The Richmond palladium., 1865-08-03

Black Hawk.

The july number OF the 'Annfls
Iowa" a quarterly publication lssnev
under the auspices of the State Hlstori
cal Society. at Iowa City, under the edI
torial supervision of Theodore ) Fer
win, is worthy of extensive patronag
. from the hands of the people OF our State.
Its historical sketches and details O
early legislation in the Territory ar"
worthy of preservation From an inter
esting article entitled sketches OF the
Sec and Fox Indians, and the Early Set
tlement of Wappello County, by Crlat
Biggs, we extract the suhJoined accoun
of the death of the celebrated warrior.
Black Hawk:
Black Hawk died in the fall of 1887,
near Iowaville, the scene of his triumph
under Pash a pa ho over tue loWaes, IN
the early part of his warlike career. He
was buried in sitting posture, in
frail tomb made of wooden slabs set up
on the geound in the form of an inverted
V His war club, a shaved post four or
five feet high, was placed in front of his
rude tomb, upon which great number
of black stripes were painted, CORES
ponding with the number of scalps he
had taken during life. Openings were
left in his tomb so that his friends and
curious visitors could witness the pro-
gress Of decay. Sometime after the re-
moval of his friends higher up the river,
and after the flesh had wasted away,
Doctor Turner, of Van Burn county, re
moved his skeleton to Quincy. Illinois,
and had the bones polished and varnish-
ed preparatory to connecting them by
wires in the skeleton form When his
wife heard of the eXhumation, she affect
ed great and uncomfortable grief, and
poured out her sorrows to Robert Lucas,
Governor Of the Territory and cN ollicio
Superintendent of Indian Affairs, who
promptly recovered the bones and placed
them in n box in his office ut Burlington,
and dispatched message to the bericv-
ed family, then staying on the Des MONS
some ninty miles distant cavalcade
was soon in motion, bearing the dlscon-
solate widow and a retinue of her friends
to Burlington. On the evening OF their
arrival the Governor was notified by
messenger of their readiness to wait up
on him. who fixed the audience for ten
o clock 4 NJ. the next day. Several
visitors were in Attendance. The box
containing the august remains opens by
n lid. when the parties were all assem-
bled and ready TOR the awful develop
ment, the lid was lifted by the Governor,
fully exl osing the sacred relics of the
renowned chief to the gaze of his sor-
rowing friends and the very respectable
audience who had assembled to witness
the impressive scene.
The Governor then addressed the wild
ow through John Goodell, the interpreter
for the Hard Fish band. giving all the
details of the transfer of the bones from
the grave to Quincy and back to Burling-
tla, hn
veritable bones Other deceased husband
that he sympatized deeply with her in
this her great atlliction-and that he now
hoped she would be consolcd and com
forted by the return of these cherished
relics to her care under strong conf
dence that they would not again be dis
turbed where she mi CHIT choose to entomb
them The widow then advanced to the
lid of the box, and without the least
seeming emotion picked up in her fingers
bone after bone. and examined each with
the seeming curiosity of a child, and re-
placed each bone in its proper place. and
replied through him to the Governor that
she fully believed they were Black
Hawks bones-that she knew that he
was a good old man, or he would not
have taken the great pains he had mani
Tested to oblige her-and In consldera-
ton of his great benevolence and disin-
tcrested friendship so kindly manifested,
she would leave the bones under his care
and protection. The conference then
closed, and the distinguished visitors
took leave of the Governor and the as
sembled auditors. This scene was de
tailed by the Governor to the present
writer, while standing at the side of the
famous box. soon after its occurrence.
On the accession of General Harrison
to the Presidency, Governor Lucas was
removed from the gubernatorial Office of
the Territory, and he removed his pri
vate Office into the same room with DR..
Enos Lowe, now Of Omaha City, Ne
braska An historical society was or
ganized in Burlington about this time,
and efforts were made to get these relics
into their cabinet and under the control
of the society. This arrangement was
never formally accepted but in the
course of events they happened to be IN
the same building with the societys col
lection. and the whole we're consumed
in the burning of the building in 1882.
DEATH FROM TERROR At the fight
took ,,laea pIua