USA > Iowa > Warren County > The history of Warren County, Iowa, from its Earliest Settlementto 1908 > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90
16
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
I saw my evil day at hand. The sun rose clear on us in the morning; at night it sank in dark clouds and looked like a ball of fire. This was the last sun that shone on Black Hawk. He is now a prisoner to the white man. But he can stand the torture: he is not afraid of death. He is no coward. Black Hawk is an Indian. No Indian need blush with shame at the history of his life. Black Ilawk has only fought the battles of his country against the white man, who came year after year to rob us and take from us our lands, where rests the bones of our fathers. The white man knows the cause of this war. They are the ones who should droop and wither in shame. This is my message to the pale face. Black Hawk is satisfied. He will go to the world of spirits contented. He has done his duty, and the Great Spirit will meet and reward him. The white men do not scalp the heads, but they do worse ; they poison the heart. Farewell to my nation ! Farewell to Black Hawk." Did Black Hawk make this speech ? Nobody knows now. so let it be accepted as a beautiful specimen of Indian oratory. He was taken to Washington and other great cities that he might see something of the strength and wealth of the nation. He then returned to a little reservation on the Iowa river, soon afterward he went to Towaville. During the remainder of his life he traveled but little-was morose and silent. A few weeks before his death he attended a celebration at Fort Madison and made a short speech. In all his speeches may be read between the lines the melancholy of his heart. He was a noble specimen of a true and richly endowed man. without the education and culture of civilization. Before his death he selected his burial place. On the third day of October, 1838. Black Hawk died and was buried on the Des Moines river near the village of Towaville, which has long since been vacated. The following beautiful comment on the character of the great Sae chief was written by Mrs. Maria Peck, and published in the Annals of Towa: "In Black Hawk was incarnated the very spirit of justice. He was as inflexible as steel in all matters of right and wrong. as he understood them. Expediency formed no part of his creed, and his condnet in the trying emergency. that ended in the fatal conflict was eminently consistent with his character. No thought of malice entered his great soul. The contest was waged with no other purpose in mind than to protect his people in what he believed was their in- alienable right to the wide domain that was being wrested from them. It matters not whether his skin was copper-colored or white; the man who has the courage of his convictions always challenges the admiration of the world. and as such. pre-eminently the noble old Sae chief will ever stand as an admirable figure." According to a rude enstom of the red men he was buried in a sitting posture. and with him many gifts of white men and other friends. In July of the following year the body was taken from its resting place, where it had been laid by members of his own family, and spirited away to some point in Illinois, but the family complained so bitterly of the ghoulish deed that Governor Lucas had the matter investigated. The remains were found and returned to Burlington. Towa, and with the consent of his family were left in that city in a mmisemn. Later, with many other valuable relies, the building was destroyed by fire. Black Hawk's family with the rest of their tribe went to Kansas and were lost from the knowledge of the white man. There was never umch conflict between
AN OLD LANDMARK
BUILT BY ELISHA PERKINS ABOUT 1850
19
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
the Indians and the white people on lowa soil, but various tribes warred with each other. Some destructive battles were fought near Des Moines, and others in the western part of the state. The tribes which met Lewis and Clark in commeil near the present site of Council Bluffs, besought Lewis and Clark to save them from the tomahawk of the Omahas with whom they had been warring for a long time. The Iowas were also a war-like tribe. A fiercer and more heart- less tribe never lived on this continent than the Sioux. They were always ready for war, even withont the slightest provocation. It does seem that as the white man advanced that tribal difficulties increased with the red man. If Tecumseh's plan of nuification could have been adopted, the Indian would have made it hard for the white man to take possession of the beautiful prairies of the west.
There are a good many chiefs who inhabited Iowa, of local reputation, but none who have gone into history as Black Hawk and Teenmseh. Among the lowa chiefs, Keokuk of the Sac branch of the Sac and Fox nation, and snecessor of Black Hawk, is one of the most prominent. He is described as a man of superb presence, a noted athlete, artful and wily, a brave warrior, and vet a lover of peace. When Black Hawk was trying to unify all the western tribes in order to battle against the United States. Keokuk opposed him and formed a peace party. Ever afterward Black Hawk regarded Keokuk as a traitor, and the cause of his overthrow. Although Keokuk was installed as Black Hawk's successor, Black Hawk never forgave him, nor did he ever become reconciled, but died in the belief that Keokuk was his ruin. Keokuk did not inherit the position of chief, but it was conferred upon him as a reward of merit, for bravery which he exhibited in a war with the Sioux. While he was wily, shrewd and intensely selfish. he had a better estimate of the strength of the United States and the utter futility of going to war with the government, than did Black Hawk. In forming his peace party he was probably actuated by selfish motives, expecting to receive a reward from the government in the way of presents or otherwise. Before he died his people came to believe that he had appropriated money to his own use, that belonged to the tribe. Whether this accusation was true or false. he evinced on many occasions a very avaricious disposition. He was an orator of the first magnitude among his people. There are some beautiful specimens on record of his eloquence. When he was forming his peace party as against Black Hawk, he assembled his warriors and delivered to them the following: "Warriors : I am your chief. . It is my duty to lead you to war if you are de- termined to go. The United States is a great nation and unless we conquer them we must perish. I will lead yon against the whites on one condition, that is that we shall first put all our old men, women and children to death, and then resolve that when we cross the Mississippi, that we will never retreat, but perish among the graves of our fathers, rather than yield to the white men." This was a cunning speech and had its desired effect. The warriors decided to stay away from Black Hawk and maintain an attitude of peace toward the United States. Ile and his people were removed to Kansas. It is certainly true that the Indians when ceasing to engage in war and in the chase, lose their energy and degenerate into habits of intoxication and laziness. This was the case with Keokuk and many of his warriors. There are two accounts of his death; one
20
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
is that in June, 1848, he was poisoned by one of his own tribe; the other is, that he died in delirium tremens. His name is perpetuated in the names of one of the counties and one of the chief cities of Towa. Black Hawk was a monogamist, had but one wife, to whom and their children he was ardently devoted. Keokuk was a polygamist and had four wives. He was exceedingly fond of gaudy apparel, even though it was cheap. He was childish in his love of display. It was the joy of his life to be arrayed in the glittering trappings of the red man's war garb.
There are several other chiefs who roamed the prairies of Iowa, and whose memories have been preserved in the names of counties and towns. Among them was Appanoose, who belonged to the Sacs. He was a prominent man in his nation, but far inferior to Keokuk, although in rank he was equal to the renowned orator. During the Black Hawk war, he joined with Keokuk as a "peace chief." His last place of abode was near the Des Moines river in what is now Wapello county. His noted speech was at Boston, and recorded as follows: "You have heard just now what Keokuk, my chief, has to say. All our chiefs and warriors are very much gratified by our visit to this town. Last Saturday they were invited to a great honse, and now they are in the great council house, (Fanneil Hall.) They are very much pleased with so much attention. This we cannot reward you for now, but we shall not forget it, and we hope the Great Spirit will reward you for it. This is the place our fathers once inhabited. I have often heard my father and grandfather say that they lived near the seacoast where the white man first came. I am glad to hear all this from you. I suppose it is put in a book, where yon learn all these things. As far as I can understand the language of the white people, it appears to me that the Americans have attained a very high rank among the white people. It is the same with us, though I say it myself. Where we live beyond the Mississippi I am respected by all people, and they consider me the tallest among them. I am happy that two great men meet and shake hands with each other." Any one who was acquainted with the Indians, and heard them talk, and traded with them. can't help but be a little skeptical when reading the fine speeches attributed to them. If the untutored Indian could make a speech as full of thought, wit and humor, as the historians would have their readers believe, then it must be admitted that civilization with all its learning, has not added anything to oratory.
How long since the red man first came to Iowa is a matter of mere conjecture : it may have been three hundred years ago, or a thousand. no man knows. Indian habits were such that they left no permanent traces behind them. All that is certainly known is that red men were on the ground when Marquette and JJoliet landed near where Montrose now stands, in the year 1673, but how long they had occupied the ground will always contine an unsolved problem. Perhaps the most immerous tribe was the Towas, after whom the state was named. To the north of them was the savage Sioux, with whom they often met in deadly conflict. After the white man came, the Sionx appears to have been by far the most numerous. The Towas had other deadly foes, among which was the Sao and Fox nation. There is a quite well authenticated account of a battle at or near the site of Towaville, between the Saes and Foxes on one side, and the Towas
21
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
on the other. The story is told in about this way: The Towas were racing their horses much after the manner of civilized man, and deeply interested in the sport. They were not aware that an enemy was anywhere near, and believing that they were perfectly safe, they had left their arms at the village. Pash-e-pa-ho of the Sac and Fox was in command. He was an old and experienced warrior, had long been noted for his cunning; he had planned a surprise, and when the excitement of the races was at maximum height, he had his warriors in ambush, had also sent Black Hawk, who was then a young man, to surprise the village and set it on fire. In an unexpected moment his warriors raised the yell too well understood by the alarmed Towas, who ran for their weapons, only to find their homes on fire and their squaws and papooses screaming in death agonies. The Iowas were slaughtered like sheep. It was a fearful hour. The Towas defended themselves as best they could, fighting with whatever they could lay their hands upon until the large majority were slain. A few surrendered and begged for peace, but the tribe was conquered, the fates had ruled against it. The few remaining became dejected and discouraged. Their hope was gone. They had lost their tribal identity. henceforth they had nothing to live for. The remnant went west. This was the identical spot that Black Hawk chose for his home after his overthrow; the place where he was buried. The people of today, no doubt eultivate the soil where bloody battles have been fought in the far away times by the aborigines, little suspecting the deadly conflicts of the past. Pash-e-pa-ho was an old man and did not long survive this savage onslaught, but the story has been perpetuated by the white man, while the victors and the vanquished have passed into the great beyond.
There are many other Indian conflicts that the early settlers learned something of from the aborigines before they left Iowa. A few more of the most noted chiefs deserve mention in these pages, among which is Winneshiek, who belonged to the fast retiring Winnebagoes. The government gave to this tribe what was known as the "Neutral Ground," a tract forty miles in width and extending from the Mississippi to the Des Moines river. The northern boundary of the tract began at the mouth of the Upper Iowa river. Although this was a de- lightful piece of land, the Winnebagoes did not cherish it, because it placed them between two hostile tribes, the Sac and Fox on the south, and the Sioux on the north. In a few years they ceded this tract back to the government and removed to Minnesota. When it came time for them to go they were loth to leave the beautiful Iowa country, but were compelled to yield to fate, which was constantly deciding in favor of the white man's encroachments. When fifteen years old, Winneshiek was a brave warrior, worthy of all the honor his tribe could bestow. In the war of 1827, he was captured by General Dodge and had to be forcibly disarmed. In 1832, he was with Black Hawk, and nobly did he stand by the great commander of the western tribes. Again he was made a prisoner by General Dodge. Those who claimed to have known him personally. were voluble in their descriptions of him, declaring that his personal appearance was not equaled by any Indian in Iowa. When in council he bore himself with the dignity of a Roman king. Like Black Hawk he could never be recon- ciled to the evaenation of the homes of his fathers, hence, was reticent and often
22
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
despondent. Waukon Decorah was another Winnebago chief, who obtained dis- tinetion among his people. He is reputed as a peace man, preferring to live peaceably with all men. His memory has been preserved in the name of the town. Decorah, the county seat of Winneshiek county. The citizens of the town gave him a burial in the public square. If all accounts of his good qualities are true, he richly deserved this honor. When the Winnebagoes were trans- ferred to the "Neutral Ground" in Iowa, Chos-Chun-Ca or Big Wave, was their chief. Mr. Willard Barrows of Davenport. visited Chos-Chun-Ca, but found him uncommunicative and suspicious. He declined to grant permission to Mr. Barrows to go through his territory, nevertheless, Mr. Barrows did so. He was afraid that Mr. Barrows was planning to have him dispossessed of his new home. Mr. Barrows described him as wearing a buffalo overcoat and a high hat. having a pair of spectacles on his nose, manifesting much self-importance.
Wapello was a Sae chief of some notoriety. although not as popular among his people nor among the white race, as Black Hawk and many others. but he was a peace man and always thought that Black Hawk made a mistake when he went to war with the United States. He was born in 1787, at Prairie du Chien. His village was near Rock Island on the east side of the river, about three miles from Black Hawk's, so the two were well acquainted and very friendly. until the beginning of the Black Hawk war. He visited Washington in 1837. and his name is signed to several treaties relinquishing lands. Ile was warmly attached to General Joseph M. Street, and esteemed him as a father. Ile trusted General Street as a true friend, and was always willing to abide by the General's judgment. He died on the 15th of March. 1842, and was buried by the side of General Street at the Indian ageney, in the county that bears his name. It was his request to be buried by his white friend, who had shown him so much respect. and who had been to him such a faithful friend. It may be truthfully said of Wapello that he was a "good Indian before he died."
The Musquakies are said to be a mixture of the Foxes and Pottawattamies. who about 1850, returned from a reservation in Kansas, to hunt and fish for awhile on the Iowa river. They were inoffensive. Their chief was known among the white people as JJohnny Green, and highly respected by all who knew him. The Musquakies held on to their Indian garb and customs. They seemed to have no desire to fall in with the ways of the white man. For many years they went every spring to the Des Moines river in order to make maple sugar, of which they were very fond. There were a great many hard maple trees in Boone and Webster counties in the river bottoms. The odd seetions were known as "river lauds, " and claimed by men living in New York, which claim the residents in those counties regarded as unjust. (later this subject will be treated more at length.) hence the settlers made no objection to the Indians making sugar on the "river lands." The relations of the Musquakies with the white settlers along the Des Moines river were always satisfactory to both parties. As soon as the season for making sugar was over. they returned to Tama county in time to plant their erops. In later years they became the possessors of considerable lands in Tama county, and owned some personal property, but never gave up their Indian modes of living. They were honest, prompt in the payment of all
23
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
obligations. They were not as averse to common labor as most Indians. While camped on the Des Moines river, when not engaged in making sugar, they would work for farmers in the neighborhood. Of course they were not as willing and anxious to labor as white men are, yet at times they would take jobs that they were capable of doing.
The Towas were the most migratory of all known tribes of the west. One writer says that within the knowledge of white men they moved no less than fifteen times. The smallpox with which they were frequently afflicted, and tribal wars greatly reduced their numbers. Of later years the Sionx were their most powerful foe, yet they were often at war with the Saes and Foxes and other tribes. The first place they occupied within the knowledge of white man was the lake region, from which they were led by a chief named Mau-Haw-Yaw, a man of courage. He was an explorer, so took his people across the Mississippi and settled in what is now the state of Iowa. It is said that they were very prosperous in their new home, but north of themi was the savage Sioux, who could not let them dwell in peace in such a beautiful region. Theu began the war between these two tribes that proved so destructive to the Iowas. The Sioux invited Mau-Haw-Yaw to a dog-feast after the manner of Indian hospital- ity, sending the pipe of peace. Mau-Haw-Yaw thought the invitation was genuine, and fearing no danger, accepted it. As the feast was progressing, the wily, treacherous Sioux rushed upon the unsuspecting Mau-Haw-Yaw and murdered him. The Sioux felt with Mau-Haw-Yaw out of the way they could easily overcome the entire tribe of Iowas, but in this they were mistaken; the Iowas from time to time made powerful resistance, and not until civilization had taken possession of Iowa, did the tribe after whom the state is named, become a band of wanderers of comparative insignificance. Mahaska, (White Cloud.) a descendant of Mau-Haw-Yaw, was one of the last noted chiefs of this unfortunate tribe. His memory is also preserved in the name of one of the most populous counties in the state. He is better remembered for the beauty and intelligence of one of his wives, for be it remembered, that Mahaska was a połyga- mist, having seven wives, but the beautiful one, who was called "Female Flying Pigeon," was the "Ann Eliza" of the harem. She accompanied her husband to Washington, as she said, that she might shake hands with the President. At the capitol she received many valuable presents, and saw and heard many things which she disapproved. When she returned home she told her sister squaws much about the white women and what she considered their weaknesses. Soon after she met a tragic death by being thrown from a horse. Mahaska never ceased to mourn the death of his beautiful and bright wife. Mahaska was one of the bravest warriors and ablest commanders among the men of his race. Many of his brave deeds have been preserved in history. He avenged the death of his honored progenitor by killing no less than ten of the Sioux, and among them the chief in whose lodge his ancestor was so ruthlessly murdered. When about fifty years of age, he was approached stealthily by an enemy of his own tribe, and as he lay asleep in his tepee, was brutally assassinated. This fonl deed occurred on the Nodaway river in the southwestern part of the state. His wives went into poverty and mourning something after the manner of the
24
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
oriental peoples. His son by his beautiful wife, "Female Flying Pigeon," be- came his successor.
Another chief of the Sae and Fox nation who is kept in mind by the name of an lowa county, is Poweshick. He was also a peace man, opposed the Black Hawk war, and was a great admirer of General Street. When the General went to seek a location for an Indian ageney, Poweshiek accompanied him with a band of thirty braves. Poweshiek was noted for his size and personal presence, his ordinary weight was two hundred and fifty pounds; that made him a noted man among his race, but he possessed many qualities of character that commended him to the more thoughtful of his tribe. Although the Indians were considered by the pioneer settlers as nureliable and untrustworthy, there were among them men who cultivated many of the best qualities of character, such as honesty and truthfulness ; of these they boasted.
Si-doni-i-na-do-tah was a Sioux chief, who was irregular, or so regarded by the Sionx nation. He fought two battles with the Pottawattamies in north- western lowa, said to be the last Indian battles fought on Iowa soil; in both battles the Sioux were victorions. This chief and his brother, Ink-pa-du-ta, committed more depredations against the white settlers in Iowa than all others combined. Together they had a band of about five hundred, most of whom were renegades, considered so by the Sioux nation. At one time they captured a party of surveyors and took their instruments and supplies and drove them across the Des Moines river. The first white settlement made near the mouth of Boone river was similarly dealt with by Si-dom-i-na-do-tah. He was truly a bad Indian, unwilling to abide by the treaty made with the goverment. For several years these irregulars made their living by thievery; they were utterly devoid of any honor, but kept up their annoyances to the last. Old "Two Fingers, " as he was familiarly known, was one of the most unprincipled men of his race, or any race for that matter.
Henry Lott, an adventurous man, who loved to live on the borders of civilization, where he could trade with the Indians, and to a large extent eulti- vate their habits of hunting and fishing, settled near the month of Boone river. perhaps in 1847. Si-dom-i-na-do-tah and his band had possession of that region, and were determined to keep it. They warned Lott to leave within a week. Ile failed to heed the warning, but went about what he considered his business. Being well acquainted with Indian habits, he apprehended no danger. His chief object in settling there was to trade with the Sioux, for he knew that there were no other tribes in that part of lowa, but the Sionx did not want him there. When the week expired and Si-dom-i-na-do-tah and his band found him still there and giving no evidence of moving, they went to Lott's cabin. shot his cattle and horses, and otherwise acted rudely. Lott and his step-son hastened to the nearest white settlement for help, which was Pea's Point, twenty miles south. When they reached Pea's home they told the people of the neighborhood that the Sioux had murdered his family. After Lott and his step-son had started. his son, a boy fourteen years old, was so frightened that he determined to follow his father by going down the river on the ice. The journey was too much for him, being at least 25 miles by the way of the river. He doubtless became
25
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY
exhausted and laid down on the ice and froze. Lott, his step-son, Pea and a few other white men, and a few Indians of another tribe, set out on what they considered a perilons journey, but on reaching Lott's cabin, they found that the Sionx had all gone, and Lott's family all safe except the boy who had started to follow his father. Part of the company at once went in search of the boy. About eighteen miles from home they found the frozen body. When Lott learned that his boy was dead, he was terribly enraged, indeed was almost insane with anger and revenge. Neither his family nor the neighbors could say a word or suggest a thought that would in any way soothe him. He continued to nurse his revenge by day and by night. He charged the death of his son to the Indians, and seemingly from that time on lived for nothing else but to be revenged. He assiduously watched every opportunity. He kept his feelings concealed from Si-dom-i-na-do-tah and his band. He made no threats to any- body, but kept his own counsels strictly in his own bosom. Whether the Sioux ever suspicioned that revenge was lurking within Lott's breast or not, no one now knows, but most likely they did not. Several years passed, the incident was well- nigh forgotten by all save Lott, the revenger. Lott found the exact location of "Old Two Fingers" to be about thirty miles north of Fort Dodge, in Humboldt county. Accordingly he went into the same county, selected a claim near the lodge of Si-dom-i-na-do-tah and proceeded to build a eabin on it. He professed great friendship for the Indians. In January, 1854, Lott met Si-dom-i-na-do-tah and told him that he had just seen a herd of elk in the river bottom about two miles away. He urged the Indian to go at once and take a shot; he went, and Lott in the meantime surveyed the Indian hut. The Indian soon returned because there were no elk in sight. Lott had secreted himself and shot Si-dom-i-na-do-tah and instantly killed him. He then went to the murdered man's lodge, killed his mother, wife and children; one little girl hid, and by that means escaped; a little boy who was wounded and left for dead, afterward recovered. Lott had his step-son with him, who assisted in the terrible deed. They plundered the cabin, taking with them everything of value, also the old Indian's ponies. Ink-pa-du-ta, a brother of the murdered man, was camped a few miles west of the scene of this awful tragedy. When he visited his
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.