The pioneer history of Pocahontas County, Iowa, from the time of its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 15

Author: Flickinger, Robert Elliott, b. 1846
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Fonda, Iowa, G. Sanborn
Number of Pages: 1058

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the popular tradition, "sitting in an passed out through the narrow arch- easy chair, by an open window, her way.

This marriage cemented a lasting ocean." She was; only twenty-two peace between the two nations. Pow- years of age and was buried in the hatan, true to his purpose of holding cemetery belonging to the church of no personal communication with the St. George, London, according to tra- colonists, never visited his daughter dition, or at Gravesend, about thirty after its occurrence, but he frequent- miles from London on the Thames, ly sent friendly messages to his "daugh- where she died, as is stated by her bi- ter and unknown sonne" and inquired ographer, John R. Musick. ~ The latter "how they lived, loved and liked."

Varina, the home of Pocahontas after her marriage, on the plantation of her husband, was located on the bank of the James river, near Dutch Gap, a few miles below Richmond; but the particular site of the cabin in which she learned to keep house after the manner of the English, and where her only child, Thomas Rolfe, was *Some "Colonial Houses," by Marion Har- land .- G. P. Putnam's Sons, N. Y.

eyes fixed wistfully upon the western

says, "She was buried in the chancel of the church at Gravesend, March 21, 1617, but that afterwards the church was destroyed by fire, and today the exact spot of her grave is unknown." The tradition that she was buried in the northwest corner of St. George's churchyard, London, has been report- ed successively from age to age through Thomas Turner, the venerable sexton in 1881, and his predecessors, William Nettingham and his father, Jobn Net-

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THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS.

tingham. The former was sexton will be honored while this great peo- twenty years and the latter clerk of ple occupy the land upon which she so the parish fifty-two years. signally aided in establishing them."

Come to the bridal chamber, Death, Come to the mother, when she feels For the first time, her first born's breath ; Come when the blessed seals

That close the pestilence are broke, And crowded cities wail the stroke.

Come in consumption's ghastly form,

The earthquake's shock, the ocean's storm, Come when the heart beats high and warm, And thou art terrible.

-HALLECK.

Other names by which she was known were "Amonate," "Mattoax" and "The Nonparella (having no equal) of Virginia." She was also called the "Rose of England" and the "Totem (emblem) of Virginia."

She was a landscape of mild earth, Where all was harmony calm and quiet, Luxuriant, budding .- BYRON.

The brief and pathetic career of Po- cahontas, (Bright Stream between two Hills) has appealed to the heart of every generation since her story be- came known. Her services to Vir- ginia had been as great as those to Captain John Smith. She had been

"There is no story more dear to the heart of the American than that of Pocahontas. It has been narrated so frequently it has become a nursery legend, yet in all history none more dramatic and touching can be found. It has moved hearts since it was first told to civilized ears. Each suc- ceeding generation reads anew the tender tale, narrated, perhaps, by some new author, who in song or story makes of Smith and the twelve-year- old child who rescued him, the incar- nation of his own fancy. It has been told in romance, sung to the sweet notes of the harp, performed on the stage and gravely narrated by the his- torian, yet wherever heard, however told, it loses nothing; the story itself is the same, and never fails to move the heart of the listener."*

"Rest in peace thou who knew So little of peace on earth."

THE DESCENDANTS OF POCAHONTAS.

Pocahontas was a princess, whom it the instrument under God to preserve was a great presumption on the part the colony from destruction. Gener- of Rolfe, who had no royal blood in ous, brave and gentle, she was doomed his veins, to marry. According to the to disappointment and died of a bro- theory of the time this alliance was ken heart.

one of unusual importance, especially

Hon. William Wirt Henry, whose for two reasons. First, their marriage Life and Letters of Patrick Henry formed a bond of peace and friendship rank him as one of the foremost writ- between the two races, and second, if ers of our country, has paid the fol- Virginia should descend to Pocahon- lowing beautiful tribute to "Our Lady tas, as it might at the death of her of the James:"

father, Powhatan, the government of

"Our Lady of the James," Pocahon- the kingdom would be vested in tas, born the daughter of a savage Rolfe's posterity.

King, was endowed with all the graces

Thomas Rolfe, the only son of Poca- which became an Indian princess; she hontas, after the death of his mother was the first of her people to embrace was left at Plymouth, England, in christianity and to unite in marriage charge of Sir Lewis Stukley, at the with the English race; like a guardian latter's request. Stukley was his angel she watched over and preserved uncle and he was brought up in Lon- the infant colony which has developed don. When a young man he went to into a great people, among whom her Virginia and as Lieutenant Rolfe, . own descendants have ever been con-

*Pocahontas, by John R, Musick, 118- Funk spicuous for true hobility; her name & Wagualle, N. Y.

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PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA.

commanded Fort James on the Chick- claimants were many.

From this first alliance of the white

ahominy. He married a young lady of England and became a gentleman and red races sprang the Randolphs, of note and fortune in Virginia, and Blands, Blairs and Bollings. The an- some of the most respectable families cestor of the Randolphs went to Eng- in the state are descended from him. land with William the Conqueror.

Among the conspicuous founders William Randolph, of Turkey Island, of the planter families that came as he was familiarly called, emigrated over to Virginia during the second to the colony in 1675 and from him all half of the seventeenth century, was the Randolphs of Virginia descended. one, a very liberal-minded and ener- John Randolph was a direct descend- getic man, who had married the grand- ant of Pocahontas, being the sixth in daughter of Pocahontas; his son, de- descent from her, through Jane Rolfe, voting himself to planting and trad- her granddaughter, and was even ing on the James river, found the boastful of his relationship with the bulk of his income in an immense imperial house of Powhatan, whose traffic with his relatives, the Indians, grave has been preserved on the bank who flocked as one man to his support. of the James river, a few miles below From this marriage many existing Richmond. It is curious to note that families in Virginia are directly de- the blood of Powhatan should thus scended, and they are proud of their Indian blood.

mingle with that of his old enemies. Dead for many a day and asleep in

John Rolfe, the husband of the his grave, the savage old emperor still Princess, was of Norman descent, spoke in the voice of his great descend- with William the Conqueror, in Eng- ant, the orator of the Roanoke, who land, and a graduate of Oxford. The died June 24, 1833.

fragments of his writings that have

Peyton Randolph, the first presi- been preserved attest both his scholar- dent of congress, and Edmund Ran- ship and benevolence. He was the dolph, Washington's attorney-general, first American historian and deserves were also direct descendants, while mention as such, though his history Thomas Jefferson and Chief Justice was short, being confined to a brief John Marshall were related by mar- description of the colony at James- riage. Rev. Hugh Blair, the head of town, and dedicated to the King the Blair's and sometimes called "the of England. His fame rests on the commissary," because he had been fact that he was the first planter of sent to Virginia in that capacity, by tobacco in Virginia, and the first to the bishop of London, was a direct demonstrate its value as a vast source descendant of Pocahontas. He estab- of wealth to future planters.

lished William and Mary college, the

In one of his letters Rolfe declared first in the colony, and his nephew, that his main motive in marrying the John Blair, signed the constitution of Princess was to promote her religious the United States with Washington and Madison. The Blands and Bol- lings were prominent as planters, co- lonial officers and patriots in the war of the revolution. instruction; whatever his motives may have been, his marriage was a success. His wife's descendants are either so numerous or are held in such high Like the vase in which roses Have once been distilled, You may break, you may shatter The vase if you will, But the scent of the roses Yet hangs round it still. -MOORE. honor as to have given rise to the say- ing outside the state, "Every family in Virginia is descended from Poca- hontas." As a matter of fact the gen- uine descendants were few but the

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THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS.

WHO SUGGESTED "POCAHONTAS?"

The circumstances that led to the use of the name of "Pocahontas" for this county, were as follows:

Phineas M. Casady, member of the plied with. senate of Iowa, session of 1850-51, from

to have the name of "Pocahontas," the Indian Princess of Virginia, re- membered. Mr. Casady stated in re- ply that his request would be com-

Senator Howell was an old man at

Tower of the Old Church at Jamestown, Virginia, in which Pocahontas was married in 1613.

Polk county, being a member of the that time and was called "Uncle John" senate committee on New Counties, by the other members of the senate. asked John Howell, the senator from He had served as a member of the Jefferson county, if he wished to sug- House of Burgesses in the legislature gest a name for one of the new coun- of Virginia and four years as a mem- ties to be established at that session. ber of the House of Representatives He replied that he would be pleased of Iowa in the second and third Gen-

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PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA.

eral Assemblies. He was elected sen- reason for the use of that name in ator for the county of Jefferson, on Iowa, and he stated that "Uncle John the first Monday in August, 1848, and was then serving his second term in the senate. When inquiry was made of Senator Casady asto who suggested Howell" had requested it, no further objections were made. Senator Cas- ady is still a resident of Des Moines, the name of Pocahontas, with the and kindly furnished the information added remark that there seemed no given above.

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BATTLE OF THE INDIANS AT PILOT CREEK ..

II.

BATTLE OF THE INDIANS AT PILOT CREEK-THEIR GRAVES, MOUNDS AND RELICS.

"Oh pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, That I am meek and gentle with these butchers."

HE territory included in Pocahontas coun- ty was once the hap- py hunting ground of

THE SIOUX AND WINNEBAGOES .*

The Sioux were powerful, warlike and aggressive; and their frequent en- croachments upon the territories of the Indians. Large other tribes, became the occasion of game such as the complaints to the United States gov- deer, elk and buffalo, found luxuriant ernment that led to the treaty of pasturage upon the open prairie and a

August 19, 1825, (see page 50) when a grateful shelter from the wintry blast boundary line between the Sioux, on in the groves of timber skirting the the north and various other tribes, on streams. The latter were alive with the south, was established, extending fish, and the country, twice each year -- in the spring and again in the fall-

from the mouth of the Upper Iowa river, in the northeast part of the swarmed with almost every kind of state, to the second fork of the Des bird and water-fowl that is good for Moines river, now in Humboldt county, food.

(south of Dakota City) and thence to

In 1673, when Marquette and Joliet the lower fork of the Big Sioux river, explored the country along the Missis- near Sioux City. By a reference to sippi river, this section was supposed the map it will be perceived that this to be under the undisputed possession line, traced by Clarke and Cass, crossed of the confederated Sac and Fox the south central part of Pocahontas tribes. Later, other tribes of Indians county.

from the north and west came to this favored land and found a home, so that at the time the white man came, at the beginning of this century, he found in the northwest part of this state a branch of the noted and cruel Sioux, whose hunting grounds consisted nominally.of all that portion of the state that lies west of the Little Sioux river, traversing Dickinson, Clay, Buena Vista, Ida and Monona counties.

The meeting at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, at which this conciliatory measure was adopted, was a magnifi- cent gathering, there being present about 30,000 braves representing Iowas, Sacs and Foxes, Winnebagoes, Me- nominees and the Sioux. It is said that before the convention adjourned,

*The most part under this head is a con- tribution from the pen of W. C. Ralston, Esq., Pocahontas, to the Rolfe Revellle, March 5, 1896; Bruce & Thornton, proprietors,

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PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA.

"Old Keokuk," who was at the head tion in Wisconsin, were given the ter- of the confederated tribes as against ritory included in this strip of "Neu- the Sioux, was very much opposed to tral Ground." Against the appeals and remonstrances of the squaws and the signing of the agreement.

July 12, 1830, the above line not be- old men of their tribe, the Winneba- ing always easily recognized, the goes moved to their new possessions Sioux on the north and the Sacs, and continued to occupy them until and Foxes on the south of it ceded to the year 1846, when they moved the United States a strip of land north of St. Peter's river, Minnesota, twenty miles in width, on each side of where they were given more territory

SEC .J

DES MOINES

-(OLD) ROLFI

- E

CREEN

ROAD

& ROLFE

IOUX INDIA

C.& N.W.R.R.

MALCOLM

TREE

SLUNEBAGDES

G.W.HENDERSON

SEC. LINE

FORT DODGE ROAD,

INDIAN MOUND

COUNTY LINE

SEC.12. CLINTON TOWNSHIP.

INDIAN BATTLE FIELD AT PILOT CREEK,

Showing the camp of the Winnebagoes, Pilot Creek, down which the Sioux came; the walnut tree in which a Sioux scout shot a Winnebago; the home of A. H. Malcolm and the Indian mound at the right.

this line, making a tract forty miles and greater privileges.

By this arrangement there was left

in width from the Mississippi to the Des Moines, and this was called "Neu- a large tract of country extending tral Ground," on which all the tribes westward from the east fork of the interested were to be allowed to hunt Des Moines to the Little Sioux river, and fish unmolested.

that was unoccupied by any tribe of Indians, and, by an unwritten law that was in force between the two tribes, it meant a trial of strength if

Two years later, September 15, 1832, which was just after the conclusion of the Black Hawk war, the Winnebago Indians, in exchange for their reserva- any of the Sioux found any of the

40110

127

BATTLE OF THE INDIANS AT PILOT CREEK.

Winnebagoes upon this territory. committed by the Indians while hunt- The Sioux were constantly at war ing, trapping or fishing upon it. For with the Winnebagoes over troubles hunting and fishing, this strip of neu- growing out of this arrangement and tral ground was, perhaps, unequaled because, the latter originally belong- in any other part of the United States. ing to the confederacy of the Sioux, All the wild game, then known to had now become allied to their rivals sportsmen or Indians, was found with- the Sacs and Foxes, and were also in its borders. Deer, elk and buffalo friendly to the whites. Many trials roamed over the prairies, while pig- of strength did old trappers witness eons, quail and chickens found a home in this section, especially during the in the luxuriant grass. The streams winter season, the victory being usu- were alive with fish of all kinds, while ally won by the party having the most on the banks and in the many beauti-' warriors.

After the government established the military post at Fort Dodge, (1850- 1853) and the removal of the Winne- bagoes to Minnesota, hostilities prac- tically ceased upon this neutral ground except in the spring of the year, when the Winnebagoes were accustomed to go down the west branch of the Des Moines river, (as the United States Supreme Court has noted in a case re- cently brought before it) for the pur- pose of hunting and trapping, and then the Sioux again met them and renewed their old feuds with all the vigor for which they were noted. The usual result of these contests was that the weaker party would be se- verely defeated, robbed of furs and game, and sustain the loss of many a warrior, whose remains would be found by the soldiers or trappers, who passed the place where the conflict occurred.

The plan of the government in set- ting apart the strip, forty miles in width, as neutral ground, on which no tribe of Indians should make a per- manent residence, but all had the privilege of hunting and fishing, in- per, and obtained his knowledge of stead of proving a happy means of the facts stated, during the years of 1858 and 1859, from the late Major William W. Williams, sutler of the fort at Fort Dodge, when the U. S. troops were there and the fight oc- curred. The latter visited the scene of the conflict a few days after its oc- currence, and described the location so minutely that the former was en- preventing the disputes and hostili- ties that were ever occurring, seems to have had the contrary effect. Early writers note, that nearly all of the conflicts arising among the Indians on the soil of Iowa, either occurred on this territory or grew out of some act abled to locate it without any difficulty.

ful lakes that lay within this strip were found beaver, mink, muskrat and otter in great numbers, as well as geese, brants, cranes, ducks, etc. No other territory of the same size was equal to this strip of neutral ground as the native home of game; and in no particular part of it was the game so abundant as in the vicinity of the east and west branches of the Des Moines river.

THE BATTLE AT PILOT CREEK. '

"Hark! hear the sound of battle near! The shout, the groan, the charging cheer, The mutual volley, sharp and clear, The shock of steel, the shriek of fear,

In one mad chorus blend!"

Nearly a quarter of a century ago, (1853 or 1854) when Fort Dodge was a military post occupied by government troops, and before any white man had settled in the territory included in Pocahontas county, a battle was

"The account, under this head, of the last Indian fight in Pocahontas county, was written by William D. McEwen, Esq., and appeared first in the Pocahontas Times of date, (Old) Rolfe, May 18, 1876. Mr. McEwen was then editor and proprietor of this pa-

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PIONEER HISTORY OF POCAHONTAS COUNTY, IOWA.

fought between a band of Winneba- him the most intense hatred, and go and Sioux Indians that, for blood- never allowed an opportunity to pass thirsty determination, has seldom without wreaking vengeance on him been surpassed in the unwritten le- and his friends, the Winnebagoes. gends of these savage tribes. It was Ink-pa-du-ta, the bloodthirsty savage, in the spring of the year, and the who with his band massacred the place where this sanguinary conflict white settlers at Spirit Lake, in 1857, occurred was on the south side of Pi- was one of Cou-sta-wa's warriors and lot creek, on section one, Clinton acquired his intense hatred of the township; near the bridge on the old whites from him. He, too, was act- Fort Dodge road and on the farm of ive in urging the attack upon the A. H. Malcolm. Directly west of the Winnebagoes.

bridge and a little distance up the

They crossed the country from the stream, lies a plateau or piece of table- Sioux river by way of Swan Lake, un- land with bluffs on the south. At til they struck the head waters of that time a strip of timber skirted Pilot creek; then, following the course the stream, that increased in density of the stream unobserved, they discov- until it reached the foot of the bluff ered and then terminated abruptly.

the location of their foes. Guided, doubtless, by the smoke of the

Here there had encamped a band campfires, they stealthily approached of about thirty, Winnebago Indians, within two miles. Here they con- from the vicinity of Mankato, Minn., cealed themselves in what is known who had been engaged in a hunting as "Harvey's Grove," and sent out and trapping expedition along the two of their warriors to ascertain Des Moines river. They had been the number and exact position of the successful in their expedition, and en- Winnebagoes. The night was well camped at this place to feast and pre- advanced before their scouts returned. pare their furs for market. They Their report must have been favorable were within one day's journey of the as a satisfactory grunt from Cou-sta- trading post at Fort Dodge, were on wa announced that the attack would friendly terms with the whites, from be made that very night.

whom they apprehended no danger,

The water in the creek was high, and believing that their enemies, the and Cou-sta-wa, with savage sagacity, Sioux, were not in the vicinity, they divided his warriors; six of them led relaxed their usual vigilance.

by Ink-pa-du-ta, crossed Pilot creek Eighteen Sioux warriors, under their and approached the foe from the chief, Cou-sta-wa, or Big Tree, had north, while he with the other war- been hunting on the Little Sioux riv- riors, descended on the south side to er, in the neighborhood of where now cut off their retreat. He evidently stands the flourishing town of Sioux thought that the Winnebagoes, taken Rapids, and learning that a band of by surprise, would flee at the first at- Winnebagoes were on the Des Moines tack and make for the trading post. river, determined to cross the coun- In this he was correct, but the result try, take them by surprise and adorn was not as he had anticipated. The their belts with the scalps of their ground had been well examined and foes. The chief of the band, as his the attack well planned. The moon, name indicates, was a large, powerful, though far in the wane, shone bright- warrior, and had been the leader in ly, pointing out to the wary Sioux the many a bloody fight. Having been exact position of the sleeping Winne- once wounded by the bullet of a white bagoes. The night was far advanced man, he ever afterwards cherished for when the Sioux crept up to within

129

BATTLE OF THE INDIANS AT PILOT CREEK.

thirty yards of their sleeping foes. an inch in thickness; that the shank Here they paused, awaiting the signal bones were three inches longer than of their chief. Just at this moment his and all that remained of the skel- one of the Winnebago warriors arose eton showed that it had belonged to and quickly gave the alarm to his an Indian of colossal stature. May tribe. The Sioux, finding themselves we not, therefore, justly conclude that discovered, commenced firing. The it was none other than the skeleton Winnebagoes, taken by surprise, and of the Sioux chief, Cou-sta-wa? not knowing the number of their foes, thought only of safety, and com- INDIANS ALONG THE DES MOINES RIVER. menced retreating along the edge of 'Among red men, the surest way To honor, is the foe to slay; Him they call supremely great, the bluff. Here they were met by Cou-sta-wa and his warriors. Finding Who can most martial deeds relate." their retreat cut off, they commenced fighting with the desperation of de- spair. Cou-sta-wa, seeing the confu- sion, and knowing full well that one- half of the Winnebagoes must have fallen at the first fire, rushed with his warriors upon those that remained. It now became a hand to hand fight.

"Long, keen and dubious was the strife, While all the warriors bied."

After the battle on Pilot creek the Indians who were engaged in it again returned to their reservations, the Sioux going to Dakota and the Win- nebagoes to Minnesota. In the years that followed, until April, 1880, bands of the Winnebagoes would occasional- ly return along the west branch of the Des Moines river as far south as the mouth of Pilot creek.

At length one, two, three of the "In the month of November, 1879,* about forty Pottawattamie Indians camped along the Des Moines river, near the northeast part of the county, and while engaged in hunting and trapping, investigated many of the bravest of the Winnebago warriors met their death at the hands of Con- sta-wa, when a shot from one of tlie wounded Winnebagoes laid him low. With a terrific and hideous yell the Sioux warrior fell to rise no more. larders in that neighborhood. ‘Lo, the poor Indian' is a good investigator of the pantry of the white man."

The Sioux seeing their chief fall, now commenced falling back, carrying their dead, for the Sioux will die sooner than leave any of their dead in the hands of their foes. Ten of the Winnebagoes were killed or died of their wounds, while only four of them escaped without being wounded.

Again in April, 1880, about fifty Win- nebagoes and Pottawattamies tempo- rarily encamped near the bridge over the Des Moines river, a short distance above the mouth of Pilot creek and near Old Rolfe, that until four years

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The pioneer history of Pocahontas County, Iowa, from the time of its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 15

Author: Flickinger, Robert Elliott, b. 1846 Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Fonda, Iowa, G. Sanborn Number of Pages: 1058

Author: Flickinger, Robert Elliott, b. 1846
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: Fonda, Iowa, G. Sanborn
Number of Pages: 1058