Prairies and wood
Let us try to picture Iowa as it was before the coming of the white men between 1673 and 1833. Then as now, about seven-eights of its surface was prairie. On the prairies, mingling with the grasses, were numerous wild flowers such as shooting stars, violets, meadowlilies, asters and golden rod. Strawberries glowed in the June sun. Here and there were groves. The larger wood were along the streams where the trees might better withstand the droughts. Groves and woods consisted of chiefly hickory, birch, walnut, elm, oak (several kinds), sugar maple, sycamore and cottonwood. The wild grape wound its slender stems around trunks and branches of the trees, and in the shelter of the trees copses of raspberry and blackberry ripened their berries in summer and wild plums and crabapples lent color and fragrance to the woodland scenery in autumn. Of the plants now familiar, but then not found in Iowa, were the red and white clover, the various kinds of grains and many other cultivated pants.
Animal life
Herds of buffaloes, sometimes containing hundreds and even thousands of animals, grazed on the wide, rolling prairies; and there also smaller herds of deer and elks found good pasturage. Colonies of prairie dogs -- unlike the dogs of the Indians and the white men -- had their holes in the higher prairies, perhaps close neighbors to red foxes. Numerous rattle snakes slid along in the grass frightening quails and prairie chickens. Beavers built their dams across many of the streams, which were well stocked with fish; opossum, raccoons, wild cats, a few panthers and black bears found food and shelter in the groves and woods. There also the noblest native bird of early Iowa, the wild turkey, had its home.
Then as now, spring was greeted by the song of cardinals, song sparrows, robins and bluebirds; later followed by the music of wrens, orioles, warblers, thrushes and bobolinks. The call of the bobwhite and the rapid notes of the whip-poo-will might be heard in the groves and woods, and the booming of the prairie chickens on the prairies. In the cold winters the chickadee cheered the Indian with her merry note, and the bluejays added touches of bright color to the winter landscape. But the English sparrow and the...
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�. starling were not found in Iowa before the white men; nor were the pheasants, which are some of our common game birds today.
Climate
The climate does not appear to have differed very much from what it is now. Spring showers and sunshine made the fertile black soil produce abundantly of grass and trees. In autumn when the air was dry and dusty there were gorgeous sunsets. If there was a "spell" of nice warm weather after the first "cold snap", the Indians got busy making a few tardy preparations for winter. For that reason a period of nice weather late in autumn is still called Indian summer. Of course, hailstorms and tornadoes would sometimes interrupt the usual succession of rain and sunshine; and fierce blizzards at times swept the woods and prairies in winter, making the poor Indian moan and shiver in his wretched wickiup.
The pre-historic Indians
The white men called the people of the New World Indians, because Columbus and the early explorer believed America was India. The Indians were also called Red Men because their skin was of a reddish color, varying, however, from a yellowish red to a dark brown. Thousands of years ago the Indians appear to have come from Asia. They spread out over both the Americas, often migrating and often at war. Not infrequently one group destroyed the other.
The Indians told stories about the migrations and wars, but since they had no writing except crude picture writing, they had but little that could be called history. What we do know about the Indians before the coming of the white men, comes from the study of bones and various kinds of relics, weapons, tools and utensils that have been found in the ground.
Some of the most interesting remains of pre-historic Indian are the effigy mounds in northeastern Iowa. Earlier it was though that the Indians who built the mounds belonged to a higher race than the other Indians. This belief has been abandoned. The so-called Mound Builders were Indians like the historic Indian thought they may have had a somewhat higher culture.
The historic Indians
The Indians that the white men met in Iowaland belonged to two language groups- the Siouan and the Algonkian. To the Siouan belonged the Sioux or Dakotas, the Omahas, the Otoes, the Missouris, and the Winnebagoes. To the Algonkian belonged....
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.... the sacs and Foxes, the Mascoutins, the Potawatomis, the Illini or Illinois Indians, and others.
All the Iowa Indians were migratory. Their villages had only a temporary existence. Their houses, sometimes referred to as wickiups, sometimes wigwams or tepees, were flimsy structures built of poles, bark and tall grass. All these Indians were hunters.
The Sioux subsisted largely on buffalo. The other Iowa Indians were both hunters and cultivators of small patches of ground where they raised corn, sunflowers, pumpkins, squashes, and other vegetables. The Sioux hunted mainly in Minnesota and northern Iowa. They were constantly at war with the surrounding tribes. The Iowas, from whom the State was properly named, hunted north and south from Minnesota to Missouri.
Originally the Sacs and Foxes had lived farther east. So far as it is known their first home was in Rhode Island. The new England Indians, it may here be added, also belonged to the Algonkian language group. Later the Foxes lived in the valley of the St. Lawrence, and later again, along the Fox River in Wisconsin, to which river they gave their name. Often at war with the French, they finally allied themselves with the Sacs, who had formerly lived in Michigan. The Sacs and the Fox alliance became permanent, but each continued to have separate villages-The Foxes in the Fox villages and the Sacs in the Sac villages.
The Sacs and Foxes and other tribes pressed south and conquered much of the land of the Illinois Indians. They also crossed the Mississippi into Iowa. There they met the fierce Sioux who henceforth remained their deadly enemies. A Fox chief once told a white man that the Great Spirit had placed the Foxes on this earth to kill Sioux. Before the coming of the white settlers to Iowas, the Sacs and Foxes had their villages on both sides of the Mississippi. All the Fox villages, however, were on the west side of the river, the largest, sometimes referred to as Muskwakenuk, had 35 wickiups. Muskwakenuk was located near the site of the present city of Davenport. Saukenuk, the largest Sac village was located on the Rock River in Illinois. It contained over 1,000 people, and is said to have been one of the most pretentious Indian towns of the West. It had streets and also open spaces for assemblies and games. Some of the houses were 40 feet wide and 100 feet long, divided into compartments for several related families. There were also houses for holding public discussions. Such meetings were indeed favorite....
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....diversions of the Indians for they loved very much flowery languages and oratory. In 1805 the Sacs and Foxes on both sides of the Mississippi numbered about 4,600 men, women and children. A group of related families among the Sacs and Foxes was called a clan. The clans made up tribes. The Sac clans bore such names as bear, wolf, dog, elk, eagle, partridge, sturgeon, sucker and thunder. The Fox clans had similar names. Since all members of each clan were closely related, marriage between members of the same clan was not permitted. The Sioux had a different organization. Among them there were no clans. The tribe was made up of bands or sub-tribes. In peace each tribe was ruled by a hereditary chief, who was assisted by a council of elders. But any warrior daring enough might raise a band of braves and go on the warpath. This would make him a war chief, especially if he were successful.
Both men and women as well as the children worked. The men made their tools, paddled the canoes and protected the home against enemies. The women not only"kept house," but built the house of shelter. They made the clothing, wove mats, and raised corn, beans, pumpkins, and squashes. The older men and captives sometimes assisted the women, but usually the men did not work "about the house." It was not a custom in primitive society.
The children of the Sacs and Foxes were nursed by their mothers until they were two years old or older. They were usually healthy....
.... and strong, but many died while they were papooses or were killed during raids and wars. Both boys and girls learned to swim. Many were as frisky in water as fish. When about six years old he boys began to play with toy bows and arrows. A few years later they started to hunt, often under the direction of their fathers. The girls learned house work and garden work from their mothers. The ambitious boy wanted to be a good hunter and fighter, and the ambitious girl to be a good cook, seamstress and gardener.
