USA > Iowa > Keokuk County > The history of Keokuk County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. : a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 34
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The treaty was signed on the 11th day of October 1842, but before it was binding it had to be ratified by the United States Senate. After signing the treaty Keokuk remarked to the commissioner that if the Senate changed it by even so much as a scratch of the pen it would not be observed by the Indians. It was laid before the Senate for approval or rejection. A motion was made to strike out the reservation clause. The Senate was reminded of Keokuk's remark. After some discussion the treaty was approved and its ratification was officially proclaimed by the President on the 23d of March, 1843. This is said to have been the only Indian treaty ever made by the United States which did not subsequently undergo some alteration. The treaty had now been signed by the commissioner and the Indian chiefs, liad been approved by the Senate and the proclamaton made by the President, and yet the white people had no right to settle on the lands as the Indians according to a provision of the treaty had three years in which to give pos- session. It was subsequently arranged that the indians were to give pos- session of all that part lying east of Red Rock, now in Marion county, on the 1st of May, 1843. This last date is, therefore, the period when the whole of Keokuk county was thrown open to white settlement. The ex- citement which prevailed along the borders during the last days of the preceding April, and the great rush of people across the boundary line, which occurred at midnight, furnish a chapter of amusing and thrilling in- cidents. They will be treated of at another place.
265
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
As a result of this peacable arrangement and the earnest efforts of the government to carry out, to the letter, the provisions of the treaty, the early settlers of Keokuk county experienced none of the hardships which fell to the lot of the early settlers in other parts of the country, where mis- understanding about the ownership of the soil gave rise to frightful mas- sacres and bloody wars. The Indians gave no serious difficulty, and seldom, if ever, disturbed the early settlers of this county after they had rightfully came into possession of it.
By the various treaties made with the Sac and Fox Indians, the govern- ment paid these $80,000 per year by families. Mr William B. Street, of Oskaloosa, was disbursing clerk for John Beach, Indian agent during the year 1841, and still retains in his possession the receipts for the part pay- ment of the annuity, in his own hand-writing, and the marks of the chiefs in signing. We give an extract, including the names of part of the In- dians who were at that time living at Kish-he-kosh's village, in what is now the eastern part of the county, west of Keokuk county:
" We, the chief's, warriors, heads of families and individuals without fam- ilies, of the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians, within the same agency, acknowl- edge the receipt of forty thousand dollars of John Beach, United States Indian Agent, in the sums appended to our names, being our proportion of of the annuity due said tribe, for the year 1841:
NAMES
MARKS
MEN
WOMEN
CHILD'N
TOTAL
AMOUNT
Kish-ke-koshI
X
1
1
3
4
$ 71 30
Ko-ko-ach.
X
1
2
3
6
106 95
Pas-sa-sa-she-shiek
X
1
1
2
2
55 65
Mo-ka-qua.
X
1
1
17 82
Pa-ko-ka.
X
1
1
2
4
1 30
Ka-ke-wa-wa-te-sit
X
2
1
3
53 47
Much-e-min-ne2
X
1
1
2
4
71 30
Wa-pes-e-qua3.
X
1
1
2
4
71 30
Wa-pe-ka-kah4.
X
2
1
3
6
106 95
Mus-qua-kes.
X
3
2
2
7
124 78
And fifty nine others.
" We certify that we were present at the payment of the above-mentioned amounts, and saw the amounts paid to the several Indians, in specie, and that their marks were affixed in our presence this 19th day of October, 1841.
"(Signed)
JNO. BEACH, U. S. Indian Agent. THOMAS McCRATE. Lieut. 1st Dragoons. JOSIAH SMART, Interpreter.
" We, the undesigned chiefs of the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians, ac- knowledge the correctness of the foregoing receipts.
KEOKUK.6 his X mark. POWESHIEK,7 his X. mark."
I Kish-ke-kosh means "The man with one leg off."
2 Much-e-min-ne means "Big man."
3 Wa-pes-e-qua means "White eyes.".
4 Wa-pe-ka-kah means "White crow."
5 Mus-qua-ke mean "The fox." .
6 Keokuk means "The watchful fox."
7 Poweshiek means "The roused bear."
266
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
Among the old settlers of the southeastern part of the county who, prior to May 1. 1843, had the Indians for near neighbors, the names of Keokuk and Wapello are the most noted and familiar. These two illus- trious chiefs live not only in the recollections of these early settlers, but in the permanent history of our common country. Short biographical sketches of these two noted characters, therefore, will be of great interest to the people of this county, and peculiarly appropriate for a work of this kind. To the school-boy who has frequently read of these Indians, the fact that they roved around on this very ground where their feet tread, and that in their hunting excursions these Indians crossed the same prairies where now they gather the yellow eared corn, will give to these sketches intense interest. While the early settler who talked with Wapello and Keokuk, ate with them, hunted with them and fished with them, cannot fail to find in these brief and necessarily imperfect biographies something fascinating as they are thus lead back more than a quarter of a century, to live over again the days of other years, and witness again the scenes of early days when the tall prairie grass waved in the autumn breeze, and the country, like themselves, was younger and fresher than nowv.
KEOKUK AND WAPELLO.
Keokuk belonged to the Sac branch of the nation, and. as mentioned in the first part of this work, was born on Rock river, Illinois, in 1810. Ac- cordingly he was sixty-three years old at the time the county was thrown open to the white settler, and fifty-seven when the boundary line of 1837 was established. The best memory of the earliest settlers cannot take them back to a time when Keokuk was not an old man. When in 1833 the im- patient feet of the white men first hastened across the Mississippi, eager for new conquests and fortunes, this illustrious chief was already nearing his three-score years, and when with longing eyes he took the last look at the fair lands bordering on the Great Father of Waters, and turned his weary feet toward the west, his sun of life had already crossed the meridian and was rapidly approaching its setting.
Little is known concerning the early life of Keokuk, except that from his first battle, while yet young, he had carried home the scalp of a Sioux, whom he had slain in a hand-to-hand conflict, and between whose tribe and the tribe to which Keokuk belonged there ever existed the most deadly enmity. For this feat Keokuk was honored with a feast by his tribe. He first came into prominence among the whites at the breaking ont of the second war with England, commonly known as the war of 1812. Most of the Indians at that time esponsed the cause of the English, but Keokuk, at the head of a large number of the Sacs and Foxes, remained faithful to the Americans. In 1828 Keokuk, in accordance with the terms of a treaty, crossed the Mississippi river with his tribe and established himself on the Iowa river. Here he remained in peace, and his tribe flourished till the breaking out of the Black Hawk war in 1832. He seemed to have a much more intelligent insight into the great national questions which were raised during these early Indian difficulties, as well as a more thorough apprecia- tion of the resources of the national government. He opposed the Black Hawk war, and seemed to fully forecast the great disasters which thereby befell his tribe. Although many of his warriors deserted him and followed Black Hawk in his reckless campaign across the Mississippi, Keokuk pre-
267
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
vailed upon a majority of his tribe to remain at home. When the news reached Keokuk that Black Hawk's warriors had gained a victory over Stillman's forces in Ogle county, Illinois, the war-spirit broke out among his followers like fire in the dry prairie grass; a war-dance was held, and the chief himself took part in it. He seemed for a while to move in sympathy with the rising storm, and at the conclusion of the war-dance he called a council to prepare for war. In a work entitled "Annals of Iowa," published in 1865, there is reported the substance of a speech made by Keokuk on this occasion. We quote: "I am your chief, and it is my duty to lead you to battle, if, after fully considering the matter, you are fully determined to go." He then represented to thiem the great power of the United States, against whom they would have to contend, and that their prospect of success was utterly hopeless. Then continuing, said: "But if you are determined to go npon the war-path, I will lead yon on one con- dition-that before we go we kill all our old men, and our wives, and our children, to save them from a lingering death by starvation, and that every one of you determine to leave his bones on the other side of the Missis- sippi." This was a strong and truthful picture of the prospect before them, and was presented in such a forcible light, that it caused them to abandon their rashi undertaking.
After the Black Hawk war Keokuk was recognized as the head of the Sac and Fox nation, by the United States government, and in this capacity he was looked npon by his people from that time on. This honor, however, was sometimes disputed by some of the original followers of Black Hawk. A gentleman of some prominence, as a writer, and who is said to have wit- nessed the affray, says: " A bitter feud existed in the tribe during the time Keokuk resided on the Des Moines river, between what was denomi- nated ' Keokuk's band and Black Hawk's band. ' Their distrust, and in- deed hatred, were smothered in their common intercourse, when sober; but when their blood was fired with whisky, it sometimes assumed a tragic fea- ture among the leaders of the respective bands. An instance of this char- acter occurred on the lower part of the Des Moines river, on the return of a party making a visit to the half-breeds,' at the town of Keokuk, on the Mississippi. In a quarrel incited by whisky, Keokuk received a dangerous stab in the breast by a son of Black Hawk. The writer saw him conveyed by liis friends, homeward, lying in a canoe, nuable to rise." The writer continues: " Hardfish (who was the pretended chief of the rival party), and his coadjutors, lost no occasion to find fault with Keokuk's adminis- tration. The payments were made in silver coins, put up in boxes, con- taining five hundred dollars each, and passed into Keokuk's hand's for dis- tribution. The several traders received each his quota according to the several demands against the tribes admitted by Keokuk, which invariably consumed the far greater portion of the amount received. The remainder was turned over to the cluefs and distributed among the respective bands. Great complaints were made of these allowances, to the traders, on the ground of exhorbitant prices charged on the goods actually furnished, and it was alleged that some of these accounts were spurious. In confirmation of this charge, over and above the character of the items exhibited in these accounts, an affidavit was filed with Governor Lucas, by an individual, to which the governor gave credence, setting forth that Keokuk had proposed to the maker of the affidavit to profer a purely ficticions account against the tribe for the sum of $10,000, and he would admit its correctness, and
26S
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
when paid, the money should be divided among themselves, share and share alike. To swell the trader's bills, items were introduced of a character that should brand upon their face, such as a large number of blankets, coats. articles which the Indians never used, and telescopes, of the use of which they had no knowledge. This showed the reckless man- ner in which these bills were swollen to the exhorbitant amounts com- plained of, in which Keokuk was openly charged with being in league with the traders to defraud the Indians." At this time the nation numbered about two thousand and three hundred, and it is not possible that Keokuk could have carried on an organized system of theft, without the fact be- coming apparent to all. As it was, however, Governor Lucas thought best to change the manner in which the annual payments were made. The matter was referred to the Indian bureau, and the mode was changed so that the payments were made to the heads of families, approximating a per capita distribution. This method of payment did not suit the traders, and after a short trial the old plan was again adopted. That the Indians, then as now, were the victims of sharp practice, cannot be doubted, but the fact can be attributed to the superior tact and the unscrupulous character of many of the traders; this furnishes a more probable explanation, and is more in accord with the character of Keokuk, as known by his intimate friends, still living, than to attribute these swindling operations to a con- spiracy in which the illustrions chief was the leading actor.
In person, Keokuk was of commanding appearance. He was tall, straight as an arrow, and of very graceful mien. These personal character- istics, tegetlier with his native fervor, and ready command of language, gave him great power over his people as a speaker: If, as a man of energy and courage, he gained the respect and obedience of his tribe, it was more especially as an orator that he was able to wield his people in times of great excitement, and in a measure shape their policy in dealing with the white man. As an orator rather than as a warrior, has Keokuk's claim to greatness been founded.
" He was gifted by nature," says the author of the Annals, " with the ele- ments of an orator in an eminent degree, and as such is entitled to rank with Logan, Red Jacket and Tecumseh; but unfortunately for his fame among the white people, and with posterity, he was never able to obtain an interpreter who could claim even a slight acquaintance with philosophy. With one exception, only, his interpreters were unacquainted with the ele- ments of the mother tongue. Of this serions hindrance to his fame Keokuk was well aware, and retained Frank Labashure, who had received a rudimental education in the French and English languages, until the latter died broken down by exposure and dissipation; but during the me- ridian of his career among the white people, he was compelled to submit his speeches for translation, to uneducated men, whose range of thoughts fell below the flights of a gifted mind, and the fine imagery, drawn from nature, was beyond their power of reproduction. He had a sufficient
knowledge of the English tongue to make him sensible of this bad render- ing of his thoughts, and often a feeling of mortification at the bungling efforts was depicted upon his countenance while he was speaking. The proper place to form a proper estimate of his ability as an orator, was in the Indian council, where he addressed himself exclusively to those who understood his language, and where the electric effects of his eloquence could be plainly noted upon his audience. It was credibly asserted that by
269
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
the force of his logic he had changed the vote of a council against the strongly predetermined opinions of its members." A striking instance of the influence of his eloquence is that one already related in which he de- livered a speech to his followers, who were bent on joining Black Hawk, after the Stillman reverse in Ogle county, Illinois. Mr. James, who has already been mentioned as being present at the council, at Agency City, when the treaty of 1842 was made, says of Keokuk: "We heard him make a speech on the occasion, which, by those who understood his tongue, was said to be a sensible and eloquent effort. Judging from his voice and gestures, his former standing as an Indian orator and chieftain, we thought his reputation as a dignified yet gentlemanly Aboriginal had not been over- rated. During the Black Hawk war his voice was for peace with the white man, and his voice added much to the shortening of the war. As an honor to the chief our county bears his name."
Keokuk, in company with Black Hawk, Poweshiek, Kish-ke-kosh, and some fifteen other chiefs, under the escort of Gen. J. M. Street, visited Washington city and different parts of the East in 1837. The party de- scended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ohio by steamer, and thence up the latter to Wheeling, where they took stage across the mountains. When the party arrived in Washington, at the request of some of the gov- ernment officials, a council was held with some chiefs of the Sioux there present, as the Sacs and Foxes were waging a perpetual war with the Sioux nation. The council was held in the Hall of Representatives. To the great indignation of the Sioux, Kish-ke-kosh appeared dressed in a buffalo hide which he had taken in war from a Sioux chief, and took his position in one of the large windows, with the mane and horns of the buffalo as a sort of a head-dress, and the tail trailing on the floor. The Sioux complained to the officials, claiming that this was an insult to them, but they were informed that the Sacs and Foxes had a right to appear in any kind of costume they chose to wear. The first speech was made by a Sioux, who complained bitterly of the wrongs they had suffered, and how they had been driven from their homes by the Sacs and Foxes, their war- riors killed and their villages burned. Then followed Keokuk, the great orator of his tribe, who replied at some length, an interpreter repeating the speech after him. There were those present who had heard Webster, Calhoun, Clay and Benton in the same hall, and they declared that for the manner of delivery, for native eloquence, impassioned expression of coun- tenance, the chief surpassed them all, and this while they could not under- stand his words, save as they were repeated by the interpreter. From Washington they went to New York, where they were shown little atten- tion, and Gen. Street attempting to show them the city on foot, the people in their anxiety to see Keokuk and Black Hawk, crowded them beyond the point of endurance, and in order to escape the throng they were compelled to make their escape through a store building, and reached their hotel through the back alleys and less frequented streets. At Boston they were met at the depot by a delegation of leading citizens and conveyed in car- riages to the hotel. The next day they were taken in open carriages, and with a guard of honor on foot, they were shown the whole city. During their stay in Boston they were the guests of the great American orator, Edward Everett, who made a banquet for them. When the Indians re- turned and were asked about New York, they only expressed their disgust. Boston was the only place in the United States, in their estimation, and
270
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
their opinion has been shared in by many white people, who since that time have made a pilgrimage from the West to the famous shrines of the East.
While residing at Ottumwah-nac, Keokuk received a message from the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith, in which the latter invited Keokuk, as king of the Sacs and Foxes, to a royal conference at his palace at Nauvoo, on matters of the highest importance to their respective people. The in- vitation was accepted, and at the appointed time the king of the Sacs and Foxes, accompanied by a stately escort on ponies, wended their way to the appointed interview with the great apostle of the Latter Day Saints. Keo- kuk, as before remarked, was a man of good judgment and keen insight into the human character. He was not easily misled by sophistry nor be- guiled by flattery. The account of this interview with Smith, as given by the author of the " Annals," so well illustrates these traits of his character that we give it in full:
" Notice had been circulated through the country of this diplomatic in- terview, and quite a number of spectators attended to witness the denoue- ment. The audience was given publicly in the great Mormon temple, and the respective chiefs were attended by their suits, the prophet by the dig- nitaries of the Mormon church, and the Indian potentate by the high civil and military functionaries of his tribe, and the Gentiles were comfortably seated as auditors.
" The prophet opened the conference in a set speech of some length, giv- ing Keokuk a brief history of the Children of Israel, as detailed in the Bible, and dwelt forcibly upon the history of the lost tribes, and that he, the prophet of God, held a divine commission to gather them together and lead them to a land 'flowing with milk and honey.' After the prophet closed his harrangue, Keokuk 'waited for the words of his pale-faced brother to sink deep into his mind,' and in making his reply, assumed the gravest attitude and most dignified demeanor. He would not controvert anything his brother had said about the lost and scattered condition of his race and people, and if his brother was commissioned by the Great Spirit to collect them together and lead them to a new country it was his duty to do so. But he wished to inquire about some particulars his brother had not named, that were of the highest importance to him and his people. The red man were not much used to milk, and he thought they would pre- fer streams of water; and in the country they now were there was a good supply of honey. The points they wished to inquire into were, whether the new government would pay large annuities, and whether there was plenty of whisky. Joe Smith saw at once that he had met his match, and that Keokuk was not the proper material with which to increase his army of dupes, and closed the interview in as amiable and pleasant manner as possible."
Until 1836 Keokuk resided with his tribe, on a reservation of 400 square miles, situated on the Iowa river. His headquarters were at a village bear- ing his name, located on the right bank of the stream. In this year, in ac- cordance with the stipulations of a treaty held at Davenport, Keokuk with his followers removed to this territory, now comprised in the bounds of Keokuk, Mahaska and Wapello counties. The agency for the Indians, was located at a point where is now located Agency City. At this time an effort was made to civilize the red man. Farms were opened up, and two mills were erected, one on Soap creek, and one on Sugar creek. A salaried
271
HISTORY OF KEOKUK COUNTY.
agent was employed to superintend these farming operations. Keokuk, Wapello and Appanoose, each had a large field improved and cultivated. Keokuk's farm was located upon what is yet known as Keokuk's Prairie, in what is now Wapello county. The Indians did not make much progress in these farming operations, and in the absence of their natural and wanted excitements, became idle and careless. Many of them plunged into dissi- pation. Keokuk himself became badly dissipated in the latter years of his life. Pathetic as was the condition of these savages at this time, it was but the legitimate result of the treatment which they had received. They were confined to a fixed location, and provided with annuities by the government, sufficient to meet their wants from year to year. They were in this manner prevented from making those extensive excursions, and embarking in those war-like pursuits, which for time immemorial had formed the chief avenues for the employment of those activities, which for centuries had claimed the attention of the savage mind; and the sure and regular means of subistence furnished by the government, took away from them the incentives for the employment of these activities, even had the means still existed. In addi- tion to this the Indian beheld his lands taken from him, and his tribe grow- ing smaller year by year. Possessed of an ideal and imaginative intellect he could not help fore-casting the future, and thus being impressed with the, thought, that in a few years, all these land would be in the possession of the white man, while his tribe and his name would be swept into oblivion by the tide of emigration, which pressed in upon him from every side. Keo- kuk saw all this, and seeing it, had neither the power nor inclination to pre- vent it. Take the best representative of the Anglo-Saxon race, and place him in similar circumstances, and he would do no better. Shut in by re- straint from all sides, relieved from all the anxieties comprehended in that practical question, what shall we eat and wherewithal shall we be clothed ? and deprived of all those incentives springing from, and inspired by a lofty ambition, and the best of us, with all our culture and habits of industry, would fall into idleness and dissipation and our fall would be as great if not as low as was the fall of that unhappy people who formerly inhabited this country, and whose disappearance and gradual extinction we shall now be called upon to contemplate.
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