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 39
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" 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 his- tory ; 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 high- est 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 to 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 VAN BUREN COUNTY.
" A bitter and incurable feud existed in the tribe during their time of resi- dence on the Des Moines River, between what was denominated 'Keokuk's band' and 'Black Hawk's band,' the latter recognizing Hardfish as their leader. This distrust, and, indeed, hatred were smothered in their common inter- course when sober ; but when their blood was fired with whisky, it sometimes 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 in boxes, contain- ing $500 each, and passed into Keokuk's hands for distribution. The several traders received each his quota, according to their 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 chiefs, and dis- tributed 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 character 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 correctness, and when paid, the money should be divided among themselves, share and share alike. To swell the traders' bills, items were introduced of a character that showed fraud upon their face, such as a large number of 'blanket coats,' arti- cles which the Indians never wore, and ' telescopes,' of the use of which they had no knowledge. This shows 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 two thousand three hundred 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 rela- tion to the mode and manner of making the annual payment, and the matter was referred 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, and, according to reports, died some years after of delirium tremens."
Mr. James Jordan relates the following anecdote of Keokuk : "In 1837, the chief's son was prostrated with fever. Keokuk was absent at the time, but there chanced to be in the camp an old squaw, who was alleged to be invested with supernatural powers. When Keokuk returned, his valiant heir informed him that the witch had cast an evil spirit into the settlement, which had increased the fever and rendered it impossible to overcome disease while she lived. Thereupon Keokuk took the old woman without the settlement and deliberately cut off her head with a cleaver. This summary act was witnessed by Mrs. Phelps, wife of Billy Phelps, one of the original locators of that sec-
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
tion." The scene of this sacrifice was near Independent, adjacent to Jordan's farm.
Keokuk's son is at the head of the Sac and Fox Nation, in the Indian Ter- ritory.
BLACK HAWK, THE BRAVE.
The most conspicuous figure in the list of noted Indians of the Northwest is Black Hawk. This remarkable man was more like a white man in his domestic tastes and instincts than any of his cotemporaries ; but was, withal, a warrior of the true savage type. During his sojourn in Van Buren County, probably no one was more intimately acquainted with Black Hawk than James Jordan was. Mr. Jordan's opportunities for knowing the Indian, and also for acquiring a thorough knowledge of the language in which he spoke, were unusual. For years, the two families lived side by side, and maintained a degree of intimacy peculiar and incidental to the isolated life then led. A feeling of friendliness sprang up between the native and the pioneer resident, which was but little removed from that of brotherhood. Hence it is that the statements of Mr. Jordan relative to Black Hawk and his life are accepted without reser- vation by all who hear them.
In personal appearance, Black Hawk was distinguished. He was five feet and eleven inches tall ; weighed about one hundred and forty to one hundred and fifty pounds, and had an eye black and piercing as a wild beast.
Many errors have crept into history concerning Black Hawk. The most important one is that which fixes his birth in 1767. It will be observed in the State history, which precedes this sketch, that he was born in the Sac village, about three miles from the junction of Rock River with the Mississippi, in Illinois, in 1767. Mr. Jordan pronounces the date an error. From Black Hawk's own lips he learned that the time of his birth was 1775, but the day is not given.
As to the Indian orthography of the name, Mr. Jordan gives Mu-ca-talı- mich-a-ka-kah, and this is confirmed by several other well-posted persons. Maj. Beach, in his admirable papers on the Indian Agency in Wapello County, a subject he was well fitted to write about, because of his having been Agent after Gen. Street's death in 1840, gives a slightly different spelling; but only such as might naturally arise from an attempt to spell an Indian word by sound. The Major spelled the name Muck-a-ta-mish-e-ki-ak-ki-ak, and the reader will observe the general similarity in the two methods. Probably Mr. Jordan's way is the correct one. The literal translation of the name into English is a black hawk.
Another error exists concerning the official position of the man. He was not a chief, either by inheritance or election. His father was a leading spirit, perhaps a prophet or a man of commanding influence in the councils of the Sacs. At an early age, Black Hawk was allowed to don the war-paint, because of his having slain an enemy of his tribe. This rather traditionary statement comes unsupported, but is given for what it is worth. The story runs that the youth was but sixteen years old when he hung his first scalp upon his wigwam.
In character the Indian b- As brave, cautious and ambitious. He aspired to rank and sought the . tion of his passion for power by stealthy means.
He possessed marvelons corical abilities, in that gift equaling the great speaker Keokuk. As a warrior, he was dependent more upon strategy than upon the qualities which white men deem essential to military prowess; but Black Hawk was not a cruel or blood-thirsty man who slew merely for the sake of slaughter. He was a paradox in some characteristics, and the report given
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
by Mr. Jordan, of his latter days, contradicts the generally believed accounts of his early methods of self-promotion. However, one can accept the statements of his friend without too great a tax on one's credulity, when it is remembered that the last years, and not the first, were spent in this vicinity. Black Hawk the youth was very different from Black Hawk the old and defeated man.
History teaches that Black Hawk's efforts at generalship were failures, when military method was required. His power lay in sudden and fierce attacks, with dramatic strategy and rush of mounted braves. It was by such means, and the employment of his great eloquence in council, that he gained his eminence as a leader. He assumed the place of authority over Keokuk, his ranking officer, and maintained his hold upon his men without ever claiming to be a chieftain. He called himself a Brave, and delighted in the title.
The Sacs and Foxes, according to their traditions, once dwelt upon the shores of the great lakes. Gradually they were pushed westward, until in time they came to occupy a large portion of Northern Illinois. In spite of the press- ure of the whites, this band occupied a site on the east shore of the Missis- sippi, near Rock River. Here Black Hawk was, in 1832, the controlling spirit. " He was never a chief, either by inheritance or election," declares Major Beach, "and his influence was shared by a wily old savage, of part Winne- bago blood, called the Prophet, who could do with Black Hawk pretty much as he pleased ; and also by a Sac named Na-pope, the English of which is Soup, and whom the writer found to be a very friendly and manageable old native, as was also Black Hawk."
As relevant to the history of the Indian occupation of Van Buren County, we quote from a paper prepared by Uriah Biggs, and published in the "Annals of Iowa," the following authentic account of Black Hawk's first battle. The battle-field was on the present site of Iowaville, which was long ago the prin- cipal seat of the Iowa nation of Indians, and was where Black Hawk after- ward died. At the time of the massacre. Black Hawk was a young man, and the graphic account of his first steps toward leadership, as related by Mr. Biggs, is made up of the details given by the Indians who participated in the battle :
" Contrary to long established custom of Indian attack, this battle was brought on in daytime, the attending circumstances justifying this departure from the well-settled usages of Indian warfare. The battle-field is a level river- bottom prairie, of about four miles in length and two miles wide, near the middle, narrowing down to points at either end. The main area of the bottom rises perhaps twenty feet above the river, leaving a narrow strip of low bottom along the river, covered with trees that belted the prairie on the river-side with a thick forest, and the river-bank was fringed with a dense growth of willows. Near the lower end of the prairie, and near the river-bank, was situated the Iowa village, and about two miles above the town and near the middle of the prairie, is situated a small natural mound. covered at that time with a tuft of small trees and brush growing on its summit.
" In the rear of this mound lay a belt of wet prairie, which, at the time here spoken of, was covered with a dense crop of rank coarse grass; bordering this wet prairie on the north, the country rises abruptly into elevated and broken river-bluffs, covered with a heavy forest for many miles in extent, por- tions of it thickly clustered with undergrowth, affording a convenient shelter for the stealthy approach of the cat-like foe. Through this forest the Sac and Fox war-party made their way in the night-time, and secreted themselves in the tall grass spoken of above, intending to remain in ambush through the day,
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
and make such observations as this near proximity to their intended victims might afford, to aid them in the contemplated attack on the town during the following night. From this situation their spies could take a full survey of the situation of the village, and watch every movement of the inhabitants, by which means they were soon convinced the Iowas had no suspicion of their presence.
" At the foot of the mound above noticed, the Iowas had their race-course, where they diverted themselves with the excitements of the horse, and skilled their young warriors in cavalry evolutions. In these exercises, mock battles are fought, and the Indian tactics of attack and defense, of victory and defeat, are carefully inculcated, by which means a skill in horsemanship is acquired which is rarely excelled. Unfortunately for them, this day was selected for these equestrian sports, and, wholly unconscious of the proximity of their foes, the warriors repaired to the race-ground, leaving the most of their arms in the village, and their old men and women and children unprotected.
" Pashapaho, who was chief in command of the enemy's forces, perceived at once the advantage this state of things afforded for a complete surprise of his now doomed victims, and ordered Black Hawk to file off with his young warriors through the tall grass, and gain the cover of the timber along the river-bank, and, with the utmost speed reach the village and commence the battle, while he remained with his division in the ambush, to make a simulta- neous assault on the unarmed men, whose attention was engrossed with the excitement of the races. The plan was skillfully laid and most dexterously prosecuted. Black Hawk, with his forces, reached the village undiscovered and made a furious onslaught upon its defenseless inhabitants, by firing one general volley into their midst, and completing the slaughter with the tomahawk and scalping-knife, aided by the devouring flames with which they engulfed the vil- lage as soon as the fire-brand could be spread from lodge to lodge.
"On the instant of the report of fire-arms at the village, the forces under Pashapaho leaped from their couchant position in the grass, and sprang tiger- like upon the astonished and unarmed lowas in the midst of their racing sports. The first impulse of the latter naturally led them to make the utmost speed to reach their arms in the village, and protect, if possible, their wives and children from the attacks of the merciless assailants.
" The distance from the place of the attack on the prairie was two miles, and a great number fell in the flight by the bullets and tomahawks of their adversaries, who pressed them closely with a running fire the whole way, and they only reached their town in time to witness the horrors of its destruction. Their whole village was in flames, and the dearest objects of their lives lay in slaughtered heaps amidst the devouring element, and the agonizing groans of the dying mingled with the exulting shouts of a victorious foe, filled their hearts with a maddening despair. Their wives and children who had been spared the general massacre were prisoners, and, together with their arms, were in posses- sion of the victors, and all that could now be done was to draw off their shat- tered and defenseless forces and save as many lives as possible by a retreat across the Des Moines River, which they effected in the best possible manner, and took a position among the Soap Creek hills.
" The complete success attending a battle does not always imply brave action, for, as in the present instance, bravery does not belong to a wanton attack on unarmed men and defenseless women and children. Yet it is due to Pasha- paho, as a commander of an army, to give him full credit for his quick per- yeption of the advantages circumstances had placed within his reach, and for
1
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
his sagacity in at once changing the programme of attack to meet occurring events, and the courage and intrepidity to seize these events and insure his sue- cess. The want of these essential qualities in a commander has occasioned the loss of many a battle in what is courteously termed civilized warfare.
" The Iowas, cut off from all hope of retrieving their loss, sent a flag of truee to Pashapaho, submitting their fate to the will of their conqueror, and a parley ensued which resulted in the Iowas becoming an integral part of the Sac and Fox nation ; but experiencing the ill-usage that is the common fate of a conquered people, they besought the United States authorities to purchase their undivided interest in the country and thus allow them to escape from the tyranny of their oppressors. The purchase was accordingly made in 1825, and they removed to the Missouri River, and have so wasted in numbers as to scarcely preserve their existence as an independent tribe. The sole cause of this war was the insatiable ambition of the Sac and Fox Indians, as this was their first acquaintance with the Iowa nation or tribe."
Mr. Biggs differs from other writers concerning some points in Black Hawk's character. We give the following description from his pen :
" My first and only interview with Black Hawk was at Rock Island, at the time of the treaty for the Iowa Reserve, in 1836. about one year before his death. I was introduced to him by his intimate acquaintance and apologist, the late Jeremiah Smith, of Burlington. He asked where I resided, and being told on the Wabash River, in Indiana, he traced on the sand the principal Western rivers, showing their courses and connections, and exhibiting a general knowledge of the prominent features of the topography of the Western States.
"The interview occurred after his first visit to Washington, where he was taken by way of the Ohio River to Pittsburgh, and returned by Philadelphia, Baltimore, Albany, Buffalo and Detroit, affording him a good opportunity to form a salutary impression of the military resources of the United States, and also to acquire a general knowledge of its geography. Its great military strength seemed to arouse his keenest observation, and furnished the main topic of his remarks upon the country as he passed through, as well as on his return to his tribe. The colloquy at this interview afforded an occasion to express his bitter reflections upon this painful theme. Mr. Smith, unfortunately for the repose of Black Hawk's feelings, and unconscious of its effect, mentioned the writer of this sketch as a surveyor of publie lands, a character always unwelcome among the Indians. This remark I much regretted, as Black Hawk's counte- nance was instantly covered with gloom, and he rather petulantly said : 'The Shomokoman was strong, and would force the Indians to give up all their lands.' " The colloquy here ended, as this barbed arrow, inadvertently thrown by Mr. Smith, had occasioned a tumult in Black Hawk's mind that rendered fur- ther conversation on his part disagreeable. The impressions of the writer in regard to Black Hawk's personal appearance were those of disappointment. He was attired in a coarse cloth coat, without any semblance of fit or proportion, with his feet thrust into a pair of new stoga shoes that were without strings. and a coarse wool hat awkwardly placed on his nearly bald pate, and present- ing a very uncouth and rather ludicrous personal bearing.
"This toggery, perhaps, had its share in lowering my previously-estimated claims of Black Hawk to distinction among the celebrated men of his race. ' The fine head, Roman style of face, and prepossessing countenance,' that so favorably impressed the distinguished anthor of the . Sketch Book.' on visiting him while a prisoner in Jefferson Barracks, were no longer apparent to my dull comprehension.
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
" It would, indeed, be difficult to find a name in history that attained so great a notoriety, associated with such limited mental endowment and true mili- tary skill. Every prominent act of his life gave evidence of the lack of sound discretion and prudent forethought. We find him as early as 1804 visiting the Spanish Governor at St. Louis, at the time the United States' agents called to accept the transfer of the authority of the country. Black Hawk being informed of the purpose of their visit, refused to meet these agents of the new government, he passing out of one door as they entered at the other, and embarking with his suite in their canoes and hastening away to Rock Island, saying he liked his Spanish father best. This was a mere whim, as he had, as yet, no acquaintance with the Government and people of the United States. He, however, at once determined on hostility to both ; and this ill-ad- vised and hasty determination was his ruling passion while he lived.
" Lieutenant Pike, on behalf of the Government, made him a friendly visit to Rock Island, the following year, and, as a token of friendship, presented Black Hawk with an American flag, which he refused to accept. He embraced the first opportunity that offered to form an alliance with the British authorities in Canada, and eagerly attached himself and 500 warriors of his tribe to the British standard, at the commencement of the war of 1812. Here, his lack of capacity to command an army, where true courage and enduring fortitude were requisite to success, was fully demonstrated. His warlike talents had hitherto been only tested in stealthy and sudden onslaughts on unprepared and defense- less foes : and, if successful, a few scalps were the laurels he coveted, and he retired, exulting in the plunder of a village and these savage trophies. His campaigns against the Osages and other neighboring tribes, lasted only long enough to make one effort, and afforded no evidence of the fortitude and patient skill of the able military leader. His conduct under the British flag as 'Gen- eral Black Hawk' showed him entirely wanting in the capacity to deserve that title. He followed the English army to Fort Stephenson, in expectation of an easy slaughter and pillage ; but the signal repulse the combined forces still met by the gallant Col. Croghan, completely disheartened him, and he slipped away with about twenty of his followers to his village on Rock River, leaving his army to take care of themselves.
" He entertained no just conception of the obligations of treaties made between our Government and his tribe, and even the separate treaty by himself and his ' British Band,' in 1816, was no check on his caprice and stolid self- will, and its open violation brought on the war of 1832, which resulted in his complete overthrow, and ended forever his career as a warrior.
" The history of his tour through the United States as a prisoner, is a severe reflection upon the intelligence of the people of our Eastern cities, in regard to the respect due to a savage leader who had spent a long life in butchering his own race, and the frontier inhabitants of their own race and country. His journey was, everywhere throughout the East, an ovation, falling but little short of the respect and high consideration shown to the nation's great benefactor, La Fayette, whose triumphal tour through the United States happened near the same period. But as an offset to this ridiculous adulation in the East, when the escort reached Detroit, where his proper estimate was understood, Black Hawk and his suite were contemptuously burned in effigy. But due allowance should be made for the ignorance concerning true Indian character, among the Eastern people, as their conceptions are formed from the fanciful creations of the Coopers and Longfellows, immensely above the sphere of the blood-thirsty War Eagles and the filthy, paint-bedaubed Hiawathas of real savage life.
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HISTORY OF VAN BUREN COUNTY.
" Black Hawk died in the fall of 1838, near Iowaville, the scene of his triumph, under Pashapaho, over the Iowas in the early part of his warlike career. He was buried in a sitting posture, in a frail tomb made of wooden slabs set upon the ground in the form of an inverted V. His war-club, a shaved post four or five feet high, was placed in the front of his rude tomb, upon which a great number of black stripes was painted, corresponding with the number of scalps he had taken during life. Openings were left in his tomb so that his friends and curious visitors could witness the progress of decay. Some- time after the removal of his friends higher up the river, and after the flesh had wasted away, a Dr. Turner, of Van Buren County, removed his skeleton to Alton, Ill., and had the bones handsomely polished and varnished, preparatory to connecting them by wires in the skeleton form. When Black Hawk's wife heard of the exhumation, she affected great and incontrollable grief, and poured out the burden of her sorrows to Robert Lucas, Governor of the Territory, and ex officio Superintendent of Indian Affairs, who promptly recovered the bones and placed them in a box in his office at Burlington, and dispatched a message to the bereaved family, then staying on the Des Moines, some ninety miles dis- tant. A cavalcade was soon in motion, bearing the disconsolate widow and a retinue of her friends to Burlington. On the evening of their arrival, the Gov- ernor was notified of their readiness to wait upon him, who fixed the audience for 10 A. M. the next day. Several visitors were in attendance. The box containing the august remains opened with a lid, and when the parties were all assembled and ready for the awful development, the lid was lifted by the Gov- ernor, fully exposing the sacred relics of the renowned chief to the gaze of his sorrowing friends and the very respectable auditors who had assembled to wit- ness the impressive scene.
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