Major John Beach (January 1, 1812 – August 31, 1874) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

officer during the Black Hawk and

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. He was the last U.S. Indian Agent to the

Sac and Fox The Sac and Fox Nation ( ''Mesquakie'' language: ''Othâkîwaki / Thakiwaki'' or ''Sa ki wa ki'') is the largest of three federally recognized tribes of Sauk and Meskwaki (Fox) Indian peoples. Originally from the Lake Huron and Lake Michigan ...

tribes. A son-in-law to General Joseph Street, Beach succeeded him as agent to the Sac and Fox upon Street's death, and he eventually hosted the week-long council that resulted in the signing of the treaty for the purchase of much of Iowa from the Sac and Fox Indians in October 1842.

Biography

Born in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

to William Beach and Lucy Tucker,Street, Mary A. ''The Street Genealogy''. Exeter, New Hampshire: John Templeton, 1895. (p. 279) John Beach enlisted in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during his late teens and graduated from the

West Point Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

on July 1, 1832. Commissioned as a brevet 2nd lieutenant, Beach served on the frontier with the

Infantry Regiment Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

, assigned to

Fort Armstrong A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

and

Fort Crawford Fort Crawford was an outpost of the United States Army located in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, during the 19th century. The army's occupation of Prairie du Chien spanned the existence of two fortifications, both of them named Fort Crawford. The ...

during the 1830s. In 1836, he took command of the Fort Armstrong garrison after its commanding officer Lt. Col. William Davenport ordered an evacuation and led a march to Fort Snelling in

Hennepin County, Minnesota Hennepin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. The county extends from Minneap ...

. Beach remain at Fort Armstrong until being assigned elsewhere in November. During his last year with the Army, he was involved in recruitment efforts before his resignation on June 30, 1838. Beach later married Lucy Frances Street, the daughter of General Joseph Street. General Street died in 1840, after which Beach was named U.S. Indian Agent to the Sac and Fox Tribes. Beach continued Street's policy of attempting to introduce European–mode farming and education to the inhabitants of the Raccoon River Agency reservation. He was ultimately unsuccessful in the former goal. He also opposed settlers squatting on reservation land as, in 1841, a force of dragoons under Lieutenant C.F. Ruff removed James Jordan and other settlers illegally living on the reservation. They had previously ignored Beach's order to leave and, after allowing them to gather their possessions, Ruff ordered his men to burn their homes. On October 11, 1842, Beach presided over the signing of a treaty which allowed the federal government to purchase much of Iowa from the Sac and Fox. He remained at the agency until 1847 where he resided in the area as a local farmer and merchant. At the start of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Beach again signed up for Army duty. Due to hearing loss he was not sent to the front, but was used in training and drilling of recruits. Returning to Agency City following the war, Beach became a writer and historian. He died at age 62 and was buried at

Chief Wapello's Memorial Park Chief Wapello's Memorial Park, also known as Chief Wapello's Gravesite and the Site of Sac and Fox Indian Agency, is a historic site located near Agency, Iowa, United States. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in ...

. He had written a series of articles on the early history of the various tribes he interacted with during his career; the articles were published in the ''Agency Independent'' in the months following his death. His writings on the history of the Fox and Sac, as well as the fur trade on the

Des Moines River The Des Moines River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the upper Midwestern United States that is approximately long from its farther headwaters.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Na ...

, were later included in the ''History of Wapello County'' (1878).Thwaites, Reuben Gold, ed. ''Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin''. Vol. XV. Madison: Democrat Printing Co., 1900. (p. 154)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beach, John 1812 births 1874 deaths Union Army officers American people of the Black Hawk War People of Iowa in the American Civil War United States Indian agents People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War People from Wapello County, Iowa United States Military Academy alumni Writers from Iowa Writers from Massachusetts

Biography

See also

References

Further reading

External links