CHAPTER I FOUR SCORE YEARS AGO THE RED MAN, PRIMEVAL FORESTS AND WILD GAME- ADVENT OF THE WHITE MAN-INDIAN CONFLICTS AND INDIAN TREATIES-IOWA TERRITORY-IOWA ADMITTED AS A STATE. Iowa, in the symbolical and expressive language of the original inhabitants, is said to signify "The Beautiful Land," and was applied to this magnificent and fruitful region by its ancient owners, to express their appreciation of its superiority of climate, soil and location. Prior to 1803, the Mississippi river was the extreme western boundary of the United States. All the great empire lying west of the "Fathers of Waters," from the Gulf of Mexico on the south to British. America on the north, and westward to the Pacific Ocean, was a Spanish province. A brief historical sketch of the discovery and occupation of this grand empire by the Spanish and French governments will be a fitting introduction to the history of the young and thriving state of Iowa, which, until the commencement of the present century, was a part of the Spanish possessions in America. Early in the spring of 1542, fifty years after Columbus discovered the new world, and one hundred and thirty years before the French missionaries discovered its upper waters, Ferdinand De Soto discovered the mouth of the Mississippi river at the mouth of the Washita. After the sudden death of De Soto, in May of the same year, his followers built a small vessel, and in July, 1543, descended the great river to the Gulf of Mexico. In accordance with the usage of nations, under which title to the soil was claimed by right of discovery, Spain, having conquered Florida and discovered the Mississippi, claimed all the territory bordering on that river and the Gulf of Mexico. But it was also held by the European nations that, while discovery gave title, that title must be perfected by actual possession and occupation. Although Spain claimed the territory by right of first discovery, she made no effort to occupy it by no permanent settlement had she perfected and held her title. and therefore had forfeited it when, at a later period, the Lower Mississippi valley was rediscovered and occupied by France. The unparalleled labors of the zealous French Jesuits of Canada in penetrating the unknown region of the west, commencing in 1611, form a history of no ordinary interest, but have no particular connection with the scope of the present work, until in the fall of 1665. Pierre Claude Allouez, who had entered Lake Superior in September, and sailed along the southern coast in search of copper, had arrived at the great village of the Chippewas at Chegoincegon. Here a great council of some ten or twelve of the principal Indian nations was held. The Pottawatomies of Lake Michigan, the Sacs and Foxes of the west, the Hurons from the north, the Illinois from the south, and the Sioux from the land of the prairie and wild rice, were all assembled there. The Illinois told the story of their ancient glory and about the noble river on the banks of which they dwelt. The Sioux also told their white brother of the same great river, and Allouez promised to the assembled tribe the protection of the French nation against all their enemies, native or foreign. The purpose of discovering the great river about which the Indian nations had given such glowing accounts appears to have originated with Marquette in 1669. In the year previous, he and Claude Dablon had established the Mission of St. Mary's, the oldest white settlement within the present limits of the state of Michigan. Marquette was delayed in the execution of his great undertaking, and spent the interval in studying the language and habits of the Illinois Indians, among whom he expected to travel. About this time, the French government had determined to extend the dominion of France to the extreme western borders of Canada. Nicholas Perrot was sent as the agent of the government to propose a grand council of the Indian nations, at St. Mary's. When Perrot reached Green Bay, he extended the invitation far and near and, escorted by Pottawatomies, repaired on a mission of peace and friendship to the Miamis, who occupied the region about the present location of Chicago. In May, 1671, a great council of Indians gathered at the Falls of St. Mary, from all parts of the northwest, from the head waters of the St. Lawrence, from the valley of the Mississippi and from the Red river of the north. Perrot met with them and after grave consultation, formally announced to the assembled nations that their good French Father felt an abiding interest in their welfare and had placed them all under the powerful protection of the French government. Marquette, during the same year, had gathered at Point St. Ignace the remnants of one branch of the Hurons. This station for a long series of years was considered the key to the unknown west. The time was now auspicious for the consummation of Marquette's grand project. The successful termination of Perrot's mission, and the general friendliness of the native tribes, rendered the contemplated expedition much less perilous. But it was not until 1673 that the intrepid and enthusiastic priest was finally ready to depart on his daring and perilous journey to lands never trod by white men. The Indians, who had gathered in large numbers to witness his departure, were astounded at the boldness of the proposed undertaking, and tried to discourage him, representing that the Indians of the Mississippi valley were cruel and bloodthirsty, and would resent the intrusion of strangers upon their domain. The great river itself, they said, was the abode of terrible monsters who could swallow both canoes and men. But Marquette was not to be diverted from his purpose by those fearful reports. He assured his dusky friends that he was ready to make any sacrifice, even to lay down his life for the sacred cause in which he was engaged. He prayed with them; and having implored the blessing of God upon his undertaking, on the 13th of May, 1673, with Joliet and five Canadian-French voyageurs, or boatmen, he left the mission on his daring journey. Ascending Green Bay and Fox river, these bold and enthusiastic pioneers of religion and discovery proceeded until they reached a Miami and Kickapoo village, where Marquette was delighted to find "a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the town, ornamented with white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows, which these good people had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to thank Him for the pity He had bestowed on them during the winter in having given them abundant chase." This was the extreme point beyond which the explorations of the French missionaries had not then extended. Here Marquette was instructed by his Indian hosts in the secret of a root that cures the bite of the venomous rattlesnake, drank mineral water with them and was entertained with generous hospitality. He called together the principal men of the village and informed them that his companion, Joliet, had been sent by the French governor of Canada to discover new countries, to be added to the dominion of France; but that he, himself, had been sent by the Most High God, to carry the glorious religion of the Cross; and assured his wondering hearers that on this mission he had no fear of death, to which he knew he would be exposed on his perilous journeys. Obtaining the services of two Miami guides to conduct his little band to the Wisconsin river, he left the hospitable Indians on the 10th of June. Conducting them across the portage, their Indian guides returned to their village and the little party descended the Wisconsin to the great river which had so long been so anxiously looked for, and boldly floated down its unknown waters. On the 25th of June the explorers discovered indications of Indians on the west bank of the river and landed a little above the mouth of the river now known as Des Moines, and for the first time Europeans trod the soil of Iowa. Leaving the Canadians to guard the canoes, Marquette and Joliet boldly followed the trail into the interior for fourteen miles (some authorities say six), to an Indian village situated on the banks of a river and discovered two other villages, on the rising ground about half a league distant. Their visit, while it created much astonishment, did not seem to be entirely unexpected, for there was a tradition or prophecy among the Indians that white visitors were to come to them. They were, therefore, received with great respect and hospitality, and were cordially tendered the calumet, or pipe of peace. They were informed that this band was a part of the Illini nation and that their village was called Monin-gou-ma, or Moingona, which was the name of the river on which it stood. This, from its similarity of sound, Marquette corrupted into Des Moines (Monk's river), its present name. Here the voyageurs remained six days, learning much of the manners and customs of their new friends. The new religion they boldly preached and the authority of the King of France they proclaimed were received without hostility or remonstrance by their savage entertainers. On their departure they were accompanied to their canoes by the chiefs and hundreds of warriors. Marquette received from them the sacred calumet, the emblem of peace and safeguard among the nations, and reembarked for the rest of his journey. It is needless to follow him further, as his explorations beyond his discovery: of Iowa more properly belong to the history of another state. In 1682 La Salle descended the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, and in the name of the King of France, took formal possession of all the immense region watered by the great river and its tributaries from its source to its mouth, and named it Louisiana, in honor of his master, Louis XIV. The river he called "Colbert," after the French minister, and at its mouth erected a column and cross bearing the inscription, in the French language, "LOUIS THE GREAT, KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE, At the close of the seventeenth century, France claimed, by right of discovery and occupancy, the whole valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries, including Texas, as far as the Rio del Norte. In 1719, Philipe Francis Renault arrived in Illinois with two hundred miners and artisans. The war between France and Spain at this time rendered it extremely probable that the Mississippi valley might become the theater of Spanish hostilities against the French settlements. To prevent this, as well as to extend French claims, a chain of forts was begun to keep open the connection between the mouth and the sources of the Mississippi. Fort Orleans, high up the Mississippi river, was erected as an outpost in 1720. The Mississippi scheme was at the zenith of its power and glory in January, 1720, but the gigantic bubble collapsed more suddenly than it had been inflated, and the company was declared hopelessly bankrupt in May following. France was impoverished by it, both private and public credit were overthrown, capitalists suddenly found themselves paupers, and labor was left without employment. The effect on the colony of Louisiana was disastrous. While this was going on in Lower Louisiana. the region about the lakes was the theater of Indian hostilities, rendering the passage from Canada to Louisiana extremely dangerous for many years. The English had not only extended their Indian trade into the vicinity of the French settlements, but through their friends, the Iroquois, had gained a marked ascendency over the Foxes, a fierce and powerful tribe, of Iroquois descent, whom they incited to hostilities against the French. The Foxes began their hostilities with the siege of Detroit in 1712, a siege which they continued for nineteen consecutive days, and although the expedition resulted in diminishing their numbers and humbling their pride, yet it was not until after several successive campaigns, embodying the best military resources of New France, had been directed against them, that they were finally defeated at the great battles of Butte des Morts, and on the Wisconsin river, and driven west in 1746. The company, having found that the cost of defending Louisiana exceeded the returns from its commerce, solicited leave to surrender the Mississippi wilderness to the home government. Accordingly, on the 10th of April, 1732, the jurisdiction and control over the commerce reverted to the crown of France. The company had held possession of Louisiana fourteen years. In 1735 Bienville returned to assume command for the king. A glance at a few of the old French settlements will show the progress made in portions of Louisiana during the early part of the eighteenth century. As early as 1705, traders and hunters had penetrated the fertile regions of the Wabash, and from this region, at that early date, fifteen thousand hides and skins had been collected and sent to Mobile for the European market. In the year 1716, the French population on the Wabash kept up a lucrative commerce with Mobile by means of traders and voyageurs. The Ohio river was comparatively unknown. In 1746, agriculture on the Wabash had attained to greater prosperity than in any of the French settlements besides, and in that year six hundred barrels of flour were manufactured and shipped to New Orleans, together with considerable quantities of hides, peltry, tallow and beeswax. In the Illinois country, also, considerable settlements had been made, so that in 1730 they embraced one hundred and forty French families, about six hundred "converted Indians," and many traders and voyageurs. In 1753 the first actual conflict arose between Louisiana and the Atlantic colonies. From the earliest advent of the Jesuit fathers, up to the period of which we speak, the great ambition of the French had been, not alone to preserve their possessions in the west, but by every possible means to prevent the slightest attempt of the English, east of the mountains, to extend their settlements toward the Mississippi. France was resolved on retaining possession of the great territory which her missionaries had discovered and revealed to the world. French commandants had avowed their purpose of seizing every Englishman within the Ohio valley. The colonies of Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia were most affected by the encroachments of France in the extension of her dominion, and particularly in the great scheme of uniting Canada with Louisiana. To carry out this purpose, the French had taken possession of a tract of country claimed by Virginia and had commenced a line of forts extending from the lakes to the Ohio river. Virginia was not only alive to her own interests, but attentive to the vast importance of an immediate and effectual resistance on the part of all English colonies to the actual and contemplated encroachments of the French. In 1753, Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, sent George Washington, then a young man of twenty-one, to demand of the French commandant "a reason for invading British dominions while a solid peace subsisted." Washington met the French commandant, Gardeur de St. Pierre, on the head waters of the Alleghany, and having communicated to him the object of his journey, received the insolent answer that the French would not discuss the matter of right, but would make prisoners of every Englishman found trading on the Ohio and its waters. The country he said belonged to the French by virtue of the discoveries of La Salle, and they would not withdraw from it. In January, 1754, Washington returned to Virginia, and made his report to the governor and council. Forces were at once raised and Washington, as lieutenant colonel, was dispatched at the head of a hundred and fifty men, to the forks of the Ohio, with orders to "finish the fort already begun there by the Ohio Company, and to make prisoners, kill or destroy all who interrupted the English settlements." On his march through the forests of western Pennsylvania, Washington, through the aid of friendly Indians, discovered the French concealed among the rocks, and as they ran to seize their arms, ordered his men to fire upon them, at the same time, with his own musket, setting the example. An action lasting about a quarter of an hour ensued; ten of the Frenchmen were killed, among them Jumonville, the commander of the party, and twenty-one were made prisoners. The dead were scalped by the Indians, and the chief, bearing a tomahawk and a scalp, visited all the tribes of the Miamis, urging them to join the Six Nations and the English against the French. The French, however, were soon reenforced, and Colonel Washington was compelled to return to Fort Necessity. Here on the 3d day of July, De Villiers invested the fort with six hundred French |