Indian Relics

["Ottawa Herald," 22 April 1911, page 2, column 3]

Since the recent uncovering of the bones of a lone Indian and also his horse and pieces of clothing and jewelry in the Greenwood neighborhood, a number of early day tales have been revived. Old timers have been looking at them thinking of the days when Indians roved the plains of Kansas with the buffalo.

Samuel Dodd has had an interesting relic of the Indian days. It is a brass tomahawk about six inches long and very heavy. There is no handle in it but the head of the hatchet is an octagonal bowl. The bowl was connected with the handle by a small hole and the hatchet was used for a pipe when not employed in scalping settlers.

The tomahawk was probably made in France for Chief Keokuk who led the Sac and Fox Indians. The French made tomahawks had octagonal heads while the English made ones had an urn-shaped head. The brass tomahawks were for the chief of the tribes while the ordinary ones for the warriors were made of iron or steel.

It was in the summer of 1859 or 1860, Mr. Dodd does not remember which, that he and a number of friends went from "Baldwin City" to Quenemo. They made the trip over a road which ran directly between the two places. They were hunting in the woods near Quenemo and had a camp near the place where the town is now. While out hunting one day, a party of Indians rode up and began firing on them. They returned the fire and after a sharp engagement the Indians went away. No one was killed in the conflict.

Not long afterward Mr. Dodd was passing the scene of the fight and saw a brass tomahawk lying on the ground. He carried it with him and has kept it in his possession for all the past years. Last week he turned the relic over to the Kester museum on North Main street. The place where the hatchet was found is about two miles south of the present site of Quenemo.

When the Civil War broke out, Mr. Dodd joined the army and fought for four years. Once while in the army, his company passed through Franklin County and Mr. Dodd slept that night at the Old Hickory Street ford. In 1861 he passed through here with the soldiers on the way to LeRoy. A large band of Indians, friends of the soldiers, were there, and the soldiers joined them. The Indians took up the march and were in the Battle of Prairie Grove. Mr. Dodd remembers many stories of the early days both before the war, during and after the war. He was a member of the army of the Cumberland and also started in Sherman's march to the sea, but was later sent on another trip.