USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska > Part 21
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At the breaking out of the rebellion, in 1861, his patriotism prompted him to resign his seat in the legislature and assist in raising the First Nebraska Regiment.
Mustered in a private he was elected Second Lieutenant by his company and com- missioned by acting Governor Paddock. Later he was promoted to the rank of adjutant. After the battles of Donaldson and Shiloh he resigned his commission and went to Cincinnati.
Within two months he again enlisted and was immediately commissioned by Governor Todd as Lieutenant Colonel of the Fiftieth Ohio Volunteers. He commanded the regi- ment at the battle of Perryville, losing 156 men in fifteen minutes. Later in the battle his brigade and division commanders were killed and Colonel Strickland was assigned to their command by General Rosecrans. In command of his brigade he crossed the Cumberland Mountains in a severe snow storm, the baggage and cannon being hauled by hand. He served through the entire Atlanta campaign. IIe was at Columbia, Tennessee, cut his way through the rebel
lines at Spring Ilill, and held the post of honor at Franklin, where he lost 503 men, twenty-three line and seven staff officers. For gallant service he was brevetted Briga- dier General. At the close of the war he resumed the practice of law.
In 1867, when Nebraska was adınitted into the Union, General Strickland was appointed United States District Attorney for Nebraska, which office he filled until 1871.
In 1868 he was chairman of the Nebraska delegation to the Chicago Convention which nominated General Grant and Schuyler Colfax for the chief offices of the Nation. After resigning the office of district attorney, in 1871, General Strickland was elected delegate to the convention called to frame a new State Constitution, of which body lie was elected president. He was one of the founders of the order of the Grand Army of the Republic in Nebraska, a charter mem- ber of G. A. Custer Post of Omaha, and Past Department Commander.
General Silas A. Strickland, when at the zenith of his career, was one of the fore- most lawyers in Nebraska. Possessing the inherent qualities of leadership he soon became powerful in the political arena and won for his name an abiding place in the annals of Nebraska politics. He died at lis home in Omaha, in 1878. Ilis widow and a daughter, Mrs. J. B. Ilaynes, still survive him.
In the chapter entitled " Bench and Bar " will be found additional sketches of the pioneer settlers of Omaha.
In the " Sons of Omaha," Omaha has a most unique society. The founder of the society is Dr. George L. Miller. He conceived "the plan to call together the representative young nicn of the best families of Omaha and form them into a society to perpetuate the memory and deeds of their fathers, the founders of Omaha." The members of this society are natives of Omaha, who have passed the age of twenty-
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAIIA.
one years. The objects of the society are : art, history and literature; and every thing that tends toward culture and refinement is in its scope. Already the society has a credit- able collection of historical documents, and the munificent gift of four hundred volumes by the founder, Dr. George L. Miller, lias created the nucleus for a fine library. In the not distant future this society contemplates erecting a handsome club house. To promote this purpose a scheme is already operative, and funds are collecting in the hands of the treasurer. The present membership is forty- five. The officers are: Mr. W. S. Popple- ton, president; Mr. C. D. Sutphen, vice presi- dent; Mr. Augustus F. Kountze, secretary; Rev. Luther M. Kuhns, librarian; Mr. W. II. Koenig, treasurer.
On the 26th of April, 1890, the Nebraska Society of the Sons of the American Revolution was organized in Omaha. The purposes of the society are " to keep alive the patriotic spirit of the men who achieved American independence; to collect and
secure for preservation the manuscript rolls, records, and other documents relating to the War of the Revolution, and to promote social intercourse and fellowship among its members, now and hereafter." Any person may be eligible for membership who is above the age of twenty-one years, and who is descended from an ancestor who assisted, while acting in any of the following capacities, in establishing American inde- pendence during the Revolutionary War: A military or naval officer; a soldier or a sailor; an official in the service of any one of the thirteen original states or colonies; an official in the United States or colonies; a recognized patriot who rendered material service to the cause of independence. The officers are: W. W. Copeland, Omaha, presi- dent; Dr. Aurelius Bowen, Nebraska City, first vice president; W. H. Alexander, Omaha, second vice president; P. L. Perine, Omaha, secretary ; Paul W. Kuhns, Omaha, treasurer; Rev. L. M. Kuhns, Omaha, registrar.
CHAPTER XIII.
INDIAN GRAVES AT BELLEVUE-TWO FAMOUS OMAHA CHIEFS-HOW LOGAN FONTENELLE WAS KILLED -SARPY AND DECATUR.
The following interesting sketch is fur- nished by A. N. Ferguson, Esq., who located at Bellevue, a mere lad, in 1854, when his father, the first Chief Justice of Nebraska, removed to the Territory:
The pioneer of 1854, in crossing the Missouri River to reach the trading post of Peter A. Sarpy, afterwards known as Belle- vue, noticed on the summit of a high hill to the south and west of the Fur Company's buildings a number of Indian graves, sur- rounded by palisades of circular form. On a plateau, north-east of this hill, was another burial place, with the graves protected in like manner. It was the custom of some of the Indian tribes to bury their dead braves in a sitting posture, wrapped in buffalo robes or blankets, though the Sioux place the bodies of their dead, securely tied, upon high scaffolds, where they are left until decomposed by the action of the elements. In the case of the death of a noted chief of the Omahas, his favorite horse would be led to the grave and there sacrificed, so that its spirit might accompany the former owner to the other world. On the highest point of the hill referred to, known as Elk IIill, was the grave of Big Elk, one of the most noted of the Omaha chiefs, known to have been a resident of that vicinity as far back as 1811. ITis Indian name was Ongpatonga. He was a man of dignified and solemn mien, devoted to the advancement of his people, and prom- inent in the treaties of those years. Mr. Brackenridge, who visited the Omahas in 1811, says the village then had a population of three thousand souls. On the occasion 127
of the death of Black Buffalo, a famous Sionx chief, Big Elk made a speech of great dramatic power .* He was a party to several treaties made by his tribe with the govern- ment previous to 1821. In 1854, the advancing line of whites began to surge against the barriers of the red man in Nebraska, and the palisades surrounding these Indian graves gradually disappeared, until, in 1856, the last vestige marking their location was swept away. Now this spot is a portion of a cultivated field, covered annually by fields of cultivated grain. The elevation is still known as Elk Hill, which name, I trust, it may bear forever.
Another distinguished Omaha chief, Logan Fontenelle, was buried at Bellevue, He was a firm friend of the whites in the first settlement of the country. The town of Fontenelle, in Washington County, was named in his honor, in 1854, as was also Logan Creek, a stream of considerable size which empties into the Elkhorn River just above Fontenelle. In order to get the exact facts in relation to the tragic death of this famous man I wrote to his brother Henry, now residing with the tribe at Black- bird, and received the following reply:
" Logan Fontenelle was born at Fort Atkinson, at or near the present site of Fort Callioun, on May 6, 1825. Fort Atkinson, at that time, was a garrison. Father, Lucien Fontenelle, at that time was trading with the Indians. He afterwards went to Belle- vue and built the trading post that P. A.
*This address is print d elsewhere in this work, in the chap- ter headed, " Our Indian Predecessors."-EDITOR.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAILA.
Sarpy occupied. From that place Logan was sent, with a younger brother, to St. Louis to school. Ile was there but two years when father died, and Logan and brother were brought home. At sixteen years old, he was appointed United States interpreter for the Omahas, and held that position until 1853. When overtures were made by the United States to purchase their country, he was created principal chief, by acclamation, of the Omalias, and was such until he was killed by the Sioux, on the 15th of June, 1855, in a battle on the head of Beaver Creek, a tributary of the Loup Fork River.
" ITis influence over his tribe was absolute, and he was respected and honored. Years before he was chief, he used all his influence in trying to instill into them the great advantage of becoming civilized, educated, and to follow the peaceful pursuits of agriculture. But their one great vice of drunkenness-that must be rid of before any civilizing influence could be brought to bear on them-he determined to put his foot down upon. The first step was to appoint twenty trustworthy young men as police to protect the village and to arrest any fellow that was caught intoxicated, give him a good threshing with their whips and demol- ish his jugs of whisky. Many a hard tussle they had with some pugnacious fellows, but it had the desired effect, and the Omahas became a sober, virtuous and law-abiding people, and are so to-day.
" Ile generally went with them on their semi-annual buffalo hunts. About the 20th of May, 1855, the Omahas received their first installment of annuities in money for their lands. As soon as they could get ready, they started off on their buffalo hunt and traveled up the Elkhorn River until they found buffalo, when, in making their first surround of buffalo, they (not unex- pectedly) found their enemies, the Sioux, awaiting to give them battle, when two of the Omahas were killed. The Sioux pur-
posely kept with the buffalo, in order to give battle every time the Omahas made a sur- round after them. The Sioux were too numerous for the Omahas, when, after considering in council, the Omahas con- cluded to retreat towards home. After traveling four days, and thinking they were out of danger, Logan, in company with three Omahas, started ahead of the caravan and were off three or four miles, when they espied some elk, off in the distance, and Logan proposed chase. When they got among the elk, each one took after his game and scattered. That was the last seen of Logan alive. Soon after they got among the elk, the others espied the enemy and made a hasty retreat for camp. They no sooner reached camp than the Omahas were surrounded by the Sioux. A battle ensued, which commenced about 10 o'clock A. M. and lasted until about 3 P. M., when the Omahas saw a Sioux riding (they thought) Logan's mare, and holding a stick with a scalp dang- ling on the end. A Ponca Indian, who could speak every language, that was with the Omahas, was sent to the Sioux with a truce, to ask for a parley for the purpose of knowing if Logan was killed. Ile returned with the woeful announcement that their fears were verified. The whole village sent up a wail for the loss of their loved and honored chief. The Sioux then went off and the battle ended.
"The first impulse of Logan's nearest friends and relatives was to find his body, which they did, about five miles from the village, or battle ground. They found him, pierced with seven arrows in the breast, and gun wounds in other parts of the body, the side of his head broken by a tomahawk, and a small piece of scalp taken off. Two pools of blood were found near him. They tenderly took np the hody and laid it on a blanket and washed it, and put it into another suit of clothes, and wrapped it in a ' sar-flesh' (a partly tanned hide, so called by the French voyageurs), as no such a
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DEATII AND BURIAL OF LOGAN FONTENELLE.
thing as a coffin could be procured by them where they were. They put the body upon a litter, carried by a horse, which was pre- sented to the dead body for the purpose, until they struck the emigrant trail, where they found a deserted wagon and harness, which they took possession of and put the body on. To this they harnessed a span of horses and hauled it into Bellevue, where he was buried by the side of his father. At his funeral a concourse of about 150 people, from Council Bluffs, and other places, came to pay their respects to the dead. At the grave Stephen Decatur gave to the assembly a fitting eulogy, touching upon the character, life and death of Logan. After all the peo- ple dispersed, his trusted friends, about twenty of the braves, gathered around his grave, when one of them, gifted in oratory, expressed the worth and goodness of their departed friend and benefactor, and regret- ting the loss of him they so much depended upon. When he finished they paid their last tribute of love in bedewing his grave with hearty and earnest tears, invoking his departed spirit to guard over them.
" When Logan separated from the others, in the chase after the elk, twenty Sioux made chase after him, but as he was mounted on a very fleet mare they could not near him. After chasing him about fifteen miles they gave up and stopped. At that moment Logan was seen to go down into a creek. They looked to see him come out on the opposite side; but, as they did not see him come out, they sent one of their men to go and see what had become of him. He approached the place in a stealthy manner and found Logan in the act of trying to get his horse out of the mire. Ile signalled the others to approach; and, as they did so, Logan ran up the bank on the other side and stood to fight; and, as the first one made a charge at him, Logan sent him rolling off of his pony. The next one met the same fate, but was not killed and is still living, to relate the deatlıly encounter. After Logan discharged
the two shots they closed in on him with their arrows, guns and tomahawks, and killed him instantly. ITis memory is fresh in the minds of the Omahas to-day, and he is often spoken of, especially in their times of trials and privations. Had Logan lived till now, no doubt the Omahas would have been further advanced in civilization than they are, as his influence was so potent in reasoning with them; but as it is the Omahas are making rapid strides toward civilization, and I hope they may keep on until they are upon the same status with their white brethren, and be a people among people."
When the townsite of Omaha was platted, the Omaha Indians were located on the Pa- pillion, just west of Bellevue. Under the treaty made just previous to this date, they were to remove to the Blackbird Hills, their present location. As a boy, I had for play- mates the lads of the Omaha tribe, and spent many happy days in their village, and in hunting and fishing excursions. Major Hebburn was the agent for the Omahas at that time. When Colonel Manypenny, the Indian Commissioner, visited the tribe in 1852, to learn whether they would sell their lands, the principal chiefs were : White Cow, Village Maker, Little Chief, Yellow Smoke, Fire Chief and Standing IIawk. Joseph La Flesche, a half- blood Ponca, was there as the guardian of Big Elk's grandson, who would have been chief of the tribe, had he lived. Logan Fontenelle was the interpreter, and spoke the English language readily. Peter A. Sarpy's trading post buildings were at the river landing. The Indians named were all called to Washington in the winter of 1853 and 1854 to close the treaty, at which time Logan Fontenelle was made head chief of the tribe. La Flesche, who had some hopes of filling that position, always claimed that it was Sarpy's influence that made Fonte- nelle the chief. Major Gatewood endeavored
9
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.
to get the Omahas to locate on the Blue River, with the Otoes, but they chose their present home.
In the spring of 1855, the Indians planted corn in their fields-near Sohlings Grove- and soon after received orders from Wash- ington to prepare for immediate removal to their new reservation. This was done, the government assuring them of protection from the Sioux, but they had scarcely got settled before they were attacked by the Sioux. The killing of their chief, White Ant, on the hunt that summer, added to their distressed condition. They returned to their old village, at Bellevue, to spend the winter, poverty-stricken and discouraged. Rev. William Hamilton, missionary for the Presbyterian Board, rendered them much assistance in getting through the winter. Efforts to prevent the settlement of the Indians at Blackbird were at once resumed, and finally some of their friends brought the matter directly to the attention of President Pierce, who promptly decided that the Indians should be sustained in their choice of a home, and in the summer of 1856 a final removal to that point was effected. The day they started out a drizzling rain added to the gloom of the occasion, the Indians leaving their old home with great reluctance. For a long time we watched the procession slowly wending its way over the bluffs. My father then occupied, with his family, a large log house known as the agency building, in front of which still remained the upright posts and brush cover- ing under which the Fourth of July had first been celebrated by the whites, in 1854. Suddenly the people of the agency were startled by a tremendous whoop and a band of about forty painted Omaha braves, including the leading men of the tribe, dashed up. A scene of leave-taking fol- lowed, marked by deep feeling on the part of both whites and Indians, and then, with a loud yell, the latter dashed away to rejoin their people. So passed away from this
locality those who had, for so many years, occupied the country, who loved it for its old associations, to seek a new home, where the remnant of the tribe have since made much progress in civilization and useful- ness.
From Hon. Bruno Tzschuck, ex-Secretary of State, the following points, with respect to Colonel Peter A. Sarpy, have been obtained. Mr. Tzschuck was in Sarpy's employ for several years, from the spring of 1853, having charge of the business con- ducted on the Iowa side of the river. Sarpy came to Nebraska in the service of the American Fur Company (the successor of the Astor Fur Company), in 1825, and was given the management of the trading post at Bellevue, which had been located there some years previously. In the course of time Colonel Sarpy also established a busi- ness on the Iowa shore opposite, at a place called Traders' Point, for the accommoda- tion, more particularly, of the whites, as the store at Bellevue was for the Indian trade. In consequence of the encroachments of the river, Traders' Point was abandoned in the spring of 1853, and a new location made at St. Mary's, a small town four miles down the river. Here a very large business was conducted, the furnishing of outfits for miners and plainsmen being an important feature. A ferry boat, to be managed with oars, was built in St. Louis in 1853, for Sarpy's use, but he failed in getting it up the river and the ferrying that year was done by the Highland Mary, a small steamer which was hired for the season, to be suc- ceeded in the spring of 1854 by the fine steam ferry boat, Nebraska No. 1. This boat he sold in 1856, to the Council Bluffs & Nebraska Ferry Company, and for many years it was used between Omaha and Coun- cil Bluffs. The furs handled by the American Fur Company, at St. Mary's and Traders' Point, were mainly brought down the Mis- souri in Mackinaw boats, and it was nothing unusual for thousands of bales, many of
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHI OF COLONEL SARPY.
them of great value, to be stored in the company's warehouses, awaiting the arrival of a steamer to carry them down to St. Louis. Mr. Tzschuck describes Colonel Sarpy as possessing remarkable vigor and endurance. He was a keen business man, kind to his employes, and of courteous and polished manners. Like nearly all frontiers- men of that day he would indulge, at times, in the use of liquor to excess, and, on those occasions was wont to indulge in much loud talk, of a boasting character, but was never vicious or abusive. At these times he could not be induced to do any business, for fear of being overreached. His knowledge of the Indian character, gained by a lifetime spent in the West, was not surpassed by that of any of his associates throughout the Indian country. In the spring of 1854, the Omahas were driven in by a band of Sioux, while out on a hunt, and a large party took refuge in a willow grove two miles up the river from Bellevue. Decatur then had charge of the trading post at Bellevue, and sent word to Sarpy that he feared an attack by the Sioux. It was late at night, but Sarpy, accompanied by Mr. Tzschuck and one or two others, crossed the river in a row boat, landing at the hiding place of the Omahas, where they had a talk and then proceeded down to the post. Sarpy per- sisted in dropping behind the others, and in talking to them in a very loud voice, as they passed along the edge of the bluffs in which the besieging Indians were concealed. The party succeeded in reaching the post safely, and then Sarpy explained that they would have certainly been killed by the ambushed Sioux if his lond talk had not served to inform them that the persons passing were white men.
Colonel Sarpy removed to Plattsmouth about 1862, and there made his home during the few remaining years of his life. He owned, at one time, considerable St. Louis real estate. His brother, John A. Sarpy, resided at St. Louis and was a prominent member of the American Fur Company.
In 1853 Colonel Sarpy established flat boat ferries across the Elkhorn River, near where Elkhorn City was afterwards located, and on the Loup Fork near the present site of Columbus. He came to Omaha, on the occasion of the first meeting of the Legis- lature, as a contestant for a seat in that body; but the adoption of Mr. Poppleton's resolu- tion to not go behind the certificates of election issued by acting Governor Cuming, shut him out. On that occasion he appeared in all the glory of a semi-civilized garb, and with an abundance of revolvers and bowie knives, which weapons were assumed more for effect than with a view of anticipated need. Sarpy had no children, and was never married to a white woman, though he had an Indian wife for whom he always cherished a high regard. He was of French parentage, was about five and a half feet in height, strongly built, remarkably active and famous far and near for his bravery and determina- tion.
The following sketch of a man well-known in the early history of Omaha is furnished by Mr. John A. MacMurphy: Among the characters who figured in the early days in Nebraska, and served to give force and piquancy to its earlier days, was one calling himself Stephen Decatur, and as he claimed to be a nephew of the old original Commo- dore Decatur, the title of Commodore was tacked to his name too, and as " Commodore Decatur," he cut a pretty wide swath at times. He claimed to have come here from Jackson County, Missouri, and to have served in the Mexican war in Donovan's famous Missouri regiment, and I think this was true. About the first that was known of him here, he was one of Sarpy's employes at the old Trading Post there, and after- wards at Bellevue.
He could speak the Omaha Indian lan- guage fairly, as well as Ponca, Pottowata- mie and Sioux. During the earlier California emigration he ran a ferry across the Loup Fork for Sarpy, and lived there. Later on
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.
he was found at Bellevue, part owner with Sarpy in the town site there, as well as at Tekamah and Decatur, Burt County, which last mentioned town was named after him. This was in 1856. About this time he mar- ried the widow of a Mr. Thompson, at Council Bluffs, a former editor of the Bugle. Mrs. Thompson was of a most excellent family in Michigan. The principal original owners of the town sites of Tekamah and Decatur were P. A. Sarpy, Benjamin R. Folsom and Stephen Decatur.
In the summer of 1857, Decatur moved up to the town of Decatur, taking his wife and her three children, a large number of cattle, some ponies, wagons, etc. Ile settled just west of the town, on "Decatur's Claim," as it was then known, and which he had selected in 1856, at the laying out of the town, on account of a large spring thereon, still known as Decatur Spring.
The Omahas were troublesome then, at times, and on account of his knowledge of their language, his connection with Sarpy, his ownership of the lots and the name of the town, he became at once the most prominent man in and about the new village. Disputes with Indians were left with him to settle, lots to be donated for various purposes were selected by him, he kept peace among the members of town company, and was in truth and verity the Commodore, or com- mandant of local affairs.
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