the Indian Territory had been set apart for them, and thither it was decided the Indians must go. Naturally they did not wish to go. They were somewhat civilized, all these tribes whose names I have given. They had their farms and their villages; many of them owned negro slaves; they had built saw and grist-mills and stores, and possessed many of the appliances of civilized life. Some of their leaders were half-breeds, the sons of white men, and were more intelligent than the full-blooded Indians. They were ready to fight bitterly before they would remove beyond the Mississippi. But Jackson was as determined in this as in all other matters, and he had decided they must remove. The Seminoles fought fiercely under Osceola, a half-breed chief, who had suffered wrongs enough at the hands of the white man to stir a fever in less savage blood than his. He was finally captured, and taken in irons to Fort Moultrie, where he died a prisoner. The Creeks also fought, as all brave men have done before or since, for the right to their homes and firesides. General Winfield Scott was finally sent there, and with very wise and soothing management succeeded in removing all the tribes to the new Indian country. The last of them went about 1838. There these tribes remain to this day,- the most intelligent and civilized communities of Indians in the country. They have schools, printing-presses, and a degree of intelligence among them, which argues well for their capacity to make good citizens. If the white men had known how to make peace with them as well as they had known how to make war upon them, we might have been spared much bloodshed and a great deal of money.

Osceola.

Jackson's administration ended in March, 1837. The vice-president of his second term was Martin Van Buren of New York, a descendant of the worthy Dutch settlers. "Old Hickory," as the people fondly called Jackson, was growing infirm and tired of office. He wanted his friend and colleague, Van Buren, to be president, and he helped toward his election. Before he retired to the Hermitage, he had the satisfaction of assisting in the ceremonies which made Martin Van Buren the eighth President of the United States.

CHAPTER XVIII.

VAN BUREN, HARRISON, AND TYLER.

"Old Hickory" and "Old Ironsides." - Hard Times. Log Cabin Campaign.. Death of General Harrison. John Tyler's Presidency. A New Invention. Artist and Inventor. - Invention of the Telegraph. - A New Political Question.

1

Samuel Morse, the

WHEN Van Buren rode through the streets of Washington to the

capitol, to take the in

augural vows, General Jackson rode by his side. The carriage in which they sat together was made of wood which had once been part of "Old Ironsides," the gallant ship Constitution, which had figured so often in our naval history. "Old Hickory" and "Old Ironsides" shared with the new president the cheers. of the crowd.

Mr. Van Buren was hardly made president before the country was in great distress. All these bank troubles and moving

mvan Burem

about of the money of the country, had made many troubles among business men. Then there had been too much land speculation, and other kinds of speculation, for several years. All this helped now to make a panic, and the whole country was in the condition of a bankrupt merchant, whose creditors will not wait a day for their money. Rich men failed, poor men were thrown out of employment. Provisions, always so cheap before, became very dear. Flour was fifteen dollars a barrel, and the poor, who had no work, were many of them without bread. Those were hard days. People blamed the government, which really had nothing to do with the state of affairs, and the new president was made unpopular by the discomfort which prevailed.

When his four years had nearly expired, the Democrats nominated Van Buren for president again. Meantime the other party-now no longer called Federalists, but renamed "Whigs," in remembrance of the revolutionary patriots-had been growing stronger. They nominated for president, William Henry Harrison, our old Indian fighter in Indiana, the hero of Tippecanoe. For vice-president they had John Tyler of Virginia.

The Whigs made the land ring with a new war-cry of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too." General Harrison had been living quietly in

Ohio ever since he had resigned his army command on the western border to Andrew Jackson in 1814. For several years he had occupied a rude frame-house on the western frontier, and lived like a plain farmer of very moderate means.

Some of his Democratic. opponents said of him sneeringly, "Give Harrison a log cabin and a barrel of hard cider, and he will never leave Ohio to be President of the United States." On this his followers took up the word, and the "log cabin and hard cider campaign" was one of the most

exciting political fights ever fought. Newspapers bore pictures of log cabins at their head, and barrels of hard cider were rolled from one town to another, attended by crowds of boys and men who turned out to see the fun. It ended in Harrison's election to the presidency, with Mr. John Tyler as vice-president.

Ever since the election of Thomas Jefferson, forty years before, the Democratic party had held the political power and offices. Now the party which claimed to represent Washington and the elder Adams, once more took the reins.

It was a brief triumph, however. On the 4th of March, 1841, William Henry Harrison took the solemn oath of his office. On