Some

wowing, beating a tin kettle and rattling a gourd with shot in it. died and a few got well. This defeat gave the Indians such a scare that more than six months after they paid John Gilbert $400, to build a stockade around the upper town.

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS.

In the fall of 1837 occurred a visit of Keokuk, Wapello, Appanoose, and a number of other distinguished Indians, to Poweshiek, the chief of the tribe that held this section. Their coming was known, but was without display. The visiting party rode up in single file. Hitched their horses, went into Poweshiek's tent where he was seated and all sat down in a row, remaining for some time in silence. Then Poweshiek rose and passed the tobacco around, filling Keokuk's pipe and his own. They all smoked awhile without saying a word. Keokuk finally broke the silence by stating the purpose of their visit, which was to consult upon a proposition of the government to buy more lands. He made a speech in favor of the This was about October 1, for the treaty making the sale then decided on is dated October 21, and in a few days after this meeting they started for Washington, Wheton Chase going as interpretor. From Washington they were taken through all the chief cities of the country, and returned late in November highly pleased with all they saw except President Van Buren. They were accustomed to call the President the "Great Father," and expected to see a man head and shoulders bigger than his fellows. But when they met in Van Buren a little "squatty" man, as they called him, and bald headed at that, their contempt knew no bounds and was quite beyond the power of their language to express.

sale.

The year 1837 closed without further incident of interest. The settlers were in theenjoyment of good health. The exodus of young men alraedy noted, made the settlement lonesome, as winter came, with nothing to do, no place to go, nothing to read and no way of hearing from the outside world except by going to Burlington or Rock Island. It was distressingly monotonous, especially to such a man as Judge Harris. He was active and well preserved, had been an active politition in Indiana, had enjoyed office, and to be cut off from such interests was more than he could stand

Mainly on his suggestion, it was announced that a public meeting would be held at Gilbert's trading house, to consider the situation. The appointed evening came and with it Judge Harris, Dr. I. N. Lesh, Eli Myers, Gilbert and the writer. There were also present old Jennie, a squaw who had lived with the traders many years and talked good English; Gilbert got her now and then to wash things up, and a person called by the Indians, Mogawk, a tall and very black negro. The object of the meeting was talked over and the settlement's need of roads, bridges and mail facilities were discussed. The legislature of Wisconsin, for be it known we were

then in the territory of Wisconsin, with Burlington for its capital, was in session, and this meeting resolved to send two delegates down forthwith, and it was further resolved that Judge Harris and John Gilbert should go. But they must have credentials and hence the proceedings must be written out to indicate a formal and sizable affair, but who should write them out? Gilbert's pen had forgotten its cunning by its long residence with the Indians; Lesh was well educated, but professed inexperience, and Harris was not a plain writer, so it was agreed that Harris should dictate and Lesh write. The result as nearly as I can recall it was about as follows: At a large and respectable meeting of settlers on the public lands on the Iowa river, held at the traping house of John Gilbert, pursuant to previous notice, on the day of January, 1838, the following among other proceedings were had. The meeting was called to order by Judge Harris, on whose motion blank was unanimously elected chairman. On motion of John Gilbert, Dr. Isaac N. Lesh was appointed secretary. On motion of Dr. Lesh, a committee of three was appointed by the chairman to report resolutions expressive of the sense of this meeting. The chairman named Judge Harris, Eli Myers and John Gilbert such committee. While the committee retired to deliberate upon its report the meeting was ably addressed by several gentlemen present. [It will be observed that after the committee retired the meeting consisted of Mr. Felkner, Dr. Lesh, Mogawk and the Indian squaw.] The committee returning submitted the following which was unanimously adopted:

WHEREAS, A large number of persons have settled on the Iowa river on public lands in the vicinity of John Gilbert's trading house, and WHEREAS, We have evidence that there will be a large influx to our settlement next spring, and

WHEREAS, AS we are suffering great inconvenience from the lack of roads and bridges, and

WHEREAS, We are without mail facilities, and

WHEREAS, The legislature of this territory is now in session at Burlington, therefore

Resolved, That two delegates be appointed by the chair whose duty it shall be to proceed forthwith to Burlington and use their influence with the legislature to have roads established at different points on the Missis sippi river, also to have the legislature ask congress to establish a mail route from Burlington to the trading house of John Gilbert, a post-office established there and a post-master appointed without delay. The chair appointed Judge Harris and Judge Gilbert such committee.

THE FIRST LOBBY.,

The delegates, armed with their credentials, started for Burlington the second day after the meeting, walking the whole distance, although the ground was covered with snow. Arriving they made the acquaintance of Gov. Henry Dodge, who treated them very kindly and made many inquiries about the new settlement and especially about the number of inhabitants. John Gilbert told him it numbered 1,500, at which the Governor was very much surprised. When they returned I asked Gilbert how he dared tell the Governor such a story? He swore that the Governor did not ask him what color they were!

The delegates got acquainted with many legislators, to whom our wants were made known, but they soon learned what we could not have otherwise known for several months, that congress was about to divide the territory of Wisconsin, establishing a new territory to be called

IOWA,

and it would be organized during the summer, and they preferred handing us over to the new government.

TRICKS IN TRADE.

I have already said that late in the fall of 1837 the Indians nearly all left for the winter hunt. They went up the different water courses, the Iowa and English rivers, Old Man's creek, &c. Their practice was to go at once as far as they intended and then hunt the ground towards home. They spent the fore part of the winter far up the streams and then hunted back by slow stages, traveling a day, going into camp, hunting and trapping as long as game was plenty, then moving on. Sometime in February, 1838, an Indian came in and said the main body had got down to near the present Sehorn place, on Old Man's creek. Gilbert was running his business against odds; he had not as many goods as Chase, and so resolved on strategy. With a young man named Hamilton for a companion, he concluded to pack each with fifty pounds of goods, and meeting the Indians, take the cream of their trade and swap before they got in. They had to go in the night or the other establishment would find it out. The winter was mild and the river was already open and no way to cross it except in a canoe which Chase kept tied up in the mouth of Gilbert's creek. While they were getting the packs ready Gilbert sent the writer down to see if the canoe was there and to visit Chase and see if the coast was clear. The canoe was all right. The call on Chase was made, a half hour spent pleasantly there, and the report was duly made. Gilbert and Hamilton were ready and started at once, crossed in the canoe about 11 P. M., and began their long tramp. Chase and his men suspected nothing till after they were gone, then they grew to thinking the evening call a singular thing, talked it up and were convinced there was a nigger in the wood-pile. A messenger was sent to see if the canoe was in its place. He reported it missing. Chase determined not to be beaton and at once built a raft of logs and took some iron-socketed pushing poles which belonged to a keel boat that was tied up in the creek, pushed the raft over, recovered the canoe, packed goods, loaded men and started them in pursuit of Gilbert. The night was clear and the ground was white with snow, so the trail of the first party could be easily followed, and they determined that although he had several hours the start he should not beat them much. They had an advantage over him in having with them Quota, a French half-breed, who spoke the language equal to the Indian and had influence with them. Gilbert reached the Indians first, but thinking the

field was his, made no hurry about going to trading, and spent much time in talking the thing up. When he finally began to talk trade, and opened his goods, he chanced to look around and there to his consternation stood Quota and his men loaded to the guards with goods. Quota was aggressive from the start. He told the Indians that Gilbert had been underhanded in starting to meet them; had stolen the canoe, and neglected the old Indians left at home; that his sympathies were with the whites; and much more of the same sort; so that when they began to barter their furs and pelts, Quota got more than three-fourths of them, and Gilbert was beaten at his own game.

EARLY TRANSPORTATION.

Early in the spring of 1838 Judge Harris returned to Indiana on business, and while there induced many of his old friends and neighbors to move to Iowa. Among them were Green Hill, Yale Hamilton, Gardner, J. Stover, a Mr. Miller, John Royal and others. The Judge returned by way of St. Louis, where he bought a quantity of flour and groceries. Chase in the meantime had sent the company's keel boat, with the furs and pelts he got from the Indians, to St. Louis, where it was being loaded with supplies for the trading house. Judge Harris got his goods on the same boat, and Mr. Phelps shipped for me a set of saw-mill irons also. The boat was towed up to the mouth of the Iowa river by a steam boat and was pushed the rest of the way against the current of the Iowa, with poles, stopping near Judge Harris's home to unload his goods, then coming to the company's new trading house on what was afterwards the Byington farm, and which stood many years after.

In that year two saw mills were built, one by Judge Harris, on Old Man's creek, the other by Felkner & Myers, on Rapid creek. Wolcott was millwright of the former, and James Foy of the latter.

That summer the Indians murdered Atwood. [See something about this under history of Lincoln township.]

CHAPTER X.-PART 2.

ANNALS OF OXFORD.

Mr. M. W. Cook of Oxford township, wrote and published in the Oxford Journal in 1881, a series of articles on the pioneer history of his township, including also much that belonged to the more general history of the State. Mr. Cook's "Annals " contain a vast fund of most interesting and useful information, presented in a straightforward and businesslike way, with a spice of anecdote, wit and genial humor occasionally intermingled. He has carefully revised and corrected it and given it to this historian. We only regret that limit of space compels us to eliminate

everything which does not directly and specifically pertain to Johnson county.

That portion of the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians which inhabited this region were under Poweshiek and Wapashashiek, the former a Sac and the latter a Fox. They were called by the name of Musquakas, and first located below Iowa City on the east side of the river in 1836, but removed in 1838 to a site north of the river, in which is now Monroe township, just north of the site of the proposed iron bridge. Two years later they removed to the agency near South Amana, and remained till 1843, when they moved on towards the setting sun.

Though they never made Oxford township their headquarters, it was a famous hunting ground for them, and one of their chiefs in speaking of the Clear Creek valley said that "he never expected to find its equal till he had passed over to the happy hunting grounds," and such is their attachment to this region that some of them are nearly always to be found even now wandering about over the old stamping ground. The vicinity of Dutch lake [called by them Devil's lake] was a favorite one on account of the excellent fishing which it afforded in great abundance. Many of the early settlers can testify as to that too. But there is one spot that the old warriors of the Musquaka have reason rather to regard with horror than otherwise. It is on Brush run, a mile west of Homestead. Here Poweshiek, with the warriors of the tribe were overtaken by a band of Sioux when returning from a hunting expedition up the river, and most wofully "licked." In fact the disaster was by far the greatest that ever befell the band, and is yet talked of with horror by them. It occurred in 1837, while they had their headquarters below Iowa City.

But a few of the leaders of the natives deserve special notice. Poweshiek, chief of the Sacs, in the band was much like Keokuk, and was regarded by all as the finest specimen of the native ever seen in this region. He was a strictly honorable man, and had a large share of those characteristics that made up the "manly man," and the desirable neighbor. He was a "brave" too, that is, he had won distinction by his deeds of valor on the field of battle.

Wapashashiek was the Fox chief, and was much less intimate with the white people, though we never heard of any bad feeling existing between them.

Some people have a distinct recollection of Kishkekosh, and think him to have been a chief. He was only a leader and a bad one. He was a natural orator, a brave, a perfect specimen of a physical man, but a leader of the bad element. He may be compared to a communist leader among us. Totokonoc was the old prophet of Black Hawk, and noted amongst the Indians, but little known amongst the white people. Clear Creek was called by them Copiheenoc, and the name was for sometime perpetuated in that of Copi P. O., but even that has disappeared, and this