USA > Iowa > Fayette County > Oelwein > The Telegraph-herald's abridged history of the state of Iowa and directory of Fayette County, including the city of Oelwein, with a complete classified business directory; > Part 13
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R. A. Smith, of Dickinson County, in speaking of this period, says: "Real estate became valueless. It was necessary to adopt a system of self-denial never known before in Iowa. It was with the utmost difficulty that the common necessities of life could be obtained. Tea, coffee, salt and all kinds of groceries were out of the reach of nearly all. It was not uncommon for families to live on wild meats, with only such breadstuffs as could be ground in a coffee mill. Muskrat pelts were almost the only resource for raising money to pay taxes. The people had to cut up grain sacks for clothes. Supplemented with deer skins for moccasins in place of shoes and stockings." Such were the condition of affairs when the Legislature met at Des Moines Jan. 11th, 1858. Governor Grimes in his message, said: "Your labors will exercise a potent influence upon the future character and prosperity of the State, long after the last of you shall cease to be interested in human affairs. All the general laws of the State will require some modifications to adopt them to the provisions of the new Constitution." He also recommended a registry law; revision of the revenue law; restoration of township assessor; a sound banking system; support of the schools by taxation, etc. The canvass of the vote for Governor showed 38,498 votes for R. P. Low and 36,088 for Ben M. Samuels. C. Ben Darwin, William Smith and W. T. Barker were appointed commissioners to codify the State laws. Code of 1860.
Although the laws were stringent and penalty severe against any person protecting, harboring or aiding a slave to escape from his master, still the humane people of Iowa established what was called the "Underground Railroad." Stations were established to aid the fugitives from Missouri. Beginning at Fabor, near the State line, the abolutionists had stations known to trusted friends, exending to Des Moines, Grinnell, Iowa City and Springdale to Daven- port. When the escaping slave reached a station on this line, the keeper of that station would secrete the fugitive, furnish board, clothing, money and trans- portation to the next station. Well equipped canvass wagons were used. The driver was a cool, courageous, well armed man, and the traveling was usually done under the shelter of night. Hundreds of slaves found the way to freedom through this system of stations.
In 1859 John Brown drilled his little army for his raid on Virginia, chiefly in Jowa, and several of his best men were from Iowa.
Of the twenty-six men who volunteered in this "forlorn hope," six were from Iowa. It was in Iowa that the army and ammunition was collected and secreted. Most half a century has passed since the great tragedy at Harpers'
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Ferry, but the predictions made by Victor Hugo and several other prominent authors, have been verified. Two years after the execution of John Brown and his confederates, one hundred thousand men went marching through Virginia, singing:
"John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave, But his soul is marching on."
The Eighth General Assembly received and considered the report of the commissioners appointed by the previous Legislature to revise and codify the laws of the State. The work was published as the "Revision of 1860." Under the banking provisions of the new law, there were twelve branches organized and put in operation, before the close of 1859. They were located at Muscatine, Dubuque, Keokuk, Mount Pleasant, Davenport, Iowa City, Des Moines, Oskaloosa, Lyons, Washington, Burlington and Fort Madison.
In 1860 the greatest tornado that ever swept over Iowa was formed from a hail storm that was first seen on the prairies of Calhoun and Webster Counties on June 3rd. It was subsequently ascertained that the storm had gathered in Eastern Nebraska about 1 o'clock, being then an ordinary thunder storm. About 2 o'clock it passed Sioux City, when the rain was very heavy, but no wind. From this point the tornado seemed to gather from all sides, and increased in violence and velocity, destroying everything in its path through Jowa and Illinois, crossing Lake Michigan, north of Chicago. The last heard of it was in Ottawa County, Michigan, where it seemed to be exhausted. The total number killed was one hundred and forty-one; wounded, three hundred and twenty-nine; houses destroyed, three hundred and twelve; loss, $945,000. Many of the injured died, which brought the fatalities up to nearly two hun- dred. The storm struck Comanche, which was almost destroyed, at 7 o'clock, reached Ottawa County, Michigan, about midnight. Part of the time it swept through the country at a velocity of three hundred miles per hour. In many instances the bark was stripped clean from trees; chickens were found stripped of every feather. Sills of houses were found driven into the soil of prairies so far that it took two or three teams to pull them out. Shingles were driven through the sides of houses and barns into the trunks of trees. Spokes torn from wagon wheels were driven into the bodies of men and animals with fatal results.
The election of 1860 was: Republican vote, 70,300; Douglas Democrats, 55,000; Constitution Union, 1.750; Breckenridge Democrats, 1,035; total, 128,085; Republican plurality, 15,300.
Under the head of her great Governor, Kirkwood, Iowa engaged in the Civil War with great enthusiasm, and before the close of 1861 she had raised and sent into the service sixteen regiments of infantry, four of cavalry and three batteries of light artillery, making in all 19,105 men.
Governor Kirkwood refused to run for a third term. William M. Stone was elected to succeed him. Up to the close of Governor Kirkwood's term, January, 1864, Iowa had organized and put into the field, in support of the Union, forty regiments of infantry, nine of cavalry and four batteries of artillery. The history of the Iowa regiments in the Civil War is a very interesting one, and if we could make this work voluminous enough to give a short account of them, at least, it would be highly interesting, but our purpose in this work is to give a short account of compendium of Iowa History, and a few of the Indian tribes:
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that lived within the limits of our State. The Iowa soldiers were a great credit to the State.
The Republican cenvention that met at Des Moines June 14th, 1865, adopted a resolution favoring an amendment to the Constitution, by striking out the word "white" in the article on suffrage. After a warm discussion a vote was taken, which stood 513 for and 242 against the change. In 1866 the Legislature ratified the amendment to the Constitution of the United States, forever pro- hibiting slavery. Also granting negro suffrage: also to amend the Constitution so as to disfranchise all citizens who might be guilty of treason or who have absconded for the purpose of avoiding the draft; also prohibiting such persons from holding office.
The political campaign of 1865 was fought on the issue of Negro Suffrage.
The Republican party favored it and the soldier convention and ticket, that the Democrats endorsed, opposed suffrage. The Republican loss was heavy compared with the last election, but it won by a majority of about 16,500.
It was in 1865 that the directors of the State Bank of Iowa concluded to discontinue the bank.
In 1867 the grasshoppers appeared in great swarms, and continued during the years 1868, 1874 and 1876, doing great damage. In 1868 the Twelfth General Assembly met. The important acts were: Providing for the establishment of a State Reform School; creation of the office of County Auditor; Asylum for the Deaf; establishing a system of Circuit Courts, and in favor of the impeach- ment of President Johnson. The vote in the United States Senate on the impeachment of President Johnson was thirty-five for and nineteen against. All the Democrats in the Senate voted against it, and seven of the Republicans, among them being Grimes of Iowa. Had Grimes voted with his party Johnson would have been found guilty. The fierce and ungovernable outcry raised against those Republican Senators voting "not guilty" exceeded all bounds. The press and people were loud in their denunciations, and every one of the Senators so voting were driven from public life for voting their honest senti- ment.
In 1868 the vote in Iowa was: Grant, 120,265; Seymour, 74,040. For Negro Suffrage, 105,3$4: against it, 81,119. It was estimated that but one-third of the tilable land in the State was under cultivation. In 1869 the Republican party carried the election by 40,000 majority. In 1870 the population of Iowa was 1,191.720. Davenport was the largest city, 20,111; Dubuque, 18,432; Burlington, 15,178; Keokuk, 12,769; Des Moines, 12,380; value of property, $302,215,418; farm products, $114,386,441.
In 1872 an act was passed abolishing the death penalty, and Seevers, Knight and Hammond were appointed to revise the Statutes and codify the Code of 1873.
In 1876 the State election gave the Republican party 50,000 majority. The first report of the National election gave Tilden, the Democratic candidate, a large majority, but the manipulation of Zac Chandler and others, backed by an ample supply of money, changed the aspect materially. It required every electoral vote from Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida to elect Hayes, and as these States were about the only ones that could be manipulated or changed, the machine went to work at them, and moulded the returns to suit their purpose. There was a general feeling among Republicans and Democrats that the returns from these States were a fraud, and Mr. Hayes was held responsible. When his first term expired there was not a man of prominence in his own
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party to even suggest his re-election. He was retired to private life, and Chandler, who was one of the most active manipulators, lived but a short time to enjoy the fruits of his fraud on the American people. Great excitement prevailed, and it looked for a time as if civil strife was eminent, but better council prevailed.
In 1877 the canal constructed by the Government around the rapids above Keokuk was opened. It was seven and one-half miles long, three hundred feet wide, and had three locks; cost, $4,281,000.
The Republican convention convened at Des Moines June 28th, 1877. John H. Gear was nominated for Governor, and among the declarations of more than ordinary interest was the following:
"We declare it to be the solemn obligation of the Legislature and executive departments of the Government to put into immediate and vigorous exercise all of their constitutional powers for the removal of any just cause of discon- tent on the part of any class and for securing to every American citizen complete liberty and exact quality in the service of all civil, political and public rights. To this end we imperatively demand of Congress and the Chief Executive a courage and fidelity to these duties which shall not falter until their results are placed beyond dispute or recall.
"The silver dollar having been the legal unit of value from the foundation of the Government until 1873, the law under which its coinage was suspended should be repealed at the earliest possible day and silver made with gold a legal tender for the payments of all debts, both public and private. We also believe that the present volume of the legal tender currency should be main- tained until the wants of trade and commerce demand its further contraction.
"We favor a wisely adjusted tariff for revenue.
"We are in favor of the rigid enforcement of our present prohibitory liquor law and any amendment thereto that shall render its provisions more effective in the suppression of intemperance."
The Democrats, Greenbackers and State Temperance party also put tickets in the field. The Republicans had 4,200 majority.
In 1880 the election resulted in the choice of the Republican ticket by about ,45,000 majority. The vote for President was: Garfield, 182,927; Hancock, 105,- 745; Weaver, 32,701.
The barbed wire trust was organized in 1875. It was the first great trust we have any record of. It secured all the barbed wire patents, machinery and all the manufacturing facilities, then entered into the following compact:
First-Plain wire to be purchased of Washburn, Moen and Elwood.
Second-All factories to pay a royalty to Washburn & Co. on every pound of barbed wire sold.
Third-All dealers to sell to farmers at a price fixed by the syndicate.
Fourth-All factories outside the "trust" to be prosecuted in the courts for an infringement of patents and closed."
It soon put barbed wire up to 10 cents per pound. The extortion was too great for the farmers of Iowa to rest under, and an association was formed, and a factory erected, and after a long struggle the syndicate was downed.
On the 5th day of May, 1881, A. Briggs, the first Governor of the State of Iowa, died at Omaha, Nebraska.
Under the administration of Governor Larabee a vigorous fight was waged against the greed and imposition of the railroads, the Governor leading as the
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people's champion. James G. Benghill, Frank T. Campbell and Spencer Smith were also among the leaders of the champions of the people's cause. The Twenty-second General Assembly, however, passed a law which regulated the railroad trouble. This was in 1888.
The winter of 1898-99 will long be remembered by the fruit growers of Iowa. Scarcely an apple tree, plum or other fruit tree or shrub was left. Grape vines were all destroyed. Clover, evergreens and some forest trees were also lost. The number of miles of railroad in the State January 1st, 1899, was 8,518, assessed at $44,550,129. The total value of personal property in the State was $391,618,017. The Floyd monument erected near Sioux City was dedicated May 30th, 1891.
CHAPTER XL.
The Sioux Indians on the Minnesota Reservation, son after the beginning of the Civil War, began to make hostile demonstrations in the northwestern coun- ties of Iowa. Horses and cattle were stolen, and, on the 9th of July, two mem- bers of the Frontier Guards, Hobert Thomas and Henry Cordna, were killed within three miles of Sioux City. Several parties of Sioux Indians were seen in the Little Sioux Valley. The settlers became alarmed and companies of "Home Guards" were organized in sevral of the northwestern counties. Under the authority of Judge A. W. Hubbard a military company of the Sioux City cavalry, under the command of Captain A. J. Millard, was ordered into State service for the protection of the frontier.
At this time there were about 8,000 Sioux Indians on the reservation along the Minnesota River, at a distance of from sixty to one hundred miles from the north line of the State of Iowa. These Indians, aware that thousands of the natural defenders of the frontier were absent in the armies, entered into a con- spiracy to march upon the settlers and exterminate them before aid could reach them. So well had the plans of the savages been concealed, that no intimation of the impending doom had reached frontier settlements. On the 17th of Au- gust, 1862, the massacre began near the upper agency. On the 21st while the men were gathered at a public meeting, on the upper Des Moines River, near Jackson, to devise means for common defense, the Indians suddenly fell upon the settlement, murdering the defenseless families, plundering their homes and killling the live stock. When the news of the massacres reached the settle- ments at Spirit Lake and Estherville, parties of armed men were hastily or- ganized, who marched to the aid of their neighbors. At Jackson they received reinforcements and all marched up the river to the scene of the massacre. Finding that the Indians had disappeared they buried the bodies of fifteen of the victims and returned to their homes.
The settlers in Northwestern Iowa escaped the fate of their Minnesota neighbors. When the news of the massacres reached them, all the frontier settlements were abandoned except those at Spirit Lake and Estherville. At these places the sturdy pioneers erected strong stockades, into which their families were gatehered, preparations being made for a vigorous defense. Scouts were sent out and every precaution taken to guard against surprise. Efforts were at once made to secure State protection. A detachment of Sioux City cavalry was immediately sent to the lakes and the Dickinson County court house was fortified. Here the families were gathered under the protec- tion of the soldiers, while the men worked on the defense. A saw mill was kept running, cutting logs into planks four inches in thickness. A trench, three feet
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deep was dug around the court house, about thirty feet from its wall, and into this the palisades were firmly planted, making a defense against any weapons in possession of the Indians. £ Here the settlers remained in security while the terrible massacre was desolating Western Minnesota. Thousands of the Sioux were on the war path and troops were hurried to the frontier. The chiefs had planned to sweep swiftly down the Des Moines Valley and the Little Sioux by way of the lakes of Dickinson County, thus exterminating all of the settlements in Northwestern Iowa above Fort Dodge and Sioux City. They soon met with vigorous resistance, however; in Kossuth and Palo Alto coun- ties preparations were at once made by the settlers to defend their homes.
The Minneota authorities were soon thoroughly aroused.
Minnesota was organized into a Territory in 1849, and the rapid emigration to the eastern shore of the Mississippi began encroaching upon the fertile lands opposite. Two years later, the Indians were induced to sign treaties by which they ceded to the United State more than thirty million acres, embracing all their lands in Iowa, Dakota and Minnesota, except a tract along the Upper Minnesota which was reserved for future occupancy and their home. The be- ginning of this tract was just below Fort Ridgely, and it extended one hundred and fifty miles to. Lake Traverse, with a breadth of ten miles on each side of the river.
In 1852, the Indians accepted an amendment to the treaty, by which the reservation named was ceded to our government, the Indians agreeing to locate themselves on such land as the President selectd. Th selection, however, was never made, and the red men having occupied the reservation first named, their right to its ocupancy was recognized, and the lands lying on the north side of the river were purchased from them in 1880. They were residing on the remainder at the time of the fearful outbreak in the summer of 1862.
The tribes concerned in this uprising were the M'dewakanton, Wahpekuta, Wahpeton, and Sissetens, of. the great Sioux or Dakota nation. In accordance with the terms of the treaty, a good deal of money and goods were delivered to these tribes annually, and much labor performed for their benefit. An agent resided among them, and two places were established for the transaction of business. One was on the Minnesota River, fourteen miles above Fort Ridgely, called the 'L'ower," or "Redwood Agency," while the other, at the mouth of the Yelolw Medicine, was termed the "Upper," or "Yellow Medicine Agency."
The Sioux in this section represented about all the grades of barbarism or civilization of which the red men are capable. Some lived in rude houses made by themselves, others in brick dwellings put up by the government, and still others in tepees of canvas. The different bands, under their hereditary chiefs, occupied separate villages, excepting several hundred families who adopted the dress and manners of the white men. Others remained wild In- dians, with all their characteristics. They made war on the Chippewas, and, when they had the chance, killed, scalped and tortured them in the good old style of their forefathers.
Besides them, there were the half-breeds and traders, forming quit a factor of the mongrel population. Near the agency were churches and school, ware- houses, stores, shops, residences, showing thrift and prosperity.
CHAPTER XLI.
When asked to give the cause of the Minnesota outbreak, we answer, "The usual ones.' The rapacity of the agents, their deception and swindling of the
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Indians, the cheatin'g by which the Sioux were induced to sign the treaties, the wholesale theft of their lands, the debauchery of their families by white men, and the abuse to which they were subjected by the traders from whom they were obligedto purchase goods and supplies.
To the hereditary hatred of the white man should be added another peculiar to the time. The period named will be recognized as one of serious reverses to the Union arms. The "Lost Cause" was then seemingly on the high road to tri- umph, and this was told to the Indians by the half-breeds and others who knew how to read. At the time, too, many believed we were about to be involved in a war with England because of the Trent affair.
The disaffected tribes could place one thousand three hundred warriors in the field. The Yonktons, the Yanktonias, and the Teton Sioux, who naturally sympathized with them, could marshal four thousand more on the warpath. Be- sides, the Winnebagoes promised help, and mysterious messages passed back and forth between the adjoining tribe. The old dream of a restored hunting ground and the expulsion of the white intruders thrilled many a dusky breast, as it did during the days of Tecumseh, of Pontiac, and King Philip.
In June, a number of chiefs and head men of the Sissetons and Wahpetons visited the Upper Agency and asked when they were to receive the annuities due them, adding that they had been told they were to be cheated out of them. The agent assured them they would soon arrive, though he could not set the day, nor could he be sure that the sum would be a full payment. The visitors went away, half satisfied, but on the 14th of July, they returned to the number of five thousand and encamped about the agency. There were too many to be supplied with food, and several cases of death from starvation resulted. They repeated the stories that had been told them that they were not to receive their money, and it was hard to remove their fears.
Among the Indians were a number of the Yanktonians, living near Big Stone Lake. This tribe justly claimed an interest in the lands sold by the annuity Indians; but they had received no pay for them, except an unauthorized one to a few members of one of Wanata's band. Wanata himself was half Sisseton and Yanktonias, and his band included warriors of both tribes. These were informed that nothing was to be paid them in the future.
They were so infuriated on learning this that they persuaded the other In- dians to join them, on the 4th of August, in an attack on the government ware- house. It was burst into and plundered, with a hundred soldiers, having two twelve-pound howitzers, looking on. Not only that, but the American flag was cut down, and the sullen warriors stood around with cocked rifles, ready to use them on the slightest provocation. Matters became quieter after a while, and by the assistance of a considerable quantity of provisions, the malcontents were persuaded to return to their homes.
The exictement was equally great at the Lower Agency for a month before the outbreak. What was called a "Soldiers' Lodge" was formed there, the mem- bers of which agreed to secure all the credit they could at the stores and then prevent the traders from getting their annuities when sent to them. A member who was suspected of having revealed the secrets to the whites, was followed and hacked to pieces.
On the 10th of August, a party of twenty Indians from the Lower Reserva- tion were hunting in the woods near Forest City, and procured a wagon which one of their number had left the previous autumn with Captain Whitcomb as se- curity for a debt. On Sunday, the 17th of August, when within a few miles of
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Acton, one of the Indians picked up some hens' eggs on the prairie and was about to eat them. His companions protested, saying they belonged to a white man, and from this trifling matter a violent quarred resulted. The one carrying the eggs finally dashed them to the ground. Coming upon an ox a short time later, he shot it dead as vent to his anger.
The quarrel between the four Rice Creek Indians and the rest became so hot that a collision would have taken place had they not separated, the larger company declaring they meant to kill a white man.
Soon after, the four heard the reports of guns from the direction of the larger party. They concluded they were carrying out their threat of killing white people. Two of the Rice Creek Indians insisted that they must do the same, or they would be considered cowards, but the other two opposed. Still disputing, the four pushed on to Acton.
The first house was found unoccupied, but at the second they got into a quarrel with the owner, who drove them out. At the next, they halted and were kindly treated. They were smoking in the most friendly manner when the neighbor who had quareled with them came in with his wife, and the wran- gle was resumed. The result was the Indians fired upon the men, killing the three and the wife. of the neighbor with whom they had first quarreled. The surviving women, who had met with such a narrow escape, sent a boy to Ripley, twelve miles distant, where a meeting was in progress to raise volunteers for the war.
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