USA > Iowa > Van Buren County > The history of Van Buren County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c, a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics history of the Northwest, history of Iowa &c > Part 38
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From this record it will be seen that the mounds removed from the river- the Sugar Creeks-are in line of direct communication with those on the stream, by means of signals. This fact is mentioned merely as an incidental one, perhaps worthy of consideration. Recent examination of the Caldwell and Hedrick Mounds resulted in nothing important. They contained no remains, human or otherwise, but were doubtless mounds of observation solely. Still, subsequent research may reveal relics, and it is to be hoped that the investiga- tion will be carefully made at an early day.
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
N
A
W-HE
PITTSBURG
KEOSAUQUA
SEC. 3.
O
SEC. 2.
DIAGRAM B.
Mounds near Keosauqua and Pittsburg, Van Buren County.
REFERENCES.
A bluff extends over Sections 2 and 3, Township 68, Range 10.
Mounds on Section 3 are known as " Ely Ford Mounds," because of creek and old ford.
The square on right of creek, near mouth, is the Shell Heap, referred to herein.
The stream running through Pittsburg is Chequest Creek.
The dotted line around the southern shore indicates where the chain of mounds exists. Scale, five-eighths inch to the mile.
In July, 1878, the Ely Ford Mounds in Van Buren County were opened. The location of these tumuli is as follows : Counting from the left bank of the creek northwestward, No. 1 is 20 rods north, 55° west from mouth of creek ; 20 feet above river-bed; 40 feet from water's edge. There is no timber. In this were found fresh-water muscle-shells in large quantity, and pieces of pottery, arrow-heads, bones (probably animals'), part of a human jaw with teeth, and foot and leg bones of a human skeleton in fair state of preservation. There was a surface deposit of about two feet ever these remains.
No. 2 was 10 rods north, 60° west from No. 1, on Bluff Point, 100 feet above river-bed, 200 feet from water's edge. On this mound were the decayed remains of a large white-oak tree, which was two feet in diameter ; also young oak growing. In the mound was found
A HUMAN SKULL
entire, except the lower jaw. A portion of the upper jaw was decomposed, but one tooth remained. The leg-bones were also discovered. The position of the skeleton was two feet beneath the surface, with head southeast, horizontal. The same pottery as in No. 1. The dimensions of this skull are as follows : horizontal circumference, 20 inches ; longitudinal arc, from nasal depression, along middle line of skull to occipital protuberance, 13 inches ; transverse measurement, 5 inches ; vertical height, 3 75-100 inches ; longitudinal meas- urement, 8 inches. This skull approaches very nearly to the famous Neander- thal, or Cave skull, of Prussia.
No. 3 is half-moon shaped, 15 rods north, 550 west from No. 2, on same bluff, 120 feet above the river-bed, and 200 feet from water's edge. In it were found thigh-bones.
No. 4 was 15 rods north, 45° west from No. 3, but contained nothing valu- able, and may be modern.
No. 5 was a large mound, 50 feet in diameter and 5 feet in height; located 30 rods south, 45° east from mouth of Ely's Creek, on high bluff point, 100 feet above river-bed, and 20 rods from water's edge. Upon it was a decayed white oak stump, 24 inches in diameter, located 12 feet north, 10° west from
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
the center of the mound, and another stump of similar character 16 inches in diameter, 4 feet north from center. In this mound were discovered human thigh-bones under the south side of the large stump, five feet from the surface. and subsequent investigation revealed
TWO SKELETONS
in excellent state of preservation. The wood of the oak crumbled in the hand. because of its exceedingly rotten condition. There were fragments of the arm- bone, and the position of the body must have been horizontal, with head toward the west and leg doubled under. Quantities of shells were found, as in No. 1. Later research revealed the best preserved skull ever found in this country. It is now in the possession of Mr. Evans, of Ottumwa, and is a proper object of elaborate study and comparison. The region about Keosauqua is evidently rich in evidences of ancient sepulture.
The river-bank is thickly covered with these mounds. The diagram does not show the twentieth part of the tumuli in Van Buren County. Nearly fifty have been discovered in the immediate vicinity of Keosauqua. We aim to locate only those which have been explored by Mr. Evans, or some one skilled in the detection of relics.
Judge Sloan has devoted a considerable portion of the leisure which his arduous professional duties grudgingly gave him to the contemplation of this subject. From him we learn that he is aware of the existence of some forty-five mounds, be- sides many "pockets," or places of deposit in the bluffs, where shells, bits of bone-probably of animals that served as food-and fragments of pottery are placed, and slightly covered with earth.
The most valuable discovery yet made in the Des Moines Valley is the skull which we have described. It is the remains of a race the like of which does not exist on earth at the present time. The doubts created as to the antiquity of the stone implements found are natural and reasonable. Any race of stone- workers might have produced them ; but the irrefutable evidence of the skull silences comment and arouses profound conjecture. The modern Indian pos- sesses no characteristics like those which must have been the portion of this man, whose gaping sockets mock us as we gaze into them. Could the tongue which once formed syllables of command beneath that moldering jaw be re-in- vested with the power to speak, what tales it could unfold !
The race of which this is a type was easily led, low in intellect, and not far different from the patient toiler on the Pyramids of Egypt.
Messrs. Robert N. and Charles L. Dahlberg, explored the region of the mouth of Chequest Creek, at Pittsburg, Van Buren County, with satisfactory results, on the 31st of July, 1878. Ancient pottery was discovered. A descrip- tion of the ware, prepared by the gentlemen who unearthed it, is herewith appended :
The pieces of pottery found are composed of clay and sand, mixed with small pebbles, form- ing a cement which appears to be baked rather than burned. The most of the pieces found show that the heat applied in their construction was not sufficient to melt the sand or pebbles, or in any way to affect their original condition. No glazing appears on the pottery, and yet it is of a hard, firm, durable substance which is impervious to water. One piece of pottery is about four inches square, but of an irregular shape. At one point it is shown to be a part of the top of a wide-mouthed vessel, evidently about two inches less in diameter at the neck than at the top. Judging by the arc described by the piece in question, the neck of the piece must have been at least 18 inches in diameter.
This piece also shows attempts at ornamentation, having a horizontal row of dots, or beads, about an inch and a half from the top of the vessel ; these have the appearance of having been made by punctures from the inside of the vessel, and are about half an inch apart, or seven- eighths from center to center.
B
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
There are also parallel lines running about it horizontally, about half an inch apart, which were evidently made by some blunt instrument about one-eighth of an inch square, pressed into the clay, leaving little ridges between each impression of the instrument that would average about one-sixteenth of an inch thick. There are a number of small pieces, one showing dis- tinctly that the neck and rim of the vessel above it were quite flaring, though this rim does not show entire. The rim is ornamented by diamond-shaped figures made by lines crossing each other, which lines are formed very much like the parallel lines in the larger piece.
Another piece shows parallel lines. One small piece is corrugated as the Ely Ford pottery ; and shows distinctly the application of heat sufficient to fuse the silex in the composition of the pottery, making it a very hard and firm substance; this piece is thinner than the baked pieces. Another piece shows bead-work distinctly about an inch from the top of the vessel ; the body of the vessel is ornamented with parallel lines running at right angles with the top of the vessel, made as in the first piece described, and the top ornamented very much as our mothers used to ornament the edge of a pie.
Several other pieces show the application of heat sufficient to fuse the silex in their compo- sition. Several, including the larger piece described above, show on the edges and upon both surfaces glittering particles, which appear to be small pieces of isinglass. This pottery was nearly all found upon the surface of the ground, having been washed out by the action of the water; some were found on the creek-bank, and some on the river-bank near the edge of the water, but all at the mouth of Chequest, which empties into the river at Pittsburg. In the river-bank in front of the village is also a bed of ashes and charcoal, about three inches in depth, and about two feet from the surface of the ground.
Mr. Evans recently contributed to the Chicago Times a series of letters descriptive of the mounds in this locality, and speculative as to their origin. We quote so much of the contributions as treats of the appearance of the tumuli:
The mounds which I have examined on Village Creek presented the following conditions, They are found on natural elevations, the highest in the vicinity. They are regular in shape and regular in the arrangement of the materials which compose them. The second stratum of earth composing them, immediately beneath the natural soil, accumulated by the decay of vege- tation, is very often foreign to the surroundings. Then succeed strata of ashes, charcoal and earth, averaging about five inches in thickness. Human remains are found in these mounds, but not always, which indicates that they were not originally made for burial places, and give color to the idea that they were utilized by succeeding populations for uses foreign to the design of the builders. But in Iowa they are not numerous enough to encourage the supposition that they were merely sites of dwelling-places, because of the labor to build them. It is not reason- able to believe that any people, whether civilized or barbarons, would build a mound which would require the labor of ten men for fifty days, on the top of which a wooden building could be constructed less than twenty feet iu circumference.
In Wapello County we have a range of mounds about two miles from the river, on a ridge running parallel with the Des Moines, on the southern side which overlooks the plateau or bot- tom land of the stream, and is in plain view of a corresponding range of mounds situated on a high hill north of the river. These mounds are similar in shape, and having examined many of them on each side of the river, I find their interior composition to be very much alike. The layers of ashes, charcoal and earth are the same, and in some of them human remains were found. In a few of them I have discovered flint implements. I must confess, however, that after all my examinations I cannot settle down on any well-grounded opinion as to the objects for which these mounds were created, except to disagree with all the theories so far advanced. The ashes and charcoal and human remains showing the action of fire, have at times induced me to believe that the Mound-Builders practiced cremation, and that after the rites were performed the remains were covered with earth, each succeeding funeral pyre adding to the height of the mound. Yet, while this theory has in my mind more proofs than any other yet advanced, I am not prepared to accept it without additional evidence.
Archaeologists 'have determined that the mounds of America may be prop- erly classed under three general heads, viz .: Mounds of Observation, Mounds of Sacrifice and Mounds of Burial. The first were doubtless used as posts of communication between distant bands. They are always found on elevated lands, from which wide areas of territory may be seen, if modern timber or edifices do not intervene. From one to another a signal fire or flag might have conveyed intelligence of invasion, of joy or of distress. This class of works is found in Wapello County, in an excellent state of preservation. The larger groups present evidences of having been erected for such purposes, rather than for sacrificial observances, or even for the disposal of the dead ; although
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
some of the tumuli, undoubtedly, were devoted separately to each of the three purposes.
In Van Buren County, the dwelling-places of the Mound-Builders are more distinctly marked. While observation hills are found there, also, the larger number of mounds bear striking testimony of other uses. The unearthing of the skeletons from Mounds Nos. 2 and 5, are events worthy of the considera- tion of scientists the world over. The fragments of pottery, the stone imple- ments and the heaps of shells and animal bones, furnish food for deepest thought. The ground is rich in remains of every character, and should be thoroughly investigated.
From far above Pittsburg to a point several miles below Keosauqua, a con- tinuous chain of works is to be seen. The diagram of the great bend in the river, near Keosanqua, shows but a faint outline of the place where future archæologists will delve with satisfactory results.
It is not within the province of this chapter to enter into an elaborate dis- cussion of the subject, but, as has already been intimated, merely to suggest where the labor should be undertaken. Van Buren County should be made the theater of exhaustive research, and if this paper prepares the way for such enterprises, its mission will be fully accomplished.
HISTORY OF THE ABORIGINES.
From the contemplation of this primordial race-a people which must be termed the originals, so far as our imperfect knowledge extends, but which may, after all, have been but the last fragments of a nation greater even than our own-let us pass to the consideration of those tribes which are not mythical.
Human improvement, rushing through civilization, crushes in its march all who cannot grapple to its car. This law is as inexorable as Fate. "You colonize the lands of the savage with the Anglo-Saxon," says Stephen Mon- tague; "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 Im- provement, every advancement in civilization, injures some to benefit others, and either cherishes the want of to-day or prepares the revolution of to-mor- row.'
It is, as it were, but yesterday since the hills and valleys of the Des Moines re-echoed the mournful dirge of the departing red man. The years are 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 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 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.
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
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 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 inasters. 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 furor-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 destiny 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 even so short a remove of time as this which has already elapsed since this county was the theater of the play, a shade of romance is imparted and the events become absorbing in their interest.
KEOKUK, THE ORATOR CHIEFTAIN.
The soil of Van Buren County has been trodden by two of the greatest red men of recent times. Keokuk, the Chief, and Black Hawk, the Brave, both found thereon a resting-place, while within the limits of the region were enacted many of the most important scenes of their eventful lives.
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, he died soon after reaching Kansas, in 1845.
From a sketch of Keokuk, published in the "Annals of Iowa," 1865, by Uriah Biggs, one of the pioneers of Van Buren, the following interesting extracts 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 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
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
amenities of life, and was fond of displaying those agreeable traits of character 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 purpose 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 impor- tance to their respective people. The invitation was readily accepted, and a train of ponies was soon wending 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 commission 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 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 men were not much used to milk, and he thought they would prefer streams of water, and in the country where they now were there was a good supply of honey. The points that 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 conference in as amiable a manner as possible.
" He was gifted by nature with the elements of an orator in an eminent de- gree, 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
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
powers of reproduction. He had sufficient knowledge of the English tongue to make him sensible of this bad rendering of his thought, 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, 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 chances of success were 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 determine to leave his bones on the other side of the Mississippi.
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