USA > Iowa > Boone County > History of Boone County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 7
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bottoms, but must have been so benumed by cold that he fell back- ward and was unable to rise again. Not having any way to convey the body to any of the settlements, they decided to place it in a hollow log, which they found near by, and close the entrance with timbers, so as to prevent the wild animals from molesting it, until such time as a burial in the proper way could take place. The date on which the body was found was December 18, 1846.
The body remained in this log until the 14th of the following month. Henry Lott came down from Boone River to Pea's Point on the 13th to attend the burial of his son. The 14th was Sunday. The weather had moderated and the day was warm and beautiful; warmer by many degrees than the day on which the poor boy had met his death. At this time the county was not organized, and there was not an established road within its borders. With axes, spades and guns the men set out from Pea's Point on foot for the place of burial, a distance of eight miles. The names of those who attended the funeral were: John Pea, Sr., John Pea, Jr., Thomas Sparks, John M. Crooks, William Crooks and the father, Henry Lott. On arriving at the place where the body had been left, a part of the men was detailed to dig the grave, while the rest of them felled a tree, out of which they hewed enough small pieces to construct a rude coffin. The body was then taken from the hollow log, a sheet was wrapped around it, and it was then lowered into the grave ; the dirt was thrown in, the grave was filled and the little mound was rounded up. It was a funeral without a ceremonial word. There was no Scripture read, no prayer offered and no hymn sung, but tears stood in the eyes of the pioneers who stood around the grave of Milton Lott to pay their last tribute of respect. The tree near the grave, on which the boy's name was cut, has long since yielded to the woodman's ax. No stone was set, or staken driven, to preserve the identity of the spot. As time passed on the little mound gradually became merged with the surrounding soil, so the location of the grave was finally almost forgotten.
After the death of his wife and son, Lott gathered up what property the Indians had left him, and moved south to the settle- ments. He built a cabin on O. D. Smalley's claim in Dallas County, lowa, about five miles southwest of Madrid, where he and his step- son lived during the summer of 1847. In the spring of that year the first assessment of Dallas County was made, and in the list of prop- erty holders appears the name of Henry Lott, among whose pos- sessions were thirteen head of cattle. The records show that he was
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the largest cattle owner in the county at that time, owning one more head than any other man. These were the cattle which the Indians tried to kill at the mouth of Boone River by shooting them with arrows. During the spring and summer these cattle grew fat on the range and in the fall were sold for beef. A man named Ramsey bought one of these beeves and butchered it. Mr. Smalley bought a front quarter of this beef and, while carving it, found one of the arrow-heads which the Indians had shot into it.
While living here Lott often spoke of his dead wife and son in a very sympathetic way, but would usually wind up his talk by declaring that he would some day wreck vengeance upon the old Sioux chief who caused her death. In the autumn of 1847 he moved to Fort Des Moines and remained there over a year, during which time he was married to a woman named McGuire. In the spring of 1849 he moved north and located at the mouth of Boone River again, occupying the same log cabin in which his first wife died, and from which his twelve-year-old son had fled from the Indians, never more to be seen alive. It was a place around which, for him, the gloomiest recollections hovered. While living here three children were born to him and his second wife, the two oldest being girls and the youngest a boy. At the birth of the boy the wife died, making it necessary for him to find homes for the children. The infant boy was adopted by a family named John H. White, in whose care he grew to manhood, and is now the head of a family, being a citizen of Boone, lowa. The two girls were raised by a family named Wm. Dickerson, in Boone County, where they grew to woman- hood, and were married.
After finding homes for his children, Lott sold his possessions at the mouth of Boone River and, with his stepson, in the fall of 1853, moved north forty-five miles and located on a creek, which still bears his name. Whether by purpose, or by accident, he was once more a neighbor to Si-dom-i-na-do-tah, the old Sioux chief, whom he so much hated. By the terms of the treaty with the Sioux Indians, their stay upon the territory, then occupied by them, would expire the following spring, at which time they would have to take up their line of march for regions farther west. If Lott was bent on having revenge, the time was growing short in which to get it. Numerous times he visited the chief in disguise and made himself agreeable by giving him presents. During one of these visits to the wigwam of Si-dom-i-na-do-tah, the old chief unsuspectingly exhibited to him the silverware which he had taken from Mrs. Lott at the mouth of
Vol. 1-5
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Boone River. By his actions and expressions, it was plain that he regarded them as trophies of a great victory. The sight of the silver- ware brought vividly back to Lott's mind the memory of his dead wife, and immediately his thirst for vengeance was redoubled.
This silverware consisted of a set of silver spoons and a set of silver knives and forks, which were a present to Mrs. Lott from Mr. Iluntingion, her first husband. She had always prized them very highly.
It is not known whether the killing of Si-dom-i-na-do-tah and his family took place then and there; but it is known that Lott in some way got possession of the silverware, for be exhibited it when he reached the settlement, to John Pea, William Dickerson and O. D. Smalley. He also told each of these men that the old chief would never rob another house or cause the death of another woman. There are two stories told of the way in which Lott committed this crime, for crime it must be called. Some palliate this act by calling it justifiable killing, which may be true, so far as the chief himself was concerned, but there was no justification for the killing of his family.
One story is that the killing occurred on the evening that the chief displayed his stolen silverware to Lott. Another is that early one morning Lott went to the wigwam of the chief and reported to him that he had just seen, in a beautiful valley not far away, a large number of elk, and urged the chief to go with him in pursuit of them. The chief was soon astride of his pony and, in company with Lott, was on the way to the valley mentioned in search of the elk. 'This story was only a ruse to get the chief away from his wigwam. On the way his life was taken and the pony on which he rode passed into the hands of a new owner. Lott then returned to the wigwam and killed the chief's family, after which he and his stepson escaped to the settlements without being detected by the other Indians, who were camped near by.
Whichever story is the correct one, so cunningly was this crime committed that it was several weeks before it was discovered who had perpetrated it. The chief's pony was found in the possession of Lott and his stepson, and they were finally indicted by the grand jury at Des Moines. Before the officers could take them in charge, however, they made their escape to the farther West, and what later became of them was never definitely known.
In September, 1903, almost fifty-seven years after the tragic death of the boy, Milton Lott, the writer of this chapter (Corydon L.
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Lucas) made inquiry through the press, asking if there was anyone still living who could identify the spot where the boy's body was laid to rest. This inquiry developed the fact that there were two men still living in Boone County who were present and assisted at his burial. These were John Pea and Thomas Sparks. On being interviewed, John Pea said he felt sure he could point out the spot where the burial took place, so it was decided to make a trip for that purpose.
On the morning of October 11, 1903, a party, consisting of J. F. Eppert, T. P. Menton, John Pea and C. L. Lucas, drove from the City of Boone to Centerville, on the Des Moines River. At this place John Pea was appointed guide and the other members of the party followed his lead. He turned south and passed the mouth of the creek already mentioned. At a distance of about forty rods south of this creek, and near a little rivulet, fed by a spring on the second bottom, he came to a halt and exclaimed, "Here is the place," pointing to a spot near the bench which separates the lower and upper bottoms at that place. "We drank water out of that little rivulet on the day of the burial," said he. Mr. Pea was very positive that this was the correct location of the grave. As no argument could shake his belief in this, the weeds were cleared away and a stake was driven to mark the spot, the necessary notes being taken.
Some time after this stake was driven, Thomas Sparks was taken to the spot marked by the stake, by J. F. Eppert, and he also identified it as the correct location. John Robinson, who had seen the grave a short time after the burial, also says the location is correct.
In November, 1905, the Madrid Historical Society resolved to place a monument to commemorate the fact that Milton Lott was the first white person to die within the boundaries of Boone County, and to perpetuate the historic event which caused his death. This monument was manufactured by Norris Brothers, of Madrid, Boone County, Iowa, and it was placed December 18, 1905, just fifty-nine years from the time his body was found. The monument was placed on the second bottom, above high water-mark, and about thirty feet from the grave. An iron marker, a foot wide and three feet long, two inches thick, was placed on the grave.
On the day of the dedication, the writer of this chapter (Corydon L. Lucas), Dr. H. S. Farr, J. P. A. Anderson and L. D. Norris, members of the Madrid Historical Society, and Rev. W. Ernest Stockley, H. A. Oviatt and Clarence Peterson, of Madrid, attended. There were also about one hundred persons from other parts of the
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
county present. among whom were J. R. Herron, of the Boone Democrat; W. H. Gallup, of the Boone Standard; A. J. Barkley, L. Zimbleman, John Pea, J. F. Eppert and S. S. Payne, of Boone; D C. Harmon and F. D. Harmon, of Jordan; C. K. Patterson, of Centerville; Harry Hariman, the owner of the land on which the grave is situated; Mr. and Mrs. Henry Burgess; Joe Adamson, of Pilot Mound ; James Wayne, Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Cadwell and Mrs. Joseph Herrman. The last two ladies named asked the privilege of being contributors to the monument fund.
After the monument was placed in position the blessings of God were invoked by Rev. W. Ernest Stockley, of the Christian Church, of Madrid, followed by the dedication address by the writer (Cory- don L. Lucas), president of the Madrid Historical Society. This address follows :
"My Friends: The work we have done, the task we have per- formed, is of special historic interest to the people of Boone County, of special interest to the people of the Des Moines Valley, and of general historic interest to the people of the State of Iowa.
"We have placed this monument here at the grave of Milton Lott, which in ages to come will perpetuate the history and the pathetic story of his death; it will give the date and show the young and tender age of his taking off; and it will make known to future generations the important fact that he was the first of our race to die within the boundaries of Boone County, and the first of our race to be buried beneath her soil.
"We know not what the last word, or the last wail, of this unfor- tunate hoy was, just as his spirit took its flight, for there was no one present to hear. We only know that his body was found here by his father and John Pea, fifty-nine years ago today, stiff and still in the embrace of the piercing frost, with his two faithful dogs keeping watch over his dead body. But alas, it was then too late for help.
"He felt not the sympathetic touch of his father's hand, nor that of the pioneer friend who was with him. We may reasonably sup- pose that his last word and last thought went back to the fond mother who had so often caressed him and whom he had last seen a prisoner of the Sioux Chief Si-dom-i-na-do-tah and his band of warriors in the little log cabin home at the mouth of the Boone River. The cruel fates had decreed that he should never look upon the face of that fond mother again in this world.
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"When the stern Sioux chief ordered him to secure and deliver to his warriors all of the horses on the premises, on the penalty of instant death, he was so scared that he undertook to reach the settle- ment at Red Rock, eighty miles down the river, where the family had formerly lived. In his effort to do this he lost his life.
"My friends, this is indeed a sad and pathetic story. To per- petuate its history we have dedicated this monument. For the work the Madrid Historical Society has done it asks neither praise nor laudations. It simply felt that it had a duty to perform, and the consciousness of having discharged that duty, is, to it, a sufficient reward for its labor.
"To those who say that this work is an expenditure of too much time and labor for nothing, we have no reply to make. Such people should not be noticed. To the unfriendly critics who may seek to point out faults in the promoters of this work, or in the work itself, we wish to say to them, that they had fifty-nine years to produce a better work. Have they done so? Those who have given courage and friendship to this work, have our love, our thanks and our esteem. To Mr. Perry Hartman, the man who owns this land, through whose kindness and liberality we are permitted to dedicate this monument today, we extend our sincere and heartfelt thanks. To the people who have come out here today to be present and assist in the dedi- cation of this monument, we extend our most sincere thanks."
The monument is of solid iron, set in a concrete base. It is four feet high, twenty inches wide and two inches thick.
Some people think that the Indians were all alike, and that to understand the customs of one tribe was to comprehend all of them. This is a mistake. No two tribes are alike in their manner of life, customs and habits, nor in their language.
Some tribes are much cleaner and neater in personal appearance than others. Some are more friendly and hospitable and less treach- erous than others.
The Sac and Fox tribes lived on the lower Des Moines River, while a branch of the Sioux tribe lived on the upper Des Moines. The Sac and Fox tribes call the Des Moines River "Keosauqua Sepo." The Sioux tribe, but a hundred miles further up this river, called it "In-Yan-Sha-Watpa." "Keosauqua" meant "dark blue," and "Sepo" meant river. "In-Yan-Sha" meant red stone, and "Watpa" meant river. This alone shows that the language of the two tribes was entirely different.
HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
The Sac and Fox tribes were much cleaner than the Sioux. I speak of these tribes because they once inhabited lowa soil. The Indians on the little reservation in Tama County are a part of the Sac and Fox Indians in the south half of lowa, before it was opened for white settlement. They sold their lowa possessions to the Gov- ernment and moved west in 1845 and 1846, locating near where the Town of Ottawa, Kansas, now stands. After the death of Chief Keokuk, in 1847, the little band, now in Tama County, returned to lowa.
During the times the timbered lands along the streams were un- fenced, these Indians would come around hunting and trapping. They would set up their wigwams in the creek valleys, where they were sheltered from the winter storms, and would remain for weeks in one place. The squaws would cut wood and make a small fire in the center of the wigwams, and around the little fire the family would gather at night to warm themselves. In the top of the wig- wams a hole was left for the smoke to escape.
During the day the men and boys would hunt and trap, and in the evening they would return with their game. The squaws would provide wood enough to last over night, and in each wigwam a good sized pot hung over the fire. In this the meat for the evening meal was boiled. When supper was over they would get their pipes and circle around the fire for an hour in silent smoking. Visitors would sometimes call to see them, but they were usually none too welcome.
When the weather was nice, the squaws would go around through the neighborhood begging meat, sugar and flour. If they could not get these in this way they would trade beads, bracelets and other trinkets of their own manufacture for supplies. One of the novel features of the Indian manner of doings things was the treatment ot the Indian mothers to their papooses. The little fellows were strapped to a board, and in this condition they remained during all their travels from place to place. This is discontinued when the child gets big enough to walk and run.
On one of their trapping and hunting trips to the Des Moines River, they camped in the north part of Douglas Township, in this county. It was midwinter and the snow was deep. After selecting the spot in which to pitch their wigwams, the squaws went to work. for they had everything to do. First they set the boards, to which the papooses were strapped, against various trees. The little fellows were wrapped in blankets with no part of them exposed to the winter
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air, except their faces. There they stood in the deep snow, while their mothers cleaned off various spots, placed the lodge poles and finally threw the covering, forming the wigwam, around them. The papooses kept patiently silent for an hour, but at last one of them set up a cry and was joined by all the other little black-eyed fellows. There was a sound that echoed among the hills along the little creek, when the voices of these fifteen Indian babies united in one plantive wail for the attention of their mothers. Their mothers, however, paid no attention to them until they had their wigwams ready for occupancy, and a fire made in the center of each of them. Then the little fellows were taken into the wigwams and unstrapped. It is claimed that this strapping process is the cause of the Indians being so erect.
At another time these same Indians were encamped on the Des Moines River, near where the Jones Ford Bridge now spans the stream. After securing all the game in that region the men went over on the Beaver for a few days' hunt. It so happened that they did not return at the time set, and this caused much trouble among the squaws and children. They did not sleep much that night, and the next morning their eyes were set in the direction from which their husbands and fathers were expected to return. Some time during the day they espied some uncouth citizen walking along the west bluff, with a red blanket thrown around him. Instantly they came to the conclusion that this was a Sioux Indian, and that a band of that blood-thirsty tribe had come down from the north, tomahawked the absent hunters, and were preparing to cross the river, with the inten- tion of capturing the camp. There were cries and lamentations.
All of them left the wigwams to seek a hiding place, except one big-faced squaw. She seemed to have the courage of a true soldier. She took charge of the only gun left in the camp, and taking a posi- tion behind a log, awaited the approach of the dreaded foe. She evidently expected them to come from the direction in which her gun was pointed, for she kept jabbering, "Kill one, two, three." Toward sunset, however, the hunters returned safe and sound and loaded with game. The squaws and children came forth from their hiding places with shouts of joy. The fires were rekindled in the wigwams, a feast was prepared and great was the joy in the camp that night.
One of the amusements of the Indians was throwing the hatchet, or tomahawk, as they called it. They would stand off ten or fifteen yards from a tree and throw the tomahawk so that the bit would be
HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
driven into the tree and remain until drawn out. An expert thrower could place three tomahawks, one above another, in the tree with care.
A white man named River practiced throwing the tomahawk until he became as skilful as any of the Indians. River was a very large man. As before stated, the Indian word for river was "sepo." For this reason they called this big white man "Big Sepo." They would pat him on the shoulder and say, "Big Sepo throw tomahawk good."
At the Agency, in what is now Wapello County, they called General Street, the Indian agent, "Meah." Trail, in their language, was "meah," a place to walk, and as street meant the same thing, they called the general "meah."
CHAPTER V
DESCRIPTIVE
Boone County, Iowa, is situated near the center of the State of Iowa, being about thirty miles west and a little south of the geo- graphical center. It is in the fifth tier of counties numbering from the north or south boundary of the state, in the eighth numbering from the eastern, and in the fifth from the western boundary.
It is bounded on the north by Webster and Hamilton counties, on the east by Story County, on the south by Dallas and Polk coun- ties, and on the west by Greene County. It comprises the congres- sional townships 82, 83, 84 and 85, and ranges 25, 26, 27 and 28 west of the fifth principal meridian.
The county is square in shape, being twenty-four miles each way. It has a superficial area of 576 square miles, and contains 368,640 acres. The civil townships, as now constituted, are: Harrison, Dodge, Pilot Mound, Grant, Amaqua, Yell, Des Moines, Jackson, Colfax, Worth, Marcy, Beaver, Union, Peoples, Cass, Douglas and Garden. Dodge is the largest and Douglas the smallest township.
The changes which have occurred during the gradual develop- ment of the present divisions of the county are fully set forth in our chapter on "County Organization."
All the townships have regular boundaries except those border- ing on the Des Moines River. Owing to the difficulty and expense of bridging this river in the early days, it was arranged that no township should extend to both sides of the river.
The county is named after Capt. Nathan Boone, son of Col. Daniel Boone, of Kentucky. This is covered in detail in our chapter on "County Organization," from the pen of Mr. Corydon L. Lucas, of Madrid, this county.
The elevation of Boone County is somewhat greater than that of other Iowa counties in this latitude, hence it early gained the soubriquet of "High Boone." The average elevation of the county is about 950 feet above the level of the sea, or 506 feet above low water-mark in the Mississippi River at Keokuk. The highest point
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on a line drawn from east to west across the center of the county, according to the railroad levels, is near the eastern boundary line, where the elevation is 1, 188 feet above sea level, or 744 feet above low water-mark in the Mississippi River at Keokuk. The elevation at Boone, the county seat, is 957 feet above sea level, at Moingona 919 feet, at Ogden 1,080 feet, and at Beaver Station 1,039 feet.
The level of the Des Moines River in Boone County is about 460 feet higher than at its mouth, there being that much fall in its descent of about 200 miles to that point.
The surface of the county presents generally an undulating prairie, though it is more diversified than is usual in a similar area in this part of the country. At a varying distance from the streams rises an irregular line of bluffs, or low hills, sometimes wooded, and sometimes covered with a luxuriant growth of grass. Between these hills lie the bottom lands, of unsurpassed fertility. The hills are usually gentle slopes, easily ascended and descended by wagons, sink- ing into benches, moderately lifted above the surface of the valleys. Again they rise to the height of 150 feet above the streams. Between the hills the streams gently flow, with banks varied by hill, meadow and forest. From the higher ground one commands views of ex- quisite loveliness, the silvery ribbon of river or creek, the waving trees, with their wealth of foliage, the ever-changing contour of the hills, as seen from varying points of view, or in varying lights, the undulating surface of flower-decked prairie, interspersed with cul- tivated farms and cozy farmhouses.
A chain of bluffs called "Mineral Ridge" extends across the entire width of the northern end of the county. When surveys of this section were made, the compasses were deflected, showing the presence of iron, which fact gave rise to the name "Mineral Ridge."
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