USA > Iowa > Des Moines County > The history of Des Moines county, Iowa, containing a history of the country, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers > Part 41
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93
" But for many years before they left Iowa, they lived together, and were considered one people (though they kept up some enstoms among themselves, calculated to maintain a separate name and language).
" The Foxes first moved to the West, and settled in the vicinity of Green Bay. on Lake Michigan. But they had become involved in wars with the French and neighboring tribes, and were so much reduced in numbers that they were unable to sustain themselves against their hostile neighbors.
" The Sacs had been engaged in a war with the Iroquois (or Six Nations), who occupied the country which now composes the State of New York, and had become so weak that they were forced to leave their old hunting-grounds and move to the West. They found the Foxes, their old neighbors, like themselves, reduced in numbers by the misfortunes of war, and from a matter of necessity as well as sympathy, they united their fortunes together and became as one people, and as such remained so long as they lived within the limits of Iowa, and probably will so long as they remain a nation. The date of their emigration from the St. Lawrence is not definitely known. Father Hennepin speaks of the Fox Indians being at Green Bay in 1680, which at that time was called the Bay of Puants.
" After the union of the Sacs and Foxes at Green Bay, and when their nation had become powerful, they crossed over and extended their hunting- grounds west to the Mississippi, and, uniting with other tribes, began to act on the offensive.
" All the valley from Rock River to the Ohio, on the east of the Mis- sissippi, and on the west to the Des Moines River was inhabited by a numer- ons and warlike nation of Indians called the Minneways, signifying . men.' This great nation was divided into different bands known by various names (such as the Hlinois, Cahokins, Kaskaskins, Peorias, etc.), and occupied sepa- rate parts of the valley. This nation had long been prosperons and powerful, and feared and dreaded by other nations: but a circumstance happened which brought the vengeance of their neighbors upon them, and they in their turn were humbled.
" Pontiac, a Sac chief, very much beloved and respected by his people, had been wantonly murdered by some of the Minneways. This act aroused the anger of the Sac and Fox nations, and, forming an alliance with other tribes, the commenced a fierce and bloody war against the different bands of the Min- neways. This war was continned till that great nation was nearly destroyed, and their hunting-grounds possessed by their enemies.
" At the time the United States made the Louisiana Purchase, the Sac and Fox nations were in possession of most of the State of Illinois, and nearly all the country west of the Mississippi, between the Upper Iowa River and the Jeffreon
361
HISTORY OF DES MOINES COUNTY.
(in Missouri) west to the Missouri River. The Saes had four large villages where most of them resided : one at the head of the Des Moines rapids, near where Montrose is now located, which consisted of thirteen lodges ; the second village was on the east shore of the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Hender- son River, about half way between Burlington and Oquawka ; the third village was located on Rock River, about three miles from the Mississippi, which was their largest and principal village ; the other was on the west side of the river, near the mouth of the Upper Iowa. The Foxes (or Reynards) had three vil- lages : one on the west side of the Mississippi, six miles above the rapids of Rock River; the second, 'twelve miles in the rear of the lead mines at Du Buque,' and the other on Turkey River.
" The Iowas, who may be regarded as a band of the Sacs and Foxes, at this time had one village near the mouth of the lower Iowa River, and another on the north side of the Des Moines, near where is now located the town of Iowaville.
" These Indians had their separate villages and different chiefs ; but they occupied in common the same hunting-grounds, were united in their wars and alliances, and the Sacs, Foxes and Iowas were generally regarded as one nation.
." It appears that the Iowas at one time were identified with the Sacs, who lived on Rock River; but, from some cause, at period not definitely known, there were eight families who left that village and started out as a band by them- selves, and for a long time ' they recognized eight leading families' in their band. 'These clans bear the title or name of the particular animal or bird from which they are supposed to have sprung.' And they were known as the Eagle, the Pigeon, the Wolf, the Bear, the Elk, the Beaver, the Buffalo and the Snake families.
" These families were known severally in the tribe by the peculiar manner in which they cut their hair. The Eagle family was marked by two locks of hair on the front part of the head, and one on the back-left part. The Wolf family had scattered bunches of hair left, representing islands, whence their families were supposed to have sprung. The Bear family left one side of the hair of the head to grow much longer than the other. The Buffalo family left a strip of hair long from the front to the rear part of the head, with two bunches on each side to represent horns." The other families, with their peculiar bodies. were lost or had become extinct long before they left Iowa.
" In 1830, and for many years after, the Iowas were estimated at about 1,100 souls : but in 1848, they were stated to be a fraction under 750; and in 1852, the Sacs only numbered about 1,300, and the Foxes about 700, which indicates that this once powerful nation will soon become extinct. When the Iowas left their village on the Des Moines, they 'ascended the Missouri River to a point of land formed by a small stream on its east shore, called by the Indians Fish Creek, which flows in from the direction of, and not far from, the celebrated Red Pipestone Quarry, many hundred miles from their former vil- lage. The nation composed of the Sacs, Foxes and Iowas, and particularly those about Rock River, raised large quantities of corn, beans and melons- more than they wanted for their own use-and frequently sold large quantities to the traders : and probably cultivated the soil to a greater extent than any other Indians in the West. At this time, besides the Indian population. many portions of Iowa had been traversed by the French, who had penetrated the wilderness either in the pursuit of mineral or to carry on a trade with the Indians. The history of these operations is obscure and but little known.
362
HISTORY OF DES MOINES COUNTY.
They must have carried on quite an extensive business in the valley of the Des Moines ; for Gen. Pike, on his map of the Mississippi Valley, published with the report of his tour up the river in 1805, lays down four forts on the Des Moines River-Fort Crawford on the south side, a short distance below, where the town of Portland, Van Buren County, has been laid out; Fort Gelaspy. nearly opposite to Iowaville: Fort St. Thomas, very near, if not on the very spot where the town of Chillicothe is now located ; and another fort a short distance below, on the north side of the river. And there were, long after this country was settled by the whites, many indications to be seen of settle- ments having been made by other people than the Indians along the banks of this beautiful river."
MAJ. BEACH'S INDIAN PAPERS.
Although it is not, properly speaking, a part of the history of Des Moines County, we here insert a record of the final disposition of the Sacs and Foxes while they remained in Iowa. Without these pages, the preceding scraps of personal history would be imperfect, and, as this work is designed to preserve for future reference matters which will become of importance as time progresses, we feel justified in inserting the following sketch of the last days of the tribes which once made Des Moines County their stamping-grounds. Maj. Beach. second and last Indian Agent for the Sacs and Foxes in Iowa. left a brief history of the origin of the Agency and his life there. But one copy of that record is extant, and the writer had the pleasure of making public, for the first time, the authentic account referred to. The Major, just before his death, wrote :
"The war of 1812 resulted in a treaty which left the Indians no further claim to any territory east of the Mississippi, and even to a strip in Eastern lowa. A later treaty, in 1837, increased the extent of the cession to a line through Iowaville, north and south. There was a reservation left for the Powe- shiek band of Foxes, on or near the lowa River, the purchase of which was the object of a treaty made in the fall of 1836, on a spot now within the city of Davenport, but then belonging to the famous half-blood, Antoine Leclaire. Iowa was then attached. for Goverment purposes, to Wisconsin, and its Gov- ernor, the late Henry Dodge, was the Commissioner to negotiate the treaty, and the late Gov. Grimes, then a new settler, was the Secretary. This treaty is referred for the sake of an incident which shows that, whether common or not to the . Lo' family in general, the Sacs and Foxes, at least, possessed an honorable side to their character.
" The country around was already quite thickly settled, and the Indians could easily have procured an unlimited supply of whisky. But Gov. Dodge, in his opening speech, had impressed upon them the necessity of strict sobriety during the negotiations, and had expressed a hope that his advice would be heeded. Keokuk and the other chiefs, in reply, had said that their .father's talk abont fire-water was good, and had given their word that none should be allowed among them during the proceedings. Immediately the council closed, they appointed a sufficient guard of the most reliable braves to prevent the introduc- tion or use of liquor, at whatever cost. In fact, the very bluest blood of the tribe was selected for the duty, and each one was instructed to carry a desig- nated badge of his authority.
" Before the conclusion of the treaty, a Sunday intervened ,and nearly all of the Indians assembled at Rock Island, at the trading-post. Meanwhile, a steam- boat came along and tied up at the bank. She was crowded with passengers,
363
HISTORY OF DES MOINES COUNTY.
who were excited at the sight of so many savages. Black Hawk, who was con-
spicuous, was soon recognized, and became the chief object of interest. A passenger stepped ashore and took the great brave by the hand and led him on board the boat, his wish being to invite him to a friendly glass at the bar. But Black Hawk, whether influenced by a sense of personal honor or by the pres- ence of the police, would not indulge, and shortly afterward went ashore. Next, the boat began to push off, and Black Hawk's friend, anxious not to be disappointed of his social design, had already procured and filled a bottle with liquor. He leaned over the guards of the boat and stood reaching the bottle toward the Indian. One of the Indian police, with quiet dignity, took the bottle, and a smile of satisfaction diffused itself over the donor's face. But that smile speedily changed to a very different look when the young brave hurled the bottle upon the rocks at his feet, and dashed it into countless atoms. The poor white man was glad to shrink away as the stentorian shout which followed sounded in his ears, a shout in which it was hard to determine whether the exulting whoop of the Indians or the no less vigorous and derisive laughter of the boat's company predominated.
" Gen. Street, in the fall of 1837, as Agent of the Sacs and Foxes, was ordered to take a party of about thirty of the chiefs and head Indians to Wash- ington. Wapello was accompanied by his wife and son, and there may have been three women in the party. Maj. Beach was with the company during a portion of the trip. At Boston they were a novelty, and were received with great attention and kindness. The military were ordered out to escort the line of carriages and clear the streets of the throngs which filled the way. Black Hawk and his two sons, splendid specimens of manly beauty and symmetry of form, were the most noticed by the people, their recent fame as warriors being yet fresh in the popular minds. The party was received with all due courtesy in old Faneuil Hall by the Mayor and city government, and welcomed to the city. On the succeeding day, the Governor, the Hon. Edward Everett, received them in the State-house, on behalf of the State. This ceremony was held in the spacious Hall of Representatives, every inch of which was jammed with human- ity. After the Governor had ended his eloquent and appropriate address of welcome, it devolved upon the chiefs to reply, and Appanoose, in his turn, as, at the conclusion of his speech, he advanced to grasp the Governor's hand, said : 'It is a great day that the sun shines upon when two such great chiefs take each other by the hand !' The Governor, with a nod of approbation, con- trolled his facial muscles in most courtly gravity ; but the way ' the house came down' was a caution, and Appanoose doubtless considered the applause the Yankee way of greeting his own fine speech.
" There were two theaters then in Boston, and a struggle ensued between them to obtain the presence of the Indians, in order to draw houses. At the Tremont, the aristocratic and fashionable one, the famous tragedian, Forrest, was filling an engagement. His great play, in which he acted the part of a gladiator, and always drew his largest audiences, had not yet come off, and the manager was disinclined to bring it out while the Indians were there, as their presence alone was enough to insure a full house. Gen. Street, who was a strict Presbyterian, was rather opposed to the theater, and hence Maj. Beach, who had recently become his son-in-law, took the matter of arranging for the entertainment off his hands. The Major knew that the play referred to would suit the Indian taste far better than simply declamatory tragedies, spoken in a language they could not understand, and in which there was no action to keep them interested. Mr. Barry, the manager, was finally pre-
364
HISTORY OF DES MOINES COUNTY.
vailed upon to present 'Spartacus,' on condition that the Indians would attend in a body.
" Everything went off favorably during the performance, and in the excit- ing seene in which the gladiators engage in deadly combat, the Indians man- ifested the deepest sympathy. As Forrest rose up to the magnificent propor- tions of the character. the savages gazed upon the vivid spectacle with breath- less anxiety. In the play, the hero fell, pierced by his adversary's sword ; and as the bloody weapon was drawn from the expiring victim, who lay heaving in convulsive throes, the Indians burst out with their fiercest war-whoop. It was a frightful yell to strike so suddenly upon unaccustomed ears, at a time when every sensitive nerve was wrought to intense pitch by the play, and an answer- ing ery of terror ran through the building. In a moment the audience recov- ered its self-possession, and the rounds of applause which succeeded, compli- mented the great actor but little less than did the involuntary tribute of the dusky noblemen.
" After ceding the belt of country upon the Iowa side of the Mississippi, as heretofore mentioned, and having considerably increased this belt by an addi- tional cession in 1837. the Sacs and Foxes still retained a large and valuable portion of Iowa. This last treaty was negotiated with the party whose visits to Washington and other Eastern cities has been mentioned, and was concluded on the 21st of October. This was the first treaty ever made with the Sacs and Foxes in which the principle was incorporated that had just then begun to be adopted, of making the sum allowed the Indians for their lands a permanent fund, to be held in trust by the United States, upon which interest only, at the rate of 5 per cent, could be annually paid to them. Hitherto, it had been the custom to provide that the gross sum granted for a cession should be paid in yearly installments. For instance. $200,000, in twenty annual payments, would have left them at the expiration of that time, destitute : but the more humane policy was chosen of placing that sum-the price of the cession of 1837 -at 5 per cent, giving a constant income of $10,000. The last treaty of 1842. dispossessed them of all lands in Iowa, and brings them in an annual revenue of $40.000. The price of that cession was $800,000, besides certain minor claims allowed. The Indians were removed from the State in 1845."
INDIAN TRADING-POSTS.
It is not within the province of this work to give a detailed history of the original explorations of this region, or to investigate the priority of location by traders ; but a brief synopsis of the carly attempts to deal with the Indians is necessary.
On the 30th of March, 1799, Tenon Trudean, then acting as Lieut. Gov- ernor of Upper Louisiana, officially issued the following order :
" It is permitted to Mr. Lewis (Fresson) Honori, to establish himself at the head of the rapids of the river Des Moines, and his establishment once formed, notice of it shall be given to the Governor General. in order to obtain for him the commission of a space sufficient to give value to said establishment, and at the same time to render it useful to the commerce of the peltries of this country; to watch the Indians and to keep them in the fidelity which they owe to His Majesty."
There were other privileges given in this grant in order to enable him to carry on a successful trade with the Indians, and possession of the land was immediately taken by Honori, which he retained till 1805.
While he was here engaged in carrying on trade with the Indians, he became indebted to Joseph Robedoux, and not being able to meet the demand, Robe-
365
HISTORY OF DES MOINES COUNTY.
donx resorted to the process of the law, to enforce the payment of the debt ; judgment was obtained and the property sold upon execution on 14th of May, 1803, and purchased by Robedoux in satisfaction of his claim.
This property in these legal proceedings was described as being about six leagues above the river Des Moines. At the time of the sale, part of this tract of land had been improved by Honori, " by building houses, planting orchards. and a small piece was under fence and in cultivation."
Robedoux died soon after he purchased the property, and by his will ap- pointed Agusti Chotean his executor, and authorized him to dispose of his property ; who, by the authority vested in him, in April, 1805, sold the prop- erty to Thomas F. Reddeck. Honori, notwithstanding the property had been sold in 1803, to pay his debts, occupied it till after it was sold to Reddeck. This claim, as first made by the Spanish Government, was a league square, but after this country came under the jurisdiction of the United States, it was reduced by the authority of the latter Government, to one mile square.
This grant embraced the site on which the town of Montrose was built, and was within the limits of the Half-Breed Reservation. After the Half-Breeds sold their lands, the purchasers set up a claim to this tract of land, as being part of the Half-Breed Reservation, while the Reddeck heirs claimed a right to it by a regular chain of title from the Spanish grant. And the different claim- ants resorted to the law to settle their rights, and after several years of litiga- tion, it was decided in 1839, by the Supreme Court of the United States, in favor of the Reddeck heirs.
The trading establishment near the site of Burlington was a branch of the American Fur Company, and had been under the superintendence of John W. Johnson, who was a native of Maryland. Johnson had acted in the capacity of an Indian Agent, and took up with a Sac and Fox squaw, by whom he had three daughters. Johnson was fondly attached to his children, gave them a thorough education at a Catholic convent, and all three of the girls married highly-respectable gentlemen. After leaving the Indian country, he settled in St. Louis, and in 1833 was elected Mayor of that city, which office he held for three years. He died somewhere about 1852, and left a large estate, about which there was a hard-contested lawsuit. He had married a second wife, and it was claimed that the three half-breed girls could not inherit his property, be- cause they were bastards, and not his legitimate heirs. But it was shown before the Court that his marriage to the Indian squaw was in accordance with the Indian mode of celebrating marriages, and was decided by the Court to be valid, and the girls were held to be his legitimate heirs, and got their share of his property.
AN EARLY VISIT TO SHOK-KO-KON.
Isaac R. Campbell prepared the following account of a trip through this section, in 1821, for the " Annals of Iowa:"
" I first visited this locality in June, 1821, it being then a wilderness and inhabited by the Sac and Fox tribes of Indians. The first marks I observed indicating the proximity of the white man was at Puck-e-she-tuc, or 'Foot of Rapids,' now Keokuk. A log cabin had been erected here one year before this. under the supervision of Dr. Samuel C. Muir, a surgeon in the United States army, located at Fort Edwards, now Warsaw, Ill. The next settlement. and probably the first made by a white man in this country, was six miles above, at Lemoliese, now Sandusky, a French trader occupying this post, being engaged in traffic with the natives ; his nearest neighbor, Blondeau, resided about one one mile above. Monsieur Lemoliese had a very amiable lady for a wife, who
666
HISTORY OF DES MOINES COUNTY.
was fond of dress. She frequently, to please him, arrayed her person in grown, bonnet and shoes, but could not be prevailed upon to continue the cos- tume, as her native garb-the blanket and petticoat-were more congenial to her feelings and taste.
. At the head of the Rapids was Montrose. an Indian village. The chief's name, in English, was . Cut Nose.' Below the creek running into the river, on the lower side of the Indian town, were the remains of a deserted trading- house, around which were growing a number of apple-trees.
" On the opposite side of the river (Nauvoo), was another village of the Sac tribe. Quash-quan-me, chief. I have often heard it remarked that this digni- tary originally sold all the land embraced in the State of Illinois to the United States Government. The Nauvoo mansion, formerly the residence of the prophet, Joseph Smith, occupies a portion of their grave-yard, where many a warrior's bones have long since moldered into dust.
"As we passed on up the river, the next place of attraction was old Fort Madison, ten miles above the head of the Rapids, situated on the west side, half a mile below a sand-bluff, arising almost perpendicularly from the water's edge. This fort was constructed by Col. Zachary Taylor, and named in honor of James Madison, President of the United States.
" After leaving this old fort. on the second day we arrived, by keelboat, at Shok-ko-kon (Flint Hills), now Burlington, situated on the west side of the river, about twenty miles above. Here was a trading-post, occupant's name I have forgotten, and at the mouth of Flint Creek, or River, a short distance above, was located a Fox or Musquawka village. Its ruler and law-giver was the patriarch chief, Timea. Fifteen or twenty miles further up the river, on the east side, was Oquarka (Lower Yellow Banks). This point I did not visit, and will not attempt to give any account of its carly history.
" I will now retrace my steps down the river, to the North Fabius, in Lewis County, Mo .. eight miles west of Quincy, where I remained on a farm for four years. During this period, I had occasion to travel over Lee County more than once, and at one time in company with an Indian for my guide, I started for "('ut Nose Village' ( Montrose), and on arriving at the Des Moines we found it swollen so inch as to compel us to swim our cattle and construct a raft to cross our wagon and load. After being securely landed on the east bank of the river, after packing up, we pursued our journey, ascending the high lands above Grave-yard Bluff (Buena Vista), and following the divide between the Missis- sippi and Se-su-parce-que-sepo (Sugar Creek). Traveling east of north, we soon came in sight of a lone tree, standing upon the margin of the bluff, two miles southwest of our destination. This familiar landmark, to my guide, assured us we were traveling in the right direction, and by increasing our speed we were soon at our journey's end, completing the first trip made through Southern Jowa by wagon and ox-team. As an account of my residence in Missouri will not interest you so much as other localities with which you are more familiar, I will next refer you to my removal and settling at Commerce (Quash-qua-me Village), in the fall of 1825.
" ('apt. James White, my father-in-law, having preceded me here some time before. purchased from Julien, a French trader, all his improvements, consist- ing of an old, dilapidated trading-house, and all the land embraced in the Indian village, extending one and a half miles above and below the trading- house on the river. In this transfer, Monsieur Julien represented to Capt. White that this claim could be held as a Spanish grant, as he (Julien) had set- tled here in 1805, but eventually the claimants had to pre-empt to secure a good
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.