USA > Missouri > Lincoln County > History of Lincoln County, Missouri, from the earliest time to the present > Part 19
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At the W. B. Sitton place, near Louisville, is a mild chaly- beate spring. A brown deposit is found in the adjacent wells. On Bryant's Creek, near the Mississippi River bottoms, are sev- eral springs of similar character, and sulphur springs exist along the Cuivre.
SOIL.
The soil of Lincoln County is varied in kind and quality. In quality it ranges from poor to extremely rich. Yet while none is too rich for careful and thorough cultivation not to pay largely. over slovenly tilling, so none is too poor to make fair return for labor judiciously bestowed. The prairie soil is tolerably uniform; none of it can be called poor. A small proportion of the prairie land is what is called crow-foot land, the best upland prairie soil known. It has sufficient sand for the water to drain off rapidly in wet weather, and enough of clay, lime, magnesia and humus to retain moisture. Four-fifths of the prairie is of the kind known as resin weed land, possessing less sand and more clay than the crow-foot land, and like it based upon siliceous marl, which insures, with proper cultivation, practically unlimited dura-
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bility. While inferior in quality and scope to the crow-foot land, it is of great fertility, and in favorable seasons and with proper cultivation will produce from fifty to seventy-five bushels of corn, forty to sixty bushels of oats, twenty-five to thirty-five bushels of wheat and two to three tons of grass per acre; with the average sea- son and the various grades of tillage in vogue among our farmers, good, fair to middling and bad, the general averages will reach about half the above estimates. The bottom prairies have a very rich and inexhaustible soil. Lying mostly on the Mississippi River, by reason of its occasional overflow, which has occurred about every ten years, and of insufficient drainage, most of these lands are yet uncultivated. The difference in the soils of prairie and timbered lands of the same formation in this county has been nearly obliterated in the process of cultivation, and in a few years the limits of the prairies cannot be told by the charac- teristics of its soil. The timbered lands in this county comprise the kinds known as hackberry lands, elm lands, hickory lands, white oak lands and post oak lands. The first two are contig- uous and interspersed and contain very superior soil, growing in great luxuriance corn, wheat, oats, barley, tobacco and all kind of fruit. The hickory lands are next in grade, with a soil more clayey and not so deep, subsoil more impervious and the under- lying marls containing less sand and lime and more clay. It responds generously to good culture, and is easily rendered durable. It is adapted to corn, wheat and other cereals, tobacco and the grasses; blue grass, will grow on it spontaneously and luxuriantly. This kind in this county has an area about equal to that of hackberry and elm lands combined. White oak lands occupy a relatively large area in this county. The surface soil is not so rich as that of the hickory lands, but the subsoil is quite as good, and the underlying marls not so clayey and im- pervious. It produces good corn, fair timothy, very fine sorghum and the best wheat and tobacco in America. It is well adapted to all kinds of fruits, especially peaches and grapes. Post oak lands comprise a smaller area in this county. The soil is sim- ilar to that of white oak lands, with rather less lime and sand. Its productions are also similar. Another variety of soil is the magnesian limestone, occupying the slopes, hillsides and nar-
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row valleys of the northeastern parts of the county. It is rich in lime, magnesia and humus, producing corn, the cereals and all kinds of fruits.
MOUNDS.
Ages ago, so far in the dim, shadowy past that neither they nor their history can be traced, those mysterious beings called Mound Builders were here and occupied the country for a sea- son, leaving behind them their sepulchral mounds, their frag- ments of pottery, their stone axes, and their flint arrow points and lance heads. It is out of place to discuss here the mooted question whether or not the Mound Builders were a distinct race; it is enough to say that their mounds and their relics are here.
At Old Monroe, just north of the railroad bridge across the Cuivre on the level surface of the valley, stood three circular mounds in the form of a triangle, each being from five to six rods- in diameter, and from eight to ten feet in height at their centers. One of them was wholly removed in excavating the railroad bed, and the others partially removed. In one of those only partially removed a human skull, a knife and a bracelet or pair of bracelets were found. The latter were made of silver. The two mounds partially removed by the railroad company are astride of the west line of the right of way, and recently the public authorities have hauled away and deposited on the high- ways all that part of these mounds extending outside of the line of the railroad right of way, leaving a perpendicular wall of earth from the general level to the top of the mounds. From this it plainly appears that the mounds were constructed by some human agency, the earth all being of the same kind, and apparently composed mostly of surface soil from the surrounding country. The centers of these two mounds and the north and south escarpments are still standing. About sixty rods west thereof, on an elevated ridge, stands a larger and higher mound, to the northward of which are a number of smaller mounds at. regular intervals along the top of the same ridge. None of these have been explored. These Old Monroe mounds have an appearance clearly distinguishable from that of natural forma- tions. Other mounds supposed to be the work of the Mound Builders are found on the lands of Mr. Lindsey in Township 49
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HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY.
north, Range 2 east. A row of four mounds stands north and south on lands of Alfred Johnson, being the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 27, Township 51 north, Range 2 west. The largest mound stands at the north end of the row, and from that to the other end they grow less in regular proportion. They are located about 100 yards from a bluff containing the same kind of rock of which they are partially composed. On the field where the mounds are located no rock is exposed, conse- quently it is presumed that the rock used in their construction was carried from the bluff.
It is the generally accepted belief among archeologists that the Mound Builders were here before the red or modern Indians, and built the mounds; that the red Indians never made flint arrow and lance points or pottery, and did not build mounds, but that they picked up and employed the arrow-points, and often buried their dead in the mounds which they found ready built when they came into the country. It is certain that two kinds of bones are often found in the mounds-one kind presumably those of the Mound Builders, buried hundreds of years ago, nearly decayed, the other, perhaps those of modern Indian buried more recently, and usually well preserved. Who were before the Mound Builders is not known, but after them came the red Indians, who, for years and perhaps centuries, danced and hunted over the surface of this county, fished in its streams, drank from its clear, sweet springs, and wooed their dusky sweethearts in its bosky dells. By-and-by came the white man, stealthily and timidly at first, and profuse in sweet words and fair promises to the original tenants, and after a while with more boldness, assumption and aggression.
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CHAPTER II.
INDIAN AFFAIRS AND WAR OF 1812.
In connection with the early settlement of Lincoln County, Dr. Mudd, in his history in the county atlas, gives an extensive account of the conduct of the "wild men of the forest," from which the following has been largely obtained.
There were many settlements of the Sac and Fox Indians within the limits of the county at that time, and the district watered by the two Cuivres and Big and Peruque Creeks was one of the favorite hunting grounds of the two tribes, whose head quarters were in the Rock River country in Illinois. Black Hawk, or Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak, the name by which he was known among his people, one of the most celebrated braves that ever lived, frequented this county, first on the hunt, and after- ward on the bloody trail of war. He was popular with the whites, and liked their company; he was particularly fond of attending the dancing parties of that day and took his place in the quadrille with infinite zest. He had a partiality for strong drink, and much of his leisure time was spent 'at the still-houses which were then considered the vanguard of civilization. He lived for some time with Adam Zum- walt, whose capacious larder, the generous and free hospi- tality of himself and wife, his four daughters, Elizabeth, Rachel, Mary, and Catharine, pretty, lively, and ever ready for the dance; his four sons, John, Andrew, Jonathan and Solomon, vigorous, full of life and spirit, and excelling as hunters, and last but not least, the two still-houses near by, all combined to render this a most agreeable home for Black Hawk, when resting from the excitement and fatigue of the chase. He was often very drunk; but in all his intercourse with the whites, drunk or sober, his bearing was gentle and dignified, characteristic of his kind- ness of disposition and greatness of intellect. Black Hawk was perhaps more friendly toward the white people than any other Indian, certainly more so than the most of them; but he was not a chief, and it was about twenty-five years afterward, when he had nearly reached his sixtieth year, and his eminent wisdom in
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HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY.
council recognized far and near, before he had much to do in shaping the policy of his tribe. *
The attitude of the Indians was exceedingly threatening and dangerous toward the first settlers of Lincoln County. From the first, they and the whites regarded each other with more or less suspicion. The Indians would sometimes drive off horses, kill stock and fire into the houses of the settlers. On one occasion they shot at two of Maj. Clark's children in the door, and one of the balls came within six inches of the mark, and at another time shot and killed a horse in his stable. Maj. Clark (more extended mention of whom appears in Chapter III) had long before learned to be cautious and wary in his dealings with the savages, the result of his frontier campaigns in Kentucky. While returning from Kentucky the second time, in 1800, bringing with him his black girl, and within a short distance from home, he camped one night with three Indians. Everything passed off quietly until next morning, when one of the Indians wanted to trade rifles with the Major, nolens volens. The Major let the Indian's gun fall, held on to his own with a strong grasp, and by a sudden twist loosened the hold of the would-be trader. Springing out of the reach of the Indian's knife, should he attempt to use one, he put himself in an attitude of defense, and cast a look of defiance at the red men, whose eyes fell before his keen glance. He then left without further ceremony than to keep a close watch on their movements as long as he was in sight of them. In speaking of this incident afterward, the Major said that he made up his mind that his bones should bleach on that camp ground before he gave up his gun. At his settlement in this county it was his invariable custom to place his gun and butcher-knife at the head of his bed every night, and to have the ax brought into the house. In the morning he would reconnoiter some distance from the house in every direction to see if any of the redskins were lurking in the bush. This vigilance was the more necessary on account of his isolated situation. Sometimes
*It is possible here that Dr. Mudd has unintentionally attributed in a measure to Black Hawk the character of Keokuk, chief of the Foxes, for it is well known that the latter was always, and especially during a period including the Black Hawk War, very friendly with the whites, while Black Hawk was hostile. Keokuk was also very fond of whisky and exceedingly fond of all manner of sporting. It is claimed by citizens of the extreme northeast part of this State, who personally knew Black Hawk before and after his war of 1812, that he was not a dis- sipated man. However, it may be true that the character assigned him by Dr. Mudd was correct at the time alluded to-that is before the War of 1812.
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for the space of six weeks he saw not a white face outside of his own family. The Indians called Maj. Clark the "man with the big hands," and often threatened to kill him because he spoiled their hunting grounds. The Major never believed, however, that they really intended to kill him, because they had so many oppor- tunities. Their object was rather to intimidate the whites, and to prevent by that means a further encroachment on their territory.
MASSACRE OF MCHUGH'S CHILDREN.
Except the massacre of the McHugh children, there is no authentic account of any murders of any white persons by the Indians, prior to the breaking out of the War of 1812. Doubtless some were perpetrated, as some of the descendants of the pioneers remember to have heard the facts so stated; but names and cir- cumstances are alike forgotten. In 1804 William McHugh sent his sons James, William and Jesse, to hunt the horses, which they found about a mile from home, up Sandy Creek. On their return they fell in with Frederick Dixon, a famous Indian scout. The two older boys were each riding a horse, and Jesse, a lad of ten or twelve, got up behind Dixon. At the ford of Sandy Creek, a short distance below where the bluff from Cap-au-Gris to New Hope now crosses the stream, they were fired upon by the Indians, who were concealed behind a large sycamore. The two oldest boys were instantly killed. Dixon's horse made a spring up the bank, breaking the girth and throwing the riders to the ground. They sprang to their feet and fled for their lives. Jesse McHugh could not keep up with Dixon, and he kept crying out, "Oh, Mr. Dixon, don't leave me! Don't leave me!" In spite of his piteous appeals for help, and his own strong sympathy for the unhappy youth, Dixon kept on, knowing that to do otherwise would be but a useless sacrifice of his life, as he was entirely unarmed. He said that he should never forget the agonizing shrieks of the poor little fellow, mingled with the demoniac yells of the savages as they cleft his skull with their tomahawks. Dixon was pursued to McHugh's fence. The three boys were buried in one grave, on a high point of land near the place of their murder, on the north side of the creek, and between where the old trail ran and the present bluff road. John Lindsey helped to bury them,
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HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY.
placing split puncheons around them for a coffin, and then cut their initials on a white oak tree, and his own on another, the two standing on either side of the grave. These trees, with the marks nearly grown over, have been seen by persons now living in the vicinity, but they have disappeared. Capt. Stonebreaker cut the last remaining one for a saw log some thirty years ago. The bluff road at this point is a part of the first public road laid off in this county. It was located in the early part of the War of 1812 as a military road from Fort Howard in this county to Fort Madison, on the Mississippi River, in Iowa.
The Indians claimed that the massacre of the McHugh boys was done out of revenge for a difficulty with some white men a short time previous, in which three dogs belonging to the Indians were killed. The murdering party numbered only four or five, and is supposed to have been under the command of Black Hawk himself. Black Hawk, in his "Life," written at his own dicta- tion, says nothing about this; but many rangers who had taken part in the War of 1812, and who read Black Hawk's life when it was written in 1833, claimed that the narrative was not strictly true in several matters to their own knowledge, but was rather an apology than a correct history, Black Hawk having committed many acts of which his natural nobility of character was ashamed. The impression that Black Hawk commanded the party referred to, has this authority: a brother of the murdered boys lived many years afterward near the Iowa River in the country frequented by the Sacs, and it came to his ears that Black Hawk on several occasions boasted of being concerned in this particular exploit. On the whole, the weight of testimony is against the probability of Black Hawk's participation in the affair. McHugh declared his determination to ascertain the truth of the matter, and if Black Hawk was really concerned in the murder of his brothers, to avenge their blood by shedding his. It is scarcely probable that he failed to satisfy himself. There is also strong reason to believe that Black Hawk was then at home in the Sac village.
At this time the Sacs held a council and sent Quash-qua-me, Pa-she-pa-ho, Ou-che-qua-ka, and Ha-she-quar-hi-qua, four of their principal civil chiefs, to St. Louis, to ransom a captive who
14
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
was in prison for killing a white man. This they expected to do by paying a sufficient sum of money to satisfy the relatives of the murdered man, thus "covering up the blood," according to their own custom. This delegation was gone long enough to excite the apprehensions of the tribe. It finally returned with many presents, and told that a treaty for land had been signed; that the prisoner was let out of prison, when he started to run and was shot dead, and that great quantities of the white men's fire-water had been drunk. The result of this embassy was not at all satisfactory to the tribe. The inference is a reasonable one that these four Indians, realizing that they had failed in the purpose for which they were sent, and that they had exceeded their in- structions in consequence of their prolonged sprees, during which they were outwitted by the whites, were determined on some specific act of revenge, and that they were the men who perpetra- ted the bloody massacre.
THE WAR OF 1812-FORTS ERECTED.
The apprehensions of the early settlers as to the Indian attitude were greatly increased by the intelligence of the declara- tion of war between this country and Great Britain. The exposed condition of the inhabitants would invite the hostile attention of the five or six tribes, who considered this county
and adjacent territory as their hunting ground.
It was
expected that these would make common cause with the British. The declaration was made by Congress on the 12th of June, 1812; and when it became known, the people lost no time in providing for the defense of their homes. Stockade forts were built at convenient points. Maj. Clark, with the assistance of two hired men, built a stockade at his residence, and it was called Clark's Fort. It took six weeks to complete it, the three working every day except two Sundays. When done the Major put up 7,000 pounds of pork to cure, with other provis- ions for the use of those families that would seek shelter within its walls after being driven from their homes. A large stockade was built at Troy, and called Woods' Fort. It was built on the lands of Deacon Joseph Cottle and Zadock Woods, and took in the spring. Stout's Fort was built on Fort Branch,
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HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY.
near Auburn. A large stockade was built on what is now called the Tinbrook place, and known before that as the Samuel Bailey place. * * It stood on the bluff north of the intersection of the bluff road with that leading from Chain of Rocks to Cap au Gris, and not far back of the Cave Spring where until recently stood the house erected by Samuel Bailey. This was called Fort Howard, in honor of Benjamin Howard, who was governor of this Territory, but resigned November 29, 1812, to engage in the war as brigadier-general. At the time of his appointment as governor, September 19, 1810, he was member of Congress from Kentucky. He was an efficient military officer. He died at St. Louis September 18, 1814. During the war he made one or two visits to the fort. He complimented the people for having made the best selection and built the best fort in his district. He was a large, fine looking man, and wore a buckskin coat or hunting shirt plentifully adorned with fringe.
VOLUNTEERS.
As far as known, most of the rangers who volun- teered from this county served in the companies of Capt. Christopher Clark of this county, and of Capt. (afterwar colonel) Daniel W. Boone, Capt. Nathan Boone, and Capt James Callaway, the last a grandson, and the other two sons of Daniel Boone, all of St. Charles County. A few were under Capt. Craig, who was killed in this county, but where he came from is not known. Lieutenant (afterward General and President) Taylor, of the regular army, had his headquarters at Woods' Fort, and under his command were quite a number of the citizens of this county, including Zadock Woods, the Cottles and Collards; but whether it was the last year of the war, or just after the war ended, it is not now known. David Bailey, Jonathan Riggs and John McNair, all of this county, were lieutenants in active service. Before the war ended Bailey was promoted to the command of a company, with the rank of captain. Riggs was a man of undaunted courage, but of cool judgment. He was frequently intrusted with the command, and on many occasions his sagacity and knowledge of Indian methods of warfare saved the lives of his men. McNair, son of Robert McNair and
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STATE OF MISSOURI.
nephew to Gov. McNair, was a good soldier, and a brave but rash man. He saw a good deal of service in Illinois. He was killed in a skirmish opposite Cap-au-Gris. The campaign of the Lincoln County Rangers extended from the Missouri River to past the Iowa line, principally in the vicinity of the Mississippi River.
ATTACK BY BLACK HAWK.
In the latter part of the year 1812 Black Hawk was com- missioned brigadier-general in the British army, and wished to descend at once upon these settlements; but Gen. Proctor would not consent until after the second unsuccessful siege of Fort Meigs, which ended in July, 1813. Black Hawk then came down, as he says, with thirty braves; but the rangers of that day said that he had a much larger force. His avowed purpose was to avenge the death of his adopted son, whom he said was killed by the whites. He divided his force, and he and a party land- ing near Cap-au-Gris, came across the bottom, and reached the bluff in the vicinity of McLane's Creek; the other party ascended Cuivre and made a feint on Fort Howard. Benjamin Allen, Francis Riffle, Frederick Dixon, Roswell Durgee, John Lindsey and William McHugh went up to Lindsey Lick, a place since owned by Joel Crenshaw and John Averall, under the escort of five rangers, among whom was James Bowles, to sow turnips. It was the custom in those troublous times to keep the families in the forts, while the men would go out under a guard to work in the fields cultivating and gathering crops. The party, not fear- ing any immediate danger, was somewhat scattered. Dixon and Durgee were riding on one horse along a path, on the side of which Black Hawk and another Indian were concealed. When they got within reach the Indians fired, mortally wounding Dur- gee. The horse jumped, and both men fell to the ground. Black Hawk started in pursuit of Dixon, who arose and ran. The latter ran over a pile of new rails, when, as he was about to be overtaken, he picked up a stout stick and turned to defend him- self. As he did so Black Hawk saw his face. He says in his Life, "I knew him. He had been at Quash-qua-me's village, to learn his people how to plow. We looked upon him as a good man. I did not wish to kill him, and pursued him no further."
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HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY.
In the meantime the ranger Bowles was killed. Before the alarm had been given, the boys, Edwin Allen, Chauncy Durgee, John Ewing, and John McLane were bathing in the creek. When the firing began Benjamin Allen galloped up, took his son Edward on the horse, and telling the other boys to hide, rode off. The little fellows lost no time in hurrying out of the water, and finding on the bank a large hollow log, crawled into it. Black Hawk, in turning from the pursuit of Dixon, heard the noise and sprang upon the log. Chauncy Durgee afterward said that he looked through a knot-hole and saw the Indian, who seemed to be looking him right in the eye, but that he turned off without discovering them.
Black Hawk said that he saw the boys, but thought of his own boys at home, and let them escape. Dixon soon recovered his horse, and found Durgee and attempted to help him mount, but the latter being severely wounded and scalped, had partially lost the use of his reason, and could not be made to comprehend what was desired of him. Finally he took hold of the horse's tail, and Dixon made him understand that he was to hold fast and travel as rapidly as he could. After going about a hundred yards his hold relaxed and he fell back. Dixon being hard pressed made his escape. Black Hawk and his companions came across Durgee. He says, " The latter was staggering like a ยท drunken man all covered with blood. This was the most terrible sight I had ever seen. I told my comrades to kill him to put out of his misery; I could not look at him."
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