The majority of Indiana towns were settled
in the mid-1800's, so many towns and cities are not yet as
old as our state, let alone our country. In the beginning,
while dense wilderness still covered most of the country,
Indiana was prime for being settled by the many travelers
crossing the country in search of a place to call home. "The
trails and traces were great highways over which civilization
came into the wilderness. Wild animals often followed the
trails, trappers followed the game, and settlers frollowed
the trappers." (372) Other travelers simply yearned to
answer the siren's call from the uncharted territories, which
were filled with dangerous animals and even more deadly Native
Americans. One traveler, Thomas Dean, who spent most of his
life as an ambassador to various tribes of Indians, left his
home to travel the uncharted lands of America.
It is difficult to believe that this modern Jason, toiling through
the the forests of Indiana with a heavy pack, swimming rivers
to get his boat over rapids, sleeping on beds of wet brush and
leaves in forests, sometimes without food, and living like an
Indian, had left behind him, at Deansboro, NY, a large beautiful
home, situated in the charming Oriskany Valley. (275)
As is mentioned in the previous quote, Dean spent some
time in Indiana. What he experienced was a rich vast landscape,
filled with various types of land. One day, while traveling to Muncie,
he "traveled hard through the woods, brush, weeds, etc. in
a small path, it being very muddy and in some places swampy for
many miles." (313) The wilderness attracted many brave and
daring pioneers, like Dean, who utilized the abundance of Indiana's
natural resources quickly for survival. Many newly married young
men would move westward in order to build homes and gain land not
available in the East. "The innate desire to possess a home
of their own, coupled with the love of freedom and religious liberty,
led them to plunge into the almost impentrable wilderness."
(163) The young men would travel boldly into the wilderness, braving
the trials and tribulations that many other settlers had faced,
so as to find and stake a homestead.
If they were so fortunate as to find any [open land] before them,
they would stop for a few days and select a place to make their
home. They then cut the logs for their cabin and with the help
of their newfound friends would carry the logs and put them up.
(160)
One of the most important factors in the early development
of the pioneers was the abundance of wildlife available as game
in the state. "The pioneers who first came to Indiana could
not have remained for any length of time had it not been for the
game which was so abundant on every hand." (157) Various types
of animals were available for hunting, including game birds, hooved
animals, and rodents. The farmers who settled on Indiana land took
great pleasure in hunting, and often did so for sport as well as
need.
In the early times the farmers organized hunting parties, with
three or four on a side, and set a day to meet at a stated place
and count the scalps of the squirrels which they had killed. The
side having the most scalps was to enjoy a dinner or supper of
good things prepared by the defeated ones. In these round-ups
they would have several hundred scalps each, representing a few
days' hunting only. (435)
Squirrels were not the only wildlife to be hunted in
massive numbers. The red deer, once plentiful in Indiana, suffered
a toll after the natives were driven from the state. "Many
old hunters, after the Indians had gone away, which allowed them
to hunt in security, would kill eight and ten a day." (430)
The hunters, bringing down nearly ten deer a day, swiftly brought
down the deer population. "After deer became less plentiful
in Indiana, they were much harder to find and the hunters resorted
to many ways of killing them." (432) Other animals also suffered
in numbers. Buffaloes once were plentiful near Terre Haute and pidgeon
roosts (each holding thousands of pidgeons) were found all over
the state.
This is not to say that the hunters and farmers were
killing needlessly and knowledgeably depleting the state of a valuable
resource. During this time, it was not known the amount of resources
one could use without being wasteful. Often times, a farmer would
not know how much was needed for others to survive. The farmer only
knew how much it took for themselves to survive. "About what
was going on in the outside world he knew nothing and cared less
for he had a world of his own around him, fresh and crude as nature
could make it." (162)
The pioneers had many different opinions about the
wilderness that loomed before them, but the most prevalent two were
that one, God granted this beauteous country for human consumption
only, and that two, the wilderness was an evil dark force that needed
to be conquered by humankind's hand. These two theories often went
hand in hand, as settlers were inclined to believe that the evil
wilderness could only be conquered by these God-fearing folk.
In the Treasury of American Song is a pioneer ballad
entitled "The Promised Land". Written about Indiana, Illinois,
and Ohio, the song is about the religious connections the pioneers
drew between the wilderness and heaven (???). "To the early
pioneer, the phrase 'the promised land' referred not only to the
Heavenly pastures that lay beyond death, but also to the fertile
earth that stretched beyond the Alleghenies" (???). In parallel,
another folk song entitled "The Lass of Roch Royal", the
wilderness is referred as dangerous and evil. "You had better
stay in your own room,/All on a bed of down,/Than to be in your
wild wilderness/While the wild beasts howl and mourn." (93)
The song advises a young maiden to be wary of the wilderness, which
may steal away her innocence. The dichotomy of heaven and hell is
apparent in many pioneer writings.
As recorded in The Pioneer History of Indiana, this
bold statement is made of the Hoosier settlers.
God never gave life to a truer and nobler set of men and women
than those who drove out the Indians, subdued the wild animals,
cleared away the forests and transmitted life to the strong hardy
race that now occupies this glorious country. (165)
The pioneer experience in Indiana heavily relied on
the environment that surrounded the settlers that came to the Hoosier
state so many years ago in search of homes, opportunity, and adventure.
The wildlife in Indiana sustained the early pioneers, the land provided
food for many years after, the heavy dense woods provided shelter,
and the richness of the landscape fueled the dreams and writings
of many Hoosier authors yet to write.
O, the transporting rapt'rous scene/that rises to my sight,/Sweet
fields arrayed in living green/And rivers of delight./I am bound
for the promised land/I am bound for the promised land. (3)
Sources:"The
Journal of Thomas Dean", Thomas Dean, Indiana Historical Society
Publications, Vol. 6, No. 2, C.E. Pauley & Co., 1918
"Early Indiana Trails and Surveys", George R. Wilson, C.E.,
L.L.B., Indiana Historical Society Publications, Vol. 6, No. 3, C.E.
Pauley & Co., 1919
A Pioneer History of Indiana, Col. William H. Cockrum, Press
of Oakland City Journal, 1907
A Treasury of American Song, Second Edition, Olin Downes
and Elie Siegmeister, Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 1943
Ballads and Songs of Indiana, Paul Brewster, Indiana University
Press, Bloomington. 1940
Indiana Place Names, Ronald L. Baker and Marvin Carmony,
Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1975
Authors in this database who delve into the Pioneer
Experience:
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