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forest again as quickly as they had left it, having lost many of their numbers. In the morning, as soon as the presence of the Indians was ascertained, and before their numbers were sus pected, two messengers had brcken through their line, bearing to Lexington tidings of the siege of Bryant's Station, and asking succor. Assistance came about two in the afternoon; sixteen men being mounted, and thirty or more on foot. The savages expected their arrival, and prepared to destroy them, but the horsemen, by rapid riding, and enveloped in dust, reached the fort unharmed, and of the footmen, after an hour's hard fighting, only two were killed and four wounded. The Indian's courage rarely supports him through long-continued exertion; and Girty found his men so far disheartened by their failures, that before night they talked of abandoning the siege. After attempting to terrify the garrison into a surrender, they retired into the woods in the hope that when further assistance arrived at Bryant's Station, a party would pursue them, and fall into their ambuscades. In this hope they were not deceived. Boone and his party arrived at the Station on the eighteenth, and immediately started after the enemy. The trail was plain, and led them to the Lower Blue Licks, where the savages lay concealed in great numbers. Here they attacked the Indians, but were routed with the loss of seventyseven men killed and taken prisoners, and twelve wounded. The few who escaped the slaughter fled in terror to the settle

ments.

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CHAPTER XXIV.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY-SKETCH OF ARTHUR ST. CLAIR REVIEW OF THE TREATIES WITH THE INDIANS-INDIAN SPEECHES.

LEAVING the frontier settlements of the provinces, or now the united colonies, we will pass on to notice the events that transpired in the Northwest Territory, which was crected under the ordinance of 1787. It is proper to state here, however, that in making this progress in the narrative we are obliged to omit the details of many contests with the Indians in Ohio and Kentucky, and the several treaties which resulted. But these were of an ordinary character. Without any considerable amount of bloodshed all the savages in these States were subdued, the boundary lines of their country were determined and a treaty of peace concluded.

In the month of July, 1788, Gen. Arthur St. Clair, who had been appointed the first governor of the Northwest Territory by Congress, arrived at Marietta and put the machinery of the new government in motion. He organized the government under the first "grade" of the ordinance, the government

*

* I give the ordinance in full as follows, as it is the corner-stone of the Constitutions of the Northwestern States, and is, therefore, worthy of preservation:

AN ORDINANCE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES, NORTHWEST OF THE OHIO RIVER. Be it ordained by the United States in Congress assembled, That the said territory, for the purposes of temporary government, be one district, subject, however, to be divided into two districts, as future circumstances may, in the opinion of Congress, make it expedient.

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That the estates, both of resident and nonresident proprietors in said territory, dying intestate, shall descend to, and be distributed among their children and the descendants of a deceased child, in equal parts; the descendants of a deceased child, or grand child, to take the share of their deceased parent in equal parts among them; and where there shall be no children or descendants, then in equal parts to the next of kin in equal degree; and, among collaterals, the children of a deceased brother or sister of the intestate shall have, in equal parts among them, their deceased parents' share; and there shall, in no case, be a distinction between kindred of the whole and half-blood; saving, in all cases, to the widow of the intestate, her third part of the real estate for life, and one-third part of the personal estate; and

consisting of a governor, secretary and three judges, who, conjointly, constituted the law-making power. Winthrop Sargent was appointed secretary, and Samuel H. Parsons, James H. Vernum and John Cleves Symmes judges. In September, the governor and judges prepared and adopted a code of laws.

Arthur St. Clair was the first governor of the Northwest Territory, and as his administration forms a conspicuous part of the narrative, a brief sketch of his life, in this connection, will not be out of place. His portrait also appears on another page. He was a native of Scotland, from which country he came to the British colonies of North America in 1755. He

this law, relative to descents and dower, shall remain in full force until altered by the Legislature of the district. And, until the governor and judges shall adopt laws as hereinafter mentioned, estates in the said territory may be devised or bequeathed by wills in writing, signed and sealed by him or her, in whom the estate may be, (being of full age,) and attested by three witnesses: and real estates may be conveyed by lease and release, or bargain and sale, signed, sealed and delivered by the person, being of full age, in whom the estate may be, and attested by two witnesses, provided such wills be duly proved and such conveyances be acknowledged, or the execution thereof duly proved, and be recorded within one year after, proper magistrates, courts and registers shall be appointed for that purpose; and personal property may be transferred by delivery; saving, however, to the French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers of the Kaskaskias, St. Vincents and the neighboring villages who have heretofore professed themselves citizens of Virginia, their laws and customs now in force among them, relative to the descent and conveyance of property.

Be it ordained by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a governor, whose commission shall continue in force for three years, unless sooner revoked by Congress; he shall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein in one thousand acres of land, while in the exercise of his office.

There shall be appointed, from time to time, by Congress, a secretary, whose commission shall continue in force for four years, unless sooner revoked; he shall reside in the district and have a freehold estate therein in five hundred acres of land, while in the exercise of his office; it shall be his duty to keep and preserve the acts and laws passed by the Legislature, and the public records of the district, and the proceedings of the governor in his execntive department, and transmit authentic copies of such acts and proceedings, every six months, to the secretary of Congress. There shall also be appointed a court to consist of three judges, any two of whom to form a court, who shall have a common law jurisdiction and reside in the district, and have each therein a freehold estate in five hundred acres of land while in the exercise of their offices; and their commissions shall continue in force during good behavior.

The governor and judges, or a majority of them, shall adopt and publish in the district such laws of the original States, criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the circumstances of the district, and report them to Congress from time to time; which laws shall be in force in the district until the organization of the General Assembly therein, unless disapproved of by Congress; but afterwards the Legislature shall have authority to alter them as they shall think fit.

The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same below the rank of general officers; all general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress.

Previous to the organization of the General Assembly, the governor shall appoint such magistrates and other civil officers, in each county or township, as he shall find

joined the Royal Americans or Sixtieth Regiment, and served under Gen. Amherst at the taking of Louisburg in 1758. He carried a standard at the storming and capture of Quebec, under Gen. Wolfe, in 1759. Immediately after the peace of 1763, he settled in Ligonier Valley, in Western Pennsylvania, where he continued to reside until the Revolutionary war. Being a firm friend of liberty and the rights of the colonies, he received from Congress the commission of colonel, and joined the American army with a regiment of seven hundred and fifty men. Having been promoted to the rank of major general, he was tried by a court martial, in 1778, for evacuat

necessary for the preservation of the peace and good order in the same. After the General Assembly shall be organized, the powers and duties of magistrates and other civil officers shall be regulated and defined by the said assembly; but all magistrates and other civil officers, not herein otherwise directed, shall, during the continuance of this temporary government, be appointed by the governor.

For the prevention of crimes and injuries, the laws to be adopted or made shall have force in all parts of the district, and for the execution of process, criminal and civil, the governor shall make proper divisions thereof; and he shall proceed, from time to time, as circumstances may require, to lay out the parts of the district in which the Indian titles shall have been extinguished, into counties and townships, subject, however, to such alterations as may thereafter be made by the Legislature.

So soon as there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants of full age in the district, upon giving proof thereof to the governor, they shall receive authority, with time and place, to elect representatives from their counties or townships to represent them in the General Assembly: Provided, That for every five hundred free male inhabitants, there shall be one representative, and so on progressively with the number of free male inhabitants, shall the right of representation increase, until the number of representatives shall amount to twenty-five; after which the number and proportion of representatives shall be regulated by the Legislature: Provided, That no person be eligible or qualified to act as a representative unless he shall have been a citizen of one of the United States three years and be a resident in the district, or unless he shall have resided in the district three years; and, in either case, shall likewise hold in his own right, in fee simple, two nundred acres of land within the same: Provided, also, That a freehold in fifty acres of land in the district, having been a citizen of one of the States, and being resident in the district, or the like freehold and two years residence in the district, shall be necessary to qualify a man as an elector of a representative.

The representatives thus elected shall serve for the term of two years; and, in case of the death of a representative or removal from office, the governor shall issue a writ to the county or township for which he was a member, to elect another in his stead, to serve for the residue of the term.

The General Assembly, or Legislature, shall consist of the Governor, Legislative Council and a House of Representatives. The Legislative Council shall consist of five members, to continue in office five years, unless sooner removed by Congress, any three of whom to be a quorum; and the members of the Council shall be nominated and appointed in the following manner, to wit: As soon as representatives shall be elected, the governor shall appoint a time and place for them to meet together; and when met they shall nominate ten persons, residents in the district, and each possessed of a freehold in five hundred acres of land, and return their names to Congress; five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as aforesaid; and whenever a vacancy shall happen in the Council, by death or removal from office, the House of Representa

ing Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, and unanimously acquitted with the highest honors.

He remained in the service until the peace. Mr. Peck, in writing of this man, truthfully says: "He was rigid, some thought arbitrary, in his government, and, therefore, unpopular, but he was scrupulously honest-had no talent for speculation, and died poor.”

In a letter to a friend, St. Clair, in referring to himself, remarks: "In the year 1786, I entered into the public service in civil life, and was a member of Congress, and President of that body, when it was determined to erect a government in

tives shall nominate two persons, qualified as aforesaid, for each vacancy, and return their names to Congress, one of whom Congress зhall appoint and commission for the residue of the term. And every five years, four months at least before the expiration of the time of service of the members of the Council, the said House shall nominate ten persons, qualified as aforesaid, and return their names to Congress, five of whom Congress shall appoint and commission to serve as members of the Council five years, unless sooner removed. And the governor, Legislative Council and House of Representatives, shall have authority to make laws in all cases, for the good government of the district, not repugnant to the principles and articles in this ordinance established and declared. And all bills, having passed by a majority in the House and by a majority in the Council, shall be referred to the governor for his assent; but no bill, or legislative act whatever, shall be of any force without his assent. The governor shall have power to convene, prorogue and dissolve the Gencral Assembly, when, in his opinion, it shall be expedient.

The governor, judges, legislative council, secretary, and such other officers as Congress shall appoint in the district, shall take an oath or affirmation of fidelity and of office; the governor before the President of Congress, and all other officers before the Governor. As soon as a Legislature shall be formed in the district, the Council and House assembled in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to elect a delegate to Congress, who shall have a seat in Congress, with a right of debating, but not of voting, during this temporary government.

And, after extending the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty, which form the basis whereon these republics, their laws and constitutions are erected; to fix and establish those principles as the basis of all laws, constitutions and governments, which forever hereafter shall be formed in the said territory; to provide also for the establishment of States, and permanent government therein, and for their admission to a share in the federal councils on an equal footing with the original States, at as early periods as may be consistent with the general interest:

It is hereby ordained and declared by the authority aforesaid, That the following articles shall be considered as articles of compact between the original States and the people and States in said territory, and forever remain unalterable, unless by common consent, to-wit:

ART. 1. No person, demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship or religious sentiments, in the said territory.

ART. 2. The inhabitants of the said territory shall always be entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus, and of the trial by jury, of a proportionate representation of the people in the Legislature; and of judicial proceedings according to the course of common law. All persons shall be bailable, unless for capital offenses, where the proof shall be evident or the presumption great. All fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or

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