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CHAPTER VIII
On the 21st of September, 1832, General Winfield
Scott and Governor Reynolds, of Illinois, negotiated a treaty by
which there was acquired from these tribes six million acres of land
on the west side of the Mississippi, known as the "Black Hawk
Purchase." The treaty was made on the west bank of the river in the
present limits of the city of Davenport. The tract thus ceded
extended from the northern boundary of Missouri, to the mouth of the
Upper Iowa River, and had an average width of fifty miles, westward
of the Mississippi.
The consideration to be paid for this grant was an
annual sum of twenty thousand dollars for a period of thirty years;
and a further sum of fifty thousand dollars to be applied to the
payment of debts due from the Indians to traders Davenport and
Farnam, at Rock Island. Six thousand bushels of corn, fifty barrels
of flour, thirty barrels of pork, thirty-five beef cattle and twelve
bushels of salt were also appropriated for the support of the Indian
women and children whose husbands and fathers had been killed in the
war just closed. It was estimated that the United States paid in
money and provisions about nine cents an acre for this munificent
grant of lands.
Black Hawk being a prisoner, the treaty was agreed
to on part of the Indians by Keokuk, Pashepaho and about thirty
other chiefs and warriors of the Sac and Fox nation. There was
reserved to the Sacs and Foxes within the limits of this grant, four
hundred square miles of land on the Iowa River, including Keokuk's
village. This tract was called "Keokuk's Reserve," and was
occupied by the Indians until 1836, when by a treaty negotiated by
Governor Henry Dodge, of Wisconsin Territory, it was ceded to the
United States. The Sacs and Foxes then moved to a reservation on
the Des Moines River, where an agency was established for them on
the site where Agency City has been built. Here Keokuk, Appanoose
and Wapello, chiefs of the united tribes, had each a large farm
under cultivation. The farms belonging to Keokuk were on what is
known as Keokuk Prairie, lying back from the right bank of the Des
Moines River. Appanoose's farm included a portion of the present
site of the city of Ottumwa. The memory of these chiefs has been
perpetuated in our State by three counties and two cities, which
bear their names, while a county in northern Iowa bears the name of
the famous old war chief, Black Hawk.
On the 11th of October, 1842, another treaty was
made with the Sac and Fox Indians, in which they conveyed all of
their remaining lands in Iowa to the United States. They were to
vacate the eastern portion of the lands ceded, to a line running on
the west side of the present counties of Appanoose and Lucas and
north through Marion, Jasper, Marshall and Hardin counties, to the
north limit of the grant, on May 1, 1843, and the remainder on
October 11, 1845.
When the time came for the departure of the Indians
they were sad and sorrowful. They lingered around their old homes
reluctant to leave them forever. The women were weeping as they
gathered their children and household goods together for the long
journey to a strange and distant country. The warriors could hardly
suppress their emotion as they looked for the last time upon the
beautiful rivers, groves and prairies that they had owned so long
and were so reluctant to surrender. As the long line of the
retreating red men silently an sorrowfully took its way westward,
the booming of guns and the light of a hundred bonfires gave
evidence of the advancing hosts of white settlers who hastened in to
occupy the vacant places. In the progress of years these once and
powerful and warlike tribes became listless and enervated, losing
the energetic characteristics which distinguished them in former
times. The excitement of war and the chase having long ago died out
in their changed environment, they became degenerate, intemperate
and lazy.
Keokuk, or "the Watchful Fox," was born in
the Rock River Valley in 1780. He was not a hereditary chief of the
Sacs, but attained that position by bravery in battle with the
Sioux, when a young man. When Black Hawk had determined to resist
the occupation of the lands which certain chiefs had sold to the
United Stares without his consent in 1804, Keokuk was the leader of
the peace party. He was wily, shrewd, ambitious, selfish and
avaricious. He knew that his race could not successfully war with
the United States and he determined to submit to the demands,
surrender the homes on the east side of the river and make the best
terms possible for himself. He saw the opportunity to eventually
supplant Black Hawk by becoming the leader of a peace party and thus
secure influence and assistance of the whites in his ambitious
plans. He was a most eloquent public speaker and used his oratory
with great effect. While the warriors of the united tribes were
disposed to fight for their homes under Black Hawk, Keokuk by shrewd
diplomacy won a majority to his peace policy. Upon one occasion
when the war spirit was running high he called his followers
together and addressed them thus:
"Warriors: I am your chief. It is my duty
to lead you to war if you are determined to go. The United States
is a great nation and unless we conquer them us must perish. I
will lead you against the whites on one condition, that is that we
shall first put all our women and children to death, and then
resolve that when we cross the Mississippi we will never retreat,
but perish among the graves of our fathers rather than yield to the
white men."
His warriors after listening to the desperate
proposal, hesitated and finally determined to yield to the greatly
superior power of the whites. When the war of 1832 was ended and
Black Hawk was defeated and a prisoner, Keokuk's day of triumph
came. Black Hawk was deposed by his conquerors and, amid great pomp
and ceremony, Keokuk arrayed in all his gaudy trappings was
installed in his place. "Keokuk's Reserve" was on the Iowa River,
and his village was for several years about six miles below where
the city of Muscatine stands. In 1836 this reserve was sold to the
United States and Keokuk removed to the Des Moines River near
Iowaville.
The followers of Black Hawk hated and despised
Keokuk and never became reconciled to his accession to power by the
bayonets of the United States. Their leader was Wish-e-co-ma-que,
called by the whites Hard Fish. In 1845, having sold all of their
lands in Iowa to the whites, Keokuk led the remnant of the once
powerful Sac and Fox nation to a new home in Kansas. Here Keokuk,
once the gaudily dressed chief, in his old age became a confirmed
inebriate. He was avaricious in the extreme and was believed by his
people to have dishonestly appropriated to his own use large sums of
money received from our government for his tribe. He had four wives
and upon all public occasions adorned his person with gay trappings
and was attended by a band of forty or fifty favorites. In June,
1848, he died from poison administered by a member of his tribe.
Pashepaho, which signifies "The Stabber," was
the head chief of the Sacs at the beginning of the nineteenth
century. He was an old man when first known by the whites. he was
the leader of the five chiefs who went to St. Louis in 1804 to meet
William H. Harrison to negotiate the release of a member of his
tribe accused of killing a white man. While there he and his
companions became intoxicated and were persuaded to agree to a
treaty conveying to the United States an immense tract of land on
the east side of the Mississippi River, including that upon which
their ancient village of Saukenuk stood. They returned loaded with
presents and it was a long time before their tribe knew that they
had conveyed to the whites more than fifty-one million acres of
their choicest lands, including their homes of more than a hundred
years. Pashepaho had won great fame as a warrior, having been the
leader of the Sacs and Foxes in their long war with the Iowas. He
was the commander in the last great battle in the Des Moines Valley,
which nearly annihilated their old time enemies. He led an
unsuccessful attack upon Fort Madison soon after its establishment.
He was easily won over to the peace party by the wily Keokuk and
joined the "Sly Fox" in the treaty of 1832, by which they sold the
"Black Hawk Purchase" to the United States. He, like Keokuk, became
a drunkard and moved with his tribe to Kansas.
Poweshiek, whose name signified "Roused Bear," was,
after the Black Hawk war, head chief of the Fox tribe. His rank was
superior to that of either Appanoose or Wapello. His village in
1837 was near the Iowa River, not far from where Iowa City stands.
He was born on Iowa soil about the year 1797. He was a large,
powerful man, weighing more than two hundred and fifty pounds. He
was a noble specimen of his race, a man of great energy, a wise
counselor and the soul of honor. He was grateful for favors and
always truthful. In 1838 he led a party to select a location for a
Sac and Fox agency on the Des Moines, in company with General Joseph
M. Street, the Indian agent. When his tribe moved west he made his
home near the mouth of the Raccoon River, in the vicinity of the
future capital of Iowa. From there he went south with his people to
Grand River and in 1846 reluctantly conducted them to their distant
reservation in Kansas. A remnant of his tribe, dissatisfied with
the Kansas reservation, after a short time returned to their old
homes in Iowa. An Iowa county perpetuates the memory of Poweshiek.
Wapello, which signifies "prince," was a head chief
of the Fox tribe. He was born at Prairie du Chien in 1787, and at
the time of the erection of Fort Armstrong, on Rock Island, his
principal village was on the east side of the Mississippi, where the
city of Rock Island was subsequently laid out. In 1829 he moved his
village to the west shore of the river opposite Muscatine Island. A
few year later he had a village built where the town of Wapello now
stands. He belonged to the "peace party," and supported Keokuk and
Pashepaho in adhering to the treaty of 1804. He signed numerous
treaties with the United States, ceding lands to the government. He
appears to have been easily influenced by Keokuk to part with their
lands. It is related of Wapello that when one of his sons was slain
by a Sioux warrior, in 1836, instead of avenging the murder, he
purchased a barrel of whisky and, inviting his people to partake,
they appeased their sorrow by indulging in a drunken debauch. his
favorite hunting grounds were along the Skunk River, but he finally
moved his village to the Des Moines Valley where Ottumwa now stands.
He died in 1842 and was buried at Agency City, near the grave of
General Street, who had been his friend.
Kiskkekosh, which signifies "The man with one leg,"
was a Fox chief. He was a daring warrior and won his fame in
battle with the Sioux. He was an orator; tall, straight and perfect
in figure. His village was at one time on Skunk River in Jasper
County. He sought to bring about a reform with his tribe by
changing the long established custom of his race which required
Indian women to perform all of the labor, while the warriors, young
and old, refrained from work as degrading. He was very much
attached to his beautiful wife and was unwilling to leave all of the
toil for her to perform. It was a hopeless effort, but this
independent chieftain, though unsuccessful in overcoming an unjust
and oppressive requirement, exhibited his convictions of right by
aiding his wife in her labor. From 1843 to 1845 his tribe lived at
various times in Jasper County on the Skunk River, in Marion County,
in the valley of the Des Moines and later near old Fort Des Moines.
he was reluctant to give up his Iowa home and remove to the Kansas
reservation. Monroe County was, when first organized, named
Kishkekosh, but it was afterward changed by act of the Legislature.
Appanoose, which signifies "A chief when a
child," presided over a band of Sacs. Little is known of his early
life, but during the Black Hawk war he belonged to the peace party.
He was tall, straight as an arrow, finely formed and intelligent.
After the removal of the tribes to the Des Moines Valley the
village over which he presided stood near where Ottumwa has been
built. Appanoose was one of the chiefs who accompanied Keokuk to
Washington in 1837. At Boston he made a speech which made him
famous. He had four wives and lived a very quiet life, seldom going
far from his village. The exact date of his death is not known.
Taimah, "The man who makes the rocks
tremble," was a Fox chief. In 1820 his village stood on the Flint
Hills, where Burlington was built. It was called Shock-o-con. Tiamah
was the head of a secret society of Indians noted for their courage
and good character. Women of the best class were eligible to
membership. It was known by the name of "Great Medicine," and its
secrets were never divulged. Taimah was one of the chiefs who went
to Washington in 1824 and signed the treaty made at that time. Tama
County was named in honor of this chief.
THE MUSQUAKIES
These are a remnant of the Pottawattamies and Foxes
who returned from the Kansas reservation in about 1850, and stopped
on the Iowa River to hunt and fish. They were so attached to Iowa
that they persisted in staying in the State that had so long been
their home.
Che-me-use (Johney Green) was the chief of the
Pottawattamies, who first returned to the Iowa River. In 1859 Maw-nae-wah-ne-kah,
a Fox chief with some of his tribe joined the Pottawattamies on the
Iowa River. Here they lived peaceably, cultivating small patches of
land, hunting, fishing and trapping for several years. In 1866 a
special agent was appointed by the government who paid them a share
of the annuities due their tribes. Two thousand dollars of the
annuity fund was invested in the purchase of land, and additions to
it were made from time to time until several hundred acres were
acquired. These lands lie in Tama County, within a few miles of
Toledo, in the valley of the Iowa River and on the line of the
Chicago and Northwestern railroad. In 1880 the tribe numbered three
hundred and thirty-five people and they had accumulated personal
property to the value of about $20,000. They make frequent
excursions into other portions of the State in small parties for the
purpose of hunting, fishing and begging. They have made very little
improvement in erecting their dwellings and in their costumes,
adhering to the customs of their ancestors.
THE WINNEBAGOES
This tribe belongs to the Dakota group and is
mentioned by French writers as early as 1669. They appear to have
been the first of the Dakotas to migrate eastward, crossing the
Mississippi River from Iowa at a remote period. When first known to
the French they were a powerful tribe and hostile to the Algonquins.
Early in the seventeenth century the tribes of the Northwest formed
an alliance against the Winnebagoes and in a battle five hundred of
the latter were slain. In 1766 Carver found them on the Rock River.
They and the Iowas are thought to be the only Dakotas that migrated
to the east. Meeting the Algonquin tribes of Pottawattamies,
Chippeways, Sacs, Foxes, Mascoutines and Ottawas, they finally
formed an alliance, which lasted for more than one hundred and fifty
years. They were reluctant to come under English rule after the
expulsion of the French, but finally became reconciled and fought
with the British through the war of the American Revolution.
In 1794, in alliance with other hostile tribes, they
met General Anthony Wayne in battle and were defeated with heavy
loss. In 1811 they are found fighting under Tecumseh at Tippecanoe,
where thy were again defeated by General Harrison. They joined the
Pottawattamies in the massacre at Fort Dearborn in 1812 and were,
with Black Hawk, allies of the British throughout the war. In 1816
they entered into a treaty of peace with the United States. In 1832
they joined Black Hawk in his war and at its termination were
required to relinquish their lands in Wisconsin in exchange for a
tract in Iowa known as the "Neutral Ground." They were not
compelled to remove to their new home until 1841. By the terms of
this treaty the Winnebagoes were to be paid $10,000 annually for
twenty-seven years, beginning in September, 1833. The government
agreed also to supply then with certain farm implements and teams
and establish schools for the Indian children, maintaining them also
for twenty-seven years. The "Neutral Ground" was a tract forty
miles wide extending from the Mississippi River to the Des Moines.
The boundary line which had been established between the Sioux on
the north and the Sacs and Foxes on the south in 1825, was agreed to
by a council held at Prairie du Chien on the 19th of August of that
year, in which William Clark and Lewis Cass were the commissioners
on part of the United States, and the following tribes of Indians:
The Sacs and Foxes, Sioux, Chippeways, Winnebagoes, pottawattamies,
Ottawas and Menomonies. The principal object of the treaty was to
establish peace between contending tribes as to the limits of their
respective hunting grounds in Iowa. In this treaty the line is
described as follows: Beginning at the mouth of the Upper Iowa
River on the west bank of the Mississippi, and ascending said Iowa
River to its west fork; thence up the fork to its source; thence
crossing the fork of the Red Cedar in a direct line to the second or
upper fork of the Des Moines River; thence in a direct line to the
lower fork of the Calument (Big Sioux) River, and down that to its
junction with the Missouri River.
On the 15th of July, 1830, at a council held at
Prairie du Chien, the Sacs and Foxes ceded to the United States a
strip of land twenty miles in width lying immediately south of the
above named line and extending from the Mississippi to the Des
Moines River.
At the same time the Sioux ceded to the United
States a strip of the same width lying immediately north of the
line. Thus the United States came into possession of a belt of land
forty miles wide, extending from the Mississippi to the Des Moines
River. This tract was known as the "Neutral Ground," and the tribes
on either side were allowed to hunt and fish on it unmolested until
it was ceded to the Winnebagoes in exchange for their lands on the
east side of the Mississippi River.
While occupying the "Neutral Ground" of Iowa, the
Winnebagoes found themselves between the hostile Sioux on the north
and the friendly Sacs and Foxes on the south. Their hunting grounds
were along the Upper Iowa, Turkey, Wapsipinicon and Cedar rivers.
On the 16th day of October, 1846, they were induced to cede their
Iowa lands for a tract in Minnesota, north of St. Peter River, to
which they soon after removed. For many years parties of them
returned to hunt and trap along their favorite Iowa rivers until
most of the game had disappeared.
One of their most noted chiefs was Wee-no-shiek, or
Winneshick, as now written, in whose memory an Iowa county is
named. In the Winnebago war of 1827 young Winneshiek, who was but
fifteen years of age, took an active part. He was captured by
Colonel Dodge, but refused to surrender until forcibly disarmed. He
fought bravely with Black Hawk in 1832, but was again taken prisoner
by General Dodge. In 1845 he was made head chief of his tribe. He
is described as one of the finest specimens, both physically and
intellectually, of his race. Tall, well- proportioned and of
dignified hearing, graceful in manners, and of undaunted courage, he
was always popular with his tribe. He never became reconciled to
the fate of his race in being dispossessed of their homes by the
whites, and he regarded them as implacable foes to the end of his
life.
Waukon-Decorah, signifying "White Snake," was
another of the most noted of Winnebago chiefs. He was inclined to
keep peace with the whites, as he realized that war upon that
powerful race was useless. His influence with his tribe often
prevented acts of hostility on part of the impulsive young warriors.
His village was located on the Upper Iowa River near the site of
the town of Decorah, which bears his name. After his death the
citizens of that village gave his remains a final resting place in
the public square.
Two treacherous members of this tribe captured the
leader of their allies, Black Hawk, when he had taken refuge among
them after the massacre of Bad Axe and delivered him over to his
enemies. Their names were Chasta and One-eyed Decorah.
In 1829 the Winnebagoes numbered five thousand eight
hundred. In 1836 the smallpox destroyed one-fourth of their people.
In 1855 they had become reduced to two thousand seven hundred and
fifty-four. When they were first seen by the French they were of
good stature, strong, athletic and dignified, with straight black
hair, piercing black eyes and superior mental capacity. But after
generations of contact with the whites, they degenerated rapidly,
acquiring a strong appetite for intoxicating liquors. They were not
a quarrelsome people and only made war to avenge the killing of
members of their tribe. Their warriors were always volunteers who
furnished their own equipments. The war chief commanded in
campaigns and battles and decided the fate of prisoners. They
usually killed and scalped wounded prisoners and left their own dead
on the field of battle. The dead of their tribe were dressed in a
new suit before burial and the arms of warriors were buried with
them. The graves of their chiefs and noted warriors were protected
with poles or pickets. In winter their dead were deposited on
scaffolds. Their cabins were built by setting posts in the ground
and covering them with bark. In winter skins of animals were
stretched over them. They were kind to old people and carefully
nursed the sick.
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