USA > Iowa > Wapello County > History of Wapello County, Iowa, and representative citizens > Part 2
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
on the south, and Monroe on the west. The civil townships are Competine, Highland. Richland, Columbia, Cass, Polk, Center, Dah- lonega, Pleasant, Agency, Washington, Keo- kuk, Green, AAdams; 14 civil townships. The principal stream is the Des Moines River. which enters the county in the corporate limits of Eddyville and flows in a general southeast- erly direction, finally leaving the county on the southwest quarter of section 35, township 71, range 12, thus dividing the county into nearly equal parts. Competine township is drained by Competine and Wolf Creeks and a number of tributaries. Cedar Creek crosses Richland, Highland and Pleasant townships; into the Cedar flows Brush and Little Cedar Creeks and a number of small branches. The Des Moines River on the south is fed by North and South Avery and Bear Creeks. Little Soap Creek flows nearly eastward through .Adams, Green and Keokuk townships, and empties into Big Soap Creek in Davis county. Village Creek empties into the Des Moines River in Keokuk township. The southern part of the county was at one time well timbered, but the native stock has been greatly reduced by the process of cultivating the soil. A large part of the county on both sides of the river is embraced within the region of the most valuable portion of the lowa coal field. The soil throughout the county is generally very fertile, yielding abundant crops of corn, oats and the grasses. .
PREPARING FOR SETTLEMENT.
The steps of organization, which led to
the marking out of the boundaries of Wapello county, may be summarized as follows : Orig- inally it was included in the Louisiana P'nr- chase of 1803; in 1804 this territory was di- vided into the governments of Louisiana and Orleans. In 1812 Louisiana was admitted into the Union, and the country north of it was then called Missouri Territory. From 1812 to 1834 that region of country now embraced in Iowa was a part of Missouri Territory. In the latter year Iowa was placed under the jur- isdiction of Michigan and was known as a part of Michigan Territory. In 1837 the State of Michigan was admitted into the Union, and this had led to the organiza- tion, in the previous year, of a new terri- tory under the name of Wisconsin; Iowa was then a part of Wisconsin, lowa was cre- ated as a separate territory in 1838. In 1833 a treaty was made with the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians, by the terms of which the country lying west of the Mississippi River and east of the west line of Jefferson county was ceded to the United States by the Indians. On the 11th of October, 1842, a second treaty was made with the same tribe, by which the remainder of lowa was ceded. Under this latter treaty . the whites were not permitted to settle within what are now the boundaries of Wapello coun- ty until the ist of May, 1843.
We are now brought up to that period prior to the occupation of the county by the set- tlers and to the time when the Indians still held possession, and also to the time when Gen. Joseph M. Street, as the United States Indian agent, established a post at Agency.
MAJ. JOHN BEACH, Agent Sacs and Foxes.
GEN. JOSEPH M. STREET, Agent Sacs and Foxes. (From portrait painted in 1815.)
1. Old Agency Building. 2. Grave of General Street.
3. Grave of Chief Wapello.
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GEN. JOSEPH M. STREET.
The following sketch of General Street is taken from A. R. Fulton's book (now out of print ) "The Red Men of Iowa:" "General Joseph M. Street was born in Virginia, Oc- tober 18, 1782. He was appointed to the agency of the Winnebagoes in 1828, and in the autumn of this year arrived at Prairie du Chien, his family remaining for a short time in Illinois. During the winter he returned and removed his family also to the agency. Ile was a strict Presbyterian, and his was the first family professing the Protestant faith to lo- cate at that place. . After the treaty of 1837. by which the Sacs and Foxes relinquished 'Keokuk's Reserve' on the Iowa River, and the Indians agreed to remove further west, General Street was transferred from the agency at Prairie du Chien to the new agency of the Sacs and Foxes on the Des Moines. In accordance with this purpose, early in 1838 General Street took measures to locate a new agency as convenient as practicable to the prin- cipal villages of the Indians. Accompanied by the chief, Poweshick, and a party of Indians. he set out to examine the country and selected the location, where the town of Agency City is now situated in Wapello county. He at once contracted for the erection of the necessary buildings,-including a family residence and office, blacksmith shop and stables. The con- tractor was from Clarksville, Missouri; he brought with him a large force of mechanics and laborers, including a number of negro slaves. The work was soon completed. In
April, 1839. General Street removed his family to the new agency. In the meantime his health' had been gradually declining, and before the close of the year he had become almost totally disabled, owing to a complication of obstinate maladies. On the 5th day of May. 1840, he was out riding with his brother-in-law, Dr. Posey, who had been attending him profession- ally. On returning home, he alighted from the carriage, and seating himself in the door called for a cup of coll water. When the ser- vant brought it, he remained motionless in the chair. Dr. Posey was immediately called, and came without the delay of a minute, but too late. The General had died while sitting in his chair."
MAJOR JOHN BEACH.
Major John Beach, who succeeded General Street as Indian agent, was born at Gloucester, Massachusetts, February 23, 1812. At an early age he entered Portsmouth ( N. H. ) AAcademy, where at ten years of age he took a prize for proficiency in Latin, and at thirteen he ex- celled in Greek. lle was appointed a cadet at West Point at the age of sixteen, and grad- uated in the class of 1832 at the age of twenty years. Soon after he received his commission as second lieutenant in the First U. S. Infantry, of which Zachary Taylor was colonel. He was assigned to duty on the frontier and in 1838, his hearing having become impaired. he resigned from the army and was for some time employed in the United States land office at Dubuque. In the meantime he had married a daughter of General Street, and succeeded him
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
as agent in 1840. From 1847 until 1863 he was engaged in mercantile pursuits at Agency City, where he died, August 31, 1874. He dis- charged all his duties as an officer and a citizen with fidelity. Prior to his death, he had com- pleted a series of valuable historical articles, entitled "Old Times," which were published in the newspaper of his own town. From these papers, the author of this volume will quote as follows :
In the fall of 1837 Major Beach accom- panied General Street, who conducted a party of 30 chiefs to the East, and while there they visited Boston. Major Beach says: "There were two theaters then in Boston, and a strug- gle ensued between them to obtain the presence of the Indians, in order to 'draw houses.' At the Tremont, the aristocratic and fashionable one, the famous tragedian, Forrest, was filling an engagement. His great play, in which he acted the part of a gladiator, and always drew his largest audiences, had not yet come off, and the manager was disinclined to bring it out while the Indians were there, as their presence always insured a full house. General Street, being a strict Presbyterian, was not much in the theatrical line, and hence the writer, who had recently become his son-in-law, took these matters off his hands; and, as he knew this particular play would suit the Indians far bet- ter than those simple, declamatory tragedies, in which, as they could not understand a word, there was no action to keep them interested, he finally prevailed upon Mr. Barry, the manager, to bring it out, promising that all the Indians should come.
"In the exciting scene, where the gladi- ators engage in deadly combat, the Indians gazed with eager, breathless anxiety; and as Forrest, finally pierced through the breast with his adversary's sword, fell dying, and as the other drew his bloody weapon from the body, heaving in the convulsions of its expiring throes, while the curtain falls, the whole Indian company burst out with their fiercest war- whoop. It was a frightful yell to strike sud- denly upon unaccustomed ears, and was in- stantly succeeded by screams of terror from among the more nervous of the ladies and chil- dren. For an instant the audience seemed at a loss, but soon uttered a hearty round of ap- plause-a just tribute to both actor and In- (lians.
"After ceding the belt of country upon the lowa side of the Mississippi, as heretofore mentioned, and having considerably increased the width of this belt by an additional cession in the treaty of 1837, the Sacs and Foxes still re- tained a large and most valuable portion of our State. This last treaty was negotiated with the party whose visits to Washington and other castern cities we have just mentioned, and was concluded on the 21st day of October. This was the first treaty ever made with the Sacs and Foxes, in which the principle was incor- porated that had just then begun to be adopted, of making the sum allowed the Indians for their land a permanent fund, to be held in trust by the United States, upon which interest only, at the rate of five per cent. would be annually paid to them. Hitherto it had been the custom to provide that the gross sum granted for a
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cession should be paid in yearly installments. For instance, $10,000 in regular payments of $1,000, over a term of ten years, would have left the Indians, at the end of that time, desti- tute of all further benefit from that cession. But now the more humane policy had come to be followed-of saving for them, in per- petuity, the principal sum. For their cession of 1837. they were allowed $200,000 ; upon which the interest annually paid is $10,000; and the treaty of October 11, 1842, that finally dis- possessed them of their land in lowa, pays them $40.000, as the interest upon $800,000, which, together with the payment by the United States of a large amount of claims, and some minor stipulations of a cash character, was the consideration for which that cession was ob- tained. Under a very old treaty, they were also receiving an unlimited annuity of $1,000, so that now there is the yearly sum of $51,000 payable to the Sacs and Foxes, as long as any of their people live to claim and receive it.
"This treaty of 1837 also stipulated for the erection of mills and support of millers ; the breaking-up and fencing of fields; the estab- lishment of a model farm, and other schemes of the pestilent brood of so-called philanthro- pists who were then beginning to devise their various plans for plundering the savages, and fastening upon them their hosts of vampires and leeches, schemes causing the outlay of many thousands of dollars of the money grant- ed to these Indians for their lands, from which, it is safe to say, they never derived the slightest benefit.
"Appanoose persuaded General Street that
Sugar Creek, between Ottumwa and AAgency, was 50 miles long, and the General had a mill erected on it. A freshet occurred within the next twelve months or so, sufficient in size and force to wash it away : but the writer doubts if ever a bushel of grain was ground in it, nor, had it stood to this day, and had the Indians remained to this day, does he believe they could have been prevailed upon to have raised a bushel of corn to carry to it. AAnother mill was put up on Soap Creek, and when the writer took charge of'the Agency. in June, 1840. that was also destroyed ; but as that was a better stream and as he was fortunate enough to secure the services of Peter Wood, a man who fully un- derstood his business, and was honestly dis- posed to attend to it, a second mill that was erected fared better, but the Indians took no interest in it whatever.
"A large field, cornering where the creek just below the depot at Ottumwa debouches from the bluff, was made and cultivated for one of the villages then located opposite. The field extended in this direction and toward the river. Another was made on the opposite bank near to the villages, and still a third in the same neighborhood, giving one to each of the three villages located opposite and below Ot- tumwa. A splendid wheat crop, harvested by the hands employed on the Pattern Farm, was stacked and a very high fence built around until it could be threshed ; but, in a very little time, the young men, too lazy to hunt up their ponies if turned out to graze, and having no squaws of whom to exact the duty, tore down the iences and turned their ponies upon the grain.
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
".At the time of General Street's decease, the Indians were occupying their country with their permanent, or spring and summer vil- lages, located as follows : Upon the bank of the Des Moines, opposite the mouth of Sugar Creek, where there is quite a spacious bot- tom extending for a mile or more below, where the bluff closes in pretty closely upon the bank, and for a much longer distance in the up-river direction toward and past Ottumwa, was the village of Keo- kuk; and still above, were those of Wapello, Foxes, and Appanoose, a Sac chief. . \c- cording to the writer's present memory, that of Wapello was the intermediate one. Keokuk himself had selected a pleasant, commanding and picturesque point for his own summer wig- wam, some half way up the side of the bluff, in the rear of his village, where, with his own little field of corn and beans, despite the large field of Uncle Sam just beneath him, he en- joyed the otium cum dignitate of his authority and rank during the hot weather.
"His wigwam was a very conspicuous ob- ject to a traveler along the road that crests the bluff and winds down the long hill to Sugar Creek on this side. From his elevated position. where, like another Robinson Crusoe in the boys' story books, he could contemplate himself as 'monarch of all he surveyed,' he had a fine view of the three villages spread beneath him, as well as of the bluffs and bottoms for a con- siderable distance up and down the river on this side. Several of the lodges in every town had their own small patches of cultivated ground in the neighborhood of their villages;
but the hillside, now covered by Ottumwa, seemed to offer them more attractive spots for this purpose, probably because the soil was more easily worked, and situated more favor- ably for the influence of the sun than upon their side of the river. A light, easily turned soil was, of course, an object to the poor squaws, upon whom devolved the duty of working it with their hoes, and of inserting the rickety posts that, with light poles bound to them, made the fence, not exceeding four feet in height, but, in general, very respectfully treated by the ponies, the only animal liable to intrude injuriously upon their fields.
"The whole hillside on its lower slope, for they seldom cultivated it more than half way up, was occupied in this way by the Indians, from some distance below the depot fully up to or above the court house: often the writer, on the receipt of some instructions requiring a 'talk' with the leading men, in order to save time, and to the Indians the trouble of a ride to Agency, has appointed some shady spot in one of these patches.
"The Indians seldom occupied their per- manent villages, except during the time of planting or securing their crops, after which they would start out on a short hunt, if the annuity -- which was generally paid within the six weeks from the Ist of September-had not yet been received. Immediately after payment, it was their custom to leave the village for the winter, hunting through this season by families and small parties, leading the regular nomad life, changing their location from time to time, as the supply of game and the need-so es-
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sential to their comfort-of seeking places near to timbered streams best protected from the rigors of weather would require.
"The village of Hard Fish-or Wishe- comaque, as it is in the Indian tongue-which was quite as respectable in size as any of the old villages, was located in what is now the heart of Eddyville, named for J. P. Eddy, a trader, who was licensed in the summer of 1840, by the writer, to establish his trading post at that place. He continued to trade there until the treaty of final cession in 1842, and was the most fortunate of any of the large traders in finding his schedule of claims against the In- dians very little reduced by the commissioners, whose part it was at that treaty, to adjust all outstanding claims against the Sacs and Foxes.
"The writer cannot locate the place exactly, according to our state maps, although he has often visited it in Indian times ; but somewhere out north from Kirkville, and probably not over 12 miles distant, on the bank of Skunk River, not far above the 'Forks of Skunk,' was a small village of not over 15 or 20 lodges, presided over by a man of considerable influ- ence. though he was not a chief, named Kish- kekoshi. This village was on the direct trail- in fact it was the converging point of the two trails-from Hard Fish village, and the three villages across the river below Ottumwa, to the only other permanent settlement of the tribes, which was the village of Poweshick, a Fox chief of equal rank with Wapello, situated on the bank of the Iowa River.
"About the time that Eddy moved out his stock of goods from Burlington to his licensed
point at Hard Fish village, P. Chouteau, Jr., & Company also obtained an addition to their license for a post at the same place, and put up a small establishment some fourth of a mile be- low Eddy, on the river bank. In the same winter, of 1840-41, W. G. & G. W. Ewing, of Indiana, who had already acquired large wealth in the Indian trade, but never yet had dealt with the Sacs and Foxes, obtained a license and had their point assigned them just at the mouth of Sugar Creek, on the Ottumwa side, where they soon got up a large establishment, filled with a full and valuable stock. This post was started, and. for a year or so, conducted by a Mr. Hunt, a gentleman of far more educa- tion, refinement and culture than is often found among the resident Indian traders.
" Previous to the treaty of 1842 some few changes were made in their location, both by the Indians and among the whites. The house at the 'Old Garrison' was broken up, and one established in its stead up in the Red Rock region, near the mouth of White Breast: and Keokuk, also, moved his village into the same neighborhood. A second blacksmith was ap- pointed. named Baker. son-in-law of Colonel Ingraham, one of the pioneers of Des Moines county, and a person of considerable character and influence in his county. Baker died at Fort Des Moines, still in the service of the Indians; but when appointed, he built his resi- dence some half a mile east of the Agency, not far from the claim taken by the late William Newell, father of L. F. Newell, by whom the property was subsequently purchased and add- ed to his farm.
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HISTORY OF WAPELLO COUNTY
"The Sacs and Foxes were quite friendly and manageable; in fact, were very pleasant and agreeable people to live among, and all public and personal intercouse with them rolled smoothly along the well-worn track. without much of incident or marvel, until the final sale of their remaining lowa domain. Sometimes incidents would occur, possessing excitement or amusement enough to encroach for a little upon the monotony that otherwise might have become tedious, of which the writer will en- cleavor to recover the memory of one or two that may amuse the reader.
"The Sacs and Foxes, like all other In- dians, were a very religious people, in their way, always maintaining the observance of a good many rites, ceremonies and feasts in their worship of the Kitche Mulito, or Great Spirit. Fasts did not seem to be prescribed in any of their missals. however, because, perhaps forced ones, under scarcity of game or other edibles. were not of impossible occurrence among peo- ple whose creed plainly was to let tomorrow take care of things of itself. Some of these cere- monies bore such resemblance to some of those laid down in the book of Moses as to have justified the impression among biblical students that the lost tribes of Israel might have found their way to this continent.
"The writer was a witness, one delightful forenoon in May, 1841, of a ceremony that seemed full of mystery, even to those of the Indians who took no part in celebrating it. A large lodge had been set up for the occasion on the level green, near
Keokuk's village, and its sides left so entirely open that vision of the proceedings conducted within was entirely free. Close around was a circle of guards or sentinels, evi- dently 'in the secret,' as they were close enough to hear, but at a distance far enough to prevent eavesdropping of the low tones used within the sacred precincts. Inside of these guards was another and much larger circle of sentinels, who restrained all outsiders (of whom the writer had to content himself with being one) from crossing within their line. Keokuk seemed to be the chief personage among the performers, and the performance to be de- signed for the exclusive benefit of one old fellow of some importance in the tribe, who was mainly distinguished from those about him by being clad in a much scantier pattern of raiment. Sometimes they would place him on his feet, and sometimes on his seat, as they powwowed and gesticulated about him. Final- ly. while in a sedentary position, with a large pile of blankets behind him, Keokuk ap- proached in front, pistol in hand, apparently aimed at his forehead.
"There was an explosion, quite audible to , us outsiders, and a no small puff of smoke, and " the old savage went over on his back in quick time, where he was covered up and left among the blankets, while a good many 'long talks' were held around and over him, until at length, Keokuk, taking his hand, brought him to the sitting posture, and soon after to his feet, ap- parently none the worse for having been used as a target. The outside multitude of Indians
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gazed with marked awe throughout the entire performance, and maintained, withal, the deep- est silence."
It will be appropriate in this connection to introduce a sketch of Wapello, the chief in whose honor the county is named. We take this sketch from Fulton's "Red Men of lowa."
W.1-PEL-LO.
"The name Wapello signifies prince or chief. He was head chief of the Fox tribe, and was born at Prairie du Chien. in 1787. . At the time of the erection of Fort Armstrong ( 1816) he presided over one of the three principal vil- lages in that vicinity. His village was on the east side of the Mississippi, near the foot of Rock Island, and not far from the famous Black Hawk village. In 1829 le removed his village to Muscatine Slough, on the west side of the Mississippi, and then to a place at or near the present town of Wapello, in Louisa county. Like Keokuk and Pashepaho, he was in favor of abiding by the requirements of the treaty of 1804, and was therefore opposed to the hostile movements of Black Hawk.
"Wapello was among the chiefs present on the occasion of the liberation of Black Hawk at Fort Armstrong, in 1833. At that time, after several chiefs had spoken, he rose in the council and said 'I am not in the habit of talk- ing-I think! I have been thinking all day : Keokuk has spoken; I am glad to see my brothers : 1 will shake hands with them. I am done.
"The name of Wapello appears signed to
several treaties relinquishing lands to the United States. He was one of the delegates who accompanied Keokuk to Washington in 1837. On that occasion he made a very fa- vorable impression by the correctness of his de- portment. He made a speech in the council, which was held at that time by the secretary of war for the purpose of reconciling the Sioux with the Sacs and Foxes. After Keokuk had spoken, Wapello commenced his speech by say- ing: 'My father, you have heard what my chief has said. He is the chief of our nation. llis tongue is ours. What he says we all say. Whatever he does we will be bound by it. It was conceded that Wapello's remarks were sensible and pertinent, and although he did not possess the fine form and commanding presence of Keokuk, many thought his speech was not inferior to Keokuk's.
"After the conclusion of the business at Washington, the delegation visited Boston, where they held a levee at Faneuil Hall, and were afterward conducted to the State House. where they were received by Governor Everett. members of the legislature and other digni- taries. The governor addressed them and the chiefs replied, Keokuk, as usual, speaking first. Ile was followed by Wapello, who said: 'I am 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 men used to take our forefathers by the hand. I am very happy that this land has in- duced so many white men to come upon it ; by that I think they can get a living upon it. I am always glad to give the white man my
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