USA > Iowa > Washington County > The history of Washington County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. : a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 34
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
The second purchase was made in 1837, October 21, and included the re- maining portion of the present county of Washington, with the exception of a small portion in the northwestern corner. The western boundary of the Black Hawk purchase being a very irregular line, the treaty of 1837 was designed for the purpose of straightening said boundary line. By this treaty the Indians ceded a tract of country west and adjoining the Black Hawk purchase, containing one million two hundred and fifty thousand acres. Upon survey, however, the number of acres proved insufficient to make a straight line, as was originally intended. The Indians stipulated to remove within one year, except from Keokuk's village, which they were allowed to occupy five months longer.
The last treaty made with the Sac and Fox Indians comprehended all the rest of their lands in the State, and included a small portion of the northwestern part of the present county of Wash- ington. This treaty was made at Agency City, in the present limits of Wapello county, and was concluded October 11, 1842, proclamation of its ratification having been made March 23, 1843, and pos- session was given to all that part lying east of Red Rock, now in Marion county, on May 1, 1843. The last date, therefore, is the period when the whole of Washington county was thrown open to white settlement.
The principal chief in this treaty was Keokuk. S. A. James, of an ad- joining county, heard this chief make a speech on that occasion, which he pronounces an unusually eloquent address. He says, that in his opinion, ' the former standing of Keokuk as an Indian orator and chieftain, as a dignified gentleman and a fine specimen of physical development, was not n the least overrated." During the Black Hawk trouble his voice was 'or peace with the white man, and his influence added much to shorten that var. As an honor to this chief, and owing to his influence in bringing bout that treaty, a neighboring county was called Keokuk.
Until the conclusion of the Black Hawk treaty the Indians held undis- outed sway in Iowa. Few, if any, white people in those days ventured as ar west as this, and the country was comparatively unknown, except as re- ports were brought to the frontier by roving bands of Indians, intent on barter n the main the Indians subsisted upon the wild animals then inhabiting his country. Occasional patches of Indian corn were cultivated, which furnished them scanty food during a portion of the year; but wild turkeys, pheasants, deer, fish and muskrats formed the chief articles of diet.
As they ceded their lands to the United States, strip after strip, they gradually withdrew, and the white settlers took their place as possessors of
266
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
the soil. The aborigines were not forcibly ejected from their lands as in other parts of the country, but the change was effected by a legitimate pro- ceeding of bargain and sale.
As a result of this peaceable arrangement, and the earnest efforts of the government to carry out, to the letter, the provisions of the treaties, the early settlers of Washington county experienced none of the hardships which fell to the lot of the early settlers in other parts of the country, where misunderstanding about the ownership of the soil gave rise to fright- ful massacre and bloody wars. The Indians gave no serious difficulty, and seldom, if ever, disturbed the early settlers of this county, after they had rightfully come into possession of it.
By the various treaties made with the Sac and Fox Indians, the govern- ment paid these $80,000 per year, by families. Mr. William B. Street, of Oskaloosa, was disbursing clerk for John Beach, Indian agent, during the year 1841, and still retains in his possession the receipts for the part pay- ment of his annuity, in his own handwriting, and the marks of the chiefs in signing. We give an extract, including the names of part of the In- dians who were at that time living at Kish-ke-kosh's village, in what is now the eastern part of the county, west of Keokuk county:
"We, the chiefs, warriors, heads of families and individuals without fam- ilies, of the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians, within the same agency, acknowl- edge the receipt of $40,000 of John Beach, United States Indian Agent, in the sums appended to our names, being our proportion of the annuity due said tribe for the year 1841:
NAMES.
MARKS
MEN
WOMEN
CHILD'N
TOTAL
AMOUNT
Kish-ke-kosh1
X
1
1
3
4
$ 71 30
Ko-ko-ach. .
X
1
2
3
6
106 95
Pas-sa-sa-shiek.
X
1
1
2
2
55 65
Mo-ka-qua.
X
1
1
17 82
Pa-ko-ka.
X
1
1
2
4
71 30
Ka-ke-wa-wa-te-sit.
X
2
1
3
53 47
Much-e-min-ne2
1
1
2
4
71 30
Wa-pes-e-qua3
1
1
2
4
71 30
Wa-pe-ka-kah
2
1
3
6
106 95
Mus-qua-ke5
3
2
2
7
124 78
And fifty-nine others.
"We certify that we were present at the payment of the above-men- tioned amounts, and saw the amounts paid to the several Indians, in specie, and that their marks were affixed in our presence this 19th day of October, 1861.
"'(Signed)
JNO: BEACH, U. S. Indian Agent. THOMAS McCRATE, Lieut. 1st Dragoons. JOSIAH SMART, Interpreter.
" We, the undersigned chiefs of the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians, ac- knowledge the correctness of the foregoing receipts.
KEOKUK,6 his X mark. POWESHIEK." his X mark.
"Kish-ke-kosh means "The man with one leg off."
2Much-e-min-ne means "Big man."
"Mus-qua-ke means "the fox."
3Wa-pes-e-qua means " White eyes."
"Keokuk means "The watchful fox."
Wa-pe-ka-kah means "White crow." "Poweshiek means "The roused bear."
267
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
The payments were made in silver coins, put up in boxes, con- taining five hundred dollars each, and passed into Keokuk's hands for distribution. The several traders received each his quota according to the 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 distributed among the 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 charge, over and above the character of the items exhibited in these accounts, an affidavit was filed with Governor Lucas, by an individual to whom the governor gave credence, setting forth that Keokuk had proposed o the maker of the affidavit to prefer a purely fictitious account against he 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 like. To swell the trader's bills, items were introduced of a character that hould brand fraud upon their face, such as a large number of blankets, oats, articles which the Indians never used, and telescopes, of the use of which they had no knowledge. This showed the reckless manner in which hese bills were swollen to the exorbitant amounts complained of, in which Keokuk was openly charged with being in league with the traders to de- raud the Indians." At this time the nation numbered about two thousand nd three hundred, and it is not possible that Keokuk could have carried n an organized system of theft, without the fact becoming apparent to all. is it was, however, Governor Lucas thought best to change the manner 1 which the annual payments were made. The matter was refered to the ndian bureau, and the mode was changed so that the payments were made ) the heads of families, approximating a per capita distribution. This method of payment did not suit the traders, and after a short trial the old lan was again adopted. That the Indians, then as now, were the victims " sharp practice, cannot be doubted, but the fact can be attributed to the iperior tact and the unscrupulous character of many of the traders; this irnishes a more probable explanation, and is more in accord with the char- ter of Keokuk, as known by his intimate friends, still living, than to tribute these swindling operations to a conspiracy in which the illus- ious chief was the leading actor.
Among the old settlers of the county who, prior to May 1, 1843, had e Indians for near neighbors, the names of Keokuk and Wapello are the ost noted and familiar. These two illustrious chiefs live not only in the collections of these early settlers, but in the permanent history of our mmon country. Short biographical sketches of these two noted characters, terefore, will be of great interest to the people of this county, and pecu- I.rly appropriate for a work of this kind. To the school-boy who has fre- (ently read of these Indians, the fact that they roved around on this very sound where their feet tread, and that in their hunting excursions these 1 dians crossed the same prairies where they now gather the yellow-eared (rn, will give to these sketches intense interest, while the early settler who t ked with Wapello and Keokuk, ate with them, hunted with them and thed with them, cannot fail to find in these brief and necessarily imperfect biographies, something fascinating as they are thus led back over a quarter c a century, to live over again the days of other years, and witness again
.
268
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
the scenes of early days when the tall prairie grass waved in the autumn breeze, and the country, like themselves, was younger and fresher than now.
KEOKUK AND WAPELLO.
Keokuk belonged to the Sac branch of the nation, and, as mentioned in the first part of this work, was born on Rock river, Illinois, in 1780. Accord- ingly he was sixty-three years old at the time the county was thrown open to the white settler, and fifty-seven when the boundary line of 1837 was es- tablished. The best memory of the earliest settlers cannot take them back to a time when Keokuk was not an old man. When in 1833 the impatient feet of the white men first hastened across the Mississippi, eager for new conquests and fortunes, this illustrious chief was already nearing his three- score years, and with longing eyes he took the last look at the fair lands bordering on the Great Father of Waters and turned his weary feet toward the west, his sun of life had already crossed the meridian and was rapidly approaching its setting.
Little is known concerning the early life of Keokuk, except that from his first battle, while yet young, he had carried home the scalp of a Sioux, whom he had slain in a hand-to-hind conflict, and between whose tribe and the tribe to which Keokuk belonged there ever existed the most deadly enmity. For this feat Keokuk was honored with a feast by his tribe. He first came into prominence among the whites at the breaking out of the second war with England, commonly known as the war of 1812. Most of the Indians at that time espoused the cause of the English, but Keokuk, at the head of a large number of the Sacs and Foxes, remained faithful to the Americans. In 1828 Keokuk, in accordance with the terms of a treaty, crossed the Mississippi river with his tribe and established himself on the Iowa river. Here he remained in peace, and his tribe flourished till the breaking out of the Black Hawk war in 1832. He seemed to have a much more intelligent insight into the great national questions which were raised during these early Indian difficulties, as well as more thorough apprecia- tion of the resources of the national government. He opposed the Black Hawk war, and seemed to fully forecast the great disaster which thereby befell his tribe. Although many of his warriors deserted him and followed Black Hawk in his reckless campaign across the Mississippi, Keokuk pre- vailed upon a majority of his tribe to remain at home. When the news reached Keokuk that Black Hawk's warriors had gained a victory over Stillman's forces in Ogle county, Illinois, the war-spirit broke out among his followers like fire in the dry prairie grass; a war-dance was held, and the chief himself took part in it. He seemed for a while to move in sympathy with the rising storm, and at the conclusion of the war-dance he called a council to prepare for war. In a work entitled "Annals of Iowa," published in 1865, there is reported the substance of a speech made by Keokuk on this occasion. We quote: "I am your chief, and it is my duty to lead you to battle, if, after fully considering the matter, you are determined to go." He then represented to them the great power of the United States, against which they would have to contend, and that their prospect of success was utterly hopeless. Then continuing said: "But if you are determined to go upon the war-path, I will lead you on one condition- that before we go we kill all our old men, and our wives, and our children, to save them from a lingering death by starvation, and that every one of
-
269
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
on determine to leave his bones on the other side of the Mississippi." This was a strong and truthful picture of the prospect before them, and vas presented in such a forcible light, that it caused them to abandon heir raslı undertaking.
After the Black Hawk war Keokuk was recognized as the head of the ac and Fox nation by the United States government, and in this capacity e was looked upon by his people from that time on. This honor, how- ver, was sometimes disputed by some of the original followers of Black lawk. A gentleman of some prominence as a writer, and who is said to ave witnessed the affray, says: "A bitter feud existed in the tribe during re time Keokuk resided on the Des Moines river, between what was de- ominated 'Keokuk's band and Black Hawk's band.' Their distrust, and deed hatred, were smothered in their common intercourse, when sober; ut when their blood was fired with whisky, it sometimes assumed a ragic feature among the leaders of the respective bands. An instance of this haracter occured on the lower part of the Des Moines river, on the return f a party making a visit to the 'half-breeds,' at the town of Keokuk, on the Mississippi. In a quarrel incited by whisky, Keokuk received a danger- us stab in the breast by a son of Black Hawk. The writer saw him con- eyed, by his friends, homeward, lying in a canoe, unable to rise." The riter continues: "Hardfish (who was the pretended chief of the rival arty), and his coadjutors, lost no occasion to find fault with Keokuk's dministration.
In person, Keokuk was of commanding appearance. He was tall, ;raight as an arrow, and of very graceful mien. These personal character- stics, together with his native fervor, and ready command of language, ave him great power over his people as a speaker. If, as a man of energy nd courage, he gained the respect and obedience of his tribe, it was inore specially as an orator that he was able to wield his people in times of reat excitement, and in a measure shape their policy in dealing with the white man. As an orator rather than as a warrior, has Keokuk's claim to reatness been founded.
"He was gifted by nature," says the author of the Annals, "with the lements of an orator in an eminent degree, and as such is entitled to rank 'ith Logan, Red Jacket and Tecumseh; but unfortunately for his fame mong the white people, and with posterity, he was never able to obtain an terpreter who could claim even a slight acquaintance with philosophy. Vith one exception, only, his interpreters were unacquainted with the ele- ents of the mother tongue. Of this serious hindrance to his fame Keo- uk was well aware, and retained Frank Labashure, who had received a idimental education in the French and English languages, until the latter ied broken down by exposure and dissipation; but during the meridian of is career among the white people he was compelled to submit his speeches or translation to uneducated men, whose range of thought fell below the ights of a gifted mind, and the fine imagery, drawn from nature, was be- ond their power of reproduction. He had a sufficient knowledge of the nglish tongue to make him sensible of this bad rendering of his thoughts, ad often a feeling of mortification at the bungling efforts was depicted pon his countenance while he was speaking. The proper place to form a orrect estimate of his ability as an orator was in the Indian council, where e addressed himself exclusively to those who understood his language, id where the electric effects of his eloquence could be plainly noted upon
270
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
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 elo- quence is that one already related in which he delivered a speech to his followers, who were bent on joining Black Hawk, after the Stillman reverse in Ogle county, Illinois. Mr. James, of Sigourney, being present at the council, at Agency City, when the treaty of 1842 was made, says of Keokuk: " We heard him make a speech on the occasion, which, by those who under- stood his tongue, was said to be a sensible and eloquent effort. Judging from his voice and gestures, his former standing as an Indian orator and chieftan, we thought his reputation as a dignified yet gentlemanly aborig- inal had not been overrated. During the Black Hawk war his voice was for peace with the white man, and his influence added much to the shortening of the war. As an honor to the chief our county bears his name."
Keokuk, in company with Black Hawk, Poweshiek, Kish-ke-kosh, and some fifteen other chiefs, under the escort of Gen. J. M. Street, visited Washington City and different parts of the East in 1837. The party de- scended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ohio by steamer, and thence up the latter to Wheeling, where they took stage across the mountains. When the party arrived in Washington, at the request of some of the gov- ernment officials, a council was held with some chiefs of the Sioux there present, as the Sacs and Foxes were waging a perpetual war with the Sioux ulation. The council was held in the Hall of Representatives. To the great indignation of the Sioux, Kish-ke-kosh appeared dressed in a buffalo hide which he had taken in war from a Sioux chief, and took his position in one of the large windows, with the mane and horns of the buffalo as a sort of head-dress, and the tail trailing on the floor. The Sioux complained to the officials, claiming that this was an insult to them, but they were informed that the Sacs and Foxes had a right to appear in any kind of costume they chose to wear. The first speech was made by a Sioux, who complained bitterly of the wrongs they had suffered, and how they had been driven from their homes by the Sacs and Foxes, their warriors killed and their villages burned. Then followed Keokuk, the great orator of his tribe, who replied at some length, an interpreter repeating the speech after him. There were those present who had heard Webster, Calhoun, Clay and Ben- ton in the same hall, and they declared that for the manner of delivery, for native eloquence, impassioned expression of countenance, the chief sur- passed them all, and this while they could not understand his words, save as they were repeated by the interpreter. From Washington they went to New York, where they were shown no little attention, and, Gen. Street attempting to show them the city on foot, the people in their anxiety to see Keokuk and Black Hawk crowded them beyond the point of endurance, and in order to escape the throng they were compelled to make their escape through a store building, and reached their hotel through the back alleys and less frequented streets. At Boston they were met at the depot by a delegation of leading citizens and conveyed in carriages to the hotel. The next day they were taken in open carriages, and with a guard of honor on foot, they were shown the whole city. During their stay in Boston they were the guests of the great American orator, Edward Everett, who made a banquet for them. When the Indians returned and were asked about New York they only expressed their disgust. Boston was the only place in the United States, in their estimation, and their opinion has been shared
271
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
in by many white people who since that time have made a pilgrimage from the West to the famous shrines of the East.
While residing at Ottumwah-nac, Keokuk received a message from the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith, in which the latter invited 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 in- vitation was accepted, and at the appointed time the king of the Sacs and Foxes, accompanied by a stately escort on ponies, wended his way to the appointed interview with the great apostle of the Latter Day Saints. Keo- kuk, as before remarked, was a man of good judgment and keen insight into the human character. He was not easily misled by sophistry, nor be- quiled by flattery. The account of this interview with Smith, as given by the author of the "Annals," so well illustrates these traits of his character that we give it in full:
"Notice had been circulated through the country of this diplomatic in- cerview, and quite a number of spectators attended to witness the denoue- ment. The audience was given publicly in the great Mormon temple, and the respective chiefs were attended by their suites, the prophet by the dig- nitaries of the Mormon chuch, 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 some length, giv- ng Keokuk a brief history of the Children of Israel, as detailed in the Bible, and dwelt forcibly upon the history of the lost tribes, and that he. the prophet of God, held a divine commission to gather them together and ead them to a land 'flowing with milk and honey.' After the prophet losed his harangue, Keokuk 'waited for the words of his pale-faced rother to sink deep into his mind,' and in making his reply, assumed the gravest attitude and most dignified demeanor. He would not controvert .nything his brother had said about the lost and scattered condition of his ace and people, and if his brother was commissioned by the Great Spirit o collect them together and lead them to a new country it was his duty to lo 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 man was not much used to milk, and he thought they would pre- er streams of water; and in the country they now were there was a good upply of honey. The points they wished to inquire into were, whether he new government would pay large annuities, and whether there was lenty of whisky. Joe Smith saw at once that he had met his match, and hat Keokuk was not the proper material with which to increase his armny f dupes, and closed the interview in as amiable and pleasant manner as possible."
Until 1836 Keokuk resided with his tribe on a reservation of 400 square miles, situated on the Iowa river. His headquarters were at a village bear- ng his name, located on the right bank of the stream. In this year, in ac- ordance with the stipulations of a treaty held at Davenport, Keokuk with is followers removed to this territory, now comprised in the bounds of Ceokuk, Mahaska and Wapello counties. The agency for the Indians, as located at a point where is now located Agency City. At this time an fort was made to civilize the red man. Farins were opened up, and two tills were erected, one on Soap creek, and one on Sugar creek. A salaried gent was employed to superintend these farming operations. Keokuk,
272
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY.
Wapello and Appanoose, each had a large field improved and cultivated. Keokuk's farm was located upon what is yet known as Keokuk's Prairie, in what is now Wapello county. The Indians did not make much progress in these farming operations, and in the absence of their natural and wanted excitements, became idle and careless. Many of them plunged into dissa- pation. Keokuk himself became badly dissipated in the latter years of his life. Pathetic as was the condition of these savages at this time, it was but the legitimate result of the treatment which they had received. They were confined to a fixed location, and provided with annuities by the government, sufficient to meet their wants from year to year. They were in this manner prevented from making those extensive excursions, and embarking in those warlike pursuits, which from time immemorial had formed the chief avenues for the employment of those activities which for centuries had claimed the attention of the savage mind; and the sure and regular means of subsistence furnished by the government, took away from them the incentives for the employment of these activities, even had the means still existed. In addi- tion to this the Indian beheld his lands taken from him, and his tribe grow- ing smaller year by year. Possessed of an ideal and imaginative intellect he could not help forecasting the future, and thus being impressed with the thought, that in a few years, all these lands would be in the possession of the white man, while his tribe and his name would be swept into obliv- ion by the tide of immigration, which pressed in upon him from every side. Keokuk saw all of this, and seeing it, had neither the power nor inclination to prevent it. Take the best representative of the Anglo-Saxon race, and place him in similar circumstances, and he would do no better. Shut in by restraint from all, sides, relieved from all the anxieties comprehended in that practical question, what shall we eat and wherewithal shall we be clothed? and deprived of all those incentives springing from, and inspired by a lofty ambition, and the best of ns, with all our culture and habits of industry, would fall into idleness and dissipation and our fall would be as great, if not as low, as was the fall of that unhappy people who formerly in- habited this country, and whose disappearance and gradual extinction, we shall now be called upon to contemplate.
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.