USA > Iowa > Marion County > The History of Marion County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, & C. > Part 35
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"Some three miles southeast of Knoxville I examined a coal bank owned by Luther Burt and Wm. O. Burt. These gentlemen own some 27 acres of excellent coal land, upon which this coal bank is now opened. I passed through the entries and rooms of this bank. The coal in this bank, as an average, ranks higher than any coal I have yet seen in this section of the county, it being by far the strongest gas coal, and very highly chemicalized. By actual measurement of this vein I find it to be from four to six feet .in thickness. At the head of the cross-entry it is six feet thick. As they run into the body of the hill the coal becomes purer and more solid. This coal is hard and compact, being an excellent article for shipment. The main entry of this bank, and also the cross-entry, are well run in, showing that the miner who run them understood his business. Roofing is good and safe, being hydraulic in its character, with black soapstone slate. This land is in the subdivision of the southeast quarter of section 21, township 75, range 19. The coal is the second bed or vein which they are working. The third bed undoubtedly underlies the second.
"I also examined several coal banks, which are now abandoned, on section 9, and find some splendid coal land, where heavy banks could be worked to good advantage. Jonathan Jones also owns a piece of land in this section under a portion of which two beds of coal exist, without doubt. I exmained several other pieces of land, and find' heavy bodies of coal under the same and excellent points for proving the same, which I will not specify in this report.
"Again, coal is not the only valuable substance that can be mined in this sec- tion of the county. Within three-quarters of a mile southwest of the court- house in Knoxville, a heavy bed of fire-clay can be worked to good ad- vantage, and made to pay handsomely. Also, within a mile of the conrt- house, to the northwest, another bed of fire-clay and potters'-clay exists, which it will pay heavily to work. In other places heavy beds of these clays exist in close proximity to the city of Knoxville; and pottery-ware men should
18
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
make a note of this. Large quantities of brick-clay also exist within a short! distance of the city. Jonathan Jones has plenty of this clay on one por -! tion of his land, being the farm on which he resides, about one mile east of the city. This clay is of easy access, and a 'tip-top' article. Also on the portions of land owned by R. H. Underhill, in section 10, splendid brick .. clay exists, which I have tested by the severest heat. Plenty of this clay.
"Beside the coal and the clays, this county yields some of the best rock of any county in the State. The heavy stone-quarries I have not examined es yet, but I intend to do so, and will speak of them more explicitly in a future report.
""I have examined a splendid quality of lime-rock on land owned by F. O. Barker,. in section 10, on one corner of his coal land. This rock will make an excellent quality of lime-its proportions being about 55 per cent of lime, about 40 per cent of magnesia, and about 5 per cent of a foreign sub- stance. Have also examined three or four sandstone quarries within two and three miles of the city. Sandstone is of a ferruginous nature, and by being exposed for a year after it is hewn it will become seasoned, and will make good building-stone.
"Meadow pre, which is conchoidal bog iron ore, also exists in various places in the vicinity of Knoxville; but I have not found it as yet in su fi- ciently large quantities to pay. I may by further research.
"I understand that mineral paint beds also exist in this section of the county; but I have not come across it as yet in sufficient quantities to pay.
"The soil of this portion of the county is generally rich-bottom lands be- ing marly, and as fine tillable land as can be found anywhere. The high lands are well adapted for orchards, etc.
"EXPLANATIONS, ETC.
"The Carboniferous system inthis county undoubtedly rests upon the Sub carboniferous system. In Scott and Muscatine counties the Carboniferous rests upon the Devonian system. The word 'Carboniferous' derives its name from the fact of the immense quantities of carbon locked up in the vast deposits of coal, and the lime-rock of the system. It is an established fact that coal is of vegetable origin. The great primeval forests of the past, in accordance with the decrees of an All-wise Creator, have, during the coura of time, been slowly changed and transformed (by various chemical processer in nature), and converted into enduring beds of coal. The chemical prop. erties of coal are carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. True anthracite coal con- tains about 90 per cent of carbon. Carbon is one of the elementary sub stances largely diffused in nature-the diamond being pure crystallized carbon. Anthracite coal was once bituminous, but has been metamorphosod by great heat and other chemical processes in nature into anthracite coal, throwing off its bitumen altogether. (My reasons for giving these explan ations are, that I was requested so to do.)
"Each of the different systems of the earth's crust seems to be adapted by nature for its own peculiar mineral; and I include water, oil, petroleum clays, sands and rocks, in the catalogue of minerals. The old granite, th foundation of the earth's crust, seems to be the age of various minerals,
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
be great chemical labaratory for the preparation of various minerale, some f which rise in the form of vapor till they reach certain systems above, wearing their affinity, where they congeal and harden into solids. The Si- nrian system (that is the lower), bears us all the lead ore from the Galena ead-fields, which include the Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin lead fields. The mountain iron of Missouri also comes from this system-and also the Lake Superior copper.
"The petroleum of Pennsylvania and other points in this country, where t is found in paying quantities, is procured from the Devonian system. In certain systems we procure chalk, marble, etc. The Mainmoth Cave of Kentucky is in the Sub-carboniferons system, lying just below the Carbon- ferous. Thus it is with the various systems of the earth, each having its wwn peculiar adaptation, from the base to the top.
"The Great Architect and Builder of the various planets and worlds that evolve through space, has so arranged the various systems and groups of he planet upon which we live, that each one is filled with a vast store of realth for man if he will only dig it out. And the infinite wisdom displayed n the works of his mighty hand, in so constructing everything, placing he riches of the earth's crust within the reach and grasp of puny mortals, bould cause man to bow in reverence and offer thanks to the Great Bene- actor."
CHAPTER III. INDIAN AFFAIRS.
Policy of the Government-Treaties-Annuities-The Sac and Fox Indians-Keokuk- Wapello-Poweshiek-Indian Incidents and Reminiscenses-The Neutral Strip-The Potawattamies-Johnny Greene and His Band-The Sioux.
WHEN the Europeans first landed on the eastern shores of this continent, ntent on its conquest in the interests of civilization, the first question which came up for solution was the Indian question. This question indi- riduals grappled with on their own individual responsibility until the mother country on behalf of the colonies assumed the management of In- dian affairs; and since the establishment of the republic the United States, in its sovereign capacity, has assumed control but at no time, from the very first to the present time, has the question been disposed of satisfactorily to any one, nor yet in the near future does there appear to be any satisfac- tory disposition of the Indian except to kill him.
In the management of Indian affairs in Iowa the government seems to have been peculiarly fortunate. This was partly due to the policy pursued by the government and partly due to the peculiar character of the fact that the Sac and Fox Indians who controlled the larger part of the territory were a more tractable tribe of Indians and their chiefs had a higher sense of veracity, integrity and honor than any other representatives of the race with which the white man came into contact. The Pottawattamies were few in number and had little influence; what influence they had was in the in- terest of peace and order. The Sioux are and always have been treacherous and bloodthirsty, but the supremacy of the Sacs and Foxes kept them some- what in abeyance.
It has been the custom of the general government in dealing with the
278
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
Indians west of the Mississippi River to treat them as independent nations. In these negotiations with the aborigines of Iowa the authorities, at va- rious times, entered into treaties with the Sioux, in the north, and with the Sacs and Foxes, in the south, the government purchasing the land from the Indians just as Louisiana was purchased from France. The Black Hawk purchase was acquired by means of the first treaty made with the Sac and Fox Indians in reference to Iowa lands. This treaty was made September 1, 1832, and included a portion of country bounded as follows: Beginning on the Mississippi River, where the northern boundary line of the lands owned by said Indians strikes said river, thence up or westward on said line fifty miles, thence in a right line to the Red Cedar River, forty miles from the Mississippi River, thence in a right line to the northern part of the State of Missouri, at a point fifty miles from the Mississippi River, thence by the said boundary line to the Mississippi River, and thence up the Mississippi River to the place of beginning. The western boundary line was a very irregular one, as it followed the same general direction as the Mississippi River. It ran in a general direction from the north in a course a little west of south, the line being considerably east of Iowa City.
The second purchase was made in 1837, October 21, and included a suffi- cient amount of territory to straighten the boundary line. The western boundary of the Black Hawk purchase being a very irregular line, the treaty of 1837 was designed for the purpose of straightening said boundary line. By this treaty the Indians ceded a tract of country west and adjoin- ing the Black Hawk purchase, containing one million two hundred and fifty thousand acres. Upon survey, however, the number of acres proved insufficient to make a straight line, as was originally intended. The Indians stipulated to remove within one year, except from Keokuk's village, which they were allowed to occupy five months longer.
Although it is believed that the Indians, especially the chiefs, made this treaty in good faith and scrupulously adhered to it as they understood it, yet it was unsatisfactory to both Indian and settler and many misunder- standings arose but seldom if ever ended in bloodshed. The fact soon be- came evident that the white man had marked this goodly country for his own and that the Indian would have to abandon it peacefully according to the treaty stipulations or in the end be forcibly ejected. In accordance with the wise council of Keokuk, Poweshiek and Wapello they chose the former course.
The last treaty made with the Sac and Fox Indians comprehended all the rest of their lands in the State. This treaty was made at Agency City, in the present limits of Wapello county, and was concluded October 11, 1842, proclamation of its ratification having been made March 23, 1843, and pos- session was given to all that part lying east of Red Rock on May 1, 1843. The last date, therefore, is the period when the eastern part of Marion county was thrown open to white settlement.
The line to distinguish the United States from the Indian territory crossed the Des Moines River a short distance above the present site of the village of Red Rock and was run by G. W. Harrison, United States Sur- veyor, during the year 1843. East of this line settlements were made as early as 1843, about seventy families settling in the county: west of the line no settlements were permitted till October, 1845. It was on the 11th day of October, 1845, just three years after the treaty at Agency City, that
279
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
e whole of Marion county was thrown open for settlement. The bound- y line drawn in accordance with the treaty of 1837, crossed through the rthwestern corner of Washington county and the southeastern part of sokuk county, so that a portion of these two counties was Indian terri- ry and a portion subject to settlement from 1837 to 1843, and Marion anty, like these two counties, afterward had two periods of first settle- ent. The treaty of 1842 was the most important of all.
The principal chief in this treaty was Keokuk. A gentlemen of an joining county heard this chief make a speech on that occasion, which he onounces an unusually eloquent address. He says that, in his opinion, the former standing of Keokuk as an Indian orator and chieftain, as a gnified gentleman and a fine specimen of physical development, was not
the least overrated." During the Black Hawk trouble his voice was r peace with the white man, and his influence added much to shorten that ar. As an honor to this chief, and owing to his influence in bringing ont the treaty, a county was called Keokuk.
Thus from being at first the sole owners and occupiers of the soil the dians disposed of territory time and again until finally the title to the hole of Iowa was vested in the general government.
As they ceded their lands to the United States, strip after strip, they adnally withdrew, and the white settlers took their place as possessors of e soil. The aborigines were not forcibly ejected from their lands as in her parts of the country, but the change was effected by a legitimate pro- eding of bargain and sale.
As result of this peaceful arrangement, and the earnest efforts of the wvernment to carry out, to the letter, the provisions of the treaties, the rly settlers experienced none of the hardships which fell to the lot of the rly settlers in other parts of the country, where misunderstanding about e ownership of the soil gave rise to frightful massacres and bloody wars. ne Indians gave no serious difficulty, and seldom, if ever, disturbed the rly settlers of this county, after they had rightfully come into possession it.
By the various treaties made with the Sac and Fox Indians, the govern- ent paid these $80,000 per year, by families. Mr. William B. Street, of skaloosa, was disbursing clerk for John Beach, Indian agent, during the ar 1841, and still retains in his possession the receipts for the part pay- ent of his annuity, in his own handwriting, and the marks of the chiefs signing.
We give an extract, including the names of part of the Indians who ere at that time living at Kish-ke-kosh's village, which was located in the stern part of Mahaska county.
" We, the chiefs, warriors, heads of families and individuals without fam- es, of the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians, within the same agency, acknowl- ge the receipt of $40,000 of .John Beach, United States Indian Agent, the sums appended to our names, being our proportion of the annuity le said tribe for the year 1841:
880
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
XANH.
WOMEN
OHILD'Y
TOTAL
AMOUNT
Kish-ke-kosh"
3
4
71.90
Ko-ko-ach .
3
8
106.95
Pas-sa-shiek
2
2
55.65
Mo-ko-qua
X
1
1
2
4
71.90
Ka-ke-wa-wa-te-sit.
2
1
3
53.47
Much-e-min-ne'
1
4
71.30
Wa-pes-e-qua'
71.30
Wa-pe-ka-kah
1
6
106.95
Mus-qua-ke'.
2
7
124.78
And fifty-nine others
" We certify that we were present at the payment of the above-mentioned amounts, and saw the amounts paid to the several Indians, in specie, and that their marks were affixed in our presence this 19th day of October, 1861.
"(Signed)
"JNO. BEACH, U. S. Indian Agent. "THOMAS MOCRATE, Lieut. 1st Dragoons. "JOSIAH SMART,
Interpreter.
" We, the undersigned chiefs of the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians, ac- knowledge the correctness of the foregoing receipts.
"KEOKUK,' his X mark. "POWESHIEK,' his X mark."
After the treaty of 1842, and the establishment of Fort Des Moines, the following year, the headquarters of the Sac and Fox Indians were removed from Agency City in Wapello county, to Fort Des Moines. Keokuk, the head chief of the Sacs, established his village some five miles southeast of Fort Des Moines, and the beautiful prairie on which he and his kindred dwelt, continued to bear his name for many years after the Indians were removed. Poweshiek, chief of the Foxes, lived on Skunk River, near the present site of Colfax. The Indian agent, Major Beach, and his interpreter, Josiah Smart, before referred to, had their quarters on what was called Agency Prairie, east and south of the present site of the capital. Still an- other Indian village, ruled over by Hard-Fish, was located near Des Moines.
The residence of these various Indian tribes in the vicinity of Des Moines dates from May 1, 1843, at which time, according to stipulation of the treaty of 1842, they removed west of a line running north and south through the town of Red Rock. As before remarked, the government, according to the provisions of the various treaties, paid to the Indians, annually, quite a snm of money.
The payments were made in silver coins, put up in boxes, containing five hundred dollars each, and passed into Keokuk's hands for distribution. The several traders received each his quota according to the several demands against the tribes admitted by Keokuk, which invariably consumed the far
"Kish-ke-kosh means "The man with one leg off."
"Much-e-min-ne means "Big man."
'Wa-pes-e-qua means "White eyes."
"Wa-pe-ka-kah means "White crow."
"Mus-qua-ke means "The Fox."
"Keokuk means "The watchful fox.,'
"Poweshiek means "The roused bear."
1
17.82
Pa-ko-ka ..
1
1
3 2232 2
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
greater portion of the amount received. The remainder was turned over to the chiefs and distributed among the respective bands. Great com- plaints were made of these allowances to the traders, on the ground of ex- orbitant prices charged on the goods actually furnished, and it was alleged that some of these accounts were spurious. In confirmation of this charge over and above the character of the items exhibited in these accounts an affidavit was filed with Governor Lucas, by an individual to whom the gov- ernor gave credence, setting forth that Keokuk had proposed to the maker of the affidavit to prefer a purely fictitious account against the tribe for the sum of $10,000, and he would admit its correctness, and when paid the money should be divided among themselves, share and share alike. To swell the traders' bills, items were introduced of a character that should brand fraud upon their faces, such as a large number of blankets, coats, arti- cles which the Indians never used, and telescopes, of the use of which they had no knowledge. This showed the reckless manner in which these bills were swollen to the exorbitant amounts complained of, in which Keokuk was openly charged with being in league with the traders to defraud the Indiana.
The money which actually came into the possession of the Indians was soon squandered by them, and the position of Indian trader, conferred by appointment, was a very lucrative cne. During the period when the In- dians resided in the vicinity of Des Moines, from May 1, 1843, to October 11, 1845, there were two firms who were allowed to trade with them. Phelps & Co. were from Illinois; they were traders in furs, and were per- mitted to carry on their business with the Indians. Their establishment was located near the present site of Tuttle's pork-packing establishment. G. W. & W. G. Ewing were the regularly authorized Indian traders. They arrived on the 3d of May, 1843. Their business career here was eminently successful, and they accumulated quite a little fortune during their three year's harvest. Their place of business was on the East Side, not far from the quarters of Major Beach, the Indian agent. There they erected a log building which was probably the first one erected in Polk county.
At this time the Sacs and Foxes numbered about two thousand and three hundred and it is not possible that Keokuk could have carried on an organ- ized system of theft without the fact becoming apparent to all. As it was, however, Governor Lucas thought best to change the inanner in which the annual payments were made. The matter was referred to the Indian bureau, and the mode was changed so that the payments were made to the heads of families, approximating a per capita distribution. This method of payment did not suit the traders, and after a short trial the old plan was again adopted. That the Indians, then as now, were the victims of sharp practice, cannot be doubted, but the fact can be attributed to the superior tact and the unscrupulous character of many of the traders; this furnishes . more probable explanation and is more in accord with the character of Keokuk, as known by his intimate friends, still living. than to attribute these swindling operations to a conspiracy in which the illustrious chief was the leading actor.
Among the early settlers of Iowa, the names of Keokuk and Wapello are the most noted and familiar. These two illustrious chiefs live not only in the recollections of these early settlers, but in the permanent history of our common country. Short biographical sketches of these two noted characters, therefore, will be of great interest to the people of this county,
:
282
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
and peculiarly appropriate for a work of this kind. To the school-boy who has frequently read of these Indians, the fact that they roved around on this very ground where their feet tread, and that in their hunting excursions these Indians crossed the same prairies where they now gather the yellow- eared corn, will give to these sketches intense interest, while the early set- tler who talked with Wapello and Keokuk, ate with them, hunted with them and fished with them, cannot fail to find in these brief and necessarily imperfeet biographies, something fascinating as they are thus led back over a quarter of a century, to live over again the days of other years, and wit- ness again the scenes of early days, when the tall prairie grass waved in the antnmn breeze, and the country, like themselves, was younger and fresher than now.
As before remarked, Keokuk was chief of the Sac branch of the nation; he was born on Rock River, Illinois, in 1780. The best memory of the earliest settler of Iowa cannot take him back to a time when Keokuk was not a full grown man. When in 1833 the impatient feet of the white men first hastened across the Mississippi, eager for new conquests, this illas- trious chief was already nearing his three-score years, and when, with longing eyes, he took the last look at this fair land and turned his feet re- luctlantly toward the west, his sun of life had already crossed the meridian and was rapidly approaching its setting.
Keokuk first came into prominence among the whites at the breaking out of the second war with England, commonly known as the War of 1812. Most of the Indians at that time esponsed the canse of the English, but Keokuk, at the head of a large number of the Sacs and Foxes, remained faithful to the Americans. In 1828 Keokuk, in accordance with the terms of a treaty, crossed the Mississippi River with his tribe and established bim- self on the Iowa River. Here he remained in peace, and his tribe flourished till the breaking out of the Black Hawk War in 1832. He seemed to have a much more intelligent insight into the great national questions which were raised during these early Indian difficulties, as well as more thorough appreciation of the resources of the national government. He opposed the Black Hawk War. and seemed to fully forecast the great disaster. which thereby befel his tribe. Although many of his warriors deserted him and fol- lowed Black Hawk in his reckless campaign across the Mississippi, Keo- kuk prevailed upon a majority of his tribe to remain at home. When the news reached Keokuk that Black Hawk's warriors had gained a victory over Stillman's forces in Ogle county, Illinois, the war spirit broke out among his followers like fire in the dry prairie grass; a war-dance was held, and the chief himself took part in it. He seemed for a while to move in sym- pathy with the rising storm, and at the conclusion of the war-dance he called a council to prepare for war. In a work entitled Annals of Iowa, published in 1865, there is reported the substance of a speech made by Keokuk on this occasion. We quote: "I am your chief, and it is my duty to lead you to battle, if, after fully considering the matter, you are determined to go." He then represented to them the great power of the United States, against which they would have to contend, and that their prospect of success was utterly hopeless. Then continuing, said: "But if you are determined to go on the war-path, I will lead you on one condition -that before we go we kill all our old men, and onr wives, and our children, to save them from a lingering death by starvation, and that every one of you determine to leave his bones on the other side of the Mississippi." This
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