USA > Iowa > Dickinson County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 27
USA > Iowa > Emmet County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 27
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'Twas years ago, perhaps a score, And possibly a dozen more, My chronicler doesn't tell exact But simply furnishes the fact The Indian summer time was here, The loveliest time of all the year;
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Through day the sun's bright golden rays Combined with autumn't smoky haze, The mellow harvest moon at night Cloaked Nature's form in misty light.
A sportive party on a hunt, Who dared the warlike Sioux confront, From wandering many a weary day To these our lakes now bent their way, And on the shore of Spirit Lake Their noonday rest they thought to take. Now, in the grove, the lake close by, An Indian teepee caught their eye, And soon the youthful brave they met Who here his teepee-poles had set.
Umpashota was the name, Some of you have seen the same As years, five I believe, He passed through here an aged chief, A prisoner with his little band To Captain Martin's brave command; But this was in an earlier day Long ere his locks were mixed with gray. But young and strong and brave was he As ever Sioux was known to be. The hunters bold he gave his hand And welcomed them the "smoky man."
They saw the beauty of the place, The lake's walled shore and rippled face, And asked what name to it belonged. For well they knew the Indian tongue, "Minnie Waukon," the warrior spake; Translated this means Spirit Lake. "And why thus called," he asked the brave, As he looked out upon the wave, While they the pipe of peace imbibe He told this legend of his tribe :
How many, many moons ago The West belonged to all the Sioux. They were a countless tribe and strong, But soon the white man's bitter wrong
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Took of their hunting ground the best, Forced them to make their marches west, Forced them to leave these sacred mounds, Their fathers' ancient burial grounds, Their god of war was illy pleased, Would not by trifles be appeased, But woke within the warrior's breast Anger for being thus oppressed, And war parties were often made The white man's country to invade; And many a captive brought from far Was offered to their god of war.
At last they brought a maiden fair, Of comely form and beauty rare, With eyes than lustrous stars more bright, And flowing tresses dark as night. Too fair for human race seemed she, But fit the white man's god to be. Now, the Dacotah worships ne'er The beautiful, the bright, the fair, But his Waukon 's some hideous thing With awful eye and monster wing, Loves what is vilest, lowest, worst, Thinks truth and beauty things accursed. He loves the dark and hates the light, Protects the wrong, destroys the right, Ah, captive maid, what luckless fate! The victim of such fiendish hate. A savage vengeance craves thy life. The brave makes sharp his scalping knife. Those tresses dark their dance shall grace Ere next they venture on their chase.
But 'mongst the warriors brave and gay Was one they called the "Star of Day." The chief's much loved and honored son, His first, his last, his only one. By all both feared and loved was he, Their chief 'twas said he was to be. He hardly seemed like others there, His eye was dark, his beard was fair,
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In fact 'twas whispered round by some He was a paleface and had come Into the tribe some years ago- Was stolen by the chieftain's squaw.
He, always swiftest in the race, Loved well the reckless hunt and chase. His arrow true ne'er spent for naught Was sure to bring the game it sought. He white man born and savage reared By instinct nature's God revered; He saw the captive, "Pale Face Dove" And in his breast she wakened love. Full well he knew the cruel fate Which might the captive maid await; Resolved himself to rescue her, The lovely dark-eyed prisoner. To take her from that savage band And bear her to her own bright land, And there with her he thought to stay And make her bride to Star of Day.
The captive saw his cheek's light hue And curling locks, and quickly knew He was not of the savage race, But some long-captured young "paleface." She caught the glance of his bright eye And swiftly blushed, but knew not why. It chanced that to the warrior's care The chief oft left the captive fair, And though each spake a tongue unknown Love has a language all its own, And by some silent, magic spell It found a way its tale to tell.
At Marble Grove within its shade 'Twas planned to offer up the maid, The whole being left to Star of Day, He managed quite a different way. Beneath the bank, just out of view, He anchored near his light canoe; Across the lake within a glen Two well-trained ponies waited them.
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One eve as light began to fade He cut the thongs that bound the maid, And 'neath the twilight's dusky sky, While followed them no warrior's eye, He led her to the water's brim, She not resisting went with him, And launching quick their light canoe They o'er the waters swiftly flew.
The god of war willed not that so This victim from his grasp should go, Awoke a storm upon the lake, Which caused the waves to madly break, And as the night grew wild and dark Upset their fragile, dancing bark, And angry waters closed above The Star of Day and Pale Face Dove. But water spirits 'neath the wave Soon led them to a shining cave, Whose floor was paved with sea shells light, Whose walls were set with diamonds bright, And pearls and gems, a glittering lot Had there been brought to deck their grot. And there e'en now still live and love The Star of Day and Pale Face Dove. Not mortals now but spirits grown They watch the lake as all their own, And watch its waters night and day. And never since that time, they say, Across the lake in his canoe Has gone as yet a single Sioux. But if he venture on the wave No power is able him to save From angry spirits who with frown A whirlpool set to drag him down. And no red man dare undertake To sail upon this Spirit Lake, But if the white man's jolly boat Upon its silvery surface float, Quick ceases then the whirlpool's spell, The spirits know their people well, And by a ripple on the wave Tell where is hid their shining cave.
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CHAPTER XVIII.
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF DICKINSON COUNTY.
FIRST DESCRIPTION AND EXPLORATIONS-FIRST SETTLEMENTS-SETTLEMENTS AFTER THE MASSACRE THE BUILDING OF THE FORT-SUBSEQUENT SETTLEMENTS SPIRIT LAKE CLAIM CLUB-THE FIRST POSTOFFICE- EMIGRATION IN 1858 - BLACKBIRDS - THE MILL CONTROVERSY - FURTHER SETTLEMENTS-A PERIOD OF DEPRESSION-NEW HOPES- FIRST EVENTS AND VITAL STATISTICS-PIONEER CUSTOMS AND HARD- SHIPS FUEL-TRAPPING-THE HOMESTEAD AND PREEMPTION LAWS. ..
FIRST DESCRIPTION AND EXPLORATION
Dickinson County lies in the northern tier of Iowa counties, bordering on the Minnesota line, and is the third county from the west line of the state. It is twenty-four miles in length east and west and about seventeen miles in width north and south. It comprises an area of about four hun- dred square miles, one-eighth of which area is covered by lakes.
Dickinson County received its name in honor of Daniel S. Dickinson, one time United States senator from the State of New York.
The general chapter upon the "Period of Preparation" recounts accu- rately the early explorations in this part of the country and the events which happened in the territory then comprising the land now included in Dickinson County. One of the oldest written accounts of the Spirit Lake country, which means Dickinson County country, is described by Judge Fulton in his book "Red Men of Iowa," in which he says: "Lewis and Clarke's French interpreter described other localities in the country of the Sioux Nation now known to be within the boundaries of Iowa, with sufficient accuracy to warrant the conclusion that he had some knowledge of the geography of the country, though not strictly accurate in some respects. He described the Little Sioux as having its source within nine miles of Des Moines, as passing through a large lake nearly sixty miles in circumference and dividing it into two parts which approach each other very closely, as being very irregular in width, as having many islands, and as being known by the name of Lac D'Esprit, or Spirit Lake. This lake in the country of the Sioux, from the earliest knowledge of
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white men the chief seat of one of the Sioux tribes, is now known by the name of Spirit Lake and Lake Okoboji."
That this part of the country was inhabited by roving bands of white men, namely trappers, voyageurs, adventurers and Indian traders, is considered probable, but owing to the very nature of their occupation and their idle regard for the supposedly sterile country, they left no records of the life here or their conception of the beautiful lake region.
During the administration of President Van Buren, 1837-1841, the younger Nicollet was appointed by the secretary of war to draft a map of the Upper Mississippi River basin. This was done in accordance with the order of April 7, 1838, and in the general report of the region explored, Nicollet states: "It has heretofore been designated as the Little Sioux, and has its origin from a group of Lakes, the most important of which is called by the Sioux 'Minnie Waukon,' or 'Spirit Water,' hence its name of Spirit Lake." No statement is made regarding the Okoboji Indians. In another portion of the report the following astronomical table is given by Nicollet Place of observation : Spirit Lake, about the middle of the north- ern shore; altitude above the Gulf of Mexico, 1310 feet; north latitude, 43° 30' 21"; longitude west from Greenwich, in time, six hours, twenty minutes and twenty-six seconds, in arc, 95° 6' 30"; authority, Nicollet. R. A. Smith writes in regards to this: "It will be readily seen that the point from which this observation was taken cannot be far from where Cran- dall's Lodge was afterwards located. It is not at all probable that many, if any, of the hundreds of visitors who every summer sport on the sandy beach or bathe in the crystal waters of that charming region are aware that they are treading on ground made historic by reason of its being the first of which any mention is made or record preserved in all northwestern Iowa.
"The old Nicollet maps, or imperfect copies of them, were much in evidence back in the '50s. They showed the larger portion of Spirit Lake as being north of the state line. The state line was not surveyed until several years after these maps were made and consequently the northern boundary of the state had not then been determined. Nicollet's assistant and companion in this expedition was a man with whose name the world has since become familiar, being none other than Gen. John C. Fremont, then a young engineer in the service of the United States, afterwards the gal- lant 'Pathfinder of the Rockies,' the first republican candidate for the presi- dency, and a prominent major-general in the Union army during the War of the Rebellion. It is more than probable that the observation before noticed was taken by him and the record made in his handwriting. If this bo so, it can be safely asserted that John C. Fremont was the first explorer of the Spirit Lake region to give to the world an account of his discov- eries. From this time on the lakes were frequently visited by hunters,
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THE OLD GARDNER CABIN, 1872 Then the home of Olin Pillsbury.
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THE NEW ROCK PUBLIC LIBRARY
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trappers and adventurers up to the time when the state was admitted to the Union in 1846."
Another note in regard to early writings upon the vicinity of Spirit Lake is contained in a paragraph of Jacob Van der Zee's article in the Iowa State Journal of History. "The Early History of the Des Moines Valley," in which the following is said: Another interesting reminder of the relations between the far-away Canadian settlement and the nearest American pioneers is a map of Iowa Territory showing 'Dixon and McKnight's route to Pembina settlements in 1822.' These men ascended the valleys of the Des Moines and its tributary, the Racoon, proceeded almost straight northward along the divide between Spirit Lake and the headwaters of the Des Moines to the sources of St. Peter's and Red Rivers, and then descended the valley of the Red River to Pembina."
This constitutes practically all that is known of the early lake region, that is, all that can be gathered from available records. Many things are known, however, which lead back into tradition and story. The Indians who dwelt here (this was the favorite hunting and camping grounds of the Wahpekutah branch of the Yankton-Sioux) regarded Spirit Lake with awe and superstition. Their legend of the lake and its mysterious currents is well presented in Mrs. Buckland's poem in the introductory of this History. That they believed the waters of Spirit Lake guarded and watched by a great spirit, or kindred spirits, that no Indian dare venture upon the water in a canoe, is true; and it is a curious fact that no early settler of Dickinson County, or any traveler in this early country, remembers seeing an Indian canoe upon the lake. This legend of the Spirit Lake is a beauti- ful one and deserves commemoration in some form or other to insure permanency to it; a preservation which has not yet been secured.
FIRST SETTLEMENTS
On July 16, 1856 Rowland Gardner, from Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, and his son-in-law, Harvey Luce, came into what is now Dickinson County, made the necessary claims and erected rude cabins near what was then known as Gardner's Grove. This Gardner cabin has stood the ravages of time, and was occupied for several years by Rev. Samuel Pillsbury and then by Mrs. Abbie Gardner Sharp. James Mattock, from Delaware County, Iowa, with his family, and several other people from the same locality, located in the grove just south of the later Okoboji bridge. This grove was shortly known as Mattock's Grove, named in honor of the elder Mattock, a very prominent man in the community. Near the same time of the year another band of settlers came in, hailing from Red Wing, Minnesota. Among them were: William and Carl Granger, Doctor Har- riott and Bert Snyder. They settled on the point on the north side of the Okoboji bridge, upon land now included upon the C. M. & St. P. right of
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way, half way between the lake shore and the depot. The Granger boys claimed the point of land adjacent to East Okoboji Lake; Dr. Harriott, the Maple Grove on West Okoboji and Snyder, the Center Grove. Center Grove, in fact, was known as Snyder's Grove for several years after the first settlement. Joseph M. Thatcher was another early settler at the north end of the present Tusculum Grove; he came from Franklin County, Iowa, having previously come to this state from Howard County, Indiana. At the same time Joel Howe made location at the south end of the grove. In September of the same year a man named Marble, from Linn County, Iowa, located upon the west bank of Spirit Lake in a grove known for a long time as Marble's Grove. These are the settlements made in the year 1856 in Dickinson County.
With Mattock and his family, which consisted of a wife and five chil- dren, came a Mr. Madison, who had taken a claim upon the west side of Okoboji Lake. He was from Delaware County also, and left his family there over the winter. Gardner had four children with him, the oldest of whom was married to Mr. Luce. Two young men, named Clark and Wilson, were stopping with Mr. Gardner temporarily; Wilson after- ward married one of the Gardner girls, Eliza. Joel Howe had his wife and seven children with him. Thatcher and Noble each had one child. With Thatcher was a trapper named Morris Markham, a Mr. Ryan and a brother-in-law named Burtch. Marble had no children. One could hardly say that there was a scarcity of children in the first settlement of Dickinson County ; there were no less than eighteen or twenty of them to make life merry around the fireside during the long winter nights on the frontier.
In all there were about forty persons located near the lakes by the end of the year 1856. This is an unusually large showing for the first year of a county's settlement. Ordinarily, in the average county, the first year's, or for that matter, the first two or three years' settlement comprised about a dozen people, perhaps all living in the same cabin.
Then came the terrible Spirit Lake massacre. This is described in detail in Chapter XXI. To the present-day reader it is hard to conjure up the feeling and excitement which prepailed over the entire country, especially along the frontier. The case is well illustrated in the case of any calamity which befalls the country at the present day; first reports are vague and often exaggerated and contorted; the people form their own impression and in nine cases out of ten magnify the true facts many times. This is not meant to carry the impression that the Spirit Lake massacre was anything short in horror, cruelty and ghastliness of the story first circulated among the settlers. It is but to show that the whole countryside was alarmed and expected to see the murderous Indians appear at any moment-from any direction. R. A. Smith writes
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that: "Nearly the whole line of frontier settlements were abandoned and in some instances the excitement and alarm extended far into the interior. In deed, in many cases where there was no possibility of danger the alarm was wildest. Military companies were formed, home guards were organized and other measures taken for defense hundreds of miles from where any Indians had been seen for years. The alarm spread to adjoining states. The wildest accounts of the number and force of the savages was given currency and credence. Had all the Indians of the Northwest been united in one band they would not have. formed a force so formidable as was supposed to exist at that time along the western border of Iowa and Minnesota."
The aftermath, though, was different. Settlers were attracted from every part of the land to the scene of the massacre. Emigrants, adven- turers, curiosity seekers and the morbid sought this territory; the mas- sacre had brought this land of the lakes to their attention. The ones who came expecting to build their homes here were, for the most part, rewarded, but the ones who came expecting to see "rivers of blood" and mutilated victims of the Indians were sorely disappointed and many returned the way they came.
SETTLEMENT AFTER THE MASSACRE
The Jasper County party, mention of which is made in the story of the massacre, consisting of O. C. Howe, B. F. Parmenter and R. U. Wheelock, made preparations for a return to the lakes, after their return to Fort Dodge with Major Williams' command. Howe went to Newton, while Wheelock and Parmenter remained in Fort Dodge, to attend to the commissariat and await Howe's. return. Howe secured a party of men at Newton to accompany him upon his return to the lakes. This party consisted of George E. Spencer (afterwards United States senator from Alabama), his brother Gustave, M. A. Blanchard, S. W. Foreman, Thomas Arthur, Samuel Thornton and Doctor Hunter, all residents of Newton.
Prior to this time J. S. Prescott, W. B. Brown and a guide named Overacker had started upon a trip to the lakes. They followed the Des Moines River, passing Major Williams' command en route, and reached the lakes about April 15th. After a few days spent here they returned to Fort Dodge to make preparations for a return to the lakes to settle there permanently.
The Newton party came to Fort Dodge without Howe, who had been held at home by family illness, and there joined. Parmenter and Wheelock. Others joined the party for various purposes, and the whole proceeded. . C. F. Hill, R. A. Smith and Henry Backman, were other
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sturdy souls among those who made the first settlements subsequent to the massacre.
It may be said that the motive of the above mentioned party in coming to the lakes was a pecuniary one. They had ambitions to select a location for a town site, procure the establishment of a county seat there, and claim all the land around. The panic of 1857, however, squashed this idea to a large extent, as land values sank to amazing depths. O. C. Howe succeeded politically in the new country, as he was elected district attorney for the fourth judicial district in 1858. All of the young men composing the party were animated with a high ambition to become rich and famous over night. So it was with the early settlers everywhere; they hoped even stronger than they spoke for the discovery of a bonanza in the unfamiliar country and often risked their entire possessions in the quest of this.
There were three distinct parties which started for the lakes after the massacre. All of them left Fort Dodge on April 30, 1857. The first party consisted of Dr. J. S. Prescott, W. B. Brown, Charles F. Hill, Moses Miller, Lawrence Furber and George Brockway. The second group was the Newton party, mention of which has been made. The third party consisted of B. F. Parmenter, R. U. Wheelock, William Lamont, Morris Markham, Alexander Irving, Lewis Hart and R. A. Smith. Although separated the three groups of men managed to keep in communication with each other for many reasons, that of protection not the least. They planned their route up the west side of the Des Moines River, to a point ten miles below the present site of Emmetsburg. Here the Newton party separated from the others and traveled in the direction of Clay County, to investigate the land conditions there and the opportunity of locating a town-namely, Spencer. The other two groups proceeded up the river for a short distance and then struck across prairie to Lost Island. Here, on the northeast shore of Lost Island Lake, they encamped on the night of May 6th. They arrived at Okoboji at noon on the 8th. The Newton party, which had detoured, arrived the same evening and all set up camp and cooked supper at Gardner's location.
The making of claims and locating their limits was about the first task of the new settlers after arriving. R. A. Smith thus describes this: "It will be remembered that the land was unsurveyed and all that anyone could do was to 'squat' on a piece of land and defend possession of it under the laws of the state. Measures were taken as far as possible to settle with the heirs of those holding bona fide claims, and in every instance they were paid a valuable consideration therefor. There was no instance of any person settling upon any bona fide claim that had been improved previous to the massacre without an equitable settlement having been made with those entitled to receive it. The impression has
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gone abroad and is pretty generally believed that Doctor Prescott took possession of the Gardner place without making any settlement therefor. This is a mistake."
The explanation is that Eliza Gardner was at Springfield at the time of the massacre and had gone down to Fort Dodge with the return of Major Williams' men, and there married William Wilson. Prescott him- self returned to Fort Dodge and they sought to sell their claims to him, that of Gardner along the shore of West Okoboji Lake to the south and west of the Gardner cabin, also that of Harvey Luce, a son-in-law, adjoin- on the east. East of these was Wilson's claim which embraced the site of the present Arnold's Park and the land east of it. These were the claims offered to Prescott, which he accepted, paying $1,100 in gold coin for them. He also promised to settle with Mrs. Abbie Gardner Sharp if she ever succeeded in escaping the hands of the Indians, with whom she was a prisoner at that time. Later, it is said, Prescott made another settle- ment with her, as she had received no funds from the Wilsons. Prescott also purchased the Howe claim and that of Thatcher. Prescott after- wards had trouble owing to the law preventing one man from holding more than one claim, whilst he had four or five.
The Red Wing, Minnesota, party, mentioned in the forepart of this chapter, had been wiped out by the Indians with the exception of one- "Bill" Granger, a notorious character along the border at that time. The Grangers bore an ill reputation among the settlers of the Northwest, especially along the Des Moines River; they were reasonably suppposed to have been implicated in horse-stealing and counterfeiting and were decid- edly unpopular. The Granger claim was northeast of the Okoboji Bridge. After the massacre and when the new settlers had commenced to come in, Bill Granger started for the scene from Red Wing, accompanied by a party of cronies. He claimed to represent the heirs of the members of his former party who had been murdered and with threats and display of bravado he ordered.that no one should touch the claims of his party in any way. His attitude did not "take," however, with the settlers and he soon abandoned the attempt. The claims, on what is now known as Smith's Point and Harriott's on the present Dixon's Beach, were not touched, though, until almost a year later.
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