OLDE
Located
near the mouth of MUD BRANCH CREEK [was Mud Creek], near the S.E.
CORNER of the M e t e h i n e q u e a Indian Reserve, between [south of]
the Adamsboro-Hoover county road and [north of] the Logansport-Butler Branch of
the
Buried
the NIGHT of August 8, 1791, two United States Soldiers,
Soldiers
who had been killed late that afternoon in a battle with Eel River Wea or Miami
Indians, after having charged across Eel River [from the south] to attack this
Indian town.
Name
Died
Remarks
John
Bartlett
August 8, 1791 Killed
in action. Served as a sergeant of VA Cavalry
during American Revolution.
Unknown
Soldier August 8, 1791
These
men were residents of what was than known as the Kentucky District of the state
of
No
markers or monuments were erected at the graves at the time of burial. In fact,
tradition says that roaring bon-fires were built on the graves, as to conceal
their exact location! [For the army was to depart on the following day; and it
is said to have been feared that when the Indians returned to the site of
their ruined town, they might disinter & desecrate the bodies of
these United States soldiers.]
At
least two of the soldiers surviving 523 comrades visited the site in later years
and pointed out to American pioneer settlers of this immediate vicinity,
including Judge James Rush[a PA born ca.1781, who had served as a pioneer jurist
in OH & who died near Adamsboro, Cass Co., IN on July 31, 1841], the
supposed precise spots where the graves were situated and gave a circumstantial
account of the full circumstances of their interment. Mr. Rush faithfully passed
this information along to his sons, one of who later repeated to two boys living
in the immediate vicinity with the admonition that they “should not ever
forget, as long as they lived, the important information that was then being
conveyed to them.”
One of
these boys, the late Mr. William H. Harrison of the Adamsboro vicinity, when
grown to manhood, brought the matter to the attention of Miss Laura D.
Henderson, State Historian of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a
Logansport lady who passed along a complete report of the matter to the
L’Anguille Valley Memorial Association, which in co-operation with the UNITED
STATES WAR DEPARTMENT, Cass County (Indiana) Post of the American Legion, Olde
Towne Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and other patriotic
groups of the vicinity, dedicated marble stones at the graves in connection with
the observation of the 148th ANNIVERSARY
of the BATTLE, on Sunday afternoon, August 13, 1939, a crowd of nearly 500
persons participated in the outdoor Memorial service and viewed historical
and other exhibits in the Methodist Church at the nearby hamlet of
Hoovers.
The
Kentucky State Historical Society of Frankfort, KY, the Filson Club of
There
are on the site of this old Indian village at least two or three known INDIAN
BURIAL GROUNDS;
But
whatever may be said of the NINE INDIANS who were killed in the battle, the
American soldiers were not buried in any one of them. Instead the soldiers were
buried at a charming & easily identifiable spot near the point where the
“Old Kaintuck Trail” climbed out of the bottom of the Eel River [known to
the early French as L’Anguille] & entered the very heart of this old
Indian town [most of which was on the terrace-rim overlooking the bottoms]. This
trail which crossed the Wabash River at Cass Station ford----just E. of Cedar,
or Country Club, Island in the Eel River near Kidd’s Island] was an unusually
wide one, and is understood to have been a sort of prehistoric “Dixie
Highway.” In 1791, it contained
the hoof-prints of many Indian ponies
This
Report submitted on December 1, 1940
by the
L’ANGUILLE VALLEY
MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION
Robert
B.Whitsett, Jr., Secretary
NOTE:
The following by R.B.W.,Jr. was very difficult to transcribe as it appears that
the typewriter needed a new ribbon. It was very faint with entire letters &
parts of letters missing.
Though
the main Indian burial grounds are said to be in the Adams and Miami Township
portions of the town-site, a number of Indian skeletons have accidentally been
uncovered at scattered points and even the Clay township portion along with
artifacts, charcoal, glass-beads & occasionally objects [brass rings, or --
kettles; ----, ---- or coin [be ring
picture of “Frederick, King of Prussia]”, brass-cross [etched with initials
R.C.] which are plainly of European or non-Indian origin, though presumably of
Indian use.
Many of
the Indian skeletons were found buried in the customary [recumbent] position;
but occasionally, one has been found in a sitting position, with the top of the
skull only a few inches below the ground surface.
This report was input by Pat Fiscel February 2007 for the Cass County INGenWeb Project.