lers at Vincennes would consider themselves abandoned upon the
withdrawal of troops. It was proposed to leave enough troops among the
French to satisfy them, but scarcely had the new fort been established
when the people of Cahokia sent a special messenger to Clark at Fort
Jefferson, the new fort, asking that troops be sent to protect them. The
Indians so surround the place, say the petitioners, that the fields can
not be cultivated. If troops are sent the people can not feed them, but if
they are not sent the people can not long feed themselves.(40) French
creditors of the government were unpaid and some of them must have been in
sore need.(41)

The act establishing the County of Illinois would terminate by limitation
at the end of the May session of 1780, unless renewed. At that session,
the act was renewed "for one year after the passing of this act, and from
thence to the end of the next session of assembly."(42)

The condition of the people in the county during the latter half of 1780
was one of misery. Contemporary accounts have a melancholy interest. An
attack by Indians upon Fort Jefferson being imminent, the few troops in
the outlying districts were ordered to come to the aid of the garrison.
The order reached Cahokia when its few defenders were sick and starving.
Corn, without grease or salt, was their only food. Deaths were of frequent
occurrence. The people of the village had petitioned Col. Montgomery to
ease their burden by quartering some of the troops in other villages, but
he refused the request of other officers for a council and threatened to
abandon the country entirely. In such a condition of affairs, Capt.
McCarty proceeded to obey the orders from Fort Jefferson. The only boats
at the disposal of the garrison were unseaworthy, so five small boats were
pressed for use. On the way, several of the famished soldiers became so
sick that they had to be left along the route. Even military discipline
was bad in the country. Capt. McCarty, upon being arrested for having
quarreled with Dodge, because the latter would not buy food for the
starving troops, was left for months without trial because Col. Montgomery
had left the country and a military court could not be convened.(43) In
October, McCarty wrote: "In short, we are become the hated beasts of a
whole people by pressing horses, boats, &c., &c., &c., killing cattle,
&c., &c., for which no valuable consideration is given; even many not a
certificate, whi