USA > Illinois > Lee County > Recollections of the pioneers of Lee County [Illinois] > Part 16
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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
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the flag in tatters, and at the head of his warriors, with the war cry of the Sacs, advanced to the charge. The volunteers beat a hasty retreat and only halted when they reached Dixon's Ferry. This was called the battle of Stillman's Run, and the whites here lost eleven men, and had several wounded. On May the 19th the entire army proceeded up the river leaving Stillman's men at Dixon. They, however, deserted, and Gen. Atkinson returned with his men, while Gen. Whitesides, force went in pursuit of the enemy. Black Hawk had divided his warriors into small bands, and they were sweeping down upon defenseless homes, killing and · scalping all who came in their path. Seventy Indians made a descent upon the small settlement of Indian Creek, a tributary of Fox River, and massacred fifteen persons belonging to the families of Hall, Davis and Pettigrew. They took two young girls, prisoners, Silvia and Rachel Hall. After scalping their other victims they hurried these girls away by forced marches beyond the reach of pursuit. They had a long and fatiguing journey through a wilderness, with but little to eat, and were subjected to a variety of fortune. At last their friends, through the chiefs of the Winnebagoes, ransomed them for two thousand dollars, and they were delivered at Dixon. The horrible experiences of that day, together with the treatment they received, left its awful impress on their minds. In after years my mother knew these girls, then grown to womanhood, and it was an often remarked fact that they had never been seen to smile. They would sit, silent and melancholy, for hours, taking no part in the conversation, nor manifesting interest in their surroundings.
The volunteers becoming dissatisfied were mustered out by Lieut. Robert Anderson, of Ft. Sumpter fame. Gov. Reynolds again called for 2,000 men whose enlistment should be for the war. Gen. Scott was or- dered to proceed from the east with 1,000 regulars, and while these were being organized 300 volunteers were recruited from the disbanded com- panies. General Whitesides and Abraham Lincoln re-enlisted as privates in this number. The new forces were divided into three brigades, with . a spy battalion to each. Major John Dement commanded one of these battalions. The volunteers' force was also increased by a battalion under Col. Henry Dodge. Posey's brigade was ordered between Galena and Rock River. Alexander was dispatched to Plum River to intercept Black Hawk, while Henry remained at Dixon with Gen. Atkinson. On June 6th Black Hawk led an attack on the fort at Apple River, the engage- ment lasting fifteen hours. Here the women and children showed rare courage and presence of mind, busying themselves during those awful hours in moulding bullets. The enemy at length retreated after destroy
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ing everything in their path. On June 14th occurred the engagement at Pecatonica where Gen. Dodge pursued a party of Indians, who had mur- dered some white settlers, until they took shelter under a high bluff of the river and there killed the whole party. This charge was as brave and brilliant as any on record in this or any other Indian war.
While passing through Burr Oaks grove June 16th a company of soldiers were attacked by seventy warriors, but owing largely to the courage of private Gen. Whitesides they were repulsed with great loss. June 17th Capt Stephenson had a skirmish with a party at Prairie Grove where a number were killed. June 25th occurred the battle of Kellogg's Grove.
Major John Dement with his battalion had received orders from Col. Taylor at Dixon to defend their post. Accordingly he took position in the heart of the Indian country. Learning that Black Hawk and a large force were in the vicinity he went out with a party to reconoiter and was suddenly attacked by 300 warriors. Finding himself in danger of being surrounded by a superior force he slowly retired to his camp, closely pursed by the enemy; here he took possession of Kellogg's first log house. His defense was so brave, and his aim so sure that the Indians finally retreated, leaving many dead upon the field. When the news of the battle reached Dixon's Ferry, Alexander's brigade was sent in the direction of Plum River, while Gen. Atkinson marched toward Lake Koshkoning, farther up Rock River. It was supposed Black Hawk had concentrated his forces here with the intention of ending the war in a general battle. Reaching this point July 2nd, no enemy was found, and being destitute of provisions Gen. Henry with Dodge's battalion which had joined him was sent to Ft. Winnebago for supplies: hearing that Black Hawk was in the vicinity they gave pursuit and on the 21st over- took him in a ravine near the Wisconsin River. Amid the yells of the Indians and the cries of the whites the battle raged until the Indians were overpowered and driven from the field. The main army under Gen. Atkinson having joined Henry and Dodge, the whole crossed the Wiscon- sin River and on the 2nd of Angust overtook Black Hawk at the month of the Bad Axe, where his warriors were defeated and dispersed. This bat- tle broke the power of Black Hawk, who was taken prisoner August 27th and delivered to the United States officers. The final treaty of peace was signed September 21st. Black Hawk, Neopope, and the Prophet were imprisoned at Fortress Monroe till June 4, 1833. On parting with Col. Eustis, the commander of the fort, Black Hawk addressed him with sim- ple pathos: "The memory of your friendship will remain until the Great
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Spirit says that it is time for Black Hawk to sing his death song." Pre- senting him with a beautiful hunting suit and some feathers of the white eagle he said: "Accept these from Black Hawk and when he is far away they will serve to remind you of him. May the Great Spirit bless you · and your children."
After a tour of the principal eastern cities Black Hawk was returned to Ft. Armstrong August 1st, where he was made the ward of Keokuk. He died October 3, 1840, at the age of eighty years, and was buried near the Mississippi River, where no passer by bestows even the tribute of a sigh to his memory, and his only requiem is the plaintive note of the lone whippoorwill. August 15, 1832, the troops were mustered out at Dixon's Ferry by Lieut. Robt. Anderson, and disbanded by General Scott. Thus ended the Black Hawk war, which in our backward glance at time we little understand or appreciate. Compared with the civil war it may seem trivial, but not in proportion to the number of inhabitants and the facilities. It was a war without roads or bridges, without railroads or telegraphs, and without the modern equipments of to-day. It was a war with barbarians, full of horrors which in these far away days, no heart can conceive, no tongue can tell, and no pen can write. It was a war between these rude children of nature clinging to kinsman, home, and country, and a race of brave pioneers who saw in the future a rising na- tion spread over this rude and fruitful land advancing to a destiny beyond the reach of mortal eye. And, however, historians may disagree about the right and wrong, none can deny that it was the means of hastening the early settlement of northern Illinois by a better class of people than in other portions of the state.
Dixon's Ferry was at that time the central point of interest between Chicago, then a small frontier post, and the Mississippi. The settlers from Rockford being obliged to go there for their mail. From 1829 to 1835 all the emigration to Galena and the lead mines crossed the river there. It was made up of all conditions and sorts of men. There the red man came to barter their furs, and there the chiefs gathered in sol- emn council. There during the war the troops rendezvoused because it was the most central position for supplies, and the most advantageous ground for maneuvering both. There was built the most pretentious fort in the state, It consisted of two block houses situated on the north bank of the river a few rods west ef the ferry. It was guarded by a com- pany of infantry, thus assuring the safety of the crossing to all. There the wandering red men bade a last farewell to their hunting grounds, and sought a home beyond the great river, where they hoped to escape
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the onward march of the white man. There Father Dixon distributed the forty thousand rations sent from Rock Island for them. There were gathered citizen soldiers who had held every office in the gift of the people, and who had achieved honor and success. There at a little out- post In a prairie wilderness was assembled a group of men whose fame has spanned the world. Would that time permitted me to call the roll, to, "Roll back the tide of time, and raise the faded forms of other days." In fancy's dream we would see Father Dixon, the first white settler, the noble representative of a proud ambitious race, exchanging the courtesies of life with untaught savages, and they called him friend. Born at a time when the republic had a name but not a history, and gifted with rare unselfishness, justice and patriotism, he exerted all his energies to uplift degraded humanity. In the accomplishment of this mission he was able to render most important service in the war, and won the re- spect and friendship of the many eminent men of his acquaintance. His roof sheltered all, friend and foe, and the Indian chiefs in solemn council sat down to his table as honored guests. Though filling many offices acceptably, his chief interest was the advancement of the town which bore his name, and for this he labored with generous and untiring zeal. He had the honor of being a passenger on Fulton's first, steamboat up the Hudson and paid the first fare the famous inventor received. A true honest manhood crowned his life and his grave is hallowed by the loving memories of the community. Peacefully he sleeps, his dirge the rustle of the leaves and the soft moan of the beautiful river he loved so weli.
Under the same shadows lies one who when a lad of thirteen came with his parents from the plains of Tennessee, seeking a new home in a new state. From that day John Dement directed his best energies to building up the commonwealth, and our territorial and state laws to-day bear the impress of his sound sense and good judgement. In early man- hood he was chosen to public office and continued to serve the people in county, city and state through a long life. While acting as state treas- urer he took part in the three campaigns of the Black Hawk war. In the first he acted as aide-de-camp to Gov. Reynolds and was witness to the treaty. The following year, while residing at Vandalia, he again enlisted and was sent by Gen. Whitesides with six men to visit Shabbona, the Pottawattomie chief, thirty miles north of Dixon, and warn him not to allow Black Hawk to come upon his lands to live. While out on this expedition he learned the location of this chief's land and on the following day reported to the commander at Dixon. He then returned home and for the third time joined the volunteers, was made commander
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of a spy battalion and reported to Col. Zachary Taylor at Dixon. From there he was sent in search of Black Hawk and led the brilliant engage- ment at Kellogg's Grove, where for the first time the troops held their position till reinforcements arrived. In the story of Black Hawk's life, as told by himself, he complimented the young white chief in an eloquent manner on his coolness, and courage, and it is a remarkable fact that the histories all coincide in awarding the palm for military tact and daring courage to Col. Dement and Henry Dodge, afterwards his father-in-law. Col. Dement is identified with the story of the war from beginning to end and no one had a more intimate acquaintance and friendship with the many distinguished men engaged in it. It is greatly to be regretted that the the events of that time had not been written at his dictation, with all the wealth of personal and local incidents he had at command. With the addition of the personal recollections of Mrs. Dement, then Miss Dodge, no history in existence would have been of more interest or value. Many of the facts I have given you have been verified by a letter from Geo. W. Jones.
He served in the war as adjutant to Gen. Dodge and was afterwards United States Senator from Iowa, where he now resides. Although nearly ninety years old he narrates the scenes of that long ago time with great clearnees and recalls many interesting anecdotes of pioneer life and distinguished men. Very touching and very beautiful are the mem- ories of his dear old friends, Col. Dement and the Dodge family, which this old man so lovingly lingers over as a precious part of his own young manhood. After the war Col. Dement was again called to fill offices of honor and trust and at length removed with the land office from Galena to Dixon, There he passed the happiest years of his life rejoicing in the rising fortunes of the city, part of which bears his name. These scenes had woven a spell about his heart which no separation could break and coming age but added strength to the enchantment which was a "twi- light of the brightness passed away."
In these times of danger and hardship women too had a place. Mrs. Dixon was the first white woman who settled in Lee county and she was well equipped for the allotted place in life. She was remarkably intelli- gent, warm-hearted and ready for any good work. Under her roof all were welcome and she had the tact and insight to keep the peace and friendship of all, red and white, who gathered there. The winter pre- ceding the war Black Hawk and a number of chiefs held a council at Dixon's Ferry. These chiefs were invited to sit down to her table three
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times a day, where she presided gracefully, eating and drinking with them. Black Hawk, as spokesman for the rest, thanked her for her great kindness and ever afterwards remembered it. The nearest neighbors were Mr. Kelloggs, who had settled at Kellogg's Grove in 1828, and some families who had located at Buffalo Grove, now Polo, the same year. In 1831 the Kelloggs moved to Buffalo Grove and the Reeds arrived the same day. Annie Kellogg, now Mrs. E. B. Baker of Dixon, and Fanny Reed, now Mrs. Fanny Dixon, are the only persons in Lee county who were here during the war and no history has the reality which attaches to the story from their lips. In 1831 the settlers, fearing an outbreak, joined others at Apple River and commenced to build a fort, when a dispatch was received informing them that a treaty had been made and they might return. In 1832 a messenger arrived at Buffalo Grove with the news of Stillman's defeat and advised them to go immediately to Dixon. Mrs. Baker remembers that morning distinctly. Her father had gone to Galena for supplies and her mother was alone with a hired man and her two little children. Leaving the breakfast table her mother and the man mounted their horses, each taking a child. Little Annie rode on a pillow, the only article they brought away with them. Arriving at Dixon, Mrs. Dixon gave them a generous welcome. Mrs. Baker remem- bers the Indians, of whom she had no fear. She has often seen Black Hawk and describes him as a large, hard-faced Indian not at all noted for beauty. She went freely to their wigwams and was taught their dances by the chiefs, After their departure the Indians rifled the house of everything save the feathers, which they turned out of the ticks on the floor. Mrs. Baker's greatest trial was the loss of a certain little wooden dog, very dear to her childish heart, which she had forgotten in her flight. After spending two weeks with the Dixon family they were all sent to Galena with an escort of soldiers and did not return to their homes until late autumn. On the road they passed their old home and found every tree and shrub loaded with a strange fruit-feathers. A number of Indians had improvised a thicket by cutting down small trees and sticking them in the ground, and were hidden behind them. They were so near the road that they easily recognized the party. These women and children had always been honest, truthful and kind in all their dealings with the savages, and to this they owed their escape from a cruel death. Can we realize in any degree the heroism lived every day of these brave lives? In 1833 they were again compelled to leave their homes by rumors of war, but returned before harvest and were never dis- turbed afterwards. Mrs. Baker remembers Dixon when it consisted of
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Father Dixon's log house, located on the site of Frenzel's meat market, - 1 and the block houses on the north side. The army was encamped on the flat north of Main street and west of Galena street.
Perhaps no group of tents ever sheltered so many men who afterwards became famous in our own country and the whole world. There was Sindney Breese, who came to Illinois in 1818, and for sixty years was a strong factor in professional, political and judicial life. In 1831 he pub- lished a law report, which was the first book printed in the state, person- ally assisting in the work. ' In 1832 he volunteered as a private in the Black Hawk war, where he rose to an office outranking Taylor and An- derson. To him belongs the honor of projecting the Illinois Central Railroad, and he desired no other inscription on the marble above him. In 1840 he had the greater honor of making the first congressional effort to build the great Pacific railway. He confronted opposition in congress and out, in regard to the new route for the commerce and wealth of the east to enter the western world. The monument commemorates these services, and the grand old man went proudly to his grave with the consciousness that what he had done would live after him as the heritage of a great man to his country. 1
The name of Robert Anderson will ever be associated with the fall of Fort Sumter, the central act of the war, and the most important from a military standpoint. The story of the insult to the nation's flag, and his gallant defense, as it flashed over the North was the signal for a resur- rection of patriotism which swept away all party lines and united the people in one common love of country. Yet the man so strong and brave in the war lifted a little wounded Indian child from beside its dead mother, had its arm amputated, and tenderly cared for its wants. He lived to unfurl the old flag again over the fort, and over an undivided nation. Perhaps he learned lessons of bravery while marching through this valley under command of Col. Taylor, of whom it was said, "he never surrendered," and who was afterwards President of the United States. Though he was a slaveholder he was wise, sincere and honest, and bitterly opposed to the extension of slavery. He was not a statesman by genius or habit, but he was a personal example of a patriot striving, in his own last words, "to do my duty." This sentiment he strongly emphasized in his speech to the volunteers at Dixon's Ferry, where he said: "You are citizen soldiers, and some of you may fill high offices, or even be President some day, but never unless you do your duty. Forward! March!" Did some shadowy finger of prophecy open to him the doors of futurity? Did
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he see himself, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis filling these places? May we not believe that the sound of the war cry and the sight of the scalping knife cast a witchery over the soul of the young Lieut. Davis, never to be broken till in madness he lifted his hand against the Union, and proclaimed his loyalty to the State and to the slave power. How infamous that descent front conspiracy to treason, from treason to rebel- lion, from rebellion to a civil war which rent asunder the most sacred ties of humanity, tilled hearts and homes from sea to sea with anguish and tears, and baptised this fair land with the life-blood of 300,000 of the republic's bravest sons. And yet the sacrifice was not complete until the assassin's hand struck down the idol of a loyal people-Abraham Lincoln. In the rank and file of the Indian war he walked a simple childlike man, unknown to fortune or fame. Gifted with a rare patience and a wise moderation, born of a native kindliness, he had ever that charm given only to those in whose souls the fountain of tears and the fountain of laughter lie close together, and their mingling waters bear men along on a resistless current of sympathy. Even then hung over him that strange sadness which cast a shadow over his life, "My destiny is upon me." He had that which endures in human character-the power of growth, the upward movement, the aspiration for better things, which thirty years later sent him forth to be the ruler of the greatest nation on earth-the leader of its embattled hosts in a conflict between North and South, between firearms and genius, and between the great principles of Free- dom and Slavery. By the singular power of his personality he achieved a victory which won for him the reverence of a nation, and the worship of an emancipated race. How passing strange that with the eyes of the world upon hini in those dark days, the memories of his early life in Lee county and Dixon should find a place. After the fall of Fort Sumter, in conversation with Robert Anderson he reminded him of those meet- ings which he had forgotten, saying, "You mustered me into the United States service during the Black Hawk war as a high private of the Illi- nois volunteers at Dixon's Ferry."
Though never again permitted to visit these early scenes, the ideal of his life has become the ideal of many lives, adding to the moral and spiritual capital of the world, and sounding the key note of a strain which abides forever.
One by one they have vanished from our sight till only two remain who lived through the scenes of the Black Hawk war. Could they but tell their story here to-day your hearts would be filled with admiration and regret that we who reap the fruit of their toil have failed to preserve
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these precious bits of tradition and history now buried with the dead. The American nation, though young in years, has, by means of its vast accumulations of wealth, been stamped throughout the civilized world with materialism. And as this wealth flows in perennial streams among the people is there not danger that we may fulfill the prophecies of for- eign nations by allowing this characteristic to stamp itself too deeply, not only upon our lives, but upon our exhibits at the World's Fair. On the women of America rests the burden of modifying this tendency by awakening and cultivating an interest in all educational matters.
No subject is attracting more attention from women's clubs in con- nection with the World's Fair than the history of our own country. It has become a duty as well as a pleasure to collect and preserve all that relics, record or tradition can add to the unwritten pages. Whether it is possible or practical with our facts to make such an exhibit remains to be decided upon. To what bright sister shall belong the honor of devising some plan of action by which we may be represented in the his- torical exhibit of the state if nothing more. Why should not Lee county be made a point of historical interest, for time and history do at last come to hallow and make remarkable all places connected with great men and great enterprises. What a picture for the artist's brush! A solitary cabin standing by the Indian's "Sinnissippi," amid the vast sol- itudes of a prairie desert, and in its open door Nachusa, the herald of peace and goodwill, receiving on the one hand a deputation of the native sons of the soil bearing in their hands their rude offerings; on the other a group of men whose names and deeds adorn history's page, and speak to listening multitudes through song and story, through marble and canvas, and floating over all the banner of our own proud state with the simple legend, "Illini" the land of men.
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MANZ
John Dement
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REMINISCENCES
OF NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS.
T HE writer of the following reminiscences came from eastern New York to Illinois in the early spring of 1846. The land he left was highly picturesque, being characterized by high hills with deep valleys between. It was a rocky region, and the cultivated fields being largely reclaimed from the prevailing forests, bore striking evidence of their original estate by the numerous stumps remaining, which awaited the action of time to crumble into dust: The land to which he canie; however, was a signal contrast to this. Forests there were none worthy the nanie. Narrow skirts of timber fringed the sluggish streams, while all the land between these water-courses lay in a broad and beau- tiful expanse of undulating prairie, studded with wild flowers of various hues and forms. The view of this beautiful land was enchanting, and as we traversed it by stage-for at that time there was not a foot of railroad in the state-we thought it the garden spot of earth.
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