A lady named Mary Ann Schaechter was a visitor to Brettun & Black’s Store recently. Though handicapped by a chronic ailment she retains a strong interest in history and does a lot of research, on the internet, and other places. She sent several items to Crier Editor Jane Cady who passed them on to me. There are several compilations from various sources, dealing with pioneer women in Rock Island County. We have devoted considerable space on this subject but we feel the lives of the pioneer women is as significant as that of the pioneer men. The information we will relate in this column comes from a 1925 article in the Rock Island Argus. It was written by a Mrs K T Anderson of Rock Island, and published in the Illinois Historical Society Journal in 1912. It appeared in book form in 1914.
Mrs Anderson gathered the data for her writings from reminiscences of 15 elderly ladies, all old settlers. One set of reminiscences was from a Mrs Clark (no first name of she or her husband was given). She was supposedly the second white woman who lived in Rock Island County, the first being the wife of the fur trader George Davenport, who lived on what is now Arsenal Island, and the site of Fort Armstrong.
According to Mrs Clark’s account, her family was the first white family to settle on the mainland, at the site of present day Rock Island. Of course at that time, there was no Rock Island, and not even its predecessor, Stephenson. The Clark’s came originally from Virginia and later lived near Ft Edwards near Warsaw, Indiana. They moved to the site opposite the Island, in August, 1828. Henry McNeal and Joel Thompson were already at the site of Hampton, though they had no wives at this time. One of the children was a boy of 5, who related to Mrs Anderson that he vividly remembered being carried down the gangplank by his father and seeing hundreds of Indians (maybe an exaggeration) who had gathered to see the strange boat and even stranger people land. We can also, imagine the feelings of Mrs Clark at being the only white woman for a hundred miles, except for Mrs Davenport.
After the Clark’s had settled in, Col Davenport sent for Mr Clark and hired him to cut wild hay for the livestock at Ft Armstrong. Mr Clark completed the job and then proceeded to cut hay for his own use, determined to raise his own cattle. Davenport ordered him to stop but Clark paid no attention. Davenport became very angry because he didn’t want white settlers here. It would interfere with and possibly eventually stop his enormously profitable trade with the Indians. He did everything possible to discourage the Clarks from living there. He refused to sell them any clothing or provisions and with winter coming prospects looked dreary.
The family was saved by an unlikely set of circumstances. The captain of the steamboat that had brought them had left a barrel of whiskey with the Clarks to keep until he returned in the spring. Somehow, the soldiers at Ft Armstrong found out about this whiskey. There was a strict guard maintained to prevent any interaction with the lone family on the mainland. American soldiers can be very resourceful when confronted with this kind of problem. There was a cave under the Fort which provided access to the other shore and was unknown to the officers. The soldiers would steal out in pairs by night, go to the Clark cabin and exchange coffee, sugar, salt, flour, meat, and shoes for whiskey. Since this foiled Davenport’s plan to starve them out he had to resort to other tactics. He bribed the Indians from his large stock of trinkets to harass the Clark family
One afternoon while Mr Clark was away from the house, four half-drunk Indians riding two each on ponies, came to the cabin, entered, sat down on the floor and demanded food. Mrs Clark had little choice but to obey, but in the middle of the feast, Mr Clark returned unexpectedly. He commanded the Indians to ‘puk-a-chee’—go away. The Indians resisted the command but when Clark stepped out the door they followed. The door was one log high and as the half-drunk Indians came out, they stumbled over the sill. Mr Clark seized a pole he used for driving cattle and used it on the Indians, one after another, until they begged for mercy. He marched them to the river where they washed their bruises, and then mounted their ponies to ride away. At this point one of them raised a war club to throw at Clark but Clark picked up a fish gig and ran toward the Indian. This frightened him and all rode away as fast as they could for Saukenauk, their village.
The next day the family was surprised by a visit from Chief Black Hawk himself. After ascertaining the facts of the situation, Black Hawk filled his pipe, lit it, and after taking a few whiffs, handed it to Mr Clark who smoked it in his turn. The Chief hated the incursion of his land by the whites but he was a fair and just man. The incident did not totally stop Indian trouble because Davenport continued to stir it up, but it improved and the Indians were not so ready to harass the Clarks after knowing Black Hawk had smoked the pipe with Mr Clark.
This information presents history in a rather different light than generally presented. Davenport generally gets a “good press” from the history books. It would be nice if we had more verification since I have been unable to find anything about this Clark family anywhere. There was a Captain Clark at Ft Armstrong but that doesn’t fit with the narrative, It is possible that the “Mr Big” of that day, Davenport, may have quashed the stories, or that the authorities did not want themselves to be on the outs with the most important person around. Anyway, the accounts are interesting and we’ll probably do some more later.