History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Orlando C. Howe
ORLANDO C. HOWE is a name that will be for all time associated with the greatest tragedy of Iowa history. He was born at Williamstown, Vermont, on the 19th of December, 1824, was educated at Aurora Academy in the State of New York and studied law at Buffalo, where he was admitted to the bar. Mr. Howe came to Newton, Iowa, in 1855. In the fall of 1856, he, in company with his brother-in-law, B. F. Parmenter and R. U. Wheelock made a trip up through the wild prairie regions of northwestern Iowa. They camped on the shore of west Okoboji, and were so charmed with the beautiful lakes and groves that each took a claim, intending to return and make homes the next spring. Early in March they again arrived at the lakes and were horror-stricken by the discovery that the little colony that had settled there the year before had been massacred by the Sioux Indians. Not one remained alive to tell of the cruel fate that had exterminated the entire settlement. The three horror-stricken men hastened back to Fort Dodge, spread the alarm among the isolated cabins on the way, helped to organize the “Relief Expedition” under command of Major Williams and joined in its terrible march and endured its almost unparalleled sufferings. When the Indians had been permanently driven from Iowa, Mr. Howe returned to his claim, making it his home. In 1858 he was chosen District Attorney, serving four years. When the Civil War came, Mr. Howe raised a company of cavalry which was Company L, Ninth Iowa, in which he served to the close of the war. From 1875 to 1880 he was Professor of Law in the State University at Iowa City. Later he removed to Barber County, Kansas, where he became county attorney and was for several years district judge. In August, 1899, he became insane and died at Topeka, on the 31st of that month, highly esteemed by all who knew him. His name is inscribed on the monument at Okoboji, erected by the State, in memory of the massacre of 1857.