Palo Alto County IA Archives History - Books .....The Relief Expedition 1910
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Book Title: History Of Palo Alto County Iowa
CHAPTER V
The Relief Expedition
The alarming news of the massacre stirred the towns of Fort Dodge and Webster
City. Public meetings were held, and within three days about one hundred men had
volunteered to go in pursuit of the Indians and to the relief of the settlers.
Such supplies as could be procured were hastily gathered and the men organized
into companies.
Governor Grimes had previously appointed Major William Williams of Fort Dodge
as the executive agent to protect the frontier, and he now promptly took charge
of the expedition. C. B. Richards was captain of Company A of Fort Dodge, John
F. Duncombe captain of Company B of Fort Dodge, and J. C. Johnson captain of
Company C of Webster City. The number of men was considerably augmented from
time to time by enlistments from the settlers and others on the way. In all, the
expedition numbered about one hundred twenty-five men.
Realizing that delay would be dangerous for the success of their undertaking,
they made ready quickly, and March 24, 1857, started on the difficult journey of
over eighty miles to the scene of the massacre. The severe cold and deep snow
rendered their progress slow, and they were poorly equipped for such hardships.
After four days of difficult travel and extreme suffering, they reached the
Evans cabin on the edge of Palo Alto County. Here nine men decided that the
hardships were too great and returned home, leaving the loyal soldiers to fight
their way onward.
Several accounts of the progress of the expedition by men who marched with the
command have been preserved and we will let these actual participants tell the
rest of the story. [1]
[1] The Annals of Iowa, October, 1898, contains the complete history of this
remarkable march, graphically told by those who were with the expedition. The
rest of this chapter is taken from these personal reminiscences as quoted in the
Annals. See also Mrs. Abbie Gardner Sharp, History of the Spirit Lake Massacre;
Gue, History of Iowa, vol. i, chap, xxv; Smith, History Dickinson County, chap. vi.
On the morning of the 28th "the command started early and by hard and
constant work reached Shippey's at dark. At McCormick's, a mile below
Shippey's,
we found Angus McBane, Cyrus C. Carpenter, William B. Pollock, and Andrew Hood,
who joined Company A and went on with us from that point. We also found at
Shippey's a part of a load of flour which A. M. Luce had left some weeks before,
having got this far when the deep snow had rendered it impossible to proceed
with his load. He had taken what he could haul on a hand sled and gone on to his
family at the lakes. With this we replenished our meagre supplies and the next
day reached the Irish colony in Palo Alto County, where we were able to get some
hay for a bed and sleep under the cattle sheds. Our teams being nearly worn out
we got an ox team to help us along." [2]
[2] Recollections of Capt. Charles B. Richards, Annals of Iowa, October, 1898,
p. 512.
"Sunday, the 29th, was a beautiful, clear day; snow melted until long
stretches of bare ground could be found, and we made the longest march of any
day since leaving Fort Dodge, reaching the Irish colony, sixteen miles from
Shippey's. Here all the settlers for many miles above and below the river had
collected for company during the long, tedious winter. They knew nothing of the
massacre at Spirit Lake until [the news was being carried to Fort Dodge] though
they were only about thirty-five miles away; they were living in little log
cabins and dugouts and seemed very destitute; most of them had only been there
since the summer and fall before and had raised nothing. . . [A day or so later
a scouting party that had been sent out to reconnoitre] met that heroic band of
refugees from Springfield, Minnesota, where they had made a gallant defense,
driven the savages back and were fleeing from their homes, destitute, having
left everything but the clothes they had on. Their only conveyance was a sled
drawn by a pair of oxen, and they were nearly starved. Here we camped and did
all we could to make them comfortable." [1] [The next morning the rescued party
were sent back in charge of the surgeon to the Irish colony while the soldiers
resumed the march.]
[1] Narrative of W. K. Laughlin, Annals of Iowa, October, 1898, p. 542.
"We fully realized now that we were in the Indian country and Major Williams,
with his long experience among the redskins, took every precaution to guard
against a surprise. We camped at Big Island Lake, where we found fresh signs of
Indians. We reached Granger's Grove, on the Des Moines River, close to the
Minnesota state line, that night, where the disappointing news reached us that
the Indians had left the place some five days before, and that a detachment of
United States mounted troops, sixty in number, were then quartered at
Springfield. Our whole company was sorely disappointed. After having undergone
such privations, we hoped that though we were not in time to relieve the
distressed settlers, we might be able to mete out to their murderers and
torturers the justice they so richly merited. Our provisions by this time were
running short, from the fact that owing to the deep snow all the way it had
taken us longer to reach our destination than was expected. The men were so
eager to follow the Indians, and leave the teams where they were, each man
taking what provisions he could carry, that Major Williams offered twenty-five
dollars a hundred for a few sacks of flour. But the settlers only had part of a
load of flour and did not know when any more could be had. The Major refused to
exercise military authority and take it by force, and on the morning of the 2nd
of April he sent twenty-five men under Captain Johnson to bury the dead at
Spirit Lake." [1]
[1] Paper by Michael Sweeny, Annals of Iowa, October, 1898, p. 540.
Robert McCormick was one of the volunteers who performed that sad mission. On
the return this party suffered great hardships and two of the number, Captain
Johnson and Private Burkholder, became separated from their comrades and
perished in the cold. Their bones were found years later in Palo Alto County by
William Shea on the northeast quarter of section 3-95-33.
The main body of the expedition returned to the Irish colony. "Here the
officers were called together to consult as to ways and means to get food to
keep the men together until we could reach Fort Dodge. The settlers at the
colony were on short rations and could spare nothing. We decided to buy a steer
and kill for the party, but we had no money and the owner refused to sell
without pay. We offered to give the personal obligation of all the officers, and
assured him the state would pay a good price; but this was not satisfactory. We
therefore decided to take one vi et armis, and detailed several men to kill and
dress the steer. They were met by men, women and children, armed with pitchforks
to resist the sacrifice, and not being able to convince them either of the
necessity of the case or that they would get pay for the steer, I ordered
Lieutenant Stratton and a squad of men with loaded guns to go and take the
steer, when, seeing we were determined, and that further resistance would be
useless, the hostile party retired. The animal was soon dressed and distributed
to the men, and for the first time in ten days they had a full meal.
"We had hoped the detachment sent to the lakes might overtake us, but as they
did not come we left what meat had not been used for the men, and resumed our
march. The day was warm until about noon, when a cold rain began, making it
dreary and dismal. We found several small creeks and all the ravines full of
water, but crossed all without much detention until we arrived at Cylinder
Creek, about twelve or fifteen miles from the colony, and two from Shippey's,
where we expected to camp for the night. This point we reached about 3 p. m.,
when we found the bottom on the west side one vast sheet of water fully half a
mile wide. We had become accustomed to overcoming obstructions and at once sent
two men with poles to wade out as far as possible and ascertain the depth of the
water. Their report was that the men could wade for nearly half a mile in water
from two to five feet deep, when they would reach the channel proper of the
creek, which was from sixty to eighty feet wide and very deep, with a swift
current. We determined to make a boat from our wagon box by calking the cracks
with cotton taken from our comforters and with this (first stretching a rope
across the deep water) we could wade the men out to that point and run them
across in the wagon box. . . When we struck the swift current we were carried
rapidly down stream, but by using our poles we managed to get across. As we
struck the further shore where the bank was steep and a lot of ice piled up, our
boat shut up like a jack knife, there being no braces at the corners. Every man
jumped for shore and by getting hold of some willows all got out, Mason losing
his overcoat and hat, and all getting wet. When the boat, which went under in
the collapse, came up it was only separate boards floating down the rapid
stream, and the rope was gone. The men who had come out to hold one end could
not stand the cold water longer and had waded back to the main body. We had
hoped to stretch this rope across the deep water and ferry over the men.
"About this time the wind suddenly changed to the northwest and was blowing
fiercely and very cold, so that our wet clothes began to freeze and stiffen. . .
In the face of that blizzard, for such it had now become, we could do nothing.
By this time it had grown so dark that nothing could be seen of the other shore,
neither on account of the noise of the wind could we get any reply to our
frequent calls. We were utterly incapable of further exertion. The howling wind
and drifting snow was fast obliterating the track. We consulted together and
determined that it was as utterly impossible for us to render any assistance to
our men as it would have been had they been in mid-ocean, and that our only
safety lay in getting to Shippey's before the darkness and drifting snow made it
impossible. It was a terrible walk with our frozen clothes and it was nine
o'clock in the evening when we reached the cabin. Here we passed a night which
no lapse of time will ever obliterate from my memory, so small was the cabin and
so cold, and we had only our wet clothes. We warmed ourselves by the open fire,
had some bacon and bread and a cup of coffeethe best thing to revive exhausted
nature I have ever found. We had no blankets, but borrowed what the Shippeys
could spare from their scanty store and spent the night, some trying to sleep,
some drying their clothes by turning first one side to the fire, then the other,
all anxious and making frequent visits to the door hoping the storm would abate,
but each time only to find the wind and cold increasing. . . I remember that it
seemed as if the light of day would never come. The image of each man in the
command, out in this terrible night, with neither food, fire or even the
protection of a tent, was constantly before me." [1]
[1] Reminiscences of Chas. B. Richards, Annals of Iowa, Sept., 1898, pp. 517-520.
The main part of the force was thus left on the open prairie to face the
terrible blizzard. Lieutenant Mason thus describes their experiences: "We were
now drenched to the skin and as the wind had shifted to the northwest it rapidly
grew cold, and before many minutes our clothes were frozen stiff. We were very
scantily dressedfew of the men having more than an undershirt and a pair of
pants. I fared as well as any of them, and all I had to brave that fearful storm
with, was a flannel shirt, a pair of pants with one leg torn off at the knee and
the seam in the other ripped from top to bottom, and one boot with the leg cut
off, the mate having been burned a few days previous. We began to look around
for a place to sleep. Some of the boys spread their blankets on the ground and
arranged themselves 'spoon fashion.' Brizee, Howland, Hathway, and myself lay
behind the hind wheels of a wagon. We got through that night, but I hardly know
how, as the mercury was over 30° below. We were all glad to see daylight, but
many did not dare to crawl out of their blankets that day. The poor boys were
almost freezing and some of them were becoming delirious. I think we were all
more or less insane during a part of that terrible night. Brizee would
frequently put his face to mine and beg me to 'go down the creek, only half a
mile, where there was a big hotel, where we could get a warm breakfast with hot
coffee.' When I would tell him that it was only a dream he would sob like a
child and still insist that we must go. After daylight I fell into a doze, and
dreamed that I was at my dear old mother's home, that I had been away and had
come home hungry, and that she and a favorite sister prepared some toast for me.
I can see them now as I saw them then.
" The next morning was still and bright. Mr. Howland and myself concluded to
cross the creek. We staggered to our frozen feet and arm in arm hobbled toward
the stream. All eyes were upon us as we went out upon the ice. We began to feel
encouraged but when we neared the center of the creek we found a space of open
water, about thirty feet wide and very deep. We had resolved, however, never to
return to that camp again, and looking up the stream we saw a clump of willows
and went up to them. Here we found that ice had floated down, lodged against the
willows and frozen there, thus forming a complete bridge. After passing the
channel we signaled back, when a truly joyous shout went up from those poor
half-insane boys. I will here state that there was not a man among our
numberabout 80who had strength enough to reach the opposite shore. I do not
understand why they were so affected, the trouble seemed to be weakness and a
shortness of breath. Every man's mouth was open wide, his tongue hanging out,
and in some instances blood running from nose or mouth. Shippey's cabin, where
Major Williams, Captains Duncombe and Richards, and Private Smith had been
during the storm, was two and a half miles southeast of the creek. Howland and I
kept together until we reached the cabin, and were among the last to arrive. He,
being the stronger, had rendered me considerable assistance, for which I now,
after thirty years, thank him most sincerely. Major Williams met us with great
tears streaming down his furrowed cheeks, and those who had remained at the
cabin rendered as all the assistance in their power. We soon devoured the
provisions given us and all sank down in the warmth of the sun and slept. We
were allowed to sleep till about three o'clock P. M., when we were aroused from
our slumbers and a consultation was held. It was decided to disband, separate
into small squads, and strike out for the nearest settlement." [1]
"All of the command finally arrived safely except Captain Johnson and Wm.
Burkholder, who perished in the awful storm not far from the Irish colony, on
the west side of the west fork of the Des Moines River. Some of the party,
however, received injuries from the exposure on the march from which they never
recovered. I have doubts whether any body of men for the same length of time, on
any march, ever suffered greater hardships, more constant exposure, more severe
bodily labor, than those who composed the Spirit Lake expedition. . . So long as
the people of Iowa admire pluck and true courage; so long as Americans are
freemen, the story of the Spirit Lake expedition will be told with pride by
every true man of our state and by all who are familiar with her history." [2]
[1] Recollections of Frank R. Mason, Annals of Iowa, Occtober, 1898, p. 535.
[2] Address of Capt. John F. Duncombe, Annals of Iowa, Sept., 1898, pp. 507-8.
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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