EVENTS IN THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY, 1765-1768.

In the foregoing chapters an attempt has been made to point out certain general aspects relating to the West and to the Illinois country, with special reference to the governmental status of the old French settlements after the conquest, the extension of the English law to the conquered territory, some of the problems of the Indian and trade relations, and finally attention has been called to some of the projects for the colonization of the Illinois country after 1763. What were the actual events taking place in the Illinois after the occupation has always been problematical. Previous writers have almost without exception dismissed with a sentence the first two or three years of the period. Indeed the whole thirteen years of British administration have generally been crowded into two or three paragraphs. Although the available historical material relating to the material to the period in general has recently been considerably augmented, there yet remain gaps which must be bridged before a complete history of the colony under the British can be written.

Among the first duties of the British commandant after taking formal possession of Fort de Chartres in October, 1765, was to announce to the inhabitants the contents of Gage's proclamation. It is only from this document that we know anything of the status of the individual inhabitants of Illinois. One of its leading features was a clause granting to the French the right of the free exercise of the Roman Catholic religion "in the same manner as in Canada," [210] which was the fulfillment on the part of the British government of the pledge stipulated in the IVth article of the treaty of Paris, containing the following clause: "Brittanick Majesty agrees to grant the liberty of the Catholic religion to the inhabitants of Canada; he will consequently give the most precise and effectual orders, that his new Roman Catholic subjects may profess the worship of their religion, according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, as far as the laws of Great Britain permit." [211] This provision appertained to the whole western territory as well as to Canada proper. Prior to the treaty of cession the Illinois and Wabash settlements were subject to the jurisdiction of Louisiana, while approximately the country north of the Fortieth parallel had been within the limits of Canada. But in the treaty all the territory lying between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi river was described as a dependency of Canada. The government was thus commited to religious toleration within the whole extent of the ceded territory. This meant, however, that only the religious privileges of the church had been secured, for the clause in the treaty, "as far as the laws of Great Britain permit," meant that papal authority would not be tolerated within the British empire.

Other clauses provided that all the inhabitants of Illinois who had been subjects of the king of France, might if they so desired, sell their estates and retire with their effects to Louisiana. No restraint would be placed on their emigration, except for debt or on account of criminal processes. [212] This was also a fulfillment of the pledges made in the treaty of Paris. [213] All the inhabitants who desired to retain their estates and become subjects of Great Britain were guaranteed security for their persons and effects and liberty of trade. [214] Finally they were commanded to take the oath of allegiance and fidelity to the crown in case they remained on British soil. [215]

When Captain Sterling proceeded to Kaskaskia to post the proclamation and to administer the oaths of allegiance for which he was empowered by the commanding general, he was confronted by an unexpected movement on the part of the inhabitants. A petition was presented signed by the representative French of the village, asking for a respite of nine months in order that they might settle their affairs and decide whether they wished to remain under the British government or withdraw from the country. [216] At first Sterling refused to grant the request. [217] According to the terms of the Paris treaty the inhabitants of the ceded territory had been given eighteen months in which to withdraw, the time to be computed from the date of the exchange of ratifications. [218] The limit had long since expired, and it was therefore beyond the power of Sterling or his superior General Gage to grant legally an extension of time. [219] When, however, the commandant perceived that unless some concessions were granted, the village would be immediately depopulated, he extended the time to the first of March, 1766, with the provisions that a temporary oath of allegence be given, [220] and that all desiring to leave the country should give in their names in advance. [221] To this tentative proposition the French in Kaskaskia agreed on condition that Sterling forward to the commanding general a petition, in which they ask for the longer time. [222] An officer was dispatched to the villages of Prairie du Rocher, St. Phillipe, and Cahokia where similar arrangements were made. [223]

The machinery of civil government in operation under the French regime had become badly deranged during the French and Indian war and when the representatives of the English government entered the country affairs were in a chaotic state. The commandant of the English troops had of course no authority to govern the inhabitants. But he found himself face to face with conditions which made immediate action imperative. Practically the only civil officers Sterling found on the English side of the river were Joseph La Febevre, who acted as Judge, Attorney General and Guardian of the Royal Warehouse, and Joseph Labuxiere, was Clerk and Notary Public. [224] But those men retired with St. Ange and the French soldiers to St. Louis shortly after the arrival of the English. [225] This brought the whole governmental machinery to a standstill, and the English commander was forced to act. He determined to appoint a judge and after consulting the principal inhabitants of the villages, selected M. La Grange, who was intrusted "to decide all disputes according to the Laws and Customs of the Country," with liberty to appeal to the commandant in case the litigants were dissatisfied with his decision. [226] The captains of militia seem to have retained their positions under the British, their duties being practically the same as in the French regime. Each village or parish had its captain who saw to the enforcement of decrees and other civil matters as well as looking after the local militia. [227] The office of royal commissary continued and James Rumsey, a former officer in the English army was appointed to this position. [228] But who was to continue the duties of the old French commandants with both his civil and military functions? Obviously the most logical person was the commanding officer of the English troops stationed at the fort, with the difference that the former held a special commission for the performance of these duties, while the latter had no such authorisation. A further and more fundamental difference lay in the fact that formerly the French had the right to appeal to the Superior Council at New Orleans, while apparently no such corresponding safeguard was given them by the new arrangement.

Sterling did not long retain command of the post [229] for in December he was superseded by Major Robert Farmer, [230] his superior in rank, who arrived from Mobile with a detachment of the 34th regiment, after an eight months voyage. Their arrival was exceedingly welcome to Sterling and his men since they were becoming greatly embarrassed for lack of provisions, ammunition, and presents for the Indians. [231] When they left Fort Pitt in August, it had not been thought necessary to transport more than sixty pounds of ammunition inasmuch as Fort de Chartres was expected to yield a sufficient supply, and both Gage and Sterling believed that Croghan, with his cargo of supplies, would be awaiting the arrival of the troops at the Illinois. [232] Neither expectation was realized. Croghan was back in the colonies prior to Sterling's arrival at the post, and when the fort was transferred, it yielded neither ammunition nor other supplies in sufficient quantity to meet the needs of the troops. [233]

An assembly of three or four thousand Indians had been accustomed to gather at the fort each spring to receive annual gifts from the French. But the English had made no provisions for such a contingency, which, coupled with the weakness of the garrison and the recent hostility of the Indians, would probably lead to serious complications. A possible defection of the Indians, therefore, necessitated a large supply of military stores [234] which it was possible to obtain from the French merchants in the villages. The latter agreed to furnish the soldiers with ammunition, on the condition that other provisions would also be purchased, [235] for which the English alleged they charged an exorbitant price. [236] Sterling was compelled to acquiesce, for the merchants had sent their goods across the river where he could not get at them. [237]

The large supply of provisions which the colony had produced in former years seems to have decreased, at any rate it fell far short of the expectations of the English officers. One officer writes at this time that "they have indeed but little here, and are doing us a vast favor when they let us have a Gallon of French brandy at twenty Shillings Sterling, and as the price is not as yet regulated the Eatables is in the same proportion." [238] The wealth of colony had been considerably impaired since the occupation on account of the exodus of a large number of French who disobeyed the order of Sterling that all who desired to withdraw should give in their names in advance. Taking their cattle, grain and effects across the ferries at Cahokia and Kaskaskia, they found homes at St. Louis and St. Genevieve on the Spanish side. [239] Probably a large part of the emigrants left in the hope that in Louisiana they might still enjoy their ancient laws and privileges, [240] and others from fear lest the Indians, who were now assuming a threatening attitude, might destroy their crops and homes. [241]

The acute situation of the garrison brought on by the dearth of supplies continued through the winter and spring of 1765 and 1766. [242] Farmer estimated that all the provisions available amounted to no more than fifty thousand pounds of flour and 1250 pounds of corn meal, [243] upon which the garrison could barely subsist till the following July; and a portion of this stock would have to be given to the Indians, since representatives of the Indian department had not yet appeared. These circumstances obliged Major Farmer to send Sterling and his troops to New York by way of the Mississippi river and New Orleans instead of up the Ohio river in accordance with Gage's orders. [244] In response to a series of urgent requests for assistance, Gage employed a force of Indians to transport a cargo to the Illinois, [245] which reached Fort Chartres during the early summer of 1766, by which time also representatives of the English merchants at Philadelphia had arrived with large stores of supplies. [246] Henceforth we hear nothing further of a shortage of provisions in the Illinois, for not only did the English merchants import large supplies from the East, but cargoes were brought up the Mississippi from New Orleans by the French; [247] and for a time the English government itself transported the necessary provisions from Fort Pitt. [248]

Late in the summer of 1766 Farmer was relieved by Lieutenant Colonel Reid, who arrived during the summer from Mobile with another detachment of the thirty-fourth regiment. [249] Reid soon became obnoxious to the people on account of his tyrannical acts, many of which have been recorded in Colonel George Morgan's letter book. His administration of affairs, however, continued over a period of two years. In 1768 he was relieved by Colonel John Wilkins who ruled the French for the next three years.