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 16
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"Godfrey's looks and honest manner led the court to think that possibly he was not as 'black' as painted. His voice was soft, his face pleasing, and he created much sympathy for himself. It was impossible to find anyone who had actually seen hini kill a white person. His case puzzled the court, but he was finally found not guilty of the first specification, but guilty of the charge and second specification, and sentenced to be hanged. Accompanying the sentence was a recommendation of a commutation of punishment to imprisonment for ten years. This was granted by the President of the United States.
"Godfrey possessed an extraordinary memory and gave great aid in the trial of the other prisoners. Most of these virtually admitted their guilt, though they tried to extenuate what they had done.
"The most terrible murderer among the lot was Cut Nose. He was the leader in most of the massacres and foremost in outrages. At Beaver Creek settlement, a party of settlers hurriedly prepared for flight. In the wagon
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huddled a number of helpless women and children, who gathered their shawls about them and covered their heads on the approach of the Indians. Two of these held the horses while Cut Nose leaped into the wagon and tomahawked eleven, most of them children. An infant was then snatched from its mother's arms and riveted to the fence with a bolt taken from the wagon. When the infant had expired the mother was mutilated and killed."
More than four hundred prisoners were tried, of which three hundred and three were sentenced to death and eighteen to imprisonment. The records of the testimony and sentences of the Indians were sent to President Lincoln, who ordered that thirty-eight should be executed on the 26th of February, 1863.
CHAPTER XLVI.
The condemned were treated with the utmost consideration. They were allowed to select their spiritual advisers, to bid good-bye to their families, and every possible indulgence was shown to them. Some displayed a stoical indif- ference to their awful situation, while others were affected to tears.
The following details of the last scenes are from the St. Paul Press:
"Late on Thursday night, in company with Lieutenant Colonel Marshall, the reporter visited the building occupied by the doomed Indians. They were quartered on the ground floor of the three-story stone building erected by the late General Leech.
"They were all fastened to the floor by chains, two by two. Some were sitting up, smoking and conversing, while others were reclining, covered with blankets, and apparently asleep. The half-breeds and one or two others only were dres~od in citizens' clothes. The rest wore the breech clont, leggings and blankets, and not a few were adorned with paint. The majority of them were young men, though several were quite old and gray-headed, ranging perhaps toward seventy. One was quite a youth, not over sixteen. They all appeared cheerful and contented, and scarcely to reflect on the certain doom that awaited them. To the gazers, the recollection of how short a time since they had been engaged in the diabolical work of murdering indiscriminately both young and old, sparing neither sex nor condition, sent a thrill of horror through the veins. Now they were perfectly harmless, and looked as innocent as children. They smiled at your entrance, and held out their hands to be shaken, which yet appeared to be gory with the blood of babes. Oh, Treachery, thy name is Dakota!
"Father Ravoux spent the whole night among the doomed ones, talking with them concerning their fate, and endeavoring to impress upon them a serious view of the subject. He met with some success and during the night several were baptized and received the communion of the church.
"At daylight the reporter was there again. The good man, Father Ravoux, was still with them, also Rev. Dr. Williamson, and whenever either of these worthy men addressed them they were listened to with marked attention. The doomed ones wished it to be known to their friends, and particularly their wives and children, how cheerful and happy they all had died, exhibiting no fear of this dread event. To the skeptical it appeared not as an evidence of Christian faith, but a steadfast adherence to their heathen superstitions.
"They shook hands with the officers who came in among them, bidding them good-bye as if they were going on a long and pleasant journey. They had added some fresh streaks of vermillion and ultramarine to their counten-
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ances as their fancy suggested, evidently intending to fix themselves off as gayly as possible for the coming exhibition. They commenced singing their death song, Tazoo leading, and nearly all joining. It was wonderfully exciting.
"At half past seven all persons were excluded from the room except those necessary to help prepare the prisoners for their doom. Under the superin- tendence of Major Brown and Captain Redfield their irons were knocked off, and one by one they were tied by cords, their elbows being pinioned behind and the wrists in front, but about six inches apart. This operation occupied until about nine o'clock. In the meantime the scene was much enlivened by their songs and conversation, keeping up the most cheerful appearance. As they were being pinioned, they went around the room shaking hands with the soldiers and reporters, bidding them 'good-bye,' etc. White Dog requested not to be tied and said that he could keep his hands down; but, of course, his request could not be complied with. He said that Little Crow, Young Six, and Big Eagle's brother got them into the war, and now he and others are to die for it. After all were property fastened they stood up in a row around the room, and another exciting death song was sung. They then sat down very quietly and commenced smoking again. Father Ravoux came in, and after addressing them a few moments, knelt in prayer, reading from a prayer book in the Dakota language, which a portion of the condemned repeated after him. During this ceremony nearly all paid the most strict attention, and several were affected even to tears. He then addressed them again, first in Dakota, then in French, which was interpreted by Baptiste Campbell, one of the condemned half-breeds. The caps were then put on their heads. These were made of white muslin, taken from the Indians when their camps were captured, and which had formed part of the spoils they had taken from the murdered traders. They were made long and looked like a meal sack, but being rolled up, only came down to the forchead and allowed their painted faces yet to be seen.
"They received these evidences of their near approach to death with evident dislike. When they had been adjusted on one or two, they looked around on the others who had not yet received them with an appearance of shame. Chains and cords had not moved them-these were not considered dishonorable- but this covering of the head with a white cap was humiliating. There was no more singing and but little conversation now. All sat around the room, most of them in a crouched position, awaiting their doom in silence, or listening to the remarks of Father Ravoux, who still addressed them. Once in a while they brought their small looking glasses before their faces to see that their countenances yet preserved the proper modicum of paint. The three half-breeds were the most affected of all, and their dejection of countenance was truly piti- ful to behold.
"At precisely ten o'clock the condemned were marshalled in a procession, and headed by Captain Redfield, marched out into the street and directly across through files of soldiers to the scaffold which had been erected in front, and were delivered to the officer of the day, Captain Burt. They went eagerly and cheerfully, even crowding and jostling each other to be ahead, just like a lot of hungry boarders rushing to dinner in a hotel. The soldiers who were on guard in their quarters stacked arms and followed them, and they, in turn, were followed by the clergy, reporters, etc.
"As they commenced the ascent of the scaffold the death song was again started, and when they had all got up the noise they made was truly hideous.
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It seemed as if pandemonium had broken loose. It had a wonderful effect in keeping up their courage. One young fellow, who had been given a cigar by one of the reporters just before marching from their quarters, was smoking it on the stand, puffing away very coolly during the intervals of the hideous 'Hi-yi-yi, hi-vi-vi,' and even after the cap was drawn down over his face he managed to get it over his mouth and smoked. Another was smoking his pipe. The noose having been promptly adjusted over the necks of each by Captain Libby, all was ready for the fatal signal.
"The scene at this juncture was one of awful interest. A painful and breathless suspense held the vast crowd, which had assembled from all quarters to witness the execution.
"Three slow, measured and distinct beats on the drum by Major Brown, who had been announced as signal officer, and the rope was cut by Mr. Duly (the same who killed Lean Bear, and whose family were attacked), the scaffold fell, and thirty-seven lifeless bodies were left dangling between heaven and earth. One of the ropes was broken and the body of Rattling Runner fell to the ground. The neck had probably been broken, as but little signs of life were observed; but he was immediately hung up again. While the signal beat was being given, numbers were seen to clasp the hands of their neighbors, which, in several instances, continued to be clasped till the bodies were cut down.
"As the platform fell there was one not loud but prolonged cheer from the soldiery and citizens who were spectators, and then all were quiet and earnest witnesses of the scene. For so many, there was little suffering; the necks of all, or nearly all, were evidently dislocated by the fall and the after-struggling was slight. The scaffold fell ar a quarter past ten o'clock, and in twenty minutes the bodies had all been examined by Surgeons Le Boutillier, Sheardown, Finch, Clark and others, and life pronounced extinct.
"The bodies were then cut down, placed in four army wagons and, attended by Company K as a burial party, and under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Marshall, were taken to the grave prepared for them among the willows on the sand bar nearly in front of the town. They were all deposited in one grave thirty feet in length by twelve feet in width, and four deep, being laid on the bottom in two rows, with their feet together and their heads to the ouside. They were simply covered with their blankets and the earth thrown over them. The other condemned Indians were kept close in their Quarters, where they were chained and not permitted to witness the execution."
They were afterwards transferred to Davenport, where they were impris- oned for a short time, when the magninimity of President Lincoln prevailed over his better judgement, and he liberated them, sending them up the Missouri River, where those same bloodthirsty scoundrels, sixteen years later, caused the masacre of Custer and his brave soldiers. This is one instance where our great President Lincoln seasoned justice, too highly, with mercy.
CHAPTER XIVII.
On the 28th day of June, 1877, the Republican State Convention met at Des Moines and nominated John H. Gear for Governor.
A resolution expressing confidence in the ability and integrity of President Hayes and approving of his southern policy was defeated.
The Greenback party held its State Convention at Des Moines July 12th,
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Dominating for Governor, D. P. Stubbs. Its platform reaffirmed previous plat- forms, and also the prohibitory liquor law.
The Democratic party held its State Convention at Marshalltown on the 20th of August and placed in nomination for Governor John P. Irish.
The two declarations were in favor of greenbacks in place of National Bank bills, indorsement of the policy of the President in the Southern States, the equal taxation of every species of property according to its value, and equal protection of labor and capital.
The State Temperance Convention met at Oskaloosa on the 30th of August and nominated Elias Jessup for Governor, making no other nominations. It passed a large number of resolutions in favor of promoting temperance by State and National legislation, and indorsed woman suffrage.
The election resulted in the choice of the entire Republican ticket by a plurality of about 42,000.
The annual convention of the Woman's Suffrage Society was held in Des Meines on the 24th of October. Among the resolutions adopted were the following:
"Whereas, the ballot is necessary to uproot many evils which afflict society; and, whereas, women are deprived of this potent, silent power; therefore, Resolved, That it is not the duty of women to contribute to the support of the clergy who oppose their enfranchisement.
Whereas, Congress has enfranchised the negro, alien and ex-rebel; and, Whereas, Women are as intelligent as the aforesaid classes; therefore, Resolved, That the citizens of the State unite in a petition to Congress for a sixteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States, giving women also the ballot upon equal terms with men."
The annual session of the State Grange was held at Des Moines, beginning on the 11th of October and continuing four days. Among the resolutions passed were the following:
Resolved, That the State Grange favors the repeal of the resumption act and the remonetization of silver and the repeal of the National Bank act, and asks the General Assembly to memorialize Congress to shape the financial policy of the country in accordance with this resolution. We are in favor of the following changes in our laws: To abolish the grand jury, to compel litigants to give security for cost, to tax the whole cost of jury to the losing party, to fix by law the fee of attorneys appointed by the court to defend criminals, to regulate the compensation of shorthand reporters, to abolish the office of County Superintendent, to compel sheriffs to report their fees as other county officers.
On the 28th of August, 1877, the country in the vicinity of Des Moines was visited by one of the heaviest rainfalls ever experienced in Iowa. It com- menced about 3 o'clock in the morning. The darkness was intense and the rain came down in torrents. Nine miles east of Des Moines the Rock Island railroad crosses Little Four Mile Creek, ordinarily a small stream. At the railroad bridge the banks are some thirty feet above the bed of the creek. In this vicinity their seemed to have been a cloudburst. The entire surface of the prairie was covered by the flood. Every ravine was filled with a torrent. The continuous roar of thunder, blinding flashes of lightning, the dense darkness and the rushing water combined to make the night hideous. The mail and passenger train from Chicago which was due at Des Moines at half past three in the morning was coming at a speed of thirty miles an hour. It consisted of
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a baggage car, a mail car, one of Barnum's advertising cars, a smoker, two. passenger coaches and a sleeper. The engineer, Jack Rakestraw, was a veteran in the service familiar with the route, but evidently had no thought of danger on this part of the line. Suddenly the headlight flashed upon a wild, roaring torrent carrying trees and floodwood on its angry current. There was no time for thought. The train was on the very brink of the flood and instantly took a leap into the chasm. The engineer was crushed beneath the locomotive as it struck the opposite shore and turned over, sinking deep into the mud and water. Abranı Trucks, the fireman, was thrown into the flood on the west shore. When he recovered consciousness he saw the train crushed and piled in an awful wreck. Dazed and helpless the fireman stood for a moment; then realizing that he was alone on the west shore and could not cross and help the wounded and drowning, or to give the alarm to any of the inhabitants in the vicinity, he started in the darkness and through the flooded country for Des Moines to procure help. In the meantime the passengers in the sleepers had been rudely thrown from their berths by the shock of the wreck, and hapily found the car standing safely on the track on the very brink of the chasm. Some ran back to Altoona, about two miles distant, while others made desperate and heroic efforts to drag the crushed and drowning passengers from the wreck.
Every effort possible was made to extricate groaning and shrieking women, children and men from where they were held in the vice-like grip of broken and twisted iron and timbers of the telescoped wrecks of cars. But it was not until a wrecking train arrived two hours after the ruin was wrought that all of the victims were extricated from the piles of ruins. Seventeen lifeless forms were placed on the banks of the creek. Thirty-eight other passengers of the ill-fated train were crushed, bruised or mangled in various degrees, three of whom died. Many were maimed or crippled for life. The bridge had gone down in the flood before the train reached the creek and two other railroad bridges between that and Des Moines were swept away by the same flood, so that the train was doomed to destruction in any event.
The amount of public lands granted and certified to the State for various purposes, up to 1878, was more than 8,000,000 acres, or nearly one-fourth of the entire area of the State. Of this amount 4,400,000 acres were granted to aid in building railroads and in improving the navigation of the Des Moines River. One milliam five hundred and fifty thousand acres had been granted for the support of the public schools; 204,000 acres for the State Agricultural College; 1,570,000 acres of swamp land.
The report of the Auditor of State for the year ending November 1st, 1877, shows some interesting facts:
The number of cattle assessed was 1,452,546, valued at $14,898,841; number of swine over six months, 1,645,708, value, $3,899.301. The number of horses was 659,385, valued at $20,100,263; mules, 42,877, value, $1,670,154. The loss to farmers of swine from cholera this year was reported at 3,500,000, or nearly as much as the total value of those remaining. The number of sheep in the State in 1877 was but 318,439, showing a decrease in the ten years from 1867 of 1,197,787, which was claimed to arise largely from the severe losses by dogs, rendering sheep raising so hazardous as to be unprofitable.
In 1881 there was living on the East side of the Des Moines River in Boone County, near the track of the Northwestern Railway, the widow of Mr. Shelly, who had been killed in a railway wreck. Her eldest daughter, Kate,
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was about fifteen years of age. On the night of the 6th of July a terrific storm of wind and rain swept over that region. Honey Creek, ordinarily a small stream coming over the prairie south and west of the town of Boone, winds its way through the forest in a westerly direction, emptying into the Des Moines River not far from the railroad bridge which was first built across the river near the coal town of Moingona. The banks of the river are quite high. The grade of the railroad, down the valley of Honey Creek, descends rapidly and not far from the Shelly cabin the track crosses the creek.
On this night the members of the Shelly family were . aroused from their sleep by the roaring torrent of Honey Creek, which was rushing by the cabin with the force and volume of a small river. Upon striking a light they saw that it was about time for a freight train to pass. Suddenly they heard the rumble of the train and then a fearful crash of timbers and a wild cry for help. They realized at once that the train had gone down into the flood with the wreck of the bridge spanning the creek near the cabin. Lighting a lantern Kate started in the direction of the bridge with the fierce storm beating in her face. The darkness was so great that' she could see nothing, but guided by the noise of the roaring torrent she reached the bridge. Where the flood was roaring she soon discovered the wreck of the train, which had gone down with the bridge, and heard the shout of the engineer, who was clinging to a limb of a projecting tree which had been partly uprooted by the flood. He was the sole survivor and it was impossible for Kate to cross to his aid, but he assured her that he was out of danger. Both knew that the night express from the west would soon be due and realized the terrible fate that awaited it unless warned of the fallen bridge. The engineer could not cross the raging flood to go on his mission, and so brave Kate Shelly hesitated not a moment, but turned her face towards the river. The fierce wind and driving rain beat in her face and nearly carried her off her feet. The lantern was soon extinguished. It was a mile through the dense forest to the river, with a long, high railroad bridge to cross before she could reach the Moingona telegraph office where warning could be sent to the approaching train. Hurrying on with all the strength she could summon, she at last reached the railroad bridge, four hundred feet in length and fifty feet above the river. The tempest was now at its worst; there was no floor on the. bridge, the rails resting on the cross ties. It was impossible for the girl to stand at that height against the fierce gale that swept over it, and on her hands and knees, and with the wild gale beating in her face, she slowly made her way over the ties until the farther shore was reached. Lacerated and exhausted as she was, sulficient strength remained to enable her to reach the telegraph office, half a mile farther, and give the alarm. Almost overcome by the unparalleled exertions, she had scarcely strength to rouse the agent and tell him of the impending danger before she sank helpless and fainting. Instantly a message flashed over the wire carrying warning to the approaching train, which was fortunately reached barely in time to avert a greater horror than has ever yet cvertaken an Jowa railroad. As the train halted at the little station, the last before the wrecked bridge, the passengers, learning of their narrow escape from destruction, hastily gathered about the brave little Irish girl, attempting to express some measure of their gratitude to her for saving them from a fate too awful to contemplate. As her heroic deed became known through the press, the story of that fearful night adventure was told in every portion of the country and the name of Kate Shelly became as widely known as that of any famous
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woman of modern times. The Northwestern railroad made her a small gift in acknowledgment of her action. The lowa Legislature, at the session in 1882, made an appropriate recognition of the self-sacrificing efforts of the obscure little heroine by authorizing the Senator and Representative of Boone County, to- gether with the Governor of the State, to procure and present to the brave girl a gold medal with an inscription commemorating the act, with two hundred dollars in money. The Legislature also placed on record a vote of thanks for her heroic and humane deed.
CHAPTER XLVIII. -
A contest had, for many years, been going on between the farmers of the West and one Greene, who had procured a patent on a method of making wells by driving an iron tube into the earth. By virtue of his patent he and his associates claimed the right to collect a royalty of ten dollars from every person in the United States who used a well made by driving a tube into the ground. This kind of well had been in use in various parts of the country for a gener- ation. Encouraged by some of the early decisions of the court, in granting the broad claims to the first patentees of barbed wire, the Greene combination saw an immense fortune for them if a similar decision could be obtained for the drive well patents. With the aid of good lawyers such a decision was obtained and the crusade against the users of drive wells was inaugurated. Many well owners paid the demand rather than be forced into expensive litigation. Others took counsel and formed associations similar to the one which in lowa was fighting the barbed wire battles. Then began one of the most determined conflicts in the courts known in the history of litigation in the State. An asso- ciation of farmers in Buchanan, Black Hawk, Butler and Fayette Counties was organized to carry on the litigation and meet the expenses. A similar one had been organized in New Jersey which was making a vigorous fight. The Iowa farmers employed Jed Lake, a talented lawyer and vigorous fighter, to defend them against the Greene combination.
In May, 1883, in a case tried in the United States District Court of lowa, before Judges Shiras and Love, the court held that the patent of Greene was void on two grounds. First, that Greene had slept upon his rights in that he did not apply for a patent until the device had for a long time been before the public. Second, that a fatal defect in his patent was found in the fact that the reissue embraced an important principle not found in the original application for a patent and was consequently void. This was a most sweeping decision and left the patent combination no ground to stand upon. The well owners over the entire country at once refused to pay claims and the Greene combination had but one hope of continuing the extortions so long practiced by threats and intimidation. The case was taken to the United States Supreme Court in the hope that this decision would be reversed or that the farmers would be unable to continne the expensive litigation. One hundred and seventy-five suits had been brought against the farmers in the four counties mentioned, and one hundred and twenty of them had been defended by Lake and Harmon for the association. The money was raised and the cases were ably presented in the Supreme Court. In 1887 the final decision was rendered in which the decision of the United States District Court was affirmed and the so-called patents declared invalid.
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