The Honey War — Forgotten History

An invasion is expected from across the border and you along with a few hundred disheveled men are preparing to repel it. The cold winter is just setting in as you and the humble defenders prepare what guns and ammunition you were able to muster. However as the hours tick down and the day wears on the attackers are nowhere to be seen.

The Sullivan Line

In 1816 the United States Government commissioned John C. Sullivan to find the North-South boundary of the United States. Originally this boundary line was to distinguish boundaries for Native American lands, but the Sullivan Line, as it is best known today, eventually evolved into the dividing factor that defined which states were Southern and which were Northern. It was supposed to run parallel form East to West, starting at the East bank of the Missouri River and ending at the rapids of the Des Moines River.

In 1821 when Missouri became a state the Sullivan Line was extended past the Des Moines River and used to mark Missouri’s Northern border. The Missouri Compromise also designated the Sullivan Line as the dividing point for free states and slave states. Any new state North of the line was free and any new state South of the line would allow slavery. The Sullivan Line was continually used for treaties with Native Americans, and in 1824 the Federal Government signed a particularly important treaty with the Osage Nation defining the Sullivan Line as one of their tribal borders.

Brown Line

In 1837 Missouri decided to have the Sullivan Line resurveyed. They decided this in part because they wanted to extend their border a little further North where there was much fertile land and abundant bee trees. Honey was an important commodity on the frontier since it was used as a natural sweetener and the wax was used to make candles, the hollow trees full of bee hives that sat just North of Missouri’s border was of great interest to its inhabitants.

Missouri hired a surveyor by the name of J. C. Brown to redo the Sullivan Line and this is where the problems started. Sullivan’s work was full of errors and made it difficult for Brown to find his original line. Sullivan said that he ended his line at the rapids of the Des Moines River when in reality he had ended at the rapids of the Mississippi River. Another issue was that Brown could not find the markers Sullivan placed as he had used mounds of dirt and wooden posts to mark the way, in the volatile Midwest weather neither of these marking methods lasted long. Another issue was that Sullivan apparently forgot that a compass points to magnetic North and not true North therefore his line was not the true North South line that it should have been. Finally Sullivan seemed to have issues with keeping the line straight as it was not parallel and varied up and down by a few miles. Not knowing about Sullivan’s errors Brown tried to find the rapids of the Des Moines River and settled on what he described as “ripples” in the Des Moines that he believed was what Sullivan had meant. This error caused Brown’s line to be between 9 and 13 miles farther North than Sullivan’s was.

In early 1838 the Missouri Legislature passed a bill that claimed the Brown Line as their new Northern border. They justified their decision by saying that their constitution stated that Missouri’s boundary line was to be ran from the “rapids of the river Des Moines”. Of course the constitution was based off of Sullivan’s incorrect interpretation and was actually supposed to be the Mississippi rapids. Shortly after the bill was passed Wisconsin, who bordered Missouri, asked the Federal Government to decide which line was correct but was more or less ignored.

Dispute

In July 1838 Iowa split from Wisconsin and became its own territory, eventually vying for statehood. Iowa was now Missouri’s Northern neighbor and the Federal Government assigned a commission to find the true border between the two. The commission was to consist of three surveyors, one from the Federal Government, one from Iowa and one from Missouri. However Missouri refused to cooperate in the survey so it was just the federal and Iowa surveyor who set to work. They started at Sullivan’s original point on the Mississippi River and continued on through the Des Moines. The two men worked through the fall of 1838 but were unable to completely finish due to sickness and inclement weather conditions.

They did submit a report on their findings however and stated that there were four possible boundary lines. The original Sullivan Line, the correct East-West Line that Sullivan should have found if he had done his job correctly, the Brown Line which Missouri favored, or the Iowa line which extended even further South than the Sullivan Line. The report stated that either the Brown Line or the Sullivan Line were the two best options and most likely to be accepted by both parties. However, the report gave no preference to either of the two and it would be left to the legislative bodies of both parties to decide.

Map showing three of the possible border lines

Missouri decided by itself that the Brown Line was their boundary and that they would extend their jurisdiction to it. State and local officials began entering the disputed area and assessing residents property for tax purposes. Many of the citizens in the area did not want to be part of Missouri, mainly because it was a slave state and most of the inhabitants had always lived in a free state. Many found the thought of living in a state where slavery was legal to be abhorrant and by 1839 they were fed up with the Missouri officials. The residents of the disputed area complained to Iowa’s Governor Robert Lucas who quickly acted on the matter. On July 29, 1839 Governor Lucas issued a proclamation saying that the territorial laws must be upheld against any encroachment. Stating that any Missouri officials that tried to enter the area past the Sullivan Line should be forced to leave and even arrested.

Petition from residents in the disputed area to Governor Robert Lucas asking for his help. Courtesy of Readex.

Missourians were angered by the proclamation and local officials in Clark County, which adjoined the disputed land, held meetings and agreed that they must uphold the dignity and honor of Missouri. Saying that they would not let Iowa keep them away from what they believed was their land. Missouri’s Governor Lilburn W. Boggs was also perturbed by his counterpart’s actions, so on August 23, 1839 he issued a counter proclamation. It stated that Missouri officials should not provoke Iowa but should continue to enforce their jurisdiction over the “claimed” land. Roughly a month later Governor Lucas put forth another proclamation that denied the Missouri Governor’s claims and ordered Iowa officials to enforce their authority as far South as the Sullivan Line.

Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs, Courtesy of the Harold B. Lee Library

Tensions Rise

Both sides were now emboldened by the two governor's proclamations and neither was ready to back down. Around mid October 1839 Sheriff Uriah S. Gregory of Clark County, Missouri entered the disputed area and attempted to collect taxes from the residents. Sheriff Henry Heffleman of Van Buren County, Iowa caught him and warned him not to return, forcing him to leave. Sheriff Gregory returned to Clark County and reported to officials that he was “obstructed in the performance of his duty”. As Sheriff Gregory was reporting his side of the situation Sheriff Heffleman was doing the same, he penned a letter to Governor Lucas asking for advice on how to handle the issue. Governor Lucas wrote back telling him to use his best judgement while continuing to enforce Iowa law.

Van Buren and Clark County where most of the action took place. Courtesy of the World Atlas

Shortly after the incident between the two sheriffs citizens from both counties held a meeting together to attempt a compromise. The Clark County residents proposed that the area should be under joint jurisdiction until the Federal Government decided where the boundary was, but the Van Buren delegates rejected this offer. Throughout October both counties held mass meetings proposing solutions with their residents, but of course they only agreed with their respective counties propositions and always rejected the opposites proposals. These meetings only caused more contention between the two and did nothing to solve the actual problem. Realizing this Governor Lucas stated in his November 5 message to the Iowa Legislative Assembly that he believed the dispute could “ultimately lead to the effusion of blood.” With this perception one has to wonder why Iowa did not begin preparing a militia sooner.

Tensions were high but they reached their peak when three of the coveted bee trees were cut down. The action enraged many Iowans as they saw it as nothing more than an act of spite by the Missourians. Law enforcement officials from Iowa claimed that they saw the person who cut down the trees but that he slipped across the border before they could apprehend him. A court in Clark County claimed to have caught the perpetrator and fined him for cutting down the trees but there was no evidence of this, and there were even voices in Missouri that went as far as to claim that someone from Iowa cut the trees. In reality there was no conclusive evidence to tell who cut the trees and the only thing to go on were the dodgy eyewitness reports. Nevertheless tensions were high and they would not dissipate, especially after another major incident occurred less than a month later.

Inside of a hollow bee tree, one can see how much honey just one of these trees can hold. Courtesy of Science Source

Sheriff Gregory of Missouri was again attempting to collect taxes in the disputed region when he was arrested by Sheriff Heffleman on November 20, 1839. Three days later a special meeting was held in Clark County regarding the sheriffs disappearance. Many believed that local farmers in the region had kidnapped him and were holding him hostage, it was not difficult to convince the already high strung officials that this was the case. They acted quickly and issued orders to Generals David Willock and O. H. Allen to mobilize the militia in order to assist local authorities in carrying out their duties in the disputed territory. Thus starting the Honey War.

War

Missouri worked hard to draw support for their militia by holding numerous public meetings that were used to incite anger towards Iowa. These measures seemed to work as best estimates show that over 2,000 men gathered for the Clark County militia, no small feat on the frontier. They also gained support from neighboring Lewis County who on December 7 joined the Clark County militia with an unspecified number of men. They were not well supplied, being short of food, blankets, tents, and even arms and ammunition. At one point a group of men broke into a local store for supplies, the owner later being reimbursed by the government. Nevertheless, they were ready for a fight and were in an overall energetic mood as they pitched camp just outside of the disputed land.

The situation was also heating up on the Iowa side. US Deputy Marshal G. A. Hendry arrived in Van Buren County and was taking control of matters there, sending special investigators into Missouri to see what was happening. Once he received word of the military operations going on he immediately started preparing for the invasion. On December 6 Governor Lucas issued orders to the Iowa militia commanders to call up their men in order to aid authorities in maintaining Iowa’s land claims. Marshal Hendry quickly drew up orders for these men to act as a posse comitatus, making them legal peacekeepers for the time being.

However the Iowa militia had difficulty finding men as they were required to provide their own food, clothing, and weapons. However men did come from all over the territory, joining not for patriotic reasons but because it was winter and money was short. They hoped the government would later pay them for their efforts but would later be disappointed as the $30,000 meant for them was never distributed out. Morale was low and by all accounts they were much worse off than the Missouri militia was. Their spirits were raised as the men united under the motto “Death to the invading Pukes”. One Captain even loaded up five wagons full of whisky stating that he was “determined to keep up the spirits of his men”.

In Davenport, Iowa the “soldiers” assembled for a grand review so that their commanders could size up their “army”. Since the men were in charge of their own weapons and uniforms they were quite a ragtag bunch. There was a great assortment of muskets, blunderbusses, and even ornamental swords that had likely been family heirlooms. Some of the more odd weapons included a sausage stuffer, a plough blade that the man carried over his shoulder with a steel chain (guessing he was going to use this like a flail), and a six foot long sword that was cut out of a piece of sheet metal. These men with the more irregular weapons were dismissed, though not before the more “regular” troops used them to train with.

Blunderbuss. Courtesy of Hansord Antiques

The Iowa militia numbered about 1200 regular men with no shortage of officers. They had 4 generals, 9 general staff officers, 40 field officers, and 83 company officers in charge. What they lacked in numbers they certainly made up for in leadership!

Cooler Heads

While the militias readied themselves men on both sides worked to prevent hostilities. On December 4 the Clark County court sent a committee to the Iowa Legislative Assembly in order to restore relations. The committee proposed that all civil control should be suspended and that both sides should jointly exercise criminal control in the contested area until ownership could be settled. A Missourian by the name of Thomas L. Anderson even went as far to say, “And in the name of God of mercy and justice gentlemen, let this monumental piece of absurdity, this phenomenal but cruel blundering have an end.” The Iowa Legislature denied their request but did draw up their own and sent a committee to Clark County on December 10 or 11. The committee requested that both governors call off the militias and let the federal government decide where the boundary was. On December 12 they met with the Clark County Court in a special session where both sides made speeches professing friendship and positive dealings. After the speeches the proposal was made and discussion ensued, ending with the Clark County Court deciding to recall their militia. Ending the bloodless Honey War.

The Missouri militia was rather dismayed when they were told that they were no longer needed. They blamed both Governors for the whole issue starting and decided not to leave until their opinion was known. They shot a deer and split it down the middle into two halves, naming one half “Gov. Lucas of Iowa” and the other “Gov. Boggs of Missouri”. They then suspended them in a tree and shot them to pieces, after which they gathered what was left and buried it in a mock military funeral with full military honors.

The Iowa militia on the other hand was a bit confused as to why the Missouri militia did not attack, since they had not yet received word from the Iowa delegation. Iowa General Jesse B. Brown, acting on the directions of Marshal Hendry, sent a delegation consisting of three men, A. C. Dodge, James Churchman and J. A. Clark across the border to find out the Missourians intentions. Upon returning the men happily reported that the Missouri militia had dispersed and the “war” was over. The rest of the men were overjoyed with the news and quickly returned home. Their homecoming was a wild one with an eyewitness reporting that they had never seen “a wilder set of men and a greater carousal than there was in the City of Burlington”.

Solution

The ending of the “war” did not settle where the boundary was and for six years Iowa and Missouri brought their case before Congress. During this whole feud Iowa officially became a state but still had no official Southern border. Mainly due to Missouri’s protestations that they would not accept a solution outside of an official federal case, and it became evident that the only way to solve the issue was by bringing it before the Supreme Court. In 1849 the Supreme Court begrudgingly took the case and decided that the Sullivan Line was the true boundary. They cited the fact that numerous treaties with Native Americans had already been signed based off of that line along with states being accepted into the Union based off of it. They said that the line was to be resurveyed and remarked, and that the two states would share the cost.

The states followed the Supreme Court’s orders and resurveyed and marked the line with 4 foot 6 inch tall cast iron markers with the name “Missouri” on the Southern side and “Iowa” on the Northern side and the words “State Border” on the east and west sides placed every 10 miles. Once the survey was completed in 1851 both states officially recognized it as their true border. An opinion from a resident in the disputed area sums up this ridiculous episode quite well, “I’m sure glad the Soopreem Court decided that I live in Ioway. I’m a farmer, and I never did want a farm in Missouri. The Missouri land ain’t near as good as ours.”

One of the cast iron markers beside of a plaque commemorating the Honey War, Courtesy of KBIA

Close up view of the plaque pictured above, Courtesy of KBIA

Continued Dispute

The Supreme Court’s decision unfortunately did not end all disputes along the border. Around the turn of the century Decatur County, Iowa and Harrison and Mercer Counties, Missouri disputed over their borders. Much of this was due to Sullivan not making a straight line in the first place. In order to settle the dispute the line between Mile 40 and Mile 60 was resurveyed and granite monuments were placed every mile. At least they came to a simple fix this time.

A poem written by local Missourian satirist John I. Campbell right after the three trees were cut:

THE HONEY WAR

Ye freemen of the happy land,

Which flows with milk and honey,

Arise! To arms! Your ponies mount!

Regard not blood or money.

Old Governor Lucas, tiger-like,

Is prowling ’round our borders,

But Governor Boggs is wide awake —

Just listen to his orders.

Three bee-trees stand about the line

Between our State and Lucas,

Be ready all these trees to fall,

And bring things to a focus.

We’ll show old Lucas how to brag,

And seize our precious honey!

He also claims, I understand,

Of us three bits in money.

Now, if the Governors want to fight,

Just let them meet in person.

And when noble Boggs old Lucas flogs,

’Twill teach the scamp a lesson.

Then let the victor cut the trees,

And have three-bits in money,

And wear a crown from town to town,

Anointed with pure honey

Personal Thoughts

This is such a ridiculous story with neither side willing to budge, Missouri especially. I bet Wisconsin after seeing everything that transpired was glad that it was Iowa that had to deal with the issue. I just can’t imagine being one of the people that lived in the disputed area and having officials from both sides trying to force their jurisdiction on you, especially the state that you didn’t want to be a part of. Also I have to wonder how John Sullivan even got the job of surveying the border because he clearly didn’t know what he was doing. Unless maybe he was just drunk the whole time I suppose that could explain it. But you would think that to be hired by the Federal Government you would have to have at least some experience and decent credentials, but then again the government is known to be taken advantage of by contractors so I don’t know. I couldn’t find his age either though so it’s also possible he was just old and senile.

Now let’s talk about the weapons some of the weapons. Like heirlooms swords I sort of understand, I mean they should still work but a six foot long sheet metal sword? How did the person even wield that? That’s ridiculous, but maybe it had something to do with those five wagons full of whiskey. Then there was the sausage stuffer. I don’t get that at all. Looking at old ones online they look to be made of heavy cast iron so maybe he planned to hit someone with it, but cast iron is pretty brittle and it can shatter easily. At least he tried I guess.

Vintage cast iron sausage stuffer, Courtesy of K-BID

Lastly why would you cut down three good bee trees? Those were important back then and you can’t say it was for the lumber because they were hollow. I bet it wasn’t even anyone involved with the conflict, it was probably someone that didn’t realize what they were doing since it was close to winter so the bees wouldn’t be as active and the trees would be less likely to be recognized as bee trees. If I did have to pin it on one of the states I would have to say Missouri since they were pretty eager to fight and really the instigators in most of these situations.

Also, in case you couldn’t tell, I had a lot of trouble finding pictures for this article.

Sources

https://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1252&context=palimpsest

https://www.missedinhistory.com/blogs/missed-in-history-the-honey-war.htm

https://www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts/the-honey-war.htm

https://www.theamericansurveyor.com/PDF/TheAmericanSurveyor_MO-IABoundaryLineInvestigation_Mar-Apr2006.pdf

https://www.jstor.org/stable/29763640?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Aug 16 The Honey War