The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1873-09-20

At first their deprcdatiOns were few and moi
lauch noticed but soon they increased into
aids, and finally it became n death penalty
for any of the invaders 10 be caught on this
side OF the line, and many scalp attcsted the
summary inhicton Of that penalty upon some
indian beyond the river These raids
md the deaths Of many of the invaders
eauSed these tribes To become deadly enemies
md eliminated in terrible war. The In
lians to the Castillo Mamis, Pottawaiamies
md KickapOos-unitcd in force and crossed
The Wabash to drive the Illini from their
uniting grounds This was early in the
spring of l1Gs. In May they crossed near
lie mouth Of The Little Wabash, where san
urinary battle ensucd. The NiamiS aid al.
ic, were not 50 numerous rs the llliGi, but
were better warriors, and had with them a
+tw mushcts These terrified their ignorant
me who thought that the Great Spirit had
turned against them and was hurting ,hun.
crbolts at them The ll!ini fled, but made
another stand at the present site OF Kanka-
ace. with similar result, They again gave
battle at Blue Island, bat were again over
whelmingly defeated, and rctrcatcd to Morris,
where they made their last resistance. Here
hluQuet, chief OF the allies, was killed, and
l.crc he was buried, and IL mound standing
Il WauponSch street, with red cedar pole
..bovc il, marks his grave TO dis day. There
5 no red cedar nearer Morris than Ottawa,
SO that the pole mast have been taken from
hat locality. Moquet was the great war
hief of the tribe and was succeeded By
-hck Shack, who became chief Of the allies
The lllini again retreatcd, pursued by their
victorious and insolent foes, to Starved Rock
he fortress of:hc Him. and at the southern
limit Of their city. Across the river opposite
lie rock, there once stood one of the largest
mites then in existence on this continent.
Iere 10000 people once dwelt upon the plat
eau between what are now known rs GA and
New Utica. Here was their great camping
ground. Here they had erected forts for De
'ensc, and hither they retrcntcd. The French
lad previously been driven here 10y the In.
jianS, and had fortified Starved ana Camp
rock. The fort east of Starved Rock was
r,cd by the French for protecting their gar.
tens and small fields Of maize, or Indian
.orn An embankment WAS erected along
,ho sides Of the rock like q worm fence, SO
hat from the inside they could shoot in all
directions, and still be protected by the zig
lag walls OF the fort
The Illini were driven 10 their fort upon
Starved rock after the di,asuou, battle at
Norris This was late in the ia. Of 1858,
probably.
The foe soon surrounded the i'll tatcd illni,
and to add to the horrors o.. the situation,
small pOX, in Nll its tcrors, brake on, among
he beSicged. 1t is theory Of the Indians
hat in cases Of small poN the patientmust be
placed in 4 cool place, III Il hole or cave in
lie ground; hence perhaps the numerous
.O!es about Starved Rock, and 10 add to the
Iprrors Of the situation, the enemy cutoff the
supply Of water. The only means by which
water could be had was by an ON o. buffalo
norm attached to thongs OF raW.hidc These
hOrnS were lowered down the rock 20 the
liver, and lucky was the Him who could get
drink of water by exposing himself to the
.rroWS and muSkeis OF the foe. After this
state OF affairs had existed until immediate
starvation WAS upon the bcSicrcd, one dark
hight, such of the warriors as were alive and
able for the pcriIOus enterprise, tried to cS-i
cape by climbing down The rock. Out Of all
,no braves among the Him. only :, as my in
omant told me, but il, a- judge Cation
.aim>, managed 10 escape alive. OF the re-
nalnder all the old sQuaWs were butchercd
md scalpcd The younger sQUaWs and the
JaQpOOses were divided amongthC allies. In
i few days afterwards runner traced the cs
,aped seven TO PEORIA and afterwards to
East st. Louis, where they sought and OBJ
aimed protection from the whites. Thus was
"NtcrminatCd an entire tribe Of Indians, once
he posscssors Of this whole territory, and 4
powerful and numerous tribe This is ihc /
ShiCk Shack, Il chief who was an actor in all |.
.hc scenes he dcS"ribed-a legend which |
believe 10 be history itself.
The allies, after the humiliation of thc Ill
mi, campcd about in this vicinity during the
"intcr, and in the spring of 1863 met at q
place on Indian Creek, near Harding in this |
county, to celebrate their feast Of Big hi
"ian'
This is Il icao, or iublauon wherein the |
chiefs and all the individual warriors meet to |
celebrate their own prowess and to boast of
heir exploits. OfCOur>c this tends tn lying
and gross cXaggcratiOn, and thence come !
luarrcls and blood This feast which was to |
nave been one Of peace and pleasure and !
when the conquered territory was to be di. !
,ldCd, was turned into 4 scene OF blood and .
terrible battle was fought, which terminated |
At dark in a drawn fight. The MiamS en-
eampcd To the west OF the battle ground, and |
n the morning, when the other allies, Uhc
Two weaker tribes having made common |
ause against the strOagcrJ found that the
Great MiamiS had fed, they pursued, and a
war with varying success resulted, which |
.asted four years. The warning tribes met at
fcorla III the spring following, and Il bloody
battle resulted; 50 also at kaSkaSkiU and |
other points in the central part Of the state
The contestants gradually worked back TO-
Wards their starting point on the Wabash.
they fought their last battle at Sugar Creek,
near Tcrc tEaute. This was not q battle, but
20 duel, to which, in its desperate character
and fearful loss of life, neither history nor
iction furnish parallel. Each side chose
hree hundred of It's most splendid warriors,
This duel was to determine as 10 the divis.
ion Of this territory, The contestants were
70 use only the weapons peculiar To the In
man, aud the battle was to be conducted in
the peculiar modcsof warfare known only to
lie Savagc,-dOdging behind trees and prac-
icing all the ruses of barbarous warfare.
The two tribes retired to distance of twenty
miles from the warriors, and left them to
4 ght from sunrise till sunset without inter
ference. These 600 savages, stimulated by
al the passions that move the savage 10 Fl rhi. /
entered into that awful contest ana fought for
- hours from sunrise Ia sunset i'm September,
without food or drink, and when tie scene
uIu closed and the setting sun had pro