An
Insolent Redskin
(As printed in the 1878 History
of Fayette County Iowa)
During the summer of 1844,
Andrew HENSLEY
employed Daniel B. NOBLE,
of Yankee Settlement, to break some prairie on his claim, north
of Bear Grove. During the winter of 1844-45, he moved his family
into the cabin built by; Madison BROWN,
and, in the spring, made a quantity of maple sugar.
One day that spring, Mr. Hensley had occasion
to go to Hewett's, with whom he had some
business. His son, Andrew J., or "Jack," as he is
familiarly called, accompanied him. They expected to return home
the same night, but Mr. Hewett was away, and they waited for
him.
Mrs. Hensley, with the four younger children, were left alone.
During the afternoon, three Indians approached the house, and
one of them entered. He was insolent, and by signs, not to be
misunderstood, endeavored to drive Mrs. Hensley and her children
away. She was not to be driven, however, and endeavored to
induce the redskin to leave, but he was as stubborn as she. She
had informed him that she was expecting her husband every
minute, and went out to see if he was coming. She was becoming
frightened. The Indian followed her out, and rudely grasped her
by the shoulder. She was a strong, muscular woman, however, and
proved more than a match for her tawny assailant. She shook him
off, and nearly threw him down. In the melee, he struck her a
sever blow across the breast with his musket. As soon as she
recovered her breath, she went back into the cabin, fastened the
door, and watched. There were two loaded muskets in the house,
and she determined to shoot her insolent foe if he dared to
attempt to enter again. He cautiously approached and peered over
the door, but, discovering her determined attitude, he did not
attempt to enter.
After nightfall, Mrs. Hensley, becoming satisfied that her
husband and son were not coming home that night and thoroughly
alarmed, concluded that the only safety for herself and little
ones was in flight. Accordingly, after making a few hasty
preparations, she took her baby (Daniel, about six months old,
and her next youngest child, Richard, in her arms, and with the
others, quietly stole out of the cabin and started for Hewett's,
ten miles away. Arriving at Oatman's "light house,"
she left the older children there alon, bidding them keep quiet
until she returned, and pushed on through the darkness, arriving
late at night at Moses Hewett's, about a mile west of Joe's
trading post.
This exciting adventure with her Winnebago neighbors rendered
Mrs. Hensley nervous and worried. She refused to go back to the
Brown cabin to live, and Mr. Hensley moved into the Wilcox
cabin, near Beatty's, where his family lived until he built a
house on his own claim, into which he moved early in the fall.
It is said that one afternoon, during the following summer, Mr.
Hensley detected an Indian stealthily following him, when he
concealed himself behind the upturned roots of a fallen tree and
determined to shoot if the savage approached nearer than a stump
that stood about twenty yards away. The Indian came to the
designated point and concluded to go no farther in that
direction. Another account states that there was a "deal of
dodging about for two or three hours," and if the sturdy
old pioneer had persuaded his treacherous foe to lie down and
die, the universal verdict would have been "served him
right."
October 16, 1844, James BEATTY was paid, by the Clayton
Commissioners, one dollar for a wolf scalp, and January 4, 1845,
Moses Hewett and Nathaniel WILCOX were chosen to serve as Grand
Jurors in Clayton County."