USA > Iowa > Lee County > The history of Lee county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 37
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
proper form, information which might preserve a portion, at least, of the carly history of Lee County. For this purpose he addressed letters, propounding questions and making suggestions on the subject, to a number of the surviving pioneers. Among others so addressed was Mr. Campbell, who, in response to Mr. Johnstone's letter, submitted his " Recollections of the Early Settlement," . in a very able and comprehensive article, which was published in the July number (1867) of the Annals of lowa, nearly all of which is transferred to these pages. Under date of St. Francisville, Clark Co., Mo., January 4, 1867. Mr. Campbell says :
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- tuck, or " Foot of Rapids," now Keokuk. A log cabin had been erected here one year before this, under the supervision of Dr. Samuel C. Mur, a Surgeon in the U. S. Army, located at Fort. Edwards, now Warsaw, III.
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 trathe with the natives. His nearest neighbor, Blondeau, resided about one mile above. Monsieur Lemoliese had a very amiable lady for a wife, who was fond of dress. She fre- quently, to please him, arrayed her person in gown, bonnet and shoes, but could not be pre- vniled upon to continue the costume, as her native garb-the blanket and petticoat-were more congenial to her taste.
At the head of the Rapids ( Montrose), was an Indian village: chief's name, Wapello, in English " 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-qua me, chief. I have often heard it remarked that this dignitary, orignally 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 ohl Fort Madison, ten miles above the hend 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 (afterward President of the United States), and named in honor of James Madison, President of the United States.
After leaving the old fort, on the second day we arrived by keelboat at Shock-o-con (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 above, on the east side of the river, was Oqnawka (" Lower Yellow Banks)." This point I did not visit, and will not attempt to give any account of its early his- tory. *
%
*
" 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 Cut-Nose Village (Montrose), and on arriving at the Des Moines River, we found it swollen so much as to compel ns to swim our cattle and construct a ratt to cross our wagon and load. After being securely landed on the north bank of the river and packing up, we pursued our journey, ascending the high lands above Grave yard Bluff ( Bue- na Vista), and following the divide between the Mississippi and Se-sa-paw-qua-sepo (Sugar Creek ), traveling cast of north, we soon came in sight of a lone tree, standing upon the margin of the binff, two miles southwest of our destination.
This familiar landmark to my guide assured ns 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 Towa by wagon and ox-tean.
In the fall of 1825, I removed to and settled at Commerce (Quash-qua-me village). Capt. James White, my father-in-law, having preceded me here some time before, purchased from Julien, a French trader, all his improvements, consisting 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 settled here in 1805, but.
* Tesson's.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
eventually the claimants had to pre-empt to secure a good title. A substantial two-story stone house, the first in Hancock County, Hl .. was erected by Capt. White on the point near Ferry landing from Montrose. This building he gave free use of to the county for a Court House, as no selection had then been made for a county seat, and after the Black Hawk war had commenced. settlers far and near resorted to this house as a safe place of refuge. It may be of some interest to you to hear the names of the first settlers at Nauvoo, the most of whom have " gone to thai bourn from whence no traveler returns."
White, Willson, Wagoner. Williams, Gouge Dunn, Coon, Dewey. Shoebridge, Hilderbrand, Rev. Mr. Robinson (among the first to preach the Gospel), Mr. Hibbard and Mr. Miller, who erected the first mill, which manufactured coarse meal at the rate of three bushels per hour : its motive power, one horse. Messrs. Forrest and Robinson were the first to teach the young prodi- gies their a-b ab's.
While residing here, I made my first acquaintance with Black Hawk. the Mus-quaw-ka or Fox chief, by agreeing with him to build a stone wall for the sum of SS around the grave of his daughter, buried near my house, and the compliance with this contract upon my part engen- dered a feeling of friendship for me which I reciprocated. It resulted. finally, in the strongest ties of friendship, and lasted until the day of his death. I have now many relics, presented to me by him, which I hold sacred and dear-one memento in particular, a buckskin purse, made and given to me by him the day before his death.
This renowned warrior possessed many sterling qualities which could only be appreciated by those who knew him as intimately as myself. He never had but one wife, being opposed, personally, to the custom of polygamy, although never interfering with others of his tribe who approved and practiced this evil. His met-a-mo (old woman) was a good housewife. The arrange- ment of the interior of her wigwam was systematic and clean, and the burnished camp-kettle her greatest pride.
I tried hard to dissuade him from the war-path, in 1832; but he persisted in his determina- tion, and paid dearly for refusing to profit by my counsel. On his return. after his captivity. he paid me a visit, acknowledged his error, and pledged me never again to refuse good advice. which he observed the remainder of his life. His days were ended, in 1838, on the east bank of the Des Moines River, near the crossing of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad at Ashland.
Our commerce, from 1821 to 1832, did not increase in tonnage to any extent. I made sev- eral trips, during this time. on keelboats from St. Louis to. Galena, II]. A number of these boats were owned by Capt. White, and were navigated by him as freighters on the Upper Missis- sippi. Capt. James White informed me that his first veyage up the Mississippi was on the steamboat Mandan, and that they were forty days en route from New Orleans to the foot of the Rapids, which she attempted to ascend, but could get no higher than Filly Roek on account of heavy draft and the want of a correct knowledge of the channel by the pilot. He also informed me that the Indians, at several localities above St. Louis, were badly frightened, running in every direction, when the boat first hove in sight. As they had never witnessed the like before, many of them thought this aquatic monster was the Mon-i-tou-ke-suth (evil spirit, or devil) coming to call on them for a final reckoning. The next steamer that succeeded in ascending the Rapids was the Pike, which, by many, has been considered the first steamboat that traversed the Upper Mississippi: which is correct so far as being the first to go above the Des Moines Rapids.
The Red Rover, Chieftain, Mechanic, Java, Shamrock and Mexico were the next that made their appearance among us, and, after this, in snecession, came as regular traders the Warrior. Winnebago, Wisconsin, Olive Branch. William Wallace and Heroine, with hundreds of others since. The steamer Mexico was the first boat wrecked on the Lower Rapids, and the remains of this boat are still visible, near the shore, below Nashville .*
The first and most popular commanders on the Upper Mississippi were Capts. Throckmor- ton, Shelleross. Clark, Crosley, Atchinson, Lafferty, Littleton, Cameron, May and Reynolds.
In the fall of 1880. I sold my farm, at the upper landing, Nauvoo, Ill., to Pierce Atchison. of St. Louis, who considered his acquisition a valuable one. as this point bid fair to become a eity. Owing to the detention here of boats lighting over the rapids, the true channel on the west side of the island opposite Cut-Nose Village ( Montrose) had not then been discovered.
Shortly after the disposal of my farm I removed with my family to the west side of the river four miles below, to Ah-wi-pe-tuk ( commencement of falls or cascade), now Nashville. The chain of rocks extending across the river at this point. was considered by the natives as the com- mencement of the rapids, although many of the first explorers of the country thought the rapids extended from Puck-e she-tuck (foot of falls) to Skunk Prairie, thirty-two miles above, and as evidence to confirm this assertion, I would refer to the reports of Col. Taylor, to the Secretary of War, stating that he had constructed a fort on the west bank of the river, at the head of the lower rapids, and called it Fort Madison.
I was persuaded by Dr. Isaac Galland, to locate here, as he was anxions to promote the growth and prosperity of the place, and I have no doubt that he had an honest conviction that
* The wreck was raised and taken away when the canal was being excavated.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
in time it would become a great commercial city, but our ideal metropolis now, as then, remains but an airy castle. But to this insignificant spot we owe a tribute of respect, as it was here that the first white child was born, Eleanor Galland, in 1830 (now Mrs. McPherson, residing at Fort Madison, lowa), her father having located here one year previous, 1829. Also the first school was taught here in 1830, by Berryman Jennings, now a millionaire of Oregon. And, in addition to these early celebrities, we must not fail to mention the name of James Brierly, Lee County's first Representative. Here, in 1835, was enacted the Maine Liquor Law, which some consider of more recent day. Samuel Brierly and others being engaged in the retail whisky traffic, allowed the soldiers to indulge too freely, disturbances arose, and in consequence orders were issued by Col. Kearney, of Fort Des Moines ( Montrose) to destroy all intoxicating liquors found in possession of citizens of Nashville. This order was duly executed, and an eye-witness informed me that there was not a dry lip on this solemn occasion.
During the winter of my sojournment here, I lost my early companion, and owing to this misfortune, I resolved to depart at once from scenes where every association recalled the past and added fresh wounds to my sorrow. Early in March, 1831, I parted with my associations here, and next located at Puck-e-she-tuk (" foot of the falls," Keokuk). Upon my arrival here, I was furnished with comfortable quarters in a log house, first built here, by Dr. Samuel C. Muir. Its location, if standing to-day, would be right-hand corner of Main (as you ascend) and Front strect. In addition to the tenement I occupied was a frame building attached, which the proprietor reserved for his own especial accommodation. As Dr. Samuel C. Muir was the founder of Keokuk, and the first with whom I engaged in mercantile business, as an Indian trader, I feel it a duty I owe to his descendants to mention all I know of his character and history.
Being a native of Scotland, he was educated at Edinburgh University, graduated an M. D., and shortly after emigrated to this country. IIe proffered his services as a surgeon to the mili- tary department, and was received, and during his engagement on the frontier, formed an attach- ment for an Indian female (Sac squaw) by whom he had five children. Their names were Louisa, James, Mary, Sophia and Samuel. His family accompanied him upon all occasions, in the- event of removal from one post to another, and from inconveniences of this kind he was prompted to make the improvements before mentioned at Puck-e-she-tuk, that he might have a permanent home. During his engagement with the army, and while stationed at Fort Johnson or Edwards (Warsaw), Ill., orders were issued by the War Department, that all officers and attaches of the U. S. Army should at once abandon and refuse to harbor any and all Indian females resorting around military posts. Upon this announcement being made known to him, he at once tendered his resignation, and before it was accepted many flattering inducements were offered to him by his associates to abandon his wife (squaw) and remain with them. His only reply was by hold- ing up his first-born papoose (babe) and exclaiming, " May God forbid that a son of Caledonia should ever desert his child or disown his clan." After his resignation, circumstances com- pelled him to practice in Northern Missouri and Galena, Ill., for several years, and when his lease of Puck-e-she-tuk to Otis Reynolds and John Culver, of St. Louis, expired in 1830, he returned and received possession of his long-deserted home. During the interval of ten years, from 1820 to 1830, many accessions to the population of Puck-e-she-tuk had been made. Moses Stillwell, the agent and representative of Reynolds and Culver, being the first to settle here with his family, consisting of wife, child and two brothers-in-law, Amos Vanausdol and Valencourt Vanausdol. The American Fur Company had-established a trading-post here and constructed a respectable row of hewed-log buildings for their headquarters, of late years called "Rat Row."
The names of the employes of this trading-house were Russell Farnham, Manager ; Joshua Palen, Mark Aldridge, Edward Brishnell, clerks; Francis Labashure and Baptiste or Battise, a Menomi- nee Indian, principal interpreters. John Connolly, John Forsyth, James Thorn and John Tol- man were engaged by the company as itinerant peddlers, collecting furs, etc. These men all having Indian women for wives, were very popular as drummers with the various bands of Indians. Andrew Santamount, Baptiste Neddeau, Bruseau and Paul Bessette, of French origin, were among the first settlers here, being indirectly connected with the Fur Company in various occupations. At the expiration of the first year of my residence here, my associate, Dr. Muir, died of cholera, being the first victim, in 1832, since which time his wife and all his children have followed him, except his first-born, Louisa,* who still remains with us as a link in the chain that connects the pioneers of yore with the generation of to-day.
As the population increased, so did competition in trade increase, and, owing to this cause, the Fur Company's agents determined to remove to more advantageous grounds. I became the successor, owner and occupant of their buildings, continuing my trade, supplying Indians, half- breeds and whites with the necessaries of life. In connection with merchandise, I furnished enter- tainment for travelers, and towed and lightened around the rapids for steamers.
In our pioneer days, there was not the reserve or restraint in society that there is to-day. When our red friends presented us with a painted stick, we asked no questions, but followed them to their wigwams and fared sumptuously on dog meat. In winter, whites and half-breeds mingled in the dance ; their favorite dancing tune, being original, was called Guilmah or Stumn- tail Dog. Those who did not dance could be found in an adjoining room, engaged at cards ; and
* Residing in Keokuk, comparatively destitute, in 1879.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
our favorite game was brug, played with three cards, and one who was so stupid as not to under. stand or appreciate its beauties, was considered ineligible to our best society. Horse-racing was another great source of amusement to us : in this sport, our red friends were ever ready to par- ticipate, and, at times, lost on the result every article they possessed on earth. Keokuk and Pash-e-pe-no, chiets of the Sac tribe, were more passionately fond of this amusement than any of their cotemporaries. And when amusements of this kind ceased to be entertaining, we called upon our pugilists, Hood, McBride and Price, to further enliven the scene by a friendly exhi- bition of their prowess, by knocking down and dragging out a few of the disinterested specta- tors. We had no prize-belt to award the victor, as the science and courtesies of the ring had not then arrived at the perfection they have since.
Before this era, civil law, of course, was unknown, and our salutary roode of punishment for crime was by prohibiting the criminal from the use of intoxicating liquors, this being the greatest punishment we could inflict. % *
Our first school was taught by Jesse Crayton, in 1833. As his pupils were few, he was enabled to devote a large portion of his time to the mending of boots and shoes, his legitimate occupation.
It will be necessary, now, to mention other localities in connection with the history and set- tlement of Lee County. I will next refer to Cut-Nose Village ( Montrose).
After the Indians vacated this site, Capt. James White, in 1832, inclosed about seven acres of ground, procuring fencing-timber from the island opposite. He erected a double log house on the slope near the creek, about thirty rods from the river. In 1834. he sold his improve- ments, and a fort was built, under the supervision of Lient. Col, Crossman, named Des Moines, and occupied by Col. Kearney, in command of three companies of dragoons. The names of Browne, Boone and Sumner, Captains of these companies, will ever be remembered by the sur- viving pioneers of the half-breed tract for it was through their vigilance that civilization here received its first impetus. Their bayonets taught ns to respect the rights of others, and from martial law we learned the necessity of a civil code.
The first settlement at Fort Madison was by Peter Williams, a botanical, mullein-leaf doctor. In 1832, he erected a log house on the bank of the river, four or five hundred yards below the ohl fort. Here he remained until removed by the troops from Fort Armstrong, Rock Island. His house was demolished by these troops, the logs rolled into the river, and Peter was taken a prisoner to Commerce (Nauvoo), Ill. Here he was released, owing to the intercessions of his friends and family, with a solemn pledge not to cross to the west bank of the river again until the Indian title to these lands should become extinet.
In the latter part of 1833, or early in 1834, Peter again renewed his claim, and, about the same time, Richard Cheny squatted on the flat above the branch and near the present site of the State Penitentiary. Those early settlers disagreed about their boundary lines, and, in conse- quence, war was declared, which raged ferociously for months, until Peter obtained foreign aid from Fort Des Moines (Montrose). On the arrival of his auxiliaries. they fired a round of blank cartridges into old Dick's intrenchments, which made him beg for quarter, and promise ever after to hold his peace.
The first settler on the Des Moines River was John Tohlman, opposite St. Francisville, Mo. Next after him, at the same locality, was Dr. Samuel Hearn and above his farm was an Indian trail, its course east and west terminating at the water's edge on the east bank of the Des Moines, opposite the point of bluff bordering on the river above its mouth.
This trail started at Lemoliese (now Sandusky), ran due west to the Des Moines, as before described, thence onward over hill and dale to the Missouri River, and terminated near Kansas City. It must have been, at some former period, a great thoroughfare, as it was worn in many places, on level ground, for miles, six inches in depth.
I will now return to Puck-e-she-tuk, and mention a few more incidents connected with its growth and prosperity.
During the first four years of my residence here, I had cleared and fenced something over twenty acres on the top and side of the hill: this I used for corn and potatoes. The present landmarks, embracing the primitive potato-patch, are from Front street up Blondeau to Tenth, down Tenth to Timea : thence along Timea to Second street : thence along Second to Main : thence down Main and up Front to place of beginning.
Up to the year 1835, the settlement at the foot of the Rapids had been without a distinctive name. Its various aliases were " Pack-e-she-tuk," " Point." "Foot of the Rapids," etc. It was finally proposed by a number of steamboatmen, while detained here in lightening over the rapids. that it should commemorate the name of the Peace Chief of the Sac tribe, owing to his fidelity and friendship for the white people.
I sold my potato patch to Dr. Isaac Galland, agent of the New York Land Company, and under his supervision, a city in embryo was formally inaugurated and recorded as Keokuk.
*John Gaines was appointed the first Justice or Notary of Lee County, the half-breed reservation of Sacs and Foxes, Onisconsin Territory, in 1836. His monument (a rough limestone) stood on the corner of Second and Blondeau streets, Keokuk, as late as 1867.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
In the fall of 1836, a public meeting was held at the forks of the road six miles west of Keokuk, on what was then known as John Gaines'* claim. The object of this first meeting was for mutual consultation regarding the organization of Iowa Territory, and to know to what rights this locality might be entitled, as heretofore it had been thought by many of us that this reser- vation of lands for the half-breeds of the Sac and Fox Indians could not be included or embraced in any other organization. We thought, seriously, of setting out on our own hook, by forming an independent government of our own, but, after James Brierly and Henry J. Campbell had, in succession, mounted upon the head of a whisky-barrel and unburdened themselves of a vast amount of eloquence, we became convinced that this reservation did owe allegiance to the United States Government, and we must abide by its declarations.
During this convention, the name " Lee" was suggested as an appropriate name for the county, owing to his survey of the rapids bounding it upon the east.
Others among us thought "Sprigg " or " Rapids " more appropriate than the first, and to what source it owes its name, if not to Lieut. Lee, I cannot state, as I removed from the county before it was named.
RECOLLECTIONS OF VALENCOURT VANAUSDOL.
After Tesson, came Lemoliese, a French trader, in 1820, who established his trading-place at what is now Sandusky, which was first known to the white settlers as Lemolicse. Maurice Blondeau was here at the same time. Mr. Isaac R. Campbell, in his letter just quoted, and Capt. James W. Camp- bell, in a speech before the "Old Settlers," previously mentioned, both refer to the improvements made by Lemoliese, as probably the first made in Southern Iowa. The extent of these improvements is not given, but in all likelihood they consisted of nothing more than his trader's cabin and a small patch culti- vated in garden vegetables, corn, pumpkins, etc.
Valencourt Vanausdol, of Keokuk, is, beyond question, the oldest continu- ous white citizen in the State of Iowa. In 1827, Mr. Vanausdol was a boy ten years of age, living with his brother-in-law, Moses Stillwell, a carpenter by trade, at St. Louis, Mo. In the fall of 1827, Stillwell concluded to change his residence from St. Louis to what was then called Indian Territory, at the foot of the Lower Rapids, where Keokuk now stands. He placed himself and family and young Vanausdol on board the old steamboat Indiana, lying at the wharf at St. Louis, and after a six weeks' trip the boat landed them at the site of the present city of Quincy, Ill. The steamer was a small concern, of little power, and so very slow that a keelboat coming up the river passed her several times during the trip. The same fall, Stillwell and family, including Vanans- dol, came in an ox-wagon from Quincy to old Fort Edwards, now Warsaw, Ill., and wintered in the fort. In the spring of 1828, they moved from the fort in canoes to the opposite side of the river, and settled at the foot of the rapids, where Vanausdol has lived ever since. During the winter, Stillwell had come over to the foot of the falls and built two cabins, one of which he occupied with his family when they removed from Fort Edwards at the time mentioned.
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