History of Cooper County, Missouri, Part 10

Author: Johnson, William Foreman, b. 1861
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Topeka : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1464

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According to another account, the Indians tomahawked their prisoner and fled, but she recovered. It is also said that Patsy Cox was the name of the young woman captured and that it was not Gregg.

Negro "Joe" Killed .- A negro named Joe, belonging to Samuel Brown, was killed by the Indians near Mr. Burkhard't farm about three quarters of a mile from what is now Estil's Station on the M. K. & T. railroad.

Coursault Killed .- Captain Coursault was killed in 1814 at Cote-sans Dessein in the attack on Roy's Fort. Cote-sans Dessein, now Bakersville, Callaway County, was a village of considerable importance and was located at the mouth of the Osage River. It is said that but for a Spanish land claim the capital of Missouri would doubtless have been located near this place.

It was settled by French families about 1810. Several block houses were erected there. One was called Tebeau or Tebo's Fort and one Roy's Fort. These forts were about three hundred yards apart; between them was a log house that served as a powder magazine for both forts.

One day Baptiste Roy went out to kill some venison, but when he had gone about a mile, he discovered that the Indians were hidden in the bushes, grass and weeds, so he immediately turned his horse and fled, and when nearing Tebo's Fort, he cried, "Indians, Indians."

All the men of the fort who were armed, hastened at once to meet the enemy, leaving only a few old men and a half dozen unarmed and par- tially grown negroes in the fort. Louis Roy was at his block house which was some two or three rods from Roy's Fort, which was vacant at the time.

When the others rushed forth to meet the Indians, Louis Roy excused himself by saying that he was fixing his ramrod, and kept busily at work scraping it.

About a mile or two below the fort, the settlers met the Indians, and

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there the fight continued nearly all day, all fighting from behind trees. Finally the Indians were apparently driven away, but not before Captain Coursault and four or five others were killed. The number of Indians slain was never known. In the meantime, the Indians divided their forces and sent a band to attack Roy's Fort. They at once began the attack upon the block house in which were, at the time, Roy, his wife, Francois, and several other women.

· Only two guns were to be had in the block house. These, however, Roy used effectively, the women keeping them loaded as fast as he fired. So accurate was his aim that he killed 14 Indians. The Indians disappeared, but warily returned, creeping up under the river bank. Sud- denly they emerged between the two forts and made for the log house, which was used as a magazine. They took dry cedar which they had found, split it with their knives and tomahawks, and piled it around the log house magazine and set fire to it.

There were perhaps 40 or 50 Indians in this band. They were armed for the most part, with only bows and arrows. They yelled and capered with fiendish glee around the building as the fire spread. Soon, however, the flames reached the powder and their merriment and glee was changed to consternation. A tremendous explosion sent timbers and rafters flying into the air; Indians and parts of Indians were hurled in every direction; according to one account, about 20 of them, including those who ran and jumped into the river to soothe their anguish, were killed. The remainder of the party quickly disappeared.

Murder of Ramsey Family .- The most horrible incident of this war was the atrocious murder of the Ramsey family. Although it happened on the Femme Osage in St. Charles county the news of the atrocity spread far and wide, and stirred the indignation and resentment of the settlers of the Boonslick country.

Mrs. Ramsey having gone out to milk, was fired upon by the Indians and shot through the body. Her husband was a cripple, having but one leg. He saw his wife fall and managed to get her to the house, but as he reached the door, he received a wound in the thigh. At this time his three children were playing a short distance from his cabin. The Indians chased them around the house, and finally caught them and scalped them in the yard before the eyes of their parents. Ramsey and his wife both died from their wounds.

Capt. Sarshall Cooper. Murdered .- One of the saddest events of the war was the tragic death of Sarshall Cooper, after whom Cooper County

DOROTHY

FERRY BOAT ON THE MISSOURI AT BOONVILLE

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was named. His death touched the hearts of the frontiersmen as had no other death in this section. He was, in fact, the beloved and acknowl- edged leader of the settlers north of the Missouri River.

The night of April 14, 1814, was dark and stormy, and the watchful sentinel could not see an object six feet in front of the stockade. Captain Cooper lived in one of the angles of the fort, and one day while sitting at his fireside with his family, his youngest child on his lap, and the others playing around the room, his wife sitting by his side sewing, the storm raging without, a single warrior crawled up to the fort, and made a hole just large enough for the muzzle of his gun through the clay between the logs. The noise of his work was drowned by the howling storm; he dis- charged the gun with effect fatal to Cooper, and Sarshall Cooper fell from his chair to the floor, a lifeless corpse, amidst his horror-stricken family.

Sarshall Cooper was a natural leader ; he was about five feet 10 inches tall, of fine physique, a superior horseman, cool and deliberate. His wife was Ruth, a daughter of Stephen Hancock, the Boonsboro pioneer with Daniel Boone.

The muster-roll of Capt. Sarshall Cooper's company, dated April, 1812, is not without interest, and gives the names of the following officers and men:

Wm. McMahan, 1st lieutenant; David McQuilty, 2nd lieutenant; John Monroe, 3rd lieutenant ; Ben Cooper, ensign ; John McMurray, 1st sergeant ; Sam McMahan, 2nd sergeant; Adam Woods, 3rd sergeant; David Todd, 4th sergeant; John Mathews, 5th sergeant; Andrew Smith, corporal; Thomas Vaugn, corporal; James McMahan, corporal; John Busby, cor- poral; James Barnes, corporal. Private Jesse Ashcraft, Jesse Cox, Sam Perry, Solomon Cox, Henry Ferrill, Harmon Gregg, Wm. Gregg, John Was- son, Josiah Higgins, David Gregg, Robert Cooper, Gray Bynums, David Cooper, Abbott Hancock, Wm. Thorp, Wm. Cooper, John Cooper, Jos. Cooper, Stephen Cooper, Wm. Read, Stehen Turley, Thos. McMahan, Jas. Anderson, Wm. Anderson, Stehen Jackson, John Hancock, Robert Irvin, Francis Cooper, Benoni Sappington, Jas. Cooley, Nathan Teague, Jas. Douglass, John Sneathan, Wm. Cresson, Jos. Cooley, Wm. McLane, Jas. Turner, Ervin McLane, Wm. Baxter, Peter Creason, David Burns, Price Arnold, John Smith, John Stephenson, Alfred Head, Gilliard Roop, Daniel Durbin, Jas. Cockyill, Jesse Tresner, Mitchell Poage, Townsend Brown, John Arnold, Robert Poage, Francis Berry, Lindsay Carson, David Boggs, Jesse Richardson, Robert Brown. John Peak, John Elliot, Jos. Beggs,

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Andrew Carson, John Colley, Reuben Fugitt, Seibert Hubbard, John Berry, Wm. Brown, Francis Woods, Wm. Allen, Robert Wells, Jos. Moody, Jos. Alexander, Amos Barnes, Daniel Hubbard, Harris Jamison, Abraham Barnes, Wm. Ridgeway, Enoch Taylor, Mathew Kinkead, John Barnes, Henry Waedon, Otto Ashcraft, John Pursley, Wm. Monroe, Isaac Thorn- ton, Stephen Feils, Dan Monroe, Giles Williams, Henry Barnes, Wm. Sav- age, Thomas Chandler, John Jokley, Stephen Cole, Wm. Robertson, Wm. Bolen, Mixe Box, Sabert Scott, John Savage, Jas. Cole, Stephen Cole, Jr., John Ferrill, Delaney Bolen, Jas. Savage, Jos. McMahan, Braxton Cooper, Robert Hancock.

Every enlisted man furnished his own equipment and an order was promulgated so, that "citizen soldiers may not be ignorant of the manner in which the law requires him to be equipped, he is reminded that it is his duty to provide himself with a good musket, with bayonet and belt, or fusil, two spare flints and a knapsack pouch, with a box thereon to contain not less than 24 cartridges; or a good rifle, knapsack, powder- horn and pouch, with 20 balls and one-quarter of a pound of powder."

Two Negroes Captured-Indians Chased .- Two negroes, belonging to James and John Heath, while cutting wood for making salt, were captured by the Indians in May. A party of fully 60 men assembled and on horse- back pursued these Indians, in a northerly direction 50 or 60 miles far up the Chariton. However the Indians escaped with their prisoners.

Rangers Come to Relief of Settlers .- So great had been the depreda- tions of the Indians, so inhuman the murders committed by them in their predatory war in the central portion of the Boonslick country that Gen. Henry Dodge was ordered to take command of 350 mounted rangers and proceed to the relief of the settlers. This· was in September, 1814. There were in Dodge's command companies under Capt. W. Compton of St. Louis, Capt. Isaac Vanbibler of Loutre Island, Captain Daugherty of Cape Girardeau, and a company of the Boonslick settlers under Capt. Benjamin Cooper. Nathaniel Cooke and Daniel M. Boone were majors. In this campaign, Dodge carried with him blank commissions, and it was at this time that he appointed Benjamin Cooper, an elder brother of Sarshall Cooper, a major. According to Draper's "Memoirs" there were with Dodge's company forty friendly Indians, but John M. Peck says there were 50 Delawares and Shawnees. They were under four Indian captains : Na-kur-me, Kisk-ka-le-wa, Pap-pi-pua, and Wa-pe-pil-le-se. The two latter were fully 70 years old and both had served in the early Indian wars.

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Dodge marched to the Boonslick country, and arrived on the north side of the Missouri opposite Arrow Rock, close to Coopers' fort, where he was joined by Captain Cooper and his company. Dodge and his men crossed the river to the southern bank by swimming the stream. The crossing was effected by selecting for the advance, six of his most active men, good swimmers on horseback, the others following flanked on both sides by canoes, and with a vanguard of canoes above and below the main body, stemming the swift current. About half way across, the men struck the current, which soon carried them to the southern bank in safety. Only two hours were thus consumed in crossing the river with horses and baggage.

Having arrived on the south side, Dodge sent out his Indian allies as scouts. They soon located the hostile Mi-am-mis, and found that they had thrown up a small entrenchment. Dodge's men pushed forward sev- eral miles up the river, and surrounded the Indians at a point in what is now Saline County, since known as Miami's Bend. The Indians, seeing that the whites were in overwhelming force, proposed to the Shawnees to surrender themselves as prisoners of war.

General Dodge called a council of his officers for the purpose of seek- ing their advice, and after explaining the whole matter to them, they all agreed to receive the Indians as prisoners of war, and agreed that the prisoners' lives should be sacredly preserved. The Coopers and other Boonslick officers assented. General Dodge then told all the officers that he would hold them personally responsible not only for their own conduct, but also for that of their men, particularly in their treatment of the sur- rendered Indians.

Dodge understood quite well his responsibility. He was well acquainted with the disposition, temper and peculiarities of the western settlers. He knew that they had been harassed, and those near and dear to them slaughtered in ambush. He feared that something might occur to arouse their anger and stir them to reciprocal vengeance, should any untoward event occur, and in order to prevent a massacre, he exacted an explicit pledge from the officers of the several commands.

Dodge and Cooper Controversy .- The Indians, consisting of 31 war- riors and 122 women and children, surrendered to him and were received under his protection as prisoners of war. The following morning, Cooper and other settlers under his command, began looking through the Indian camp, purposing, if possible, to find stolen property. In this search, the well known rifle of Campbell, whose murder, in the Boonslick region, we

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have previously referred to, was found. This discovery greatly infuriated Cooper and the settlers. They construed the finding of the gun evidence that these Miamis had perpetrated the killing of their friend and neighbor. They came galloping up to General Dodge and demanded the surrender of the Indian who had killed Campbell, their purpose being to make an example of him. This demand General Dodge peremptorily denied. Cooper, feeling outraged, threatened that his company, who surrounded him with cocked rifles, would kill the Indians unless his demand was acceeded to, and his men assumed a shooting attitude, Dodge, with commendable cool- ness, without even turning to the men, drew his sword, and thrusting it within six inches of Cooper's breast, reminded him of his pledge to protect the Indians on their surrender and treat them as prisoners of war. He then cautioned Captain Cooper that should his threat be carried out, he, Cooper, would be the first to feel the consequences. At this juncture, Major Boone rode up, and took his position at Dodge's side and announced · that he would stand by him to the end. He also reminded Cooper of their pledge, and that the execution of his, Cooper's, threat would be an act of treachery. By this time Cooper's temper had abated, and he reluctantly vielded to superior authority, and with his company rode away. Cooper and his men took the position that Campbell had been treacherously mur- dered, and that the perpetrator of the deed was not entitled to the protec- tion afforded prisoners of war, but should be summarily dealt with as a murdered according to the custom of the west.

It is said that by reason of this incident a strong attachment sprang up between Kish-la-lewa and Dodge, and that long afterwards at Fort Worth in 1835, there was an affecting recognition between the two men. Dodge is said to have looked upon his conduct in saving these prisoners as one of the happiest acts of his life.

However, for many years, General Dodge, by reason of his magnani- mous conduct on this occasion, was exceedingly unpopular in the Boons- lick country. Dodge was afterwards governor of Wisconsin Territory, and twice United States senator from the state of Wisconsin.

Cooper was a fearless man, and just, according to his standards. He and the settlers had been too long beyond the boundaries of civilization to yield readily to the reasoning of Dodge and Boone. They had been accustomed to rely solely upon themselves for protection and to adminis- ter justice according to western traditions, considering only the right and wrong in every instance. Their comrade and friend had been shot from ambush, and it was clear to their minds that these Miamias should pro-

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duce the murderers, or they should not be entitled to the privileges of prisoners of war.

Letter to the Governor .- When at the outbreak of the war the gov- ernor of the Territory wrote Benjamin Cooper advising him and the settlers to move nearer to St. Louis to receive protection against the Indians, Cooper wrote in reply the following characteristic letter. While its literary merits are subject to criticism, yet it breathes in every word, whether correctly or incorrectly spelled, the brave spirit of the pioneer, and evidences a stamina and heroism of the soul superior to polite erudition :

"We have maid our Hoams here & all we hav is here & it wud ruen us to Leave now. We be all good Americans, not a Tory or one of his Pups among us, & we hav 2 hundred Men and Boys that will Fight to the last and have 100 Wimen and Girls that will tak their places wh. Makes a good force. So we can Defend this Settlement wh. with Gods help we will do. So if we had a fiew barls of Powder and 2 hundred Lead is all we ask."

David Barton, afterwards United States senator, was a volunteer in Compton's company, refusing any rank, but offering General Dodge any service he was able to render him.

Samuel McMahan Ambushed .- Samuel McMahan, who lived in what is now Lamine township in Cooper County was killed on Dec. 14, 1814, near Boonville. McMahan had been down to the settlement at Boonville. As he was returning home, he came upon a band of Indians who were lying in ambush for some of the settlers who were cutting down a bee tree not far away. McMahan was on horseback and unsuspectedly rode into the midst of the Indians. The savages fired upon him, wounding him and killing his horse. He jumped when his horse fell, and though severely wounded, succeeded in reaching a ravine leading to the river. The savages soon overtook and killed him, sticking three spears into his back. They afterward cut off his head, and scattered his entrails over the ground. The Indians then scattered, and, pursuing different routes, made their way out of the country.

The settlers, not knowing the numbers of the Indians, since roving bands of savages, large and small, had so frequently passed through this section, sent for reinforcements from the opposite side of the river, and on the following day sent out a party of men to secure McMahan's body, and get all information possible of the Indians. James Cole, the son of Hannah Cole, and the brother of Samuel Cole, secured the body and carried it before him on his horse. David McGee brought the head

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wrapped in a sheepskin. The body of McMahan was buried under the Linn tree, which formerly stood in the center ring at the old fairground. The child of David Buness who was burned to death, was also buried under this tree.

Building of Hannah Cole Fort .- The next day after the killing of McMahan, all the settlers living near the present site of Boonville, assem- bled at the house of Hannah Cole which stood on the bluff in what is now East Boonville. This was considered by the settlers as the most suitable and available place for strong defense against attacks of the Indians. All the men came with their teams, cut down trees, dragged logs to build the fort and were continuously at work until it was completed. It required them one week to finish the building. During the time that they were at work, it was necessary for them to keep men stationed around the fort at some distance to guard against the approach of the enemy, whom they expected to appear at any hour.

As soon as the Hannah Cole Fort was completed, the old fort of Stephen Cole's situated on the bluff above the river, one mile above the new fort, was abandoned. All the families gathered into the new fort, so. as to be a protection one to the other.

The treaty of peace between England and the United States was signed at Ghent on Dec. 24, 1814, nevertheless the Indians, emboldened by Black- hawk's repulse of the forces of Maj. Zachriah Taylor on Rock River al- though advised that peace had been declared, thought themselves able to carry on an independent warfare.

Indian Treaty .- All treaties with the Indians which had been made regarding the cession of Indian lands prior thereto were ratified at this conference. It was not, however, until 1833 that every Indian claim to land title in the state of Missouri was eliminated.

Major Stephen Cole was the acknowledged leader of the settlers living south of the Missouri River, and he survived the war. Having made every effort to protect his loved ones, and his neighbors, during the trying period of the War of 1812, when peace was declared in 1815, the love of wild adventure led him to become a pioneer in the trade with Santa Fe, in 1822. He was killed by the Indians about 60 miles southwest of Sante Fe, on the Rio Grande River. With and associated with him at the time, was Stephen Cole, the son of Hannah Cole. Cole was also killed at that time.

We have endeavored to give the names of all the men of whom we have been able to secure any record who were killed in the Boonslick

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country during the Indian War, from 1812 to 1815, together with a brief account of how they came to their death. The peculiar atrocities attend- ing the killing of some of them make even the stoutest shudder.

During the war the Indians stole so many horses from the Boonslick settlement, that for two or three years after the declaration of peace, they were compelled to plow their corn with oxen, and even milch cows.

The reader should remember that the Indian was a savage and was intellectually dwarfed. In the eyes of our forefathers, the Indians had no rights, at least none to impede the onward march of civilization. We had not then adopted the benevolent policy of treating the Indians as wards, the modern colonial policy affected by our government in the Philippines. The Indians were continually driven back, giving ground before the oncoming white colonists, until they retreated far inland. Through war, liquor and disease, their numbers have decreased. How- ever, amalgamation and benevolent assimilation have wrought a wondrous change. A humane policy has preserved them from extinction, and has changed once implacable, treacherous and cruel enemies into loyal friends, citizens and staunch allies in the cause of liberty and justice. In the World War, just ended, 1,000 Indians enlisted in the navy. In the army, 6,500 Indians enlisted. They now hold a $50 Liberty Bond for every man, woman and child of their race. The romance of the American Indian is not ended. He is a striking, living illustration of what a humane policy will do to bury racial hatred in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Additional Incidents of the Period .- James Davis was an intimate companion and associate of Daniel Boone in many of his hunting expedi- tions. On this occasion to which we refer, Boone, by reason of infirmities of age, or disability, did not accompany Davis. It was in the winter of 1813. None but a hardy and adventurous character would venture alone through the wilderness at this time. Davis was intrepid and experienced, and fearlessly started upon his expedition, and arrived near the western boundaries of the territory, where he was captured by the Otoes Indians.

The Otoes were said to be the most civilized as well as the most sanguinary and cruel of all the tribes west of the Mississippi River. They lived in substantial log houses with roofs of dirt and sod, and were so fearless and warlike that no satisfactory treaty was ever made with them until the latter part of 1828.

After having captured him, they stripped him of everything that he possessed, took his gun and ammunition and turned him loose as naked

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as he was when he came into the world. However, as if in mockery, they gave him an old English musket with one load. They did not torture him, but turned him loose to meet his fate. None but the most vigorous con- stitution could have stood successfully the trial. He traveled until about nightfall, and while seeking shelter in some place where he could protect himself from the winter winds, he saw a bear taking his winter sleep. With the cunning and caution of the frontiersman, born of experience, he approached the bear, and placing his old musket within a few inches of its head, fired the charge into the bear's brains, and killed it instantly. Necessity to him was the mother of invention. With the flint of his old musket he succeeded in skinning the bear. Having done this, he fashioned it as best he could, and before the heat had left the hide, he clothed him- self therewith, placing his feet and arms where the legs of the bear had been, and drawing the head well over his own head and face, he lay down by the side of the bear and slept through the night in the skin that he had appropriated.

At daylight, feeling refreshed, he set out on his long journey to the settlement, taking enough of the meat to last him through the toilsome journey. He had more than a hundred miles of snow and wilderness to traverse, and no implement with which he could make a fire, but his fur suit kept him warm, and raw bear meat furnished him nutriment.

It took him several days to make the journey, but finally he arrived at the house of Jonathan Bryan in the Boone settlement late in the eve- ning. Davis grasped the latch-string, which usually was hanging on the outside, and pushed the door open. Sitting alone by the fire was an old Scotch schoolmaster, who had evidently stopped at Bryan's for a few days. The opening of the door attracted the schoolmaster's attention, and by the light of the fire, he could plainly see the rough outlines of this weird figure, which to his excited imagination was transformed into an evil shape. Filled with fear, he jumped from his chair, and fled from the room, crying, "Devil, devil, devil." However, Jonathan Bryan, hearing the disturbance, rushed into the room, and recognizing Davis, soon quieted the apprehensions of the schoolmaster. The bear's skin had become so dry and hard that it required considerable effort to restore the old hunter to human shape.

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History of Cooper County, Missouri, Part 10

Author: Johnson, William Foreman, b. 1861 Publication date: 1919 Publisher: Topeka : Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1464

Author: Johnson, William Foreman, b. 1861
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Topeka : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1464