USA > Iowa > Calhoun County > Past and present of Calhoun County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress, and achievement, Volume I > Part 3
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The mounds are nearly always found upon a bluff near a stream of water, or upon a highland. This may account for the fact that none of these interesting relies has been found in Calhoun County, which, as far back as the memory of man runs, was chiefly an open prairie with a level, marshy surface. West of the county, along the Little Sioux River, a number of mounds have been explored, and on the east, near Lehigh, Webster County, are the remains of an elaborate system of earthworks. The proximity of these relics on either side of the county seems to indicate that, though the Mound Builder estab- lished no domicile within the limits of the present County of Calhoun, he doubtless passed back and forth over its surface as he made his trips between the ancient settlements on the Little Sioux and Des Moines rivers. Perhaps he trapped muskrats and hunted water fowl about Twin Lakes and in the numerous marshes of the county cen- turies before the white man knew that such a region as Iowa existed.
THE INDIANS
For years before the actual discovery of America, it had been the hope and dream of Christopher Columbus to establish communication with the eastern shores of Asia by sailing westward and circumnavi- gating the globe. The first European explorers in the New World, believing that Columbus had realized his long cherished dream and that the country they visited was India, gave to the race of copper colored people they found here the name of "Indians." Subsequent explorations developed the fact that Columbus had really discovered a hitherto unknown continent, but the name conferred upon the natives remains to this day. This race is divided into several groups, or fami- lies, each differing from the others in certain physical characteristics and the dialeet spoken. At the beginning of the sixteenth century these groups were distributed over the continent of North America as follows:
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In the far North, the country about the Arctic Circle was inhab- ited by the Eskimo, a tribe that has never played any conspicuous part in history, except as guides to polar expeditions. The Algon- quian family, the largest and most powerful of all the Indian groups, occupied a large triangle, which may be roughly bounded by the Atlantic coast from Labrador to Cape Hatteras and lines from thesc points to the western end of Lake Superior. In the very heart of the Algonquian domain-along the shores of Lake Ontario and the upper waters of the St. Lawrence River-was the country of the Iroquoian tribes, viz .: The Oneidas, Onondagas, Senecas, Mohawks and Cayugas. These tribes became known to the early colonists as the "Five Nations." Some years later the Tuscaroras were added to the confederacy, which then took the name of the "Six Nations." South of the Algonquian and Iroquoian groups was a large tract of country inhabited by the Muskhogean family, the principal tribes of which were the Creck, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Cherokee. In the Northwest, about the sources of the Mississippi River and extending westward to the Missouri River, was the territory of the Siouan group, composed of a number of tribes noted for their physical prowess and warlike tendencies. South and west of the Sionan coun- try were the bold, vindictive Comanche, Apache and other tribes, closely allied to the Sioux in appearance, language and customs. and in various parts of the continent were minor tribes that claimed kin- ship with none of the great families. They were generally inferior in numbers and sometimes nomadie in their habits, hence they are of little historical importance.
Volumes have been written on the North American Indian and the subject has not yet been exhausted. In a work of this nature it is not the design to give an extended account of the race as a whole, but to notice only those tribes whose history was connected with the region now comprising the State of Iowa and Calhoun County. Forc- most among these tribes were the Sacs and Foxes. the Iowas. the Sioux, the Pottawatomi and the Winnebagoes.
THE SACS AND FOXES
These two tribes, which at one time inhabited practically the entire State of Iowa, are usually spoken of as one people, though they were two separate and distinct tribes, which became allied by force of cir- cumstances for their mutual protection.
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The Sacs-also ealled Sauks and Saukies-belonged to the Algon- quian family and were known as "The people of the outlet." Some writers also refer to them as "People of the yellow earth." Their earliest known habitat was in the lower peninsula of Michigan, where they lived with the Pottawatomi. The name Saginaw, as applied to a bay and eity in Michigan, means "the place of the Sae," and marks the place where they onee dwelt. According to their traditions, they were here allied with the Pottawatomi, Maseoutens, Foxes and Kieka- poos before they became an independent tribe. The Sacs are first mentioned as a separate tribe in the Jesuit Relations for 1640, though even then they were confederated with the tribes above enumerated, and also with the Miami and Winnebago nations. Father Allouez, one of the early Jesuit missionaries, writing of these Indians in 1667, says: "They are more savage than all the other peoples I have met; they are a populous tribe, although they have no fixed dwelling place, being wanderers and vagabonds in the forests."
Their traditions also tell how they were driven from the shores of Lake Huron by the Iroquois and Neuters before the middle of the seventeenth century. They then retired by way of Mackinaw and about the middle of the century found a new abode along the shores of Green Bay, Wisconsin. This portion of their traditions is first told by Father Dablon, in the Jesuit Relations for 1671. Says he: "The Sacs, Pottawatomies and neighboring tribes, being driven from their own countries, which are the lands southward from Missilimaki- nae, have taken refuge at the head of this bay, beyond which one can see inland the Nation of Fire, with one of the Illinois tribes called Oumiami, and the Foxes."
In the same year that this was written by Father Dablon, the Hurons and Ottawas started out to invade the Sioux country. On the way they persuaded the Saes and Pottawatomi to join the expedi- tion. The allied tribes were defeated with heavy losses by the Sioux and the surviving Sacs returned to Green Bay, where it seems they were content to live for several years before making any further war- like demonstrations against their enemies.
Dorsey divides the Sae tribe into fourteen gentes or clans, viz .: Trout, Sturgeon, Bass, Great Lynx or Fire Dragon, Sea (or Lake), Fox, Wolf, Bear, Bear-Potato, Elk, Swan, Grouse, Eagle and Thmun- der. Marriages were usually made between men and women of dif- ferent clans, though they were not forbidden between couples of the same clan. Polygamy was praetieed to some extent, though in this respect the Saes were not so bad as some of the other Algonquian
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tribes. Their religion consisted of a belief in numerous "Manitous" and was rich in myth and fable.
The Foxes, also an Algonquian tribe, resembled in many particu- lars the Saes, with whom they became confederated. They were also called Musquakies, or "People of the red earth." Sometimes they were designated as "The people of the other shore," by which name they were known to the Chippewa Indians. Their original dwelling place is somewhat uncertain. Their tribal traditions say that at a very early date at least a portion of the tribe lived along the Atlantic coast in the vicinity of the present State of Rhode Island. A little later some of them occupied the country along the southern shore of Lake Superior, from which they were driven by the Chippewas. In the early part of the seventeenth century Nicollet found a band of Foxes living on the Fox River, not far from Green Bay. Wiseon- sin, and in 1676 Father Allonez found some of them on the Wolf River, in the same state. In his writings of that year he speaks of a "Musquakie village with a population of about five thousand."
The name "Fox" originated with the French, who called them "Renards." They were regarded by neighboring Indian tribes as "avarieions, thieving, passionate and quarrelsome." With an intense hatred for the French they planned the attack on the post at Detroit in 1712. The timely arrival of reinforcements saved the post and the Indians suffered an overwhelming defeat. The Foxes who took part in this attack on Detroit then joined those spoken of by Father Allouez on the Wolf River.
About 1730 the English and Dutch traders operating in the coun- try about the Great Lakes, knowing of the hatred of the Foxes for the French formed an alliance with the tribe for the purpose of driv- ing out the French competition. In opposition to this movement the French enlisted the co-operation of the Ottawa, Huron, Pottawatomi and some minor tribes. In the war which followed the Foxes were defeated and found a shelter with the Sacs in the neighborhood of Green Bay. The French authorities, thinking the tribe had not been sufficiently punished, sent a force of French soldiers and Indian allies. under an officer named De Villiers, to the Sae village to demand the surrender of the refugees. The demand was peremptorily refused by the Sac chiefs and a hard-fought battle followed, in which the Sacs were defeated, but the Foxes were not surrendered. This occurred in 1733 and soon afterward an alliance was formed between the Saes and Foxes. Since that time the two tribes have nearly always been spoken of as one people. Their alliance, however, was
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more in the nature of a confederacy, each tribe maintaining its ident- ity, though one chief ruled over both.
Of all the Indians the Foxes were perhaps the only tribe that had what might be called a coat of arms, a design consisting of an oblique line (supposed to represent a river) with the figure of a fox at each end and on opposite sides. Following a victory in war this emblem was painted or earved on rocks and trees to tell the story of their valor and at the same time serve as a warning to their enemies.
Twelve gentes are mentioned by Dorsey, viz .: Bear, Fox, Wolf, Big Lynx, Buffalo, Swan, Pheasant, Eagle, Sea, Sturgeon, Bass and Thunder. Their principal deities were Wisaka and Kiyapata, who were brothers. The former ruled the day and the latter the night. Animal fable and mythology were the principal features of their religion and the tribe had many ceremonial observanees. The Foxes practiced agriculture in a primitive way, raising corn, beans, tobacco, squashes and some other vegetables. In a few instances some war- rior of note or a big chief was permitted to have more than one squaw, but polygamous marriages were the exception rather than the rule.
In 1731 some of the Sacs founded the village of Sau-ke-nuk on the Roek River, in Illinois. When the Foxes were driven from Wis- consin by the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, allies of the French, they formed the alliance with the Saes above mentioned and at the beginning of the nineteenth century there were some eight thousand of the allied tribes living along the Roek River near its mouth. About 1780, or perhaps a few years earlier, a part of the tribes erossed the Mississippi River near Prairie du Chien and took up their abode in Iowa. near the present City of Dubuque. In 1788 these Indians granted a concession to Julien Dubuque to work the lead mines and sold him part of the lands elaimed by them. In that same year Dubuque established the first white settlement within the present State of Iowa. When Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike went up the Missis- sippi in 1805, he visited the Sac and Fox villages in Illinois and Iowa.
Two of the greatest chiefs in the history of the North American Indians belonged to the allied tribes of the Saes and Foxes. They were Black Hawk and Keokuk, both born of Sae parents, but recog- nized as chiefs by the Foxes. Black Hawk was a warrior and Keokuk a politieian.
Black Hawk ( Indian name Ma-ka-ta-wi-mesha-ka-ka) was a member of the Thunder elan and was born at the Rock River village in 1767. His father, Py-e-sa, was a direct descendant of Nan-a-ma- kee (Thunder), to whom the Great Spirit had intrusted the medieine
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bag of the Sac nation. When Black Hawk was about nineteen years of age his father was killed in an encounter with the Cherokees and he became the custodian of the great medicine bag, which represented the soul of the Sae nation. This medicine bag had never been dis- graced and to prepare himself for the onerous duty of preserving it unsullied Black Hawk took no part in the military affairs of his tribe for about five years, though he had been trained in the arts of war by his father and had already distinguished himself upon the field of battle. The five years were spent in praying to the Great Spirit for the necessary strength and wisdom to perform his duty as custodian of the sacred bag. During that period he would frequently go to the promontory near his home on the Rock River, where he would spend hours at a time smoking and meditating. The promontory is still called "Black Hawk's Watch Tower," now a favorite summer resort connected with the City of Rock Island by a electric railway.
Black Hawk and a number of his followers were greatly displeased with the treaty of 1804, in which General Harrison induced the tribes to cede to the United States their lands on the Rock River, and in the War of 1812 allied themselves with the British. After that war a large part of the Saes and Foxes entered into a treaty of peace and agreed to remove to the west side of the Mississippi River. Black Hawk and his friends remained obstinate and their obstinacy finally culminated in the Black Hawk war. In the negotiations that followed this war the United States Government ignored Black Hawk and recognized Keokuk as the principal chief of the Sac and Fox con- federacy. It is said that when the announcement of Keokuk's recog- nition was made in the council Black Hawk was so incensed that he jerked off his loin cloth and slapped Keokuk in the face with it. A report of the United States Bureau of Ethnology says: "The act of creating Keokuk chief of the Sacs has always been regarded with ridienle by both the Sacs and Foxes, for the reason that he was not of the ruling clan."
Shortly after Black Hawk was thus unceremoniously deposed as chief, he retired to his new village on the Des Moines River, near Iowaville, where he passed his declining years in peace. His death occurred on October 3, 1838. About a year later it was discovered that his grave had been robbed. but through the efforts of Governor Lucas his bones were recovered and sent to St. Louis, where they were cleaned and the skeleton wired together. It was then returned to the governor and the sons of the old chief were content to allow it to remain in the custody of the state. The skeleton was afterward
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given to the Burlington Geological and Historical Society and it was among the relies destroyed by fire in 1855. Chief Black Hawk was never personally connected with the history of Calhoun County, but his people claimed the land in this section of the state. Through the treaty of 1832, that followed immediately after the Black Hawk war, the first land in lowa was opened to the settlement of the white man and the white settlements were gradually extended westward until Calhoun County came within the domain of civilization.
Keokuk (the Watchful Fox) was born near Rock Island, Illinois, in 1788, and was therefore about twenty years the junior of Blaek Hawk. There is a story that his mother was a French half-breed. If this be true he was not a chief by heredity, but won that distinction through his power of intrigue. One of his biographers says: "He was ambitious and while always involved in intrigue never openly exposed himself to his enemies, but cunningly played one faction against the other for his personal advantage."
It was during the War of 1812 that Keokuk adopted the policy that made him a leader among his people. Black Hawk and a num- ber of the Sac and Fox braves were absent, fighting with the British against the United States, when news was received at the village on the Rock River that the Federal troops were approaching. Some of the Indians immediately began making preparations to abandon the village, but Keokuk called them together and addressed them as fol- lows: "I have heard with sorrow that you have determined to leave our village and cross the Mississippi, merely because you have been told that the Americans are coming in this direction. Would you leave our village, desert our homes and fly before an enemy ap- proaches? Give me charge of your warriors and I will defend the village while you sleep."
This little speech won the confidence of his people and by the time of the Black Hawk war his infhienee was great enough to pre- vent a large number of the young men from joining Black Hawk in his hostility to the white men. It was chiefly because he was the leader of the peace party that the United States officials recognized him as the leading chief after the war and in all subsequent dealings with the Sacs and Foxes. An incident that occurred while the Black Hawk war was in progress shows the manner in which Keokuk molded public opinion. Some of his supporters grew dissatisfied and urged him to join Black Hawk in the effort to recover the Rock River eoun- try which was once the favorite dwelling place of the two tribes. These disgruntled warriors even went so far as to hold a war dance
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and commence their preparations for taking the field. At the con- clusion of the dance a council was called. With solemn mien Keokuk rose in his place and said:
"Warriors: I am your chief. It is my duty to lead you to battle if you are determined to go. (Here the speaker made a long pause while a murmur of approbation ran through the couneil, after which he continued.) But, remember, the United States is a great nation. Unless we conquer them we must perish. I will lead you to war against the white men on one condition. That is we shall first put our old men, our women and children to death, to save them from a linger- ing death by starvation, and then resolve that when we eross the Mis- sissippi we will never retreat, but perish among the graves of our fathers, rather than yield to the white men."
This speech presented the matter in a different light, checked the warlike sentiment and resulted in the expedition being abandoned. It was a characteristic instance of Keokuk's methods in dealing with problems of this nature-acquiescing in the demands of the tribe but deftly raising doubts and interposing objections that almost invariably won the majority to his view and strengthened his position for the next erisis.
After the treaty of 1832 Keokuk lived on a reservation of 400 square miles on the Iowa River. In 1836 this reservation was sold to the United States and he removed to what is now Wapello County. Here he lived until the treaty of October 11, 1842, soon after which he removed to a new village, about five miles southeast of Fort Des Moines. In 1845 he went with the tribe to Kansas and died there in April, 1848. His remains were brought to Iowa in 1883 and buried in Rand Park, at Keokuk, upon a high bluff overlooking the Missis- sippi River. In 1913 the Keokuk Chapter, Daughters of the Ameri- ean Revolution, unveiled a monument over his grave.
Other prominent Sac and Fox chiefs were Appanoose, Poweshiek and Wapello, each of whom was the leader of a considerable band. In the language of the tribe the name Appanoose means "A chief when a child." showing that he was a chief by inheritance. He was a Sac and was a member of the peace party at the time of the Black Hawk war. Poweshiek, a chief of the same rank as Appanoose. escorted General Street through the cession made by the treaty of 1837, and after the removal of the Indians west of what was called the "Red Rock Line" in 1843 located on the Skunk River, near the present City of Colfax, in Jasper County. When the main body of the tribe removed to Kansas, a portion of Poweshiek's band located
PAST AND PRESENT OF CALHOUN COUNTY 27
in Tama County, Ia. Wapello was born at Prairie du Chien, Wis .. in 1787, and died near the forks of the Skunk River on March 15, 1842, more than six months before the negotiation of the treaty that forced his people from their hunting grounds in Iowa to a strange land beyond the Missouri River. He was a warm personal friend of Gen. Joseph M. Street, agent of the Sacs and Foxes, and was buried by his side at the Sae and Fox ageney (now Ageney City, Wapello County). All three of those chief's were with the party that visited Washington, D. C., in 1837, and the people of Iowa have named counties in their honor.
Matanequa, the last war chief of the Sacs and Foxes. is deserving of more than passing mention. He was born at Dubuque in 1810 and is said to have been a typieal Indian, both physically and intellectually. Like Keokuk, he was not a member of the ruling elan, but won his chieftainship through his bravery in war and his skill in handling and controlling men. He possessed executive ability of a high order, an attribute recognized by his people in July. 1857, when he was made one of the five men to select a new place of residence in lowa for his band. Matanequa and his four associates purchased eighty acres of land in Tama County, Ia., to which they removed the members of their band. Other purchases were made from time to time until they owned about three thousand acres. Matanequa was the last survivor of the five who selected the location. He died on October 4, 1897. and such was the esteem in which he was held by the white people that many of the citizens of Tama County closed their places of business to attend his funeral. He was known as the "Warwiek of the Mus- quakies"-a man who elevated others to positions of power but was never king himself.
THE IOWAS
Next in importance to the Sacs and Foxes in the history of the Indian tribes of Iowa were the Iowas (Sleepy Ones), who gave to the great Hawkeye State its name. Ethnologieally they belonged to the Siouan group, but, according to their traditions they onee were allied with the Winnebagos and lived with that nation north of the Great Lakes. They were first noticed by white men in 1690, when they occupied a distriet on the shores of Lake Michigan, under a chief ealled Man-han-gaw. Here they separated from the Winne- bago and, for some reason not made plain, received the name of "Gray Snow Indians." Schoolcraft says this tribe migrated no less than
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fifteen times. After separating from the Winnebago they took up their abode on the Rock River. in Illinois, where they became affiliated with the Saes and Foxes. Next they removed to the valley of the lowa River. In 1848 an Iowa Indian prepared a map showing the movements of the tribe from the time they left the Winnebago nation. Connected with this map was a tradition which says:
"After living on the Rock River for several years, the tribe left the Sacs and Foxes and wandered off westward in search of a new home. Crossing the Mississippi, they turned southward and reached a high bluff near the mouth of the Iowa River. Looking off over the beautiful valley spread out before them, they halted, exclaiming 'Ioway! loway! which in their language means "This is the place.'"
They next lived in the Des Moines Valley, in the present counties of Davis, Van Buren, Jefferson and Wapello. From here they went farther up the Des Moines into what is now Mahaska County, which bears the name of one of the leading Iowa chiefs. Their next move was to the Missouri River. thenee up into Dakota and Northwestern Iowa, about Spirit Lake and the headwaters of the Big Sioux River.
The tribe was divided into eight gentes or clans, to wit: Elk, Eagle, Pigeon, Buffalo, Bear, Wolf, Beaver and Snake. They wor- shiped the Great Spirit and had a tradition of a great flood that destroyed all the animals and people except those who eseaped in a great canoe. The Great Spirit then made a new man and woman from red elay, and from this eonple were descended all the Indian tribes. Hawks and rattlesnakes were objects of veneration.
Mahaska (White Cloud), one of the most noted of the lowa chiefs, claimed to be a direct descendant of the great chief Man-han-gaw. It is said that while he was chief he led his braves in eighteen battles with the Sioux on the north and the Osage tribe on the south and always came off victorious. In 1824, accompanied by his wife. Rant- che-wai-me, he was one of the party of chiefs that visited Washing- ton. Upon their return to the tribe Rant-che-wai-me warned the Indian women against the vices and follies of their white sisters as she saw them during the tour. The following year (1823) the Iowas ceded all their interest in lowa lands to the United States.
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