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"The Indians seldom occupied their permanent villages, except during the time of planting or securing their crop, after which they would start out on a short hunt, if the annuity—which was generally paid within the six weeks from the 1st of September—had not yet been received. Immediately after payment, it was their custom to leave the village for the winter, hunting through this season by families and small parties, leading the regular nomad life, changing their location from time to time, as the supply of game and the need—so essential to their comfort—of seeking places near to timbered streams best protected from rigors of weather, would require.

"Hardfish's band of Sacs was composed mainly of those who had been the leading parties in the Black Hawk war, and who had been, by degrees, feeing themselves from the restraint imposed upon them by the treaty, demanding their dispersion among the friendly villages. But, as all unfriendly feeling had now subsided, and they were now disposed to conduct themselves with the utmost good-will in all their intercourse with the Government; and as, moreover, the Department, with a view to an early effort to acquire possession of their remaining lands in Iowa, deemed it most conducive to success in that object to pursue toward them a policy apparently oblivious of former strife, the writer was instructed, so long as there was no reason to apprehend unfriendly designs, to ignore these requirements of the treaty, and to avoid all cause for re-awakening former strife.

"For some years previously to the writer's appointment as Agent, Messrs. P. Chouteau, Jr., & Co., of St. Louis, had been the only traders among the Sacs and Foxes, and the magnitude of their interests was enough to excite any rivalry. Col. George Davenport, of Rock Island, had been admitted as partner to their trade with that particular tribe, and he was looked to to reside among them and to carry it on. S. S. Phelps, Esq., of Oquawka, in connection with his brother, Capt. William Phelps, of jovial memory, had been gaining a foot-hold on trade for two, three, and perhaps, four years before the treaties of 1836 and 1837, and after the removal of the Agency from the island, and its consequent effect of rendering a change in the location of the chief trading-post inevitable, Col. Davenport, who had already acquired a comfortable fortune, concluded to withdraw. Mr. S. S. Phelps fell into the position thus made vacant in the company, although he relied upon his brother to reside in the Indian country, and maintain personal oversight of the company's affairs. A new trader now appeared in the field, with at least means enough to prevent the old company from being its monopolists. Of course rivalry of feeling and interest would now spring up, and every occasion be employed by each rival to gain and secure what advantage he could. The writer is not intimating any idea of his own that any unfair or dishonorable appliances would be used by the gentlemen heads respectively of the rival establishments; but the employes or others, hoping advantage to themselves in the success of either party, might be less scrupulous.

"It was probably through some such strategy that Gov. Lucas became impressed with the most sincere conviction that the Chouteau Company supplied whisky, with other merchandise, to the Indians, and a conviction once fixed with the Governor was pretty apt to stay. So persuaded was he of the truth of his belief, that he was never disposed to the least reticence upon the subject; and it was generally believed in Burlington that if the Trading Company could be caught, flagrant delicto, it would prove a pretty good haul for the catcher—certainly not less than the transfer to his own pocket of the half value of a large stock of goods.

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"As the writer soon saw that any effort of his own, however reasonable, to lead the Governor to a different opinion was opening the way to suspicious against himself of some personal interest in the company's affairs, prudence naturally admonished him to desist. One morning, Mr. S. S. Phelps, to whom the Governor's belief—and propensity to express it—was no secret, being in Burlington, stepped into a place where the Governor happened at that moment to be engaged in his favorite pastime of denouncing Mr. Chouteau's establishment, etc., and the Governor, totally unacquainted with Mr. Phelps, still kept up in his presence his conversation of the subject.

"Now, if there was anything Capt. Billy Phelps loved better than another, it was to play off a trick; or if anything he knew better than another, it was how to plan and play it. The company had on its license a man named Simpson Vassar, who was better known at the Agency at its various dependencies under the sobriquet of 'Suggs.' When any deviltry lurked in Capt. Billy's mind, 'Capt. Suggs' was his most reliable assistant in getting rid of it. So a scheme was planned. Suggs was sent over on pretext of some message to Phelps, at Oquawka, with instructions not to leave Burlington until he had executed his part of the programme.

"A person, who was either the City Marshal, or attached to his official retinue, soon heard of Suggs in Burlington, and became so ambitious of his acquaintance as to introduce himself without delay. He learned from Suggs that the latter lived out in the Agency neighborhood; that he knew the Trading Company—in fact, sometimes worked for them when an extra force was needed; clever people; good paymasters; with the cash always in hand; knew nothing of their dealing in whisky; had never seen them supply it to the Indians; and, even if he had, as he had heard they were accused of it, a dollar, when needed, was not so easily made out there that a man could afford to make enemies out of good-paying employers! After several interviews, Suggs embarked upon the ferry-boat. But his newly-made friend was not long in joining him, and during the crossing Suggs yielded to the potent arguments and promises that had already shaken his sense of personal honor and interest. He admitted that he had see a large lot of kegs, and these not empty, landed by night at the trading-house from a boat not long before, and immediately buried upon the bank, where most of them were; and if he could be guaranteed against suspicion as the informer, and terms arranged to suit—as he expected to remain about the place some time after his return—he would put his friend upon the right track. The boat having landed them, and all details being adjusted, each party went on his way rejoicing—Suggs' way being to Oquawka, and at once back to the trading-post to report to Capt. Phelps.

"Not many days later, an hour or so before dinner-time, Col. Jesse Williams—later of Henn, Williams & Co., of Fairfield, but then Private Secretary to Gov. Lucas—rode up to the Agency. Being, doubtless, himself disposed (as indeed the Agency hospitality would suggest) to consider that an expedition which would demand a three-miles ride and several hours of time could be more satisfactorily completed as a post-prandial duty, he made no mention of his business. But as soon as the meal was over, he handed the Agent a package from the Governor, containing a deposition in full form, taken before Judge Mason, of the Territorial Supreme Court, by Suggs' Burlington friend, to the effect that so many kegs of whisky, etc., etc., and were then secreted, etc., etc., in violation of the statute, etc., by the said P. Chouteau, Jr.'s Company, traders, etc., as aforesaid. And there was also a line to the Agent, that, in the execution of so delicate a duty, which must involve judicial process, he had deemed it best

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to send out Col. Williams to assist the Agent. Whatever the motive may have been, it is certain that, until both were in their saddles, Col. Williams proved himself able to watch the Agent with untiring eyes.

"Reaching the trading-house, the person who took the deposition and a companion were found there waiting, they having' forked-off' by another trail so as not to be seen. Suggs was on hand, having taken the opportunity to post the Burlingtonians about the locality. And also Capt. Billy Phelps, called by the Indians Che-che-pe-qua, or the 'Winking Eyes,' was there, those visuals fairly gleaming with joy over the anticipated fun.

"The Agent proceeded at once to business, expressing to Capt. Phelps his regret that so unpleasant a duty should have devolved upon him; his hope that it would prove that so serious a complaint had originated in some error, but suggesting that, if true, admission of the fact and production of the contraband article would be more apt to temper subsequent proceedings with leniency than efforts to conceal it would do. The Captain vehemently denied the impeachment, stating that it would require a much wiser man than himself to discover where such an article then was, or ever had been, kept upon their premises. The complainant was now appealed to, who led the party a short distance to a spot where, with a triumphant air, he pointed to an X that the edge of Suggs' boot sole had made in the sand bank.

"They began digging, and soon reached some matting that was removed, and thus uncovered a lot of lard kegs, too greasy to suggest a thought of any other article being contained within them. The immediate 'sold, by thunder!' of one of the moiety gentlemen came in accents to lugubrious to be listened to without exciting a sense of sadness. Suggs, meanwhile, had come up missing, and the 'Winking Eyes' walked off with a disdainful air, leaving the Agent and his party on the spot, whence they soon returned to the Agency, where the Agent made his report that the informer had pointed out a place where, by digging, a large quantity of lard in kegs was found that had been buried to avoid loss by heat, and in the night to conceal the fact from vagabond whites and Indians. The disappointed informer and his companion hastened homeward, but Col. Williams remained until next morning, and then returned bearing the Agent's report.

"But the unkindest cut of all was six months later, when, about the last of February, Capt. Phelps addressed a letter to Gov. Lucas in the most respectful and official form, saying, that having heard he had declared his determination not to continue in office under such an old Tory as Gen. Harrison, and fearful that whoever his successor would be, he might not feel so friendly toward the company as he had proved in the matter of exhuming the lard, and as they would soon be much in need of some, and the ground was then very hard frozen, the company would be under great obligation if he would at once send some one out to dig up the rest of it.

"The village of Hardfish—or Wishecomaque, as it is in the Indian tongue—which was quite as respectable in size as any of the old villages, was located in what is now the heart of Eddyville, named for J. P. Eddy, a trader, who was licensed in the summer of 1840, by the writer, to establish his trading-post at that place. He continued to trade there until the treaty of final cession in 1842, and was the most fortunate of any of the large traders in finding his schedule of claims against the Indians very little reduced by the Commissioners, whose part it was, at that treaty, to adjust all outstanding claims against the Sacs and Foxes.

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"The writer cannot locate the place exactly, according to our State maps, although he has often visited it in Indian times; but somewhere out north from Kirkville, and probably not over twelve miles distant, on the bank of Skunk River, not far above the 'Forks of Skunk,' was a small village of not over fifteen or twenty lodges, presided over by a man of considerable influence, though he was not a chief, named Kishkekosh. The village was on the direct trail—in fact, it was the converging point of the two trails—from the Hardfish village, and the three villages across the river below Ottumwa, to the only other permanent settlement of the tribes, which was the village of Poweshiek, a Fox chief of equal rank with Wapello, situated on the bank of the Iowa River.

"About the time that Eddy moved out his stock of goods from Burlington to his licensed point at the Hardfish village, P. Chouteau, Jr., & Company also obtained an addition to their license for a post at the same place, and put up a small establishment some fourth of a mile below Eddy, on the river-bank. In the same winter, of 1840-41, Messrs. W. G. & G. W. Ewing, of Indiana, who had already acquired large wealth in the Indian trade, but never yet had dealt with the Sacs and Foxes, obtained a license and had their point assigned them just at the mouth of Sugar Creek, on the Ottumwa side, where they soon got up a large establishment, filled with a full and valuable stock. This post was started, and, for a year or so, conducted by a Mr. Hunt, a gentleman of far more education, refinement and culture than is often found among the resident Indian traders.

"Previous to the treaty of 1842, some few changes were made in their location, both by the Indians and among the whites. The house at the 'Old Garrison' was broken up, and one established in its stead up in the Red Rock region, near the mouth of White Breast; and Keokuk, also, moved his village into the same neighborhood. A second blacksmith was appointed, named Baker, son-in-law of Col. Ingraham, one of the pioneers of Des Moines County, and a person of considerable character and influence in his county. Baker died at Fort Des Moines, still in the service of the Indians; but when appointed, he built his residence some half mile east of the Agency, not far from the claim taken by the late William Newell, father of L. F. Newell, by whom the property was subsequently purchased and added to his farm.

"The Sacs and Foxes were quite friendly and manageable; in fact, were very pleasant and agreeable people to live among, and all public and personal intercourse with them rolled smoothly along the well-worn track, without much of incident or marvel, until the final sale of their remaining Iowa domain. Sometimes, incidents would occur, possessing excitement or amusement enough to encroach for a little upon the monotony that otherwise might have become tedious, of which the writer will endeavor to recover the memory of one or two that may amuse the reader.

"The Sacs and Foxes, like all other Indians, were a very religious people, in their way, always maintaining the observance of a good many rites, ceremonies and feasts in their worship of the Kitche Mulito, or Great Spirit. Fasts did not seem to be prescribed in any of their missals, however, because, perhaps, forced ones, under a scarcity of game or other edibles, were not of impossible occurrence among people whose creed plainly was to let to-morrow take care of the things of itself. Some of these ceremonies bore such resemblance to some of those laid down in the books of Moses as to have justified the impression among biblical students that the lost tribes of Israel might have found their way to this continent.

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"The writer was a witness, one delightful fore noon in May, 1841, of a ceremony that seemed full of mystery, even to these of the Indians who took no part in celebrating it. A large lodge had been set up for the occasion on the level green, near Keokuk's village, and its sides left so entirely open that vision of the proceedings conducted within was entirely free. Close around was a circle of guards or sentinels, evidently 'in the secret,' as they were close enough to hear, but a distant far enough to prevent eavesdropping of the low tones used within the sacred precincts. Inside of these guards was another and much larger circle of sentinels, who restrained all outsiders (of whom the writer had to content himself with being one) from crossing within their line. Keokuk seemed to be the chief personage among the performers, and the performance to be designed for the exclusive benefit of one old fellow of some importance in the tribe, who was mainly distinguished from those about him by being clad in a much scantier pattern of raiment. Sometimes they would place him on his feet, and sometimes on his seat, as they powwowed and gesticulated about him. Finally, while in a sedentary position, with a large pile of blankets behind him, Keokuk approached in front, pistol in hand, apparently aimed at his forehead.

"There was an explosion, quite audible to us outsiders, and a no small puff of smoke, and the old savage went over on his back in quick time, where he was covered up and left among the blankets, while a good many 'long talks' were held around and over him, until at length, Keokuk, taking his hand, brought him to the sitting posture, and soon after to his feet, apparently none the worse for having been used as a target. The outside multitude of Indians gazed with marked awe throughout the entire performance, and maintained, withal, the deepest silence.

"During the three years that the writer had charge of the Agency, before its removal from this place, there were two, and he thinks even three, occasions on which he had to remove persons who had 'squatted' for good on the Sac and Fox lands. One of these has already been spoken of, the mishap having grown out of some erroneous belief about the boundary. Another originated in some opinions of a former head of the St. Louis Superintendency of Indian Affairs, drawn from him in correspondence and published in the papers. They were erroneous, and believed to have been in order to embarrass the then Government, to which he was politically unfriendly. If correct, they would have opened to settlement a valuable tract of the Sac and Fox land bordering on MIssouri, including their Soap Creek Mill. Gov. Chambers coinciding with the Agent's opinion, which was immediately reported to him, as intruders had begun to move in, issued a proclamation warning all persons from crossing the head of the Indian service, the Secretary of War, under the law of that time. That official, Hon. William L. Marcy, promptly sustained the subordinate proceedings, and orders were issued to remove by military force all trespassers who, having received reasonable notice, had not retired by a specified day. Notices were printed and distributed by a special messenger among the new trespassers, and, as some had failed to go by the specified date, a company of United States Cavalry was ordered to the Agency to enforce the laws and treaties. This duty seemed the more imperative, just at that time, as the Department was intending to treat, in a few months, with the Sacs and Foxes for the purchase of that very land.

"Such military expeditions would, of course, abound with incidents, sometimes amusing, sometimes exciting, and sometimes disagreeable and embarrass-

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ing. We would generally find the men gone, leaving the premises in charge of the women and children, under the vain belief that they would, in some way, get over the trouble. Excuses would be various, mostly of wagons broken in the very act of starting, or of oxen strayed and horses lost or stolen just a day or so too soon; sometimes of sickness, though we failed of observing signs of it. On one occasion, a soldier overheard a well-grown girl tell a frightened junior one not to cry for 'Pap' was just away down the branch, and would come back as soon as the soldiers were gone. And, sure enough, when the smoke of the burning cabin curled above his hiding-place, convincing him that his plan had proved abortive, 'Pap' came rushing around a point of the grove apparently out of breath, with a long story of his strayed horses that he had hunted till the last day, and then gone to some kindred six or seven miles off beyond the Iowa State line, who were then on the road with their wagons; and that he having heard the bugle, had left them in order, by short cuts across the timber and hollows, to get home in time to save his 'plunder.' Well, the Lieutenant told him, there it was all safe, the soldiers had set it out carefully without giving his family any trouble to help them; and if only he had time, he would be glad to wait till his Missouri friends arrived, and help him load up. The mansion being now burned beyond salvation, the bugle sounded to mount, and the troop resumed its march.

"The next amusing incident was in our encounter, soon after the troop had resumed its march, with an old fellow whom we met coming up the somewhat dim road just along the edge of the timber, on this side of the river. The troop was of between thirty and forty men, with a Lieutenant, the Captain having stayed at the Agency, with the rest of his company, to take care of his supplies in camp. The Lieutenant and writer were comfortably walking their nags along the said road, the troops some distance in the rear, following the same easy gait, with their two six-mule wagons behind, when we espied a wagon coming around a point of the road not far ahead of us. The team soon showed itself to a span of fat, sleek horses, and the entire outfit indicated that the old chap in charge of it was not as hard up as his personal look would have led one to believe. He was for giving us the entire right of way, but as we turned off to face him, as if we intended to collide, bow on to him, he reined up.

"According to his own story, he was out for just a pastime drive up the ridge, without much motive or object of any kind; but he had a scythe to cut grass, a good lot of oats and shelled corn in sacks, an extra wagon sheet that would have improvised a comfortable tent in short order, a plentiful supply of 'grub' for himself and a boy he had with him, thirteen or fourteen years old, and a forty-gallon empty barrel, all suggestive of a contemplated raid upon the bee-trees. After some parley, the Lieutenant turned him over to the Sergeant, who had in the mean time come up with his men, who, in turn, placed him with a file of troopers, as a guard of honor, between the two baggage-wagons. The old fellow soon got the hang of what was up from the soldiers, and, as miser loves company, he shortly seemed to lose site of his own disgust in contemplating that of the inmates of the two squatters' cabins we had yet to visit. We soon reached the nearest one and found it abandoned, though very recently, as all signs proved. Stopping long enough to burn the cabin, we then kept on our way to the only remaining trespasser, who had put up his cabin in a grove on the Des Moines River side of the ridge we had been all day descending. As we turned off to cross the ridge, our former captive, whom we now released, seemed, for a while, as if disposed to relieve himself from the enjoyment of our society as soon as possible. But, in a short time, he changed his mind; for long before

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he had traveled the half-mile across the ridge, we saw that he had also turned off and was in pursuit of us. He reached the house almost as soon as did the troops, and in full time to say to the Lieutenant and myself what could not have been less than an unpleasant feeling of personal sympathy for the family we were about to dislodge. As in several previous instances, the man had gone off, leaving the woman to give reasons and offer excuses for his absence. It was very near night, and not less that five miles to the nearest house in the direction the woman wished to go; she had several children, of whom not the largest, even, was of an age to be other than an incumbrance at such a time; nor was there team, wagon or other means of transportation to be seen. While she was bitterly complaining of her cruel fate in thus being turned out of her house to see it consumed, with herself, children and chattels all night under the open heavens, our lately-made acquaintance came to a halt among us, the expression of his features indicating a much more enjoyable expectation of witnessing the scene ahead that was ever felt by any among us, whose duty, it was to bring it into action.

"We accordingly concluded to press him into the service, soothing, by that proposal, much of the distress of mater familias, who appeared to be a person rather superior to the ordinary grade of squatters. The soldiers set about removing her property from the house, and loading into the old fellow's wagon, such portions of it as she was least disposed to abandon for the night, and, comfortably stowing herself and children upon the load, we started him off as soon as she was ready to leave, after having placed the rest of her effects in as secure a condition as we could. To guard against any possible treachery on the part of the old bee-hunter, as well as in view of any break-down before he could strike the smoother road, the Lieutenant took the precaution to detach a Corporal with a half-dozen men, to act as escort over the three miles or so to the Indian boundary, beyond which our jurisdiction ceased.

"The house, with its combustible appendages, having been set on fire, we continued our march to a point a mile or two within the civilized part of Iowa Territory, where a well-fixed, thrifty settler supplied our comissariat, as well as our forage department, with sundry items that a three-days expedition through the brush had made acceptable, if not actually needful. Night had fairly set in. The Corporal had rejoined the command, and reported the bee-hunter and his cargo to be making satisfactory and apparently friendly progress at the point he was ordered to leave them. Our camp-fires were soon blazing, and the tents pitched, and, in a short time, a good supper increased the contentment which the Lieutenant and Agent could not fail to enjoy over the final conclusion of a most unpleasant duty. An early reveille, and the next mid-day found us at the Agency.

"At the accession of Gen. Harrison to the Presidency, in March, 1840, Mr. John Chambers, ex-Congressman of Kentucky, was appointed to replace Gov. Lucas as Governor of our then Territory, which office included within its commission that of Superintendent over the Indians and their Agencies. For several months previous, some feelings of antagonism had existed between the old Black Hawk party, whose chief was Hardfish, and the other bands, which was excited mostly and kept up by the traders, influenced by their rival interests, and the characteristic obstinacy of Gov. Lucas, who leaned to the Hardfish band. Upon the arrival of Gov. Chambers at Burlington, it was, of course, an object with Keokuk to gain his favor, or at least to have him committed to a strictly impartial course; while the Hardfish effort would be to induce him to follow in the track of his predecessor. Keokuk at once requested the Agent to obtain the Governor's consent for him and his chief men to visit him at Burling-

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ton. It was the wish, however, of the Indian Department to discountenance and prevent such pilgrimages of the Indians through the settlements, and the Agent promised Keokuk that he would inform the new Governor of his desire, and that, perhaps, he would prefer to make his acquaintance and receive his congratulations here at the Agency. The Hardfish band—or rather their instigators, Eddy and his satellites—less patient, and ignoring their proper channel of communication through the Agent with the Superintendency, hastened to Burlington in a large body, and having encamped a short way from town, sent in a written notice of their arrival and its purpose, with a request that the Governor would cause the needed supplies of food, etc., to be provided for them. Under the late Lucas regime, an order on Eddy's Burlington store would have soon satisfied this want. But Gov. Chambers sent them word that when he sent for any of them to come and see him, he would, of course, be prepared to have them fed; that he had no intention of converting his executive headquarters in Burlington into a council-ground for his red children, and that it was his purpose to visit them in their own country at a very early day. Hardfish came home with a large flea in his ear; and the Agent received a communication from the Governor informing him of the facts, and instructing him to use all means in his power to prevent the intrusion of his charge upon the settlements, and that he should visit the Agency in a very short time, notice of which should be seasonably served.

"The Governor at length set his time, the bands were all informed, the Governor arrived, and on the next day, at a specified hour, a grand council would be opened. Meanwhile, all the Indians, except the Iowa River Foxes, indisposed to come so far, had been gathering, and were encamped about the Agency, the Keokuk side covering the ground along the branch behind the mills, which was then full of plum, hazel and crab-apple thickets; while the Hardfishes were along the edge of the river timber south of the Agency, and where the writer now lives (August, 1874). Long before the appointed hour, the Hardfish party, arrayed in full toggery, had all arrived, themselves and their ponies caparisoned in their richest styles of ornament; and, having gone through the equestrian performances usual on such occasions, had dismounted, secured their ponies, and, forming on foot, had marched into the Agency yard, where the Governor was to receive them, and where was quite a gathering of whites, and Hardfish with some of his leading men, having taken the Governor's hand and said a few words of courtesy, had sat down upon the grass.

"Now, it was a sacred duty with the Governor to cherish the memory of his dear and lately dead friend, Gen. Harrison. He had been Aide-de-camp to the General in the war of 1812, and rumor told that their mutual sentiments were more those of father and son than of simple friends. Keokuk had been apprised of this, and, as it proved, knew how to 'make it tell.' The appointed hour had been a long time passed, but as yet he made no sign of putting in an appearance, and at last the Governor began to grow impatient and to use some expressions approbatory of the Hardfish promptitude.

"At length the first faint sounds of Keokuk's music came floating through the thickets, which grew more audible as it neared, but never swelled up to the full tone of their more joyous notes; and as the front of their procession wound slowly into view, their lances and staves, instead of being decked in gaudy ribbons and feathers to flutter in the breeze, were wrapped round with wilted grass. No sound of bells responded to the tramp of their ponies; and their own persons, instead of being painted in vermilion and dressed in bright colors, bore the usual funeral substitutes of clay and somber hues. In fact, all the

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paraphernalia of woe betokened some sad affliction. The agent, after a hurried word with the interpreter, told the Governor that this was a funeral march, and that some one of their leading men must have died in the night, and lay probably yet unburied in the camp. The Hardfishes seemed as much at a loss as anybody, wondering who could have died without their knowing it.

"The solemn dirge ceased, and, dismounting, the several hundred savages, forming on foot, with Keokuk leading, marched into the yard and toward the Governor, who advanced a step or two to meet him, when Keokuk, ordering a halt, signed the interpreter and said: 'Say to our new Father that before I take his hand I will explain to him what all this means. We were told not long ago that our Great Father was dead. We have heard of him as a great war-chief, who had passed much of his life among the red men and knew their wants, and we believed we would always have friendship and justice at his hands. His death has made us very sad, and, as this is our first opportunity, we thought it would be wrong if we did not use it to show that the hearts of his red children, as well as his white, know how to mourn over their great loss, and we have had to keep our father waiting while we performed that part of our mourning that we must always attend to before we leave our lodges with our dead.'

"Then, amid the murmur of approbation from his people, he stepped forward and extended his hand. The hearty grasp with which the Governor seized and clung to it, showed he had touched the right spot, and the Hardfishes must be content, thereafter, to take a back seat. When, years after, the writer was enjoying a day of the Governor's hospitality at Maysville, Ky., and the incident coming up in conversation, the Governor was told that he must not credit Keokuk with the paternity of the entire 'plot,' but that his ingenuity was put into requisition only to manage the details, the kind old gentleman seemed greatly amused."

An editorial in the Ottumwa Courier of September 13, 1876, is here reproduced, because of its permanent value as an authentic sketch:

"The old chief died at the forks of the Skunk River, March 15, 1842, and his remains were brought to the Indian Agency, near where Agency City is now located, in an ox-wagon, and buried toward evening of the same day, with the customary Indian ceremonies. At his own request, he was buried by the side of Gen. Street, in the garden of the Agency. Gen. Street had been an Indian Agent at Prairie du Chien and at Rock Island. He came to the Agency of the Sacs and Foxes here in April, 1838, by assignment of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Judge Crawford, and died May 5, 1840. He was for many years in the Indian service, and, although always a strong Whig, he was yet a man of such experience and sterling integrity that he remained in office to the day of his death, in spite of politics and the changes in administration. He was very popular with the Indians, and hence the desire of Wapello to be laid by the side of his honest pale-faced friend, which wish was gratified. Gen. Street left numerous children and grandchildren, none of whom reside here now.

"Keokuk, Appanoose and nearly all the leading men among the Indians were present at Wapello's funeral. The dead chief was the successor of Black Hawk in rank. If Wapello's name is translated into English, we are unacquainted with the fact. He was chief of the Foxes as well as of the confederated tribes of Sacs and Foxes, composed of the bands of Keokuk, Appanoose, Hardfish, Poweshiek and his own. Poweshiek succeeded him as the senior

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chief of the confederated tribes, while Poweshiek's tribe-leadership fell to Pasheamore (Pa-sh-sha-more), who, from all accounts, was a good sort of an Indian. He went to the Indian Territory with the Sacs and Foxes, where the remnants of this dejected race still subsist upon the bounty of the Government.

"Ere many more years are added to the pages of time, the last of these people will have gone to join the spirits of their ancestors in the "happy hunting-ground," and will only be remembered in name. Within the last half century they have rapidly diminished in numbers, and from a once aggressively brave and warlike tribe, they have fallen into sheerest dejection. There is left but little semblance of the spirit of Black Hawk's time and generation. Passionless and dejected, like most of the remnants of the other tribes that have been congregated in the Indian Territory, they have become hopelessly indifferent, and seem to be calmly awaiting the coming of that fate which will remove every vestige of the once proud tribe of which they are the only remaining representatives.

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The First White Settlers