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 8
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ACCOUNT OF GOV. CARPENTER
others I followed down the creek a mile or more, until we came to the bluffs overlooking the bottoms bordering the Des Moines. I had hoped we might discover some elevated ridge through the bottom, over which we could pass and reach the timber that fringed the river. But on reaching the bluffs and looking out over the bottom land which fell back from the river from one to two miles on either side to their base, it was a wide waste of water. So we concluded our only hope was to remain right where we were until the storm abated.
"On getting back to the road we found our comrades im- provising a cover by taking the wagon sheet and one or two tents which we had along, and stretching them over the wagon wheels and staking them down as best they could to the frozen ground, leaving a small opening on the south side for a door- way. This done, we moved the animals to the south side of our tent, on ground sloping to the south, in order to afford them all the protection possible. Then we put all our blankets to- gether, made a common bed upon the ground, and all crawled into it without removing our clothes, every thread of which was wet, and most of which was frozen as stiff as boards. There we lay through that long Saturday night. The air outside was full of fine snow. At different times during the night three or four of us crept out of our nests and went around our tents, banking it with snow on the north, east and west sides. And when the fierce winds would blow the banking away so as to open a new air hole we would repeat the oper- ation. To add to the horrors of the situation during this more than thirty-six hours of absolute imprisonment, we were with- out food.
"By daylight, on Monday morning, we were on the move, and to our joy found the ice, which had formed on Cylinder Creek the day before, would bear us up. The severity of the weather cannot be better attested than by stating the fact that all the men, our wagon, loaded with the little baggage of the camp, and the few horses belonging to the command, were crossed upon this bridge of ice with perfect ease and safety. Since that experience upon Cylinder Creek, I have marched with armies engaged in actual war. During three and a half years' service, the army with which I was connected marched from Cairo to Chattanooga, from Chattanooga to Atlanta, from Atlanta to the sea, from the sea through the Carolinas
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to Richmond. These campaigns were made under southern suns and in the cold rains and not infrequent snow storms of southern winters. They were sometimes continued without intermission three or four days and nights in succession, with only an occasional halt to give weary, foot-sore soldiers a chance to boil a cup of coffee. But I never in those weary years experienced a conflict with the elements that could be compared with the two nights and one day on the bank of Cylinder Creek.
"After crossing the creek on Monday morning we went to the Shippey house, some two miles south, where we cooked our breakfast. From this time forward no order of march was observed, but each man found his way home to suit him- self. I followed down the river, in company with several comrades, to MeKnight's Point, where we got our dinner. After dinner Lieutenant Stratton, Smith E. Stevens and ny- self determined we would go on to Dakota, in Imboldt County, that afternoon and evening, and accordingly started. We had gone but a short distance when George W. Brizee . came on after us. We tried as delicately as possible to dis- smade him from attempting to go further that evening. But go he would, and so we pushed on. Night found us on the wide prairie some eight or ten miles southeast of MeKnight's Point and at least eight miles from Dakota.
"It became very dark, so that it was difficult to follow the track. Soon Brizee began to complain, declaring he could go no further and would have to take his chances on the prairie. As I had been over the road several times, Stratton and Stevens suggested that they would depend upon me to guide them through; so I kept ahead, looking and feeling out the path. I could hear them encouraging Brizce, while he per- sistently declared his inability to go any further. Stevens fin- ally took his blanket and carried it for him, and soon after Stratton was carrying his gun. I now told them that Henry Cramer and Judge Hutchinson lived about a mile south of our road, and some three miles west of Dakota, and that we would go in there and spend the night. Brizee thought he conld pull through that far. At last I thought we had arrived at a point nearly opposite of Cramer's, and we left the road and struck across the prairie. We had scarcely started before Brizee began to aver we were lost; that I, like a fool, was
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CARPENTER'S ACCOUNT CONTINUED
leading them a wild-goose chase, and that we would all have to lie on the prairie. I kept on, however, fixing my course as well as possible, and shonting back to come on, that we were all right.' Finally we were greeted by the barking of a dog, and in a few moments were in Mr. Cramer's house. After C'ramer and his wife had gotten out of bed and made us a bunk on the floor, and Cramer had pulled off Brizce s boots, Brizee began to repeat in various forms the adventures of the evening, emphasizing the persistency and plek it had required in us to pull through; and the hearty manner in which he commended my skill as a guide, over a trackless prairie, was hardly consistent with the upbraiding whilst we were plodding along in the darkness. The next morning Mrs. Cramer prepared the best breakfast I ever ate. My mouth waters today in memory of the biscuits which were piled up on that breakfast table. I have often thought since that there could have been but little left for the family dinner. That evening found us in Fort Dodge and our connection with the expedition had ended.
"I have frequently thought in later years of the good disci- pline preserved in a command where there was absolutely no legal power to enforce authority. This fact is really the highest compliment that could be paid the officers. Had they not possessed the characteristics which secured and maintained the respect of these men no shadow of discipline could have been enforced. On the contrary, during those trying days, on the march and in the bivouac, there was complete order. Of the three captains, two are living-Messrs. Richards and Dun- combe. Their subsequent careers in civil life have been but a fulfillment of the prophecy of the men who followed them through the snow banks of northwestern Towa in 1857. With Captain Johnson I was but little acquainted, but I watched him with interest and with admiration during the few days of onur march. He was a man of fine physique, was deliberate, quiet almost to reticence, with a handsome face and manly eye. In short, from what I saw of him. I may say that the marble and brass, which we have come here today to unveil in commemoration of him and his company's virtues and hero- ism are not of a more solid and enduring character than wore the noble and generous traits of his nature. His cruel death and that of his noble and promising comrade, William E. Burk-
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WILLIAM E. BURKHOLDER.
holder was the one circumstance which veiled the results of the expedition in a lasting sorrow.
"The First Lieutenant of Company A, Franklin 'E. Strat- ton, was perhaps more fully endowed with all the qualities which constitute a soldier than any other man in the com- pany, or perhaps of the command. He was quiet, prompt, un- complaining, methodical, and in the line of his duty exacting. Remembering my comradeship with him on the Spirit Lake Expedition when he went in the War of the Rebellion, I prophesied for him a successful career. He rose to be the Colonel of his regiment, and died a few years ago a Captain of the regular army.
"But time fails me to name all who deserve honorable men- tion. I cannot close, however, without paying a few words of tribute to Major William Williams, who commanded the expedition. Having been the sutter of the battalion of rog- ulars which was stationed at Fort Dodge, he knew something of the movements and sustenance of troops. He had the abil- ity to make that knowledge available. There was a quiet,
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LAUGHLIN TELLS HOW THE PARTY DIVIDED
confident air in his deportment that commanded respect, and he moved those undisciplined men as quietly and as orderly as would have been possible by an experienced soldier. I have never thought that full justice had been done to the man who led this expedition, and who in many ways proved his interest and faith in the pioneers of northwestern Iowa. So I have turned aside, here and now, to speak a tardy word in recogni- tion of his many noble qualities. He was born in Westmore- land County, Pennsylvania, December 5, 1796, and died at Fort Dodge, February 26, 1874, and at the date of these events was in the sixty-second year of his age. He was reared a banker, and for years was cashier of the branch of the Ex- change Bank of Pittsburg, located at Holidaysburg. But he had been an open-handed, generous giver; had no innate love of gain ; so he lost money instead of making accumulations, and sought the great West to rebuild his broken fortunes. Now he was a man well advanced in years. It was not easy for younger men to complain of hardships of the march when, day by day, they saw him resolutely pushing forward.
"The action of Hamilton County in thus inscribing his name upon an enduring tablet is a silent protest against the neglect and oversight of his own county, and the town which was the idol of his affection. Emerson has said that 'they who forget the battles of their country will have to fight them over again.' So they who forget the unselfish deeds of their countrymen will themselves be unworthy of a place in history. Next to a hero is the man who can appreciate a hero. All honor then to the citizens of a county that in these 'piping times of peace' can pause for a day and step out of the busy channel.of com- merce to gather some of the names of a generation of self- sacrificing pioneers into history's golden urn."
A few extracts from Mr. Laughlin's account written for the same occasion as the others will make some points a little plainer, especially as to how the party came to divide up and how they got together again after crossing the river.
The Major's parting injunction was, "Boys, keep together. whatever happens." But this advice was easier given than followed. The first division was at the Gardner cabin when the party of seven refused to venture across the prairie over
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a route which none of the party knew anything about, and insisted on returning by the same route they went up, which was to strike the river at Emmet, cross there and go down on the east side. The second division was when the party reached Mud Creek, and is told by Mr. Laughlin as follows :
"About noon we came to a large stream and had to follow up and down some time before finding a crossing. Two of our inen, Robert McCormick and Owen Spencer, went far above and crossed and separated from us, but finally succeeded in getting through to the colony in safety. Late in the afternoon we came to some small lakes with some scatter- ing trees on the opposite side. By this time the wind changed suddenly and it began to grow colder. % * % The lake was apparently between us and the course we ought to take and we followed close around the shore. Off to the west side lay a large marsh covered with tall grass. Those in advance passed between marsh and lake and succeeded in getting around, when we discovered that Captain Johnson, Burk- holder, Addington, George Smith and one other (Jonas Mur- ray), five men in all, had dropped off in our rear and were going around the marsh. We expected they would return to us when they got around, but as it was growing dark and we could still see them on high ground beyond, we thought best to try and go to them, as Major Williams' parting advice was 'stiek together, boys,' but they soon passed out of our sight into the darkness. We then retraced our steps, passed the south end of the lake, and traveled directly east. * * * We traveled until about nine o'clock, when we halted, finding we were mak- ing but little headway, having to meander ponds and wade streams that were fast freezing, and decided to go no further until morning. Soon the most of us were tumbled down in a promisenous heap, lying close to keep one another warm, on the naked, burned prairie. Our pants were a sheet of ice. Some had blankets, but many only their wet clothes.
"Lieutenant Maxwell and myself did not lie down during that terrible night, but kept tramping around and occasionally rousing the sleepers and making them stir around to keep from freezing. I expected we would all be frozen before morning. I had taken my socks off the day before and wrung
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HOW THE PARTIES DIVIDED
IV. K Laughlin
them out and carried them in my pocket and as soon as we halted I pulled off my boots, replaced my socks and put on my boots again. I thus saved my feet and I got through without freezing any part. The following morning the sun was clear and we were in sight of timber directly east, eight or ten miles away. I was among the last to leave our camping ground. I remember picking up one empty provision sack and following on. I soon overtook Mr. Carse, the oldest and best clad man in our party, having double mackinaw blankets and a fur over- coat. He was on the sunny side of a gopher hill trying to put on his boots which he had pulled off at night. I passed him
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without a thought that they were frozen so that he could not get them on. The ponds and also the streams where there was not much current were frozen, so they bore our weight. Most of the men made a bee line, wading streams, running slush ice, but I was more fortunate, being long and light; by seek- ing places that were ieed over and crawling at full length I got over without getting wet. Elias Kellogg and myself were first getting to the timber. I immediately went about starting a fire. I had no matches and neither had the others. My gun was empty and my powder dry, so I put a charge of powder in my gun and loaded with some eotton from out of my vest lining. I discharged it into some rotten wood, which caught, and by pouring on more powder and with vigorous blowing I succeeded in starting a fire.
"Lieutenant Maxwell was among the first to get to the tim- ber, and by the time we got our fire well to going most of the boys had straggled in. Mr. Carse came in last, led by Henry Dally, a mere boy poorly clad, whom Mr. Carse had befriended by taking him under his double blankets that night. Carse had his boots in his hands and was ill and delirious. The
soles of his feet were worn out walking on the frozen ground. Kellogg was the next objeet of attention., He had seated him- self by a tree and was almost helpless and unconseious of his misery. We had to arouse him and cut his frozen overalls away. Had he been left alone he would probably have never . risen from his condition. With a good fire we were soon
warmed. * * * The river had to be crossed. It was high and full of floating ice, but we got some long poles and with this help crossed from one cake of iee to another and reached the other side. % No sooner was the advance party over than the others all followed, and when we gained the open ground on the other side, we could see the colony as con- jeetured, and footsore and weary as we were, we soon made the distanee. We found Major Williams and a part of the men there waiting for us, with much anxiety. Major Williams had made preparations for us. Fresh beef from the poor set- ilers' poorer oxen was cooked and ready.
** The next morning Smith, Addington and Murray came. They had been to another cabin further on, and finding some provision, had stayed all night. They stated that they had separated from Captain Johnson and Burkholder early the previous morning :
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LAUGHLIN'S ACCOUNT CONCLUDED
that they had taken their boots off at night and they were frozen so they could not get them on, and while they were cutting up their blankets and getting them on their feet they had disagreed as to the course to be taken. Pulling off their boots was a fatal mistake. To reach the place where their bones were found eleven years afterwards, they must have traveled all that day and part of the next night, and have lain down together in the sleep that knows no awakening."
From the foregoing extract it will be noticed that the way in which the party broke up and the members became separated was about as follows: First, Spencer and McCormick left the main body when they reached Mud Creek in Lloyd township, they going up the creek to find a better crossing. Where they crossed or how they crossed the Des Moines is not now known, but they were the first to reach the settlement. The next break was late in the afternoon, when on reaching a large marsh the main body passed it on the east, while Johnson, Burkholder, Smith, Addington and Murray passed to the west of it. They did not come together again that night, but were within hailing distance of each other. Murray was a trapper, had visited the lakes the year before and elaimed to know some- thing of the country, but proved a poor guide. Johnson and Burkholder separated from the other three sometime in the forenoon of the second day, going southeast, about parallel with the Des Moines River. How Smith. Addington and Mur- ray got in has already been told, also the main body under Maxwell and Laughlin. The great wonder is that any of them lived through that terrible experience.
The October number of Annals of Iowa for 1898, contains several accounts of this trip written by different members of the expedition. Ex-Governor C. C. Carpenter, Hon. J. F. Duncombe, Captain C. B. Richards, Lieutenant J. N. Max- well, W. K. Laughlin, Michael Sweeney and Frank Mason are
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cach represented in that publication. Harris Hoover also wrote an account which appeared in the Hamilton Freeman during the summer of 1857. He afterwards revised it and it was published in The Annals. These several accounts agree in all of the main incidents, and yet each one notices something that is overlooked by the rest. Taking them collectively they give a full and intelligent summary of the facts of this the most remarkable expedition connected with the history of Iowa.
CHAPTER IX.
INKPADUTAH AT HERON LAKE-OTHER BANDS OF INDIANS-AFFAIRS AT SPRINGFIELD-THIE ATTACK AND DEFENSE-A VIVID ACCOUNT BY HON. CHARLES ALDRICH-HEROISM OF MRS. CHURCHI.
HE LAST mention made of Inkpadutah's band was that they were camped at Heron Lake preparatory to their attack on Springfield. This is so closely connected with the massacre at the lakes that the story of one is incom- plete without the other. According to Mrs. Sharp's account there were two other bands of Indians in addition to Inkpadutah's who were hovering along the western border of Iowa and Minnesota. She says: "In the fall of 1856 a small party of Indians came and pitched their tents in the neighborhood of Spring- field. There was also a larger band, under the chieftainship of Ishtahaba, or Sleepy Eve, eneamped at Big Island Grove on the same river."
The "Big Island Grove" here referred to is the same one mentioned by Major Williams in his official report, and also by Lieutenant Maxwell and Harris Hoover in their accounts of the expedition. It is none other than the grove on the north side of High Lake in Emmet County.
When Major Williams' force was on the march it was eur- rently reported that Sleepy Eye was encamped with a large body of Indians at this grove, and as the expedition neared the place the scouts were doubled and extra precautions taken. Upon arriving there evidences were plenty of the recent ocen- pation of the place by the Indians, but nothing to indicate the
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presence of a large party. The lookout and the abandoned campfire, mentioned by Lieutenant Maxwell, were there, also a canoe partly finished which the Indians were making from a black walnut log. Everything went to prove that Indians had been there, but not in large numbers, and it is highly probable that the force under Sleepy Eye has been greatly exaggerated.
It is said that these Indians were on friendly terms with the whites during the winter. To how great an extent they were concerned in the troubles that afterward occurred is not fully known, but that they knew of the massacre at the lakes and participated in the attack on Springfield and shared in the plunder is pretty generally believed. Mrs. Sharp, in referring to events preceding the attack, says :
"On the twentieth of March two strange and suspicious look- ing Indians visited (Wood's store and purchased a keg of pow- der, some shot, lead, baskets, beads and other trinkets. Each of them had a double barreled gun, a tomahawk and a knife, and one, a very tall Indian, was painted black-so said one who saw them. * * * Soon afterward Black Buffalo, one of the Springfield Indians, said to the whites that the Indians who were at the store told his squaw that they had killed all of the people at Spirit Lake."
Shortly after this the Springfield Indians left, but before going they told the whites that Inkpadutah's band had started for the Big Sioux and that there was no danger from them. During all of this time Inkpadutah was encamped at Heron Lake, preparatory to his attack on Springfield, which was made on Friday the twenty-seventh of March.
The settlement consisted of the Wood brothers, who were keeping a kind of general store and trading alike with the Indians and whites, and the families of Mr. Thomas, Stewart, Wheeler, Doctor Strong, Doctor Skinner, - Smith, and
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AFFAIRS AT SPRINGFIELD
one or two others. Mr. Markham, after making the discovery of the massacre at the lakes, made his way to Springfield and was at the house of Mr. Thomas at the time of the attack. It .was he who carried the news of the massacre at the lakes and the people acted on his information in making preparations for defense and safety. On hearing of the trouble at the lakes, several families congregated at the house of Mr. Thomas for mutual protection, and several other persons assembled at the cabin of Mr. Wheeler for the same purpose.
Two trusty messengers, Charles Tretts and Henry Chiffen, were dispatched to Fort Ridgley, with a petition setting forth the massacre at the lakes, their defenseless condition and ask- ing for aid. Fort Ridgley is located some seventy-five miles to the north of Jackson, and at that time there was no trail nor any settlement at any point on the route. They made the trip on snow shoes and it can easily be imagined that it was no picnic. They had not yet returned when the attack was made on the settlement, but were hourly expected. When the people on the Des Moines first heard of the massacre at the lakes they were filled with anxiety and apprehension, but as the time wore on and the attack failed to materialize they began to have some hopes that they would be spared, at least until they could receive government aid. Two weeks had now passed since they had heard of the trouble, and during this time they had kept continually on the alert, determined to make what resistance they were able in case of an attack.
Opinion seems to have been somewhat divided as to the probability of an attack. The Wood brothers, with whom the Springfield Indians had done considerable trading during the winter, would not believe the reports of the massacre. They had also traded with Inkpadutah's band when on their way down the Little Sioux the fall before, and scouted the idea of there being any danger .. Indeed they carried this feeling to
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such an extent that some of the settlers accused them of being in league with the Indians. So positive were they that there was no danger that, against the remonstrance of the settlers, they sold the Indians ammunition only a few days before the outbreak, receiving in payment money that had doubtless been taken from the victims of the Spirit Lake Massacre.
As before noted, the attack was made on the afternoon of the twenty-seventh of March. It seems that the men of the party who were forted up at the Thomas cabin had been cutting and hauling wood during the day and had come in about three o'clock in the afternoon for their dinners, and after eating dinner were sitting around the fire talking and smoking when the attack occurred, the details of which are given in the graphic account written by Hon. Charles Aldrich, which is given in the fol- lowing pages. Had the attack been made two hours earlier, while the men were in the timber at work, in all probability the entire settlement would have been wiped out.
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