USA > Iowa > Palo Alto County > History of Palo Alto county, Iowa > Part 3
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CHAPTER V
The Relief Expedition
The alarming news of the massacre stirred the towns of Fort Dodge and Webster City. Public meetings were held, and within three days about one hundred men had volunteered to go in pursuit of the Indians and to the re- lief of the settlers. Such supplies as could be procured were hastily gathered and the men organized into com- panies.
Governor Grimes had previously appointed Major Will- iam Williams of Fort Dodge as the executive agent to pro- tect the frontier, and he now promptly took charge of the expedition. C. B. Richards was captain of Company A of Fort Dodge, John F. Duncombe captain of Company B of Fort Dodge, and J. C. Johnson captain of Company C of Webster City. The number of men was considerably augmented from time to time by enlistments from the set- tlers and others on the way. In all, the expedition num- bered about one hundred twenty-five men.
Realizing that delay would be dangerous for the success of their undertaking, they made ready quickly, and March 24, 1857, started on the difficult journey of over eighty miles to the scene of the massacre. The severe cold and deep snow rendered their progress slow, and they were poorly equipped for such hardships. After four days of difficult travel and extreme suffering, they reached the Evans cabin on the edge of Palo Alto County. Here nine men decided that the hardships were too great and re- turned home, leaving the loyal soldiers to fight their way onward.
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HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY
Several accounts of the progress of the expedition by men who marched with the command have been preserved and we will let these actual participants tell the rest of the story.1
On the morning of the 28th " the command started early and by hard and constant work reached Shippey's at dark. At McCormick's, a mile below Shippey's, we found Angus McBane, Cyrus C. Carpenter, William B. Pollock, and Andrew Hood, who joined Company A and went on with us from that point. We also found at Shippey's a part of a load of flour which A. M. Luce had left some weeks before, having got this far when the deep snow had rendered it impossible to proceed with his load. He had taken what he could haul on a hand sled and gone on to his family at the lakes. With this we replenished our meagre supplies and the next day reached the Irish colony in Palo Alto County, where we were able to get some hay for a bed and sleep under the cattle sheds. Our teams being nearly worn out we got an ox team to help us along." 2
" Sunday, the 29th, was a beautiful, clear day; snow melted until long stretches of bare ground could be found, and we made the longest march of any day since leaving Fort Dodge, reaching the Irish colony, sixteen miles from Shippey's. Here all the settlers for many miles above and below the river had collected for company during the long, tedious winter. They knew nothing of the massacre at Spirit Lake until [the news was being carried to Fort Dodge] though they were only about thirty-five miles away; they were living in little log cabins and dugouts
1 The Annals of Iowa, October, 1898, contains the complete history of this remarkable march, graphically told by those who were with the expe- dition. The rest of this chapter is taken from these personal reminis- cences as quoted in the Annals. See also Mrs. Abbie Gardner Sharp, History of the Spirit Lake Massacre; Gue, History of Iowa, vol. i, chap. XXV; Smith, History Dickinson County, chap. vi.
2 Recollections of Capt. Charles B. Richards, Annals of Iowa, October, 1898, p. 512.
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THE RELIEF EXPEDITION
and seemed very destitute; most of them had only been there since the summer and fall before and had raised nothing. . . [A day or so later a scouting party that had been sent out to reconnoitre] met that heroic band of refugees from Springfield, Minnesota, where they had made a gallant defense, driven the savages back and were fleeing from their homes, destitute, having left everything but the clothes they had on. Their only conveyance was a sled drawn by a pair of oxen, and they were nearly starved. Here we camped and did all we could to make them comfortable."1 [The next morning the rescued party were sent back in charge of the surgeon to the Irish colony while the soldiers resumed the march.]
" We fully realized now that we were in the Indian country and Major Williams, with his long experience among the redskins, took every precaution to guard against a surprise. We camped at Big Island Lake, where we found fresh signs of Indians. We reached Granger's Grove, on the Des Moines River, close to the Minnesota state line, that night, where the disappointing news reached us that the Indians had left the place some five days before, and that a detachment of United States mounted troops, sixty in number, were then quartered at Springfield. Our whole company was sorely disappoint- ed. After having undergone such privations, we hoped that though we were not in time to relieve the distressed settlers, we might be able to mete out to their murderers and torturers the justice they so richly merited. Our pro- visions by this time were running short, from the fact that owing to the deep snow all the way it had taken us longer to reach our destination than was expected. The men were so eager to follow the Indians, and leave the teams where they were, each man taking what provisions he
1 Narrative of W. K. Laughlin, Annals of Iowa, October, 1898, p. 542.
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HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY
could carry, that Major Williams offered twenty-five dol- lars a hundred for a few sacks of flour. But the settlers only had part of a load of flour and did not know when any more could be had. The Major refused to exercise military authority and take it by force, and on the morn- ing of the 2nd of April he sent twenty-five men under Cap- tain Johnson to bury the dead at Spirit Lake." 1
Robert McCormick was one of the volunteers who per- formed that sad mission. On the return this party suf- fered great hardships and two of the number, Captain Johnson and Private Burkholder, became separated from their comrades and perished in the cold. Their bones were found years later in Palo Alto County by William Shea on the northeast quarter of section 3-95-33.
The main body of the expedition returned to the Irish colony. "Here the officers were called together to consult as to ways and means to get food to keep the men together until we could reach Fort Dodge. The settlers at the colony were on short rations and could spare nothing. We decided to buy a steer and kill for the party, but we had no money and the owner refused to sell without pay. We offered to give the personal obligation of all the of- ficers, and assured him the state would pay a good price ; but this was not satisfactory. We therefore decided to take one vi et armis, and detailed several men to kill and dress the steer. They were met by men, women and chil- dren, armed with pitchforks to resist the sacrifice, and not being able to convince them either of the necessity of the case or that they would get pay for the steer, I ordered Lieutenant Stratton and a squad of men with loaded guns to go and take the steer, when, seeing we were determined, and that further resistance would be useless, the hostile party retired. The animal was soon dressed and dis-
1 Paper by Michael Sweeny, Annals of Iowa, October, 1898, p. 540.
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THE RELIEF EXPEDITION
tributed to the men, and for the first time in ten days they had a full meal.
" We had hoped the detachment sent to the lakes might overtake us, but as they did not come we left what meat had not been used for the men, and resumed our march. The day was warm until about noon, when a cold rain be- gan, making it dreary and dismal. We found several small creeks and all the ravines full of water, but crossed all without much detention until we arrived at Cylinder Creek, about twelve or fifteen miles from the colony, and two from Shippey's, where we expected to camp for the night. This point we reached about 3 p. m., when we found the bottom on the west side one vast sheet of water fully half a mile wide. We had become accustomed to overcoming obstructions and at once sent two men with poles to wade out as far as possible and ascertain the depth of the water. Their report was that the men could wade for nearly half a mile in water from two to five feet deep, when they would reach the channel proper of the creek, which was from sixty to eighty feet wide and very deep, with a swift cur- rent. We determined to make a boat from our wagon box by calking the cracks with cotton taken from our comfort- ers and with this (first stretching a rope across the deep water) we could wade the men out to that point and run them across in the wagon box. When we struck the swift current we were carried rapidly down stream, but by using our poles we managed to get across. As we struck the further shore where the bank was steep and a lot of ice piled up, our boat shut up like a jack knife, there being no braces at the corners. Every man jumped for shore and by getting hold of some willows all got out, Mason losing his overcoat and hat, and all getting wet. When the boat, which went under in the collapse, came up it was only separate boards floating down the rapid stream, and the rope was gone. The men who had come
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HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY
out to hold one end could not stand the cold water longer and had waded back to the main body. We had hoped to stretch this rope across the deep water and ferry over the men.
" About this time the wind suddenly changed to the northwest and was blowing fiercely and very cold, so that our wet clothes began to freeze and stiffen. . . In the face of that blizzard, for such it had now become, we could do nothing. By this time it had grown so dark that nothing could be seen of the other shore, neither on account of the noise of the wind could we get any reply to our frequent calls. We were utterly incapable of further exertion. The howling wind and drifting snow was fast obliterating the track. We consulted together and determined that it was as utterly impossible for us to render any assistance to our men as it would have been had they been in mid- ocean, and that our only safety lay in getting to Shippey's before the darkness and drifting snow made it impossible. It was a terrible walk with our frozen clothes and it was nine o'clock in the evening when we reached the cabin. Here we passed a night which no lapse of time will ever obliterate from my memory, so small was the cabin and so cold, and we had only our wet clothes. We warmed ourselves by the open fire, had some bacon and bread and a cup of coffee- the best thing to revive exhausted na- ture I have ever found. We had no blankets, but borrowed what the Shippeys could spare from their scanty store and spent the night, some trying to sleep, some drying their clothes by turning first one side to the fire, then the other, all anxious and making frequent visits to the door hoping the storm would abate, but each time only to find the wind and cold increasing. . I remember that it seemed as if the light of day would never come. The image of each man in the command, out in this terrible night, with neither
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THE RELIEF EXPEDITION
food, fire or even the protection of a tent, was constantly before me." 1
The main part of the force was thus left on the open prairie to face the terrible blizzard. Lieutenant Mason thus describes their experiences : " We were now drench- ed to the skin and as the wind had shifted to the northwest it rapidly grew cold, and before many minutes our clothes were frozen stiff. We were very scantily dressed -few of the men having more than an undershirt and a pair of pants. I fared as well as any of them, and all I had to brave that fearful storm with, was a flannel shirt, a pair of pants with one leg torn off at the knee and the seam in the other ripped from top to bottom, and one boot with the leg cut off, the mate having been burned a few days pre- vious. We began to look around for a place to sleep. Some of the boys spread their blankets on the ground and arranged themselves ' spoon fashion.' Brizee, Howland, Hathway, and myself lay behind the hind wheels of a wagon. We got through that night, but I hardly know how, as the mercury was over 30° below. We were all glad to see daylight, but many did not dare to crawl out of their blankets that day. The poor boys were almost freezing and some of them were becoming delirious. I think we were all more or less insane during a part of that terrible night. Brizee would frequently put his face to mine and beg me to ' go down the creek, only half a mile, where there was a big hotel, where we could get a warm breakfast with hot coffee.' When I would tell him that it was only a dream he would sob like a child and still insist that we must go. After daylight I fell into a doze, and dreamed that I was at my dear old mother's home, that I had been away and had come home hungry, and that she and a favor-
1 Reminiscences of Chas. B. Richards, Annals of Iowa, Sept., 1898, pp. 517-520.
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HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY
ite sister prepared some toast for me. I can see them now as I saw them then.
" The next morning was still and bright. Mr. Howland and myself concluded to cross the creek. We staggered to our frozen feet and arm in arm hobbled toward the stream. All eyes were upon us as we went out upon the ice. We began to feel encouraged but when we neared the center of the creek we found a space of open water, about thirty feet wide and very deep. We had resolved, however, never to return to that camp again, and looking up the stream we saw a clump of willows and went up to them. Here we found that ice had floated down, lodged against the willows and frozen there, thus forming a com- plete bridge. After passing the channel we signaled back, when a truly joyous shout went up from those poor half- insane boys. I will here state that there was not a man among our number - about 80 - who had strength enough to reach the opposite shore. I do not understand why they were so affected, the trouble seemed to be weakness and a shortness of breath. Every man's mouth was open wide, his tongue hanging out, and in some instances blood run- ning from nose or mouth. Shippey's cabin, where Major Williams, Captains Duncombe and Richards, and Private Smith had been during the storm, was two and a half miles southeast of the creek. Howland and I kept together un- til we reached the cabin, and were among the last to arrive. He, being the stronger, had rendered me considerable as- sistance, for which I now, after thirty years, thank him most sincerely. Major Williams met us with great tears streaming down his furrowed cheeks, and those who had remained at the cabin rendered as all the assistance in their power. We soon devoured the provisions given us and all sank down in the warmth of the sun and slept. We were allowed to sleep till about three o'clock P. M., when we were aroused from our slumbers and a consultation
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THE RELIEF EXPEDITION
was held. It was decided to disband, separate into small squads, and strike out for the nearest settlement." 1
" All of the command finally arrived safely except Cap- tain Johnson and Wm. Burkholder, who perished in the awful storm not far from the Irish colony, on the west side of the west fork of the Des Moines River. Some of the party, however, received injuries from the exposure on the march from which they never recovered. I have doubts whether any body of men for the same length of time, on any march, ever suffered greater hardships, more constant exposure, more severe bodily labor, than those who com- posed the Spirit Lake expedition. . . So long as the people of Iowa admire pluck and true courage; so long as Americans are freemen, the story of the Spirit Lake ex- pedition will be told with pride by every true man of our state and by all who are familiar with her history." >
1 Recollections of Frank R. Mason, Annals of Iowa, Ooctober, 1898, p. 535.
2 Address of Capt. John F. Duncombe, Annals of Iowa, Sept., 1898, pp. 507-8.
CHAPTER VI
New Settlers -1856-1862
The spring of 1857 was late in coming, but in May the settlers had begun to return to their abandoned homes. New settlers were picking out desirable locations and bringing new vigor and courage into the prairie settle- ments. As the spring progressed and the pleasant sum- mer weather came, their hope revived and with the pros- pect of a good crop the settlement again resumed its normal life.
In order to understand the situation in the county at that time, it may be well to go back about a year and de- scribe more fully some of the settlers and their families, who had begun to select locations soon after the first set- tlements were made. In a prior chapter the origin of the settlement at West Bend in May, 1855, and the experiences of the Carter and Evans families have been recorded. Samuel McClelland, who had come out with the Carters and Evanses on their first trip, had gone back east but returned in the spring of 1856 with his family. He was a son-in-law of Wm. Carter and so located his home on the west branch of the Des Moines River, about three miles north of where Mr. Carter had built his cabin. In July, 1856, John McCormick, Sr., and his son Robert came to this county. As they came west they traveled along the old military road until they came to Mr. Carter's, where they stopped, as it was the only house at that time along the old military road. They spent some time looking at the surrounding country with a view to taking up govern- ment land and soon after pre-empted seven quarter sec-
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NEW SETTLERS - 1856-1862
tions on both sides of the river, in what is now Fern Valley township.1
An incident is told of these days that illustrates some of the difficulties of pioneer life. John McCormick, Jr., who lived back in New Jersey, wrote to his brother Robert, saying that he would like to have a letter every week. Robert replied from Palo Alto, "The frost has busted my ink bottle and it is fifty miles before I can get another." 2
Soon after this, R. M. J. McFarland, Sr., and a friend of his named Jason Simmons came to the county from Wisconsin and settled near Mr. Carter. They stayed there that fall and winter, but as the winter was very severe and the conveniences few, they decided that the Palo Alto climate was too rigorous and returned to Wis- consin. There may have been other reasons for Mr. Mc- Farland's not staying in the county, as he was single at the time but was married not long after his return to Wisconsin. Mr. McFarland had pre-empted, in the spring of 1858, the northeast quarter of 28, West Bend township, but a year or so later sold it to Chas. Coyle (father of Judge Daniel F. Coyle of Humboldt) for a yoke of oxen. In 1864 his recollections of the beauties of Palo Alto prompted him to return and he bought back the old place for a span of horses. The difference between the yoke of oxen and the span of horses represents the rise in value of the land during that period. The records do not show this transfer, as Mr. Coyle did not think it worth while to record his deed and when Mr. McFarland re-purchased the land he was simply handed back his unrecorded paper.3
This shows in an interesting way the simple methods of transacting business and the slight value attached to the land in those days.
1 Letter of Mrs. Ira D. Stone. Mrs. Stone is a daughter of John McCor- mick, Sr.
2 Recollections of John McCormick, Jr.
3 Letter of B. F. McFarland of West Bend.
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HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY
James Linn came to the county and settled as a member of the West Bend colony in 1856. In the same year he married Elizabeth Carter, daughter of William Carter, and Wm. D. Powers married Ann Carter, the other daugh- ter. These were the first two marriages that took place in Palo Alto County.1 The members of this settlement thus became very closely bound together and mutually interested in its success and prosperity. Dan Howe lived at this settlement in 1856 and also had a claim further north. It was about this time that Thos. Campbell set- tled in this county not far from West Bend.
In the fall of 1856, Mrs. John McCormick, Sr., and her son James, and daughter Isabel, started from Newark, N. J., on their long trip to join the rest of the family at West Bend. Mrs. Isabel McCormick Stone, in describing their journey, says: "We reached Iowa City on the 17th of November, 1856. My brother Robert came there a week later with an ox team to convey us to our home near Rod- man. While traveling by those slow stages, we were un- able to reach our destination on account of streams and the big snow. Added to this, my brother James froze his feet and had to have a portion of his right foot amputated by Dr. Olney of Fort Dodge, when we got there. We were then forced to stop until March with an old lady and her son, named Schaffer, who lived near what is now the Glenn farm, south of Dakotah City, near the forks of the river. This was some time in December, 1856. In March, 1857, we left there and by dint of great struggle reached our home, where John McCormick now lives, on March 9, being on Monday the day after the Indian massacre at Spirit Lake." 2
In the spring of 1858, John McCormick, Jr., left New
1 "Some Reminiscences of a Pioneer," Chas. McCormick in Palo Alto Reporter, August, 1906. Statement of A. B. Carter. Letters of Mrs. Ira D. Stone.
2 Letter of Mrs. Ira D. Stone of West Bend.
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NEW SETTLERS - 1856-1862
Jersey to join the rest of the family at West Bend. After reaching Fort Dodge he started out on foot across the prairie. He describes his experiences as follows: "I only carried a satchel on my shoulders. Left my other stuff at Iowa City. Like the wise virgins, I took oil in my vessel. I had several pair of shoes, carpenter tools, etc., but left them at Iowa City where the railroad ended. When I got to this side of the river, before coming to Billy Miller's, there was Badger Creek, with the water running very swiftly over a stony bottom. It was all I could do to keep my feet. If I had not done so I would have been in Des Moines. They used to keep a ferry there, 'Bull's Ferry' they called it. The bull would swim the river with the people. When I came to Dakotah, they said there were still some white settlers up the river. One man's name was Miller, a little on this side of Rutland, Humboldt County. I stopped with this Miller, this side of Dakotah on the edge of the river. He asked me if I had had any- thing to eat. It was then getting dark. I said, ' No.' Says he, 'I will fix you something.' He baked some buckwheat cakes. I think they got the buckwheat along with the dirt and ground all up together. I thought, 'You don't need doctors in this country, you are pretty gritty.' I came from there on up to West Bend. The house was built, when I got there. There was a little storm-shed around the door. No floor in the house. Poles reached across for joists and small poles across them so they could lay sods over to make the house warm. There was no lumber in the county then. The grass was so high we had to stake out our two cows. If we had not and had let them go, we would never have found them again. Father and my brother cooked the meals on two forked sticks. That was before the house was built. My brother and I batched. Father got a homestead near by. My brother and I lived in this first house, batched it eight years without a floor
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HISTORY OF PALO ALTO COUNTY
in the house, and baked our bread and ate our meals off of a shingle block and got fat. We kept hotel and had plenty of custom. Never charged them anything and never paid any license. Some of my customers wondered how I baked such good bread. We had plenty of good cream, plenty of eggs, made it as rich as we could, and baked it in a Dutch oven." 1
In September of 1858, Tom, Charles, and Joe McCor- mick joined the rest of the family in the new home .? The McCormicks were very hospitable people and their cabin was the stopping place for all travelers along the road. They were always willing to share what little they had with all who chanced that way. A very good description of the McCormicks' hospitality in the early days is given by J. N. Prouty as follows: "In the winter of 1868 and 1869, I undertook to make the trip around the circuit with the then circuit judge, J. M. Snyder, who was an old acquaintance and had studied law in the same office with me. We reached the old McCormick place about sunset. The place looked rather forbidding to me. The house was two log houses set end to end and half buried in a gravel knoll. I think the roof was also of earth or sod, so that there was just enough space between the two earths for little windows with 7 x 9 panes. I objected to stopping there (I was wearing a silk hat at that time but haven't been guilty of it since), but the Judge said it was the best place available. We drove up in front of the house. The Judge got out of the sleigh, went down a sort of hatchway to the door and rapped. A rather large, elderly woman opened the door and they greeted each other very cor- dially and then the Judge asked if we could stay over night there. She said, 'Oh, yes, we can keep you, but you will have to take care of your horses yourselves, as the men
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