The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-05-04
DEBT TO FRANCIS VIG0
WHAT INDIANA OWES TO THIS NO.
TABLE WESTERN PIONEER.
out His Aid George Rogers Clark
Might Have FaiIed-An Ungrate-
full Government.

No other name in lndiana's pioneer his
tory deserves more grateful remembrance
than that of Francis vigo. yet none has
fallen deeper into neglect.
He was a Sandman by nativity born at
a period when tho island constituted a
petty kingdom: some authorities fix the
date OF his birth at 17fl, others place it a
decade earlier. He was doubtless a gentle
man by birth, for when scarcely twenty
he became a petty officer IN the army o.
the Spanish King. which, in accord with
the spirit of the times. was officered by men
from the higher ranks. Like most of the
adventurous youths Of that period he drift
ed 10 America in the colonial service, and
for nearly four years served I'm the Spanish
possessions. When he was about twenty
five years of age he retired permanently
from military life and became a general
merchant and trader among the Indians
and the scattered white settlers of what
was then known as the Great Wilder
ness" His headquarters were in st. Louis,
then an unimportant French village under
Spanish dominion. and from there he wan
dered far and wide. His hatteau laden
with the hides Of deer and bison. peltries
of the beaver and fox. dried flesh of ven
lCOlA anu a. AAA ALN- 1870 If
found. passage through the lonely Wabash
and the broad la Belle Riviere' to this
little port on the Mississippi He followed
the "old Massac road or trod afoot the
innumerable Indian trails that webbed the
vast forest with a network of paths with
which he became as familiar as the savage
himself. His acquaintance with the Indians
of this region, of whom there were hun
II ,--a441
from the East, was thorough; his friendli-
ness for them was sincere, and they gave
him their entire confidence. His tact and
courage in dealing with them, so say moth
ing of his honesty and justice, must have
been perfect; for there is on record-as far
as can be learned-no account of disagree
ment or i1l-treatment on the part of either.
This life in the wilderness was solitary
and adventurous, even dangerous, but Vigo
seems 10 nave followed il many years, and
to some profit. II was while on one of these
trading expeditions in December, 177S, that
he first met George Rogers Clark at Kas-
kaskia and rendered him such practical
assistance that we may trace directly to
this chance meeting the ultimate acquisI-
ton of the Northwest Territory.
FRIENDSHIP FOR CLARK.
Clark, a young man about Vigo's own
age, had come from the colony of Virginia
with a commission from Patrick Henry
which left him wide liberty of action, and
MS avowed object was to wrest the great
Northwest Territory from the British with
an army of less than two hundred men.
Without difficulty Clark had possessed
himself of Kaskaskia and Vincennes and
Two other insignificant settlements when
one day the rurnor reached him that the
British had ~recaptured Fort Vincent, on the
Wabash. This news was c%oincident with
the arrival of Vigo.. who seems to have
offered to learn the truth of it while seem
ingly on a trading trip, as he in truth was.
In good weather it was a two weeks jour
ney from Kaskaskia to Vincennes. In the
winter season the time required could not
be accurately reckoned owing TO the state
of the trail, for such the road was between
the two villages. On the 18th of. December,
177S, Vige set out on horseback with one
companion, Reneau by name, for the re-
mote post on the Wabash. When they
reached the little creek called Embarrass
river, scarcely ten miles from their objec-
tive point, they were captured by a band
of Hamilton's Indian mercenaries Differed
by an English captain, who stripped them
of their clothing, arms and valuables and
took their horses from them.
Vigo was carried TO Hamilton in Fort
Sackville, as the British had renamed it,
for examination, but nothing discriminating
was found upon him, nor could be dragged
from him. While he was somewhat in
Clarke's onidence-which never fully was
given to any man, not even Patrick Henry
he could .mpart little information TO
Hamilton which he was not already in
possession of through his spies. There
fore, the "h~air-buyer general" as he was
called by the American pioneers from a
little habit he had of paying money for
their scalps, dismissed him and permitted
MIN to leave the post and return to st.
Louis on the promise that he would do
nothing on the way home TO injure the
British cause This promise Vigo gave
readily and kept literally; for nc went di-
rectly to St. Louis. his fixed residence. But
Immediately on his arrival there he set
OFF for Kaskaskia TO inform Clark Of the
condition of affairs at SackviIle. He reached
the town on the 9th of January, I779, after
an absence OF forty-two days. which gives
one a good idea OF the difficulties Of dis
seminating Jews in pioneer times.
OF TIMELY ASSISTANCE.
In his own narrative Clark says OF this
mission OF Vigo's: I'VE got every informa-
ton from the gentleman that we could wish
for. as he had had good opportunities and
had taken great pains 20 inform himself
S1th-a designSso give intelligence"