USA > Missouri > Centennial history of Missouri (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume I > Part 51
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About 1885 Splitlog became associated with some professional promoters. The southwest corner of Missouri was electrified one day with the announcement that silver had been discovered a short distance south of Neosho. When the news had been well circulated, it was found that Splitlog and his white associates had obtained leases on five thousand acres of land, Splitlog contributing the money and the promoters furnishing the brains. The Splitlog Silver Mining company was organized with the old chief's favorite son, Joe, as president. Splitlog City was laid out near the mines; a hotel was built and several other business structures were erected. A daily stage line was put on between Neosho and Splitlog City. Assays from ores alleged to have come from the Splitlog mines were shown. These assays were made by reputable firms in St. Louis, Kansas City and elsewhere. They gave from $40 to $298 in silver per ton. Some of them returned gold. Splitlog displayed a watch on the inside of which was inscribed, "The case of this watch was made from gold taken out of the Splitlog Mines in McDonald County, Missouri."
The rush to Splitlog City set in. On the country roads wagons with white tops "Bound for Splitlog" could be seen moving in all directions. There was great activity in sinking shafts. The next step was the organization of a railroad company. Colonel Splitlog took most of the shares. The railroad was capitalized at $3,000,000. A construction company was formed with a capital of $350,000. Colonel Splitlog was the treasurer of the construction company. About thirty miles of roadbed was graded and six miles of track was laid. Colonel Splitlog drove the first spike, which was of silver claimed to have been obtained from the Splitlog mines. The motive for the road was to obtain facilities for shipment of the ore.
After Splitlog had invested about $175,000, the collapse came. Mrs. Splitlog, influenced by other members of the family, refused to sign any more deeds. The colonel became suspicious of his white associates, who departed for other fields of exploitation. The boom collapsed. Assays of ore mined by independent pros- pectors showed only a trace of silver. Eastern men took hold of the Splitlog rail- road and extended it north and south, until they had it running some distance. A cutoff left Splitlog City two miles to one side. Then the builders of the Kansas City, Pittsburg and Gulf got the road and pushed it south to the Gulf of Mexico, making the Kansas City Southern one of the most important and profitable north and south lines in the country.
CHAPTER XIV
MISSOURI'S INDIAN WARS
Raids from the North-A Grand Jury Warning-The Battle of Sweet Lick-"Big Hands" Clark-Lincoln County Forts-"General" Black Hawk-The Zumwalt Sisters-An Indian's Courting-How Black Hawk Repaid Hospitality-Farming and Fighting- The Battle of the Sink Hole-Raid on Loutre Island-Stephen Cole's Desperate Encounter-Montgomery County's Tragedies-Jacob Groom's Heroic Act-Captain James Callaway Ambushed-Battle of Prairie Fork Crossing-The Pettis County Mystery-A British Officer's Tomb-Fort Cooper-Captain Sarshall Cooper's Defiance- When Settlers "Forted Up"-The Seven Widows of Fort Hempstead-Killing of Jonathan Todd and Thomas Smith-Fort Cole-A Long Chase-Braxton Cooper's Fight for Life-Stephen Cooper's Charge-Christmas Eve Mourning-Good Old Hannah Cole-The Northwest Pivot Man-Major Ashby's Footrace with a Chief-The Panic in Bluff Settlement-Ringtail Painter's Bloody Combats-The Pottawattomie War- Council at Portage des Sioux-Auguste Chouteau's Diplomacy-Death of Black Buffalo -Big Elk's Peace Oration-Intrigues of British Fur Traders-Captain . O'Fallon's Scathing Report-Reminiscences of John B. Clark-The Big Neck War-Cabins of the White Folks-The Battle with the Iowas-A Remorseful Chief-Father De Smet- The Life Work of "Blackgown"-Walk In Rain, the Letter Writer.
Put in your minds that as soon as the British made peace with us they left you positively in the middle of a prairie without shade or cover against the sun and rain. The British left you positively in the middle of a prairie, worthy of pity. But we Americans have a large umbrella which covers us against the sun and rain and we offer you, as friends, a share of it .- Colonel Auguste Chouteau at the Indian Council, Portage des Sioux.
The United States government expended one thousand million dollars in Indian wars within the boundaries of this country. Such was the estimate made by an army officer. Of this billion dollars the amount required for the settle- ment of Indian troubles in Missouri was insignificant. During two generations the French pioneers of Missouri lived in almost continuous peace with the In- dians. The rapid immigration following the American flag in 1804 brought fighting. But with the Indians who lived in Missouri the settlers had few serious difficulties. They suffered far more from the war parties of braves which came down from-the North, some of them traveling hundreds of miles to prey on the little communities near the Missouri river. The region lying north of the Missouri and west of the Mississippi was raided at intervals for ten years. Bands of the Sacs, the Iowas, the Foxes, the Pottawatomies came into what was called the "St. Charles district," now St. Charles, Montgomery and Warren counties.
Even before the white settlements these northern Indians came to the Mis- souri river country to fight other tribes. Wetmore's Gazetteer of Missouri, pub- lished in 1837, said that on Sweet Lick in Monroe County "there is a battle field so thickly covered with the bones of combatants slain there as to deserve a high place in the annals of blood-letting. The conflict was between the Sac and Fox
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Indians and the Sioux. Tradition does not particularize the battle, nor are we able to determine to which nation of these red warriors victory was awarded by the Great Spirit."
The situation on the Missouri frontier was anything but monotonous. Brackenridge, who went up the Missouri with Manuel Lisa, told of an incident at Fort Osage. He gave the story as narrated to him by an officer. The trouble had been adjusted ten days before the Lisa party arrived. About fifteen hundred Osage warriors had camped near the fort. Two hundred of them had just come back from a raid on the Iowas. Brackenridge spelled the name "Ayuwas." The braves were so lifted up over the exploit that they insulted the soldiers in the fort. One of these warriors defied a sentinel at his post. The sentinel was com- manded to fire over his head. This producing no effect the warrior was seized by a file of men, which he at first treated with indifference, declaring that if he was confined he would get some of the white man's bread. His tune was changed, however, by a liberal application of the cat-o'-nine-tails to his back. The Indians were excited. They rushed forward with their arms. But the soldiers paraded and made ready a few cannon. The Indians thought proper to retreat. They maintained a threatening attitude for a few days. To show their spite they killed a pair of oxen belonging to Mr. Audrain, the settler near the fort. The officer at the fort sent for the chiefs and told them that unless two horses were given for the oxen he would fire on the Indian village. The chiefs complied; the pipe was smoked, and all matters were adjusted.
Lincoln County Forts.
In the region which afterwards became Lincoln county there was conflict between the white settlers and the Indians. Major Christopher Clark was the first American to settle permanently near Troy. He located about three and one-half miles southeast of that city. Other settlers followed and established themselves along the Mississippi and along the Cuivre. Major Clark had trouble almost imme- diately upon his settlement. He was called "Big Hands" by the Indians. Several - times wandering bands fired at his cabin, and on one occasion shot into the stable and killed a horse.
In 1804 three sons of William McHugh who had settled on Sandy creek were killed at the ford. They were boys of from eleven to fifteen years. They had been sent about a mile from home to bring in the horses. Dixon, an Indian scout, was with the boys at the time, but escaped. The situation became so serious that a number of forts were built. Major Clark constructed one of these primitive buildings of defense. He placed in it 7,000 pounds of pork and other provisions for the use of those settlers who might have to seek for shelter. This was known as Clark's Fort. On the site of what is now Troy, Wood's Fort was built. Stout's Fort was located near Auburn. The most important of these fortifications was on the river bluff near Cave spring. This was called Fort Howard in honor of Governor Benjamin Howard, who for a short time was governor of the territory, but who resigned to become commander of the rangers.
Black Hawk's Treachery.
Black Hawk, the Sac chief, was a frequent visitor in Northeast Missouri pre- vious to 1810 and even later. His Indian name was "Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak."
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MAJOR BENJAMIN O'FALLON He reported to Gov. William Clark the intrigues of the British fur traders
ROBERT FORSYTH Many years Indian agent
THE OLD FORT AND STOCKADE ON THE HILL AT ST. LOUIS Present site of the Southern Hotel
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The literal translation of this Indian name is Black Sparrowhawk. Black Hawk was not a chief in time of peace. He was a leader of hostile parties in time of war and that gave him the title of war chief. The British made use of him in the war of 1812. They gave him the uniform of a British officer and called him General Black Hawk. They gave him command of five hundred Indians and expected to use him in attacks upon American settlers of Illinois and Missouri. Before the war of 1812, Black Hawk spent some time in the settlements of what is now Lincoln county. He attended dancing parties and took part in the quad- rille, or, as it was commonly called then, the "French Four Dance." For a while he was allowed to live at the house of Adam Zumwalt which was on the south side of the Cuivre river in the northern part of St. Charles county. Zumwalt did whiskey distilling in a small way. He had four daughters, lovely girls, named Elizabeth, Rachael, Mary and Catherine. Black Hawk paid special attention to one of them and offered to buy her for a dozen horses. The girls utilized Black Hawk's infatuation by making him bring them water from the spring, dig potatoes, cut wood, telling him that that was the way to win a white wife.
The settlers treated Black Hawk well, depending upon his influence to protect them from the Sacs. The Indian repaid this good treatment by making a special request in 1812, when the British gave him his uniform and his command of five hundred Sacs and Fox Indians, that he be allowed to make an immediate attack upon the Northeast Missouri settlement, explaining that he had spent much time there and was well acquainted with the situation. The British General Proctor, however, refused and sent Black Hawk into Michigan and Northern Ohio. The war chief came back with the Sacs tribe on Rock river in Northern Illinois in 1813. The next spring he descended upon Missouri settlements of his own accord. He had about fifty braves when he landed from canoes on the 10th of May near Cap-au-Gris. Dividing his party he led one band into the timber near McLean's creek. The other party he sent up the Cuivre to make a pretended attack on Fort Howard. This second party killed a ranger named Bernard who was scouting out from Fort Howard in the woods. The alarm was given and the rangers, under Lieutenant Massey, came out of Fort Howard and drove the Indians up the Cuivre but without a fight. Black Hawk and his followers remained in Northeast Missouri looking for parties to waylay and massacre. On the 15th of May, half a dozen men and boys escorted by five rangers went up the Cuivre to sow turnips for one of the settlers. At that time the pioneers had left their farms and were in the forts. It was known that Black Hawk and his followers were somewhere in the vicinity. Two of the men, Fred Dixon and Roswell Durkee, were riding one horse. As they passed by the place where Black Hawk and one of his party were concealed the Indians fired. Durkee was wounded. Dixon was thrown from the . horse and ran. Black Hawk pursued him, and was about overtaking him when Dixon stopped, picked up a big stick and turned toward the Indian. Black Hawk looked at Dixon and then ran away although he was carrying his rifle, tomahawk and knife.
Years afterwards Black Hawk, in the so-called autobiography of him, explained why he ran away from Dixon. He said, "I knew him ; he had been at Quash- qua-me's village to learn my people to plow. He was a good man and I did not wish to kill him." The fact was that Dixon had never been an instructor of the
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Indians and was a good fighter. He had been present at the murder of the McHugh boys in 1804. Dixon recovered his horse and attempted to save Durkee, but the latter had been scalped and was dazed. He could not understand what was wanted. Dixon was forced to abandon him. The Indians came upon Durkee. Black Hawk afterwards said, "He was staggering like a drunken man, all covered with blood. This was the most terrible sight I had ever seen. I told my comrade to kill him and put him out of his misery. I could not look at him." Other members of Black Hawk's band opened fire upon Dixon's party and killed James Bowles, one of the rangers. There were four boys in the party that had gone out to sow turnips. They were swimming in the creek when the attack by Black Hawk's band occurred. Benjamin. Allen rode up to them, took his son Edwin on the horse and told the other boys to hide. The little fellows ran from the water, caught up their clothes and crawled into a hollow log. Black Hawk came up and jumped on the log. He afterwards said, in his autobiography, "that he saw the boys hiding but thought of his own at home and let them escape." One of the boys who hid in the log was Chauncey Durkee who became a prominent citizen of Lewis County. In telling of the experience he said that he looked through a knot hole and saw Black Hawk very plainly.
The Battle of the Sink Hole.
"The battle of the Sink Hole" was one of the few Indian fights in Missouri which could be given such a formal title. It was fought near Fort Howard in what is now Lincoln county near Cap-au-Gris. A company of mounted rangers under Captain Peter Craig had been raised in Cape Girardeau county and had gone to Northeast Missouri to defend the settlements against Black Hawk's force. One of the participants in the battle was Colonel John Shaw, a hunter and explorer who had been looking for gold in the Ozarks. He joined the rangers and was in the Indian campaign of 1814. His account of the battle of the Sink Hole was given to the Wisconsin Historical Society :
"About noon five of the men went out of Fort Howard to Byrne's deserted house on the bluff, about one-fourth of a mile below the fort, to bring in a grindstone. In conse- quence of backwater from the Mississippi they went in a canoe and on their return were fired on by a party supposed to be fifty Indians, who were under shelter of some brush that grew along the bluff near Byrne's house, and about fifteen rods distant from the canoe at the time. Three of the whites were killed and one mortally wounded, and as the water was shallow the Indians ran out and tomahawked their victims. The people in the fort fired on the Indians across the backwater, a few inches deep, while another party of " about twenty-five ran to the right of the water with a view of intercepting the Indians who seemed to be making toward the bluff or high plain west and northwest of the fort. "The party of twenty-five and Captain Craig's soon united. On the bluff was the cultivated field and deserted residence of Benjamin Allen. The field was about forty rods across, beyond which was pretty thick timber. Here the Indians made a stand, and here the fight began. Both parties fired. As the fight waxed warm the Indians slowly retired as the whites advanced. After the fight had been going on perhaps some' ten minutes the whites were reinforced by Captain David Musick, of Cap-au-Gris, with about twenty men. He had been on a scout toward the head of Cuivre river, and had returned to within about one-half mile of the fort, and about one and one-half miles of the scene of the conflict, and had stopped with his men to graze their horses. Hearing the firing they instantly remounted and dashed toward the scene of battle. Dismounting in the edge of the timber on the brow of the bluff and hitching their horses, they rushed through a part of the Indian line, and shortly after the enemy fled, a part bearing to the right of
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the sink hole toward Bob's creek, but the most of them taking refuge in the sink hole, which was close by where the main part of the fighting had taken place. About the time the Indians were retreating Captain Craig exposed himself four feet beyond his tree and was shot through the body and fell dead. James Putney was killed before Captain Craig. and perhaps one or two others. Before the Indians retired to the sink hole the fighting had become animated, the loading was done quickly and shots rapidly exchanged. When one of our party was killed or wounded it was announced aloud. The sink hole was about sixty feet in length, and from twelve to fifteen feet in width and ten or twelve feet deep. Near the bottom, on the southeast side, was a shelving rock under which some fifty or sixty persons might have sheltered themselves. At the northeast end of the sink hole the descent was quite gradual, the other end it was much more abrupt. The southeast side was almost perpendicular. The other side was about like the steep side of a house.
"On the southeast side the Indians, as a farther protection in case the whites should rush up, dug under the shelving rock with their knives. On the sides and in the bottom of the sink hole were some bushes which also served as something of a screen for the Indians. Captain Musick and his men took part on the northeast side of the sink hole, and others occupied other positions surrounding the enemy. As the trees approached close to the sink hole these served in part to protect our party. Finding we could not get a good opportunity to dislodge the enemy, as they were best protected, those of our men who had families at the. fort gradually went there, not knowing but a large body of Indians might seize the favorable occasion to attack the fort while the men were away engaged in the exciting contest. The Indians in the sink hole had a drum made of a skin stretched over the section of a hollow tree, on which they beat quite constantly, and some Indian would shake a rattle called she-shuqui, probably a dried bladder with pebbles within, and even for a moment would venture to thrust his head in view, with his hand elevated, shaking his rattle and calling out, 'peash! peash!' which was understood to be a sort of defiance, or, as Black Hawk, who was one of the party, says in his account of that affair, a kind of bravado to come and fight them in the sink hole.
"When the Indians would creep up and shoot over the rim of the sink hole they would instantly disappear, and while they sometimes fired effectual shots they in turn became occasionally the victims. From about one to four o'clock p. m. the firing was incessant. Our men generally reserved their fire until an Indian would show his head. All of us were studying how we could more effectually attack and dislodge the enemy. At length Lieutenant Spears suggested that a pair of cart wheels, axle and tongue, which were seen at Allen's place, be obtained and a moving battery constructed. The idea was entertained favorably, and an hour or more was consumed in its construction. Some oak floor puncheons, from seven to eight feet in length, were made fast to the axle in an upright position and port-holes made through them. Finally the battery was ready for trial, and was sufficiently large to protect some half a dozen or more men. It was moved forward slowly, and seemed to attract the attention of the Indians, who had evidently heard the knocking and pounding connected with its manufacture, and who now frequently popped up their heads to make momentary discoveries. It was at length moved up to within less than ten paces of the brink of the sink hole on the southeast side. The upright plank did not reach to the ground within some eighteen inches, the men calculating to shoot beneath the lower end at the Indians. But the latter from their position had a decided advantage of this neglected aperture, for the Indians shooting beneath the battery at an upward angle, would get shots at the whites before the latter could see them. The Indians also watched the portholes and directed some of their shots at them. Lieutenant Spears was shot dead through the head, and his death was much lamented, as he had proved himself an intrepid officer. John Patterson was wounded in the thigh, and some others behind the battery were also wounded. Having failed in its design the battery was abandoned after sundown. Our hope all along had been that the Indians would emerge from their covert and attempt to retreat to where we sup- posed their canoes were left, some three or four miles distant; in which case we were firmly determined to rush upon them and endeavor to cut them off totally. The men generally evinced the greatest bravery during the whole of the engagement.
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"Night was now coming on, and the reports of half a dozen guns in the direction of the fort by a few Indians, who rushed out of the woods skirting Bob's creek not more than forty rods from the north end of the fort, were heard. This movement on the part of the few Indians who had escaped when the others took refuge in the sink hole was evidently designed to divert the attention of the whites and alarm them for the safety of the fort, and thus effectually relieve the Indians in the sink hole. This was the result, for Captain Musick and men retired to the fort, carrying the dead and wounded, and made every preparation to repel a night attack. 1
"The men at the fort were mostly up all night, ready for resistance, if necessary. There was no physician at the fort, and much effort was made to set some broken bones. There was a well in the fort, and provision and ammunition to sustain a pretty formidable attack. The women were greatly alarmed, pressing their infants to their breasts, fearing they might not be permitted to behold another morning's light, but the night passed away without seeing or hearing an Indian. The next morning a party went to the sink hole and found the Indians gone. They had carried off all their dead and wounded except five dead bodies left on the northwest side. From all signs it appeared some thirty of them were killed or wounded. Lieutenant Gray reported eight of our party killed, one missing and five wounded. The dead were buried near the fort and a man sent to St. Charles for medical assistance. Lieutenant Gray assumed command."
The killed in Captain Craig's company besides himself and Lieutenant Spears, were Alexander Giboney, James Putney, Antoine Pelkey, Hubbard Tayon, and Francois Lemmey. The wounded were John Patterson, Benjamin Hall and Abraham Letts.
A Grand Jury Warning.
The grand jury at St. Louis impressed with the dangerous situation made this presentment to the court at the June term, 1805 :
"Destrict of Louisiana
"Destrict of St. Louis
"We the Grand Jurors for the Destrict of St. Louis Having the Safety of the Inhab- itants at Heart, and as a Great number of Savages are at Present in the Destrict and more are Daily Arriving-and Whereas some evil Disposed persons do Sell Barter or give to the Said Savages, Speritious Liquors in such quantitys as to put them in a State of Intoxication,. and thereby Endanger the lives and Propertys of the Said Inhabitants-We the Grand Jurors for the Destrict Aforesaid do ernestly request the Courts to take the Same Ameadiately into Concideration, and Devise such means as they in their wisdom may think proper to prevent the like in Future.
"John Biggs Foreman" .
The Raid on Loutre Island.
In his narratives of the Indian wars of Missouri written for the Globe-Demo- crat about thirty years ago, Major R. I. Holcombe told of these tragedies :
"In the summer of 1807 occurred a memorable and ill-fated expedition. A band of ten Indians, Sacs and Pottawatomies, came down, stole seven horses belonging to the settlers on Loutre island, and started northward with them. Five islanders set out in pursuit. These were William T. and Stephen Cole, James Patton, John Gooch and James Murdock, all experienced frontiersmen, hardy and brave. On the evening of the second day out the party came in sight of the Indians on the Salt river prairie, in what is now the southern part of Ralls county. Moving forward a mile or so, and darkness coming on, they went into camp on the bank of Spencer creek, intending to open friendly negotiations with the Indians the following morning.
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