USA > Iowa > Lee County > The history of Lee county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 40
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Between the time of his release from captivity and his death, Black Hawk was a frequent visitor to Fort Madison. Keokuk and other parts of the county, and surviving settlers of that period tell many anecdotes of his character and presence. He was a warm personal friend of Isaac R. Campbell, and often expressed his regrets that he had not taken Mr. Campbell's advice and refrained from his visit to Illinois, in the spring of 1832. On one of his visits to Mr. Campbell's place, he presented that venerable pioneer and excellent citizen with his favorite hunting-gun as an earnest of his friendship and a token that he would never again go to war against the whites. The gun is now in the pos- session of Capt. James W. Campbell, of Fort Madison.
Tale, Black Hawk.
THE BLACK HAWK PURCHASE.
The last battle of the Black Hawk war was fought at the mouth of Bad Axe River. Wis., on the 2d day of August, 1832. On the 21st day of September following, Gen. Winfield Scott and Gov. Reynolds, of Illinois, representing the United States, concluded a treaty at the present site of the City of Davenport, on the grounds now occupied by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Depot, with the confederate tribes of Sac and Fox Indians, by which the Indian title was extinguished to that portion of Iowa known as the "Black Hawk Purchase." This was a strip of land on the west bank of the Mississippi River, the western boundary of which commenced at the southeast corner of the present county of Davis ; thence to a point on Cedar River, near the northeast corner of Johnson County ; thence northwest to the neutral grounds of the Winnebagoes ; thence to the Mississippi River, at the mouth of the Little Iowa River, opposite the mouth of Bad Axe River, where the last battle of the Black Hawk war was fought. These boundaries included about six million acres of land. The treaty was ratified and confirmed on the 13th of February. 1833. The terms of the treaty allowed the Indians to remain in undisturbed possession of the lands until the first of June, 1833.
OTHER PURCHASES.
· In 1836, Keokuk, for himself and immediate adherents, ceded his reserve from the Black Hawk Purchase of 1832 to the United States. As he and his
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followers disappeared in the west, "squatters " appeared on the east. On the 21st of October, 1837, a treaty was made at the city of Washington, between Cary A. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and the confederate tribes of Sacs and Foxes, which was ratified on the 21st of February, 1838, by which 1,250,000 acres were added to the tract of land conveyed by them to the United States on the 21st of September, 1832. This strip of land adjoined the Black Hawk Purchase on the west, was of the same length. twenty-five miles in the center, and tapered off to a point at both ends.
LAST DAYS OF THE INDIANS.
PERSONAL SKETCHES, CHARACTERISTICS, ETC.
A history of the last days of the Sac and Fox Indians, the immediate pred- ecessors of the white occupants of the eastern slope of Iowa, is as much a part of the history of the county under consideration as are the incidents that have occurred since they gave way before the advancement of enlightened civilization. These sketches will necessarily extend to and include the area of several of the adjacent counties, but they will preserve to the present and future generations a record of aboriginal events that were familiar to the men and women who pioneered the way to the fertile prairies of the Black Hawk Purchase, and almost kindled their camp-fires from the smoldering embers left by the Indians when they turned their backs upon the lands that had been theirs for genera- tions agone.
Human improvement, rushing through civilization, crushes in its march all who cannot grapple to its car. This law is as inexorable as Fate. " You colo- nize the lands of the savage with the Anglo-Saxon," says Stephen Montague ; "you civilize that portion of the earth ; but is the savage civilized ? He is exterminated ! You accumulate machinery, you increase the total of wealth ; but what becomes of the labor you displace ? One generation is sacrificed to the next. You diffuse knowledge, and the world seems to grow brighter ; but Discontent at Poverty replaces Ignorance happy with its crust. Every Improve- ment, every advancement in civilization, injures some to benefit others, and either cherishes the want of to-day or prepares the revolution of to-morrow.'
It is only yesterday, as it were, since the prairies and grove-covered hillsides of Eastern Iowa, now so full of happy homes and agricultural and mechanical industry, re-echoed the mournful dirge of the departing red men. The years are comparatively few in number since the sorrowful cortege passed slowly toward the setting sun, leaving behind the noble dead, sleeping in the cold embrace of the grim monarch, by the side of their beloved white father; leaving the homes they had been taught to claim as their own : leaving all, even hope, behind. There still live, in different parts of the country, many persons who beheld the strange sight of a remnant of a race departing forever from the scenes of their early life, and such will doubtless be disposed to sneer at the pen which finds a source of sadness in the contemplation of this event. But worthy hands have written lines of living power upon the theme, nor can the harsh character of the fact denude the subject of a glamour which poetry and romance have cast around the dusky subject and his fate. There is a grandeur in the record of the race which the stern force of truth is powerless to dispel.
Those men who were compelled to meet the groveling band which had sur- vived the first shock of defeat, saw only the ruin which the strong had wrought upon the weak. The native power had fled : a subjugated race was subsisting
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in its helplessness upon the bounty of its conquerors. There was no spot on earth left for them. Foot by foot their mighty possessions were taken from them, not in the din and whirl of battle, but by the humiliating processes of peace. Here, at last, they stood with bowed heads, meekly awaiting the decree which should compel them to resume their endless march. Behind them was the tradition of their strength ; before them, annihilation of their clans. Even their warlike instincts were dwarfed in the presence of their masters. Had they disputed titles with the whites, the memories clustering about them now would be far different. But that resort to arms, that defiant struggle to the end, that disappearance in dramatic terror-all was denied them. Had they been other in nature than they were, this placid surrender to fate would seem less pitiful. Once fierce and bloody, then subdued, their stolid acceptance of des- tiny carried with it a mournful air that will be breathed through history's pages while our race shall live.
The Indian is the embodiment of the dramatic, and when the curtain is rung down upon a scene so spiritless and tame as this of which we write, the admiration which is his due is turned to pity. The actual spectators of the drama find it impossible to forget the sordid character of the players, it is true; but at so short a remove of time as this which has already elapsed since this country was the theater of the play, a shade of romance is imparted and the events become absorbing in their interest.
In the State history which precedes this department of the work, an extended history of the several tribes is given. It is the purpose of this chap- ter to take up the thread of narrative at the point where this immediate section becomes the scene of action, extending backward far enough to merely gather the scattered ends.
The facts herein presented are mainly obtained from a series of papers pre- pared by the late Maj. John Beach, son-in-law of the original Indian Agent, Gen. Street, and who, in turn, was Agent after the death of the General, in 1840. These papers were prepared in the summer of 1874, and were pub- lished in the Agency Independent. Maj. Beach died on the 2d of September, 1874, before the series was published in full. That such forethought was man- ifested by him, is a matter of congratulation among all who are interested in this country. It is to be regretted, however, that the Major did not prepare a still more elaborate history of the tribes he was so long associated with. While we do not consider it essential to preserve, in exact form, the series of articles alluded to, we have carefully extracted all salient points, and have added to them much more information, obtained from those conversant with the matter.
BLACK HAWK AND HIS WIFE.
In his old age, Black Hawk sought the companionship of the garrison ; his band was broken up, and the once great chief was left alone in his declining years. Maj. Beach relates the following incident, derived from personal ob- servation :
"Black Hawk's lodge was always the perfection of cleanliness, a quite unusual thing for an Indian. The writer has seen the old woman busily at work with her broom, by the time of sunrise, sweeping down the little ant-hills in the yard that had been thrown up during the night. As the chiefs of the nation seemed to pay him but little attention in the waning years of his life, Gen. Street, the Agent, looked out for his comfort more carefully than otherwise he would have thought it needful to do, and, among other things, gave him a cow -an appendage to an Indian's domestic establishment hitherto unheard of.
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The old squaw and daughter were instructed in the art of milking her, and she was held among them in almost as great reverence as the sacred ox Apis was held among the ancient Egyptians.
" This was in the summer of 1838, when the Agency (after which Agency City was named) was in process of erection, and Black Hawk had established his lodge on the banks of the Des Moines, about three miles below Eldon. Close by was the trading-house of Wharton McPherson, with whom the writer stayed one night in August of that year (1838), and as he rode past the lodge Mme. Black Hawk was complacently sitting upon a log by the side of her cow, under a heavily-shaded tree, industriously brushing the flies and mosquitoes from the bovine with a rag tied to the end of a stick. Mr. McPherson said this was her daily occupation in fly-time, often following the animal around as it grazed at a distance. This was the last interview the writer had with Black Hawk, as he died within two months of that time (October 3, 1838"), and was even then so infirm that he could barely move about his wigwam.
WAPELLO AND OTHER CHIEFS.
Wapello, the chief after whom Wapello County and the county seat of Louisa County were named, was a powerful ruler among his people, but was a fast friend of the whites, especially of the first Indian Agent, Gen. Street. Incidents illustrative of his character are dispersed through the following pages. He died in 1841, and was buried by the side of his friend, the General, on the Agency Farm. His grave was recently cared for by the managers of the Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, which passes near by, and is now in a condition to withstand the shocks of time for years to come.
Poweshiek, a chief co-equal with Wapello, but of the Foxes, while the latter was of the Sac tribe, was located on the reserve on the Iowa River, and does not figure in this history. He died before the Indians left the State, and thus escaped the humiliation of the scene.
Keokuk, the grand sachem, was a man of tall, commanding presence, straight as an arrow, and, when aroused, could make an eloquent speech to his tribe. He was selected by the United States Government to distribute the annuities to the Sacs and Foxes-not only for his energies when opposed to the nation in battle, but for his influence among the red men everywhere. But he was avaricious and intemperate, putting any amount of whisky under his royal toga, and stealing from his red brothers the hard silver so kindly given them by the Great Father at Washington. He had a chronic quarrel with Hardfish's band, that lived in Kishkekosh, near Eddyville, and, receiving a severe wound from one of this tribe.
From a sketch of Keokuk, published in the Annals of Iowa, 1865, by Uriah Biggs, one of the pioneers of Ottumwa, the following interesting ex- tracts are made :
" Keokuk is deserving of a prominent page in the history of the country, and a truthful history of his life would be read and cherished as a memento of one of nature's noblemen. As an orator, he was entitled to a rank with the most gifted of his race. , In person, he was tall and of portly bearing, and in his public speeches he displayed a commanding attitude and graceful gestures. He spoke rapidly, but his enunciation was clear and distinct and very forcible, culling his figures from the stores of nature, and basing his arguments in skill- ful logic. He maintained in good faith the stipulations of treaties with the United States and with the neighboring tribes. He loved peace and the social amenities of life, and was fond of displaying these agreeable traits of character
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in ceremonious visits to neighboring chiefs, in which he observed the. most punctilious etiquette and dignified decorum. He possessed a ready insight into the motives of others, and was not easily misled by sophistry or beguiled by flattery ; and in the field of wit he was no mean champion. It is not my pur- pose to write a history of his life, but I will give one anecdote in illustration of these traits of his character.
" While residing near Ottumwah-noc, he received a message from the Mor- mon Prophet, Joe Smith, inviting 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 invitation was readily accepted, and a train of ponies was soon winding its way to the Mormon city, bearing Keokuk and his suite in stately procession and savage pomp.
"Notice had circulated through the country of this diplomatic interview, and a number of spectators attended to witness the denouement. The audience was given publicly in the Mormon temple, and the respective chiefs were attended by their suites, the Prophet by the dignitaries 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 considerable length, giving Keokuk a brief history of the children of Israel, as detailed in the Bible, and dwelt forcibly upon the story of the lost tribes, and of the direct revelation he had received from a divine source, that the North American Indians were these identical lost tribes, and that he, the prophet of God, held a divine com- mission to gather them together and to lead them to a land 'flowing with milk and honey.' After the prophet closed this harangue, 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 condi- tion 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 men were not much used to milk, and he thought that they would prefer streams of water, and in the country where 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 con- ference in as amiable a manner as possible.
" He was gifted by nature with the elements 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 acquaint- ance with philosophy. With one exception only, his interpreters were unac- quainted even with the elements of their mother-tongue. Of this serious 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 broke down by dissipation and died. But during the meridian of his career among the white people, he was compelled to submit his speeches for translation to uneducated men, whose range of thought fell below the flights of a gifted mind, and the fine imagery, drawn from nature, was beyond their powers of reproduction. He had sufficient knowledge of the English tongue
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to make him sensible of this bad rendering 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 due 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 elo- quence could be plainly noted upon his audience. It was credibly asserted that by 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 related as occurring while the forces under Black Hawk were invading Illinois, in 1832.
" Keokuk knew from the first that this reckless war would result in great disaster to the tribe. and used all diligence to dissuade warriors from following Black Hawk, and succeeded in retaining a majority with him at his town on the Iowa River. But after Stillman's defeat. in what is now Ogle County, Ill .. the war spirit raged with such ardor that a war-dance was held, and Keokuk took part in it, seeming to be moved with the current of the rising storm, and, when the dance was over. he called a council to prepare for war. In his address he admitted the justice of his complaints against the white man, and to seek redress was a noble aspiration of their natures. The blood of their brethren
had been shed by the white man, and the spirits of their braves slain in battle called loudly for vengeance. . I am your chief,' he said. . and it is my duty to lead you to battle, if, after fully considering the matter, you are determined to go. But, before you take this important step. it is wise to inquire into the chances for success.' He then represented to them the great power of the United States, against whom they would have to contend-that their chance of success was utterly hopeless. . But if you now determine to go upon the war. path. I will agree to lead you, upon one condition-that before we go we kill all our old men and our wives and children to save them from a lingering death by starvation. and that every one of us determines to leave his bones on the other side of the Mississippi.
" This was a strong and truthful picture of the project before them, and was presented in such a forcible light as to cool their ardor and to cause them to abandon their rash undertaking. Many other incidents are related of his elo- quence and tact in allaying a rising storm, fraught with war and bloodshed, not only in his own tribe, but also among neighboring tribes, where his people had been the aggressors. Some of these incidents have been preserved by writers on Indian research, but many will be lost to history. He delivered a eulogy upon Gen. Harrison. at the Sac and Fox Agency, which was interpreted by Mr. Antoine Le Claire, and considered by many who heard its delivery as one of his best efforts. This speech, however, was not written down, and is lost to history. but enough of the incidents of his career as an orator have been saved from the wreck of time to stamp his reputation for natural abilities of the highest order, and furnish another positive refutation of Buffon's theory on the deterioration of men and animals on the American continent.
" We have thus far portrayed the bright side of Keokuk's character : but like most, if not all, great intellects, there is a dark background which the truth of history demands shall be brought to view. His traits of character, thus far sketched, may not inaptly be compared with the great Grecian orator : but here the similitude ends. The great blot on Keokuk's life was his inordi- nate love of money, and toward its close, he became a confirmed inebriate. His withering reply to the Mormon prophet was intended by him as a pure stroke of wit : it. nevertheless. expressed his ruling passions.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
" A bitter and incurable feud existed in the tribe during their time of res- idence on the Des Moines River, between what was denominated 'Keokuk's band' and . Black Hawk's band,' the latter recognizing Hardfish as their leader. Their distrust and, indeed, hatred were smothered in their common- intercourse when sober : but when their blood was fired with whisky, it some- times assumed a tragic feature amongst the leaders of the respective bands. An instance of this character occurred on the lower part of the Des Moines, on a return of a party making a visit to the 'half-breeds ' at the town of Keokuk. on the Mississippi. In a quarrel. excited by whisky, Keokuk received a dan- gerous stab in the breast from a son of Black Hawk. The writer of the pres- ent sketch saw him conveyed by his friends homeward, lying in a canoe, unable to rise.
" Hardfish and his coadjutors lost no occasion to find fault with Keokuk's administration. The payments were made in silver coin, put up in boxes, con- taining $500 each, and passed into Keokuk's hands for distribution. The sev- eral traders received each his quota according to their several demands against the tribes admitted by Keokuk, which invariably consumed the far greater por- tion of the amount received. The remainder was turned over to the chiefs and distributed among their respective bands. Great complaints were made of these allowances to the traders on the ground of exorbitant prices charged on - the goods actually furnished, and it was alleged that some of these accounts were spurious. In confirmation of this last charge, over and above the charac- ter of the items exhibited in these accounts, an affidavit was filed with Gov. Lucas by an individual, to which the Governor gave credence, setting forth that Keokuk had proposed to the maker of the affidavit to prefer a purely fictitious account against the tribe for the sum of $10,000, and he would admit its cor- rectness, and when paid. the money should be divided among themselves, share and share alike. To swell the trader's bills, items were introduced of a char- acter that showed fraud upon their face, such as a large number of · blanket- coats,' articles which the Indians never wore, and 'telescopes,' of the use of which they had no knowledge. This showed the reckless manner in which these- bills were swollen to the exorbitant amounts complained of, in which Keokuk was openly charged with being in league with the traders to defraud Hardfish's band. At this time, the nation numbered about 2,300 souls, and only about one-third of the whole number belonged to Keokuk's party. Gov. Lucas warmly espoused the popular side in the controversy that arose in relation to the mode and manner of making the annual payment, and the matter was re- ferred to the Indian Bureau, and the mode was changed, so that payments were made to the heads of families, approximating a per-capita distribution. This method of making the payments met the unqualified disapprobation of the traders, and after one year's trial, fell back into the old channel. Keokuk led his tribe west to the Kansas country in 1845, where he died, three years after- ward. The Keokuk Register of June 15, 1848, contained the following notice of his death, with some additional sketches of his life :
"' The St. Louis New Era announces the death of this celebrated Indian chief. Poison was administered to him by one of the tribe, from the effects of which he died. The Indian was apprehended, confessed his guilt and was shot.
"' The oratorical powers and diplomatic skill of Keokuk ranked him as no ordinary man. When sent as a deputy by his tribe to confer with the Govern- ment at Washington, his speech at the time was considered as one of the first efforts of declamation. As a speaker, he perhaps ranked first among the tribe.
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As a good man and a warrior, he was considered much inferior to Black Hawk. His success, as well as his reputation, was based upon the words of honey that dropped from his lips, enriched by the dignity of his manner and the splendor of his gesticulation, supported by arts of the profoundest dis- simulation. It was these, which, by the treaty of peace, placed him chief for life over his tribe, and gave him the control of the annuities due the heads of families. Profligate, fond of regal splendor, unscrupulously dishonest, he lav- ished with reckless profusion the moneys of which, as chief of his tribe, by the principles of the Christian and the savage, he should have been scrupulously exact in the distribution. The consequence was that many, by his excesses, were reduced to pressing want, and, according to the treaty of peace, without the privilege of deposing him. For these causes his life had been threatened sev- eral times, and the sword suspended by a single hair, fell probably, when least expected.
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