By Thomas Burnell Colbert
On the Iowa frontier in the 1830s and 1840s, there were Indian leaders of regional and even national recognition. Among them were the Sauk chief Keokuk, the Meskwaki Wapello, and a handful of others. One of the most important, but sometimes overlooked, was Meskwaki Chief Poweshiek, who became the namesake for an Iowa county.
In certain respects, he was second only to Keokuk, though Poweshiek would rise eventually to dominate the Meskwaki tribe. And like his sometimes ally and rival, Keokuk, he faced a collection of problems that determined the unhappy fate of his people and partially sullied his own reputation.
Poweshiek was born between 1787 and 1790 — the dates vary — in a Meskwaki village on the Rock River in Illinois close to the Mississippi River. He was reputably the grandson of Muck-e-te-nan or Black Thunder, one of the greatest Meskwaki chiefs.
Poweshiek was a large man, most described him as weighing about 250 pounds. However, opinions differed about his character and personality.
A history of Poweshiek County published in 1880 states that Poweshiek had “a disposition full of exactness and arrogance” and was “blunt and outspoken.” A 1910 Scott County history called him a “striking specimen of his race,” remarking that, “those who knew him called him a man of great energy, a wise counselor and the soul of honor” who “remembered kindness, and his word could be relied upon.”
Historian Perry Armstrong offered that Poweshiek “was not only witty but sharp as a whip in financial transactions.” Thomas McKenney, who had served as U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, described Poweshiek as “not distinguished by brilliant talent” but a man “of prudence and capacity.” He further noted that Poweshiek was a daring warrior who was respected in council but overshadowed by the Sauk chief Keokuk.
Others said that he had a “passion for justice” and “his word was regarded as sacred.” Yet another commentator noted that he was of “good character, truthful and just, and ruled his Indians with an iron hand.” And Col. S.C. Trowbridge, who “became an intimate friend” of Poweshiek’s, in 1837 described him as “a fat lazy man, weighing about 250 pounds, and fond of whisky; often drunk. He had a strong sense of justice, and was brave, true to his word and faithful to a friend. His word was sacred … He was rather slow to be aroused, but when fairly aroused to action, showed a great deal of energy and force of character, combined with a fair degree of executive talent and judicial facility … He was on the whole, rather a noble specimen of the American red man.”
After a few chiefs influenced by alcohol signed away Sauk and Meskwaki lands in Illinois in 1804, Poweshiek’s group of Meskwakis were some of the first to move across the Mississippi onto the Iowa side of the river, joining other Meskwakis who had earlier settled in Iowa, coming down from the Wisconsin region and operating their lead mines with Julian Dubuque, the so-called Mines of Spain.
While the prospect of hostilities with whites grew in Illinois with Sauk war chief Black Hawk opposing removal from Saukenuk, their main village, and his rival war chief Keokuk wanting to cooperate with the whites, the Meskwakis, as well as Sauks, were also in the midst of conflict with the Sioux for hunting grounds in northern Iowa.
In the spring of 1830, when a delegation of the principal Meskwaki chief and some of his warriors of his were massacred by a Sioux and Menominee war party while traveling to Prairie du Chien, Wis., for a peace conference, Poweshiek rose in power. The Dubuque village of Meskwakis was devastated by the deaths of most of their leaders, except for war chief Morgan who led those left to the Meskwaki village at present-day Davenport. When Morgan died, the Meskwaki council met to declare a new peace or civil chief. The rightful hereditary chief, a minor son of the slain leader, was considered too young to lead and the question of leadership was debated. Poweshiek’s sister related that she had a vision in which Poweshiek would be chosen as chief. Consequently, it was decided that Poweshiek, a member of the Brown Bear clan, should lead until the young man of the legitimate Black Bear clan could become chief.
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