Aumann, F R

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The Palimpsest

Mahaska and Counties West

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Volume 41 | Number 5 Article 3
5-1-1960
Mahaska and Counties West
F R. Aumann
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Aumann, F R. "Mahaska and Counties West." The Palimpsest 41 (1960), 268-276.
Available at: https://ir.uiowa.edu/palimpsest/vol41/iss5/3
Mahaska
The most distinguished chief of the Ioway In­
dians during the last years of their sojourn in the 
State which takes their name was White Cloud, or 
Mahaska, as he was called in their own tongue. Son 
of old Mauhawgaw, the Wounding Arrow, the great 
man who led his tribe into the valley of the Iowa 
River, Mahaska was distinguished by his physical 
preeminence as well as his hereditary rank. Six 
feet and two inches in height, he was said to be a 
man “ of perfect symmetry of person, and of un­
common beauty”, characteristically broad of shoul­
der, deep chested, and muscular yet active like the 
best warriors of his tribe. Although he wTas a hand­
some, personable man, his stern, relentless gaze was 
at times forbidding. Always purposeful and deter­
mined, inured to hardship, disciplined to ignore pain 
with steely indifference, these qualities imparted a 
rather grim cast to his countenance in later years.
268
MAHASKA 269
Like many Indian chiefs of his day, Mahaska 
found a very formidable foe in John Barleycorn. 
While he never became a sot like his son, he did 
sometimes indulge much too freely in the fire-water 
of the traders.
One of these occasions was on his visit to Wash­
ington in 1824. Inflamed by whisky he was engaged 
in beating his wife when he recognized the voice of 
the Indian agent outside the room. Wishing to 
avoid the reprimand he was about to receive, he 
opened the window and stepped out, forgetting that 
he was two stories from the ground. The result was 
a severe shaking up and a broken arm.
This misadventure, though painful, did not deter 
him from riding at least two miles the next day 
over rough roads and pavements. A broken arm 
and a few bruises were things of no great moment 
to a man accustomed to the wounds and rough sur­
gery of the war party. It was at this time that he 
sat for his portrait by C. B. King, and his pain, it 
is said, was responsible for the rather stoical, 
frowning aspect of his countenance.
Wounding Arrow did not long survive his en­
trance into the Iowa country. Shortly after estab­
lishing his village on the Iowa River, he was visited 
by a band of Sioux. A pipe was passed around and 
the Ioway chief was invited to attend a dog-feast, 
made in honor of the Great Spirit. Mauhawgaw 
accepted the invitation of the Sioux in good faith, 
but in the course of the ceremony he was set upon
270 THE PALIMPSEST
by his perfidious hosts and slain — not, however, 
before he had succeeded in killing one man and 
three women.
The indignation of the Ioways at the outrage was 
expressed in immediate action. A war party was 
raised. Mahaska, by virtue of heredity, became the 
chief of this party, but being young and never hav­
ing distinguished himself in battle, he refused the 
command, choosing to take part in the expedition as 
a common warrior rather than as a leader. Until 
he gained experience and earned the approbation 
of his tribe by his individual prowess and achieve­
ment on the war-path, he was content to repose the 
leadership in an older man tried and experienced by 
many war parties.
The result was a hasty march into the country of 
the Sioux, a surprise attack, and a decisive victory, 
as victories were reckoned in such engagements. 
Ten of the enemy’s scalps were taken and Mahaska 
himself brought home the scalp of the Sioux chief 
in whose lodge his father was murdered.
In this manner continual warfare was waged be­
tween the Sioux and the Ioways. Mahaska, having 
demonstrated conclusively his ability as a warrior, 
assumed complete and active command of his tribe, 
and for many summers thereafter his life was 
crowded with warlike adventures. In fully eighteen 
battles he led his warriors and was never defeated. 
His huge form and mighty war-hatchet were in the 
thick of every fight. The Ioways, formidable be-
MAHASKA 271
hind the driving force of his powerful attack, gained 
the respect of all their savage neighbors. Most of 
these forays were against their inveterate foes, the 
Sioux and the Osages.
On one occasion, while engaged in an expedition 
against the Osages, Mahaska camped for a short 
time with some of his followers on the north bank 
of the Missouri River. A canoe with three French 
trappers swept by his leafy resting place. Wishing 
to cross the river he called out to the Frenchmen to 
turn back and assist him and his party. For one 
reason or another, through misunderstanding or 
fear, the Frenchmen refused. They not only re­
fused but fired upon the Indians, wounding one of 
Mahaska’s braves. Instantly the shot was re­
turned and a Frenchman was killed. Mahaska him­
self then seized his own gun, remarking 4 4 You have 
killed one of the rascals, I ’ll see if I can not send 
another along with him to keep him company to the 
house of the Black Spirit.”
A great outcry followed this act, the news spread­
ing like fire along the border that the loways were 
on the war-path against the settlers. An expedition 
marched against the Indians. Mahaska was cap­
tured and thrust into prison, where he remained 
many months. He made no resistance as he seemed 
to feel that he had done no wrong. Finally escaping, 
he returned to his own country. In later years, 
when he had settled down to a life of peace, he was 
prone to express his great regret at having per-
272 THE PALIMPSEST
mitted his warriors to fire upon the Frenchmen in 
retaliation for their assault.
Among the Ioways it was the custom when a hus­
band or brother fell in battle for another brave to 
adopt their wives or sisters. Upon his return from 
a campaign Mahaska found four sisters who had 
lost their protection in that way, so he married all 
of them. Of these, Rantcliewaime became the 
mother of Mahaska the Younger. She was a woman 
long remembered by her people for her great 
beauty, her exemplary life, and her tragic death. 
In 1824 she accompanied Mahaska to Washington 
where she attracted much attention for her beauty. 
Upon their return she helped her husband put into 
practice the good advice he had received from the 
President to cultivate the land and follow the path 
of peace. But this comfortable regime was brief. 
One day, while riding across the prairie, Rantche­
waime was thrown from her pony and instantly 
killed. Mahaska and all of the Ioways mourned
deeply over the tragic death of this generous and 
noble woman.
At the council-in Washington, Mahaska received 
a medal from President Monroe and signed a treaty 
whereby the Ioways ceded all their land in Missouri 
to the United States in return for fifty-five hundred 
dollars in annuities, blankets, farming implements, 
and cattle. The government also promised to assist 
the Indians in their agricultural pursuits.
Mahaska took these negotiations very much to
MAHASKA 273
heart and upon his return to his native prairies he 
began the task of cultivating his land very earnestly. 
He built himself a comfortable double log house and 
adjusted himself to his new life with dispatch and 
thoroughness in compliance with the wishes of his 
Great Father.
In the month of August, 1825, a great council was 
held at Prairie du Chien, composed of the chiefs and 
warriors of the Sioux, Sac and Fox, Ioway, Chip­
pewa, Menominee, Winnebago, Pottawattamie, Ot­
tawa, and Chippewa nations. The purpose of this 
conclave was to reconcile these Indian tribes re­
siding on the Mississippi who had been for years 
involved in constant and destructive wars among 
themselves over their hunting grounds. General 
William Clark and Governor Lewis Cass repre­
sented the government.
At the head of the Ioway delegation was Mahaska. 
He had awaited General Clark at the Des Moines 
Papids and, supplied with government provisions, 
proceeded up the Mississippi in a canoe borrowed 
from the American Fur Company. Having deserted 
the war-path the year before, he used his influence 
to establish peace among the tribes.
“My fathers”, he said, “ I claim no lands in par­
ticular. The land I live on is enough to furnish my 
women and children. I go upon the lands of our 
friends the Sacs and Foxes — we alternately go 
upon each other’s land. Why should we quarrel 
about lands when we get enough on what we have?
274 THE PALIMPSEST
“ My fathers: the Sacs, Foxes, Winnebagoes,
Menominees, and Pottawattamies are links of the 
same people. I speak for them as well as for myself.
“ My fathers: you see people here apparently of 
different nations but we are all one. You Sacs, 
Foxes, Winnebagoes, and Menominees, we are but 
one people. We have but one council fire and eat 
out of the same dish.”
Mahaska, the man of war, the victor in eighteen 
battles, the inveterate foe of Sioux and Osage since 
early youth, pleaded the cause of Indian unity. 
Passing through the land of the white men on his 
visit to Washington, observing on every hand evi­
dences of their numbers, power, and wealth, Ma­
haska realized the futility of any resistance. He 
also seemed to understand the weakness of the red 
men, and to feel the need of conserving such 
strength as they might still possess. Further deple­
tion of their numbers by wars among themselves, 
this man of many war-parties could not condone. 
Ever after, Mahaska turned his back upon the 
tomahawk which he had wielded so well in his youth.
In 1833, the son of Crane, one of the subordinate 
chiefs of the Ioways, was killed by the Omahas. A 
war party was immediately organized, but when the 
warriors went to their great chief to secure his 
leadership in their expedition, Mahaska refused to 
go. “ I have buried the tomahawk”, he said, “ I am 
now a man of peace.” Nine years had passed since 
his visit to Washington but the promises made there
MAHASKA 275
were still fixed firmly in liis mind. 4 4 The treaty made 
with our Great Father provides for the punishment 
of such outrages”, he declared.
His tribesmen were not of the same mind, how­
ever, and an incursion was made into the land of 
the Omahas, with the result that six scalps were 
taken. On their return the usual victory feast was 
prepared and everything was made ready for the 
scalp dance. Mahaska refused to take part in any of 
these activities.
His lack of culpability did not prevent him from 
becoming embroiled in the affair however. The mur­
ders having been reported to the government, Gen­
eral William Clark, who was Superintendent of 
Indian Affairs at St. Louis, ordered the arrest of 
the Ioways. The agent of the Ioways, to whom the 
“Red Head Chiefs, as he was called by the Indians, 
assigned this duty, called upon Mahaska and ex­
plained his mission. Mahaska, still acting in the 
spirit of the treaty of 1824, assented. 44It is right,” 
he said, 44I will go with you.”
The guilty Indians were arrested and taken to 
Fort Leavenworth. While imprisoned there, one of 
the members of the war party called Mahaska to the 
window of his cell and said, 4 4 Father, if I ever get 
out of this place alive, I will kill you. A brave man 
should never be deprived of his liberty, and con­
fined as I am. You should have shot me at the vil­
lage.” The freeborn, prairie-bred Ioway was not 
comfortable in those close quarters. Chafing at con-
276 THE PALIMPSEST
finement, his whole being revolted against his plight 
and his heart turned against his old leader who had 
brought him there.
When he escaped at last, true to his promise he 
forthwith sought out the object of his revenge with 
a party of others. He found Mahaska encamped on 
the Nodaway River, about sixty miles from his vil­
lage. Setting upon their erstwhile leader with 
“ guns, tomahawks, and clubs” , they slew him, but 
not without difficulty. Mahaska, like his father, the 
old Mauhawgaw, parted with his life dearly. One 
of his murderers remarked that “ he was the hard­
est man to kill he ever knew.”
This unhappy event occurred in the year 1834, 
when Mahaska was about fifty years old. In such 
fashion “ the greatest man who ever made a mocca­
sin track on the Nodaway” passed from the land of 
the Ioways, a victim of his loyalty to the pledge 
made to his “ great white brother” to lay down the 
tools of war and take up the instruments of peace. 
Ushered into manhood and his career of warfare by 
the tragedy of his father’s death, losing his beauti­
ful and devoted Rantchewaime in an equally tragic 
accident, his own end was in keeping with this domi­
nant note of his life. The story of Mahaska, the 
Ioway, is not lacking in the dramatic requirements 
of an old Greek tragedy.
F. R. Aumann


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