1878 History of Jewell County, Kansas

Second Settlement
Broken up by Indian Atrocities ---
Several Settlers Killed and One Woman Carried into Captivity

The second settlement of Jewell County was made in the spring of 1866 by William Belknap; John Rice, wife and two children; Nicholas Ward, wife and adopted son; an old man by the name of Flint; Mrs. Sutzer and son; Al Dart; Arch Bump; Erastus Bartlett; and John Marling, wife and child, who all took claims on White Rock creek. Belknap's claim was five miles west of the present town of White Rock; Marling took a claim near the present town of Rubens; Ward took a claim one mile and a half east of Rubens, now owned by Peter Kearns. Rice and all the others took claims in the immediate vicinity of Ward's, and all of them went industriously to work, improving their new homes, with no fears of danger or molestation. But a change soon came over the spirit of their dreams, which culminated in one of the most

Terrible Indian Outrages,

that every took place on our western frontier. One evening in August of the same year, (1866) a war party of Cheyennes, numbering about 10, came dashing up to Marling's cabin. When Marling saw them coming, he ran out to where his horses were lariated for the purpose of getting one of them to ride down the creek and give the alarm. Immediately after he left the Indian fiends entered the cabin and placing a rope around Mrs. Marling's neck, they dragged her a short distance into the timber, where the whole party outraged her in the most brutal and fiendish manner, and left her in an insensible condition. Marling fled for assistance to the stockade, just below White Rock city. Thomas Lovewell, an old settler of Republic county; Rice and Bump early the next morning accompanied Marling back up the creek, and when about four miles west of the county line, and about six miles east of the scene of the outrage, they discovered Mrs. Marling roaming about in a dazed condition. Her late terrible sufferings had rendered her perfectly wild, and when she discovered the relief party, she could only see in them her late fiendish and inhuman persecutors, and in order to escape being retaken, she continually darted from place to place as fast as her little child, who accompanied her, would permit. It was with considerable difficulty that her husband could get near enough to make her hear her named -- "Elizabeth" called. Hearing her name called, she knew they were friends, and stopped. In the mean time, the Indians had taken all the provisions, and everything in the way of cloth about the cabin, even emptying the feather beds for the ticks, and setting fire to the cabin, had taken their departure.

Falling Back

The entire settlement then took the alarm and fell back to the stockade in Republic county, where they remained for two days, when they all went down to Clyde, in Cloud county, in consequence of a reported general Indian massacre, which, however, proved unfounded. In about five days Mr. Lovewell and his wife returned to their claim and on the sixth day Ward came back and killed a load of buffalo meat, which he took back to the settlements around Clyde for sale.

Returning to Their Claims

Directly afterwards Lovewell and his wife started out on a buffalo hunt, and found Rice and Bartlett on their claims, to which they had returned by another route. The scare being over the settlers all returned to their claims during the fall, where they remained undisturbed until the next spring, when a second dash upon this unfortunate settlement by the

In human Red Devils

cost the lives of four settlers and drove the rest from the county forever.

On the 9th day of April 1867 the Cheyenne made another descent upon this devoted settlement, killing Bartlett, Mrs. Sutzer, her little son, and Nicholas Ward, and desperately wounding Ward's adopted son, leaving him for dead, and carrying Mrs. Ward off, a captive. The particulars of this

Horrible Massacre

are as follows: The Indians came to Mrs. Sutzer's cabin, where Bartlett was boarding, and demanded dinner, which she proceeded to prepare, in the mean time sending her little son across the creek to Ward's to inform them of the presence of the Indians. Bartlett was down in the timber, splitting rails, and returning for dinner, was met by the Indians and tomahawked as he was passing around the corner of the house. He was found lying on his back, his iron wedge near his right hand and his own knife--a dirk--sticking in his throat. It is thought that when Bartlett was killed Mrs. Sutzer started to run. She was found dead about thirty yards from the house with her skull crushed with a rock. It appears that the cunning fiends had refrained from using firearms for fear of raising an alarm. After completing their bloody work at Mrs. Sutzer's the Indians crossed the creek to Ward's cabin, and again called for dinner, which Mrs. Ward prepared for them. They eat their dinner, smoked their pipes and chatted away in the most friendly manner. At the conclusion of their "smoke," one of them very cooly loaded his gun and asked Ward if he thought it would kill a buffalo. Ward replied that he thought it would. Whereupon the Indian instantly leveled his gun at Ward's breast and shot him through the heart, killing him immediately. The two boys -- Ward's and Mrs. Sutzer's--then started to run. The Indians pursued them, following them to the bank of the creek, and shooting them down in the bed of the stream. The Sutzer boy was shot through the heart; instantly killed. The Ward boy was shot through the neck and left for dead. Some time during the succeeding night, however, he recovered his senses, and groping his way back to the cabin in the dark, found the door broken down and entered. Feeling around in the dark with his hands he stumbled and fell over the dead body of his adopted father. Procuring some blankets from one of the beds, he returned to the timber, where he remained the balance of the night, and was found the next morning by a party of claim hunters, to whom he told the above sad and harrowing tale.

It appears that when the Indians ran out to shoot the boys, Mrs. Ward must have shut and bolted the door, when the Indians returning, broke it down and took her prisoner.

Her Sad Tale

will probably never be known, as up to the present time, after the lapse of eleven years, nothing definite has ever been heard of her. Every effort to find her, by Mr. Flint, her grandfather, and by her relatives in southern Illinois, was made, that love or money could devise, but all to no purpose. She was never found. About two months after her capture an article appeared in the Junction City Union which probably throws a little ray of light on this dark page. It was a description of a white woman seen by some negro soldiers, wandering solitary and alone on the Saline river. At their approach she ran out of an old, deserted cabin, and made for the timber, apparently in great terror, evidently mistaking the negro soldiers for Indians. The soldiers, on the other hand, fearing she might be an Indian decoy, did not follow. As their description corresponds with that given of Mrs. Ward, and as nothing has ever since been heard of her, there is but little doubt that it was her, and that she had escaped from the Indians, only to perish of hunger and terror, alone on the silent prairie. Mrs. Ward is described as a tall and prepossessing young woman, not over twenty-two years of age, respectably connected and beloved by all who had the pleasure of her acquaintance.

Our Indian Policy

The uncertain fate of Mrs. Ward; the fact that the Government never made any effort to rescue her, or ascertain anything concerning her; the fact that the Indians were all supplied with the most approved arms and ammunition; the fact that the frontier settlers were left wholly unprotected; all, together with a thousand other facts of similar import, go to make up a sad commentary on our Indian policy, as it was, as it is, and as it always will be, until the "Government learns that it is as much its duty to give full and ample protection to its own citizens as to its murderous, lazy, thieving and treacherous "wards."

The Survivors

Mr. Flint was gone to Clyde after a stove for Mrs. Ward at that time of the massacre, and thus escaped the sad fate of his friends. He afterwards returned to Illinois, where he was appointed administrator of a large estate that poor Mrs. Ward had fallen heir to. He never returned to Kansas. His claim was the one now owned by Jno. H. Wadley, one mile east of Rubens. Bartlett's and Bump's claims are now owned by Martin Dahl. Rice's claim is now owned by Peter Tanner.

Marling got his feet frozen in March before the massacre, and with his wife and child, had gone to Missouri. He now lives near Fort Scott, Kansas, and talks of soon returning to Jewell county.

Arch. Bump was waylaid, shot and instantly killed on Upton Creek, Cloud county, five miles west of Clyde, in May. Vincent Davis was also shot at the same time, and severely wounded, dying several years afterwards, from the wound. The shooting was supposed to have been done by a couple of Jew peddlers. At least the evidence was so strong against them that they were hung to a tree on Elm creek, in Cloud county.

Al. Dart was absent after a load of provisions. Mrs. Dart returned to Clyde, where she met her husband. Coming to the conclusion that White Rock was not a very healthy locality in which to reside, just at that time, Dark took a claim south of the Republican river, near Clyde, where he has lived ever since, until a few weeks ago, when he died. Mrs. Dart still lives on the Cloud county Homestead.

Rice left, but came back in 1868 on a buffalo hunt, with a company of "tender feet" -- new comers -- and went into camp one night, four miles up Burr Oak creek. Had their horses stolen by Indians; hired a man in Republic county to haul their wagons back to the settlements. Rice never came back. "Too much Indian."

The greatest desire of the Indians, in the matter of plunder, appeared to be cotton cloth and to that end beds, flour sacks, and even small sacks containing seeds, were emptied of their contents and carried off. The horses and mules of the settlers were taken, but the cattle were left unmolested.

Hunting Incident,
In Which Indians Figure

Before the blood event narrated in the last chapter, game of all kinds, being plenty, frequent hunting expeditions took place, one of which is related as follows:

In October 1866, a hunting party made up of the settlers on White Rock, and a party of sportsmen from Nemaha county, all under the lead of S.M. Fisher, of Republic county, went up the creek on a hunt. Near the present town of Holmwood they were joined by Thomas Lovewell and Chauncey Dart, who had also started out on a hunt, and all went into camp together for the night. The next day the whole party went southwest to the Limestone, where Lovewell and Dart separated from the Fisher party, the former going southwest, and the latter going southeast. Soon after their separation, and when only about two miles apart, Fisher's party were suddenly surrounded by a band of about 80 Indians, and offering no resistance, the Indians completely stripped them of all their surplus provisions; revolvers and revolver ammunition, but very humanely allowed them to retain heir guns and gun ammunition, and told them they must not hunt there. The whole proceeding was in plain view, and was witnessed by Lovewell and his companion. The Fisher party gladly took the Indians' advice and retraced their steps, camping at night on the same sport where they had camped the previous night. In the morning, a single Indian rode into camp. He took a strong liking to a fancy powder horn proceeding to appropriate it, when Marling objected and hurled the Indian from him. Then Fisher spoke and said: "Let the d----d red cuss have it, but if ever they come down the creek, we'll give them h--ll." Marling took off the horn and gracefully presented it to the Indian, who put it over his shoulder, mounted his pony, turned suddenly and shot Fisher in the back with his revolver. Fisher carries the ball to this day under his shoulder blade. Marling caught up a Henry rifle and was about to dispatch Mr. Lo, when Fisher interposed, saying: "For God's sake, don't shoot him, for if you do, we will be killed," and the Indian was allowed to depart in peace. Without doubt a large band of Indians was within hailing distance, and Mr. Fisher did for the best, thus averting another bloody massacre.

"White Indians"

Lovewell and Dart, after leaving the other party, went across Oak Creek and finding no game finally reached the Republican river in Nebraska, where they killed a load of elk. Here Al. Dart was also hunting, and seeing Lovewell, took him for an Indian. Running into the timber for his team of cattle, he drove into the settlement in Jewell county that day and night, a distance of fifty miles. When Lovewell got back, three days after, the whole settlement was in a fever of excitement and preparing to leave, but were persuaded to remain, which they did, until after the massacre in April following, (heretofore described) when the survivors all left, thoroughly disheartened. Thus ended the "Second Settlement" of Jewell County.