Proclamation: Rights of Settlers at Peoria
April 8, 1802
Executive Journal, 5
The Citizens of the Village of Peoria on the Illinois River having presented a petition to the Governor, stating that a considerable quantity of wood and prairie land adjoining the said Village, from whence they have been accustomed to procure hay and fuel, had been granted by a Certain Mallier [Paulette Maillet] who stiled himself Commandant of Peoria to a number of Individuals by whom the said Citizens have been forbidden to Cut Wood, or Hay as usual, to their great Inconvenience and Injury; The Governor Issued a proclamation publicly notifying, that all the land included within a Square of six miles [Ceded by Indians in Wayne's treaty, 1795] round the said Village is the property of the United States, that the said Mallier nor no other persons have ever been authorized by the United States to dispose of the land, and that the sales, and Concessions made by him are Fraudulent and Void; And as the only agent of the United States in this Territory, he gave to the Citizens of the said Village permission to Cut wood and Hay upon any of the Public lands, which are not Enclosed or have not been yearly Enclosed, at the same time he expressly forbids any new settlement, plantation or farm to be made upon any part of the said six miles square, until it shall be authorized by the Government of the United States.[1]
Proclamation: Offering a Reward for a Jail Breaker
May 5, 1802
Executive Journal, 6
The Sheriff of Knox County having reported to the Governor that a Certain John Williams, confined in the jail of the said County, on the Charge of murder, did on the night of the 4th. Instant [May] Break the Jail, and from thence Effected his Escape, the Governor Issued a proclamation of-
- ↑ Paulette Maillet was born at Macinac in 1753. His life was that of the French woods ranger, roaming the forest as an Indian partisan from Lake Erie to the Rocky mountains. He is best known for his daring capture of Fort St. Joseph in 1778. This same year he founded Peoria. Ill., opposite the present city. Here in 1805 the trader lost his life in a quarrel with another ranger named Senegal who shot him dead.
