USA > Iowa > Marion County > The History of Marion County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, & C. > Part 36
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105
288
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
strong and truthful picture of the prospect before them, and was pre- in such a forcible light that it caused them to abandon their rash aking.
ough the honor was frequently disputed by some of the original ers of Black Hawk, Keokuk was ever afterward recognized as the f the Sac and Fox nation by the United States government. It is hat a bitter feud existed in the tribe during the time that Keokuk ear Des Moines between Keokuk's band and the Black Hawk band. distrust and hatred were smothered in their common intercourse sober, but when their blood was fired with whisky it sometimes as- a tragic feature among the leaders of their respective bands. An e of this character occurred on the lower part of the Des Moines on the return of a party making a visit to the " haif-breeds," at the f Keokuk, on the Mississippi. In a quarrel incited by whisky, Keo- ceived a dangerons stab in the breast by a son of Black Hawk, and Lin one giving an account of the altercation says he saw him con- by his friends homeward lying in a canoe unable to rise.
person, Keokuk was of cominanding appearance. He was tall, it as an arrow, and of very graceful mien. These personal charac- 8, together with his native fervor and ready command of language, im great power over his people as a speaker. If as a man of energy urage he gained the respect and obedience of his tribe, it was more illy as an orator that he was able to wield his people in the times of xcitement, and in a measure shape their policy in dealing with the man. As an orator rather than as a warrior, has Keokuk's claim to 28s been founded.
ons who had the good fortune to see him and hear him under favor- rroundings say that he was gifted by nature with the elements of an in an eminent degree. The greatest difficulty which he had to en- r was his inability to procure an interpreter who could to any de- onvey the meaning of the speaker to the hearer. Of this serious nce Keokuk was well aware, and he retained Frank Labashure, who jeived a rudimental education in the French and English languages, he latter died broken down by exposure and dissipation; but during tridian of his career among the white people he was compelled to
his speeches for translation to uneducated inen, whose range of t fell below the flights of a gifted mind, and the fine imagery from nature was beyond their power of reproduction. He had a nt knowledge of the English tongue to make him sensible of this ndering of his thoughts, and often a feeling of mortification at the ng efforts was depicted upon his countenance while he was speaking. e are but few of the early Marion county settlers who remember k, and probably very few ever saw him, as he with his tribe moved ird before all the territory which now composes the county was open for settlement. A few who settled in this county, east of d Rock line, remember well the distinguished savage.
James, of Sigourney, being present at the council, at Agency City, the treaty of 1842 was made, says of Keokuk: "We heard him speech on the occasion, which, by those who understood his tongue, d to be a sensible and eloquent effort. Judging from his voice and , his former standing as an Indian orator and chieftain, we thought utation as a dignified yet gentlemanly aborigine had not been over-
984
HISTORY OF : MARION COUNTY.
rated. During the Black Hawk War his voice was for peace with the white man, and his influence added much to the shortening of the war. As an honor to the chief our county bears his name."
The event in the life of Keokuk which more than any other gave him a national reputation was his trip to Washington City. He, in company with Black Hawk, Poweshiek, Kish-ke-kosh, and some fifteen other chiefs, under the escort of Gen. J. M. Street, visited Washington City and differ- ent parts of the East in 1837. The party descended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ohio by steamer, and thence up the latter to Wheeling, where they took the stage across the mountains. When the party arrived in Washington, at the request of some of the government officials a council was held with some of the Sioux there present, as the Sacs and Foxes were waging a perpetual war with the Sioux nation. The council was held in the Hall of Representatives. To the great indignation of the Sioux, Kish-ke- kosh appeared dressed in a buffalo hide which he had taken in war from a Sioux chief, and took his position in one of the large windows, with the mane and horns of the buffalo as a sort of a head-dress, and the tail trail- ing on the floor. The Sioux complained to the officials, claiming that this was an insult to them, but they were informed that the Sacs and Foxes had a right to appear in any kind of costume they chose to wear. The first speech was made by a Sioux, who complained bitterly of the wrongs they had suffered, and how they had been driven from their homes by the Sacs and Foxes, their warriors killed and their villages burned. Then followed Keokuk, the great orator of his tribe, who replied at some length, an in- terpreter repeating the speech after him. There were those present who had heard Webster, Calhoun, Clay and Benton in the same hall, and they declared that for the manner of the delivery, for native eloquence, impas- sioned expression of countenance, the chief surpassed them all, and this while they could not understand his words, save as they were repeated by the interpreter. From Washington they went to New York, where they were shown no little attention, and Gen. Street attempting to show them the city on foot, the people in their anxiety to see Keoknk and Black Hawk crowded them beyond the point of endurance, and in order to avoid the throng, they were compelled to make their escape through a store building and reached their hotel through the back alleys and less frequented streets. At Boston they were met at the depot by a delegation of leading citizens and conveyed in carriages to the hotel. The next day they were taken in open carriages, and with a guard of honor on foot, they were shown the whole city. During their stay in Boston they were the guests of the great American orator, Edward Everett, who made a banquet for them. When the Indians returned and were asked about New York they only expressed their disgust. Boston was the only place in the United States, in their es- timation, and their opinion has been shared in by many white people who since that time have made a pilgrimage from the West to the famous shrines of the East.
t
1
1
The first settlers of Iowa who still remain remember the Mormons who first located across the Mississippi River, and then in the western part of Iowa, and created such an excitement among the scattered settlements of Iowa. Several of the most worthy of the early settlers of Polk county be- came converts to that faith and went West with the "saints." It is not generally known, however, that a special effort was made for the conver- sion of Keokuk.
285
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
le residing at Ottumwah-nac, Keokuk received a message from the n prophet, Joseph Smith, in which the latter invited Keokuk, 88 : the Sacs and Foxes, to a royal conference at his palace at Nauvoo, ters of the highest importance to their respective people. The invi- was accepted, and at the appointed time the king of the Sacs and accompanied by a stately escort on ponies, wended his way to the ted interview with the great apostle of the Latter Day Saints. Keo-
before remarked, was a man of good judgment and keen insight a human character. He was not easily led by sophistry, nor beguiled ery. The account of this interview with Smith, as given by a wri- the Annals of Iowa so well illustrates these traits of his character give it in full:
tice had been circulated through the country of this diplomatic in- , and quite a number of spectators attended to witness the denou-
The audience was given publicly in the great Mormon temple, and pective chiefs were attended by their suites, the prophet by the dig. of the Mormon Church, and the Indian potentate by the high civil ilitary functionaries of his tribe, and the Gentiles were comfortably as auditors.
, prophet opened the conference in a set speech of some length, giv- sokuk a brief history of the Children of Israel, as detailed in the und dwelt forcibly upon the history of the lost tribes, and that he, phet of God, held a divine commission to gather them together and em to a land ' flowing with milk and honey.' After the prophet his harangue, Keokuk ' waited for the words of his pale-faced brother deep into his mind.' and in making his reply, assumed the gravest , and inost dignified demeanor. He would not controvert anything :her had said about the lost and scattered condition of his race and and if his brother was commissioned by the Great Spirit to collect ogether and lead them to a new country it was his duty to do so wished to inquire about some particulars his brother had not named re of the highest importance to him and his people. The red man ; much used to milk, and he thought they would prefer streams of and in the country they now were there was a good supply of honey. ints they wished to inquire into were, whether the new government pay large annuities, and whether there was plenty of whisky. Joe aw at once that he had met his match and that Keokuk was not the material with which to increase his army of dupes, and closed the w in as amiable and pleasant a manner as possible."
. the removal of this tribe west of the Mississippi, Keokuk resided 136 on a reservation of four hundred square miles situated on the iver, and his headquarters were at a village located on the right bank tream, and which bore his name. According to the stipulation of the f 1836, in which the Indians ceded to the United States Keokuk's , the illustrious chief removed farther west and his headquarters for vere in Wapello county.
gency for the Indians was located at a point where is now located City. At this time an effort was made to civilize the red man. were opened up, and two mills were erected, one on Soap Creek and Sugar Creek. A salaried agent was employed to superintend these operations. Keokuk, Wapello and Appanoose, each had a large proved and cultivated. Keokuk's farm was located upon what is
286
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
yet known as Keokuk's Prairie, in what is now Wapelle county. The In- dians did not make much progress in these farming operations, and in the absence of their natural and wonted excitements, became idle and careless. Many of them plunged into dissipation. Keokuk himself became badly dissipated in the latter years of his life. Pathetic as was the condition of these savages at this time, it was but the legitimate result of the treat- ment which they had received. They were confined to a fixed location, and provided with annuities by the government, sufficient to meet their wants from year to year. They were prevented in this manner from making those extensive excursions, and embarking in those warlike pursuits, which from time immemorial had formed the chief avenues for the employment of those activities which for centuries had claimed the attention of the sav- age mind; and the sure and regular means of subsistence furnished by the government, took away from them the incentives for the employment of these activities, even had the means still existed. In addition to this the Indian beheld his lands taken from him, and his tribe growing smaller year by year.
Keokuk, as already intimated, was possessed of a highly imaginative intel- lect and he doubtless forecast the future far enough to be thoroughly im- pressed with the thought that in a few years all these lands would pass into the possession of the white inan, while his tribe and his name would be swept away by the flood which was ready to sweep in from the East.
Keokuk saw all of this, and seeing it had neither the power nor inclina- tion to prevent it. Take the best representative of the Anglo-Saxon race, and place him in similar circumstances, and he would do no better. Shut in by restraint from all sides, relieved from all the anxieties comprehended in that practical question, what shall we eat, and wherewithal shall we be .clothed? and deprived of all those incentives springing from, and inspired by a lofty ambition, and the best of us, with all our culture and habits of industry, would fall into idleness and dissipation and our fall would be as great, if not as low, as was the fall of that unhappy people who formerly inhabited this country, and whose disappearance and gradual extinction we shall now be called upon to contemplate.
Wapello, the cotemporary of Keokuk and the inferior chief, after whom a neighboring county and county seat were named, died before the Indians were removed from the State, and thus escaped the humiliation of the scene. He, like his superior chief, was a fast friend of the whites and wielded an immense influence among the individuals of his tribe. As is mentioned in a former chapter, he presided over three tribes in the vicinity of Fort Armstrong during the time that frontier post was being erected. In 1829 he removed his village to Muscatine Swamp, and then to a place near where is now located the town bearing his name. Many of the early settlers of the country remember him well, as the southern part of this county was a favorite resort for him and many members of his tribe. It was in the limits of Keokuk county that this illustrious chief died. Al- though he willingly united in the treaty ceding it to the whites, it was done with the clear conviction that the country would be shortly overrun and his hunting-ground ruined by the advance of pale-faces. He chose to sell rather than be robbed, and then quietly receded with his band.
Wapello, in common with Keokuk, Poweshiek and all other distin- guished Indians as far as known, was very fond of whisky, and especially in times of unexpected good fortune, or in days of gloom and misfortune was
287
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
he accustomed to become deeply intoxicated. Mr. Searcy, who yet resides in Keokuk county and who was intimately accquainted with Wapello, re- lates the following:
"Between the Sioux and the Sacs and Foxes a bitter and deadly hatred existed. This enmity was carried to such a bitter extent that it caused the establishment, by the government, of the nentral ground, in the north part of the Territory, which was a strip of country about thirty miles in width, over which the tribes were not allowed to pass in order to slay each other. The love for revenge was so strongly marked in the Indian character that it was not to be suppressed by imaginary geographical lines, and conse- quently it was not a rare occurrence for a Sac or Fox Indian, or a Sioux, to bite the dust, as an atonement for real or imaginary wrongs. In this man- ner one of the sons of Wapello was cruelly cut down from an ambush, in the year 1836. When the chief heard of the sad calamity he was on Skunk. River, opposite the month of Crooked Creek. He immediately plunged in and swam across. Upon arriving at a trading-post near by, he gave the best pony he had for a barrel of whisky, and setting it out invited his people to partake, a very unwise practice which he doubtless borrowed from the white people who availed themselves of this medium in which to drown their sorrows."
Wapello died in Keokuk county in March, 1844. As provided in the terms of the treaty he had retired beyond the Red Rock line early in 1843, and at the time of his death he was visiting some of the most favorite places in the country which but a year before he had relinquished. A Mr. Romig, who for sometime lived near the place where Wapello died deliv- ered an address before a historical society in which he gives the following pathetic account of the last days and death of the illustrious chief:
"As the swallow returns to the place where last she had built her nest, cruelly destroyed by the ruthless hands of some rude boy, or as a mother would return to the empty crib where once had reposed her innocent babe in the sweet embrace of sleep, and weep for the treasure she had once possessed, so Wapello mourned for the hunting grounds he had been forced to leave be- hind, and longed to roam over the broad expanse again. It was in the month of March; heavy winter had begun to shed her mantle of snow; the sun peeped forth through the fleeting clouds; the woodchuck emerged from his subterranean retreat to greet the morning breeze, and all nature seemed to rejoice at the prospect of returning spring. The old chief felt the ex- hilarating influence of reviving nature, and longed again for the sports of his youth. He accordingly assembled a party and started ou a hunting ex- cursion to the scenes of his former exploits. But alas! the poor old man was not long destined to mourn over his misfortunes! While traveling over the beantiful prairies, or encamped in the picturesque groves that he was once wont to call his own, disease fastened upon his vitals and the chief lay prostrate in his lodge. How long the burning fever raged and racked in his brain, or who it was that applied the cooling draught to his parched lips, tradition fails to inform ns; but this we may fairly presume: that his trusty followers were deeply distressed at the sufferings of their chief whom they loved, and administered all the comforts in their power to alleviate his sufferings, but all would not avail. Grim Death had crossed his path, touched an icy finger on his brow, and marked Him for his own. Human efforts to save could avail nothing. Time passed, and with it the life of Wapello. The last word was spoken, the last wish expressed, the last breath
288
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
drawn, and his spirit took its flight. The passing breeze in Folian notes chanted a requiem in the elm-tops. The placid creek in its meandering conrse murmured in chorns over the dead. The squirrel came forth in the bright sunshine to frisk and chirp in frolicsome glee, and the timid fawn approached the brook and bathed her feet in the waters, but the old man heeded it not, for Manitou, his God, had called him home.
" Although it is a matter of regret that we are not in possession of his dying words and other particulars connected with his death, let us endes- vor to be content in knowing that Wapello died sometime in the month of March, in the year 1844, in Keokuk county, on Rock Creek, in Jackson township, on the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter, section 21, township 74, range 11 west, where a mound still marks the spot; and with knowing also that his remains were thence conveyed by Mr. Samuel Har- desty, now of Lancaster township, accompanied by twenty-two Indians and three squaws, to the Indian burial-ground at Agency City, where sleeps the Indian agent, Gen. Street, and numbers of the Sac and Fox tribe, and where our informant left the remains to await the arrival of Keokuk and other distinguished chiefs to be present at the interment."
Keokuk, Appanoose, and nearly all the leading men among Indians, were present at the funeral, which took place toward evening of the same day upon which the body arrived at the Agency. The usual Indian cere- monies preceded the interment, after which the remains were buried by the body of Gen. Street, which was in accordance with the chieftain's oft re- peated requested to be buried by the side of his honest pale-faced friend.
In 1845 Keokuk led his tribe west of the Missouri River and located upon a reservation, now comprised in the boundaries of the State of Kan- sas. What must have been the emotions, which swelled the heart of this renowned savage when he turned his back for the last time upon the bark- covered huts of his Iowa village. To him it was not going west to grow up with the country, but to lose himself and his tribe in oblivion and na- tional annihilation. The fact that no remnant of this once powerful and populous tribe remains is sad to contemplate. Keokuk returned no more; he lived but three years after leaving the Territory of Iowa, and we have no facts at our command in reference to his career at the new home west of the Missouri. The Keokuk Register of June 15, 1848, contained the following notice of his death, together with some additional sketches of his life:
"The St. Louis New Era announces the death of this celebrated Indian chief. Poison was administered to him by one of his tribe, from the effects of which he died. The Indian was apprehended, confessed his guilt, and was shot.
" Keokuk leaves a son of some prominence, but there is little probability of his succeeding to the same station, as he is not looked upon by the tribe as inheriting the disposition and principles of his father."
We close this sketch by appending an extract from a letter recently writ- ten by Judge J. M. Casey, of Fort Madison, to Hon. S. A. James, of Sigourney :
" While Keokuk was not a Lee county man, I have often seen him here. He was an individual of distinguished mark; once seen would always be remembered. It was not necessary to be told that he was a chief, you would at once recognize him as such, and stop to admire his grand deport- ment. I was quite young when I last saw him, but I yet remember his
989
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
appearance and every lineament of his face as well as if it had been yes- terday, and this impression was left upon every person who saw him, whether old or young. It is hard for us to realize that an Indian could be so great a man. But it is a candid fact, admitted by all the early settlers who knew him, that Keokuk possessed, in a prominent degree, the ele- ments of greatness."
Poweshiek, the chief of the Fox Indians, who as before mentioned, lived on Skunk River is described as tall, heavily built, of rough cast of features and a disposition full of exaction and arrogance. When he left Fort Des Moines for the last time, he went south and encamped temporarily in the southern part of the State. His village, which consisted of about forty lodges, was located on Grand River, not far from the settlements of north- ern Missouri. A difficulty soon arose between the Missourians and the In- dians, and there was every reason to suppose that the trouble would termi- nate in bloodshed. When the report of the difficulty came to Fort Des Moines, three persons, Dr. Campbell, J. B. Scott and Hamilton Thrift, who had been intimately acquainted with Poweshiek, desirous of preventing bloodshed, mounted their horses and proceeded to the Indian encampment. This was during the winter of 1845 and 1846. Everything in and about the Indian village had a warlike appearance.
Mr. Scott sought an early interview with Poweshiek, and spoke to him as follows:
" My friends and myself have traveled through the snow a long distance to help you out of this trouble. We are your friends. If you persist in your purpose of making war on the whites, many of your squaws and pap- pooses, as well as your braves, will be butchered. The remainder will be driven out into the cold and the snow to perish on the prairie. It would be better now for you to break up your lodges and go in peace to the re- servation in Kansas, which the government has provided for you."
The old chief was at first unwilling to accept this advice and his princi- pal reason in not doing so was that his conduct would be construed into an exhibition of cowardice. He, however, finally concluded to accept the prof- fered advice and in a short time removed beyond the Missouri River.
Reference has already been made to the fact that from time immemorial a deadly feud existed between the Sac and Fox Indians on the one part and the Sioux on the other part. These were the two principal tribes inhabit- ing the State in early days and the hatred they had for one another fre- quently embroiled them as well as numerous lesser tribes in long and bloody wars.
In order to put an end to these sanguinary contests, and stop the effusion of blood, the United States Government tendered its services as a mediator between the two hostile tribes. As a result of the first negotiations it was agreed, in August, 1825, that the government should run a line between the two tribes, and thus erect an imaginary barrier between the respective territory of the hostile tribes. After a trial of nearly five years, it was found that the untutored mind of the red man was unable to discern ap imaginary boundary. The Sacs and Foxes from the south in pursuing game northward were frequently borne beyond the boundary line and they were sure to have a fight with their jealous neighbors before they returned; the same was often true of the Sioux. The idea was theni conceived by the agents of the government of setting aside a strip of neutral territory, be-
290
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
tween the two tribes, of sufficient width to effectually separate the com- batants, on which neither tribe should be allowed to hunt or encamp.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.