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Chapter III
Indian Affairs
1880 Boone County History
Return to 1880 History of Boone
County Index| It
has been the custom of the general government in dealing with the
Indians west of the Mississippi river to treat them as independent
nations. In these negotiations with the aborigines of Iowa the authorities, at various times, entered into treaties with the Sioux, in the north, and with the Sacs and Foxes, in the south, the government purchasing the land from the Indians just as Louisiana was purchased from France. The Black Hawk purchase was acquired by means of the first treaty made with the Sac and Fox Indians in reference to Iowa lands. This treaty was made September 1, 1832, and included a portion of country bounded as follows: Beginning on the Mississippi river, where the northern boundary line of the lands owned by said Indians strikes said river, thence up or westward on said line fifty miles, thence in a right line to the Red Cedar river, forty miles from the Mississippi river, thence in a right line to the northern part of the State of Missouri, at a point fifty miles from the Mississippi river, thence by the said boundary line to the Mississippi river, and thence up the Mississippi river to the place of beginning. The western boundary line was a very irregular one, as it followed the same general direction as the Mississippi river. It ran a little west of the present location of Washington, and its general direction was a little west of south. The second purchase was made in 1837, October 21, and included a sufficient amount of territory to straighten the boundary line. The western boundary of the Black Hawk purchase being a very irregular line, the treaty of 1837 was designed for the purpose of straightening said boundary line. By this treaty the Indians ceded a tract of country west and adjoining the Black Hawk purchase, containing one million two hundred and fifty thousand acres. Upon survey, however, the number of acres proved insufiicient to make a straight line, as was originally intended. The Indians stipulated to remove within one year, except from Keokuk's village, which they were allowed to occupy five months longer. The last treaty made with the Sac and Fox Indians comprehended all the rest of their lands in the State. This treaty was made at Agency City, in the present limits of Wapello county, and was concluded October 11, 1842, proclamation of its ratification having been made March 23, 1843, and possession was given to all that part lying east of Red Rock, now in Marion county, on May 1, 1843. The last date, therefore, is the period when the whole of the country was thrown open to white settlement. The principal chief in this treaty was Keokuk. A gentleman of an adjoining county heard this chief make a speech on that occasion, which he pronounces an unusually eloquent address. He says that in his opinion, "the former standing of Keokuk as an Indian orator and chieftain, as a dignified gentleman and a fine specimen of physical development, was not in the least overrated." During the Black Hawk trouble his voice was for peace with the white man, and his influence added much to shorten that war. As an honor to this chief, and owing to his influence in bringing about the treaty, a county was called Keokuk. Until the conclusion of the Black Hawk treaty the Indians held undisputed sway in Iowa. Few, if any, white people in those days ventured as far west as this, and the country was comparatively unknown, except as reports were brought to the frontier by roving bands of Indians, intent on barter. In the main the Indians subsisted upon the wild animals then inhabiting this country. Occasional patches of Indian corn were cultivated, which furnished them scanty food during a portion of the year; but wild turkeys, pheasants, deer, fish and muskrats formed the chief articles of diet. As they ceded their lands to the United States, strip after strip, they gradually withdrew, and the white settlers took their place as possessors of the soil. The aborigines were not forcibly ejected from their lands as in other parts of the country, but the change was effected by a legitimate proceeding of bargain and sale. As a result of this peaceable arrangement, and the earnest efforts of the government to carry out, to the letter, the provisions of the treaties, the early settlers experienced none of the hardships which fell to the lot of the early settlers in other parts of the country, where misunderstanding about the ownership of the soil gave rise to frightful massacre and bloody wars. The Indians gave no serious difficulty, and seldom, if ever, disturbed the early settlers of this county, after they had rightfully come into possession of it. By the various treaties made with the Sac and Fox Indians, the government paid these $80,000 per year, by families. Mr. William B. Street, of Oskaloosa, was disbursing clerk for John Beach, Indian agent, during the year 1841, and still retains in his possession the receipts for the part payment of his annuity, in his own handwriting, and the marks of the chiefs in signing. We give an extract, including the names of part of the Indians who were at that time living at Kish-ke-kosh's village, in what is now the eastern part of the county, west of Keokuk county: " We, the chiefs, warriors, heads of families and individuals without families, of the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians, within the same agency, acknowledge the receipt of $40,000 of John Beach, United States Indian Agent, in the sums appended to our names, being our proportion of the annuity due said tribe for the year 1841.
"We certify that we were present at the payment of the above-mentioned amounts, and saw the amounts paid to the several Indians, in specie, and that their marks were affixed in our presence this 19th day of October, 1861. "(Signed) JNO. BEACH, U. S. Indian Agent. THOMAS McCRATE, Lieut. 1st Dragoons. JOSIAH SMART, Interpreter. "We the undersigned chiefs of the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians, acknowledge the correctness of the foregoing receipts. "KEOKUK,' his X mark. POWESHIEK.Miis X mark." [Footnote in book: Keokuk means "the watchful fox" and Poweshiek means "the roused bear.] The payments were made in silver coins, put up in boxes, containing five hundred dollars each, and passed into Keokuk's hands for distribution. The several traders received each his quota according to the several demands against the tribes admitted by Keokuk, which invariably consumed the far greater portion of the amount received. The remainder was turned over to the chiefs and distributed among the respective bands. Great complaints were made of these allowances to the traders, on the ground of exorbitant prices charged on the goods actually furnished, and it was alleged that some of these accounts were spurious. In confirmation of this charge over and above the character of the items exhibited in these accounts an affidavit was filed with Governor Lucas, by an individual to whom the governor gave credence, setting forth that Keokuk had proposed to the maker of the affidavit to prefer a purely fictitious account against the tribe for the sum of $10,000, and he would admit its correctness, and when paid the money should be divided among themselves, share and share alike. To swell the trader's bills, items were introduced of a character that should brand fraud upon their face, such as a large number of blanket coats, articles which the Indians never used, and telescopes, of the use of which they had no knowledge. This showed the reckless manner in which these bills were swollen to the exorbitant amounts complained of, in which Keokuk was openly charged with being in league with the traders to defraud the Indians. At this time the nation numbered about two thousand and three hundred and it is not possible tliat Keokuk could have carried on an organized system of theft without the fact becoming apparent to all. As it was, however. Governor Lucas thought best to change the manner in which the annual payments were made. The matter was referred to the Indian bureau, and the mode was changed so that the payments were made to the heads of families, approximating a per capita distribution. This method of payment did not suit the traders, and after a short trial the old plan was again adopted. That the Indians, then as now, were the victims of sharp practice cannot be doubted, but the fact can be attributed to the superior tact and the unscrupulous character of many of the traders; this furnishes a more probable explanation and is more in accord with the character of Keokuk, as known by his intimate friends, still living, than to attribute these swindling operations to a conspiracy in which the illustrious chief was the leading actor. Among the early settlers of Iowa, the names of Keokuk and Wapello are the most noted and familiar. These two illustrious chiefs live not only in the recollections of these early settlers, but in the permanent history of our common country. Short biographical sketches of these two noted characters, therefore, will be of great interest to the people of this county, and peculiarly appropriate for a work of this kind. To the school boy who has frequently read of these Indians, the fact that they roved around on this very ground where their feet tread, and that in their hunting excursions these Indians crossed the same prairies where they now gather the yelloweared corn, will give to these sketches intense interest, while the early settler who talked with Wapello and Keokuk, ate with them, hunted with them and fished with them, cannot fail to find in these brief and necessarily imperfect biographies, something fascinating as they are thus led back over a quarter of a century, to live over again the days of other years, and witness again the scenes of early day, when the tall prairie grass waved in the autumn breeze, and the country, like themselves, was younger and fresher than now. Keokuk belonged to the Sac branch of the nation, and, as mentioned in the first part of this work, was born on Rock river, Illinois, in 1780. Accordingly he was sixty-three years old at the time the county was thrown open to the white settler, and fifty-seven when the boundary line of 1837 was established. The best memory of the earliest settlers cannot take them back to a time when Keokuk was not an old man. When in 1833 the impatient feet of the white men first hastened across the Mississippi eager for new conquests and fortunes, this illustrious chief was already nearing his three-score years, and with longing eyes he took the last look at the fair lands bordering on the Great Father of Waters and turned his weary feet toward the west, his sun of life had already crossed the meridian and was rapidly approaching its setting. Little is known concerning the early life of Keokuk, except that from his first battle, while yet young, he had carried home the scalp of a Sioux, whom he had slain in a hand-to-hand conflict, and between whose tribe and the tribe to which Keokuk belonged there ever existed the most deadly enmity. For this feat Keokuk was honored with a feast by his tribe. It is said that a great battle was once fought by the Indians near Pilot Mound, one of the elevations of Mineral Ridge, on the east side of the river in this county. Keokuk commanded the Sacs and Foxes, and Little Crow commanded the Sioux. This battle must have been fought some time prior to the Black Hawk War. The bones of the slain were frequently plowed up by the early settlers in the vicinity of Pilot Mound, and a number of skeletons have been exhumed from the top of the mound. Keokuk is said to have been victorious. Several hundred warriors were engaged on either side. Keokuk first came into prominence among the whites at the breaking out of the second war with England, commonly known as the War of 1812. Most of the Indians at that time espoused the cause of the English, but Keokuk, at the head of a large number of the Sacs and Foxes, remained faithful to the Americans. In 1828 Keokuk, in accordance with the terms of a treaty, crossed the Mississippi river with his tribe and established himself on the Iowa river. Here he remained in peace, and his tribe flourished till the breaking out of the Black Hawk War in 1832. He seemed to have a much more intelligent insight into the great national questions which were raised during these early Indian difficulties, as well as more thorough appreciation of the resources of the national government. He opposed the Black Hawk War, and seemed to fully forecast the great disaster which thereby befel his tribe. Although many of his warriors deserted him and followed Black Hawk in his reckless campaign across the Mississippi, Keokuk prevailed upon a majority of his tribe to remain at home. When the news reached Keokuk that Black Hawk's warriors had gained a victory over Stillman's forces in Ogle county, Illinois, the war spirit broke out among his followers like fire in the dry prairie grass; a war-dance was held, and the chief himself took part in it. He seemed for a while to move in sympathy with the rising storm, and at the conclusion of the war-dance he called a council to prepare for war. In a work entitled "Annals of Iowa," published in 1865, there is reported the substance of a speech made by Keokuk on this occasion. We quote: " I am your chief, and it is my duty to lead you to battle, if, after fully considering the matter, you are determined to go." He then represented to them the great power of the United States, against which they would have to contend, and that their prospect of success was utterly hopeless. Then continuing, said: " But if you are determined to go on the war-path, I will lead you on one condition - that before we go we kill all our old men, and our wives, and our children, to save them from a lingering death by starvation, and that every one of you determine to leave his bones on the other side of the Mississippi." This was a strong and truthful picture of the prospect before them, and was presented in such a forcible light that it caused them to abandon their rash undertaking. After the Black Hawk War Keokuk was recognized as the head of the Sac and Fox nation by the United States government, and in this capacity he was looked upon by his people from that time on. This honor, however, was sometimes disputed by some of the original followers of Black Hawk. A gentleman of some prominence as a writer, and who is said to have witnessed the affray, says: "A bitter feud existed in the tribe during the time Keokuk resided on the Des Moines river, between what was denominated 'Keokuk's band and Black Hawk's band.' Their distrust, and indeed hatred, were smothered in their common intercourse, when sober; but when their blood was fired with whisky, it sometimes assumed a tragic feature among the leaders of the respective bands. An instance of this character occurred on the lower part of the Des Moines river, on the return of a party making a visit to the 'half-breeds' at the town of Keokuk, on the Mississippi. In a quarrel incited by whisky, Keokuk received a dangerous stab in the breast by a son of Black Hawk. The writer saw him conveyed, by his friends, homeward, lying in a canoe, unable to rise." The writer continues: " Hardfish (who was the pretended chief of the rival party) and his coadjutors lost no occasion to find fault with Keokuk's administration." In person, Keokuk was of commanding appearance. He was tall, straight as an arrow, and of very graceful mien. These personal characteristics, together with his native fervor, and ready command of language, gave him great power over his people as a speaker. If, as a man of energy and courage he gained the respect and obedience of his tribe, it was more especially as an orator that he was able to wield his people in the times of great excitement, and in a measure shape their policy in dealing with the white man. As an orator rather than as a warrior, has Keokuk's claim to greatness been founded. "He was gifted by nature," says the author of the Annals, "with the elements of an orator in an eminent degree, and as such is entitled to rank with Logan, Red Jacket and Tecumseh; but unfortunately for his fame among the white people, and with posterity, he was never able to obtain an interpreter who could claim even a slight acquaintance with philosophy. With one exception only, his interpreters were unacquainted with the elements of the mother tongue. Of this serious hindrance to his fame Keokuk was well aware, and retained Frank Labashure, who had received a rudimental education in the French and English languages, until the latter died broken down by exposure and dissipation; but during the meridian of his career among the white people he was compelled to submit his speeches for translation to uneducated men, whose range of thought fell below the flights of a gifted mind, and the fine imagery, drawn from nature, was beyond their power of reproduction. He had a suflicient knowledge of the English tongue to make him sensible of this bad rendering of his thoughts, and often a feeling of mortification at the bungling efforts was depicted upon his countenance while he was speaking. The proper place to form a correct estimate of his ability as an orator was in the Indian council, where he addressed himself exclusively to those who understood his language, and where the electric effects of his eloquence could be plainly noted upon his audience. It was credibly asserted that by the force of his logic he had changed the vote of a council against the strongly predetermined opinions of its members." A striking incident of the influence of his eloquence is that one already related in which he delivered a speech to his followers, who were bent on joining Black Hawk, after the Stillman reverse in Ogle county, Illinois. Mr. James, of Sigourney, being present at the council, at Agency City, when the treaty of 1842 was made, says of Keokuk: "We heard him make a speech on the occasion, which, by those who understood his tongue, was said to be a sensible and eloquent effort. Judging from his voice and gestures, his former standing as an Indian orator and chieftain, we thought his reputation as a dignified yet gentlemanly aborigine had not been overrated. During the Black Hawk War his voice was for peace with the white man, and his influence added much to the shortening of the war. As an honor to the chief our county bears his name." Keokuk, in company with Black Hawk, Poweshiek, Kish-ke-kosh, and some fifteen other chiefs, under the escort of Gen. J. M. Street, visited Washington City and different parts of the East in 1837. The party descended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ohio by steamer, and thence up the latter to Wheeling, where they took stage across the mountains. When the party arrived in Washington, at the request of some of the government officials a council was held with some chiefs of the Sioux there present, as the Sacs and Foxes were waging a perpetual war with the Sioux nation. The council was held in the Hall of Representatives. To the great indignation of the Sioux, Kish-ke-kosh appeared dressed in a buffalo hide which he had taken in war from a Sioux chief, and took his position in one of the large windows, with the mane and horns of the buffalo as a sort of head-dress, and the tail trailing on the floor. The Sioux complained to the officials, claiming that this was an insult to them, but they were informed that the Sacs and Foxes had a right to appear in any kind of costume they chose to wear. The first speech was made by a Sioux, who complained bitterly of the wrongs they had suffered, and how they had been driven from their homes by the Sacs and Foxes, their warriors killed and their villages burned. Then followed Keokuk, the great orator of his tribe, who replied at some length, an interpreter repeating the speech after him. There were those present who had heard Webster, Calhoun, Clay, and Benton in the same hall, and theydeclared that for the manner of delivery, for native eloquence, impassioned expression of countenance, the chief surpassed them all and this while they could not understand his words, save as they were repeated by the interpreter. From Washington they went to New York, where they were shown no little attention, and. Gen. Street attempting to show them the city on foot, the people in their anxiety to see Keokuk and Black Hawk crowded them beyond the point of endurance, and in order to avoid the throng they were compelled to make their escape through a store building, and reached their hotel through the back alleys and less frequented streets. At Boston they were met at the depot by a delegation of leading citizens and conveyed in carriages to the hotel. The next day they were taken in open carriages, and with a guard of honor on foot, they were shown the whole city. During their stay in Boston they were the guests of the great American orator, Edward Everett, who made a banquet for them. When the Indians returned and were asked about New York they only expressed their disgust. Boston was the only place in the United States, in their estimation, and their opinion has been shared in by many white people who since that time have made a pilgrimage from the West to the famous shrines of the East. While residing at Ottumwah-nac, Keokuk received a message from the Mormon prophet, Joseph Smith, in which the latter invited Keokuk, as king of the Sacs and Foxes, to a royal conference at his palace at Nauvoo, on matters of the highest importance to their respective people. The invitation was accepted, and at the appointed time the king of the Sacs and Foxes, accompanied by a stately escort on ponies, wended his way to the appointed interview with the great apostle of the Latter Day Saints. Keokuk, as before remarked, was a man of good judgment and keen insight into the human character. He was not easily led by sophistry, nor beguiled by flattery. The account of this interview with Smith, as given by the author of the "Annals," so well illustrates these traits of his character that we give it in full: "Notice had been circulated through the country of this diplomatic interview, and quite a number of spectators attended to witness the denoument. The audience was given publicly in the great Mormon temple, and the respective chiefs were attended by their suites, the prophet by the dignitaries of the Mormon Church, and the Indian potentate by the high civil and military functionaries of his tribe, and the Gentiles were comfortably seated as auditors. "The prophet opened the conference in a set speech of some length, giving Keokuk a brief history of the Children of Israel, as detailed in the Bible, and dwelt forcibly upon the history of the lost tribes, and that he, the prophet of God, held a divine commission to gather them together and lead them to a land 'flowing with milk and honey.' After the prophet closed his harangue, Keokuk 'waited for the words of his pale-faced brother to sink deep into his mind,' and in making his reply, assumed the gravest attitude and most dignified demeanor. He would not controvert anything his brother had said about the lost and scattered condition of his race and people, and if his brother was commissioned by the Great Spirit to collect them together and lead them to a new country it was his duty to do so. But he wished to inquire about some particulars his brother had not named that were of the highest importance to him and his people. The red man was not much used to milk, and he thought they would prefer streams of water; and in the country they now were there was a good supply of honey. The points they wished to inquire into were, whether the new government would pay large annuities, and whether there was plenty of whisky. Joe Smith saw at once that he had met his match, and that Keokuk was not the proper material with which to increase his army of dupes, and closed the interview in as amiable and pleasant a manner as possible." Until 1836 Keokuk resided with his tribe on a reservation of 400 square miles, situated on the Iowa river. His headquarters were at a village bearing his name, located on the right bank of the stream. In this year, in accordance with the stipulations of a treaty held at Davenport, Keokuk with his followers removed to this territory, now comprised in the bounds of Keokuk, Mahaska and Wapello counties. The agency for the Indians was located at a point where is now located Agency City. At this time an effort was made to civilize the red man. Farms were opened up, and two mills were erected, one on Soap creek and one on Sugar creek. A salaried agent was employed to superintend these farming operations. Keokuk, Wapello and Appanoose each had a large field improved and cultivated. Keokuk's farm was located upon what is yet known as Keokuk's Prairie, in what is now Wapello county. The Indians did not make much progress in these farming operations, and in the absence of their natural and wonted excitements, became idle and careless. Many of them plunged into dissipation. Keokuk himself became badly dissipated in the latter years of his life. Pathetic as was the conditition of these savages at this time, it was but the legitimate result of the treatment which they had received. They were confined to a fixed location, and provided with annuities by the government sufficient to meet their wants from year to year. They were in this manner prevented from making those extensive excursions, and embarking in those warlike pursuits, which from time immemorial had formed the chief avenues for the employment of those activities which for centuries had claimed the attention of the savage mind; and the sure and regular means of subsistance furnished by the government took away from them the incentives for the employment of these activities, even had the means still existed. In addition to this the Indian beheld his lands taken from him, and his tribe growing smaller year by year. Possessed of an ideal and imaginative intellect he could not help forecasting the future, and thus being impressed with the thought that in a few years all these lands would be in the possession of the white man, while his tribe and his name would be swept into oblivion by the tide, immigration, which pressed in upon him from every side. Keokuk saw all of this, and seeing it, had neither the power nor inclination to prevent it. Take the best representative of the Anglo-Saxon race, and place him in similar circumstances, and he would do no better. Shut in by restraint from all sides, relieved from all the anxieties comprehended in that practical question, what shall we eat, and wherewithal shall we be clothed? and deprived of all those incentives springing from, and inspired by a lofty ambition, and the best of us, with all our culture and habits of industry, would fall into idleness and dissipation and our fall would be as great, if not as low, as was the fall of that unhappy people who formerly inhabited this country, and whose disappearance and gradual extinction we shall now be called upon to contemplate. Wapello, the cotemporary of Keokuk and the inferior chief, after whom a neighboring county and county seat were named, died before the Indians were removed from the State, and thus escaped the humiliation of the scene. He, like his superior chief, was a fast friend of the whites and wielded an immense influence among the individuals of his tribe. As is mentioned in a former chapter, he presided over three tribes in the vicinity of Fort Armstrong during the time that frontier post was being erected. In 1829 he removed his village to Muscatine Swamp, and then to a place near where is now located the town bearing his name. Many of the early settlers of the country remember him well, as the southern part of this county was a favorite resort for him and many members of his tribe. It was in the limits of Keokuk county that this illustrious chief died. Although he willingly united in the treaty ceding it to the whites, it was done with the clear conviction that the country would be shortly overrun and his hunting ground ruined by the advance of pale faces. He chose to sell rather than to be robbed, and then quietly receded with his band. Mr. Scearcy, of Keokuk county, relates an incident in the life of this chief which we here quote: "Between the Sioux, and the Sacs and Foxes, a bitter and deadly hatred existed. This enmity was carried to such a bitter extent that it caused the establishment, by the government, of the neutral ground, in the north part of the territory, which was a strip of country about thirty miles in width, over which the tribes were not allowed to pass in order to slay each other. The love of revenge was so strongly marked in the Indian character that it was not to be suppressed by imaginary geographical lines, and consequently it was not a rare occurrence for a Sac or Fox Indian, or a Sioux, to bite the dust, as an atonement for real or imaginary wrongs. In this manner one of the sons of Wapello was cruelly cut down, from an ambush, in the year 1836. When the chief heard of the sad calamity he was on Skunk river, opposite the mouth of Crooked creek. He immediately plunged into and swam across the stream. Upon arriving at a trading-post near by, he gave the best pony he had for a barrel of whisky, and setting it out, invited his people to partake, a very unwise practice which he doubtless borrowed from the white people who availed themselves of this medium in which to drown their sorrows." Wapello's death occurred in Keokuk county, in March, 1844. In accordance which the provisions of the treaty of 1843, he had retired with his tribe west of Red Rock, and it was during a temporary visit to his old hunting ground on Rock creek, that he breathed his last. We quote from an address of Mr. Romig, delivered in a neighboring town a few years since, the following pathetic account of the death of the warrior: "As the swallow returns to the place where last she had built her nest, cruelly destroyed by the ruthless hands of some rude boy, or as a mother would return to the empty crib where once had reposed her innocent babe in the sweet embrace of sleep, and weep for the treasure she had once possessed, so Wapello mourned for the hunting grounds he had been forced to leave behind, and longed to roam over the broad expanse again. It was in the month of March; heavy winter had begun to shed her mantle of snow; the sun peeped forth through the fleeting clouds; the woodchuck emerged from his subterranean retreat to greet the morning breeze, and all nature seemed to rejoice at the prospect of returning spring. The old chief felt the exhilarating influence of reviving nature, and longed again for the sports of his youth. He accordingly assembled a party and started on a hunting excursion to the scenes of his former exploits. But alas, the poor old man was not long destined to mourn over his misfortunes. While traveling over the beautiful prairies, or encamped in the picturesque groves that he was once wont to call his own, disease fastened upon his vitals and the chief lay prostrate in his lodge. How long the burning fever raged and racked in his brain, or who it was that applied the cooling draught to his parched lips, tradition has failed to inform us; but this we may fairly presume: that his trusty followers were deeply distressed at the sufferings of their chief whom they loved, and administered all the comforts in their power to alleviate his sufferings, but all would not avail. Grim Death had crossed his path, touched an icy finger on his brow, and marked him for his own. Human efforts to save could avail nothing. Time passed, and with it the life of Wapello. The last word was spoken, the last wish expressed, the last breath drawn, and his spirit took its flight. The passing breeze in Aeolean notes chanted a requiem in the elm tops. The placid creek in its meandering course murmured in chorus over the dead. The squirrel came forth in the bright sunshine to frisk and chirp in frolicksome glee, and the timid fawn approached the brook and bathed her feet in the waters, but the old man heeded it not, for Manitou, his God, had called him home. "Although it is a matter of regret that we are not in possession of his dying words, and other particulars connected with his death, let us endeavor to be content in knowing that Wapello died sometime in the month of March, in the year 1844, in Keokuk county, on Rock creek, in Jackson township, on the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter, section 21, township 74, range 11 west, where a mound still marks the spot; and with knowing also that his remains were thence conveyed by Mr. Samuel Hardesty, now of Lancaster township, accompanied by twenty-two Indians and three squaws, to the Indian burial ground at Agency City, where sleeps the Indian agent, Gen. Street, and numbers of the Sac and Fox tribe, and where our informant left the remains to await the arrival of Keokuk and other distinguished chiefs to be present at the interment." Keokuk, Appanoose, and nearly all the leading men among Indians, were present at the funeral, which took place toward evening of the same day upon which the body arrived at the Agency. The usual Indian ceremonies preceded the interment, after which the remains were buried by the body of Gen. Street, which was in accordance with the chieftain's oft repeated request to be buried by the side of his honest pale-faced friend. In 1845, in accordance with the stipulations of the treaty, and in obedience to the demand of the white man, whose friend he had ever been, and whose home he had defended, both by word and act in times of great excitement, Keokuk led his tribe west of the Missouri river and located upon a reservation comprised in the boundaries of what is now the State of Kansas. What must have been the emotions which swelled the heart of this renowned savage, and what must have been the peculiar thoughts which came thronging from his active brain when he turned his back for the last time upon the bark covered huts of his Iowa village, the graves of his friends, and that portion of country which, but the year before, had been honored by his name! It was leaving everything familiar in life and dear to the heart. To him it was not going west to grow up with the country, but to lose himself and his tribe in oblivion and national annihilation. Keokuk lived but three years after leaving the Territory of Iowa, and we have no facts at our command in reference to his career at the new home west of the Missouri. The "Keokuk Register" of June 15, 1848, contained the following notice of his death, together with some additional sketches of his life: " The St. Louis 'New Era' announces the death of this celebrated Indian chief. Poison was administered to him by one of his tribe, from the effects of which he died. The Indian was apprehended, confessed his guilt, and was shot. "Keokuk leaves a son of some prominence, but there is little probability of his succeeding to the same station, as he is not looked upon by the tribe as inheriting the disposition and principles of his father." We close this sketch by appending an extract from a letter recently written by Judge J. M. Casey, of Fort Madison, to Hon. S. A. James, of Sigourney: "While Keokuk was not a Lee county man, I have often seen him here. He was an individual of distinguished mark; once seen would always be remembered. It was not necessary to be told that he was a chief, you would at once recognize him as such, and stop to admire his grand deportment. I was quite young when I last saw him, but I yet remember his appearance and every lineament of his face as well as if it had been yesterday, and this impression was left upon every person who saw him, whether old or young. It is hard for us to realize that an Indian could be so great a man. But it is a candid fact, admitted by all the early settlers who knew him, that Keokuk possessed, in a prominent degree, the elements of greatness." During the visit of Keokuk, Wapello, and their party at Boston, which has already been referred to, there was a great struggle between the managers of the two theatres of that place to obtain the presence of the Indians in order to "draw houses." At the Tremont, the aristocratic one, the famous tragedian, Forrest, was filling an engagement. His great play, in which he acted the part of the gladiator, and always drew his largest audiences, had not yet come off, and the manager was disinclined to bring it out while the Indians were there, as their presence always insured a full house. General Street, who as before remarked, was in charge of the party, being a strict Presbyterian, was not much in the theatrical line, hence Major Beach, to whom we are indebted for the facts of this incident, and who accompanied General Street at the time, took the matter in hand. He knew that this peculiar play would suit the Indians better than those simple declamatory tragedies, in which, as they could not understand a word, there was no action to keep them interested, so he prevailed upon the manager to bring it out, promising that the Indians would be present. In the exciting scene where the gladiators engage in a deadly combat, the Indians gazed with eager and breathless anxiety, and as Forrest, finally pierced through the breast with his adversary's sword, fell dying, and as the other drew his bloody sword from the body, heaving in the convulsions of its expiring throes, and while the curtain was descending, the whole Indian company burst out with their fiercest war whoop. It was a frightful yell to strike suddenly upon unaccustomed ears, and was immediately followed by screams of terror from the more nervous among the women and children. For an instant the audience seemed at a loss, but soon uttered a hearty round of applause - a just tribute to both actor and Indians. During the same visit to Boston, Major Beach says that the Governor gave them a public reception at the State House. The ceremony took place in the spacious Hall of Representatives, every inch of which was jammed with humanity. After the Governor had ended his eloquent and appropriate address of welcome, it devolved upon one of the chiefs to reply, and Appanoose, in his turn, as at the conclusion of his "talk," he advanced to grasp the Governor's hand, said: "It is a great day that the sun shines upon when two such great chiefs take each other by the hand! " The Governor, with a nod of approbation, controlled his facial muscles in a most courtly gravity. But the way the house came down "was a caution," all of which Appanoose doubtless considered the Yankee way of applauding his speech. The Indians seldom occupied their permanent villages except during the time of planting or securing their crop, after which they would start out on a short hunt, if the annuity - which was usually paid within six weeks from the first of September - had not been received. Immediately after payment it was the custom to leave the village for the winter, hunting through this season by families and small parties, leading a regular nomadic life, changing the location from time to time, as the supply of game and the need - so essential to their comfort - of seeking places near the timbered streams best protected from the rigors of winter, would require. It was, doubtless, on one of these tours through the country that Kish-kekosh once stopped over night at the house of a white man. He was accompanied by several companions, who slept together on a buffalo hide within view of the kitchen. In the morning when he awoke, Kish-ke-kosh had an eye on the culinary operations there going on. The lady of the house - it is possible she did it intentionally, as she was not a willing entertainer of such guests - neglected to wash her hands before making up the bread. Kish thought he would rather do without his breakfast than eat after such cooking, and privately signified as much to his followers, whereupon they mounted their ponies and departed, much to the relief of the hostess. When they arrived at a house, some distance from the one they had left, they got their breakfast and related the circumstance. This Kish-ke-kosh, previous to 1837, was simply a warrior-chief in the village of Keokuk. The warrior-chief was inferior to the village-chief, to which distinction he afterward attained. The village presided over by this chief is well remembered by many of the early settlers. It was located, some say, just over the line in what is now White Oak township, Mahaska, county. Major Beach thus describes it: "The place cannot be located exactly according to our State maps, although the writer has often visited it in Indian times; but somewhere out north from Kirkville, and probably not twelve miles distant, on the banks of Skunk river, not far above the Forks of Skunk, was a small village of not over fifteen or twenty lodges, presided over by a man of considerable importance, though not a chief, named Kisk-ke-kosh. The village was on the direct trail - in fact it was the converging point of two trails - from the Hardfish village, and the three villages across the river below Ottumwa, to the only other prominent settlement of the tribes, which was the village of Poweshiek, a Fox chief of equal rank with Wapello, situated upon the Iowa river." Here the squaws, after grubbing out hazel-brush on the banks of the creek or the edge of the timber, unaided by either plow or brave, planted and tended their patches of corn, surrounding them by rude fences of willow, which were renewed each year. Here the men trained their ponies, hunted, fished and loafed, until the first of May, 1843, when they bade adieu to their bark-covered huts. The following incident is located at this point: Some time about 1841, Maj. Beach, Indian agent, in company with W. B. Street and others, came up from Agency City on some business with Kish-ke-kosh. Arriving late in the evening they encamped near the village, and on the following morning Kish-ke-kosh, with his assistants, came over to camp to receive them. The pipe of peace was lighted and passed around and the business transacted. After the council the whites were invited to come over in the evening to the feast which the Indians proposed having in honor of their visit. The invitation was accepted, and presently the whites heard a great howling among the dogs, and looking in the direction of the village they could plainly see the preparations for the supper. A number of dogs were killed and stretched on stakes a few inches above the ground. They were then covered with dried grass, which was set on fire and the hair singed off", after which, after the dogs had gone through the scalping process, they were cut up and placed in pots along with a quantity of corn. The whites were promptly in attendance, but on account of their national prejudice they were provided with venison instead of dog meat. After the feast, dancing was commenced: first, the Green Corn dance, then the Medicine dance, and closing just before morning with the Scalp dance. Kish-ke-kosh did not take part in this Terpsichorean performance, but sat with the whites, laughing, joking and telling stories. On another occasion, Kish-ke-kosh and his suit, consisting of several prominent personages of the tribe, being then encamped on Skunk river, went to the house of a Mr. Micksell on a friendly visit, and he treated them to a feast. Besides Kish-ke-kosh and his wife, who was a very ladylike person, this party consisted of his mother (Wyhoma), the son of Wapello, and his two wives; Mashaweptine, his wife, and all their children. The old woman on being asked how old she was, replied: "Mach-ware-renaak-we-kan" (maybe a hundred); and indeed her bowed form and hideously shriveled features would justify the belief that she was that old. The whole party were dressed in more than ordinary becoming style; probably out of respect for the hostess, who, knowing something of their voracious appetites, had made ample preparations for them. When the table was surrounded, Kish-ke-kosh, who had learned some good manners, as well as acquired cleanly taste, essayed to perform the etiquette of the occasion before eating anything himself. With an amusingly awkward imitation of what he had seen done among the whites, Kish-ke-kosh passed the various dishes to the others, showing the ladies especial attention, and helped them to the best of everything on the table, with much apparent disinterestedness. But when he came to help himself his politeness assumed the Indian phase altogether. He ate like a person with a bottomless pit inside of him for a stomach, taking everything within his reach without regard to what should come next in the course, so only that he liked the taste of it. At last, after having drank some five or six cups of coffee and eaten a proportionate amount of solid food, his gastronomic energy began to abate. Seeing this, his host approached him, and with apparent concern for want of his appetite, said: "Why, Kish, do you not eat your dinner? Have another cup of coffee and eat something." In reply to this hospitable urgency Kish-ke-kosh leaned back in his seat, lazily shook his head, and drew his finger across his throat under his chin, to indicate how full he was. Of course, the others had eaten in like proportion, making the most of an event that did not happen every day. The Indians in this region had a novel way of dealing with drunken people. When one of them became unsafely drunk he was tied neck and heels, so that he could be rolled around like a hoop, which operation was kept up till the fumes of liquor had vanished, when he was released. The sufferer would beg for mercy, but to no avail. After he was sobered off he showed no marks of resentment, but seemed to recognize the wisdom of the proceeding. The Sacs and Foxes, like all other Indians, were a very religious people, in their way, always maintaining the observance of a good many rites; ceremonies, and feasts in their worship of the Kitche Mulito, or Great Spirit. Fasts did not seem to be prescribed in any of their missals, however, because, perhaps, forced ones, under the scarcity of game or other eatables, were not of impossible occurrence among people whose creed plainly was to let to-morrow take care of itself. Some of the ceremonies bore such resemblance to some of those laid down in the books of Moses as to have justified the impression among Biblical students that the lost tribes of Israel might have found their way to this continent, and that the North American Indians are the remnant of them. During sickness there was usually great attention given to the comfort of the Indians, and diligent effort to cure the patient, and when it became apparent that recovery was impossible, the sufferer while still alive was dressed in his best attire, painted according to the fancy of the relatives present, ornamented with all his trinkets, jewels, and badges, and then placed upon a mat or platform to die. The guns, bows, arrows, axes, knives, and other weapons were all carried away from the house or lodge and concealed. They alleged that these preparations were necessary to evince their respect to the Great Spirit, who at the moment of death visits the body of the dying, receives the spirit, and carries it with Him to Paradise, while the concealment of all warlike weapons shows their humble submission to, and non-resistance of, the Divine will. Dead bodies were sometimes deposited in graves; others placed in a sitting posture, reclining against a rock or tree; others again were deposited in boxes, baskets, or cases of skins, and suspended in the branches of trees, or upon scaffolds erected for the purpose. Elevated parcels of dry ground were usually selected as burial places, and not so much regard was had for the cardinal points of the compass as to the relative position of some neighboring object. The graves were arranged usually wifh reference to some river, lake, or mountain. Where it was convenient, the grave, when enclosed, was covered with stones, and under other circumstances it was enclosed with wooden slabs, upon which were painted with red paint certain signs or symbols commemorative of the deceased's virtues. The death of a near relative was lamented with violent demonstrations of grief. Widows visited the graves of their deceased husbands with hair disheveled, carrying a bundle composed of one or more of the deceased's garments, and to this representative of her departed husband she addressed her expressions of grief and assurances of undying affection, and extreme anxiety for the comfort and well-being of the departed. One of the early settlers in a county south of this relates the following incident: Five negroes, having become tired of the sacred institution of slavery as exemplified and enforced by the typical taskmaster of Missouri, ran off and sought protection among the Indians, who, never before having seen any negroes, and not being able to understand their language, did not know what to make of the strange looking animals. Consequently a council was held, and the wisest among the chiefs, having viewed them carefully and debated the matter at some length, decided that they were a peculiar species of bear. Having never before seen any representatives of this species they supposed that their pale-faced neighbors would esteem it quite a favor to behold them, and probably they would be able to dispose of the strange looking animals to a certain trader and receive in return a goodly amount of "fire-water." Accordingly the negroes were taken, ropes tied around their necks, and they were led off to the nearest white settlement. After exhibiting the "bears," as they called them, they negotiated a trade with one Grimsley, the latter giving them a quantity of whisky for them. When the Indians were gone Mr. Grimsley turned the negroes loose, and they soon became favorites among the white settlers. They worked for various persons in the Crooked Creek settlement during a portion of the next summer, when their master in Missouri, hearing through an Indian trader that two negroes were in this vicinity, came up and took possession of the negroes and carried them back to Missouri. The Indian villages were of themselves quite a curiosity. Those of the early settlers who visited these villages describe them as being well arranged, and the apartments of the chief making quite an attempt at royalty. This was more particularly the case with their winter quarters. The huts were made by driving poles in the ground and plaiting bark between them; the roof was composed of matting made of grass and reeds. The hut of the chief, which differed from those of the other Indians in having a large court enclosed in front of the entrance, was from forty to sixty feet long and from ten to twelve feet wide. Along either side were arranged bunks where the Indians slept, and lengthwise at an equal distance from either side was a trench some two feet wide and from eight to ten inches deep, where fires were kindled and the cooking done. Immediately above this trench was an opening in the roof to permit the smoke to escape. The summer tents erected by the squaws when on a hunting excursion were made by planting a circular row of willows in the ground and tying the tops together. These were easily constructed, and of course but temporary. Reference has already been made to the fact that from time immemorial a deadly feud existed between the Sac and Fox Indians on the one part and the Sioux on the other part. These were the two principal tribes inhabiting the State in early days and the hatred they had for one another frequently embroiled them as well as numerous lesser tribes in long and bloody wars. In order to put an end to these sanguinary contests, and stop the effusion of blood, the United States Government tendered its services as a mediator between the two hostile tribes. As a result of the first negotiations it was agreed, in August, 1825, that the Government should run a line between the two tribes, and thus erect an imaginary barrier between the respective territory of the hostile tribes. After a trial of nearly five years, it was found that the untutored mind of the red man was unable to discern an imaginary boundary. The Sacs and Foxes from the south in pursuing game northward were frequently borne beyond the boundary line and they were sure to have a fight with their jealous neighbors before they returned; the same was often true of the Sioux. The idea was then conceived by the agents of the Government of setting aside a strip of neutral territory, between the two tribes, of sufficient width to effectually separate the combatants, on which neither tribe should be allowed to hunt nor encamp. A treaty was accordingly made with the Sacs and Foxes, in July, 1830, whereby the latter ceded to the Government a strip of country twenty miles in width, lying immediately south of the line designated in the treaty of August, 1825, and extending from the Mississippi to the Des Moines rivers. At the same time a treaty was made with the Sioux, whereby the latter ceded to the Government a strip of country twenty miles in width lying immediately north of the line designated in the treaty of August, 1825, and extending from the Mississippi to the Des Moines rivers. By the provisions of these treaties, the United States came into possession of a strip of country forty miles wide and extending from the Mississippi to the Des Moines rivers, upon which it was unlawful for either Sac and Fox or Sioux to hunt. This strip was known as the "Neutral Ground." Certain of the inferior and peacable tribes, as the Pottawattamies for instance, were permitted to remain on the Neutral Ground. That part of Boone county east of the Des Moines river was literally in the Neutral Ground; that part west of the river was practically in the Neutral Ground also, as the savages seem to have so regarded it. That part of the county bordering on the Des Moines river was a favorite resort of the Pottawattamie Indians, and here the early settlers found them in great numbers. Mr. Benjamin Williams, one of the pioneers of this region, found them in great numbers in the vicinity of Elk Rapids, when he came to the county in 1846. They had been accustomed to make maple sugar in a large grove located upon the claim which Mr. Williams first took. After the Indians were gone, he used their appliances for catching and hoarding the sap in continuing the business. The sugar troughs were made of the bark of elm trees, and so well were they constructed that they lasted for a number of years. A large walnut trough, which the Indians had used for hoarding the sap, Mr. Williams continued to use for some five or six years after they were gone. During the winter of 1846-47 some five hundred of these Pottawattamie Indians were encamped in the vicinity of Elk Rapids, and, although several white men had settled in that vicinity at that time, none of them were molested by the Indians. Their chief was an old man by the name of Chemisne; by the early settlers, however, he was known by the name of Johnny Greene. An incident occurred during this winter which threw the settlers into a fever of excitement. A man named Henry Lott had settled at the mouth of Boone river, in what is now Webster county. His house was in range of the Sioux Indians, whose chief's name was Sim-an-e-dotah. By some accident, or from wounds received in battle, or on account of some natural deformity, we know not, he had no thumb or fore-finger on his right hand; on account of this deformity, he was known as Old Chief Three Fingers. Lott had provided himself with a small quantity of goods and a barrel of whisky, expecting to drive a prosperous trade with the old chief and his band, and buy their robes and furs for little or nothing. The first visit the chief made him he was accompanied by six braves of his band, all painted and armed for the war-path. He informed Lott that he was an intruder; that he had settled on the Sioux huntins: grounds, and warned him to leave before a certain time. The time having arrived, the Indians appeared, and finding Lott still remaining, they commenced an indiscriminate destruction of property. They robbed his beehives, shot his horses, cattle and hogs full of arrows, so that many of them died; threatened and abused his family and drove him and his son from the house more scared than hurt. Two small girls, daughters of Lott, fled to the timber and Mrs. Lott covered a small child, the youngest of the family, under a feather bed, and then, after contending with the savages till her strength was exhausted, was compelled to submit to all the indignities which they chose to heap upon her. One of the most remarkable circumstances of the whole affair is the fact that although the Indians were in and around the house during a great part of the day, the little fellow hidden under the feather bed, not once moved or uttered any outcry. When Lott and his son reached the Boone River Bluffs they looked back at the house, which was plainly in view, and as they thought they saw the Indians tomahawking the family, and heard the screams of the wife and children, the two having no arms concluded to make their way rapidly to the settlements and sometime the same night reached Pea's Point, spreading a horrible story, alarming the women and children and astounding everybody. John Pea proposed an immediate expedition to take vengeance on Sim-au-e-dotah, but Lott was sent to Elk Eapids, some sixteen miles below, to procure more men. "When he reached the Rapids he found Chemisne, a Pottawattamie chief, with whom he was acquainted. This Indian was known to the early white settlers by the name of Johnny Greene, and was encamped there with several hundred of his tribe. Upon hearing Lott's story he immediately called a council of his braves, wherein it was determined that the chief should accompany the white men with twenty-six of his warriors. After several pow-wows they painted themselves in the most hideous manner and mounting their ponies set off for Pea's point to join the expedition. The settlers around Pea's Point, fearing that the Sioux might follow Lott and his son and fall upon the settlement and murder all, had assembled at the house of John M. Crooks for better safety and defense and were on the lookout for Indians. Lott with several white men and the Pottawattamies were rapidly advancing across the prairie towards Crook's house, the Indians in the front yelling as is their custom when starting on the war-path and not in the vicinity of danger. The settlers supposing them to be Sioux coming to attack them, prepared for action, each singling out his Indian, and were upon the point of tiring when they recognized Lott and other white men, and were happily disappointed to find them all friends. John Pea and six other white men accompanied Lott and the Pottawattamies to the mouth of Boone river and found that the family had not been tomahawked as Lott had represented, but one of his boys, a lad about twelve years old, in order to escape from the Indians, had undertaken to reach the settlements by following down the river on the ice, and across the bottoms, a distance of twenty miles. The Sionx had robbed the family of nearly everything they had except the barrel of whisky which Lott had securely hidden, and the family was found in a very destitute condition. After making an unsuccessful scout the Potawattamies returned to camp. Lott gave them all the whisky they could carry with them as they would not drink any till they returned to camp. They filled their cups and powder-horns and carried it in that manner all the way back to Elk Rapids, a distance of thirty six miles, where, to celebrate the result of their expedition, they took a rousing spree. This incident, while it resulted in no harm to the settlers of Boone county, had the effect to deter many from settling in the county the ensuing spring and summer. Lott was much overcome when he found in what condition the savages had left his family. His wife died a short time afterward from the effects of the treatment she had received from the Indians. The boy, who started down the river in order to reach the settlement, perished from the effects of the cold, and his dead body was found on the ice. The two little girls were found some time afterward in a sorry plight, exhausted by the cold and hunger. After burying his wife and boy, Lott secured homes for the other children among the settlers of this county, and it is but proper to state, in this connection, that the little boy, now grown into manhood, recently made a visit to this locality. The two girls, having grown to be young women, were married and became the wives of two of the leading citizens of this county. Having thus arranged his affairs, Lott turned his attention to wreaking vengeance upon the savages who had despoiled his home, and the saddest part of the story remains to be told. Lott, now having determined on his plan of proceeding did not lose much time in carrying it out. He procured an ox team and drove to Des Moines. Upon arriving there he purchased two barrels; one he filled with pork and the other with whisky. What other ingredient he mixed with the pork and whisky can be imagined from the effects it had upon those who ate it. Having thus laid in his stock of goods, he set out from Des Moines to the hunting grounds of the Sioux. After driving around for some time he learned that the old chief. Sim-au-e-dotah, with a hunting party, was encamped near a stream in the present bounds of Webster county. He proceeded stealthily into the timber near by and hastily erected a temporary shelter, where he stored his pork and whisky. During the following night he kindled a large fire, and having heaped upon it a sufficient quantity of fuel to keep it burning for a day or two, he arranged his wagon, team and cooking utensils in such a manner as to indicate sudden flight. After Lott had thus fixed up matters to suit his mind he quietly left the country. How the camp, with its team, wagon, pork and whisky was discovered by Sim-au-e-dotah's band next morning, and just what became of the provisions, will probably never be known. However, the fact did become public that during the following summer the Indians in that vicinity were greatly terrified by the ravages of a peculiar and unknown epidemic, against which the skill of the medicine men, and the most importunate appeals to the Great Spirit, were of no avail. It is said that over seventy-five of the most robust and bravest of the warriors perished in a short time, and a feeling of melancholy and sadness took possession of the whole tribe of savages. Notwithstanding the sad havoc among the Sioux following Lott's last visit to their hunting grounds, the old chief Sim-au-e-dotah and his sons escaped and continued to prosper. Upon hearing that the chief with his family still survived, Lott determined on a braver, as well as a more manly, plan of revenge. Having disguised himself so that the old chief could not recognize him, and armed with a trusty rifle, whose unerring aim usually brought down its game, Lott mounted a horse and rode into the Sioux country. He entered tlie camp where Sim-au-e-dotah was encamped and sought an interview with the old chief. After having put the wary savage off his guard by the presentation of gifts and the utterance of the most expressive words of friendship, Lott informed Sim-au-e-dotah that a certain prairie through which he had originally come abounded in game of the choicest kind, and thus having aroused the old man's natural propensity for the chase succeeded in prevailing upon him and his three sons to accompany him on a hunting excursion. When Lott and the Indians arrived at the place where the game was reported to be, it was decided, upon the suggestion of the former, that they surround the prairie in which the game was concealed. The three young Indians were sent in opposite directions, and as soon as Lott and the old Indian were left alone, the former soon dispatched the unsuspecting old chief; he then started on the track of the young Indians and killed all three of them in detail. It is further reported that after killing the old Indian and his three sons Lott dragged their dead bodies together, on an elevation near the Des Moines river, and having built a log heap placed them on it, and having set it on fire returned to Boone county. In the course of time reports of Lott's doings began to be whispered abroad, and his case came up for investigation before the grand jury, then in session at Des Moines. Among the members of the grand jury was a gentleman residing at Boonesboro. Lott's case was the last one disposed of, and in the evening, just before the jury was discharged, a true bill was found against Lott and he was indicted for murder in the first degree. It is not positively known when the Boonesboro juror left Des Moines, nor when he arrived at the former place; all that is known is the fact that his horse was in the stable at Des Moines at dark on the evening of the day that the indictment was found, and that the same horse was in a stable at Boonesborough the following morning. It is also known that Lott left the country the same night, and the sheriff who came up from Des Moines to arrest him the next day failed to find him. Lott was never again seen in this region of the country, and nothing has been definitely known as to his whereabouts. It was rumored at one time that he made his way to the Pacific slope, and after having been engaged in barter and mining for a number of years, was finally lynched for some alleged misdemeanor. Whether or not such was the tragic end of his eventful life is not positively known, but the incidents as above related bearing upon his career in Boone and Webster counties are vouched for by some of the early settlers then residing in the vicinity of Boonesboro, and they can be relied on as substantially true in all the particulars. The failure of the sheriff from Polk county to find Lott ended the matter as far as legal proceedings were concerned, but not so as far as the savages were concerned. They were greatly exasperated when they found that their chief and his sons had been decoyed and slain and they preferred complaint to the government agents, through whose influence doubtless Lott's indictment was procured. After Lott's escape it finally became whispered about among the savages that Lott was not only responsible for the death of their chief and his sons but that his pork and whisky had had something to do with the epidemic which previously had carried off some seventy-five of their braves. They nursed their grievances and their desire of revenge increased until it finally found vent in the Spirit Lake massacre, which created so great a sensation at the time and which did so much to retard emigration to this section. The details of this massacre do not constitute a part of the history of Boone county, but as this massacre was intimately connected with the history of this county it is proper to give a brief account of it. In the spring of 1857, Ink-pa-du-tah, chief among the Sioux Indians and cousin to the chief killed by Lott, led a band of Indians to a small settlement of whites near Spirit Lake in Dickinson county. They murdered many of the settlers and carried some of the women and children into captivity. They plundered the settlement of all the stock and provisions and then retreated into Minnesota. Although the scene of this massacre was over one hundred miles away it caused a thrill of fear and excitement in this county. A company of rangers was organized under command of S. B. McCall, who immediately marched to the relief of the settlers. When they arrived at the scene of the massacre they buried the dead and scouted the country far and near but could not find any traces of Ink-pa-du-tah, nor any of his band. During the following summer the government concluded a treaty with the Sioux Indians, and removed those living in southern Minnesota to the west of the Missouri river. Thus did the successor and relative of Sim-au-e-dotah wreak vengeance on the white man for the murder of the chief and the penalty of that foul deed had to be paid by innocent parties. The Sioux Indians always noted for their fierce cruelty still are true to their former characteristics and it was the same tribe under the leadership of Sitting Bull who for some years was a source of so much terror to the Black Hills' miners, and who composed the army concerned in the defeat and death of the brave General Custer. The following extract of a letter written about the time of the Spirit Lake massacre by A. B. Holcomb to friends in the east will give some idea of what effect the news of that atrocity had upon the settlers at this point: "The Indian excitement has gone by. We had quite an alarm here. It all proved false, however. But to see teams with families flocking in and bringing in the report that Fort Dodge and Webster City were taken and burnt the night before started the patriotic blood of our citizens here. The Boonesborough 'Invincibles' were soon armed and marched to the scene of battle, and were gone three days. I brought out my Sharp's rifle and made up all the powder I had into cartridges to keep garrison, but we could never learn that any 'poor Indian' came within 100 miles of this place, and the alarm was soon over. If they had come this way their red skins would have caught a good peppering. We should have had a grand hunt. One woman came in here from Spirit Lake at the time of the massacre there. She with several other women defended a log cabin for several hours against the Indians, and finally beat them off. She had the mark of a rifle ball upon one cheek and also one upon the thigh. She was out two days and one night in March, with nothing on but the clothes she wore about the house and a single crust of bread to eat, and with a child two months old in her arms. She knew nothing of the fate of her husband until she got here, nor he of her." But the Indian was destined to create no further disturbances upon the soil which the white man had marked for his own. In accordance with the stipulations of sacred treaties and likewise agreeably to the demands of the times the alloted time had now come for the red man to move westward again on his roving mission and add one more proof that his race is fast passing away and must eventually disappear before the restless march of the Anglo Saxon race, as did the traditionary Mound Builders give place to the predatory red man of later times.
Thus as those traditionary Mound Builders were forced to give way to the plundering red men of later times, so must he give place to his pale-faced successor, and his night of ignorance and superstition in which he so delights to revel, must give place to the approaching light of intelligence and civilization as truly as the darkest shades of midnight are dispelled by the approaching liglit of day. When the last barrier of restraint was thus removed, the tide of emigration, so long held in check, began to come in at a rapid rate over these prairies, and thus has it continued to roll, wave after wave, until it has reached the western shore, carrying with it the energy and talents and enterprise of nations; and washing to the surface the gold from the mountains and valleys of the Pacific slope, it has enveloped our land in the mighty main of enterprise and civilization. |
Source: The History of Boone County, Iowa, 1880, Union Historical Company
Transcribed by Lynn Diemer-Mathews and uploaded January 25, 2025.
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