USA > Iowa > Louisa County > History of Louisa County, Iowa, from its earliest settlement to 1912, Volume I > Part 5
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One memorable occurrence said to have happened at Keokuk's village, illus- trates both the eloquence and the influence of Keokuk. Emissaries sent by the Prophet had made inflammatory speeches to the Indians, had supplied them with whiskey, and had excited them to such a pitch of frenzy that they declared for war, and demanded that he, their chief, should lead them. Keokuk arose slowly, folded his blanket across his breast, and said :
"Braves, I am your chief, to rule you as a father at home. and to lead you to war, if you are determined to go; but in this war there is only one course. The United States is a great power ; and unless we conquer, we must perish. I will lead you on one condition only, that we put our old men and the women
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and children to death, and resolve when we cross the Mississippi never to re- turn, but perish among the graves of our fathers."
This speechi had the effect of bringing the clamorous braves to a realization of the madness of their course, with the result that few of Keokuk's followers joined in the Black Hawk war. Black Hawk and his war party received some accessions east of the Mississippi, and, after perpetrating a few outrages and meeting with some temporary success, they suffered a most signal defeat at Bad Axe, Wisconsin-a defeat almost as disgraceful to the whites for its wanton butchery, as it was disastrous to the Indians.
The battle of Bad Axe occurred August 2, 1832, and as a result of it, and of the subsequent capture of Black Hawk, a great council was hield, to which the chiefs who had joined with Black Hawk were summoned. This council met September 21, 1832, at Rock Island. The United States was represented by General Winfield Scott, and Governor John Reynolds, of Illinois, and the Indians were represented by the Sac chiefs Keokuk, or "he who has been everywhere," Pa-she-pa-ho, or "the stabber." Wawk-kum-mee, or "clear water." and O-sow-wish-kan-no, or "yellow bird," and by the Fox chiefs Wau-pel-la, or "he who is painted white," Tay-wee-man, or "medicine man," Pow-sheek, or "the roused bear," Kaw-kaw-kee, or "the crow," Mau-que-tee, or "the bald eagle," and others of both tribes, there being in all the names of nine Sacs and twenty Foxes attached to the treaty, all of them signing by their marks.
We quote the main parts of this treaty :
"Articles of a treaty of peace, friendship, and cession, concluded at Fort Armstrong. Rock Island, Illinois, between the United States of America, by their commissioners, Major General Winfield Scott, of the United States Army, and His Excellency John Reynolds, governor of the state of Illinois, and the confederated tribes of Sac and Fox Indians, represented in general council, by the undersigned chiefs, head men and warriors.
"Whereas, under certain lawless and desperate leaders, a formidable band, constituting a large portion of the Sac and Fox nation, left their country in April last, and, in violation of treaties, commenced an unprovoked war upon unsuspecting and defenceless citizens of the United States, sparing neither age nor sex ; and whereas, the United States, at a great expense of treasure, have subdued the said hostile band, killing or capturing all its principal chiefs and warriors : the said states, partly as indemnity for the expenses incurred, and partly to secure the future safety and tranquillity of the invaded frontier, de- mand of the said tribes, to the use of the United States, a cession of a tract of the Sac and Fox country, bordering on said frontier, more than proportional to tlie numbers of the hostile band who have been so conquered and subdued.
"Article 1. Accordingly, the confederated tribes of Sacs and Foxes hereby cede to the United States forever, all the lands to which the said tribes have title or claim (with the exception of the reservation hereinafter made), included within the following bounds, to wit: 'Beginning on the Mississippi river, at the point where the Sac and Fox northern boundary line, as established by the second article of the treaty of Prairie du Chien, of the fifteenth of July, one thousand eight hundred and thirty, strikes said river: thence, up said
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boundary line to a point fifty miles from the Mississippi, measured on said line : thence, in a right line to the nearest point on the Red Cedar of the Ioway. forty miles from the Mississippi river ; thence, in a right line to a point in the northern boundary line of the State of Missouri, fifty miles, measured on said boundary, from the Mississippi river ; thence, by the last mentioned boundary to the Mississippi river, and by the western shore of said river to the place of beginning. And the said confederated tribes of Sacs and Foxes hereby stipu- late and agree to remove from the lands herein ceded to the United States, on or before the first day of June next : and, in order to prevent any future mis- understanding, it is expressly understood. that no band or party of the Sac or Fox tribe shall reside, plant, fish, or hunt, on any portion of the ceded country after the period just mentioned.
"Article 2. Out of the cession made in the preceding article, the United States agree to a reservation for the use of the said confederated tribes, of a tract of land containing four hundred square miles, to be laid off under the direction of the President of the United States, from the boundary line cross- ing the Ioway river in such manner that nearly an equal portion of the reserva- tion may be on both sides of said river. and extending downwards, so as to include Ke-o-kuck's principal village on its right bank, which village is about twelve miles from the Mississippi river.
*
"Article 7. Trusting to the good faith of the neutral bands of Sacs and Foxes, the United States have already delivered up to those bands the great mass of prisoners made in the course of the war by the United States, and promise to use their influence to procure the delivery of other Sacs and Foxes. who may still be prisoners in the hands of a band of Sioux Indians, the friends of the United States: but the following named prisoners of war, now in con- finement, who were chiefs and head men, shall be held as hostages for the future good conduct of the late hostile bands, during the pleasure of the Presi- cent of the United States, viz : Muk-ka-ta-mish-a-ka-kaik (or Black Hawk) and his two sons; Wan-ba-kee-shik (the Prophet) his brother and two sons: Napope, We-sheet Ioway. Pamaho, and Cha-kee-pa-shi-pa-ho (the little stab- hing chief).
"Article 10. The United States, besides the presents, delivered at the sign- ing of this treaty, wishing to give a striking evidence of their mercy and liberal- ity, will immediately cause to be issued to the said confederated tribes, princi- pally for the use of the Sac and Fox women and children, whose husbands, fathers and brothers, have been killed in the late war, and generally for the 11se of the whole confederated tribes, articles of subsistence, as follows: thirty- five beef cattle ; twelve bushels of salt : thirty barrels of pork, and fifty barrels of flour : and cause to be delivered for the same purposes, in the month of April next, at the mouth of the lower Ioway, six thousand barrels of maize or Indian corn.
"Article 12. This treaty shall take effect and be obligatory on the contract- ing parties, as soon as the same shall be ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof.
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"Done at Fort Armstrong, Rock Island, Illinois, this twenty-first day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two. and of the independence of the United States the fifty-seventh."
The land acquired by this treaty was sometimes called "Scott's Purchase." and sometimes called "The Black Hawk Purchase," and this latter name is the one by which it is best known.
Black Hawk was present at the treaty, but being a prisoner, and held as a hostage, he was not permitted to have any part in it, except that he was humiliated by being placed in charge of Keokuk, his great rival, who was made chief by Scott and Reynolds. The following letter, written by the commissioners on the part of the United States at the time, was resurrected in the Interior Department, and will be interesting in connection with this treaty.
"ROCK ISLAND. September 22, 1832.
"SIR: As commissioners on the part of the United States, who have nego- tiated treaties with the Winnebago Nation and the confederated tribes of Sacs and Foxes, we have promised medals to certain Indians as follows: Tohaly Winnebago, half Sioux, belonging to the Winnebagoes under General Street's Agency (the Indian who took Black Hawk, and the Prophet) a medal of the second size ; to the Stabbing Chief, a Sac, and to Wapella, a Fox, a medal, each, of the first or largest size.
"We will beg you to send the three medals promised as above, to the Agents of these Nations, respectively, to be presented in the name, and in behalf of the United States.
"The medals left by you, with one of the commissioners, have been disposed of as follows: One of the largest size to the principal chief, Canomance, a Winnebago of General Street's Agency ; one of the third size to the son of the Crow, or Blind, a Winnebago, of the Rock River Agency, who served gallantly with General Dodge, in the late campaign ; one of the largest size to Kco-kuck, a Sac, whom we made a Chief, in the name of the President of the United States, and with the approbation of the confederated tribes; one of the second size to Ma-ton-e-qua, a Fox chief, and one each, of the smallest size to Pe-a- che-noa, and Wah-ko-mu, two young Sac chiefs, and Ma-qua-pa-che-to, a young Fox chief.
"The box of Indian goods, containing red and blue cloth, blankets, shirts, handkerchiefs, knives, and paints, and the keg of tobacco left by you with the same commissioner, have been distributed, with many other presents purchased here, among the tribes with which we have held treaties.
"We have the honor to be, with great respect,
"Yr mo obt. "(Signature) WINFIELD SCOTT. "JOHN REYNOLDS.
"General William Clark, Superintendent of Indian, Affairs."
We had considerable curiosity to learn the particulars as to the fulfillment, on the part of the government of the Ioth article of the treaty, providing for the delivery of the six thousand bushels of corn at the mouth of the "lower Ioway" in April, 1833, as it would certainly be the first official transaction Vol. 1-3
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within the limits of Louisa county. The following letter is all that we have been able to get, but it is interesting as showing that before "we-uns" began to raise corn, it cost a dollar a bushel delivered here by boat.
"SUPERINTENDENCY OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, "ST. Louis, July 30, 1833.
"SIR: My bill of exchange of this date, favr of Henry S. Coxe, Esq., Cash., of the Branch Bank of the United States at this place, or order, for Six Thousand Dollars, is on account of the purchase of corn for the Sacs and Foxes, under the tenth article of their Treaty of 21st Sept., 1832, and under appropria- tion of 2nd March, 1833 .- and which when paid will be chargeable to me on that account.
"I have the honor to be "With high respect. "Your most ob' ser't,
"WVM. CLARK. "The Hon. Lewis Cass, Secretary of War."
The reader will already have formed some idea of Black Hawk and Keokuk, but perhaps a few additional words in regard to them and also a brief sketch of Wapello would be appropriate. Black Hawk was born at the Sac village near Rock river, in 1767, and although not a chief either by heredity or election, he became in time the acknowledged head of his people. He was possessed of con- siderable ambition and seemed to be always looking for a grievance. He was jealous of Keokuk and Wapello and usually found an opportunity to dispute with them when any important question was to be decided. He may have been honest in many of his opinions but was easily influenced, especially in unwise direc- tions. He took part under Tecumseh with the British in the war of 1812 and he was always a British sympathizer. With his heart broken and as the result of the war, and his dethronement in favor of Keokuk, Black Hawk died in Octo- ber. 1838, near the Des Moines river, in Davis county, Iowa. It is said that in the following year an Illinois physician rifled his grave and that upon complaint being made by Black Hawk's followers, the skeleton was delivered to Governor Lucas at Burlington, and was burned on the night of January 16, 1853. while deposited in an office in Burlington, pending its removal to Iowa City.
Keokuk, as we have already seen, belonged to the peace party. He was a friend to the Americans and was opposed to the mad counsels of Black Hawk. He seemed to have some of the gifts of a statesman and diplomatist. He was a large man, of rather fine figure, with dignified and graceful manners, with a pow- erful voice and a rather prepossessing countenance. Ile was fond of a good horse and liked to make a great show, and it is said that he possessed the finest horse in the west at the time George Catlin visited his village on the Des Moines river and painted his portrait. He seemed to have the ability to organize and to discipline his men and to hold them in subjection. It is said that Keokuk was not a full blooded Indian, but that his mother's name was La Lott, a half breed Indian woman. The authority for this statement occurs in a pamphlet entitled "The Old Settlers," published in Keokuk, in December, 1876. In this pamphlet is a copy of a letter to General William Clark, superintendent of Indian Affairs.
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at St. Louis, dated June 9, 1830, written by Thomas Forsythe, Indian agent, on behalf of six Indian chiefs, among whom were Tiamah and Keokuk. The body of the letter refers to the possession of the "half breed lands" under the treaty of August 4, 1824, and in a postscript, "La Lott, a half breed," is referred to as Keokuk's mother, and a request is made that she have a share in the half breed lands.
Keokuk lived in this county down about the site of the old village of Florence for a few years, immediately following the Black Hawk war, and moved from there to lands on the Des Moines river, probably a short time before the cession by the Indians of what is known as the "Keokuk reservation," to which refer- ence will be made hereafter.
Wapello, or Waupella, or Wapella, as the name is variously written, was a prominent Fox, or Musquakie Indian. We quote an interesting account of him from Mr. Newhall's work: "He was among the delegation that visited Wash- ington in 1837 and made a very favorable impression by his dignified and correct deportment on that occasion. In stature, he is more heavily built than the major- ity of the Indians, and has the appearance of great muscular strength. His vil- lage has been (until the purchase of the Keokuk reserve in 1836) upon the banks of the Iowa, the present town of which still retains his name, being the seat of justice of Louisa county. Wapella has been much in war. I think he informed me last summer (1840), that he had been in battle thirty different times, prin- cipally with the Sioux. One of his greatest battles was on the head waters of the Des Moines, a few years ago, where he led a party, and commenced an attack upon three Sioux villages, took many scalps, and brought away several prisoners.
"I met him at Washington in 1837; he instantly recognized me, and giving me a hearty shake of the hand, said he was very glad to meet with a che-mo-co- mon (white man) whom he had known beyond the 'big Sepo' ( Mississippi). Having some curiosity to witness their diplomacy while negotiating with govern- ment for the sale of their land, I attended several of their councils. I noticed on these occasions, Wapella fully recognized the authority of Keokuck. 'My father,' says Wapella, addressing the secretary of war, 'you have heard what my chief had to say ; his tongue is ours-what he says, we all say.'
"Perhaps I cannot better conclude this sketch of Wapella than by quoting his speech in reply to Governor Everett, at the Boston state house in 1837, and which I extract from 'Biographical Sketches of the Indians.'
"After Keokuck had addressed the governor and members of the legislature, Wapella made the following speech : 'I am very happy to meet my friends in the land of my forefathers. When a boy I recollect my grandfather told me of this place, where the white man used to take our fathers by the hand. I am very happy that this land has induced so many men to come upon it. By that, I think they get a good living on it and I am pleased that they content themselves to stay upon it. I am always glad to give the white man my hand, and call him brother. Perhaps you have heard that my tribe is respected by all others, and is the oldest among the tribes. I have shaken hands with a great many different tribes of people. I am very much gratified that I have lived to come and talk to the white men in this house, where my father talked, which I heard of so many years ago. I will go home and tell all I have seen and it shall never be forgotten by my children.'
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"Wapella's deportment and bearing towards strangers is marked by much true dignity and politeness. Having visited his village last summer he manifested much satisfaction that I had called upon him. When I informed him that I had come to see his people and his village to write a description of it in a book, he seemed highly gratified and wished to know if I would send him one. It was with some difficulty that he could, at first, appreciate a visit so disinterested, that a motive merely to gratify curiosity could have brought me to this country. When fully convinced that such was the fact he appreciated it as a high honor. He said that white men generally came and questioned them about selling more of their country, which appeared to annoy him, and said his people did not wish to sell any more land. He was quite communicative and made many inquiries about Washington and Boston. He said Boston was a 'nisheshing' place, and then showed me his silver medal, presented by the city of Boston in 1837. He thought Governor Everett was a great 'brave' and a great 'medicine man' and that he had a big 'wickeup' on a high hill ( the state house), and on the prairie (common) below, he had all his 'warriors' out with their big guns when he was there. He said he should be very glad to see the great 'brave' from Boston at his wickeup and he hoped the Great or Good Spirit would bless him and all his war- riors. He wished me to give his compliments to him (Governor Everett) if I should ever see him again, for, said he, 'my heart is good towards him.' "
We find considerable interesting information about Wapella in the "Annals of Iowa," Vol. 2, Page, 636, and glean that in 1816 or later he ruled over one of the old Indian villages near the mouth of Rock river and that in 1829, when he moved to the west side of the Mississippi, he established himself on Muscatine slough. In 1836, about the time of the Keokuk reserve treaty, he moved to a point near Ottumwa, where he died in March, 1842. Just prior to his death he had started on a trip to visit the scenes and haunts of his former years, but was taken sick and died near the forks of the Skunk river. At his own request he was buried near the grave of his old friend, General Joseph M. Street, at what is known as the old Sac and Fox Agency.
CHAPTER V.
THE IOWA DISTRICT.
OUR VARIOUS RULERS-DIFFERENT TERRITORIES-ZEBULON M. PIKE-REV. CUTTING MARSII-ALBERT M. LEA-REV. JAMES L. SCOTT-REV. ASA TURNER-COLONEL CROGAN-ESTABLISHMENT OF DEMOINE COUNTY.
The kaleidoscopic changes of dominion which the territory now embraced in this county underwent, the different jurisdictions and various forms of govern- mental administration to which it was subjected before the time Iowa became an organized territory, have been briefly set forth in chronological order in the table "Appendix," entitled "Charters, Grants, Treaties and Laws, affecting Louisa county." Spain, France and England, at various times and under various claims and pretexts, asserted sovereignty over this part of the world prior to 1803. Then Napoleon, seeking in the interest of France to build up a maritime rival to England, and Jefferson, though feeling that he thereby may have overstepped the constitution, arranged for the purchase by the United States of the territory then called the province of Louisiana. Congress in 1804 divided "that portion of the country ceded by France to the United States under the name of Louisiana," and provided that all of it south of Mississippi territory and south of thirty-three degrees of north latitude should constitute the terriory of Orleans, and that "the residue of the province of Louisiana should be called the district of Louisiana and be under the jurisdiction of the governor and judges of Indiana territory."
By another slight change we became, on March 3, 1805, a part of the terri- tory of Louisiana ; and in 1812, after the admission of Louisiana as a state, we were turned over to the jurisdiction of Missouri territory ; and as a part of the compromise by which that territory was admitted to the Union as a slave state, we came to belong to the part in which there was never to be any slavery. How- ever, we were left "orphans" without any local government until, in June, 1834. congress attached us to the territory of Michigan. In reality we had no local government worthy of the name until the organization of Wisconsin territory by the act of congress, approved June 12, 1836, which took effect on the 3d of July of that year.
As pointed out by Dr. Shambaugh, in his "History of the Constitutions of Iowa," the changes we have just been noting were largely, if not entirely, "changes in subordinate jurisdiction over a geographical area, and in no sense the annals of a political society" since this country was practically without white inhabitants prior to 1830, and had but few of them up to 1833.
Indeed, in some quarters it was supposed that we were in the land of the terrible Sioux. A "View of the Mississippi Valley," etc., published by H. S.
37
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HISTORY OF LOUISA COUNTY
Tanner in 1832, purporting to be an "emigrants and travelers' guide to the west," designates what is now Iowa as a part of the great Sioux district-a district said to contain 162,385 square miles and to have within its limits 25,000 Sioux Indians. No settlement or fort in Iowa is shown on Tanner's map, nor does the Iowa river appear on it. It may also be interesting in this connection to note that although the state of Illinois was admitted in 1818, it appears from Tan- ner's work that in 1830 there were only twenty-six inhabitants in Mercer county, Illinois ; forty-one in Henry county, Illinois ; three hundred and eight in Warren county ; and two hundred and seventy-four in Knox county.
The knowledge, or rather lack of knowledge, of the part of country west of the Mississippi river as portrayed in Mr. Tanner's book, was probably due to the fact that the country was not then open for settlement, and not expected to be for many years to come. Before Pike and his immediate predecessors, Lewis and Clark, had made and reported their explorations, this was considered to be an arid and uninhabitable country "except upon the borders of rivers and creeks."
On August 9, 1805, a government expedition of twenty men, under command of the fearless and brilliant Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, left St. Louis for a trip up the Mississippi river, with a view of visiting the various Indian tribes in the upper Mississippi valley and gaining information about the country. August 20th the expedition had arrived at the foot of the Rapids des Moines, and in passing up these rapids they were met by William Ewing, an agent of the United States, accompanied by a French interpreter and fifteen Sac Indians in their canoes, who came to assist the expedition over the rapids. After passing Burlington and noting a good place for a fort, where Crapo Park now is, Lieutenant Pike, accord- ing to his journal, on Saturday, August 24th, "encamped on the west shore nearly opposite a chalk bank." This was undoubtedly in Louisa county, a little north of the Des Moines county line, and nearly opposite the town of Keithsburg. Just before this, Pike had been out hunting on the west shore and had lost his two favorite hunting dogs. Two of his men had volunteered to find them. These men wandered northward, meeting with Indians probably along the Muscatine slough, and with these Indians for guides they finally joined Pike at Dubuque on the Ist of September. These two men, whose names have not been given, are doubtless the first white men who traversed Louisa county from north to south, and the first to travel any considerable part of it since the visit of Marquette.
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