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Palo Alto County IA Archives History - Books .....The Indians And The Spirit Lake Massacre 1910
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Book Title: History Of Palo Alto County Iowa
CHAPTER IV
The Indians and the Spirit Lake Massacre
The pioneer family on the western prairie could endure with fortitude the
life on a lonely claim, but one danger continually menaced its peace of mind.
The roving bands of Indians were generally unfriendly and often treacherously
destructive. Once roused to vengeance, the savage nature found expression in
deeds of pillage, arson and murder that made one's blood run cold.
Many different tribes of Indians had roamed over the Iowa prairies before the
advent of the white settlers, but all these had gradually drifted westward, and
their land acquired by the government, until in 1851 the last of Western Iowa
was ceded by treaty to the United States. Of all the bands of Indians the Sioux
were perhaps the most ferocious and warlike. They were continually at war with
other tribes and as they saw the onward march of the white settler and felt the
encroachments upon their beloved hunting ground, they became sullen and bitter
toward the pioneers.
Some unfortunate conditions served to intensify this feeling. As early as
1847, Henry Lott, an unscrupulous ruffian, who had settled far out on the
frontier in Webster County, organized a gang of desperate characters who stole
horses and committed many depredations among the settlers and Indians. Lott's
cabin finally became such a notorious rendezvous, that when a band of Indians
under the chief Sidominadotah tracked a number of stolen ponies to his place,
they ordered him to leave the county. As he did not do so, a few days afterwards
the Indians killed his cattle, drove his family out, and burned his cabin. Lott
fled terror-stricken, leaving his wife and children, and one of his small sons
died from the cold and exposure. Lott swore vengeance upon the Sioux, but it was
several years before he returned.
The Indians keenly resented the advance of the white man and when the
surveyors crossed the Des Moines in 1848, the Indians attacked them, broke up
their instruments and drove them back. This incident led to the establishment of
Fort Dodge by the government.
In 1853 Lott and his step-son came back again and settled on the east branch
of the Des Moines River in Humboldt County, at a place that has since been known
as Lott's Creek.
In the following January, the chief of the same band of Sioux, unsuspecting, and
not recognizing his old enemy, camped a short distance from Lott's cabin.
Burning with hatred and revenge, in retaliation for the death of his son and
destruction of his property years before, Lott treacherously killed Chief
Sidominadotah and his whole family except a little girl who hid in the bushes
and a boy who was left for dead.[1]
[1] For the story of Lott and his troubles see Gue, History of Iowa, vol. 1, pp
289-292; Smith, History of Dickinson County, chap. 2; Flickinger, Pioneer
History of Pocahontas County, pp. 27-28, etc. See also an excellent article by
L. F. Andrews in Des Moines Register and Leader, August 12, 1907.
This Indian boy recovered and was afterward known as "Josh." He was a
frequent visitor at the Carter cabin.
The bodies of the chief and his family were brutally left where they lay, the
camp was looted and burned, and the Lotts escaped down the river. They sold the
booty and hastened still farther west. Several days later Inkpadutah, a brother
of the murdered chief, discovered the bodies of the victims, and it was soon
known that Lott was the murderer.
The Indians were thoroughly enraged and demanded the punishment of Lott, but
though attempts were made to follow him, he was never apprehended. Not long
after this the head of the murdered chief was ingloriously stuck up on a pole in
the town of Homer near Fort Dodge. [1] The failure to punish Lott increased the
rage and desire for vengeance among the Sioux. The settlers were greatly
alarmed, and there was a vague feeling of distrust that boded ill for the future.
[1] "Sketch of Early History," by Ambrose A. Call, History of Kossuth County,
Union Pub. Co. The late Charles Aldrich also had a vivid remembrance of this,
and says that the skull was fractured in several places by a blunt instrument.
L. F. Andrews's article, Des Moines Begister and Leader, August 12, 1907.
Inkpadutah, also known as "Scarlet Point" or "Red End," became the chief of
the Sioux band. Reckless, domineering and cruel, he ruled his tribe with a
strong hand and his harshness drove many of his followers to join more peaceful
tribes. His band thus dwindled until it became a small group of straggling
Indians, who ranged the country throughout the northwest, committing all sorts
of petty depredations. Harvey Ingham, in an article in the Midland Monthly, thus
describes their actions: "Inkpadutah and his followers contented themselves with
stripping trappers and surveyors, stealing horses, and foraging on scattered
settlers, always maintaining a hostile and threatening attitude. Many pages of
the Midland would be required for a brief enumeration of the petty annoyances,
pilferings and more serious assaults which occurred. At Dakotah City, in
Humboldt County, the cabin of E. McKnight was rifled in the spring of 1855.
Farther north, within a few miles of Algona, the cabin of Malachi Clark was
entered, and the settlers gathered in great alarm to drive out the Indians a
band of eighty braves led by Inkpadutah in person. Still farther north, near
where Bancroft stands, W. H. Ingham was captured by Umposhota, a leader under
Inkpadutah in the massacre, and was held a prisoner for three days." [1]
[1] Harvey Ingham, Midland Monthly; Smith, History of Dickinson County, p. 38;
Abbie Gardner Sharp, History of the Spirit Lake Massacre, chap. vi.
The winter of 1856 was a very severe one. The intense cold and heavy snow was
followed by violent storms, and the sufferings of the settlers were extreme.
Inkpadutah and his band had been camping at Loon Lake, but in December, 1856,
started down the Little Sioux River as far as Smithland. Another part of the
band was in camp near Springfield (now Jackson), Minnesota.
In February, 1857, the Indians and settlers had trouble at Smithland, until
the redskins finally were driven away. With their savage natures aroused and
with a pent-up desire for vengeance, the combined band of Sioux started north.
Inkpadutah knew the defenseless condition of the scattered settlers and he
determined to wreak an awful vengeance upon the countrymen of Henry Lott. As the
band moved northward they robbed and pillaged with destructive hand, and
committed the most barbarous outrages that ever a savage mind devised. No one
had been killed, however, when with their murderous desires roused by these
atrocities to the highest pitch, they came to the peaceful little settlement on
the banks of the lakes in Dickinson County.
Mrs. Abbie Gardner Sharp, the sole survivor of that terrible massacre, in a
letter written in 1887, thus describes that never-to-be-forgotten event:
"It is with sadness that I recall to memory the ill-fated March the 8th,
1857, when Inkpadutah and his murderous band invaded the peaceful and happy
little settlement of Spirit and Okoboji Lakes and completely demolished it. It
is not thirty years since those horrible atrocities were enacted, and having
lost all on that sad day that made life dear to me, and though wrecked in
health, I still live a witness to those terrible scenes. The outbreak was as
sudden and unexpected as a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky. The Indians
approached and through their professions of friendship got into the house,
taking the people by surprise, and attacking in such a way that one family could
not help another. My father was shot down while his back was turned getting the
Indians some flour. They then rushed upon my mother and sister, beating them
over the head with the butts of their guns, and drove them out in the dooryard
and killed them. My brother and two sisters, all little children, were clinging
to me in speechless terror. They next seized these helpless children, heedless
of their piteous cries for the help I was powerless to give them, dragging them
out of doors, and beating them to death with sticks of stove wood. All through
their course they shot down the men when their backs were turned, and then
rushed upon the helpless and terror-stricken women and children and killed them
in the most cruel and shocking manner. At the time of the massacre I was little
more than a child of less than fourteen summers, and was with three other women
taken captive, suffering for three months all the cruelties and indignities that
Indians only know how to inflict." [1]
Over forty personsmen, women and childrenwere thus brutally murdered at the
lakes, [2] and the savages, after holding their war dance and painting their
victories in signs upon the smoothed surface of a tree, broke camp and moved
northward with their plunder to find fresh fields for their murderous work.
[1] From a letter of Mrs. Abbie Gardner Sharp, Aug. 4, 1887, Annals of Iowa,
October, 1898, p. 550. Mrs. Sharp's book, History of the Spirit Lake Massacre,
is a graphic description of the events leading up to that terrible day, and
contains a vivid picture of the massacre, the relief expedition, the captivity
of Abbie Gardner, her ransom and release.
[2] Abbie Gardner Sharp, History of the Spirit Lake Massacre, p. 47.
Our settlers in Palo Alto County knew nothing of these tragedies that were
being enacted such a short distance away. The news was first brought to them by
three men from Jasper CountyWheelock, Parmenter and Howe by name, who were on
their way to the lakes to join the settlement; but when they found the cabins in
ashes and the dead bodies of the victims lying where they had fallen, they
hurried back to give the alarm.
These harrowing reports spread terror throughout the whole northwest, and
many settlers fled to places of safety. The members of the little Irish colony
could hardly believe that Indians who seemed so peaceful when camped so near
them that winter could commit such deeds.1 It was indeed a miracle that they
were spared. But in spite of the general stampede to Fort Dodge, the Irish
settlers remained for some time. Their cabins furnished a convenient station for
the soldiers of the relief expedition as we shall see in the next chapter. It
was only after the soldiers of the expedition had all returned home, that the
faithful little band finally left the colony to seek a refuge at Fort Dodge
until the following spring.
[1] The late J. F. Neary, a member of the original colony, once told me that he
thought Inkpadutah's band camped until March, 1857, in Crowley's woods, five
miles north of the colony, and M. H. Crowley is of the same opinion. But A. B.
Carter, who knew Sleepy-Eye and his band very well, is positive that it was
Sleepy-Eye's band that camped at Crowley's and remembers Sleepy-Eye telling him
that it was Inkpadutah's band of bad Indians that was killing the whites on the
Sioux and at the lakes.
Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
History of Palo Alto County Iowa
BY
DWIGHT G. MCCARTY
THE TORCH PRESS
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
1910
File at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ia/paloalto/history/1910/historyo/in...
This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/iafiles/
File size: 11.7 Kb
Palo Alto County IA Archives History - Books .....The Irish Colony 1910
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Copyright. All rights reserved.
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************************************************
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb(a)yahoo.com March 5, 2006, 11:01 pm
Book Title: History Of Palo Alto County Iowa
CHAPTER III
The Irish Colony
In July, 1856, another notable group of settlers came to Palo Alto County.
This was a colony of Irishmen from Kane County, Illinois, who with brave hearts
and steadfast purpose came on into the frontier wilderness in search of homes.
There were seven families in this colony, and it consisted of the following
persons: James Nolan, Anastasia his wife, Maria his daughter, and two sons,
James and John F.; John Neary and his wife, and one son, John F. Neary, and one
daughter, Mary; Edward Mahan and Margaret his wife, Ann and Ellen his daughters,
and two sons, John and Myles; Martin Laughlin, his wife Mary, three sons, Lott,
J. T., and Patrick, and one daughter, Ellen; John Nolan and wife Bridget, and
one son, Charlie; Thomas Downey and Ellen Downey his wife, and Ellen his
daughter; Orrin Sylvester and his wife Ellen. Patrick Jackman and Thomas
Laughlin, both single, came with these settlers though not members of the
families above enumerated. [1]
[1] Interviews with J. F. Neary, Lott Laughlin, J. J. Mahan, Myles Mahan,.
Patrick Jackman, Charles Nolan and others.
There were six ox teams in the party and they wended their weary way toward
the west. Their proposed destination was in the vicinity of Sioux City, Iowa,
but at Fort Dodge they met a man by the name of Lynch, who had been with the
government surveying party in 1855, and who told them of the splendid location
for settlers along the west branch of the Des Moines River, where there was
plenty of timber, abundance of good water, and the tall grass was ample evidence
of the fertility of the soil. Some of the party went forward with Mr. Lynch and
looked over the ground, returning with glowing accounts of the country. So the
entire party started on the rough trail from Fort Dodge. They reached the Des
Moines River at last and camped in the timber at what is now known as Murphy's
Bayou. They stayed there nearly a week while the various members of the party
prospected the country and selected their claims. While here these pioneers
discovered the first traces of Indians. Two dozen slaughtered geese were found
hanging in a large elm tree where they had been left by the redskins. But the
incident scarcely more than awakened their curiosity, as they had not occasion
as yet to know the treacherous savage nature that was later to spread terror
throughout the settlement.
These pioneers soon moved up the river and settled on section 14, in
Emmetsburg township, about two miles northwest from the present city of
Emmetsburg. Such brave and sturdy settlers as these were good examples of the
frontiersman. They commenced with what nature furnished them and began to build
their homes from the prairie and the woods. Although it was getting late for
plowing, the breaking up of the prairie was at once begun by doubling up on
their ox teams. The next task was to put up some hay for the cows and young
stock, which they had brought with them in addition to their oxen. They built
rough shelters for their stock, and as fast as possible constructed rude cabins
out of logs, the bark still on, and the cracks chinked with mud. These cabins
all had clay floors, and were roofed with "shakes" or thatched with hay, covered
with sod. Most of the cabins had cellars or "root houses" as they were called,
dug on the outside of the house, roofed with logs, and covered over with clay
and sod. This "root house" had no outside opening and was entered by steps
leading down from inside the cabin.
The cabin fire would keep the frost out of the cellar and there was no danger of
freezing. Several of the cabins had rough fireplaces built in the clay floor and
under the side logs, well plastered with clay and with a piece of tin or sheet
iron at the back. The chimney was usually a hole in the roof for the smoke to
pass through and was in fact the most prominent feature about that sort of
convenience in those days. Plain accommodations, hearty fare and plenty of hard
work, characterized the daily life of these first settlers.
Little of interest transpired during the first six months in their new homes,
and except for an occasional Indian, or a hunt for wild game, there was little
excitement to break the routine work on their claims. These settlers had come
direct from a well settled community, and as yet little appreciated the full
value of nature's gifts. Musk-rats, beaver, mink, as well as wolves and foxes,
were plentiful. But the settlers knew little about hunting and practically
nothing about trapping. It was not until 1858, when three professional trappers
came and camped near them, and were offered over $7,000 for their winter's
catch, that the settlers began to realize the value of such pelts. Wild fowl of
every kind was abundant. It was a common sight to see Medium Lake black with
wild geese. Deer, antelope, and elk were often seen and two buffalo were sighted
by some of these settlers that year. Nature's abundance was some compensation
for pioneer hardships. Supplies and provisions were obtained from Fort Dodge,
though the settlers had to go to Iowa City for their corn meal and made several
trips that fall. As the snow was very deep the first winter, the men were
compelled to make trips to Fort Dodge on snow shoes in real Indian fashion. If
it had not been for the furs for trade, they would have found it hard to
subsist, as there was very little money in those far-off settlements.
James Hickey and wife joined the Irish colony in the early fall of 1856, and
remained with the settlement during the first winter. Their daughter (Mrs.
Patrick McNal-ly), born in October of that year, was the first white child born
in the county. The following spring the Hickeys took up a claim farther south
across the river on section 35-96-33.
One of the early settlers who came to this county after the Irish colony
settled here, was Jerry Crowley, Sr., and family, consisting of five children,
J. P., Michael H., Katie, Ellen and John. They came in the fall of 1856 and
settled in a picturesque grove of natural timber on the west side of the river
in section 35, in what is now Walnut township, about five miles north of the
Irish settlement. Mr. Crowley built a house that fall and then went to Fort
Dodge to get supplies for the winter. He bought some sod corn from Shippey and
potatoes from Evans. There were no white neighbors nearer than the Irish colony,
but in the winter of 1856, some time in December, a band of fourteen Indians
camped in the woods not over twenty-five rods from Crowley's house. The family
could see the tepees plainly from their dooryard. They were good Indians, with
Sleepy-Eye as their chief, and did not bother the Crowleys any during that
winter. In fact they were given large quantities of flour and other supplies.
There were three trappers who camped along the river that winter and traded
somewhat with the Indians. These trappers got a great many valuable furs and
took them to Fort Dodge, but the snow was so deep that they did not get back
with the supplies in time to trade with the Indians before the Indians left.
These same Indians left in the spring of 1857, at the time Inkpadutah's band
perpetrated the Spirit Lake massacre. Michael H. Crowley, describing the band of
Indians, says: "They camped not over twenty-five or thirty rods from our house.
I used to see the squaws chopping wood. They never tried to molest us. I was
always afraid of them. One in particular I remember. He would come in with a
great big club, all tacked full of brass tacks. It had a steel spear in the end
of it and a skunk tail hanging to the end. He was a ferocious looking fellow and
I never liked him, and was very glad when they left. The rest of the family did
not seem to be afraid of them. Jerry used to go over to the tepees and play with
the Indian children. They would slide down hill together." [1]
[1] Interview with M. H. Crowley.
Roger Corcoran, his wife and three children, came with Jerry Crowley, Sr.
They settled on the south side of the river in section 35. It was the intention
of Mr. Corcoran and Mr. Crowley to take the same claim, buy it, and divide the
timber. But this agreement was not carried out, as the former left the next
spring and did not return.
There was a community of interest and helpfulness pervading this Irish
colony. The seven original families had located close together in a compact
little settlement for protection and social convenience. With stout hearts and
willing hands these sturdy settlers together braved the trials of frontier life.
This Irish colony, as it was called, thus became the nucleus of the settlement
in the central part of the county and exerted an important influence over the
community.
Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
History of Palo Alto County Iowa
BY
DWIGHT G. MCCARTY
THE TORCH PRESS
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
1910
File at: http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ia/paloalto/history/1910/historyo/ir...
This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/iafiles/
File size: 9.4 Kb
Palo Alto County IA Archives History - Books .....The West Bend Settlement 1910
************************************************
Copyright. All rights reserved.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htmhttp://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ia/iafiles.htm
************************************************
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb(a)yahoo.com March 5, 2006, 10:53 pm
Book Title: History Of Palo Alto County Iowa
CHAPTER II
The West Bend Settlement
The first settlement in Palo Alto County was made in May, 1855. William
Carter and son, Fayette Carter and wife, and Jeremiah Evans and family selected
permanent claims on the east bank of the Des Moines River near where West Bend
now stands. [1] They came from Benton County, Iowa, making their way through the
sparsely settled country by slow-going ox teams, and from Fort Dodge following
the dim trail to the northwest, known as the "Military Road." It was the route
that the soldiers had taken in going north to Fort Ridgely, and the subsequent
supply wagons had left their marks on the prairie grass. Slight and uncertain
was the trail, but it led these pioneers straight to their new home.
[1] These facts about the early settlement at West Bend are from interviews with
A. B. Carter, and from a letter written by him to the Semicentennial Committee
May 12, 1906. I have often talked to Mr. Carter and listened to his interesting
tales of those early days. Some important facts are corroborated by William D.
Powers's letters to me and especially a letter to the Semi-Centennial Committee,
June 20, 1906, which is later given in its entirety.
Before making a final location they decided to look around a little more, and
went farther north, camping on May 30th on the east bank of Medium Lake in what
is now known as Jackman's Grove. As it was late in the season it seemed best to
return, and early the next morning the settlers retraced their steps and began
at once to make a permanent settlement at West Bend. Samuel McClelland, who
accompanied them, did not stay but returned home. Carter and Evans had taken
adjoining claims on a beautiful rolling piece of land near the shore of the
river, with plenty of wood and water close byan ideal place for a pioneer
cabin. [1]
[1] This was in section 21, West Bend township. William Carter's son, A. B.
Carter, still owns the old farm and lived there until the spring of 1909, when
he moved to the town of West Bend.
On the 31st day of May, 1855, on the line between the two claims, the first
prairie in Palo Alto County was broken with five yoke of oxen hitched to a
28-inch plow. It was a great day for those settlers, who now began to see that
nature's wilderness was in fact the provider of their future home. In the days
that followed, trees were cut and roughly shaped into logs, and a log house
built. It was about 14x18, of rough hewn logs, with no floor, roofed over with
"shakes," rough slabs about three feet long lapped over each other, and kept in
place by poles placed across above them. Only a small piece of ground was sown,
that spring. Game of all kinds was plenty. Elk and deer were often seen, and the
settlers fared well during the spring and summer, as they had brought some
supplies with them.
Some time that summer, perhaps in July, a band of Sioux Indians, under the
leadership of the famous chief, Inkpadutah, came and camped near by. They did
not appear to be hostilely inclined, but were nevertheless very troublesome. The
settlers' covered wagons, containing all their provisions, were drawn up in the
shade of the trees about a hundred yards from the Carter cabin, which was just
being completed. Mrs. Evans saw an Indian sneak into one of the wagons and
shortly afterward a butcher-knife and some small bags of beans were missed. The
settlers had a very savage dog which they tied to the wagon, and it kept such
good watch that the Indians maintained a respectful distance, although they
longed to get their itching fingers on some more of the white man's property.
Finally the Indians drove the settlers' cattle away, killing and devouring one
of the oxen. The rest of the cattle were found near the east fork of the Des
Moines River, a good many miles to the south. The little colony was glad to be
well rid of this insolent band of Indians.
In the fall William Carter returned to Benton County and brought back Mrs.
Carter and their son Ben (A. B. Carter), who was then fourteen years old. They
traveled in a wagon drawn by oxen, and after leaving Fort Dodge it was a slow
and tedious journey for sixty miles along the rough trail over the waving plains
of grass. They arrived at the settlement in October, 1855, and received a royal
welcome to their new home.
The Carter and Evans families were the only settlers during the year 1855.
They raised some sod corn, forty or fifty bushels of buckwheat, and about two
hundred bushels of turnips. This was considered a good return for the few acres
of prairie sod. These pioneers did not suffer for food, as they had brought
flour and bacon with them, and wild game was plenty. They threshed the buckwheat
with flails, ground it in a coffee mill, and had plenty of buckwheat cakes.
Mr. A. B. Carter, in telling about their experiences, says: "It was very cold
here during the first winter, and I guess we all were nearly frozen to death.
Every one of my toes and fingers turned black, with frost. One time we started
to go to Fort Dodge with a load of shingles that we had made. There was a great
demand for those shingles then, and we had three pairs of cattle on the sled.
Got down about Rutland, and it was getting dark and we got stuck in a snowdrift
and had to camp there all night. We were nearly frozen to death.
"During the winter of '55 a band of Sioux Indians camped in our woods about
fifty rods from the house. From that time on there were adventures every day.
The old chief's name was Sleepy-Eye. He was undoubtedly a first class man, and
kept strict control of the Indians. A few things were stolen from us that
winter. One thing was a hatchet. We had just come home from Fort Dodge. The
Indians got the hatchet out of our sled, and we told a young Indian about it. He
shook his head and went to the camp. Soon he came back with the hatchet and told
us who took it. The one who had taken it was the best hunter around and a pretty
tough one, and that Indian never came there again. It showed that the chief had
pretty good control of them.
"That was a hard winter. The snow was very deep and as all wild game was
driven away, the Indians came pretty near starving. The Indians would watch us
grinding buckwheat in the coffee mill and thought we had to work hard enough for
our living. I used to try and get some of the young bucks to try the coffee
mill, but only one of them would help me and I would divide with him. The
Indians were in desperate straits for food. My brother and I went to Fort Dodge
and got a dressed hog and what corn meal we could bring back, and peddled that
to them. They bought what they could, and we bought lots of moccasins from them.
We went to Fort Dodge and traded moccasins and furs for provisions. There was
one pair of oxen that they had noticed we did not work, so they came and
demanded that pair of oxen that they had not seen us working, as they were about
starving. The next day we hitched up all the oxen and hauled up some wood to
show that we needed them. We went to Fort Dodge again and got them something to
eat. When the wild birds came they went up north. Two days after one of the
Indians came back and stayed with us all summer. He was about my age, a young
boy, and the only Indian among them who would do any work. He came to help do
the chores and took quite a notion to me, and that was what brought him back.
He helped anything he could, tried to learn the language, and learned very fast.
He tried to do anything he saw anyone else do. We called him 'Josh.'
"We had hunting experienceslots of them. In the fall of '55 my father and my
brother and I came up here and I don't remember where we camped the first night,
but the second night we camped up at Walnut Grove, about where the Laughlins
settled later. Got up there in the afternoon. Were probably four miles from our
team, when along about four o'clock we saw a drove of elk, probably two hundred
of them. We got north of them, within a hundred rods, and saw that the main
drove was on the south of the creek. On the bottom of the pond over beyond that,
we saw two big elk by themselves. Father tried to get these two. He started and
as he went along ducks would fly up, and we supposed that every time the ducks
flew the elk would be frightened away, but they did not care at all. Father kept
gaining on those two; we could see him as he waded through the pond. We lay
there and watched him. He fired a shot. One elk laid down and the other started
to run, but stopped in the middle of another report. The elk ran, and would
stop, and finally the old rifle popped again. Father shot seven times and had
both downtwo of the largest elk I ever saw. That was my first hunting
experience. Deer were plenty. In the spring of '56 there were elk with our
cattle half a dozen times. I wanted to take a gun and get after them, but Father
said they were poor then and I should wait until they got fatter. I never got an
elk. In the fall of '56, old Sam McClelland, my brother, and I, and this young
Indian that I have spoken about, went to Lost Island. There had been thousands
of elk there, but an Indian told us that he saw four Indians driving them away."
[1]
[1] Interview with A. B. Carter. Some of the details given above regarding the
crop of the first year are taken from a letter of Mr. Carter's to the
Semi-Centennial Committee, May 12, 1906.
Early in the spring of 1856 William D. Powers joined the West Bend colony. He
tells the story of his coming to Palo Alto County as follows: "I walked through
Palo Alto under command of Major Sherman on our march to Fort Ridgely on the 7th
of March, 1854. We marched from there to St. Paul and took boats and landed at
Jefferson Barracks and from there took boats up the Missouri and landed at Fort
Belknap, and from there to Fort Riley. I was discharged at that post on August
29, 1855. I worked two months in the bakehouse. I served five years as a baker.
I came to St. Louis and bought one yoke of oxen and a wagon and I traveled up
through Missouri and came up to Dakotah [City] and stayed a few days with Ed
McKnight. He had a small log house to live in, the only one in Dakotah [City].
He brought me down to a steep bank of the river where there was a cave. He took
me up to the south corner of Palo Alto and showed me a piece of land to live on.
I made my claim on section 34 on the 21st day of December, 1855. I saw a log
house about a mile from where McKnight and I were taking a lunch. We went up and
found Jerry Evans living with his family. He told us there was not a nail in the
house. A little farther toward the river we found another log house occupied by
William Carter, father of A. B. Carter, and family. I went back to Dakotah
[City] and lived in the cave all winter. I came up to my claim and put up my
army tent I had bought in St. Louis. This putting up my tent was on the 9th of
April, 1856, at what is called West Bend now. The country looked wild, no people
around. However, in the fall some of the Sioux Indians came down the river to
hunt. There was plenty of game at that time. The chief, Och-see-da-washta, with
a few of his warriors, would pay me a visit and take some dinner with me. I had
two barrels of hardtack I brought up from St. Louis. They are hard biscuit for
army use. The winter of 1858 was a cold and snowy time. We wanted to go to
Dakotah [City] to get some flour. We could not take any teams along on account
of the deep snow. So J. Lynn, S. McClelland, and a few more made hand sleighs
and tramped the snow and dragged our sleighs along and started back with one
sack of flour and fifty pounds of pork. It took four days to go and come. Oh,
what a change from those hard times! The Indians would talk about the time I was
captured by the Yankton Indians at Devil's Lake. But those wild times are gone
and those dark days are set. The bright day of civilization has come. Those wild
times and thousands of dark hours are gone forever." [1]
The natural advantages afforded by the location and the fact that they were
on the main route of travel to the north, combined to give this little
settlement a very important position. Rugged and persevering in character, these
first settlers have had a vital and lasting influence on the development of the
county.
[1] Letter of William D. Powers, June 20, 1906.
Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
History of Palo Alto County Iowa
BY
DWIGHT G. MCCARTY
THE TORCH PRESS
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
1910
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Palo Alto County IA Archives History - Books .....Introduction - Westward! 1910
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Book Title: History Of Palo Alto County Iowa
CHAPTER I
Introduction Westward!
The " Westward Movement" is one of the most important facts in American
history. Starting with a little fringe of colonies along the Atlantic coast, the
settlements began to spread gradually westward, ever westward, toward the
setting sun. The dangers and hardships of pioneer life on the eastern coast were
met and overcome in each successive stage of the march westward. The same kind
of opportunities and difficulties, colored with local variations, recurred to
make the strong and sturdy growth from frontier simplicity to permanent
development. It is this fact that has given a distinctive quality to American
life the self-reliance, courage and independence which dominate American
character. [1] A study of the frontier, therefore, will give us the key to our
history.
[1] Frederick J. Turner, "Significance of the Frontier in American History,"
Annual Report American Historical Assn., 1893, 200-201. See also McCarty, "Early
Social and Religious Experiments in Iowa," Iowa Historical Record, January,
1902. McCarty, Territorial Governors of the Old Northwest.
Moreover, the genesis of any settlement will show the basis and character of
development. Many distinctive characteristics of any community have grown out of
peculiar conditions or incidents in its early history. It is this frontier life,
with its privations, its battles, its pleasures, its government, and its crude
experiments and compromises, together with the effects of natural conditions and
environment, that discloses the very beginnings of social life. We must study
these frontier beginnings as well as later developments if we would appreciate
our local history.
Indeed there is a romantic fascination surrounding the early days of every
community. We listen with thrilling interest to the stories of the first
settlers, as they recount the hardships and dangers of home making on the
boundless prairie of a new country. The simple, rugged life of these early
pioneers in itself has a charm that increases with the passing of the frontier
line. We admire the dauntless pioneer with his ax and gun. We admire his
persevering labors in spite of obstacles and discouragement, and we admire his
courage in the face of every danger.
On through forest and over plain, westward and ever westward pressed the
adventurous and hardy pioneers. And still farther westward, on over the
trackless prairie, where the elk, deer, and other wild animals roamed at will,
and where occasional bands of roving Indians had camped and hunted, and departed
unmolested. Undaunted by the most severe weather, undismayed by the perils and
hardships of a long journey, they pressed forward through the wilderness,
leaving their own trail in the tall grass of the prairie, crossing the turbid
streams as best they could, exploring the woods and prairies, ever on the
lookout for a good location for their new home. The frontier line was gradually
moving toward the west, and these pioneer settlers were the advance guard of the
westward movement. They were willing to undergo all the hardships and privations
of frontier life in order that they might found a home for themselves and their
families. [1]
[1] See the writer's "Early Social and Religious Experiments in Iowa," in the
January, 1902, number of the Iowa Historical Record, for a more complete
description of the westward movement in Iowa, and the experiences of the early
pioneers throughout the state.
Midway in this westward march was Iowa the beautiful fertile land of Iowa.
But at the Mississippi progress was delayed for a time, as Iowa soil was owned
by the Indians and title had to be acquired before this territory could be
thrown open to settlement. Prior to this, the mining settlement of Dubuque had
been established1 and several abortive attempts at settlement had been made but
they were not permanent. During these early times trappers and Indian traders
roamed over the vast prairies, camping, hunting and trapping on the banks of
streams and in wooded places; but always moving and always pushing farther
westward ahead of the settlers. They were only skirmishers scouting ahead of the
real army of progress. The few squatters who tried to find homes were driven off
by the United States soldiers until the Indian title was extinguished and the
country finally opened up for settlement, June 1, 1833.
[1] Julian Dubuque in 1788 purchased a tract of land from the Sac and Fox
Indians and began to work the lead mines. Annals of Iowa, April, 1896, 330.
Salter, Iowa, the First Free State in the Louisiana Purchase; Gue, History of
Iowa, vol. i, chap. 10; McCarty, "Early Social and Religious Experiments in Iowa."
Even then actual title was not given until years later when the land sales
were held, but this fact did not deter actual settlers, who flocked into Iowa
and began to take up the most advantageous locations. The first settlers chose
claims along the rivers. Burlington and Fort Madison were settled in the fall of
1833. Davenport was formally named in 1836, and Keokuk was laid out in 1837. As
settlers increased and pushed westward, other towns were formed. Iowa City was
laid out on the banks of the Iowa River in 1839, and became the capital of the
territory. In the same year the government removed the Pottawattomie Indians to
Southwestern Iowa and erected a fort at Council Bluffs. Two Catholic
missionaries established a mission there, but it was a frontier outpost for some
years before it was reached by actual settlements. In 1843 Fort Des Moines was
built for the United States dragoons for the protection of the frontier from the
Indian depredations.
As settlers increased and the hostile Indians became more difficult to
control, a fort farther north was established in 1849, called Fort Clarke. The
name was changed a few years later to Fort Dodge. In 1853 the troops were moved
from Fort Dodge north to Fort Ridgely, but the vacated site was purchased and in
the beginning of the year 1854 the town of Fort Dodge was laid out and
thereafter became the distributing center for Northwest Iowa.
It was not until 1854-5 that the vanguard of settlement spread out into
Northwestern Iowa. Prior to that time there were only two cabins north of Fort
Dodge, that of the adventurous Henry Lott, near the mouth of Lott's Creek in
Humboldt County, and one built by William Miller six miles north of Fort Dodge,
on the east side of the river. These were rival trading posts which did a
flourishing business while the soldiers were at Fort Dodge. Lott was a desperate
character and was continually stirring up trouble with the Indians. The Indians
were inclined to resent the encroachments of the whites, and freely indulged
their natural trickery in attempts at despoiling the settlers. This was of
course resisted and trouble often followed. These frequent clashes, together
with the unscrupulous conduct of such men as Lott, caused a deep-seated
resentment among the redmen. The Indian depredations increased and kept the
settlers, who were coming in, continually alarmed. It was this smoldering
resentment that caused much of the trouble in the years that followed, and
culminated in the Spirit Lake massacre of 1857, and the Indian border troubles
of 1862 and 1863. These periods will be more fully considered in later chapters.
In the face of such conditions as these the early settlement of Northwest
Iowa began. Traders, locaters, surveyors and stray settlers all carried back to
Fort Dodge tales of the marvelous beauty of the lands along the east and west
forks of the Des Moines Eiver. During the summer of 1854 Ambrose A. Call and Asa
C. Call built the pioneer cabin in Kossuth County, on the east fork of the
river, and that summer and fall a colony of energetic settlers took claims
there. [1]
At this time the soil of Palo Alto had not been trod by a permanent settler.
History records one incident of the early march across the prairies. The United
States troops, on their removal from Fort Dodge in 1854, marched north to Fort
Ridgely and their course took them along the river. One evening after a hard
day's march, they came to a beautiful little lake and made their camp in an oak
grove upon the shore. A terrible storm raged that night and the detachment were
compelled to stay there several days before they could continue their northern
journey.2 In spite of the inclement weather we cannot but believe that those
gallant soldiers saw the beauties around them, for they were in Palo Alto
Countythe first arrivals upon its virgin soil. Its beauties and fertility could
not long remain unknown and the time was soon to arrive for the first settlement
of the county.
[1] Sketches by Ambrose A. Call in Algona Upper Des Moines, "History of Kossuth
County."
[2] William D. Powers, letter to Semi-Centenniai Committee. Gue, History of Iowa.
Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
History of Palo Alto County Iowa
BY
DWIGHT G. MCCARTY
THE TORCH PRESS
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
1910
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Palo Alto County IA Archives History - Books .....Preface 1910
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Book Title: History Of Palo Alto County Iowa
PREFACE
At the time of the celebration of the Semi-Centennial of Palo Alto County, at
Emmetsburg, Iowa, in July, 1906, I was asked to prepare a short history and list
of old settlers for the souvenir program distributed by the committee. The
preparation of that sketch led me deep into the beginnings of the county, and
the interest then incited has continued to grow as the researches progressed.
Moreover, there has been a deepening consciousness that it is our sacred duty to
preserve by historical record the events and traditions of the past. The
intrepid pioneers who fought the battles of the frontier in the early days are
fast passing away and with them the precious storehouse of human acts and
achievements so vital to any history. We cannot longer delay giving justice to
whom justice is due and preserve for posterity the record of those who in the
vanguard of progress made possible what we now enjoy.
During the four years that have elapsed since beginning this work, I have
used many spare moments and much of my vacation time in preparing this history.
The gathering of material has entailed a larger amount of hard work and patient
research than at first contemplated; and the writing and publication of the book
has been compressed into a few months and crowded to completion for fear that
the constantly increasing distractions of a busy practice might soon prevent any
further work upon it before its consummation. No one is more aware of the
imperfections of the book than the author and it is too much to hope that there
are no inaccuracies. But it has been my purpose to give as completely and
accurately as possible the history of our county. I have tried to be fair and
impartial. No labor has been spared to make the facts thoroughly trustworthy and
reliable in every detail. References and explanations in footnotes have been
given whenever practicable. But throughout it all the aim has been to keep the
thread of human interest, the personal touch that makes life worth living and
history worth reading.
The big 1906 Semi-Centennial celebration, lasting three days, bringing
together as it did the old settlers and renewing forgotten associations, brought
to light many valuable reminiscences and stories of the early days. An autograph
register of all visitors, with the date of coming to the county, was a feature
of the Old Settlers' Day and has since been permanently bound, together with the
account of the proceedings and other historical matter, and forms a valuable
record for future reference. Yet it is a lamentable fact that much valuable
historical material has been lost and destroyed. The most careful search and
extensive inquiry among the old settlers has not revealed a single copy of the
old Democrat, published at Soda Bar in 1869, nor of the Palo Alto Advance,
published in the Old Town in 1870, nor of the Palo Alto Patriot, published in
1873, nor of the Enterprise, issued for a short period about the same time. A
partial file and one or two odd copies of the Pilot, published in 1874, have
come to light. Complete files of the Reporter and the later papers have been
rescued from oblivion in old cellars, barns and attics. I have tried in vain to
find a copy of J. L. Martin's sketch of early county history, published many
years ago; and even the manuscript of that little book is now lost. We have
waited until too late to begin the preservation of the valuable records of the
early days. In fact in a very few years there would have been no survivors of
the first days left to tell the romantic tales now recorded in these pages.
In writing this book, I have relied much upon public records, documents,
letters, diaries, newspapers, books, printed reminiscences, and other sources of
this kind. But while this has formed the framework, the real body of the
narrative has come from the old settlers themselves. Many of them have very
courteously written letters and statements of their recollections, and others
have told me many interesting facts and incidents of the early days. Often I
have had long interviews with them, while our talk was taken verbatim in
shorthand and transcribed for later use and permanent record. It is in this way
that the history has developed.
I am deeply grateful for the helpful co-operation of the large number who
have assisted me. Without the aid of many friends among the old settlers, my
work would have been in vain. It is my one regret that I have not been able to
talk to more of these rugged veterans of an early day.
It is impossible to express in detail my deep obligations to the many who
have so generously assisted me in this work, and I must refer to the footnotes
for more special acknowledgment.
"In all that is good Iowa affords the best." We are proud of the rich,
fertile, progressive county of Palo Alto the very best in a grand state. And
if this little book shall increase our love and contentment here at home, and at
the same time perpetuate the memory and worthy achievements of our illustrious
pioneers, it shall have accomplished its intended mission and perhaps be worthy
of a place in the archives of our country.
Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
History of Palo Alto County Iowa
BY
DWIGHT G. MCCARTY
THE TORCH PRESS
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA
1910
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Butler-Taylor County IA Archives News.....Child Drowned September 23, 1876
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Iowa Southwest September 23, 1876
From the Page co. Herald we learn that on last Saturday morning a man named
Reeves from Fremont county, was on his way to visit his sister-in-law in
Taylor county. He was traveling in a light two-horse wagon in which were
himself, wife, and three children, the youngest an infant of about twenty
months. There was also in the wagon the clothing, bedding etc., of the family.
The Nodaway river was out of its banks, and in attempting to cross the wash-
out between the old and new bridges, east of town, the wagon was upset,
throwing the family and the household goods into the water, and carrying them
into the middle of the river. The alarm was given, and Jacob Crabill and a
part of his brick yard hands started to their relief.
Mr. Crabill found the Mother and children still afloat nearly half a mile
below where they had been thrown in, and swam out and finally got them to
shore. The mother and two children had managed to get in the top of the
upturned wagon box, and he found the babe floating at the end of the box, but
dead. The family was in a destitute condition, but the good people of our town
provided them with a coffin for the dead child, about $20 in money, dry
clothing for the rescued ones, and they started to return home with sad hearts
and their dead baby. That the mother and all the children were not drowned is
almost a miracle.
Additional Comments:
I have no other information on this family as they are not in my ancestral
line.
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Taylor County IA Archives News.....D. Bradley February 2, 1882
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Taylor County Republican February 2, 1882
D. Bradley was born in 1818, in Kentucky. Has resided in Kentucky, Missouri
and Illinois. Came to Iowa in 1868, was married in 1849, in Missouri. Mr.
Bradley had a nice farm of 80 acres, in what is known as the Beabout district;
have seven children.
Additional Comments:
I have no other information on this man as he is not in my ancestral line.
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Taylor County IA Archives News.....Horace E. Childs February 2, 1882
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Taylor County Republican February 2, 1882
Horace E. Childs was born in Mercer county, Ill., in 1849. In 1869 he was
married to Miss Julia Hollenback; came to this State in 1879, settling at his
present homestead, purchasing 320 acres in section 11. Mr. Childs has a good
farm, all of which is in cultivation. He has three children.
Additional Comments:
I have no other information as they are not in my ancestral line.
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Taylor County IA Archives News.....china wedding February 2, 1882
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Taylor County Republican February 2, 1882
Monday evening January 16th, a large number of the friends of Mr. and
Mrs. Kuhn met at their residence for the purpose of celebrating their "china
wedding." The ladies brought along cake and other delicacies, and intended to
surprise them, but Mrs. Kuhn surprised the guests by setting out a splendid
supper of oysters and peaches. There were over fourty persons present and they
presented Mr. and Mrs. Kuhn with a complete set of china ware. Among the
donors were Jacob Wise, Peter Swisher, Jeff Moffit, W. P. Woods, Mr.
Cunningham, W. B. Woods, J. E. Wise, Charlie Boyles, and their wives. Albert
Richardson sang some fine selections and a quartette, composed of Sallie Wise,
Addie Woods, Mr. Kuhn and Mr. Richardson, done some very fine singing also.
Additional Comments:
Thurs. Feb. 2, 1882
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