Newspapers / North Carolina Republican (Goldsboro, … / Aug. 30, 1848, edition 1 / Page 1
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1 1 nn H4 1 I); 7 TO. aULICK. IINISTRATION OF GEX. VS3 IN THE NORTHWEST, campaigns of 1812 and 1813, jstern frontiers, had been the combined British and on- the fought Indian nnrl mstio-ated. as the latter werer j- oorori nrpfliVtinns of a native . t it-lit J OClV- JLVV..-. , .,ur v.o. in.jno KnliAved to be m . r, r ,,nm1CV. ID U1B . u was a coniesi iut sucu--; i ment of which the settlements nortn f the Ohio sought, byn appJ 10 jolidate their welfare by a so id peace he administration of aefcued ontiers, was commenced and contmue e same general object It was eesr the IndL tribes that he should hol :heon high. The battta rfa , after two rears ot severe wau most extraoVdmary and sanguinary . exer . t defeat-Wat Jsocta It sealed the career of both the and prophet of the tribes, and proved 'others, if not to themselves, ine mua v. 'stinr to the promises of an ally which had folly abandoned them at the treaty of lent But trie Indians do not reason -.as ier-men - and besides, they were, to all in 7Lr.t ot'thfl tfme of sucn abandon ftnf . . i . . j Kit r T-iii iii vi un. . heir leader was killed, but the propuei . recLand they hoped the war, which had 1 jf& to the Niagara and t. Lawrence, Istined to result better for their - interests e in ther quarters. General Cas?, in assuming Wmment of Michigan, and the manage : lent of the Indian afTairs of the northwest, at t'laf particular juncture, accepted .a task X hich few, in the busy career o We, are f and competent successfully to perform. It lis a task which he had not -solicited ; al fough. of the post, it may in truth be said W,uVilike that vhich marked the fall of the wedish monarch, it was neither I " A pretty fortress nor a barren, strand." X UcV hsik u'- 7 - y ' jeft in the temporarj- command ot a remote . Vditary post, the feeble and scattered settle-; : icnts around it hjad sought to gather strength : nd countenance in their position, trodden own as the country had been by the iron oi oi war, in uicmunaiiAiug mc t icoium . ' 1 . , I. J Al n r nis appoinimeni. it was uuuur iucssc lews, strondv pressed, that he accepted the Sice. But he did not, at once, lay . down ie. sword. It was necessary for a period, . bt only as the emblem of power, but of jus ire among the savage tribes, who hovered, in roken but infuriated masses, over the wide fomains of. forest and lakes which had been -ommitted to his management. There is a popular error on this subject which all are prone to run into, who measure Jie duties of General Cays and his adminis tration in that perilous era, by the peaceful itandard ot abater state. It is to dissipate ! these misapprehensions, and to point out the momentous duties of the time, that the pres ent remarks are commenced. Both the field of public service and the man who was called ; ip act, were extraordinary. I Cass--was oneNof those bold and original men who appear at Jong intervals among na tions.. Born with abilities for such scene?,he had been- early inducted into the field of dan gers and trials in the West. He possessed hat quick forecast, that ready decision and ithat fruitful resource, which are essential el Jemeats of .greatness in a leader. ' With an I intuitive knowledge of character, a quick ap f preciation of right, a Strang perception of the ; interests and policy that sway both white and ' red men, and an absorbing sense of duty to fhis country, he grasped the class of duties be fore him with a master's hand. It was not mere physical boldness that such a station. re-; quired, lhe policy to be pursued in govern ing, the multiplied and conflicting tribes, the ;-plots arid -counterplots 'to be circumvented, the .wemis ana agents to . do emDiovea. ana a thousand other matters, demanded the initia tive to be assumed at the moment on his own judgement of the soundness ajid propriety of the measures; and under these circumstances, and at such a distance from the seat ot central power, the sanction of government was often, if not. in variably, in cases of moment, an event wfticn followed the execution of the duty. . It was this moral intrepidity this strong con yictiori of right that had animated his voice and guided his pen, as his published papers show, in the events of the two preceding cam paigns. But if he yet exhibited a martial front, he did not come to tusk to govern the Indian tribes by force a single moment after their submission. His policy was eminent one of peace. He knew the nature of man jwell enough to know that persuasion is the threat moral lever of success : and he had I studied the red race sufficiently to observe f mat in ey did not form an exception to the general axiom. He regarded their vires,pas sions, and caprices as the result of ignorance and the want of education. He pitied the seventy of their fate, aud souffhtTbv his Doli- cy to reclaim them, and introduce the arts of peace and civilization into their villages at the earliest practical moment. All his treaties ana public acts denote this. If he had shown the vigilance of a Wayne in war, he evinced the benevolence of a William Penh in peace. r Js 6roDosed to examine into the charac- f ter oi uisservir.ps at that frloomv neriod. and to exhibit some of the leading features of his I r",l-y 5 me administrator of the general gov- j erament on the frontiers. A glance at the I general nature of his civil government may f srvc to denote the importance of the duties f baiore him. - I he administration governor of Alichigan, and superintendant of Indian affair; th r ...il j ; . , " w "uriuwesi, emoraces. a from 1813 the asre of and place ; Uflsiaeration ot rank laafpff In1 mtent alone on the honor and y, and the protect nf (her frontiers menaced as thev then wore fbe::vr: T lu, 'a? and a British i V, ttl test v,"410? ' leariesslvinto the con; ? - punting his horse on th' W Z n&leness ? ' h" rushed to the field with am had A?"'?0'!8 a Marion and a Put patriotic ... . ""'W in 77K " KJm His aAA roco U Corn u " -h-'voq iu mtj wr who, on this occasion, elected &:,hasben,.thatal j , ct 1 1 if miY t&eir leader, is coached in thoughts ...If Ld words that burn It; can- him as fofbe quot length in these sketcheL but frinliples, hke those orhn ezposvre tfthe errors of the campaign uiiernay h emphatically alTuded to, m considering him in tne new - r j asThe executive officer of a new - .Territory, and the eloquence of both these papers, as observed in the journals of the day, is com LnHfid to the young, that their hearts, like .oitmn he was now tftn"rnnv his may be early embued with the love of ,Jntrv. Thev reveal three stronsr Doints : J,,tii honor, and faithfulness to the constitution points of political rally which were thrown nut hastily, in the storm of excitement that convulsed the period, but which, nevertheless, well martea me iixeu ana painouc cnaracter of the man, and have formed the unvarying principles of his oaward course Placed in every - suDsequeni -siiuauon, ai nome and abroad, his watchwords have been, duty,hon- OR. and FAITHFULNESS TO THE PRINCIPLES OF the constitution. Those sentiments, it has been observed,"animated him in his first brisk Conflict with the enemy on the banks of the Canard or Taronste e, and again during the ever memorable and trying scenes which both immediately preceded and followed the disgraceful surrender of Hull at Detroit ! No attempts of the friends of the late Genera! Hull in later days to wfpe out the disgrace of that surrender or disinter his reputation from the tomb, and to rejieve.it by casting shades upon that of a. fearless witness, is at all likely to alter the judgment of his military peers, or to lessen the force of the historic odium which rests upon his name m consequence of that most humiliating transaction, j It is important to bear this thrilling era in mind, and to remember the high and promi nent part borne in it by Colonel Cass, in branding it in its true colors, at the capital of his country, and thus preparing the minds of the people and the government for making a new and vigorous effort for regaining the possession of the country which Hull had lost. " When the forces landed in Canada," ob serves the indignant olhcer, in his report to - . . . 1 . 1 " . . i thp. Rpcrptarv of War. on the 10th of Sentem- hpr. 1812 "thev anded witn an ardent zeal, j . T . 4 and stimulated with the hope of conquest Had an immediate attack Deen made upon Maiden, it would doubtless have fallen an ea- sv viptnrv ' rhp. ammunition was Diaced in the wagons, the cannon were embarked on board the floating batteries, and every reams- ire article was prepared. The spirit and zfal. the ardor and animation displayed by the offi- nerannA tnpn nn Ipnrnincr t.h'n npar nccomnlih. ment of their wishes, were a sure and sacred ' & . .1 nlpW that m thp hour of trial thev would r o ' . ,. . and themselves. But a chanffe of measures, in opposition to the wishes and opinion of all the officers, was adopted by General Hull TKo n an nttncbino' Ma Hpii wns n hanrtnn. A. L1U14 VI 14 V IrlAV B 1J g I orl.onrl inctonrl nf nrlinrr nflfncivlv Via KmlrAi un our camn ana re-rrosseu me river in me i 1 . . J . . I night, without even the shadow of the enemy to injure us." J Such vvere the views with which this young officer regarded the retrograde movement from Canada" and such were the burning fpplino-s of discrraf P with which Afrht. dans after that ill-starr.d initialing mmipmpnt. he S -o- " ....-jro. returned from the wild nasses oi the Huron, and thfi aTnhnscaHpd wnnls of Mamiaann-'to UVUViU UU" JX Uia J UUU V lltVUi y I theenemv. Neither the relative force of that enemy, ncr the necessities of the times, de- - ' - - I manded. or n the least iustifie'd the measure Knt " ho bT o nri,iont . ha wa ' - . J . I hppn totallv'dPRtitiTtft'nf nrnv.sinn on r ? - " K." f, ' featino- him. the whole countrv would have been open to us, and the object of our expedi- tion gloriously and successfully obtained. If o ' . - . , . we had ben dt.featpd. we had nothing to do . : ' . - . . but to retreat to the fort, and make the best defence which circumstances and our situa- tion rendered practicable. But basely to sur- rendered without firing a gun tamely iq sub- mit 'without raisinr a havnnp.t.--d.isarrrsJfvJjM ...... j jj.ww.. to pass in review before an enemy, , inferior in Quality, as well as the number of his forces, wpta cirniTTlstnnpps whi.h pVciten fp.eiinors rt . ' . . - - - . '1 indiarnatioa more easily felt than described, " " " " " -" To see the whole of our men, flushed with the hope of victory, eagerly awaiting the ap- proacning contest; to see them aiterwaras ilienirilarl VnV-l- A A.nnm o loncf uiojjn ii.u, uujjmcm, uonpuiiuiiiii, i a. i. ivooi Sl 1(1 ehpflilinrr tenrs hexonca (hair moro rint qI - 1 , . . w.aw-.... w i u ltvuuo but. v w v. v uvt lowed their to meet their country's foe and to fight country's hattW- Prctpd sensations which no American has ever before had j - - - j cause to. feel, and which 1 trust in God will never again be felt, while one man remains to defend the standard of the Union " j I Duty, honor, ana jaitnfulness to the censti- tulion, alike spurn tne act . ltrwas with these ed to, that frontier sentiments that he return in 1813, at the head of a brigade, along-with the banded chivalry ot Jventucky and Ohio. We pursued tne enemy to the banks ot the Thames, where the oniniou of suverioritv in thp Amprican troons. which hp hnrl os-nreto 1 ' r w-t " V r i V " ,r", me year oeiore on xne neiarious surrender ot Hull, were nobly vindicated and diskayfid in t he entire rout of the British army, and its deceived and bewildered Indian allies.5 And it was with a like exaltation of the senti. mehts of duty and fidelity to his country, that he assumed the civil and military goyerh- Mpt,t nf tho tPrritorv of MichiVan. t j . o : . v . . fomA It wv.jtK. indeed. a the active and and our ircfcm was to fight. The1 enemy increase ot population, the tide oi emigration since been found, flows, at nrst nom iu un invited us to mP.Pt him in thfi field. Bv de- setting strong towards the attractive valleys jrjn in Itasca lake towards the north an 1 eastx - : J r . - . trQtiA nf??cer . nnrl ptatesman. which have i i .i r . ' t i.:. .Anl1i.i;nn laid tne nrmesi ioumauou uir .cauuu. . - ; r m r 1 .u. For.it must ne coniessea, in surveying iue ----- - ... ... . - . pages oi uiMory, xui wuuc, UVa VI UlWVi Jl wmm-m ........ g , . . - . i ' : - C U4. ...hiln nvllitnnr CV1 II 1C essential to raise tne aroopmg spmis m ua- tions, and tate strong hold of the sympathies of m'en. mere militar skillinere physical pmiro with thA rnnlnpfi to contrive and ex- ' . . . 7 . a ecute the plan of abattle or a campaign, with- M. tntnii and an entire. i devotion to. anA unrinn ik. lo.xro or.ri mnstitn. ' . ' nn nf niintm ia thA v7, rirM r- ent which has ever been cherished by na; indomitable representative of the President, treme upper Mississippi with the yiew of tra- fluence had 1W been exerted, was me isn goveru,eiu. i.miu ui senaior that he developed talents as a civilianlaw- cmg this river to its source. In this-1 expedi- old heouS of the British Northwest gouth Cai61ina musthaye a general recol onH a lmat,V a careful admmis- tion, the plan of which received the sanctJnn nL? marshalled the Indians tion of the affair. (Hre Mr. Calhoun gave MWBEllN, E C. WEDNESDAY, ' AUGUST 30, 1848.. tion. Little do we apprehend the dazzle of I edheroicrbut really tyrannic traits in this Union : but it is the policy of a wis3 people, who love the maxims of peace, law, and justice, to guard every avenue against the approach of unchastened footsteps to the temple of freedom. There has been but one Washington in the world, and but one Burr rife of history : and when we see large arid respected maies of men selected for their wisdom and pre-eminent professions for a con- servativ tnn nf m.Brnmpnt af5nr their carefully cherished principles away, and uni- y ftv.."--. o . . i m8 wuu uuzzas lor mere uiiuiiatj icuuwi it fchooves the peopled reflect, an5 seek for the old landmarks of Khflrtv whih have ui- ded our fathers throu2h the storm and the bat- tie. It is the oaken ciowned their heads. tion in which the sagacity of Mr. Adamshad nownlaced him. The overnorshb of Mich- igan, m 1813, was no idle post; no sinecure. Tho'jr.n fAktto r uA Llion hpavilv . . .j . p . 1 anA ,;,Ko It War still rased within it. S&d around it, and the executive had, during all that year, surround- a u k r Krr.nrrK ihft wit a f iir w -1 1 u 1 w 1 w 1-! 11 ir nun .ivju 1 nrhn o nt 1 W I I onH KQ n)ni nh I X I r II n I t .;Jih kK w.n,Bnhpnf!n: ThprP. was mnrh rfpinn care; and wis- Anm n,raA -oQ oo to nthpr. And when1 peace came, and the inhabitants began to flee. back from forts and stockaaes to their ancient fields and settlements, these had to the eye of the beholder more the as- pect of some dilapidated, overrun, and war- wasted district, along the Belgian, borders of the Rhine or Scheid. in the davs of Philin II, than a bone fide American territory. .1 1 ' 1 A '- The hrst enort ot Uovernor Cass's policy was to reconstruct the dilapidated ' govern ment, and lay the foundation of social order: to secure the neace of the frnntifir with the Indian tribes to protect the existing settle ments, and provide for enlaro-ina- them by treaties and to connect the feeble and exDOS- ... . . . . I -J 1 . -1. . J I II " 1 . i I "u uiaineis oy roaus ana onages which a team couia pass converting mere trails into waff- . . - on roaus, ana to extena these from the an- cient valleys, where alone the French popu- was locaieu, io interior points oi tne peninsula. For it was a singular trait, and one wui.cn DespoKe ine mue enterDrise ot the old inuamianis, or eise meir auacnmeni to inter- vale lands ' that they lived entirely on the mere skirts of the .territory along the main rivers, and had not penetrated, for any pur- nose of agriculture, into the interior. It was . ..ni ; not tm about 1 8 l-'iy, that the present attrac- Uve oakiands one of the widest tracts of the i . : ....... . J . r I . . O ' J oest wheat s rowing districts tn Anunca-M&s, explored : and sucn was the low estimate in which the interior of Michigan generally was ht-ld, that the lands were absolutely reported dv comniis&ioners sent out to view them, as j 1 " Unfit 'tO he piven in bouniv lands to the sol- , . . w rr . . uiers ui me iuib war. 1 uese tumuiissiuiicia had, indeed, never penetrated. through the wet and heavy torest extending but twelves mius back jrom Uetrpit I 1 well remember the feelings ot exultation and triumph which, in 1819, attended the return of the first , explor- inr narties Which had penetrated to the pres , o . . .... . . ent sue of the town of rontiac and the banks of the Sciawassa then a perfect terra incogA 7iita. though the former was within thirty Uetroit! v . 7; Courts of law.and of record were establish- led, new counties1 erected, surveys of the pub- - i T - 1.1 He lands set on loot, ana oiner,iacinues crea- ted in the territory tor inviting and sustaining . I . T-l 1 an einiffrant Donuiauon. r or several vearsi after the war, there was indeed but a slow . . , . ., - . . of the Uhio, the . Wabash, and other more i i i.j. !... .1 ..i mi . 1 1 souiueny lauiuut. i aere was suij a prtju- dice m the public-mind against Michigan and me upper lake region generally, as a larm- . i - . i i . . . . ma: country, wmcn nad its onarin in the un- fayorable report above mentioned, as sane- tioned by official authority, which it required time and the acquisition and diffusion of cor- rect .ffeOffraDhlcal information to corrfct o o ,. , ... - . governor vass aia pot auow this tact to es- cape himJ but determined to encourap-e and Set on lOOt eflOrtS. in various W3VS. to RTnJnrp . ' ' sv . . . . . t J 1 - f " the country, and spread abroad the results in the journals and other popular forms. Those who are .curious in this matter, will find full i eviueuce oi ma puuey in an exanimation ot I tho filpS nf thp. PSfJr n OlirC ro nave, a n A 4rv,v. 1 i '" . j uvriopwpvig auu juutuais I Ot thfi tfOntier a mpflnsot intpl hrronQ iirKmk i - . w ..1 . ..it I 1 11 I is, indeed; almost the only early rescource1 of a fiontier ponulat.on. and enerallv Simnl,'p the great want of books in the wild i . x i o j rt'M-'j settlements for many years He was M Yf the nurabei of those men, however, that it is not j enough to recommend .eligible modes lor the encouragement progress of society ; but who are ever ready to give testimony o" sincerity in their plans, J by becorning efficient actors themselves r ortunatefy or the pr nis duties as superintend adeDartment 1 1 . . v a a iv. A.A I he arnsp tr pminenfo nnrl 9rmi!rAl . n r, . "H. iu- nuence witn tne Indian tnoes-ca Pfi for . search in the names, numbers, and location of these tribes, in the remote part of his jurisdic- tion; and he was thus placed ma position to make the exnforation and invPRt;fftiA f V. topography, and resources, andthe native population concurrently. . " In 1819 he oriainated tKn nlan IrA o I . . -o r - " - I - . . 7 1 .way ol the head of Lake Suner or. tn tho I ... . r r .uu of the government, he was furnished with a nmnptAnt enonnePT nnn mnnnmnlia. o 0c.nrt mJniraUm.t onj wrc,, w lu jr - r..w5 Mu gcuiogisL I I .! .K. J . - e tua irL":' I , , f . . I mVitiin moQnc tho nnmnn cYt H Mil KtSWI!! ill UlUCl UUSC1 CI S EL till XSKIST aniO rl r?r 6 -r- ed, and the government placed m the rsses- sion of a valuable body of information for I MwiriAnvA rr its 1 1 ita lur nnn 1 the guidance ot its military and interior ad- ministration. The open season of 18?0 was devoted to this expedition which reached the I t 1 a. . am Wa bah wmma a. r iL ' hiffn anu remote pumi m mo ouun,r3 oi me MISSISSIPPI, WillCU U03 uccn bw uouuuiiiia ted by geographers, Cass lake, lhe r;ub- Iication bfHe narrative of this, tour, which1 4. region into jiotice, caused the fertility and ad vantages or micnigan and northern : Illinois and Wisconsin to be properly appreciated, and drew the attention of many persons, fo? the ursi umc, w iub uoiu ana energetic indi vidual to whose life and character these sketch es are devoted. During this expedition, treat- ies were formed witlv the Ottowas 'at Arbre Croche, .with Chippewas at Sauk' Ste homT at T of St. Anthony. About five thousand miles e UL-a nnd river coast - woro Gov. Cass had , . , i-.r . i- , - - . -7, 7 uian 0 r.uwn ine gvera ment ol me niteQ utes by jurno?. H camped, and terminated his exploration by water in 1806 It had brought him ,no per- 1 (cnininrancft witn nn the anr hnni ir, o " . , 7 " v--6 f of these expanded regions, and it is from thii time that the Department of WarJ dates the permaurm ui us auinorny ana laws anong iue leading tribes of the west and noTinwesi. i . . ww'f" v, tu a. UCCHliai manner, drawn upon himself the eyes of the large body of . IndiaDs upon that frontier. xnese iiiuiuus ucuuieu iue country extend mg to the 49th paraUel of latitude, which st-paia m y ppei an aaa huumo uuuu B ay x erruory, quite to the. itocKy iviountains. tie stood upon that wide frontier, no; only as having charge 01 me vimeu omit inues, uui as in e shield nfl protector oi me northwestern States and Territories, against the aggressions and incursions . of the herce and warlike tribes and bands, who located on the British side of the boundaries fixed as those tribes have been, from the earliest- tmes, in hostility to the United States, and urged on and excited as they were, to continue this hostility, after the peace of 1814. TL his hostility, a& is known! -1 - -. . r ,AM ran? Hn rfcYT TAVal rm nnn 1 r. .'n. . M. ,J A. w y cui.asaucs auu iia Jers, cnieny 01 me numerous aca innuentia :i. . .,f .w.u:.i 1 ciass ui mouuuiuics. To comprehend the true character j of his auiuiuwuonuu ui iuuioh audus, u ujay us proper to advert, for a moment, to the great exiem ui iue uuc iiuiiuei commuieu io mm, ana wc uiuci Vi uic mues who wry either placed under nis jurisdiction, or, whose power and influence on the tribes south of the lines it was necessary ta watch and coun- I leract. IN o estimate, indeed, can be toimed :... J'I?-.-li.-. 'it...... f 1 oi me aimcuiues anu nnporiance oi nis puDr lie services withou: reference to this branch I r - r t- f : . .1 i; I .l . :.' 01 miormaiion. r or, not ouiv uii iue nauv .. . . . . . . ' - . tribes look to him as the personification ot th American government on -th boundary, but the government itself had, in effect, and from I me very necessiues oi uie case, mirusiea io 1 m mm Us FouEtas interior policy on these I C .! S i humwcu. Taking up the map, it will he seen that the line of frontier committed to him in the autumn of 1813 extended from-the lakeshoreb of Ohio through the straits of Detroit, Si Clair, and St. Mary's, and the connecting . . .. ' i, C T-t L penor, to the old grand portage west oi roii William, son the latter takejand thence by tlie series of lakes and portages, through the Rai h49th decree, at the north- west extremitv of the Lake of the VVoocs I -,-.wsw.w-; O I . The line thence west had been drawn by I.I . . Ij J - J tne treaty 01 Uheut to ana urojipeu- a Kocky Mountains. N bucli a line u was up I . 1 . I ...Ml nosp; at that pra ana iruiv su, ,wuum nut cross the MississiDoi-a stream which, it ha T f ' .H . . . p.- . for a considerable distance, bo tar, noweven, I i i . ' j :..: si.;ni..n . iiui6 as there was a civil or aanimiai.au v j-.o diction exhibited along that extreme line, J was HYPm'spr frnm the executive ciidir im . KJ sunennifthdpn.-w'of Detroit. ioi iet,s man 1,500 miles of frontier were included between l the west cane of Maumee bay, being tnr most easterly coint of Michigan, and the 4yin narnllol ,u: if r-'irikszs th lied river Cf r-..v., nucic i- " .-! 4uL Lake VVinnineo-, nbdve tort uougw,i.p settlements of T.ord Selkirk. I ' . : rt I Tt vernor vass before the I v U.O Ul l CU U 7 . Secretary of War, immediately alter his re! J turn from hi PYnedition-mto mat m remote r gion, to push forward a military po&i to thje one of toot of lake Superior, ana io uauoi I V - - -r I" JIi.C whfiie ihp OCCa i iue western Indian aizcu.i---, - I C . 1 i 4 nciinplV. tlOCU 1UL1 I oiuii i ii j it nan CP3SCVJ, .1.. J J I ' '. . .i I . IJ. nes, on the Wabashi to the Sault Ste. Maria h.f f;v,: u.oncated the removal of 'iujyitu i i n uv. . . , i Sactplt's Harhor.cn lake Ontar.0,10 St. Mary 6, of the spacious and been put up there fo olied hpnpr,l fWto the Secretary 01 , yui ud mere w '"v- - . - c tTr- .u. .iibo " i neu. ic- lu-- 1 " .. .i :q1 nrpvailed. and bt. i A w Li i I v n tnpn ri lift. . w . . mem down." The;api r - . , . m.,i i . 4.vi;iP.i .a post unco xu- red and r;r,tir miles northwest of Detroit, and the American fla ted unnn hoidpnti fla(r was; permanently hois ical spot at thai: piace 10. " , . , t rpars? before, namely, on the 1 fyhlr Tune 1820, he had, alone, and nakp.i li ,o1Wpd into an exaspemieu. . w:pra. and Dulled down uuMite eamnn ijUivv" '7.: . i- . I L I 1 1 ,1 u . i . 1 ... l r r ?' J ; fart, that a tiriusn in iUUl - it n... inprft U .1. Thp lame brd v ofl I . . . . n- j i.lKaa hft IjAlWcWas bes. the Chivvewas , "u,cu j ctf wide v ex- lfl Kindred and allie" - ..,': ana o kwii were aim -?-:.-.-.- I . . : ww-l . i xH tnrPST OT Lliai I tAnl.J ' I "i .1 : i ro fRRSlS. OUU iwivv. . V "" a'on& ine Vn" ' family ex- ironuer. The great tends far into the Canadas and .te,r" of HudsonVbav. f All these .multiplied tribes Ua i . VLtiii ntramstus m me v-aia rLiYo 1814. Cass had rr18, Wl !0,r V LTnprintPndence the t.PLf ced "na!L:urJ Shawnees of .Ohio; yauaotts. Senecaa, - - , ... . tha m: ' tiToa anil Fianicesnaws, anu rrr Ramies, vvcofi -r i , . pnttw. me lPmxe nt IQB W 1 r' w I f nomomes and Winnebagocsof Western Mich igan (now V iscQosin .) and a part of the Si oux, oauu roK, ana various Algonquin bands at large, who roved and depredated through the lake region and forests of tho north. These Indians, from the best estimates formed, in the aggregate at the time he took up . his official residence at Detroit, about 40- nnn n..lo f.. f ,u:u i ' . . ' uuu suu-a, irw ui kuii;u resoriea to anv other principal American station.. , According to the ordinary mode of reduc tion, this number uf seals , would brino- into the fiekLan aggregate of rising of eight thou sand warriors. Such an Indian tor:e, divi ded n small predatory parties of several hun dred each, and scattered along a line of fron tier extending fifteen hundred miles, from southeast to northwest, was suited to alarm the country, harrassed as the settlements north west of the Ohio had already been by a pain ful and murderous war of detachments 'and ambuscades, of nearly four years continuance, i. e. IStlito ISId : lor this was the Indian period of hostilities.- , lo add to the dissatisfaction felt hv thp In dians, on the result of the war. and frive noint io i leir in-smothered hostility, they were pinched by want, by the loss of their trade. Ml , ... I ..." i uuu-iueiaiiare.pl game amidst torest. reces ses. which had been trampled down by the marching of the troops. More than "all, they yveie goaueu on in tneir dislikes to the Amer icans by -tins - emissaries of foreign govern ments, who still continued their efforts to sway the feelings of the American Indians. Maiden, or Amherstburg, as the'.British now called that once noted depot, and Drummond Island, the Manatouline's, and Penetanguish ine, were still the annual resorts of the bor der tribes, irrespective of the national boun dary line. By fay the largest portion of these annual visitors - to the British depots came from the regions of the Maumee, the St. Jo seph's, Chicago,Rock river. Prairie du Chien, and the almost illimitable regions lying north west of Aiichilimackinac, and south of Ghent boundary. j - , It was the effort to break up these visitsof fealty to a foreign power, where they were supplied with arms and ammunition, and to teach them their true interests and duties, both to themselves and the United States, that constituted one of the peculiar and arduous branches of administrative duly tjiat marked the superintendency of Gen. Cass. If was not till the treaty of Ghent that both the Indians and British dvvflltjrs along these lines were in fact taught that the old Fratiklineari bounda ry of 17b3 was not to be altered ; that they could not drive the "Americans back to the line of the Ohio or the Illinois a thing the Indians confidently predicted and that the American flag and the American laws were to bear sway in the northwest as well as east, close up to the line separating the two coun tries. But even this was a species of infor mation vvhtch was hot told the tribes prompt ly, or, if told at all by the reckless and de praved class of interpreters at the British posts, told in such u manner as to destroy its proper effl-ct upon the deluded tribes. This furnished the best, and, indeed, only rational excuse for such acts of hostility as were met by General Cass, and put down at St. Mary's in loy, and on the a ox and Wisconsin" in 1827, and for the l uthless and sanguinary out: break of the Sacs and Foxes under Biack hawk, in 1832, which immediaiely followed the withdrawal of this vigilant officer from that frontier; It was in the local alarms and disturbances which thes visits to Maiden pro duced, that tie first symptoms of this Black hawk war arose, and the militia of Michigan and liliuois were promptly ordered under arms to quell it. But the plot had not been watched and nipped in the bud, and its effects could uot be arr sted till the entire army of the Union was put in motion. ; The supplying of arms to our Indians, in a time of.pea.ee; constituted so extraordinary a feature in these political; pilgrim iges of the Indians to the British depo's, that the fact w'.s netorious to all the fro ti tiers. It - was early brought to the notice of the Secretary of War, and is pointedly alluded to in a recent debate in the Senate : ' " I am not disposed (said Gen; Cass in the discussion arising from the Yucatan overture) to reject the lessions of history, because the truths they teach may be harsh and unac- ceptipnable. ' ' I know -that 'arms have been furnished ti Indians within the united States by the agents of the British government, and bv the directions ol that government ; and 1 may thence-a raw the. legitimate conclusion - that such an act is within us code of political may De Gone wnen cauea lor oy i 1 1 ill ' j U m al c considt rations. The measure to and permanently and so . 1 - i brilliantly with the history of its administra tion. He came to it, sir, when it was lan- of organization, prompt in its administration, economical in us expenditures, ana-witn a pervading spirit coritrollrag all its branches I can wish his successors no more fortunate termination of their labors than that they I should retire trom them with a reputation equal to his, Reports of the distribution of arms uj Mluu,lura lu luu a"s m me unitea otates were repeatedly made to , j u .a t u r niui. auu mu uiatiei uctaiuc iue auuieci ui r i j . -.- 4 . . . . . . . . A V. I J . . ,-iorraat uip.uuwuc-1 euitbeiiwuous ;.o iue oiu- I L ' . T .1.1 1- .1 . ' I a sign of assent.) rFor many years the various Indian tribes aC-.fa, as ,hfi jUissiinhi; and s.,me of them as' lar as tne Mississippi, and some oimeiu .n.. :uaA ,n , : -- rf I wRSL CI 111 HI. 11VC1. WCIB iHlIIUOilV llliv w Fott Maid len, at the mouth of the Detroit nv- pr where larffe sappHes of arms, of ammuni cftthi and ofmlr articles of tpn,.and taste or comfort, agreeably to their habits. were distributed to them. , 1 peak ot years of neace. If I went back to years ot war, 1 coild tell another tale-a tale of human flesh i4 fltt.uu-: i,k'i- oi awkiiwu ucju 1U w0 w-iiorJ meat in the shambles. But I'for I - r-. t- - -.. . --y- --,- - VOL, 2, NO: ,34 bear I When, h owever. npacp rptnrnpd. and found large-bodies of warlike .savages filling that portion of our country, it found also, that, ther attachments to England iyere kept alive by the subsidies given to tfiemV Our whole frontier was held in a state of greater or less alarm!; and all the; outbreaks, vyhich . took place among: them could be traced to the as cendency acquired over them by this system, w me purpose to which it was directed. I hey; came, to the great English storehouse 'as regularly as the ox that knoweth his ovvnr er, and the ass bis master's crib : and they were fed from that crib, and many deeds 'of destruction was the consequence. After some years however," and owing, probably, to the remonstrances of our government, the depot was changed, and was established at Drum monds Island, in Lake Huron, then almost without the sphere of our obsei ration When, however, the 'Indians receded; .and Drura moncl's Island passed under pur jurisdiction another change was made, and perhaps more ' changes since that time ; for, owing to other occu pations, I have lost sight of the subject foi some years." Speech of Hon. Lewis Cast, of Michigan, on the proposed occupation of Yuca-r tan, delivered in the Senate of the United Stales 1 Mai0, 1843. ::.;:":'-; From Detroit to the settlements of Lord Set ' kirk on Red river, there is seated along, the British lines a large boisbrule population a class who, fo the forest arts and subtlety of the hunter's life. add. to a Vreater or Ipss py.. tent, the intelligence, enterprise, and spirit of .- trade of the European. ManVof them, how ever, who have not had the means .of educa tion, are little removed from the Indians them- seivesj, living in temporary cabins, and pursu ing tbie chase Others fulfil the duties of in terpreters at the post or at the factories of trade or conduct the minor operations of the Indian trade at or near the Indian villages. r ew .nave risen io rne management ol a 'de partment of trade a term that embraces "a local district. All are intimate with the lan guages, wishes, and wants of the Indians, to whom they ace related by the ties of blood, and over whom they exercise a controlling in-fluence- The whole of this class, north of the lines, are under the influence, more or less immediately exerted, of the British fur Com-' panics companies chartered by Parliament, with Jarge and exclusive powers who -exert, :n these northern latitude's, no little part of the powers of the kindred monopaly of the East j India. Company. Gain, with these companies, becomes a far more stringent prin? ciple of action than love of country. Their agenta and servants are stimulated to glean the forests, with a sort of military precision, up to the American lines. Here their out- , posts are fixed, and every inducement; held out for the American Indians to .visit them, and dispose of their hunts. At unprotected points the American soil was often, and is still -often invaded for the numose of trade. . I Trading clerks, with their entire outfits, have thus been seduced from their duty and car? Tied j intd the British pracincts. . Ameriean flagSj have been forcibly J taken from chiefs, and replaced by British flags ; and there is an instance where a whole village of Chip pewas, in the bleak angle of country west of the Grand Portage, were wholly removed on sleds in the winter season, and thus prevented from hunting for aij American trader. These, incursions have been frequently carried to tho St. Peter's, sweeping the game in all the plains north and west of that stream, quite to the banks of the Missouri. t The? fierce rivalry with which this trade was carried on, has perhaps never been equal? led on. this continent. The murder of Mr. Wadjin at Grand Poitaga, m violation of the right'Cf hospitality, in 1781, and the barbae ous assassination of Owen Kevehy, at lh Dallas, on Rainy Lake river, in 1816, denote the reckless and unchastened spirit which may animate a commercial rivalry in positions re.- : motei from the ordinary restraints of law' and morality. The very same year that marked the tragedy of the Dalles, Gov Semple was 1 shor down on the plains near" Fort Douglass, i on Red river. These, were the results of in ternal strifes between rival incorporated Brit ish companies." Nor were the American tra der who proceeded to those lines under h-. cense to trade from fJov, Cass's superintend- ency, exempted from th;se sanguinary scenes, " whiiirh were in these cases generaKy encoua tered from the Indian gun or tomahawk. Ia a rejiortmade to the War Department by the most remote agent on that frontier, it is sliown that 42 American citizens perished on that hne from various casuahties, m availing themselves of their pfhcial permission to trade, within a penod of twelve years,- terminating with Gov. Cass's services m 1831. Of this namber, 26 were assassinated. : ' These latier cases were the subjects of ofE- cialoV judicial ihquiiy and investigation.- The records of the courts of that territory, and of the agencies of Indian affairs, will show that, in numbers of cases, the murderers were taken, or surrendered to the civil authorities, and in some cases the extreme penalty of tlie law visited upon the offenders. The ' rights of citizenship were vindicated, and the laws of the country promptly maintained; and its capacity of yielding protection Jo the most rer mob of its native and adopted citizens, fully vindicated. Gov. Cass was ever prompt in his attention to the multiplied duties growing out of this branch of the execution of the ia tercourse laws, carefully - investigating t comr . plaints, suggesting modes of action to the mia lstrial officers of the department, and exerci sing the functions of a vigilant feentmel, mild, yet firm, on the frontiers. Calls of humanity and justice ever found a quick response in his breast. 1 . ... Few men have, herhaps,,, ever. looked at ih$ problem of the . civilization of the North American tribes with a deener aoDreciation of both the duties and the difficultiea which lie in the way of its solution. . None have asked with more absorbing interest than he has, " Hqw are we to afford them any aid?u How are we to preserve them rrom decline i. . .. ' ait .. - ' l ' 1 a. I . U and extinction V It was his lot early to be thrown into contact with this lost branch oi the .race of mankind ; and he, at one period, CONCLUDED ON FOURTH FAGE.
North Carolina Republican (Goldsboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 30, 1848, edition 1
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