That inexorable law which demands the expulsion of the less numerous and less civilized people before myriads of settlers better prepared to utilize the ground was in operation. To this law the primitive men refused to bow and stiffened their backs for a final effort to stop this westward rush of their enemies. As well might they have tried to stay the waters rushing over Niagara Falls. In the approaching contest the Indians could count many warriors, but the tribes near the white settlements could give no help. The once virile Illinois and Piankashaw had been ruined and killed by contact with an alien civilization; strong liquor and disease had performed their work. (434) The Illinois Country: 1673-1818 (1920) |