USA > Iowa > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, Iowa, including a condensed history of the state, the early settlement of the county together with sketches of its pioneers > Part 6
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The question then between these belligerent tribes, was the boundary question, the Pottawattamies claiming that the Little Sioux river was the boundary between them and the Sioux and that the latter had trespassed on the hunting grounds belonging to them, which resulted in the Sioux exterminating a party of Pottawattamie braves, whom they caught unexpectedly on the banks of the Soldier not far from the present residence of Freely Myers, near the present site of Calhoun. This so ex- asperated the Pottawattamies that they procured the assistance of the Omahas. The two tribes thus joining their fortunes and strength, marched against the Sioux when the two armies met as above stated near the Smith Lake and fought the battle to a finish, in which the Sioux were badly whipped and forever relinquished all claim to the territory on the right bank of the Little Sioux river. This statement, though legendary, nevertheless finds confirmation in the present fact that all along the bluffs on the left bank of the Smith Lake, at each recurring year, numer- ous skeletons of the Indian, by the action of the winds and rain, protrude from the surface of the bluff.
American history has no more mournful page than that of the gradual disappearance of the Indians, the first proprietors of the soil. This disappearance in civilized America is unique, uni- form, sorrowful and natural. This land, as before stated, was possessed by the Indian; the buffalo, elk and deer were his herds,
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partaking of his nature and participating in his nomadic habits. The bear, panther and wolf prowled around his wigwam until the Indian made friends with the wolf, and imparted to him a domestication wonderfully like his own.
The pony, wild as the Indian, served him well in the chase. The wild apple, plum and grape, with those other fruits that disappear upon. the approach of the plow and other implements of culture, afforded to the Indian his pleasant summer sweets and acids, and here the wild man, the wild fruits and beasts lived and flourished together. But when the white man came, before him the enchanting dream of perpetual dominion fled as a vision forever. The buffalo heard the peculiar strange sound of the voice of the white man, and moved his herds as an army stampeding from an enemy. The Indian saw his herds retreating from him and mounted his pony- the reason was natural-the Indian's food was in the buffalo, deer and elk, and his clothing upon them.
Everything since then is changed. The rosin-weed has given place to the corn-field, the natural grasses have been choked out by the timothy, clover and blue grass ; the crab apple has yielded to the Rambo, Pippin and Jonathan; the wild sour grape, that clambered to the pinnacle of the great trees, or grew in such abundance in swamps, has been supplanted by the Concord and Catawba ; there has been a change in the animal domestics; the Durham, the Devonshire, Jersey, the Alderney and the Hereford now peacefully graze, perchance, on the same spot where form- erly the buffalo grazed and rested and fatted in peace. In place of the diminutive mustang, the blooded Morgan, Conestoga and Percheron Clydesdales fill the stalls; the herds of wander- ing deer are of the past, and are only reproduced by the flocks of the more timid harmless sheep.
Greater has been the change in the popular habitations. The wigwam and lodge, the shelter of leaves and caves in the earth, have given away to the neatly furnished cottage and spacious
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mansions, as the abiding home of culture and industry. A change also in the education, keeping step to the music of the times; the war-dance and the chase have been superseded by schools and colleges and universities.
The religion of the first possessors, which caused the Indian woman to stand in dread of the medicine man and the prophet of her tribe, and held her child as the offspring of fate, and wor- shiped in the gloomy rites of the Great Spirit; now the white woman bears her child to the temple of the living God, and lays him a sacrifice upon the altar of Christ in baptism. These people are no longer a proud nation, with the history of their warriors preserved in the belt of wampum and repeated on the battle field, but are melting away in numbers more rapidly than their history is fading from recollection; nothing to perpetuate their memories unless a dreamy vocabulary upon which to found a tradition or amplify a legend.
Nature is itself destructive, and produces only to destroy, and measures her power to produce by her capacity to destroy. To this law man is no exception to the general rule. The fish eats the worm, the snake eats the fish, the swine eats the snake and man eats the swine. Men destroy each other until the first victim, the worm, eats the man, and finally the worm imitates the ex- ample of the man and devours each other. In this fearful circle of destruction, nature produces, destroys, reproduces and again destroys herself. When the final ending of this race will be, is only a conjecture, but at furthest it is not far in the future; they, like the herds upon which they subsisted, melt away, and will soon be lost forever. Now driven to the eastern base or beyond the " Rockies," and perhaps within the next two or three score of years, forced into the unfathomable wave of the placid Pacific, shows that but little now remains of that great, brave and war- like people of two and a half centuries ago.
For full three centuries the encroachments of the white man upon the Indian has been aggressive and augured the extinction
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of the red race. Where the Caucasian first begged a place to pitch his tent, as a refuge from persecution, a system of espion- age and larceny and unexampled cruelty has characterized his every step. At first a mendicant, then an equal, then a usurper; and while they who took pity on the poor wanderers were being driven from the Hudson, from the Monongahela and the Alle- gheny slopes, the Mingo Flats, the Tygart Valley, the Mus- kingum and the Scioto, the Miami and Wabash, constantly on to the westward until the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers are reached, rivers that reach out their hands and gather up the waters of the lakes, hold up the snow of the mountains to the sun until rivers, streams and rivulets gather from the extremi- ties of an almost unbounded land and water, and replenish a country more varied and productive than the valley of the Nile -on, on toward the setting of the sun. Surely the grandeur, glory and heroism of their nation is no more.
The Indian graves so frequently found now in the county were, without question the former burial place of the dead of both Pottawattamie and Omaha, from the fact that the Omahas in selecting burial places, chose the point of land affording the broadest expanse of observation in the neighborhood of the then locus of the tribe or part of tribe. This is instanced in the burial of Blackbird, the chief of the Omahas, at the place where Omaha now stands, who, prior to the time of his death, requested that when he died, he should be taken down to the Missouri river, his favorite resort, and then be taken to the pinnacle of the towering bluff, placed on his milk-white war horse, the horse being alive and there buried, as it were, by surface burial, so (as he expressed it) he might see the Frenchmen passing up and down the Missouri river in their boats. Accord- ing to his request, the ceremony took place in the pres- ence of the whole nation and several of the fur traders and Indian agents. The body was placed astride of the horse and the dead man's bow was placed in his hands, his shield and quiver
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slung, and his scalps hung from the bridle. He was provided with flint and steel and tinder to light his pipe, and dried meat for food on his journey through the happy hunting ground to the shades of the fathers. His head was surmounted by a head dress of war eagles' plumes. Then, when the funeral honors had been performed by the medicine men, every warrior painted the the palm and fingers of his right hand with vermillion and im- pressed them on the milk-white sides of the living horse under- neath the dead chief. Sods were next placed around the feet and legs of the horse, and then gradually up its sides, until the whole of its body was entombed, and even the eagle plumes of the chief were hidden by this manner of burial. This mound was plainly visible at Omaha in 1856 and 1857, and for a long time there- after, and the place is still known as Blackbird's grave.
The mounds in Raglan and the burial place at the point of the bluff at the southwest of Logan and on the Locklin farm are without doubt those of the Omahas, because in the latter, as heretofore stated, the arrow-points, darts and toma- hawks, indicate the manner of burial as illustrated in the burial of Bluebird, the great chief of the Omahas.
The Pottawattamies practiced tree or scaffold burial, for to the memory of some who are yet in the flesh in the county, as well as the affirmation of the same subject by Mr. Daniel Brown, Mr. Amos Chase and Robert Neely, who have in the last decade passed away, to their own knowledge and observation, tree and scaffold burial was practiced by the Pottawattamies in 1849 and 1850. In this character of burial, the corpse was well encased in buffalo robes and blankets, these bound about with thongs of sinews so as to prevent the robe shroud from being unloosened by wind or rain, and when thus enrobed the body was carried high up and placed in the crotch of some old mon- arch of the forest.
The scaffold burial was quite the same as the former in the way of the preparation of the corpse, but instead of being lodged
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in the crotch of a tree, stout posts or poles, with forked ends, were set in the ground, and upon these a flooring of poles was laid. On this the body of the deceased was laid, and near by were placed buckets containing water and baskets containing food, so as to furnish sustenance for the departed while journeying over the happy hunting ground to meet the Great Spirit. These men have informed me, that in this rude and peculiar character of burial, there was as much real and genuine grief exhibited by the near relatives as is now manifest by those who are denominated the Christian and superior race. These vessels and baskets would be by the mother, father, brother or sister replenished from day to day with as great degree of earnestness and fidelity as if the deceased was in fact in need of the rations so regularly and copi- ously offered. This would continue until decomposition had taken place to such an extent that nothing was left remaining but the skeleton, and this remained until decay and time had wrought such changes that the entire mummy and surroundings returned again to earth-earth to earth and ashes to ashes.
In the winter of 1851, at and near the school-house, where Jas. B. McCurley taught school in Harris Grove, there was a large tree, and in the forks of the same there appeared to he a large stick of wood, about the length of cord-wood; this, when re- moved from the tree, was found to be hollow, having been split to halves and the inside scooped out, and when finished so as to suit the fancy of the person making the same, these halves were replaced and put back into the same position as at first, with this exception, that in the hollow of this trunk there had been depos- ited the lifeless remains of some Indian mother's idol. This, when opened at the date last named, possessed the skeleton of a little child.
It is traditioned among the Omahas, that at one period of time, within the memory of their old men, all that land lying and being between the bluffs on the Iowa side and the bluffs on the Nebraska side was covered with water; that at that time the
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
entire Missouri bottoms were one vast lake; that the Missouri river then had no channel, and the Indians could pass in the summer season from the bluffs of the Iowa side to the bluffs on the Nebraska side on horseback. This, at some time in the past, was undoubtedly true, but whether within the limits of this present century may reasonably be questioned. There must have been a channel to the Missouri river in 1804, for at that date Lewis and Clark ascended the said river to its head-waters; vis- ited the western borders of Iowa; landed at a point a few miles below Sioux City, and buried at that time one of their comrades, Sergeant Floyd, in the bluff at that place, still possessing his name, Sergeant's Bluffs.
Among the numerous bands of Winnebagoes that, for fishing purposes, yearly cluster around Smith's Lake, to which the read- er's attention has been heretofore called, there existed a belief that this lake was the place of incarceration of the Evil Spirit, and that from the bottom of this there are subterranean cause- ways which lead to and from the abode of the Evil One, whereby his satanic majesty is at pleasure permitted to put in an appear- ance at such times as best suits his fancy and convenience. At many times these Indians have imagined that they have seen this monster, and immediately on such appearance they flee the country, telling the resident whites the cause of their violent and tempestuous haste. By this means the residents of the neighborhood have learned this tradition, and some have been even sufficiently credulous to believe the same, illustrating the old maxim, that no matter how improbable and foolish the story, some would be found superstitious enough to believe it.
Apropos, this strange story coming to the ears of two young divines of the village, they repaired to the lake to fish, and while there saw some huge fish or animal playfully sporting in the water of the lake; they immediately left the scene and reported what had been seen by them, whereupon a young doctor and two friends from Mondamin, sought the lake so that they too
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might see the " spirit of hell or goblin damned," and leaving one of their number on the bank on a cottonwood log to guard the baggage, the others took boat and cruised for sight of the mon- ster. While the lone sentinel was keeping watch and guard the monster appears to the guard on the cottonwood log, and is described by him as follows, as well as the manner and weapons he used to save his life :
"How long I watched and waited I do not know, but all at * once my attention was attracted by a wonderful commotion in the waters of the lake. I could see by the light of the moon and stars a huge monster which in appearance I can only com- pare to one of those Enaliosaurian reptiles of Mesozoic times.
" It could not have been less than one hundred and fifty feet in length, and seemed to be half serpent and half lizard, with huge arms and hands like a man. After lashing the waters of the lake into a soapy foam and playing around for some time it swain directly for the log on which I was sitting. Its move- ments were very rapid. My heart stopped beating when I felt the monster's hot breath in my face. Grabbing for a revolver that I had ready, my hand first struck the quart bottle, and as I had no time to waste I hurled it down the monster's throat with all the energy that fear gives the human arm. The beast stop- ped, gagged, and was evidently choking, and while it seemed to be undergoing its death throes, sought safety in flight. In the morning we three went to the log expecting to find the serpent dead, but it was gone. We found the bottle which had been vomited up, and with it partly digested bologna sausage, cheese, sardines and watermelon seeds."
The above article appeared in the columns of The Logan Observer, of date of September 1, 1887, and is inserted here to show on what fickle and flimsy basis tradition rests.
On the morning of April 7th of the present year, Mr. Charles Smith, on going to the bank of this lake, within a few rods of his
*The above is from the racy pen of Dr. McFarlane of Mondamin.
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HISTORY OF HARRISON OOUNTY.
home, noticed a large, apparently bloated body lying near the bank and thinking that one of his yearlings had drowned, shored the same and found it to be the carcass of a very large fish. Its size far exceeded any ever seen or taken in the waters of the Missouri, and the presence thereof caused no little excitement in the neighborhood. It was of the spoon-bill-cat specie, was twenty inches across the forehead, six feet ten inches in length and would have weighed 200 pounds. This, unquestionably was the fish which had created so much excitement in the neighbor- hood, and in a few years would have been large enough to take in another fleeing, disobedient Jonah.
INDIAN TRAILS,
In 1848-9, and to 1855, were well marked, and at even a later date, could be easily distinguished. The first of these trails to which I will call attention, is one which followed up the divide near the old traveled road from Harris Grove to Crescent City, in Pottwattamie county; this, in the center of Harris Grove, was intersected by one which followed up the divide, reaching down to the farm of Joe Hills at the brow of the bluffs on the Mis- souri bottoms, on the north line of the county last named. This trail followed up Harris Grove creek on the east bank, crossing the little creek last named, near three-fourths of a mile east of the place now known as Reeder's Mills, thence in a northwest- erly direction to Elk Grove; then a little north of east to Six- mile Grove, crossing Six-mile creek a little west of the farm of Mr. Jason Hunt (the same on which Mr. Hunt has nearly con- stantly resided for the past thirty-three years); thence to a little grove, formerly known as Braden's Grove; thence to Twelve- mile Grove, crossing the farm of Mr. Matthew Hall, as well as the farm of old Mr. Mefford; thence crossing the Picayune creek, near or quite at the place where Mr. Samuel De Cou now resides and possesses so handsome a farm; rising the divide from the place last named, the trail parted into three directions, one to Bee-tree Grove, one to Coon Grove and the other direct to
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Galland's Grove, in Shelby county. At and near the present location of the correction line in Harris Grove, the trail last spoken of branched off to the east and ran direct, by the divides as nearly as could be had, to the nearest point on the Nishna- botna, in Shelby county. Another trail followed up the brow of the bluffs, from Joe Hills', as herein named, crossing the Boyer river, at a point where the vigorous town of Missouri Valley is now located, then known as McIntosh's Point; and there rising the bluffs to the high divide, followed on to Spencer's Grove, thence in a north westerly direction, touching Reel's Grove near the present county seat, Logan; thence along the high di- vide, in a northeasterly direction, to Bigler's Grove, and from that location in the direction last named to what is now known as Weimer's Grove (then known as Dunham's Grove), on the north line of the county, and from there on toward Boyer Lake, the head of the Boyer river. An old trail came in to the bluffs, just west of the present handsome homestead of Mr. Henry Garner, in Raglan township, followed down the edge of the bluffs, along the bottoms until it reached the old farm origi- nally squatted upon and entered by Mr. Ira Perjue, about one- half mile northwest of the present site of old Calhoun, at which point it raised the back-bone or gradually elongated bluff, passed within fifty feet to the east of a collection of mounds, number- ing six in all, which, at the present writing, are as marked and perceptible as they were thirty years ago. To these mounds, the attention of the reader has been called in another part of this chapter. Thence in a direct north direction, passing through Magnolia Grove to Spink's Grove, and thence northeast on the divide west of Elk creek, and east of Allen until the north line of the county was passed. Another trail branched from the main trail, which came from the Missouri river as last stated, at the point where Mr. Alex. Johnson formerly resided, near the present residence of Mr. Henry Garner, and rising the backbone of the bluffs at that place, struck Raglan Grove at that place;
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thence through the last named grove nearly due north, crossing Steer creek, nearly at the present place of residence of S. E. Streeter, and from there to what is now known as the Coffman Grove, and from this place up the divide on the east side of the Soldier to the north line of the county; having at many places convenient run-ways across to the trails up the Boyer, and to the other trails last named.
These trails, or as we of the present age would say, highways, were not so nicely graded up, streams bridged and as passable as the highways of the present time, but were merely indentures made in the surface of the soil, by the tramping of the ponies' feet and the scratchings occasioned by the tepee-poles which were drag- ged by the ponies, one end of the poles being lashed to the back of the pony and the other end dragging on the ground. At many different parts of the county, farmers while plowing in their fields have unearthed skeletons of the superseded race, and at many times are led to wonder what sort of individual was the possessor thereof, and how many innocent, unoffending whites had been by each different one deprived of life and scalp. Mr. George Hardy in 1854 found the skeleton of one of these abori- gines on little promontory along Allen creek, near Magnolia. Porter Streeter, of Raglan, within the last two years plowed up one in his grain field, and had the skull bone kicking around his door yard as playthings for his children. I might safely say that within the past twenty years not less than four score of these skeletons have been exhumed, which by the shape of the skulls indicate that they were of the Indian race.
The Indian manner of transportation of families did not possess the same degree of comfort as is now experienced by the traveling public in the nicely constructed parlor cars; but their modus suffi- ciently satisfied their tastes, and if their tastes were gratified, we of "squatter sovereignty" proclivities, should not now at this late day take exceptions. When the Indian families were moving from place to place, the pappooses were stuck into baskets and
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these baskets were tied together and thrown across some pony, and astride of this same pony the old " buck " or father Indian rode as peacefully sublime as though he was the Czar of the Russias; following directly in the wake of this "car " the old squaw, or mother, trudged along on foot, sad and silent, expecting no better treatment from her lord. The camp equipage was transported by being strapped to the backs of ponies, or by being thrown into a sort of receptacle constructed by tying a buffalo robe or blanket to two tent or tepee poles; these were fastened at one end to the back of a pony, the other ends left to drag on the ground; this blanket or robe being fastened to the tent poles nearly equi- distant from the respective ends, so that the seat or sack formed by the spreading of the poles constituted the seat or boot for the camp equipage or the sick of the outfit.
CHAPTER III.
INDIAN VILLAGES.
THERE are no traces of any Indian villages now in the county, nor has there ever been any person in the county for the past thirty years who could locate any.
The stay of the Pottawattamies in the county never was very protracted, from the fact that the Sioux and the Pottawatta- mies were constantly at war, occasioned by reason of a dispute as to the boundary between the two tribes, and this part of the territory being so near the north line of the Pottawattamies, they scarcely dared spend much of their time so near the Sioux.
SQUATTERS.
All residents of the county from the time the first white set- tler located in the county up to and until the latter part of the fall of 1852 were squatters, according to the definition of the standard authority-Webster. There is some controversy as to the fact of who was the first squatter in the county. Some say that the rough, warm-hearted grand old pioneer, Daniel Brown, who, for more than a quarter of a century, lived at Calhoun, and died there in 1873, was and is entitled to the honor; but others equally as confidently assert that this of right belongs to Uriah Hawkins, who from the 7th day of July, A. D. 1847, lived in Cass township, and died there ten or more years ago.
It must be conceded that old Uncle Dan Brown was the first white man to select a claim in the county, but as he, soon after the selection, returned to Florence, Nebraska, and staid at that place until the following spring, and then moved his family to and permanently settled on the claim so selected as aforesaid,
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