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1907 Past and Present of Greene County, Iowa
Indian Troubles and Indian Scares

INDIAN TROUBLES Iowa is rich in Indian nomenclature, and this fact in itself would naturally make valid an impression that the people. of the state must have had much to do with “Lo,” the aborigine, in one way or another. But the truth is we have suffered from their incursions, their savagery and their mischief less than almost any of the really Northwestern States, as will be seen farther on. But to examine for a moment the Indian names that attach to our rivers, towns and counties, and even to the State itself - for “Iowa” means beautiful land - will be full of interest to the general reader. Take four of the rivers, if you please: “Iowa,” “Maquoketa,” “Nishnabotna” and “Wapsipinicon.” There is a pleasant rhythm in their make up. Take the names of half a dozen counties: Osceola, Pocahontas, Appanoose, Powesheik, Winnesheik and Allamakee. There is more music in these than in Polk, Dallas, Ida or O’Brien. The towns of Onawa, Wapello, Osage, Decorah and Keokuk are ever and always associated, in name at least, with the red men who once possessed a primal title to all this fair land we call Iowa. During the seventeenth century, when Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet were discovering the Mississippi valley, not many Indians apparently existed within the boundaries of Iowa. These intrepid explorers saw quite a number on either side of the river, but they showed no signs of ill will. It is said traditionally that the Sacs and Foxes once claimed possession of Iowa and part of Illinois, but subsequent events prove that the Illinois, Iowas, Dakotas, Sioux and Pottawatomies were allowed to occupy portions of the territory, as though their rights to the same was unquestioned. The French missionaries labored hard to convert the savages, but received but little encouragement for their earnest endeavors. One hundred years later - 1770 - the Sacs and Foxes insisted on their right to the sole occupancy of the territory they claimed, and established four towns on the Mississippi, one at the mouth of the upper Iowa river, in Allamakee county; one at the head of the Des Moines rapids, in Lee county; one on the Turkey river, in Clayton county; and one just above the present site of the city of Davenport. The Iowas also had a trading village in Van Buren county, where the town of Iowaville now stands. It was at this point that the last battle between the Iowas and the Sacs and Foxes was fought, the famous chieftain Black Hawk - then a young man - commanding the forces of the last named tribe. At this time the Sioux had possession of a large part of what is now Minnesota, and also a portion of Northern Iowa. The tribe was a diflicult one to deal with, as they were fierce and warlike and would not stand for conciliation or compromise. They put on the war paint at the slightest provocation, and fought many bloody battles with the Sac and Foxes over the question of boundary lines. Finally the United States Government interfered, and at what was called the treaty of Prairie du Chien, made in 1823, after nearly half a century of wrangling and fighting had been indulged in, the limits of the territory of each tribe was clearly defined. But the quarrel still continued, and seven years later the Government created a neutral strip forty miles wide between them, a movement that secured at least temporary peace. It became evident, even at this early day, that the broad, fertile prairies of the States of Iowa and Illinois could not be given over to the occupancy of roving Indians, and hence it became necessary that the title they held should be set aside and the tribes removed. Hence the treaty of 1804 was entered into between the Indians and the United States Government, by the terms of which the former were to cede to the United States all the lands east of the great river in consideration of $2,234 worth of merchandise and an annuity of $1,000, to be paid in goods at cost. Black Hawk, who was chief of the Sacs and Foxes at that time, claimed that the chiefs who helped make that compact acted without authority, and that the treaty was not binding, but the terms of it were fairly well kept by the Indians. It should be said, in passing, that the agents of the Government did many things to make the Indians suspicious and to keep them much of the time on the defensive. As an illustration, the first fort built on Iowa soil was at Fort Madison, and this was erected in violation of the treaty of 1804. A military post had been established a short time previously at what is now Warsaw, on the Illinois side of the river, called Fort Edwards, to which no protest was made, but when the Iowa territory was thus taken possession of by the military authorities, the Indians began to mistrust the good faith of the Government and sent delegations to these forts to ascertain what they intended to do as a result of these warlike preparations. They were informed that the buildings were simply trading posts, but were shrewd enough to know better, and hence became more suspicious. Black Hawk led a limited force to Fort Madison with a view to its destruction, but the undertaking was larger than he supposed, and he was repulsed. This incident is specifically mentioned because, with others, it explains why Black Hawk, when war was declared between this country and Great Britain in 1812, allied himself and his followers with the British. Without doubt they were captivated by the splendid promises made by the English commanders in their behalf, but the fact that they had been deceived by the Americans was the primary cause of their going over to the enemies of the new Republic. Black Hawk gave that as the reason for the defection and made no other. History should be fair, and it is easily demonstrated that very much of the suffering endured by the pioneers of Ohio, Michigan and the great Northwest generally at the hands of the Indians might have been avoided had the United States Government, through its agents and officers, always “toted fair” with the so-called ignorant red men, with whom too often was played a game of “fast and loose.” This statement does not exonerate numberless acts of cruelty; merely gives a reason for them. In this connection it is interesting to note that the Indian chief Keokuk, “Watchful Fox,” who controlled a large contingent of the Sacs and Foxes, could not be persuaded to violate the treaty of 1804, to the extent of taking up arms against the United States. Hence the tribe was divided into the “war” and the “peace” parties. This was of great advantage to the Government, as Black Hawk, seeing clearly that after himself and braves had gone to the war, his people on the Iowa side of the river would be left defenseless against the United States forces in case of attack, concluded, after holding a council, to send all the old men, the women and the children to St. Louis, under the care of the “American” chief down there. These were well cared for, and returned to Black Hawk when he came back from the war. Much credit is due Chief Keokuk for his loyalty to the United States. He was a natural orator, but never mastered the English language, and his friendly utterances were never reported at their best by interpreters. It was a continual endeavor with him to persuade his followers that it was useless to attack a nation as powerful as the United States, and no doubt his conclusions had much to do in lessening the troubles arising in that early time between the white men and the Indians, for which there seemed to be no end of pretexts. The people of Iowa should have a kindly feeling for Chief Keokuk, for it is more than probable that had he joined in the bitter hostilities against Federal authority in which Black Hawk was such a determined leader, the depredations from the Indians in the Mississippi Valley might have increased tenfold and the sufferings of her people in the same proportion. The treaty of 1804 was renewed in 1816, and this was signed by Black Hawk himself, but he put up, as before, the claim that he had been deceived and held that it was not binding. Still, there was no further serious trouble until 1832, when the famous “Black Hawk War” was inaugurated, resulting in a year or two of serious apprehension on the part of the pioneers in Wisconsin and Illinois, which was the real battle ground. The result, as might have been expected, was the capture of Black Hawk, and the permanent and final expulsion of all hostile Indians to the west of the Mississippi. The great chieftain - great of his kind - died six years later - 1838 - at his home in Iowa, and was buried there. His remains, it is said, were afterward placed in the Historical Society’s Museum, and later destroyed by fire. His name will always be associated with the early struggles of the men and women who helped make the great Northwest what it is, as a prime mover in the unhappy disturbances between the Indians and the whites. As related to Iowa territory, fifteen treaties have been made with the Indians, covering a period of thirty-eight years, from 1804 to 1842. These were varied in their purposes; but the general tendency was to gradually dispossess the Indian tribes of a right to live in their nomadic style where the Anglo Saxon had really secured a foothold. These several treaties might be given but it will answer to say that the one of 1804, when the whites agreed not to settle west of the Mississippi on Indian lands - and there were really none other - and the one of 1842, by the terms of which they fully relinquished their title to all of their lands west of the Mississippi, tells the story of what was achieved. Evidently the genius of American civilization demanded the extirpation of the American Indian. As against this proposition, however, is the fact that within fifty miles of the geographical centre of Iowa, a tribe of Indians or possibly a remnant of two tribes, have been permitted to locate, permanently, on a reservation to which they hold undisputed title. They are not worthy representatives of their race. Association with the white race, the twin sins of intemperance and laziness, or some other agency, has taken all the aboriginal equipment out of them and left them an improvident, undesirable element in the community where they live. Their annuities are liberal and the Government has been at much pains in providing a large central school building for the education of their children, but they turned away from its advantages, so the corps of teachers have been dismissed and the schools closed. Dark crimes have been committed within this reservation during late years, suggesting that one day the State of Iowa will be forced to rid itself of such a worthless type of citizenship. Reference has been made to Fort Madison, the erection of which about the year 1806 was the cause of much dissatisfaction among the Indians. Three other forts were built for the protection of the early settlers against the Indians: Fort Des Moines, at the confluence of the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers; Fort Dodge, in the city bearing that name; and Fort Atkinson, Winnesheik county, in the northeastern part of the state. The first two were not forts, strictly speaking, rather block houses for the temporary quartering of troops and supplies, rather than for defense. The buildings at Fort Atkinson were different, the Government having spent nearly half a million dollars in their erection. Four buildings, each nearly 300 feet in length, enclosed a hollow square. These were two stories in height, two of stone and two of logs. In addition to these were two stone bastions, a large powder magazine, officer’s quarters and two large barns of ample size for four troops of cavalry. The site was a beautiful plateau, semi-circular in form, and commanding the Turkey river valley in either direction, possibly one hundred feet above the level of the valley. The fort was erected under the direction of Col. John Atkinson, and named in his honor. Its building was deemed a necessity of the times, as many Indians were swarming through the country. A Mission School was located four miles away, and numbers of Indian children were in attendance. The Fort was built in the late 40’s and for a time was well garrisoned, yet when it was found that the Indians were gradually locating elsewhere, or had been frightened into submission, the troops were withdrawn, and the entire reservation sold by the Government to a syndicate, in the spring of 1857. Nothing now remains of the original structures save one-half of the north building, the powder magazine and the two bastions that seem to keep silent watch over the territory they were built to protect. On account of the beauty of the site and its surroundings, quite an effort has been made to secure its setting apart by Congress as a National Park. Mount Lebanon, nor the Valley of the Jordan, were never fairer than the little mountain on which Fort Atkinson was built or the beautiful Turkey river that flows at its base. To those who know the place, it suggests paternalism, a gracious government caring for and protecting its own. The early native American settlers in Iowa came, mainly, from the New England and Middle States, and the anti-slavery and pro-Union sentiment in the State, before the call to arms came in 1861, was as strong as in any part of the country. Iowa responded quickly and fully to President Lincoln’s call for men,.and 75,000 Iowans took up arms in defense of the Constitution and the Union. Iowa’s offer of men was prompt and vigorous. On April 17, two days after President Lincoln’s call, Samuel J. Kirkwood, the great “war governor,” issued a proclamation ordering the militia of the State to form volunteer companies in the various counties, with a view to enlisting them immediately for active service. To Iowa had been assigned the task of raising one regiment. So great was the demand for admission into the First Iowa Volunteer Infantry that not one-fourth of the men presenting themselves for enlistment could be received. Subsequently Iowa sent to the front thirty-nine more regiments of infantry, nine regiments of cavalry, one regiment of colored troops and four batteries of light artillery, besides four regiments and four -companies of one hundred days men, recruited during the summer of 1864. One-tenth of the entire population served in the war. Iowa enjoys the proud distinction of being the only State that had a “gray-beard regiment,” composed of men over forty-five years of age. It was oflicially known as the Thirty-seventh Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry, and was recruited from all parts of the State. These men were under the law exempt from serving in the army, but they chose voluntarily to enlist for such service as might be assigned to them. The regiment was organized in 1862 and performed onerous and valuable guard duty in various places, but saw little actual fighting save in a brush with guerrillas at Memphis, Tenn., when two of the “graybeards” were killed and two were wounded. They were mustered out of the service in May, 1865, “with the honors and acknowledgments of their services due to the noble spirit with which they gave so glorious an example to the youths of their country.” The man of all others dear to the hearts of Iowans, who know the history of their State,-is Samuel Jordan Kirkwood, governor of Iowa from 1859 to 1866. During the “times that tried men’s souls,” he was one of Abraham Lincoln’s most zealous and ardent and effective supporters, and in subsequent years his name and fame were closely identified with the political history of his State. Governor Kirkwood was born in Maryland in 1813. He left his native State for Ohio in 1835 and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1843. In 1855 he removed to Iowa, engaging in business until his election to the State in 1856, as a member of the new Republican party. In 1866 he entered the United States Senate in succession to James Harlan, who had accepted the Secretaryship of the Interior. In 1875 Mr. Kirkwood was elected governor for a third time, and in the winter following he again became a United States Senator. In 1881 he became one of President Garfield’s official family, as Secretary of the Interior, but he resigned in 1882 and retired to his home in Iowa City, where he died in 1894. He was known to all Iowans as a man of sturdy and practical good sense and intense loyalty to his friends, but it is chiefly as the “war governor” of the State that he is remembered and honored. Among other prominent Iowans of the war period were General George W. Jones, General Augustus C. Dodge, James Harlan, James B. Howell, James W. Grimes and Judge George G. Wright. Among the claims to distinction of the first named was his lifelong friendship for Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy. General Jones did not follow the Mississippian in his political fortunes, but retained for him a personal respect and esteem which the war could not shake. General Jones was one of the most prominent figures at the funeral of Mr. Davis. Mr. Harlan’s career as Senator and Secretary of the Interior is part of the history of the country, as well as of that of Iowa. He was one of America’s ablest and most powerful speakers and won his national reputation by a speech against the Kansas bill. In 1898 four Iowa infantry regiments and two batteries were mustered in for service in the Spanish-American war. Two hundred and six oflicers and 5,408 men were on the rolls. The Forty-ninth Iowa saw service at Camp McKinley, near Des Moines; Jacksonville, Fla.; Savannah. Ga.; and Havana and suffered losses in the war. The Fiftieth was stationed at Camp McKinley and at Savannah and lost thirty-two enlisted men. To the Fifty-first was assigned the arduous task of serving in the Philippines. The regiment lost twentv-six men. The Forty-sixth lost thirty-six of its men in the camp at Chickamauga. The two batteries did not leave the state. being stationed during the war at Camp McKinley. Since the close of the Civil War the two questions that have stirred up Iowa most have been those of railway legislation and prohibition. The State is covered with a network of railroads closer, in all probability, than that covering any other state in the Union. Every one of the ninety-nine counties of the State is traversed by at least one railroad, and a large number of the country’s most important lines pass through the State. Only three States exceed Iowa in actual mileage, and only one of these, Texas, is west of the Mississippi river. The constant and steady growth of the railroads in power, influence and wealth has led to numerous contests in the legislature over the taxation of railroad properties and the fixing of rates. In 1872 an act taxing railway property was passed, and in the following year the farmers of the State, organized as Patrons of Husbandry, protested against the rates imposed by the companies and secured the passage of a law creating a board of railroad commissioners for the purpose of fixing a maximum rate and preventing discrimination. The struggle, as in other parts of the country, is still on. The question of the prohibition of the sale of liquor is one that has vexed the people of the State for many years. In 1882 a prohibition amendment to the constitution was declared unconstitutional. It was replaced by the law which went into effect in 1884 and which proved satisfactory for a few years. In 1890, under the protection of the interstate commerce law, the anti-liquor laws were successfully evaded by the introduction of liquor from other States, and in 1894 the prohibition laws were called unconstitutional by the courts. While the coal and other mineral resources of Iowa are not inconsiderable, and its water power will prove a constantly increasing source of income, it is to agriculture and its kindred industries that Iowa looks for its prosperity. The growth of the State in wealth since its beginning, less than seventy years ago, has been marvelous. Iowa is among the leaders in the production of corn and swine and beef cattle. There are more horses in Iowa than in any other State, and only Texas exceeds it in the number of cattle raised. Butter and cheese are produced in enormous quantities, attesting the fertility of Iowa soil. Not alone does Iowa lead in quantity, but in quality of product and in advanced methods of inducing the earth to give forth plentifully of its fruits, the people of the Hawkeye State have long been in the van. The year the capital was moved from Iowa City to Des Moines - 1857 - was notable as being the one in which the Constitution, under which the State had been admitted, was revised and made the organic law of the commonwealth. Since that time the history of the State has been an uninterrupted record of prosperity and advancement. It ranked twenty-seventh in population in 1850 and tenth in 1900. It is one of the nine States in the American Union which have no bonded debt, and in other respects its financial condition is equally strong. There are more banks and banking houses in Iowa than in any other State. As has been stated elsewhere, fear of the Indians was a great drawback to the speedy settlement of Iowa, and just when the public mind had settled down to a conviction that danger from this source was past, the awful massacre at Spirit Lake, in 1857, occurred, followed by a similar outburst of savage cruelty at New Ulm, Minn., not long after. The prompt and vigorous action of the general government in hunting down and punishing the offenders had an effect equal in good results to the defeat of the chief Black Hawk and his forces in 1833. So far as the eye of man is permitted to scan the horizon of the future, the pathway of Iowa seems to lie in the sunshine, far apart from the shadows. In common with the country at large, it has foes on the inside which must be closely watched and assiduously battled against. These are chiefly intemperance and greed. These are a blight wherever they are found, wrecking homes, feeding the divorce courts and peopling the prisons. This is truly the “promised land,” but only so at its best estate, when, as in the days of Moses and Joshua, the enemies are all driven out. The subjoined sentiment is borrowed on account of the hopefulness and the truthfulness of its suggestive phrasing: “Then sing to the praise of our God, Of Iowa, ‘Beautiful Land,’ And our fathers, whose feet early trod This Iowa, ‘Beautiful Land.’ A land kissed by sunshine and flowers, Of corn lands, wild roses and flowers, O! thrice blessed land, this of ours Our Iowa, ‘Beautiful Land.’ ” INDIAN SCARES While there was never a life lost nor a dollar’s worth of property destroyed by the Indians - so far as is known - in Greene county, still, during the years from 1857 to 1862, when their depredations were a source of great annoyance and disquiet to the residents of Minnesota and northwestern Iowa, it was but natural that people in the more central parts of the state should be harassed by fears or should be prepared for any emergency looking to flight - not defense - should the savages push their marauding raids hither. Hence they kept an eye and an ear open with the thought of self-protection uppermost - on the run, if need be. Rumors came in, at intervals, concerning the dreadful work they were doing farther north and that made the fathers and mothers doubly apprehensive. It was about this time that some young fellows up in Kendrick concluded to inaugurate an Indian scare, so they assumed an aboriginal costume, and one dark night, near the residence of Levi Thompson, all of a sudden they made the night hideous with warwhoops and screeches and all the sounds so well fitted to Indian throats. Instantly there was a wild panic in the neighborhood, and a general skidoo toward the county seat commenced, and no one stood on the order of their going - just corralled their families and went. Mr. Thompson headed the fleeing crowd, pursued by the suggestive noises that made the terrified populace forget everything else save a struggle for a place of safety. Mr. R. rode quickly through to Jefferson and gave a general alarm that the Indians were headed that way. It was thought best to remain in the town and await results, as there was really no place to flee to. So they waited. The war whoops had ceased, there were no signs of a pursuing enemy, and after a long night of waiting, and the dawning of a new day, the truth burst upon the multitude that it was only a “scare.” Later, the source of the wretched mischief was discovered, but the perpetrators never regained their previous standing with the community. It was too serious a proposition to work up into jokes or fun. A year or two later a mesenger reached Jefferson with intelligence that Indians had commenced a massacre of the whites at Fort Dodge and were making a raid through the state. This resulted in the usual hurried exodus in the direction of Des Moines. Down near Pleasant Hill a farmer was in the woods chopping. When the word reached him - so the story goes - he dropped his axe and ran to the house, with a cry that the Indians were coming, were already killing the people at Jefferson, and that in a short time they would all be killed by the bloodthirsty savages. Lying in a cradle was a two-weeks-old baby boy, which the fond father caught up in his arms, pressing it to his heart as he said: “God bless you, my son; you, too, are going to be massacred by the Indians, and it seems a pity that as you are to die so soon that you were born at all.” Having thus delivered himself, he carefully laid the child down and lit out. The crowd he followed brought up later at or near Perry, and after waiting for nearly a day for the great wave of trouble to pass by, they returned to their homes. This particular father was not knighted for bravery, according to historical records, but it is a pleasure to know that the baby was not born in vain, but is at this time a useful man, doing with his might what his hands find to do. It was a glad day for Iowa when the Sully expedition of 1863 was sent into the Northwest, either compelling the Indians to seek reservations in the far west or insisting on good behavior, if allowed to remain nearer the older settled sections. If this is to be a civilized land, surely the women and children should have absolute protection along lines of invasion that bear fruit in suffering and death. It is not the province of this volume to discuss the righteousness of the Indian problem.