USA > Iowa > Kossuth County > History of Kossuth County, Iowa > Part 33
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101
The beautiful brick residence which the county erected for the use of the sheriff was built some three years after the jail had been finished. It was attached to the jail for convenience and to give the sheriff a better chance to keep watch over the prisoners. The combination is a good one and has proved a success. Before steps were taken to erect this building the electors voted on the proposition but turned it down cold. The board some time later decided to build one anyway. After advertising for the same, bids were received and considered. The bid of A. M. Coan of $3,574 made him the contractor. The other bids were as follows: O. I. Kleaveland $3,595, and C. Herman $3,850. The work proceeded forthwith and was finished and accepted during the year.
THE COUNTY FARM
The county farm has had a slow evolution in reaching the condition in which it appears at the present time. The 240-acre tract, with its substantial buildings and managing steward, makes an ideal home for those deserving of help from the county. The Home is an institution which could hardly be dispensed with considering the value it has been to the county. It is well that the term "Poor Farm," as formerly applied to that place, has been dropped for there are those there who are infirm at times to whom these words have an insulting signifi- cance. Some of these inmates are not poor but are simply unfortunate and in need of just such a home.
When the county first became the owner of the land on which the buildings are situated it isn't likely that the board was considering the proposition of maintaining a county farm. Abram Hill, a good-natured early settler, had owned for several years the south half of the northwest quarter and the north half of the southwest quarter of section sixteen in Cresco township. This 160-acre tract he sold to the county on June 5, 1868. It was more than thirty years after before the eighty north of it was added to the farm. This was deeded to the county by Winfield Smouse, February 16, 1899.
The first action the board took in regard to having a county building erected on the premises was on June 5, 1871 when J. E. Blackford was authorized to draft plans and specifications for such a house. After advertising for bids they were considered at the October, 1871, session. The lucky contractors were
-
Digiized by Google
KOSSUTH COUNTY FARM, ALGONA
Dignzeno by Google
249
HISTORY OF KOSSUTH COUNTY
Yeamans and Millis whose bid was $1,335. The building was a very modest one in appearance but answered the purpose for a long time. Finally the premises became so unsanitary that the board was forced to take measures to provide something better. A few months previous to that session bids for boarding the county poor had been received but they were not regarded as satisfactory. There seemed no other way than to build another house on a more commodious plan.
The present building was erected in the year 1889 by Shadle and McMurray, their bid of $1.600, having procured for them the contract for furnishing the material and doing the work, It could not be built now for any such price and could not then and come out whole. The contractors lost heavily by tak- ing the contract at such a low estimate. The building is well adapted for the purpose for which it was intended and has proved a benefit to the county.
Supervisor Albert Ogren, by order of the board, July 1903, had charge of the work in having the barn erected. Hlis instructions were that the cost should not exceed the sum of $3.000. He employed carpenters and had the work done under his direction. The group of buildings from a distance, pre- sents an attractive and dignified appearance.
The supervisors take an interest in the farm and keep close watch on all the county equipment, as well as on all the stock and buildings. It is their custom to frequently take an invoice of everything about the premises. On January 4, 1912, they made a careful examination of every article and noted its condition and approximate value. The following is a summary of their conclusions:
240 acres at $105 per acre
$25,200.00
Horses
1,200.00
Stable supplies
86.50
Cattle
414.00
Hogs
744.00
Chickens
100.00
Grain
1,414.00
Hay, straw and fodder
245.00
Machinery and tools
662.45
Household supplies
725.00
Total
$30,790.95
George Koch is the present steward of the county farm, having received his appointment from the board in the spring of 1912. Among those who have held that position besides him were: I .. R. Dutton, Peter Christensen, I .. H. Millen, Cronan, Nelson, F. Palmer and Robert Thompson.
By far the most important work done by the supervisors in later years has been the building of the many bridges, and the establishment and completion of a vast network of public drains at a cost that exceeds that of any other line of enterprise ever attempted in the history of the county. This subject is treated at some considerable length in Chapter XXVII and will not be discussed in this article.
Digitized by Google
CHAPTER XVI INTERESTING HISTORIC EVENTS
HEROIC DEFENSE OF THE MAXWELL CABIN
No one lives in the county today who has any personal knowledge of what occurred at the Maxwell cabin in July, 1855, when eleven burly Sioux Indians took possession and for a time had things their own way. This cabin was located on section 24, a couple of miles south of Algona, on what is generally known as the old Huntley farm, but now the property of Mrs. A. D. Clarke. The Maxwell family had come the fall before but had lived during the winter with the Malachi Clark family at the Parson's grove. This cabin had been built but a short time before the Sioux made their raid. August Zahlten, Christian Hackman, Alex- ander Brown and Levi Maxwell in after years often entertained their friends by giving an acount of the scene at the Maxwell cabin when the Sioux took pos- session. Ambrose A. Call, who knew more about what happened at that time than any of them except Maxwell, and who took a leading part in resisting the savages, has left the following record of that July, 1855, event :
"In the early part of July, 1855. a large party of Sioux Indians, some forty tepees including the chief, Inkpadutah, came into the settlement, the same party that created the panic and stampede on the head waters of the Cedar, and came near capturing his excellency, Governor Hempstead, the year before, and who in 1856 terrorized the settlers on the little Sioux, culminating their deviltry by the Spirit Lake massacre in March, 1857. This band of Indians came into the settle- ment from the West and pitched their tepees on section 24, near Mark Parson's present residence. My first intimation of their presence was rather startling. My cabin door was open. I had just eaten a bachelor's dinner and was lying down reading the Missouri Republican, which Maxwell had brought me from Fort Dodge, when a ringing war whoop saluted my ears. I sprang to the middle of the room, seizing my gun, but was met by a big, guffaw from a burly Indian who in- stantly stood his gun against the wall and held out his hand with a 'How. how.' Of course he considered it only a joke. I was not quite so sure of it, but shook his hand and said 'How.' A squaw tagged along after him with a few moccasins to trade. My rifle was a large one, carrying an ounce ball, and the Indian, noticing the calibre, pulled a crude ball pounded out of a bar of lead and measured it by my gun. He asked to see one of my bullets, and when he found it just fitted his shot gun he was much pleased and proposed at once 'How swap for umpa?' I found two pairs of mocassins which fitted me, for which I gave him ten bullets. He told me he would return with more, which he did, and I traded for enough to last me a year or more.
251
Dignized by Google
252
HISTORY OF KOSSUTH COUNTY
"I inquired of my visitor how many tepees there were and he opened both hands four times, indicating forty, and then pointed the direction. After he left I visited the village near Barney Holland's cabin (on the Mark Parson's place). Some of the neighbors were there and they were having some contention, as the Indians had turned their ponies in Holland's corn, had taken Holland's large grind- stone to the center of their village and set Holland to turning it, and as many as could get around it were grinding their tomahawks and knives. The perspiration was pouring from Holland's face and he seemed very tired. With others I in- sisted upon their turning their ponies out of the corn and also made Holland quit turning the grindstone. We came near having an open rupture with them, as they were very surly and stubborn, but finally the squaws turned the ponies out of the corn and the bucks installed one of their own number at the stone. The next day they scattered through the settlement, visiting every cabin. Some they plun- dered, but where they found white men in sufficient force to resist they merely begged for something to eat. Two tepees were pitched near my brother's cabin, on the hill just west of the power house, and it was the occupants of these tepees who frightened Mrs. Call, the story of which she wrote for the reading circle in 1872, and the sequel to which Mrs. Blackford wrote for the Advance. Of course my brother's family was in no danger from two Indians, as he had four or five hired men boarding with him all the time.
"The evening of the second day, Mr. Maxwell came to my cabin, seemingly alarmed, and told me that the Indians had just left his cabin, that they were sullen and saucy, took what they pleased and that he dared not resist them on account of his wife and children, and asked me to come down and stay with him. I had made my home for some time with Mr. Maxwell and knew him to be a courageous man, not to be frightened without cause. He had recently returned from Boones- boro with a large load of provisions and supplies which would naturally tempt the cupidity of the Indians. I promised Maxwell I would come down early in the morning. The Indians made all their raids in the day time. I consequently started early without my breakfast but found the Indians were before me, as they were already swarming inside when I arrived. There were eleven lusty young fellows, each armed with a double barreled shot gun, cocked and loaded with ball, also tomahawks and knife. They had the house turned inside out, so to speak, when I got inside. Mrs. Maxwell had a boarder named Craw, who was one of those nice, peaceable men, and who believed it an evidence of cowardice to carry a gun or other weapon of defense; he never did. Well, I found Craw sitting in a chair, his face as white as a sheet, suffering every imaginable indignity from the young bucks. They had pilfered his pockets and unbuttoned his clothes, were pulling his nose, ears and hair, ocasionally nearly knocking him to the floor. He didn't dare to move; he was paralyzed with fear. I said to him: 'Craw, for God's sake run if you can't fight,' and Maxwell told him to get out of there and make for the brush. After a short time I noticed his chair was empty, so he must have gone out in some way. Maxwell told me he had but two chambers of his revolver loaded and asked me to stand in front of him while he loaded the remainder. He stepped behind the door and I stood in front, and although his revolver was an old-fashioned Colt's which loaded with powder and ball he did it very quickly, without being seen. As I came out from behind the door a big young Indian who seemed to be a leader noticed a two bushel bag of corn meal and started to drag
Digitized by Google
253
HISTORY OF KOSSUTH COUNTY
it to the door. I thought the time had come to take a hand, if we intended to resist at all, so I sprang and took hold of the sack, telling him to stop, but with a defiant grunt he jerked it out of my hand. At this I seized the bag with my left hand and with my right caught him under the chin, and as we were standing quite near the doorway he went out violently, clutching at the door as he went, nearly pull- ing it shut and striking on the back of his head. I stood the sack up against the wall and stood beside it, Maxwell, with his revolver in his hand, standing beside me. An ominous silence came over the cabin when the Indian went out of doors, but presently one who, if not a chief, was spokesman for the crowd, pulled his tomahawk out of his belt and advanced toward me, asking me to feel the edge of it. I snatched it from him and stuck it in his belt. Again he drew it out and held it toward me and again I snatched it from him and stuck it behind his belt. He then in a loud, menacing voice told me they would 'nepo squaw and papooses' (kill the woman and the children ). In an equally loud voice and with some emphatic profanity-Indians mostly understand that-I told him as well as I could that if he undertook it we would 'nepo' every damned Sioux in the cabin. He then scoffed at the idea and counted two 'wasechas.' Then holding his hands high over his head he opened them many times, saying 'Sioux, Sioux.'
"In those days when the Indians wished to terrorize the whites they called themselves Sioux, but at other times they were 'Yanktonaas.' Nothwithstanding the Indian's loud talk and brave actions he backed off and subsided when he noticed Maxwell's fingers playing nervously around the trigger of his revolver. I think Maxwell understood what the Indian meant when he threatened to nepo the squaw and papooses, and Mrs. Maxwell understood a part of it, for Maxwell said that we must get Eliza and the children out if we could, but he was afraid they would follow her. I asked him if he did not think he could get their attention away from the door by giving them something to eat, to which he replied that the day before they had boiled up a mess of corn meal, pork and molasses and that he would try them on that. So he put the stove boiler on the stove, filled it half full of water and gave them a part of a bag of meal, some bacon and a jug of molasses. The young bucks at once began to build a fire and stir in the stuff and soon got to quarreling over it, in which quarrel the others who had been sulking took a hand. I told Mrs. Maxwell that when Mr. Maxwell gave the sign to slip out, to get into the woods and run for Brown's and tell John to run his horse over and tell Asa and the boys we were having trouble at Maxwell's cabin. We watched our op- portunity and when the Indians were all busy with their mush Maxwell partly closed the door. He and I stood between it and the Indians and Mrs. Maxwell slipped out and got away without being noticed."
When Mrs. Maxwell slipped out of the room with the children she ran for a mile to Alexander Brown's carrying her little boy, then eighteen months old, in her arms, while her seven-year old girl ran by her side. John Brown then ran his horse over to Asa C. Call's cabin, but the men were nearly all away looking after the cattle. The two Prussians, Zahlten and Hackman, started immediately for Maxwell's with their guns and reached the cabin a few minutes before Alex- ander and Robert Brown and Jacob C. Cummins arrived at the same place. Look- ing out of the door the Indians saw the reinforcements coming and immediately sprang for their guns, which they had stood against the wall while quarreling over the mush that they were making, but backed away when they saw the revolvers
Detized by Google
254
HISTORY OF KOSSUTH COUNTY
of Call and Maxwell pointed at them in front of their guns. The help that came was sufficient to handle the young bucks to their liking. They made them take off their blankets and disclose the hidden articles which they had stolen and which they were made to lay down on the floor. After removing the caps the guns were handed to the Indians and commanded to puckachee, and they did so, disappearing in the heavy timber. In a short time William G. Clark arrived ready to help drive away the intruders if still there. The mush was so hot that it did not cool enough to be eaten until the reinforcements came, and then the Indians left with- out touching it. Referring to this fact Mr. Call said it was the first time he had ever known an Indian who did not want to eat. Although the Indians had been driven from the cabin and the reinforcing party had returned to their homes, Ambrose A. Call made another perilous adventure before the sun went down. Let him tell the story :
"Soon after the last one had gone, W. G. Clark came to the cabin with his long rifle on his shoulders. He was a frontiersman and fighter. He told us the Indians had pitched their tepees near his cabin and he came over to talk with us concerning the advisability of trying to drive them away. We thought the time opportune. Eleven young braves, probably the flower of the band, had been com- pletely cowed. It might be said whipped; figuratively speaking, we had them on the run, and we started at once. Taking their trail across the river at the Indian ford and through the timber to near the old Mann homestead, we found their village. It fell to my lot to be spokesman. The chief's tepee stood near the cen- ter and not a very large one. We walked rapidly to it and went in without cere- mony. The chief was a large man past middle age, who seemed to be lame, having one foot bandaged with rags. I accosted him roughly and seizing his tent gave it a hard jerk to give emphasis to my words and show him what I wanted, telling him to 'puckachee.' He seemed very much frightened but after a few minutes' hesitation explained that a part of his young men had gone after elk, pointing in a southeasterly direction, and would not be back until after dark ; and that the next morning at sunrise they would pull down their tepees and 'puckachee Da- kota.' He made a circular motion with his arm, showing that he would go around the settlement. thence north and thence west. He watched us with considerable interest while we discussed his proposition and seemed relieved when I nodded my head in assent and took his hand. He then went outside and in a loud voice ordered the squaws to gather wood and brush and make racks on which to jerk their meat. He seemed to take it for granted that the hunters would get game, which they did, bringing in several elk, as we learned from Clark and Cummins, who saw them return. They worked all night stripping and curing their elk ven- ison and before daylight took down their tepees, and by the time the sun was a half hour high their village had disappeared. They took the route indicated by Ink- padutah, keeping clear of the settlement, crossing the river below the mouth of Buffalo Fork and then went west.
"But few eyes were closed in sleep during the night before their departure and every motion was watched, but great as was our anxiety we did not fully realize our danger or the danger the settlement had passed through. Of course Mr. Maxwell and I knew we had passed through a terrible ordeal and those who came to our relief knew they had taken their lives into their own hands by doing so, and what must have been Mrs. Maxwell's feeling after hearing the threat of
Digitized by Google
-
255
HISTORY OF KOSSUTH COUNTY
the leader to murder herself and the babes, with eleven against two to carry out this threat, mothers can imagine. As I have said the people of our settlement did not fully realize the imminent danger they passed through. They did not know what blood-thirsty villainous murderers these Indians were. Inkpadutah had not established his reputation as the fiend incarnate he proved to be a year later. This was the first time and the only time he and his band were ever suc- cessfully resisted."
This thrilling picture of frontier life, in July, 1855, is one that should be stud- ied by all who desire to be informed as to the stirring events pertaining to the early settlement of the county. The story is entrancing from beginning to end, and is a valuable contribution to the pages of local history. All the actors in that his- toric drama, with the possible exceptions of the Maxwell family and Cummins, have crossed over the silent river. John Brown, the Paul Revere of the occasion, was the first to pass beyond, and the last was August Zahlten, whose death oc- curred in 1912. The proprietors of the two cabins whence came the relief force-Judge Call and Alexander Brown-are gone, as are also Christian Hack- man, William G. Clark and Robert Brown. Ambrose A. Call, whose good judg- ment and courage, prevented blood from being shed and lives sacrificed on that occasion, outlived all those who are gone, except Mr. Zahlten. All the cabins re- ferred to in the story have long since disappeared with the march of time.
INGHAM'S EXPERIENCE WITH UMPASHOTAH
Among the many exciting experiences which the early pioneers had with the Indians the author has found no story relating to them more thrilling and won- derful than W. H. Ingham's contact with Umpashotah while out alone on an exploring journey. He and A. L. Seeley had built the former's cabin on section 24 in what is now Union township and had moved in to begin housekeeping Feb- ruary 17, 1855. During the winter they had often talked about going on an ex- ploring expedition up the river and on up as far as Mankato. When April came it was thought to be a favorable time for making the trip as the weather was warm and the water in the sloughs and ravines low. They had in their possession some maps of the country which had been published before the return from the sur- veys had been made. They were misleading curiosities and ought to have been preserved. One of them did not even show the east branch of the Des Moines river, but did show the source of the West Fork to be about the center of Emmet county. Furthermore, it showed a mountainous range running east and west near the northern boundary of the state, and pine lands covering the north part of this county, Emmet and Winnebago and adjacent territory in Minnesota. It was these pine lands as indicated by the map that the occupants of the Ingham cabin desired to investigate. As they had not been up the river at any time more than ten or twelve miles they had no personal knowledge as to whether or not there were pine lands only a few miles further north, except that they had not been able to see any pine timber in the distance when looking in that direction. Then again the water in the river did not impress them as coming from a high, hilly section of the country, but from a low and level region. There seemed no way for them to find out what kind of country lay on the north but to make a personal inspection. Preparations for the start then began to be made. As it was not prudent to leave
Digtinco by Google
256
HISTORY OF KOSSUTH COUNTY
the cabin alone it was decided Seeley should remain and that possibly Dick Parrot (on the H. C. Adam's farm) could take his place on the trip. Parrot also thought it not best to go away and leave his cabin unoccupied, so he refused to be one of the party. There being no one else in the upper settlement that seemed available for that purpose Mr. Ingham boldly determined to make the trip alone. Having accidently killed his hunting dog "Frank" while on an elk chase, when he first vis- ited the county, he desired to find another to take along on his northern journey. Through the efforts of Mr. Seeley, Billy Hill presented them with one that had belonged to the notorious Henry Lott. Mounting his Oregon pony "Flinka" and calling his new dog to his presence he was off on the trip without further cere- mony. Going direct to the forks of the river above, and after crossing the stream to a high tract of land perhaps a mile or more away, he commenced making a new map and taking notes. After outlining the course of the stream, now known as the Buffalo Fork, for several miles as indicated by the timber and scattering trees along the banks, and then the main branch from the west as far as it could be traced, he went on up the river, keeping back on the higher lands. What soon happened we will let Mr. Ingham himself relate :
"After crossing Mud Creek, which soon found its place on the new map, everything seemed to be working nicely for some two or three miles beyond, and when engaged in entering notes in the description book, the pony became startled, but it attracted but little attention on my part as these starts had been of frequent occurrence on seeing water-fowl or deer. But when the pony jumped again, nearly throwing me off. I took a quick view from the right around to the river. Then following it down to a point nearly back of the pony as it was standing. without seeing any elk or buffalo as was expected, my eye fell upon some twenty- five or more Indians coming on the full run. My surprise can hardly be imagined, and when their terrifying yells were first heard I knew for the first time what is was to be scared. A painful scene of scalp-raising was instantly followed by a feeling of great weakness. Their yells were growing louder each time. The con- dition of my pony prevented my escape by riding away, so they must be met. For a moment I was greatly vexed for being so foolish as to come alone and be plun- dered and stripped, perhaps by these thieving fellows, as the trappers had been on the Buffalo Fork only the fall before, or possibly fare even worse. Then the thought of returning with this kind of a report was too much, and rather than have it occur I would meet them and fight it out, leaving an unwritten record if need be on the prairie to be found out later as best it might. Their yells told me that they were near by and that there was no time now to be lost. Fortunately my courage and strength had returned and the scare was off just in time. Prep- arations were made at once to present as war-like an appearance as possible by bringing around in front a navy revolver and hunting knife. carried in a belt, and turning the handle caps back so as to bring them in plain sight and easy to grasp if needed. Their cocking my double barreled gun and placing it across the saddle in front, seemed to put everything of this kind in readiness for their reception. Only courage and a cool head were still needed to make it possible to escape with- out harm. They were now nearby and soon gave their last howling yell at my back and then separated and closed about me in their most startling manner.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.