A Brief History of Settlement in the Old Northwest
In 1671 A Jesuit Priest by the name of Jaques Marquette and the famed French explorer, Louis Jolliet. had heard rumors about the existence of a great south-flowing river located somewhere in the west. Together they explored the region to find that body of water. However the expedition was halted by tribal frontier warfare in the area. However, two years later, Count Frontenac, the governor of New France, provided financial backing for Marquette and Jolliet to pursue their endeavor. They along with a small contingent of well supplied and armed fellow explorers crossed Lake Michigan by canoe, pushed west up the Fox River, portaged to the Wisconsin River and then paddled into the Mississippi. They followed the current south, passing the confluence with the Ohio River, but later stopping near the mouth of the Arkansas River. Marquette and Jolliet were confident that the Mississippi eventually emptied into the Gulf of Mexico, but feared falling into Spanish hands if they continued.
Having established a French claims to the Mississippi Valley, Marquette resumed his missionary work. He died at the young age of 38, but left behind a written account of his explorations that would be published in 1681. The early French expeditions were instrumental in gaining a French foothold in the region. Though the French method of conquering the new continent was soft handed and the Jesuit “black robes” assimilated into Indian tribes, ministered to the sick, buried their dead and preached the gospels to the tribes. However less than one hundred years later, three major conflicts, The French and Indian war, the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 would occur on the continent. The political landscape would be forever changed. After the conclusion of these conflicts the two major super powers of France and Britian, who fought for dominance and resources, found themselves swept away by a new emerging super power under the control of the Americans who would eventually prevail as a major player on the world stage. The Jesuits (Black Robe) ministered to native tribes in life and death. He helped to usher in the fur trade era in the upper Midwest.
War for the Heart of America
The period of the American Revolution was a very dangerous time for settlers who had decided to move deeper into the interior of the continent. It was a regular practice for military leadership in North America from all sides of conflicts of the day, to gain allegiance of various Indian tribes. Allies were bought and paid for by the transfer of goods, muskets, and annuities to woodland tribes in exchange for their military service. During the year 1777, the Revolutionary War had seriously intensified in Kentucky. A British military / Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton utilized armed Indian allies from his headquarters at Fort Detroit, and encouraged them to conduct military operations against Kentucky settlers in an attempt to secure the region as their hunting ground. Hamilton was nicknamed “The Hair buyer” Because he paid bounties for the scalps of American settlers. The Continental Army could spare no men for an invasion in the northwest or for the defense of Kentucky.
Therefore the business of war in the region was left entirely to the local population. George Rogers Clark a Captain in the Kentucky militia spent several months defending settlements against the Indian raiders, all while developing his own plan for a long-distance strike against the British. His strategy involved seizing British outposts north of the Ohio River to destroy British influence among their Indian allies By December 1777, Clark presented his plan to Virginia's Governor Patrick Henry, and he asked for permission to lead a secret expedition to capture the British-held villages at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes in the Illinois country. Governor Henry commissioned him as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Virginia militia and authorized him to raise troops for the expedition. Clark and his officers recruited volunteers from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. The men gathered in early May near the Falls of the Ohio, south of Fort Pitt. The regiment spent about a month along the Ohio River preparing for its secret mission. (Patrick Henry had been a leading land speculator before the Revolution in lands west of the Appalachians where Virginians had sought control from the Indians, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.) In July 1778, Clark and 175 men crossed the Ohio River at Fort Massac and marched to Kaskaskia, capturing it on the night of July 4 without firing their weapons.
The next day, Captain Joseph Bowman and his company captured Cahokia in a similar fashion without firing a shot. The garrison at Vincennes along the Wabash River surrendered to Clark in August. Several other villages and British forts were subsequently captured after most of the French-speaking occupants and Indian inhabitants refused to take up arms on behalf of the British. To counter Clark's advance, Hamilton recaptured the garrison at Vincennes, which the British called Fort Sackville. with a small force, in December 1778, he left Kaskaskia on February 6, 1779 with about 170 men, beginning an arduous overland trek, encountering melting snow, ice, and cold rain along the journey. They arrived at Vincennes on February 23 and launched a surprise attack on Fort Sackville. Hamilton surrendered the garrison on February 25 and was captured in the process. The winter expedition was Clark's most significant military achievement and became the basis of his reputation as an early American military hero.
News of Clark's victory reached General George Washington. His success was celebrated and was used to encourage the alliance with France. General Washington recognized that Clark's achievement had been gained without support of the regular army. Virginia also capitalized on Clark's success, laying claim to the Old Northwest by calling it Illinois County, Virginia. Clarks victory had sealed the fate of the heartland of America.
By 1803 The Lewis and Clark expedition, Corps of Discovery managed to reach the Pacific ocean. The expedition was an endeavor of inventory and exploration. The Corps of Discovery revealed huge tracts of land to the west of the Missouri river, which surely laid the groundwork for future settlement. But another of aspect of this growth was the inevitability of warfare between newly arriving Europeans and those Indian tribes who had been on the continent for thousands of years. But old alliances to the French and British coupled with past financial deals under various treaties, provided for financial benefit to tribes of Indians. These financial benefits would then fall to the American government after the revolution against Great Britain.
The Black Hawk War
The Treaty of 1804; On The Trail To War In 1831,
The Black Hawk War began as a cold war of words and isolated acts of violence. The primary cause was the treaty 1804. The treaty was a was a document in which the Sac and Fox Indians of the British band ceded millions of acres of land to the government. According to article two of the treaty; The Sac and Fox relinquished millions of acres of land for two thousand dollars, a promise of delivery annuities and the protection of the affected tribes by the United States Government.
"ART. 2. The general boundary line between the lands of the United States and of the said Indian tribes shall be as follows, to wit: Beginning at a point on the Missouri River opposite to the mouth of the Gasconade river; thence in a direct course so as to strike the river Jeffreon at the distance of thirty miles from its mouth, and down the said Jefferon to the Mississippi, thence up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ouisconsing river and up the same to a point which shall be thirty-six miles in a direct line from the mouth of the said river, thence by a direct line to the point where the Fox river (a branch of the Illinois) leaves the small lake called Sakaegan, thence down the Fox river to the Illinois river, and down the same to the Mississippi. And the said tribes, for and in consideration of the friendship and protection of the United States which is now extended to them, of the goods (to the value of two thousand two hundred and thirty-four dollars and fifty cents) which are now delivered, and of the annuity hereinafter stipulated to be paid, do hereby cede and relinquish forever to the United States, all the lands included within the above-described boundary."
The Sac and Fox disagreed with this treaty, particularly Black Hawk. He charged that they, (the Sac and Fox) were not properly represented in this treaty, and never gave their authorization for anyone to negotiate away their land or rights. But the truth of the matter was two- fold. First, that Black Hawk was correct. The treaty did not represent all of the Indians that it affected. This was because the decentralized political landscape of Indian culture had created a vacuum in which the treaty was signed. And secondly that a clash of two completely different cultures had occurred. The war that resulted from this class lasted for approximately five months. (April 6 – August 27, 1832), and resulted in 77 militiamen and non-combatants settlers being killed, and between 500-600 Indians being killed.
By The Broadax and Bayonet;
By the end of the Black Hawk War, there were already a complete line of forts across the frontier that ran from Green bay to the Mississippi river. Most of these forts were deep inside Indian country or on the fringes of where settlements touched Indian territory. As settlement spread and Indians bargained land for annuities, and reservations further west, military posts were called for where new lands were acquired on the borders of contacts with Indians.
FORTS IN IOWA
A series of forts were built in the area that was to become the state of Iowa. When the Sac and Fox were vanquished in the Black Hawk War. These forts established a line of communication that stretched from the upper great lakes, and south to the Missouri River. Fort Dodge was one of these frontier forts. The troops who built the forts made inroads into the wilderness, erected forts of timber and stone, which they cut themselves. They created subsistence farms and built crude highways. The army helped to foster economic growth on the frontier. Early pioneers supported themselves in part by supplying the garrisons with hay, wood and other goods. The army posts are provided intellectual and cultural development. Its Officers were men who were trained in the sciences, and the forts became outposts of scientific observation, as well as places of social values, as forts also housed theaters, libraries, pioneer schools and church organizations.
ON THE TRAIL TO FORT DODGE
In 1835 Lt. Col. Stephan Watts Kearny led three companies of the 1st U.S. Dragoons up the DesMoines River, through southern Minnesota, and back to the Fort Dodge area. The Dragoons were mounted Infantry soldiers. These soldiers were used to the terrain and were able to tolerate long trips across the prairie. Their mission was to identify future sites for army outposts. When They came upon Lizard Creek, they knew that the area was well suited for a future fort. The territory where Fort Des Moines, and east of the Des Moines River (originally known as the river of the Sioux) was part of a purchase made by Commissioners of the United States, from the Sac and _ Fox Indians on October 11, 1842. This was approximately ten years after Black Hawk war had ended, and Chief Black Hawk had surrendered to the Sioux Indians after the Battle of Bad Axe River in Wisconsin. Black Hawk was subsequently turned over to the United States authorities. To prevent further conflict and warfare between the Sac, Fox, Pottawattamie's and the Sioux Indians and by the request of the Sac and Fox Indians for their protection, it was promulgated that a new Military Post be established at the junction of the Des Moines and Racoon Rivers, and that a sufficient force be maintained there to provide them with security from the hostile attacks by their enemies. (The Sioux). In accordance of the stipulation, the Fort was established and named Fort Des Moines. Fort Des Moines was established in May of 1843, and finally abandoned in June, 1846. The territory then north and west of the Racoon Forks was comparatively an unexplored region of territory. The habitants of the area, were Sioux Indians and herds of buffalo and elk. The only exploration of the country north of Racoon Forks previously attempted was by Captain Boon of the United States Dragoons. In 1848, government surveying of the land purchased north of the Racoon Forks was commenced.
In 1849, Brevet General Mason, Colonel of the 6th Regiment of the U. S. Infantry, was ordered to select a site for a fort as near as practicable to the northwest corner of the neutral ground running from the Des Moines River to a point below Dubuque. The northwest corner post of this neutral territory stands on the east bank of the Des Moines River about three miles north of Fort Dodge, where the north line commences. General Mason, in the performance of the duty assigned him, selected the site where Fort Dodge now stands on the east bank of the Des Moines River about one quarter of a mile below the mouth of the Lizard River.
INDIAN CONFLICTS
The Sacs and Foxes and Sioux ceded to the United States Government a strip of land reaching from the Des Moines River to the Mississippi to a point near Dubuque. This strip was 40 miles in width. This arrangement for a time kept these Indians apart, but the Sioux, who are ever treacherous, finally took advantage of the fact that this neutral ground did not extend further west than the Des Moines River and they commenced their depredations anew on the Indians and settlers to the south. This brought them in conflict with the Pottawattamies with whom they had many severe conflicts. Upon application of the citizens, the government directed that the Indians should be removed. For that purpose, three companies of troops were ordered from Fort Snelling to perform this duty. After delivering the Indians to the commanding officer at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the Dragoons and Company C returned to Fort Snelling and Company E, United States Infantry, under the command of Brevet Major Samuel Woods was ordered to the Des Moines to the point selected by General Mason to establish a garrison and build a post there. Officers and men of this de-tachment had served through the Mexican War and many of them in Florida.. When they took up the line of march for the Des Moines River, all believed from the character that was generally ascribed to the country, that they were again to be stationed in a land similar to Florida, a country of lakes, ponds and swamps, and destitute of timber but they were very agreeably disappointed. We took up the line of march from Camp Buckner on the Iowa River, which was located in Southwest Tama county, on the last day of July, 1850, and after a tedious march, having a heavily loaded train of wagons, crossing streams, avoiding sloughs, through an uninhabited country, we arrived at the point designated on the 23rd of August, 1850.
- The history of early Fort Dodge and Webster County, Iowa 1955
LEWIS ARMISTEAD
THE BUILDING OF FORT DODGE, ITS
COMMANDING OFFICERS AND ARMY LIFE AT THE FORT
"Upon their arrival, the troops encamped on the second bench of land from the river, the right of the line resting near the southeast corner of the Public Square, as now laid off in the Town Plat of Fort Dodge, the left resting near the southwest corner of Walnut and Fifth streets, the whole fronting west. This location with the streets as they are now named, runs from the southwest corner of the city square to the corner of First avenue south and Sixth streets. On reaching the point, after examination of the surrounding districts, the officers were much pleased with the location, the fine body of timber above and below, the springs and streams together with the appearance of stone and coal. All admired the location and pronounced it the most beautiful part of Iowa they had seen. The men were at once set to work, getting out timber, quarrying stone and preparing materials generally for building quarters."
- The history of early Fort Dodge and Webster County, Iowa 1955
Major L. A. Armistead, the Quarter Master'
One of the first actions by the Quartermaster Maj. Lewis Armistead, was to implement the use of steam saw mill, and to hire on a number of citizen mechanics. carpenters, masons, brickmakers from Keokuk Iowa, and other Mississippi towns, (sic). The first three months were very busy and great effort was made to have the buildings up before the winter set in. They succeeded in putting up twelve of the buildings and making them livable by the middle of November. The 20th of November of 1850, they struck their tents and took possession of the buildings. The following season the balance of the buildings, twenty-one in all, were put up and finished. On taking possession of the buildings in honor of General Clarke, then a Colonel of the 6th Regiment of the United States Infantry (to which Regiment the detachments belonged) , the post was named Fort Clarke.
"The officers stationed at this Post were Brevet Major Samuel Woods; Commandant of the Post, Brevet Major L. A. Armistead, Acting Commandary; Lieutenant Stubbs, Lieutenant I. L. Corley; Surgeon Charles Keeny, ranking as Captain, and Sutler William Williams"
Armistead's Biography
"Armistead was born February 18, 1817 in New Bern, North Carolina, he was the son of Gen. Walker Keith and Elizabeth Armistead. He was raised in Fauquier County, Virginia, by a family related to United States presidents James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Benjamin Harrison. His father and four uncles all served during the War of 1812, with one of those uncles, George Armistead, commanding Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, where the famous “Star Spangled Banner” flew. Armistead entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1833, but academic difficulties and poor conduct—including supposedly breaking a plate over the head of future Confederate general Jubal A. Early—led to his resignation in 1836. (1))Three years later Armistead returned to the army as a second lieutenant in the 6th Infantry Regiment and served primarily in garrison duty in the West. He was appointed to the regular army in 1839 and fought under his father during the Seminole Wars in Florida, where he was promoted to first lieutenant. Armistead served in the Mexican War and was thrice decorated for bravery. At the battle of Chapultepec, he was wounded and, “the first to leap into the Great Ditch.” Following the Mexican War, Armistead was stationed on the western frontier, where he met and befriended Pennsylvanian and future opponent Winfield Scott Hancock." (2)
Armistead continued in the Army after the Mexican War, assigned in 1849 to recruiting duty in Kentucky, where he was diagnosed with a severe case of erysipelas, but he later recovered. In April 1850, the Armistead’s lost their little girl, Flora Lee, at Jefferson Barracks. Armistead was posted to Fort Dodge, but in the winter he had to take his wife Cecelia to Mobile, Alabama, where she died December 12, 1850, from an unknown cause. He returned to Fort Dodge. In 1852 the Armistead family home in Virginia burned, destroying nearly everything. Armistead took leave in October 1852 to go home and help his family. While on leave Armistead married his second wife, the widow, Cornelia Taliaferro Jamison, in Alexandria, Virginia, on March 17, 1853. They both went west when Armistead returned to duty shortly thereafter. (3)
-Civil War Battlefield Trust &Encyclopedia Virginia
Footnotes
(1) Lewis A. Armistead (1817–1863) - Encyclopedia Virginia
(2) Civil War Battlefield Trust
(3) Cathedral of Liberty
References;
Red Flag of Defiance; by Gene Stevens
The history of early Fort Dodge and Webster County, Iowa 1955
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