USA > Iowa > Henry County > The history of Henry county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 41
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" Reaching the trading-house, the person who took the deposition and a companion were found there waiting, they having 'forked off' by another trail so as not to be seen. Suggs was on hand, having taken the opportunity to post the Burlingtonians about the locality. And also Capt. Billy Phelps, called by the Indians Che-che-pe-qua, or the 'Winking Eyes,' was there, those visuals fairly gleaming with joy over the anticipated fun.
" The Agent proceeded at once to business, expressing to Capt. Phelps his regrets that so unpleasant a duty should have devolved upon him; his hope that it would prove that so serious a complaint had originated in some error, but suggesting that, if true, admission of the fact and production of the contraband article would be more apt to temper subsequent proceedings with leniency than efforts to conceal it would do. The Captain vehemently denied the impeach- ment, stating that it would require a much wiser man than himself to discover where such an article then was, or ever had been kept upon their premises. The complainant was now appealed to, who led the party a short distance to a spot where, with a triumphant air, he pointed to an X that the edge of Suggs' boot-sole had made in the sandy bank.
"They began digging, and soon reached some matting that was removed, and thus uncovered a lot of lard kegs, too greasy to suggest a thought of any other article being contained within them. The immediate 'sold, by thunder!' of one of the moiety gentleman, came in accents too lugubrious to be listened to without exciting a sense of sadness. Suggs, meanwhile, had come up missing, and the 'Winking Eyes' walked off with a most disdainful air, leaving the Agent and his party on the spot, whence they soon returned to the Agency, where the Agent made his report that the informer had pointed out a place, where, by digging, a large quantity of lard in kegs was found that had been buried to avoid loss by heat, and in the night to conceal the fact from vagabond whites and Indians. The disappointed informer and his companion hastened homeward; but Col. Williams remained until next morning, and then returned, bearing the Agent's report.
"But the unkindest cut of all was six months later, when, about the last of February, Capt. Phelps addressed a letter to Gov. Lucas in the most respectful and official form, saying that having heard he had declared his determination not to continue in office under such an old Tory as Gen. Harrison, and fearful that whoever his successor would be, he might not feel so friendly toward the Company as he had proved in the matter of exhuming their lard, and as they
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would soon be much in need of some, and the ground was then very hard frozen, the Company would be under great obligations if he would at once send some one out to dig up the rest of it !. "
Previous to the treaty of 1842, some few changes were made in their loca- tion, both by the Indians and among the whites. The house at the ' Old Gar- rison' was broken up, and one established in its stead up in the Red Rock region, near the mouth of White Breast; and Keokuk, also, moved his village into the same neighborhood.
Although it is not, properly speaking, a part of the history of Henry 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 Henry 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, nor even to a strip in Eastern Iowa. 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 Iowa 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 Government 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 to 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 about 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 intro- duction 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, 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.
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Next, the boat began to push off, but 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 & 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 mind. 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, 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 gladi- ator, and always drew his largest audiences, had not yet come off, and the man- ager was disinclined to bring it out while the Indians were there, as their pres- ence 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 enter- tainment 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 lan- guage they could not understand, and in which there was no action to keep them interested. Mr. Barry, the manager, was finally prevailed upon to pre- sent "Spartacus," on condition that the Indians would attend in a body.
"Everything went off favorably during the performance, and in the excit- ing scene 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
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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 cry 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 por- tion of Iowa. This last treaty was negotiated with the party whose visit to Wash- ington 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 install- ments. 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, in 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.
ADVENT OF THE WHITE MAN.
Having traced the existence of the two preliminary races-the Mound- Builders and the Indians-which dwelt within the region here described, we introduce, in regular. order, the pale-faced intruder on the domain of the savage. The first settlement in Southern Iowa was made in the vicinity of Burlington, and through that gate entered the vast army that has worked such wonders in the way of improvement. A brief description of who began the labor of developing Iowa, and how it was performed, is necessary to perfect the thread of this narrative of fact. It is fortunate that we are able to ascertain, expressly for our work, the truth directly from one who participated in the early scenes. From the lips of Dr. William R. Ross, now a resident of Hamilton, Marion County, but who was a leading spirit in the settlement of Iowa, we gain the knowledge hereafter imparted.
"It may not be uninteresting," observes the Doctor, "to give some of the names of those who first explored Southern Iowa, in 1832, prior to making a permanent settlement in 1833. First, among others, were Maj. Joseph B. Teas and Joseph Morgan, afterward citizens of Albia ; Col. William Morgan, Will- iam Stewart, John Ward, Isaac Canterberry, Lewis Watters, Isaac Crenshaw, Benjamin Tucker, Ezekiel Smith and sons Paris and Lineas, John Bullard, Richard Land, Thomas Dovrell, David Tethro, S. S. White, M. M. McCarver, Berryman Jenkins, William Wright, John Harris and Charles Teas, with others that were in Iowa when I came in July, 1833. Mrs. Sarah Hilleary, wife of Alexander Hilleary, near Burlington, came with her father, Col. William Mor-
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gan, in February, 1832, to do the domestic work, while her father was improv -- ing his claim, and building a house preparatory to moving his family, and was one of the families driven on the big island just below Burlington, by soldiers from Rock Island, as the Indian title had not been extinguished.
" The title remained in the Indians until June 1, 1833. At this time, Rich- ard Chaney resided at Fort Madison, and Dr. Garland and Mr. Campbell, and, perhaps, a few others on the half-breed tract. After June 1, 1833, the country was settled very rapidly ; as every one then had the liberty of taking to them- selves a claim of half a section of land, one-quarter of timber and one of prairie, and the right to purchase as many claims as he had the money for. This rule occasioned much disturbance by new immigrants coming into the country and finding one man holding more than one claim. It drove them back into the- new region against their will.
In February, 1833, before the Indian title was extinguished, Col. William Morgan, son and daughter, Isaac Canterberry and family, Lewis Watters and family, Charles Teas, Joseph B. Teas, Benjamin Tucker, John Ward, son and daughter, Isaac Crenshaw and family, Morton M. McCarver and family, Simp- son S. White and family, with, perhaps, two or three other parties, whose- names are not remembered now, as soon as spring opened, built cabins, made- rail fences, and planted corn on the site of Burlington. In obedience to orders from Col. Davenport, soldiers from Rock Island came down and burned the cabins, destroyed the fences, and ruined the just-sprouting grain. The settlers and their stock were driven to the east side of the Mississippi. There they remained until the soldiers retired, or until the 1st of June, when the title- became good in the Government. When Mr. Ross arrived, in July, he saw corn growing, but no fences were standing. Col. Morgan had fifty acres of corn on his farm, three miles southwest of Burlington, which was the first claim he. made.
" There was a settlement from near the mouth of Long Creek, northeast of Augusta, made by six or seven families from Indiana, in July, 1833, eight miles. west of Burlington.
" In July, 1833, I crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa, and landed a half-mile below the month of Flint River, where it empties into the former stream. The place was called Flint Hills, and extended five miles below the. site of Burlington.
" Morton M. McCarver and Simpson S. White were residing in cabins, about twenty feet apart, on the bank of the river, with a view to holding a claim extending from the mouth of Hawk-Eye Creek to the mouth of Flint River, and half a mile in width, it being the location of an old trading-post with the. Indians. There was a root-house and a grave, the latter paled in, with a cross thereon, with the name of Maurice Blondeau inscribed upon the cross, on the margin of the river. Numerous trees were growing there, from the limbs of which depended canoes in which dead Indians were deposited.
" After exploring the country roundabout, I returned to Quincy, and employed two or three workmen to proceed with my father to Flint Hills, and there build me a cabin, preparatory for the reception of my merchants' goods and chattels. These goods I shipped in September, 1833. These were the first mercantile goods landed at Burlington. I surveyed and blazed out my claim, which was one mile north and south, and one-half mile immediately west of, and adjoining, the claim of McCarver and White, on which claim I built me a dwelling-house ; cleared land and sowed grass-seed ; built a cabin for religious exercises and day school, in the fall of 1833. The latter cabin was occupied.
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during the winter of 1833-34 by the family of Mr. Phillips. The following spring Zadoc C. Ingraham commenced and taught a school therein during the- summer of 1834. This was the first schoolhouse built and the first school taught in Burlington. The house stood back of what is now the square. Mr. Ross boarded Ingraham free of cost."
The following information was obtained from Mr. Ross:
Col. William Morgan arrived the second time, with his family September- 10, 1833, from Sangamon County, Ill. Among his children was Miss Matilda .. He made a claim below Hawk-Eye Creek, called Lower Burlington, at a later- date, where he built a cabin in September.
The first death which occurred in the settlement was that of William Ross,. father of William R. Ross. This death took place in October, 1833.
In the fall of 1833, an engagement of marriage was entered into between William R. Ross and Matilda Morgan. The region west of the Mississippi was then attached to Michigan Territory, for judicial purposes, but was newly -. acquired Indian territory. Marriage ceremonies could not, therefore, be observed on the west bank. Mr. Ross had to go to Monmouth, Illinois, for a marriage license. He then engaged Judge Allen to go to the east shore of the. river, opposite Flint Hills, and meet the young couple to marry them. On the- 3d day of December, Mr. Ross and Miss Morgan crossed over the river in a flatboat and were joined in wedlock, by Judge Allen, while standing under a sycamore-tree on the east bank of the river. This must be regarded as the first marriage. in Burlington, since it was the union of two of the original pioneers, and was as near being celebrated on the soil of Iowa as the law would then. allow. On the 5th of December, 1878, Mr. Ross celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday. He is a hale man, and shows the force of intelligent habits by the clear and unusually good chirography of his several letters to the writer of this. work.
Prior to the formal attachment of Iowa to Michigan Territory, which was accomplished in the winter of 1833-34, but was not enforced until some time in 1834, this region was governed by a primitive system of "claim laws," adopted by the settlers, and supervised by certain officers chosen for the pur- pose. This state of affairs lasted but a little more than one year.
Maj. Jeremiah Smith, Jr., and W. R. Ross dealt largely with the Sac and Fox Indians, who lived on the reserve on the Iowa River, for furs.
In September, 1833, Maj. Smith landed with a stock of goods.
In November, 1833, Benjamin Tucker and W. R. Ross surveyed and platted the town of Burlington. John B. Gray, who was seeking a place to invest, and who afterward became the first settler in Monroe County, in 1843, was invited to name the new metropolis. Mr. Gray chose " Burlington," in honor of his former home in Vermont, and the title was accepted by the surveyors and citizens.
In the fall of that year, Amzi Doolittle, who had an interest in the claim of Burlington, moved there with his family, and opened the first public house. It was a two-story frame structure.
In January, 1834, John B. Gray reached Burlington with his family, hav- ing decided to locate there, and built a frame house. In the spring, he filled this building with goods.
In February following, Sulifaud S. Ross took up his residence there and brought with him not only his family, but also a large stock of goods. S. S. Ross bonght out the mercantile business of W. R. Ross. The latter had a general store, the pioneer store of the section.
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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
In February, 1834, Peter Cartwright, Presiding Elder of the Northern Dis- trict of Illinois, held a quarterly meeting at Mr. Pierce's, which was about twenty miles east of Burlington. W. R. Ross sent a letter to the venerable preacher asking for a supply at Burlington. Rev. Peter licensed a young man named Barton G. Cartwright, to go there and preach. The new man procured . a team of oxen, and in March, 1834, he arrived at Mr. Ross' house. Young Cartwright was willing to work and pay his own way ; so Mr. Ross hired him to break thirty acres of prairie. During the week he labored with his oxen, while on Sundays he preached in the log cabin already spoken of. Because of this double duty, the people in the Hoosier settlement, whither he also went to preach occasionally, or to hold prayer-meetings, gave him the title of " Ox- driver Preacher."
About the 1st of April, Asa McMurtry was the second preacher that called at Burlington. He was on his way to Rock Island, as a missionary to that mission. He was traveling by steamboat, and stopped two or three days.
About the 1st of May, W. D. R. Trotter, who preached at the Henderson River Mission, and was called the "trotting preacher " by the Indians, held services at Burlington for a few days.
When Peter Cartwright returned from Galena, and the upper part of his mission, he stopped at Rock Island, to preach to the Sacs and Foxes. Mr. McMurtry joined him, and returned with him to Burlington, to hold a two-days meeting in company with Barton G. and Daniel Cartwright. Mr. Ross asked Peter how he had succeeded with the Indians at Rock Island. The "fighting parson " replied that he could do nothing with them, for " they were under the influence of the devil, alias old Davenport."
Mr. Ross remarked to the writer, " In my pasture, near my residence, a lynn tree had heen blown partially down, with the bend of the tree about as high as my head. Upon this tree we made a stand for the preacher, and after those services were concluded, we formed a class of half a dozen members. I was chosen Class-Leader."
In the summer of 1834, James H. Jameson, of the Missouri M. E. Confer- ence, came to Iowa as a missionary to the Sacs and Foxes, to ascertain the pros- pects of establishing schools among them. Mr. Ross interceded for him with Keokuk, but the chief said he would have to go to St. Louis, and see Gen. Clark, the Superintendent, before he could give an answer. As Mr. Jameson could receive no satisfactory response from the Indian, he preached at Mr. Ross' house, and also in the country, and then returned home.
In the summer of 1834, Mr. Ross organized the first Sunday school in Iowa, furnishing a library from Cincinnati at a cost of $12.50. He taught the school himself. As the population increased, a new library was needed; the old one was donated to Mount Pleasant, where a school had been organized, and a new lot of books, costing $25 was put in. Of those denominations who joined in the work of maintaining the school, Mr. Ross remembers Mr. and Mrs. J. Edwards, W. H. Starr (then a lawyer, of the Congregational faith); George Partridge (who became a wholesale merchant of St. Louis), of the Unitarian faith ; David Rover, of the Presbyterian faith ; John B. Gray, of the Baptist faith. Mr. Newhall and Dr. John Campbell are warmly spoken of in this con- nection, also.
The day school was taught by Mrs. Shelton and Mrs. Mayfield; and after the Old Zion M. E. Church was built, Rev. E. M. Scott, the tallest man in the neighborhood, lived in the basement of the church and tanght school therein. Afterward, a man named Townsend taught.
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