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Des Moines River Land Grant

In the first place it was a great mistake for anyone to have supposed that the Des Moines River could have been made navigateble by any process of improvement. The only excuse which can be offered is the fact that at a proceeding the date on which the grant was made, there was a greater volume of water in the river than there has been since that date.

The Des Moines River Land Grant was passed and became a law on August 8, 1846. Just who it was that formulated this act is not generally known but as the act was passed by Congress about four months before Iowa became a state, the grant must first have been proposed by A. C. Dodge who was then the territorial delegate in Congress. Through his influence, most likely it was placed before the committee on territories of which Stephen A. Douglas was then chairman.

The language of the act first says that the grant was made for the improvement of the navigation of the Des Moines River from its mouth to the Raccoon fork and then follows the language defining the grant to be a mority in alternate sections of the public lands (remaining unsold and not otherwise disposed of, encumbered or appropriated) in a strip five miles in width on each side of the river to be selected within said territory, by an agent or agents appointed by the governor thereof, subject to the approval of the secretary of the treasury of the United States.

Henry Lott and the Spirit Lake Massacre

The Indian chief was also known as Old Chief Three Finger. The chief and 6 braves first visit to Lott were all painted and armed for the war-path, he warned Lott he was an intruder and had settled on Sioux hunting grounds. When they had found on their second return Lott still remained, they commenced to destroying his property. They robbed the bee-hives, shot his horses, cattle and hogs full of arrows, threatened and abused his family and drove Lott and his step-son from the house more scared than hurt. Two small girls, daughters of Lott fled to the timber as Mrs. Lott covered a small child the youngest of the family under feather bed, and then after contending with the savages till her strength was exhausted, was compelled to submit to all the indignities which they choose to put upon her. Most remarkably although the Indians were in and out of the house the little boy under the feather bed never moved or uttered a cry. When Lott and his step-son reached the Boone River bluffs they looked back at the house, they thought they saw the Indians tomahawking the family, and heard screams of his wife and children two having no arms, they headed for Pea’s Pont spreading this horrible story. John Pea proposed an immediate expedition to take vengeance but Lott was sent to Elk Rapids some 16 miles south to procure more men. When he reached the Rapids he found Chimisne Pottawattamie chief with who he was acquainted. He was better known to settlers as Johnny Greene where he was encamped with several hundred of his tribe. Upon hearing of Lott’s story he called a council of his braves, where it was determined the chief accompany the white men with 26 of his warriors. After several pow wows they painted themselves in a hideous manner and mounted their horses and set off for Pea’s Point to join the expedition. The settlers at Pea’s Point had settled at the house of John M Crooks for safety and defense and were on the lookout for Indians. Lott with several white men and the Pottawattamies were rapidly advancing across the prairie towards Crooks house, the Indians in the front, yelling as was the custom when starting on a war path and not in the vicinity of danger. The settlers thinking them Sioux prepared for action, each singling out an Indian and were upon the point of firing when they recognized other white men, and were happily disappointed to find them all friends. John Pea and six other white men accompanied Lott and the Pottawatamies to the mouth of the Boone River and found that the family had not been tomahawked as Lott had said, but one of his boys 12 years old, in order to escape, had undertaken to reach the settlements by following down the river on the ice, and across the bottoms a distance of some 20 miles. The Sioux had robbed the family of everything except for a barrel of whiskey, and the family was in pretty bad condition. After making an unsuccessful scout the Pottawattamies returned to camp with as much whiskey as they could carry. Lott was overcome to see the condition of his family. His wife died a short time after from the affects of the attack on her from the Sioux. The boy who started down the river, perished from the effects of the cold and his body was found in a hollow log on the ice. The two girls were found sometime afterward in a sorry sight, exhausted, cold and hungry. After burying his wife and boy, Lott secured homes for the other children among the settlers of this county. Lott turned his attention to, wreaking vengeance upon the Sioux who had destroyed his home, and the saddest part of the story remain to be told.

Lott, having determined on his plan didn’t loose anytime in carrying it out. He procured an ox team and drove to Des Moines upon arriving he purchased two barrels, one he filled with pork and the other whiskey. What other ingredients he mixed with the pork and whiskey can be imagined from the effects it had upon those who ate it. With his stock of goods he set out from Des Moines to the hunting grounds of the Sioux. After driving around for sometime he learned that the old chief Sim-au-dotah with a hunting party, was encamped near the stream in the present bounds of Webster county. He proceeded into the timber near by and erected a nearby shelter where he stored his pork and whiskey. During the following night he arranged things for a quick get away. He left the area. The Sioux found it the next day. No one really knows what happened to the provisions but the fact did become public that during the following summer the Indians in that vicinity were greatly terrified by the ravages of a peculiar and unknown epidemic, with the skill of the medicine men were to no avail. It is said that over 75 of the most robust and bravest of warrior perished in a short time and feeling of melancholy and sadness took possession of the whole tribe of savages. To Lott’s surprise Sim-au-e-dotah and his sons escaped and continued to prosper. Upon hearing the chief with his family still surviving, Lott determined a braver, as wee as a more manly, plan of revenge. Having disguised himself so the old chief could not recognize him and armed with a trusty rifle. Lott mounted a horse and rode into the Sioux country. He found and entered the camp of Sim-au-e-dotah was encamped and sought an interview with the chief. After fooling the chief by the presentation of gifts and the utterance of the most expressive words of friendship. Lott informed the chief that on a certain prairie a game of elk. Having aroused the chief and his three sons to accompany him on a hunting excursion. When Lott and the Indians arrived at the place where the game was reported to be, it was decided that they surround the prairie. The three young Indians sent off in different directions. Lott soon dispatched the unsuspecting old chief, he then started on the track of the three Indians , he killed all three of them. It is further reported that after the killing the old Indian and three sons Lott dragged their dead bodies together, on an elevation near the Des Moines river, built a log heap ontop of them, set it on fire and returned to Boone County. In the course of time reports of Lott’s doing began to be whispered abroad, and this case came up for investigation before a grand jury in Des Moines, among the members of the jury was a gentleman residing at Boonesboro. Lott’s case was the last one disposed of and in the evening just before the jury was discharged a true bill was found against Lott. He was indicted for murder in the 1st degree. It is not positively known when the Boonesboro juror left Des Moines nor when he arrived at the former place, all that is known is the fact that his horse was in the stable at Des Moines at dark on the evening of the day that the indictment was found and that the same horse was in the stable at Boonesboro the following morning. It is also known that Lott left the area the same night, and the sheriff who came up from Des Moines to arrest him the next day failed to find him. Lott was never seen in the area again. It was rumored at one time that he made his way to the Pacific slope and after having been engaged in barter and mining for a number of years was finally lynched for some alleged misdemeanor.

Whatever or not such was the tragic end of his eventful life is not positively known, but the incidents as about related bearing upon his career in Boone and Webster Counties are voucher for by some of the earlier settlers. The failure of the sheriff from Polk county to find Lott ended the matter as legal proceedings were concerned but not as far as the savages were concerned. There were greatly exasperated when they found that their chief and his sons had been slain. After Lott’s escaped it finally became whispered about among the savages that Lott was not only responsible for the death of their chief and his sons but also the pork and whiskey had something to do with the epidemic which previously had killed some 75 of the braves. The nursed their grievances and their desire of revenge until it finally found them in the Spirit Lake Massacre, which created so great a sensation at the time and which did so much to stop emigration to this area. The details of the massacre was intimately connected with the history this county.

And another account of the story......

Winter of 1846-47, Henry Lott, had taken a residence at the mouth of the Boone River, in what is now Webster Co, and with in the range of Si-dom-I-na-do-tah’s band (of the Sioux or Dacotah tribe called Sisiton Sioux) Lott had provided himself with some goods and barrel of whiskey, wanting to trade with the Indians and obtain their furs and robes. Lott was warned by the chief and 6 braves that he was an intruder and he needed to leave within a certain time. With this time having expired , and Lott still remaining, the Indians destroyed his property, shooting his stock and robbing his bee-hives. Lott and his step-son made their way to the nearest settlement at Pea’s Point some 16 miles south, and reported that his family had been murdered by the Indians, as so he thought they would be after he left. John Pea and half a dozen other white men, along with some friendly Indians from another tribe, who were in the area, set out with Lott for the mouth of the Boone River. When they arrived they had found that the family had not been tomahawked as reported. One little boy, about 12 years of age had attempted to follow his father by going down the river on the ice. This little boy hearing the Indians close by and fearing for his life hid in a hollow log on the river, thinly clad, this little boy froze to death after traveling on the ice about 20 miles and his body was subsequently found. The sequel show that Lott was determined on revenge. In November 1853, Lott ventured 30 miles north of Fort Dodge where he pretended to make a claim, in what is now Humbolt county. He took with him several barrels of whiskey and some goods, he and his step-son built a cabin near what is now known as Lott’s Creek in that county. In January 1854, Lott and his step-son went to the cabin of the old chief and told him they had seen a drove of elk feeding on the bottom lands and convinced the old man to ride his horse, gun in hand, to pursue the elk. Lott and his step-son followed, some distance to the elk with the old man, they shot and killed Si-dom-i-na-do-tah. That same night they attacked and killed 6 of the chief’s family a boy of 12, and a girl of 10 escaped by hiding themselves. Some days later, the Indians reported the murders at Fort Dodge, thinking at first that the slaughter had been perpetrated by some of their Indian enemies. It was soon revealed that Lott and his step-son had committed the deed. Their cabin was found burned down and a slight snow on the ground showed the track of their wagon on a route headed southward, avoiding Fort Dodge. They had been reported in several places were they had been trying to sell furs and other articles, with the murdered chief’s horse as one of their possessions. Having several days head start, they made their way across the Missouri and took the plains for California, where it was learned Lott was killed in a quarrel. It is believed by many of the old settlers of Northern Iowa that this outrage of Henry Lott was the cause of that other tragedy or rather series of tragedies in the history of Northern Iowa, know as the Spirit Lake Massacre.

Milton Lott Tragedy

Of all men who played a part in settling the Des Moines Valley, there is no name around which clusters more of a thrilling history that that of Henry Lott, much has been written about him and his troubles and conflicts with the Sioux Indians and the death of his wife and son. The following is a true story, as nearly as possible to obtain it:

Henry Lott was born in Pennsylvania, grew to manhood and was married there. His wife was a widow named Huntington, and was the mother of a son by her first marriage. This son acted a very prominent part in the subsequent history of the Lott family. By her marriage to Lott there children were born, one being Milton, whose untimely death was caused at the hands and circumstances surrounding it from the chief theme of this story.

As first known, Lott was here in Iowa in 1843 at which time he was in business as an Indian trader at Red Rock in what is now Marion county. It is said that he had a thriving business there until Oct. 11, 1845. According the treaty of 1842 the Sac and Fox Indians bid adieu to Iowa and moved west beyond the Missouri River.

So well pleased with his success as an Indian trader in the summer of 1846 he moved north from Red Rock and located on the north bank of the Boone River near its mouth. Here he expected to carry a thriving trade with the Sioux Indians, but didn’t seem to get along with them as well. Three reasons are advanced as the origin of the trouble between Lott and Si-dom-i-na-do-tah and his band of Sioux. The Sioux chief informed Lott that he was an intruder and he had settled on Sioux hunting ground and had given Lott a certain time to leave. His refusal to leave by the time set caused the Sioux to make a raid upon his family and stock.

According to the map issued by W. S. Tanner in 1838, the Sioux hunting grounds did not extend farther than upon the fork of the Des Moines River and this was at least 30 miles north of the place where Lott had located. Ex-Lieut. Gov. B. F. Grue said that Lott’s cabin was the headquarters of a band of horse thieves who stole horses from the settlers in the valley below the mouth of the Boone River and ponies from the Indians about it, then running them last to the Mississippi River and selling them. Mr. Grue thought it was the stealing of the Indians down on Lott and his family.

There is another story that Lott sold whiskey to the Indians and that while they were drunk they destroyed his property and were the cause of the death of his wife and son. Lott told Doras Eslik who settled near the scene of this horror, that he concealed himself across the river and watched the Indians destroy his family or property against the whole band of Indians, and he and his stepson, a boy of about 16, started for the nearest settlement to get help. This left his wife, 12 year old son, and a few other children alone. The Indian chief ordered the boy, Milton Lott, to catch all the horses on the place and deliver them over, on penalty of death, he fled terror stricken down the Des Moines River and was never seen alive again. This left his mother and the other children alone at the mercy of the savages. Some say she fled into the thick timber to escape the tomahawk. Her life was spared, but the nervous shock along with grief and exposure which she suffered were the cause of her death a week later.

It was three days before Lott returned form the settlements with seven white men and 26 friendly Indians belonging to Johnny Green’s band of Mesquakies and Pottawattamies. The names of the settlers who accompanied him were: Doctor Spears, who lived on a claim near where the Rees Coal shaft is situated; John Pea, Jacob Pea, James Hull, William Hull of Pea’s Point; John M. Crooks and William Crooks who lived on the Myers farm south of Boone. When they got there the Indians were gone. They found Mrs. Lott in a sorrowful condition, more dead than alive. She had been left for three days not knowing what had become of the rest of her family or when the Indians might return. In a short time death came to her. She was laid to rest on the Boone River bluff, where the grave may still be seen.

John Pea stayed to help Lott after the others had left caring for the wife, other children and in finding Milton. It was the middle of December 1846 when the raid was made upon the family, the weather was cold and the river was frozen over. They followed the boys tracks. He was thinly clad when he left home and without doubt suffered with cold from the start. Henry Lott and John Pea followed his tracks until they reached a point of about 40 rods below the mouth of a little creek, which comes into the Des Moines River a short distance below the village of Centerville where they found the body of Milton, stiff and still. At this place he attempted to climb the bench that separates the lower and upper bottoms, but must have been numbed by cold that he fell back and didn’t rise again. Not having a way to convey the body to any of the settlements, they decided to place him in a hollow log which they found near by and close the entrance with timbers so as to prevent the animals from molesting it until a proper burial could take place. The date which Milton was found was Dec. 18, 1846. The body of Milton remained in the log until Jan. 14, 1847.

The day of the burial the weather had been moderate and the day was warm and beautiful. At this time the county was not organized and there were no established roads within its borders. With axes, spades and guns the men set out from Pea’s Point on foot for the place of burial, a distance of eight miles. The names of those who attended the burial were: John Pea Sr., John Pea Jr., Thomas Sparks, John M. Crooks, William Crooks, and Henry Lott. On arriving, part of the men were detailed to digging the grave, while the rest filled a tree, hewed enough small pieces to construct a rude coffin. The body of Milton was taken from the hollow log, a sheet wrapped around him and lowered into the grave, dirt was thrown in and the grave was filled. A little mound was rounded up. It was a funeral without a word. There was no scripture read, no prayer offered, no hymn sung, but tears stood in the eyes of the pioneers who stood around the grave of Milton Lott to pay their last respects. The tree near the grave, on which the boy’s name was cut, has long since yielded to the woodman’s ax. No stone was set, or stake driven to preserve the identity of the spot. As time passed on the little mound gradually became merged with the surrounding soil, so the location of the grave was finally almost forgotten.

After the death of Lott’s wife and son, Lott gathered up what property the Indians had left him and moved south after finding homes for the remaining children. He built a cabin on O. D. Smalley’s claim in Dallas County about five miles south of Madrid where he and his stepson lived during the summer of 1847.

In the spring of that year the first assessment of Dallas County was made and in the first of property owners appears the name of Henry Lott, among whose possessions were 13 head of cattle. The record shows that he was the largest cattle owner in the county at that time. These were the cattle which the Indians tried to kill. During the spring and summer these cattle grew fat on the range and all were sold for beef. A man named Ramsey bought one of the steers and butchered it. Mr. Smalley bought a front quarter of this beef and while carving it found one of the arrow heads which the Indians had shot into it. While living here, Lott often spoke of his dead wife and son in a sympathetic way, but would wind up talking that he declared he would someday wreck vengeance upon the old Sioux chief who caused their death.

In the autumn of 1847 he moved to Fort Des Moines and remained there a year, during which time he was married to a woman named McGuire. In the spring of 1849 he moved north and located at the mouth of the Boone River again, occupying the same log cabin in which his first wife died and from which his 12-year-old son had fled form the Indians never more to be seen alive. It was a place around which for him the gloomiest recollections hovered. While living here 3 children were born to him and his second wife, the two oldest being girls and the youngest a boy. At the birth of the boy the wife died, making it necessary for Lott to find homes for the children. The infant boy was adopted by a family named John H. White, in whose care he grew to manhood, and is now the head of the family, being a citizen of Boone, Iowa. The two girls were raised by a family named William Dickerson in Boone County, where they grew to womanhood and were married.

After finding homes for the children, Lott sold his possessions at the mouth of the Boone River and, with his stepson, in the fall of 1853 moved north 45 miles and located on a creek which still bears his name. Whether by purpose or by accident he was once more a neighbor of Si-dom-i-na-do-tah, the old Sioux chief whom he hated so much. If Lott was but on revenge the time was growing short in which to get it. Numerous times he visited the chief in disguise and made himself agreeable by giving him presents. During one of these visits to the wigwam of the chief, the old chief unsuspectingly exhibited to him the silverware which he had taken form Mrs. Lott at the mouth of the Boone River. By his actions it was plain that he regarded them as trophies of a great victory. The sight of the silverware brought vividly back to Lott’s mind the memory of his dead wife and immediately his thirst of vengeance was redoubled. This silverware consisted of a set of silver spoons and a set of silver knives and forks which were a present to Mrs. Lott from her first husband Mr. Huntington. She had always prized them very highly. It is not known whether the killing of Si-dom-I-na-do-tah and his family took place then and there but it is known that Lott in some way got possession of the silverware, for he exhibited it when he reached the settlement, to John Pea, William Dickerson, and O. D. Smalley. He also told each of them that the old Chief would never rob another house or cause the death of another woman.

There are two stories of the way Lott committed the crime, for crime it was called. Some call this act justifiable killing which may be true so far as the chief himself was concerned, but there was no justification for the killing of his family. One story is that the killing occurred on the evening that the chief displayed the stolen silverware. Another is that early one morning Lott went to the wigwam of the chief and reported to him that he had just seen a large number of elk and urged the chief to go with him in pursuit of them. On the trail there Lott killed the chief and took his pony then went back and killed the chief’s family, after which Lott and his stepson escaped to the settlements with out being detected by another Indian. So cunning was the crime that it took several weeks before it was discovered who had perpetrated it. The chief’s pony was in the possession of Lott and his stepson and they were finally indicted by the grand jury at Des Moines. Before the officers could take them in charge, they made their escape to the farther west and what became of them is not really known.

About 57 years after the tragic death of Milton Lott, the writer of this story, Corydon L. Lucas made inquiry through the press asking if there was anyone still alive who could identify the spot where the boy's body was laid to rest. This inquiring developed the fact that two men were still alive in Boone County that were present at the burial. John Pea and Thomas Sparks. On being interviewed, John Pea said he felt sure he could point out the spot where the burial took place, so it was decided to make a trip for that purpose. On Oct. 11, 1903, a party consisting of J. F. Eppert, T. P. Menton, John Pea and C. L. Lucas drove from Boone to Centerville on the Des Moines River. At this place John Pea was appointed guide and the other members of the party followed his lead. He turned south and passed the mouth of the creek already mentioned. At a distance of about 40 rods south of the creek and near a little rivelet fed by a spring on the second bottom he came to a halt and exclaimed “Here is the place” pointing to a spot near the bench which separates the lower and upper bottoms at that place. “We drank water out of the little rivelet on the day of the burial.” Mr. Pea was very positive that this was the correct location of the grave. As so no argument could shake his belief in this, the weeds were cleared away and a stake was driven to mark the spot. Sometime after this stake was driven, Thomas Sparks was taken to the spot marked by the stake and he also identified it as the correct location.

In November 1905, the Madrid Historical Society resolved to place a monument to commemorate the fact that Milton Lott was the first white person to die within the boundaries of Boone County, and to perpetrate the historic even which caused his death. The monument was manufactured by Norris Brothers of Madrid, Boone County, Iowa and it was placed Dec. 18, 1905 just 59 years from the time the body of Milton was found. The monument was placed on the second bottom, above high water mark, and about 30 feet from the grave an iron marker a foot wide, three feet long and two inches thick was placed on the grave. On the day of the dedication these people were present: C. L .Lucas, Dr. H. S. Farr, J. P. A. Anderson and L. D. Norris, members of the Madrid Historical Society and Rev. W. Ernest Stockley, H. A. Oviatt, and Clarence Peterson of Madrid. There were 100 other people from other parts of the county present among whom where J. R. Herron of the Boone Democrat, W. H. Gallup of the Boone Standard, A. J. Barkley, L. Zimbleman, John Pea, J. F. Eppert, S. S. Payne of Boone, D. C. Harmon, F. D. Harmon of Jordon, C. K. Patterson of Centerville, Harry Hartman the owner of the land on which the grave is situated, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Burgess, Joe Adamson of Pilot Mound, James Wayne, Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Cadwell, and Mrs. Joseph Herrman. The last two ladies asked the priviledge of being contributors to the monument fund. After the monument was placed in position the blessing of God was invoked by Rev. W. Ernest Stockley of the Christian Church of Madrid. The monument is of solid iron, set in a concrete base, it is four feet high, 20 inches wide and two inches thick.

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