2023.50

Found in Collection

SDHS Newsletter insert pages 449-450

This information was OCR text scanned from SDHS newsletter supplements. Binders of original paper copies are in the SDHC reference library.

[Member Dexter Gauntlets discovered the following intriguing story while doing some research on Pier Cove. If it doesn't seem locally relevant just keep reading. This version was authored by Michele Pettit.] Sny Magill [a creek in Clayton County, Iowa] is known today as a unit of Effigy Mounds Monument and as a place of serene and natural beauty. In 1858 Sny Magill was not so serene. It was a hideout for Dr. Bell and a band of river pirates who preyed on cargo boats and travelers along the Mississippi River near McGregor, Iowa. The first indication of river pirates in McGregor was made in the April 28, issue of the "North Iowa Times": For the first time since we have been residents of McGregor we are obliged to chronicle the existence of thieves around us. Some boats have also been stolen which leads to the conclusion that the villains have their rendezvous on the bank of the River. Good lacks and loaded guns are fine tonic for the disease with which such gentry are afflicted. The pirates stole from boats at McGregor and Prairie du Chien, but the stealing had not been connected to any organized gang until the thieves began quarreling among themselves. A carpenter named Ralph had been building boats for the pirates for several months. One day a quarrel ensured between Ralph and the pirates which resulted in his exposure of the villains. At Prairie du Chien some of the pirates were roughly handled and made to confess the workings of the gang. It was found there were scores of river pirates connected with this outfit; that they operated both on the Mississippi and on the Ohio; that they had agents at New Orleans, and that regular boats took the plunder to the Texas coast for disposal. Sandford Peck headed a posse which captured three thieves who were camping on Big Island, opposite the mouth of Sny Magill creek. The three who were captured were George Scivilie, an English butcher of McGregor, a partially blind man named Howell, and a 9-year-old boy. The McGregor constables Kee and Brown learned that the leader of the gang was known as Dr. Bell, and that he had a boat, "loaded with stolen goads." Dr. Bell had originally been a veterinary doctor in McGregor. He was described in the arrest warrant as "a well-made man, about 35, weight 160, sandy complexion with large red whiskers." He was known for having a head for organization and a knack for hiding. The pirate hunters searched for Dr. Bell's boat early the next morning. With the captive boy as their guide, Bell's boat was readily discovered, but there seemed to be no one on board. Suddenly a dog on Bell's skiff barked. Dr. Bell walked out on deck looking as though he just woke up. He squinted across the water and waved to the boy. Dr. Bell evidently assumed that men accompanying the boy were fellow pirates. He asked them to "hold on" as Mrs. Bell was asleep and he didn't want to disturb her. His request was ignored and the lawmen promptly made an arrest. Bell seized his rifle and fired at them, but missed. Sandford Peck returned the fire and Bell fell wounded to the deck. Mrs. Bell had been watching from a porthole. She was a tiny woman, and ably hid on deck, behind a huge coil of rope. She ducked down out of sight and blazed away with a shotgun at the men. Mrs. Bell was described in the North Iowa Times as "a practiced gunner." The McGregor men considered it advisable to retreat rather than to remain sitting targets for the woman. The lawmen hightailed out of range, and moments later watched helplessly as the pirate boat slipped silently downstream and out of sight in the dense morning fog. They returned to McGregor to assemble a larger force of men. Over 50 men rushed to the battle scene. When they arrived at the island, Dr. Bell and his crew had disappeared. They found only Mrs. Bell and her young child on board. A guard was placed in charge of these two while the rest of the party searched Big Island. They discovered two more boats loaded with plunder. The Clayton County sheriff took custody of the pirate boats and estimated that the loot they carried was worth about $5,000. The pirate crafts were towed to Clayton by Captains DeHaven and Goodrich of the Junction Ferry Line. On Sunday the Alexander McGregor Steamboat with 300 citizens on board left the wharf and proceeded to Clayton to bring up the plunder and the victorious band who had brought the pirates to justice. The Times reports, "Such a time of cheering was never heard before on the Mississippi." But although the crafts, the stolen goods, and most of the pirates had been recovered, the lawmen were still searching for Dr. Bell. The search circular contained his former description of red hair and beard, medium height and build, but now his identifiable description of having "a bullet mark from his forehead round to the top of his left ear." (From the shot fired by Sandford Peck.) On the trail of Dr. Bell the officers found he had visited a physician in Prairie du Chien, where he had the ball of lead taken from his head. Officers traced him to towns in Illinois, back to Iowa, to Davenport, and to Chicago. All the while the law was just a little behind Dr. Bell. Officers followed a clue and arrested Dr. Bell at Pier Cove, Michigan, where he had taken refuge with a gang of counterfeiters. Bell and the other pirates were tried and the gang was broken up, but the light sentences they received were unsatisfactory to many McGregor residents. "The Vigilance Committee already arrested 14 pirates. We believe a rope applied to the necks of some as a persuader will get them to tell all they know with great liberality."