THE WAR THAT WASN'T

Slave State/Free State fights right and left.   A band from Harry Nation caught stealing honey.   Missouri Sheriff arrested in Iowa.   Boom!  War is declared.  Iowa's history is as exciting as any other nation-state carved out of the wilderness, and sheer determination. 

Transcript

Things were pretty calm this week until Marlene Krebs called the Gas & Grill and left a message to call her immediately.  Vickie took the call and when Max Heck came in, she told him about it.  Max didn’t know Marlene and waited until Frosty got there for coffee. 

“Oh, Marlene, she lives in Keosauqua”, Frosty said.  “She’s active in the Historical Society that meets in Misty’s Malt Shop. I wonder what’s on her mind”?   

I missed early coffee that day and was visiting with Larry Clemmons at the gun shop across from the fire station when Frosty came in.   

“We’re having a meeting of the society at 7 tonight, at the Gas & Grill, he announced.” 

“How come,” I replied? “Something up?” 

“Yes, I think so,” he said.  Marlene over in Keosauqua is real upset and wants to talk to all of us on a speakerphone this evening.  Says there’s a row going on in their group about the “Bee Tree War.”  You know, the time Missouri declared war on Iowa.  Get your stuff together.  Maybe we can help her out.” 

What he meant was that we should get our story straight.    

Knowing it had something to do with the famous “Bee Tree War,” I thought I’d better touch base with cousin Ben and Grama Laurel to get up to speed.  They could pull stories, facts, and legends about Iowa history right off their heads with no effort at all. 

I called Ben first.  He told me that the War started over a treaty dispute.  Something about who owned a grove of Bee Trees.   

“Happened somewhere around Lacy State Park, over near Keosauqua,” he said.   

“The Fox and Sac Indians were involved.”   

He wasn’t sure of the dates but said it was close to when Iowa became a state.  That would have been in 1838. 

Grama Laurel, as ever, was full of information as well as stories handed down about the War.  She also seemed quite knowledgeable about the problems Missouri had in becoming a state. 

I took copious notes and this is the story I came up with. 

It was a time of great turmoil.  The nation was divided over the Free- State, Slave-State issue that led up to the civil war.  We were also dealing with the Indian Nations, making treaties.  It was a lot like the ideological divides we are seeing today, only a lot worse, for several reasons.  

First and foremost, you have to understand who the people were – the people on both sides, I mean, Missouri and the Iowa frontier people.  They were for the most part first-generation immigrants, rough and tough survivors of hardship of every kind: freezing weather, wild animals, Indian invasions, little food, simple shelter, and other natural difficulties you find when opening up a new frontier.  Once they made their mind up about something they weren’t about to back down or take gruff from anybody. 

Second, both groups, for the most part, were firm on their position for and against Slavery and whether their state would be a Free or Slave State.   

Thirdly, some of the Missourians were from a group known as Harry Nation; coming from that parcel of land south of the Iowa border that resulted from an early survey.  

Inhabitants of Harry Nation were more aggressive as a group, or tribe if you will.  It seems that they started the ruckus in the first place.   

The legend is that Fox Indians from around Keosauqua brought honey to trade at Rutledge, down in Harry Nation.  Honey was as good as money and money was in very short supply.  Remember honey was the only sweetener available to the frontier folks, and Bee Trees were especially valuable for that reason. 

It’s said that a band from around Dead Creek Crossing went looking for the source of the honey near Keosauqua in Iowa, and they found it in trees.  These trees are called Bee Trees.  The bees make a nest in the hollow tree.  You can harvest a lot of honey out of a nest.  Of course, you get stung, but remember these people were tough and were used to these rugged conditions.   

The Dead Creek bunch was caught with their hand in the honey trees, so to speak, and ran off by armed Iowans.    

Well, the marauders were embarrassed being run off like that, so they got together with some Missourians in Clark and Lewis Counties who supported the idea of pushing the Missouri border north into Iowa.  Keep in mind that Iowa was just leaving the Wisconsin Territory and establishing itself as a state – things were in flux.  It was doubly confusing because the border survey wasn’t clear.

 According to Dr. Richard Elgin of the Phelps Historical society, three surveys had been completed.  The original survey was done by John C. Sullivan in 1816.  The Captain John Whistler - Harry Nation survey was reportedly done in 1823.  Missouri decided on its own to re-survey in 1834.   

The beginning point in Kansas was clear and agreed to by everyone.  However, all the surveys were a bit fuzzy as to where the end-marker was supposed to be.  Also, there was no existing evidence found of previous surveys.  One interpretation had the boundary line as far north as Keosauqua and, of course, included the Bee Trees. 

Well, Governor Lilburn Boggs of Missouri liked the idea of pushing the line as far north as he could.  So, he sent a letter to Sheriff Uriah S. Gregory of Clark County to enter the disputed territory to collect taxes. 

Then things really got hot.  On November 20th of 1839, Sheriff Heffleman of Iowa caught, arrested, and jailed Sheriff Gregory.  By the way, the jail was Sheriff Heffleman’s home.  Sheriff Gregory agreed not to try to escape. 

This was the spark Missouri was looking for to start the war.   

Clearly, the big issues were: 1) Territory and 2) Slave State vs Free State.  These were lines in the sand worth dying for.  And, yes, there is the local issue of the Bee Trees too, which were suspiciously vandalized, adding flame to the ire of the Ionians.   

It was a cold wintery December with snow on the ground by the time both Governors got their armies moving to the border.   

The militias, at that time, were ill-equipped jokes of an army.  Neither army had tents, rifles, ammunition, horses, etc.  The word was they had to bring their own provisions though, it was rumored that the Missouri militia had several wagons of spirits to get them through the cold weather.  

The Missouri army amounted to about two thousand recruits mostly from Clark and Lewis County.  Iowa patriotism attracted about twelve hundred foot soldiers with a rumor that thirty-thousand dollars were budgeted for the War.   

They never got paid. 

Both armies approached the territorial border area and set up camps.   

It was thought that Iowa militia made camp a little south of Bonapart Iowa and the Missouri army camped somewhere near Farmington.  The exact locations are not known.  The armies were not within eyesight.   

The camps were bustling with threats to the enemy and awkward drilling but no military action.   Boredom set in.

Eventually, truce flags from both sides went out and a conference was agreed to. 

By mid-December, after a lot of posturing, speeches, horseback riding back and forth, and committee meetings, cool heads prevailed and a settlement was negotiated.   

The upshot was that both armies went home without a fight.  The “Bee Tree War” was over.  Not a shot was fired. 

The agreement was that the border would be negotiated between the two states.  Missouri refused to participate.   

The border problem festered for ten more years.  Eventually, the supreme court grudgingly got involved and made the final decision as to where the border was to be.  Finally, in 1859 another survey was conducted.  This time, the surveyors placed fifteen-hundred-pound markers every 20 miles.  They are still there.  You can see them today. 

Well, it took me some time to put the story together from Grama Laurel’s notes and a few facts from the internet, but I had a two-page summary of the Bee Tree War ready. 

Marlene called at seven as she said she would and we greeted their society.   

Frosty led the discussion for the evening and the rest of us listened intently as Marlene described their problem.   

First of all, she said, there are too many stories floating around and we have to get our act together.  A 4-H group had requested information about the Bee Tree War and Jerry Lee Gross was going to make a presentation but the stories he found didn’t agree.  

I had handed out my summary before Marlene called so we were all up to speed.  After a bit of discussion, Max read our story to Marlene.  We also filled her in about the origin of Harry Nation and Dr. Richard Elgin’s work from the Phelps Historical Society. 

“That’s great information,” she exclaimed. 

Glenda suggested that they use the Lodge in the Lacy State Park for their presentation and add information about the Sac and Fox Indians.  They were still in the area during the Bee Tree War.   

“Of course, we don’t know,” she said, “but the cliffs at Lacy Park would have been a great place for the Bee Trees to have been.” 

Max sent an e-mail copy of our summary report to Marlene. 

All in all, it turned out to be a fruitful meeting as Marlene told us a little-known story about the Fox Indians that lived in her area before they made their trek to Oklahoma.  Pastor Jeff read a short history of our local Mennonite Church which was established 150 years ago.  After another cup of coffee and a bit of discussion in general, we adjourned. 

Well, that’s it for now, from where the corn grows tall and pigs fly. 

Take care. All my love,    

Grampa Jim