THE HORRIFIC TRAGEDY OF THE MOFFATT BROTHERS. Risks of Early Pioneers.

hey again we are in Kiwani Illinois today we're about um Chicago about 150 miles that way to the east little to the north but mostly East Iowa is right over there and we're at the cemetery here called Weathersfield why I'm in the car I'm in the car because it is blowing the wind is fierce today got here on this long drive and I want to go ahead with the shoot so I'll have to narration in the sound booth for you and set alive as we walk a lot of cool gravestones here and things to see monuments but anyway I'm going to be reading a letter today from one of those that were killed this is we're going to go to Kansas with this story it's going to be a wild west story pioneering story some unfortunate things happen to two young men who were Pioneers settlers there and one of the letters was literally a few days I think six days before he was killed with his brother and then we're going to go on and we're gonna read a note about the incident from one of the captains from the Cavalry from the Army so we're going to be reading anyway so doing the sound booth I want to thank Lisa who visits the cemetery and found this very unique very unique Monument with their names their mothers buried there too they're from this area they came from the East we'll talk about that but Lisa found this and you know there's an inscription on there killed by the Indians and all that so she was asking me what what happened here and I couldn't find much on it but Deb our ancestry helper dug deep and came up with a lot of the information you're going to hear so Let's Take a Walk we'll get into the wind but it'll be quiet and we'll do a little wild west talk while we look at some monuments and stones and we'll end up at this really interesting Monument s [Music] so as we walk along here among the gravestones and monuments a couple of quick notes in the writings that I'm going to quote Native Americans were referred to as Indians so don't take offense we're reading from the articles of the time this story is going to give you a real feel of what it was like to be a Pioneer in these conditions it's actually very similar to the Dowdy family story that I told in Texas so let's begin the parents David moffatt and Elizabeth Nichol came to America around 1840 came from Ireland and they settled in the East around Philadelphia later on they struck out to the west and they moved to Stark and then Henry County Illinois and it was in the 1860s that two of their sons got the itch the itch to be explorers and Pioneers so John and Thomas their names went West and their story is as follows May 30th 1909 the story was written by C Bernhardt it was published in Lincoln Kansas by the Lincoln Sentinel print in 1910. and from one of the chapters chapter one entitled Massacre of the first settlers 1864. the first settlers in Lincoln County John L Moffett Thomas Moffett John W Houston and James Tyler were murdered by the Indians August 6 1864. the only reliable information we have regarding the settlement here of any of these young men is derived from a letter written to members of the family by the Moffett Brothers actually the letter we're going to read was written by the younger brother Thomas to his sister Selena Kansas July 30th 1864. McCandless and Nancy I suppose it is my time to write now as I have left home I have no chance to hear from you through any letters that you may send others I have not had a letter from home since I came away and I've not heard from you for a long time you must try and write as soon as it will be convenient for I am dreadfully anxious to hear from you I left home in the middle of April and came to Kansas although I don't like Kansas I think I will stay for a while Jack and I have bought about 50 head of cows and Heifers we are going to raise stock I think we can make a living easier raising cattle than working so hard as we used to this is an excellent grazing country and is very poor farming country the fact is it is too subject to droughts or farming we were doing very well and would do as well now if it weren't for the Indians we would make five to six dollars a day hunting Buffalo but we have been obligated to give it up for the present the Indians are so hostile to the hunters and settlers that we dare not go from the house when we have to we go armed even when we go to the stable to take care of our horses we carry our revolvers along rather hardlines these from what we have been used to the government has sent out several companies of soldiers but they can't fight the Indians as well as settlers themselves some of the folk here have families they're leaving Selena for a more safe place some expect there will be a regular Indian War but I don't think there will be any trouble in the settlement from the Indians Jack just got back the other day in the company with two other fellows and they fetched a load of hides as I have nothing that is interesting to tell you I will fetch my letter to a close give my love to Uncle and aunt and all my friends Thomas Moffett now this letter from Thomas moffatt was dated July 30th 1864 It Was Written just six days before his death 200 spoken of in the letters for John W Houston and one Tyler the letter seems to convey the idea that there were several companies of soldiers sent out by the government for the purpose of protecting the settlers from the Indians but from the sentiment of the letter it seems as though the settlers had poor faith in that kind of protection now reading on there is a section on the troops troops of the Kansas Frontier the troops on our Frontier during the Civil War were very poorly armed Henry Booth was Captain of company L 11th Kansas cavalry which was raised in the neighborhood of Fort Riley in the summer of 1864 he was in command of a battalion on duty in the neighborhood of Selena and Lincoln counties second Lieutenant William Booth was in command and detachments from the 14th and 15th Kansas State militia numbering in all about 92 men [Music] in a report of a scouting trip along Smoky Hill in Arkansas on the first days of August 1864 and dated the fifth that Selena Captain Booth mentions finding a recent campsite from 4 to 500 Indians having a lot of stock on Big Creek he concluded quote unquote I think from present indications the Indians are upon Selena Solomon and Republican Rivers as buffaloes are plenty upon these streams and they depend entirely upon them for a living his report came in written report of the Moffett Massacre by Captain Henry Booth headquarters Selena August 11 1864. [Music] Major General blunt who it is addressed to sir I have the honor to report the following facts in regard to the killing of four men by Indians near Beaver Creek about 40 miles from this place on the North Bank of the Salina River Saturday evening August 6 1864 four men two brothers named Moffett one Tyler and one Houston started from the ranch to kill Buffalo for meat taking a two-horse team with them upon reaching the top of the hill three quarters of a mile from the house the Indians were discovered rushing down upon them the horses were turned and run down toward a ledge of rock where the men took position they appear to have fought desperately and must have killed several Indians three of the men killed were scalped but one of the scalps was left upon a rock close by the horses were both shot through the head this probably was done by the ranchmen to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Indians the wagon was also burned the Indians made a descent upon the house in which an old man and a young woman were inside the old man shot one of the Indians through a hole in the wall whereupon they all fled the number of Indians were judged to be about 100 when the messenger arrived at the place a party of 12 citizens with Sergeant Reynolds of H company 7th Iowa Cavalry proceeded to the spot they learned about the facts as all the ranchmen have left the country west of this point the Indians will now be obliged to fall upon the settlements next for plunder it seems as if they were determined to pick up all the stock possible and kill all they can overpower the people of Celina County met in Mass meeting this afternoon to devise ways means to protect themselves and property from the ravages of the Redskins I would State here General my urgent need for more Cavalry horses to mount my company I have as yet only eight government horses the balance 30 being private signed Henry Booth Captain company L 11th Kansas volunteer Cavalry commanding post [Music] was at this time that an elder brother one of the Elder Brothers Robert nickel moffatt came from Illinois to Kansas to recover the bodies of his brothers it was September 20th and with an escort of soldiers headquarters at Selena he went up the river to his brother's Graves they were disinterred from the shallow Graves the temporary Graves The Remains they were removed and they took them to Westfield Illinois and that is where they rest now in the family lot of the cemetery of course the cemetery is not called that anymore continuing on we are told from Illinois that a woman in the log house was the daughter of the old man the wife of one of the men killed and the sister of the other who with two children had come on a day's visit to John and Thomas Moffett the buffalo hunt was organized partly for sport and partly for meat for the visitors the Indians did not burn them off at house nor did they steal any of the livestock which the moffetts had in their possession of course probably because the old man shot at them there are many Old Settlers who can remember the location of the house and stable there are yet a few remnants left of both the stable stood there for some time after the moffetts were killed the buildings were rather pretentious structures for that period and they were Beyond a doubt the first permanent buildings erected by white men in Lincoln County the banks where the battle took place are very steep in most places they were evidently cut off by the Indians and unable to get home or into the creek and this probably accounts for the stand which they took at the Rock Ledge spoken of if they had secured this protection they would have been saved as I have failed to find a single instant where any whites were killed in their homes or in a well-protected river or Creek the Indians always tried to secure their victims in as easy a manner as possible and The Rock Ledge where the moffetts took their Last Stand gave the Indians an excellent opportunity to carry out their method of warfare it goes on to talk about the place where the four men were killed and what the conditions were found to be like after the fact they said that the whole place was marred up badly and the victims were all buried a few yards east of where they fell Houston and Tyler still rest there in unmarked Graves and the exact spot is not known the moffets were removed to Illinois as previously mentioned this was shortly after the massacre burial of the murdered men well there was that funeral party led by the eldest brother when they found the bodies the bodies were in a very decomposed condition as they had been exposed to the Hot August Sun for several days they were all wrapped in blankets and buried in one grave side by side near the spot where they were killed and a headboard had been placed at each one the funeral already made a little tour of inspection around the battle area Mr Anderson reports there were by actual account on top of the hill west of the battlefield the fireplaces of 15 Indian teepees that had been pitched so there must have been at least 50 or more Indians in the bunch it had been generally supposed that the Indians camped on bullfoot Creek the night before killing the moffets but the camping place on top of the hill would indicate they were camped right there on the same quarter section where the battle took place this would make it one mile or more between the Indian camp and The Moffat house so it had been hard for the man woman and child in the house to escape the funeral party found any number of marks on the sides of the rock ledges made by bullets fired by the Indians two of the party picked up an armful of arrows showing that the Indians were well armed with both firearms and bows and arrows Mr Anderson is of the opinion that this was the hardest fought battle between whites and Indians in this part of Kansas and a good many of the Indians were certainly killed in this Exchange about two miles north from a stone ledge up the creek a buffalo robe was found by the funeral party this robe was to all appearances fixed up for carrying things from place to place and it was Blood Stained all over certainly showing that it had been used for carrying the dead and wounded Indians from the battlefield that would make the location of the place where it is thought the Indians buried their dead which it's not far from where our present County Farm is located and that is the the end of the testimony articles in the letter and here we approach the grave and what an amazing Monument it is which is held up for many decades well over a century well on the one side here we see the inscription of the mother probably added later when she of course died and as we Circle our way to the other side we see the inscription of the two brothers the moffatt brothers here below is a plaque and I think this is the plaque that aroused Lisa's curiosity to let us know about this story and it's good to see that is there because aside from this YouTube recording they will not be forgotten and hopefully this story will not be forgotten but here they rest they got them back all the way to Illinois it's kind of like Doc Holliday his father getting his son back to Georgia they would ride across the country if they had to to bring their dead home their family you know as horrid and sad of a story and a typical story that happened many times you have to you have to wonder and just imagine the commitment The Bravery the that adventurous wonderlust of these young men and the families that would venture out west under such enormous risk approaching upon the lands of the Native Americans it has to be expected that a lot of this would happen they were imagine you the Native Americans were there for tens of thousands of years at least 10 000 years that we know of and this was their home and it was being invaded what would what would you do now I have to say that I find it very interesting that whenever these battles would happen they would refer to it if if the Indians were massacred they would always call it the whites of course would always call it a battle but yet when some whites were killed they would call it a massacre and you see that still written today and it's quite infuriating if you're a Native American I sympathize but these things were bound to happen this was war [Music] well rest in peace to the Moffitt Brothers mom the family [Music] and hopefully they are all in a better place I'm sure they are rest in peace [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music]

Channel: Faces of the Forgotten

Views: 133,229

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Id: J92Ze3GogR0

Length: 21min 22sec (1282 seconds)

Published: Mon May 01 2023