History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 2

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 574

USA > Iowa > Buchanan County > History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 2

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It is true that warlike instruments and domestic uten- sils that are not now in use by the Indians, are found in the mounds. But many of the implements found (no- tably the spear and arrow heads, stone axes, hammers, etc.), are the same as those used by the present race of Indians for a hundred years, or more, after the continent was discovered by Europeans ; and perhaps, by certain tribes, even at the present time. And circumstances of which we can know nothing may have caused the race to give up the use of certain implements-just as many articles of household furniture in common use among the whites of this country a hundred years ago, now exist only as curiosities.

It has always seemed to us that too great stress has been laid upon alleged anatomical differences-in the matter of stature, cranial peculiarities, etc -- between the Mound Builders and the Indians. It is known that the modern tribes have often used the ancient mounds as places of sepulture ; and hence it has often happened that exhumed skeletons which some experts have pro- nounced to be those of Mound Builders, have by others, equally skilful, been declared to be those of modern Indians. This, of course, proves conclusively that there are no anatomical differences between the two alleged

races, which can serve as infallible tests of race identity. But even if these differences were so radical and com- prehensive that no expert could ever be deceived in de- ciding to which people any given skeleton belonged, that would be no absolute proof that the modern Indians are not the lineal descendants of the Mound Builders; since all such differences may have been produced by natural causes-such as changes in personal habits and modes of life-operating through long periods of time.

Again, the fact that the present race of Indians have never been known to construct mounds, since the dis- covery of the continent by the whites; and that they have no knowledge, nor even any national tradition as to the origin of such structures, is regarded as a proof that the Indians and the Mound Builders are different races. But whoever constructed these works, ceased to construct them when there was no longer any occasion for their construction-just as log-cabins and "dug-outs" cease to be built by pioneers, as soon as the pioneer days are over. And it is entirely certain that the Indians would have been quite as likely to know something about the origin of the mounds, if their ancestors had driven out or exterminated the Builders, as they would if the mounds had been built by those ancestors themselves. But where no written records are made, and no poetic narra- tives are transmitted from sire to son, the memory of events soon dies out. Thus we read that "the tribes of the lake region so soon forgot the visit of the Jesuit Fathers, that their descendants, a few generations later, had no tradition of the event." And a similar fact has been put on record concerning the Indians of the Mississippi valley, who soon lost all recollection of De Soto's expe- dition, which, as Dr. Foster remarks "must have im- pressed their ancestors with dread, at the sight of horses ridden by men, and at the sound of fire-arms, which they must have likened to thunder."

It is also stated by Sir John Lubbock that "the New Zealanders, at the time of Captain Cook's landing upon their island, had forgotten altogether Tasman's visit, made less than one hundred and thirty years before.' Whoever the Mound Builders were, therefore, it is not to be wondered at that the present Indians have no knowledge and no coherent traditions concerning them. For these reasons the argument in favor of the theory that the Mound Builders were of a different race from the Indians has never seemed to us conclusive.

I 3

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

But there are positive objections, which shift the bur- den of proof, and put that theory upon the defensive. The weightiest of these objections clusters about the question, "What became of the Mound Builders?" This is a fair question, and one to which the theory is bound to give a reasonable answer. But we confess we do not see where any such answer can be found. Did they re- tire of their own accord, and leave their beautiful and fertile country (the fairest and richest country that the sun ever shone upon) to be taken possession of peace- ably by another race of men? Such a migration from such a region would find no parallel in history; and we cannot conceive of its taking place in prehistoric times. Were they driven out by the ancestors of the present In- dians? All the relics of the Mound Builders go to show that they were much more civilized and powerful than the red men who now occupy their places. And, unless the latter are themselves the Mound Builders, degener- ated during the lapse of ages, there is no reason to sup- pose that they were ever any more powerful than they are to-day. It is, therefore, contrary to all that we know of the results of the collisions between opposing races to suppose that the Mound Builders were conquered and driven out of their territory by the Indians. But if, con- trary to all that history teaches in regard to ethnic move- ments, they were expelled by the Indians, or emigrated of their own accord, the question still remains: Where did they go? They have left no traces of their peculiar civilization in any other region; nor has there ever dwelt upon this continent any other known people to whom they bore a closer resemblance than to the present race of Indians. We are aware that an effort has been made (notably by Mr. John T. Short, of Columbus, Ohio, in his ingenious and very readable work, published during the present year, 1880, on "The North Americans of Antiquity") to show that the Aztecs of Mexico were the descendants of our Mound Builders. But this hypothe- sis presupposes that a conquered people, retiring to a re- gion and climate less adapted (as all history shows) than the one they left to the elevation and improvement of the human race, nevertheless made a rapid advance in civilization; building immense cities and establishing a well-ordered government; while their conquerors, occu- pying the more favorable territory upon which they had seized, continued for untold centuries a nomadic and barbarous race, without manifesting any desire or dispo- sition to improve their condition. Of course this is pos- sible; but it requires some degree of boldness to pro- nounce it probable.

And beside all this, it is not consonant with the teach- ings of history to suppose that a great and powerful race, such as the Mound Builders are represented to have been, either migrated en masse, or were expelled by a for- eign foe. Small tribes migrate, and great nations or races colonize foreign territory ; but the latter, even when conquered in war, are never expelled or exterminated. On the contrary, if the conquerors settle in the lands they have subdued, both races ordinarily dwell together, coalesce, and eventually form a new race. Thus, when the barbarians of the north, the Goths and Vandals, over-

ran southern Europe, the nations which they conquered, were not driven out, but became virtually the masters of their conquerors; since the latter were forced to adopt the civilization and the religion of the former, and so lost not only their national characteristics, but also, in the end, their identity. This must be the normal result when the conquering race, though superior in physical vigor and prowess, is inferior to the conquered in mental and moral development. It is only when a powerful race, highly developed morally and intellectually, takes pos- session of a region occupied by rude savages, that its former occupants disappear before the invaders, either by emigration or extinction. And as this is not the kind of collision that is supposed to have taken place between the Indians and the Mound Builders, it is highly im- probable that the latter disappeared at the approach of the former. It therefore seems much more difficult to guess what became of the Mound Builders, than to ac- count for the differences between them and the Indians, supposing the latter to be the lineal descendants of the former; since abundant examples might be cited of ex- isting nations that differ as much, both in national cus- toms and physical characteristics, from the races or tribes from which they are known to have descended within historic times, as the Indians differ from the Mound Builders.

But there is another question to which, as it seems to us, the advocates of the commonly received theory are in duty bound to give a plausible answer, and which nevertheless, we think will be found quite as difficult to answer as the one just considered; and that is, "Where did the Indians come from?" When it isborne in mind that the Mound Builders are supposed to have occupied nearly, if not quite, all the territory now emtraced within the limits of the United States, with the exception of the Pacific slope, it will be found difficult to imagine in what other part of the continent a people could have been found sufficiently numerous and sufficiently vigorous not only to defeat in war but actually to expel from this mag- nificent domain such a race as the Mound Builders are represented to have been. If we can imagine the pres- ent race of Mexicans invading the same territory now, and driving its inhabitants before them beyond the lakes into British America, it will perhaps seem probable that a race existed in the last named region (for, if not there, surely nowhere) capable of driving the Mound Builders out of their lands, across the Rio Grande and beyond the Mexican Gulf.

We have no theory of our own in regard to the early inhabitants of this country ; but we deem it much more reasonable to suppose that the Indians are the lineal de- scendants of the Mound Builders, with national customs and physical peculiarities changed through the lapse of ages, by the operation of causes which we can never ex- plain-but among which fractional or sectional wars may have played a conspicuous part-than to suppose that such a race as the Mound Builders must have been, were driven out of such a country as they occupied, by any people then living north of the Gulf of Mexico. Theo- ries, against which insuperable objections can be urged,

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

are not of much importance, whether in archaeology or any other science; but so long as such theories are ad- vanced, and books are written in their support, the ob- jections can never be out of order. This, we trust, will be a sufficient justification for the space we have given to the theory under discussion.

But whoever the Mound Builders may have been, and in whatever age of the world they may have lived, they were, so far as we have any means of knowing, the first occupants of the territory now embraced in Buchanan county. We might properly say this, even though no trace of their works had been found here. Their an- cient works are scattered so generally throughout the Mississippi valley that there can be no reasonable doubt that the people who built them once occupied the entire country drained by the Father of Waters. But we are not left to a mere inference, even though it be a necessary one, to establish the fact that we here tread the soil of the Mound Builders. A good many mounds have been found in the county, which those well qualified to judge of such matters do not hesitate to pronounce the work of that ancient people. A circular mound, several feet high, was leveled in preparing the foundation for the county jail, in Independence. No relics, however, worthy of note were found in it. Two circular mounds, connected together by a straight embankment, were found on the farm now owned by Mr. James Forester, near Independence. Standing in a cultivated field, they are nearly, if not quite, obliterated by constant plough- ing. Several earthworks, mostly of a circular form, have been discovered along the banks of the Wapsipinicon; but none have been found of sufficient interest to attract the notice of archaeologists. Some of the older inhabi- tants have even doubted that these works were really artificial. Not having seen them ourselves, and being unskilled in the science of archaeology, we express no opinion of our own, but give the facts as they have been communicated to us by those whom we regard as com- petent judges. As already stated, however, the question whether the soil of Buchanan county was once occupied by the Mound Builders, does not depend for its solution upon the existence here of unmistakable works of that ancient race; since the contiguity of such works along the Mississippi and elsewhere, and their general distribu- tion throughout the western and northwestern States, must be regarded as settling that question in the affirma- tive.

THE INDIANS.

These, either as lineal descendants or as conquerors, or as mere chance successors to lands left vacant, came into the place of the Mound Builders. When this hap- pened is as great a mystery as how it happened. It must have been, at the very least, several hundred years before the discovery of America by Columbus. At the time of the discovery, and we know not how many ages before, these people were divided into almost numberless tribes, frequently hostile and always migratory. The ownership of definite territories by the different tribes was a thing unknown. The temporary occupancy of grounds favorable for hunting, or for the cultivation of

maize, was often decided by bloody battles; but the per- manent possession of lands, with metes and boundaries, is an idea which none of these tribes have ever put into practice, except at the dictation of their civilized con- querors. The United States government, acknowledg- ing theoretically the right of the Indians to the soil, has at various times made treaties with them, whereby they have ceded certain lands to the Government, and accept- ed others as "reservations," to which they have agreed to confine themselves, and the peaceable possession of which the Government has guaranteed to them. Thus an ownership, more or less permanent, has been estab- lished, and the districts thus reserved have been regard- ed as the special habitat of the tribes to whom they were assigned.

But as Buchanan county was never embraced within the limits of any such reservation, it cannot properly be said ever to have been the special home of any particu- lar tribe. Its abundant timber and fine watercourses, however, have always furnished such excellent facilities for hunting and fishing that the most of the tribes dwell- ing in this vicinity must often have made it a place of temporary sojourn.

As appropriate to this chapter, therefore, we will give here brief sketches of a few of those tribes which, from the known history of their wanderings, were most un- doubtedly, at some time or other, denizens of this county. And, on account of their historical prominence in giving a name both to the State and its principal river, (although they figured much less prominently in the his- tory of this region than several other tribes) we will be- gin with

THE IOWAS.

This tribe is said to belong to the Dakota family, the principal representatives of which have had their meeting- grounds west of the Missouri. Unlike many of the other tribes, therefore, that have inhabited this region, their migrations were from the west instead of the east. They originally called themselves Pahucha, which signifies "Dusty Nose"-though from what peculiarity they were thus called, we are not informed. They were first men- tioned by Father Marquette, who, as early as 1673, speaks of them "as the Pahoutet, back of the Des Moines." Some of the tribes called them Mascoutin which name is said to signify "Prairie," and which is perhaps perpetuated in the name of the county and city of Muscatine. They were divided into eight clans, all named from different animals, of which the eagle, wolf, bear, and buffalo still exist -- the other four, which were named the pigeon, elk, beaver, and snake, having become extinct.

In 1675 their country was said to be twelve days' journey west of Green Bay. In 1700 they were in what is now Southern Minnesota, and, like the Sioux, were at war with all the western Algonquin tribes. The cele- brated Jesuit historian, Charlevoir, gives an account of them at about this period of their history. He says that the great pipestone quarry was then embraced in their territory, and speaks of their celebrity throughout the west as pedestrians, alleging that they were "able to

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

travel twenty-five or thirty leagues a day when alone." It is said that many of their early chiefs had names in- dicative of their remarkable endurance in walking, and of the pride which they took in their acknowledged supe- riority in this respect. And one of their later chiefs, who flourished as recently as 1825, was named Manehans, or Great Walker. The name of their greatest warrior and chief, Mahaska, or White Cloud, who flourished about the same time, has been perpetuated in the name of the county of which Oskaloosa is the county seat.

In early times the lowas were powerful and warlike, and often came into collision with those greatest of Indian warriors, the Sioux. At the beginning of this century they numbered about fifteen hundred souls; but, what with wars, smallpox and "fire water," their numbers have been gradually reduced until 1872, when the last pub- lished enumeration took place, the tribe consisted of only two hundred and twenty-five. In 1803 they defeated the Osages, at that time a powerful tribe, and this seems to have been about the last of their military successes; although their hostility to the Sioux continued as late as 1825, when Generals Clark and Cass made an attempt, only partially successful, to establish peace between the two tribes.

Few of the northern Indians have shown greater aptitude for civilization than the lowas, although the evil influences surrounding them have prevented this dis- position from bearing very abundant fruits. The first treaty of peace between them and the United States was made in the year 1815-W'yingwatha, or Hardheart, and some of the subordinate chiefs acting on the part of the Indians. August 4, 1824, another treaty was formed ; General Clark acting for the United States, and the great chief, Mahaskah, or White Cloud, and Manehana, or Great Walker, representing the tribe. By this treaty all the lands of the Iowas in what was then known as the Missouri territory, were ceded to the government for five hundred dollars down, and the same sum to be paid an- nually for ten years-the United States agreeing to support a blacksmith at the headquarters of the tribe, and, to assist them with agricultural implements, horses, cattle, etc. They had at this time several villages on the Des Moines and Iowa rivers-a part of the Sacs and Foxes be- ing associated with them. As usual the intrusion of the whites upon their lands led to trouble and complaints ; and the influence of liquors, following that of war and disease, was fast reducing the numbers of this once powerful tribe.

By a treaty formed September 17, 1836, the remnant of the tribe, then numbering nine hundred and ninety-two, was removed to a reservation located on the west bank of the Missouri, above Wolf river. But a part of them became discontented, and, the very next year, abandoned the reservation and took up the life of vagrants, subsist- ing by theft, or hunting upon the grounds of other tribes. Their numbers dwindled year by year, the chiefs taking the lead in intemperance, from the effects of which vice many died, and many others were killed in the fatal quarrels to which it led. About the year 1835 the Pres- byterians established a mission and manual labor school

among these people, and kept it up with commendable zeal for more than twenty years. Though much good was accomplished, the effort failed to arrest the steady decay of the tribe. By 1846 they had become reduced in numbers to seven hundred and six. At this time their territory was bounded on the east by the Missouri, and on the north by the Great Nemahaw.

On March 6, 1861, a treaty was made by which the tribe, then reduced to three hundred and five in number, ceded to the United States all their lands, except a res- ervation of sixteen thousand acres. In 1869 they informally agreed to sell this and remove south; but afterwards retracted their agreement, but consented to give part of their lands to the Sacs and Foxes, who had parted with their reservation.

About the time the Presbyterian mission was aban- doned, the tribe was placed under the care of the Qua- kers, under whose influence they have made considerable advance in civilization, and have shown an increasing disposition to become more sober and industrious. In 1872 their school numbered sixty-three pupils-more than one-fourth of the entire tribe-and all clad in the garb of civilized life. They had seven hundred acres of land under cultivation, thirteen framed houses, and twenty built of logs. Their produce was estimated at two thousand six hundred and eighty-five dollars, and their stock at seven thousand nine hundred dollars. The Government of the United States holds fifty-seven thou- sand five hundred dollars in trust for the Iowas, the interest upon which is paid annually to the heads of families ; and the almost useless "Indian goods" formerly furnished, are now replaced by articles af intrinsic value.

It is a remarkable fact, and one well worthy of record, that in 1864, when they numbered in all only two hun- dred and ninety-three, the Iowas had forty-one men in the United States military service-almost one-fourth of their entire population! What white community at the north could show any such ratio of soldiers as that? It is said that these forty-one men were much improved by our military discipline, and that they all adopted civilized dress and customs. We greatly regret our inability to give any personal incidents in the military record of these men, or to trace their history since the war. It is devoutly to be hoped that some of them, at least, re- ceived the appropriate reward of citizenship in the nation which they helped to defend.

A grammar of the Iowa language, composed by the Rev. S. M. Irvin and Mr. William Hamilton, was pub- lished at the lowa mission in 1848.

THE WINNEBAGOES.

This tribe, like the lowas, belong to the Dakota fam- ily, and, like them, migrated eastward from beyond the Missouri, meeting the Algonquins in the region of the lakes. The name which they have always borne in history was given them by the last named Indians, and signifies men from the fetid or salt water, whence the name Puants, given to them by the French. They were styled by the Sioux, Hotanke or Sturgeon. The Hurons and Iroquois called them Awentsiwaen, but they called

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

themselves Hochungara. Of these last two appellations we have never heard any signification given. In the earliest historic times they were numerous and powerful, and usually defeated the Algonquin tribes, with whom they came into frequent collision.

Soon after the commencement of the French traffic with the west, in the early part of the seventeenth cen- tury, an alliance of the Algonquins and other tribes was made, and the Winnebagoes were attacked by an over- whelming force. They were besieged in a single town, where they were greatly reduced by want and disease, and, besides the women and children that died, over five hundred warriors perished. Compelled to surrender, and greatly reduced in numbers, they nevertheless con- tinued haughty and turbulent, They recovered a part of their prestige by making an alliance with the French, fighting in their wars, and receiving protection in return.

During the Revolution the Winnebagoes were the allies of the English. They were active in the Miami war, taking part in the attack on Fort Recovery, in 1793. After being defeated by the great Indian fighter, "Mad Anthony Wayne," they made peace with the United States. They, however, adhered to Tecumseh, the Shawnee warrior, and sided with the English during the war of 1812, aiding in the reduction of Prairie du Chien, in 1814. Their number was then estimated at four thousand five hundred. In 1820 they had five villages on Winnebago lake, and fourteen on Rock river. After the close of the last war with England, they made a treaty of peace and amity with the United States, June 3, 1816; but, notwithstanding, they levied tribute on all whites passing up Fox river, which, for some time, was included in their territory. Treaties made in 1826 and 1827 fixed their boundaries, from which the whites were by law excluded. But a portion of their lands were rich in minerals, and this fact led to intrusions, and these to murders, for which Red Bird and other members of the tribe were arrested, tried and convicted. This led to ill- feeling, and when a portion of the Sacs, under Black Hawk, began the war for the recovery of their ceded lands, on Rock river, in 1832, the Winnebagoes, or at least a part of them, took the side of the hostile Sacs. This led to an importunate demand for their removal.

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History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 2

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers Number of Pages: 574

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 574