USA > Iowa > Muscatine County > The History of Muscatine county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 41
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" It may be proper here to notice some of the events in Keokuk's life. Keokuk was a descendant of the Sac branch of the nation, and was born near or upon Rock River, about the year 1780. He, like Black Hawk, was not an
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hereditary chief, but rose, by his energy and skill in managing the Indians, to be the head man in the nation. The first battle he was ever engaged in he encountered and killed a Sioux, which placed him in the rank of warriors, and he was presented with a public feast by his tribe in commemoration of the event. During the war of 1812 with Great Britain, a force was sent by the Government of the United States to destroy an Indian village at Peoria, on the Illinois River. A runner brought the news to the village that the same troops were going to attack the Sacs, and the whole tribe were very much alarmed. A council was instantly called, and it was determined to immediately abandon their village. Keokuk, who as yet had not been admitted into their councils, was standing by and heard the result of their deliberations. He went to the door of the council-lodge and asked the privilege of addressing the council on the subject about which they had been deliberating. He was admitted, and expressed his regret at the conclusion they had come to, and argued the pro- priety of preparing for a defense before a retreat, and concluded by saying, ' Make me your leader, let your young men follow me, and the pale-faces shall be driven back to their towns. Let the old men and women, and all who are afraid to meet the white man, stay here, but let your braves go to battle !' This speech had its desired effect, and the warriors at once declared they were ready to follow Keokuk, and he was chosen their leader. The intelligence turned out to be a false alarm, but the conduct of Keokuk had its effect and raised him to the first rank among the braves.
"On another occasion, Keokuk, with his band was hunting near the country of the Sioux. Very unexpectedly a mounted band of Sioux came upon them, fully equipped for a hostile attack. The Sacs were also upon horse-back, but they had not the force or preparation to openly resist the attack of the enemy, nor could they safely retreat. In this emergency, Keokuk immediately formed his men into a circle and ordered them to dismount and take shelter behind their horses. The Sioux raised their war-whoop and charged upon their enemy with great fury, but the Sacs, protected by their horses, took deliberate aim, gave them a warm reception and caused them to fall back. The attack was repeated, and, after several unsuccessful assaults, the Sioux retired much the worse for the encounter. Subsequent to this, when the Sacs supposed the Sioux were on friendly terms with them, they went out on a buffalo-hunt, leaving but few braves to protect their village. Unex- pectedly, Keokuk came upon an encampment of a large number of Sioux painted for war, and apparently on their way to attack his village. His war- riors were widely scattered over the prairies and could not speedily be collected together. These circumstances called into requisition the tact of a general. Keokuk was prepared for the emergency ; he mounted his horse, and unat- tended, boldly rode into the camp of the enemy. In the midst of their camp, he saw raised the war-pole, and around it the Sioux were engaged in the war- dance and uttering expressions of vengeance upon the Sacs. Keokuk dashed into the midst of them and demanded to see their chief. At the approach of the chief, he said to him, 'I have come to let you know that there are traitors in your camp. They have told me that you were preparing to attack my vil- lage. I know they told me lies, for you could not, after smoking the pipe of peace, be so base as to murder my women and children in my absence ; none but cowards would be guilty of such conduct.' When the Sioux had got a little over their surprise, they gathered around him, evincing an interest to seize him, when he added in a loud voice, 'I supposed they told me lies, but if what I have heard is true, the Sacs are ready for you.' And
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immediately put spurs to his horse and left the camp at full speed. Several guns were fired at him, and a number of the Sioux mounted their horses and chased him, but he escaped unhurt. Brandishing his tomahawk, and making the woods resound with the war-whoop, he soon left his pursuers in the distance.
" He immediately collected his warriors and prepared to defend his village. His enemies, finding that they had been discovered and fearing that Keokuk, by his bold adventure to their camp had planned some stratagem, abandoned their enterprise and returned home without molesting the Sacs. Keokuk was more distinguished as an orator and statesman than as a general. He was one of the most eloquent speakers in his nation, and was not surpassed by any in managing his own people, and others with whom he had inter- course."
BLACK HAWK, THE BRAVE.
The most conspicuous figure in the list of noted Indians of the Northwest is Black Hawk. In many of his tastes and characteristics, he was more like the white man than the savage. In personal appearance, he was distinguished. He was five feet and eleven inches tall, weighed about one hundred and forty pounds, and had an eye black and piercing as a wild beast's.
After his dramatic life-work was finished, the old man dwelt in solitude near the scene of his battle under Pashapaho, at Iowaville, and while there became intimately acquainted with James Jordan, who still lives (1879) on the farm claimed at an early day. Mr. Jordan's name will be recognized by scores of the readers of this work, and his statements will be received by all as worthy of credence. Mr. Jordan's opportunities for knowing the Indian, and also for acquiring a thorough knowledge of the language in which he spoke, were unusual. For years, the two families lived side by side, and maintained a degree of intimacy peculiar and incidental to the isolated life then led. A feeling of friendliness sprang up between the native and the pioneer resident, which was but little removed from that of brotherhood.
BLACK HAWK'S BIRTH.
Mr. Jordan asserts that many errors have crept into history concerning Black Hawk. The most important one is that which fixes his birth in 1767. It will be observed in the State history, which precedes this sketch, that he was born in the Sac village, about three miles from the junction of Rock River with the Mississippi, in Illinois, 1767. Mr. Jordan pronounces the date an error. From Black Hawk's own lips, he learned that the time of his birth was 1775, but the day is not given.
The date, 1767, is given in no less an authoritative manner than that of Schoolcraft's standard work on the North American Indians, prepared under his supervision by order of Congress. The temerity of venturing to correct a statement made by so eminent an investigator, is not possessed by the compiler of these pages. but we feel that the duty of one who attempts to preserve his- torie fact is plainly of a character which necessitates apparent rashness. In the case in question, there is little doubt but that all writers subsequent to Schoolcraft have unhesitatingly accepted his conclusions, and have given less care to researches in that direction than would have been given had some more obscure man chronicled the event. Hence the general unanimity of belief that the brave began life in 1767.
As it is a question-since here we venture to raise the doubt-which future historians will probably seek earnestly to solve, let us review the grounds we
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have for regarding Mr. Schoolcraft in error, and then leave the subject to be definitely determined by more competent writers.
One can scarcely conceive of a more perplexing question than that of an Indian's age, if taken on general principles. Few among the more intelligent ones are able to tell their years. Their methods of computing time are vague at best, and it is no uncommon thing to find an old Indian claiming greater age than is reasonably his allotted share. The birth of children among savage tribes is not a matter of record. Modern, as well as the more remote, events in the lives of such tribes partake of the traditionary character of recital, which leads to confusion. If, for example, a prominent figure in their history once becomes invested with qualities which distinguish him, he is ever afterward referred to by symbolic epithet. The names of Indian chiefs are chosen from their vocabulary, rich in natural similitudes. Is it not reasonable to suppose that if once announced, even without authority, an Indian brave's age, like his name, will remain unquestioned among the people of his tribe ? Is it not also reasonable to believe that such an expression concerning Black Hawk's age may have been made, and that Mr. Schoolcraft found that the prevailing opinion pointed to 1767 as the date? Having thus understood it, and hearing it repeated frequently, what more natural conclusion could he have drawn than that it was correct ? Assuming (in the absence of positive proof either way) that Mr. Schoolcraft conversed with Black Hawk personally, on this subject, it will undoubtedly appear to those who remember the Indian's reticent manner with the whites, that an acquiescence in the general belief would be more likely to follow a casual inquiry concerning his age, than a refutation of the popular idea. It was only to those who could converse with him in his native tongue, and who were associated with him continually, that Black Hawk cast aside his customary reserve. He did not entertain an instinctive love for the whites, especially for Americans ; and there is no evidence at hand to convince us that Mr. School- craft enjoyed the confidence of the brave. So much can be said in negative argument of the case.
As to affirmative argument, we have the positive assurance of Mr. Jordan that Black Hawk frequently talked upon the subject, and declared all state- ments fixing his birth in 1767 erroneous. The pioneer and the native families lived side by side. The two men associated almost like brothers. Mr. Jordan spoke the language of the Sacs as fluently as his own, and thus inspired a degree of friendliness unattainable by those who were unfamiliar with the tongue. The whole question, in fact, resolves itself into one of veracity on the part of Mr. Jordan. If there exists documentary evidence, under Mr. Schoolcraft's hand, that Black Hawk told him positively of his age, then the matter lies between these men. If no such proof is extant, the reasons for accepting the statement made by Mr. Jordan are already defined.
There is a physiological argument in support of Mr. Jordan. If Black Hawk was born in 1775, he was sixty-three years of age at the time of his death. Physicians will admit that there is no more critical period in man's life than that, and the breaking down of a vigorous constitution would be likely to occur then, in the case of an active person like Black Hawk. We know of no rule which makes the Indian warrior, who has led a life of conflict and excitement, an exception to this apparent law of nature.
The stories of Black Hawk's early battles, and especially his first one, may be offered in contradiction of the statement made by Mr. Jordan. Is there positive proof that his first scalp was taken in any particular year ? It is said that he was sixteen years of age when that brave deed was performed ; but
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other traditions make him still older at that time, while some even cast a shadow on the truth of the story. Of course, if testimony, fixing the date of any event, and the brave's age at the moment of its occurrence, can be produced, the simultaneous record will settle this 'question at once. Who will solve the enigma ?
The age of Black Hawk is not the only point in his history upon which conflicting evidence exists. The name in the original is variously given as to orthography. In Schoolcraft's history it is spelled Muc-co-da-ka-ka-ke. Catlin spelled it Muk-a-tah-mish-o-kah-kaih. Jordan spells it Mu-cu-tah-mish-a-ka-kah. Maj. Beach spelled it Muck-a-tah-mish-e-ki-ak ·ki-ak.
The difference of spelling, however, is of no consequence, as it unquestion- ably resulted from an attempt to produce, with English letters, the peculiar pro- nunciation of the Indian tongue. The literal translation into English is a black hawk.
Another error exists concerning the official position of the man. He was not a chief either by inheritance or election. His father was a leading spirit, perhaps a prophet or a man of commanding influence in the councils of the Sacs. At an early age, Black Hawk was allowed to don the war-paint, because of his having slain an enemy of his tribe. This rather traditionary statement comes unsupported, but is given for what it is worth. The story runs that the youth was but sixteen years old when he hung his first scalp upon his wigwam.
In character, the Indian boy was brave, cautions and ambitious. He aspired to rank and sought the gratification of his passion for power by stealthy means. He possessed marvelous oratorical abilities, in that gift equaling the great speaker Keokuk. As a warrior, he was dependent more upon strategy than upon the qualities which white men deem essential to military prowess; but Black Hawk was not a cruel or blood-thirsty man, who slew merely for the sake of slaughter. He was a parodox in some characteristics, and the report given by Mr. Jordan, of his latter days, contradicts the generally-believed accounts of his early methods of self-promotion. However, one can accept the statements of his friend without too great a tax on one's credulity, when it is remembered that the last years, and not the first, were spent in this vicinity. Black Hawk the youth was very different from Black Hawk the old and defeated man.
History teaches that Black Hawk's efforts at generalship were failures, when military method was required. His power lay in sudden and fierce attacks, with dramatic strategy and rush of mounted braves. It was by such means, and the employment of his great eloquence in council, that he gained his place as a leader. He assumed the place of authority over Keokuk, his ranking offi - cer, and maintained his hold upon his men without ever claiming to be a chief- tain. Ile called himself a Brave, and delighted in the title.
The Sacs and Foxes, according to their traditions, once dwelt upon the shores of the great lakes. Gradually they were pushed westward, until in time they came to occupy a large portion of Northern Illinois. In spite of the pressure of the whites, this band occupied a site on the east shore of the Mis- sissippi, near Rock River. Here Black Hawk was, in 1832, the controlling spirit. "He was never a chief, either by inheritance or election," declares Maj. Beach, "and his influence was shared by a wily old savage, of part Win- nebago blood, called the Prophet, who could do with Black Hawk pretty much as he pleased ; and also by a Sac named Nahpope, the English of which is Soup, and whom the writer found to be a very friendly and manageable old native, as was also Black Hawk."
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The following graphic account of the slaughter of the lowas, by the war- riors under Pashapaho and Black Hawk, is from a paper prepared by Uriah Biggs, and published in the Annals of Iowa. The battle-field was on the present site of Iowaville, which was long ago the principal seat of the lowa nation of Indians, and was where Black Hawk afterward died. At the time of the massacre, Black Hawk was a young man, and the graphic account of his first steps toward chieftainship, as related by Mr. Biggs, is made up of the details given by the Indians who participated in the battle:
"Contrary to long-established custom of Indian attack, this battle was brought on in daytime, the attending circumstances justifying this departure from the well-settled usages of Indian warfare. The battle-field is a level, river- bottom prairie, of about four miles in length and two miles wide, near the middle, narrowing down to points at either end. The main area of the bottom rises, perhaps, twenty feet above the river, leaving a narrow strip of low bottom along the river, covered with trees that belted the prairie on the river-side with a thick forest, and the river-bank was fringed with a dense growth of willows. Near the lower end of the prairie, and near the river-bank, was situated the Iowa village, and about two miles above the town, and near the middle of the prairie, is situated a small natural mound, covered at that time with a tuft of small tree and brush growing on its summit.
" In the rear of this mound lay a belt of wet prairie, which. at the time here spoken of, was covered with a dense crop of rank, coarse grass ; bordering this wet prairie on the north, the country rises abruptly into elevated and broken river-bluffs, covered with a heavy forest for many miles in extent, por- tions of it thickly clustered with undergrowth, affording a convenient shelter for the stealthy approach of the cat-like foc. Through this forest the Sac and Fox war-party made their way in the night-time, and secreted themselves in the tall grass spoken of above, intending to remain in ambush through the day and make such observations as this near proximity to their intended victims might afford, to aid them in the contemplated attack on the town during the following night. From this situation their spies could take a full survey of the situation of the village, and watch every movement of the inhabitants, by which means they were soon convinced the lowas had no suspicion of their presence.
" At the foot of the mound above noticed, the Iowas had their race-course, where they diverted themselves with the excitements of the horse, and skilled their young warriors in cavalry evolutions. In these exercises mock battles are fought, and the Indian tactics of attack and defense, of victory and defeat, are carefully inculcated, by which means a skill in horsemanship is acquired which is rarely excelled. Unfortunately for them, this day was selected for these equestrian sports, and, wholly unconscious of the proximity of their foes, the warriors repaired to the race-ground, leaving the most of their arms in the village, and their old men and women and children unprotected.
" Pashapaho, who was chief in command of the enemy's forces, perceived at once the advantage this state of things afforded for a complete surprise of his now doomed victims, and ordered Black Hawk to file off with his young warriors through the tall grass, and gain the cover of the timber along the river-bank, and, with the utmost speed, reach the village and commence the battle, while he remained with his division in the ambush, to make a simulta- neous assault on the unarmed men, whose attention was engrossed with the excitement of the races. The plan was skillfully laid and most dexterously prosecuted. Black Hawk, with his forces, reached the village undiscovered and made a furious onslaught upon its defenseless inhabitants, by firing one
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general volley into their midst, and completing the slaughter with the tomahawk and scalping-knife, aided by the devouring flames with which they engulfed the village as soon as the fire-brand could be spread from lodge to lodge.
" On the instant of the report of fire-arms at the village, the forces under Pashapaho leaped from their couchant position in the grass, and sprang tiger- like upon the astonished and unarmed Iowas in the midst of their racing sports. The first impulse of the latter naturally led them to make the utmost speed to reach their arms in the village, and protect. if possible, their wives and children from the attacks of merciless assailants.
" The distance from the place of the attack on the prairie was two miles, and a great number fell in the flight by the bullets and tomahawks of their adversaries, who pressed them closely with a running fire the whole way, and they only reached their town in time to witness the horrors of its destruction. Their whole village was in flames, and the dearest objects of their lives lay in slaughtered heaps amidst the devouring element, and the agonizing groans of the dying mingled with the exulting shouts of a victorious foe, filled their hearts with a maddening despair. Their wives and children who had been spared the general massacre were prisoners, and, together with their arms, were in posses- sion of the victors, and all that could now be done was to draw off their shat- tered and defenseless forces and save as many lives as possible by a retreat across the Des Moines River, which they effected in the best possible manner, and took a position among the Soap Creek hills.
"The complete success attending a battle does not always. imply brave action ; for, as in the present instance, bravery does not belong to a wanton attack on unarmed men and defenseless women and children. Yet it is due to Pashapaho, as commander of an army, to give him full credit for his quick per- ception of the advantages circumstances had placed within his reach, and for his sagacity in at once changing the programme of attack to meet occurring events, and the courage and intrepidity to seize these events and insure his suc- cess. The want of these essential qualities in a commander has occasioned the loss of many a battle in what is courteously termed civilized warfare.
" The lowas, cut off from all hope of retrieving their loss, sent a flag of truce to Pashapaho, submitting their fate to the will of their conqueror, and a parley ensued, which resulted in the Iowas becoming an integral part of the Sac and Fox nation ; but experiencing the ill-usage that is the common fate of a conquered people, they besought the United States authorities to purchase their undivided interest in the country, and thus allow them to escape from the tyranny of their oppressors. The purchase was accordingly made in 1825, and they removed to the Missouri River, and have so wasted in numbers as to scarcely preserve their existence as an independent tribe. The sole cause of this war was the insatiable ambition of the Sac and Fox Indians, as this was their first acquaintance with the Iowa nation or tribe."
On page 74 of this volume is given the generally accepted version of the causes which led to the Black Hawk war of 1832 ; but that story is vague and unsatisfactory. On page 157, another, and, in the main, a correct account is given. From Mr. Jordan we learn facts of more than local interest in this dis- puted case. and give them here.
Somewhere about 1828-29, a man named Watts, while driving cattle through this State, about where Iowaville now is, was beset by Indians. Watts had with him a man whose name is not remembered now. This man was killed by a savage. The murder was committed on Indian territory, and a demand was made on Black Hawk for the criminal. He was delivered up to the United
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States authorities and taken to St. Louis, where he was tried and condemned. Some of the tribe went to St. Louis to intercede for their companion, but did not accomplish their purpose. The Indian was hanged. However, while the Indians were in St. Louis they fell victims of sharpers, who obtained a professed title to Black Hawk's village on the Rock River, by presents of less value than the Government price of the land. When the embassy returned with their ill-gotten trinkets, Black Hawk was wroth and denounced the fraud. Subse- quently, probably the next spring, on the opening of the season of 1830, the men who had obtained such title to the land came on, and drove the Indian women and children from the village, during the temporary absence of the braves.
Black Hawk made issue with the fraudulent possessors of his home, and offered to stake thirty of his braves against thirty white soldiers to test the question of title by a fight. The offer was declined by the military, but the whites said they would pit the United States army against the Indians of his tribe. Black Hawk took up the gauntlet, and hence the famous, but disastrous, Black Hawk war. This version, it will be seen, substantially corroborates the story obtained by research in Illinois.
Of the Black Hawk war, it is not within the province of this sketch to speak ; it belongs to the history of Illinois, and has been repeatedly written up. After the defeat of Black Hawk, in 1832, he was captured and taken to Prairie du Chien. After an imprisonment in Jefferson Barracks, and, subsequently, in Fortress Monroe, whither he was taken, he was returned, at the intercession of Keokuk, to this region. In his old age, Black Hawk sought the company of the garrison, his band was broken up, and the once great chief was left alone in his declining years.
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