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Show AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN ALES of th WEATHER BLAMED The Trial of Aaron Burr T m1 In .ii in .t ,i nni. I IW7.ifnmW tunr r r Burr rr j 7 7heodona Ji I I ir .nil CHIEFS B, EDITHA L. WATSON DEKANAWIDA AND HIAWATHA 3 I ' ltV'v 'A:?- r .-;m.': Kill By ELMO SCOTT WATSON fW NK HUNDKED AND TWENTY - X l five years ago the eyes of the whole I nation were turned toward Itlch- I II niond, Va., for there was taking I j I place one of the most dramatic L I I events In American history what af I has been called "the greatest crim inal trial In American history and one of the notable trials In the annals an-nals of the law." No less a person than Aaron Burr, but lately Vice President of the United States, was on trial for his life and the charge against him was that of committing a crime which was threat to the safety of not Just one person or a group of persons but to the safety of the whole nation, the crime of high treason. Although Burr was acquitted by what was substantially a Scotch verdict of "not proven, my lord," and historians are still doubtful as to whether or not the famous "Burr Conspiracy" was actually a treasonable scheme, the name of Aaron Burr has come down In popular belief niuoug our "galaxy of scoundrels" second only to Benedict Arnold. Whether or not he has been assigned such a place Justly or unjustly Is a matter over which again historians disagree. In the Presidential election of 1800 Burr and Thomas Jefferson, the Democratic-Republican candidates, each received 73 electoral rotes, a tie which threw the election Into the house of representatives, which was strongly Federalist After balloting for a week, ten votes were cast for Jefferson and four for Burr, and under the Constitution aj It stood then this made Jeffer on President and Burr, Vice President Because Be-cause of political Jobbery with the Federalists, Burr lost whatever regard the leaders among the. new party held for him. Then he became Involved tn a bitter struggle for supremacy In New York politics and because of the antagon ism of Jefferson all the patronage was thrown to Burr's rivals, the Clintons and the Living stons. Accordingly be accepted Federalist sup port In the gubernatorial race of 1804, an alll ance which was fought bitterly by Alexander Hamilton. The result was the defeat of Burr, who held Hamilton chiefly responsible for his humiliation. Then followed the famous Burr- Hamilton duel In which Burr's pistols ended the great career of Washington's Becretury of the treasury and made Burr a political and social pariah. Discredited In the East where he had been a leader. Burr turned to the West to recoup his fortunes, hoping to capitalize on the unrest among the Westerners where talk of disunion was rife. Crossing the Alleghenles he arrived at Blcnnerhassett's Island In the Ohio river where lived Ilannan. Blennerhaasett a wealthy Irishman, who had settled there In 1793. To Blennerhassett Burr proposed a wild scheme of raising an armed force In the Old Southwest, driving the Spaniards out of Mexico and establishing estab-lishing a great southern confederacy composed of these conquered Meilcan possessions and the American territory west of the Allechenles where the sentiment for disunion seemed so strong. I'deiincrhasftett was enough impressed by Burr's scheme to mortgage his vast possessions to furnish the necessary money. They else hoped to gain the aid of Great Britain In car rylng out their scheme and, further to Insure the success of the plan. Burr won the support of General Wilkinson, then governor of l.oulsl ana territory, commander of the United State army and "as two-faced a villain as ever served the United States government." Throughout 1805 and 1SW Burr developed his plot which became well known throughout the West The federal authorities, however, seem to have been strangely blind to what was tak lng place until at last Wilkinson betrayed the scheme to Jefferson who on November 27, ISOfl, Issued a Presidential proclamation calling for the arrest of all those Involved. Wilkinson and the others, to save their own skins, deserted Burr and. In the modern parlance, he was made the goat of the whole affair. Attempting to flee, Ban was arrested In Alabama and brought back to Virginia for trial on the charge of Irea on. Ilia case was tried In the United States clr cult court sitting at Richmond and nover, perhaps. per-haps. In American history has there been path ered together In a courtroom such a galaxy of notables as assembled In that Utile room In rrv V . s 4 Vt- 3 : &KJ3 ,, "' ' I A tjlr TIM 6. 1 II Courtroom Scene at Burr'sTrial iiQCriWtTW PAIHT1N6 by CW.JtrfT.RY3 lrt"Trl PAGEANT of AKItRlCA" C0URTI5Y YALE UNIVERSITY PRtSs) v. ? I i Thomas Jefferson Randolph Richmond. John Marshall, chief Justice of the Supreme o-urt of the United Stutes presided over the trial. Luther Martin and Edmund Ran dolph were counsel for the accused and William Wirt was counsel for the government. The foreman of the grand Jury which brought the Indictment against Burr was the waspish but brilliant John Randolph of Roanoke. And not the least of the great figures lit this case was Burr's charming daughter, Theodosia, of tragic fame later. Although Aaron Burr was uKn trial on the most serious churge which can he placed against the citizen of a country, In reality he was little more than a pawn In what was at the trine regarded as a test of strength between the Re publican President Jefferson und the Federalist Chief Justice Marshall. The trial lasted from March 27 to September 7. 1S07, ami the full story of the legal ninneuvers executed by the two clashing forces would require a book for the telling. Under the Constitution, treason ag.iinst the United States cousists "only In levjmg vmr against them, or In adhering to their enemies, giving them aid und comfort," and no person may be convicted of It "unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession In open court." The crux of the whole case against Burr was whether or not on a certain cer-tain date (December 10, 1S0) Burr had actual ly "levied war against the United States" by assembling an armed force on lllennerliassett s Island and on the day following hud set In mo Hon this same armed force In an expedition against the (Ity of New Orleans. The prosecution produced a scries of wit nesses, mainly servants of Blennerhassett, to prove this point. Then It announced Its Intention Inten-tion - of Introducing evidence to show Burr's connection with the assemblage on the island. whereuxn the defense sprang a surprise which turned the tide In Burr's fivvor. Developing the fact that on the night of December 10 Burr hail not been present at the Island, but had been '-'Oil miles away In Kentucky, they contended that under the OVsistltutlon the assemblage on Blen- nertiassetfs Wand cmjM not be regarded as his act, even granting that he had advised it for, said they, advising war Is one thing but levying It Is quite another. If this Interpretation was correct, then no overt act of levying war, either within the Jurisdiction of the court or stated In the lnd.ctnicnt, had been or could be shown against Burr. Next Chief Justice rur8hall handed down an opinion accepting iniiully the contention of Burr's attrneys ami when the prosecution was unable to produce two witnesses who had actually actual-ly seen Burr procure the assemblage on the Island, Is-land, It allowed the case to go to the Jury. Shortly theiva: dr ti.e following verdict was returned: "We of t:. jl;ry gay tliat Aaron Burr Is not proved to ... K ilv UD(er this Indictment by any evelence s i!,;;, ....j t0 . ye therefore find him i,oi t , At tha order of ll0 (,hIof Justice this , , r , (.t w(lg entered on the records of the , , , r: i,s a simple "not guilty." Acquitted, :,,rr t ,.,. an eine nlul llt. cast. The man u!,. , whln one vote of be lv ' ' ' "" i!"' i ulted States wandered about l.uro;,,. (. r ,r (ar8 l)orrown( small """"""s- H,,":'l''.:g ! Idous promotions, urg-""' urg-""' 1 r Ixnlslnna In ISio and lln:,ll-v retun..,.,' -., , ,(Wn luu(1 wtll a (alMt ig und wlo !..rs v- ;iy after his arrival he '''"'""'""-'"I !- l:..A.I)i of the one tie that '"', '- '-n.'i Ahon his beloved T - ,l"s"4' ''-I t I v him when the whole ""rM "'''"''l '" 1 'Tned against him took ship from the s..,,,., , lllpet ,,m , New yrk i ne snip on wi,:, pirt and wl.ii ,,r "M.r. of the most tragic plc- ures In all a,,,- .,, h,8tory , tht of te broken. A l!irr ,u,vot,,,, ffl. 'her whaler r , , , dow II to the If',,.. , , . . . , ' ry day for years, senrch- ""' ,""'" t r tie sail of a ship whh n"v,"r ,:'";' " ringing back to him hi, ,!,; !, ,fleu M a (liml tiMir)i to an 111 a:, 1 , ,,,, unturtu,wt nmr. r age o the ! ,: M:, . ue j,m. who divorced hlin on the d.u I,,. ,i ailed never reached was Is to this day an Creeping out to a hole In the rif-er rif-er Ice, the Huron woman thrust her new born baby Into the freezing waters. wa-ters. There was a fear born of supernatural things In her "heart, for It had been revealed to her that her son would he a source of evil to her people. Hence, It was loyalty to her tribe, and not hatred of her baby, that prompted the awful aw-ful deed. Morning came. Tha mother felt something warm In her arms. Curiosity Curi-osity triumphed over fear, and she dared to look at the little bundle-It bundle-It was her child ! Twice more, she tried to drown her Ill-omened son In the Icy waters wa-ters of the river, and twice more he miraculously reappeared In her arms at dawn. She could no longer bear to attempt his death. This Is a legend, It Is true, but the child, who grew Into one of the greatest of Indian statesmen, Is a historical reality. His name was Dekanawida, and it was he who, with one other, formed the first successful suc-cessful league of nations, and propounded pro-pounded the Idea of universal peace. The Ilurons had united four tribes about the year 1500, but this league did not last. Since It was the Iroquois confederation which destroyed that of the Hurons, the prophecy about Dekanawida would seem to have come to pass. It Is probable, however, that the young Indian had an unusually alert mind, which grasped the shortcomings shortcom-ings of the Huron union and later turned them to account In the organization or-ganization of the Iroquois confederacy. confed-eracy. As soon as he had grown to manhood. man-hood. Dekanawida traveled south. Among the Mohawk, about the same time, a younger man, who was called Hiawatha, was filled with the same Ideas. Legends have grown up around him, too, and In fact we think of Hiawatha as the hero of Longfellow's poem, but the truth is that the poem was written about Manabozho, a Chippewa deity, and does not contain a single fact or fiction relating to the real Hiawatha. Hiawa-tha. Somehow the two Indians met, and found powerful allies in each other. It was Dekanawida who formulated for-mulated the laws and principles of the confederation. It was Hiawatha Hiawa-tha who converted the five tribes to the Idea of union. Together they labored to establish reforms. As modern reformers can testify, this was a bitterly hard task, and the two were opposed, not by the general public so much as by men of equal standing with their own. One of these, an Onondaga, among which tribe Hiawatha started his campaign, went so far as to kill nia- ' wutha's daughters In bis efforts to halt him. Even this crime, however, how-ever, proved unsuccessful in its purpose. Hiawatha mude three attempts to : bring his scheme before the Onon-j Onon-j daga council, but the crafty chief thwarted biro each time. He then i turned to his own people, the Mo-' Mo-' hawks for aid. It is well known what honor a prophet has In bis ! own country, so that we are not sur-j sur-j prised to learn that his efforts met meager success. Then he went to the Oneida, and at last obtained ; their promise to Join the projected ; confederacy If the Mohawks would do likewise. Armed with this agree-1 agree-1 ment, he returned to the Mohawks, and finally was able to persuade i them to unite with the Oneida and the Cayuga, and to Invite the Onondaga to Join them. This tribe at last promised to Join If another, the Seneca, would also enter the confederacy. Such promises would ( have discouraged a less earnest man. I At last, about l"i70, the five i tribes were brought Into confedera- atlon, and united In adopting the laws framed by Dekanawida for the common welfare. It Is worthy of ! note that the remorseless Onondaga Ononda-ga chief who had so opjmsed Hla-, Hla-, watha's efforts in the beginning, was the one through whom that tribe accepted the proposed union. As the chief was a reputed sorcerer, sorcer-er, this victory for Dekanawida and Hiawatha over him was looked upon up-on by the Indians ns a sign of great supernatural power, a fact which added greatly to their prestige, now that It was too late to lie of much val ue. The Iroquois confederation was not the first league of nations, as the Hurons had united four tribes about thirty years earlier, but It was the first successful one. The sensible laws and stable foundation founda-tion given it by the uble brain of Dekanawida. snd t lie untiring efforts ef-forts of ImiIIi Dekanawida and Hiawatha, Hia-watha, formed a project deemed worthy of study by our statesmen of modern times. There are no statues erected to the memory of these two gifted men. They are scarcely known except by del vers In Indian lore. But the Iroquois Iro-quois confederation stands In history his-tory m their monument, and the memory of their success will en-counign en-counign the pence-proponents ,,f our day. ( 1 9 3 2. Wwittro Nwi.r 'nn ) "Bow much the baby looks like Its father." "It's only the weather. The child Is usually bright, cheerful and hand omeH NOT EVEN THERE ti -v. PATRONiaim FBSBBlHllZ' These, yon see, are tempers that you can't wear oufV1 "I believe you. Td scarcely dare wear them at home." POOR OUTLOOK "How's your garden, old man 7" "If simply out of sight." That's good." "It's anything but good. The grass and weeds are a foot high all over It" TV - v i . , me puont ieQj from six to eight gtu a day 1 comidBtf j amount for i ftan studtat I'nivenity battKl Ew.il AirtM, hta Write f.rHmm EXTENSION r IINIVERSITT ft hit Ufa Bi THIS WEEK'S P TV in frw n4 jf plan tlu tdiMliii tmml and U pnpin Ik lift ) Hra la aar Irlui Ttrrtkiat to mm mm T017 Wat W tckakki rrn; tvtrrtaiac u (Uia warn airint Umi la 4 and tat ( f4 aWar hrlTM. m itt Oaa mIikiUm, kttp tkaiiaa with InUrawutia Nat miur 1 A GOOD CATCH? laawaaiak 8ah UtaQV. "Did he have any luck on his fishing fish-ing trip?" "Enough to keep him In conver satlon for several weeks." "The liughta U Si Ho, the MPS' & celestial mujic, bat 1 scorn is discordata Washington Stir. "GRAINS OF I THE WHOLE fit. "Makw Crtiaftf Western KaitFil -1 APPROPRIATE NAME TRACT! Ua " frill J.D.EE, III C-tto-aj Salt Lab1; . ti. Mat a It means u er that ym being fw Vil course was toHW Kolfer.-AsWu This is a bum restaurant" "Sh. Thla ain't a restaurant. It's a famous chophouse." "Huh. Why chophouse V "Yhy-er-becau8e you have t have a hatchet to carve ynui steak." EXCEPTION ! i. UTAH-, j1!? BUT I Your Hi ; wooiij MOW5) SoldjitJS A French en ake.-Toledo?2- "Dld you find that rising In thi army Is very slow?" j "Not In my case. I belong to thi aviation corps." BUT ALL ON TOP ASK TOli'jf. Tb. E3 example "All the big berries are on tot of the box, I suppose?" "No, sir, some of them are on tb top of the other boxes." $5.00 Eg wotpar Union. ) |
