USA > Iowa > Marion County > The History of Marion County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, & C. > Part 37
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
A treaty was accordingly made with the Sac and Fox Indians in July, 1830, whereby the latter ceded to the government a strip of country twenty miles in width, lying immediately south of the line designated in the treaty of August, 1825, and extending from the Mississippi to the Des Moines rivers. At the same time a treaty was made with the Sioux, whereby the latter ceded to the government a strip of country twenty miles in width lying immediately north of the line designated in the treaty of August, 1825, and extending from the Mississippi to the Des Moines rivers. By the provisions of these treaties, the United States came into possession of a strip of country forty miles wide and extending from the Mississippi to the Des Moines rivers, upon which it was unlawful for either Sac and Fox or Sioux to hunt. This strip was known as the "Neutral Ground." Certain of the inferior and peaceable tribes, as the Pottawattamies for in- stance, were permitted to remain on the Neutral Ground.
This neutral strip extended south nearly as far as the north line of Polk county, and a beautiful section of country bordering on the Des Moines River north of Polk county was a favorite resort of the Pottawattamie In- dians, where the settlers found them in great numbers.
Mr. Benjamin Williams, one of the pioneers of this region, found them in great numbers in the vicinity of Elk Rapids, when he came to the county in 1846. They had been accustomed to make maple sugar in a large grove located upon the claim which Mr. Williams first took. After the Indians were gone he used their appliances for catching and hoarding the sap in con- tinning the business. The sugar troughs were made of the bark of elm trees, and so well were they constructed that they lasted for a number of years. A large walnut trough, which the Indians had used for hoarding the sap, Mr. Williams continued to use for some five or six years after they were gone. During the winter of 1846-7 some five hundred of these Pot- tawattamie Indians were encamped in the vicinity of Elk Rapids, and, al- though several white men had settled in that vicinity at that time, none of them were molested by the Indians. Their chief was an old man by the name of Chemisne; by the early settlers, however, he was known by the name of Johnny Greene.
It was not only at Elk Rapids that Johnny Greene and his band were known but throughont the whole of central Iowa. They were peaceable Indians and apparently on good terms with the Sac and Fox Indians as well as the whites. Not so with the Sionx who lived farther north, they were treacherous, cruel and relentless.
INDIAN INCIDENTS AND REMINISCENCES.
During the visit of Keokuk, Wapello, Appanoose and other distinguished Indians at Boston, there was a lively competition between the managers of the several theaters in order to secure the presence of the illustrious chiefs at their several performances. Althoughi the Pilgrim Fathers had in years gone by seen plenty of the noble red men, so great. was the trans- formation of the country during a century that the sons and daughters of the Pilgrims looked upon the Indians as a great novelty.
At the Tremont, the aristocratic one, the famous tragedian Forrest, was filling an engagement. His great play, in which he acted the part of the
291
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
gladiator, and always drew his largest audiences, had not yet come off, and the manager was disinclined to bring it out while the Indians were there, as their presence always insured a full house. General Street, who, as be- fore remarked, was in charge of the party, being a strict Presbyterian, was not much in the theatrical line, hence Major Beach, to whom we are indebted for the facts of this incident, and who accompanied General Street at the time, took the matter in hand. He knew that this peculiar play would suit the Indians better than those simple declamatory tragedies, in which, as they could not understand a word, there was no action to keep them interested, so he prevailed upon the manager to bring it out, promising that the Indians would be present.
In the exciting scene where the gladiators engage in a deadly combat, the Indians gazed with eager and breathless anxiety, and as Forrest, finally pierced through the breast with his adversary's sword, fell dying, and as the other drew his bloody sword from the body, heaving in the convulsions of its expiring throes, and while the curtain was descending, the whole In- dian company burst out with their fiercest war-whoop. It was a frightful yell to strike suddenly upon unaccustomed ears, and was immediately followed by screams of terror from the more nervous among the women and children. For an instant the audience seemed at loss, but soon uttered a hearty round of applause a just tribute to both actor and Indians.
During the same visit to Boston, Major Beach says that the Governor gave them a public reception at the State-house. The ceremony took place in the spacious Hall of Representatives, every inch of which was jam- med with humanity. After the Governer had ended his eloquent and ap- propriate address of welcome, it devolved upon one of the chiefs to reply, and Appanoose, in his turn, as at the conculsion of his " talk," he advanced to grasp the Governor's hand, said: "It is a great day that the sun shines upon when two such great chiefs take each other by the hand!" The Gov- ernor, with a nod of approbation, controlled his facial muscles in a most courtly gravity. But the way that the house came down " was a caution," all of which Appanoose doubtless considered the Yankee way of applaud- ing his speech.
One of the most affable and remarkable of the Indians, with whom the early settlers became acquainted, was named Kish-ke-kosh. It was in honor of him that Marion county was at first named, it being afterward changed on account of the many objections which were raised to the orthog- raphy of the word.
This Kish-ke-kosh, previous to 1873, was simply a warrior-chief in the village of Keokuk. The warrior-chief was inferior to the village-chief, to which distinction he afterward attained. The village presided over by this chief is well remembered by many of the early settlers. It was located, some say, just over the line in what it is now White Oak township, Mahaska county. Major Beach thus describes it: "The place cannot be located ex- actly according to our State maps, although the writer has often visited it in Indian times; but somewhere out north from Kirkville, and probably not twelve miles distant, on the banks of Skunk River, not far above the Forks of Skunk, was a small village of not over fifteen or twenty lodges, presided over by a man of considerable importance, though not a chief, named Kish-ke-kosh. The village was on the direct trail-in fact it was the converging point of two trails-from the Hard-fish village, and the three vil-
292
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
lages across the river below Ottumwa, to the only other prominent settle- ment of the tribes, which was the village of Poweshiek, a Fox chief of equal rank with Wapello, situated upon the lowa River."
Here the squaws, after grabbing out hazel-brush on the banks of the stream, unaided by plow or horse, planted and tended patches of corn. Here the men trained their ponies, hunted, fished and loafed until May, 1843, when they removed to the vicinity of Fort Des Moines.
The following incident is located at this point: Some time about 1841, Maj. Beach, Indian agent, in company with W. B. Street and others, came up from Agency City on some business with Kish-ke-kosh. Arriving late in the evening they encamped near the village, and on the following morn- ing Kish-ke-kosh, with his assistants, came over to camp to receive them. The pipe of peace was lighted and passed around and the business trans- acted. After the council the whites were invited to come over in the even- ing to the feast which the Indians proposed to have in honor of their visit. The invitation was accepted and presently the whites heard a great howl- ing among the dogs, and looking in the direction of the village they could plainly see the preparations for the supper. A number of dogs were killed and stretched on stakes a few inches above the ground. They were then covered with dried grass, which was set on fire and the hair singed off, af- ter which, after the dogs had gone through the scalping process, they were cut up and placed in pots along with a quantity of corn. The whites were promptly in attendance, but on account of their national prejudice they were provided with venison instead of dog meat. After the feast, dancing was commenced: first, the Green Corn Dance, then the Medicine Dance, and closing just before morning with the Scalp Dance. Kish-ke-kosh did not take part in this terpsichorean performance, but sat with the whites, laugh- ing, joking and telling stories.
On another occcasion Kish-ke-kosh was on a tour through the country and stopped over night at the house of a settler. He was accompanied by several other Indians, who slept together on a buffalo hide within view of the kitchen.
In the morning when he awoke, Kish-ke-kosh had an eye on the culinary operations there going on. The lady of the house-it is possible she did it intentionally, as she was not a willing entertainer of such guests-neglected to wash her hands before making up the bread. Kish thought he would rather do without his breakfast than eat after such cooking, and privately signified as much to his followers, whereupon they mounted their ponies and departed, much to the relief of the hostess. When they arrived at a house some distance from the one they had left they got their breakfasts and related the circumstance.
While encamped on Skunk River in the northeastern part of Marion county Kish-ke-kosh, in company with several other prominent members of his tribe, went to the house of Mr. Mikesell on a friendly visit and the hospitable white man treated his dusky guests to a bountiful feast.
Besides Kish-ke-kosh and his wife, who was a very lady-like person, this party consisted of his mother (Wyhoma), the son of Wapello, and his two wives; Mashaweptine, his wife, and all their children. The old woman on being asked how old she was, replied: "Mach-ware-re-naak-we-kan " (may be a hundred); and indeed her bowed form and hideously shriveled features would justify the belief that she was that old. The whole party were dressed in more than ordinary becoming style; probably out of re-
293
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
spect for the hostess, who, knowing something of their voracious appetites, had made ample preparations for them. When the table was surrounded Kish-ke-kosh, who had learned some good manners, as well as acquired cleanly taste, essayed to perform the etiquette of the occasion before eating anything himself. With an amusingly awkward imitation of what he had seen done among the whites, Kish-ke-kosh passed the various dishes to the others, showing the ladies especial attention, and helped them to the best of everything on the table, with much apparent disinterestedness. But when he came to help himself his politeness assumed the Indian phase al- together. He ate like a person with a bottomless pit inside of him for a stomach, taking everything within his reach without regard to what should come next in the course, so only that he liked the taste of it. At last, after having drank some five or six cups of coffee and eaten a porportionate amount of solid food, his gastronomic energy began to abate. Seeing this his host approached him, and with apparent concern for want of his appe- tite, said: " Why, Kish, do yon not eat your dinner? Have another cup of coffee and eat something."
In reply to their hospitible urgency, Kish-ke-kosh leaned back in his seat, lazily shook his head and drew his finger across his throat to indicate how full he was. Of course the others had eaten in like proportion making the most of an event which did not occur every day.
The Indians in this region had a novel way of dealing with drunken people. When one of them became unsafely drunk he was tied neck and heels, so that he could be rolled around like a hoop, which operation was kept up till the fumes of liquor had vanished, when he was released. The sufferer would beg for mercy but to no avail. After he was sobered off he showed no marks of resentment, but seemed to recognize the wisdom of the pro- ceeding.
The Sacs and Foxes, like all other Indians, were very religious people, in their way, always maintaining the observance of a good many rites, cer- emonies and feasts in their worship of the Gitche Manitou, or Great Spirit. Fasts did not seem to have been prescribed in any of their missals, how- ever, because, perhaps, forced ones, under the scarcity of game or other estables, were not of impossible occurrence among people whose creed plainly was to let to-morrow take care of itself. Some of the ceremonies bore such resemblance to some of those laid down in the books of Moses as to have justified the impression among Biblical students that the lost tribes of Israel might have found their way to this continent, and that the North American Indians are the remnants of them.
During sickness there was usually great attention given to the comfort of the patient and when it became apparent that recovery was impossible the sufferer, while still alive, was dressed in his best attire, painted accord- ing to the fancy of his relatives, ornamented with all his trinkets and then placed upon a platform to die.
Dead bodies were sometimes deposited in graves; others were placed in a sitting posture reclining against a tree.
The graves were arranged usually with reference to some river, lake, or mountain. Where it was convenient the grave, when enclosed, was cov- ered with stones, and under other circumstances it was enclosed with wooden slabs, upon which were painted, with red paint, certain signs or symbols commemorative of the deceased's virtues. The death of a near rela- tive was lamented with violent demonstrations of grief. Widows visited the
294
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
graves of their deceased husbands with hair disheveled, carrying a bundle composed of one or more of the deceased's garments, and to this represent- ative of her departed husband she addressed her expressions of grief and assurances of undying affection, and extreme anxiety for the comfort and well-being of the departed.
One of the first settlers in Washington county relates the following inci- dent:
" Five negroes, having become tired of the sacred institution of slavery as exemplified and enforced by the typical task-master of Missouri, ran off and sought protection among the Indians; the latter had never before seen any negroes, and not being able to understand their language did not know what to make of the strange looking animals. Consequently a council was held and the wisest of the chiefs having viewed them carefully and debated the matter at some length decided that they were a peculiar species of bears.
" Having never before seen any representatives of this species they sup- posed that their pale-faced neighbors would esteem it quite a favor to see them, and probably they would be able to dispose of the strange looking animals to a certain trader and receive in return a goodly amount of 'fire-water.' Accordingly the negroes were taken, ropes tied around their necks, and they were led off to the nearest white settlement. After ex- hibiting the ' bears,' as they called them, they negotiated a trade with a cap- italist, who gave the Indians a quantity of whisky for their newly discovered specimens of natural history. When the Indians were gone the negroes were liberated and soon became favorites among the white settlers. They worked for various persons in that settlement during a portion of the next summer, when their master in Missouri, hearing through an Indian trader that two negroes were in the vicinity, came up and took posession of the ne- groes and carried them back to Missouri.
The early traditions of Marion county abound with incidents relating to Indians, during the three years that the Red Rock line was the boundary between the two races. Among the many incidents we can here refer to but a few, and to these but briefly.
In the fall of 1844 a Winnebago Indian came down the river, and with his squaw, who was a Sac, was encamped near Red Rock. Two Indians, named respectively Wan-pep-cah-cah and Pac-a-tuke, discovered the squaw alone in the woods and attempted to outrage her. She, however, eluded them and escaped to the camping place, and on the return of her husband informed him of the affair. The Winnebago, upon hearing this, resolved on revenge, and rushed out, determined to kill the offenders, whom he soon found, and slew them both.
The chief of the tribe to which the two Indians belonged, Pashapaho by name, on hearing of the altercation, immediately sent one of his braves to kill the Winnebago. This agent of vengeance approached the place where the Winnebago was encamped, when the latter, seeing him, attempted to escape; he was overtaken, however, and by the assistance of another Indian, was bound, and having been conveyed to a suitable place was beheaded. This affray created intense excitement throughont the scattered settlements of the county.
Early in 1843 a party of five or six white persons were searching for a location in the northwestern part of the county. Toward night they be- came lost in the heavy timber along the Des Moines River while attempt-
295
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
ing to retrace their steps to the camp. After proceeding some distance the party was confronted in a narrow path by some Indians. Suspecting that the Indians meant mischief, the white men quietly turned about and walked in the opposite direction. Presently there was the sound of a discharged rifle and the men heard the bullet whiz past their ears. The white men turned about to see from whence the shot came, and beheld an Indian run- ning out in the grass and bushes as if looking for some game that he had shot. He had evidently fired either to scare or kill some of the white men, and his looking for the supposed game was simply a quickly improvised scheme to divert suspicion. The Indians who inhabited the western part of the county from 1842 till 1845, were, in the main, peaceable, but, never- theless, were the occasion of many disturbances.
But the Indian was destined to create no further disturbauces upon the soil which the white man had marked for his own. In accordance with the stipulations of sacred treaties and likewise agreeably to the demands of the times the alloted time had now come for the red man to move west- ward again on his roving mission and add one more proof that his race is fast passing away and must eventually disappear before the restless march of the Anglo-Saxon race, as did the traditionary Mound-builders give place to the predatory red man of later times.
" And did the dust
Of these fair solitudes once stir with life And burn with passion? Let the mighty mounds That overlook the rivers, or that rise In the dim forests crowded with old oaks Answer: A race that has long passed away Built them. The red man came- The roaming hunter-tribes, warlike and fierce --
And the Mound-builders vanished from the earth.
The solitude of centuries untold
Has settled where they dwelt. The prairie wolf
Howls in their meadows and his fresh dug den
Yawns by my path. The gopher mines the ground
Where stood their swarming cities. All is gone-
All! save the piles of earth that hold their bones The platforms where they worshiped unknown gods."
Thas as those traditionary Mound-builders were forced to give way to the plundering red men of later times, so must he give place to his pale- faced successor, and his night of ignorance and superstition in which he so delights to revel, must give place to the approaching light of intelligence and civilization as truly as the darkest shades of midnight are dispelled by the approaching light of day. When the last barrier of restraint was thus re- moved, the tide of emigration, so long held in check, began to come in at a rapid rate over these prairies, and thus has it continued to roll, wave after wave, until it has reached the western shore, carrying with it the energy and taleuts and enterprise of nations; and washing to the surface the gold from the mountains and valleys of the Pacific slope, it has enveloped our land in the mighty main of enterprise and civilization.
296
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
CHAPTER IV.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
Importance of First Beginnings-Character of the First Settlers-The Red Rock Line-First Settlements East of the Red Rock Line-Extinction of the Indian Title-Rush of Claim Seekers-The United States Dragoons-The Memorable Night of October 11 -- First Set- tlements West of the Red Rock Line.
EVERY nation does not possess an authentic account of its origin, neither do all communities have the correct data whereby it is possible to accu- rately predicate the condition of first beginnings. Nevertheless, to be in- tensely interested in such things is characteristic of the race, and it is pe- culiarly the province of the historian to deal with first causes.
Should these facts, as is often the case, be lost in the mythical tradition of the past, the chronicler invades the realm of the ideal, and compels his imagination to paint the missing picture. The patriotic Roman was not content till he had found the " First Settlers," and then he was satisfied, although they were found in the very undesirable company of a she bear, and located on a drift, which the receding waters of the Tiber had per- mitted them to preempt.
One of the advantages of a residence in a new country, and the one prob- ably least appreciated, is that we can go back to first beginnings. We are thus enabled to trace results to their causes and grasp the facts which have contributed to form and mould those causes. We observe that a State or county has attained a certain position, and we at once try to trace out the causes which have produced the conditions, in its early settlement and sur- roundings, in the class of men by whom it was peopled, and in the many chances and changes which have wrought out results in all the recorded deeds of mankind. In the history of Marion county, we may trace its early settlers to their homes in the Eastern States and in the countries of the Old World: We may follow the course of the hardy woodman of the " Buckeye " or the " Hoosier " State on his way West to " grow up with the country," trusting only to his strong arm and willing heart to work out his ambition of a home for himself and wife, and a competence for his children. Yet again we may see the path worn by the Missourian in his new experience in a land which to him was a land of progress, far in ad- vance of that southern soil upon which he had made his temporary home in his effort to adapt himself to new conditions. We may see here the growth which came with knowledge, and the progress which grew upon him with progress around him, and how his better side developed. The pride of Kentucky blood, or the vain glorying of the F. F. V.'s, was here seen in an early day only to be modified in its advent from the crucible of democracy when servitude was eliminated froin the solution. Yet others have been animated with the impulse to "move on," after making them- selves a part of the community, and have sought the newer parts of the ex- treme West, where civilization had not penetrated, or returned to their na- tive soil. We shall find much of that distinctive New England character which has contributed so many men and women to other portions of our State and the West; also we shall find many an industrions native of Ger- many or the British Isles, and a few of the industrious and economical French-all of whom have contributed to modify types of men already
297
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
existing here. Moreover we shall find that these results have to a large ex- tent, been brought abont by representatives of an European people, who by the exercise of the most indomitable courage and industry, succeeded in driving back old ocean from its ancient bounds and making out of the bed of the sea a fruitful and prosperons land. Much of the enterprise of Ma- rion county was imported from beyond the dykes of Holland.
Those who have noted the career of the descendants of those brave, strong men in subduing the wilds, overcoming the obstacles, and with- standing the hardships of this country in early times, can but admit that they are worthy sons of illustrious sires.
With confidence that general results will prove that there is much of good in everything, and that a justice almost poetic has been meted out to the faults and follies, the integrity and virtue of the early settlers of the county, we may now enter upon an account of them.
As before stated, prior to May 1, 1842, the whites were not allowed to settle in any part of the territory now embraced by the boundary lines of Marion county. At that time the United States came into the possession of territory before owned and occupied by the Indians. This new territory included part of Marion county, embracing more than one-half of the county. The boundary line which separated the newly acquired terri- tory from the Indian possessions is known in history as the Red Rock line. A short distance above the present site of the village of Red Rock, on the Des Moines River, are high bluffs, characterized by a peculiar formation of red sandstone; this location was well known to the Indians, and the gov- ernment officials; and in the treaty whereby the Indians ceded to the gov- ernment all their lands in Iowa it was stipulated that the Indians were to retire west beyond a line running north and south through Red Rock and transfer all their possessions east of the line to the United States, on the first day of May, 1843. All the country west of that line was to be in the sole possession of the Indians until October 11, 1845. It will thus be seen that there are two dates from which to reckon the first settlements of the county; the first, May 1, 1843, for that part of the county east of the Red Rock line, and the other October 11, 1845, west of that line. We shall first speak of the settlement
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.