USA > Iowa > Chickasaw County > History of Chickasaw and Howard Counties, Iowa > Part 3
USA > Iowa > Howard County > History of Chickasaw and Howard Counties, Iowa > Part 3
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
It has been held by good American authorities, that the ereetion of Fort Madison at the point where it was located 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 near the mouth of the Wisconsin River; by article six they had bound themselves "that if any citizens of the United States or any other white persons should form a settlement upon their lands, such intruders should forthwith be removed." Probably the authorities of the United
-
.
26
HISTORY OF IOWA.
States did not regard the established 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 Indians, who became very indignant. Not long 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 ascertained 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 attack, five soldiers came out and were fired upon by the Indians, two of them being killed. The Indians were too hasty in their movements, for the regular drill had not yet commenced. However, they kept up the attack for sev- eral days, attempting the old Fox strategy of setting fire to the fort with blazing arrows; but findinng their efforts unavailing they soon gave up and returned to Rock River.
When war was declared between the United States and Great in Britian, 1812, Black Hawk and his band allied themselves with the British, partly because he was dazzled by their specious prom- ises, and more probably because they had been deceived by the. Americans. Black Hawk himself declared that they were "forced into the war by being deceived." He narrates the circumstances as follows : "Several of the chiefs and head men of the Saes and Foxes were called upon to go to Washington to see their Great Father. On their return, they related 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 remain neutral. He did not want our help, but wished us to hunt 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. bnt that we should be supplied with an American trader. Our chiefs then told him that the British trad- ers 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 this proposition, and he and his people were very much pleased. Acting 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 that he would not trust them. It was in vain they pleaded the promise of their Great Father at Washington. The trader was inexorable; and, disapointed and crestfallen, they turned sadly toward their own villiage. "Few of us," says Black Hawk, "slept that night; all was gloom and discontent. In the morning a canoe was seen
-
27
HISTORR OF IOWA.
ascending the river; it soon arrived, bearing an express, who brought intelligence that a British trader, had landed at Rock Island, with two boats loaded with goods, and requested us to come. up immediately, because 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 hopes of our remaining at peace, having been forced into the war by being deceived.
He joined the British, who flattered him, styled him "Gene ra Black Hawk," decked him with medals, excited his jealousies against the Americans, and armed his band; but he met with de- feat and disappointment, and soon abandoned the service and came home.
'With all his skill ann courage, Black Hawk was unable to lead all the Sacs and Foxes into hostilities to the United States. A portion of them, at the head of whom was Keokuk ("the Watch- ful Fox"), were disposed to abide by the treaty of 1804, and to cultivate friendly relations with the American people. Therefore, when Black Hawk and his band joined the fortunes of Great Britain, the rest of the nation remained neutral, and, for protection organized, with Keokuk for their chief. This divided the nation into the "War and Peace Party."
Black Hawk says he was informed, after he had gane 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 Amer- icans should attack them, and having all the old men and women and children belonging to 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 accom- pany them, should go to St. Louis, and place themselves under the American chief stationed there. They accordingly went down and were received as the "friendly band" of the Sacs and Foxes, and were provided for and sent up the Missouri river. On Black Hawk's return from the Brstish 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 informed 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 west side of the Mississippi.
Keokuk had been standing at the door of the lodge . where 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 in the council, which Wa-co-me obtained for him. Keokuk then addressed the chiefs; he remonstrated against the desertion of the village, their own
28
HISTORY OF IOWA.
homes and the 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 trail leading to Peoria, but returned without seeing the enemy. The Americans did not disturb the village, and all were satisfied with the appointment of Keokuk.
Keokuk, like Black Hawk, 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 occasion required, with a cool judgment and heroic energy. In his first battle he encountered 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.
Keokuk has been described as an orator, entitled to rank with the most gifted of his race. In person he was tall, and of portly bearing; in his public speeches he displayed a commanding atti- tude and graceful gestures; 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. Un- fortunately for the reputation of Keokuk as an orator, among white people, he was never able to obtain an interpreter who could claim even a slight acquaintance with philosophy. With one ex- ception only, his interpreters were unacquainted with the ele- ments of their mother tongue. Of this serious hindrance to his fame, Keokuk was well aware, and retained Frank Labershure, who had received a rudimental education in the French and En- glish languages, until the latter broke down by dissipation and died. But during the meridian of his career among the white people, he was compelled to submit his speeches for trauslation to uneducated men, whose range of thought fell below the flights of a gifted mind, and the fine imagery drawn from nature was be- yond their power of re-production. He had sufficient knowledge of the English language to make him sensible of this bad render- ing of his thought, and often a feeling of mortification at the bun- gling efforts was depicted on his countenance 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 understonnd his language, and witness the electrical effect of his eloquence upon his audience.
Keokuk seems to have possessed a more sober judgment, and to have had a more intelligent view of the great strength and re- sources of the United States, than his noted and restless cotem- porary, 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 defeat and disaster, and used every ar- gument against it. The large number of warriors whom he had dissuaded from following Black Hawk became, however, greatly
29
HISTORY OF IOWA.
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 war- riors 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 to prepare 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 brethern had been shed by the white man, and the spirits of their braves, slain in battle, called loudly for vengeance. "I am your chief," he said, "and it is my duty to lead you to battle, if, after fully considering the matter, you are determined to go. But before you decide on taking 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, that their chances of success was utterly hopeless. "But," said he, "if you do determine to go upon the war-path, I will agree to lead you, on one condition, viz .: that before we go, we will kill all our old men and our wives and children, to save them from a lingering 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 prospect before them, and was presented in such a forcible light as to cool their ardor, and cause them to abandon the rash undertaking.
But, during the war of 1832, it is now considered certain that small bands of Indians, from the west side of the Mississippi, made incursions into the white settlements, in the lead mining region, and committed some murders and depredations.
When peace was declared between the United States and Eng- land, Black Hawk was required to make peace with the former, and entered into a treaty at Portage des Sioux, September 14, 1815, but did not " touch the goose-quill to it until May 13, 1816, when he smoked the pipe of peace with the great white, chief," at St. Louis. This treaty was a renewal of the treaty of. 1804, but Black Hawk declared he had been deceived; that he did not know that by singing the treaty he was giving away his villiage. This weighed upon his mind, already soured by previous disappointment and the irresistible encroachments of the whites; and when a few years later, he and his people were driven from their possessions by the military, he determined to return to the home of his fathers.
It is also to be remarked that in 1816, by treaty with various tribes, the United States, relinquished to the Indians all the lands lying north of a line drawn from the southermost point of Lake Michigan west to the Mississippi, except a reservation five leagues square, on the Mississippi River, supposed then to be sufficient to include all the mineral lands on an adjacent to Fever River, and one league square at the mouth of the Wisconsin River.
30
HISTORY OF IOWA.
THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
The immediate cause of the Indian outbreak in 1830 was the occupation of Black Hawk's villiage, on the Rock River, by the whites, during the absence of the chief and his braves on a hunt- ing expedition, on the west side of the Mississippi. When they returned they found their wigwams occupied by white families, and their own women and children were shelterless on the banks of the river. The Indians were indignant, and determined, to re- possess their villiage at all hazards, and early in the spring of 1831 recrossed the Mississippi and menacingly took possession of their own cornfields and cabins. It may be well to remark here that it was expressly stipulated in the treaty of 1804, to which they at- tributed all their troubles, that the Indians should not be obliged to leave their lands until they were sold by the United States, and it does not appear that they occupied any lands other than those owned by the Government. If this was true, the Indians had good cause for indignation and complaint. But the whites, driven out in turn by the returning Indians, became so clamorous against what they termed the encroachments of the natives, that Gov. Reynolds, of Illinoise, ordered Gen. Gaines to Rock Island with a militay force to drive the Indians again from their homes to the west side of the Mississippi. Black Hawk says he did not intend to be provoked into war by anything less than the blood of some of his own people; in other words, that there would be no war unless it should be commenced by the pale faces. But it was said and probably thought by the military commanders along the fron- tier, that the Indians intended to unite in a general war against the whites, from Rock River to the Mexican borders, But it does not appear that the hardy frontiersmen themselves had any fears, for their experience had been that, when well treated, their Indian neighbors were not dangerous. Black Hawk and his band had done no more than to attempt to repossess the old homes of which they had been deprived in their absence. No blood had been shed. Black Hawk had his chiefs sent a flag of truce, and a new treaty was made, by which Black Hawk and hss band agreed to remain for- ever on the Iowa side.
On the 6th day of April, 1832, Black Hawk, and his en- tire, band, with their women and children, again recrossed the Mississippi River in, plain view of the garrison of Fort Armstrong, and went up the Rock River .. Although this act was construed into an act of hostility by the military authorities, who declared that Black Hawk intended to recover his village, or the site where it stood, by force; yet it does not appear that he made any such attempt, nor did his appearance create any special alarm among the settlers. They knew that the Indians never went on the war-path encumbered with the old men, their women and their children.
The Galenian, printed in Galena, of May 2, 1832, says that
31
HISTORY OF IOWA.
Black Hawk was invited by the Prophet, and had taken possession of a tract about forty miles up Rock river; but that he did not re- main there long, but commenced his search up Rock river. Capt. W. B. Green, who served in Captain Stevenson's company of mounted rangers, says that "Black Hawk and his band crossed the river with no hostile intention, but that his band had had bad .. luck in hunting during the previous winter, were actually in a starving condition, and had come over to spend the summer with a friendly tribe on the headwaters of the Rock and Illinois rivers by invitation from their chief:" Other old settlers, who all agree that Black Hawk had no idea of fighting, say that he came back to the west side expecting to negotiate another treaty, and get a new supply of provisions. The most reasonable explanation of this movement, which resulted so disastrously to Black Hawk and his starving people, is that, during the fall and winter of 1831-32, his people became greatly indebted to their favorite trader at Fort Armstrong (Rock Island), they had not been fortunate in hunting, and he was likely to lose heavily, as an Indian debt was outlawed in one year. If, therefore, the Iudians could be induced to come over, and the fears of the military could be sufficiently aroused to pursue them, another treaty could be negotiated, and from the payments from the government the shrewd trader could get his pay. Just a week after Black Hawk crossed the river, on the 13th of April, 1832, George Davenport wrote to Gen. Atkinson: "I am informed that the British band of Sac Indians are determined to make war on the frontier settlements. * *
From every information that I have received, I am of the opinion that the intention of the British band of Sac Indians is to commit depredations on the inhabitants of the frontier." And yet, from the 6th day of April, until after Stillman's men commenced war by firing on the flag of truce from Black Hawk, no murders nor depredations were committed by the British band of Sac Indians.
It is not the purpose of this sketch to detail the incidents of the Black Hawk war of 1832, as it pertains rather to the history of the State of Illinois. It is sufficient to say that, after the disgraceful affair at Stillman's Run, Black Hawk concluded that the whites refusing to treat with him, were determined to exterminate his people, determined to return to the Iowa side of the Mississippi. He could not return by the way he came, for the army was behind him, an army, too, that would sternly refuse to recognize the white flag of peace. His only course was to make his way northward and reach the Mississippi, if possible, before the troops could overtake him, and this he did; but, before he could get his women and children across the Wisconsin, he was overtaken, and a battle en- sued. Here, again, he sued for peace, and, through his trusty lieutenant, "the Prophet," the whites were plainly informed that the starving Indians did not wish to fight, but would return to the west side of the Mississippi, peaceably, if they could be per-
32
HISTORY OF IOWA.
mitted to do so. No attention was paid to this second effort to ne gotiate peace, and, as soon as the supplies could be obtained the pursuit was resumed, the flying Indians were overtaken again eight miles before they reached the mouth of the Bad Axe, and the slaughter (it should not be dignified by the name of battle) commenced. Here, overcome by starvation and the victorious whites, his band was scattered, on the 2d day of August, 1832. Black Hawk escaped, but was brought into camp at Pralrie du Chien by three Winnebagoes. He was confined in Jefferson bar- racks until the spring of 1833, when he was sent to Washington, arriving there April 22. On the 26th of April they were taken to Fortress Monroe, where they remained till the 4th of June, 1833, when orders were given for them to be liberated and returned to their own country. By orders of the president he was brought back through the principal eastern cities. Crowds flocked to see him all along the route, and he was very much flattered by the at- tention he received. He lived among his people on the Iowa river till that reservation was sold, in 1836, when, with the rest of the Sacs and Foxes, he removed to the Des Moines reservation, where he remained till his death, which occurred on the 3d of Oc- tober, 1838.
INDIAN PURCHASES, RESERVES AND TREATIES.
At the close of the Black Hawk War, in 1832, a treaty was made, at a council held on the west bank of the Mississippi, where now stands the thriving city of Davenport, on grounds now occu- pied by the Chicago, Rock Island and" Pacific, railroad company on the 21st day of September, 1832. At this council, the United States were represented by Gen. Winfield Scott and Gov. Rey- nolds, of Illinois. Keokuk, Pash-a-pa-ho and some thirty other chiefs and warriors of the Sac and Fox nation were present. By this treaty, the Sacs and Foxes ceded to the United States a strip of land on the eastern border of Iowa, fifty miles wide, from the northern boundary of Missiouri to the mouth of the Upper Iowa River, containing about six million acres. The western line of the purchase was parallel with the Mississippi. In consideration of this cession, the United States Government stipulated to pay an- nually to the confederated tribes, for thirty consecutive years, twenty thousand dollar in specie, and to pay the debts of the In- dians at Rock Island, which had been accumulating for seventeen years, and amounted to fifty thousand dollars, due to Davenport & Farnham, Indian traders. The Government also generously do- nated to the Sac and Fox women and children, whose husbands and fathers had fallen in the Black Hawk war, thirty-five beef cattle, twelve bushels of salt, thirty barrels of pork, fifty barrels of flour and six thousand bushels of corn.
This territory is known as the "Black Hawk Purchase." Al- though it was not the first portion of Iowa ceded to the United
33.
HISTORY OF IOWA.
States by the Sacs and Foxes, it was the first opened to actual settlement by the tide of emigration that flowed across the Mis- sissippi as soon as the Indian title was extinguished. The treaty was ratified February 13, 1833, and took effect on the 1st of June ollowing, when the Indians quietly removed from the ceded ter- ritory, and this fertile and beautiful region was opened to white settlers.
By the terms of the treaty, out of the Black Hawk Purchase was reserved for the Sacs and Foxes 400 square miles of land situated on the Iowa River, and-including within its limits Keo- kuk's village, on the right bank of that river. This tract was. known as "Keokuk's Reserve," and was occupied by the Indians until 1836, when, by a treaty made in September between them and Gov. Dodge, of Wisconsin Territory, it was ceded to the United States. The council was held on the banks of the Mis- sissippi, above Davenport, and was the largest assemblage of the- kind ever held by the Sacs and Foxes to treat for the sale of lands. About one thousand of their chiefs and braves were present, and Keokuk was their leading spirit and principal speaker on the occasion. By the terms of the treaty, the Sacs and Foxes were re -. moved to another reservation on the Des Moines River, where an agency was established for them at what is now the town of Agency City. .
Besides the Keokuk Reserve the government gave out of the Black Hawk Purchase to Antoine Le Clair, interpeter, in fee sim- ple, one section of land opposite Rock Island, and another at the head of the first rapids above the island, on the Iowa side. This. was the first land title granted by the United States to an individ -. ual in Iowa.
Soon after the removal of Sacs and Foxes to their new reserva- tion on the Des Moines River, Gen. Joseph M. Street was transfered. from the agency of the Winnebagoes, at Prairie du Chein, to estab -- lish an agency among them. A farm was selected, on which. the necessary buildings erected, including a comfortable farm house for the agent and his family, at the expense of the. Indian Fund. A salaried agent was employed to superintend the farm and dispose of the crops. Two mills were erected, one. on Soap Creek, and the other on Sugar Creek. The latter was. soon swept away by a flood, but the former remained and did. good service for many years. Connected with the agency were; Joseph Smart and John Goodell, interpreters. The latter was in- terperter for Hard Fish's band. Three of the Indian chiefs, Keo- kuk, Wapello and Appanoose, had each a large field improved, the two former on the right bank of the Des Moines, back from the river, in what is now Keokuk's Prairie, and the latter on the present site of the city of Ottumwa. Among the traders connected with the agency were the Messrs. Ewing, from Ohio, and Phelps
34
HISTORY OF IOWA.
& Co., from Illinois, and also Mr. J. P. Eddy, who established his post at what is now the site of Eddyville.
The Indians at this agency became idle and listless in the absence of their natural and wonted excitements, and many of them plunged into dissipation. Keokuk himself bacame dis- sipated in the latter years of his life, and it has been reported that he died of delirium tremens after his removal with his tribe to Kansas.
In May, 1843, most of the Indians were removed up the Des Moines River, above the temporary line of Red Rock, having ceded the remnant of their lands in Iowa to the United States on the 21st of September, 1837, and on the 11th of October 1842. By the terms of the latter treaty, they held possessisn of the "New Purchase" till the Autum of 1845, when the most of them were removed to their reservation in Kansas, the balance being removed in the Spring of 1846.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.