28 THE OREGON NATURALIST. 



neighboring digits, to inheritance through a long to be that identical sword. It is possible 



line of ancestors of gradual increments of size, however; that it may have a still greater an - 



induced by excessive use. ^.^^^^ ^^^ .^ .^ ^^.^^ ^,;^^^^^^ ^^.^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ 



Such gradual enlargement of a digit and its 



,. ^ , . • • K» usually carried by the colonists during the 



hereditary tendency or transmission may be ■' ■' & 



demonstrated in Equidae. The modern horse Revolution. 



walks upon the greatly enlarged third digit of When the French pioneers descended the 



the hand and foot respectively, the hoof repre- vVabash and founded a settlement at this 



senting the nail. Hidden in the tissues on each . , . 



^ • r 1 place, not m 1 702, as is absurdly stated by a 

 side of this functional toe we find vestiges of the 



T J r .u T-u f „;i;„.- .^ „^f» ridiculous tablet in the facade of our county 



second and fourth. These are familiar to vete- J 



rinarians as the splint bones courthouse but over 30 years later, they built 



(To be continued) a fort near Hie river, just below the Pianke- 



C. C. PURDUM. shaw Miami town of Chippecoke. 



__ After the close c>f the French and Indian 



A RFT Tr OF THF PIONFERb ^^' ^'^^ great chief, Pontiac, continued hostili- 



T . ■ 1; ..,„c „.,..ortv,<:.,i ties making Vincennes the base of his opera- 

 Last summer a curious relic was unearttied *> r 



in the central part of the city of Vincennes, ^'°"^- 



T J- T-u- r- .r.„A^^^c ,...,^^A t,.,^ Vincennes, or Au Poste, as it was then 



Indiana. This was a Crusaders sword, two ' 



edged, cross hilted, brass mounted and ivory ^^"«'' ^^^ "°' '=«™^ '"^'^ '^e possession of the 



handled. It was found about 18 inches be- British until 1765, when the fort was rebuilt 



low the surface in a spot which as the "oldest '-^"^ christened Fort Sickville. Fort Sackville 



inhabitant" well remembers, was once a pond. "^^^ " primitive, quadrangular affair, 40 feet 



„, , , J , J, . 1 „ „,. ,. ^ Kro^o back from the river bank. It was furnished 

 The blade was badly eaten by rust, the brass 



A ^u„ ■ ,„,., ,.,„o with a large magazine, which was probably 



mountings were awry, and the ivory was & & • t j 



,, , , ,. always empty, and afforded quarters for looo 



yellow and crumbhng. j t j 1 



1-L- j-i -J . J u «.K„^„k;«,f men who certninly never mateiialized. 



This dilapidated weapon became the subject •' 



f , .... , „, This fort was twice captured by General 



of much speculation, and newspaper coires- '^ ^ 



, , -^ J • 1 1 1 „ ,u , ^u^ „,. Clark, once by intrigue and once by a desner- 



pondents united m declaring that the gaps . / & / f 



, . , J r lu u\ A tu ate eame of bluff, and the British general, 



rusted m the edges of the blade were the ^ & ' t. > 



, J J, , Hamilton, who had made it his headquarters 



marks of some deadly encounter. ' ' 



,,,, „ , ^ „ /^i I when paying rewards for colonists' scalps, was 



When General George Rogers Clark was p / & r > 



, ^ ,7. T7- ■ • 1 I taken to Virginia a prisoner, 



commander at Vincennes, Virginia, whose ter- & ^ 



After that the history of the fort was of a 



ritory this whole region then was, did not give .^ , ... , ., ,.,.,•..• 



^ ^ ' & ygj.y pacific description and the '"oldest inhabi- 



him adequate financial support, and he often jg^j.' j^ ^^^^^^ regarding its ultimate fate and 



spoke bitterly of his state. It is said that the final destiny of the 6 and lo-pounders that 



when Virginia presented the general with a defended it. 



. , , . .u ^u It was near the place where the eastern 



sword of honor he threw the weapon ^ 



wall of the fort, an eight-foot wall of earth and 



away exclaiming: "I asked Virginia for ^ ^^^^,^ ^^^ ^^ ^o-feet high palisades, had 



bread and she gave me a sword!" Qn^e stood that the relic was found. 



Powerful imaginations have proclaimed this ANGUS GAINES. 



