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It is the generally
accepted opinion that when Keokuk and Black Hawk
separated in 1826, and Keokuk and a portion of the
Sacs and Foxes moved to the west of the Mississippi
river, he went to the Iowa river and built his
village. I have never been able to find any one who
could tell where this village was located.
At the present time many persons believe the city of Keokuk was the place. Neither of these opinions is correct. About six miles southwest of Muscatine, along the Muscatine slough or the west side of Muscatine island, there is a beautiful lake. It is about the only body of water within the county large enough to be called a lake. When I came to the county in 1838 this was known as "Keokuk Lake". I recently made an effort to find how the name came to be applied to it and in so doing I learned that it was the site of habitation of the noted chief, Keokuk. His village was situated on the west bank of the lake. This village was probably vacated in 1834. In that year the Indians raised corn in this vicinity for the last time. There are parties yet living in this vicinity who saw the frame work of the buildings in this Indian village. A gentleman of my acquaintance who visited it a short time after Keokuk left it, says that it occupied nearly all the high bottom land west of the lake -- at least forty or fifty acres. Wapello had his village on the Iowa river, near the present city of Wapello, in Louisa county. |
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