USA > Missouri > History of southeast Missouri : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 11
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HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
might be possessed. Upon marriage, how- ever, the ornaments were laid aside to be kept for a daughter, and the hair was confined in one braid.
A curious form of polygamy was practiced among them. When a man took a wife he ac- quired rights over the persons of her sisters, and might bestow them in marriage as he wished or else add them to his own household. In spite of this privilege, monogamy was not uncommon among them and there frequently existed between husband and wife a strong and lasting tie of affection.
The Osages possessed the ordinary weapons of the Indians, the bow and arrow, the war- club, the tomahawk, and the scalping knife. They soon learned the superior power of the gun, and after coming into contact with the traders they equipped themselves, where pos- sible, with guns. In common with most of the Indians of the continent they looked upon bravery in war as the chief virtue. Scalping was the one act that conferred the greatest distinction on a brave, and next to this steal- ing the enemy's horses. The young braves often spent their leisure time in boasting of their skill and prowess in handling the scalp- ing knife and in carrying away horses. This latter accomplishment was held in high re- pute among them, for the Osages were dis- tinguished among Indians for their knowl- edge of and regard for the horse. They pos- sessed large numbers of them and held them as their chief riches. Nuttall ("Journal," p. 247) records the fact that once they pur- chased the temporary friendship of their bit- ter enemies, the Outagamies, by the present of a hundred head of horses. "A present," Nuttall remarks, "which though valuable was not costly to the givers, for in a raid under- taken immediately afterward they brought back three hundred horses either stolen from
the Pawnees or else caught wild upon the prairies."
According to Nuttall ("Journal," p. 238), who spent sometime with them, they pos- sessed some knowledge of the stars. They recognized the pole star and had observed that it was stationary in the heavens, they called Venus the harbinger of day, they knew the Pleiades and the three stars in Orion's belt, and they spoke of the Galaxy as the heavenly road or way.
The religion of the Osages was not unlike that of many other of the American Indians. They believed in a Great Spirit, and looked forward to a Happy Hunting Ground after death. In accordance with this belief they frequently buried with the deceased warrior his hunting implements and his weapons of war, that he might enjoy his favorite pastime in the land of the dead. Coupled with this religion was a gross form of superstition which manifested itself in an observance of omens, a belief in the efficacy of charms and amulets, and a constant effort to propitiate evil spirits. Before going on the war-path they were accustomed to spend a night in la- mentation and ín penitential exercises, in the course' of which they inflicted upon them- selves sundry forms of punishments in an en- deavor to ward off misfortune in the time of war.
One of their peculiar customs, seemingly unique, was a morning lamentation indulged in by some or all of the members of the tribe, each morning about sun rise. This custom prevailed to the very great annoyance of their white visitors. Long speaks also of "a vesper hymn of doleful sound," chanted at sun-down during one his visits. (Long's "Expedition," Vol. 4, p. 266).
In common with other Indians they were exceedingly fond of tobacco and attached
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great importance to the pipe. It formed a man, was quite so well adapted to the pecu- part of all their great meetings, and no treaty was concluded and no formal act re- lating to the tribe ever performed without recourse to the pipe which was passed from hand to hand and smoked by each in turn.
Their clothing was made from skins, prin- cipally deer-skins, which were tanned by the women and made into garments for both men and women. They also possessed the art of weaving, and utilized for this purpose lint from the bark of the mulberry, the elm, or the paw-paw. Sometimes they wove a sort of cloth from feathers, and after they began to secure cloth from the white people they would frequently unravel an old piece of cloth and use the thread again. The men usually wore the breech clout made of skins, leggings, and moccasins. The women wore a short skirt, leggings, and moccasins, and sometimes a covering for the upper part of the body, either a shirt made of their cloth or a blanket. They adorned themselves with feathers, worked various patterns into their cloth, wore shells and beads, and, as far as their conditions allowed, exhibited all the signs of vanity of dress found among civilized people. The men of the tribe were fond of paint. They sometimes painted the entire body, staining it with colors derived from clay. The face was especially treated and was sometimes streaked and painted in a dreadful and hideous manner. This was true of all who went upon the warpath. Indeed the hideous painting of the face was usually a sign of war, though some- times indulged in during their celebrations of various kinds.
The Indian moccasin deserves a more ex- tended notice than any other part of their wearing apparel. Perhaps no other footgear ever devised, by either savage or civilized
liar purposes for which it was intended, as this moccasin. Made of tanned deer-skin, it was soft and pliable, enabling its wearer to pass with wonderful celerity and absence of noise through the woods and over the rude trails, and yet it was durable and lasting. Its superiority is shown in the fact that all white men who have passed much time among the Indians have adopted it in preference to the shoe or boot of civilization.
The government of the Osages was a patriarchal despotism. The leader was fre- quently, though not always, succeeded by his son. This right of heredity was often dis- regarded and never was vested exclusively in the eldest son. In fact they refused to re- gard the right of primogeniture. The chief was, first of all, the leader in war. He was usually the most daring and ruthless of the warriors of the tribe. His retention of the leadership depended upon his hold upon the respect and confidence of his fellows. This could not long be retained, in such a state of society as existed among the Indians, by any one not recognized as brave and skilful in war. The chief was supposed to exercise authority over his warriors in time of peace, also, but this authority was mainly shadowy and vague. The real fact of the matter was that the character of the Indians of almost every tribe prevented anything like a firm government. They could not submit them- selves to the rule of anyone else, even though he was chosen by themselves for that pur- pose. It was this fatal defect, coupled with their unreasonable delight in war that ren- dered all the resistance of the Indians to the encroachment of the white men so futile. Even the great chiefs, such as Pontiac and Tecumseh, found their influence often set at naught and their plans wrecked by the per-
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HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
verse and unstable character of their fellows. Many of their chiefs retained their hold upon their men by cunning and a practice of all the arts of the political demagogue. Braek- enridge, says of Sans Oreille, chief of the Little Osages, that he was, "as usual with the ambitious among these people, the poor- est man in the nation; for to set the heart upon goods and chattels was thought to in- dicate a mean and narrow soul. He, there- fore, gave away everything he could get, even though he should beg and rob to procure it ; and this to purchase popularity. Such is ambition. Little they knew of this state of society, who believe that it is free from jeal- ousies, from envy, detraction, or guilty am- bition. No demagogue, no Cataline, ever used more art and finesse, ever displayed more poliey than this cunning savage. The arts of flattery and bribery by which the un- thinking multitude is sedueed, are nearly the same everywhere, and passion for power and distinction seems inherent in human nature." (Brackenridge "Journal," p. 58).
In person the Osages were perhaps the most finely developed of any of the Indians of North America. They were tall, above the average height of both whites and Indians. Few of the men were under six feet and they were large and strong in proportion to their great height. They were eomely in appear- anee for Indians, and evoked the admiration of most travellers among them. They pos- sessed great powers of endurance. Nuttall ("Journal," p. 246) speaks of their hunting and foraging expeditions extending for three hundred miles or more, and says that it was not uncommon for them to walk from their eamp on the Verdigris river in Arkansas to the trading post on the Arkansas in a single day. This is a distance of sixty miles.
As we have said, these Indians established
themselves on the Osage river in Missouri. They early separated into three bands the Great Osages living on the Osage and num- bering at time about one thousand warriors: the Little Osages who dwelt further west, numbering from two hundred and fifty to four hundred; and the Arkansas band, which settled on the Verdigris, a tributary of the Arkansas river. These last were induced to make settlement there by Pierre Chouteau of St. Louis. One DeLisa had seeured from the government of Spain a monopoly of the In- dian trade in Missouri, and Chouteau induced a part of the Osages to emigrate to Arkansas that he might trade with them. While thus the main camps of these Indians were out side the territory of Southeast Missouri as here defined, they had much to do with the history of this section of the state, for they roamed over all this territory and were for many years the dread of all the inhabitants. The French were accustomed to deal with the utmost lenieney with the Indians, and this policy was inherited by the Spanish when they came into possession here. As a consequence the Indians were not forced to submit to the authority of either government and for years committed many depredations upon the inhabitants. They were especially troublesome in the matter of horse-stealing. Their fondness for horses, as noted else- where, eaused them to take possession of good horses without regard to the ownership of them. They had a eustom, too, of resenting any intrusion on their chosen hunting grounds, and many a white hunter and trap- per was beaten, his property seized, or de- stroyed, because he was found by the Osages within territory which they claimed as their own. Often, too, these ontrages did not stop short of the murder of the Inekless hunter or trapper. This was almost certainly the fate
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HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
of the man caught on their warpaths. These they held with tenacity and resented any in- trusion upon them.
Constant struggle was carried on by the Osages with other Indians seeking to come into this territory. There was a general movement of the Indians from east to west. We have seen that the Osages themselves were the descendants of Siouan Indians who for- merly lived in the valley of the Ohio. Many causes impelled this migration toward the west. Chief of these was terrible ferocity and power of Iroquois or Five Nations of New York. These fierce Indians, the strong- est and most powerful of all the natives on the continent, carried on ruthless war against most of the tribes of the north and east. Many of these sought to escape this warfare by moving to the west. Those who came afte the settlement of white men iu Missouri found their way barred by the Osages, but little in- ferior in prowess and ferocity to the dreaded Iroquois themselves. Against these new com- ers the Osages waged bitter war. The Peo- rias, a little remnant flying across the river to find homes, were compelled to live in con- stant fear. A little band of thirty of these took up their abode under the protection of the white men at Ste. Genevieve, but they hunted but little we are told, owing to their fear of the Osages. The Saukees and Out- gamies, or Sacs and Foxes, who settled in Iowa and north Missouri, attempted to ex- tend their territory south of the Missouri and became involved in a bitter and relentless struggle with the Osages. Coming from an- other direction were the Cherokees, a part of that great nation of the southern Alleghenies. With all of these, as well as with the Dela- wares and Shawnees, the Osages contended with varying fortunes. None of the invad-
ers surpassed them in bravery, ferocity, or skill in warfare, but the Sacs and Foxes brought with them the arms of the white men, and in the end this superiority of arms pre- vailed, and the lessened remnant of the great and haughty tribe of Osages made their way to the west. A remnant of them still live in Oklahoma.
A melancholy interest attaches to these few and feeble descendants of a once power- ful and numerous race. The defects of In- dian character were many and grave. Their society and government was most primitive, they inflicted upon the settlers untold suf- fering and most barbaric cruelties. Their going made way for the civilization and prog- ress of the white race. No one would call back the Indians even if that were possible, but the chapter of history which records the dealings of our government with the Indians is a most painful one. We cannot forget that the Indian was fighting for his home, for his hunting grounds, for that state of life and society which seemed to him best and most desirable, and we cannot close our eyes to the fact that the treatment he received from those who took his land was often marked by the extreme of cruelty and treachery. Perhaps it was inevitable that he should disappear be- fore the superior gifts of the white man, but surely it was not necessary that bad faith and cruelty and even treachery should mark our treatment of him.
The Osages were perhaps the most formid- able and troublesome of all the savage neigh- bors of the people of this section of the state. but they were by no means the only Indians who were here. The constant drift of the aborigines westward across the river brought many of them through Missouri or near its borders, and of these passing through, some
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remained. Thus we find constant reference in the annals of the time to Creeks and Che- rokees, Pawnees, Peorias and others of the many tribes of the western Indians. Some of these made their residence within the borders of the section, others were only occasional visitors, whose hunting or trading parties came and went as the whim seized them. These, as they traded or hunted or pursued other and less legitimate occupation, entered little into the real life of the people and had but little influence on the development of the country, further than the inducement of set- tlers for their trade.
Two other tribes than those mentioned, however, settled within the limits of South- east Missouri in considerable numbers, and they came into closer relations with the peo- ple of this part of the state and probably were more important in its early history than any others of the savages. These two tribes were the Delawares and the Shawnees. Both nees. Both of these are Algonquin Indians and closely related to each other.
The Delawares were originally found on both sides of the Delaware river in Pennsyl- vania and Delaware. They were the Indians who were dealt with by William Penn and others of the early settlers in Pennsylvania. They early came into conflict with the Iro- quois, and were subjugated by them. Dur- ing the period of their subjugation they lost much of their former spirit and courage, and lived in a state of abject fear of their red masters. They finally moved further west into the present state of Ohio. Here they recovered their spirit and their love for war and became among the most formidable of the tribes. Part of them were converted to Christianity through the efforts of Moravian
missionaries and became known as the Chris- tian Indiaus. Those who refused Christian- ity joined with the French in the French and Indian wars, and with the British during the Revolution. They committed great depreda- tions during the war all along the western borders, until an expedition under "Mad An- thony" Wayne laid waste their country and destroyed their power. They gradually drifted further west into Indiana and Iowa. During the Spanish regime in Missouri they were invited to settle in Missouri, or in Up- per Louisiana as the country west of the river was then called.
This invitation to settle under the power of Spain was prompted by two motives. The Spanish wished them to be a bulwark against the constant encroachments of the Osages whose thieving and plundering expeditions harried all of Upper Louisiana and kept its inhabitants in a state of constant alarm. Spain greatly feared for her colonies, too, be- cause of the American desire for the posses- sion of the Mississippi. There was a feeling along our western border at that time that the United States should seize the river, and perhaps some of the territory of the western side, and hold it. To have the help of the savage allies whom she had brought to her colonies was one of the motives which prompted Spain to bring the Delawares to this side. Louis Lorimier, the founder of Cape Girardeau, was one of the principal agents in the Spanish dealing with the In- dians.
The Shawnees who came to Missouri at the same time with the Delawares were quite probably an offshoot of the Delawares, who had been for some time separated from them but who again united with them just before their emigration to the west. They resein-
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HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
bled the Delawares in language and tribal habits and acted with them in many of their dealings with the white men.
When these Indians came across the Mis- sissippi they settled principally in the terri- tory between the Cinque Homme and Flora creek. Their settlement extends west to Whitewater river. Two large villages were located on Apple creek, on the north line of what is now Cape Girardeau county. There were also villages of these Indians along Cas- tor river, near the present site of Bloomfield in Stoddard county, and at Chilletecaux in Dunklin county. They settled at other places in various counties of the district, and most of the Indians known to the later settlers in this territory belonged to these two tribes, or else to the Cherokees concerning whose history some facts are given later. These Delawares and Shawnees were nearly always peaceful and inoffensive in their relations with the white people. Many of them culti- vated little patches of corn or pumpkins, the work as was usual with Indians being virtu- ally done by the women. They hunted and trapped, selling their furs to the various traders, using the flesh of animals for their food.
Many places through the lower counties of the district have names which perpetuate the memory of these Indians. Chilletecaux river in Dunklin county, Jim Ease's camp in New Madrid, and Seneca slongh are a few of them. Along Apple creek, where were located the principal villages of the Indians, are many traces of their residence.
The largest of the villages on this creek contained about four hundred inhabitants. The houses were built of logs and the open- ings were filled with mud. They were supe- rior in some ways to many of the tribes of the
west. Most of them were fine looking well- made men, fond of war and the chase. They possessed considerable skill in war, and made even the fierce Osages respect the prowess of their arms. For a long time the Shawnees cherished a bitter hatred for Americans.
This village called Chillecathee, was situ- ated on Apple creek in Cape Girardeau county. It was the largest village in the en- tire section. More than five hundred Indians made their homes here for many years. They were principally Shawnees and Delawares. Among these Indians was the sister of the celebrated Chief Tecumseh. This Indian wo- man, who is said to have been very beautiful and possessed of a great fluency of speech and considerable eloquence, during a visit to an Indian camp at New Madrid, formed the acquaintance of a creole named Francois Maisonville. They became attached to one another and were married after the Indian marriage customs. When Tecumseh heard of this he came to New Madrid and forced his sister to leave Maisonville and return to the village of Apple creek. However, within a few months, while Tecumseh was absent in the south attempting to form his great al- liance of the southern Indians, his sister re- turned to New Madrid and to her husband. There are living today, in New Madrid county, some of the descendants of Maison- ville and his Indian wife. She outlived her husband and seemed never to recover from her grief for the death of her brother, who was killed by Colonel Johnson in Indiana.
Another one of these Indian villages was called Chilletecaux. It was situated on a branch of the St. Francois river not far from the present site of Kennett, and a third vil- lage was located near the present site of Point Pleasant in New Madrid county.
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The usual relation of the Indians and the white people was one of friendship and good feeling, but some times circumstances arose which led to trouble. Just before the earth- quake of 1811 a war party of Creek Indians, under the leadership of a chief named Cap- tain George, crossed the Mississippi river four miles below Little Prairie. They were on the warpath and showed great hostility toward the whites. They planned the capture of Little Prairie and subsequently New Madrid. They were foiled in their efforts by the ac- tions of a Delaware Indian. He was a friend of the whites. and having discovered the in- tention of the Creeks reported their purpose to Francois Lasieur and Captain George Ruddell. each of whom commanded a com- pany of militia. The militia were ordered out and all preparations made to repel the attack of the Indians. It was just at this time, when the whites and Indians were con- fronting one another. that the first shock of the earthquake was felt. The Indians were so alarmed by this that they fled across the river. and were doubtless among those who were chastised by General Jackson.
Lasieur in his writing on the early his- tory of New Madrid (New Madrid Record. 1893) calls attention to the fact that the In- dians were armed with good rifles which they had secured at Kaskaskia, and that they never bought any lead. In fact all Indians of this district were accustomed to secure their supplies of lead from some place in the im- mediate vicinity. The Indians remaining in the town of Chilletecaux would depart in the morning and return in the evening with bas- kets full of lead ore. They went in the direc- tion of the St. Francois river. The source of their supplies of lead in this part of the district has never been discovered. One of these Indians named Chookalee. or Corn
Meal, returned from the reservation to which the Indians had been removed, and in 1837 came to Point Pleasant. He had been in- duced to return by the La Sieurs and had promised to show them the site of the lead mine. Unfortunately he died on the very day of his arrival at Point Pleasant and the se- cret of his mine died with him. One of the famous chiefs of these Indians was Captain Moonshine whose son. Billy Moonshine. ap- peared in the battle of Big River during the Civil war.
The Indians of this district were seized during the close of the eighteenth century by a belief in witchcraft. This belief. which was widely distributed among them, led to the same results as the belief in witchcraft among the white people in Salem, Massachu- setts. Many persons among the Indians suf- fered arrest, persecution and even death. be- cause they were accused of being witches. The most trivial circumstance was liable to draw suspicion upon a person. and. once be- ing suspected. he was almost certain to be convicted and put to death. It is difficult to say how far this delusion would have carried the Indians and how many victims it would have required had it not been for the fortu- nate visit of Tecumseh who was at this time organizing the Indians for an assault upon the whites, and in the course of his journeys for this purpose came to Southeast Missouri. Tecumseh had no belief in witches. and he was unwilling to see the lives of his people sacrificed to this delusion. He needed the energies of the Indians to assist him in his purpose. Such was his influence and power that he brought about the cessation of the punishment of those accused of witchcraft.
Outside of the Osages, the most trouble- some Indians to the people of Southeast
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Missouri were, very probably, the members of a band of Creeks. De Lassus, in a let- ter to Major Stoddard at the time of the transfer of Upper Louisiana to the United States, says that these Creek Indians had been expelled from their tribes on account of crimes and that they had spent about ten years wandering up and down on both sides of the Mississippi river, covering the terri- tory from New Madrid to the Maramec and constantly slaying, killing, and burning houses. De Lassus calls them the Mashcoux Indians. It was some of this band that killed David Trotter and burned his house.
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