"We certify that we were present at the payment of the above-mentioned amounts, and saw the amounts paid to the several Indians, in specie, and that their marks were affixed in our presence this 19th day of October, 1861. JNO. BEACH, U. S. Indian Agent. THOMAS MCCRATE, Lieut. 1st Dragoons. JOSIAH SMART, Interpreter. "We the undersigned chiefs of the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians, acknowledge the correctness of the foregoing receipts. "KEOKUK," his X mark. The payments were made in silver coins, put up in boxes, containing five hundred dollars each, and passed into Keokuk's hands for distribution. The several traders received each his quota according to the several demands against the tribes admitted by Keokuk, which invariably consumed the far greater portion of the amount received. The remainder was turned over to the chiefs and distributed among the respective bands. Great complaints were made of these allowances to the traders, on the ground of exorbitant prices charged on the goods actually furnished, and it was alleged that some of these accounts was spurious. In confirmation of this charge over and above the character of the items exhibited in these accounts an affidavit was filed with Governor Lucas, by an individual to whom the governor gave credence, setting forth that Keokuk had proposed to the maker of the affidavit to prefer a purely fictitious account against the tribe for the sum of $10,000, and he would admit its correctness, and when paid the money should be divided among themselves, share and share alike. To swell the trader's bills, items were introduced of a character that should brand fraud upon their face, such as a large number of blanket coats, articles which the Indians never used, and telescopes, of the use of which they had no knowledge. This showed the reckless manner in which these bills were swollen to the exorbitant amounts complained of, in which Keokuk was openly charged with being in league with the traders to defraud the Indians. At this time the nation numbered about two thousand and three hundred and it is not possible that Keokuk could have carried on an organized system of theft without the fact becoming apparent to all. As it was, however, Governor Lucas thought best to change the manner in which the annual payments were made." The matter was referred to the Indian bureau, and the mode was changed so that the payments were made to the heads of families, approximating a per capita distribution. This method of payment did not suit the traders, and after a short trial the old plan was again adopted. That the Indians, then as now, were the victims of sharp practice, cannot be doubted, but the fact can be attributed to the superior tact and the unscrupulous character of many of the traders; this furnishes a more probable explanation and is more in accord with the character of Keokuk, as known by his intimate friends, still living, than to attribute 'Keokuk means 66 The watchful fox." "Poweshiek means 66 The roused bear." these swindling operations to a conspiracy in which the illustrious chief was the leading actor. Among the early settlers of Iowa, the names of Keokuk and Wapello are the most noted and familiar. These two illustrious chiefs live not only in the recollections of these early settlers, but in the permanent history of our common country. Short biographical sketches of these two noted characters, therefore, will be of great interest to the people of this county, and peculiarly appropriate for a work of this kind. To the school boy who has frequently read of these Indians, the fact that they roved around on this very ground where their feet tread, and that in their hunting excursions these Indians crossed the same prairies where they now gather the yelloweared corn, will give to these sketches intense interest, while the early settler who talked with Wapello and Keokuk, ate with them, hunted with them and fished with them, cannot fail to find in these brief and necessarily imperfect biographies, something fascinating as they are thus led back over a quarter of a century, to live over again the days of other years, and witness again the scenes of early day, when the tall prairie grass waved in the autumn breeze, and the country, like themselves, was younger and fresher than now. Keokuk belonged to the Sac branch of the nation, and, as mentioned in the first part of this work, was born on Rock river, Illinois, in 1780. Accordingly he was sixty-three years old at the time the county was thrown open to the white settler, and fifty-seven when the boundary line of 1837 was established. The best memory of the earliest settlers cannot take them back to a time when Keokuk was not an old man. When in 1833 the impatient feet of the white men first hastened across the Mississippi eager for new conquests and fortunes, this illustrious chief was already nearing his three-score years, and with longing eyes he took the last look at the fair lands bordering on the Great Father of Waters and turned his weary feet toward the west, his sun of life had already crossed the meridian and was rapidly approaching its setting. Little is known concerning the early life of Keokuk, except that from his first battle, while yet young, he had carried home the scalp of a Sioux, whom he had slain in a hand-to-hand conflict, and between whose tribe and the tribe to which Keokuk belonged there ever existed the most deadly enmity. For this feat Keokuk was honored with a feast by his tribe. It is said that a great battle was once fought by the Indians near Pilot Mound, one of the elevations of Mineral Ridge, on the east side of the river in this county. Keokuk commanded the Sacs and Foxes, and Little Crow commanded the Sioux. This battle must have been fought some time prior to the Black Hawk War. The bones of the slain were frequently plowed up by the early settlers in the vicinity of Pilot Mound, and a number of skeletons have been exhumed from the top of the mound. Keokuk is said to have been victorious. Several hundred warriors were engaged on either side. Keokuk first came into prominence among the whites at the breaking out of the second war with England, commonly known as the War of 1812. Most of the Indians at that time espoused the cause of the English, but Keokuk, at the head of a large number of the Sacs and Foxes, remained faithful to the Americans. In 1828 Keokuk, in accordance with the terms of a treaty, crossed the Mississippi river with his tribe and established himself on the Iowa river. Here he remained in peace, and his tribe flourished till the breaking out of the Black Hawk War in 1832. He seemed to have a much more intelligent insight into the great national questions which were raised during these early Indian difficulties, as well as more thorough appreciation of the resources of the national government. He opposed the Black Hawk War, and seemed to fully forecast the great disaster which thereby befel his tribe. Although many of his warriors deserted him and followed Black Hawk in his reckless campaign across the Mississippi, Keokuk prevailed upon a majority of his tribe to remain at home. When the news reached Keokuk that Black Hawk's warriors had gained a victory over Stillman's forces in Ogle county, Illinois, the war spirit broke out among his followers like fire in the dry prairie grass; a war-dance was held, and the chief himself took part in it. He seemed for a while to move in sympathy with the rising storm, and at the conclusion of the war-dance he called a council to prepare for war. In a work entitled "Annals of Iowa," published in 1865, there is reported the substance of a speech made by Keokuk on this occasion. We quote: "I am your chief, and it is my duty to lead you to battle, if, after fully considering the matter, you are determined to go." He then represented to them the great power of the United States, against which they would have to contend, and that their prospect of success was utterly hopeless. Then continuing, said: "But if you are determined to go on the war-path, I will lead you on one condition -that before we go we kill all our old men, and our wives, and our children, to save them from a lingering death by starvation, and that every one of you determine to leave his bones on the other side of the Mississippi." This was a strong and truthful picture of the prospect before them, and was presented in such a forcible light that it caused them to abandon their rash undertaking. After the Black Hawk War Keokuk was recognized as the head of the Sac and Fox nation by the United States government, and in this capacity he was looked upon by his people from that time on. This honor, however, was sometimes disputed by some of the original followers of Black Hawk. A gentleman of some prominence as a writer, and who is said to have witnessed the affray, says: "A bitter feud existed in the tribe during the time Keokuk resided on the Des Moines river, between what was denominated 'Keokuk's band and Black Hawk's band.' Their distrust, and indeed hatred, were smothered in their common intercourse, when sober; but when their blood was fired with whisky, it sometimes assumed a tragic feature among the leaders of the respective bands. An instance of this character occurred on the lower part of the Des Moines river, on the return of a party making a visit to the 'half-breeds,' at the town of Keokuk, on the Mississippi. In a quarrel incited by whisky, Keokuk received a dangerous stab in the breast by a son of Black Hawk. The writer saw him conveyed, by his friends, homeward, lying in a canoe, unable to rise." The writer continues: "Hardfish (who was the pretended chief of the rival party) and his coadjutors lost no occasion to find fault with Keokuk's administration." In person, Keokuk was of commanding appearance. He was tall, straight as an arrow, and of very gr: ceful mien. These personal characteristics, together with his native fervor, and ready command of language, gave him great power over his people as a speaker. If, as a man of energy and courage he gained the respect and obedience of his tribe, it was more especially as an orator that he was able to wield his people in the times of great excitement, and in a measure shape their policy in dealing with the white man. As an orator rather than as a warrior, has Keokuk's claim to greatness been founded. "He was gifted by nature," says the author of the Annals, "with the elements of an orator in an eminent degree, and as such is entitled to rank with Logan, Red Jacket and Tecumseh; but unfortunately for his fame among the white people, and with posterity, he was never able to obtain an interpreter who could claim even a slight acquaintance with philosophy. With one exception, only, his interpreters were unacquainted with the elements of the mother tongue. Of this serious hindrance to his fame Keokuk was well aware, and retained Frank Labashure, who had received a rudimental education in the French and English languages, until the latter died broken down by exposure and dissipation; but during the meridian of his career among the white people he was compelled to submit his speeches for translation to uneducated men, whose range of thought fell below the flights of a gifted mind, and the fine imagery, drawn from nature, was beyond their power of reproduction. He had a sufficient knowledge of the English tongue to make him sensible of this bad rendering of his thoughts, and often a feeling of mortification at the bungling efforts was depicted upon his countenance while he was speaking. The proper place to form a correct estimate of his ability as an orator was in the Indian council, where he addressed himself exclusively to those who understood his language, and where the electric effects of his eloquence could be plainly noted upon his audience. It was credibly asserted that by the force of his logic he had changed the vote of a council against the strongly predetermined opinions of its members." A striking incident of the influence of his eloquence is that one already related in which he delivered a speech to his followers, who were bent on joining Black Hawk, after the Stillman reverse in Ogle county, Illinois. Mr. James, of Sigourney, being present at the council, at Agency City, when the treaty of 1842 was made, says of Keokuk: "We heard him make a speech on the occasion, which, by those who understood his tongue, was said to be a sensible and eloquent effort. Judging from his voice and gestures, his former standing as an Indian orator and chieftain, we thought his reputation as a dignified yet gentlemanly aborigine had not been overrated. During the Black Hawk War his voice was for peace with the white man, and his influence added much to the shortening of the war. As an honor to the chief our county bears his name. Keokuk, in company with Black Hawk, Poweshiek, Kish-ke-kosh, and some fifteen other chiefs, under the escort of Gen. J. M. Street, visited Washington City and different parts of the East in 1837. The party descended the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ohio by steamer, and thence up the latter to Wheeling, where they took stage across the mountains. When the party arrived in Washington, at the request of some of the gov ernment officials a council was held with some chiefs of the Sioux there present, as the Sacs and Foxes were waging a perpetual war with the Sioux nation. The council was held in the Hall of Representatives. To the great indignation of the Sioux, Kish-ke-kosh appeared dressed in a buffalo hide which he had taken in war from a Sioux chief, and took his position in one of the large windows, with the mane and horns of the buffalo as a sort of head-dress, and the tail trailing on the floor. The Sioux complained to the officials, claiming that this was an insult to, them, but they were informed that the Sacs and Foxes had a right to appear in any kind of costume they chose to wear. The first speech was made by a Sioux, who complained |