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Chapter
Four
Fort
Croghan
May
31, 1842, Captain John H. K. Burgwin, under orders from the War
Department established a military cantonment, for the protection of the
Pottawattamie Indians against threatened attack by the Sioux, the
garrison consisting of one company of dragoons.
July 1, 1842, the Captain reported to the Adjutant General of the Army,
from "Camp Fenwick, on the Missouri river near Council Bluffs", that he
had established encampment as above set forth.
October 7, 1842, in connection with report as to condition of his
command and post. Captain Burgwin suggested the substitution of the
name '"Fort Croghan"" for the station in lieu of "Camp Fenwick."
November 8, 1842, Brigadier General R. Jones, Adjutant General,
approved the suggestion of Captain Burgwin, and thereafter the
cantonment was known as "Fort Croghan", being so indicated on a map
published by the War Department in 1843' in connection with the report
of the explorations made by J. N. Nicollet and Lieutenant John C.
Fremont, 1838-9.
When it became definitely determined, against earnest protest by
Captain Burgwin, that the post should be maintained during the ensuing
winter, due preparation was made by the erection of log quarters for
the officers and men and suitable protection for the animals; the tents
theretofore used were stored, and the cantonment assumed a more
permanent appearance.
April 17, 1843, from "Fort Croghan, I. T." Captain Burgwin reported the
greatest rise in the Missouri river known within seven- teen years;
that his camp was threatened by the flood and he had prepared for
removal "to the Bluffs, which are about six miles from me".
August
15, 1843, still using the "Fort Croghan" heading, the Captain
reported the original camp yet surrounded by water ; that it would
probably not be fit for future use ; that troops were no longer needed
in the locality, and requested relief from further duty there. His
request was granted and the command returned to Fort Leavenworth, from
which place the Captain submitted report, dated October 13,
1843, saying that his command had just arrived and that Fort Croghan
was abandoned on the 6th of that month.
The foregoing brief sketch of "Fort Croghan" is compiled from
unpublished orders, reports and letters in the files of the office of
the Adjutant General, War Department, Washington. The use of the date
line ''Fort Croghan, I. T." by Captain Burgwin clearly fixes the site
of the cantonment on the east (left) bank of the Missouri river. In his
"American Fur Trade of the Far West" (Vol. 3, page 950), General Hiram
Martin Chittenden says that: "Fort Croghan stood a little above the
Union Pacific bridge in Omaha;" but he is
mistaken, as Captain Burgwin's report dated April 17, 1843, clearly
demonstrates.
The fact that Captain Burgwin continued to use the headline ' ' Fort
Croghan" after the removal of the command to the highlands, indicates
that the name applied to the territory under his jurisdiction rather
than to the cantonment itself or to its precise site.
The precise plot of ground upon which the original location of "Camp
Fenwick" and "Fort Croghan" was made, or whether the log structures of
1843 were erected upon that identical spot, is not known and may never
be positively determined ; nor is there attainable evidence to show
conclusively to what place Captain Burgwin referred when he reported:
"I commenced yesterday morning
moving the public property to the Bluffs which are about six miles from
me" —
the point to which the troops removed and took position that was
maintained during the remainder of their stay in the vicinity. No
records exist containing specific descriptions of these sites or either
of them.
Probably the most circumstantial reference to and description of the
two points occupied by Captain Burgwin as "Fort Croghan" heretofore
published, is contained in an article that appeared in the Annals of
Iowa (3d Series, Volume 3, page 471), which is here reproduced in full,
viz. :
"Fort Croghan. — In April, 1842,
while the Pottawattamie Indians were located in what is now the eastern
part of Potta- wattamie County, it was thought necessary to send up the
Missouri river a detachment of troops for their protection. Captain
John II. K. Burj^'win therefore arrived on a steamer from Fort
Leavenwortii, with a company of United States troops, and
established a post on the edge of the timber at Section 10, near the
present southwest corner of the city of Council Bluffs. Tliis he first
named 'Camp Fenwick', but afterwards
changed it to 'Fort Croghan'. There has been some dispute about the
location, but 'there is certain evidence', says Hon. D. C. Bloomer,
'that it stood as mentioned'. The troops staid there during the
remainder of 1842, and until the spring of 1843, when a great flood
covered the Missouri Bottoms compelling the command to remove to a
temporary location on the western side of Little Mosquito Creek, on the
high grounds later occupied by Mr. J. P. Casady for farming purposes.
Here they remained until the water, which covered the valley, subsided,
when they returned to the fort. In September, following, the presence
of the troops being no longer necessary for the protection of the
Indians, the company, still under the command of Capt. Burgwin,
returned to Ft. Leavenworth, and 'Fort Croghan' was abandoned, never
again to be occupied. For the above information we are indebted to Hon.
D. C. Bloomer, of Council Bluffs."
As stated elsewhere in this work the writer resided at Council Bluffs
from 1853 to 1874, and was very familiar with the surrounding country,
having gunned for ducks, prairie chickens, turkeys and other game,
pretty much all "round about there", and, upon reading the foregoing
article, a few months ago, he was surprised by some of the statements
therein contained ; doubted that the original encampment
of Captain Burgwin was located upon "Section 10" and knew that J. P.
Casady 's farm was not near the Little Mosquito creek, but on Pony
creek, some three miles south and one mile east of the mouth of the
Little Mosquito. So, contemplating the writing of this paper, he began
investigating.
Mr. Edgar R. Harlan, Curator of the Historical Department of Iowa, at
Des Moines, under the direction of whom Annals of Iowa is now
published, has furnished copies of letters sent to Hon. Charles
Aldrich, founder of the Historical Department of Iowa, by Mr. Bloomer,
including that "certain evidence" referred to in the article quoted
above. There are two letters from Mr. Bloomer dated,
respectively, November 24 and 25, 1896, the latter being in correction
of a clerical error in and elaborative of the former. Both are here
quoted to the end that the entire matter may be fairly placed before
the reader.
"Council Bluffs, Iowa, Nov.
24,
1896.
"Hon. Charles Aldrich,
Des Moines, Iowa.
"Dear Sir:
"I return the correspondence relative to Fort Croghan and its occupancy
by U. S. troops in 1842-3.
"The question as to the actual location of Camp Fenwick, changed to
Fort Croghan, has elicited a good deal of controversy among the people
in this section. I have spent a good deal of time and made some
journeys in order to settle it in my own mind. Some claim that it was
on the west side of the river, up in the \'icinity of Old Fort
Atkinson, later known as Fort Calhoun. Others claim that it was on the
east side of the river, on the wide bottom, a few miles south of the
present site of the modern Council Bluffs. My great object was to find
some one who then resided here, and who could from personal
recollections settle the question. And such a person I have at last
found in Mr. Richard S. Hardin, an old gentleman, son of Indian agent
Hardin, who came here with the Pottawattamie Indians in 1838, and who
now resides at Nodaway Station in Missouri. In a letter written to me
on the 21st of November, 1896, he says:
"he old Fort you wish to know about was built in '42, and vacated in
the spring of '43, on account of high water. It was northwest of my old
farm 3^ of a mile, in the edge of the timber on the bottom. When they
left it they stuck their tents in the hollow near where Judge Casady 's
house stands. If there is anything I can give you light on, let me
know. I think I will be in Council Bluffs in the spring, and if you
will get a reporter, I will answer any questions you may wish to ask,
as I think I am the only man living now that can'.
"This statement is reliable and reallj^ settles the question. It
corresponds perfectly with the letter of Capt. Burgwin, '43, page 6, in
which he stated that his cantonment 'was flooded and that he had
commenced removing the public property to the Bluffs, which are about
six miles from me'. True, his first letter was written from 'Camp
Fenwick near Council Bluffs' evidently referring to the Council Bluffs
of the olden time, but that point was less than twenty miles distant,
and was the name then applied to all this immediate region. I may add
that A. I). Jones, now of Omaha, who in early days resided in Council
Bluffs and made the first survey of the town in 1852, insists that
'Camp Fenwick — Fort Croghan' was on the east side of the river not far
from the southwest corner of the present corporate limits of the city
of Council Bluffs. It was very near, almost the middle of, the then
home of the Pottawattamies — the very Indians Captain Burgwin was sent
here to protect, although as it turned out, no protection was required.
"This Fort Croghan had no connection in any way with the military
buildings, the 'Old Block House in Council Bluff's' at or near the
Bryant Springs. That had been built by U. S. troops in 1839. They seem
to have left and Capt. Burgwin's Company was probably sent to take
their place. Instead, however, of
going to the old site, they camped on the bottom near the timber, three
or four miles distant in a southwesterly direction from it. Possibly,
when I have the interview with Mr. Hardin, this point will also be
explained more fully.
Very truly,
D. C. Bloomer."<br>
----------------------------------------------------------
"Council Bluffs, Nov. 25, 1896.
"Mr. Charles Aldrich.
"Dear Sir :
Referring to my letter of yesterday in relation to the
location of Camp Fenwick — Fort Croghan, I would state that I have just
received a letter from Mr. Hardin in which he states that the fort
instead of being 3 and 14 miles northwest from his old farm, that it
was only % of a mile from it. I suspected that this was the fact, and
this correction enables us to
exactly locate the spot. Mr. Hardin's old farm was in the Ei/s of the
SE14 of Section 15-74-44, and % of a mile from it takes us to the £1/2
of Section 10 in the same township and range, and through about the
center of this section the line of timber passed. That was the
identical spot where the old fort stood.
And now I remember that when I first came to the county 41 years ago,
there was right there the remains of buildings of some kind, erected in
former years. It turns out now that they had been erected by the XJ. S.
troops under Capt. Burgwin in the first instance, and perhaps
reconstructed by the
Mormons.
Yours very truly,
D. C. Bloomer.
"P. S. — I enclose plat of Tp. 74-44, which shows the location."
In that portion of this work relating to the Pottawattamie Indians it
is clearly shown that they arrived at or near the present site of the
city of Council Bluffs July 28, 1837 ; that the blockhouse was built at
that time; that Davis Hardin (father of R, S. Hardin) was not agent for
those Indians; that the farm entered by R. S. Hardin in 1854, —
undoubtedly the place mentioned by him as "my old farm"', —
consisted of Lot 1 (W1/2SW1/4) Sec. 14, and E1/2SE14 Sec. 15, in the
township indicated by Mr. Bloomer. On this tract the plat of the United
States survey made in 1852 shows three houses, of which two are on the
lot 4. It was in one of the latter, according to the writer's
recollection, wherein Mr. Hardin resided, about one mile from the old
steamboat landing as indicated by the plat of survey.
On the SI/2NE14 Sec. 15 of said township appears the village of
''Council Point", immediately north of and contiguous to the western
part of the Hardin farm, and almost exactly three-quarters of a mile
from R. S. Hardin's dwelling. In the belief of the writer the site of
Council Point, Camp Fenwick or Fort Croghan, was identical. The place
was probably renamed because of the fact that it was there that
the Pottawattamie Indians of the Iowa region met the Commissioners of
the United States June 5, 1846, and signed the treaty ceding their
lands, which had actually been negotiated at Washington between the
head men of the nation and government officials at a time previous. The
buildings erected by Captain Burgwin 's command in 1842 afforded
facilities for such transaction not existing at any other place near
by.
It is impossible to secure conclusive evidence to support these
assumptions; but they do no violence to Mr. Hardin's testimony as
furnished by Mr. Bloomer. No point in section ten, Mr. Bloomer's
location of Camp Fenwick, could have been reached by traveling only
three-quarters of a mile northwest from Mr. Hardin's farm house. The
plat of government survey shows only one house on Section 10, and none
other is mentioned in the field notes of the survey as being on said
section.
When the Mormons reached that locality, June, 1846, they found the
little village of Council Point already named, and it was there that
their High Council was organized Julj^ 21, by which was accepted the
name ' ' Miller 's Hollow ' ' that had attached to the settlement made
by the Saints on the site of the present city of Council Bluffs.
Mr. A. D. Jones, who resided at Council Bluffs for some time after the
advent of the writer in that vicinity and was well known to him, has
been quoted as supporting the claim that Fort Croghan was near the
original site mentioned in the article quoted from Annals of Iowa ; it
being said that he made a survey of the city in 1852, and is therefore
an authority. If he made survey of any part of the city his work was
private and not public in character. In a letter dated May 9, 1916, the
Council Bluffs City Engineer says:
"There is no evidence in my
office
to indicate that a survey of the
town was made by A. D. Jones prior to the survey made by Tostcvin".
(1854.)
Judgo (J. P.) Casady never owned, resided upon or cultivated any farm
near the site mentioned in the quoted article other than that embracing
the SEi^SEii Sec. 9; SWI/4SW14, E1/2SW14 Sec. 10; NEi^NWii, WVsNWi^
Sec. 15, and EVgNEi^ Sec. 16, T. 74 N., R. 43 W. Six miles due east and
across Mosquito creek from the Ft. Croghan site mentioned in the quoted
article, and about two miles back of the first bluffs skirting the
Missouri river bottom. In 1843 that would have been an inaccessible and
undesirable site for a military-encampment dependent upon steamboat
transportation for its supplies. The boat landing was more than five
miles, air line, from such site, and no practicable route between the
points could have been less than eight miles. Mr. Hardin could not have
intended to designate the Casady farm as the site where the troops
"stuck their tents".
Judge Casady owned and resided for some years in a house in Council
Bluffs, near the mouth of what was known in early days as "Duck
Hollow", only a short distance from the "Old Block House", It was one
of the most prominent houses of that time in the city. Just to the east
of it, and immediately north from the old blockhouse, was a broad,
almost level plateau, an ideal spot for a military camp such as
required by Captain Burgwin's command, and, notwithstanding Mr.
Bloomer's positive assertion that the blockhouse and Fort Croghan had
"no connection in any way", it very convincingly appears from
unpublished letters of the Pottawattamie sub-agent, written in 1842 and
1843, that the dragoons at that time used the blockhouse for storage
purposes. (See Mr. Elliott's letter of June 1, 1843, quoted in
connection with "Pottawattamie Indians" and "Old Blockhouse", elsewhere
in this work.)
It is the belief of the writer that Captain Burgwin and his men, when
forced to retire from the bottom, made their encampment upon the
plateau described in the preceding paragraph, and that it was the site
referred to in the language quoted in Mr. Bloomer's letter to Mr.
Aldrich :
"When they left it they stuck
their
tents in the hollow near where
Judge Casady's house stands".
This opinion is corroborated by an unpublished letter from Sub-Agent
Elliott, dated June 1, 1843, quoted in the article herein relating to
"The Old Blockhouse". True, this site was about five miles from the
boat landing, but it was connected therewith by the best and probably
only real road in the vicinity at the time, and was at the site of the
Caldwell village, then existing, and of the De Smet mission
abandoned about two years before. Captain Burgwin who had been acting
ad interim Sub-Agent for the Pottawattamies, appears to have turned
over the agency effects to Sub-Agent Elliott at that point June 1,
1843.
Captain Burgwin evidently overestimated the distance between Fort
Croghan and the bluffs, as there is no point in the Missouri river
bottom, above the boat landing as indicated by government survey, in
that vicinity where the air-line distance between river and bluffs is
six miles. The early settlers made the same error, calling it six miles
from Kanesville to the boat landing, whereas it is little more than
four miles.
There is no intention to impugn Mr. Bloomer's good faith, nor to
question his veracity, bj^ what has been said here ; but simply to
differ from some of his inferences, assumptions and conclusions, and to
indicate the reasons for such differences. The writer knew Mr. Bloomer
well and knows him to have been a conscientious man, but doubts the
correctness of his findings upon the evidence considered by him, taken
in connection with his knowledge of the locality and the subjects of
which he was writing.
On whatever particular sites the "Camp Fenwick" and "Fort Croghan" of
Captain Burgwin may have stood, in the vicinity of Council Bluffs,
there is ample evidence that neither was in the immediate vicinity of
the Council Bluff of Lewis and Clark, nor in any manner connected with
Fort Atkinson which was located near the latter. It has been said that
there was once a "Fort Croghan" on or near the site of the latter place
; but there appears to be no record evidence to sustain such
allegation. Mr. A. D. Jones, at the time
Secretary of the Old Settlers' Association of Omaha, addressed a letter
of inquiry to Father De Smet, containing several interrogations, to
which the eminent missionary, writing from "St. Louis University,
December 26, 1867", made separate replies, in part as follows:
"To the best of my knowledge,
and
assisted by Captain Joseph La Barge,
the old explorer of the Missouri river, I will here answer your various
questions:
"First, 'Where was old Fort Calhoun located?'
"Fort
Calhoun was never located; it took the name of Fort Atkinson, which
wjus built on the very spot where the council was held by Lewis and
('lark, and was the higliest and first military post above the mouth of
the Nebraska (Platte) river.
"Second, 'Where was old Fort Croghan?'
"After the evacuation of Fort Atkinson or Calhoun, either in 1827 or
1828, or thereabouts, the troops came down and made winter quarters on
Cow Island — Captain La Barge states it was called Camp Croghan. The
next spring the flood disturbed the soldiers and they came down and
established Fort Leavenworth. Colonel Leavenworth was commandant at the
breaking up of
Fort Atkinson. (See pages 1533-34-35, Chittenden and Richardson's Life,
Letters and Travels of Father De Smet, Volume 4, where the letter above
quoted is credited to Nebraska Historical Society's Report.)
"Third, 'There is an earthen remain of fortifications on the east bank
of Omaha ; do you know who built it?'"
"The remains alluded to must be the site of the old trading post of Mr.
Heart. When it was in existence the Missouri river ran up to the
trading post. In 1832 the river left it, and since that time it goes by
the name of 'Heart's Cut-Off', leaving a large lake above Council
Bluffs city."
Assuming this last information to be correct, a starting point is
established from which, with other existing evidence, a fairly good
inference may be derived respecting the location to which Captain
Burgwin removed the government property and his command upon the
occasion of the flood in the spring of 1843.
The log of the steamboat "Omega", on a voyage made in 1843, contains
the following entries :
"May 9, Tuesday. Passed Trudeau
Island, Five Barrels
Island, la Calumet, L'Oeil de fer. . . . Went on to L 'Issue, where I
put off freight for the sutler and for Captain Burgwin. Set out at 7 P.
M. and camped above the bad sandbar, near the marsh at Hart's cut-off
at 9 P. M. "May 10, Wednesday. We progressed finely as far as Hart's
Bluffs (cotes a Hart), where at 7 A. M., we were summoned by an officer
and four dragoons to land. I received a polite note from Captain
Burgwin informing me that it was his duty to make an inspection of the
boat. We put ourselves to work immediately^ while Mr. Audubon goes to
call upon the Captain. They return in about two hours. . . ." (See
Chittenden's American Fur Trade of the Far West, Vol. 3, page 988; also
Chittenden's History of Early Navigation on the Missouri river. Life
and Adventures of JosephLa Barge, Vol. 1, pages 143-144.)
The following extract is from the work last mentioned, and is a part of
a very circumstantial account of the inspection of the boat, viz. :
"On the occasion of the voyage
of
1843 the agent at
Bellevue happened to be absent from his station when the boat arrived.
Elated at this unexpected good fortune, Captain Sire lost no time in
putting off the freight destined for this point and in getting on his
way. He pursued his voyage until nine o'clock that evening, and
doubtless felicitated himself that he was out of
danger. But it appears that the agent had delegated the function of
inspector during his absence to the commander of the United States
troops in the vicinity. The boat left her mooring at daylight next
morning, but had scarcely gotten under way when a couple of rifle shots
were fired across her bow. She brought to at once and made for the
shore. There Captain Sire found a lieutenant in charge of a few
dragoons, who had come from his camp four miles distant. The young
officer came on board and presented to Captain Sire a polite note from
Captain Burgwin, commander of the camp, stating that his orders
required him to inspect the boat before letting her proceed.
' ' This was like a dash of cold water to the buoyant spirits of
Captain Sire, and none the less so to Audubon, to whom, as well as the
company, the loss of the liquid portion of the cargo would have been
irreparable. The naturalist had a permit from the government to carry
with him a quantity of liquor for the use of himself and party, and
upon showing his credentials to the young officer he was, to use his
own words, 'immediately settled comfortably '. But in the moment of his
good fortune he did not forget his companions who were not yet 'settled
comfortably'. He understood that time was required to prepare for the
approaching function, and he could at least help to secure this time by
delaying inspection as long as possible. He accordingly expressed a
desire to visit the camp, and the lieutenant detailed a dragoon to
accompany him. The great naturalist rode /owr miles to call upon an
obscure army officer whom he knew he could see in a short time by
waiting at the boat. . . . "
The Audubon referred to in the foregoing excerpts was the well-known
and justly celebrated naturalist John James Audubon, and his own story
of this occurrence, more interesting for the evidence and information
it contains than because of the importance of the transaction above
mentioned, is as follows :
"May 9, Tuesday. Another fine
day.
After running until
eleven o'clock we stopped to cut wood. . . . This afternoon we reached
B<dk>vue where resides the brother of Mr. Sarpy of St. Louis, as
well as the Indian Agent, or as he might be more appropriately called,
the Custom House officer. Neither were at home, both away on the Platte
river, about 300 miles off. . . .
We landed some cargo for the establishment. . . . The store is no great
affair, and yet I am told that they drive a good trade with the Indians
on the Platte river, and others on this side of the Missouri. We
unloaded some freight and pushed off. . . . We soon reached the post of
Fort Croghan, so called after my old friend of that name with whom I
hunted Raccoons on his father's plantation in Kentucky some
thirty-eight years ago, and whose father and mine were well acquainted,
and fought together in conjunction with Washington and Lafayette during
the Revolutionary War, against 'Merrie England'. Here we found only a
few soldiers, dra- goons; their camp and officers having been forced to
move across the prairie to the bluffs, five miles. After we had put out
some freight for the sutler, we proceeded on until we stopped for the
night a few miles above, on the same side of the river. The soldiers
assured us that their parade ground and so-called barracks, had been
four feet under water, and we saw fair and
sufficient evidence of this. . . . We landed for the night under trees
covered by muddy deposits from the great overflow of this season. I
slept soundly, and have this morning. May 10, written this.
''May 10, Wednesday. The morning was fine, and we were under way at
daylight, but a party of dragoons, headed by a lieutenant, had left the
camp four miles distcmt from our anchorage at the same time, and
reached the shore before we proceeded far; they fired a couple of shots
ahead of us, and we brought to at once. The young officer came on
board, and presented a
letter from his commander. Captain Burgwin, from which we found that we
had to have our cargo examined. Our captain was glad of it, and so were
we all ; for, finding that it would take several hours, we at once made
ready to go ashore. I showed my credentials and orders from the
Government, Major Mitchell of St. Louis, etc., and I was therefore
immediately settled comfortably. I desired to go to see the commanding
officer, and the lieutenant very politely sent us there on horseback,
guided by an old dragoon of considerable respectability. I was mounted
on a young white horse, Spanish saddle with holsters, and we proceeded
across the prairie to- wards the Bluffs and the camp. My guide was
anxious to take a short cut, and took me across several bayous, one of
which was really up to the saddle ; but we crossed that, and coming to
another we found it so miry, that his horse wheeled after two or three
steps, whilst I was looking at him before starting myself ; for you all
well know that an old traveler is, and must be prudent. We had now to
retrace our steps till we reached the very tracks that the squad sent
after us in the morning had taken, and at last we reached the foot of
the Bluffs, when my guide
asked me if I 'could ride at a gallop', to which not answering him, but
starting at once at a round run, I neatly passed him ere his horse was
well at the pace ; on we went, and in a few minutes we entered a
beautiful dell or valley, and were in sight of the encampment. We
reached this in a trice, and rode between two lines of pitched tents to
one at the end, where I dismounted, and met Captain Burgwin, a young
man brought up at West Point, with whom I was on excellent and friendly
terms in less time than it has taken me to write this account of our
meeting. I showed him my credentials, at which he smiled, and politely
assured me that I was too well known throughout the country to need any
letters. While seated in front of his tent, I heard the note of a bird
new to me, and as it proceeded from a tree above our heads, I looked up
and saw the first Yellow-headed Troupial that ever came across my own
migrations. . . . The Captain and the doctor, Madison by name, returned
with us to the boat. . . . The officers came on board and we treated
them as hospitably as we could; they ate lunch with us, and are
themselves almost destitute of provisions. . . . The Sioux Indians are
great enemies to the Pottawattamies, and very frequently kill several
of the latter in their predatory excursions against them. This kind of
warfare has rendered the Pottawattamies very cowardly, which Ls quite a
remarkable change from their previous valor and daring. . . . We left
our anchorage (which means tied to the shore) at twelve o'clock, and
about sunset we did pass the real Council Bluff. Here, however, the bed
of the river is utterly changed, you may yet see that which is called
the Old Missouri. The Bluffs stand, truly speaking, on a beautiful bank
about forty feet above the waters and run off on a rich prairie, to the
hills in the background to a gentle slope, that renders the whole place
a fine and very remarkable spot. . . ." (See Audubon and His Journals,
by Maria R. Audubon, with Zoological and Other Notes, by Elliott Coues,
Volume 1, pages 477 to 482.)
At the time referred to in the foregoing extracts, from the lower end
(or mouth) of the then known "Hart's Cut-off"; that is from the western
end of the lake formed by that change in location, the Missouri river
flowed in a northwesterly and westerly course through "Cutoff Lake",
shown upon recent maps, thence southerly, about as is now does, near
the foot of the bluff where stands the city of Omaha,
except that at about the site of Soutli Omaha it bore further west,
sweeping against the bluff; thence, by a broad curve, southward and
ea.sterly, and then Ix^aiing to the north and east, it ^Kissed on the
eastern side of the Hardin farm and village of Council Point ; thence,
through what is now "Lake Manawa", turning to the east and south, bore
southwesterly beyond Trader's Point (Point aux Poulos). So, the Hardin
farm and Council Point were within what was locally known later as the
"Big Bend". The distance between Bellevue and Hart's Bluffs, by the
course of the river, was much greater in 1843 than now.
Beginning on the river bank about a mile south and west from the Hardin
farm, a large marsh, with many lateral branches, extended up the river
to the shore of the lake formed by Hart's Cut-Off. Its width varied
from one-half to one and one-half miles, and covered nearly all of the
surface, though there was exposed a high point in the angle between the
river and the lake where now is "East Omaha" or
"West End", — the name depending upon whether one is in Omaha or
Council Bluffs. This was the marsh referred to in the "Omega" log. The
location of the "bad sandbar" near this marsh is not deter- minable;
Missouri river sandbars are not stable land marks. It is probable that
it was not far from Hardin's, possibly near the site of
South Omaha. Wlien the writer arrived at Council Bluffs, in 1853, the
swamp still existed in diminished area and some of it may be there yet.
For many years thereafter — surely up to 1870 — portions of it were
known to Council Bluffs sportsmen as "Grassy Slough" and "Smith's
Lake".
Upon resuming her voyage above the "bad sandbar" on the morning of May
10, 1843, the "Omega" progressed finely until stopped by the dragoons
at 7 : 00 A. M. Giving due consideration to the course of the river,
the slow speed of the boat, it may be assumed that the landing of the
"Omega" was at the southern bend of the river, below Hart's Cut-Off,
near the then foot of the lake, about two miles from
the supposed site of Hart's trading house. The distance from this point
to Captain Burgwin's camp, as given by La Barge, was four miles, twice
repeated, and Audubon says the troopers "had left their camp four miles
distant from our anchorage at the same time" that the boat got under
way. P>om this "Omega" landing to Casady's farm
the distance would have been approximately ten miles by any route then
practicable, as may be seen by examination of a sectionized map. The
concurrent estimate of time elapsed between Audubon's departure from
the boat and his return accompanied by Captain Burgwin and the surgeon
is "about two hours", which would
indicate that such a distance could not have been covered by his travel
to and from the military encampment, even had he not spent some time in
talk with the officers and in shooting birds, and had no delay occurred
by reason of being required, as Audubon says, to "retrace our steps".
The distance from the point of landing, as here assumed, to the site of
the encampment of Captain Burgwin in Council Bluffs, as suggested
hereinbefore, would have been substantially four miles — possibly a
trifle less. Audubon's description of the ride along the foot of the
bluffs, and "on we went, and in a few minutes we entered a beautiful
dell or valley, and were in sight of the encampment", tallies perfectly
with the situation last suggested. Had they gone to the Casady farm
from the point where the steamer was "summoned to land"
they would have been obliged to cross the Mosquito creek, probably
unbridged, and if they had done this surely Audubon, noted for
attention to minute detail, would have mentioned the fact. It might be
said, upon the same line of argument, that it is strange that he did
not mention Indian creek, coursing through the "beautiful dell or
valley" described; but, one familiar with the location there knows that
he might not, in fact would not, have seen Indian creek at all. Coming
from the halted steamer the course would naturally, in the condition of
affairs then existing, have been along the southern margin of the lake,
reaching the bluffs at or near the Mynster Spring, thence along the
foot of the bluffs and into the dell, following the present Washington
Avenue in Council Bluffs to the site of the en-
campment, without even noticing the little rivulet which Indian creek
then probably was.
Captain Burgwin and his troopers, according to Mr. R. S. Hardin,
evacuated their cantonment because of the flood and —
"stuck their tents in the
hollow
near where Judge Casady 's house stands."
The "Duck Hollow" plateau — on which stood the "Log Tabernacle" of the
Mormons — logically meets this description.
The conditions leading to the sending of the command of Captain Burgwin
to the Pottawattamie country are referred to in the 1842 report of the
Indian agent. (See Sen. Doc. No. 1, 3d Sess., 27th Cong., Vol. 1, page
387.) The agent said:
"There was reason to apprehend,
during the last spring,
that hostilities would be commenced by the Sioux against the united
band of
Ottawas, Chippewas and Pottawattamies, on the Missouri, who invited the
Delawares to aid in their defence. Prompt and rigorous measures were
adopted to prevent this outbreak, which, if it had commenced, would
have involved consequences
of the most hazardous character to the combatants; would have probably
embroiled neighboring tribes, and could have been arrested by the
Government only at great cost. A company of dragoons was ordered by
your direction to Council Bluffs, and assurances given the threatened
party that they
would be protected, while the Indians charged with meditating the
attack were warned to abstain from it. These measures were effective,
and the quiet of the frontier has been preserved."
In addition to Captain Burgwin's report hereinbefore mentioned, and
which no doubt formed the basis of the statement of the War Department,
dated January 22, 1916, relative to the period during which "Fort
Croghan" was in existence (quoted in connection with the account of the
Old Blockhouse), testimony by one who was there present showing the
date of abandonment is contained in Audubon's
journal of the return trip of his party, made by way of the Missouri
river in small boats in the months of September and October, 1843.
Under October dates appear the following notes, viz. :
"Wednesday, 4th. Cloudy and
coldish. Left early and can't
find my pocket knife, which I fear I have lost. We were stopped by wind
at Cabane Bluffs, about twenty miles above Fort Croghan. . . .
Windbound till night, and nothing done.
"Thursday, 5th. Blew hard all night, but clear and beautiful sunrise.
Started early, but stopped by wind at eight. Bell, Harris and Squires
have started off for Fort Crc^han. As there was every appearance of
rain we left at three and reached the fort about half past four. Found
all well, and most kindly received. We were presented with some green
com and had a quantity of bread made; also bought thirteen eggs from an
Indian for twenty-five cents. Honey bees are found here, and do well,
but none are seen above this place.
"Friday, 6th. Some rain and thunder last night. A tolerable day.
Breakfast at camp and left at half past eight. Our man Michaux was
passed over to the officers' boat, to steer them down to Fort
Leavenworth, where they are ordered, but we keep in company, and he is
to cook for us at night. The whole station is broken up, and Captain
Burgwin leaves in a few hours
by land with the dragoons, horses, etc. . . . " Inasmuch as
Captain Burgwin stated in August that the old encampment would not be
fit for reoccupancy, there is no probability that the troops returned
there for encampment prior to departure.
Thus ends this story of "Fort Croghan", which the writer believes to
contain all attainable facts material to the history of the cantonment,
as well as some of his own deductions, inferences and assumptions
resting upon apparently strong circumstantial evidence when considered
in connection with the conditions existing at the time when the
transactions occurred.
Other troops were sent to this region at various times during the
occupancy of the southwestern Iowa country by the Pottawattamie
Indians, but none other than those mentioned herein and in the several
articles comprised in the booklet appear to have been quartered in the
immediate vicinity of the site of the present city of Council
Bluffs.
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