USA > Iowa > Dickinson County > History of Dickinson County, Iowa, together with an account of the Spirit Lake massacre, and the Indian troubles on the northwestern frontier > Part 6
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INDIANS AT HERON LAKE
made were the representations. The number of cabins (six) was correctly given, the largest of which was represented as being in flames. There were also representations, of human figures and with the help of the imagination it was possible to distinguish which were meant for the whites and which the Indians. There were not over ten or a dozen all told, and ex- cept for the hint contained in the cabins, the largest one being in flames, we could not have figured any meaning out of it. This talk of the victims being pierced with arrows and their number and position given, is all nonsense. Mr. Howe and the writer spent some time studying it, and, while they came to the conclusion that it would convey a definite meaning to those understanding it, they could not make much out of it. -
After leaving Marble's place, the Indians traveled slowly to the northwest, camping in the groves that border on the small lakes in that direction, never stopping more than one night in a place, until they arrived at Heron Lake, about thirty- five miles northwest of Spirit Lake, sometime about the twen- ty-fourth or twenty-fifth of March.
CHAPTER VI.
DISCOVERY OF THE MASSACRE-MARKHAM'S NAR- ROW ESCAPE-HE CARRIES THE NEWS TO SPRING- FIELD-THE REPORT ALSO REACHES FORT DODGE BUT IS NOT CREDITED AT FIRST-IIOWE AND WHEELOCK REACH FORT DODGE -. THEIR ACCOUNT ACCEPTED AS TRUE-PUBLIC MEETING HELD- VOLUNTEERS CALLED FOR-TWO COMPANIES RAISED HERE AND ONE AT WEBSTER CITY-EX- PEDITION STARTS FOR THE LAKES-INCIDENTS OF THE MARCHI -- MEET THIE SPRINGFIELD REFUGEES -MEET MESSENGER FROM U. S. TROOPS-MAIN BODY TURNS BACK-DETACHMENT OF TWENTY- TITREE PROCEED TO THE LAKE.
HE DISCOVERY of the massacre and the manner in which it was made public now deserve a passing notice. Reference has formerly been made to a trapper by the name of Markham who was boarding in the family of J. M. Thatcher. It seems that early in the winter some cattle belonging to Markham had strayed away and that he was un- able to get any tidings of them until near spring, when he heard they were at Mud Lake (or Big Island Grove, as it was then called) in Emmet County. He went over there, found and identified the cattle, made arrangements for their care, spent some time in that locality, and finally started for home on the ninth of March. It will be remembered this was the day on which the Howe and Thatcher families were murdered and the day after the balance of the massacre. Shortly after hic started for the lakes there came up one of the fearful storms.
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DISCOVERY OF THE MASSACRE
so common that winter. The weather was intensely cold for the season of the year but there was no alternative but to press through if possible. He lost his course and struck farther south than he intended, and about eleven o'clock in the even- ing he reached the house of Mr. Gardner cold, hungry and uearly exhausted. Upon his arrival he was not a little sur- prised to find the place apparently deserted and everything about the house in confusion, and although he did not encoun- ter any dead bodies, he was pretty sure that there had been trouble with the Indians. He then started down through the grove for the Mattock place. The old foot path followed sub- stantially the same track as is now the highway through the grove. The night was uncommonly dark and objects could not be distinguished at all any distance away. When he had nearly reached Mattock's cabin his attention was attracted by the barking of a dog and the voices of individuals. He stopped to listen, and after taking a careful survey of the situation he found that he had unconsciously walked into the center of the Indian camp, they having pitched their tepees in a circle on both sides of the path. To withdraw from the proximity of his unwelcome neighbors without attracting their attention was an exceedingly difficult job and required all of his tact and address. Aided by the darkness he finally succeeded. He now took his course up across East Okoboji Lake to the cabin of Mr. Howe, where he found everything destroyed and in confusion and the bodies of the murdered victims scattered around. From there he went to the cabin of Mr. Thatcher, where he had been board- ing through the winter, but the condition of affairs was simi- lar here to what he found it at the other places. Thinking it unsafe to stay in the house, he went into a deep ravine a short distance away, and spent the remainder of the night. In the morning he found that his feet were partially frozen, but he immediately started for the Des Moines River, which he suc-
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DICKINSON COUNTY - IOWA
ceeded in reaching at the George Granger place. Here he fell in with some trappers, two of whom started immediately for Fort Dodge, where they gave the first account of the massacre. But having received the particulars at second hand, and being badly frightened at them, their story was so incoherent and their statements so contradictory, they were not believed and but very little notice was taken of them. Markham, in the meantime, went up the river to Springfield and carried the news of the massacre at the lakes to that settlement so that they had warning that trouble might be expected.
Mention has previously been made of the party from Jasper County, consisting of Howe, Wheelock and Parmenter, who were here in the fall and passed Inkpadutah's camp at Loon Lake at that time. Before leaving the lakes they had deter- mined to make permanent settlement there in the spring. This party left Newton not far from the first of March. At Fort Dodge they crossed the river and came up all of the way on the west side. By so doing they missed the trappers who went down with the news of the massacre, as they went down on the east side, consequently they heard nothing of the troubles until their arrival there. They were traveling with ox teams through the deep snow, and of course their progress was necessarily slow. On the night of the fifteenth they camped in a small grove on the bank of Mnd Creek, in Lloyd town- ship. The next morning they took an early start, thinking to reach the Gardner place before night, but a storm came up and they lost their course. Having their spring and summer sup- plies, of course they were heavily loaded. They abandoned their load in a slough some two or three miles east of Gar Lake and struck for the settlement, which they reached about mid- night. They first went to Thatcher's, where they found everything in confusion, but did not happen on any dead bodies. Then they went to Howe's, where they camped for
75
RELIEF EXPEDITION ORGANIZED
the night. In the morning they made such investigation of matters as they were able, and then for the first time the fact became apparent that the settlement had been wiped out by a bloody massacre. The party started immediately for Fort Dodge, arriving there on the twenty-second of March. They were so well known there that their statements were taken without question.
A public meeting was immediately called, at which it was decided to send an expedition to the lakes to bury the dead, relieve the living, if any were found, and if possible to over- take and execute summary vengeance upon the savage maraud- ers who had thus destroyed the settlement. The difficulties in the way of such an enterprise were numerous. The snow, which lay on the ground to an unprecedented depth, was just beginning to soften, and all were aware that just as soon as it commenced melting the streams would be swollen so as to be impassable. The settlers on the river above Fort Dodge be- came alarmed and most of them left their places and came into town, thus leaving the country through which the expedi- tion must necessarily pass practically uninhabited, and those who remained were so destitute that they could furnish noth- ing for the expedition. The meeting at Fort Dodge was held . on the twenty-third of March. Major Williams being present read a commission he held from Governor Grimes authorizing him in cases of emergency to take the proper measures for the defense of the frontier. Volunteers were called for and it soon became evident that there would be no delay in getting the men. In a few minutes a force of about seventy men was raised. This force was organized in two companies, A and B, Company A under the command of C. B. Richards, and Com- pany B under the command of J. F. Duncombe. Another, Com- pany C, Captain J. C. Johnson, was raised at Webster City, which brough the force up to about a hundred men. The whole
Chats Richards
CAPTAIN COMPANY A.
John F Duucombs
CAPTAIN OF COMPANY B.
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DICKINSON COUNTY - IOWA
force was under the command of Major William Williams, of Fort Dodge, while George B. Sherman, of the same place, acted as quartermaster and commissary. The expedition was without tents and was but partially supplied with blankets, the men being limited to one apiece. The means of transportation were very imperfect. There was no grain in the country above Fort Dodge, and it was impossible to take any along as it was necessary to take provisions for the round trip. The snow was nearly four feet on the level and all of the ravines and low places were completely filled, and when the snow com- menced melting it was one continued reach of water and slush. The enlisted men were no tenderfeet. They comprehended to its fullest extent the perils and privations they would neces- sarily have to overcome before completing the task they had undertaken, and while they went at the work of preparation with that careless gayety and nonchalance which usually char- acterize the representative frontiersman, they well knew that it was more than probable that some of their number would be left on that wild and desolate prairie, their flesh to be torn and devoured by the beasts and birds of prey and their bones to bleach in sun and storm until they turned again to dust. Looking back and recalling the events of that memorable ex- pedition the only wonder is that the number of victims was not materially larger.
The expedition left Fort Dodge on the twenty-fourth of March. Some accounts say the twenty-fifth, but this is a mis- take. They started on the twenty-fourth, and were nine days in reaching what was then known as the Granger place, in Emmet County, the point where the command divided and the main body turned back. Nine days of rougher campaign- ing it would be difficult to imagine. The snow had so filled in around the groves and along the streams that at times it was impossible to reach them. It was no uncommon experi-
Bohn NoMaxwell
FIRST LIEUTENANT OF COMPANY C.
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DICKINSON COUNTY - IOWA
ence to wade through snow and water waist deep during the day, and at night to lie down in their wet clothing, without fire and without tents, and on short rations of food. The only way the men could keep from freezing was by lying so close together that they could only turn over by platoons. The ra- vines were all filled level full of snow and it was often neces- sary to detach the teams and rigging a cable to the wagons for the whole party to take hold and make their way through. As the expedition neared the state line, and settlements became sparser and smaller, it was deemed prudent to send a force of scouts out in advance of the main body. Accordingly, on the morning of the thirtieth of March, Major Williams made a detail of ten men to act as scouts, under the command of :William L. Church, who, by the way, was a veteran of the Mexican War. Mr. Church with his family, consisting of his wife, his wife's sister and two small children, had settled at Springfield the fall before, and in Feb- ruary Church had made a trip to Webster City for supplies, leaving his family in the settlement at Springfield during his absence. He had reached MeKnight's Point, on the west fork of the Des Moines in Humboldt County on his return when he heard of the mas- sacre at the lakes, and also that a relief party was being or- ganized at Fort Dodge and would be up in a few days. He accordingly waited for their arrival, when he enrolled himself as a member of Company C. He had heard nothing of his family since he left home nearly a month before, and was continually in a state of feverish anxiety. Some of the ac- counts say that Lieutenant Maxwell had command of the scouting party, but this is a mistake. Church had charge of the scouts up to the time they fell in with the Springfield refu- gees, when he went down the river with them and the scouts were then turned over to Maxwell.
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MEET THE SPRINGFIELD REFUGEES
On the morning in question, as soon as the detail was com- pleted, he started with his scouts some distance in advance of the main party. As they were crossing over the divide near the south line of Emmet County, they saw, a long distance ahead of them, a party of pedestrians, but whether they were whites or Indians could not then be determined, as the party when first sighted must have been nearly two miles away. Church brought his men together, had them examine their arms to see that they were in readiness, and gave the word for a cautious advance, he taking the lead. As the distance be- tween the two parties was gradually diminished, it was evi- dent that the strangers were approaching with fully as much cantion as Church's party. It was now discovered that they had an ox team with them. This settled the question that they were not Indians. About this time they commeneed making signals, which the scouts answered, and throwing away their cantion, started on the run to meet them, Church taking the lead. His eagerness was soon explained, as his wife, wife's sister and two children were members of the party, and this was the first intimation he had received since he heard of the massacre as to whether his family were dead or alive. It was a glad, vet a sorrowful meeting. Glad that their cirele was yet complete ; that none of their mumber had fallen victims to the savage foc. Sorrowful that so much of danger and suffer- ing had been endured and that so much more of sorrow and privation must come to them before their comfort and safety could be assured.
It was now ascertained that they were a party of refugees fleeing from Indian depredations in the neighborhood of Springfield (now Jackson), Minnesota. The party consisted of about twenty men, women and children, among whom were Mrs. Church, her two children, and her sister Miss Swanger ; Mr. Thomas, his wife and several children; David Carver,
82
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DICKINSON COUNTY - IOWA
John Bradshaw, Morris Markham, Jareb Palmer, Miss Eliza Gardner, Doctor Strong and wife, Doctor Skinner and several others. From them it was ascertained that the Indians had made a raid on the settlements along the Des Moines River three days before, an account of which will be given later on. They had with them three persons who had been severely wounded in that attack; namely, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Carver and Miss Swanger. They had been three days upon the road, during which time they had been without provisions, except a kind of lunch they took along with them, and in that time they had suffered incredible hardships. The women and children had waded through snow and water waist deep and at night had lain down in their wet clothes completely exhausted.
It was decided by the scouts and refugees to go into camp in the nearest grove and to send back messengers to the main body to hurry up supplies and to inform the surgeon that his services would probably be needed. The messengers detailed for this service were Frank Mason of Company C and the writer. The balance of the scouts, together with the refugees, started for the nearest grove, which was on the river directly west from where the two parties met. The place has since been known as "Camp Grove," and is situated on the line between Palo Alto and Emmet Counties. When the . messengers reached the main body and delivered their message, ex- citement ran high. The troops hurried forward as rapidly as possible, and when they reached the grove the boys had campfires already started and everyone set to work immediate- ly to alleviate the sufferings of the exhausted refugees. They gave up for their nse the only tent in the command and fur- nished them with such provisions as they had, while the sur- geon, Doctor Bissell, dressed their wounds and made them as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. The next
83
MEET MESSENGERS FROM U. S. TROOPS
day they started on their way down the river, while the vol- teers continued their march toward the lakes.
Governor Carpenter in his account refers to this incident as follows :
"If the expedition had accomplished nothing more, every man would have felt himself repaid for his share in its toil and suffering by the relief it was able to afford to these suffering refugees. In the haste of their departure from Springfield they had taken but little provisions and seanty clothing. The women in wading through the drifted snow had worn out their shoes, their gowns were worn to fringes at the bottom, and all in all, a more forlorn and needy company of men and women were never succored by the hands of friends. They cried and laughed, and laughed and cried, alternately. A part of one squad then returned to the main command with the information of our discovery and the residue conducted the worn and weary party to the nearest grove on the Des Moines River, where the main body joined them later in the afternoon and where we spent the night. The next morning we divided our scanty rations and blankets with them and they went forward toward safety and friends, whilst we pushed towards the scene of the massacre."
On the afternoon of the first day of April the command reached Granger's place, when it was ascertained that a party of United States troops had come down from Fort Ridgley and were then at Springfield; that a detachment under Lieu- tenant Murray had been over to Spirit Lake and buried Mar- ble, but did not go down to Okoboji Lake at all. They also reported that the Indians had made good their escape across the Big Sioux River. By the way, this company of United States troops was under command of Captain Barnard E. Bee. who, at the breaking out of the civil war, joined the Confederates and was made a brigadier general, and was killed at the first battle of Bull Run. When it was learned that the Indians had made their escape, it was not deemed necessary that the
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DICKINSON COUNTY - IOWA
whole force should go over to the lakes. Indeed, that would - have been almost impossible, anyway. The supplies were nearly exhausted and the water was at its highest.
After consultation with his subordinates, Major Williams decided to turn back with the main body, while a party of twenty-three were detailed under the command of Captain Johnson and Lieutenant Maxwell to proceed to the lakes for the purpose of burying the dead and gaining what informa- tion they could.
Some accounts place the strength of this party at twenty- five or twenty-six, but twenty-three was the actual number. Their names were as follows:
Captain J. C. Johnson, Lieutenant John N. Maxwell.
Privates-Henry Carse, William E. Burkholder, :William Ford, H. E. Dalley, O. C. Howe, George P. Smith, O. S. Spencer, (. Stebbins, S. Van Cleve, R. U. Wheelock, R. A. Smith, William A. De Foe, B. F. Parmenter, Jesse Adding- ton, R. McCormick, J. M. Thatcher, William R. Wilson, Jonas Murray, AA. Burtch, William K. Laughlin, E. D. Kellogg.
In the list given to the public by Captain Richards, the name of William De Foe does not appear, but it is pretty cer- tain that he was a member of the party. Captain Richards himself volunteered to go and started with the rest, but upon reaching the river found that he could not cross his pony over, and so he and one other mounted man turned baek. It was in this way that the number was reduced to twenty-three, while the original order was for twenty-five. This party took up their line of March towards the lakes on the morning of the second day of April, carrying with them two days' rations, and it was then very uncertain when they would get any more. They arrived at the Thatcher cabin about three o'clock P. M., and immediately entered upon the work they had to do. The
S5
THE BURIAL PARTY
bodies of Noble and Ryan were found back of the cabin and were the first ones buried. It will be remembered that Mr. Ryan was one of the men who came through from Hampton with Luce and Thatcher, and that he got through on the even- ing of the seventh, just in time to be killed, while Thatcher, by reason of his cattle giving out, was obliged to lay over and rest them a short time. This delay saved his life.
CHAPTER VII.
THE BURIAL-PREPARATIONS FOR THE RETURN -THE PARTY DIVIDES-THE STORM- -ADVEN-
TURES OF . THE PARTY THAT REMAINED BEHIND.
HE PARTY camped that night at the Thatcher cabin. The old cook stove had been left standing in place un- disturbed. This the boys utilized at once and fell to work cooking their supper. After going into camp, a small detachment of the party, including Thatcher, started out on a stroll and went as far as the Howe cabin, where in addi- tion to the members of the Howe family, they found the bodies of the two children, Thatcher's and Noble's. They had prob- ably been taken that far with their mothers, who, it will be remembered, the Indians had with them as prisoners. The boys brought the body of Thatcher's child back to the cabin and buried it that night near the head of the ravine, west of the cabin. The Noble child was left where it was found and buried next day with the Howe family. The night was passed in the Thatcher cabin. It could not have been over fourteen by twenty feet in size and no loft, and yet the twenty-three men managed to dispose of themselves so as to pass the night in comparative comfort. They were on the move early the next morning and, after dispatching their scanty breakfast, started for the Howe cabin, about a mile and a quarter west. Upon arriving there Captain Johnson divided his command into three parties. One was to remain and bury the bodies found there. This party was under the immediate command of Captain Johnson himself. The second, under command of Lieutenant Maxwell, was to proceed to the Mattoek place and bury those found there, while the third, under the direction
S7
BURYING THE DEAD
of R. U. ยก Wheelock, was detailed to find, if possible, the wagon with supplies that Howe and Wheelock had abandoned on the prairie the night they reached there and discovered the massa- cre, on their former trip. The Captain's force commenced work at once. One spade and one shovel to each party were all the working tools that could be found. With these they dug a grave about six or seven feet square and about thirty inches deep. In this grave were buried the bodies of nine persons, as follows: Mrs. Millie Howe; Jonathan Howe, a grown-up son, and Sardis Howe, a grown-up daughter; five younger children of Mr. Howe, and the child of Mr. and Mrs. Noble, which, as has been before stated, had probably been brought that far with its mother before being killed by the Indians. There is a discrepancy between the actual facts and all accounts so far published relative to the number massacred at the Howe cabin. The number given by Mrs. Sharp in her book, as well as other published accounts, give it as "Mrs. Howe, a grown- up son, a grown-up daughter and four younger children." When the bodies were disinterred for reburial at the time of the erection of the monument, there were certainly nine bodies found in that grave, and they can only be accounted for as above stated. There were no children found at the Thatcher cabin, and Thatcher himself identified his child found at the Howe cabin, and the men with him assisted him in carrying it back to his own place, where it was buried as before stated, near the head of the ravine west of the house.
It was well towards noon when this work was completed. Tu the meantime the other burial party, under Maxwell, proceed- ed at once to the Mattock place. A short time before their arrival there they found the headless body of Joel Howe on the ice. Here is another discrepancy in which ascertained facts differ from the usually accepted accounts. Henry Dal- ley, of Webster City, who is the only member of that party
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DICKINSON COUNTY - IOWA
whose whereabouts is now known, insists that when they found the body of Mr. Howe they carried it to the Mattock place and buried it in the same grave with the Mattock fam- ily and the others that were found there. He says the recol- lection of that circumstance is the most vivid and distinct of anything that transpired on the trip and that he cannot be mistaken about it. The usually accepted account is that Mr. Howe's body was taken to the shore by those who found it and buried on a bluff some distance southwest of his house.
It will be remembered the party had no provisions except the lunch they brought with them from their camp the morn- ing before, and that was now exhausted. The party under Wheelock, consisting of five men, started at once in search of the abandoned wagon, which they found without difficulty among the sloughs that form the source of Spring Run, to- gether with the supplies, all safe as they had left them three weeks before. They took what they could conveniently carry of flour, pork, coffee and sugar, and started back, joining the other parties at the Mattock place, reaching there just as they had finished digging the grave and were gathering up the bodies for burial. As has been stated, here was the only place that showed signs of any resistance having been made, and that has already been described. There were eleven bodies found here and buried. As identified by Thatcher and Wilson at the time, they were as follows : James Mattock, his wife and the three oldest children, Robert Madison, Doc- tor Harriott, Bert Snyder and Joseph Harshman. Right here comes in a discrepancy that has never been explained and probably never will. Mrs. Sharp maintains that the bodies of Luce and Clark were found later and buried near the out- Jet of East Okoboji, they having been waylaid in their attempt to warn the other settlers. All accounts agree that eleven bodies were buried here. The writer found one body, that of
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