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Chief Mahaskah
(1790-1834)
Warriors Citation
Mahaskah ("White Cloud"). One of the Iowas' most influential leaders in the early nineteenth century, probably was born near
the mouth of the Iowa River. As a young man, Mahaskah moved with his father Mauhawgaw ("Wounding Arrow") from tribal homelands
in the Great Lakes area to the western bank of the river that settlers would later call the Iowa. After his father was killed
by Sioux raiders, Mahaskah refused to assume leadership of his Pauhoochee band of Iowas until he had been tested in battle.
Shortly after that, he brought home the scalp of a Sioux chief and claimed the chief's title. From then on, Mahaskah became
well known as a warrior, taking part in at least eighteen battles, mostly against Osages.
While attending treaty talks in Washington, D.C., during 1824, Mahaskah accidentally stepped out of a second-floor hotel
room window and broke his arm in the fall. He had been chasing one of his seven wives, Female Flying Pigeon, with a chair
leg. According to an account by Thomas L. McKinney, Mahaskah was tired of his wives' squabbling. Female Flying Gigeon died
shortly after that in a riding accident back in Iowa country. Mahaskah was killed in 1834 by an Iowa that he had turned over
to white authorities after they raided an Omaha Native settlement. He had several children by his seven wives; one of his
sons, Mahaskah the younger, assumed the chieftainship after his father was killed. From: historical accounts & records
LINK TO BRAVEHORSE WARRIORS VOLUME TWO
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