History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/1/6
MORE than four hundred years have passed since Europeans began the invasion of America, and the savages whose ancestors exterminated the Mound Builders are rapidly meeting a similar fate. When Twentieth Century shall have passed away, the American Indians will have almost, if not quite, disappeared from the face of the earth. They seem to be incapable of civilization and consequently their complete extinction is probably near at hand. Whatever of the history of the Indian nations and tribes of Iowa can be found must be of interest to the civilized millions who now occupy the State.
The wresting of Iowa from its Indian inhabitants was attended with little of the cruelty of war which followed the advent of the Spanish, English and Portuguese invaders in other portions of America. Three hundred years of sturdy but unavailing resistance to the advance of the European races had exhausted the original fierce and unyielding courage of the Indians and impressed them with the gloomy conviction that resistance was unavailing. Nation after nation of their ancestors had been vanquished in the unequal contest. Slowly but surely they had been dispossessed of their homes and hunting grounds. The most powerful Indian tribes of America had disappeared in the warfare. Their lands had long been peopled by the white men who had forced the savages step by step westward. Their conquerors must be their historians, and justice demands that we shall record their virtues as well as their vices.
If they were cruel, treacherous, revengeful and merciless as enemies, it is no less true that they were brave warriors, hospitable, devoted and loyal friends. They were as ready to risk life in defense of their benefactors and allies as they were to tomahawk, scalp and burn their enemies and prisoners. Their torture of captives was no more merciless than that exhibited by the so-called civilized people and government of England, France, Spain and Italy in crushing out religious freedom during the same centuries. The Indians used the tomahawk, scalping knife and fire no more fiendishly than did the white bigots the rack, the thumbscrew and the blazing fagot.
The Indians resisted the invaders of their country with a stern and relentless ferocity born of ages of barbarism' torturing and exterminating their white enemies, the despoilers of their homes. Their conquerors, many of whom had fled from persecution and oppression in the civilized countries of Europe, turned upon the natives, robbing them of their lands, killing men, women and children. It was an age of disregard of human rights and human life, in which Christians vied with barbarians in the infliction of merciless cruelties.
When Iowa was first explored by the whites the Dakota Indians were found in possession of Minnesota and northern Iowa. This family consisted of the following tribes: Iowas, Omahas, Winnebagoes, Osages, Sissetons, Missouris and Otoes. The Algonquin family, consisting of the Illinois, Sauks, Foxes, Chippewas, Attouays and Pottawattamies, occupied northern Missouri and southern Iowa.
THE ILLINOIS INDIANS
The Indians seen by Marquette and Joliet in the valley of the Des Moines River were of the Illini or Illinois tribe. Illinois seems to have been the name of of a confederacy embracing the five sub-tribes—Peorias, Cahokias, Kaskaskias, Michigamies and Tamaroas. These being of the Algonquin race were hereditary enemies of the warlike Iroquois, or Six Nations, whose seat of government was in the Mohawk Valley of New York. During the generations through which their wars had extended the Illinois had been gradually driven into the region between Lake Michigan and the Wabash River and extending thence west across the Mississippi River. More than two hundred years ago, when visited by Marquette, they had become greatly reduced in numbers and strength from wars with the Iroquois on the east and the Chickasaws on the south. When Iowa was next visited by white men the once powerful Illinois Indians had been nearly exterminated by the Sacs and Foxes. In 1803 a few Iowas were found who were friendly with the Sacs and Foxes, with whom they made an alliance which lasted about twenty years.
THE MASCOUTINES
A tribe called Mascoutines, first mentioned by Father Allouez in 1670, then found in the valley of the Wisconsin River, had moved into Iowa. These Indians were on friendly terms with the Illinois and occupied a portion of Iowa west of Muscatine Island, where they located, having been driven out of their former lands by hostile tribes. The Algonquin word "Mascoutenck" means a place having no woods or prairie. The Mascoutines built a village on the island of that name, which was a level prairie embracing about twenty thousand acres.
In 1673 when Marquette and Joliet first penetrated the Mississippi Valley they found the Mascoutines living near the Fox River where they had a village near the Miamis and Kickapoos, who were friendly with them. They were a fierce tribe and usually at war with some other nation. Long before the advent of the first French explorers the Mascontines fought a great battle with the Sacs and Foxes on Iowa waters. These nations in large numbers descended the Mississippi in canoes. When near the mouth of the Iowa River, they were attacked by the Mascoutines. A desperate conflict ensued lasting an entire day. The Sacs and Foxes found themselves outnumbered and unable to force a passage through the enemy's country. As night was approaching, their losses being heavy, the command was given to retreat. As the fleet turned back and attempted to ascend the river, the Mascoutines left the shelter of the woods and from the water's edge sent a shower of arrows into the disordered enemy. Pushing their canoes out into the river, the Mascoutines continued the conflict. Beset on all sides by superior numbers, the invaders made a heroic fight for their lives; but one by one they fell before the enraged Mascoutines, who seized their canoes and capsized them, tomahawking the occupants as they struggled in the water. In the darkness that ensued a few of the Sacs and Foxes escaped in their canoes; but three-quarters of the army was sunk beneath the Mississippi.
When La Salle descended the Mississippi Valley in 1680, he found this tribe still in that vicinity. The Mascoutines, displeased with the presence of the white men, sent emissaries to the Illinois to influence them to join in resistance. Ninety-eight years later they are mentioned as attending a council when Colonel George Rogers Clark led a party into that region. Little more is known of the Mascoutines in later times, save that they lived near where Muscatine now stands and that the city derives its name from them.
It is supposed that as they became weakened by frequent wars, the remnants of the once powerful tribe were merged with some other nation, as they had disappeared before the white settlers came to Iowa.
THE IOWAS
We first hear of the Iowa Indians in 1690 when they were found in the vicinity of the great lakes. Their noted chief, Man-haw-gaw, was then at the head of the tribe and under his leadership they migrated westward. They crossed the Mississippi and occupied the country about the lower valley of the Iowa River, giving to that stream its present name, although it was for a long time called the Ayouas by the earliest French explorers. Lewis and Clark in the journal of their explorations, in 1804, refer to this tribe of Indians as the Ayouways. In later years the orthography became changed to Ioway and finally the y was dropped and we have the beautiful name Iowa, with the accent on the I.
Antoine Le Claire, a half-breed of French and Indian parentage, who was familiar with several of the Indian languages, defines the word Iowa as “This is the place.” Theodore S. Parvin, a high authority, relates an Indian legend as follows:
As far back as the history of the Iowa nation has been traced by Schoolcraft and other, it is found that this tribe migrated fifteen times. It appears to have moved in about 1693 from the vicinity of the great lakes to near the mouth of Rock River and some years later to the Iowa. The next move was to the Des Moines Valley in the vicinity of Van Buren, Wapello and Davis counties. Many years later the Iowas journeyed through southern and western Iowa, up the Missouri Valley, into Dakota. For several years they lived near the red pipestone quarries in the valley of the Big Sioux River, roaming over into northwestern Iowa as far as Spirit Lake and the upper valleys of the Little Sioux and Des Moines rivers. Leaving these regions they descended the Missouri into southeastern Nebraska in the Platte Valley. They next wandered into northern Missouri and from there into southern Iowa in the region of the Chariton and Grand rivers. They engaged in frequent wars with the Sioux and Osages. In 1807 they had a battle with Osages. After a fierce conflict they captured the village, destroying thirty lodges and massacring all the inhabitants. A few years later the smallpox ravaged their settlement, destroying more than a hundred of their warriors and nearly two hundred women and children. Twelve years later they lost nearly two hundred more of the tribe by the same disease. In 1819 they were attacked by a superior force of Sioux and a desperate battle was fought. In the end the Iowas were defeated, losing scores of their best warriors. The Sioux captured and carried into captivity many of their women and children.
One of the most noted chiefs after the death of Man-haw-yaw was his son Ma-has-kah. His home was in the Des Moines Valley, near where the town Eldon now stands, at the old village of Iowaville. He had seven wives; the favorite one was a beautiful woman named Rant-che-wai-me (Female Flying Pigeon). In 1824, when Ma-has-kah, with a party of warriors, went to Washington to have an interview with President Monroe, this favorite wife joined the party the third day after their departure and announced her intention to accompany her husband and shake hands with the President. She was permitted to go with him and attracted marked attention in Washington from her great beauty and intelligence. Her portrait was painted by an artist at the Capital and for a long time adorned his studio. She was a kind and generous woman, devoting much of her time to ministering to the sick and unfortunate. General Hughes, the Indian agent, who was well acquainted with her, spoke in the highest terms of her excellent qualities. She returned from Washington with new views of life and tried to impress upon the young women of her race useful lessons from her observations of civilized people. Ma-has-kah was deeply attached to her and was greatly depressed at her tragic death, which was the result of a fall from a
MAHASKA
Chief of the Iowa Indians
horse soon after her return from Washington. He never ceased to extol her many virtues and beautiful character.
Soon after Ma-has-kah became the Iowa chief, he determined to avenge the assassination of his father. He selected a party of daring young warriors and led them on a secret raid against the Sioux. They met a party of their enemies and after a battle, killed and scalped ten Sioux warriors, among them the chief in whose lodge his father had been slain. Ma-has-kah was one of the most famous war chiefs of the tribe of Iowas.
The last battle between the Iowas and Sacs and Foxes was fought near the old town of Iowaville. here in 1824 the Iowas had assembled in great numbers to witness a horse race on the river bottom about two miles from their village. most of their warriors were present, unarmed and unsuspicious of the impending danger. The Sacs and Foxes were led by their chief, Pash-e-pa-ho, assisted by Black Hawk, who was then a young man unknown to fame. Their spies had watched the assembling of the Iowas and reported to Pash-e-pa-ho the numbers of the enemy. He secreted his warriors in the forest not far distant. The old chief led two divisions in the stealthy attack, while young Black Hawk was sent with the third division to capture and burn the village. In the midst of an exciting race, when all eyes were fixed upon the rival horses, the terrible war whoop burst upon their ears and the fierce Sacs and Foxes rushed like a whirlwind upon the unarmed and panic-stricken crowd. The Iowa warriors made a dash for the village, where their arms had been left, only to find it in flames. Shrieks of agony from their wives and children mingled with the yells of young Black Hawk's band, as the cruel tomahawk fell upon the defenseless villagers, nerved the Iowa braves to superhuman resistance. But few of their arms could be found in the confusion and they were massacred by scores in a hopeless effort to rescue their families. They fought with clubs and stones, until seeing the utter hopelessness of further resistance, the remnant of the band finally surrendered. Their power was broken, their proud spirit crushed by this disaster and the survivors never recovered form the blow. They lingered in despair about the ruins of their village and the graves of their kindred, gloomy and hopeless. The renown of their once powerful tribe had departed. They moved from place to place, through southern Iowa and northern Missouri. They ceased, as an independent tribe, to hold any considerable portion of the State to which their name has been given.
When Ma-has-kah was about fifty years of age members of his tribe made an incursion into the country of the Omashas to avenge the assassination of a son of one of their subordinate chiefs. They returned with the scalps of six Omahas. General Clark, at St. Louis, was notified of the bloody reprisal and sent General Hughes to arrest the Iowa braves. Ma-has-kah surrendered the young men to the military authorities and they were imprisoned at Fort Leavenworth. They left the disgrace keenly and determined to be revenged upon their chief. Two of the number, escaping from prison and learning that Ma-has-kah was camped on the Nodaway, sixty miles from the village, stealthily approached his camp at midnight and killed him while asleep in his tepee. One of his murderers sought refuge among the Otoes, but when they learned of his cowardly deed they executed him. The other assassin was killed by his own tribe.
The Iowas in 1825 sold their undivided interest in their Iowa lands to the United States. At this time their numbers were estimated to be one thousand and their principal village was in the valley of the Little Platte River. In 1838 they ceded their interest in Iowa to the United States for $157,500, which was kept as a trust fund; the interest at five per cent, is paid annually to the tribe. The remnant of the Iowas accepted lands west of the Missouri River, with the Sacs and Foxes, their former conquerors. They soon after outnumbered the tribes that subdued them and had become in some degree civilized. During the Civil War the Iowas were loyal to the Union and many of them enlisted in the National Army, making good soldiers. In October, 1891, they finally surrendered their tribal organization and accepted lands in severalty.
At the time of the removal of the tribe from Iowa, the second Ma-has-kah, son of the great Ma-has-kah and his favorite wife, Rant-che-wai-me, was ruling chief. He was a quarrelsome, drunken fellow, inheriting none of the virtues of his mother, nor the administrative ability or military genius of his father.
The Iowas were worshipers of a Great Spirit, the creator and ruler of the universe. They had a tradition that a very long time ago a month's rain came and drowned all living animals and people, excepting a few who escaped in a great canoe. The Great Spirit then made from red clay another man and woman and from them all Indians descended. They regarded rattlesnakes and a certain species of hawks with veneration. Unlike most other Indian tribes, they are chaste in their social relations; illegitimate children are never found among them. Among themselves the Iowas were called Pa-hu-cha, which in English means “dusty nose.” Their tradition is that when they separated from the original tribe, they settled near the mouth of a river having large sandbars along the shore. The sand and dust from these were blown into their faces, giving them dusty noses and their name Pa-hu-chas. Their language was that of the Dakota group, of which they were a part. They were divided into eight clans, known as Eagle, Pigeon, Buffalo, Elk, Bear, Wolf, Beaver and Snake; each clan having a totem of the bird or animal they represented. Each clan had a particular method of cutting and wearing the hair. The name of the greatest of the Iowa war chiefs, Mahaska, has been given to one of the counties in Des Moines Valley, embracing a portion of our State over which this once powerful tribe held dominion. if they got pregnant they had to make the husband leave till the baby was born:)