The Pigeon Roost Massacre

The Pigeon Roost Massacre

Pigeon Roost was a pioneer settlement, then in northern Clark County, but now in southern Scott County, Indiana, situated along the little creek by the same name. It was in a fertile, but then heavily wooded region. It was so –called due to the fact that myriads of wild pigeons roosted thereabouts in choice spots, and their excretions fertilized the soil to an amazing degree of richness. These birds gathered in flocks so dense that they would eclipse the rays of the sun, and by the sheer weight of their roosting bodies broke large limbs from the trees. Their habit of banding together in great flocks was their undoing, however, for they are now entirely extinct due to their having been indiscriminately slaughtered.

Pigeon Roost Settlement Established

The first settlement made in what is now Scott County was in 1805 by John Kimberlin of Virginia, and his sons, Daniel and Isaac, on a stream we now call Kimberlin Creek, in the southeastern part of the county, in Tract 264 of Clark’s Grant. The Pigeon Roost settlement was made in 1809 by a group of twelve families who came from Nelson County, Kentucky. The area had been purchased from the Indians by Governor Harrison by the Treaty of Grouseland on August 21, 1805 and opened up for settlement. Settlement in southern Indiana was not encouraged by the territorial authorities at the capital at Vincennes except in blockhouses, and then only at the settler’s own risk, because of the ever-present danger of attack by the Indians.

On August 12, 1812, Acting Governor, John Gibson had written to Col. William Hargrove, commanding the mounted Rangers, in part as follows: “The men under your command will still keep up the same vigilance. The Militia of this Territory will in a great measure leave for the north. Then our force of able-bodied men will be much reduced, and it will be necessary to carefully watch every point of our frontier.”

Cabin at Pigeon Roost Pioneer Settlement in Clark/Scott County IndianaPigeon Roost was not a village but was a scattered collection of cabins and small farms typical of the southern Indiana pioneer communities of that day. Each rough cabin was in a clearing in the woods where the settlers cultivated their crops and tended their livestock. The settlement occupied an area of several square miles south of the present-day village of Vienna. The famed “Cincinnati Trace,” laid out from Cincinnati to Vincennes by Captain Ephraim Kibbey from 1799 to 1805, traversed the northern edge of the community. Most of the earliest settlers of Scott County came in from the Ohio River at Madison over this historic trail; however, the Pigeon Roost settlers had come in by way of Louisville.

There was also a well-traveled Indian trail which led through the settlement. This trail led from present-day Vallonia, on the East Fork of the White River in Jackson County, through Washington and Scott Counties into Clark’s Grant, where it connected with the old Shawnee Indian village of Tullytown, on Pleasant Run a short distance from present-day Charlestown, and from there it continued on to the Falls of the Ohio. Tullytown, or as it was later called when it became a white man’s town, Springville, is no longer in existence. It was made the first county seat of Clark County in 1801. (In 1803 the county seat was moved to Jeffersonville, and in 1811 from there to Charlestown, and in 1878 back to Jeffersonville.)

Early Families of the Pigeon Roost Settlement

The twelve families which composed the Pigeon Roost Settlement, six of whom were named Collings, were nearly all related. They having built their cabins near each other lived almost as one big family. One-fourth mile southeast form the site of the Pigeon Roost Monument lived the leader of the colony, William Elson Collings. (A veteran of the American Revolution, born in Virginia in 1758, he came to Nelson County, Kentucky with his father and mother, William and Ann Collings.) At home with him were his two youngest children, Lydia and John. (No written account of the massacre mentions Collings’ wife, Phoebe (Hougland) Collings, so it must be supposed that she was away at the time. We know that she was still living in 1827. If she is buried in the Pigeon Roost Cemetery, her grave is unmarked). A hundred yards east of his house was the cabin of his son, Henry Collings. Three-fourths of a mile east was the crude log house which sheltered his son, Richard Collings, his wife and seven children. To the west lived his two daughters, Jane (Collings) Biggs, whose husband, John, was away in service, and Sichy (Collings) Richey, wife of Dr. John Richey, Scott County’s first physician. Five miles to the south, near the present town of Henryville, was the blockhouse of his son, Zebulon Collings. To the north, toward Vienna, lived the brothers, Jeremiah and Elias Payne, Isaac Coffman and Daniel Johnson. The wives of Elias Payne, Coffman and Johnson were sisters, whose maiden names had been Bridgewater. The total number of residents of this pioneer colony was about thirty-five persons. Notwithstanding the troubled condition of the frontier, the settlers enjoyed comparative peace for some time.

At that time there were no permanent Indian villages in southern Indiana, but the Shawnees, Delaware’s and Potawatomi’s often came in to hunt and stay a while at a campsite west of the present town of Vienna, but these stragglers who came into the vicinity were not troublesome. Game was very plentiful, and this was a fine hunting ground. William E. Collings was a great hunter and fighter, and was a crack shot with the long “Kentucky Rifle” which was in use at that time. He had often engaged in friendly shooting contests with the Indians and had even taught them how to shoot. The Indians familiarly called him “The Long Knife,” as they were in a habit of calling any outstanding American, notably George R. Clark, also. Long acquainted with the members of the very band of Indians that took part in the massacre, the settlers, as too often the case, disregarded the rumors of an impending attack by the redskins.

The day before the massacre occurred Captain John Norris of Clark County, an officer in the Pennsylvania Militia, an old Indian fighter who had engaged in the Battle of Tippecanoe, where he was wounded, reached the settlement. He brought additional tidings of disaffection and uneasiness among the Indians and made plans for the erection of a fort and stockade for the protection of the settlement, which plans were never carried out, as will be related.

In all fairness it must be stated that the Indians possibly had some justification, at least in their own minds, for their action. It is said that they were sorely grieved because Dan Johnson stole a white elk belonging to them, and also that William Collings allegedly sold them whisky and then when they were drunk the settlers cheated them in trades for furs and took advantage of them in various ways. Whether these things were true or not, we’ll never know, but probably they had no connection with the massacre.

Shawnee Indians Make their Way to Pigeon Roost

The band of Shawnees that committed the outrage left their village in what is now Lake County, Indiana, and made their way directly to Pigeon Roost Settlement. They were led by a chief by the name of Misselemetaw. They crossed the East Fork of the White River near the present site of Sparksville, in Jackson County, making the crossing three or four at a time so as not to attract too much attention. Then their path joined the Vallonia Trail and they crossed the Muscatatuck River and proceeded by way of present day Little York and Leota to the ill-fated settlement, which they reached early in the afternoon of September 3, 1812.

The first warning the settlers had of an attack by the Indians was when cattle belonging to Jeremiah Payne ran bellowing toward his house, their sides full of arrows and spears. He at once took his wife, Sarah (McCoy), and little son, Lewis, to the fort at Vienna. Then he started through the woods toward the house of his brother, Elias Payne, five miles away. He later stated that he ran in what he called a “turkey trot” all the way, but he arrived there too late. The red fiends had been there before him and had already done their deadly work. Elias’s wife, Rachel, and seven children had been killed and scalped and their mangled and mutilated remains cremated in the burning house.

Elias Payne and his neighbor, Isaac Coffman, were in the woods a few miles from their homes robbing a bee tree when they were suddenly fired upon by the Indians. Isaac was killed instantly and was scalped. It was not until several years afterward that his bleached bones were found. Elias Payne was shot and fatally wounded but managed to escape from the native americans and made his way several miles through the forest. His faithful dog, apparently realizing his master’s helpless condition, returned to the Vienna blockhouse the next day and led Jeremiah Payne to the place where his brother lay unconscious and dying, but before help could be brought to him the wounded man was dead. Jeremiah buried him on the spot lest any prowling Indiana find and mutilate the body.

The Indians visited several of the houses simultaneously in an effort to strike a telling blow and make their escape before an organized resistance could be made against them. Mrs. Richard Collings and her seven children were caught by the Indians as she was trying to make her way to the home of her father-in-law. Her husband was away from home in government Ranger Service at the time. A foot log across Pigeon Roost Creek marked the spot where they died.

Mrs. Rachel (Huffman) Collings, wife of Henry Collings, was also caught by the indians as she was returning to her home from a visit to the cabin of Elias Payne. She was mangled in a most revolting manner, her unborn baby being scalped and laid in her arms after the Indians had worked their will with her. The incentive to such a diabolical deed was the five dollar British reward offered for each American scalp!

However, at the cabin of William E. Collings the indians received a severe setback, losing a half-dozen of their band. At the time he was entertaining his old friend, Captain Norris. They were sitting in front of the cabin eating watermelon when they spotted the native americans in war paint skulking through the bushes and immediately knew that they were on the war path.

William Collings was famed throughout the country west of the Alleghenies as a dead shot with the old flint-lock rifle. Well knowing his deadly aim, the native americans sought to surprise him and his family, but were foiled in this by his keen eyesight. Before the attackers could either reach the cabin or get out of range two were killed. Another standing in the doorway of Henry Collings’ cabin was made a “good Indian” by one of the elder Collings’ bullets. A fourth indian pursuing thirteen-year old John Collings, who had been sent to drive up the cows, with upraised tomahawk and almost within reach of the lad was shot through the heart by the old rifleman. John dashed safely into the shelter of the cabin.

Henry Collings was shot through the head while working in a flax field. He was found in a corner of the rail fence two days later with barely enough life in him to tell the name of the Indian who shot him. “I started to jump the fence, but Little Kill Buck shot me!” were his last words, showing that he knew his mind, and proving that the attackers were known to the settlers.

John Morris, another of the settlers was away serving in the Militia at the time of the attack. His mother, wife and children were all killed by the Indians as they were trying to make their way to the home of William Collings. What a shock he must have received on his eventual return home!

One of the most tragic events of the massacre was the death of the baby of Mrs. Jane (Collings) Biggs. Late in the afternoon Mrs. Biggs with the baby and two other children, went to look for their cow. Pausing at the edge of the clearing as she was returning, she was horrified to see her cabin surrounded by a howling and dancing band of painted native americans, who had set fire to the structure. She started back through the woods toward the fort of her brother, Zebulon Collings, about five miles away, but on the way was overtaken by the redskins. She crouched in the bushes alongside the path, while the Indians passed by within a few feet of her. Just as they had passed her place of concealment the baby began to cry, and the Indians halted. Mrs. Biggs, to stifle the baby’s cries, thrust the corner of her shawl into its mouth. The child struggled to free its face in an effort to breather and made a slight sound. Mrs. Biggs, in her fierce anxiety to still the sound held the shawl even closer to the little face until the Indians finally passed out of sight. As soon as they were gone, she withdrew her hand only to find that in her fear she had suffocated her child. She reached her brother’s blockhouse at daybreak the following morning after wandering all night in the woods carrying the corpse of her baby.

Dr. John Richey, who lived about five miles southwest of his father-in-law, William Collings, was at work in the field when he espied the enemy. He hastened home and told his wife, Sichy, what he had seen. Taking her upon his back he went through the cornfield to the woods, where quietly and cautiously they waited for the dawn. When they dared risk traveling, they left their hiding place and sought refuge at her brother’s fort. On October 12, 1812, about five weeks after the massacre their first child, Richard, was born. It is said that Dr. John Richey and Sichy Collings were the first couple to be married in Scott County.

Mrs. Betsy Johnson, wife of Dan, and sister of Mrs. Elias Payne also reached the fort without being molested. During the afternoon she had heard the shooting and the screams of children and justly realizing the cause left her home and started to the blockhouse at once. While on the way to the fort she looked back and saw her cabin being consumed by flames. She was thankful she had not tarried there.

Ben Yount, who also lived in the community, hearing the shooting of guns and comprehending the danger, put his wife on his horse behind him. They took their children in their arms and made their way to the fort on Silver Creek, eight miles southeast of Vienna. That very night they became the proud, but anxious parents of another daughter, whom they named Rachel.

A Mrs. Beal, who lived in the settlement and whose husband was with Captain Buckner Pittman at Vincennes at the time, heard the frenzied Indians. Taking her two little ones she went to a sinkhole for protection. There she remained until eight or nine o’clock that night. Then under cover of darkness she made her way to the fort on Silver Creek, arriving there at about two o’clock the following morning. These people, with the four who were at the successfully defended cabin of William E. Collings, were all that were left of the Pigeon Roost Settlement.

At the cabin of William E. Collings, the Indians realized they had serious opposition to contend with. One of them tried the stratagem of putting on the dress and shawl of Mrs. Henry Collings, and approaching in that disguise. But the keen eye of Collings detected the deception and his deadly rifle ended the life of one more indian. After that the enemy kept carefully under cover, and apparently divided their forces, part going west in search of easier prey and part remaining to watch the Collings house. But the occupants of the house were alert and vigilant and gave no opportunity for attack while daylight lasted. The defense of the Collings house, though the active part of it lasted hardly more than an hour, served as a check that probably saved many lives, for evening was approaching, and the sound of the firing served as a warning to the scattered settlers.

After dark Collings and Norris realized that the situation was more dangerous, as the Indians might succeed in setting fire to the cabin, and they decided to slip away from it and get to the blockhouse of Zebulon Collings. John, Lydia and Capt. Norris went ahead, taking one of the guns, and Collings guarded the rear. The first three gained the adjoining cornfield without molestation, but as Collings passed the corncrib, an Indian who was concealed behind it fired at him, but without hitting him. He raised his rifle, but found that the Indian’s bullet had broken the loc, and the gun could not be fired. He called to Capt. Norris to bring back the other gun, but Norris either did not hear or did not heed. As the Indians did not attempt to come to close quarters, he made his way into the corn, where he became entirely separated from the others, and the Indians followed him. He passed through the corn and went through the woods until he came to the cabin of his son-in-law, Dr. John Richey, where he hid behind a large log. He heard the Indians looking for him, but they did not find his hiding place. At daybreak he started for Zebulon’s fort, which he reached without further trouble.

Meanwhile, Capt. Norris and the children lost their way in the darkness, and after wandering hopelessly in the woods until they were exhausted, they sat down to rest and soon fell asleep, notwithstanding the peril of their situation. When daylight came they got their bearings and found their way to the blockhouse in safety.

The Indian Attack Ends

The attack of the Indians was over in a few hours and they withdrew, making their way to the northwest over the Vallonia Trail from whence they came. In all, the Indians had slaughtered a total of twenty-four persons, three men, five women and sixteen children. Most of the able bodied men were away from the settlement at the time serving in the Militia or the Army, otherwise this story might have had quite a different ending.

The news of the disaster was brought to Charlestown by Jeremiah Payne. It was dusk when, mounted on his horse, he left the blockhouse in Vienna and dawn when he reached the county seat. The first person he sought was Major John McCoy, his brother-in-law, whose duty it was to lead the pursuit of the Indians.

Mounted messengers were immediately dispatched to the various settlements along the East Fork of the White River to guard the fords. The next day at the Sparksville Ford the Indians were surprised in their crossing of the river. In the fight that took place several of the Indians were killed, but not a white man was even wounded. The Indians were taken at a disadvantage, the settlers firing upon them as they attempted to cross the river laden with plunder from the cabins of Pigeon Roost. The greater part of the Indians, however, made their escape from the ambuscade.

In a few hours after Jeremiah Payne’s arrival at Charlestown a large force of 150 mounted riflemen of the Clark County Militia, under the command of Major McCoy, gathered to pursue the Indians. They reached Pigeon Roost before daybreak the following day and followed the track of the Indians about twenty miles along the Vallonia Trail, until they reached the much-swollen Muscatatuck River, at which point they gave up the chase as they could not effect a crossing of the stream in the darkness. The next morning, they turned back to the scene of the tragedy.

A small scouting party of Rangers, from Washington County, under the command of Capt. Henry Dawalt, discovered and made an attack on the retreating Shawnees at Sand Creek. After killing one of the Rangers, John Zink, the Shawnees continued their flight through the woods and eluded the scouting party.

On the fifth of September the Clark County Militia under Col. Robert Robertson was reinforced by 60 mounted volunteers from Jefferson County under the command of Col. William McFarland, of Lexington (then in Jefferson County). On the sixth 350 volunteers from Kentucky, Under Col. Frederick Geiger, were ready to unite with the Indiana Militia for the purpose of making an attack on the Delaware Indians, some of whom were suspected of having engaged in the destruction of the Pigeon Roost settlement. It seems, however, that a spirit of rivalry which prevailed between some of the officers defeated the intentions of those who, at the time, proposed to destroy the towns of the friendly Delaware Indians, who then lived along the West Fork of the White River. Evidence of the innocence and even friendliness of those Indians was not wanting, so they were spared. The Militia gathered together the mangled remains of the victims of the massacre, many of whom were unidentifiable, and buried them all in a huge grave on the crest of a low hill above a spring which still flows today. The site was long marked by a heap of stones and an enormous sassafras tree.

As was mentioned in the Foreword, on the same night as the Pigeon Roost massacre occurred, September 3, 1812, the Indians attacked Fort Harrison, on the Wabash River near present-day Terre Haute, which was under the command of Captain Zachary Taylor. The next day they besieged Fort Wayne, on the Maumee River. Both these forts were successfully defended by the Americans.

On September 12, 1812, Gov. Gibson instructed Col. Robertson to use such Militia as could be so employed to guard the boundaries of Clark County. He added, “You will give particular orders to the officers commanding to employ their men continually in reconnoitering and scouting through the country on the frontier.”

Following the Pigeon Roost Massacre many of the settlers in the tier of counties along the Ohio river either crossed the river to the safety of Kentucky, or chose to remain in forts or blockhouses, where they lived in a continual state of fear and excitement until the close of the war in 1814. The courthouse at Charlestown was converted into a fort for the safety of those who remained and other forts were erected along the line of the frontier settlements. These forts were garrisoned by territorial Militia until the spring of 1813, when the Rangers were stationed in them. The strong two-story log house of John Kimberlin, Scott County’s first settler, was converted into a fort by being surrounded by a stockade, and Militia were stationed there until all danger was over. In 1831 the Indiana General Assembly passed an Act “for the financial relief of John Kimberlin, of Scott County, for damages caused his farm by Rangers being stationed there in his Block House.”

Zubulon Collings, who lived at the blockhouse, five miles south of the Pigeon Roost settlement, and about a mile east of present-day Henryville, in 1856 made this statement to John B. Dillon, who recorded it in his “History of Indiana”: “The manner in which I used to work, in those perilous times, was as follows: On all occasions I carried my rifle, tomahawk and butcher-knife, with a loaded pistol in my belt. When I went to plow, I laid my gun on the plowed ground, and stuck up a stick by it, for a mark, so that I could get it quick in case it was wanted. I had two good dogs. I took one into the house, leaving the other out. The one outside was expected to give the alarm, which would cause the one inside to bark, by which I would be awakened, having my arms always loaded. I kept my horses in a stable, close to the house, having a porthole so that I could shoot to the stable door. During two years I never went from home with any certainty of returning- not knowing the minute I might receive a ball from an unknown hand; but in the midst of all these dangers, that God who never sleeps not slumbers, has kept me.”

State Memorial Established

In 1904 the State of Indiana belatedly erected at the site of the common grave an imposing obelisk of Indiana limestone and dedicated the site as a State Memorial, thereby preserving for posterity the deeds and tragedies of the early pioneers of Scott County. Ironically enough, this memorial does not bear the names of any of the victims of the massacre, but it does perpetuate the names of the governor and other state and county officials, and even that of the contractor who erected it!

Saturday, October 1st, 1904, passed into history as a great day for Scott County – being the day of dedication of the imposing monument erected by the State of Indiana to mark the burial place and to perpetuate the memory of the victims of the Pigeon Roost Massacre, which occurred on September 3rd, 1812.

Capt. James W. Fortune, of Jeffersonville, President of the Commission which had charge of the erection of the monument, was generally regarded as the father of the project as it was due largely to his untiring efforts that the appropriation with which the monument was erected was secured. After a half dozen Representatives in the Legislature were unable to bring the lawmakers to see the necessity of making such an appropriation, Capt. Fortune finally won. It was no easy task, however. The same fight had to be made through both houses of the legislature, but victory finally came. He stated that the reward was ample and the presence of the crowd at the dedication, and the satisfaction of the citizens of the community who felt that the historic spot had been at last fittingly marked, repaid him for all his efforts.

The day was an ideal one – clear and warm. Every energy had been directed toward making the arrangements for the great occasion as perfect as possible and everything was in readiness before the crack of dawn. Dedication day became a holiday for the entire section of the country. From far and near, the closely adjacent cities and the more remote villages and farms, the people came to the hallowed spot by train, in wagons and buggies, by horseback or on foot. They began arriving before nine o’clock in the morning and were still coming at two in the afternoon. The enormous crowd filled and overflowed the large park surrounding the monument and the speaker’s stand. The number assembled there was variously estimated at ten to twelve thousand. The Pennsylvania Railroad alone brought in fourteen hundred people. Most of the people spent the entire day at Pigeon Roost, having brought their dinners in well-filled baskets, which repasts were spread and eaten under the trees.

The Governor of Indiana, Winfield T. Durbin, and his party had arrived by train in Henryville before six that morning. There they attended a squirrel breakfast at the hotel as guests of Sec. W. H. Freeman of the State Forestry Board. From there they set out in wagons for the monument grounds. When the party neared the grounds about noon they were met by the Reception Committee, the members of which were as follows: Press – James F. Erwin, W. M. Foster and John E. Sierp; Bar – Samuel B. Wells and Mark Storen; Medicine – Drs. George Cline and Levi McClain; Clergy – Revs. L. B. Arvin and E. N. Cranford; Merchants – Epstein Garriott and Irvin McCaslin; Citizens – Melvin Hubbard, William Cravens and J. H. Friedley; Sons of Veterans – W. M. Whitson, J. F. Redman, J. L. Fisher and Harley Gillespie; Relief Corps – Mrs. Lola Calvert, Chairman. A procession was formed west of the railroad tracks headed by a drum corps and a mounted guard of honor escorting the Governor. With the Governor were Rev. D. R. Lucas, Department Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and Capt. William E. English, Commander in Chief of the United Spanish-American War Veterans. Next came the Monument Commissioners, Capt. Fortune, John W. Martin, of Scottsburg and Joseph Hodapp, of Seymour. The Dedicatory Committee from the George Ridlen Post of the G.A.R. at Scottsburg, consisting of Dr. Theophilus E. Biery, Joseph Hepworth, J. T. Wiley and Barney Miller, followed. Next came other notable state officers, the invited guests, Civil War and Spanish-American War veterans. A long line of citizens joined in the march, bringing up the rear.

On arrival at the grounds no time was lost in opening the ceremonies. The dedicatory address was made by Rev. Lucas. He paid able tribute to the early settlers of the state and spoke of the valued services which made possible the commonwealth of today. He dwelt particularly on the awfulness of the massacre which occurred on the historic spot.   Because of the dense crowd and the natural noise and confusion only those who were very close could hear what was being said by the various speakers.

At the close of this portion of the exercises a bountiful dinner was served by the reception committee to all the distinguished guests. During this noon hour the entire assemblage resembled one great basket dinner. It was reported that the only thing to mar the pleasure of the occasion was the dust and the scarcity of good drinking water. As soon as possible the afternoon program of music and speeches was begun.

Following the invocation Samuel B. Wells, of Scottsburg, delivered a stirring address of welcome, to which Col. Charles L. Jewett, of New Albany, replied in an appropriate manner. Capt. Fortune then made the principal address of the day in presenting the monument to Gov. Durbin as the representative of the monument commission, which thus reported the completion of the work for which it was selected by the Legislature. Capt. Fortune, with his usual eloquence, said in part: “After almost one hundred years with nothing to mark the last resting place of heroic men and brave women, except a monument erected by Nature, and may we not say, dedicated by the Great Ruler of the Universe, we are assembled to dedicate a monument erected by human hands and dedicated by this assembly to the pioneer heroes who were massacred at what has come to be known as Pigeon Roost.

“Nature may mark the spot by the presence of yonder gnarled and weatherworn sassafras tree, and the frost and storms may dedicate it to the memory of the silent heroes who sleep beneath its hospitable branches, and the winds of the past century may have sung a sad requiem for the departed. Human hands and willing hearts may pay a last tribute to respect by the erection of yonder beautiful shaft, but the generations, past, present and future, can never repay those who repose on yonder hillside for the heritage they have left behind.

“The traveler has pointed out his spot as one place worthy of recognition, but the idea of erecting this monument by the people of the State of Indiana never took definite form until a bill was introduced by a son of this splendid county, Joseph H. Shea, in the General Assembly of 1896. Practically his measure, it became a law in 1903 and an appropriation was made by the Sixty-third General Assembly of two thousand dollars for the erection of this marker, which the people of this state present to coming generations to keep alive the patriotic sentiment for those who gave their lives for the welfare of the common country.”

Gov. Durbin replied at some length to the speech of Capt. Fortune, accepting the beautiful monument on behalf of the state. In beginning his speech he said: “The monument we dedicate today is not so much a memorial to the individuals whose lives were sacrificed upon this spot as it is a historical marker intended to commemorate the epoch of which the tragic incident of the Pigeon Roost Massacre formed a part. This monument speaks of the rude and harsh conditions under which our sturdy ancestors accomplished the conquest of this commonwealth of ours from savagery for civilization. It is a permanent reminder to future generations of the dangers and difficulties attendant upon the life of our forefathers a century ago, and therein it emphasizes the privileges, the blessings, the opportunities, which are our heritage in the Indiana of today.”

Capt. William E. English replied on behalf of the Scott County Commissioners in a very appropriate speech. Then Hon Joseph H. Shea, of Seymour, recalled in a short speech the history of the agitation for the erection of the monument. He mentioned that Daniel Blocher, of Blocher, wad due more credit than any other person for having kept alive the sentiment which finally resulted in the erection of the monument. He remembered from his earliest boyhood that “Uncle Dan: at Old Settlers Meetings and Fourth of July celebrations always referred to the Pigeon Roost Massacre in his speeches. He also brought out that in 1887, Hon. Charles W. Cruson, the first to ever do so, introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to appropriate five hundred dollars to mark the spot, which bill failed to pass.

Attorney General of Indiana, Charles W. Miller spoke on the early military history of Indiana, then Joseph Balsey, Adjutant of the G.A.R., delivered an address relating to the later military prowess of the state. Following this the exercises proper came to a close with an interesting recital of the history of the Pigeon Roost settlement and the massacre of September 3rd, 1812, by Miss Lizzie D. Coleman, who had also published an authoritative illustrated booklet in regard to the occurrence. Many prominent citizens were then called upon for speeches, and the ceremonies closed with music and the benediction.

Many people remained at the park until a late hour enjoying the outing, then they departed for their homes, having spent there the most memorable day of their lives.

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