USA > Nebraska > Dixon County > History of Dixon County, Nebraska > Part 19
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25
It certainly is not to be wondered at that Campbell should prefer the society of this young Indian lass, to being cooped up in a not very sweetly smelling tepee with the mumbling old erone who by the verdict of the tribe called herself his mother. It was at this time that Mishtene- wah saw the girl and licked his bloody chops with joy. for he thought he saw another sheep for his fold. She on her part avoided him as much as possible, and hence the loving walks and tete-a-tetes with which Campbell and the young squaw whiled away many pleasant hours, were in the even- ing, the better to avoid the sight and anger of the chief.
One evening as the pair sat beneath the waving branches of the great tree, contemplating a speedy flight from that irksome captivity, old Mishtenewah eame nosing mistrust- fully along, and seeing them, he drew his knife in jealous fury, and swiftly sprang forward to prod Campbell with it, then and there. And he would doubtless have done it, had not Campbell, equally as quick. knocked him down with the butt end of his gun. He would have shot him. but the noise would have aroused the village. Concluding that his enemy was knocked senseless but for a short time, and knowing that such an insult to the chief would not be overlooked. Campbell and the girl, without delay. fled. They made as quick time as possible down the valley. cantionsly avoiding
277
HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
other Indian settlements, intending to seek the protection of the tribe where Campbell's friend. Mackenzie was. They had come to within a few miles of their destination when they heard an uproar behind them, and the rays of the moon brightly shining, revealed Mishtenewah and his whole pack in full pursuit. So certain was he of their capture that he even disdained to adopt the usual Indian tactics of stealth and silence in the pursuit.
It would appear that the old chief's skull was of a very tough and durable nature, so that the pounding it received did not prevent him from collecting his senses and wits to- gether within a very short period of time after the fugitive lovers had left. He roused the town in a trice and he and his band of marauders followed the fleeing pair, who now. just as they were approaching a haven of rest and safety saw their pursuers bursting upon them like infuriate thunder- bolts. Close pressed, the fugitives made for the hills along the west side of the valley, hoping to throw their enemies off their trail. But well trained bloodhounds could not follow their path with greater exactness. Campbell and the girl flew like the wind, yet closer came the whooping and howling band of savages behind them. Thus mile after mile was measured off. over hills and through ravines and valleys, yet their untiring and implacable foes fol- lowed on, evidently lessening the distance between them every moment.
In that fearful flight. Campbell and the girl must have crossed the hills and struck the Aoway valley some two or three miles west of where Ponca is. Leaving the valley they again sought refuge among the hills and ravines toward the river. It appeared to be of little use however. The vells, tearing through the night air like the blood-curdling voices of infuriate demons, resounded nearer and nearer. After crossing Aoway valley the fugitives turned their course somewhat to the northeast. hoping they would be able to reach the banks of the river in the treacherous waters of which they deemed they would find far greater safety than in the hands of the miscreants behind them. Thus onward they sped, while gleaming knives and tomahawks flashed forward a warning of the bloody harvest soon to come. They struck the bluff overlooking the river, a few hundred yards
278
HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
east of what is now known as the Bigley ravine. Half a mile to their left was a small Indian hamlet, but by its insignifi- cance it could afford them no protection, even if they were enabled to reach it. Without pause they rushed down a narrow gully or water course at that point, in which a path now leads to the low land along the river. As they emerged from the ravine into the heavy timber below they heard the rush of their pursuers down the defile.
Let us go back a little. A quarter of an hour before. a. large party of keen-eyed Indian hunters accompanied by Mackenzie, returning from a trip along the river bank had ascended the same ravine. On reaching the top of the bluffs. they saw in the distance. the swiftly approaching fugitives, and heard the deadly vells of their pursners. Resounding above all others was heard the terrible voice which they recognized as that of the much hated Mishtenewah. They saw the fugitives turning their steps toward the head of the ravine. Mackenzie and his Indian friends quickly formed their plans for vengeance on Mishtenewah and his band. They knew that down that ravine both pursued and pursuers would pass. With a grunt of satisfaction the hunters slipped noiselessly back into the thick brush overhanging the sides of the narrow gorge. The fugitives passed down, not dream- ing of friends and almost worn out by their desperate exertions and expecting death in a few moments more.
Suddenly, above the yells of the furious Mishtene- wah and his band, were heard other shouts, the twanging of bow-strings, the whizzing of arrows and tomahawks, and all the crash and din of a deadly conflict. The roar of Macken- zie's gun as it reverberated through the forest was to Camp- bell the sweetest music. Mackenzie and the hunters had quickly prepared an ambush for their enemies. They arrayed themselves along the sides of the ravine. and when Mish- tenewah and his warriors entered, and down which they could only go in single file. they fell upon them with fearful rage and slaughter. In ten minutes the battle was over. Not one escaped. All were dead and dying except some fifteen ortwenty who were taken prisoners, their lives being spared solely for another and more dreadful tragedy. Among these was Mishtenewah. The next day, with the
279
HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
torturing ceremonies then enstomary among Indian tribes toward their enemies, the prisoners were burned at the stake.
In the joy of once more meeting his brother Scot. Camp- bell did not forget the beautiful young squaw. He was duly married to her according to the Indian rites and customs, and it is to be hoped their lives passed smoothly and happily. About a year after this occurrence. Mackenzie went with a party of hunters far to the north, and his friend never saw him again. As for Campbell, he now remained willingly, and conforming to Indian customs and dress, soon became chief of the tribe. Here, under his wise administration his tribe prospered and remained until the year 1814, when the tide of Indian wars drifted them far away to the northwest beyond the Yellowstone valley.
This story is referred to in one of the early chapters of this book, where, as will be recollected, the mound is de- scribed in which the bones of Mishtenewah and those burned with him are supposed to have been buried.
280
HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
THE SACRED ROCK OF THE ARAPAHOES.
A LEGEND OF THE IONIA VOLCANO.
More than a hundred years before the exploring expedi- tion of Lewis and Clark (whose visit to the so-called Ionia. volcano is referred to in Chapter IX), the country up and down the south bank of the Missouri for many days journey. was the dwelling place of a vindictive and powerful tribe known and dreaded as the most blood-thirsty nation of Indians between the Mississippi river and the Rocky Mountains.
This warlike people. the progenitors of the present cruel and untamable Arapahoes of Wyoming. was ruled by hereditary chiefs, assisted by counsellors selected from their most successful warriors, and were described as having been tall, active, of prodigious strength, undaunted bravery and remarkable cruelty.
Like the Aztecs of Mexico, from whom. doubtless. they had received in ages long before many of their enstoms and beliefs, they were fire worshipers, and sacrificed to the god of fire the sick, the aged and the infirm of their own nation. and all prisoners taken during the wars which they were continually waging against their neighbors, and es- pecially against the numerous tribes across the river, who. under the general name of Acontahs (afterwards called Dakotahs), occupied the vast regions lying between the Missouri and the Red River of the North.
About two miles south of the place where in later years has been seen the volcanic phenomenon referred to, was the capital town of the nation, vestiges of which were still visi- ble at the time of the visit of Lewis and Clark in 1805. the many excavations and mounds where the town had stood in- dicating that it had been of great size, covering indeed, several hundred acres. Here had dwelt the hereditary chief
281
HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
or king, whose simplest word was law from which there was no appeal, and who held unquestioned power over the lives of his subjects.
Whatever the "Ionia Volcano" may have been. the Indian tribes at that early time, and especially the super- stitious Arapahoes, regarded its fires with awe and the region near it as sacred ground, over which, within certain limits. no one had the right to pass except the ruling chiefs and their medicine men. He whose boldness or folly led him to violate this decree, paid for his temerity with his life. This taboo, however, was removed every full moon, at which time all the tribes might assemble around the volcano to witness the horrible sacrificial ceremonies there enacted.
On these occasions the old and feeble were dragged for- ward. the prisoners taken in battle and the squaws and children from conquered towns, and all were immolated with prolonged and merciless torture, to the deity whose immediate presence was supposed to be revealed in the lurid flames and stifling vapors around them.
A short distance to the west of the volcano and within the limits of the tabooed precinct, stood an immense rock, which, from its description, must have towered several hundred feet toward the sky. a vast square fortress in ap- pearance and visible at a great distance. The rock was honey-combed by numerous passages, caused by the action of water ages before when an ocean covered all this country. One of the passages led to a large and lofty cavern which nature had in like manner hollowed out in the in- terior of the rock.
Here. say the old legends. on a stone platform or altar rudely built by the Indians, the preliminary ceremonies and torturings of the unhappy victims took place before they were consigned to the embraces of the more merciful fires of the volcano.
At the time of the visit of Lewis and Clark this great mountain of stone had disappeared and the place where it was said to have stood was occupied by a marshy pond. When inquiry was made as to what had become of it, the bravest warriors would tremble with awe as they related the gloomy legend, that. a thousand years before, the Great
282
HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
Manitou had been angry; that his voice had been heard like the roll of many thunders, and that in his wrath he had crushed the rock into the earth.
Such a phenomenon would at this day be regarded as merely one of the results of a tremendous earthquake-most interesting, but nothing supernatural, yet, among the ignor- ant and superstitions savages it would naturally be consid- ered as a special sign of vengeance of an outraged deity. To this canse. the destruction of their sacrificial temple. is attributed the flight of the greater portion of the tribe in- mediately after the catastrophe to the far west, leaving for- ever a home which they deemed as accursed by the Great Spirit.
Among the present Arapahoes (the descendants of those who thus migrated), the "Legend of the Great Rock" is remembered, recounting the disaster which drove their ancestors from their former fertile plains to the sterile mountains of Wyoming. According to this Arapahan le- gend. many hundred years ago. their nation, as yet not driven from its home near the Missouri, was in the height of its glory and strength. Their warriors were as numerous as the blades of grass, and disgraced. indeed. was he who could not count his years by the number of sealps upon his shield.
Then ruled Kah-da-che-gha, whose name (signifying "The Bloody Hand,") carried terror to his enemies. For many seasons his braves had been waging a war of conquest and extermination against the Wapahas, a once strong tribe and one of the numerous families of the Acoutahs, whose towns were across the river and one or two days' journey to the north.
Among the Wapahas were many warriors of distinguished valor whose backs were never seen by their foes, and who acting on the defensive. had held their enemies at bay during a long and fearful series of conflicts. At length, conquered and over-run after desperate resistance and nearly annih- lated. the captives taken were driven southward by the triumphant Kah-da-che-gha toward the capital town of his nation.
Among the prisoners was a young warrior named Wa- che-pah. (or "Long Knife.") who had become renowned for his bravery and the numerous Arapahan scalps which deco-
283
HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
rated his girdle. Only taken when six of his assailants were slain, he could, of course, expect no mercy from his enemies.
After a weary march across the prairies, he was brought with his fellow captives to the Missouri, across which, swift and gaily decorated canoes speedily conveyed them. They arrived at the town of the warlike Kah-da-che-gha most opportunely. for it wanted but two days of the great full moon festivities, at which time, these prisoners, with many others, the fruits of various raids during the past month -would be sacrificed and burned according to their ancient customs.
The young captive, Wa-che-pah. well knew the fate which was in store for him and his fellow unfortunates. vet. with the stoicism of his nature, he looked forward to the approach- ing disgraceful tortures and death with indifference, nor would he have deigned to have asked for his life, even could he have obtained it by so doing. On the contrary he sought to improve the little time remaining to him, by re- counting to his enemies his many exploits against them, and bringing to their memories the long array of scalps which their nation had hitherto furnished to his knife.
On the day before the sacrifices were to take place, as Wa-che-pah gazed upon the group of despondent captives he saw to his horror among them, two. whose lives he would have purchased by submitting to all the indignities which the ingenuity of Ka-da-che-gha and his tribe could invent. These two were his young brother and sister upon whom he had centered all his affection, and who, until this moment he had supposed to be in a place of safety. and now dis- covered them in the clutches of those whose mercy was only shown when they permitted death to seize the tortured vic- tims.
When the young warrior saw the helpless children thus in the deadly toils of his enemies, he sought ont the chief and asked that which he would have scorned to have done for himself, namely, that their lives might be spared. Such a request was an act of folly. which. on cooler reflection. he would never have humbled himself to commit, for sooner might he have expected mercy from the hungry wolf of the prairies.
284
HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
In answer to the petition, the chief consented in part to grant it, on conditions, however, in which were displayed a refinement of cruelty, most diabolical. He would spare one of the children, if Wa-che-pah, previous to his own death would act as the executioner of the other. As the price of his brother's life, Wa-che-pah, must inflict on his sister all the tortures to which he, himself, would afterwards be subjected. The young chief well understood the meaning of the terrible sentence thus pronounced. His hand would bestow the agonies of a thousand deaths. Eyes wrested from their sockets; the limbs slowly burned off by means of red-hot flint-stone knives; the skin torn in strips from the body. which, after being immersed in boiling pitch, was to be hurled into the ever-burning fires of the volcano.
Wa-che-pah heard the horrible and revolting proposition -- cast his eyes around unavailingly for a friendly knife or tomahawk with which to visit vengeance on the dastard chief before him-and then, hoping to discover in the future some chance of escape for the sister he loved so well, con- sented. Leaving the presence of his vindictive enemy. Wa- che-pah again found himself wandering amid the groups of doomed captives. The sight of his brother and sister filled his heart with despair. As to them, they were yet so young as to imperfectly realize the horror of their position. and as they saw their brother approaching, all dangers and priva- tions were forgotten. With shouts of joy they flung their arms about him, and with many caresses. implored him to take them back to their distant home. As he stood, listen- ing to the innocent and childish prattle which pierced him like the stroke of a dagger. he moodily revolved in his mind their chances of escaping the doom which the next morn- ing's sun would reveal.
Were there no means of escape? In all directions triple lines of pickets closely guarded them, and attempts to break through were vain indeed. At the north the battle- ments of the sacred mountain reminded him of the gloomy cavern, its dreadful altar, and the fate awaiting one at least of the innocent children who clung confidingly to him. Night came on. The savage guards closed about their vic- tims. For the last time they saw the moon rise, smiling in
285
HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
her fullness. pass over, and sink in the west. Dawn again appeared. Then, to the deafening sound of drums, and in the center of the death dance, in which thousands of war- riors participated. the captives were swept slowly forward, as by a resistless tornado, toward the grim rock and the fearful destiny which there awaited them.
Clinging to Wa-che-pah, his young brother and sister went joyfully. thinking they were starting for their home again. About half way from the village to the place of sacrifice. Kah-da-che-gha appeared. arrayed in his barbaric war cos- tume, and carrying upon his hoop the numerous blood stained scalps which his hand had taken. At his command the revolving dance was stopped, and addressing Wa-che-pah. he renewed the fearful proposition of the day before, and asked him if on those terms he was prepared to save his brother. The agony of the young warrior at that moment before his enemy no tongue can portray. Yet. with a countenance apparently unmoved, he replied in the affirma- tive. Then the little brother, wondering, was torn hastily from his sister, and the savage dance recommencing. the captives were again urged toward their doom, now near at hand. "Darling of my soul." said Wa-che-pah to his sister, "listen tomy words. Our brother we will see no more until we meet him in the hunting grounds of our fathers. He will remain here a little while, but we shall go forward before him." The sadness of his voice, more than his words. revealed to her the presence of some dread danger. "Let us then." continued he. "go joyfully - the Great Spirit and our fathers call us."
Understanding for the first time his meaning. his sister realized that the revolving circle of dancing demons about them were conducting them to their death. With a shudder she pressed closer to her brother's side, thus mutely expressing her willingness to make the dread journey with him. The captives, slowly approaching the rock, were now within the shadows of the lofty pinnacles which towered above them, and in front of which, the chief and his medi- cine men had assembled. To the right, the dense smoke of the volcano revealed the god of fire in waiting to receive his victims.
286
HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
Thus approaching the goal the orgies of the demoniac horde grew wilder, and as they swiftly rotated in their infuriate dance. the captives, deafened by the terrible yells which resounded on all sides, saw the air darkened with a rain of innumerable knives and stone axes which were hurled over their heads. This pastime of their enemies was. however, harmless, as such weapons were skillfully thrown. not to injure, but merely to extort signs of fear, and were but the prelude to the tragedy yet to follow.
At a sign from the chief the chaos and uproar ceased. and the medicine men stepped forward to receive the pris- oners. These unhappy wretches, some of whom were squaws with frightened children clinging to them, were now ar- ranged in a close column and driven forward into the main entrance to the interior of the rock.
At the head of the procession and leading his sister by the hand walked Wa-che-pah, to outward appearance fearless and undaunted, as became a warrior. Thus passing on they were soon assembled in the cavern, whose gloom was but partially dispelled by the torches and the fire upon the altar. Here were the knives with which the cruel work was to be done-sharpened stakes for impalement. and upon the fire a stone caldron of seething pitch. Wa-che-pah, lifting his eyes from the appalling preparations before him, met the gaze of Kah-ta-che-gha, who. pointing to the trembling child at his side, ordered him to commence the torture. Thus brought face to face with the awful deed with which he was compelled to purchase life for his brother, the soul of the young warrior revolted. He grasped the knife, but instead of turning its glittering blade toward his sister. he hurled himself upon the chief with the fury of a thunderbolt. The rage and strength of a lifetime was concentrated in that moment. as he stabbed his fiendish enemy again and again. and hurled him, a scalpless corpse. among his followers.
Animated by the desperate valor of the young warrior his fellow prisoners rushed upon their guards, from whom. wresting knives and tomahawks. they drove them from the cavern with the slaughtering fury of madmen. Dripping with the blood of his foes and uttering the war-whoop of his tribe, Wa-che-pah led forward the captive braves and after
287
HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
a conflict which choked the passage-way with dead. expelled their enemies from the rock.
From the outside thousands. as they saw their temple thus desecrated by the slaughter of their friends. arose the vells of a fury which knew no bounds. But now. as though to stay the bloody carnival, a terrible manifestation held both sides aghast and powerless. The ground beneath them and the rocks above reeled and trembled as if the Great Spirit had smitten them with an angry hand. Far below was heard a roar like the concentrated thunders of a thousand years, and with a crash the earth was torn open and the great rock sank into the abyss and disappeared, con- signing living and dead to one commou grave.
288
HISTORY OF DIXON COUNTY, NEBRASKA.
INDIAN CRUELTY.
THE MURDER OF THE WISEMAN CHILDREN.
Though Dixon county has never since its settlement by white people been made the scene of Indian war and cruelty, vet near by in the adjoining county of Cedar the barbarous and cold-blooded murder of the Wiseman children by the Indians took place in the summer of 1863.
Henson Wiseman and his family had in '60 or '61 taken a claim near the Missouri river on what is called "Brookey's Bottom" in Cedar county and about two miles from the Dixon county line. His family consisted of his wife and five children, viz .: Three sons aged respectively 17. 8 and 5 years, and two daughters. 15 and 13. Mr. Wiseman's nearest neighbor was Mr. Brookey, who lived two miles away in Dixon county, and another neighbor, Mr. Ames, lived about three miles in an opposite direction. in Cedar county. Aside from these. Wiseman and family had no neighbors nearer than the village of St. James, some four or five miles distant.
In 1862 Wiseman enlisted in Company I. of the Second Nebraska Cavalry, and in the spring of '63 went up the river with his regiment to join Gen. Sully near old Fort Berthold, in the campaign against the Indians. Wiseman's absence left his wife and children entirely alone. They re- mained on the claim, and with the occasional assistance of their neighbors. Brookey and Ames, cultivated their land and. aside from the loneliness of their location, were content. having no thought of danger.
Across the river, however, and not many miles away, the Indians were brooding over imaginary troubles and dream- ing of war. They had heard of the massacre in Minnesota by the Santee Sioux. and their ambition had thereby been aroused to also sharpen their knives and gain a name and a rich collection of scalps. Wiseman's family did not real- ize the exposed and dangerous situation they were in.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.