Part 29
Fort Washington—afterwards within the limits of Cincinnati—was established (1789) by Major Doughty opposite the mouth of the Licking River, to protect the frontier from the Indians. Generals Harmar, St. Clair, and Wayne used it as headquarters in conducting their Indian campaigns.
About sixty-five miles north of Cincinnati, St. Clair built Fort Jefferson (1791) as a base of operations during his Indian campaign.
Fort St. Clair was a stockade built by the general of that name in the winter of 1791–92 to keep communication open between Fort Jefferson and the Ohio River.
For Fort Greenville, see Buttrick’s _Voyages_, _ante_, note 32. After constructing Fort Greenville, Wayne sent a detachment to the scene of St. Clair’s defeat, twenty-three miles to the north, where they established Fort Recovery, December, 1793.—ED.
Footnote 155:
For the Big Bone Lick, see Croghan’s _Journals_, volume i of our series, note 104.—ED.
Footnote 156:
An account of the early history of Nashville is given in A. Michaux’s _Travels_, volume iii of our series, note 103.—ED.
Footnote 157:
For an account of Lexington, see A. Michaux’s _Travels_, note 61.—ED.
Footnote 158:
On the settlement of Louisville, see Croghan’s _Journals_, volume i of our series, note 106.
The plantation of “Locust Grove” was the estate of William Croghan, Colonel George Croghan’s father. William Croghan (1752–1822) came to America from Ireland when quite young, and embracing the American cause, served through the Revolutionary War, being colonel of Neville’s Fourth Virginia regiment in the battle of Monmouth. He settled at “Locust Grove” soon after the Revolution, and became an honored and respected citizen of Kentucky.—ED.
Footnote 159:
For Jeffersonville, see Flint’s _Letters_, volume ix of our series; for Shippingsport, see Cuming’s _Tour_, volume iv of our series, note 171.—ED.
Footnote 160:
Fort Steuben (at first called Fort Finney) was a subordinate post erected in 1786 upon the grant to the Illinois regiment not far from Clarksville. From 1786 to 1790 Colonel John Armstrong was in command. It was abandoned shortly after 1791. This must be distinguished from the fort higher up the Ohio, that formed the nucleus of Steubenville. Some remains of the old buildings connected with the former fort were to be seen as late as the middle of the nineteenth century in Clark County, Indiana. See English, _Conquest of the North-west_ (Indianapolis, 1896), ii, p. 863.—ED.
Footnote 161:
Brigadier-general Zebulon Montgomery Pike, born in New Jersey in 1779, was a lieutenant in the United States army, when, in 1805, he was given command of an expedition to trace the Mississippi River to its source. Having made this journey and obtained land from the Indians for a fort at the Falls of St. Anthony, he was sent the following year to explore the Arkansas and Red rivers. Ascending the Arkansas to the mountains, and discovering Pike’s Peak, but unable to find the source of the Red, he came upon the Rio Grande, and there was taken prisoner by the Spanish, and sent to Santa Fé. While in command of an expedition against York (Toronto), Canada, in 1813, he was accidentally killed by the explosion of a magazine.—ED.
Footnote 162:
For a brief account of Limestone, see A. Michaux’s _Travels_, volume iii of our series, note 123.—ED.
Footnote 163:
Smithland, the capital of Livingston County, Kentucky, enjoyed considerable trade with the interior of Tennessee, being a point for the reshipment of goods up the Cumberland. Its prosperity was shortlived, however; in 1850 the population was twelve hundred, and in 1890 five hundred and sixty.—ED.
Footnote 164:
These salt springs in the vicinity of Saline Creek, in south-eastern Illinois, were ceded to the United States (1803) by an Indian treaty negotiated by Governor Harrison at Fort Wayne. For several years they were leased by the general government, but in the Illinois enabling act were granted to that state. They were a subject of state litigation for a period of thirty years, the last one being sold in 1847.—ED.
Footnote 165:
For an account of Vincennes, see Croghan’s _Journals_, volume i of our series, note 113.—ED.
Footnote 166:
With reference to the Swiss settlement at Vevay, see Bradbury’s _Travels_, volume v of our series, note 164.—ED.
Footnote 167:
The Ohio buck eye or horse-chestnut is the _Æsculus glabra_; the Ohio species is the mountain magnolia or _Magnolia acuminata_; the coffee tree (_Gymnocladus canadensis_) resembles the black oak; the papaw tree is the _Asimina triloba_.—ED.
Footnote 168:
The Theakiki is the Kankakee, a tributary of the Illinois, not of the Wabash. Calumet River empties into Lake Michigan and does not connect with the Wabash.—ED.
Footnote 169:
A fort was established by the French at Vincennes early in the eighteenth century. Upon passing into the hands of the British, it was renamed Fort Sackville. George Rogers Clark marched from Kaskaskia and captured it (1779), changing the name to Fort Patrick Henry. In 1787, Major Hamtranck was stationed there with a detachment of infantry, and its name was once more changed to Fort Knox, in honor of the first secretary of war.
For a brief account of the Ouiatanon (Watenans), see Croghan’s _Journals_, volume i of our series, note 85.—ED.
Footnote 170:
The people of Indiana Territory believed the Indian chief Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, were stirring up a general Indian war; and, wishing to anticipate them, Governor William H. Harrison led an attack on the Indian village at the confluence of Tippecanoe Creek and the Wabash River, November 7, 1811. The Indians were driven back and the village burned, but Tecumseh continued plotting, and took ample revenge during the War of 1812–15. See Pirtle, _Battle of Tippecanoe_, Filson Club _Publications_, xv.—ED.
Footnote 171:
Colonel Joseph Daviess was of Scotch-Irish descent, born in Virginia in 1774. His parents removed to Danville, Kentucky, while Daviess was a lad. He studied law with George Nicholas, and became one of the ablest and most successful lawyers of the state, serving as United States attorney 1800–07. During this period, Daviess brought in an indictment against Aaron Burr (1806) which caused great excitement and animosity. He was noted for his eccentricities as well as his courage, and his death on the Indian battle-field won him wide fame. Counties were named for him both in Kentucky and Illinois.—ED.
Footnote 172:
For the Kickapoo and Shawnee Indians, see Croghan’s _Journals_, volume i of our series, notes 108, 111.—ED.
Footnote 173:
A brief account of the early French settlements in Illinois may be found in A. Michaux’s _Travels_, volume iii of our series, notes 132–136.—ED.
Footnote 174:
From the Des Plaines, the northern fork of the Illinois, one portage led to the Chicago River, the other to the Calumet, which empties into Lake Michigan at the present South Chicago.—ED.
Footnote 175:
The Kankakee River, called by the French Theakiki. For these early routes of water travel, see _Wisconsin Historical Collections_, xvi, p. 372.—ED.
Footnote 176:
The present Madison County in Illinois was explored about 1799, and called Goshen. The village of that name, about five miles south-west of Edwardsville, was begun in 1800.—ED.
Footnote 177:
For the founding of Shawneetown, see Croghan’s _Journals_, volume i of our series, note 108.—ED.
Footnote 178:
On these Indian tribes, consult Long’s _Voyages_, volume ii of our series, notes 85, 86.—ED.
Footnote 179:
For the early history of Fort Massac, see A. Michaux’s _Travels_, volume iii of our series, note 139.—ED.
Footnote 180:
The “Muscle Shoal” Rapids fall within northern Alabama. The improvement of the Tennessee at this point was long under discussion. In 1825 commissioners were appointed by the governors of Tennessee and Alabama to report thereupon; three years later a survey was made by order of the department of war, relative to removing obstructions in the channel. A canal around the rapids was begun (1829), but about that time railroads began to absorb the attention of the Southern states, and the War of Secession following, it has never been completed. The necessary improvements in the river channel have finally been made by the United States government.—ED.
Footnote 181:
The diplomatic negotiations leading to the purchase of Florida were long and involved, and grew out of the attempt to fix the boundary between West-Florida and the United States. The treaty was signed in 1819, Spain ceding East and West-Florida and the United States paying five million dollars.—ED.
Footnote 182:
In 1803, President Jefferson secured a small appropriation from Congress, which enabled him to carry out a long-cherished plan of sending an exploring party across the continent. May 14, 1804, the expedition of Lewis and Clark started up the Missouri River, reached the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia, November 1, 1805; and returned to St. Louis, September, 1806. See _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_ (Thwaites’s ed., New-York, 1904)—ED.
Footnote 183:
For St. Louis, see A. Michaux’s _Travels_, note 138; for Ste. Genevieve, see Cuming’s _Tour_, note 174.—ED.
Footnote 184:
On the founding of New Madrid, see Cuming’s _Tour_, note 185.—ED.
Footnote 185:
See Cuming’s _Tour_, notes 188, 189, for information regarding these bluffs.—ED.
Footnote 186:
An interesting description of these Southern Indian tribes may be found in Roosevelt, _Winning of the West_ (New-York, 1889), i, pp. 49–69. See also, brief notes in our volumes i, pp. 34, 75; iv, p. 287.—ED.
Footnote 187:
Fort Pike was maintained for only a few years. The location proving undesirable, the troops were removed to Fort Pickering.—ED.
Footnote 188:
In the day of the flatboat, a craft which went down stream and never returned, it was customary for the boatmen to return by land. This journey was often undertaken at unhealthy seasons of the year, and the death of boatmen and raftsmen was common. As the travellers usually carried large sums of money, their routes were beset by robbers who could, undoubtedly, have explained many a grave on these lonely roads.—Hulbert, _Historic Highways of America_, ix, pp. 125, 126.—ED.
Footnote 189:
For Fort Pickering, see Cuming’s _Tour_, note 192.—ED.
Footnote 190:
Fort Stoddard was built in 1799 by Captain Shaumburg, U. S. A., on the Mobile River, at the Spanish boundary line provided in the treaty of 1795, and was named in honor of the acting secretary of war. It was a port of entry until Mobile became part of the United States.—ED.
Footnote 191:
For the early history of the city of Natchez, see F. A. Michaux’s _Travels_, vol. iii of our series, note 53.
The Natchez Indians, of Maskoki stock, were first encountered by the French near the present city of their name. In 1729 they fell upon the French garrison and massacred them all. The following year the French army took a terrible revenge, a remnant only of the tribe escaping. For full account, see Gayarré, _History of Louisiana_ (rev. ed., New-Orleans, 1903), i, pp. 396–440.—ED.
Footnote 192:
The cotton-wood is a member of the poplar family, the scientific name being _Populus monilifera_.—ED.
Footnote 193:
The China tree (_Melia azedarach_) is a native of India, and much cultivated in the Southern states for its shade.—ED.
Footnote 194:
Point Pleasant, ten miles below New Madrid, must not be confounded with the point of that name at the mouth of Great Kanawha River.—ED.
Footnote 195:
For an exploration of Arkansas River, see Nuttall’s _Journal_, vol. xiii of our series.—ED.
Footnote 196:
For a brief description of Loftus Heights and Fort Adams, see Cuming’s _Tour_, volume iv of our series, note 211.—ED.
Footnote 197:
On Point Coupée, see Cuming’s _Tour_, note 220.—ED.
Footnote 198:
For an account of Baton Rouge, consult Cuming’s _Tour_, note 215.—ED.
Footnote 199:
St. Louis Bay at the outlet of Lake Borgne on Mississippi Sound, was explored by Iberville in 1699 and named after Louis IX, the saintly king of France. On it was located one of the early French colonies.—ED.
Footnote 200:
On the Ursuline convent at New-Orleans, see Cuming’s _Tour_, volume iv of our series, note 225.—ED.
Footnote 201:
For a brief biography of General Wilkinson, see Cuming’s _Tour_, note 160. The site of the battle of New-Orleans (January 8, 1815) is five miles below the city.—ED.
Footnote 202:
Bienville, colonial governor of Louisiana, returning from an exploring trip (1699), met an English vessel of sixteen guns, about eighteen miles below the site of New-Orleans. The captain stated he was looking for a location for an English colony, and Bienville assured him that the Mississippi was already occupied by the French. Much to the latter’s surprise, the vessel sailed away. From this episode the English Bend received its name, not, as Evans implies, from the attacking fleet of 1815.—ED.
Footnote 203:
Plaquemine Turn is thirty miles from the mouth of the Mississippi. It was fortified by the French in 1746.—ED.
Footnote 204:
When, during the Seminole War, Jackson took possession of St. Marks, the Indian prophet Francis or Hellis Hajo, and the chief Hemollemico, were lured on board an American vessel (April 6, 1818) and hung by Jackson’s orders. These Indians had led the attack, the previous November, upon a boat under command of Lieutenant Scott, which was ascending the Appalachicola River. Having been forced to surrender, all survivors were tortured to death. Jackson’s act was in retaliation for this outrage.—ED.
Footnote 205:
During Jackson’s expedition against the Seminoles, two Indian traders were also captured—Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert C. Ambrister. Both were put to death after the form of a trial, on the charge of being guilty of inciting the Seminole Indians to war against the United States. The latter was shot and the former hung from the yardarm of his vessel, April 29, 1818, at St. Marks, Florida. The execution raised a storm; Henry Clay, on the floor of the House, the following year, during the famous twelve-day debate on Jackson’s Seminole War conduct, declared that if Jackson were voted the public thanks, it would be a triumph of insubordination of military over civil authorities. The long feud between Jackson and Clay began with that speech.—ED.
Footnote 206:
Adams made his strongest defense of Jackson in his letter to Don José Pizarro, Spanish secretary of state. He reviewed the whole situation, and accused the Spanish and Indian traders in Florida of stirring up the Indians, referring to Arbuthnot as “that British Indian trader from beyond the sea, the firebrand by whose touch the Negro-Indian war against our borders has been rekindled.”—ED.
Footnote 207:
The Balise was in early times the best and deepest pass into the Mississippi River. Now known as South-west Pass, it is not used, there being hardly six feet of water on the bar. It was fortified by Bienville about 1720.—ED.
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. ● Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last chapter. ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. ● Enclosed bold or blackletter font in =equals=.