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 5
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The Dakotas were the most powerful and popular of all the tribes that oc- cupied the Valley of the Mississippi River in the Sixteenth Century. The Omahas, who spoke a language similar to the Dakotas, occupied at this period the West side of the Missouri River from the Kansas to the James River in Dakota.
The Sioux Indians belonged to the Dakota Nation and were first known to the French in 1640. Hennepin, in 1680, was captured by a band of Sioux In- dians, and was rescued after about six months, at Du Luth, by a French adven- ture. The last battle fought in Iowa by the Indians was betwen a band of the Sioux and the Pottawattamies. One was fought near the Twin Lakes in Cal- houn County, and another on the South Lizard, in Webster County. The Sioux
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were victors in both battles. The various tribes left soon after this for the Western reservations.
Iowa Territory was ceded by Act of Congress in 1834. White settlers were not permitted to occupy any part of the territory without the consent of the Indians, until after the time stipulated in the treaty of purchase for them to vacate. By the terms of the treaty negotiated by Gov. Chambers at Agency City in 1842, the Sac and Fix Indians ceded to the United States the remnant of their lands in Iowa, but retained possession until 1845.
In 1842 an order was issued to build a fort at the junction of the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers. The establishment of the fort was delayed until March, 1843, when Captain Allen was selected to build it. It was called Fora Rac- coon but changed to Fort Des Moineh. The Government established a reserva- tion a mile on each side which was retained until after the fort was abandoned in 1846.
As early as 1690 it was known that lead ore existed in the upper Mississippi Valley. In that year a Miami chief with whom he was trading gave Mr. Parrot a specimen of lead ore, taken from a creek that oflws into the Mississippi which was no doubt "Catfish." The first white man who settled within the limits of Iowa was Julien Dubuque. He was a French Canadian, born in the Province of Quebec, January 10, 1762. He had a good education ; a fine conversationalist and a good writer. He had given special attention to mineralogy and writing. He went to the far West in 1784 when he was 22 years old, settling near Prai- rie du Chien. Dubuque having heard about lead ore existing where Dubuque now stands, determined to procure an interest in the lands if possible. He suc- ceeded in gaining the confidence of the Fox chief "Kettle" and his tribe and exploring the County, found lead ore existing in considerable quantities.
The wife of a prominent Fox warrior named Peosta, had in 1780 discovered lead where Dubuque now stands, and Julien Dubuque induced the Indians to grant him the exclusive right to mine along the river from the mouth of the Little Maquoketa to the Tetes des Morts, a distance of seven leagues, and run- ning Westward about three leagues. In drawing up the paper making this grant, Dubuque had written, "We sell and abandon to Dubuque all the coast and the contents of the mines discovered by Peosta's wife, so that no white man or Indian shall make any pretention to it without the consent of Sienr. Julien Dubuque." The grant was dated Prairie du Chien, September 22, 1788. As soon as he had secured the lease he brought from Prairie du Chien ten Canadians to assist him as overseers, settlers, wood choppers, and boat men. There was a Fcx village near where Dubuque now stands, called the village of Kettle Chief. It consisted of Indian lodges extending back from the river, sufficient to shelter about four hundred people, one hundred cf whom were warriors. Dubuque had secured the friendship of the Indians, who permitted him and his companions to make their home in this village. He employed Indian women and old men of the tribe to work in the mines. He learned the habits, superstitions and traditions of the Fox Indians, and in the course of time acquired great influence over them. They gave him the name of "Little Cloud."
CHAPTER XII.
Dubuque opened farms, built fences, erected houses and horse mills; built smelting furnaces, opened stores, bought furs, and sold goods and Indian trin- kets, carrying on a large business, including the preparation of ore for the mar-
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ket. Twice a year he took a boatload of ore, furs and hides to St. Louis, ex- changing them for goods, money and supplies. He was an accomplished diplo- mat, but not a success as a money maker. After eight years of mining and trading he made an effort to secure a title to his leased lands; the only title he held was a permit to mine, granted by a council of Fox Indians. He now claimed that he had paid for the land in goods and in 1796 he presented to the Spanish Governor of Louisiana a petition asking for a title to the lands. The petition was referred by Gov. Carondelet to Don Andrew Todd, a prominent mer- chant who secured a monopoly of the Indian trade with the tribes of the Miss- issippi River Valley. Todd was requested to examine into Dubuque's petition and report to the Governor. In his report Todd stated that he saw no reason why Dubuque should not be granted his claim, provided he should be prohib- ited from trading with the Indians, except with written permission of Mr. Todd, and upon such terms as he might require. November 10, 1769, Gov. Carondelet granted the petition, endorsing on it these words: "Granted as asked for un- der the restrictions mentioned by the Merchant Don Andrew Todd, in his re- port." Monuments were erected by the Fox chief and Dubuque to mark the boundary on the three sides from the river front, soon after the grant was made. Inasmuch as Spain always recognized the right of the Indians to sell their rights, Dubuque now thought his title was secure. As the years passed he carried on a large trade with August Chonteau of St. Louis, and became heavily indebted to him. In 1804 he conveyed to Chonteau in settlement of his debt an undivided 7-16 of this land, estimated to consist of 73,324 acres. It was also provided that at the death of Dubuque all the remainder of his interests in the lands should succeed to Chonteau or his heirs. In 1807 Chonteau sold one-half of his intrest to John Mullanphy of St. Louis for $15,000. In 1810 Du- buque died of pneumonia after a short illness. His death brought a great change in the mines, the village and the white colony. John T. Smith, a famous Indian fighter and West Pointer, bought an interest in Dubuque's grant, after his death, and took possession of some of the lead works. He attempted to carry on min- ing and smelting but the Indians refused to recognize his title. They claimed that the grant to Dubuque was a permit to him personally and conveyed no absolute title to the lands and could not be used by other parties. The Fox chief gathered his warriors, destroyed the buildings and drove all the whites to the East side of the river.
In 1805, Dubuque and Chonteau filed a claim in the United States Court for title to all the lands which Dubuque had originally leased from the Indians, embracing a tract of nine miles wide, twenty-one miles along the river. For nearly half a century this claim was pending before the various tribunals. Finally by agreement a suit of ejection was commenced against Patrick Ma- Ioney, who held a United States patent to his farm, and judgment was rendered in favor of the defendant. An appeal was taken to the United States Supreme Court in 1853, which affirmed the judgment of the lower court. The Chouteau heirs employed several able attorneys, assisted by Reverdy Johnson, the great Maryland lawyer, while the Dubuque settlers were represented by Calch Cush- ing, of Massachusetts, Judge T. S. Wilson and Platt Smith of Dubuque. It was to the people of Dubuque a very important case and closely contested. The ti- tle to thousands of city lots and farms as well as the lead mines of Dubuque were dependent upon the result. The decision hinged largely upon the legal construction given to the original grant made by the Indian council to Dubuque in 1788. Also on the nature of the Spanish grant made by Gov. Carondelet to
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Dubuque in 1796. The Court held that both grants were in the nature of a lease or permit to mine, and not intended to convey title to the land. During the twenty-two years that Dubuque and his assistants lived in Iowa, from 1788 to 1810, the territory was owned by three differnt nations, viz: Spain, France and the United States. The mines and village which were first named by Du- buque the "Mines of Spain," were after his death called "Dubuque Lead Mines." The burial place of Dubuque was on a high bluff two hundred feet above the river and close to it, near the site of the old Indian village of Kettle Chief. Inscribed on a cedar cross in large letters were "Julien Dubuque, Miner of the Mines of Spain. Died March 24, 1810. Age 45 years and six months." His friend. the Fox chief, was buried near his grave. Fourteen years after the death of Dubuque but little was known of the lead mines, as the Indians had undisputed possession. The next white settlement attempted in the limits of lowa was by Brazil Giard, a French-American, who obtained from the Lieuten- ant Governor of Louisiana in 1795 a grant to a tratt of land in the limits of Clayton County, known as the "Giard Tract." It contained 5,860 acres and was occupied several years. When Louisiana was acquired by the United States a patent was issued to Giard by the Government, which was the first legal title obtained by a white man to lands in the limits of Iowa.
CHAPTER XIII.
October 3, 1803, Congress passed an Act authorizing the President to take posesssion of Louisiana, and establish a temporary Government. March 26, 1804. an Act was passed organizing the Territory of Orleans, which embraced what subsequently became the State of Louisiana, while the remainder of the purchase was made the District of Louisiana, and placed under the jurisdic- tion of the governor of Indian Territory. On the 3rd of March, 1810, it was or- ganized into a separate territory, with Gen. James Wilkinson as Governor. The white population at this date did not exceed 1,000 and the capitol was St. Louis. Charles Floyd, member of an exploring party, died August 20, 1804, and was buried on a Missouri bluff a few miles above Omaha. He was the first white man buried in Iowa soil. A monument was erected over his grave in 1901. It is 100 feet in height and cost $20,000. In the spring of 1805 an explor- ing party was fitted out by the government to explore the new purchase. It consisted of Captain Clark and Lewis. They traveled up the Missouri River and made their way to the Pacific Coast. Their report afforded much valu- able information.
In August another exploring party was organized to explore the upper Miss- issippi River. Z. M. Pike, a brilliant young officer, was placed in command. They ascended the Mississippi River and some of its trhutares untl February 18th, when they turned homewards. The expedition was a success as it ex- plored the Mississippi River to Red Cedar Lake. They reached St. Louis April 30, 1806, while the land was reported very fertile and grasses luxuriant, still, it seemed at that time the impression prevailed that the good land lay along the river, and a few miles West the land was barren and worthless. As late as 1819, Thomas H. Benton, Editor St. Louis Engineer, wrote: "After you get forty or fifty miles West of the Mississippi River the arid plains set in. The country is uninhabitable except upon the border of the rivers and creeks. The Grand Prairies, a plain without wood or water, which extends to the Northwest farther than hunter or traveler have ever been, come down to within a few
.
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miles of St. Charles, and so completely occupies the fork of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers that the woodlands for three hundred miles of each form a skirt of from five to twenty miles wide, and about that distance the prairie actually reaching the river in many places."
When it is seen that a statesman and editor so intelligent and eminent as Thomas H. Benton, as late as 1819, regarded the Northwest prairies covering a large portion of Missouri, lowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, as uninhabitable except along rivers and creeks, it is not strange that the early pioneers, hunters and trappers entertained the same opinion. In 1806 the citi- zens of the Mississippi River Valley were excited by rumor of a scret conspir- acy, said to be organized under the leadership of the late Vice-President of the United States, Aaron Burr, to separate that region from the Union. It was reported that the scheme was to capture the adjacent Spanish Province of Mex- ico, unite them and form a Western Empire.
November 15th the United States District Attorney for Kentucky made for- mal charges in the United States Court against Burr, and followed with a brief statement explaining the texture of the conspiracy. Henry Clay appeared as counsel for Burr and defeated the attempt to have him held for trial. Burr had caused to be built at Marietta, Ohio, ten large beteaux and had collected a great amount of provisions for a voyage. He had secured the co-operation of many prominent men in various parts of the valley, and after the failure to in- dict him, took active steps to carry out his plan. Gen. Wilkinson, who was Governor of Louisiana Territory, was approached and there was evidence that he had for several months possessed some knowledge of the enterprise.
' Captain Tyler, with a force of men and boats, accompanied by Harman Bleumerhassett, a wealthy rish gentleman occupying an island near Marietta, finally began the descent of the Ohio River. Below Louisville they were joined by Burr. The authorites now became alarmed. The situation seemed grave. President Jefferson issued a proclamation warning all citizens against aiding the conspiracy and directing the arrest of all concerned in the unlawful enterprise. Burr and his party were arrested near Natchez, his boats and military supplies seized and he was taken before the Supreme Court and released on bail. The Grand Jury rfused to indict him, and Burr, failing to secure a discharge, escaped. In attempting to make his way by night to Pensacola to find shelter on board a British vessel, he was captured and taken to Richmond, Va. He was there indicted, tried for high treason and acquitted.
The arrest of Burr prostrated the scheme, although there was no doubt several influential men were implicated.
ยท In 1805 Lieut. Pike was sent to locate a fort somewhere between St. Louis and Prairie du Chien and to procure the consent of the Indians. In his report he says: "I have chose a site on a hill forty miles above the View Des Moines Rapid, on the West side of the river. The channel of the river runs on that shore; the hill is about sixty feet perpendicular, nearly level on top." In 1808 Lieut. Kingsley was sent with a company of infantry to make a plat of the ground and erect the fort. The next year it was garrisoned and in honor of the President called Fort Madison. It appears that the Indians did not consent to the erction of the fort, and it was therefore a flagrant violation of the treaty of 1804, by which the United States secured 51,000,000 acres of most valuable lands for almost nothing. It is not strange that the Indians complained of bad faith, and hostiles under the leadership of Black Hawk made an attempt to capture and destroy it. In 1812 this fort was manned by about fifty men, and on
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the 5th of August a band of about two hundred Winnebagos attacked it. Among the Indians was Black Hawk, then a young man. A lively fight ensued, lasting for three days, when the Indians withdrew after having burned several build- ings in the vicinity. In 1813 this fort was again attacked by the Indians, who were defeated, but seven soldiers were killed. In August of that year a large force of Indians laid siege to the fort, entirly surrounding it. The Garrison, under Hamilton, made a brave defense until the provisions were exhausted and they were reduced to the verge of starvation. During the night of September 3rd Hamilton ordered a trench dug from the blockhouse to the river where the boats were lying. There was no prospect of re-inforcements being sent to their relief. Starvation, massacre or escape were the alternatives. They chose the latter; the night was dark and cloudy, with a fierce wind roaring in the forest surrounding the fort. The little garrison crawled on hands and knees along the bottom of the trench in fearful silence, and at midnight entered the boats without alarming the watchful savages. The last man to enter the trench ap- plied a torch to the fort. A moment later the boats pushed out into the rapid current of the Mississippi River, and were soon out of danger. They arrived safely in St. Louis and the fort was never rebuilt. But the name clung to the spot where the ruins of the fort were long visible and a later generation built a city on the historic site, giving it the name of Fort Madison.
CHAPTER XIV.
In 1815 Col. Nichols was sent with the 8th United States Infantry to build a fort on Rock Island. On arriving at the Island, messengers were sent to the chiefs in the vicinity inviting them to meet in council but none of them came. The Indians understood the significance of a fort and garrison and regarded it as unfriendly, but made no resistance. The island had long been a favorite resort of the Indians, who camped among its beautiful groves and paddled their canoes along its rock shores. It was one of the most beautiful places in the Mississippi River Valley and they were reluctant to see it occupied by a mil- itary force of the whites. Gen. Smith was now in command and the erection of the fort was immediately commenced. When completed it was 400 feet square, the lower part of rock and the upper part of heavy timber. Col. Daven- port was the contractor. He made his permanent home on the island.
In 1817 Fort Armstrong was completed and occupied by troops until 1836, when it was evacuated. Different attempts were made to enter the lands on the island, but the government held it as a reserve, except the tract occupied by Col. Davenport and D. B. Sears, on which they had made valuable improvements. They were by special act of Congress allowed to enter their lands. Long litiga- tion followed, but finally the government purchased a number of the claims, others were abandoned, and in 1862 the Attorney General held the island was a military reservation. Over $3,000,000 had been spent in improving the island.
In 1811 a succession of earthquakes shook the Mississippi River Valley and caused great alarm. The point where several shocks were felt was in the vi- cinity of New Madrid, in the Southeast corner of what is now the State of Mis- souri. The convulsion was so great that the inner section of land sunk. The channel of the river was changed, lakes and swamps disappeared and the low lands were elevated into hills. The waters of the Mississippi River near New Madrid were rolled up stream with great force, for nearly ten miles, causing destruction of life and property. It was during the continuance of these con-
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vulsiens that the first steamboat that navigated a Western river was making its way cautiously down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Its name was the Orleans of four hundred tons, commanded by Capt. Roosevelt. It was built at Pittsburg. The trip was made to New Orleans in good shape, and steamboat navigation was established on Western rivers.
June 4th, 1812, the Territory of Orleans was admitted into the Union as a State, under the name of Louisiana. During the war of 1812 the Mississippi Valley suffered but little. Col. Nichols, commander of the British fleet in 1814, attempted to revive the scheme for separating that region from the Union. He issued a proclamation in the name of the King of Great Britain to the citizens of Louisiana, calling upon the French, Spaniards, English, Indians and native Louisianians to rally to his standard and emancipate themselves from a usurp- ing, weak and faithless government. He declared that he had come with a fine train of artillery, experienced, British officers and a large body of Indian warriors. supported by a British and Spanish fleet. His avowed object was to put an end to the usurpation of the United States and restore the country to its lawful owners. To the Indians he offered a bounty of ten dollars for every scalp taken from the enemy. His address was distributed throughout the valley in the hope that the people of English, Spanish and French birth might be persuaded to conspire against the government of the United States and aid Great Britain in her attempt to secure the Mississippi River Valley. The response given to this appeal was manifested a few months later, when the loyal pioneers flocked to New Orleans with their rifles and met the English invaders on the field of battle. More than twenty-five hundred of Wellington's veterans fell before unerring aim of the sturdy, loyal backwoodsmen under General Jackson.
At the beginning of the war of 1812 the entire population of the Northwest, embracing the Territories of Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, was estimated at forty thousand. The first steamboat that ascended the Mississippi River to the limits of Iowa was the Grand Pike. It reached St. Louis August 2d, 1817. It was commanded by Captain Reed. In 1818 Missouri made application for admission as a State. When the bill was introduced in Congress, Mr. Talmage of New York offered the following proviso: "Provided that the further intro- duction of slavery or involuntary servitude be prohibited, except in punishment for crime, when the party shall have been duly convicted; and that all children born within the said State after the admission thereof, shall be free at the age of twenty years." After a brief discussion the proviso was adopted in the House by a vote of 73 to 67. This was the beginning of the great conflict between freedom and slavery in the new States and Territories, which forty years later brought on the greatest Civil War known to the civilized world. The Senate favored the admission of Missouri as a slave State and the House insisted on the exclusion of slavery. The remarkable influence and eloquence of Henry Clay finally persuaded a majority of the members to admit Missouri as a slave State, upon the conditions that slavery should forever be excluded from that portion of the Louisiana Purchase lying north of Lat. 36 deg. 30 min. excepting Missouri. In defining the Northern boundary of Missouri the follow- ing language was employed: "From the point aforesaid North along said meridian line to the intersection of the parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of the River Des Moines, making the said line to correspond with the Indian boundary line; then East from the point of intersection last aforesaid
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along said parallel of latitude, to the middle of the channel to the main part of said River Des Moines, to the mouth of the same, where it empties into the Mississippi River, then due East to the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi River.
Some years later a serious conflict arose between the States, Missouri contending that it referred to certain ripples in the River Des Moines, which would carry the same line some thirty miles North. Iowa held that the rapids in the Mississippi River called by the early French explorers "La Rapids de la River Des Moines" was the point meant.
In 1819 the first steamboat undertook to ascend the ever shifting channel of the Missouri River.
CHAPTER XV.
In 1812, the trading house of the American Fur Company, was destroyed by fire, and Colonel Johnson, its manager, reported the loss on the building and furs at $5,500. In 1820 Le Moliere, another French trader, established a trading post six miles above the mouth of the Des Moines River. The same year Dr. Muir, a surgeon in the United States Army, was with a command stationed at Fort Edwards, now Warsaw, Ill. He crossed the river and built a cabin where Keokuk now stands. He had married a beautiful and intelligent Indian girl of the Sac nation.
Sonie years later an order was issued by the War Department requiring officers of the army at the frontier posts to abandon their Indian wives. Dr. Muir refused to desert his wife and resigned his commission. He was a Scotchman and a graduate of Edinburg University. He lived happily with his wife in their humble home until 1832, when he died suddenly of cholera, leaving a widow and five children destitute, as he had lost his property in litigation.
Il: 1830 the first school was established, taught by Berryman Jennings, and the first white child, Eleanor Galland, was born within the limits of Iowa at Keokuk. In his book Dr. Galland says: "As we passed up the river we saw the ruins of old Fort Madison, about ten miles above the rapids, near a sand bluff rising perpendicular from the water's edge. On the second day our boat reached Flint Hill, an Indian village of the Fox tribe which stood at the mouth ot Flint Creek; its chief was Tiema. In 1825 I took a trip, with an ox team and Indian guide up the river. We passed Wapello's village and crossed the Des Moines River on a raft. We ascended the highlands above Grave Yard Bluff, which was a landmark for the Indians. In the fall of 1825 I settled at Quash- qua we-Village, where my father-in-law, Capt. James White, had purchased the old trading house and a tract of land adjacent, which was an old Spanish grant made to Monsieur Julien, on which he lived in 1805. Capt. White made his first trip on the steamer Mandan, which was the first that came to the foot of the rapids.
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