Cooper County, Missouri - Chapter 3, 1876

Keturn of the Settlers from the Xorth Side of the River. - Situation of the Settlers for the following Two or Three Years. - Killing of Braxton Cooper, jr., Joseph Still, Wm. McLane, Sarshell Cooper, Samuel McMahan and a Negro Man. - Building of Hannah Cole's Fort. First School Taught in Cooper County. - Fashions, &c., when First Settlement was made. - Territorial Laws extended over the "Boone's Lick Country."

In the spring of 1813, not having seen any signs of Indians for about three months, and being desirous of raising crops during that year, as they had failed the year before, all of the settlers who had gone to Kincaid's Fort the previous spring, returned to their homes south of the Missouri river. As soon as they arrived they put in their crops of corn, but in order to be advised of the approach of an enemy, they stationed a guard at each corner of the field in which they were at work.

During the following two or three years the settlers were kept continually on the watch against the savages, for every month or two some small band of Indians would suddenly attack and slay some unsuspecting settler who had for the moment forgotten his usual caution, or who feeling secure from attack because the Indians had not appeared for some time, suffered this severe penalty for his negligence. The Indians never after this marched a large band against these settlements, but came in small scouting parties, the members of which had only sufficient courage to shoot down some unsuspecting man, or murder unprotected women and children. They never, except in overwhelming numbers, and then very seldom, made an open attack upon even a lone farmhouse, but stealing up in the darkness of the night they would set fire to the house and slay the inmates as they rushed from their burning dwelling; or as in the case of the killing of Sarshell Cooper, shoot the dreaded enemy of their race, as he sat in the midst of his family.

Is it any wonder, in view of these facts, that when an Indian was captured, 'twas not many minutes before his lifeless body would be hanging from the nearest bough? After all their treachery, woe to the savage who fell into the vengeful hands of the settlers, for they would make short work of him ; and they knew they were justified in doing this, for they acted only in self-defense.

During the two or three years following the return of the settlers from Kincaid's Fort, several men were killed by the Indians in the *'Boone's Lick Country." The following are the names of all of them of which there is any record ; no doubt there may have been some killed whose tragic death has never had a place on the page of history, and which will never be known :

Wm. McLane was killed by the Indians in what is now Howard county, near the present site of Fa3^ette, in October, 1813, under the following circumstances: He, Ewing McLane and four other men, went from McLane's Fort to pick out a piece of land on which some one of them expected to settle. When they arrived at a short distance southwest of the present site of Fayette, they were attacked by a band of about one hundred and fifty Indians. As soon as McLane and his companions saw them, they retreated towards the fort, and just as they were ascending a slant from a long, deep ravine leading to the Moniteau Creek, the Indians fired a volley at them. One shot struck William McLane in the back of the head, and he dropped dead from his horse. After satisfying themselves that he was dead, his remaining companions left his body and continued their retreat to the fort, which they reached in safety. The Indians scalped McLane, cut out his heart and literally hacked him to pieces. As soon as possible, a large party of settlers started out to recover his body, and if possible, to avenge his death ; but they found that the Indians had retreated, and left no trace of the direction which they had taken. From the cleared place around the body and the beaten appearance of the earth near, it was supposed that the Indians had, in accordance with their custom, danced their "war dance" there to celebrate their victor}'-. After getting the body they returned sorrowfully to the fort.

Of the many murders committed during the war, none excited so much feeling or caused such a cry of vengeance in the hearts of the frontiersman as the tragic death of Captain Sarshell Cooper, who was the acknowledged leader of the settlers north of the Missouri river. On a dark and stormy night on the 14th day of April, 1814, as Captain Cooper was sitting by his fireside with his family, his youngest child upon his lap, the others playing at different games around the room, and his wife sitting by his side sewing, an Indian warrior crept up to the side of his cabin and picked a hole between the logs just sufficient to admit the muzzle of his gun, the noise of his work being drowned by the storm without. He shot Capt. Cooper, who fell from his chair to the floor, among his horror stricken family, a lifeless corpse. His powers and skill were well known to the Indians whom he had often foiled by these means. He was kind and generous to his neighbors, whom he was always ready to assist in any of their undertakings. Therefore his loss was deeply felt by the settlers whose homes he had defended by his powers, and whose prosperity was owing largely to his advice and counsel.

On the 14th day of December, 1814, a man named Samuel McMahan, living in what is now Lamine township of Cooper county, was killed near Boonville, not far from the present residence of Scott Benedict, under the following circumstances : He had been down to the settlement at Boonville to bring his cattle, as he intended to move down the river, and as he was returning home he came upon a band of Indians who were lying in ambush for some men who were cutting down a bee tree not far away. The savages fired upon him, wounding him and killing his horse. He jumped up after his horse fell, and although severely wounded, ran down a ravine leading to the river. The Indians started in pursuit of him, and as he was weak from the loss of blood, they soon overtook him and killed him, sticking three spears into his back. They afterwards cut off his head and scattered his entrails over the ground. The Indians knowing that the vengeance of the settlers would be sudden and terrible, then scattered, and made their way out of the country the best way they could.

The next day, for the settlers, not knowing the number of the Indians, waited for reinforcements from the opposite side of the river, a party of men w^ent out to get the body of McMahan. James Cole, the brother of Samuel Cole, carried the body before him on his horse, and David Mc- Gee brought the head wrapped in a sheep skin. The settlers buried McMahan under the Linn tree, which formerly stood in the centre ring at the old fair grounds. A child of David Buness, which was burned to death, was also buried under this tree.

A negro man named Joe, belonging to Samuel Brown, of Howard county, was killed by the Indians near Mr. Burkhart's farm, about three quarters of a mile east of Estill Station, on the M. K. and T. Railroad.

The above embraces the name of all of the men of whom we have any record, who w^ere killed in the "Boone's Lick Country" during the Indian war, from 1812 to 1815. The peculiar atrocities attending the killing of most of them, , makes the stoutest shudder. But they were so common those days, that the settlers did not fear to remain here, although they knew these things might happen to them at any time. Yet they were not daunted by these continued murders, but lived on their lands, making the best defense they could against the Indians.

The next day after the killing of McMahan, all the settlers living near the present site of Boonville, rushed into the house of Hannah Cole, which stood on the Bluff, in what is now "East Boonville," as this place was the most suitable of any near, to defend against an attack ®f the Indians. All of these men came with their teams, cut down trees, dragged logs to build a fort at that place. They completed the building of the fort in about one week, although all of the men could not work at one time, as it was necessary to station a guard on every side to watch for the approach of the enemy, whom they expected every hour.

The fort was built on the edge of the bluff, and as the bluff was very steep at that point, it was well defended on that side from the Indians. Another reason for building it in that place was because the inmates of the fort could obtain a constant supply of good w^ater from the river. They had a long log running out over the edge of the bluff, and a windlass and rope attached to it, so that it was an easy matter to draw up water, even during an attack of the Indians.

As soon as the fort at Hannah Cole's was completed, the old fort at Stephen Cole's, situated on the bluff near the river, one mile below the new fort, was abandoned, and all the families gathered into the new fort, so as to be a protection to each other.

But this precaution proved to be unnecessary, as the killing of McMahan was virtually the end of the war, in this part of the country, and the settlers had no more open fights with the Indians, although small bands of savages occasionally roamed through the country running off stock, and committing other depredations. The Indians had found out that the men who had pierced the wilderness, and brought their families with them, were ready to lay down their lives in defense of them and their homes, and the savages deserted their hunting grounds, and moved farther west.

Major Stephen Cole, the acknowledged leader of the settlers living south of the Missouri river, survived the war, and after making every effort for their defense, his love of wild adventure led him to become a pioneer in the trade with Santa Fe in 1822. He was killed by the Indians, during the same year, about sixty miles southwest of Santa Fe, on the Rio Grande river. There was also killed at the same time, Stephen Cole, the brother of Samuel Cole.

present limits of tha county of Cooper, was taught by John Savage, in the year 1813, about one mile east of Boonville, on Lilly's Branch, about one-half of a mile from its mouth. The scholars numbered fifteen children of the settlers living in the neighborhood of Hannah Cole's fort. The names of the scholars who attend the school, were as follows : Benjamin, Delany and William Bolin, Hiram and William Savage, Hess and William Warden, John and William Yarnall, John and William Jolly, Joseph and William Scott, and John and William Rupe. The scholars sat upon one log in the open air, they then having no school house, and the teacher upon another log facing his pupils. The price of tuition was one dollar per month, payable in anything which the settlers had that was worth one dollar. The school progressed very finely under the able management of the teacher who appears to have had some experience in teaching. But it continued only for one month, as it was caused to cease through fears of an attack by the Indians, who about this time commenced a series of depredations upon ' the settlers, which continued until the year 1815, the close of the war- At this school, where all the surroundings were of the most primitive character, and there was nothing except what was furnished by the kind hand of nature, were planted the first seeds of knowledge in the minds of the young settlers. Here they learned the lessons of honesty and integrity, which even at the present day is a distinguishing characteristic of the generation which grew up at that day.

The next school, of which we have any record, was taught by Abiel Leonard, in the Franklin bottom, near the Bonne Femme Creek, Howard county. Teaching was not congenial to his nature, and it is recorded that he said, the happiest day of his life was when his school closed.

niembers of the church, there was no regular preaching in the county until the year 1815, yet occasionally service was held by some wandering missionary in the house of some one of the settlers. But in the year 1815, Luke Williams, who afterwards preached at Concord church, held service at Hannah Cole's Fort. Soon after this, a minister named James Savage preached at the fort. The denomination which he represented - the Baptist - was at that time the prevailing one, although every denomination aided in supporting the ministers w^ho preached at the fort, as no onC unaided was able to do so. In those days they worked not so much for the success of the denomination as for the success of the cause.

When the settlers first came to Cooper county, the women all wore calico dresses, and the men homespun suits of clothes. But the clothes which they brought with them soon wore out, and not having any place at which to buy new ones, they were forced to resort to some expedient to supply the place of the clothes which they were compelled to cast off. For the next few years all the clothes which the settlers had, were made out of knettles.

The low flats along the river, creeks and branches were covered with a thick growth of knettles about three feet high, sometimes standing in patches of twenty acres or more. These were permitted to remain standing until they became decayed in the winter, when they were gathered. They were then broken up, spun into long strings and woven into cloth, from which the garments w^ere made. This would be a very tedious job at the present day, when a ladies dress requires from twenty to thirty yards of cloth, but in those old times five or six yards was as much as was ever put into a dress. Little children usually wore a long leathern shirt over their tow shirt. For several years during the early settlement of this country, the men and wornen wore garments made put of the same kind of material,

The Territorial laws were not extended over this part of the country until the year 1816. Until which time they had no government or laws except such they themselves made for their own protection, and which, of course, had no effect outside of ihe boundaries of their narrow Territory. With them, the single distinction was between right and wrong, and they had no medium ground. As the result shows, they really needed no laws or executive officers, for it is a well known fact, that during the early period of this settlement there were no serious crimes committed within its limits. As the men each depended upon the other, and knew that in time of attack by the Indians, their only safety lay in union, each endeavored to preserve the good will of his neighbor, and as the best way to obtain the good wishes and assistance of a man, is to act honestly and friendly with him, each did this, and in this way they needed no law, except their own judgments. During the early period of the colony they never had any occasion to punish any one under their law, which was an unwritten one. Although *tis true, some few crimes were committed, as the nature of man has not entirely changed since then, yet they were uniformly of such a trivial character, as hardly to be worthy to be classed as crimes.

Another reason of the almost entire freedom from crime, was the certainty of punishment. Then there was no ''legal technicalities" by which a prisoner could escape. No sooner was the criminal caught and his guilt established - no matter what his crime - than the law-makers took the matter into their own hands, and hung him to the nearest tree.

The following anecdote is related of Mark Cole, son of Stephen Cole, who is still living in St. Clair county, Missouri. One evening, some young ladies visited his father's family at their fort, ancj remained until pretty late, when they returned home. The road which led to their homes, passed the place where a man had been lately buried ; a pen was built around the grave, and covered with logs like a roof, raised about a foot or two from the ground. As most of the persons in those days were superstitious, Mark determined to frighten the young ladies as they passed the grave. So he got a large sheet, and slipping out of the house, went to the grave, no doubt laughing, as there appeared before him a picture of the terror, that his sudden appearance in his strange costume would cause the young ladies, and took his station upon the top of it tu await their arrival. But he had not been there long, when suddenly several deep groans issued, seemingly from the bowels of the earth, and the poles on the top of the grave, began to move about, as though the departed spirit was trying to get out, and wreak vengeance upon the profaner of its solitude. Hearing and seeing these things, Mark "did not stand upon the order of his going," but dropping the sheet, he took to his heels, and never stopped until he reached his home, when he fell unconscious unon the door step. He was so badly frightened that he did not fully recover for a month, and even to the present day he will never travel at night alone. The explanation of the noise was very simple, yet the settlers did not let Mark into the secret. One of the men at the fort, who had heard Mark whisper to his brother where he was going, had slipped out of the fort and hastened to the place, just in time to crawl under the poles, and lie down upon the earth, when Mark made his appearance and took his seat,