Wars in Boone County

 Inkapaduta War: Early in April 1857, settlers had the year before located at Spirit Lake, Dickinson County, although there were to be no Indians in Iowa, there were several camps and lodges of them in the big woods near the Iowa/Minnesota border. The winter of 1856-57 was a fearful one. It was uniformly extremely cold, snow lay from 2 to 20 feet deep. Settlers at Spirit Lake were snowbound from 1^st of December until the following April but about the middle of March 1857 Inkapauta and his ban of 70 to 80 strong starved out at home came down to Spirit Lake on snow shoes and after pillaging all they could find and killing all the stock, they began their massacre of people, 7 killed many more wounded. Before they were driven out by the settlers. News of the Massacre was brought to Fort Dodge about the 1^st of April and onto Boonesboro the next day or so. Following the news came fleeing settlers going south, a day or 2 afterwards about the 6^th of April came the news of Inkapaduta after murdering all the settlers North of Fort Dodge and Webster City, had surrounded the town and the people could not long keep them off. This news came to Boonesboro. A meeting was at once called at the courthouse and a company of 100 strong organized to go to the relief of the besieged towns. Judge McFarland was chosen superior officer, Samuel B McCall was elected captain, George B Redman 1^st lieutenant, Jonas H Upton 2^nd lieutenant, James Wright wagon master, Dr DeTarr surgeon and John A Hull commissioner.

Honor C Beal locked his house, took his wife behind him on his horse to her father on the west side of the Des Moines River, were he left her and started north on his own hook, recruiting wherever he could find a man who could leave home. They were hurried but tearful partings at Boonesboro of husbands and wives, uncles, cousins and aunts after regularly confiscating a ton of flour that belonged to John Grether, the same quantity of bacon belonging to Clark Luther, all the oats William Pilcher had and all the powder and fire water in town, the company was ready. Old men and boys to weak to endure the hardships had to be driven back to prevent their going to the front and a rear guard was put out to keep such stragglers back, yet many old men and boys escaped the guard and by going cross lots came into camp that night at Hook’s Point, where the commissary had 4 big log heap fires and a whole barrel of whiskey. No one slept that night as the constantly passing wagons, filled with fleeing settlers who confirmed the reports of the day before, kept the company in arms all night. About daybreak an alarm was sounded. The pickets came in and for a time they were sure the Indians were coming. A cow that had been left at home, some distance off, had got hungry and came trotting down the road followed by others making a terrible clang with bell about her neck and created the alarm. After a hurry, the company started to Webster City. The day was cold and fierce wind blowing in their faces. They reached Webster City where they were received in a very hostile manner by the people

 . Bucketfuls, pitchers full, jugs full and bottles full of distilled and bottled hostility met them at every corner. In fact the men fleet of foot met the command out of town with buckets full of rye, etc. , a general invitation was given them to enjoy the freedom of the city and every house was thrown open to them. A public meeting was held at the school house that night at which people voted the company tanks and a fitting testimonial. It is related that on account of the exposure of the men on their trip Dr DeTarr and Judge Mitchell were the only members of the company that would appear and respond on behalf of the company. Dr DeTarr’s speech was printed in full in the Freeman. The flour, bacon, oats and fire water left over were given to the needy settlers on the route home. It is said that Mr Beal and his command fortified near West Dayton where they would have remained all summer, if word had not been sent them from Boonesboro the war was over. The name of the company was the Boonesboro Tigers. All names of those involved have been lost.

-Pardee Siege

The Pardee Siege began April 1858, John Pardee and his sons, John, Nat, Ben and Bart had incurred the displeasure of many of their neighbors, who resolved that the Pardee’s must go. After repeated warnings the Pardee’s didn’t go and by accident or purpose all occupied old man Pardee’s house which was a large hewed log building on a hillside in an open space and well calculated for military defense. One morning the Pardee’s found themselves besieged in their house, if one of them showed his head a shot from an adjacent thicket , tree or stump sent them hiding. Now and then a shot to the side of the house reminded them there was still danger outside. This lasted a day or so as both parties grew restless. The Pardee’s were well armed and provided with the means of enough defense and subsistence. The besieged, 4 men and the boy Bart only aged 12 years proved the bravest one and the best shot of all. The besiegers # 30 to 40 in all, well armed and all good shots. Finding it impossible to dislodge the Pardee’s without storming the fort, the attacking party finally adopted the Indian method of setting fire to the house. They loaded a wagon with hay and Jo Masters provided with a firebrand ensconced himself in the hay at the front of the wagon and 2 men undertook the task of pushing the wagon down the hill against the house. While so engaged and just as Masters raised up to throw the firebrand on the top of the house a bullet from the house pierced his brain and he fell dead. At the same time the men who were pushing the wagon were shot in the feet and legs from parties in the house shooting under the wagon. This spread dismay among the besiegers. They had not intended to kill anyone or that they should be killed. They were merely intending to intimidate the Pardee’s and drive them out, they would not have been shot. The Pardee’s were earnest and shot to kill. It was said that the boy Bart did the shooting of Masters, contrary to the wish and orders of his father and older brothers. Besiegers under flag of truce, carried off the dead Masters and withdrew. The matter later found its way to court. Warrants were issued and 30 residents of Yell township at least half of whom were innocent were arrested and brought before Judge McCall. The times grew so hot that the judge dismissed the proceedings and advised the parties to go and sin no more. But the grand jury couldn’t ignore such public facts and the parties arrested were indicted in spring term of 1859, charged with assault with intent to kill. So many prisoners, all witnesses and an excited public filled the courthouse chuck full for many terms. At last one of the accused Jacob Long was put on trail. After a weeks fight he was convicted before Judge Porter of District Court of simple assault, and fined $10 and cost. It broke him up. It was believed by the states attorney that Long was innocent, but stood up to the rack rather than call upon the guilty ones to prove he was not there. Some time after that Miles Randall who was supposed to be a friend of the Pardee’s was caught in the woods in and whipped, and the guilty parties were never identified. Randall left the county shortly after and old man Pardee and his boys gradually sold out and went away. Bart was a member of the 3^rd Iowa regiment in the war of the rebellion and was said to have been a splendid soldier.

-River Land Skirmish

Occurred April 1859. In the winter of 1857 people of the Des Moines River north of Des Moines almost unanimously petitioned the legislature to abandon damming the river (they wanted an outlet for their maple sugar, settle up some way with the river company, and use the land to build a railroad up along the Des Moines River) The legislature had lost faith in the slack-water enterprise also and granted the petitions. They gave nearly all the land to the company for the 2 ½ dams they built. They allowed all the charges for outlays and expenses of the company and paid them in land at $1 a quarter an acre, when it was said to be worth from $5 to $10 acre. These 2 ½ dams cost the state a strip of land 5 miles wide from the Mississippi River to Fort Dodge. Honor C Beal member of the house had been the company’s attorney, dodged the vote. The people were unanimous calling that settlement a down right steal. It really looked so to them and they united in saying that if the company got the land they ought to take it unencumbered with timber, and all united to remove it. The best ethics of the times allowed a man to cut and take timber off the river lands. It is rather believed that pulpit encouraged it, because the preachers did it. This region was presented a fine field of labor. Times were hard and the timber harvest brought many adventurers from other counties to help remove it. The market for timber and maple sugar was in Fort Des Moines. Timber was cut, hauled to the river and then floated in rafts to the new capital city to be used in its building boom. The chiefs of the fiver company began to suspect that all was not right. They wanted the timber left on their land. So they employed subagents and detectives who went up and down the river with a sort of secret band which they placed  somewhere on every log and stick of hewed timber near the river and all throughout he county. This brand was not observed by teamsters, raftsmen or owners but when the raft pulled up at the Fort the entire raft would be retrieved from them by the river company. But many logs had been branded from deeded land. Raftsmen began to come home despondent and having a few new incentives for the river company. So the sole branch of the industry was about to be cut off. There is nothing that hurts a fellow so much as to hurt his trade and while the branding was wrong and furnished good cause or war, the people thought the brands were trouble and it was right to suppress them. A man by the name of Farr was the west side brander and Warner was the east side brander. One day Farr was found in the timber in upper Yell township and whipped awfully. He was tied to a tree and 3 to 4 men took turns, whipping him on his bareback and shoulders, then let loose to care for himself. The same party went to the river and saw Warner on a raft of logs on the other side of the river. They opened fire on him with their rifles, the shots whistled close by his head that he forgot he was lame and withdrew. These terrified men went to Des Moines and reported what had happened, Honor D O Finch and Col. Crocker were attorneys for the company. They raised a company of men to enforce the law and preserve order. Part of the ransacked Dr Hull’s tavern 3 miles out and part of them came into town. Warrants were issued and they were arrested. Among them was a man by the name of Phipps, one of the most peaceable and best disposed men in the county. The men whom whipped Farr and shot at Warner were disguised and could not be identified. A bloody row seemed imminent and would undoubtedly have occurred by the sheriff William Holmes was out day and night talking to people. The courthouse was heavily packed with a crowd of men with rifles ready to use them. During the evening the sheriff was so occupied in watching the belligerents that he lost sight of 1 of his prisoners for a few minutes and disappeared. How he got out no one knew. A week or so after that the prisoners in a body straggled into town and gave themselves up. The case went by default and prisoners discharged. On the day set for the trail there was at least 400 residents of the county and elsewhere in town ready to receive Des Moines delegation. Their arms were stacked in a building convenient to the courthouse and they meant business. It is asserted that one of Mr Farr’s neighbors was one of the party that did the mischief, and that they came from Polk and Dallas counties not one of them being a resident here. This stopped the log branding business and low water in the river for a year or so destroyed the timber trade south, but now all the timber from the river land was all gone, and stumps and brush mark its line so well that a stranger passing through the timber can tell where the river tract begins and ends.