Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/115



horse soon after her return from Washington. He never ceased to extol her many virtues and beautiful character.

Soon after Ma-has-kah became the Iowa chief, he determined to avenge the assassination of his father. He selected a party of daring young warriors and led them on a secret raid against the Sioux. They met a party of their enemies and after a battle, killed and scalped ten Sioux warriors, among them the chief in whose lodge his father had been slain. Ma-has-kah was one of the most famous war chiefs of the tribe of Iowas.

The last battle between the Iowas and Sacs and Foxes was fought near the old town of Iowaville. here in 1824 the Iowas had assembled in great numbers to witness a horse race on the river bottom about two miles from their village. most of their warriors were present, unarmed and unsuspicious of the impending danger. The Sacs and Foxes were led by their chief, Pash-e-pa-ho, assisted by Black Hawk, who was then a young man unknown to fame. Their spies had watched the assembling of the Iowas and reported to Pash-e-pa-ho the numbers of the enemy. He secreted his warriors in the forest not far distant. The old chief led two divisions in the stealthy attack, while young Black Hawk was sent with the third division to capture and burn the village. In the midst of an exciting race, when all eyes were fixed upon the rival horses, the terrible war whoop burst upon their ears and the fierce Sacs and Foxes rushed like a whirlwind upon the unarmed and panic-stricken crowd. The Iowa warriors made a dash for the village, where their arms had been left, only to find it in flames. Shrieks of agony from their wives and children mingled with the yells of young Black Hawk's band, as the cruel tomahawk fell upon the defenseless villagers, nerved the Iowa braves to superhuman resistance. But few of their arms could be found in the confusion and they were massacred by scores in a hopeless effort to rescue their families. They fought with clubs and stones, until seeing the utter hopelessness of