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probably Clark was the only man living
at that time who could have done so.
He was a man of immense tenacity of
purpose, not easily to be discouraged
from the performance of anything he
set out to accomplish.
He established friendly relations with the captains of the Spanish villages across the Mississippi and proceeded to enlist a number of the French settlers in his own army. The Frenchmen were distributed among the four companies and he soon had all four companies all well disciplined and drilled. He next called a council at Cahokia of the chiefs and warriors of the Ottawas, Chippe- was, Pottawatomies, Sacs, Foxes and other Indian tribes whose territory cov- ered the entire northwest. Large num- bers of these warriors attended the meeting and were treated with much consideration. Clark, to all appear- ances, trusted implicitly in their good faith, and apparently made no prepara- tions to meet any treachery on their part. Two days were spent in speech making. On the third, a party of tur- bulent warriors endeavored to force their way into the house where Clark was lodging and carry him off as a prisoner. Clark had rather expected this from the beginning, and his guards were at hand. The savages were seized and placed in irons. The second day after this he produced a war belt of wampum and handed it to the chiefs whom he had taken captive, telling them that he gave them three days to get away from Cahokia and that at the end of those three days he proposed to make war on them. Up to this time he had treated the Indians with great courtesy and his mixture of boldness with diplomacy made him master of the situation. The chiefs whom he had taken prisoner, and the other chiefs as well, arose and expressed their deter- mination to be friendly with the Ameri- cans. In the wars which followed enough of them remained true to their treaty with Clark to seriously break the power of Great Britain over the savages in the northwest territory. For twenty years after this Clark continued to be a man of immense influence with
the Indian tribes in this part of the country.
Hamilton had, in the meantime, been much gratified at his success in em- broiling the frontiersmen in an Indian war. He thought that the time was now ripe for the destruction of the American posts west of the mountains and was planning an attack on Fort Pitt. He had begun the assembling of his men and laying in his provisions for this expedition, when he was as- tounded with the news that Clark had captured Kaskaskia and Cahokia. Shortly afterwards he learned that Vin- cennes was also in the hands of the Americans. He acted with great ener- gy and promptness. French emissaries were sent to the Indian tribes in the wilderness to stir them up against the Americans. The Kickapoos, Weas and Miamis were induced to take the war path. The proposed attack on Fort Pitt was, of course, abandoned. On the 7th of October Hamilton left De- troit on his expedition for the recap- ture of Vinceunes and the Illinois coun- try. He had one hundred and seventy- seven white men and about four hun- dred Indians. He carried a six-pounder cannon and plenty of ammunition and provisions. Hamilton had much diffi- culty in making the journey from De- troit to Vincennes, but he arrived at the latter place on the 17th of Decem- ber. The Creoles deserted Captain Helm, and the Wabash Indians, who had made a treaty with Clark, went over to the British. A party of scouts whom Helm had sent out to watch for Hamilton's approach were captured bv the latter, and Helm with only one or two Americans to assist him was left to defend the fort against five hundred British and Indians under Hamilton. He had no choice but to surrender.
It was now the middle of winter and the weather was severely cold. If Ham- ilton had pushed forward, in spite of the discomforts incident to traveling at that season of the year, he must in all probability have crushed Clark and re- conquered the country ; but he reasoned that Clark had only one hundred men and Hamilton had five hundred. Ham- ilton, moreover, lay betweep Clarlcand'
