Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1865-08-02

~ JOY member q ~ Annals Of lsva,
! quarterly psbllsaGion issasd eedef ~
enec 49, q Sea1A HistsslCQ SSstJ y
lsv1 Ci dhdsr y sdssss su( FveSoo
Of Thsed y 8. PakiA u woflhy szten-
sive pat( hags "a s III. hand0o ~ peep':
oeAhaa 0lnAs. - -hissbsica1jskssSess nd
"details Of early legislation in the territory
Ass worthy Of preservation. From ~ 10
esrus4ine efsie3e sntitled, s.ekstchss Of the
Bee and Fog Indians. and the early settle.
msnt II, Wapello ,rounty," BY Uriah .Biggs,
e ersftesiel1S S1biotNed aecodnt Of the "a.
sbrsted warrior, Black Hawk:
'.D,sea Hawk died in the fall Of 1887. near
Iowaville, the scene Of his triumph under
Pash . pa.ho over The Iowas, in the early
part q his wor6ke career. He was buried
ia sitting posture, in frail tomb made Of
wooden slabs set IN the ground, in the form
Of - inverted v. s8is was club. Q shaved
post four or Eve feet high, WAS p;sced in
the front ef bic rode tomb, upon Whieh .
great number Of BLACK stripes ven pointed.
corresponding with the number Of sca. ps
he had taken during life. Openings we're
left in his tomb, 40 that his itiends and Gu
rious visitors could witness the process OF
decay. Some time after the removal Of his
friends higher up the river, and sfter the
flesh had wasted away, Dr. Turner, Of
Van Buren, county, removed bis skeleton to
Quincy, ILL.,, and he'd the bones handsome
iy polished and vanished preparatory to
connecting them BY wires in the skeleton
form. When bis wife heard Of the exhums-
ton, she affected great and uncomfortable
grief, and poured out her sorr0ws to Robert
Lucas, Governor Of the territory, and tr
c1icio superintendent Of Indian affairs. who
promptly recovered the bones and placed
them in box in his Office ct Burl, lgton.
and dispatched 3 message 10 the bereaved
family, then staying on the Dcs Moines,
some ninety miles distant. A cavalcade
was soon in motion, bearing the d,sconso-
late widow and retinuc Of her friends 70
Burlington On the evening Of their arrival
the Governor was notified by messen niger Of
their readiness to wait Upon him, who fixed
the audience for 10 o'clock in the forenoon
Of the next day. Several visitors were 10
attendance. The box containing the apcvst
remains opsns by . lid, and, whom che psr.
ties were I'll assembled and ready for In,
awful development, the lid was Afsed BY
the Governor, fully exposing the sacred
| relics Of the renowned chief to the gaze
Of his sorrowing friends. and the very re
spectacle audience who had assembled IL
witness the impressive scene.
1.-The Governor then addressed the
widow through John Goodall, the inter
prefer Of the Hard Fish band, giving all
the details Of the transfer of the bones
from the grave to Quincy and back TO Bur
hngton, and assured her that they were
the vsritable bones Of her deceased hus.
band. that he had sympathi&ed deeply
with her in this her great afiliction, and he
now hoped that she would be consoled
and comforted by the return Of the cherish
ed relics to her care, under a strong con.
fidcnce that they would not again be dis
turbed where she might choose to entomh
them. The widow then advanced to the
lid Of the box, and without the least feel
ing OF emotion, picked up in her fingers
bone after bone, examining each with the
seeming curiosity OF child, and replaced
each bone in its proper place, and turned
TO the interpreter and replied, through
him, to the Governor. that she fully bcl,ev.
I'd they were Black Hawks bones that she
knew he was good old man, or he would
not have taken the great pains he had man
ifestcd to oblige her, and. in consideration
ship 10 kindly manifested, she would leave
the bones under hrs care and protection.
The conference then closed. and the Dustin
guished visitors took leave of the Governor
and assembled auditors. This scene was
detailed by the Governor to the present
writer, while standing at the side Of the IA
NOUS box. soon after its occurrence
ION the accession Of Gen. Harrison to
the presidency, Gov. Lucas was removed
from the gubernatorial Office Of the territory
and be removed his private office into the
same room with DR.. Enos Lowe, now Of
Omaha City, Nebraska An historical SO
ciety ~as org, n,zed in Burlington about
this time. and effort. we're made to get these
relics into their cabinet and under the con
troll Of the society. This arrangement va.
never formally accepted, but in the course
of events they happened to be in the same
building with the society's collection, and
the whole were consumed in the burning
Of the building in 1862"