Early Capitals of the Midwest

Like the colonial east, the new western territories state capitals were also mobile.  In Ohio the first permanent settlement was the first seat of civil government in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.  The capital was Marietta where 47 men of General Rufus Putnam came up the Ohio on the "Ohio Mayflower" on April 7, 1788.  The first general assembly on September 16, 1799, with 5000 free male inhabitants of full age, met in Cincinnati.  Congress fixed the Ohio territory's capital at Chillicothe where the second session met on November 3, 1800.  The assembly voted to move the government from Chillicothe Bank back to Cincinnati in 1801.  Then, under the new State Constitution of 1802, the capital was again to be at Chillicothe.  (confused yet?)  We are not done!

 

In 1810 an act required that the capital be relocated at some place…"not more than 40 miles from…the common center of the state, to be ascertained by Mansfield's map thereof."  Many towns, and many uninhabited villages were proposed and considered.  In 1812 it was decided to remove the capital to the east "High Bank" of the Scioto River, opposite Franklinton, on the site of a FUTURE town to be named Columbus. 

 

Not to be out done, Indiana had a migratory capital as well. Vincennes was the oldest town and was the territorial capital from 1800-1813, but a demand for a more central location caused the removal to a place now forgotten,  Corydon at the constitutional convention of 1816.  Corydon, possessed a grand new hotel only a mile from the capital that was said to be "built for the ages" with solid stone walls 18 inches thick. The perfect place for a state capital they said!   By 1825 Corydon's days of glory had already passed.  That year the capital was moved to Indianapolis, which at the time was only five years old.  There it remains...

 

Illinois Territory, organized in 1809, began with the capital city of Kaskaskia, but moved the capital to Vandalia in 1820.  With the permission of Abraham Lincoln, it was moved again to Springfield in 1837.  There it remains...

 

A similar story could be told of most of the Western states.  American viewed their governments functionally and when one headquarters no longer served, or another could serve better, they were just simply moved.

 

More Traveling Next time…

 ____________________________________________

Today in Pioneer History: "On August 20, 1804, Sargent Charles Floyd died three months into the journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, becoming the only member of the Corps of Discovery to die during the journey.  Floyd was a young military volunteer from Kentucky and died from illness that he contracted while on the journey.  He is buried on the bluffs over looking the river named in his honor, the Floyd River. "

Frontier Tension Mounts

Before the end of 1811, the Prophet was back at Tippecanoe, the village was rebuilt, and the white settlers were once again in danger.  Tecumseh returned in early 1812 after a successful visit to the Creek, Choctaw, and Cherokee.  He talked of his long-delayed visit to Washington to discuss peace.  Tecumseh claimed that had he been in Prophetstown there would have been no Battle of Tippecanoe.

By spring of 1812, ominous events began to happen.  Two settlers were murdered within three miles of Fort Dearborn and an entire family was massacred five miles outside of Vincennes.  The frontier was in a panic, as a general uprising was thought imminent.  Farmers abandoned their farms, taking refuge in temporary forts hastily built.  Many fled to Kentucky.

Tecumseh blamed the troubles on the Potawatomi who had not joined his confederation, and continued to talk of his friendship with his "white brothers."  Still, he made no effort to visit Washington to broker peace as promised, nor did he do much to restrain his allies.  Rumor had it that he was a British sympathizer.  The commander of Fort Wayne reported to Governor Harrison in Vincennes that "if the country should have a war with Britain, it must be prepared for an Indian war as well."  The year was 1812.

Governor Harrison immediately asked to raise an army which would "scour" the Wabash territory.  The War Department hesitated for fear of driving the Indians straight to the British side.  In no part of the country was war more popular and no where did the mass of able-bodied settlers show more desire to join the fight that in the Old Northwest.

There were only five garrisoned posts between the Ohio River and the Canadian border - Fort Harrison with 50 men, Fort Wayne with 85, Fort Dearborn with 53, Fort Mackinac with 88, and Detroit with 120.  A total force of less than 400 men to defend Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and the Ohio River! 

Next time...As war develops, so do the obstacles
_________________________________
Today in Pioneer History: "On May 16, 1849, New York City finally establishes a hospital for cholera before the epidemic ends, killing 5,000 people.  The poor conditions of the rapidly growing city, along with the constant influx of immigrants from around the world would eventually lead to the first street-cleaning plan,  but not before the disease visited homes of all levels of society. 

Moccasins and Hog on Hominy

The dress or clothing of the Midwest pioneer was a curious cross between the working white man and Indian grab.  The hunting shirt, made of linsey, course nettle bark, linen buffalo hair or dressed deerskin was universally worn by men.  Breeches, leggings, and moccasins completed the men's daily attire.  Women and children dressed in simple linsey garments.  Shoes were only worn in cold weather when moccasins served for the entire family.

There was seldom a lack of food on the frontier.  The soil was fertile, and the forests had plenty of game.   One of the popular dishes was "hog on hominy" which was pork served with Indian corn which was boiled in lye (yikes!) to remove the hulls, then soaked in clear water and cooked soft.  Breakfast and dinner included cornmeal mush and milk (if available).  Cattle were not numerous in the Midwest wilderness early on, so hominy was more common.  Mush was served with sweetened water, molasses, gravy from fried meat,  or bear fat.

Coffee and tea were unknown on the frontier and even thought to be "sissy" drinks, better suited to women and children.  Vegetable gardens next to the cabin, raised pumpkins, squashes, potatoes, beans, melons, and "roasting ears" (my family still called corn by that name in Indiana growing up).  The forest provided wild game like squirrel, rabbits, deer, bear and elk, and well as wild fruits, grapes.and honey used for sweetening.  The pioneers ate hardy and well!

Next time...Making a living
_______________________________
Today in Pioneer History: "On April 15, 1865, President Lincoln is pronounced dead after being shot at Fords' Theater in Washington DC the night before by John Wilkes Booth.  Only six days before the Civil War had ended with General Robert E Lee surrendering."

Blending Cultures

It took some years to blend the cultures in the Old Northwest and Ohio Valley region.  The Yankee scorned the Southerner and the Southerner scorned the Yankee.  The New Englanders, usually a people of education (their communities appointed a schoolmaster right away),  were pious, law-abiding and industrious.  This didn't blend well with their easy-going neighbors.  New Englanders were, however, shrewd businessmen who could drive a hard bargain with their backwoods neighbors.  "Yankee tricks" was a common term to refer to the business practices between New Englanders and Southerners, with suspicion always on the New Englanders.

In the first days of the westward migration the Cumberland Gap was the gateway to the West.  Situated at the southeastern corner of Kentucky, it was easy for the Virginians and Carolinians to pass to Cincinnati and Louisville.  A group of Virginians, Carolinians, and Kentuckians, known as the "Long Knives", were short on book learning and not known to be gentlemen.  They sought the Ohio Valley as an escape from the society that held their birth and lack of wealth at a disadvantage.  They were not pious, though religious, their houses were poorer, their villages cruder, their dress rougher.  These people, however, were brave, industrious, hospitable and generous to a fault.  They often clashed with the New Englanders.

Before the Erie Canal opened in 1825, there were just three main routes to the new western territory but they all led to the Ohio River. Some went by way of Lake Erie by boat and then land. Some took the Cumberland Gap and Wilderness Road..  And some took long, arduous journeys by land on the National Road.  They went on foot or by canvas-covered wagons (ancestors of the prairie schooners that would go West in the mid-1800s).  Heavy with possessions, these vehicles were drawn over rough, muddy roads by oxen, mules and maybe horses.  Like their later offspring, they found exposure, illness, Indian attacks and acute loneliness. 

As Morris Birkbeck who was passing on the National Road in 1817 wrote, "Old America seems to be breaking up and moving westward on this grand track toward Ohio." 

Next time...Down the Ohio
_________________________
Today in Pioneer History: "On April 1, 1700, English pranksters began popularizing the annual tradition of April Fool's Day by playing practical jokes on each other.  Although the day also called All Fool's Day, has been celebrated for centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery.  

General "Mad" Anthony Wayne's Men

Anthony Wayne was the son of a Pennsylvania frontiersmen.  In his early life he was a surveyor, learning Indian fighting as a side.  During the Revolution he won distinction as a dashing commander of Pennsylvania troops at Ticonderoga, Brandywine, Germantown and Stony Point.  He finally earned Major-General status in Georgia where he settled at the end of the war as a planter.

Anthony was known as a vain man - his love of fine clothes brought him a great deal of criticism.  Washington said of Wayne - "brave and nothing else."  Wayne was also alert, decisive, and loved hard fighting, characteristics that were in high demand.

Given the task of securing the new western territory in lieu of St, Clair's defeat, he first needed an army.  Most of the 3000-4000 men needed came from beggars, criminals and other cast-offs of the eastern cities.  Few of them knew warfare, even deserting their posts when reports came of Indians in the vicinity.  Anthony enforced rigid discipline, drilling the regiments for eight to ten hours a day.

By the spring of 1792, the troops formed a respectable body.  Wayne insisted that any campaign would begin only after the troops were thoroughly prepared.  Going beyond the ordinary, he taught the men to load their rifles while running at full speed, and yelling at the top of their voices while making a bayonet attack.

In 1793, Major-General Wayne advanced with 2600 men into Indian country, getting ready for a spring offensive.  The men built Fort Greenville, 80 miles north of Cincinnati and spent the winter there, still drilling and preparing for battle.  They also built Fort Recovery near St. Clair's fatal battle field.

In June 1794, another 1500 mounted militia arrived from Kentucky and Wayne found himself at the head of the largest and best-trained force that ever had been turned against the Indians west of the Alleghenies.  It was time to move at last!

Next time...Ready for Battle!
____________________________
Today in Pioneer History:  "On March 18, 1852, two businessmen in New York, Henry Wells and William Fargo,  establish Wells, Fargo and Company, destined to become the leading freight and banking company in the West.

The American Revolution Comes to the Northwest

The Quebec Act of 1774, which marked the beginning of civil government in the Old Northwest, saw Henry Hamilton presiding as Lieutenant Governor in the new capitol of Detroit.  Detroit, at that time was  a town of 1500 English-speaking white settlers.

The beginning of the America Revolution produced no immediate effect in the Northwest territory.  There was really nothing these frontier folk could do to help the colonies fighting on the East coast, until the English changed their minds.  The British decided to ravage the trans-Allegheny country, which made the new western territory an important theater in the war.

The British used the Indians, without regard for humanity, as their one great resource in the west.  The Redcoats put a price on every white scalp - men, women or child all paid the same.  The wilderness became a scene of bloody ambushes paid for by the British.  Wives who went out to milk the cow never were seen again, men who went to gather wood for winter were scalped and left to rot in the forest.  The frontier settlers were not the least responsible for the revolt of the colonies, in fact, they were non-combative.  They were killed because they lived on America soil. 

The responsibility goes to King George and his government.  The Earl of Suffolk wrote, "God and nature has put into our hands the knife to scalp and the tomahawk to torture them into unconditional submission".  In Detroit, Lt. Governor Hamilton, after opening a meeting with prayer, told the assembled Chippewa, Hurons, Mohawks and Potawatomi that it was their "duty" to decimate the white rebels.  Even if the settlers had "submitted" what good would it have done to the Revolution on the East Coast?

It was at this time that the news arrived in Detroit from Illinois, that a band of rebels led by one George Rogers Clark, had overtaken the settlement of Kaskaskia, thrown the commander into irons and required the population to take an oath of allegiance to the Continental Congress.  The settlement of Cahokia near St. Louis, was next, and rumor ran that a French priest was riding to Vincennes to take that settlement for the rebels as well.  The Revolution had come to the Old Northwest.

Next time...George Rogers Clark
________________________________
Today in Pioneer History:  "On February 7, 1964,  Pam Am Yankee Clipper flight 101 from London Heathrow lands at New York's Kennedy Airport–and "Beatlemania" arrives. It was the first visit to the United States by the Beatles, a British rock-and-roll quartet that had just scored its first No. 1 U.S. hit six days before.  You know the rest!

A Lair of Beasts

The vastness of the acquired territory from the French in 1763 was pretty overwhelming for King George and his ministers!  His first attempt to deal with the problem was to issue a proclamation stating that "no loving subject" could purchase land or settle in the territory without special license.  Present residents in the territory were to remove themselves "forthwith."  Trade could be carried on only by permit and under close surveillance. Officers would be stationed among the Indian tribes to preserve friendly relations and apprehend fugitives from colonial justice.  He planned to make the entire territory one big Indian reserve. 

King George's reasons were never quite clear.  Franklin and Washington thought it was to conciliate the Indians.  Both men were land speculators in the territory and owned considerable tracts of land.  Others thought the King wanted to limit the boundary of the seaboard colonies to preserve his imperial rule over the colonists. Trade was easier as well as subordination to England if there was a limit to the area inhabited by colonists. 

It was planned to gradually open tracts of land secured from the Indians for settlement, but it would be controlled and only when England said so.  This restrictive policy was not popular in the colonies, obviously, and surprisingly not in Britain either.  Edmund Burke said it was "an attempt to keep as a lair of beasts that earth, which God by an express character, has given to the children of man." 

The colonists were ready to spread out.  The western lands were theirs by charter and by conquest, as they had fought the war against the French as well.  The farmers saw the land as an opportunity for prime farming land, and the Indians were just an unprogressive and unproductive people.  The tide of homesteaders became an enormous wave, and any attempt to stop it was like holding back the ocean with a broom!  Some colonies attempted to adhere to the King's policy - Pennsylvania decreed the death penalty for all who refused to remove themselves from the territory.  How they planned to carry out that law is unknown, but it soon died.

There were still French settlements in the territory by the thousands -  Kaskaskia, Illinois, and the Wabash regions for example.  Many French crossed the Mississippi River and settled on the opposite bank on land still in Spain's hands.  Many more did not.

Next time...The settlement of Kaskaskia
_______________________________
Today in Pioneer History:  "On January 24, 1935, canned beer made its debut.  In partnership with the American Can Company, the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company delivered 2,000 cans of Krueger's finest beer and cream ale to drinkers in Richmon, Virginia.  91% of the drinkers approved.

The Prophet

In 1761 the tension among the Indians in the Old Northwest was increasing.  The appearance of a "prophet" among the Delawares, calling for all Indian races to purge itself of foreign influences and to unite to drive the white man from the land,  came forth.  The leadership of the great revolt fell upon Pontiac, who lived on a wooded island in Lake St. Clair outside the fortifications of Detroit.

Pontiac, principal chief of the Ottawa tribe, was made head of a powerful confederation of Ottawas, Ojibwas and Potawatomi in 1763.  He was respected from the Ohio to the Mississippi.  During the winter of 1763, his plans secretly passes from Indian nation to Indian nation throughout the Old Northwest and beyond. Upside down wampam belts and reddened tomahawks were the symbols of war.

In April of 1763, the tribes were summoned to a great council on the shores of Ecorces, below Detroit where Pontiac proclaimed the will of the "Master of Life" as revealed to him.  Algonquin and Senecas from the Iroquois confederacy pledged their support. 

A simultaneous attack, timed by a change in the moon, was planned on English forts and settlements throughout the Old Northwest.  The tribes would attack the nearest settlement to them, and Detroit belonged to Pontiac himself.  Four days prior to the planned attacks, Pontiac and 40 of his warriors visited Detroit to claim their undying friendship to the Great Father across the water.  The new commander, Major Gladwyn, had heard of trouble through his Ottawa girlfriend according to legend.

Pontiac saw that the whole garrison was under arms and was told by Gladwyn that they were training exercises.  After trying to talk peace, Pontiac was refused entrance and left.  On May 7th, the ruse was up and hostilities began in earnest. 

For six months the settlement was besieged.  There was little actual fighting and loss of life was insignificant.  The French refused to offer the Indians assistance, and in October Pontiac humbly sought peace again. 

Meanwhile a reign of terror spread...next time
_________________________________
Today in Pioneer History:  "On January 14, 1639, in Hartford, Connecticut, the first constitution in the American colonies, the 'Fundamental Orders' was adopted by representatives of Wethersfield, Windsor and Hartford."

Detroit - Diverse Settlement

Detroit in 1760 was a picturesque, lively and rapidly growing frontier town.  The center, which lies inside the present day city, contained about 100 small houses made of wood with bark or thatch roofs.  The 25 foot high barracks surrounding the town were well built for defense.  A council house and a church comprised the only public buildings.  The houses were grouped closely together at the center along narrow streets.

Detroit was lined on both sides with river banks for eight miles.  Small farms lay along the river containing a cottage, a garden, orchard and the whole was surrounded with a picket fence.  The settlement was a happy place.  Ottowas, Potawatomi, and Wyandots lived within the settlement on free and easy terms with the settlers.  Sunday card parties were festive occasions at the home of the English commander, Colonel Campbell.  The English King's birthday was the year's elegant affair.

In 1761, Sir William Johnson, General of Indian Affairs, visited Detroit.  It became the greatest social event of the season.  Guest danced for nine straight hours, and General Johnson surpassed that mark by dancing for eleven straight hours at the following ball in his honor.  During his visit, residents gave him elaborate dinners, showing off all the magnificence of frontier's best wines and cordials.  Even the Indian spectators were impressed!

Underneath all this festive opulence, the safety of the post and the security of the English command was an issue.  Thousands of square miles of territory inhabited by settlers were under protection of just 600 troops.  The danger was not from the newly conquered French, but from the Indians who were unpredictable.  The tribes had always been close to the French, following their orders to kill and scalp the English.  Now that the English were in control, discontent began to develop.

A deep rooted dislike for the English grew rapidly after 1760.  The Indians missed the supplies and gifts provided by the French.  They resented the arrogance of the British.  The soldiers openly showed them contempt and the confiscation of their land drove them to take desperate measures.

Next time...the Prophet
_______________________________
Today in Pioneer History:  "On January 10, 1843, Frank James, older brother of Jesse, and an outlaw in his own right is born in Clay County, Missouri.