on the first day of May, James Smith and Moses Thorpe, Commissioners, with William Scott, Sheriff, being present. At this session, Cass county and the territory under its jurisdiction, were sub-divided into Eel township, embracing "all that part of Cass county lying south of the Tippecanoe and west of the west boundary of the five-mile reservation "; Wabash township embracing all that part of the territory attached, "south of Eel river," and east of the eastern boundary of Eel township, and St. Joseph's township, embracing all that part of the attached territory "lying north of the Tippecanoe river, to the north line of the State."

On Thursday, May 21, 1829, the Cass circuit court held its first session in the old seminary building, occupying only one day, Hon. Bethuel F. Morris, Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of the State, presiding, with Hiram Todd and John Smith Associate Judges, William Scott, Sheriff, and John B. Duret, Clerk.

A seal for said court was adopted on the same day, the device of which commemorates the agreement of Aub-beenaub-bee, a principal chief of the Pottawatomies, and General Lewis Cass, one of the commissioners on the part of the United States to the terms of the treaty of October 16, 1826, by which the major part of the territory within the boundaries of Cass county came into the possession of the United States" An Indian and a white man joining hands."

Henry Ristine, Erasmus Powell and Harris Tyner, appointed by the act of organization, Commissioners to locate the seat of justice of Cass county, by their report dated August 12, 1829, submitted to the Board of County Commissioners, then in session, selected LOGANSPORT, in consideration of certain donations made by Mr. Carter, the proprietor.

The settlements in the outer townships, Miami in the east, Clay, Noble and Jefferson immediately north of the Wabash and Eel rivers, Boone, Harrison, Bethlehem and Adams on the extreme north, Clinton, Washington and Tipton south of the river, with Deer Creek and Jackson on the extreme south, as the public lands came into market from time to time, were filled up rapidly with an enterprising population. The last

settlements were in the lower townships, that part having been surveyed in the winter and spring of 1846-7, came into market immediately after, though prior to that time and subsequent to the treaty of 1843, many settlements were made by preemption.

For several years succeeding the year 1829, the growth of town and country kept nearly even pace in the progress of settlements and improvements, reaching, perhaps, the year 1836, when the country having fallen behind in the race, as a consequence, the trade being yet chiefly of a local character, the town came nearly to a stand still, while the country moved steadily forward, producing, ere long, a large excess over the demands of home trade, for transportation to other localities. The completion of the canal to this point, in the fall of 1837, opened an avenue to trade with other points of commercial importance, which advantages the people were not slow to improve. The improvement of the Michigan road, also, from the fall of 1828 to 1834-5, tended to the development of resources scarcely known to exist before. The canal having been completed from Toledo to the lower Wabash, was about the only means of shipment of surplus products until 1852-3, and from that time forward, when the Richmond and New Castle, and the Lake Erie, Wabash and St. Louis Railroad that began to be operated about that time with telling effect upon the producing interests of the county, adding greatly to the wealth and prosperity of our citizens. Since that time other roads of equal importance traverse the county in various directions.

Beside Logansport, other smaller towns have sprung up, of greater or less importance, in different parts of the county; among these, Galveston, Walton, Royal Center, New Waverly are of most consequence, embracing a population of from three hundred to five hundred each in their own localities, carrying on a substantial trade.

There are now published in the county, all of them in Logansport, the Logansport Pharos, daily and weekly; the Logansport Journal, weekly; Logansport Star, daily and weekly, and the Sun, weekly.

And now, more particularly of the present city of Logansport. The seat of justice of Cass county, as originally laid out, was a small, unpretentious plat, in the shape of a right angled triangle, its base, along the margin of the Wabash, being of the length of five, and its perpendicular of four squares, embracing one hundred and eleven lots and fractions. These lots contained an area of fifty square rods, and such of them as occupied a position on the corner of a square were offered and sold for seventy-five dollars, the others for fifty dollars. Some of the lots were sold on condition that the purchaser should erect thereon, within a prescribed time, a house not less than eighteen by twenty feet, and one story high. It was laid out on the tenth day of April, 1828, and the plat recorded in Carroll county, in which jurisdiction it then was. In connection with the name, the following incident is related: While the survey was in process of completion, the name of the new town site became the subject of conversation between Mr. Carter, the proprietor, General Tipton, Hugh B. McKeen, Colonel John B. Duret, and others present. General Tipton suggested a Latin compound, signifying "the mouth of Eel," of historic fame, or otherwise, commemorative of the location above the junction of the two rivers known as the "Ouabache and Eel" rivers. Another submitted an Indian name by which the locality had before been known. Then Mr. McKeen, who had formerly resided on the Maumee, in the vicinity where Captain Logan, the Shawanoe chief, a nephew of Tecumseh, who lost his life while attesting his fidelity to the white people, in the month of November, 1812, proposed that his memory be perpetuated in the name of the new town. Colonel Duret agreed with the idea, and thought Logan's port would be appropriate. These differences of opinion were then submitted to the arbitrament of "shooting at a mark," an exercise common in those days. The several names proposed were "shot for," and that having "four best out of seven," should have it. The exercise was finally brought to a close by the declaration that Colonel Duret had "won." Hence, the name as now known "LOGAN'S-PORT."

By the action of the commissioners appointed for the purpose, Logansport was selected as the seat of justice of Cass county, on the twelfth day of August, 1829.

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At the time it was laid out, and for several years succeeding, its importance was chiefly recognized in the light of a central trading post" for a large extent of Indian territory surrounding, and as such it acquired a well merited fame. The consequence was that as soon as the sources of trade began to diminish, the producing population outside the town being inadequate to meet the demands of consumption, and the growth of the town was retarded for several years subsequent to 1836-7, indeed, until the country products equalled, overbalanced the consumption account of the nonproducers in town, and the avenues of trade were opened between this and other more commanding markets.

The increase in population and business facilities was steady for many years succeeding the depression of trade in 1837-8, but not rapid. Up to 1860-65, the spirit of improvement and enterprise was only in process of development. After that time, however, new life seemed to be infused, and rapid advances were observable in every department of industry, and capital- before withheld from investment promising extensive accumulations, as if a dollar out of sight was forever lost-began to seek investment in public and private enterprises which have since yielded liberal profits. For a few years past, the character of the improvements have been more healthy and permanent than ever before, the population increasing in the last decade more than three hundred per cent. To-day it contains fourteen church edifices, one college, eight public school buildings, including seven ward and one high school building, in addition to four private school buildings, representing conspicuously the educational interest of the citizens.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

TIPPECANOE COUNTY HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.

TIPPECANOE county contains within its limits one of

the oldest historical landmarks in Indiana-Ountanon. This was the French name given to the military post which was established on the Wea prairie, near the Wabash, about the same time that Fort Miami, at the head of the Maumee, was erected, probably in 1705.

At Ountanon, (unlike other pioneer French outposts in Indiana,) but few French settled, except the transient trader, who was coming and going with the demands of his vocation, and the military occupation of the place was not permanent. There were long intervals when no garrison was maintained to restrain the savages, which may be given as a reason for the tardiness of the place as a general French settlement. However, in 1759-60, when all the French forts in the northwest fell into the hands of the British, Ountanon was enjoying the benefits of a garrison, and was surrounded by a small number of rude French dwellings. The post, with all others in the vicinity, passed into the hands of the English, and was garrisoned by the latter in 1760. At this time most of the French inhabitants removed to Vincennes, a few families only remaining.

The Wea Indian village surrounding the fort, was one of the most important Indian settlements in the Miami confederacy, and remained such until its destruction under the military administration of General George Rogers Clark, in 1788-9.

In 1763, during the memorable Pontiac war, Fort Ountanon fell among the "fated nine," a victim to Indian stratagem.