History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa, Part 4

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1316

USA > Iowa > Butler County > History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa > Part 4
USA > Iowa > Bremer County > History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa > Part 4

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

" Your great father, the President of the United States, wishes to be more intimately

HISTORY OF IOWA.

acquainted with the situation and wants of the different nations of Red people in our newly acquired Territory of Louis- iana, and has ordered the General to send a number of his warriors in different directions to take them by the hand and make such inquiries as miglit afford the satisfaction required."

At the close of the council he presented the Red Men with some knives, tobacco and whisky. On the 23d of August he arrived at what is supposed, from his de- scription, to be the site of the present city of Burlington, which he selected as the location of a military post. He describes the place as "being on a hill, abont forty miles above the River de Moyne Rapids, on the west side of the river, in latitude about 40 deg. 21 min. north. The channel of the river runs on that shore. The hill in front is about 60 feet perpendicular, and nearly level at the top. . About 400 yards in the rear is a small prairie, fit for gardening, and immediately under the hill is a limestone spring, sufficient for the consumption of a whole regiment." In addition to this description, which corres- ponds to Burlington, the spot is laid down on his map at a bend in the river a short distance below the mouth of the Hender- son, which pours its waters into the Mis- sissippi from Illinois. The fort was built at Fort Madison, but from the distance, latitude, description and map furnished by Pike, it could not have been the place se- lected by him, while all the circumstances corroborate the opinion that the place he selected was the spot where Burlington is now located, called by the early voyagers on the Mississippi " Flint Hills." In com- pany with one of his men, l'ike went on

shore on a hunting expedition, and follow- ing a stream which they supposed to be a part of the Mississippi, they were led away from their course. Owing to the intense heat and tall grass, his two favorite dogs, which he had taken with him, became ex- hausted, and he left them on the prairie, supposing that they would follow him as soon as they should get rested, and went on to overtake his boat. After reaching the river he waited some time for his canine friends, but they did not come, and as he deemed it inexpedient to detain the boat longer, two of his men volunteered to go in pursuit of them, and he continued on his way up the river, expecting that the two men would soon overtake him. They lost their way, however, and for six days were without food, except a few morsels gathered from the stream, and might have perished had they not accidentally met a trader from St. Louis, who induced two Indians to take them up the river, and they overtook the boat at Dubuque. At the latter place Pike was cordially received by Julien Dubuque, a Frenchman, who held a mining claim under a grant from Spain. He had an old field piece, and fired a salute in honor of the advent of the first Amer- ican who had visited that part of the Ter- ritory. He was not, however, disposed to publish the wealth of his mines, and the young and evidently inquisitive officer obtained but little information from him.

Upon leaving this place, Pike pursued his way up the river, but as he passed beyond the limits of the present State of Iowa, a detailed history of his explora- tions does not properly belong to this vol- ume. It is sufficient to say that, on the site of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, he held a

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council with the Sioux, Sept. 23, and ob- tained from them a grant of 100,000 acres of land. Jan. 8, 1806, he arrived at a trad- ing post belonging to the Northwest Com- pany, on Lake De Sable, in latitude 47 º. This company at that time carried on their immense operations from Hudson's Bay to the St. Lawrence ; up that river, on both sides along the great lakes, to the head of Lake Superior, thence to the sources of the Red River of the North, and west to the Rocky Mountains, embracing within the scope of their operations what was subse- quently the State of Iowa. After suc- cessfully accomplishing his mission and performing a valuable service to the whole Northwest, Pike returned to St. Louis, ar- riving there April 30, 1806.

Before the Territory of Iowa could be open to settlement by the whites, it was necessary that the Indian title should be extinguished and the original owners re- moved. The Territory had been pur- chased by the United States, but was still occupied by the Indians, who claimed title to the soil by right of possession. In order to accomplish this purpose, large sums of money were expended, besides the frontier being disturbed by Indian wars, terminated repeatedly by treaty, only to be renewed by some act of oppression on the part of the whites, or some violation of treaty stipulation.

When the United States assumed con- trol of the country, by virtue of the Louis- iana purchase, nearly the whole State was in possession of the Sacs and Foxes, a powerful and warlike nation, who were not disposed to submit without a struggle to what they considered the encroachment of the pale faces. Among the most noted

chiefs, and one whose restlessness and hatred of the Americans occasioned more trouble to the Government than any other of his tribe, was Black Hawk, who was born at the Sac Village, on Rock river, in 1767. He was simply the chief of his own band of Sac warriors; but by his energy and ambition he became the leading spirit of the united nation of Sacs and Foxes, and one of the prominent figures in the history of the country from 1804 till his death.

In early manhood he attained distinc- tion as a fighting chief, having led cam- paigns against the Orages and other neigh- boring tribes. About the beginning of the present century he began to appear prominent in affairs on the Mississippi. His life was a marvel. He is said by some to have been the victim of a narrow prejudice and bitter ill-will against the Americans.

Upon the cession of Spain to France, in 1801, it did not give up possession of the country, but retained it, and by the au- thority of France transferred it to the United States in 1804. At that time Black Hawk and his band were in St. Louis, and were invited to be present and witness the transfer; but he refused the invitation, and it is but just to say that this refusal was caused probably more from regret that the Indians were to be transferred from the jurisdiction of the Spanish authorities than from any special hatred toward the Americans. In his life he says: "I found many sad and gloomy faces because the United States were about to take possession of the town and country. Soon after the Americans came I took my band and went to take leave of my Spanish

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father. The Americans came to see him also. Seeing them approach, we passed out of one door as they entered an- otber, and immediately started in our canoes for our village on Rock river, not liking the change any better than our friends appeared to at St. Louis. On arriving at our village, we gave the news that strange people had arrived at St. Louis, and that we should never see our Spanish father again. The information made all our people sorry."

November 3, 1804, a treaty was con- cluded between William Henry Harrison, then Governor of Indiana Territory, on behalf of the United States, and five chiefs of the Sac and Fox nation, by which the latter, in consideration of $2,234 worth of goods then delivered, and a yearly annuity of $1,000 to be paid in goods at just cost, ceded to the United States all that land on the east side of the Mississippi, extending from a point opposite the Jefferson, in Missouri, to the Wisconsin river, embra- cing an area of over 51,000,000 of acres. To this treaty Black Hawk always objected, and always refused to consider it binding upon his people. He asserted that the chiefs or braves who made it had no au- thority to relinquish the title of the nation to any of the lands they held or occu- pied, and, moreover, that they had been sent to St. Louis on quite a different errand, namely: to get one of their people released, who had been imprisoned at St. Lòuis for killing a white man.

In 1805 Lieutenant Pike came up the river for the purpose of holding friendly councils with the Indians and selecting sites for forts within the territory recently acquired from France by the United

States. Lieut. Pike seems to have been the first American whom Black Hawk ever met or had a personal interview with, and he seemed very much prepossessed in his favor. He gives the following account of his visit to Rock Island: "A boat came up the river with a young American chief and a small party of soldiers .. We heard of them soon after we passed Salt river. Some of our young braves watched them every day to see what sort of people he had on board. The boat at length arrived at Rock river, and the young chief came on shore with his interpreter, made a speech and gave us some presents We in turn presented him with meat and such other provisions as we had to spare. We were well pleased with the young chief; he gave us good advice, and said our American father would treat us well."

Fort Edwards was erected soon after Pike's expedition, at what is now Warsaw, Illinois, also Fort Madison, on the site of the present town of that name, the latter being the first fort erected in Iowa. These movements occasioned great uneasiness among the Indians. When work was commenced on Fort Edwards, a delegation from their nation, headed by some of their chiefs, went down to see what the Ameri- cans were doing, and had an interview with the commander, after which they returned home and were apparently satis- fied. In like manner, when Fort Madison was being erected, they sent down another delegation from a council of the nation held at Rock river. According to Black Hawk's account, the American chief told them that he was building a house for a trader, who was coming to sell them goods cheap, and that the soldiers were coming

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to keep him company- a statement which Black Hawk says they distrusted at the time, believing that the fort was an en- croachment upon their rights, and designed to aid it getting their lands away from them. It is claimed, by good authority, that the building of Fort Madison was a violation of the treaty of 1804. By the 11th article of that treaty, the United States had a right to build a fort near the mouth of the Wisconsin river, and by article 6 they had bound themselves "that if any citizen of the United States or any other white persons should form a settle- ment upon their lands, such intruders should forth with be removed." Probably the authorities of the United States did not regard the establishment of military posts as coming properly within the meaning of the term "settlement" as used in the treaty. At all events, they erected Fort Madison within the territory reserved to the Indi- ans, who became very indignant.

Very soon after the fort was built, a party led by Black Hawk attempted its destruction. They sent spies to watch the movements of the garrison, who ascer- tained that the soldiers were in the habit of marching out of the fort every morning and evening for parade, and the plan of the party was to conceal themselves near the fort, and attack and surprise them when they were outside. On the morning of the proposed day of the attack, five soldiers came out and were fired upon by the Indians, two of them being killed. The Indians were too hasty in their move- ment, for the parade had not commenced. However, they kept up the attack several days, attempting the old Fox strategy of setting fire to the fort with blazing arrows;

but finding their efforts unavailing, they soon gave up and returned to Rock river.

In 1812, when war was declared between this country and Great Britain, Black Hawk and his band allied themselves with the British, partly because he was dazzled by their specious promises, but more prob- ably because they were deceived by the Americans. Black Hawk himself declared that they were forced into war by being deceived. He narrates the circumstances as follows: "Several of the head men and chiefs of the Sacs and Foxes were called upon to go to Washington to see their Great Father. On their return they re- lated what had been said and done. They said the Great Father wished them, in the event of a war taking place with England, not to interfere on either side, but to re- main neutral. He did not want our help, but wished us to bunt and support our families, and live in peace. He said that British traders would not be permitted to come on the Mississippi to furnish us with goods, but that we should be supplied with an American trader. Our chiefs then told him that the British traders always gave them credit in the fall for guns, powder and goods, to enable us to hunt and clothe our families. He repeated that the traders at Fort Madison would have plenty of goods; that we should go there in the fall and he would supply us on credit, as the British traders had done." Black Hawk seems to have accepted the proposition, and he and his people were very much pleased. Act- ing in good faith, they fitted out for their winter's hunt, and went to Fort Madison in high spirits to receive from the trader their outfit of supplies; but after waiting some time, they were told by the trader

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that he would not trust them In vain they plealed the promise of their Great Father at Washington; the trader was inexorable. Disappointed and crest fallen, the Indians turned sadly to their own vil- lage. Says Black Hawk: "Few of us slept that night. All was gloom and discon- tent. In the morning a canoe was secn ascending the river; it soon arrived bear- ing an express, who brought intelligence that a British trader had landed at Rock Island with two boats filled with goods, and requested us to come up immediately, be- cause he had good news for us, and a variety of presents. The express presented us with tobacco, pipes and wampum. The news ran through our camp like fire on a prairie. Our lodges were soon taken down and all started for Rock Island Here ended all our hopes of remaining at peace, having been forced into the war by being deceived." He joined the British, who flattered him, and styled him "Gen. Black Hawk," decked him with medals, excited his jealousy against the Americans, and armed his band; but he met with defeat and disappointment, and soon abandoned the service and came home.

There was a portion of the Sacs and Foxes, whom Black Hawk, with all his skill and cunning, could not lead into hos- tilities to the United States. With Keokuk ("The Watchful Fox ") at their head, they were disposed to abide by the treaty of 1804, and to cultivate friendly relations with the American people. So, when Black Hawk and his band joined the fortunes of Great Britain, the rest of the nation remained neutral, and, for protec- tion, organized with Keokuk for their chief. Thus, the nation was divided into

the "War and Peace party." Black Hawk says he was informed, after he had gone to the war, that the nation, which had been reduced to so small a body of fighting men, were unable to defend themselves in case the Americans should attack them, and, having all the old men, women and children belonging to the warriors who had joined the British, on their hands to provide for, a council was held, and it was agreed that Quash-qua-me (The Lance) and other chiefs, together with the old men, women and children, and such others as chose to accompany them, should go to St. Louis and place themselves under the American Chief stationed there. Accord- ingly they went down, and were received as the "friendly band" of Sacs and Foxes, and were provided for and sent up the Missouri river.

On Black Hawk's return from the British army, he says Keokuk was intro- duced to him as the war chief of the braves then in the village. He inquired how he had become chief; and was in. formed that their spies had seen a large armed force going toward Peoria, and fears were entertained of an attack upon the village; whereupon a council was held, which concluded to leave the village, and cross over to the other side of the Mis- sissippi. Keokuk had been standing at the door of the lodge when the council was held, not being allowed to enter on account of never having killed an enemy, where he remained until Wa-co-me came out. Keokuk asked permission to speak to the council, which Wa-co-me obtained for him. He then addressed the chiefs. He remonstrated against the desertion of their village, their own homes, and the

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graves of their fathers, and offered to defend the village.

The council consented that he should be their war chief. He marshaled his braves, Sent out spies, and advanced on the lead- ing trail to Peoria, but returned without seeing the enemy. The Americans did not disturb the village, and all were satis- fied with the appointment of Keokuk. Like Black Hawk, he was a descendant of the Sac branch of the nation, and was born on Rock river in 1780. He was of a pacific disposition, but possessed the elements of true courage, and could fight when occa- sion required with cool judgment and heroic energy. In his first battle he en- countered and killed a Sioux, which placed him in the rank of warriors, and he was honored with a public feast by his tribe in commemoration of the event.

· In person, Keokuk was tall and of portly bearing. In his public speeches he dis- played a commanding attitude and grace- ful gestures. He has been described as an orator, entitled to rank with the most gifted of his race. He spoke rapidly, but his enunciation was clear, distinct and forcible; he culled his figures from the stores of nature, and based his arguments on skillful logic. Unfortunately for his reputation as an orator among white people, he was never able to obtain an interpreter who could claim even a slight acquaint- ance with philosophy. With one excep- tion only, his interpreters were unac- quainted with the elements of their mother tongue. Of this serious hindrance to his fame he was well aware, and re- tained Frank Labershure, who had re- ceived a rudimental education in the French and English languages, until the latter

broke down by dissipation and died. Keokuk was thus compelled to submit his speeches for translation to uneducated men, whose range of thought fell far below the flights of a gifted mind, and the fine imagery drawn from nature was be- yond their power of reproduction.

Keokuk had sufficient knowledge of the English language to make him sensible of this bad rendering of his thoughts, and often a feeling of mortification at the bungling efforts was depicted on his coun- tenance while speaking. The proper place to form a correct estimate of his ability as an orator was in the Indian council, where he addressed himself ex- clusively to those who understood his lan- guage, and witnessed the electrical effect of his eloquence upon his council. He seems to have possessed a more sober judgment, and to have had a more intelli- gent view of the great strength and re- sources of the United States, than his noted and restless cotemporary, Black Hawk. He knew from the first that the reckless war which Black Hawk and his band had determined to carry on could result in nothing but disaster and defeat, and he used every argument against-it. The large number of warriors whom he had dissuaded from following Black Hawk became, however, greatly excited with the war spirit after Stillman's defeat, and but for the signal tact displayed by Keokuk on that occasion, would have forced him to submit to their wishes in joining the rest of the warriors in the field. A war dance was held, and Keokuk took part in it, seeming to be moved with the current of the rising storm. When the dance was over, he called the council together to pre-

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pare for war. He made a speech, in which he admitted the justice of their complaints against the Americans. To seek redress was a noble aspiration of their nature. The blood of their brethren had been shed by the white man, and the spirits of their braves, slain in battle, called loudly for vengeance.

'. I am your chief," said he, " and it is my duty to lead you to battle, if after fully considering the matteryou are determined to go; but before you decide to take this important step, it is wise to inquire into the chances of success."

He then portrayed to them the great power of the United States, against whom they would have to contend, and thought their chances of success was utterly hope- less. "But," said he, "if you do deter- mine to go upon the warpath, I will agree to lead you on one condition-that before we go we kill our old men and our wives and children, to save them from a linger- ing death of starvation, and that every one of us determine to leave our homes on the other side of the Mississippi." This was a strong but truthful picture of the pros- pect before them, and was presented in such a forcible light as to cool their 'ardor and cause them to abandon their rash undertaking. From this time there was no serious trouble with the Indians until the Black Hawk war.

The treaty of 1804, between the United States and the chiefs of the Sac and Fox nations was never acknowledged by Black Hawk, and, in 1831, he established him- self with a chosen band of warriors upon the disputed territory, ordering the whites to leave the country at once. The settlers complaining, Governor Reynolds, of Illi-

nois, dispatched General Gaines with a company of regulars and 1,500 volunteers to the scene of action. Taking the Indians by surprise, the troops burnt their village, and forced them to conclude a treaty, by which they ceded all their lands east of the Mississippi, and agreed to remain ou the west side of the river.

Necessity forced the proud spirit of Black Hawk into submission, which made him more than ever determined to be avenged upon his enemies. Having ral- lied around him the warlike braves of the Sac and Fox nations, he recrossed the Mis- sissippi in the spring of 1832. Upon hearing of the invasion, Governor Rey- nolds hastily collected a body of 1,800 volunteers, placing them under command of Brig .- Gen. Samuel Whiteside.

The army marched to the Mississippi, and, having reduced to ashes the Indian village known as " Prophet's Town," pro- ceeded several miles up Rock river, to Dixon, to join the regular forces under Gen. Atkinson. They formed, at Dixon, two companies of volunteers, who, sighing for glory, were dispatched to reconnoiter the enemy. They advanced, under com- mand of Major Stillman, to a creek after- wards called "Stillman's run," and, while encamping there, saw a party of mounted Indians at a distance of a mile. Several of Stillman's party mounted their horses and charged the Indians, killing three of them; but, attacked by the main body, under Black Hawk, they were routed, and, by their precipitate flight, spread such a panic through the camp that the whole company ran off to Dixon as fast as their legs could carry them. On their arrival it was found that there had been eleven killed. The

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party came straggling into camp all night long, four or five at a time, each squad positive that all who were left behind were massacred .

It is said that a big, tall Kentuckian, with a loud voice, who was a Colonel of the militia, upon his arrival in camp gave to Gen. Whiteside and the wondering multi- tude the following glowing and bombastic account of the battle:

"Sirs," said he, "our detachment was encamped among some scattering timber on the north side of Old Man's creek, with the prairie from the north gently sloping down to our encampment. It was just after twilight, in the gloaming of the even- ing, when we discovered Black Hawk's army coming down upon us in solid column; they displayed in the form of a crescent upon the brow of the prairie, and such . accuracy and precision of military move- ments were never witnessed by man; they were equal to the best troops of Wellington in Spain. I have said that the Indians came down in solid columns, and displayed in the form of a crescent; and, what was most wonderful, there were large squares of cavalry resting upon the points of the curve, which squares were supported again by other columns fifteen deep, extending back through the woods and over a swamp three-quarters of a mile, which again rested on the main body of Black Hawk's army, bivouacked upon the banks of the Kish- wakee. It was a terrible and a glorious sight to see the tawny warriors as they rode along our flanks attempting to out- flank us, with the glittering moonbeams glistening from their polished blades and burning spears. It was a sight well calcu- lated to strike consternation in the stoutest

and boldest heart; and, accordingly, cur men soon began to break, in small squads, for tall timber.

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History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa, Part 4

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company Number of Pages: 1316

Author: Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1316