Pocahontas County History was publish in 1904. It contains accounts of the last Indian battle in Iowa. The following excerpt is from pages 125 to 136. One account was written in 1896 and the other account in 1879.
BATTLE OF THE INDIANS AT PILOT CREEK— THEIR GRAVES, MOUNDS AND RELICS.
“Oh pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, That I am meek and gentle with these butchers.”
The territory included in Pocahontas county was once the happy hunting ground of the Indians. Large game such as the deer, elk and buffalo, found luxuriant pasturage upon the open prairie and a grateful shelter from the wintry blast in the groves of timber skirting the streams. The latter were alive with fish, and the country, twice each year — in the spring and again in the fall — swarmed with almost every kind of bird and water-fowl that is good for food.
In 1673, when Marquette and Joliet explored the country along the Mississippi river, this section was supposed to be under the undisputed possession of the confederated Sac and Fox tribes. Later, other tribes of Indians from the north and west came to this favored land and found a home, so that at the time the white man came, at the beginning of this century, he found in the northwest part of this state a branch of the noted and cruel Sioux, whose hunting grounds consisted nominally-of all that portion of the state that lies west of the Little Sioux river, traversing Dickinson, Clay, Buena Vista, Ida and Monona counties.
THE SIOUX AND WINNEBAGOES.*
*The most part under this head is a contribution from the pen of W. C. Ralston, Esq., Pocahontas, to the Rolfe Reveille, March 5, 1896; Bruce & Thornton, proprietors.
The Sioux were powerful, warlike and aggressive; and their frequent encroachments upon the territories of other tribes, became the occasion of complaints to the United States government that led to the treaty of August 19, 1825, (see page 50) when a boundary line between the Sioux, on the north and various other tribes, on the south, was established, extending from the mouth of the Upper Iowa river, in the northeast part of the state, to the second fork of the Des Moines river, now in Humboldt county, (south of Dakota City) and thence to the lower fork of the Big Sioux river, near Sioux City. By a reference to the map it will be perceived that this line, traced by Clarke and Cass, crossed the south central part of Pocahontas county.
The meeting at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, at which this conciliatory measure was adopted, was a magnificent gathering, there being present about 30,000 braves representing Iowas, Sacs and Foxes, Winnebagoes, Menominees and the Sioux. It is said that before the convention adjourned, “Old Keokuk,” who was at the head of the confederated tribes as against the Sioux, was very much opposed to the signing of the agreement.
July 12, 1830, the above line not being always easily recognized, the Sioux on the north and the Sacs, and Foxes on the south of it ceded to the United States a strip of land twenty miles in width, on each side of this line, making a tract forty miles in width from the Mississippi to the Des Moines, and this was called “Neutral Ground,” on which all the tribes interested were to be allowed to hunt and fish unmolested.
[Illustration: INDIAN BATTLE FIELD AT PILOT CREEK,Showing the camp of the Winnebagoes, Pilot Creek, down which the Sioux came; the walnut tree in which a Sioux scout shot a Winnebago; the home of A. H. Malcolm and the Indian mound at the right.]
Two years later, September 15, 1832, which was just after the conclusion of the Black Hawk war, the Winnebago Indians, in exchange for their reservation in Wisconsin, were given the territory included in this strip of “Neutral Ground.” Against the appeals and remonstrances of the squaws and old men of their tribe, the Winnebagoes moved to their new possessions and continued to occupy them until the year 1846, when they moved north of St. Peter’s river, Minnesota, where they were given more territory and greater privileges.
By this arrangement there was left a large tract of country extending westward from the east fork of the Des Moines to the Little Sioux river, that was unoccupied by any tribe of Indians, and, by an unwritten law that was in force between the two tribes, it meant a trial of strength if any of the Sioux found any of the Winnebagoes upon this territory. The Sioux were constantly at war with the Winnebagoes over troubles growing out of this arrangement and because, the latter originally belonging to the confederacy of the Sioux, had now become allied to their rivals the Sacs and Foxes, and were also friendly to the whites. Many trials of strength did old trappers witness in this section, especially during the winter season, the victory being usually won by the party having the most warriors.
After the government established the military ,post at Port Dodge, (1850-1853) and the removal of the Winnebagoes to Minnesota, hostilities practically ceased upon this neutral ground except in the spring of the year, when the Winnebagoes were accustomed to go down the west branch of the Des Moines river, (as the United States Supreme Court has noted in a case recently brought before it) for the purpose of hunting and trapping, and then the Sioux again met them and renewed their old feuds with all the vigor for which they were noted. The usual result of these contests was that the weaker party would be severely defeated, robbed of furs and game, and sustain the loss of many a warrior, whose remains would be found by the soldiers or trappers, who passed the place where the conflict occurred.
The plan of the government in setting apart the strip, forty miles in width, as neutral ground, on which no tribe of Indians should make a permanent residence, but all had the privilege of hunting and fishing, instead of proving a happy means of preventing the disputes and hostilities that were ever occurring, seems to have had the contrary effect. Early writers note, that nearly all of the conflicts arising among the Indians on the soil of Iowa, either occurred on this territory or grew out of some act committed by the Indians while hunting, trapping or fishing upon it. For hunting and fishing, this strip of neutral ground was, perhaps, unequaled in any other part of the United States. All the wild game, then known to sportsmen or Indians, was found within its borders. Deer, elk and buffalo roamed over the prairies, while pigeons, quail and chickens found a home in the luxuriant grass. The streams were alive with fish of all kinds, while on the banks and in the many beautiful lakes that lay within this strip were found beaver, mink, muskrat and otter in great numbers, as well as geese, brants, cranes, ducks, etc. No other territory of the same size was equal to this strip of neutral ground as the native home of game; and in no particular part of it was the game so abundant as in the vicinity of the east and west branches of the Des Moines river.
THE BATTLE AT PILOT CREEK.*
*The account, under this” head, of the last Indian fight in Pocahontas county, was written by William D. McEwen, Esq., and appeared first in the Pocahontas Times of date, (Old) Rolfe, May 18, 1876. Mr. McEwen was then editor and proprietor of this ‘paper, and obtained his knowledge of the facts stated, during the years of 1858 and 1859, from the late Major William W. Williams, sutler of the fort at Fort Dodge, when the U. S. troops were there and the fight occurred. The latter visited the scene of the conflict a few days after its occurrence, and described the location so minutely that the former was enabled to locate it without any difficulty.
“Hark! hear the sound of battle near! The shout, the groan, the charging cheer, The mutual volley, sharp and clear. The shock of steel, the shriek of fear, In one mad chorus blend!”
Nearly a quarter of a century ago, (1853 or 1854) when Fort Dodge was a military post occupied by government troops, and before any white man had settled in the territory included in Pocahontas county, a battle was fought between a band of Winnebago and Sioux Indians that, for bloodthirsty determination, has seldom been surpassed in the unwritten legends of these savage tribes. It was in the spring of the year, and the place where this sanguinary conflict occurred was on the south side of Pilot creek, on section one, Clinton township; near the bridge on the old Port Dodge road and on the farm of A. H. Malcolm. Directly west of the bridge and a little distance up the stream, lies a plateau or piece of tableland with bluffs on the south. At that time a strip of timber skirted the stream, that increased in density until it reached the foot of the bluff and then terminated abruptly.
Here there had encamped a band of about’ thirty Winnebago Indians, from the vicinity of Mankato, Minn., who had been engaged in a hunting and trapping expedition along the Des Moines river. They had been successful in their expedition, and encamped at this place to feast and prepare their furs for market. They were within one day’s journey of the trading post at Fort Dodge, were on friendly terms with the whites, from whom they apprehended no danger, and believing that their enemies, the Sioux, were not in the vicinity, they relaxed their usual vigilance. . Eighteen Sioux warriors, under their chief, Cou-sta-wa, or Big Tree, had been hunting on the Little Sioux river, in the neighborhood of where now stands the nourishing town of Sioux Rapids, and learning that a band of Winnebagoes were on the Des Moines river, determined to cross the country, take them by surprise and adorn their belts with the scalps of their foes. The chief of the band, as his name indicates, was a large, powerful , warrior, and had been the leader in many a bloody fight. Having been once wounded by the bullet of a white man, he ever afterwards cherished for him the most intense hatred, and never allowed an’opportunity to pass without wreaking vengeance on him and his friends, the Winnebagoes. Ink-pa-du-ta, the bloodthirsty savage, who with his band massacred the white settlers at Spirit Lake, in 1857, was one of Cou-sta-wa ‘s warriors and acquired his intense hatred of the whites from him. He, too, was active in urging the attack upon the Winnebagoes.
They crossed the country from the Sioux river by way of Swan Lake, until they struck the head waters of Pilot creek; then, following the course of the stream unobserved, they discovered the location of their foes. Guided, doubtless, by the smoke of the campflres, they stealthily approached within two miles. Here they concealed themselves in what is known as “Harvey’s Grove,” and sent out two of their warriors to ascertain the number and exact position of the Winnebagoes. The night was well advanced before their scouts returned. Their report must have been favorable as a satisfactory grunt from Cou-stawa announced that the attack would be made that very night. ‘
The water in the creek was high, and Cou-sta-wa, with savage sagacity, divided his warriors; six of them led by Ink-pa-du-ta, crossed Pilot creek and approached the foe from the north, while he with the other warriors, descended on the south side to cut off their retreat. He evidently thought that the Winnebagoes, taken by surprise, would flee at the first attack and make for the trading post. In this he was correct, but the result was not as he had anticipated. The ground had been well examined and the attack well planned. The moon, though far in the wane, shone brightly, pointing out to the wary Sioux the exact position of the sleeping Winnebagoes. The night was far advanced when the Sioux crept up to within thirty yards of their sleeping foes. Here they paused, awaiting the signal of their chief. Just at this moment one of the Winnebago warriors arose and quickly gave the alarm to his tribe. The Sioux, finding themselves discovered, commenced firing. The Winnebagoes, taken by surprise, and not knowing the number of their foes, thought only of safety, and commenced retreating along the edge of the bluff. Here they were met by Cou-sta-wa and his warriors. Finding their retreat cut off, they commenced fighting with the desperation of despair.” Cou-sta-wa, seeing the confusion, and knowing full well that onehalf of the Winnebagoes must have fallen at the first fire, rushed with his warriors upon those that remained. It now became a hand to hand fight.
“Long, keen and dubious was the strife, While all the warriors bled.”
At length one, two, three of the bravest of the Winnebago warriors met their death at the hands of Cousta-wa, when a shot from one of the wounded Winnebagoes laid him low. With a terrific and hideous yell the Sioux warrior fell to rise no more. The Sioux seeing their chief fall, now commenced falling back, carrying their dead, for the Sioux will die sooner than leave any of their dead in the hands of their foes. Ten of the Winnebagoes were killed or died of their wounds, while only four of them escaped without being wounded.
How many of the Sioux were killed was never known. But four Indian graves were found by some of the early settlers in 1857, on the bank of Pilot creek, covered with bark and in a good state of preservation; these were no doubt the resting places of the warriors killed in this fight. The skeletons of three more were discovered by W. S. Fegles, when trapping at Swan Lake in the winter of 1858. He informed the writer that the skull bone of one was very large and nearly an inch in thickness; that the shank bones were three inches longer than his and all that remained of the skeleton showed that it had belonged to an Indian of colossal stature. May we not, therefore, justly conclude that it was none other than the skeleton of the Sioux chief, Cou-sta-wa?
“Among red men, the surest way To honor, is the foe to slay;
Him they call supremely great, Who can most martial deeds relate. “
After the battle on Pilot creek the Indians who were engaged in it again returned to their reservations, the Sioux going to Dakota and the Winnebagoes to Minnesota. In the years that followed, until April, 1880, bands of the Winnebagoes would occasionally return along the west branch of the Des Moines river as far south as the mouth of Pilot creek.
“In the month of November, 1879,* about forty Pottawattamie Indians camped” along the Des Moines river, near the northeast part of the county, and while engaged in hunting and trapping, investigated many of the larders in that neighborhood. ‘Lo, the poor Indian’ is a good investigator of the pantry of the white man.”
*J. J. Bruce in Pocahontas Times, Dec. 11, 1879. (Times, of April 15 and 22, 1880.)
Again in April, 1880, about fifty Winnebagoes and Pottawattamies temporarily encamped near the bridge over the Des Moines river, a short distance above the mouth of Pilot creek and near Old Rolfe, that until four years previous had been the county seat. J. J. Bruce, the correspondent of the Pocahontas Times, t wrote as follows in regard to them:
“Our Winnebago and Pottawattamie Indians have moved down the river. Henry M. Bice, the chief of the band, is a very intelligent fellow. Several of the men are intelligent, use good language and dress in civilized style. We should judge that a number of them have white man’s blood in their veins.
They have in their number a Winnebago warrior who was over this ground in 1854, and points out the battlefield between the Sioux and Winnebagoes on Pilot creek, in 1854, and gives the scenes enacted under some of the trees in those early days, pointing out the tree where some warrior lost his scalp.
The battle referred to above, was described by W. D. McEwen in 1876, in an article that appeared in The Pocahontas Times and it was considered by some as a canard; but in this case it seems that ‘truth is stranger than fiction. ‘ “
On this occasion the Winnebago warrior and some of his friends visited at the Des Moines river bridge, met W. D. McEwen, Robert Struthers and others to whom he related many incidents of the battle. Mr. McEwen was at this time treasurer of the county, and, though he appointed a day for him to go with the old Indian to view the battlefield and get his description of the conflict as he remembered it, unexpected business matters prevented him from keeping the engagement. Among other things the old Indian related on this occasion, was that he believed he could yet point out the spot along the river a short distance from the outlet of Pilot creek, where the Winnebagoes had buried three of their fallen braves.
At this time, Ora P. Malcolm, then in his teens, but now deputy treasurer of the county, accompanied by his younger brother Fred Malcolm and his cousin Ralph Horton, went to their camp along the west branch of the Des Moines river. They met about fifty Indians, old and young, and found they had been there about a week. They met the old Winnebago warrior, who told them that many years before he had participated in the battle of the Sioux and Winnebagoes, on the south side of Pilot creek.
A few days later this old warrior, accompanied by several other Indians, came down the driver and passed up Pilot creek. As they passed the home of his father, A. H. Malcolm, Ora and the two other boys being together again, followed the Indians to see them hunting and trapping. When they had proceeded a short distance, the old warrior took them to a place om the south side of the creek and about thirty rods west of his father’s residence, where he showed them the stump of a large black walnut tree. “Into the top of this tree,” he said, “a Winnebago had climbed to take a survey of the country and learn if any enemies were near. While he was up in the tree a Sioux scout, under cover of the smaller timber, stealthily drew near and shot him.”
This old warrior had a desire to take a last look at the place where his father and one brother were killed, before he should be numbered with the silent dead, and to show to those who came after him the place where the last trial of strength occurred between his people and their ancient enemies, the Sioux.
At the time of this visit in 1880, which was more’than twenty-five years after the battle, the large stump of the old walnut tree was easily recognized, and around it there had grown several shoots that were already large enough to bear nuts. When the attention of the old settlers was directed to it, it was found that this particular tree had been felled by Orlando, son of David Slosson, in the winter of 1858-9, that it had been drawn to the sawmill erected near Old Rolfe by John M. Stockdale and had there been sawed into building material, by W. H. Hait.
In 1880, the Chicago and Northwestern railway had not yet passed through this section and when it came, a couple of years later, it crossed the place where this black walnut stood and also the original site of Mr. Malcolm’s residence.
The battle between the Sioux and Winnebagoes at Pilot creek, was the last contest that occurred between the Indians on the soil of Iowa. It has been suggested that at some time in the near future the romantic spot where this battle was fought should be marked with some appropriate monument, that future generations might know the exact place where the Winnebagoes, friends of the whites, resisted the last cruel onset of the Sioux, under their chiefs Cou-stawa (Big Tree) and Ink-pa-du-ta.
INDIAN GRAVES AND RELICS.
Two of the Indian graves of which mention has already been made, were found by Orlando, son of David Slosson, in 1857, on the bank of Pilot creek, near the present site of Rolfe. Other graves were found about the same time on the plateau of the southwest quarter of section one, Clinton township, now included in the farm of John E. Schnug. In 1858, W. S. Fegles found three skeletons at Swan Lake, the largest of which was believed to be that of the Sioux chief, Cou-sta-wa, or Big Tree. In 1860, when the workmen were making the excavation for the court house at Old Rolfe, on the southwest quarter of section 26, Des Moines township, they uncovered the remains of ten bodies, ranging in size from a child to a giant. Their bones were placed in a box and reinterred in the southwest corner of the foundation. The first court house of Pocahontas county was thus erected over the last resting place of several of the primitive red men of the forests and plains, and it was the general belief at the time that those who were buried at this place were Winnebago warriors.
Very few resting places of the dead among the Sioux, who came from the northwest and at least for two centuries occupied this section of country, have been found by the white man; a circumstance, no doubt due to the peculiar method practiced by them in disposing of their dead. The Sioux, instead of burying the bodies of the dead in the ground, often placed them upon elevated scaffolds or rude platforms made of timber. The dead were thus elevated to prevent their bodies from being devoured by wolves and other rapacious animals. They were not so scrupulous in regard to depredations that might be committed upon them by birds of prey.
The mode of burial in vogue among the tribes of the Algonquin family, to which the Pottawattamies and Musquakies (Sac and Fox) belonged, was quite different. They buried their dead under the ground. Stones and even logs were often placed in heaps over the graves of their dead to give them better protection.
The Winnebagoes, parent stock of the Iowas, were the van-guard of the Sioux, when they began to occupy the valley of the Mississippi. The Winnebagoes originally made use of the scaffold, but later adopted interment, except when the ground was frozen. The place selected for interment was usually the summit of a knoll, and the grave was arranged so that the head and feet of the body would extend east and west respectively. Sometimes they buried the dead in a sitting posture, and in this case, the body faced the west, while the head and chest would extend above the natural surface of the ground. If the one buried was a male, some tobacco and a pipe were usually deposited in the grave; and if he was a warrior a war-club or some other weapon was added.
John B. Jolliffe, a resident of section two, Powhatan township, about the year 1866, among some rocks on a little knoll a short distance west of his home, found a pair of very beautiful Indian bracelets. They were made of a material that was of a slate color and as tiard as flint. They were very artistically carved on the outside and both were exactly alike. The carved work represented, in raised form, many of the animals with which the Indians were familiar, such as the fox, coyote, beaver and utter. These interesting relics were lost at the time of the prairie fire that consumed his buildings, iD the latter part of September, 1873.
About the year 1876, A. H. Malcolm, while removing some boulders from the knoll south of his residence on section one, Clinton township, found underneath a large rock, nearly a peck of flinty specimens that were supposed to be Indian arrow heads in an unfinished condition. They were oblong pieces of flint rock, roughly chipped to a blunt point at one end while the other was rounded. They were three to four inches long, half an inch thick and about one’ and one-half inches wide. Some, who examined these relics, expressed the opinion they were not arrow heads, but some blades made by those who lived in the “stone age” and knew nothing of the working of metals. Since no tools or implements, except those of stone, have been found among their relics, the mound-builders are supposed to have lived in that age.
INDIAN MOUNDS.
“The Indian passed away, and lo! What is left behind to show That he drew Ulysses’ bow? ‘ He often earned immortal fame; But what perpetuates his name? On the knolls of prairies green Only the Indian mound is seen.”
On the right hand of the cut illustrating the battle field at Pilot creek, page 126, there will be seen an Indian mound. This mound is situated on the summit of a high bluff on the west bank of the west branch of the Des Moines river that is skirted on the east with a body of tall, heavy timber. It is located on the farm of O. F. Avery, one-half mile east of the homes of A. H. Malcolm and Senator Geo. W. Henderson. It is in Humboldt county, a few steps from the county line.
This mound was circular in form, about twenty feet in diameter at the base and five feet high. It rests on a natural elevation sloping gradually to a summit, that overlooks the valley of the Des Moines river northward for many miles.
In 1883, Ora P. Malcolm, his brother Fred and their cousin Geo. W. Horton, having a desire to know what was in the mound, made an excavation by digging down through the center of the top of it. They found the skeletons of three human bodies which they supposed to be the remains of Indians. They expected to find some relics of value, but in this they were disappointed. When their curiosity had been sufficiently satisfied they returned the bones that had been exhumed, and, covering them, left them as they had found them.
The old court house site, where ten bodies were found, is one of the highest knolls in Des Moines township; and it was the removal of three mounds upon its summit that revealed the bodies buried there.
For the account of other mounds and their story the reader is referred to page 16.
INDIANS ALONG THE LIZARD.
In the latter part of December, 1855, when M. T. Collins, of Lizard township, his mother and sister were living in their log cabin on section 18, Jackson township, which was just across the line in Webster county, three Indians armed with guns, surprised and frightened them by coming to their door and begging for food. They came to their home about four o’clock in the afternoon and were the first Indians they had ever seen. When Mrs. Collins gave them some food they seemed to be very contented and happy. They sat down by the fire, smoked their pipes and after a little while returned to their camp, which they had pitched in the grove along Lizard creek, south of the Lizard Catholic church, There were about thirteenmen who were accompanied by their wives and children, in this band they had several tents. They remained at this place, hunting and trapping, until about the first of April following, when they moved northward to Mulholland’s grove. About the first of May, (1856) theydisappeared as quietly as they had come.
These were a band of Sioux Indians that had come from the southwest, the vicinity Twin Lakes. _ Ti-ton-ka To-ma-to, a large old man, was their chief and he had a son who was also very tall and active. They had a number of ponies and said that their favorite hunting ground was along the Lizard and especially at Lizard lake.
During the period of their encampment at this place one or more of the squaws would come every day to the home of .Mr. Collins and beg for something to eat. On one occasion when Mr. Collins was cutting wood, a young Indian girl came to his home and, beckoning for the axe by motions of her hands, he handed it to her and she showed him how she could cut wood, using the axe in a left-handed way.
THE SIOUX.
The tribes of the Sioux nation, that occupied Pocahontas county just previous to the time of its settlement, consisted of bands of the Sissetons, whose acknowledged chiefj was. Bed Thunder, Yanktons and half-breeds from Missouri.
Previous to the establishment of the fort at Fort Dodge, they had several villages and encampments along the Des Moines river in the vicinity of Fort Dodge and along Lizard creek. They were great thieves, constantly roving about in squads, watching trappers who ventured along the Des Moines river and emigrants who attempted to settle in that district.
In 1818, when Mr. Marsh, a government surveyor of Dubuque, was running the correction line from the Mississippi to the Missouri rivers, he progressed in his work without molestation, until he and his company crossed the Des Moines in what is now Webster county. On the west bank of the river he was met by a party of Sioux, under the lead of a chief named Si-dom-i-na-do-ta, who told him that this section of country still belonged to them, that he should proceed no further, and ordered him to “puc-a-chee” that is “be off” or “clear out.” After they left him, Mr. Marsh and his party concluded to proceed with their work. But before they had advanced a mile from the river, they were surrounded at a point near the head of a large ravine (south of the south line of section 30, township 89, range 28), about 3 miles southwest of Ft. Dodge, by a large force of Indians, who robbed them of everything. They took their horses, destroyed their wagons and surveying instruments, pulled up their stakes, leveled their mounds and forced them to return to the east side of the river to find their way home as best they could. It was this outrage and similar ones, committed by the Sioux Indians on families who had ventured up the Des Moines and located claims north of the Raccoon fork, in the fall of 1849, that induced the government to establish the military post and station troops at Fort Dodge.
When the government troops arrived August 23, 1850, the Sioux retreated westward from the vicinity of the Des Moines river, and committed no further outrages on the whites in its vicinity, while they remained there. When, in July, 1853, the troops at Fort Dodge were transferred to Fort Ridgely, Minnesota, they again became impudent and annoying, and Major William Williams, who remained at the fort, was empowered to keep them in check. It will be remembered that the terrible tragedies enacted at Spirit Lake in 1857, and at New Ulm and Mankato in 1862, were perpetrated by bands of the Sioux.
INDIANS IN LINCOLN TOWNSHIP.
About the month of August, 1873, a band of about sixty Indians crossed this county, traveling eastward along the line that runs one mile north of the south line of Dover, Grant and Lincoln townships; of whom the following account has been furnished by C. M. Saylor, of the last named township:
“They made this journey in true Indian style, which was a single file that extended nearly a mile in length, several rods usually intervening between each member of the procession. About a dozen members of the band were mounted on ponies that were heavily loaded with luggage. Their tepee or tent poles, tied loosely together at one end with a thong, were hung over the backs of the ponies in front of the riders, while their loose ends were left to drag on the ground. On these poles, at a short distance from the rear of the pony, cross-pieces were fastened that served as a framework for carrying their tenting, cooking utensils, trapping outfit and other necessary equipage. Some of their papooses or babies, had been put in baskets and strapped on these poles that extended from the ponies to the ground. One or two of the squaws, sitting on the bundles that rested on the poles, were also enjoying the same kind of transportation; They were supposed to be journeying either to a reservation or to one of their favorite camping grounds along the Des Moines river. While passing through Lincoln township they called for provisions at the homes of Mr. Saylor and John Dooley. “
INDIANS IN BELLVILLE TOWNSHIP.
Mrs. Win. Brownlee, of Pomeroy, thinks she never, in all her life received any compliment that gave her more real pleasure than one bestowed by a band of Indians that camped on their farm, on section 18, Bellville township, in the spring of the year during the seventies, to hunt and trap among the ponds in that vicinity. Knowing that the Indians were treacherous and blood-thirsty when on the war-path, she did not appreciate the idea of having them for her nearest neighbors. When, however, they pitched their tents so near them, in the interest of peace and good-will, she and her husband decided to give them about all they might call for. When the squaws, true to their custom, called, day after day, for “more food,” she gave them all the available bread and butter in the home, and frequently, by special request, some roosters, indulging the hope it would be their last call. The Indians must have enjoyed her hospitality more than ordinary, for when the two weeks’ hunt was ended, the chief of the band came with the squaws when they made their last call, for the purpose of expressing their appreciation of the favors received and bid farewell to their benefactors. On this occasion, when they were ready to depart, Mr. and Mrs. Brownlee standing near each other in the front yard of their home, the Indians thanked them heartily and bowed graciously, after which the chief, addressing Mr. Brownlee but pointing to his wife, with all his native earnestness and gesticulation, exclaimed: “Good s-q-u-a-w! Good s-q-u-aw!”
THE POTTAWATTAMIES.
A band of Pottawattamies, under their old chief, Johnnie Green, used to frequent the Lizard in the hunting and trapping season for many years. They were known as the “Johnnie Green tribe,” or “Prairie band of Pottawattamies.” Their reservation was in eastern Kansas, but during the sixties they became ultimately associated with the Musquakies (Sacs and Foxes), and located near them in the country along the Iowa river. They were peaceable in disposition and always carried with them a written passport. A few of their number, usually the squaws, would make it a practice to go from house to house in the settlement begging clothing and provisions. They usually numbered from twenty-five to fifty persons, including men, women and children, and they roamed considerably throughout the north part of the state, traveling some on foot, others on horseback, and camping at different places as they proceeded.
The Collins’ grove, on section 13, Lizard township, was one of their favorite places of encampment, and they occupied it every one or two years during the sixties and seventies and for the last time, about the year 1883. The old chief, Johnnie Green, was about seventy years of age when he made his last visits, about the years 1873 and 1874. The name of the young chief who succeeded him, is not remembered.
Two other favorite stopping places for the Indians in those days were the large grove on the east side of Lizard lake, in Lake township, and a grove south of Dakota City, near the forks of the Des Moines river, where for many years there lived an early settler by the name of Miller. The groves of timber at Sac City, at this early period were also visited by bands of Indians who came from southern Nebraska.
The Winnebagoes and Pottawattamies were originally from the districts west and south of Lake Michigan. In 1836, the latter were settled by the government in southwestern Iowa including what is now Pottawattamie county. By the treaty of June 5, 1846, they sold all their lands in Iowa, and in 1847 and ’48 were removed to Kansas Territory, where most of them remained, but some returned to Iowa, and during the sixties occupied the country in the vicinity of Iowa and Tama counties, together with the Musquakie (Sac and Fox) tribe. At the present time there are 390 Musquakies and about forty Pottawattamies, Winnebagoes and others occupying their own lands in Tama county.
The Pottawattamies and Winnebagoes never molested the early settlers; but when some venturesome trader, in exchange for their furs, gave them whiskey, under its influence they, as well as pale faces in a similar condition, sometimes became quarrelsome.
“On his head his eagle feathers, Round his waist his belt of wampum, In his hand his bow of ash-wood, Strung with sinews of the reindeer.”
The roving bands of Indians who visited these sections for many years during the period of early settlement, usually spent about three months of the fall or spring of the year catching mink and muskrats for their flesh and fur. They could trap and spear muskrats to better advantage than the whites because, while the latter utilized only the fur, the Indians ate the flesh of the rat and mink with great zest, and furs cured by them brought a better price in the market.
The Indian, upon his small footed pony, was an interesting object to the stranger. The ponies were gentle creatures, docile as dogs and had beautiful feet. The Indians made their own saddles and always of rawhide. They dressed comfortably, many showing a decided preference for the red blanket for underwear. Mothers, while on the journey, would strap their babies to a board, and then carry them in whatever way was most convenient, sometimes by swinging them over their shoulder. The men, when trading, endeavored to make “shrewd bargains” before leaving town, they usually spent all they received for furs, and the tobacco and whiskey dealer was pretty sure to get his share. The men and women composing these bands of Indian trappers, whilst they were oddly dressed, were ordinarily a lot of hearty, healthy and fine looking people. They were remnants of the once powerful tribes that were in possession of all the country from the Lakes to the Missouri, atjthe end of the war of independence. They presented, however, but a faint resemblance of their former greatness and renown, or of their warlike and noble bearing.