A century of Indiana

Preface

The production of this work is the result of a behef that there is a field for a new history of Indiana, briefer in general narrative, though fuller in political and constitutional history, than other standard works heretofore published. The word '' political" is of course used in its governmental and not its partisan sense, though every phase of the state's history is treated according to its relative importance, the activities of the leading political parties not excepted.

Then there are reasons why the present seems a peculiarly fitting time to bring out such a work. With the approach of the centennial year of statehood, and the rounding out of a cycle of Indiana history, there comes to the thoughtful mind not only a renewed interest in the fascinating story of the origin, antecedents and growth of our splendid commonwealth, but a striking realization of the fact that a new era, not only of material progress, but of social and civic development, involving many changes from former ideals, has dawned. The formative period in the state's history is closed, and the new problems of government, and of dealing with the varied interests and needs of the people, are widely different from those of the earlier times.

In the style of presentation of this history, neither partisan bias nor a purpose to shield the recreant, whether a political party or other organization or individuals, has been con-

6 PREFACE

sciously indulged, and endeavor has been made to avoid the spirit of mere boastfulness so apt to insinuate itself on account of state pride or local patriotism. No good purpose can be served by an effort to color the facts of history, and surely there could be no greater crime in literature than a deliberate attempt to falsify them. The story of the rise of the state from the wilderness scarce a hundred years ago, of the development of its rich resources of mines and soil, and the evolution of its government; the stirring chapters of its territorial history, and the various events of war and peace, of danger, of sacrifice, and of achievement, through all the wonderful years that have elapsed since La Salle first skirted our southern shore while on his voyage down the Ohio in 1669, are such that no fanciful embellishments are needed to attract and hold the attention.

In this great panorama of history there pass in review (1) the Mound Builders, who disappeared so many hundreds of years ago that there would now remain not even a memory of the race, were it not for the great mounds and fortifications of earth which mark the scenes of their ancient industry; (2) the disdainful Indian, who chose death and race extinction rather than give up the wild life of the forest he loved so well; (3) the eager French explorers, traders, missionaries and adventurers, upon whose restless wanderings and feeble attempts to found colonies their country sought to establish a vast empire in central North America, extending from the Gulf coast to the regions beyond the northern Lakes; (4) the ever conquering Anglo-Saxon who destroyed this dream of empire with a stroke of the sword, and (5) the frank and rugged American who still abides, and for whom Providence seems to have reserved the priceless heritage of the continent.

PREFACE i

Not quite two hundred years have elapsed since the first outpost of European civiHzation was estabhshed on the soil of what is now Indiana, and for a half-century following the preliminaries of occupation by the French the white population of the territory did not exceed four hundred souls. Dating the first impetus to general settlement from the adoption of the Ordinance of 1787, it has required the community comprising the state of Indiana a little less than a century and a quarter to build itself up, conquer the wilder-, ness, form and perfect a government, and advance to the present stage of civilization and prosperity enjoyed by the people. And that Indiana, still younger in years than some of her oldest pioneer citizens, should now stand admittedly in the vanguard of the sisterhood of states in education, and moral, material and civic progress, is a distinction in which all worthy citizens may justly pride themselves. I have sought, however, to avoid the temptation to exaggerate glorious facts, or suppress disagreeable truths, merely to flatter such a pride. The lessons of history are of two kinds, and each should have its voice. The purpose to atone for an error or correct a wrong, or the contemplation of an example to be avoided, may prove a motive to well-doing only less valuable than the desire to emulate that w^hich is commendable and honorable.

Enough of the broader aspects of our national history are set forth, in their proper connections, to make clear the i-elated and dependent events in the state's history.

Numerous references to authorities, and sources of information are given, both in the text and in accompanying footnotes. These will furnish a helpful guide to the student who may desire to pursue a more exhaustive study of the subject than is here provided.

8 PREFACE

And to what extent I have succeeded, if at all, in my effort to make this story of Indiana interesting and readable, as well as instructive, must now be left to the judgment of an enlightened and discriminating public.

EDWARD E. MOORE.

CONNERSVILLE, INDIANA.

Constitution of 1851 as Amended 309

Index 335

A CENTURY OF INDIANA

Chapter I The Geography Of Indiana

Location, Boundaries, and Political Divisions. Indiana is included in the north central group of states, and lies between 37° 41' and 41° 46' north latitude, and between 84° 44' and 86° 6' west longitude. It is bounded on the north by the parallel which lies ten miles north of the southern extremity of Lake Michigan, on the east by the meridian of the mouth of the Great Miami River, on the south by the Ohio River, and on the west by the Wabash River and the meridian of Vincennes. The bordering states are Michigan on the north, Ohio and Kentucky on the east, Kentucky on the south, and Illinois on the west. Lake Michigan forms about a third of the northern boundary.

The state has an extreme lengih from north to south of about 250 miles, and an extreme breadth from east to west of 145 miles. Territorially it ranks thirty-fifth among the states of the Union, its area being but 36,350 square miles. Its political divisions consist of 92 counties, and these are subdivided into 1016 townships. Indianapolis, situated near the center of the state, is the capital.

Topography and Soils. The unglaciated portion of the state, covering about one fourth of its area, and lying in the form of a triangle with its apex in Morgan County and its base on the Ohio River, possesses a varied and an uneven

12 THE aKOaUAl^UY OF INDIANA

surface, marked in places by deep narrow valleys and rapid running streams. A small area in the southeast, though showing glacial drift, partakes of the same general character. None of the hills rise to an altitude approaching the dignity of mountains. The soil is alluvial and fertile in the valleys, the valley of the White Water especially being notable for the productiveness of its farms. And even on the higher and more uneven land judicious cultivation seldom fails to bring fair rewards. The staple crops of corn, wheat, oats, and potatoes are raised, but fruit culture is fast becoming a leading industry, being best adapted to the region. In the northwest, around the head of Lake Michigan, there are numerous sand hills and dunes, due partly to a former extension of the lake, and partly to wind action. In the basin of the Kankakee, also in the northwest, but south of the sand hills, there is a vast region of lakes and marshes and wet prairies. The drainage of this lake and marsh region is retarded by the flat, level character of the country and the presence of a complex system of morainic hills and ridges. In the northeast there is a region of high moraines, one great ridge of drift being 200 to 500 feet deep and 25 miles wide, and extending from Steuben County to Cass, a distance of 100 miles. In fact, over nearly all of the northern three fourths of the state these moraines, or raised ridges of bowlders and various kinds of drift, are to be seen lying '' like dead waves upon the surface of the ocean." Aside from the broken and uneven ground in the southern part of the state comprising the '' Ohio Slope," the sand dunes in the northwest, the morainic hills in the northeast, and the lake and marsh regions throughout a large portion of the northern third, especially in the basin of the Kankakee, the rest of the state is a vast and undulating plain of glacial

THE GEOGRAPHY OF IXDIAXA 1-3

drift and accumulations. It possesses a deep mellow soil, unexcelled anj-TN'here on the continent for fertility and productiveness. The principal crops grown are corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, and hay.

Geological Formations and Land Elevations. The rocks underlying the state are sedimentary, and have never been violently disturbed b\^ earthquake or volcanic action. Their position, however, shows that at some comparativeh^ recent date in geologic history they were " gently hfted into a very flat arch, the crest of which extends from Union County to Lake County. From the crest of the arch the strata dip gently to the northeast and southwest, the slope in the latter direction being about 20 feet to the mile." ^

The average land elevation in Indiana is 700 feet above tide. The highest point in the state is 1285 feet, and occurs in southern Randolph County. The lowest, which is in the extreme southwest, is 313 feet above tide. Only 2850 square miles have an altitude of 1000 feet or over, and this area is comprised within the counties of Wayne, Union, Randolph, Delaware, Henr\', Rush, Decatur, Franklin, Ripley, Brown, Steuben, DeKalb, Noble, and Lagrange. About 4700 square miles have an elevation of less than 500 feet.-

Drainage System : Rivers and Lakes. The Wabash River, which with its tributaries furnishes the drainage for more than two thirds of the state, rises in ]\Iercer County, Ohio, only a few miles from the Indiana-Ohio state line, enters Indiana on the boundary between Adams and Jay counties, flows northwestward through Adams, Wells, Huntington, and Wabash counties, then turns nearly due west through Miami and into Cass, whence it turns to the southwestward,

1 C. R. Dryer.

2 All figures as to land elevations here given are according to C. R. Drver.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF INDIANA 15

and finally directs its course almost due south to its junction with the Ohio. The Wabash has a fall of only about eighteen inches to the mile throughout its long course of over 400 miles within the state. Its principal tributaries are the White River, the Mississinewa, and the Salamonie, joining from the east and south, and the Little Wabash, the Eel, and the Tippecanoe from the north or northeast. The Vermilion

White Water River, near Connersville

and the Embarrass rivers are tributaries from the north and west, the latter being wholly, and the former partly, in the state of Illinois. The White River constitutes a considerable system within itself, being formed by the East Fork and the West Fork, which, with their own tributaries, drain a large portion of the southern and central regions of the state. The White Water River, rising in Randolph County, flows south and southeast through Wayne, Fayette, Franklin, and Dearborn counties, and forms a junction with the Great

16 THE GEOGRAPHY OF INDIANA

Miami near Harrison, Ohio. This stream has an average fall of almost seven feet to the mile, and is one of the most picturesque and beautiful in the state. There is a small area which drains into Lake Erie through the Maumee River system. The Maumee is formed at Fort Wayne by the junction of the St. Mary's River, flowing to the northwest from its source in Ohio, and the St. Joseph, which originates in Michigan and flows to the southwest through the corner of Ohio and thence into Indiana. After thus uniting their waters and forming the Maumee, these two rivers double back upon their courses and flow to the east and north, emptying into the lake. The St. Mary's and the St. Joseph are striking examples of moraine-guided streams.

Then there is a drainage into Lake Michigan through the St. Joseph of the Lake, which has its origin in Michigan, makes a long graceful sweep through portions of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties, Indiana, and flows back north and westward to the lake. Finally, the Kankakee, which has its source in St. Joseph County, and furnishes drainage for a limited area in the northwest, carries its sluggish waters to the Illinois, and thence to the Mississippi. A number of small streams in the southern part of the state drain directly into the Ohio. The general slope of the state is to the southwest, as indicated by the course of the Wabash, and by the vastly greater amount of drainage in that direction.

Scattered over the northern third of the state there are a thousand shimmering lakes, many of them covering areas of several square miles. They lend an aspect of great beauty to the region, and during the summer months, attract multitudes of health and pleasure seekers to their shores.

Climate and Occupations. The average temperature of the state ranges from about 25 degrees Fahrenheit in the

THE GEOGRAPHY OF INDIANA 17

north to 33 in the south in January, and from 72 degrees in the north to 77 in the south in July. The extremes range from about 103 degrees above zero to 22 below. The record high temperature for the central portion of the state is 106 degrees, an extreme reached July 22, 1901, while the record low temperature of 25 degrees below zero occurred January 5, 1884. There is an abundant rainfall over all sections, and considerable snow precipitation in the north.

Agriculture is the principal occupation of the people, although manufacturing and coal mining are highly important industries. Indiana ranks about sixth as an agricultural state, notwithstanding the disparity of area in favor of her rival commonwealths. She occupies the tenth place as a manufacturing state, and sixth as a coal-producing state.

Before the Woodman Came. Originally Indiana was heavily timbered, especially in the south, and along the Wabash and White Water river valleys, with dense forests of oak, hickory, ash, maple, beech, poplar, sycamore, cottonwood, elm, and other deciduous trees. The Catalpa, now being widely cultivated because of its rapid growth, and the durability, adaptability, and workable qualities of its wood, is a native of the Wabash valley. Only a few small areas were covered by evergreen trees. In the central and eastern and southeastern portions of the state the Indians had no settlements worth the mention, largely because of the denseness in those regions of the forests of great trees. When these trees were removed the land occupied by them proved to be almost limitless in its powers of production.

Settlement and Population. The settlement of the state by white men first began in the southwest and south, and gradually extended toward the north. The first comers.

18 THE (iEOaRAPHY OF INDIANA

after the handful of French about Vincennes and Ouiatenon, were principally from the southern and central eastern states. Later there was an influx of immigrants from New York and the New England states, and these contributed their numbers mainly toward building up the population of the northern counties. The total population of Indiana in 1800 was 5641. In 1900, just a century later, it was 2,516,462. It is thought that the census enumeration of 1910, now being compiled, will show a present population of 2,850,000, and that there will easily be more than 3,000,000 Indianians to participate in the celebration of the centennial anniversary of statehood in 1916.

Chapter II The Mound Builders

Relics of a Prehistoric Civilization; a Vanished Race. The

Mound Builders were a prehistoric race of people who occupied a large portion of North America many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years before the advent of European civilization. Their principal abode appears to have been in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys, if we may judge by the greater prevalence there of the peculiar mounds of earth and military fortifications constructed by them. There has been much interesting speculation as to who they were, where they came from, how long they occupied the country, and what became of them, but authentic history can vouchsafe no certain answer. These unsolved though fascinating mysteries have furnished inspiration to many imaginative writers whose works should have value in the realms of pure speculation only. The form of romancing indulged by them has clothed the aboriginal race of Mound Builders, in the minds of many credulous people, with certain heroic attributes and a nobility of character which it is very doubtful if they ever possessed. The notion that they were of gigantic stature is a myth kept alive, no doubt, by the reports given circulation from time to time of the finding of buried skeletons of abnormal size. The progress of the Mound Builders toward civilization also has been much overestimated. But in spite of all these things so much of their history as we do know is full of ethnologic and human interest. The real truth of the matter is, that the Mound Builders were a savage or at best a semicivilized people, who left no history, and no trace of a written or printed language. Neither by symbol, hieroglyphic, or any example of sign or picture writing yet discovered, can it be shown that they had any method of conveying written or recorded intelligence. All that is known of them must be gleaned from a few relics of flint, stone and metal implements, crude though sometimes highly ornamented pottery, simple domestic utensils, and their own decaying bones. Aside from these, the only enduring monuments to their existence are the curious earth mounds, and a number of highly interesting military fortifications built by them.

At the time of the first explorations of this country by white men, some three centuries ago, trees, estimated to be eight hundred to a thousand years old, were growing upon these abandoned mounds and earthworks. The age of these trees might furnish a fairly plausible clew to the time of disappearance of the Mound Builders, but how long they had occupied the country, where they came from, or what caused their disappearance, are among the deeper mysteries of the voiceless past.^

1 Evidence has accumulated during recent years in support of the beUef that this country was inhabited by a primitive race of men before the Glacial epoch, which terminated, according to the most conservative scientific estimates, ten thousand to thirty thousand years ago. And as the period of formation and duration of the enormous ice packs which invaded and devastated the country is estimated at not less than fifteen thousand to twenty-five thousand years, man's great antiquity, if he really dwelt here in preglacial times, is indicated. The calculation would place the period of his latest preglacial occupancy at twenty-five thousand to fifty-five thousand years ago. Some of the important items supporting this belief have been gleaned in Indiana. Mr. H. T. Cresson, of Philadelphia, iri the year 1886, found at Medora, in Jackson County, Indiana, deeply imbedded in a glacial Moore, Ind.— 2

It is probable that the Mound Builders as a race were akin to the Indians. They may have been a branch or offshoot of the Toltecs, or their successors the Aztecs, of ancient Mexico and Central America, though inferior to them in advancement toward civilization.

Traditional Fate of the Mound Builders; a Numerous Population Indicated. The Iroquois Indians handed down a curious tradition which is as likely to be the true explanation of the fate of the Mound Builders as any other. It was to the effect that when the Lenni Lenapi, common ancestors of the Iroquois and other tribes, advanced from the Northwest to the Mississippi, they found on the eastern side of that stream a great nation of people, more civilized than the Indians, living in towns and cultivating the soil. Having given the Lenni Lenapi permission to pass through to seek an eastward settlement, this people, inferentially the Mound Builders, treacherously attacked them while they were crossing the river. This gave rise to a long and bloody warfare, which eventually resulted in the subjugation and extermination of the offending strangers and the occupation of their country by the conquering Red Men.

That the Mound Builders attained to a numerous population is evident from the magnitude of the public works in the nature of mounds and military fortifications which they constructed. And only by the practice of agriculture could so large a population have been maintained, although hunting and fishing were also extensively followed. The implements left by them show that their agricultural operations were carried on by means of shells, or by hand tools of stone

drift, a well-wrought flint implemont of human manufacture. Similar evidences of preglacial habitation have been found in New Jersey, Ohio, and elsewhere.

or wood, and in building their mounds and military defenses the earth must have been carried in baskets, doubtless poised on the heads of the workers. They had neither machinery of any kind nor domestic animals. Under such circumstances it is evident that the population constructing the vast works left by this primitive people must have been subject to conditions of practical slavery.

Mounds and Military Defenses. The Mound Builders may have been valiant in war. That they had enemies to whom the}' doubtless succumbed eventually is proved by the fortifications and defenses heretofore referred to. In the construction of these works some knowledge of engineering is evidenced by examples of perfect circles, angles, and squares; and their defenses seem to have been built with reference to definite plans. A chain of fortifications can be traced " reaching from the southern part of New York diagonally across the country to the Wabash River, and another chain commencing at a point on the Ohio River, in Clark County, Indiana, running northward into Madison County, thence eastward to central Ohio, and thence southward through Kentucky to Tennessee." ^

Fort Ancient, one of the most noted of these ancient fortifications, situated on the Little Miami River in Ohio, inclosed one hundred acres of ground, and would have held a garrison of sixty thousand men, with their families and provisions. The surrounding embankments were five to twenty-five feet in height.

There is every evidence that these strange people made a Titanic struggle for their continued existence and that their enemies paid dearly for their victory over them.

Interesting examples of ancient military fortifications in

Indiana are to be found in Clark, Jefferson, Madison, Sullivan, and Randolph counties. " Fort Azatlan " in Sullivan, near the town of Merom, and a remarkable stone fort at the mouth of Fourteen Mile Creek, in Clark County, are especially worthy of mention;

The mounds of earth erected by the Mound Builders, doubtless at the expense of years of patient toil, have been variously classified by different authors as burial mounds, temple mounds, memorial pillars, and mounds of habitation. That many of them were used as burial mounds or places of sepulture, there can be no question, and it is very probable that some, especially the larger ones, served as temples. While they may have been used as watch-towers or lookouts in time of war, it is very doubtful if any of the mounds were used for purposes of habitation. Excavations seldom fail to bring to view human bones and other relics such as have been mentioned. Usually the bones represent one or a few persons, though sometimes many. W. H. Smith, in his history, relates that from one mound which was removed in the town of Spencer, Owen County, Indiana, there were taken more than twenty wagonloads of human bones, representing probably five thousand bodies.

These mounds or tumuli, are numerous in Indiana, being found in nearly all sections of the state, but they are most abundant in the south. They are common objects marking the landscape in Knox, Sullivan, Owen, Clark, and many other counties. Pyramid mound in Knox County, south of Vincennes, is probably the highest in the state. It was reported by Professor Collett to be forty-seven feet high, three hundred feet long, and one hundred fifty feet wide. On its top there is a level area fifteen by fifty feet. This mound is a pygmy, however, when compared with examples found elsewhere. The Cahokia truncated mound in lUinois measures seven hundred by five hundred feet at the base and is ninety feet high. The mounds vary in shape as well as in size. There are square, circular, conical, truncated, and terraced mounds, and mounds built in imitation of various kinds of animals, including man. The best examples of this latter class are to be found in Wisconsin, though there is a remarkable mound in Adams County, Ohio, constructed in imitation of an enormous serpent. It is twelve hundred feet in length.

THE INDIANS

Indians Make Little Progress toward Civilization ; Doubtless Conquerors of Mound Builders ; Their Probable Origin. Whether the Indians were the immediate successors of the Mound Builders in their occupancy of the territory now comprised within the United States, or whether a period of time elapsed between the going of the one race and the coming of the other, none can with certainty tell. It is more than probable that the succession was not only immediate, but that the Mound Builders were conquered and destroyed by the Indians, who then possessed themselves of their lands. The result could hardly have been based upon the outcome of a single battle, but may have been the culmination of a warfare of years, or hostilities of decades. There is, in fact, no way to prove that the Indians in their origin are less ancient than the Mound Builders.

It is therefore just as difficult to account for the presence of the Indians on the American continent as to account for the existence of the Mound Builders. They were here when European explorers first sailed across the seas; and beyond the stretch of the memory of those then living, and a few untrustworthy traditions, nothing is known of their history previous to that time. They bear a shght resemblance to the people living in some portions of Japan, and in remote ages of the past may have emigrated from Japan or Eastern Asia by crossing Bering Strait to Alaska. Or they may have come by way of the Aleutian chain of islands which in earlier geologic times doubtless constituted a much more extended area of land connecting, or partially connecting, the two continents.

The Indians, prior to the time of the intrusion of the White Man's civilization, had no written language and preserved no history or records. Beyond a moderately welldeveloped spoken language, and a crude system of picture and sign writing for use in war and the chase, they had made but little progress toward civilization. Originally most of the tribes practiced cannibalism, not only feasting upon the flesh of their enemies killed or captured in war, but devouring their own kindred in times of food scarcity. The Miamis clung to the horrible custom longer than any of the other tribes, keeping it up until after the Revolutionary War.

Indiana Indians Algonquins. Most of the Indian tribes in Indiana were members of the Algonquin family. A majority of them, among whom were the Twigh twees, Weas, Piankashaws and Shockneys, were members of the formidable Miami confederacy. The tribes were frequently at war with one another, and migrated from place to place.

Aside from the Twightwees or Miamis, the Delawares, Shawnees, Wyandots and Potawatamis were the strongest of the tribes in Indiana. Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, were of the fierce Shawnee tribe. Little Turtle, one of the greatest of Indian warriors, was a Miami.

Chapter III

Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in Indiana; Discovery of the Ohio River. The exact date when white men first set foot upon the soil of what is now Indiana is not known. That it was sometime prior to 1657 has been claimed, because in that year an official "Map of New France" was published on which the course of the Maumee River, which has its source in the state, was traced with reasonable accuracy. It is surmised that intrepid French hunters from Quebec and Montreal may have crossed Lake Erie and found their way into Indiana soon after those early northern settlements were made (1608 and 1642, respectively), but there is no actual record of any European having invaded the vast new country south of the Great Lakes before the voyage of La Salle, in 1669. That missionaries or hunters

La Salle may have visited the region prior to that time without leaving any account of their adventures is altogether possible, though the point is not important, except as it is made so by writers for sentimental or controversial reasons.

Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, who was commandant at Fort Frontenac, now Kingston, on the northern shore of Lake Ontario, sailed down the Ohio River in 1669, skirting the southern border of what is now Indiana. He was on a voyage of discovery, seeking the " Great River " (Mississippi), and a passage to Japan and China. There was also some motive of opening up trade with Mexico, where gold discoveries of untold richness had been reported.

La Salle started on his voyage from La Chine, near Montreal, July 6, 1669, with seven canoes and twenty-four men. Associated with him were two Sulpician priests, Dollier and Gallinee, but these deserted him at the western extremity of Lake Ontario. At this place the La Salle expedition was met by Louis Joliet, who was returning from an unsuccessful search for the lost copper mines of Lake Superior. It was upon his report that Dollier and Gallinee withdrew, and proceeded to the Upper Lake regions to endeavor to convert the Potawatami Indians.