George W. Guye (1920)

GILLESPIE, GUYE

Posted By: Mary Welty Hart
Date: 12/3/2007 at 18:28:43

The Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, May 19, 1920

GEORGE GUYE - Pioneer Passes Away

Uncle George Guye, one of the group of pioneers who came to Madison county in the spring of 1846, died at his home here in Winterset, about 11 p.m. last evening, the end coming peacefully.

Since the death of his wife a few years ago, he has been cared for with devotion and faithfulness by his daughter, Miss Mary Guye. While his health had been gradually failing, owing to advanced years, the end was hastened by a severe fall, sustained on last Friday, from which he never fully recovered consciousness.

Uncle George Guye's name is linked with the pioneer history of Madison county. He was among the group of first white settlers to establish homes here in the spring of 1846. The Guye brothers settled in Union township, the Clantons and Clarks near St. Charles. The question of which group was first to arrive, is disputed, but certain it is that these two groups formed the first permanent settlements in Madison Cunty.

Mr. Guye was one of the five voters who held the first election in Madison county, in August 1847, and was also one of the four voters who voted to admit Iowa to statehood on August 3, 1846, making a trip to Fort Des Moines by team.

Mr. Guye ws born in Tennessee in 1826, and had lived in Madison county continuously for a little over 74 years.
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The Winterset News
Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, May 19, 1920

OLDEST SETTLER CLAIMED BY DEATH

GEORGE W. GUYE MADISON'S FIRST SETTLER, DIED TUESDAY NIGHT. NEARLY 94.

LIVED 74 YEARS IN MADISON COUNTY

Remarkable Iowa Citizen Passes Peacefully Away. Hunter, Trapper and Farmer.

George Guye, first settlers of Madison county, and its oldest citizen, died at his home in this city Tuesday night at 11 o’clock. Death came peacefully in his sleep to the age of pioneer, who had been confined to his bed a week from the effects of a fall.

The funeral will be held tomorrow, Thursday afternoon, at 2 o’clock from the resident.

Mr. Guye would have been 94 years old at his next birthday, August 17. He is survived by five children, James and Mary Guye, and Mrs. Elva Gillespie of this county, Charles Guye of Alaska, and Mrs. Sarah Guye of Omaha. Albert Guye, half brother, Mrs. Vanwy, a sister, both of Madison county, Houston Guye, a brother in Des Moines, and Riley Guye, a half brother, also survive him.

The news reprints an interview with Mr. Guye which was printed in the Homecoming addition of August 25, 1915. The interview was given to the editor of this paper and the picture of this remarkable man is a snapshot taken at the time.

Reprint from 1915...

Standing on the lawn of his well-kept home, this tall figure erect, his face lighted up with almost youthful enthusiasm, his voice clear and distinct with never hesitation for choice of a word, George Guye gave The News the interview that follows. Mr. Guye is eight-nine years old. He stands six feet two. This figure is only slightly bent. He uses a cane but he does not need it only that his eyes are dimmed with age, and he uses it for a guide. He had a coal chisel and hammer removing nails from a discarded fence railing when we found him. “I am doing it for want of something to do,” he said. “It don’t really amount to anything.” He laughingly consented to allow a snapshot of himself to be taken and “kidded” us on our probable failure with himself for a subject. George Guye, in middle age, was a marked man in a crowd. As an old man his appearance is striking.

George Guye is the only survivor of the men who first entered Madison county on April 24, 1846, to settle on its land. Hurst, the man who slightly preceded them, died long ago. Clanton and Caleb Clark are dead and Philip Boyles, who came a week or two afterward, died many years ago. James Guye, his brother who came with him, died a middle-aged man.

“We came from Marysville, Missouri, to Iowa,” said Mr. Guye with ox teams. Nearly all the early settlers in this county came from north Missouri which had been settled for years. You remember how well this country was settled and northern Iowa remained a sea of Prairie. Well, that was the way it was with southern Iowa then. The people did not commence to come here from straight east until we had been here four or five years. There were four families of us from the same place in Missouri. How did we find our way and how did we cross the stream? That was easy enough. The government had made a treaty with the Sacs and Foxes for this country and they were removed to Manhattan, Kansas. That year when the Indians went to Kansas they left a broad trail right down the divides. It followed the ridges. There was no difficulty in finding the trail. The Indians had worn it well. Probably they had used it always for they traveled much. We forded the streams and as we did not cross any large ones we did not have much difficulty. The bottoms of all the rivers of this country and northern Missouri were covered with heavy timber and in making their trails the Indians kept to the prairies. It crossed Middle River south of Spring Hill and went on over the ridge to Des Moines.

This was the ”Three River Country-“ South river, Middle river and North river. It had a great reputation with us as a wonderfully fertile country before we left Missouri. Yes I have heard they called the three Racoons the ”Three River Country,“ but that was a mistake. Ours was the famous ”Three River Country,“ and the people who had seen it were enthusiastic over it. Madison county was known as Black Oak Grove to the few whites who had been through the country before we came.

“There were plenty of Indians when we came. This country belonged to the Sacs and Foxes and the Pottawattamies. The Pottawattamies and the Foxes seem to be together a great deal. The Fox Indians were the Mesquakies and they were short and rather heavy set Indians. The Pottawattamies were larger. The Mesquakies were here when we came. I learned their language and could once talk it as well as I am talking to you. Mesquakie means Fox. One time a big lot of them camped on Middle river west of Buffalo. Yes, that whole valley clear to the Backbone was then covered with timber. A few other whites were there before me. They tormented an Indian until he drew a knife and said he would kill them. They ran like good fellows and after they were gone I bought all the furs they had to sell. There must have been 300 of them in that bunch. Where did I sell my furs? At St. Joseph. There was no Kansas City then. St. Joe was our trading place. I used to go down every year or so.”

“Were there any Indian towns in Madison County? Not many. There was a good big Pottawattamie town near Spring Hill in Warren county. There was a big Indian town on North river where the John Cox farm is. That was the Johnny Green Band. The empty huts or teepees stood there for four or five years after we came. How were they made? Of lodge poles and elm bark. You have seen them. They took five or six poles or as many as they needed and crossed them, tied them at the top and covered them with elm bark. They stripped the bark in June. Some of the lodges would be partly covered with cloth or skins but mostly they used bark. There must have been 100 or more of those teepees on North river. That bottom was not covered with timber. It was Prairie and looked like it had always been Prairie. They built all their lodges that way. They did not build like the Chippawas or the northern Indians - build an oval bark or skin hut.”

“Did they farm any? Mighty little. A little corn and a few pumpkins, a patch of watermelons, and a few cucumbers are all they raised. They had no fields and only a few cultivated patches. What did they live on? Meat, game meat. I ate with them many times and all they had to eat was meat. I guess they ate it year in and year out. Where did they get their salt? They had no salt. Of course there were plenty of nuts and wild plums and berries, but their main food was meat. I never could taste salt in their meat. They did not have it. They had horses - ponies. In the winter time when the snow came and the ponies could get no feed the Indians would cut down cottonwood trees and horses would live on cottonwood and buds.”

“But uncle George, how could all those Indians living in those 100 huts kill game enough to live on if they lived exclusively on meat? Wouldn’t the game near the town soon get killed off?” Mr. Guye laughed. “You have no idea what a game country this was. The deer were like sheep - thousands of them. I could’ve killed enough meat for an army. There were plenty of elk but in a few years they went back to the pond country up in Dallas county. There were thousands of wild turkeys, but the Buffalo were gone. Their bones - plenty of them - were here. We used to go hunting up Coon river after the elk got scarce and would bring back a wagon load of elk meat. We chased the elk in the ponds with dogs, and then shot them down.”

“The Mesquakie Indians that lived here were rather short and heavy set. They went to Manhattan, Kansas, and afterword to a reservation below Fort Reilly, and then were sent on to the Indian territory. The first road to Des Moines was cut out or staked out by four of us. We started August 2, 1846, and staked the road clear to Des Moines. The man who ran a ferry over Coon river took us over free of charge when he found out what we were doing. The vote on the adoption of the Constitution was to be taken and all four voted, as we had a right to do.”

“The Indians burned all the country off in the fall. There were patches of grass left here and there on the prairies, and much in the woods. The Indians wanted the country burned so they could see the game better. There was no blue grass here when we came. It was a long time before we found out it could be grown here. We went down as far as Clay county, Missouri, after blue grass seed. It took a long time to get our folks to believe we could raise timothy and clover.”

“There were thousands of prairie chickens in the county - great packs of them. Many more in winter than in summer. What did they live on if the grass was all burned? Well, mostly on wild rose seeds, I believe, but on any kind of seeds. We had many in the wild grass.” Mr. Guye turned suddenly. “You like flowers? Our prairies in the spring stretched far away. It was a sea of grass but in season it was covered with flowers. You cannot imagine how beautiful a country this was in May and June. There were no quail here when we came. They came afterward. And there were no rabbits. I suppose the Indians and wolves cleaned them out and kept them cleaned out. It was three years before we saw a rabbit track.”

“There were many wolves - the big gray wolves barked, the fierce black wolf, the prairie wolves and the coyote. I never knew of an Indian killing a wolf. They never told me why. I think, however, they considered them sacred. When I would go to one of their camps I would see the wolves sitting all around it. In the night they would sneak in and pick up what they could. I never saw an Indian kill any kind of a snake. I think they considered them sacred, too. I asked them why many a time, for snakes were common, but no one ever gave me a satisfactory answer.”

“The Indians had many dogs. What kind? All kinds, big and little – all curs. Some of them were crossed with wolves but most of them looked like these Eskimo dogs. When a dog got fat they would eat him. They wasted nothing. If they killed a muskrat or a mink for its fur they ate it. The Indians did not scatter through the country like you would think. When they went hunting they all went. They never wantonly killed anything, fish or game. They ate everything of an animal, even its intestines. All that was left was the bone.”

“There were only a few black bears in the country. My brother, Jim, killed the biggest panther up north of Earlham, ever killed here. We sent his paws back to Indianapolis where they excited much attention. The next day after Jim killed that panther Bilderback killed another close to the place where Jim got his. Howerton creek got its name from a man who lived up there. He crippled a big black wolf and they had a terrible fight. He did not recover from it for a year.”

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