age or sex throughout the whole western frontier, it quieted Indian excitement at the north and the south. It opened to a civilized population the fine region which had been the theatre of hostilities. It allayed factious feelings at home, while abroad, it hastened the pending negotiation with Great Britain, by which the American posts, so long and so pertinaciously withheld by the former, were at last given up.

On the 19th of November, 1794, the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation, between the United States and Great Britain, was signed at London, and received at the office of the secretary of state, in Philadelphia, on the 7th of March, 1795. It was ratified thereafter by the president and Senate, and the hatchet in the Northwestern Territory was temporally buried.

Previous to the peace of 1795, under the auspices of General Wayne "and his twenty-five hundred commissioners, without a quaker among them," some of the officers and soldiers who had accompanied General Clarke in his expedition to Kaskaskia, returned, and formed what was called the American settlements. They were much annoyed by the Kickapoo and other warriors, during the period of which we have been speaking; while the French settlements on the Mississippi, owing to their intercourse with, and their control over, the savage hordes which at that time roamed our prairies, escaped unhurt. Soon after the peace above referred to, emigration to some considerable extent took place, and in 1810, soon after the territorial government was formed, the population of Illinois was twelve thousand two hundred and eighty-two. Previous also to that time, and while this State was also a part of the Northwestern Territory, it was divided into two counties, Randolph and St. Clair. (See note 2.)

In 1803, a new territory, (Indiana,) was formed, and William H. Harrison, late President of the United States, was appointed its first governor. It embraced all of the Northwestern Territory, except the present State of Ohio. Illinois was, therefore, a part of the territory of Indiana, until 1809, at which time it was erected into a territory of itself, and on the 3rd of December, 1818, was admitted into the Union, as one of the United States of America.

NOTE I.

General Wayne, in his letter to Little Turtle, says: "If war be your choice, the blood be upon your own heads. America shall no longer be insulted with impunity. To an all-powerful and just God, I therefore commit myself and my gallant army." Little Turtle, who had planned and led the attack at the defeat of Harmer, and St. Clair, urged the Indians to embrace the terms. In his appeal to the Miami warriors, when speaking of General Wayne, he says: "We have beaten the enemy twice under separate commandWe cannot expect the same good fortune to attend us always. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps. The night and the day are alike to him; and during all the time he has been marching upon our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to surprise him. Think well of it! There is something whispers me, it would be prudent to listen to his offers of peace."

ers.

NOTE II.

The jurisdiction of the St. Clair county court, extended over all that part of Illinois north of the boundary line, and included the whole of Wisconsin. An action having been brought before a justice of the peace in Cahokia for a cow, and a recovery had for sixteen dollars, the suit was appealed to the county court. The adverse parties, and most of the witnesses lived in Prairie du Chien, (now in Wisconsin,) about four hundred miles distant. The sheriff of St. Clair county having received a summons for the parties, and subpoenas for the witnesses, and being also an Indian trader, fitted out a boat, and having stocked it with goods adapted to the Indian market, proceeded thither with his papers. Having served the summons and subpoenaed the witnesses, (including most of the residents of Prairie du Chien,) he made his return, and charging, as he had a right to do, a travel fee for each, his cost, and the costs of the suit altogether, it is said, exceeded nine hundred dollars. We have never heard whether the costs were paid or not.

Strong prejudices have ever since been felt toward large counties in this State. Whether those prejudices have grown out of the circumstances above related, or the cupidity of individuals having village lots to sell at "the county seat," we are as yet unadvised.

CHAPTER XIV.

Tecumseh-Little Turtle-Tecumseh's hostility to white men-Its cause-Its consequence-Count Zwenzendorff, of Saxony-Tecumseh's brother, the Prophet-Tecumseh commences his labors-Visits all the tribes living between the Lakes and Florida -Earthquake of New-Madrid-Its effect on the Indians-General Harrison, Gover. nor of Indiana-Tecumseh's brother visits General Harrison at Vincennes personally -Tecumseh himself visits General Harrison, and requests that the lands which had been ceded to the Americans, should be given up, alleging that "they belonged to all the tribes, and could not be parted with, except by the consent of all"-Tecumseh visits General Harrison in 1810, accompanied by three hundred warriors-His conversation with the latter-Tecumseh offers to form an alliance with the United States on certain conditions-General Harrison proposes, that in case of war, the cruelties before practiced by the savages be discontinued-Tecumseh assents, and afterward keeps his word-General Harrison desires that the 4th United States regiment, commanded by Colonel Boyd, be sent to Vincennes-Also, leave to act offensively as soon as he shall become satisfied of Tecumseh's hostile intentions-Both requests granted-Murders in Illinois committed-Governor Edwards-Interview between General Harrison and Tecumseh, on the 27th of July, 1811, at Vincennes-The latter departs for the South-Indian warriors assemble at Tippecanoe, and are harangued by the Prophet-Other murders committed-Houses robbed and horses stolen-The Prophet professes pacific intentions-Persons in pursuit of horses stolen fired upon by the Indians-General Harrison marches with a military force toward the Prophet's town. September 5, 1811-His sentinels fired upon-Battle of Tippecanoe, September 7, 1811-Indians defeated-Its effect-Tecumseh returns after the battle-Dis. avows any intention to make war upon the Americans-Afterward joins the British at Malden, in Upper Canada.

NOTWITHSTANDING the treaty of Greenville, made by General Wayne with the Miamies and other western tribes, in 1795, by which an extensive tract of country, northwest of the Ohio, was ceded to the United States, and notwithstanding other cessions had afterward been made, and considerable portions of each were actually held and occupied by Ameri can settlers, the idea of making the Ohio river a boundary between the red and white men, was still entertained by a considerable portion of its native population. No one perhaps of their number cherished this idea with greater ardor than Tecumseh.

Little Turtle, the Miami chief, who had fought with great skill and bravery, and obtained several decisive victories, had long cherished similar thoughts. His defeat, however, by General Wayne, (in a battle undertaken against his own convictions,) and the subsequent conduct of the British toward their defeated allies, induced him to renounce the English for ever, and to become an advocate for peace. He had frequently visited Philadelphia and Washington, and becoming satisfied of the inutility

of further attempts to effect an object once dear to his heart, had become the white man's friend, and at the time of which we are about to speak, was comfortably living upon Eel River, in Indiana, about twenty miles from Fort Wayne, in a house erected for him by the American govern

ment.*

The idea of making the Ohio a boundary line, was fostered also by the British agents and authorities in Canada. We find, as early as 1804, Colonel McKee, the English agent, using, in conversation with the Indians, notwithstanding England and the United States were at peace, the following language: "My children, your father, King George, loves his red children, and wishes his red children supplied with everything they want. He is not like the Americans, who are continually blinding your eyes, and stopping your ears with good words, that taste sweet as sugar, while they get all your lands from you."

The great principle, in fact, upon which most of the Indian wars during the last ninety years have been predicated, has been the preservation of their lands-more properly speaking, perhaps, their hunting-grounds. On this the French, the English, and the Spanish, have in turn excited them to active resistance against the expanding settlements of the Americans. Hence they became allies of the French, in 1756. After the peace of 1763, the English succeeded the French, and instigated them in a similar manner. Tecumseh however required no such instigation. His hatred toward the whites, was like that of Hannibal to the Romans. From his boyhood to the hour he fell, nobly battling for the rights of his people, he fostered an invincible hatred to white men. On one occasion he was heard to declare, that "he could not look upon a white man without feeling the flesh crawl upon his bones." This hatred, however, was not confined to the Americans. Circumstances made him the ally of the English, and induced him to fight under their banners; still, he neither loved nor respected them. He understood their policy. He knew their professions were hollow, and that when instigating him and his people to hostilities against the United States, that the agents of Britain had less anxiety for the rights of the Indians, than the injuries which, through their instrumentality, might be inflicted on the American Republic. Tecumseh was a patriot, and his love of country made him a statesman and a warrior. He saw his race driven from their native land, and scattered like leaves before the blast. He beheld their morals debased, their independence destroyed, their means of subsistence cut off. New and strange customs, introduced ruin and desolation around and among them. He looked for the cause of these evils, and believed he had found it in the flood of white emigration, which, having surmounted the towering Alleghanies, was spreading itself over their hunting-grounds, and along the banks of the Sciota, the Miami, and the Wabash, whose waters from time

* Little Turtle died at Fort Wayne, on the 14th of July, 1812, and was buried with the honors of war. This was after the battle of Tippecanoe, (which he regretted,) and before the commencement of hostilities between the United States and Great Britain.

immemorial had reflected the smoke of the rude, but populous villages of his ancestors. As a statesman he studied the subject, and having satisfied himself that justice was on the side of his countrymen, he tasked the powers of his expansive mind, to find a remedy for the mighty evil which threatened their total extermination.*

Tecumseh entered upon the great work he had long contemplated, in the year 1805 or 1806. He was then about thirty-eight years of age. To unite the several Indian tribes, many of which were hostile to, and had often been at war with each other, in this great and important undertaking; prejudices were to be overcome, their original manners and customs to be reëstablished, the use of ardent spirits to be abandoned, and all intercourse with the whites to be suspended. The task was herculean in its character, and beset with difficulties on every side. Here was a field for the display of the highest moral and intellectual powers. He had already gained the reputation of a brave and sagacious warrior, and a cool-headed, upright, wise, and efficient counsellor. He was neither a war nor a peace chief, and yet he wielded the power and influence of both. The time having now arrived for action, and knowing full well, that to win savage attention, some bold and striking movement was necessary; he imparted his plan to his brother, the prophet, who adroitly and without a moment's delay, prepared himself for the part he was appointed to play in this great drama of savage life. Tecumseh well knew that excessive superstition was everywhere a prominent trait in the Indian character; and therefore, with the skill of another Cromwell, brought superstition to his aid. (See note 1.)

Suddenly, his brother began to dream dreams, and see visions; he became afterward an inspired prophet, favored with a divine commission from the Great Spirit-the power of life and death was placed in his hands he was appointed agent for preserving the property and lands of the Indians, and for restoring them to their original happy condition. He thereupon commenced his sacred work. The public mind was aroused, unbelief gradually gave way; credulity and wild fanaticism began to spread in circles, widening and deepening, until the fame of the prophet and the divine character of his mission, had reached the frozen shores of the lakes, and overran the broad plains which stretch far beyond "the great father of waters." Pilgrims, from remote tribes, sought with fear and trembling the head-quarters of the prophet and the sage. Proselytes were multiplied, and his followers increased beyond all former example. Even Tecumseh became a believer, and seizing upon the golden opportunity, he mingled with the pilgrims, won them by his address, and on their return sent a knowledge of his plan of concert and union to the most distant tribes.

The bodily and mental labors of Tecumseh next commenced. His life became one of ceaseless activity. He travelled, he argued, he com

See Drake's life of Tecumseh.