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BRITISH POLICY IN THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY 1763-1768

BY CLARENCE EDWIN CARTER A. M., 1906

THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HISTORY

IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 1908

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

June 1 1908

THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY Clarence Edwin Carter, A.M.

ENTITLED British Policy in the Illinois Country, 1763-1768

IS APPROVED BY ME AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Doctor of Philosophy in History

Evarts B Greene

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF History.

BRITISH POLICY IN THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--

INTRODUCTORY SURVEY.

In 1763 Great Britain was confronted with the momentous problem of the readjustment of all her colonial relations in order to meet the new conditions resulting from the peace of Paris, when immense areas of territory and savage alien peoples were added to the empire. The necessity of strengthening the imperial ties between the old colonies and the mother country and reorganizing the new acquisitions came to the forefront at this time and led the government into a course soon to end in the disruption of the empire. Certainly not the least of the questions demanding solution was that of the disposition of the country lying to the westward of the colonies, including a number of French settlements and a broad belt of Indian nations. It does not, however, come within the proposed limits of this study to discuss all the different phases of the western policy of England, except in so far as it may be necessary to make more clear her attitude towards the French settlements in the Illinois country.

In North America the pioneers had won for her the greater part of the continent,--the extensive valleys of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi with all the land watered by their tributaries. The French claim to this region was based almost entirely upon discovery and exploration, for in all its extent less than one thousand people were permanently settled. Canada at the north and the region about New Orleans on the extreme south containing the bulk of the population, while throughout the old Northwest settlements were few and scattering. Trading posts and small villages existed at Vincennes on the Wabash River, at Detroit on a river of the same name, at St. Joseph near Lake Michigan and other isolated places. Outside of Detroit, the most important and populous settlement was situated along the eastern bank of the Mississippi, in the southwestern part of the present state of Illinois. Here were the villages of Kaskaskia, St. Phillippe, Prairie du Rocher, Chartres village and Cahokia, containing a population of barely two thousand people.

To prevent such encroachments the French sought to bind their possessions together with a line of forts extending from the St. Lawrence down the Ohio valley to the Gulf of Mexico. It had indeed been the plan of such men as La Salle, Iberville, and Bienville to bring this territory into a compact whole and limit the English colonies to the line of mountains. New Orleans and Mobile gave France command of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River; Louisburg, Niagara, and Frontenac afforded protection for Canada. The weak point for France was the Ohio valley, in the upper part of which Virginia and Pennsylvania settlers had already located. Celoron, who went down the Ohio in 1749, burying plates of lead to signify French dominion, warning English settlers and traders, and persuading the Indians to drive out the invaders of their hunting grounds, saw the inevitableness of the conflict. The American phase of the final struggle for colonial empire was to begin in this region.

The definitive treaty of Paris was signed February 10, 1763, by the terms of which France ceded to Great Britain all of Canada and gave up her claim to the territory east of the Mississippi River, except the city of New Orleans, adding to this the right of the free navigation of the Mississippi. Spain received back Havana ceding Florida to England in return. A few weeks before signing the definitive treaty, France, in a secret treaty with Spain ceded to her the city of New Orleans and the vast region stretching from the Mississippi towards the Pacific. Thus was France divested of practically every inch of territory in America.

The French colony in the Illinois country had been originally established with the view of forming a connecting link between the colonies in Louisiana on the south and Canada at the northeast. La Salle himself had recognized the possible strategic value of such an establishment from both a commercial and military standpoint. Before any settlements had even been made on the lower Mississippi, he and his associates had attempted in 1682 the formation of a colony on the Illinois River, near the present site of Peoria. This the first attempt at western colonization was a failure. The opening of the following century saw the beginning of a more successful and permanent colony, when the Catholic missionaries from Quebec established their missions at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, near the villages of the Illinois Indians. They were soon followed by hunters and fur traders, and during the first two decades of the eighteenth century a considerable number of families immigrated from Canada, thus assuring the permanancy of the settlement.

Meanwhile the contemporaneous colony of Louisiana had grown to some importance, and in 1717, when the Company of the West assumed control of the province, the Illinois country was annexed. Prior to this time it had been within the jurisdiction of Quebec. This gave the Illinois country a period of prosperity, many new enterprizes being undertaken. Shortly after its annexation to Louisiana, Pierre Boisbriant was given a commission to govern the Illinois country, and among his instructions was an order to erect a fort as a protection against possible encroachments from the English and Spanish. About 1720 Fort Chartres was completed and became thereafter the seat of government during the French regime. In 1721 the Company of the West divided Louisiana into nine districts, extending east and west of the Mississippi River between the lines of the Ohio and Illinois rivers. In 1732 Louisiana passed out of the hands of the Company of the West Indies, and, together with the Illinois dependency, became a royal province. It remained in this status until the close of the Seven Years War. During this period its relation with Louisiana had become economic as well as political, all of its trade being carried on through New Orleans, and the southern colony often owed its existence to the large supplies of flour and pork sent down the river from the Illinois country.

THE OCCUPATION OF ILLINOIS.

Of the two great northern Indian families, the Iroquois had generally espoused the English cause during the recent war, while the Algonquin nations, living in Canada, and the Lake and Ohio regions, had supported the French. At the close of the war the greater portion of the French had sworn fealty to the English crown; but the allegiance of their allies, the Algonquins, was at best only temporary. It was thought that, since the power of France had been crushed, there would be no further motive for the Indian tribes to continue hostilities; but from 1761 there had been a growing feeling of discontent among the western Indians. So long as France and Great Britain were able to hold each other in check in America, the Indian nations formed a balance of power, so to speak, between them. England and France vied with each other to conciliate the savages and to retain their good will. As soon, however, as English dominion was assured, this attitude was somewhat changed. The fur trade under the French had been well regulated, but its condition under the English from 1760 to 1763 was deplorable. The English traders were rash and unprincipled men who did not scruple to cheat and insult their Indian clients at every opportunity. The more intelligent of the western and northern Indians perceived that their hunting grounds would soon be overrun by white settlers with a fixed purpose of permanent settlement. This was probably the chief cause of the Indian uprising. There remained in the forests many French and renegade traders and hunters who constantly concocted insidious reports as to English designs and filled the savage minds with hope of succor from the King of France. Many of the French inhabitance had since 1760 emigrated beyond the Mississippi, because, as the Indians thought, they feared to live under English rule. This doubtless contributed something toward the rising discontent of the savages. Finally the policy of economy in expenses, which General Amherst entered upon, by cutting off a large part of the Indian presents, always so indispensable in dealing with that race, augured poorly for the Indians's future.

On the part of the mass of the Indians the insurrection was probably a mere outbreak of resentment; but Pontiac, the great chief of the Ottawas, had a clearer vision. He determined to rehabilitate French power in the west and to reunite all the Indian nations into one great confederacy in order to ward off the approaching dangers. During the years 1761-1762 the plot was developed. In 1762 Pontiac dispatched his emissaries to all the Indian nations. The ramifications of the conspiracy extended to all the Algonquin tribes, to some of the nations on the lower Mississippi and even included a portion of the Six Nations. The original aim of the plot was the destruction of the garrisons on the frontier, after which the settlements were to be attacked. The attack on the outposts, beginning in May, 1763, was sudden and overwhelming; Detroit, Fort Pitt, and Niagara alone held out, the remainder of the posts falling without an attempt at defense. Had the proclamation of 1763, which aimed at the pacification of the Indians by reserving to them the western lands, been issued earlier in the year, this devastating might have been avoided. Peaceful pacification was now out of the question. During the summers of 1763 and 1764 Colonel Bouquet raised the siege of Fort Pitt, penetrated into the enemy's country in the upper Ohio valley region and completely subdued the Shawnee and Delaware tribes upon whom Pontiac had placed every dependence. Previous to Bouquet's second campaign, Colonel Bradstreet had advanced with a detachment along the southern shore of Lake Erie, penetrating as far west as Detroit, whence companies were sent to occupy the posts in the upper lake region. In the campaign as a whole the Bouquet expedition was the most effective. After the ratification of a series of treaties, in which the Indians promised allegiance to the English crown, the eastern portion of the rebellion was broken.

It now remained to penetrate to the Illinois country in order to relieve the French garrison. Pontiac had retired thither in 1764, after his unsuccessful attempt upon Detroit; there he hoped to rally the western tribes and sue for the support of the French. But as we shall see, his schemes received a powerful blow upon the refusal of the commandants to countenance his pleas.

To what extent Pontiac was assisted by French intriguers in the development of his plans may never be positively known. As has already been pointed out, French traders were constantly among the Indians, filling their minds with hopes and fears. That the plot included French officials may be doubted; although Sir William Johnson and General Gage seemed convinced that such was the case. Their belief, however, was based almost wholly upon reports from Indian runners, whose credibility as witnesses may well be questioned. A perusal of the correspondence of the French officials residing in Illinois and Louisiana, and their official communications with the Indians during this period goes far to clear them of complicity in the affair.

General Gage, who succeeded Amherst as commander-in-chief of the British army in America in November, 1763, was convinced that the early occupation of the western posts was essential, since it would in a measure cut off the communication between the French and Indian nations dwelling in that vicinity. The Indians, finding themselves thus inclosed would be more easily pacified. But the participation in the rebellion of the Shawnee and Delaware tribes of the upper Ohio river region precluded for a time the possibility of reaching the Mississippi posts by way of Fort Pitt, without a much larger force than Gage had at his command in the east; and the colonies were already avoiding the call for troops. The only other available route was by way of New Orleans and the Mississippi River whose navigation had been declared open to French and English alike by the treaty of Paris. Little opposition might be expected from the southern Indians toward whom a much more liberal policy had been pursued than with the northern tribes. Presents to the value of four or five thousand pounds had been sent to Charleston in 1763 for distribution among the southern nations which counter-acted in a large measure the machinations of the French traders from New Orleans. The Florida ports, Mobile and Pensacola, were already occupied by English troops, and Gage and his associates believed, that with the co-operation of the French Governor of Louisiana a successful ascent could be made.

Accordingly in January, 1764, Major Arthur Loftus, with a detachment of three hundred and fifty-one men from the twenty-second regiment embarked at Mobile for New Orleans, where preparations were to be made for the voyage. A company of sixty men from this regiment were to be left at Fort Massac on the Ohio River, while the remainder were to occupy Kaskaskia and Fort Chartres. At New Orleans boats had to be built, supplies and provisions procured, and guides and interpreters provided. The expedition set out from New Orleans February 27. Three weeks later the flotilla was attacked by a band of Tonica Indians near Davion's Bluff, or Fort Adams, about two hundred and forty miles above New Orleans. After the loss of several men in the boats composing the vanguard, Loftus ordered a retreat, and the expedition was abandoned. Depleted by sickness, death and desertion the regiment made its way from New Orleans back to Mobile.

Major Loftus placed the blame for the failure of his expedition upon Governor D' Abadie and other French officials at New Orleans. There is probably sufficient evidence, however, to warrant the conclusion that his accusations against the Governor were without foundation. The correspondence of D' Abadie, Gage, and others indicates that official aid was given the English in making their preparations for the journey, and letters were issued to the commandants of the French posts on the Mississippi to render the English convoys all the assistance in their power. There may have been some justification for the suspicion of Loftus that the intriguers were at work, for the French as a whole were not in sympathy with the attempt; the success of the English meant the cessation of the lucrative trade between New Orleans and Illinois. They were no doubt delighted at the discomfiture of the English officer, for when some of the chiefs engaged in the ambuscade entered New Orleans they were said to have been publicly received.

Granting, however, the machinations of the French, the reason for the failure of Loftus may be found in part in the almost total lack of precautions adopted before undertaking the journey. Governor D' Abadie had given the English officer warning of the bad disposition of a number of tribes along the Mississippi River, among whom Pontiac had considerable influence, and had assured him that unless he carried presents for the Indians, he would be unable to proceed far up the river. The policy of sending advance agents with convoys of presents for the Indians was successful the following year when the Illinois posts were finally reached from the east; but no such policy was adopted at this time. No action was taken to counter-act any possible intrigues on the part of the French. D' Abadie's advice was not heeded, and his prophecy was fulfilled. General Gage in his official correspondence implied that he did not think sufficient care had been exercised to insure success, and expressed his belief that if Loftus would make use of the "necessary precautions" he might get up to the mouth of the Ohio with little interruption. This want of judgement, therefore, accounts in a large degree for the unfortunate termination of the plans of an approach from the south.

The news of the defeat of Loftus had two results. First, it gave Pontiac renewed hope that he might be able to rally again the western and northern Indians, and, with French assistance, block the advance of the English. In the second place it led General Gage to determine upon an advance from the east, down the Ohio River, which was made practicable by the recent submission of the Delaware Indians.

A few months later, in February, 1765, there arrived at Fort Chartres an English officer, accompanied by a trader named Crawford. They were probably the first Englishmen to penetrate thus far into the former French territory since the beginning of the war. They had been sent from Mobile by Major Farmer, the commandant at that place, to bring about the conciliation of the Indians in the Illinois. Instead of following the Mississippi, they worked their way northward through the great Choctaw and Chicksaw nations to the Ohio, descended the latter to the Mississippi and thence to the Illinois villages. Although St. Ange received them cordially and did all in his power to influence the savages to receive the English, the mission of Ross was a failure. The Indians had nothing but expressions of hatred and defiance for the English; even the Missouri and Osages from beyond the Mississippi had fallen under the influence of Pontiac. Ross and his companion remained with St. Ange nearly two months; but about the middle of April they were obliged to go down the river to New Orleans.

During the winter of 1764-1765 preparations were made to send a detachment of troops down the Ohio from Fort Pitt to relieve Fort Chartres. To pave the way for the troops Gage dispatched two agents in advance. He selected George Croghan, Sir William Johnson's deputy, for the delicate and dangerous task of going among the Indians of that country to assure them of the peaceful attitude of the English, to promise them better facilities for trade and to accompany the promise with substantial presents. The second agent was Lieutenant Fraser, whose mission was to carry letters to the French commandant and a proclamation for the inhabitants. January 24, 1765, Fraser and Croghan set out from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, followed a few days later by a large convoy of presents. During the journey, the convoy was attacked by a band of Pennsylvania borderers, and a large part of the goods destined for the Indians were destroyed, together with some valuable stores which certain Philadelphia merchants were forwarding to Fort Pitt for the purpose of opening up the trade as early as possible. Croghan therefore found it necessary to tarry at Fort Pitt to replenish his stores and to await the opening of spring. But another matter intervened which forced him to postpone his departure for more than two months. A temporary defection had arisen among the Shawnee and Delaware Indians. They had failed to fulfil some of the obligations imposed upon them by Bouquet in the previous summer, and there was some fear lest they would not permit Croghan to pass through their country. His influence was such, however, that, in an assembly of the tribes at Fort Pitt, he not only received their consent to a safe passage, but some of their number volunteered to accompany him.

Meanwhile Lieutenant Fraser, Croghan's companion, decided to proceed alone, inasmuch as Gage's instructions to him were to be at the Illinois early in April. On March 23 he departed, accompanied by two or three whites and a couple of Indians, and reached the Illinois posts in the latter part of April, shortly after the departure of Lieutenant Ross and his party. Here Fraser found many of the Indians in destitution and some inclined for peace. Nevertheless, instigated by the traders and encouraged by their secret supplies, the savages as a whole would not listen to Fraser; they threatened his life, and threw him into prison, and he was finally saved by the intervention of Pontiac himself. Fraser felt himself to be in a dangerous situation; unable to hear from Croghan, whom he was expecting every day, and daily insulted and maltreated by the drunken savages, he took advantage of his discretionary orders and descended the Mississippi to New Orleans. Although the French traders continued to supply the Indians with arms and ammunition, and buoy up their spirits by stories of aid from the king of France, Pontiac himself was being rapidly disillusioned. He had given Fraser the assurance that if the Indians on the Ohio had made a permanent peace, he would do likewise. St. Ange continued to refuse the expected help, and when the news came of the failure of the mission to New Orleans and of the transfer of Louisiana to Spain, the ruin of the Indian cause was complete.

Having adjusted affairs with the Indians at Fort Pitt, Croghan set out from there on May 15th with two boats, accompanied by several white companions and a party of Shawnee Indians. In compliance with messages from Croghan, representatives of numerous tribes along the route met him at the mouth of the Scioto and delivered up a number of French traders who were compelled to take an oath of allegiance to the English crown, or pass to the west of the Mississippi. The only other incident of importance on this voyage was the attack of the Kickapous and Mascoutin Indians near the mouth of the Wabash on June 8th, which contributed greatly to the success of the mission. After the attack in which two whites and several Shawnees were killed, the assailants expressed their profound sorrow, declaring that they thought the party to be a band of Charokees with whom they were at enmity. Nevertheless, they plundered the stores and carried Croghan and the remainder of the party to Vincennes, a small French town on the Wabash. Croghan was now separated temporarily from his companions and carried to Fort Ouiatanon, about 210 miles north of Vincennes. The political blunder of the Kickapous in firing upon the convoy now became apparent; they were censured on all sides for having attacked their friends the Shawnees, since the latter might thus be turned into deadly enemies. During the first week of July deputations from all the surrounding tribes visited Croghan, assuring him of their desire for peace and of their willingness to escort him to the Illinois where Pontiac was residing. July 11th, Maisonville, whom Fraser had a few weeks before left at Fort Chartres, arrived at Ouiatanon with messages from St. Ange requesting Croghan to come to Fort Chartres to arrange affairs in that region. A few days later Croghan set out for the Illinois, attended by a large concourse of savages; but he had advanced only a short distance when he met Pontiac himself who was on the road to Ouiatanon. They all returned to the fort where, at a great council, Pontiac signified his willingness to make a lasting peace and promised to offer no further resistance to the approach of the English troops. There was now no need to go to Fort Chartres; instead Croghan turned his steps toward Detroit, where another important Indian conference was held in which a general peace was made with all the western Indians.

Immediately after effecting an accomodation with Pontiac at Ouiatanon, Croghan sent an account of the success of his negotiations to Fort Pitt. Here Captain Stirling with a detachment of about one hundred men of the 42d or Black Watch regiment, had been holding himself in readiness for some time, waiting for a favorable report before moving to the relief of Fort Chartres. Although the 34th regiment under Major Farmer was supposed to be making its way up the Mississippi to relieve the French garrison in Illinois, General Gage would not depend upon its slow and uncertain movements. Upon receipt of the news, on the 24th of August, Stirling left Fort Pitt and began the long and tedious journey. Owing to the season of the year the navigation of the Ohio was very difficult, forty-seven days being required to complete the journey. The voyage, on the whole, was without incident until about forty miles below the Wabash River. Here Stirling's force encountered two boats loaded with goods, in charge of a French trader, who was accompanied by some thirty Indians and a chief of the Shawnees, who had remained in the French interest. On account of the allegations of a certain Indian that his party had planned to fire on the English before they were aware of the latters' strength, Stirling became apprehensive lest the attitude of the Indians had changed since Croghan's visit. He therefore sent Lieutenant Rumsey, with a small party by land from Fort Massac to Fort Chartres, in order to ascertain the exact situation and to apprise St. Ange of his approach. Rumsey and his guides, however, lost their way and did not reach the villages until after the arrival of the troops. Sterling arrived on the 9th of October; and it is said that the Indians and French were unaware of his approach until he was within a few miles of the village, and that the Indians upon learning of the weakness of the English force, assumed a most insolent and threatening attitude. On the following day St. Ange and the French garrison were formally relieved, and with this event, the last vestige of French authority in North America, except new Orleans, passed away.

STATUS OF THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY IN THE EMPIRE.

Before entering upon the more detailed study of events in the Illinois country during the period of the British occupation, it is necessary to take into consideration certain general aspects of the subject which will enable us to understand more clearly the bearing of those events. The relation of that country to the empire and the view held by British statesmen of the time relative to its status are problems which naturally arise and demand solution. What was the nature of the government imposed upon the French in Illinois after its occupation? Is the hitherto prevailing opinion that the British government placed the inhabitants of those villages under a military government any longer tenable? Was the government de jure or de facto?

When the question of the Proclamation was under discussion by the Ministry in the summer of 1763, two opposing views with reference to the West were for a time apparent in the ministry. It appears to have been the policy of Lord Egremont, at that time Secretary for the Southern Department, which included the management of the colonies, to place the unorganized territory within the jurisdiction of some one of the colonies possessing a settled government, preferably Canada. It was at least his aim to give to the Indian country sufficient civil supervision so that criminals and fugitives from justice from the colonies might be taken. That he did not intend to extend civil government to the villages or any of the French inhabitants of the West seems clear: his only reference is to the "Indian country" and to "criminals" and "fugitives from justice."

Lord Shelburne, President of the Board of Trade and a member of the Grenville ministry, and his colleagues were of the opinion that the annexation of the West to Canada might lend color to the idea that England's title to the West came from the French cession, when in fact her claim was derived from other sources; that the inhabitants of the province to which it might be annexed would have too great an advantage in the Indian trade; and finally that such an immense province could not be properly governed without a large number of troops and the governor would thus virtually become a commander-in-chief. Shelburne then announced his plan of giving to the commanding general of the British army in America jurisdiction over the West for the purpose of protecting the Indians and the fur trade. Lord Halifax, who succeeded to Egermont's position at the latter's death in August, 1763, fell in with Shelburne's views. But the commission to the commanding general does not appear to have been issued; for Hillsborough, who succeeded Shelburne as President of the Board of Trade in the autumn of 1763, favored a different policy. There is nothing, however, to indicate that Shelburne and his advisers had any thought of the government of the French colonies. There is no hint in any of this correspondence that the ministry had any idea of the existence of the several thousand French inhabitants of the West.

There remain one or two documents in which we might expect to find some reference to the government of the French settlers. The authors of that part of the Proclamation of 1763 which provided for the reservation of the Indian lands and the regulation of the trade, had in contemplation the formation of an elaborate plan comprehending the management of both in the whole of British North America. It was left to Hillsborough, Shelburne's successor as President of the Board of Trade, to direct the formulation of the plan, which was finished in 1764. The details of this program will be taken up in a later chapter, and it will therefore suffice to note the presence or absence of any provisions for the French. The chief object of the plan seems to have been to bring about a centralization in the regulation of the trade and the management of the Indians, and in no place is there any intimation that its provisions have any application to the government of the French residing at the various posts.

Turning to another source we find a document addressed directly to the inhabitants of the Illinois country, dated in New York, December 30, 1764 and signed by General Thomas Gage. Mention has already been made in another connection of the unsuccessful mission of Lieutenant Fraser to Illinois in the spring of 1765, when he carried this proclamation to the inhabitants. But its contents were not announced until the entry of Captain Sterling in October of that year. This proclamation related solely to guarantees by the British government of the right of the inhabitants under the treaty of Paris: freedom of religion, the liberty of removing from or remaining within English territory and the requirements as to taking the oath of allegiance made up its contents. As to whether the inhabitants were to enjoy a civil government or be ruled by the army there is no intimation.

Laying aside the barren papers of 1763-1765 and giving attention to the documentary material after those dates proves much more productive. We are thereby enabled to arrive at some pretty definite conclusions. Fortunately there were a few men in authority during that period who had some interest in the interior settlements, and who, from their official positions realized the difficulties of the problem. Such men have left expressions of opinion and stray bits of information which leave us in little doubt as to the governmental status of the Illinois country. General Thomas Gage, Sir William Johnson, and Lord Hillsborough are perhaps the most representative examples. Gage, who was commander-in-chief of the American army throughout this period, with headquarters in New York City, was in direct communication both with his subordinates in Illinois and the home authorities. He was in a position to know, in general, the state of affairs in the West as well as to keep in touch with ministerial opinion. Sir William Johnson, by virtue of his office as Superintendent of Indian affairs for the northern district, was in a peculiarly strategic position to acquire information. His Indian agents were stationed at all the western posts and he was in constant correspondence with the Board of Trade relative to Indian and trade conditions. From the ministry itself the correspondence of Lord Hillsborough best reflects the prevailing opinion of the government. He was one of the few governmental authorities who took any considerable interest in the western problem and information coming from him must, therefore, have some weight.

That the British commandant of the fort in the Illinois country had no commission to govern the inhabitants, except perhaps that power, which, in the absence of all other authority, naturally devolves upon the military officer, seems amply clear from a recommendation transmitted by General Gage to his superior shortly after the occupation of Fort de Chartres. "If I may presume to give my opinion further on this matter, I would humbly propose that a Military Governor should be appointed for the Ilinois as soon as possible. The distance of that Country from any of the Provinces being about 1400 Miles, making its Dependance upon any of them impractical, and for its Vicinity to the French Settlements, no other than a Military Government would answer our purpose." In the following year he took a similar point of view in a communication to his co-laborer in America: "I am quite sensible of the irregular behavior of the Traders and have intimated to his Majesty's Secretary of State what I told the Board of Trade four or five years ago: That they must be restrained by Law, and a Judicial Power invested in the officer Commanding at the Posts to see such Law put in force. And without this, Regulations may be made, but they will never be observed."

With the condition of comparative anarchy in the Illinois country during this period and indeed at all the western posts and throughout the Indian country the authorities seemed unable to combat successfully. Had all the regulations outlined in the plan for the management of Indian affairs, been put into operation the Indian department would have been able to cope more successfully with that phase of the situation. But neither military nor Indian departments had legal authority to take any action whatsoever. As Johnson, in speaking of his inability to handle the situation for lack of sufficient power, declared in 1767 that "the authority of commissaries is nothing, and both the Commanding Officers of Garrisons and they, are liable to a civil prosecution for detaining a Trader on any pretence." Probably more emphatic still the commanding general four years later in writing of the disturbances, said: "And I perceive there has been wanting judicial powers to try and determine. There has been no way to bring Controversys & Disputes properly to a determination or delinquenents to punishment."

There is probably some justification for the current belief that the government placed the inhabitants under a military rule, inasmuch as the actual government proved in the last analysis to be military. But that the British ministry consciously attached the interior settlements to the military department is far from the truth. Such a system was probably contemplated by no one, particularly between the years 1763 and 1765 when the re-organization of the new acquisitions was under discussion. The greater part of the new territory was the seat of the fur trade and the desire for the development of that industry controlled in the main the policy of the ministry relative to the disposition of the peltry districts and the interests of the settlements were completely ignored. Secretary Hillsborough, who helped formulate the western policy in 1763 and 1764 doubtless gave the most adequate explanation when in 1769, he wrote: "With regard to the Posts in the interior Country considered in another view in which several of your letters have placed them; I mean as to the settlements formed under their protection, which, not being included within the jurisdiction of any other Colony are exposed to many Difficulties & Disadvantages from the Want of some Form of Government necessary to Civil Society, it is very evident that, if the case of these Settlements had been well known or understood at the time of forming the conquered Lands into Colonies, some provision would have been made for them, & they would have been erected into distinct Governments or made dependent upon those Colonies of which they were either the offspring, or with which they did by circumstances and situation, stand connected. I shall not fail, therefore, to give this matter the fullest consideration when the business of the Illinois Country is taken up."

That the occupation of Fort Chartres became anything more than temporary was due to the necessity of being prepared to crush a possible uprising of the savages and to repel the constant invasion of the French and Spanish traders from beyond the Mississippi, whose influence over the Indians, it was feared, would be detrimental to the peace of the empire. In its policy of retrenchment owing to the trouble with the colonies, the government at various times contemplated the withdrawal of the troops, but each time the detachment was allowed to remain the sole reason given was to guard that portion of the empire against the French and Indians.

The Proclamation of 1763 which had definitely extended the laws of England to the new provinces, made no such provisions for the West, nor did the crown ever take such action. We may, therefore, lay down the general principle that the British Government was obliged to govern her new subjects in this region according to the laws and customs hitherto prevailing among them; any other course would manifestly be illegal. The commanding general of the army in America and his subordinates, who were embarrassed by the presence of this French settlement for which no provision had been made by the ministry, and who found it necessary to assume the obligation of enforcing some sort of order in that country, had no power to displace any of the laws and customs of the French inhabitants. It will be pointed out in succeeding chapters that this general principle, while adhered to in many respects, was not uniformly carried out.

It is apparent from the foregoing considerations that the government of the Illinois people was de facto in nature. It had no legal foundations. Every action of the military department was based on expediency; although this course was in general acquiesced in by the home authorities, all the officials concerned were aware that such a status could not continue indefinitely. But it did continue for about a decade, during which time the inhabitants were at the mercy of some six or seven different military commandants. In 1774, however, Parliament passed the Quebec Act, which provided, among other things, for the union of all the western country north of the Ohio River, and which but for the cataclysm of the American revolution meant civil government for the whole region.

TRADE CONDITIONS IN ILLINOIS, 1765-1775.

The peltry trade had been one of the elements which had accentuated, throughout the eighteenth century, the difficulties between France and England in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. It was the chief support of the French government in Canada and now that the English were in undisputed possession of the great peltry districts it became apparent that the management of the trade deserved most serious consideration. It was becoming of increasing importance to the manufacturing monopoly of the mother country, and therefore, in the minds of English statesmen, deserved far more attention than did the few thousand French colonists scattered throughout the West. The desire to increase this branch of commerce dictated in a large measure those clauses in the Proclamation of 1763 which forbade the formation of settlements or the purchase of lands within the Indian reservation, but at the same time declared that the trade with the Indians should be free and open to all English subjects alike. Again, the plan proposed in 1764 related solely to the management of the Indians and to the regulation of the trade with a view to making the English monopoly of intrinsic value to the empire. Even towards the close of the period under consideration there is little or no change of policy so far as official utterances are concerned. In 1772 in a report to the crown, the Lords of Trade made the following declaration: "The great object of colonization upon the continent of North America has been to improve and extend the commerce and manufactures of this kingdom. It does appear to us that the extension of the fur trade depends entirely upon the Indians being undisturbed in the possession of their hunting grounds, and that all colonization does in its nature and must in its consequence operate to the prejudice of that branch of commerce. Let the savages enjoy their deserts in quiet. Were they driven from their forests the peltry trade would decrease."

Under the French regime the western Indians and their trade had been managed with greater success than had the tribes living under English influence. The success of France was due largely to her policy of centralization combined of course with the genial character of the French fur trader and the influence of the missionary. The English, on the contrary, had managed their relations with the Indians through the agency of the different colonies, without a semblance of union or co-operation: each colony competed for the lion's share of the trade, a policy which resulted disastrously to the peace of the empire.

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