Buchanan County, Missouri - The Platte Purchase, 1904

The Platte Purchase

When AIiss(niri was admitted to the L^nion, the western line of the State passed from the corner of Arkansas directly north through the month of the Kansas River to the h)wa line. The section of the territory between the Missouri I\i\er and the west line of Alissouri was ceded to the Sac-and-h'ox and h)wa_\- Indians, in the treat\- of Prairie du Chien, ratified in 1830, in exchang'e for certain lands in Wisconsin. These two tribes, and also a band of Omahaws and a few Sioux, located along- the banks of the larger streams in the upper part of the strip, while the lower portion was occu[)ied by the I'ottawatomies, who were removed from Indiana in 1S33. after the Black Hawk War.

The g()\ernment had places of supply at Rock House, near what is now the town of Agency, in Buchanan County, and at what is now Bexerly, in Platte County. Gen. Andrew S. Hughes was the _go\ernment ageni.

(leneral Hughes made his headquarters with Joseph Robidoux in the Blacksnake Hills, now St. Joseph, g'oing' among the Indians only on issue days.

The Indians were particularl}- undesirable neighbors to the people of the old Missouri border. They were drunken, lazy, (juarrelsome, and altogether unworthy to occupy so \alual)le and so beautiful a territory. So argued the white man, who Ijelieved the heritage to be his. and who went systematically to work to secure it.

It was customar_\- in those times to ha\e militia musters on certain days, and so it came to p'ass that a muster was held at the farm of Weakly Dale, near Liberty, in Clay County, in A])ril of 1835. At these musters there were speeches, and measures for the general welfare were publicly debated. The Indian neighbor wa- the theme of a speech by (ieneral Hughes

Recent correspondence between Maj. John Dougherty of Clay County, then an Indian asrent, and United States Senator Linn, in reference to the coveted territory, was also read. Major Dougherty had shown how the formation of the boundary had inconvenienced persons settling along the border, in what are now DeKalb, Gentry or Worth counties,, from reaching the river (then the only mode of transportation), w^ithout traveling over a hundred, miles to get below the mouth of the Kansas River, when the Missouri could be reached at twenty, thirty or fifty miles at Robidoux or Weston, which were the most important river points in the Platte country.

The many streams capable of furnishing v^^ater and power, the rich soil, valuable forests, luxuriant grasses, wild fruits, thousands of wild flowers, well-filled bee trees, flocks of wild deer and turkey, all had been voiced aloud until the old Kentuckians, Tennesseeans and North Carolinians forming that military array, resolved that they must ha\e the strip without delay. In fact, they started to obtain it in Western syle, resolving that they ought and would have it, and E. M. Samuel, David R. Atchison, Alexander W. Doniphan, W. T. -Wood and Peter H. Burnett were appointed a committee to obtain it. But some of those same muster-men, being doubtful about the efficacy of negotiation and red-tape, moved into the new country that fall. The government had them remo\eil by soldiers from Fort Leavenworth, but they went back again, and like the more recent "sooners" of Oklahoma kept themselves in evidence so as to hasten the inevitable.

of the Indians west of the Mississippi River, held a council with the Sacs-and-Foxes and loways at Fort Leavenworth, and made a treaty whereby the Platte country passed into the hands of the white ma.i.

The Indians received $7,500 in cash and 400 sections of land in what are now Doniphan and Brown counties, Kansas. The government agreed to erect five comfortable houses for the loways and three for the Sacs-and- Foxes; to provide for each tribe an interpreter, a farmer, a blacksmith, an-l a schoolmaster; to break up 200 acres of ground for each tribe and to furnish each with a ferry-boat; also to provide rations for one year and agricultural implements for five years.

Th treaty was signed by William Clark, superintendent of Indian affairs, for the United States. For the loway Indians it was signed by the following chiefs and braves : Mo-hos-ca (White Cloud), Nau-che-ning (No Heart), Wa-che-mo-ne (Orator), Ne-o-mo-ne (Raining Cloud), Ne-wan-thaw-chu (Hair Shedder), Man-haw-ka (Bunch of Arrows), Chatau-the-ne (Big Bull), Man-o-n^o-ne (Pumpkin), Con-gu (Plumb), Wau-thaw-ca-be-chu (One that Eats Rats), Cha-tea-thau (Buffalo Bull), Cha-ta-ha-ra-wa-re (Foreign Buffalo).

The following signed for the Sacs-and- Foxes: Ca-ha-qua (Red Fox), Pe-shaw-ca (Bear), Pe-cau-ma (Deer), Ne-bosh-ca-na (Wolf), Ne-squi-in-a (Deer), Ne-saw-au-qua (Bear). Qua-co-ousi-si (Wolf), Suquil-la (Deer), .As-ke-pa-ke-ka-as-a (Green Lake), Wa-pa-se (Swan), No-cha-tau-wa-ta-sa (Star), Can-ca-car-mack (Rock Bass), Seasa-ho (Sturgeon), Pe-a-chim-a-car-mack (Bald-Headed Eagle), Pe-a-chim-a-car-mack, Jr. (Bald Headed Eagle).

toward the setting sun, and the white man promptly built his cabin where the Indian's tepee erst had stood. The counties of Platte, Buchanan, Andrew, Holt, Nodaway and Atchison were carved out of the territory thus acquired.

Chapter

j'lRST Settlers - Location and Xatlkal Advantac.i:, - kivEKs, Creeks and J, a res - Pioneer Life - First Dwellings - Primitive I\ uniture and Frugal FL\bits - One-Legged Bedstead - Rye Coffee, the Horse-Power Mill, the Hominy Block and the Critter - \\'ild Meat and Wild Honey - Laborious and Other Amusements^ - Description- of the Society of the Early Days in Missouri.

When in the siininier of ']H2f) Joseph Rohidoux i)nshe(l the nose of his keel-boat into the nioutli of the creek now called Roy's Blanch, he began the histoi'}- of Bnchanan county, so far as concerns the white man, at least. The red man had made histor}-. too, in Ins own way. among" tlie Blacksnake Hills and \alle}s. but he took it with him when he crosse;! the ri\er. and it is buried with him f(jre\"er, as are his weapons and his wampum.

Rohidoux remained undisturbed while the soldiers from l'\jrt Le.ivenworth were raiding this section for squatters, prior to the purchase. As soon as the treat}- was made, and even before the Indians had taken up their march to oilier hunting grounds, the tide of immigration to Buchanan County set in.

History mentions onl\- a few settlers who escaped the \igilance of the soldiers. Rohidoux and his men were here by permission of the goxernment. One of the trespassers was John b'lliott. who came from Kentucky in 1833 and located this side of the former State line, in what is now Platte township. When drixen off. he moveil over the line, but continued to cul'.ix'ate the land on this side. Another was

Hiram Roberts, who located in the \icinity fjf what is now DeKalb. in 1836. and who was o\-erlooked by the soldiers. He remained in undisturbed i)ossession until the annexation and resided in the neighborhood until his death, in 1881. Absalom Enyard of Clay County located in what is now the center of Platte township in 1836 and built a small cabin, but was soon ejected. He had been \isited b_\- Judge W'eston J. Everett of Clay Count}-, wlio was seeking a kxation, and who was so faxorably impressed that when the Platte Purcliase was completed he bought Enyard's cabin, and. in February of 1837. took possession under the homestead laxx. Judge Everett xxas followed in a fexx' xxeeks by Absalom Munk-ers.

l'"rom 1837 to 1840 there xxas a st:\'ul}- iudux of settlers and the development of the country progressed rapidly. Immigrants c:une from the neighboring counties and from Kentucky, Ohio. Indiana. Tennessee, North Carolina and \'irginia.

Because of the early enx-ironments. most of these took naturally to the timljered districts that skirted the streams. This xvas practical, too. for the earlv settler retiuired woorl for his

Among" the most aljundant trees was the black walnut. However, the later demand for this wood in the manufacture of furniture was so great that the forests fell before the axe, and now there is but little of it left. A line of timber still follows the course of all streams, and detached groves, natural and artificial, are found throughout the country.

Buchanan County is situated in latitude 39 degrees 47 minutes north, and longitude 94 degrees 55 minutes west. Its altitude is about 1,000 feet above sea-level, and it is about 400 feet above Chicago and 600 feet above St. Louis. The highest point in the county is the hill upon which are located the reservoirs of the St. Joseph Water Company. It is 320 feet above low-water mark in the Missouri River and is situated two and one-half miles north of St. Joseph.

The surface away from the streams is gently undulating prairie, and there is a wonderful diversity of country for so small an area. Few, if any, counties in the State possess better natural drainage, and there is consequently but little waste land. Nor could any improvement be made over nature in the distribution of the water ccjurses. The Platte River is a fine stream, as is also the One Hundred and Two River. The name of this stream is somewhat a puzzle. One authority asserts that is it 102 miles in length. Another authority claims that it was so named because when the river was first seen by the sur\-eyors who were locating a military road, the distance from ]*"ort Leavenworth was 102 miles, and they named it according to custom - '"Ten Mile Creek," "Fortv Mile Creek," etc., being similar instances. Bee. Casteel, Maiden, Sugar and

Besides these, there are numerous lakes, bordering the Missouri Ri\er. Ccjntrary. the most extensive and beautiful of these, is located al;out three miles southwest of St. Joseph. It receives its name from Contrary Creek, which empties into it, Contrary Creek being so called because it Hows north, contrary to the course of the Miss(juri Ri\er. Sugar Lake, in Rush township, is partly in Buchanan and partly in Platte counties. It is a picturesque sheet of water. Then there are Singleton, Horseshoe, Muskrat and Mud lakes. Contrarv and Sugar lakes are fruitful ice fields, the me:it-])acking concerns of Kansas City and St. Joseph drawing supplies largely from them.

That the climate is healthful is best known to those who dwell here. In fact, almost the whole of the Platte Purchase is singularly free from consumption, asthma, bronchitis and the diseases most dreaded in the Eastern States. The air is dry and pure and the malarial fevers so common to Western and Southern States are confined to the river bottoms and are comparatively mild.

The early settlers found, besides timber and water, an easy and productive soil. lo these advantages the sturdy pioneer had but to apply his energies, and the reward was certain. Hence the wealthy farmers of to-day who.se ba-oad acres and ample houses, whose grand orchards and blooded live stock are but the primitive establishments of the early settler am])lified and developed, step by step, from generation t(i generation, by industr}- and thrift, aided by natural conditions and a constant benediction in the climate. It can be truthfully said that there has never been a total failure of crops in the Platte Purcliase.

like pioneer life elsewhere in the We^t. The first settlers were plain, hospitable, brave, generous people. They were good neighbors, bound together \\ith a strong bond of sympathy, which made one man's interest every other man's interest also, and e\ery man's protection lay in the good will and friendship of those about him.

The first dwellings of the white man in this country were a cross between Indian bark huts and "hoop cabins," for it took a number of men to build a log house. The settlers generally located in bunches, for mutual protection, and when three or four families had formed a community, they began the building of log houses, each assisting the other. The logs were round, notched together at the corners. The cabins were roofed with poles covered with split boards. A puncheon floor was laid and a chimney made of sticks and mud. The door was of clapboard, and a window was provided by cutting out a log in the side and inserting glass or covering it with greased ])aper. The house was then chinked and daulied with mud, and A\ as ready for the occupant.

The furniture consisted generally of the one-legged bedstead, a rude table, a few plain chairs and an assortment of pots and pans for cooking the food at the fire-place, there being no stoves. The one-legged bedstead w as made by cutting a stick the proper length and boringholes in the edge to correspond with holes in a log of the cal)in. Rounds of wood were inserted into the corresponding holes, and what resemblerl a ladder in a horizontal position was supported on one corner by a leg. the other end and one side being fastened to the walls. Bark was woven into the rounds, and upon this primitive structure the bed was laid.

The manner of living was extremely simple. For some years th.e onlv mills were propelled by horse power, each customer furnishing his own power. There were no roads and the grain was carried m sacks, horseback. In the first years very little wheat was grown, corn being the only grain. The hominy block, an improvised mortar, made by cutting a hole into the stump of a large tree, and using a heavy timber as a pestle, was one way of producing meal for bread. Another instrument was the "gritter," made by punching holes into a piece of tin, which was then nailed to a board, rough side out, and upon which green or previously softened corn was rubbed into a pulp and then baked into bread or ash cakes.

Rye and corn meal parched were often a substitute for cofifee, and sassafras root produced a palatable substitute for "store tea." Game Avas plenty, especially deer, elk, wild turkeys, prairie chickens, and even bear, so that there was no scarcity of meat until the hogcould be turned into pork.

The clothing was homespun, made by the women of the household - "jeans" for the men and "linsey-woolsey" for the maids and matrons. Hunting shirts and pantaloons of dressed buckskin were also worn by men. The linsey and jeans for every day use were colored with hickory or walnut bark, and those for Simday wear were dyed in indigo. A full suit of blue jeans was considered a fine dress.

It required great industry and rigid economy to make a plain living in those times. Iron and salt, two very necessary articles, were high priced and difificult to obtain. The pioneers had no money, as a rule, and for the first few years had nothing to sell except .skins, wild honey and beeswax. Along the streams there were many hollow trees in which wikl bees had deposited their honey, and these were eagerly sought.

the men enjoyed themselves with the logs and the rails, and in the evening there was generally a dance, if a tiddler could be had, or games of various kinds, as in other primitive communities. In fact, the history of the early settlers of Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana was repeated in Missouri.

In a few years the pioneers of Buchanan County showed much progress, and in five years after the country was opened for settlememt there were several saw and flouring mills, roads and other improvements.

A description of the society of the early days in Missouri, written by the Rev. Moses E. Lard, that appeared in Lard's Quarterly in December, 1863. is not only a graphic sketch of the times, Ijut a gem of English composition. It appeared in an article entitled '']\Iy First Meeting." This meeting was held at Haynesville, Clinton County, Missouri, and the description may be accepted as a true picture of the social and religious life and thought of this part of the State at an early time.

Rev. Moses E. Lard was himself a remarkable character. He was a journeyman tailor in Liberty, IMissouri, wdien General Doniphan became interested in him and, noting his burning thirst for knowdedge, sent him to college, where he was educated for the ministry. He became a great leader in the Christian Church and was for some years a preacher in St. Joseph. His father was a forest dw^eller, pioneer and a hunter. A daughter of Rev. Moses E. Lard married Governor Silas Woodson. In this article, "My First Meeting," occur the following descriptive passages :

"Most men in the neighborhood could read Chronicles by spelling- half the words, while all had either read Bun}'an and eighth of Romans, or heard them read. Bunyan supplied them with experiences, Romans with texts to prove predestination; the former enjoyed the favor and afifection, the latter, the authority. On Sundays most of the country flocked to meeting, the wags to swap horses and whittle, and to bet on the coming races ; the Christians, as was fitting-, to hear the sermon, and relate their experiences. The sermon was sure to be on foreknowledge or free-will, and to contain a definition of eternity; the experiences embraced reminiscences of headless apparitions, or voices of pulseless corpses wrapped in cotifin sheets. * * *

"The country pedagogue of those unregenerate days also merits a paragraph. He was generall}' a chuiTy man, five feet six, with gray hair, and fine girth - a man who cracked of definite articles, copulative conjunctions, Hoogley's bay. and ciphering; could tell the day of the month l)y the almanac, and brogue your moccasins ; pulled teeth, bled and puked the neighl^ors : took grog with you wdien dry ; wrote your will, and prayed for you when dying. He was deacon in the church, justice of the peace, auctioneer and general counselor at law, prescribed for govit and Cancer, and was a robust believer in witchcraft; he was always elected captain on muster days, gave advice in bad cases of rupture and hair-lip ; w^as president of the debating club, judge at shooting-matches, held children when christened, and gave lectures as to die best time in the moon to salt meat and plant snaps. In the schoolroom he was a philosopher and a tyrant, made but few impressions on the mind, left manv on the back, taught the bovs to make manners, and the girls to curtesy; at noon played bull-pen, knucks, and hull-gull ; and at other times was a gentleman and an astrologer, the whole neighborhood together. The women met to brag on their l)abies. drink stew, knit, and discuss the best method of setting bhie-d3^e; the men to shuck corn, take rye, recount battles with bruin, and tell of long shots at deer; the boys to spark and blush: and the girls to ogle and fall in kne.

'"Xcxt to the corn-shucking, the winter i quilting and hoe-downs were the pride of this , long past. These were my delight. In the quilting you sat close beside your l)onnie lassie; in the hoe-down you touched her hand, and saw her ankle. This over, you made love to her in the corner, while she slapped your jaws, and pouted. But to me the chief attraction at the quilting was the huge stacks of ])umpkin pies which graced it, of which 1 am not conscious at this sitting that I ever had enough. * * *

"At the time of my meeting great advances had been made on these times. The men had ceased to wear buckskin, the women -dressed in calico, and drank green tea ; ghosts were more rare, and Drew Iiad migrated. Tents -covered with elm bark were now quite out of fashion, boots were occasionally seen, the men used handkerchiefs, and the women sidecombs. Soap was no longer a myth to children, though starched bosoms still attracted much attention. The boys had now begun to carry riding wliips, to chew, and the girls to flirt. The more able families could afford tables and biscuit on Sunday morning, while almost all had learned whai sausage and spareril)s mean. Buggies and steamships were still fabulous things, while cock-fighting and logrolling had fallen into desuetude.

"A shingled roof and a brick stack were not now absolutely unknown, and men used chains instead of withes in plowing. The use of pins was altogether abandoned, and fish were caught with hooks as in other countries. Balls had' taken the place of the hoe-bown, the fiddle that of juber; horns were all the fashion, and grog was ne\'er named. The Christians discussed the mode of baptism, the operation of the spirit, and infant church membership, as in other decent countries; they only denied the existence of Styx, and the revolution of the earth ; the old preachers kept on their coats while preaching, and took a little only when feeling bad. A young man no longer consulted a witch when he wanted a wife, but went directly to his sweetheart; invalids t(n)k henbane, boneset, and composition for diseases of the spine and fits, and Weakly Dale cured warts by hocus-p<)cus." * * *