USA > Iowa > Tama County > History of Tama County, Iowa, together with sketches of their towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 32
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First. Thin bedded sandy limestone three feet; Second. Thin bedded volitic limestone four feet; Third. Heavy bedded irregular limestone, gray with bluish tinge, s x feet ; and below this will be found thin beds of carboniferous limestone, from 8 to 10 feet.
The Keokuk or Kinderhook limestone is composed largely of fine grained, yel- lowish sandstone.
The Burlington limestone formation con- sists of distinct caleareous divisions which are separated by a series of silicious shale and chert together with nodular masses of flint, the whole mixed with a smaller pro-
portion of calcarious matter. It affords much valuable material for building pur- poses, but which is confined, however, en- tirely to its stone. It is seldom that it affords anything suitable for ashlar, but for the purpose of common masonry it is excellent, as it endures exposure to the atmosphere and frost without appreciable change. Good lime can be made from it, but the greater part of the lime is made from the upper division, because it usu- ally produces a whiter quality. The upper division furnishes excellent quarry rock wherever it is exposed. The rock is also strong and endures exposure well. The color of some portions of this division is so nearly white and its texture somewhat crystaline, that the purer pieces resemble marble. Although the area occupied by the outerops of this formation in the county, is comparatively small, yet the fossil remains which it presents are of the most remarkable character and profusion. The only remains of vertebrates which the formation has afforded, are those of fishes an l sna ls which in some loca ities are numerous,
The St. Louis limestone formation, as it exists in Tama county consists of three tolerably distinet sub-divisions, principally dependent on lithological character. They are magnesian, arena, ceous and calcarious.
The first and lowest consists of a series of yellowish gray, more or less magnesian and usually massive layers. The second is yellowish or light gray, friable sand- stone. The third or upper division is principally composed of light gray com- pact limestone, sometimes uniformly bed- ded, but it often has a coneretionary and even a brecciated character. It furnishes
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
excellent material for quick lime even when it is so concretionary and brecciat- ed that it will not serve a good purpose for building material, and is usually too soft for any practical use. It contains a great many fossils and is very attractive.
At Indiantown, in Tama county, the sub-carboniferous formation appears, com- mencing at the water level of the Iowa River.
No. 1. Yellowish shaly fine grained, 10 feet sandstone.
No. 2. Light gray volitic limestone, in heavy layers, 15 feet.
No. 3 Soft irregularly bedded, magnesian limestone passing up into purer and more reg- ul.rly bedded limestone, 40 feet.
The surface deposits to which the name of drift is applied, has a far wider distri- bution than any o ber surface deposit. It meets the eye almost everywhere, cover- ing the earth like a mantle and hiding the stratified rocks from view, except where they have been exposed by the removal of the drift through the erasive action of waters. It forms the soil and subsoil of the greater part of the State, and in it alone many of our wells are dug and our forests take root. Occasionally it is itself covered by another deposit;as for example the bluff deposit, in which case, the latter forms the soil and subsoil. The drift is composed of clay, sand and gravel with boulders, pro- miscuously intermixed, without stratifica- tion or any other regular arrangement of its material.
The clay drift, which is always present in greater or less proportion, is always im- pure; always finely distributed throughout the whole deposit, but not unfrequently ir- regular masses of it are separated from other materials. Its color is usually yel-
lowish from the peroxyd of iron it con- tains, and which when it is burned into bricks gives them a red color.
The sand of the unaltered drift is seldom separated from the other materials in any degree of purity, but it is not unfrequent- ly the case that it exists in excess of the others; and in some cases small accumula- tions or pockets of it are found, having a considerable degree of purity while the gravel is largely derived from rocks that are more or less purely silicious, but occa- sionally they are found to be of granite composition.
So small a portion of Tama county is occupied by the coal measures that it is scarcely worth while to mention it, though coal deposits have been found in the northern part of the county, and it is not improbable that other discoveries of it may yet be made in o her portions.
In Indian Village township, bed No. 2 is well expose { and is extensively quarried for lime. Near Le Grand, in the east rn part of Marshall county, only a few miles west of Indiantown, No. 3 of the preced- ing seetion is well exposed, showing a thickness of about forty feet from the lerel oi the river. No. 1 and 2 do not appear, they having passed beneath its surface by a western dip, aided by the stream. The exposure here is composed almost entirely of light brown or buff colored limestone, more or less magnesian, and in some of the more calcarious layers a slight tendency to volitic structure is seen. Some of the layers are cherty, but a large part of it is quite free from silici- ous matter.
The stone is largely quarried for various
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
purposes, and the finer layers, which fre- quently have a beautiful veining of per- oxyd of iron, are wrought into ornamental and usefulobjects, and is known in the market as " Iowa Marble." Several other exposures of the Kinderhook beds are owned in Tama and Marshall Counties, one by II. S. Dickson and one by David Ilonghton. Those first mentioned are the principal ones.
In this county the volitie member is well exposed at several places where it is
quarried and used for the manufacture of lime of excellent quality. It has been proposed to manufacture this volitie stone into table tops, mantles, etc., but although it may be made to receive a fair polish and its volitie structure gives it considerable beauty, it is feared that the well known ten- deney of ail volitie limestone to become fragmentary will be found to render it worthless for such purposes. However, that near Montour and Indiantown prom- ises to prove valuable for such uses.
CHAPTER III.
INDIAN OCCUPANCY.
Long before the advent of white man, the entire State of Iowa, then called the Beautiful Land, was occupied by Indian tribes, chief among which were the Saes and Foxes. Both these tribes were at one time powerful nations, and stood promi- nent among the aborigines of America. They were formerly two distinct nations, and resided near the waters of the St. Lawrence. By the Government they have always been treated as one people, al- though keeping up customs among them- selves calculated to maintain a separate nationality, and in their own government they were separate. The Fox Indians
moved to the west, and settled in the vi- einity of Green Bay, on Lake Michigan, but becoming involved in a war with the French and neighboring tribes, were so much reduced in number that they were unable to sustain themselves against their hostile neighbors. The Sac Indians had been engaged in a war with the Iroquois, or six nations, who occupied the country which now comprises the State of New York, and had become so weak that they were forced to leave their old hunting ground and move to the West. They found the Fox tribe, their old neighbors, like themselves, reduced in number by the
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
havoc of war, and from a matter of neces- sity, as well as sympathy, they united their fortunes, and became in the sense of association, one people. The date of their removal from the St. Lawrence is not defi- nitely known. Father Hennepin speaks of the Fox Indians being at Green Bay, then known as the Bay of Puants, in 1760. The date of their removal from Green Bay is unknown, but gradually they branched out, and occupied large tracts of land in Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin. At this time they were famous for their prow- ess in war.
When the " Black Hawk purchase " was made, a portion of this State was retained by the Indians, consisting of four hun- dred square miles, and known as " Keo- kuk's Reserve."
This reservation was along the Iowa river, and therefore Tama county formed a part of it.
In the early part of the present eentury -in 1803, the first Council of the French Republic ceded the Province of Louisi- ana to the United States. At that time the greater portion of the territory which now constitutes lowa was in the possess- ion of the tribes of the Sacs and Foxes, who were acting at that time as confeder- ato tribes.
From this date the Indians ceded away by treaty tract after tract of this the most beautiful country the sun ever shown upon, until to-day in this great State of Iowa they hold only a few hundred acres of land in Tama county, and this only in re-purchase from the white man.
In accord with the progressive and ag- gressive spirit of the American people, the Government of the United States
made the last treaty with the Sac and Fox Indians in the fall of 1842, for the remain- ing portion of their lands in Iowa. The treaty provided that the Indians should retain possession of all the lands thus ced- ed until the autumn of 1845. These lands laid along the Iowa river, extending south- easterly, and embraced the southeastern part of the State. Their principal vil- lage at this time was Ot-tum-wah-no, where the city of Ottumwa now is. As soon as it became known that the treaty had been coneluded there was a rush of emigration to Iowa, and a great number of temporary settlements were made near the boundary of the Indian line, awaiting the day set for the Indians removal. As the day approached hundreds of families eneamped along the line, and their tents and wagons gave the scene the appear- ance of a military expedition, but the United States military authorities had pre- vented any settlement, or even the mark- ing out of claims by any monument what- ever. To aid them in marking out their elaims when the hour shoukl arrive, the settlers had placed piles of dry wood on the rising ground at convenient distances, and at a short time before twelve o'clock of the night preceding the day set, these were lighted, and when the midnight hour arrived, it was announced by the discharge of firearms. The night was dark, but this army of occupation pressed forward, torch in hand, with ax and hatchet, blazing lines with all manner of curves and angles. When daylight came and revealed the confusion of these wonderful surveys, ma- ny disputes arose, settled generally by compromise, but sometimes by violence.
While this scene was transpiring the
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
retreating Indian was enacting one, more impressive and melancholy. The winter following the treaty was one of unusual severity, and the Indian Prophet, who had disapproved of the treaty. attributed the severity of the winter to the anger of the Great Spirit because they had sold their country. Many religious rites were per- formed to atone for the crime. When the time arrived for leaving Ottumwa -- where they had gathered-a solemn silence per- vaded the Indian camp ; the faces of their stoutest men were bathed in tears, and when their cavalcade was put in motion, toward the setting sun, there was a spon- taneous outburst of frantic grief.
The Sac and Fox Indians were then re- moved to Kansas upon a reservation giv- en them. In the years 1859-60 they ced- ed to the Government that reservation, and removed to the lands now ocenpied by the original tribes, in Kansas. Three hundred and seventeen Indians of the Fox or Musquakie tribe, after their re- moval, returned to lowa and settled in Ta- ma county. The Government permitted them to remain, and by virtue of an act passed March 2, 1867, they are permitted to receive their share of the Tribal fund, which is the interest only on the amount due them from the Government for their lands. This branch of the tribe began buying the tract of land which they now occupy as a reservation in Tama township, Tama county, with their annuity, and now own nearly 1400 acres. It cost $28,000, and is held in common, about 200 acres be- ing used for cultivation. Their personal property is valued at $20,000, mostly in horses. The strongest local attachment exists among them for their present home,
it being the home of their fathers. They cannot forget the past with all its associ- ations, and will never consent to remove from their present place. They have from the earliest moment been friendly to the whites, and while no very marked de- gree of civilization has been attained, yet they are a peaceful, honest, and contented people, possessed of a good degree of moral character, and have a brighter out- look for the future.
As to the present condition of the In- dians, the following, which is an extract from the report by U. S. Agent Geo. L. Davenport, in August, 1881, treats at length :
" According to the census taken of this tribe last winter, they number 91 men, 104 women, 77 girls and 83 boys. Popu- lation in all 355.
"In the spring, the Indians, with the assistance of the Agency farmer, plowed 160 acres of land, and planted it with corn, beans, squash and potatoes. Their crops were well cultivated and looked very promising, when, in the early part of July, heavy storms set in, which caused the Iowa river to rise and overflow all the valley, the water rising four and five feet over their fields and village, destroying all their crops and doing great damage to their fences ; and forcing the Indians to move their families to the adjacent hills. This calamity will cause great suffering to their families unless they receive their annuities, which they have all along re- fused to do.
"Their principal chief, Man-ma-wah-ne- kah, died in the early part of July. The tribe are in mourning for his death. Ile was very much beloved, and had great in-
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
fluence with them. Ile was thoroughly Indian in his ideas and sentiments, and was very much opposed to making any progress in civilization.
" In a short time this tribe will hold a council with their people to determine what they will do in regard to signing the pay-roll and receiving their annuities, which have up to this time accumulated to be quite a large sum. Last winter I ob- tained the names and ages of all their peo- ple, without their consent or assistance. But the tribe were quite displeased, and I had to explain to them that I was obliged to carry out the instructions received from the department. I have informed them that they can now receive their annuities by the head of each family signing the pay-rolls, and I believe they will do so in a short time.
" These are a very good people. They have behaved remarkably well during the past year. Their conduet toward the white people has been very friendly, honorable and upright. Their women are modest and chaste ; their children are brought up strictly, and behave well. I have not heard of a single instance of a quarrel or disturbance of any kind during the past year. The principal chief and council have done all they could to suppress in- temperance among them, and there have been but few cases of drunkenness among the young men during the past year, and then it has been the fault of the white man that gets the liquor for them.
" In regard to schools, the old Indian ele- ment is very much opposed, and the chil- dren are forbid attending. But the young men make good progress in learning to read and write, and many of them can
read and write in English. Quite a num- ber of women have attended the industri- al school, and have made very good prog -. ress in making their garments and learn- ing to do household work.
"Our teacher died in the early part of the month, after a long illness. She had acquired a knowledge of the Indian lan- guage, and was very much beloved by the women and children. It will take some time before we can overcome the preju- dice the Indians have to regular schools. It will require patience, perseverance and kindness to succeed.
"The Secretary of the interior has kind- ly allowed me to purchase implements, by which I have been enabled to help the working Indians to carry on their agricul- tural work, and it has given them great encouragement.
" The number of deaths during the year has been ten, and the number of births five.
"The school building used for the agency is in good order and repair, and is the only building belonging to the Gov- ernment.
Very respectfully, GEO. L. DAVENPORT, United States Indian Agent."
INDIAN AGENTS.
The first Indian Agent for this tribe was IIon. Leander Clark, of Toledo. Ile was appointed July 1, 1866, and served in that capacity until July 10, 1869, when he was succeeded by Lieut. Frank D. Garret- ty, U. S. A., under the regulation trans- ferring the Indian Bureau to the War De- partment. Lieut. Garretty served until Oe- tober 5, 1870, when Leander Clark suc-
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
ceeded him, and again became agent. In September, 1872, Mr. Clark was relieved by Rev. A. R. Howbert, of Belle Fon- taine, Ohio.
In April, 1875, Thomas S. Free became agent of the Musquakie band. He took active steps to accomplish the advance- ment of the Indians in education and farming. In August, 1875, a school-house was built at a cost of $1200, in which A. B. Somers first taught. Mr. Free is now at Sioux Falls, D. T., practicing law.
In June, 1879, George L. Davenport was appointed to succeed Thos. S. Free, and is the present officer. Mr. Davenport has had a varied and eventful life. Hc was born on Rock Island, Nov. 15, 1817, the eldest son of Col. Geo. Davenport, be- ing the first white child born in that part of the country. The city of Davenport was named in honor of his father, who was one of its founders. George was nursed by an Indian maid, and his play- mates were Indian boys ; he therefore learned to talk their language about as soon as he did English. At an early age he was adopted into the Fox tribe, and called " Mosquake," and was always a great favorite with them. His early education was gained at the school of an invalid sol- dier at Fort Armstrong, and at the age of ten he was sent to attend school at Cin- cinnati, O., where he remained two years, then returned to the Island, and was plac- ed in the store of the American Fur Com- pany, of which his father was a. member, remaining until this post was given up in 1843. During this time he attended school a part of the time at the Illinois College at Jacksonville, at the Catholic Universi- ty at St. Louis, and at the Winchester
Academy, in Virginia. In the fall of 1837 he accompanied, by request, the Sac and Fox delegations of chiefs to Wash- ington, and visited other large cities. In 1832 he made the first claim west of the Mississippi, and built the first frame house in the territory. During the early days of the city of Davenport he was among the most zealous workers for the city's suc- cess, and for many years was one of the most prominent of her citizens. Ile was president of the Merchant's Bank and Davenport National Bank for eighteen years ; was president of the City Gas Cor- poration for twenty-two years. In 1871 he was elected a director of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway, and held that position for five years. He was mar- ried in 1839, and lost one son during the late rebellion. Politically, Mr. Daven- port is a Republican. Hle is an affable, pleasant gentleman, and as a business man is upright and honorable. For the place he holds he is well fitted, and his labors are leaving their marks.
THIE INDIAN NAME.
It is quite generally believed that the name by which the Indians in Tama coun- ty are known-Musquakies, [sometimes spelled Misquakies ]-is a misnomer which they have been given since they have liv- ed here. But this is a mistake, as is also the theory that the name was derived from the fact that they were a portion of Keo- kuk's followers in trying to avoid the last Black Hawk war, and means " Deserted." When the Sac and Fox Indians occupied the northeastern part of the United States they were called by their proper Indian names : Sockees for Sack ; and Musqua- kies for Fox. When the French landed
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
upon the shores of that portion of the continent, they named them Sac and Rey- nard, or Fox. The former band have ti- nally accepted that name ; but the latter tribe, among themselves, still hold to the name " Musquakies," which means in their tongue "red men ; " or, " Musqua " red ; " kies," people.
CUSTOMS, HABITS AND PECULIARITIES OF THE, MUSQUAKIES.
Much has been written in regard to the customs and habits of the Indian tribes of the northwest and as a description of one was supposed to apply to all, many of these articles have been reproduced as a treatise upon the Musquakies, or the tribes which at one time occupied the "Black llawk Purchase." But most of these ar- tieles in many of the customs and peeuli- arities they recite are entirely erroneous and, as a whole, very much exagerated. Contrary to the inference which would be drawn from them, the tribes of the Sac and Fox Indians, since their contact with the whites have always to a certain degree been civilized, and the pioneers who were associated with them during the early days when the red skins called this region "home," agree in the opinion that, as a rule, their ideas of justice and morality were but a few paces in the rear of those held by "civilized humanity." The habits and customs of this tribe of to-day, do not differ very much from those of early days. Very few of them deign to wear the dress of the white man, generally wearing a blanket over the shoulders, feathers in the hair, and not infrequently painted fantastically about the face, neck and arms. Beads and cheap brass jewelry usually adorn the neck and ears, and the
Indian maids wear large and massive bracelets. The blankets are all highly colored, as, in fact, is all of their clothing.
Instead of being frivolous, they are as a rule thrifty and industrious, but the squaws are made to do the hardest labor. Few quarrels are had among themselves, and they are always peacable to Whites. Since their occupancy of the little reser- vation in Tama county there has only beeh one crime committed.
They are more religiously inclined than the white man, believing in God and rec- ognizing the existence of a Supreme Being whom they call the Great Spirit. Their conception of God differs only in part from that held by the Christian world. To them He is an individual being-a su- preme personage. They know nothing of Jesus Christ and have no traditions that tend to indicate a belief in any such per- sonage. They have a devil whom they designate as the Bad Spirit. To both are offered sacrifices. Their religion partakes more of the Jewish Creed than that of any other and abounds in numerous forms and customs, quite similar to the old customs first practiced by the lebrews. They have a Bible which they call "Meeschaun." It is made up of about twenty-seven parts and the whole is written in strange signs only intelligible to the Indians, and the contents are never explained to the whites. There are about half a dozen of these "Meeschaum" in the tribe; they all worn and old and are handled with the greatest care. The word "Meeschaum" in the In- dian tongue means "Iloly words or laws." Meetings of worship are held which last for three and four hours, and a separate and distinct language is used for religious
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HISTORY OF TAMA COUNTY.
talk and worship. They listen with great interest to the explanation of the white man's belief and religion, and have tradi- tions which have been handed down from former generations that are-almost iden- tical with Bible parables and illustrations.
One of these traditions is that long years ago, when even the race of red men was in its infancy, there came a rainy season to the land inhabited by the fore-fathers of the Indians. It continued to pour down in drenching torrents for nearly " two moons." The land became covered with water. It rose until even the highest hills began to disappear beneath the waves. The red men seeing that the end was not yet, resolved to cast their lot upon the waters and trust to the Great Spirit for safety. All the canoes that could be found, were collected together and bound with lariats. When the proper time eame the raft was ladened with the necessary food, blankets and a few musk rats, and all got aboard as the last high mound was submerged by the rapidly rising waters. For many days and nights the bark tossed to and fro, the rain ceased, and they only waited for the water to godown. Amnsk rat was dropped over- board. lle sank toward the bottom and after remaining some time returned to the surface with clean paws and clambered into the raft. This indicated that the water was yet too deep to reach bottom. In a few days the experiment was repeated; but with the same result. In a few days more the muskrat was again put overboard and after being down a few moments came to the surface with his paws covered with mind, and again disappearing to re- turn no more. This was the hopeful sign they had looked for and in a few days the
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