USA > Iowa > Allamakee County > History of Winneshiek and Allamakee counties, Iowa > Part 16
USA > Iowa > Winneshiek County > History of Winneshiek and Allamakee counties, Iowa > Part 16
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It is not known positively whether Winneshiek is still living. There was a rumor of his death some years ago, but it has not been authentically confirmed. Whether alive or not, his name is per- petuated in being given to our county, one of the finest and best in the State. In accordance with the polygamous custom of the Winnebagoes, Winneshiek had six wives; and that he was a con- noisseur in female beauty is shown by the fact that he chose the finest looking women.in the nation.
Decorah, our beautiful inland city, and county seat of Winne- shiek County, was named after Waukon-Decorah, one of the prominent chiefs of the Winnebagoes. Our neighboring and thriving village of Waukon gained its name from the first half of the hyphenated name of the aforesaid chieftain. He had lost
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
an eye, and was familiarly known by the whites as "one-eyed Decorah." He, like Winneshiek, was an eloquent orator, and would sometimes boast of having white blood in his veins. He had two brothers, who. as well as he, were of prominence in their tribe.
The following quotation is from a speech of Decorah, made to the Government Commissioners after he had served with the Government forces in the Black Hawk war. He complained that his tribe had been firm friends of the whites, had aided them in the critical war against Black Hawk, and had not only re- ceived in return, but also because of helping their white brethren, had promoted the enmity of other Indians, who had been wreak- ing vengeance upon them. He said: "The Sacs hate the Win- nebagoes for helping their Great Father, and when peace was made with the whites they struck at the Winnebagoes; first at the · family of the speaker, when he was away from home they stole upon his lodge and killed his wife and children; and now he thought that his Great Father would give him some token of re- membrance of his services."
What are said to be the remains of Decorah, having been twice re-interred, now repose in the Court House grounds, near the northeast corner. It has been claimed by some that Waukon Decorah is still living, but that is very doubtful, and he must have been a very old mam long before this time. The site of the grave of the alleged Decorah, above referred to, was, it is reported, often visited in early days by bands of Winnebago Indians, who came back to their old homes here for a brief visit.
The first grave of Decorah was on ground now occupied by Winnebago Street, just below Main, almost at their intersection, and therefore in front of the present St. Cloud Hotel. The open- ing of the street to travel, made it desirable that the remains be removed to another spot. This was done by a formal meeting of prominent citizens on Aug. 4, 1859. Below is the report of that meeting by the secretary thereof, as afterwards published :
"DECORAH, August 4, 1859.
"The citizens of Decorah assembled at the grave of the Indian Chieftain, 'Decorah', marked by the decaying bark and wood that lay over it, and on motion of Rev. E. Adams, Dr. J. M. Green was chosen moderator and T. W. Burdick was appointed secre- tary.
"After the examination of the grave it was on motion re- solved that the remains of the Chieftain be disinterred.
"The grave being at the intersection, and within the limits of Main and Winnebago streets, and if not removed must soon give place to the use of these streets for the travel and com- merce of the white man.
"Thereupon those present proceeded to exhume the body. Only bones remained. On motion of Rev. Adams, a committee
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
consisting of D. B. Ellsworth, R. F. Gibson and Nathaniel Otis, were appointed to provide a suitable receptacle for the re- mains, and hold the same subject to the order of the citizens meeting.
"On motion a committe was appointed to raise funds to obtain a suitable monument, and erect a fence to mark the grave.
"The committee appointed took charge of the remains, and on mnotion the meeting adjourned.
T. W. BURDICK. Secretary."
In this new grave on the Court House grounds, the remains lay undisturbed for about seventeen years. But the grading and ter- racing of the grounds and the building of the new stone wall, a solid, substantial, structure, still comparatively new, compelled another resurrection and re-interment in the summer of 1876. The following in relation thereto is from the Decorah Bee, June 13, 1876:
"Decorah has been resurrected. We do not mean this beautifu little citv, but the bones of the noble chieftain after whom it is named. On Tuesday morning the workmen engaged in grading and excavating for a new stone wall and sidewalk on the Main street side of the Court House grounds, came across the remains of an old coffin containing some human bones, rusty scalping- knife, and tomahawk and pipe. They were some three feet from the surface of the ground, just inside the old wall, on the north- east corner of the courtyard. That they are the bones of the old Indian chief, Decorah, we are assured by old residents, from whom we learn the following facts:
About seventeen years ago, Winnebago street being about to be opened, a grave, situated where now is about the middle of the street in front of the post-office and known as the grave of De- corah, was opened and the remains, consisting of human bones, a blanket, tomahawk, pipe, and a lot of beads taken out, buried in Ellsworth & Landers' store for about six months, till the stone wall in front of the Court House yard was completed, when they were buried where now found."
"It is held as conclusive proof of this being the remains of Decorah, that the Indians of his tribe frequently assembled about that early grave, whence the remains have since been removed, performed their mournful rites, and that they called it the grave of Decoralı.
"Only a portion of the bones of the body were found to have sur- vived the devastating hand of time, were taken out, and placed in a box to be burried again inside the new stone wall when built.
"Quite a crowd of people assembled to look at those poor re- mains of the prond chieftain whose spirit hath departed. Lo these many years."
The action of the old settlers noted above in the report of the secretary of the meeting of 1859, which exhumed the supposed re-
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.
mains of Decorah, would be considered pretty good evidence of their genuineness; but the despoiling hand of the inconoclast is made to appear to throw doubt over the historic stories, as in the case of the tale of the saving of John Smith by the dusky prin- cess Pocahontas, and the equally sacred tradition of Washington and his hatchet. It will be seen that even a prominent actor in the first resurrection of the remains of Decorah was befogged with doubts by the spreading of rumors that Decorah was still living. For in a sermon, entitled, "First Things of Decorah," preached not long after this first exhuming. the Rev. E. Adams said: "Some may recollect how our bosoms swelled with respect for the old chief; with what reverence we exhumed his remains; how, in imagination, we beheld his noble form, as his skull, with its straight, black hair, was turned out by the spade; with what pomp and ceremony it was planned to remove his remains to some suitable place, possibly a monument erected-till, in gathering necessary facts for the occasion, word came back to us that De- corah was a chief greatly respected by his tribe, an old man, con- siderably bent over, with one eye put out, and his hair very gray. His hair very gray! All but this could have been got along with, but somehow the poetry was gone! Enthusiam subsided! How- ever, if in future years, by the lapse of time, this difficulty should be obliterated, and any desire should remain to erect a monument to the old chief, they can find his bones, or those of some other poor Indian, safely deposited in a rough box a few inches below the surface of the ground. close to the northeast corner of the Court House yard.'
CUSTOMS, INCIDENTS, TRAGEDIES.
As has already been intimated, the Winnebagoes practiced polygamy, and their manner of wooing was not much tinctured with a comprehension of the idea of the equality of the sexes; nor did the marriage ceremony have enough of form or ceremony as to have been considered satifactorily binding, if the contracting parties had been whites. The Indian brave opened his suit not with the dusky damsel, but with her parents, and as persuasive argu- ments, gave them such presents as his ability or liberality offered. If the paternal copper-colored "lord of creation" was willing, the matter was considered settled, and the bride would be borne a way to the lodge of the wooer, whether she wished it or not.
The funeral services were simple and devoid of form, the body of the deceased being wrapped in his blankets, and buried in a reclining position in a shallow grave. The period and profuse- ness of mourning varied, and is said to have depended on the amount of whisky on hand, or provided for the occasion.
In the early settlements of this country, as at present on the frontier, "fire water" was the great curse of the Indians. In many cases, a despicable white under the guise of an Indian teach-
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
er, made his real business the selling of whisky to the Indians. He would secrete his stock of whisky in some grove or out of the way place near enough to the whites for protection.
The Winnebago settlement on the reservation was not one to be neglected by this class of people, who, not allowed by the gov- ernment to come on to the reservation, came as near to its boun- daries as they dared. Two of these characters and the murders resulting from their evil practices, are thus described in Spark's history:
"Taft Jones was an individual of this character. He hailed from Furt Crawford, and located a trading post in the vicinity of Monona, giving it the name of 'Sodom.' Another genius, named Graham Thorn, started a trading post in close proximity to Sod- om, and called it 'Gomorrah.' The Indians used to frequent these places, and, of course, usually got badly cheated. It is a matter of recollection that once in a trial before Hon. T. S. Wilson, the first judge of this part of the country. a witness testified to things that happened at Sodom and Gomorrah. The Judge was disposed to become indignant, and asked, somewhat pointedly, if the wit- ness was not imposing on the Court. The reply was given by Judge Murdock, then a young attorney, 'Oh, no, your Honor; these places do actually exist." The old mayor of Sodom crossed long since to the other side of Jordan."
During the sojourn of the Indians on their reservation three murders were committed, to wit: that of the Gardner family, in Fayette county; of Riley, near Monona; and of Herchy, near the mouth of the Volga. In all of these cases whisky was the in- citing cause, and some of the parties undoubtedly deserved their fate. In the Riley case, a small party of Indians were encamped on a tributary of the Yellowstone river, four or five miles from Monona. An old Indian visited Taft Jones' den, at Sodom, and (as many a "paleface" has since done in similar cases) traded all his worldly effects for whisky. He even sold the blanket from his shoulders. Becoming intoxicated, he was turned out of doors, and on his way to his lodge died from exposure and cold. The next morning his son, a youth of about twenty summers, found the dead body of his father lying out in the snow, naked and frozen. His revengeful feelings were aroused, and going to the whisky den at Gomorrah, he shot at the first man he saw through the window. Unfortunately it happened to be an inoffensive man named Riley. A detachment of troops under command of Lieut. David S. Wilson, late Judge of Dubuque Circuit Court, was sent out to capture the Indian who committed the murder. He was apprehended, taken to Fort Atkinson, and confined in the guard- house, but by the connivance of a sympathizing white man he es- caped and was never recaptured. Jones lived but a short time after this occurrence. Dr. Andros, of this city, witnessed his death and describes it as follows: 'I was travelling from Fort
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
Atkinson to Prairie du Chien, and as I was passing by Sodom I was called in to see Taffy Jones. I found him on his bed in a miserable condition, and dying from chronic alcoholism. His countenance was horrible to look upon. He seemed to have but one thought, one wish. His only cry was whisky! whisky! whisky! I told Thorn, who was his right bower, that Taffy was dying, and to gratify his last wish. A tumbler of whisky was placed to his lips, and he swallowed it with all the gusto that marks the smallest babe while drawing nourishment from the breast of its mother. In a few hours he died, a striking illustra- tion of the the old adage,"the ruling passion strongin death.' The murder of the Gardner family was caused by whisky. Gardner kept a whisky shop, and it seems a number of Indians called at his place for their favorite beverage. He dealt out the whisky to them until they became intoxicated, and he, becoming alarmed, refused to let them have any more. They then determined to take the whisky by force, whereupon Gardner offered resistance. He was seized by the demons and dispatched. His defenseless wife and innocent babe were next assassinated, and his daughter, a beautiful girl about twelve years old, was reserved for a more terrible fate."
Of the bands of Winnebagoes and the difficulties of their re- moval, Sparks' history says:
"At the time the Winnebagoes were removed they numbered about four thousand, and were scattered over their reservation, or what was then called 'the neutral ground.' Four bands were located near the Fort and Agency. The other bands were located more remote. Where the city of Decorah now stands was a large band under the government of the hereditary chief Decorah; hence the name. This country was at that time an Indian para- dise, abounding in fish and game. The sale of their lands to the Government by their chiefs, and their acceptance of a new home in Minnesota, was very unsatisfactory to the Indians themselves. For a long time they refused to comply with the agreement en- tered into by their chiefs, and only consented when compelled by force of United States troops. Owing to their reluctance to re- move, the whole summer was spent in their ejection. One band, governed by a chief called the The Dandy,' would not go upon the land assigned them, but returned with their chief to Black River, Wisconsin, where they remained till the summer of 1874. when they were finally removed (at a great expense to the Gov- ernment) to the home of the tribe west of the Missouri. But they had remained on their new hunting grounds but a few months when they again returned to their old homes."
The remainder of this. chapter, describing Indian life and an- other bloody tragedy caused by selling whisky to the Indians, is from a series of papers being published in the Decorah Journal on pioneer life in this region :
.
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
"The character of the Indians, as written by their distant ad- mirers, or their near enemies, has been both overrated and under- rated. How shall I describe them ?- a mixture of savage barbar- ism and of 'civilization,' as learned from the whites. This is about what the pioneers found them to be. They are either warm and trusty friends, or bitter, treacherous and blood-thirsty enemies. That is their savage nature. They are inveterate beggars, liars and thieves; a part of this is nature, and a part was learned from their white brothers. They are lazy, dirty and shiftless. They are brave, chaste and constant in their marital relations. They are true to their tribe and those who befriend them, but revenge- ful and unforgiving to their enemies. How much of this is na- ture, and how much is learned from the pale faces, I leave to the reader to say.
"With the coming of the whites, the habits of the Indians un- derwent something of a change. They learned to prize money and to covet its possession, provided it could be gained without much labor. Their wants grew to be more numerous as the abil- ity to supply them increased. They were still hunters, as they had always been, but to this was added a few other pursuits whereby money could be obtained. But in this the principle la- bor fell upon the squaws. The braves would hunt and fish, and would sell their furs, which always commanded good prices, while the deer skins would be tanned by the squaws, and often manu- factured into moccasins, many of them tastefully beaded and orna- mented. For thread they used the sinews of the deer, and their work was both substantial and neat. These moccasins were favor- ite foot wear for the pioneers, both men and women, and for com- fort they cannot easily be surpassed, and a pretty foot never looked prettier than when dressed in a neat fitting Indian moc- casin. No white person could ever give a softer finish to a deer skin than do the squaws. In this they surpass all others.
"The gathering of wild berries, and of wild rice, also contributed considerably toward supplying their wants. In summer a small patch of Indian corn, and sometimes of potatoes, would be culti- vated. In this, also, the squaws performed the most of the labor. while the braves wandered off on hunting or fishing expeditions.
"But few persons living in countries where a wild Indian is seldom or never seen, having anything like a correct idea of the kind of life these people really lead. Many imagine that theirs is a happy care-free life, free from all restraint, and that as he roams at will over the vast free forest of the west, his must be a life to be envied by civilized men and women. Let us look for a mo- ment at the reality.
"In summer the Indian life may be said to be at its best, but even then hunger is not an unknown or even an unfrequent guest. Then the Indians settle down in groups, or families, erect their wigwams, and there remain while their small patch of corn is
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
cultivated, berries gathered, etc. In the autumn they remove to the rice fields, which lie to the north. The wild rice forms one of the chief articles on which they subsist. and if this crop fails, as is often the case, it is the cause of great destitution and suffering. Throughout the winter the Indians are frequently on the move going to new regions in quest of game, or for other reasons. ] will relate a couple or incidents which moved my heart to pity for these poor creatures:
"It was a bitter cold morning in January. A party of five or six were traveling by stage, and though thickly and comfortably clothed, and snugly tucked up with buffalo robes, all were com- plaining of the cold. We were passing over a bleak prairie where the wind blew a perfect gale, when we came upon a party of In- dians who had just broken camp and were moving to some new locality. There were about twenty in the company, consisting of men, women and children. There were two or three Indian pon- ies loaded with camp equipage, and on these ponies were mounted some of the smaller children, though boys, down to the ages of eight or nine years, together with the squaws, plodded through two feet of snow as best they might, their route lying across the prairie and not in the direction the road ran. The Indians walked erect, carrying only their guns, but the squaws, and even the chil- dren, were bent down with heavy loads, carrying not only the camp supplies, but also the woven bark of which their wigwams were made, strapped upon their backs.
"The Indians were dressed in buckskin leggins with moccasins of the same material. A thin calico shirt was the only garment, from the waist up. The squaws were similarly dressed, with the addition of a woolen shirt that reached just below the knees. The heads of all were uncovered, and around the form of each was loosely drawn a large blanket, which it seemed to us might have afforded greater protection had it been more closely drawn, or se- cured with our own indispensable pins. The dark, slender hands of all were wholly unprotected. Two or three of the squaws had little pappooses strapped upon their backs who cried piteously, very much as a little human baby would have done.
"And this party of wanderers would plod a long until hunger and weariness would overtake them. Then, on that cold winter's day, they would scrape away the heavy snow, would undo the rolls of bark matting, which must afford but a poor protection from the cold, gather sticks and brush and build a fire, and then, after cooking and eating a simple meal, would spread their blankets and lie down on the cold, frozen ground, to sleep and rest. After thinking of all this, and of the warm fire and smok- ing meal that would await us at the hotel not far distant, there was not much more complaint among us.
"One chilly night, late in autumn, word was brought that a . party of Indians were encamped in a grove near by. Although
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
. there are large Indian settlements a little ways to the north, an Indian camp in our midst is sufficiently rare to attract some at- tention. So that evening, taking a few presents as a peacc-offer- ing, a party set out to pay the encampment a visit. A blazing fire guided us to the spot. About the fire, over which a kettle hung suspended, were a group of ten, all seated on the ground- six Indians and four squaws. The Indians were smoking their pipes with stolid countenances, while the squaws had their blank- ets drawn up over their heads, and their heads resting on their hands, seemed indifferent to everything in life. An effort at con- versation elicited only a grunt, and a declaration in the Indian tongue that they could not speak English; a statement which we very much doubted, as it is an Indian trick to feign ignorance of our language, even when well understood. A presentation of our gifts aroused a little life, and a chatter in the Indian tongue.
"The kettle was boiling slowly, and, being uncovered, was seen to contain a piece of meat, some potatoes, and some pieces of black bread, all boiling together, and would form a not unsavory meal. When cooked it would be set out on the ground, and the group squatted around would dip out morsels and eat them from their fingers. Then, with blankets drawn around them, and with heads toward the fire, and with no shelter save the cold, starry heavens, they would sleep until morning. Possibly they would partake of the remnants of last night's meal, and at early dawn would be again on the trail, and not until twenty-five or thirty miles were accomplished would they again stop to rest. Our homes never seem warmer or more comfortable, or our beds softer or more downy, than when on some cold, chilly night we think of a visit to an Indian encampment.
"Does any one wonder, with all their suffering and privation, with wars waged among them, and with the white man's 'fire- water' dealing ruin and death in their midst, that he is fact dying out?
"Sometimes the savagen ature of the Indians would burst forth, like a prisoned volcano, and culminate in deeds of bloodshed and murder so horrible as to strike terror to the stoutest hearts. In recording these deeds of carnage the blame cannot be said to rest wholly upon the savages. They are generally inclined to be friendly with the whites when treated with kindness and justice. Some of their most atrocious acts of cruelty may rather be attributed to drunken frenzy, than to either injustice on the part of the whites, or savage barbarity on the part of the Indians. Of this class was one of their most fiendish murders, known as the Tea-Garden murder.
"There lived in one of the northwestern counties of Iowa a Frenchman named Tea-Garden. The country was very wild, with only a few white families scattered through a wide extent of ter- . ritory. His family consisted of his wife-a very estimable woman,
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and four children-two boys, aged respectively eight and eleven years of age, a girl of six years of age, annd an infant child. Tea-Garden kept a trading post and dealt with the Indians, who were much more numerous than the whites. He soon found that although they cov- eted beads and other trinkets, there was one article which found much more ready sale than any other, and for which an In- dian would sacrifice almost anything he possessed. This article was called in the Indian tongue 'Poch-a-ninna,' the literal sig- nification of which is 'fire-water," in plain English, whisky. He was not a man of much principle, and though the sale of liquor to the Indians was strictly against the laws of the territory, he soon canie to dispense the fiery fluid with a freedom that was in accord- ance with the Indians' capability of paying for it.
"But few men can handle fire-brands without themselves being scorched. But few can deal out poison without themselves feel- ing its direful effects, and Tea-Garden did not prove to be one of the few. Having a natural liking for the vile stuff, with him to handle was to taste, and he soon came to drink freely with his customers, be they either whites or Indians, and in a short time he became a drunkard and a sot, with scarcely a spark of man- hood left.
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