Chicago, March, 1874.

HISTORY OF

The Border Wars,

CHARTER I.

The Indian Tkibes of the Lake Region — General Characteristics — Tribal Divisions — Mode of Government — Myths and Legends — Their Eloquence and Sagacity — Dwellings, Villages AND Forts — The War Path — Festivals and Pastimes — Religious Faith.

Before entering upon an account of the scenes and incidents of the Border Wars of the Northwest, I will give the reader a faint glimpse of the condition of the Indian tribes of the lake region about the date at Mdiicli our narrative commences — 1700. The territory east of the Mississippi was occupied, excepting where the whites had intruded tlieir colonial settlements, by three great families, differing from each other by a radical peculiarity of language. They were called the Iroquois, Algonquin and Mobilian nations. The Mobilians embraced the confederacy of the Greeks and the Choctaws, but as they took no active part in the ensuing narrative, I will avoid any details of their history. But the Iroquois and the Algonquin nations, being conspicuously identified with the last great struggle of the savages against civilization, demand a closer attention.

Foremost in eloquence, war and intellect stood the Iroquois. To use their own words, they " were a mighty and warlike (9)

10 THE LIVES OF PO>"nAC A^"D TI':CUMSEH :

people," and they extended their conquests from Quebec to the Caroh'nas, on the seaboard, and to the Mississippi on the west. Everywhere in this broad country they established their name and power, and, indeed, throughout the country they were the terror alike of whites and Indians. In the south they had conquered the Delawares, and were, at this time, forcing them to a heavy tribute; in the north, they had completely subjected the Wyandots, and prohibited them the use of arm's; in the west they exterminated the Eries, and in the east •' a single Mohawk war cry was sufficient to terrify all the Indians in ^ew England.'"

But the Indians were not alone in terror of the Iroquois. All Canada trembled beneath their infuriated onset. More than once Champlain fled with his troops to the forts for refuge, leaving his pursuing conquerers to destroy and plunder the defenseless French settlements. Certainly the history of such a powerful nation should not be slighted, yet to trace it beyond the dark border of the discovery is beyond the power of human penetration.

As we glance at them in 1700, we find their central government located within the present limits of the state of iS'ew York, where, in thfe Yalley of the Onondaga, the chiefs of the several tribes of this great family held their civil and military councils for many generations. The Iroquois nation consisted of, first five, and, at a later period, six tribes, called the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, the Senecas and the Tuscaroras. These tribfes were bound together by a loose confederacy, being, in a small measure, subject to a general congress, but each tribe had its own organization, and independent tribal government. Each tribe had several sachems, who, with the subordinate chiefs and principal men, regulated all its civil and military affairs; but when foreign powers were to be consulted, or important treaties made, all the sachems of the several tribes convened in general assembly at the great council house — the Iroquois capitol — in the valley of the Onondaga. Here the Congressmen of the Six Illations were received, the great council fire kindled, treaties made and difficulties settled. Here the simple Iroquois sachem sat and listened to the eloquent speeches of the leadinir chiefs, who spoke their honest sentiments in accordance witli the most ancient usages of their nation.

When Jacques Cartier first visited the St. Lawrence he found the savages of the Six Kations occupying the country along the north bank of the river, and, as early as 1535, he discovered a town of the Huron-Iroquois, consisting of about fifty huts, near the present site of the city of Montreal. This village was situated in the midst of large fields of Indian corn, and must, even at this early day, have been a place of considerable importance, or, to use tlie words of another, " the metropolis of the neighboring country."

Mr. Stone, in his able writings on the Indians of the Six Nations, gives the following description of this village: "It was surrounded by palisades or trunks of trees set in a ti-iple row. The outer and inner ranges of palisades inclined till they met and crossed near the summit, while the upright row between them, aided by transverse braces, gave to the whole an abundant strength. Within were galleries for the defenders, rude ladders to mount them, and magazines of stone to throw down on the heads of the assailants. A single entrance was secured with piles and stakes, and every precaution adopted against sudden attack or seige. The town consisted of about fifty oblong houses, each fifty feet in length by twelve or fifteen in breadth, built of wood and covered with bark. Each house contained small chambers built round an open court in the centre, in which many fires were kindled. Tlie inhabitants were devoted to husbandry and fishing, and the lands in the vicinity were well cultivated."

According to the history of Cartier's voyage, the Indians of Hochelaga — now Montreal — were unusually civilized, for barbarians, and greatly in advance of their nation a century afterwards; but in 1600 no trace of this village could be found.

According to their own traditions the people of the Six Nations originally came from the north, but they date the period of their migration a long number of centuries back. Cusick, the Tuscarora author — and the only Indian who has written upon the subject — dates the event more than five hun-

12 TIIE LIVES OF PONIIAC AND TECUMSEII :

dred years before the discovery by Columbus, but his writingsare not generally accepted. The tradition of the Senecas, the fifth of the Six Nations, is that the original people of their Nation broke forth from the earth, from the crest of a mountain at the head of Canandaigua Lake. The mountain which gave them bir'th is called Ge-nun-de-wah-gauh, or the great hill, and for this reason the Senecas are sometimes called the great hill people, and, I believe, this was their original title, Tlie Ge-nun-de-wah-gauh has been held, by them, sacred as being their birth-place. It was for many years the place of holding the councils of this tribe, and was the hallowed place of their religious services.

As with the Senecas so with all the tribes of the Six Nations. They have no written history of their origin, nor can one now be produced.

One of the principal supports to the confederacy of the Six Nations, and one of the strongest ties which bound them together was the system of toteinshij>. In the Six Nations there were eight totemic clans.

The Iroquois believed that Taounyawatha, the God of Waters, had descended to the earth to teach them the arts of savage life. They claimed further that this God, seeing the evils by which their various tribes were beset, urged them to form a great confederacy for their common good and defence. But before the people could be collected together this Messenger took his flight, promising, however, that another should be sent to instruct them in the principles of the proposed league. "And accordingly," says the glowing pen of Francis Parkman, " as a band of Mohawk warriors were threading the funeral labyrinth of an ancient pine forest, tliey heard, amid its blackest depths, a hoarse voice chanting in measured cadence; and following the sound, they saw, seated among the trees, a monster of so hideous an aspect that, one and all, they stood benumbed with terror. His features were wild and frightful. Be was encompassed by hissing rattlesnakes, which. Medusalike, hung writhing from his head; and on the ground, around him were strewm implements of incantation, and magic vessels formed of human skulls. Eecovering from their amazement,

OR, THE P.OUDER WAR? OF I'AVO CENTURIIiS. 13

the warriors could perceive that in the mystic words of the <ihant, which he still poured forth, were couched the laws and principles of the destined confederacy. The tradition further declares that the monster being surrounded and captured, was presently transformed to human shape; that he became a chief of transcendent wisdom and prowess, and to the day of his death ruled the councils of the united tribes." The last of the presiding sachems at the councils at Onondaga inherited from him the honored name of Atotarho. Such, according to [ndian tradition, is the origin of the great Iroquois confederacy. But if the reader is shocked with this preposterous legend, what must be said of their tradition regarding the epoch which preceded the auspicious event of their union. In these evil days, according to the same authority, the scattered and divided Iroquois were beset with every form of peril and disaster. Giants, cased in armor of stone, descended on them from the mountains of the north. Huge beasts trampled down their forests like fields of grass. Human heads, w^ith streaming hair and glaring eyeballs, shot through the air like meteors, shedding pestilence and death throughout the land. The waters of Lake Ontario were troubled. From the bosom, of the boisterous lake a horned serpent of mighty size rose up almost to the clouds. The people fled from before his awful presence, and would not have escaped his open jaws had not the thunder bolts of the skies driven him down into his watery home at the bottom of the lake. Around the infant Seneca village on Mount Genundewahguah, already spoken of, a twoheaded serpent coiled himself, of size so monstrous that the perishing people could not ascend his scaly sides, and perished in multitudes. At length the monster was mortally wounded by the magic arrow of a child, and, writhing in the agonies of death, he uncoiled himself from the mountain home of the Senecas, and rolled into the lake below, lashing its black waters into a bloody foam, and allowing the few remaining wretclied Indians to flee from the place of their long and disastrous confinement. The serpent sank to the bottom of the lake, and disaj^peared forever.

According to the fancy of the Iroquois, the Spirit of Thunder dwelt under the Falls of Niagara, and when, amid the blackening shadows of the approaching storm, or the sharp, quick flashes of the lightning, they heard his broad, deep voice peal along the heavens, they " hid themselves from the face of the angry Spirit."

These legends, although unworthy of much consideration, are grand evidences of the superior intellectual powers of the people of the Six Nations. It is true that their imaginations were assisted by the dismal voice of the wind, the unfathomable darkness of the gathering thunder storm, or the low, deep sound of the tossing lake waters; but, even in view of these mysteries, their traditions, when compared with those of other nations, grandly demonstrate the power and capacity of the Iroquois mind. But with all their intellectual superiorit}', the arts of life among them had made no advance from a barbarous condition. Their implements of war, and other products of their genius, were not very flattering to them. There was a rough, unfinished appearance to everything artificial around them. Their huts, pottery and the conveniences of life combined to attest their untidy inactive genius. Although behind their race in these things, they were largely in advance of it as husbandmen. Their beautiful fields of Indian corn and squashes and the ancient apple-orchards which grew around their settlements, captivated the invading army of Count Frontenac in 1696.

Their dwellings and M'orks of defense, although rough, were, however, well adapted to their wants, and were good evidences of their great industry. But these, which were scattered along the St. Lawrence and around Lake Ontario, were leveled to the ground, never to rise again, in 1687, by De Nonville, and, nine years, later by Frontenac.

" Along the banks of the Mohawk, among the hills and hollows of Onondaga, in the forests of Oneida and Cayuga, on the romantic shores of Seneca Lake, and the rich borders of the Genesee, surrounded by waiving maize fields, and encircled from afar by the green margin of the forests, stood the ancient strongholds of the confederacy." The little villages were surrounded by palisades, and were otherwise well fortified with ma2:azines of stones, and with water conductors, which were efficiently used in the event of a lire.

In habits of social life the Iroquois were thoroughly savage. During the long winter evenings, men, women and children gathered near the log fires in their rude huts, and, while the cold storm was beating the lonely forest wdthout, the storyteller of the tribe recounted the history of his nation and deeds of ancient heroism. The curious pipe was passed from hand to hand, and, by the flickering firelight, each half-naked warrior, wrought up by the superstitious narratives of the talker, seemed to pass the hours in pleasure.

The war path, the race of political ambition, and the chase, all had their votaries among the people of the Six I^ations. When their assembled sachems had resolved on war, and when, from their ancient Council House a hundred light-footed messeno-ers were sent to the distant tribes to call them to arms, in tlie name of their great chief, then from Quebec to the Carolinas, and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, thousands of warlike hearts caught up the invitation with glad enthusiasm. By fasting and praying, by consulting dreams and omens, and by ancient usages, the warriors sought to ensure victory for their arms. When these singular performances had been concluded, they began their secret progress towards the defenseless white settlement. Soon followed the news of some bloody massacre which, exaggerated in its flight from settlement to settlement, was swiftly borne to the ears of the older New England towns. While these places were filled with excitement over the shocking tidings, the victorious warriors returned to their villages with the unfortunate captives, to celebrate their merciless triumphs. As they approach, the sound of the M^ar-whoop is heard, and hundreds of saVage women and children run out with sticks and stones to meet the company. Their hideous yelping, warns the prisoners of increasing danger, but they have no power to turn back, and, resigning themselves to an awful fate, they regard a pelting from these foolish wretches, as necessary to prepare them for the tortures that must follow. And now the black arches of the forest grow blacker as the smoke, slowly curling upward from the

16 THE LIVES OF PONTIAC AKD TECUMSEH :

fires of deatli, forms itself in clouds above them. With lirebrand and torch the excited multitude circle round their agonizing victim, until the slow tortures have ended in death, wlien the charred corpse is thrown to the dogs and the cruel ceremony is ended by clamerous shouts to drive away the spirit of the captive. Such were the most exquisite enjoyments of the cruel Indians of the Six Nations.

Leaving this remarkable people, let us turn to the other members of the same great family. The Algonquin people occupied a large tract of territory surrounding the Six Nations. It was the Indians of this family who first greeted Cartier, as his little fleet ascended the St. Lawa-ance; it was Algonquins who welcomed the pioneer settlers of Virginia. They were Algonquins who, led on by Sassacus, Pequot and Phillip of Mount Hope, harrassed the settlements of the New England colonies; who under the great tree at Kensington, made the covenant of peace with William Penn; and when French missionaries and fur-traders explored the Wabash and the Ohio, they found " their valleys tenanted by the same far-extended race." As civilization progressed, they were driven from these eastern strongholds, until only a few remnants of their once great and powerful nation were clustered around the Strait of Mackinaw.

The Delawares were the most powerful tribe of the Algonquin family. According to their traditions, they were the parent tribe from whence sprung all the other divisions of this people. They were called Delawares, probably from the fact that, when the European Colonists first visited that section of country, their lodges were found thickly clustered along the waters of the Delawai^e and its tributary streams. They were, in a small measure, an agricultural people, although they mainly dej^ended upon fishing and the chase as a means of subsistence. As already mentioned, they had been subjected by the fierce warriors of the Six Nations, and when the Quakers first came among them, they offered but few evidences of military skill or -courage. But as civilization pushed them westward, beyond the reach and power of the Iroquois, they revived their warlike spirits, and were soon found to be formidable enemies.

OR, THE BORDER WARS OF TWO CICNTURIES. i J

Durine: the old French War, they had so far recovered from the suppressed condition into which their enemies had forced them, that they resnmed the use of arms, and while their ancient conquerors espoused the cause of Canada, they became the fast and fierce allies of the English. At the beginning of the Eevolution, they publicly declared their emancipation from Iroquois bondage, M^hich was acknowledged by the Councils of the Six Nations; and ever since that period they have occupied a high position among the Indian nations of North America. Indeed, at a still later day, when the Iroquois people had disappeared from the border battle-tields, the American pioneer settlers found their most unconquerable enemies in the Delaware Indians. " Their war parties,"' says an eminent writer, "'pierced the fartherest wilds of the Rocky Mountains; and the prairie traveler would often meet the Delaware warrior returning from a successful foray, a gaudy handkerchief bound about his brow, his snake locks fluttering in the wind, his rifle resting across his saddle-bow, while the tarnished and begrimed equipments of his half-wild horse bore witness that the unscrupulous rider had waylaid and plundered some unfortunate trapper."

Next in order among the tribes of the Algonquin family were the bold Shawanoes. At an early day they occupied the Valley of the Ohio, but in 1672 they were defeated by the Six Nations, and fled to escape destruction. Following the Ohio down a little farther, the traveler would next come to the villages of the Miamis, and the Twightwees. Their huts were clustered along the banks of the Wabash and its branches. They were also living in terror of the Iroquois when Europeans first came among them, but, as with the Delawares, they were liberated by the progress of Colonial power. The Illinois Indians, who in the early days were located along the banks of the river which was given their name, were also of the Algonquin family, and, like their brothers, were sorely harrassed by the Iroquois. At one time their numbers exceeded twelve thousand, but so complete was the subjection and total their defeat, which they received at the merciless hands of the Six Nations, that they were reduced to a few small villages. The Illinois 2

18 THE LH^ES OF PONTIAC AND TECDMSEH :

Indians were, perlia])s, the most licentious and slothful savages of the Algonquin family. Having lost their prestige as a warlike people, they sought to gratify their vicious natures by the most extravagant indulgences. They spent a greater part of the year in the pursuit of game with which the prairies of their country abounded in great plenty, but there were seasons when nearly all of them were gathered together at their principal village, merry-making, feasting, and, when liquor could be obtained, drinking to excess.

The Ojibwas, Pottawatomies, Ottawas, Sacs, Foxes, Menomonies and the Northern Knisteneaux were also members of this great family. They were scattered throughout the lake region in detached villages, and, in conimon with their kinsmen, had, at an earlier period, fled from the eastern country to escape the fury of the Iroquois. The Ojibwas, Ottawas and Pottawatomies were bound together by a sort of confederacy, having for its object their common defense and mutual welfare. The former tribe, which was the most numerous of any of this confederacy, was located in the Lake Superior vicinity. They were a barbaric, rude people, living in a loose and imperfect state. Hunting and fishing were their favorite pursuits, and agriculture was but slightly encouraged. They were, withal, an improvident, recldess tribe. At one season they were feasting, with an abundance on every hand, and at another they were famishing. Yet, with all this uncertainty touching their supplies, they never manifested a single prudent trait.

Thus I have hurriedly noticed the location and condition of the Six Nations and Algonquin family of Indians, at the period in which our narrative opens. The reader has, no doubt, already observed that of these two distinct families, the Iroquois were by far the most intellectual and elevated, nevertheless some of the greatest warriors and orators belonged to the Algonquin nation. Even Pontiac and Teeumseh, the subjects of this work, boasted its blood and language. A point that has not failed to elicit attention, however, is that with the advance of Colonial power, the prestige of the Six Nations declined more rapidly than that of the tribes which they had conquered.

OR, THE BORDER WARS OF 'nVO CENIUKIES. 19

Before passing on to the opening events of the narrative, I will stop to glance, for a moment, at the Wyandotts and the Neutral Nation. These tribes, which originally belonged to the Iroquois family, occupied the peninsula between Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario. The Wyandotts were a numerous people, inheriting all the high qualities of their brethren of the Six Nations. Their numbers at one time exceeded thirty thousand. They were both an agricultural and commercial nation. The products of their well cultivated corn-fields were exchanged to a considerable extent, for the fish which had been taken from the lakes and rivers by the surrounding tribes. Being more provident than their neighbors, the Ojibwas, they were generally well supplied with the necessaries, and not unfrequently called upon, in times of want, by the latter, to share their bounties with them. As a rule they responded with a generosity that was truly commendable.

In 1649, during the long cold winter, when by their industry and consequent prosperity, they were lending material assistance to the half perishing tribes around them, they were incessantly harrassed and finally defeated by a numerous band of Iroquois warriors. These fierce Indians levelled all the principal Wyandot villages to the ground, and slaughtered men, women and children without mercy. The few conquered savages who survived this onslaught, fled in terror, and the whole tribe was dispersed and broken. Some of them fled to Quebec and others escaped into the Ojibwa country; but in 1680 they again united, and formed a permanent settlement on the Detroit Eiver.

The fate of the Neutral Nation was not unlike that of the Wyandots. The Senecas, a powerful tribe of the Six Nations, invaded their country and effected an easy conquest. Their habits of life and general characteristics were very similar to those of the Wyandots.