CHAPTER XLII.

VIEWS OF ACTING-GOVERNOR GIBSON

TERRITORIAL LEGISLATION

EXPEDITIONS AGAINST HOSTILE INDIAN VILLAGES.

THE legislature of the Indiana territory was not convened in the year 1812; but, on the 18th of December, in that year, General John Gibson, the secretary and acting governor of the territory, issued a proclamation, in which he required the territorial legislature to meet, at Vincennes, on the 1st of February, 1813. The opinions which were entertained by Governor Gibson, on the subject of the war between the United States and Great Britain, as well as his views in relation to the public affairs of the Indiana territory, were expressed, somewhat quaintly, in a message which he delivered to the legislative council and house of representatives, on the 2d of February, 1813. In this message General Gibson said: "The governor of the territory having been, for some time, absent from us, the gubernatorial functions consequently devolving upon, have been exercised by me. In my discharge of this important trust, I have been actuated by none other than a wish to preserve public rights and protect private property. If I have, at any time, failed in my official duties, or erred in my plans, you must attribute it to the head and not the heart. My address to you, gentlemen, shall be laconic, for I am not an orator, nor accustomed to set speeches; and did I possess the abilities of Cicero or Demosthenes, I could not portray, in more glowing colors, our foreign and domestic political situation than it is already experienced within our own breasts. The United States have been latterly compelled, by frequent acts of injustice, to declare war against England. I say compelled; for I am convinced, from the pacific and agricultural disposition of her citizens, that it must be a case of the last necessity that would induce such a measure. For the detailed causes of the war, I beg leave to refer you, gentlemen, to the message of his excellency, the president, to congress, at the commencement of the present session. It is highly worthy the serious perusal of the

sage and the patriot. It does honor to the head and heart of Mr. Madison. Although I am not an admirer of wars in the general, yet, as we are now engaged in a necessary and justifiable one, I can exultingly say that I am happy to see, in my advanced days,* our little but inimitable navy riding triumphant on the seas; but chagrined to find that our armies by land are so little successful. The spirit of '76 appears to have fled from our continent; or, if not fled, is at least asleep, for it appears not to pervade our armies generally. On the contrary, lassitude-and, too often, schisms-have crept in and usurped the place of patriotic ardor.

"At your last assemblage, gentlemen, our political horizon seemed clear; our infant territory bid fair for rapid and rising grandeur; our population was highly flattering; our citizens were becoming prosperous and happy; and security dwelt every where, even on our frontiers. But, alas! the scene has changed; and whether this change, as it respects our territory, has been owing to an over anxiety in us to extend our dominions, or to a wish for retaliation by our foes, or to a foreign influence, I shall not pretend to decide. But that there is a change, and that, too, a distressing one, is evident. For the Aborigines, our former neighbors and friends, have become our most inveterate foes. They have drawn the scalping knife, and raised the tomahawk; and shouts of savage fury are heard at our thresholds. Our former frontiers are now our wilds, and our inner settlements have become frontiers. Some of our best citizens, and old men worn down with age, and helpless women, and innocent babes, have fallen victims to savage cruelty. Our citizens, even in our towns, have frequent alarms and constant apprehensions as to their preservation. I have not been inattentive to my duty, gentlemen; but have hitherto, and shall continue to exert every nerve to afford to our citizens all possible protection; and it is to be hoped that the all-wise and powerful Creator and Governor of the Universe will not forget his people, but cover us from our savage and sanguinary foe by his benign interposition."

At this period, there were, pressing upon the legislature, numerous complaints of the defects of the militia law of the

* General Gibson was born in 1740, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

territory. Governor Gibson, however, was inclined to attribute the defects of which the people complained, not to any inherent imperfection of the law, but to the incapacity of officers, and the imperfect manner in which the law was administered. He says "To me it seems that the principal defect is owing to the execution, not to the law. It is an old and, I believe, a correct adage, that "good officers make good soldiers." This evil having taken root, I do not know how it can be eradicated; but it may be remedied. In place of men searching after, and accepting of commissions, before they are even tolerably quali fied, thereby subjecting themselves to ridicule, and their country to ruin, barely for the name of the thing, I think may be remedied by a previous examination. This, however, among other important territorial concerns, rests with the legislature."

Between the 1st of February and the 12th of March, 1813, the territorial legislature of Indiana passed thirty-two laws. The more important provisions of these laws were designed to improve the navigation of White Water-to fix the seats of justice in new counties-to organize the counties of Warrick and Gibson-to fix the times of holding courts in the territory -to regulate taverns-to open and improve roads and highways to regulate the granting of divorces-to "help poor persons in their suits"-to regulate the inspection of flour, beef, and pork-to provide for a permanent revenue—to remove the seat of the territorial government from the town of Vincennes to the town of Corydon, in Harrison county, etc. The following clauses are copied from the second section of the "Act to reduce into one the several acts establishing a permanent revenue:"-" The following taxes shall be paid annually for one hundred acres, and so on in proportion for a greater or less quantity-of first rate land, seventy-five cents; second rate, fifty cents; third rate, twenty-five cents. For every slave or servant of color, above twelve years of age, two dollars. *** For every retail store, twenty dollars. Town lots are subject to a tax in the proportion of fifty cents on every hundred dollars of their value, which is estimated by the commissioner, including the improvement, and if the owner thinks himself aggrieved by such appraisement, he has the right of appeal to the next court of common pleas, who can alter the assessment to what they may think just. For every

tavern, not more than twenty dollars. For every ferry, not more than ten dollars. For every billiard table, fifty dollars."

By an act which was approved on the 11th of March, the seat of government of the Indiana territory was declared to be fixed at the town of Corydon, "from and after the first day of May," 1813. After a session of about forty days, the general assembly, in conformity with a joint resolution of both houses, was prorogued, by a proclamation of Governor Gibson, to meet at Corydon, on the first Monday of December, 1813.

The defenseless condition of the Indiana territory, and the alarm which prevailed among the frontier settlers, induced the acting governor, General Gibson, in the course of the year 1813, to call into the service of the United States about sixteen companies of territorial militia, for the purpose of guarding the settlements, and building blockhouses, for the protection of the settlers. In the course of the same year, several companies of United States rangers were employed in the territory for similar purposes. On the 27th of February, 1813, Mr. Jennings, the territorial delegate in congress, from Indiana, addressed to the citizens of the territory a letter, in which he said "The general government has authorized me to inform you that four additional companies of rangers may be raised in our territory for the protection of its frontiers. Each company to consist of one captain, three lieutenants, an ensign, five sergeants, and six corporals, and ninety privates. *** When we shall realize the return of peace, I am unable to say, though I hope and expect that another year, or less, will, in a great measure, remove the danger to which we have been exposed from the indiscriminate tomahawk and scalping knife of the savage."

The Indians did not, in the year 1813, venture to attack any of the forts or blockhouses in the Indiana territory; but small scouting parties, belonging to the hostile tribes, often penetrated the settlements, eluded the vigilance of the rangers, killed one or more of the white settlers, stole horses, and escaped from the hot pursuit of the militia. On the 18th of February, a man was killed by Indians, on the right bank of the Wabash, about twenty miles below Vincennes. On the 3d of March, the Indians killed two white men, in the Illinois territory, about seven miles from Vincennes; and, about the same time, twenty horses were stolen from citizens who resided

in the vicinity of that town. On the 13th of March, two men were killed in Franklin county, about thirteen miles from Brookville, and three persons were killed in Wayne county, about the same time.* On the 18th of March, the Indians killed one man, and wounded three men, near Valonia. At a point five miles below Fort Harrison, a boat, having a small number of men, and some provisions on board, was attacked by a party of Indians, on the 28th of March. Of the boatmen, two were killed and six wounded. On the 16th of April, at a place about eight miles southwest of Valonia, two men were killed, and one man wounded, by a party of Indians. On the 15th of July, a citizen of Vincennes was shot, stabbed, and scalped by Indians, in the neighborhood of that place.

The condition of the exposed settlements, the nature of the service that was performed by detachments of militia companies, and the manner in which the scouting bands of hostile Indians carried on their warfare against the white settlers, are described, with a good deal of accuracy, in a letter which was addressed to Governor Gibson, by Major John Tipton, on the 24th of April, 1813. In this letter, which was written at Valonia, Major Tipton said:-"Since I have had command of the militia stationed on the frontiers of Harrison and Clark counties, there has been much mischief done by the Indians in those counties, of which I have made correct reports to Col. Robert M. Evans, believing it his duty to make report to you. * * * On the 18th of March, one man was killed and three wounded near this place. At that time I was not here. On my arrival, I took twenty-nine men; went up Driftwood river twenty-five miles. I met a party of Indians on an island in the river-a smart skirmish took place; and, in twenty minutes, I defeated them: killed one dead on the ground, and saw some sink in the river; and I believe all that made their escape by swimming the river, if any done so, lost their guns. I lost no men, killed nor wounded. On the 16th inst., two men were killed, and one wounded, eight miles southwest of this place, and five

*Letter from James Noble to Henry Hurst, dated Brookville, April 12,

1813.

† Letter from Colonel R. M. Evans to Major John Tipton, dated Vincennes, March 29, 1813