USA > Iowa > An illustrated history of the state of Iowa, being a complete civil, political, and military history of the state, from its first exploration down to 1875; > Part 4
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Seven years after, in 1680, Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan friar and missionary, passed along the whole eastern shore of Iowa, ascending the Mississippi from the Illinois river. Two years after, La Salle entered the Mississippi by the same river and passed down to the Gulf of Mexico. On the 9th of April, 1682, he unfurled the banner of the king of France at the mouth of the great river, and in the name of his sovereign, took formal pos- session of the whole country watered by it, and by all streams that flow into it. In this act, he named the country Louisiana ; and thus, the mighty valley lying between the Alleghany and the summit of the Rocky mountains, embracing one-fortieth of the land surface of the globe, and constituting, in the language of De Tocqueville, " the most magnificent dwelling place pre- pared by God for man," came into the hands of France. The victory of Wolfe over Montcalm at Quebec, in September, 1759, gave the possession of Canada to Great Britain, and blotted out the name of New France, causing an entire reconstruction of the map of America. As a result of treaties, the territory now embraced in the state of Iowa, with the whole of Louisiana, lying west of the Mississippi river and the city of New Orleans, was ceded to Spain. Meanwhile, by a secret treaty (October, 1800), Louisiana was retroceded to France. Afterward, before formal possession was taken (November 30. 1803), France sold it to the
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EARLY HISTORY.
United States (April 30, 1803), for eighty million of francs, and the transfer was made at New Orleans, December 20, 1803.
Thus, for one hundred and thirty years after its discovery, the territory now composing the state of Iowa remained under the dominion, first of France, then of Spain. During this period, the savage roamed over the prairies and the trader coursed up and down the rivers. No European institution found a foothold. No mortal eye is known to have observed, with any distinctivness, the great resources of a state now attracting the eyes of the civil- ized world, but elsewhere events were transpiring calculated to reach the hand of energy and enterprise over the broad prairies of Iowa.
At only two points are any traces of the dominion of the Span- iards, viz. : at Dubuque and Montrose.
CHAPTER IV.
THE TWO FIRST SETTLERS.
FIRST SATTLEMENT .- Julian Dubuque- His Wonderful Purchase from the Indians - His Characteristics- Spanish Land Grants.
THE FIRST white person who made a residence within the present limits of the state of Iowa is believed to have been Julien Dubuque, who, on the 22d of September, 1788, at Prairie du Chien in what is now the state of Wisconsin, purchased from the Fox Indians a large tract of land situated in what was after- wards known as the Dubuque Land District. This tract is con- tiguous to and bordering on the Mississippi, and extends from the mouth of Little Makoketa river to the mouth of the Musqua- bineque creek, now called Téte des Morts. This conveyance was signed by chiefs, Blondean Basib-Piar, Ala Austen, Quirneau, Tobaque and Antaque, and the deed issued to Julien Dubuque, called by the Indians, the " Little Night" (la petit nuit). In consideration of this grant, Dubuque delivered to the Indians certain goods in full payment. Mr. Dubuque appears to have occupied the land deeded to him, and made improvements thereon, consisting of the clearing and preparation of an extensive farm, the erection of a horse mill and houses to dwell in, and until the 22d day of October, 1796, cultivated the farm, worked the lead mines on the land, smelting the lead in a furnace he had caused to be constructed. The district of country at that time was sitn- ated in the dominions subject to the king of Spain, and consti- tuted part of what was then known as the Spanish province of Louisiana. On the 22d of October, 1796, at the city of New Orleans, Dubuque presented to the Baron de Carondelet, Acting Governor General of the province, a petition for a confirmation of the grant by the Spanish government of his interest in said
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CROSSCUP & WEST-SC.PHIL
Hon. Roderick Rose.
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TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
land, which, on the 10th of November, the Governor General granted. On the 20th of October, 1804, at St. Louis, Dubuque deeded to Auguste Chouteau, for the sum of $10,848.60, 72,324 arpens of land, a part of said tract. The whole number of acres, comprising the original grant by the Indians, was 148,176 arpens, forming in superficies, "about twenty-one leagues, beginning at the heights of Mesquatte Manque, being the front of the Missis- sippi seven leagues, by depth three leagues, the whole forming the tract known as the "Spanish Mines."
Of this early settler of Iowa, we learn that he was also an Indian trader ; that he adopted the manners and customs of the Indians, married into their tribes and became a chief among them. He is said to have been of French and Spanish parentage, of small stature, greatly addicted to the vices incident to the com- mingling of Spanish and Indian races in America, and a great medicine man. He would take live snakes of the most veno- mous kinds on his arms and bosom, and was, consquently, regarded by the Indians with superstitious veneration. He died March 20, 1810, aged 45 years, and was buried on a high. bluff that overlooks the river near the mouth of the Catfish creek.
Towards the close of the last century Lewis Fresson, alias Honore, a Canadian, came down from Prairie du Chien to the head of the lower rapids, among the Sacs and Foxes at their invitation, and established a trading post. The lieutenant governor of Upper Louisiana, Zenon Trudeau, gave him permission at St. Louis, March 30, 1799, to settle there with the concessions of a sufficient space "to make the establishment valuable and useful to the commerce of peltries, to watch the Indians, and keep them on the fidelity they owe to their majesty." He lived there with his family several years, surrounded his establishment with pickets and rail fences, erected buildings and a trading house, planted gardens and an orchard of a hundred trees. Falling in debt at St. Louis, the whole property was seized on the 27th of March, 1803, under the Spanish law, and offered at public sale at the door of the Par- ish church in St. Louis, at the conclusion of high mass, the people coming out in great numbers. After due notice, given in a high and intelligible voice by the public crier of the town on three suc- cessive Sundays, the property was sold on the 15th of May and
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THE Two FIRST SETTLERS.
brought one hundred and fifty dollars. These particulars indi- cate the manner of transacting business seventy-two years ago; and because this grant and sale constitute the oldest legal title to land in Iowa, and are the only acts under the Spanish administra- tion and law that have affected the disposition of any portion of the soil of the state, they are worthy of record. They were con- firmed by the United States and sustained by the supreme court against those holding other claims, in 1852. 4
CHAPTER V.
THE INDIANS OF IOWA.
Sacs and Foxes - Other Tribes - Their Locations - Characteristics -Tribal Divisions.
THUS FAR the discovery and history of what is now the state of Iowa, with incidental circumstances of two of the early settlers within its borders, have been noticed, and before referring to sub- sequent events connected with the permanent settlement of the country, it is proper to give some account of those who were its original proprietors. The relations of the aborigines are so in- timately interwoven with the pioneer history of the state, that it is proper to devote some space to those who formerly occupied, and inhabited the beautiful prairies of Iowa.
At the time of the acquiring by the United States of the country west of the Mississippi river, most of the territory now embraced within the limits of Iowa was in the possession of the Sac and Fox Indians, who at one time had been a powerful nation, and were in the possession of a large tract of country. Those Indians were formerly two distinct nations, and resided on the waters of the St. Lawrence; but for many years before they left Iowa, they lived together and were considered one people, though they kept up some customs among themselves, calculated to maintain a separate name and language.
The Foxes first moved to the west and settled in the vicinity of Green Bay, on lake Michigan. But they had become involved in wars with the French and neighboring tribes, and were so much reduced in numbers that they were unable to sustain themselves against their hostile neighbors.
The Sacs had been engaged in a war with the Iroquois, or Six Nations who occupied the country which now composes the state of New York, and had become so weak that they were forced to
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THE INDIANS OF IOWA.
leave their old hunting grounds and move to the west. They found the Foxes, their old neighbors, like themselves reduced in numbers by the misfortunes of war, and from a matter of necessity, as well of sympathy, they united their fortunes together and be- came one people; and as such remained so long as they lived within the limits of Iowa, and probably will, so long as they remain a nation. The date of their emigration from the St. Law- rence is not definitely known. Father Hennepin speaks of the Fox Indians being at Green Bay in 1680, which was at that time called the Bay of Puants.
After the union of the Sacs and Foxes at Green Bay, and when their nation had become powerful, they crossed over and extended their hunting grounds west to the Mississippi, and uniting with other tribes, began to act on the defensive.
All the valley from Rock river to the Ohio, on the east of the Mississippi, and on the west up to the Des Moines river, was in- habited by a numerous and warlike nation of Indians called the Minneways, signifying "men." This great nation was divided into different bands, known by various names, such as the Illinois, Cahokins, Kaskaskins, Peorias, etc., and occupied separate parts of the valley. This nation had long been prosperous and power- ful, and feared and dreaded by other nations ; but a circumstance happened which brought the vengeance of their neighbors upon them, and they in turn were humbled. Pontiac, a chief very much beloved and respected by his people, had been wantonly murdered by some of the Minneways. This act aroused the anger of the Sacs and Foxes, and, forming an alliance with other tribes, they commenced a fierce and bloody war against the different bands of the Minneways. This war was continued till that great nation was nearly destroyed, and their hunting grounds possessed by their enemies. At the time the United States made the Lou- isiana purchase, the Sac and Fox nations were in possession of most of the state of Illinois, and nearly all the country west of the Mississippi between the upper Iowa river and the Jeffreon, in Missouri, west of the Missouri river. The Sacs had four large villages where most of them resided, one at the head of Des Moines rapids, near where Montrose is now located, which con- sisted of thirteen lodges; the second village was on the east shore
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TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
of the Mississippi near the mouth of the Henderson river, about half way between Burlington and Oquawkee. The third village was located on Rock river, about three miles from the Mississippi, which was their largest and principal village. The other was on the west side of the river near the mouth of the upper Iowa.
The Foxes (or Reynards) had three villages; one on the west side of the Mississippi, six miles above the rapids of Rock river ; the second, "twelve miles in the rear of the lead mines at Du- buque; " and the other on Turkey river.
The Iowas, who may be regarded as a band of the Sacs and Foxes, at this time had one village near the mouth of the lower Iowa river, and another on the north side of the Des Moines, near where is now located the town of Iowaville. These Indians had their separate villages and different chiefs, but they occupied in common the same hunting grounds, were united in their wars and alliances, and the Sacs, Foxes and Iowas were generally re- garded as one nation. It appears that the Iowas, at one time were identified with the Sacs who lived on Rock river; but, from some cause, at a period not generally known, there were eight families who left that village and started out as a band by them- selves, and for a long time "they recognized eight leading fami- lies " in their band. "These clans bear the title or name of the particular animal or bird from which they are supposed to have sprung," and they were known as the Eagle, the Pigeon, the Wolf, the Bear, the Elk, the Beaver, and the Snake Indians. "These families were known severally in the tribe by the pecu- liar manner in which they cut their hair. The Eagle family was marked by two locks of hair on the front part of the head and one on the back left part; the Wolf family had scattered bunches of hair representing islands, whence their families were supposed to have sprung; the Bear family left one side of the hair of the head to grow much longer than the other; the Buffalo family left a strip of hair long from the front to the rear part of the head, with two bunches on each side to represent horn&" The other families, with their peculiar bodies, were lost or had become ex- tinct long before they left Iowa. In 1830, and for many years after, the Iowas were estimated at about 1,100 souls; but in 1848, they were stated to be a fraction under 750; and, in 1852, the
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CROSSCUP & WEST
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TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
Sacs only numbered about 1,300, and the Foxes about 700, which indicates that this once powerful nation will soon become extinct.
When the Iowas left their village on the Des Moines, they "ascended the Missouri river to a point of land formed by a small stream on its east shore, called by the Indians Fish creek, which flows in from the direction of, and not far from the Red Pipe stone quarry, many hundred miles from their former village. The nation, composed of the Sacs, Foxes and Iowas, and par- ticularly those about Rock river, raised large quantities of corn, beans and melons, more than they wanted for their own use, and frequently sold large quantities to the traders, and probably cul- tivated the soil to a greater extent than any other Indians in the West. At this time, besides the Indian population, many por- tions of Iowa had been traversed by the French, who had pene- trated the wilderness, either in the pursuit of minerals or to carry on a trade with the Indians. The history of these operations is * obscure and but little known. They must have carried on quite an extensive business in the valley of the Des Moines, for Gen. Pike, on his map of the Mississippi valley, published with the report of his tour in 1805, lays down four forts on the Des Moines river : Fort Crawford on the south side, a short distance below where the town of Portland has been laid out; Fort Gelaspy, nearly opposite to Iowaville; Fort St. Thomas, very near, if not on the very spot, where the town of Chillicothe is now located ; and another fort a short distance below, on the north side of the river ; and there were, long after this country was settled by the whites, many indications to be seen of settlements having been made, by other people than the Indians, along the banks of this beautiful river.
North of the hunting grounds of the Sacs and Foxes, were the Sioux. In 1805, their possessions embraced a portion of the north and northwest part of Iowa, extending from the Mississippi to some distance south of the Missouri river, and north to the south side of the St. Peters river; and they sometimes hunted on the east side of the Mississippi. The Sioux were divided into sev- eral bands, and known by different names, each band having their own chief. There were the Minowa, Rangtons (or Gens de Lac). who resided on the lower waters of the St. Peters, and this
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THE INDIANS OF IOWA.
band was again divided into four subdivisions. The principal chief of this division was La Fienelle or Wabashaw, who was friendly in his intercourse with Gen. Pike. The second band were the Washpetongs (or Gens des Fienelles). who inhabited the upper waters of the Wason-qni-ani. The third band were the Sussitongs, who occupied the country on the Mississippi above the Minowa Rangtons. This band was divided into two snb- divisions, called the Cawrees and the Sussitongs proper, and each had their separate chiefs. The fourth division was called the Yanctongs of the North and the Yanctongs of the South. The fifth division were the Titongs, who were dispersed on both sides of the Missouri. They were divided into two divisions, known as the north and sonth bands. The Titons and Yanctongs were never stationary. The immense plains, over which they were constantly roving, rendered it impossible to point out their pre- cise place of habitation. They had a number of horses on which they traveled; and, if seen in a certain place one day, frequently in ten days after they might be found five hundred miles from there. They moved with a rapidity hardly to be credited, and felt themselves equally at home in every place. These bands were reputed to be the most warlike and savage of all the Sioux. The sixth division were the Washpacoutes. Their hunting grounds were the head waters of the Des Moines, and they were consid- ered the most stupid and inactive of any of the Sioux nations. The Sioux have long been noted as the most warlike and power- ful nation of Indians within the limits of the United States, and have, for the most of the time, been at war with some other na- tion, though they have generally cultivated friendly feelings to- ward the whites.
The Puants or Winnebagoes occupied the northern part of Illi- nois and the southern part of Wisconsin. They had seven large villages, situated so near each other that their warriors could be assembled in a few days' time. They were ferocions in their dis- position, and noted for their cruelty and treachery. The Sacs and Foxes had a fierce war with their neighbors, the Winnebagoes, and after subduing them and taking possession of their lands, they established their principal village on Rock river, near its junction with the Mississippi. This village at one time contained
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TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
upwards of sixty lodges, and was among the largest Indian vil- lages on the continent. In 1825, the secretary of war estimated their entire number at 4,600 souls; and in 1826, their warriors were supposed to number between 1,200 and 1,400. This village was situated in the immediate vicinity of the upper rapids of the Mississippi, where the beautiful and flourishing cities of Rock Island and Davenport are located. The beautiful scenery of the island, the extensive prairies dotted over with groves, the pictur- esque bluffs along the river banks, the rich and productive soil, producing large crops of corn, pumpkins and other vegetables, with little labor; the abundance of wild fruit, game and fish, and almost everything calculated to make it a delightful spot for an Indian village, which was found there, had made this place a favorite resort of the Indians ; and the whole nation had become so much attached to this location, that they yielded it to the white man with a great deal of reluctance; and their being required by the government to leave this cherished home, was the principal cause of the " Black Hawk war."
CHAPTER VI.
TREATIES WITH IOWA INDIANS.
Treaty on the Muskingum - Upper and Lower Louisiana - Black Hawk - History of the Early Life of this Noted Chief.
HAVING thus given an account of the Indian tribes that occu- pied the present state at an early day, some notice of the various treaties made with the Indians by the United States, after the latter had obtained possession of the country, will be given, and the subsequent events connected with the early history of this section of country. The first treaty ever held by the government of the United States with the Indians of the northwest, was had on the Muskingum river at Fort Hamer, on the 9th of January, 1789, and was conducted by Arthur St. Clair, governor of the territory northwest of the Ohio river, on the part of the United States. At this treaty, the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippe- wa and Pottawattamie tribes were represented by their sachems and warriors; and the territory of Iowa was also represented by two chiefs of the Sacs. The principal object of this treaty seems to have been to make peace and friendship between the several tribes, and to establish and confirm the boundary between the United States and the Indians.
On the 21st of March, 1801, Spain retroceded her possession of this valley to France, and Bonaparte showing a disposition to dis- pose of the territory. President Jefferson entered into a negotia- tion for the purchase of these possessions, and on the 30th of April, 1803, a treaty was concluded by which France ceded to the United States the whole of her dominion in the Mississippi valley. This country had been known as upper and lower Lou- isiana ; New Orleans being the capital of the lower territory, and St. Louis of the upper. On the 20th of December, 1803, lower Louisiana was delivered up to the authorities of the United States,
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TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
and on the 9th of March, 1804, upper Louisiana was surrendered ; and Wm. C. C. Claiborne was appointed governor of the lower, and Amos Stoddard of the upper territory.
Upper Louisiana embraced within its boundary of her territory, what now composes the state of Iowa, at that time a wilderness, the hunting ground of the Indian. Though it had been almost a century and a half since this fertile country, with its numerous navigable waters, had been known to the civilized world, as yet the advance of civilization had made slow progress in the country west of the Mississippi. The long and tedious journey by land, or the slow and laborious work of paddling a canoe, made the settlement of this country an enterprise so difficult and hazardous, that none but the most daring would venture the undertaking. On the 26th of March, 1804, congress passed an act establishing the boundaries between upper and lower Louisiana. The lower country was called the territory of New Orleans, and the upper, the district of Louisiana. The white population of the district then embraced in that part of the territory which now includes the states of Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa, had recently been somewhat augmented from the old French settlements on the other side of the river, and by Anglo American adventurers. The whole white population did not exceed three or four thousand in the whole district, and emigration to this region was not encour- aged by the American, for the government of the United States had conceived the idea of reserving this country for the Indians, and the President was authorized to propose to the tribes east of the Mississippi an exchange of lands for those on the west side of the river. The district of Louisiana, by the same act dividing the territory, was attached to the territory of Indiana for political and judicial purposes ; but nearly the whole country embraced in the territory of Indiana thus formed, belonged to the Indians. The United States, being anxious to purchase from the Indians a portion of their lands, took steps to accomplish their object.
On the 27th of June, 1804, Wm. H. Harrison, afterwards pres- ident of the United States, then governor of Indiana territory, and by the act of the 26th of March, governor of the district of Louisiana, and superintendent of Indian affairs, was instructed by Jefferson to hold a treaty with the Sacs and Foxes, and if possi-
CROSSCUP& WEST -SE. PHILA
Asa Horr. M.D.
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TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
ble, to obtain from them a tract of land. In pursuance with these instructions, Harrison, in the month of November, 1804, met at St. Louis, five chiefs from these Indians, and made a treaty with them, by which the said chiefs conveyed to the United States their lands east of the Mississippi, and a large tract on the west, for which they received at the time two thousand two hundred and thirty-four and one-half dollars in goods, and were to receive a yearly annuity of one thousand dollars. The United States were bound never to interrupt the Indians in the possession of land rightfully held by them, and also agreed to protect them in the quiet enjoyment of the same. There were also several other stipulations made in reference to their mutual interests.
Soon after making this treaty, the United States commenced the erection of Fort Edwards, now Warsaw, Ill., within the limits of the then recently acquired territory, which gave much uneasiness to the Indians. The government also erected Fort Madison on the west side of the Mississippi in the territory not ceded by the Indians, about ten miles above the Des Moines rapids. This fort was constructed by Col. Zachary Taylor, and named in honor of President Madison. The erection of this fort at this point by any reasonable construction, was a violation of the treaty of 1804. By the eleventh article of the treaty, the United States had a right to build a fort in the vicinity of the mouth of the Wiscon- sin river ; but that would not by any fair construction, authorize them to construct a fort where this was located: and by article sixth they had bound themselves, "that if any citizens of the United States, or any other white persons, should form a settle- ment upon their lands, such intruders should forthwith be re- moved;" yet the government, notwithstanding they had made such stipulations with the Indians, built fort Madison within the limits of their reserved territory.
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