HISTORY OF INDIANA.

CHAPTER I.

BOUNDARIES OF INDIANA EUROPEAN COLONIES ESTABLISHED IN

NORTH AMERICA.

THE State of Indiana is bounded on the east by the meridian line which forms the western boundary of the State of Ohiothe same being the line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great Miami river; on the south by the river Ohio, from the mouth of the Great Miami river to the mouth of the river Wabash; on the west by a line drawn along the middle of the Wabash river from its mouth to a point where a due north ine from the town of Vincennes would last touch the shores of the Wabash river, and from thence by a due north line, until the same shall intersect an east and west line drawn through a point ten miles north of the southern extreme of lake Michigan; and on the north by said east and west line until the same shall intersect the first meridian line, which forms the western boundary of the State of Ohio. These boundaries include an area of thirty-three thousand eight hundred and nine square miles, lying between 37° 47′ and 41° 50′ north latitude, and between 7° 45′ and 11° 1' of longitude west from the city of Washington.

From the time of the discovery of America, by Columbus, in 1492, a period of more than one hundred and fifty years passed away, before any portion of the territory of Indiana was explored by Europeans. During the course of the sixteenth century, the governments of Spain, England, and France, persevered, steadily, in their efforts to establish colonies in North America. In 1568, the Spaniards established a small colony in

Florida. The English made their first permanent settlement, in 1607, at Jamestown, in Virginia. The French planted a small colony at Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, in 1605; and, three years afterward, in 1608, a small number of adventurers, from France, founded the city of Quebec, in Canada. From this time until the year 1763, through a period of more than a century and a half, France and Great Britain were active and vigorous rivals in many contests concerning the territories, the colonies, and the trade and commerce of North America.

In the year 1670, Great Britain had nine colonies in America, established along the Atlantic coast, between the 32d and 45th degrees of north latitude. About eighty years after this period, the English made their first attempt to plant a colony on the western side of the Allegheny mountains.

The French colonists of North America had, in 1670, extended their settlements westwardly, from Quebec, along the shores of the river St. Lawrence, and on the northern borders of lake Ontario and lake Erie. Missionaries and traders had explored the regions bordering upon the great northern lakes, as far westward as the head of lake Superior. Missionary stations had been established among several tribes of Indians; and, to advance and protect the fur trade, small stockade forts and trading posts, had been erected at various suitable places.

An indolent and licentious king, Charles II, was, at this time, on the throne of England. Louis XIV, a bold and ambitious. man, was the reigning monarch of France; and Colbert, a statesman of great ability, was his Minister of Finances. The influence of the brilliant and expansive genius of this minister, inspired the colonists of Canada with an ardent desire to extend the dominions, and to increase the power of the French Monarchy. Animated by this desire, and by the hope of extending the influences of civilization and christianity over the Indian tribes of the West, the French authorities of Canada, civil and ecclesiastical, were impelled to engage earnestly in the support of the policy of increasing the number and strength of the forts, trading posts, and missionary stations, in the vast regions lying on the borders of the rivers and lakes between Quebec and the head of Lake Superior.

In the course of the years 1670, 1671, and 1672, the missionaries Claude Allouez and Claude Dablon explored the eastern

part of Wisconsin, the north-eastern portion of Illinois, and, probably, visited that part of Indiana which lies north of the river Kankakee. In the following year, M. Joliet, an agent of the French colonial government, and James Marquette, a good and simple-hearted missionary, who had his station at Mackinaw, explored the country lying about the shores of Green Bay, and on the borders of Fox river, and the river Wisconsin, as far westward as the river Mississippi, the banks of which they reached on the 17th of June, 1673.

Marquette and Joliet, with a small number of boatmen, who started from Mackinaw with them, continued their voyage of discovery, and descended the Mississippi river until they arrived at an Indian village which was called Akamsea, and which, according to observations that were made by the explorers, stood in the latitude of 33° 40′ north. Marquette and his companions were not, however, the first Europeans who penetrated the western regions as far as the river Mississippi. About one hundred and thirty-two years before the time of the expedition of Joliet and Marquette, a small party of Spaniards, under the command of Hernando de Soto, passed through Florida, and explored the country westward, until they arrived at the Mississippi, at a point near the 34th degree of north latitude.

On the 17th of July, 1673, Marquette and his companions left the Indian village of Akamsea, and, on account of the difficulties and dangers which seemed to lie in the way of a voyage toward the mouth of the great river, they determined to return to Canada. Following the courses of the Mississippi and the river Illinois, they arrived at Green Bay in the latter part of the month of September, having passed over a distance of about two thousand five hundred miles in making this journey of discovery. At a village among the Illinois Indians, Marquette and his small band of adventurers were received in a friendly manner, and entertained and treated with the true and peculiar Indian hospitality of those times. They were made the honored guests at a great feast, where hominy, fish, dog meat, and roast buffalo meat, were spread out in profusion before them.

The course of the river Mississippi, and the point at which it entered the Gulf of Mexico, continued to be questions of interest among the French settlers of Canada, until the year