MAP OF  CLARK’S ROUTE FROM FORT MASSAC TO KASKASKIA

AND FROM KASKASKIA TO VINCENNES

         Chimney Rock or what Clark called the Second Mamelle, now called Chimney Pier. From here nearly due north to the village of Vincennes. (See map of Clark’s routes.)

       The story of the hardships, and the extreme suffering from cold and hunger which this little army endured, will ever be a tale with which to stir the patriotic blood of all loyal Illinoisans. Probably nothing more than the hardships incident to any military campaigning was experienced until they reached the Little Wabash February 13. Here they had to build a boat in which they ferried their baggage, ammunition and men. The Little Wabash was crossed at a point some three and one-half miles above the union of that stream and what is called Big Muddy creek. Big Muddy runs toward the south and nearly parallel with the Little Wabash. The space between was three miles wide. This is low land and is often over flowed. At this time the two streams had formed one great wide flood P. 92 too deep to be waded. A platform was built in three feet of water, and the packhorses were brought to this platform where their burdens were transferred to the boat. A similar platform was built on the opposite shore three miles away where the boat unloaded its cargo. The shallow water from each edge of the flood to the platforms was nearly a mile wide which made the entire flood five miles.

       When they reached the opposite shore they were ordered to tire no more guns for fear of revealing their coming to the British. They were now forty miles almost due west of Vincennes. Clark writes of the crossing of the two streams as follows:

       This (flood) would have been enough to have stopped any set of men not in the same temper that we were. But in three days we contrived to cross by building a large canoe, ferried across the two channels; the rest of the way we waded building scaffolds at each side to lodge our baggage on until the horses crossed to take them.

       On the 16th of February the army crossed Fox river which runs southward just a mile or so west of Olney.

       They pushed forward through rain and mud and reached the Embarras river in the afternoon of the 17th. Here they were within about eight or nine miles of Vincennes but all the lowland between the Embarras river and the Wabash was flooded and no boats could be found in which to cross. Here the army turned south and traveled along the west side of the Embarras hunting a dry spot on which to camp. Captain Bowman says they “traveled till 8 o’clock in mud and water” before a camping spot could be found. “18th—At daybreak heard Hamilton’s morning gun. (They were then ten miles southwest of Vincennes.) Set off and marched down the river (Embarras), saw some fine land. About two o’clock came to the bank of the Wabash.”

       Here they spent the next three days, building rafts, digging canoes, and trying to cross the Wabash. The food was all gone. Major Bowman's journal says on the l9th—”Many of the men cast down—particularly the volunteers. No provisions now of any sort, two days, hard fortune.” On the 20th, they captured five Frenchmen from Vincennes who said that Hamilton was ignorant of Clark’s presence on the Wabash. They killed a deer on this day. On the 21st the army was ferried over by the aid of two canoes. They landed on the east side of the Wabash and rested on a little knob called “The Mamelle.” From here they plunged into the water and made toward the next “Mamelle’’ about three miles eastward. Here the little army stayed over night and on the morning of the 22nd of February, they moved northward through water to their waists and even to their shoulders. In addition to the deep water Clark says the morning of the 22nd was the coldest they had had and that the ice was over the water from half to three-quarters of an inch. From the second “Mamelle” to the next dry ground was about one and a half miles. Clark says—”Getting about the middle of the plain, the water about mid-deep, I found myself sensibly failing, and as there were no trees nor bushes for the men to support themselves by, I feared that many of the most weak would be drowned. Getting to the woods where the men expected land, the water was up to my shoulders, but gaining the woods was of great consequence; all the low men and the weakly hung to the trees, and floated on old logs, P. 93 until they were taken off by the canoes. The strong and tall got ashore and built fires. Many would reach the shore and fall with their bodies half in the water not being able to support themselves without it.” Providentially an Indian canoe with squaws and children was captured. In this canoe was half a quarter of buffalo meat, some corn, tallow, kettles, etc. Those were confiscated, the food prepared, and served to the weakest ones, though there was a little broth for all. This meal and the sunshiny weather greatly strengthened  the troops and they took up their march in the afternoon of the 22nd, for the town and fort then only about four miles away. They reached the town shortly after dark and while the main body of the troops took up their position in the village, a detachment of fourteen men under Lieutenant Bailey attacked the fort.

CAPTURE OF VINCENNES

       Shortly after the army came in sight of the town, Colonel Clark issued a proclamation directed to the people of the village which was intended as a warning to those inhabitants who were in any way sympathetic with the British interests. It read as follows:

To the Inhabitants of Post Vincennes:

       Gentlemen :—Being now within two miles of your village, with my army, determined to take your fort this night, and not being willing to surprise you, I take this method to request such of you as are true citizens and willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you, to remain still in your houses. And those, if any there be, that are friends to the king will instantly repair to the fort and join the hair-buyer general, and fight like men. And if any such as do not go to the fort shall be discovered afterwards, they may depend on severe punishment. On the contrary, those who are true friends to liberty may depend on being well treated, and I once more request them to keep out of the streets. For every one 1 find in arms on my arrival I shall treat him as an enemy.

G.  R. Clark.

       The inhabitants of Vincennes, who were at heart favorable to the Virginians, having heard that their ammunition—powder, bullets, and other munitions—was to be moved to Detroit, buried it to prevent its capture by the British. These munitions were now given to Clark. The bombardment of the fort was kept up nearly all night, and till 9 o’clock on the morning of the 24th. The firing then ceased and Colonel Clark sent a note demanding the surrender of the fort. To this note Lieutenant Governor Hamilton sent a very short reply— “Governor Hamilton begs leave to acquaint Colonel Clark, that he and his garrison are not to be awed into any action unworthy British subjects.” The firing was renewed and kept up vigorously till in the afternoon when Governor Hamilton proposed a truce of three days. Clark refused, but proposed to meet Governor Hamilton at the church to consider any proposition he might have to make. Hamilton was accompanied by Lieutenant Helm who had been a British prisoner since he and Moses Henry surrendered the fort the 17th of December, 1778. Hamilton made a proposition of surrender but Clark would not accept it. A parley ensued in which Clark told Hamilton P. 94 that if he had to storm the fort he feared that his men could not be restrained from deeds of violence. Both commanders resumed their places but no firing occurred. Later in the afternoon Colonel Clark made out articles of capitulation which were satisfactory to Hamilton. And on the 25th of February the fort was turned over to the victorious frontiersmen.

       There were regular British soldiers in the fort and large quantities of stores said to be worth fifty thousand dollars. Word was received that a large quantity of supplies was on the way down the Wabash from Detroit destined for the British garrison. Clark dispatched Captain Helm to discover and capture this merchandise. This he did and returned in a few days with clothing and supplies valued at ten thousand pounds sterling. Clark’s troops who were very greatly in need of clothing were now abundantly supplied. Colonel Hamilton and a few of the officers were sent to Williamsburg while the soldiers were paroled and allowed to return to Detroit.

       Colonel Clark desired very much to attack Detroit, but after considerable delay he decided to return to Kaskaskia. Before leaving Vincennes he made treaties with the neighboring Indians. He appointed Captain Helm as civil commandant. Lieutenant Brashear was made military commander at the fort, and was given forty soldiers for that duty. Colonel Clark and the remainder of his army departed March 20, 1779, for Kaskaskia on the galley the “Willing,” accompanied by an armed flotilla of seven vessels. The trip down the Wabash and Ohio and up the Mississippi to Kaskaskia was without incident. Clark reached Kaskaskia about the latter part of March.

       Clark returned to Vincennes in July of the same year expecting to find troops from Kentucky and Virginia for the Detroit expedition. He was disappointed. He attempted to recruit soldiers for the Detroit campaign in the region of the Ohio but a letter from Jefferson who was now governor of Virginia requests him to construct a fort below the mouth of the Ohio. Accordingly he undertook this enterprise and by June, 1780, Fort Jefferson, a few miles below the mouth of the Ohio on the Kentucky side, was completed. It is said that some of the cannon were removed there from the abandoned fortifications of Fort Chartres. The ruins of Fort Jefferson, just below the town of Wycliffe, Ky., may be seen today. In the fall of 1780, Clark was at Fort Pitt trying to fit out his expedition for Detroit. In January, 1781, we find Colonel Clark acting in conjunction with Baron Steuben in repelling the attacks of Benedict Arnold upon Virginia. In December, 1781, Clark was at the falls of the Ohio with an army of 750 men. Later he was engaged in an expedition against the Indians on the Miami river. He never led his expedition against Detroit. In the summer of 1783, he received the following communication:

In council, July 2, 1783.

       Sir :—The conclusion of the war, and the distressed situation of the state, with regard to its finances, call on us to adopt the most prudent economy. It is for this reason alone, I have come to a determination to give over all thought, for the present, of carrying on an offensive war against the Indians, which, you will easily perceive, will render the services of a. general officer in that quarter unnecessary, and will, therefore consider yourself out of command. But, before I take leave of you, I feel myself called upon, in the most forcible manner, to return you my P. 95 thanks, and those of my council, for the very great and singular service you have rendered your country, in wresting so great and valuable a territory from the hands of the British enemy; repelling the attacks of their savage allies, and carrying on a successful war in the heart of their country. This tribute of praise and thanks so justly due, I am happy to communicate to you, as the united voice of the executive.

I am, with respect, sir,

Yours, etc.,

Benjamin Harrison.

        Now that we are about to leave our hero for the consideration of other men and other interests, it may be that some will be curious to know what was the end of a man to whom the United States owes so much. We quote from Brown's History of Illinois:

       “He was no longer the same man as the conqueror of Kaskaskia, and the captor of Vincennes. His mind was wounded by the neglect of the government of Virginia to settle his accounts. Private suits were brought against him for public supplies, which ultimately swept away his fortune, and with this injustice the spirit of the hero fell, and the general never recovered the energies which stamped him as one of nature's noblemen.”

       He spent the later years of his life near Louisville, Kentucky. He was completely broken in his bodily frame as a result of years of hard exposure. Rheumatism which ended with paralysis terminated his life in 1818. He was buried at Locust Grove near Louisville.

COMING OF JOHN TODD

       By virtue of the authority of the act of the Virginia legislature of October, 1778, Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, and by virtue of that position the first governor of Illinois, appointed Colonel John Todd lieutenant-commandant of the county of Illinois. Col. Todd's commission bears date of December 12, 1778. Colonel Todd was at the time of his appointment as lieutenant-commandant of Illinois county, a judge on the bench in Kentucky.

       Colonel Todd did not come to Illinois county till May, 1779. Clark had returned from his campaign, and capture of Vincennes. It is stated that Col. Todd was received with great joy by the citizens of Kaskaskia. He was no stranger to many about the village for he had come with Clark in the campaign of 1778, when the Illinois country was captured from the British. He is said to have been a soldier with Clark and to have been the first to enter the fort which Rocheblave surrendered. Be that as it may, he comes now with the authority of the commonwealth of Virginia. On June 15, 1779, he issued a proclamation which provided that no more settlements should be made in the bottom lands, and further that each person to whom grants had been made must report his claim to the proper officer and have his land recorded. If his land had come to him through transfers, then all such transfers must be recorded and certified to. This was done to prevent those adventurers who would shortly come into the country from dispossessing the rightful owners of those lands.

       The country to which Col. John Todd came as county-lieutenant was in a very discouraging condition. It had reached the maximum of P. 96 prosperity about the time the French turned it over to the English in 1765. Very many of the French went to New Orleans or to St. Louis during the British regime. The English king had attempted to keep out the immigrant. The cultivation of’ the soil was sadly neglected. The few French who remained were engaged in trading with the Indians. Many came to be expert boatmen. Trade was brisk between the French settlements in the Illinois country and New Orleans.

       Previous to the coming of Clark the French gentleman,  Chevalier de Rocheblave, who was holding the country in the name of the British government, had been not only neglectful but really very obstinate and self willed about carrying on civil affairs. He allowed the courts, organized by Colonel Wilkins, to fall into disuse. The merchants and others who had need for courts found little satisfaction in attempts to secure justice. During the time between the coming of Clark and of Todd, there were courts organized but the military operations were so overshadowing that probably little use was made of them.

       Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, made out Colonel Todd's commission and in addition gave him a lengthy letter of instructions. Todd was directed—

       To cultivate the affection of the French and Indians.

       To impress the people with the value of liberty.

       To guarantee an improved jurisprudence.

       To consult and advise with the most intelligent and upright persons who might fall in his way.

       To hold the property of the Indians, particularly the land, inviolable.

       To cultivate the good will and confidence of the Spanish commandant and his people at St. Louis.

       To see that the wife of Chevalier de Rocheblave should have restored to her the property of which she was bereft when her husband was sent a prisoner to Williamsburg.

       To subordinate the military to the civil authority.

       To encourage trade.

       And to carry out the above principles with ‘‘unwearied diligence.

       This was no ordinary arrival (the arrival of Todd) at the goodly French village of Kaskaskia. In eighty years of its existence it had seen explorers and missionaries, priests and soldiers, famous travelers and men of high, degree come and go, but never before one sent to administer the laws of a people's government for the benefit of the governed.

       It appears from the records of Colonel Todd that on the 14th of May, 1779, he organized the military department of his work, by appointing the officers of the militia at Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, and Cahokia. Richard Winston, Jean B. Barbeau, and Francois Trotier were made commandants and captains in the three villages respectively.

       The next step was to elect judges provided for in the act creating the county of Illinois. Judges were elected at Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and at Vincennes, and court was held monthly. There seems to have been a scarcity of properly qualified men for the places as in many instances militia officers were elected judges, and in one case the “Deputy-Commandant at Kaskaskia filled also the office of sheriff.”

       Todd issued permits or charters of trade and encouraged those about P. 97 him to engage in business. He also gave attention to the subject of land-claims. No new claims were to be recognized except such as were made according to the custom of the French inhabitants.

       Colonel Todd found enough work to keep him busy and it is doubtful if it was all as pleasant as he might have wished. The records which he kept, and which are now in the keeping of the Chicago Historical Society, show that severe penalties were inflicted in those days. On page 18, bearing date of June 13, is the following order:

       Illinois to-wit: to Richard Winston, Esq., Sheriff-in-Chief of the District of Kaskaskia.

       Negro Manuel, a Slave in your custody, is condemned by the court of Kaskaskia, after having made honorable Fine at the door of the Church, to be chained to a post at the Water Side, and there to be burnt alive and his ashes scattered, as appears to me by Record.

       This sentence you are hereby required to put in execution on Tuesday next at 9 o’clock in the morning, and this shall be your warrant.

       Given under my hand and seal at Kaskaskia the 13th day of June (1779) in the third year of the commonwealth.

Jno. Todd.

       A similar case to the above is also recorded in the record book kept by Colonel Todd. It appears that witchcraft among the negro slaves was a common thing in the French villages, and the punishment was death. In Reynold's History there is a statement that a negro by the name of Moreau was hanged for witchcraft in Cahokia in 1790. But in the record book kept by Todd this entry occurs:

       To Capt. Nicholas Janis.

       You are hereby required to call upon a party of your militia to guard Moreau, a slave condemned to execution, up to the town of Cohos (Cahokia). Put them under an officer. They shall be entitled to pay rations and refreshments during the time they shall be upon duty to be certified hereafter by you. I am sir,

Your humble servant,

Jno. Todd

15th June, 1779.

       Colonel Todd held this position of county-lieutenant for about three years. During that time he established courts, held popular elections, and executed the law with vigor.

       In the spring of 1780 he was elected a delegate from the county of Kentucky to the Virginia legislature. He attended the sessions of the legislature and while at the capital married. In the fall he returned to Lexington, Kentucky, where he left his bride and came to Illinois county, In the spring or summer of 1781, Governor Jefferson appointed Todd colonel of Fayette county, Kentucky. He purposed settling in Richmond, Virginia, permanently, but in August he was temporarily in Lexington when an attack was made on the town by Indians. The retreating redskins were pursued, and at the Battle of Blue Licks, fought August 18, 1782, Todd was killed.

       There was a deputy county-lieutenant or deputy-commandant in each village, and when Colonel Todd was absent, the reins of government were in the hinds of one of these deputies. On the occasion of his absence at the time of his death he had left, it seems, P. 98 Timothy Demountbrun as county lieutenant. This man seems to have been the only one authorized to rule, till the coming of St. Clair in 1790.

VIRGINIA CEDES HER WESTERN LAND

       In the famous resolution introduced into the Continental congress by Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, on June 7, 1776, there were three distinct provisions:

       1. That we are and of right ought to be free and independent states.

       2. That we ought to form a National government.

       3. That we ought to send ministers abroad to solicit aid in establishing our independence.

       The resolutions were adopted. A committee known as the Grand Committee consisting of one representative from each state, was appointed to draw up the form of government. This committee reported what came to be known as the Articles of Confederation. This document provided that it should go into effect when it should be ratified by all of the thirteen colonies. By the spring of 1781, all the states had ratified except Maryland. This state refused to ratify the article unless all the states that had claims to western lands should cede their lands to the United States to be disposed of for the good of the government as a whole. Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, the two Carolinas, and Georgia had claims to western lands. These states after due consideration of all of the interests involved in the refusal of Maryland to endorse the articles, agreed to cede their lands; and Maryland, on the 1st of March, 1781, ratified the Articles of Confederation and the government went into operation under the articles on the 2d of the same month.

       By reference to a former chapter it will be seen that Virginia, Connecticut, and Massachusetts all had claims to land lying within the present state of Illinois. Virginia's claim rested on her “sea to sea” grant of 1609. But in addition she claimed the territory now included in Illinois, because her troops had captured this territory from the British, and her civil government had been extended over it as has been shown in the last chapter.

       Virginia passed her ordinance of cession in October, 1783, which authorized her representatives in congress to sign the deed of transfer. This deed of transfer was duly signed by Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee, and James Monroe, December 20, 1783. From this time forward Virginia had no more interest in the Illinois country than had any other state, except that there were reserved certain lands which she wished to use in payment of her soldiers.

CIVIL GOVERNMENT NORTH OF THE OHIO

        In 1784 congress passed an ordinance which was to serve as a basis of civil government in the territory north of the Ohio river, until such time as there should be sufficient population to justify the admission of the territory into the union as states. In 1785 a system of surveys was adopted by congress which probably was the beginning of what afterward was called the rectangular system of surveys. The public land was to be laid off in squares six miles each way, and each six miles square was then to be subdivided into squares of one mile on a side. P. 99

       The law of 1784 provided for an officer corresponding to our surveyor general. Thomas Hutchins, formerly an engineer in the British army was appointed to this office, and his work was very valuable in the early settlement of the west. The ordinance of 1784 was intended to provide a means by which the inhabitants could organize a temporary government. It assumed that the country could be or was settled. And until such time as the inhabitants should call on congress to provide a temporary government for them there was really no government for the people. No one came into the new territory and no land was sold as a result of the land surveys. Probably there would have been very little interest in making settlements in the territory for some time if it had not been for an organization gotten up in Massachusetts which had for its purpose the exchange of depreciated certificates of indebtedness, held by Revolutionary officers against the general government, for western lands. As early as 1783 petitions had been sent to congress asking for the setting aside of land immediately west of Pennsylvania for the use of Revolutionary soldiers and others. Out of this movement there was organized in Boston, March 3, 1786, the Ohio Company of Associates. This organization purposed “The conversion of those old final certificates into future homes, westward of the Ohio and the formation of a new state.”

ORDINANCE OF 1787 PASSED

       This new land company sent Gen. S. H. Parsons to congress, which was then sitting in New York to lay a proposition before that body. It was referred to a committee for consideration. Dr. Manasseh Cutler, of Massachusetts, appeared upon the scene just as the new ordinance was being considered. Doctor Cutler was busily engaged in consultation with committees and with members and as an outcome of it all, congress passed the Ordinance of 1787. Very briefly this ordinance. provided:

       1. The territory northwest of the Ohio was made one district for temporary government.

       2. That property of resident or non-resident persons, dying intestate, should descend to legal heirs in equal parts.

       3. Congress should appoint a governor, secretary, and three judges to administer civil law.

       4. The governor and judges should adopt and publish such laws from the original states as were found suited to conditions in the new territory.

       5. The governor was to be the commander-in-chief of the military establishment.

       6. The governor should appoint all needed civil officers until such time as a legislature was organized, after which, the creation of local offices was left with that body.

       7. All laws, rules, orders, or regulations were to be enforced in all parts of the territory.

       8. When the population reached 5,000 free male inhabitants of full age, a representative assembly should be granted.

       9. The general assembly or territorial legislature should consist of (1) governor, (2) the council, (3) the house of representatives, consisting of one representative to every 500 free male  inhabitants. P. 100

       10. The legislature should send one delegate to congress who should have the right of debate but not of voting.

       11. There shall be freedom of religious belief and practice.

       12. The inhabitants shall have (1) the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus; (2) the right of trial by jury; (3) processes of the common law; (4) right of bail; (5) exemption from excessive fines and punishments.

       13. The utmost good faith toward the Indians must be preserved.

       14. The legislature of the states when formed, shall not interfere with the congress in the disposition of the public lands.

       15. States may be admitted into the union when the population will justify it.

       16. Slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crimes whereof the person shall have been convicted, shall not exist within the said territory northwest of the Ohio river.

       As soon as this Ordinance was passed there sprang up quite an active interest in the matter of making settlements in this northwest territory. Congress sold large tracts of land. This Ohio Land Company bought about 2,000,000 acres on the Muskingum river, but paid for only about half that amount. Other large sales were made, and immigration set in. The Rev. Manasseh Cutler's company of forty-eight persons from Massachusetts reached the Muskingum April 7, 1788, where they founded Marietta, Ohio.

GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED

       Following the passage of the Ordinance of 1787, July 13, congress appointed the officials as follows: Governor, Gen. Arthur St. Clair; secretary, Winthrop Sargent; judges, Samuel Holden Parsons, James M. Varnum, and John Cleves Symmes. The governor arrived at Marietta July 9, 1787, but Judge Varnum preceded him, for he made a 4th of July speech at Marietta, five days before the coming of the governor.

       On the 15th of July Governor St. Clair created Washington county, northwest territory. In September the governor and judges adopted a code of laws for the territory. In January these officials came to Losantiville, opposite the mouth of Licking river, which they changed to Cincinnati. Here they created the county of Hamilton. This point was made the seat of government.

       The governor and secretary proceeded westward and reached Kaskaskia on the 5th of March, 1790. Here they created the county of St. Clair. Later, on the journey back toward the seat of government, the county of Knox was organized. There were thus four counties and four county seats—Washington county, Marietta the county seat; Hamilton county, Cincinnati the county seat; St. Clair county, Cahokia the county seat; Knox county, Vincennes the county seat.

CONDITIONS IN ILLINOIS

       Let us now recall the condition in which we left the Illinois country. Colonel Todd whose coming promised so much, in 1779, seems to have served the people of Illinois but a short time. He was nominally the civil commandant up to the day of his death, August 18, 1782. But from the day he left in the summer of 1780, the good order and quiet P. 101 on-going began to decline. John Gabriel Cerre, a very prominent citizen of St. Louis and formerly a merchant in Kaskaskia, was before a committee in congress in July, 1786, and upon being interrogated replied as follows:

       Question—Were the people of the Illinois heretofore governed by the laws of Canada or by usages and customs of their own, or partly by one and partly by the other?

       Answer—The people of Illinois were governed before the conquest of Canada by the same laws as the people of Canada, which were of the same nature as those of old France adapted to the particular circumstances of the country. They had local customs which were equally binding as the laws and after the conquest the British commandants were civil judges who governed by the same laws and customs as the people lived under before the conquest of Canada; all public transactions being recorded in French for the information of the country. Criminal cases were referred to England.

       Question—By what law or usages and by what judges is criminal and civil justice dispensed at this time?

       Answer—In 1779, when Colonel Todd went into that country, the people chose six magistrates to govern them according to the French laws and customs, which magistrates were empowered by Colonel Todd to judge in criminal cases. After the troops were withdrawn the power of the magistrates was annihilated and everything fell into anarchy and confusion—the state of affairs at this time (1786).

       Question—What is the computed number of inhabitants in the whole Illinois district, and what proportion of them are slaves?

       Answer—There may be in the towns on the Mississippi about 300 white inhabitants, including American settlers who may number about 50. There are, moreover, about 250 slaves.

       Between the leaving of Todd in 1782 and the coming of St. Clair, 1790, there were several years of disorder and confusion. There was the constant decrease of the population; there were no courts; there was no money in circulation. There were only sixty-five Americans who could bear arms in 1791, and only 300 militia of all nationalities. There were probably not more than a thousand souls in the Illinois country at this time. A few people were coming into this region. Two families, McElmurry and Flannery, settled in Alexander county opposite Goose Island as early as 1783. Other settlements were made and a few block houses were built. Reynolds mentions quite a number of American pioneers who came into Illinois prior to 1790. James Moore settled near the present town of Waterloo at a place called Slab Spring. Shadrach Bond, Sr., uncle of Governor Bond, James Garrison, and Robert Kidd settled Blockhouse fort. These men arrived about 1781, and all came to be highly respected, useful citizens. One of the most noted immigrants of these early times was Gen. John Edgar. He had been in the service of Great Britain but gave it up for the American cause. He came to Kaskaskia in 1784. His name is intimately associated with the early history of the country. He was quite wealthy and was very generous. He died in 1832.

       When Governor St. Clair and Winthrop Sargent reached Kaskaskia, they must have been greatly disappointed in the condition and character of the people, for Governor St. Clair, writing from Cahokia to the secretary of war, says-- They are the most ignorant people in P. 102 the world; there is not a 50th man that can either read or write.” They were all so poor. They had contributed to Clark’s needs more liberally than they were able, and the certificates which Clark issued in payment for supplies were still held by these poor settlers. In addition to all this there had been three recent inundations of the Mississippi bottoms. Not only had crops been washed away but the planting had been prevented and much distress had resulted.

       As has been stated, St. Clair and his secretary reached Kaskaskia in March, 1790. On April 27, Governor St. Clair established the county of St. Clair. It included all the territory north and east of the Ohio and the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and west of the line running from Fort Massac through the mouth of the Mackinaw creek a short distance below the city of Peoria.

       The county was divided into three districts with the three towns of Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, and Cahokia as centers of administration. The governor created a number of offices and filled them before leaving the territory. The most important were:

       Sheriff—William Biggs.

       Judges of the Court—Jean Barbeau, John Edgar, Antoine Gerardin, Philip Engle, John de Moulin.

       Probate Judge—Bartholomew Tardivean.

       Among the other officers were justices of the peace, coroner, notary, clerk and recorder, surveyor, lieutenant colonel, major, captains, etc. The laws which the governor and the three judges had adopted, together with those which they should adopt, were the laws to be administered. It is probable that little official work was done by the officers whom St. Clair left in St. Clair county. The courts seldom convened, and the militia men are said to have refused to serve. There was not much difference between the condition of things before and after St. Clair ‘s coming.

       In 1795, Judge Turner, one of the three federal judges, came to hold court and out of a contention between him and St. Clair the county of St. Clair was divided into two counties by a line running due east and west through New Design. The north half was called St. Clair county with Cahokia for the county seat, while the south half was called Randolph county with Kaskaskia as the county seat.

       There were two sources of annoyance to the people of Illinois between 1785 and 1800. These were the Indian troubles and the conduct of Spain in relation to the use of the lower Mississippi.

       The Kickapoo Indians were quite active in marauding campaigns into Illinois. There does not seem to have been any real military campaigns and the work on the part of the whites consisted chiefly in defending their homes against the Indian attacks. Block houses were built wherever there were settlers and in many instances stockades were provided for the safety of stock as well as of the people. A number of people were killed in the Illinois country. William Biggs, afterward the sheriff of St. Clair county, was captured by a band of Kickapoos on the 28th of March, 1788. He lived at Bellefontaine, and on the above date, early in the morning he was going to Cahokia on horseback with a load of beaver furs, accompanied by one John Vallis. They had not gone far till they were fired on. Vallis was wounded in the thigh and died in a few weeks. Biggs was not hit by the Indians but his horse received four bullet wounds. Biggs was captured and was taken to an P. 103 Indian village and after being held for several weeks was released and came home. In 1826 he wrote out and published the entire story of his capture which is very interesting.

       The other matter referred to, the Spaniards  refusal of the use of the lower Mississippi, did not concern the Illinois people very much. Spain held New Orleans from 1763 till its recession to France. During a part of that time Spain refused to allow our river boats to land our produce on the wharf for reshipment. But in 1795 a treaty was made with that country by which we secured the privilege of the right of "deposit." From this time till the purchase of Louisiana we had free access to the Port of New Orleans.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

       The Ordinance of 1787 provided that when there should be 5,000 free male whites of the age of twenty-one years in the Northwest territory they might organize a legislature on the basis of one representative for each 500 whites of the age of twenty-one. This was done in the year 1798. Shadrach Bond was elected to represent St. Clair county and John Edgar to represent Randolph county. The legislature met at Cincinnati on the 4th of February, 1799. There were twenty-two members in the lower house, representing eleven counties. William H. Harrison who had succeeded Sargent as secretary was elected a delegate to congress. In the session of congress in the winter of 1799-1800, the proposition to divide the Northwest territory into two territories was referred to a committee of which Harrison was chairman. The report was favorably received by congress and on the 7th of May, 1800, an act was passed dividing the Northwest territory by a line running from the Ohio to Fort Recovery and thence to the line separating the territory from Canada.

       The western part was to be known as the Indiana territory and its government was to be of the first-class. Its capital was located at Vincennes and the governor was William Henry Harrison, The eastern division was called the Northwest territory, its capital was Chillicothe, and Governor St. Clair was still the chief executive, The east division was admitted as a state in 1802, February 19. Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan now became the Indiana territory.

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