Full text of "The history of Van Buren County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c, a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics ... history of the Northwest, history of Iowa ... &c .."

■■3

.nu

THE

H J S T O R Y

VAN BUREN COUNTY,

I O ^\^ A ,

rONTAINrNfJ

% !f kior^ of tl^0 Stiuntt|, il$ SHits^ ^ttmn$^ Ict*^

A Biographical Directory of Citizens, War Record of its Vol
unteers in the late Rebellion, General and Local Statistics,
Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men, His-
tory of the Northwest, History of Iowa, Map
of Van Buren County, Constitution of the
United States, Miscellaneous
Matters, &c.

TiL.TL,JTSi::Rj^rr:EiT:)

nilOAGO:
WESTERN HISTORICAL COMPANY,

1«78.

the: new V<-'/::K-

PUBLIC LIBRARY

298989

ASTDR, LENOX AND
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

R 1 904 L

Entered, according to Act ot Congress, in tho year 1878, by

THE WESTERN HISTORICAL COMPANY

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

1 c • *

• • ' « « • ••r .,, t ,

« « « * « C • fc •) ». »

PREFACE.

THE history of Van Buren County differs from that of almost every other
county in Iowa, in one essential respect, viz., the records of its towns.
No one locality, outside of the county seat, calls for special elaboration, but
many sections present about equal opportunities for comment. It is a cause of
sincere regret to us, and will, no doubt, be to our readers, that the official
papers and books of the several towns are no longer in existence. The pages
here offered were prepared under serious difl^iculties, and are the product of
much hard labor. If inaccuracies appear in them, the fault is not Avith the
compiler, for every effort was put forth to secure correct data.

The Western Historical Company extends its thanks to those who have so
generously aided in the work of securing reliable information.

The importance of the task here undertaken will be more fully realized and
admitted in years to come, when time shall have added to the obstacles in the
way of determining proper historic truth.

THE PUBLISHERS.

December, 1878.

CONTENTS

HINTORY IVOKTHWEST AXD STATK OF IOWA.

Paob.

History Northwest Territory 19

Geographical Positiou 19

Early Explorations 20

Discovery of the Ohio 33

English Explorations and Set-
tlements 35

American Settlements 60

Division of the Northwest Ter-
ritory ()6

Tecumseh and the War of 1812 70
Black Hawk and the Black

Hawk War 74

Other Indian Tronldea 79

Present Condition of the North-
west 80

Chicago 95

Hlinois 257

Indiana 259

Iowa.. 260

Michigan 263

Wisconsin 264

Minnesota 266

Nebraska 267

History of Iowa :

Geographical Sitiiiitioii 109

Topography 109

Drainage System 110

Page.
History ol Iowa :

Rivers Ill

Lakes 118

Springs 119

Prairies 120

Geology 120

Climatology 137

Discovery and Occupation 139

Territory ...147

Indians 147

Pike's Expedition 151

Indian Wars 152

Black Hawk War 157

Indian Purchase, Reserves and

Treaties 159

Spanish Grants 163

Half-Breed Tract 164

Early Settlements 166

Territorial History 173

Boundary Question 177

State Organization 181

Growth and Progress 185

Agricultural College and Farm.186

State University 187

State Historical Society 193

Penitentiaries 194

Paok.
History of Iowa:

Insane Hospitals 195

College for the Blind 197

Deaf and Dumb Institution 199

Soldiere' Orphans' Homes 199

State Normal School 201

.\sylum for Feeble Minded

Children 2ttl

Reform School 202

Fish Hatching Estatilishment..2(i3

Public Lands 204

Public Schools 218

Political Record 223

War Record 229

Infantry 233

Cavalry 244

Artillery 247

Miscellaneous 248

Promotions from Iowa Reg-
iments 249

Number Casualties — Officer8.250
Number Casualties — Enlist-
ed Men 252

Number Volunteers 254

Population 255

.\gricultural Statistics 320

III$«TOKY VAX KUKKX «'OrXTY.

Page.

Geology 323

Formation of Lime-Beds 324

Great Coal-Basin 325

Cretaceous 327

Glacial Period 327

Drift Period 329

Bowlders 331

Origin of the Prairies 331

Descriptive Geography 332

Unlcnown Race 334

Aborigines 341

Keokuk 342

Black Hawk 346

Advent of the White Man 354

Pioneers 357

Fii-st Birth :!58

First Death 358

First Marriage 358

Anecdotes of the Trading-Posts 358

Organization of the County 361

First Court 362

First Militia 363

First Records 363

Official Roster of the County 364

Early Politics 367

Reminiscences 368

Page.
Distinguished Meu of the County..378

How Pioneers Lived 379

County Seat Question 384

County Commissioners 385

Early Criminal Events 387

Legislative Enactments 388

W. G. Clark :i91

A Poem 397

State Boundary Difficulty 407

Des Moines River Improvement

Schemes 416

Origin of the Name Des Moines 428

War Record 429

Roster 431

Memoriam 453

Population and General Statistics...455

Educational 456

Miller-Thompson Contested

Election 4,58

Kneeland Mo vemen t 464

Press 464

Keosauqua 467

Farmington 480

Bonaparte 484

Bentonsport 489

Vernon 491

; Page.

Birmingham 492

lowaville 494

Pittsburg 496

Mt. Steriing 497

Milton 498

Cantril 5(Xi

Independent ...502

Portland 502

Winchester 503

Summit 503

Doud's Station 504

Plymouth 507

Black Hawk City 507

Columbus 507

Rochester 5ii7

. Business Comers 508

Oakland 508

Upton 508

I Utica 508

Kilbourn 508

I Pierceville 50s

I Watertown 509

Willits 509

Oak Point.. .^ 500

Lebanon 509

Salubria 509

Page.

Mouth of the Mississippi 21

Source of the Mississippi 21

Wild Prairie 23

La Salle Landing on tjie Shore of

Green Bay 25

Buffalo Hunt 27

Trapping 29

Hunting 32

Iroquois Chief 34

Pontiac, the Ottawa Chieftain 43

Indians Attacking Frontiersmen.. 56
A Prairie Storm 59

IIiTilJ{$TKATI09fS.

Page.

A Pioneer Dwelling 61

Breaking Prairie 63 \

Tecumseh, the Shawaiioe Chieftain 69

Indians Attacking a Stockade 72 |

Black Hawk, the Sac Chieftiiin 75

Big Eagle 80

Captain Jack, the Modoc Chieftain 83

Kinzie House 85

A Representative Pioneer 86 [

Lincoln Monument 87

A Pioneer School House 88

Pa OK.

Pioneers' First Winter 94

Great Iron Bridge of C, R. I. <S P.
R. R., Crossing the Mississippi at

Davenport, Iowa 91

Chicago in 1833 95

Old Fort Dearborn, 1830 98

Present Site Lake Street Bridge,

Chicago, 1833 98

Ruins of Chicago 104

View of the City of Chicago 106

Hunting Prairie Wolves 268

CONTENTS.

VAN BUREN rOriVTy VOI.lTNT£EKSi.

Infantry: Page.

Second 431

Fifth 433

Fourteenth 435

Fifteenth 435

Seventeenth 437

Nineteenth 438

Infantry : Page.

Thirtieth 440

Thirty-seventh 442

Forty-fifth 442

Cavalry:

Third 443

Seventh 448

Cavalry : Page.

Eighth 449

First Infantry (Sixtieth U. S. Vols.) 449

Southern Border Brigade 450

Seventh 3Iissouri Cavalry 450

Twenty-first Missouri Infantry 450

Miscellaneous 451

BIOGRAPHICAL. TOWWSHIP I>IRECTORY.

Page. Page. Page.

Bonaparte 571 i Henry 558 Village 533

Cedar 582 I Jackson 587 Van Buren 511

Cheques! 555 I Lick Creek 550 | Vernon 54b

Des Moines 561 | Harrisburg 601 ! Washington 542

Farmington 565 i Union 592

MTHOORAPHU' PORTRA ITS.

Page.

Cresap, R. H 421

Sloan, Joshua S 471

Page.

Manning, Edwin 321

Meek, William 371

ABSTRACT OF IOWA STATE L,AWS.

Page.

Adoption of Cliildren 303

Bills of Exchange and Promissory

Notes 293

Commercial Terms 305

Capital Punishment 298

Charitable, Scientific and Religious

Associations 316

Descent 293

Damages from Trespass 300

Exemptions from Execution 298

Estrays 299

Forms :

Articles of Agreement 307

Bills of Sale 308

Bond for Deed 315

Bills of Purchase 306

Page.
Forms :

Chattel Blortgage 314

Confession of Judgment 306

Lease 312

Mortgages 310

Notice to Quit 309

Notes .'. 30G, 313

Orders 306

Quit Claim Deed 315

Receipts 306

Wills and Codicils 309 j

Warranty Deed 314

Fences 300

Interest 293

Intoxicating Liquors 317

Jurisdiction of Courts 297

Page.

Jurors 297

Limitation of Actions 297

Landlord and Tenant 304

Married Women 298

Marks and Brands 300

Mechanics' Liens. 301

Koads and Bridges 302

Surveyors and Surveys 303

Suggestions to Persons Purchasing

Books by Subscription 319

Support of Poor 303

Taxes 295

Wills and Estates 293

Weights and Measures 305

Wolf Scalps 300

Page.

Map of Van Buren County Front.

Constitution of United StiUes 269

Vote for President, Governor and

Congressmen 283 J

Practical Rules for Every-Day Use..284
United States Government Land

Measure 287

lIIS€EljL.ANKOUi!i.

Page. |

Surveyor's Measure 288

How to Keep Accounts 288

Interest Table 289 '

Miscellaneous Ta'.le 289

Names of the States of the Union

and their Significations 290

Population of the United States 291 j

Page.

Population of Fifty Principal Cities
of the United States 291

Population and Area of the United
States 292

Population of the Principal Coun-
tries in the World 292

, PUBLIC UBKA,R^-

R X W

.08^^

(i7:sr.

ItHE new YORKl

[PUBLIC LIBRARY.

A8TOR, LENOX Ai
TILDEN FOUNDATIC;

The Northwest Territory.

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.

When the Northwestern Territory was ceded to the United States
by Virginia in 1784, it embraced only the territory lying between the
Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers, and north to the northern limits of the
United States. It coincided with the area now embraced in the States
of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and that portion of
Minnesota lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. The United
States itself at that period extended no farther west than the Mississippi
River ; but by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, the western boundary
of the United States was extended to the Rocky Mountains and the
Northern Pacific Ocean. The new territory thus added to the National
domain, and subsequently opened to settlement, has been called the
'" New Northwest," in contradistinction from the old " Northwestern
Territory."

In comparison with the old Northwest this is a territory of vast
magnitude. It includes an area of 1,887,850 square miles ; being greater
in extent than the united areas of all the Middle and Southern States,
including Texas. Out of this magnificent territory have been erected
eleven sovereign States and eight Territories, with an aggregate popula-
tion, at the present time, of 13,000,000 inhabitants, or nearly one third of
the entire population of the United States.

Its lakes are fresh-water seas, and the larger rivers of the continent
flow for a thousand miles through its rich alluvial valleys and far-
stretching prairies, more acres of which are arable and productive of the
highest percentage of the cereals than of any other area of like extent
on the globe.

For the last twenty years the increase of population in the North-
west has been about as three to one in any other portion of the United
States.

(19)

20 THE NORTHWEST TEERITORY.

EARLY EXPLORATIONS.

In the year 1541, DeSoto first saw the Great West in the New
World. He, however, penetrated no farther north than the 35th parallel
of latitude. The expedition resulted in his death and that of more than
half his army, the remainder of whom found their way to Cuba, thence
to Spain, in a famished and demoralized condition. DeSoto founded no
settlements, produced no results, and left no traces, unless it were that
he awakened the hostility of the red man against the white man, and
disheartened such as might desire to follow up the career of discovery
for better purposes. The French nation were eager and ready to seize
upon any news from this extensive domain, and were the first to profit by
DeSoto's defeat. Yet it was more than a century before any adventurer
took advantage of these discoveries.

In 1616, four years before the pilgrims " moored their bark on the
wild New England shore," Le Caron, a French Franciscan, had pene-
trated through the Iroquois and Wyandots (Hurons) to the streams which
run into Lake Huron ; and in 1634, two Jesuit missionaries founded the
first mission among the lake tribes. It was just one hundred years from »
the discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto (1541) until the Canadian
envoys met the savage nations of the Northwest at the Falls of St. Mary,
below the outlet of Lake Superior. This visit led to no permanent
result; yet it was not until 1659 that any of the adventurous fur traders
attempted to spend a Winter in the frozen wilds about the great lakes,
nor was it until 1660 that a station was established upon their borders by
Mesnard, who perished in the woods a few months after. In 1665, Claude
Allouez built the earliest lasting habitation of the white man among the
Indians of the Northwest. In 1668, Claude Dablon and James Marquette
founded the mission of Sault Ste. Marie at the Falls of St. Mary, and two
years afterward, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for M. Talon, Governor Gen-
eral of Canada, explored Lake Illinois (Michigan) as far south as the
present City of Chicago, and invited the Indian nations to meet him at a
grand council at Sault Ste. Marie the following Spring, where they were
taken under the protection of the king, and formal possession was taken
of the Northwest. This same year Marquette established a mission at
Point St. Ignatius, where was founded the old town of Michillimackinac.

During M. Talon's explorations and Marquette's residence at St.
Ignatius, they learned of a great river away to the west, and fancied
— as all others did then — that upon its fertile banks whole tribes of God's
children resided, to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come.
Filled with a wish to go and preach to them, and in compliance with a

THE MORTHWEST TERRITORY.

iilliiifljii'lh-,

CO
cfl

I— t
C/2

■/2

22 THE NORTHWEST TERRITOrtY.

request of M. Talon, who earnestly desired to extend the domain of his
king, and to ascertain whether the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico
or the Pacific Ocean, Marquette with Joliet, as commander of the expe-
dition, prepared for the undertaking.

On the 13th of May, 1673, the explorers, accompanied by five assist-
ant French Canadians, set out from Mackinaw on their daring voyage of
discovery. The Indians, who gathered to witness their departure, were
astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, and endeavored to dissuade
them from their purpose by representing the tribes on the Mississippi as
exceedingly savage and cruel, and the river itself as full of all sorts of
frightful monsters ready to swallow them and their canoes together. But,
nothing daunted by these terrific descriptions, Marquette told them he
was willing not only to encounter all the perils of the unknown region
they were about to explore, but to lay down his life in a cause in which
the salvation of souls was involved ; and having prayed together they
separated. Coasting along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, the
adventurers entered Green Bay, and passed thence up the Fox River and
Lake Winnebago to a village of the Miamis and Kickapoos. Here Mar-
quette was delighted to find a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the
town ornamented with white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows,
which these good people had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to
thank him for the pity he had bestowed on them during the Winter in
giving them an abundant " chase." This was the farthest outpost to
which Dablon and Allouez had extended their missionary labors the
3^ear previous. Here Marquette drank mineral waters and was instructed
in the secret of a root which cures the bite of the venomous rattlesnake.
He assembled the chiefs and old men of the village, and, pointing to
Joliet, said : " My friend is an envoy of France, to discover new coun-
tries, and I am an ambassador from God to enlighten them with the truths
of the Gospel." Two Miami guides were here furnished to conduct
them to the Wisconsin River, and they set out from the Indian village on
the 10th of June, amidst a great crowd of natives who had assembled to
witness their departure into a region where no white man had ever yet
ventured. The guides, having conducted them across the portage,
returned. The explorers launched their canoes upon the Wisconsin,
which they descended to the Mississippi and proceeded down its unknown
waters. What emotions must have swelled their breasts as they struck
out into the broadening current and became conscious that they were
now upon the bosom of th3 Father of Waters. The mystery was about
to be lifted from the long-sought river. The scenery in that locality is
beautiful, and on that delightful seventeenth of June must have been
clad in all its primeval loveliness as it had been adorned by the hand of

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

Nature. Drifting rapidly, it is said that the bold bluffs on either hand
" reminded them of the castled shores of their own beautiful rivers of
France." By-and-by, as they drifted along, great herds of buffalo appeared
on the banks. On going to the heads of the valley they could see a
country of the greatest beauty and fertility, apparently destitute of inhab-
itants yet presenting the appearance of extensive manors, under the fas-
tidious cultivation of lordly proprietors.

THE WILD PKAIEIE.

On June 25, they went ashore and found some fresh traces of men upon
the sand, and a path which led to the prairie. The men remained in the
boat, and Marquette and Joliet followed the path till they discovered a
village on the banks of a river, and two other villages on a hill, within a
half league of the first, inhabited by Indians. They were received most
hospitably by these natives, who had never before seen a white person.
After remaining a few days they re-embarked and descended the river to
about latitude 33°, where they found a village of the Arkansas, and being
satisfied that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, turned their course

24 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

up the liver, and ascending the stream to the mouth of the Illinois,
rowed up that stream to its source, and procured guides from that point
to the lakes. " Nowhere on this journey," says Marquette, •' did we see
such grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes, deer, wildcats, bustards,
swans, ducks, parroquets, and even beavers, as on the Illinois River."
The party, without loss or injury, reached Green Bay in September, and
reported their discovery — one of the most important of the age, but of
which no record was preserved save Marquette's, Joliet losing his by
the upsetting of his canoe on his way to Quebec. Afterward Marquette
returned to the Illinois Indians by their request, and ministered to them
until 1675. On the 18th of May, in that year, as he was passing the
mouth of a stream — going with his boatmen up Lake Michigan — he asked
to land at its mouth and celebrate Mass. Leaving his men with the canoe,
he retired a short distance and began his devotions. As much time
passed and he did not return, his men went in search of him, and found
him upon his knees, dead. He had peacefullj- passed away while at
prayer. He was buried at this spot. Charlevoix, who visited the place
fifty years after, found the waters had retreated from the grave, leaving
the beloved missionary to repose in peace. Tiie river has since been
called Marquette.

While Marquette and his companions were pursuing their labors in
the West, two men, differing widely from him and each other, were pre-
paring to follow in his footsteps and perfect the discoveries so well begun
by him. These were Robert de La Salle and Louis Hennepin.

After I^a Salle's return from the discovery of the Ohio River (see
the narrative elsewhere), he established himself again among the French
trading posts in Canada. Here he mused long upon the pet project of
those ages — a short way to China and the East, and was busily planning an
expedition up the great lakes, and so across the continent to the Pacific,
when Marquette returned from the Mississippi. At once the vigorous mind
of LaSalle received from his and his companions' stories the idea tliat by fol-
lowing the Great River northward, or by turning up some of the numerous
western tributaries, the object could easily be gained. He applied to
Frontenac, Governor General cf Canada, and laid before him the plan,
dim but gigantic. Frontenac entered warmly into his plans, and saw that
LaSalle's idea to connect the great lakes by a chain of forts with tlie Gulf
of Mexico would bind the country so wonderfully together, give un-
measured power to France, and glory to himself, under whose adminis-
tration he earnestly hoped all would be realized.

LaSalle now repaired to France, laid his plans before the King, who
warmly approved of them, and made him a Chevalier. He also reoeivsd
from all the noblemen the warmest wishes for his success. The Ohev-

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

alier returned to Canada, and busily entered upon his work. He at
once rebuilt Fort Frontenac and constructed the first ship to sail on
these fresh-water seas. On the 7th of August, 1679, having been joined
by Hennepin, he began his voyage in the Griffin up Lake Erie. He
passed over this lake, through the straits beyond, up Lake St. Clair and
into Huron. In this lake they encountered heavy storms. They were
some time at Miehillimackinac, where LaSalle founded ? fort, and passed
on to Green Bay, the " Baie des Puans'' of the French, where he found
a large quantity of furs collected for him. He loaded the Griffin with
these, and placing her under the care of a pilot and fourteen sailors.

LA SALLE LANDING ON THE SHORE OF GREEN BAY.

Started lier on lior return voyage. The vessel ^vas never afterward heard
of. He remained about these parts until early in the Winter, ■when, hear-
iuo; nothiui: from the GriOin, he collected all the men — thirty workinj;
men and three monks — and started again upon his great undertaking.

By a short portage they passed to the Illinois or Kankakee, c.dled by
the Indians, ''Theakeke," wolf, because of the tribes of Indians called
bv that name, commonlv known as the Mahiuirans, dwelling there. The
French pronounced it Kiakiki, which became corrupted to Kankakee.
'•Falling down the said river by easy journeys, the better to observe the
country," about tlie last of December they reached a village of the Illi-
nois Indians, containinoj some five hundred cabins, but at that moment

26 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

no inhabitants. The Seur de LaSalle being in want of some breadstuffs,
took advantage of the absence of the Indians to help himself to a suflSi-
ciency of maize, large quantities of which he found concealed in holes
under the wigwams. This village was situated near the present village
of Utica in LaSalle County, Illinois. The corn being securely stored,
the voyagers again betook themselves to the stream, and toward evening,
on the 4th day of January, 1680, they came into a lake which must have
been the lake of Peoria. This was called by the Indians Pim-i-te-wi, that
is, a place where there are many fat beasts. Here the natives were met
with in large numbers, but they were gentle and kind, and having spent
some time with them, LaSalle determined to erect another fort in that
place, for he had heard rumors that some of the adjoining tribes were
trying to disturb the good feeling which existed, and some of his men
were disposed to complain, owing to the hardships and perils of the travel.
He called this fort " Crevecoeur^'' (broken-heart), a name expressive of the
very natural sorrow, and anxiety which the pretty certain loss of his ship.
Griffin, and his consequent impoverishment, the danger of hostility on the
part of the Indians, and of mutiny among his own men, might Avell cause
him. His fears were not entirely groundless. At one time poison was
placed in his food, but fortunately was discovered.

While building this fort, the Winter wore away, the prairies began to
look green, and LaSalle, despairing of any reinforcements, concluded to
return to Canada, raise new means and new men, and embark anew in
the enterprise. For this purpose he made Hennepin the leader of a party
to explore the head waters of the Mississippi, and he set out on his jour-
ney. This journey was accomplished with the aid of a few persons, and
was successfully made, though over an almost u )known route, and in a
bad season of the year. He safely reached Cana ia, and set out again for
the object of his search.

Hennepin and his party left Fort Crevecoeur on the last of February,
1680. When LaSalle reached this place on his return expedition, he
found the fort entirely deserted, and he was obliged to return again to
Canada. He embarked the third time, and succeeded. Seven days after
leaving the fort, Hennepin reached the Mississippi, and paddling up the
icy stream as best he could, reached no higher than the Wisconsin Kiver
by the 11th of April. Here he and his followers were taken prisoners by a
band of Northern Indians, who treated them with great kindness. Hen-
nepin's comrades were Anthony Auguel and Michael Ako. On this voy-
age they found several beautiful lakes, and " saw some charming prairies."
Their captors were the Isaute or Saute urs, Chippewas, a tribe of the Sioux
nation, who took them up the river until about the first of May, when
they reached some falls, which Hennepin christened Falls of St. Anthony

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

■27

in honor of his patron saint. Here they took the land, and traveling
nearly two hundred miles to the northwest, brought them to their villages.
Here they were kept about three months, were treated kindly by their
captors, and at the end of that time, were met by a band of Frenchmen*

BUFFALO HUNT.

headed by one Seur de Luth, who, in pursuit of trade and game, had pene-
trated thus far by the route of Lake Superior ; and with these fellow-
countrymen Hennepin and his companions were allowed to return to the
borders of civilized life in November, 1680, just after LaSalle had
returned to the wilderness on his second trip. Hennepin soon after went
to France, where he published an account of his adventures.

2S THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

The Mississippi was first discovered by De Soto in April, 1541, in his
vain endeavor to find gold and precious gems. In the following Spring,
De Soto, weary with hope long deferred, and worn out with his wander-
ings, he fell a victim to disease, and on the 21st of May died. His followers,
reduced by fatigue and disease to less than three hundred men, wandered
about the country nearly a year, in the vain endeavor to rescue them-
selves by land, and finally constructed seven small vessels, called brigan-
tines, in which they embarked, and descending the river, supposing it
would lead them to the sea, in July they came to the sea (Gulf of
Mexico), and by September reached the Island of Cuba.

They were the first to see the great outlet of the Mississippi ; but,
being so weary and discouraged, made no attempt to claim the country,
and hardly had an intelligent idea of what they had passed through.

To La Salle, the intrepid explorer, belongs the honor of giving the
first account of the mouths of the river. His great desire was to possess
this entire country for his king, and in January, 1^82, he and his band of
explorers left the shores of Lake Michigan on their third attempt, crossed
the portage, passed down the Illinois River, and oh the 6th of February,
reached the banks of the Mississippi.

On the 13th they commenced their downward course, which they
pursued with but one interruption, until upon the 6tli of March they dis-
covered the three great passages by which the river discharges its waters
into the gulf. La Salle thus narrates the event :

" We landed on the bank of the most western cliannel, about three
leagues (nine miles) from its mouth. On the seventh, M. de LaSalle
went to reconnoiter the shores of the neighboring sea, and M. de Tonti
meanwhile examined the great middle channel. They found the main
outlets beautiful, large and deep. On the 8tli we reascended the river, a
little above its confluence with the sea, to find a dry place beyond the
reach of inundations. The elevation of the North Pole was here about
twenty-seven degrees. Here we prepared a column and a cross, and to
the column were affixed the arms of France with this inscription :

Louis Le Grand, Roi De France et de Navarre, regne ; Le neuvisme Avril, 1682.

The whole party, under arms, chanted the Tc Deum, and then, after
ai salute and cries of " Vive le Roi," the column was erected by M. de
La Salle, wlio, standing near it, proclaimed in a loud voice the authority of
the King of France. LaSalle returned and laid the foundations of the Mis-
sissippi settlements in Illinois, thence he proceeded to France, where
another expedition was fitted out, of which he was commander, and in two
succeeding voyages failed to find the outlet of the river by sailing along
the shore of the gulf. On his third voyage he was killed, through the

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

treachery of liis followers, and tlie object of his expeditions was not
accomplished until 1699, when D'Iberville, under the authority of the
crown, discovered, on the second of March, l)y way of the sea, the mouth
of the " Hidden River.'" This majestic stream was called by the natives
^'^ Malbouchla,'' and by the Spaniards, " ^a Palissade,'' from the great

t: V XtJ'-x^

^^'im^'^^^sm' ,,^'

TRAPPING.

number of trees about its mouth. After traversing the several outlets,
and satisfying himself as to its certainty, he erected a fort near its Avestern
outlet, and returned to France.

An avenue of trade Avas now opened out which was fully improved.
In 1718, New Orleans was laid out and settled by some European colo-
nists. In 1762, the colony was made over to Spain, to be regained by
France under the consulate of Napoleon. In 180-3, it was purchased by

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

the United States for the sum of fifteen million dollars, and the territory
of Louisiana and commerce of the Mississippi River came under the
charge of the United States. Although LaSalle's labors ended in defeat
and death, he had not worked and suffered in vain. He had thrown
open to France and the world an immense and most valuable country ;
had established several ports, and laid the foundations of more than one
settlement there. " Peoria, Kaskaskia and Cahokia, are to this day monu-
ments of LaSalle's labors ; for, though he had founded neither of them
(unless Peoria, which was built nearly upon the site of Fort Crevecceur,)
it was by those whom he led into the West that these places were
peopled and civilized. He was, if not the discoverer, the first settler of
the Mississippi Valley, and as such deserves to be known and honored."

The French early improved the opening made for them. Before the
year 1698, the Rev. Father Gravier began a mission among the Illinois,
and founded Kaskaskia. For some time this was merely a missionary
station, where none but natives resided, it being one of three such vil-
lages, the other two being Cahokia and Peoria. What is known of
these missions is learned from a letter written by Father Gabriel Marest,
dated " Aux Cascaskias, autrement dit de Flmmaculate Conception de
la Sainte Vierge, le 9 Novembre, 1712." Soon after the founding of
Kaskaskia, the missionary, Pinet, gathered a flock at Cahokia, while
Peoria arose near the ruins of Fort Crevecceur. This must have been
about the year 1700. The post at Vincennes on the Oubache river,
(pronounced Wa-ba, meaning summer cloud moving siviftly') was estab-
lished in 1702, according to the best authorities.* It is altogether prob-
able that on LaSalle's last trip he estfliblished the stations at Kaskaskia
and Cahokia. In July, 1701, the foundations of Fort Ponchartrain
were laid by De la Motte Cadillac on the Detroit River. These sta-
tions, with those established further north, were the earliest attempts to
occupy the Northwest Territory. At the same time efforts were being
made to occupy the Southwest, which finally culminated in the settle-
ment and founding of the City of New Orleans by a colony from England
in 1718. This was mainly accomplished through the efforts of the
famous Mississippi Company, established by the notorious Jolni Law,
who so quickly arose into prominence in France, and who with his
scheme so quickly and so ignominiously passed away.

From the time of the founding of these stations for fifty j-ears the
French nation were engrossed with the settlement of the lower Missis-
sippi, and the war with the Chicasaws, who had, in revenge for re^Dcated

* There is considerable dispute about tliis date, some asserting it was foundetl as late as 1742. When
the new court liouse at Vincennes was erected, all autliorities on the sul)ject were carefully exainined, and
iVOSJ fixed upon as the correct date. It was accordingly engraved on the corner-stone of the court house.

THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY. 31

injuries, cut off the entire colony at Natchez. Although the company
did little for Louisiana, as the entire West was then called, yet it opened
the trade through the Mississippi River, and started the raising of grains
indigenous to that climate. Until the year 1750, but little is known of
the settlements in the Northwest, as it was not until this time that the
attention of the English was called to the occupation of this portion of the
New World, which they then supposed they owned. Vivier, a missionary
among the Illinois, writing from '• Aux Illinois," six leagues from Fort
Chartres, June 8, 1750, says: "We have here whites, negroes and
Indians, to say nothing of cross-breeds. There ax^ five French villages,
and three villages of the natives, within a space of twenty-one leagues
situated between the Mississippi and another river called the Karkadaid
(Kaskaskias). In the five French villages are, perhaps, eleven hundred
whites, three hundred blacks and some sixty red slaves or savages. The
three Illinois towns do not contain more than eight hundred souls all
told. Most of the French till the soil; they raise wheat, cattle, pigs and
horses, and live like princes. Three times as much is produced as can
be consumed ; and great quantities of grain and flour are sent to New
Orleans." This city was now the seaport town of the Northwest, and
save in the extreme northern part, where only furs and copper ore were
found, almost all the products of the country found their way to France
by the mouth of the Father of Waters. In another letter, dated Novem-
ber 7, 1750, this same priest says : " For fifteen leagues above the
mouth of the Mississippi one sees no dwellings, the ground being too low
to be habitable. Thence to New Orleans, the lands are only partially
occupied. New Orleans contains black, white and red, not more, I
think, than twelve hundred persons. To this point come all lumber,
bricks, salt-beef, tallow, tar, skins and bear's grease ; and above all, pork
and flour from the Illinois. These things create some commerce, as forty
vessels and more have come hither this year. Above New Orleans,
plantations are again met with ; the most considerable is a colony of
Germans, some ten leagues up the river. At Point Coupee, thirty -five
leagues above the German settlement, is a fort. Along here, within five
or six leagues, are not less than sixty habitations. Fifty leagues farther
up is the Natchez post, where we have a garrison, who are kept prisoners
through fear of the Chickasaws. Here and at Point Coupee, they raise
excellent tobacco. Another hundred leagues brings us to the Arkansas,
where we have also a fort and a garrison for the benefit of the river
traders. * * * From the Arkansas to the Illinois, nearly five hundred
leagues, there is not a settlement. There should be, however, a fort at
the Oubache (Ohio), the only path by which the English can reach the
Mississippi. In the Illinois country are numberless mines, but no one to

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

work them as they deserve." Father Marest, writing from the post at
Vincennes in 181 2, makes the same observation. Vivier also says : '' Some
individuals dig lead near the surface and supply the Indians and Canada.
Two Spaniards now here, who claim to be adepts, say that our mines are
like those of Mexico, and that if we would dig deeper, we should find
silver under tlie lead ; and at any rate the lead is e-xcellent. There is also
in this countrjs beyond doubt, copper ore, as from time to time large
pieces are found in the streams."

^- ^It ^.--^^^^ ^^"^^J^

^/CKCK^'

HUNTING.

At the close of the year 1750, the French occupied, in addition to the
lower Mississippi posts and those in Illinois, one at Du Quesne, one at
the Maumee in the country of the Miamis, and one at Sandusky in what
may be termed the Ohio Valley. In the northern part of the Northwest
they had stations at St. Joseph's on the St. Joseph's of Lake Michigan,
at Fort Ponchartrain (Detroit), at Michillimackanac or Massillimacanac,
Fox River of Green Bay, and at Sault Ste. Marie. The fondest dreams of
LaSalle were now fully realized. The French alone were possessors of
this vast realm, basing their claim on discovery and settlement. Another
nation, however, was now turning its attention to this extensive country,

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 3g

and hearing of its wealth, began to lay plans for occupying it and for
securing the great profits arising therefrom.

The French, however, had another claim to this country, namely, the

DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO.

This " Beautiful" river was discovered by Robert Cavalier de La-
Salle in 1669, four years before the discovery of the Mississippi by Joliet
and Marquette.

While LaSalle was at his trading post on the St. Lawrence, he found
leisure to study nine Indian dialects, the chief of which was the Iroquois.
He not only desired to facilitate his intercourse in trade, but he longed
to travel and explore the unknown regions of the West. An incident
soon occurred which decided him to fit out an exploring expedition.

While conversing with some Senecas, he learned of a river called the
Ohio, which rose in their country and flowed to the sea, but at such a
distance that it required eight months to reach its mouth. In this state-
ment the Mississippi and its tributaries were considered as one stream.
LaSalle believing, as most of the French at that period did, that the great
rivers flowing west emptied into the Sea of California, was anxious to
embark in the enterprise of discovering a route across the continent to
the commerce of China and Japan.

He repaired at once to Quebec to obtain the approval of the Gov-
ernor. His eloquent appeal prevailed. The Governor and the Intendant,
Talon, issued letters patent authorizing the enterprise, but made no pro-
vision to defray the expenses. At this juncture the seminary of St. Sul-
pice decided to send out missionaries in connection with the expedition^
and LaSalle offering to sell his improvements at LaChine to raise money»
the offer was accepted by the Superior, and two thousand eight hundred
dollars were raised, with which LaSalle purchased four canoes and the
necessary supplies for the outfit.

On the 6th of July, 1669, the party, numbering twenty-four persons,
embarked in seven canoes on the St. Lawrence ; two additional canoes
carried the Indian guides. In three days they were gliding over the
bosom of Lake Ontario. Their guides conducted them directly to the
Seneca village on the bank of the Genesee, in the vicinity of the present
City of Rochester, New York. Here they expected to procure guides to
conduct them to the Ohio, but in this they Avere disappointed.

The Indians seemed unfriendly to the enterprise,, LaSalle suspected
that the Jesuits had prejudiced their minds against his plans. After
waiting a month in the hope of gaining their object, they met an Indian

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

from the Iroquois colony at the head of Lake Ontario, who assured them
that they could there find guides, and offered to conduct them thence.

On their way they passed the mouth of the Niagara River, when they
he^rd for the first time the distant thunder of the cataract. Arriving

among the Iroquois, they met with a friendly reception, and learned
from a Shawanee prisoner tliat they could reach the Ohio in six weeks.
Delighted with the unexpected good fortune, they made ready to resume
their journey ; but just as they were about to start they heard of the
arrival of two Frenchmen in a neighboring village. One of them proved
to be Louis Joliet, afterwards famous as an explorer in the West. He

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 35

had been sent by the Canadian Government to explore the copper mines
on Lake Superior, but had failed, and was on his way back to Quebec.
He gave the missionaries a map of the country he had explored in the
lake region, together with an account of the condition of the Indians in
that quarter. This induced the priests to determine on leaving the
expedition and going to Lake Superior. LaSalle warned them that the
Jesuits were probably occupying that field, and that they would meet
with a cold reception. Nevertheless they persisted in their purpose, and
after worship on the lake shore, parted from LaSalle. On arriving at
Lake Superior, they found, as LaSalle had predicted, the Jesuit Fathers,
Marquette and Dablon, occupying the field.

These zealous disciples of Loyola informed them that they wanted
no assistance from St. Sulpice, nor from those who made him their patron
saint ; and thus repulsed, they returned to Montreal the following June
without having made a single discovery or converted a single Indian,

After parting with the priests, LaSalle went to the chief Iroquois
village at Onondaga, where he obtained guides, and passing thence to a
tributary of the Ohio south of Lake Erie, he descended the latter as far
as the falls at Louisville. Thus was the Ohio discovered by LaSalle, the
persevering and successful French explorer of the West, in 1669.

The account of the latter part of his journey is found in an anony-
mous paper, which purports to have been taken from the lips of LaSalle
himself during a subsequent visit to Paris. In a letter written to Count
Frontenac in 1667, shortly after the discovery, he himself says that he
discovered the Ohio and descended it to the falls. This was regarded as
an indisputable fact by the French authorities, who claimed the Ohio
Valley upon another ground. When Washington was sent by the colony
of Virginia in 1753, to demand of Gordeur de St. Pierre why the French
had built a fort on the Monongahela, the haughty commandant at Quebec
replied : " We claim the country on the Ohio by virtue of the discoveries
of LaSalle, and will not give it up to the English. Our orders are to
make prisoners of every Englishman found trading in the Ohio Valley."

ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS.

When the new year of 1750 broke in upon the Father of Waters
and the Great Northwest, all was still wild save at the French posts
already described. In 1749, when the English first began to think seri-
ously about sending men into the West, the greater portion of the States
of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were yet
under the dominion of the red men. The English knew, however, pretty

36 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

conclusively of the nature of the wealth of these wilds. As early as
1710, Governor Sj)otswood, of Virginia, had commenced movements to
secure the country west of the Alleghenies to the English crown. In
Pennsylvania, Governor Keith and James Logan, secretary of the prov-
ince, from 1719 to 1731, represented to the powers of England the neces-
sity of securing the Western lands. Nothing was done, however, b}^ that
power save to take some diplomatic steps to secure the claims of Britain
to this unexplored wilderness.

England had from the outset claimed from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
on the ground that the discovery of the seacoast and its possession was a
discovery and possession of the country, and, as is well known, her grants
to the colonies extended " from sea to sea." This was not all her claim.
She had purchased from the Indian tribes large tracts of land. This lat-
ter was also a strong argument. As early as 1684, Lord H oward. Gov-
ernor of Virginia, held a treaty, with the six nations. These were the
great Northern Confederacy, and comprised at first the Mohawks, Onei-
das, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. Afterward the Tuscaroras were
taken into the confederacy, and it became known as the Six Nations.
They came under the protection of the mother country, and again in
1701, they repeated the agreement, and in September, 1726, a formal deed
was drawn up and signed by the chiefs. The validity of this claim has
often been disputed, but never successfully. In 1741, a purchase was
made at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, of certain lands within the " Colony of
Virginia," for which the Indians received £200 in gold and a like sum in
goods, with a promise that, as settlements increased, more should be paid.
The Commissioners from Virginia were Colonel Thomas Lee and Colonel
William Beverly. As settlements extended, the promise of more pay was
called to mind, and Mr. Conrad Weiser was sent across the mountains with
presents to appease the savages. Col. Lee, and some Virginians accompa-
nied him with the intention of sounding the Indians upon their feelings
regarding the English. They were not satisfied with their treatment,
and plainly told the Commissioners why. The English did not desive the
cultivation of the country, but the monopoly of the Indian trade. In
1748, the Ohio Company was formed, and petitioned the king for a grant
of land beyond the Alleghenies. This was granted, and the government
of Virginia was ordered to grant to them a half million acres, two hun-
dred thousand of which were to be located at once. Upon the 12th of
June, 1749, 800,000 acres from the line of Canada north and west was
made to the Loyal Company, and on the 29th of October, 1751, 100,000
acres were given to the Greenbriar Company- All this time the French
were not idle. They saw that, should the British gain a foothold in the
West, especially upon the Ohio, they might not only prevent the French

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 37

settling upon it, but in time would come to the lower posts and so gain
possession of the whole country. Upon the 10th of May, 1774, Vaud-
reuil, Governor of Canada and the French possessions, well knowing the
consequences that must arise from allowing the English to build trading-
posts in the Northwest, seized some of their frontier posts, and to further
secure the claim of the French to the West, he, in 1749, sent Louis Cel-
eron with a party of soldiers to plant along the Ohio River, in the mounds
and at the mouths of its principal tributaries, plates of lead, on which
were inscribed the claims of France. These were heard of in 1752, and
within the memory of residents now living along the " Oyo," as the
.beautiful river was called by the French. One of these plates was found
with the inscription partly defaced. It bears date August 16, 1749, and
a copy of the inscription with particular account of the discovery of the
plate, was sent by DeWitt Clinton to the American Antiquarian Society,
among whose journals it may now be found.* These measures did not,
however, deter the English from going on with their explorations, and
though neither party resorted to arms, yet the conflict was gathering, and
it was only a question of time when the storm would burst upon the
frontier settlements. In 1750, Christopher Gist was sent by the Ohio
Company to examine its lands. He went to a village of the Twigtwees,
on the Miami, about one hundred and fifty miles above its mouth. He
afterward spoke of it as very populous. From there he went down
the Ohio River nearly to the falls at the present City of Louisville,
and in November he commenced a survey of the Company's lands. Dur-
ing the Winter, General Andrew Lewis performed a similar work for the
Greenbriar Company. Meanwhile the French were bus}^ in preparing
their forts for defense, and in opening roads, and also sent a small party
of soldiers to keep the Ohio clear. This party, having heard of the Eng-
lish post on the Miami River, early in 1652, assisted by the Ottawas and
Chippewas, attacked it, and, after a severe battle, in which fourteen of
the natives were killed and others wounded, captured the garrison.
(They were probably garrisoned in a block house). The traders were
carried away to Canada, and one account says several were burned. This
fort or post was called by the English Pickawillany. A memorial of the
king's ministers refers to it as " Pickawillaues, in the center of the terri-
tory between the Ohio and the Wabash. The name is probably some
variation of Pickaway or Picqua in 1773, written by Rev. David Jones
Pickaweke."

* The following is a trauslation of the inscription on the plate: "In the year 1749, reign of Louis XV.,
King of France, we, Celeron, commandant of a detachment by Monsieur the Marquis of Gallisoniere, com-
m:iiuler-iu-chief of New France, to establish tranquility in certain Indian villages of these cantons, have
buried this plate at the confluence of the Toradakoin, this twenty- ninth of July, near the river Ohio, otherwise
Beautiful River, as a monument of renewal of possession which we have taken of tlie said river, and all its
tributaries; inasmuch as the preceding Kings of France have enjoyed it, and maintained it by their arms and
treaties; especially hy those of Ryswick, Utrecht, and Aix La Chapelle."

S8 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

This was the first blood shed between the French and English, and
occurred near the present City of Piqua, Ohio, or at least at a point about
forty-seven miles north of Dayton. Each nation became now more inter-
ested in the progress of events in the Northwest. The English deter-
mined to purchase from the Indians a title to the lands they wished to
occupy, and Messrs. Fry (afterward Commander-in-chief over Washing-
ton at the commencement of the French War of 1775-1763), Lomax and
Patton were sent in the Spring of 1752 to hold a conference with the
natives at Logstown to learn what they objected to in the treaty of Lan-
caster already noticed, and to settle all difficulties. On the 9th of June,
these Commissioners met the red men at Logstown, a little village on the
north bank of the Ohio, about seventeen miles below the site of Pitts-
burgh. Here had been a trading point for many years, but it was aban-
doned by the Indians in 1750. At first the Indians declined to recognize
the treaty of Lancaster, but, the Commissioners taking aside Montour,
the interpreter, who was a son of the famous Catharine Montour, and a
chief among the six nations, induced him to use his influence in their
favor. This he did, and upon the 13th of June they all united in signing
a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty in its full extent, consenting to a
settlement of the southeast of the Ohio, and guaranteeing that it should
not be disturbed by them. These were the means used to obtain the first
treaty with the Indians in the Ohio Valley.

Meanwhile the powers beyond the sea were trying to out-manoeuvre
each other, and were professing to be at peace. The English generally
outwitted the Indians, and failed in many instances to fulfill their con-
tracts. They thereby gained the ill-will of the red men, and further
increased the feeling by failing to provide them with arms and ammuni-
tion. Said an old chief, at Easton, in 1758: " The Indians on the Ohio
left you because of your own fault. When we heard the French were
coming, we asked you for help and arms, but we did not get them. The
French came, they treated us kindly, and gained our affections. The
Governor of Virginia settled on our lands for his own benefit, and, when
we wanted help, forsook us."

At the beginning of 1653, the English thought they had secured by
title the lands in the West, but the French had quietly gathered cannon
and military stores to be in readiness for the expected blow. The Eng-
lish made other attempts to ratify these existing treaties, but not until
the Summer could the Indians be gathered together to discuss the plans
of the French. They had sent messages to the French, warning them
away ; but they replied that they intended to complete the chain of forts
already l)eguu, and would not abandon the field.

Soon after this, no satisfaction being obtained from the Ohio regard-

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 39

ing the positions and purposes of the French, Governor Dinwiddie of
Virginia determined to send to them another messenger and learn from
them, if possible, their intentions. For this purpose he selected a young
man, a surveyor, who, at the early age of nineteen, had received the rank
of major, and who was thoroughly posted regarding frontier life. This
personage was no other than the illustrious George Washington, who then
held considerable interest in Western lands. He was at this time just
twenty-two years of age. Taking Gist as his guide, the two, accompanied
by four servitors, set out on their perilous march. They left Will's
Creek on the 10th of November, 1753, and on the 22d reached the Monon-
gahela, about ten miles above the fork. From there they went to
Logstown, where Washington had a long conference with the chiefs of
the Six Nations. From them he learned the condition of the French, and
also heard of their determination not to come down the river till the fol-
lowing Spring. The Indians were non-committal, as they were afraid to
turn either way, and, as far as they could, desired to remain neutral.
Washington, finding nothing could be done with them, went on to
Venango, an old Indian town at the mouth of French Creek. Here the
French had a fort, called Fort Machault. Through the rum and flattery
of the French, he nearly lost all his Indian followers. Finding nothing
of importance here, he pursued his way amid great privations, and on the
11th of December reached the fort at the head of French Creek. Here
he delivered Governor Dinwiddle's letter, received his answer, took his
observations, and on the 16th set out upon his return journey with no one
but Gist, his guide, and a few Indians who still remained true to him,
notwithstanding the endeavors of the French to retain them. Their
homeward journey was one of great peril and suffering from the cold, yet
they reached home in safety on the 6th of January, 1754.

From the letter of St. Pierre, commander of the French fort, sent by
Washington to Governor Dinwiddie, it was learned that the French would
not give up without a struggle. Active preparations were at once made
in all the English colonies for the coming conflict, while the French
finished the fort at Venango and strengthened their lines of fortifications,
and o-athered their forces to be in readiness.

The Old Dominion was all alive. Virginia was the center of great
activities ; volunteers were called for, and from all the neighboring
colonies men rallied to the conflict, and everywhere along the Potomac
men were enlisting under the Governor's proclamation — which promised
two hundred thousand acres on the Ohio. Along this river thev were
gathering as far as Will's Creek, and far beyond this point, whither Trent
had come for assistance for his little band of forty-one men, who were

40 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

working away in hunger and want, to fortify that point at the fork of
the Ohio, to which botli parties were loolving with deep interest.

" The first birds of Spring filled the air with their song ; the swift
river rolled by the Allegheny hillsides, swollen by the melting snows of
Spring and the April showers. The leaves were appearing ; a few Indian
scouts were seen, but no enemy seemed near at hand ; and all was so quiet,
that Frazier, an old Indian scout and trader, who had been left by Trent
in command, ventured to his home at the mouth of Turtle Creek, ten
miles up the Monongahela. But, though all was so quiet in that wilder-
ness, keen eyes had seen the low intrenchment rising at the fork, and
swift feet had borne the news of it up the river ; and upon the morning
of the 17th of April, Ensign Ward, who then had charge of it, saw
upon the Allegheny a sight that made his heart sink — sixty batteaux and
three hundred canoes filled with men, and laden deep with cannon and
stores. * * * That evening he supped with his captor, Contrecceur,
and the next day he was bowed off by the Frenchman, and with his men
and tools, marched up the Monongahela."

The French and Indian war had begun. The treaty of Aix la
Chapelle, in 1748, had left the boundaries between the French and
English possessions unsettled, and the events already narrated show the
French were determined to hold the country watered by the Mississippi
and its tributaries ; while the English laid claims to the country by virtue
of the discoveries of the Cabots, and claimed all the country from New-
foundland to Florida, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The
first decisive blow had now been struck, and the first attempt of the
English, through the Ohio Company, to occupy these lands, had resulted
disastrously to them. The French and Indians immediately completed
the fortifications begun at the Fork, which they had so easily captured,
and when completed gave to the fort the name of DuQuesne. Washing-
ton was at Will's Creek when the news of the capture of the fort arrived.
He at once departed to recapture it. On his way he entrenched him-
self at a place called the " Meadows," where he erected a fort called
by him Fort Necessity. From there he surprised and captured a force of
French and Indians marching against him, but was soon after .attacked
in his fort by a much superior force, and was obliged to yield on the
morning of July 4th. He was allowed to return to Virginia.

The English Government immediately planned four campaigns ; one
against Fort DuQuesne ; one against Nova Scotia ; one against Fort
Niagara, and one against Crown Point. These occurred during 1755-6,
and were not successful in driving the French from their possessions.
The expedition against Fort DuQuesne was led by the famous General
Braddock, who, refusing to listen to the advice of Washington and those

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 41

acquainted with Indian warfare, suffered such an inglorious defeat. This
occurred on the morning of July 9th, and is generally known as the battle
of Monongahela, or " Braddock's Defeat." The war continued with
various vicissitudes through the years 1756-7 ; when, at the commence-
ment of 1758, in accordance with the plans of William Pitt, then Secre-
tary of State, afterwards Lord Chatham, active preparations were made to
carry on the war. Three expeditions were planned for this year : one,
under General Amherst, against Louisburg ; another, under Abercrombie,
against Fort Ticonderoga ; and a third, under General Forbes, against
Fort DuQuesne. On the 26th of July, Louisburg surrendered after a
desperate resistance of more than forty days, and the eastern part of the
Canadian possessions fell into the hands of the British. Abercrombie
captured Fort Frontenac, and when the expedition against Fort DuQuesne,
of which Washington had the active command, arrived there, it was
found in flames and deserted. The English at once took possession,
rebuilt the fort, and in honor of their illustrious statesman, changed the
name to Fort Pitt.

The great object of the campaign of 1759, was the reduction of
Canada. General Wolfe was to lay siege to Quebec ; Amherst was to
reduce Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and General Prideaux was to
capture Niagara. This latter place was taken in July, but the gallant
Prideaux lost his life in the attempt. Amherst captured Ticonderoga
and Crown Point without a blow ; and Wolfe, after making the memor-
able ascent to the Plains of Abraham, on September 13th, defeated
Montcalm, and on the 18th, the city capitulated. In this engagement
Montcolm and Wolfe ])oth lost their lives. De Levi, Montcalm's successor,
marched to Sillery, three miles above the city, with the purpose of
defeating the English, and there, on the 28th of the following April, was
fought one of the bloodiest battles of the French and Indian War. It
resulted in the defeat of the French, and the fall of the City of Montreal.
The Governor signed a capitulation by which the whole of Canada was
surrendered to the English. This practically concluded the war, but it
was not until 1763 that the treaties of peace between France and England
were signed. This was done on the 10th of February of that year, and
under its provisions all the country east of the Mississippi and north of
the Iberville River, in Louisiana, were ceded to England. At the same
time Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain.

On the 13th of September, 1760, Major Robert Rogers was sent
from Montreal to take charge of Detroit, the only remaining French post
in the territory. He arrived there on the 19th of November, and sum-
moned the place to surrender. At first the commander of the post,
BeletrC; refused, but on the 29th, hearing of the continued defeat of the

42 THE NORTHWEST TERRITOllY.

French arms, surrendered. Rogers remained there until December 23d
under the personal protection of the celebrated chief, Pontiac, to whom,
no doubt, he owed his safety. Pontiac had come here to inquire the
purposes of the English in taking possession of the country. He was
assured that they came simply to trade with the natives, and did not
desire their country. This answer conciliated the savages, and did much
to insure the safety of Rogers and his party during their stay, and while
on their journey home.

Rogers set out for Fort Pitt on December 23, and was just one
month on the way. His route was from Detroit to Maumee, thence
across the present State of Ohio directly to the fort. This was the com-
mon trail of the Indians in their journeys from Sandusky to the fork of
the Ohio. It went from Fort Sandusky, where Sandusky City now is,
crossed the Huron river, then called Bald Eagle Creek, to " Mohickon
John's Town " on Moliickon Creek, the northern branch of White
Woman's River, and thence crossed to Beaver's Town, a Delaware town
on what is now Sandy Creek. At Beaver's Town were probably one
hundred and fifty warriors, and not less than three thousand acres of
cleared land. From there the track went up Sandy Creek to and across
Big Beaver, and up the Ohio to Logstown, thence on to the fork.

The Northwest Territory was now entirely under the English rule.
New settlements began to be rapidly made, and the promise of a large
trade was speedily manifested. Had the British carried out their promises
with the natives none of those savage butcheries would have been perpe-
trated, and the country would have been spared their recital.

The renowned chief, Pontiac, was one of the leading spirits in these
atrocities. We will now pause in our narrative, and notice the leading
events in his life. The earliest authentic information regarding this
noted Indian chief is learned from an account of an Indian trader named
Alexander Henry, who, in the Spring of 1761, penetrated his domains as
far as Missillimacnac. Pontiac was then a great friend of the French,
but a bitter foe of the English, whom he considered as encroaching on his
hunting grounds. Henry was obliged to disguise himself as a Canadian
to insure safety, but was discovered by Pontiac, who bitterly reproached
him and the English for their attempted subjugation of the West. He
declared that no treaty had been made with them ; no presents sent
them, and that he would resent any possession of the West by that nation.
He was at the time about fifty years of age, tall and dignified, and was
civil and military ruler of the Ottawas, Ojibwas and Pottawatamies.

The Indians, from Lake Michigan to the borders of North Carolina,
were united in this feeling, and at the time of the treaty of Paris, ratified
February 10, 1763, a general conspiracy was formed to fall suddenly

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

PONTIAC, THE OTTAWA CHIEFTAIN.

44 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

upon the frontier British posts, and with one blow strike every man dead.
Pontiac was the marked leader in all this, and was the commander
of the Chippewas, Ottawas, Wyandots, Miamis, Shawanese, Delawares
and Mingoes, who had, for the time, laid aside their local quarrels to unite
in this enterprise.

The blow came, as near as can now be ascertained, on May 7, 176-^,
Nine British posts fell, and the Indians drank, " scooped up in the hollow
of joined hands," the blood of many a Briton.

Pontiac's immediate field of action was the garrison at Detroit.
Here, however, the plans were frustrated by an Indian woman disclosing
the plot the evening previous to his arrival. Everything was carried out,
however, according to Pontiac's plans until the moment of action, when
Major Gladwyn, the commander of the post, stepping to one of the Indian
chiefs, suddenly drew aside his blanket and disclosed the concealed
musket. Pontiac, though a brave man, turned pale and trembled. He
saw his plan was known, and that the garrison were prepared. He
endeavored to exculpate himself from any such intentions ; but the guilt
was evident, and he and his followers were dismissed with a severe
reprimand, and warned never to again enter the walls of the post.

Pontiac at once laid siege to the fort, and until the treaty of peace
between the British and the Western Indians, concluded in August, 1764,
continued to harass and besiege the fortress. He organized a regular
commissariat department, issued bills of credit written out on bark,
which, to his credit, it may be stated, were punctually redeemed. At
the conclusion of the treaty, in which it seems he took no part, he went
further south, living many years among the Illinois.

He had given up all hope of saving his country and race. After a
time he endeavored to unite the Illinois tribe and those about St. Louis
in a war with the whites. His efforts were fruitless, and only ended in a
quarrel between himself and some Kaskaskia Indians, one of whom soon
afterwards killed him. His death was, however, avenged by the northern
Indians, who nearly exterminated the Illinois in the wars which followed.

Had it not been for the treachery of a few of his followers, his plan
for the extermination of the whites, a masterly one, would undoubtedly
have been carried out.

It was in the Spring of the year following Rogers' visit that Alex-
ander Henry went to Missillimacnac, and everywhere found the strongest
feelings against the English, who had not carried out their promises, and
were doing nothing to conciliate the natives. Here he met the chief,
Pontiac, who, after conveying to him in a speech the idea that their
French father would awake soon and utterly destroy his enemies, said :
*' Englishman, although you have conquered the French, you have not

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 45

yet conquered us ! We are not your slaves! These lakes, these woods,
these mountains, were left us by our ancestors. They are our inheritance,
and we will part with them to none. Your nation supposes that we, like
the white people, can not live without bread and pork and beef. But you
ought to know that He, the Great Spirit and Master of Life, has provided
food for us upon these broad lakes and in these mountains."

He then spoke of the fact that no treaty had been made with them,
no presents sent them, and that he and his people were 3'et for war.
Such were the feelings of the Northwestern Indians immediately after
the English took possession of their country. These feelings were no
doubt encouraged by the Canadians and French, who hoped that yet the
French arms might prevail. The treaty of Paris, however, gave to the
English the right to this vast domain, and active preparations were going
on to occupy it and enjoy its trade and emoluments.

In 1762, France, by a secret treaty, ceded Louisiana to Spain, to pre-
vent it falling into the hands of the English, who were becoming masters
of the entire West. The next year the treaty of Paris, signed at Fon-
tainbleau, gave to the English the domain of the country in question.
Twenty years after, by the treaty of peace between the United States
and England, that part of Canada lying south and west of the Great
Lakes, comprehending a large territory which is the subject of these
sketches, was acknowledged to be a portion of the United States ; and
twenty years still later, in 1803, Louisiana was ceded by Spain back to
France, and by France sold to the United States.

In the half century, from the building of the Fort of Crevecoeur by
LaSalle, in 1680, up to the erection of Fort Chartres, many French set-
tlements had been made in that quarter. These have already been
noticed, being those at St. Vincent (Vincennes), Kohokia or Cahokia,
Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher, on the American Bottom, a large tract
of rich alluvial soil in Illinois, on the Mississippi, opposite the site of St.
Louis.

By the treaty of Paris, the regions east of the Mississippi, including
all these and other towns of the Northwest, were given over to England;
but they do not appear to have btan taken possession of until 1765, when
Captain Stirling, in the name of the Majesty of England, established him-
self at Fort Chartres bearing with him the proclamation of General Gage,
dated December 30, 1764, which promised religious freedom to all Cath-
olics who worshiped here, and a right to leave the country with their
effects if they wished, or to remain with the privileges of Englishmen.
It was shortly after the occupancy of the West by the British that the
war with Pontiac opened. It is already noticed in the sketch of that
chieftain- By it many a Briton lost his life, and many a frontier settle-

46 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

ment in its infancy ceased to exist. This was not ended until the year
1764, when, failing to capture Detroit, Niagara and Fort Pitt, his confed-
eracy became disheartened, and, receiving no aid from the French, Pon-
tiac abandoned the enterprise and departed to the Illinois, among whom
lie afterward lost his life.

As soon as these difficulties were definitely settled, settlers began
rapidly to survey the country and jDrepare for occupation. During the
year 1770, a number of persons from Virginia and other British provinces
explored and marked out nearly all the valuable lands on the Mononga-
hela and along the banks of the Ohio as far as the Little Kanawha. This
was followed by another exploring expedition, in which George Washing-
ton was a party. The latter, accompanied by Dr. Craik, Capt. Crawford
and others, on the 20th of October, 1770, descended the Ohio from Pitts-
burgh to the mouth of the Kanawha ; ascended that stream about fourteen
miles, marked out several large tracts of land, shot several buffalo, which
were then abundant in the Ohio Valley, and returned to the fort.

Pittsburgh was at this time a trading post, about which was clus-
tered a village of some twenty houses, inhabited by Indian traders. This
same year, Capt. Pittman visited Kaskaskia and its neighboring villages.
He found there about sixty-five resident families, and at Cahokia only
forty-five dwellings. At Fort Chartres was another small settlement, and
at Detroit the garrison were quite prosperous and strong. For a year
or two settlers continued to locate near some of these posts, generally
Fort Pitt or Detroit, owing to the fears of the Indians, who still main-
tained some feelings of hatred to the English. The trade from the posts
was quite good, and from those in Illinois large quantities of pork and
flour found their way to the New Orleans market. At this time the
policy of the British Government was strongly opposed to the extension
of the colonies west. In 1763, the King of England forbade, by royal
proclamation, his colonial subjects from making a settlement beyond the
sources of the rivers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean. At the instance
of the Board of Trade, measures were taken to prevent the settlement
without the limits prescribed, and to retain the commerce within easy
reach of Great Britain.

The commander-in-chief of the king's forces wrote in 1769 : " In the
course of a few years necessity will compel the colonists, should they
extend their settlements west, to provide manufactures of some kind for
themselves, and when all connection upheld by commerce with the mother
country ceases, an independency in their government will soon follow."

In accordance with this policy. Gov. Gage issued a proclamation
in 1772, commanding the inhabitants of Vincennes to abandon their set-
Uements and join some of the Eastern English colonies. To this they

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 47

strenuously objected, giving good reasons therefor, and -were allowed to
remain. The strong opposition to this policy of Great Britain led to its
change, and to such a course as to gain the attachment of the French
population. In December, 1773, influential citizens of Quebec petitioned
the king for an extension of the boundary lines of that province, which
was granted, and Parliament passed an act on June 2, 1774, extend-
ing the boundary so as to include the territory lying within the present
States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.

In consequence of the liberal policy pursued by the British Govern-
ment toward the French settlers in the West, they were disposed to favor
that nation in the war which soon followed with the colonies ; but the
early alliance between France and America soon brought them to the side
of the war for independence.

In 1774, Gov. Dunmore, of Virginia, began to encourage emigration
to the Western lands. He appointed magistrates at Fort Pitt under the
pretense that the fort was under the government of that commonwealth.
One of these justices, John Connelly, who possessed a tract of land in the
Ohio Valley, gathered a force of men and garrisoned the fort, calling it
Fort Dunmore. This and other parties were formed to select sites for
settlements, and often came in conflict with the Indians, who yet claimed
portions of the valley, and several battles followed. These ended in the
famous battle of Kanawha in July, where the Indians were defeated and
driven across the Ohio.

During the years 1775 and 1776, by the operations of land companies
and the perseveranceof individuals, several settlements were firmly estab-
lished between the Alleghanies and the Ohio River, and western land
speculators were busy in Illinois and on the Wabash. At a council held
in Kaskaskia on July 5, 1773, an association of English traders, calling
themselves the " Illinois Land Company," obtained from ten chiefs of the
Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Peoria tribes two large tracts of land lying on
the east side of the Mississippi River south of the Illinois. In 1775, a mer-
chant from the Illinois Country, named Viviat, came to Post Vincennes
as the agent of the association called the " Wabash Land Company." On
the 8th of October he obtained from eleven Piankeshaw chiefs, a deed for
37,497,600 acres of land. This deed was signed by the grantors, attested
by a number of the inhabitants of Vincennes, and afterward recorded in
the office of a notary public at Kaskaskia. This and other land com-
panies had extensive schemes for the colonization of the West ; but all
were frustrated by the breaking out of the Revolution. On the 20th of
April, 1780, the two companies named consolidated under the name of the
" United Illinois and Wabash Land Company." They afterward made

48 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

strenuous efforts to have these grants sanctioned by Congress, but all
signally failed.

When the War of the Revolution commenced, Kentucky was an unor-
ganized country, though there were several settlements within her borders.

In Hutchins' Topography of Virginia, it is stated that at that time
" Kaskaskia contained 80 houses, and nearly 1,000 white and black in-
habitants — the whites being a little the more numerous. Cahokia con-
tains 50 houses and 300 white inhabitants, and 80 negroes. There were
east of the Mississippi River, about the year 1771 " — when these observa-
tions were made — " 300 white men capable of bearing arms, and 230
negroes."

From 1775 until the expedition of Clark, nothing is recorded and
nothing known of these settlements, save what is contained in a leport
made by a committee to Congress in June, 1778. From it the following
extract is made :

"Near the mouth of the River Kaskaskia, there is a village which
appears to have contained nearly eighty families from the beginning of
the late revolution. There are twelve families in a small village at la
Prairie du Rochers, and near fifty families at the Kahokia Village. There
are also four or five families at Fort Chartres and St. Philips, which is five
miles further up the river."

St. Louis had been settled in February, 1764, and at this time con-
tained, including its neighboring towns, over six hundred whites and one
liundred and fifty negroes. It must be remembered that all the country
west of the Mississippi was now under French rule, and remained so until
ceded again to Spain, its original owner, who afterwards sold it and the
country including New Orleans to the United States. At Detroit there
were, according to Capt. Carver, who was in the Northwest from 1766 to
1768, more than one hundred houses, and the river was settled for more
than twenty miles, although poorly cultivated — the people being engaged
in the Indian trade. This old town has a history, which we will here
relate.

It is the oldest town in the Northwest, having been founded by
Antoine de Lamotte Cadillac, in 1701. It was laid out in the form of an
oblong square, of two acres in length, and an acre and a half in width.
As described by A. D. Frazer, who first visited it and became a permanent
resident of the place, in 1778, it comprised within its limits that space
between Mr. Palmer's store (Conant Block) and Capt. Perkins' house
(near the Arsenal building), and extended back as far as the public barn,
and was bordered in front by the Detroit River. It was surrounded by
oak and cedar pickets, about fifteen feet long, set in the ground, and had
four gates — east, west, north and south. Over the first thi-ee of these

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 49

gates were block houses provided with four guns apiece, each a six-
pounder. Two six-gun batteries were planted fronting the river and in a
parallel direction with the block houses. There were four streets running
east and west, the main street being twenty feet wide and the rest fifteen
feet, while the four streets crossing these at right angles were from ten
to fifteen feet in width.

At the date spoken of by Mr. Frazer, there was no fort within the
enclosure, but a citadel on the ground corresponding to the present
northwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Wayne Street. The citadel was
inclosed by pickets, and within it were erected barracks of wood, two
stories high, sufficient to contain ten oflBcers, and also barracks sufficient
to contain four hundred men, and a provision store built of brick. The
citadel also contained a hospital and guard-house. The old town of
Detroit, in 1778, contained about sixty liouses, most of them one story,
with a few a story and a half in height. They were all of logs, some
hewn and some round. Tliere was one building of splendid appearance,
called the " King's Palace," two stories high, which stood near the east
gate. It was built for Governor Hamilton, the first governor commissioned
by the British. There were two guard-houses, one near the west gate and
the other near the Government House. Each of the guards consisted of
twenty-four men and a subaltern, who mounted regularly every morning
between nine and ten o'clock. Each furnished four sentinels, who were
relieved every two hours. There \yas also an officer of the day, who p jr-
formed strict duty. Each of the gates was shut regularly at sunset;
even wicket gates were shut at nine o'clock, and all the keys were-
delivered into the hands of the commanding officer. They were opened
in the morning at sunrise. No Indian or squaw was permitted to enter
town with any weapon, such as a tomahawk or a knife. It was a stand-
ing order that the Indians should deliver their arms and instruments of
every kind before they were permitted to pass the sentinel, and they were
restored to them on their return. No more than twenly-five Indians were
allowed to enter the town at any one time, and they were admitted only
at the east and west gates. At sundown the drums beat, and all the
Indians were required to leave town instantly. There was a council house
near the water side for the purpose of holding council with the Indians.
The population of the town was about sixty families, in all about two
hundred males and one hundred females. This town was destroyed by
fire, all except one dwelling, in 1805. After which the present ''new "
town was laid out. •

On the breaking out of the Revolution, the Britisli held every post of
importance in the West. Kentucky was formed as a component part of
Virginia, and the sturdy pioneers of the West, alive to their interests,

60 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

and recognizing the great benefits of obtaining the control of the trade in
this part of the New World, held steadily to their purposes, and those
within the commonwealth of Kentucky proceeded to exercise their
civil privileges, by electing John Todd and Richard Gallaway,
burgesses to represent them in the Assembly of the parent state.
Early in September of that year (1777) the first court was held
in Harrodsburg, and Col. Bowman, afterwards major, who had arrived
in August, was made the commander of a militia organization which
had been commenced the March previous. Thus the tree of loyalty
was growing. The chief spirit in this far-out colony, who had represented
her the year previous east of the mountains, was now meditating a move
unequaled in its boldness. He had been watching the movements of the
British throughout the Northwest, and understood their whole plan. Ht
saw it was through their possession of the posts at Detroit, Vincennes,
Kaskaskia, and other places, which would give them constant and easy
access to the various Indian tribes in the Northwest, that the British
intended to penetrate the country from the north and soutn, ana annihi-
late the frontier fortresses. This moving, energetic man was Colonel,
afterwards General, George Rogers Clark. He knew the Indians were not
unanimously in accord with the English, and he was convinced that, could
the British be defeated and expelled from the Northwest, the natives
might be easily awed into neutrality ; and by spies sent for the purpose,
he satisfied himself that the enterprise against the Illinois settlements
might easily succeed. Having convinced himself of the certainty of the
project, he repaired to the Capital of Virginia, which place he reached on
November 5th. While he was on his way, fortunately, on October 17th,
Burgoyne had been defeated, and the spirits of the colonists greatly
encouraged thereby. Patrick Henry was Governor of Virginia, and at
once entered heartily into Clark's plans. The same plan had before been
agitated in the Colonial Assemblies, but there was no one until Clark
came who was sufficiently acquainted with the condition of affairs at the
scene of action to be able to guide them.

Clark, having satisfied the Virginia leaders of the feasibility of his
plan, received, on the 2d of January, two sets of instructions — one secret,
the other open — tlie latter authorized him to proceed to enlist seven
companies to go to Kentucky, subject to his orders, and to serve three
months from their arrival in the West. The secret order authorized hitn
to arm these troops, to procure his powder and lead of General Hand
at Pittsburgh, and to proceed at once to subjugate the. country.

With these instructions Clark repaired to Pittsburgh, choosing rather
to raise his men west of the mountains, as he well knew all were needed
in the colonies in the conflict there. He sent Col. W. B. Smith to Hoi-

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 61

stou for the same purpose, but neither succeeded in raising the required
number of men. The settlers in these parts were afraid to leave their
own firesides exposed to a vigilant foe, and but few could be induced to
join the proposed expedition. With three companies and several private
volunteers, Clark at length commenced his descent of the Ohio, which he
navigated as far as the Falls, where he took possession of and fortified
Corn Island, a small island between the present Cities of Louisville,
Kentucky, and New Albany, Indiana. Remains of this fortification may
yet be found. At this place he appointed Col. Bowman to meet him
with such recruits as had 'reached Kentucky by the southern route, and
as many as could be spared from the station. Here he announced to
the men their real destination. Having completed his arrangements,
and chosen his party, he left a small garrison upon the island, and on the
24th of June, during a total eclipse of the sun, which to them augured
no good, and which fixes beyond dispute the date of starting, he with
his chosen band, fell down the river. His plan was to go by water as
far as Fort Massac or Massacre, and thence march direct to Kaskaskia.
Here he intended to surprise the garrison, and after its capture go to
Cahokia, then to Vincennes, and lastly to Detroit. Should he fail, he
intended to march directly to the Mississippi River and cross it into the
Spanish country. Before his start he received two good items of infor-
mation : one that the alliance had been formed between France and the
United States ; and the oth.er that the Indians throughout the Illinois
country and the inhabitants, at the various frontier posts, had been led to
believe by the British that the " Long Knives" or Virginians, were the
most fierce, bloodthirsty and Cruel savages that ever scalped a foe. With
this impression on their minds, Clark saw that proper management would
cause them to submit at once from fear, if surprised, and then from grati-
tude would become friendly if treated with unexpected leniency.

The march to Kaskaskia was accomplished through a hot July sun,
and the town reached on the evening of July 4. He captured the fort
near the village, and soon after the village itself by surprise, and without
the loss of a single man or by killing any of the enemy. After sufficiently
working upon the fears of the natives, Clark- told them they were at per-
fect liberty to worship as they pleased, and to take whichever side of the
great conflict they would, also he would protect them from any barbarity
from British or Indian foe. This had the desired effect, and the inhab-
itants, so unexpectedly and so gratefully surprised by the unlooked
for turn of affairs, at oncQ swore allegiance to the American arms, and
when Clark desired to go to Cahokia on the 6th of July, they accom-
panied him, and through their influence the inhabitants of the place
surrendered, and gladly placed themselves under his protection. Thus

52 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

the two important posts in Illinois passed from the hands of the English
into the possession of Virginia.

In the person of the priest at Kaskaskia, M. Gibault, Clark found a
powerful ally and generous friend. Clark saw that, to retain possession
of the Northwest and treat successfully with the Indians within its boun-
daries, he must estabhsh a government for the colonies he had taken.
St. Vincent, the next important post to Detroit, remained yet to be taken
before the Mississippi Valley was conquered. M. Gibault told him that
he would alone, by persuasion, lead Vincennes to throw off its connection
with England. Clark gladly accepted his offer, and on the 14th of July,
in company with a fellow-townsman, M. Gibault started on his mission of
peace, and on the 1st of August returned with the cheerful intelligence
that the post on the " Oubache " had taken the oath of allegiance to
the Old Dominion. During this interval, Clark established his courts,
placed garrisons at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, successfully re-enlisted his
men, sent word to have a fort, which proved the germ of Louisville,
erected at the Falls of the Ohio, and dispatched Mr. Rocheblave, who
had been commander at Kaskaskia, as a prisoner of war to Richmond.
In October the County of Illinois was established by the Legislature
of Virginia, John Todd appointed Lieutenant Colonel and Civil Governor,
and in November General Clark and his men received the thanks of
the Old Dominion through their Legislature.

In a speech a few days afterward, Clark made known fully to the
natives his plans, and at its close all came forward and swore alle-
giance to the Long Knives. While he was doing this Governor Hamilton,
having made his various arrangements, had left Detroit and moved down
the Wabash to Vincennes intending to operate from that point in reducing
the Illinois posts, and then proceed on down to Kentucky and drive the
rebels from the West. Gen. Clark had, on the return of M. Gibault,
dispatched Captain Helm, of Fauquier County, Virginia, with an attend-
ant named Henry, across the Illinois prairies to command the fort.
Hamilton knew nothing of the capitulation of the post, and was greatly
surprised on liis arrival to be confronted by Capt. Helm, who, standing at
the entrance of the fort by a loaded cannon ready to fire upon his assail-
ants, demanded upon what terms Hamilton demanded possession of the
fort. Being granted the rights of a prisoner of war, he surrendered to
the British General, who could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw the
force in the garrison.

Hamilton, not realizing the character of the men with whom he was
contending, gave up his intended campaign for the Winter, sent his four
hundred Indian warriors to prevent troops from coming down the Ohio,

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 53

and to annoy the Americans in all ways, and sat quietly down to pass the
Wioter. Information of all these proceedings having reached Clark, he
saw that immediate and decisive action was necessary, and that unless
he captured Hamilton, Hamilton would capture him. Clark received the
news on the 29th of January, 1779, and on February 4th, having suffi-
ciently garrisoned Kaskaskia and Cahokia, he sent down the Mississippi
a " battoe," as Major Bowman writes it, in order to ascend the Ohio and
Wabash, and operate with the land forces gathering for the fray.

On the next day, Clark, with his little force of one hundred and
twenty men, set out for the post, and after incredible hard marching
through much mud, the ground being thawed by the incessant spring
rains, on the 22d reached the fort, and being joined by his " battoe," at
once commenced the attack on the post. The aim of the American back-
woodsman was unerring, and on the 24th the garrison surrendered to the
intrepid boldness of Clark. The French were treated with great kind-
ness, and gladly renewed their allegiance to Virginia. Hamilton was
sent as a prisoner to Virginia, where he was kept in close confinement.
During his command of the British frontier posts, he had offered prizes
to the Indians for all the scalps of Americans the}' would bring to him,
and had earned in consequence thereof the title " Hair-buyer General,"
by which he was ever afterward known.

Detroit was now without doubt within easy reach of the enterprising
Virginian, could he but raise the necessary force. Governor Henry being
apprised of this, promised him the needed reinforcement, and Clark con-
cluded to wait until he could capture and sufficiently garrison the posts.
Had Clark failed in this bold undertaking, and Hamilton succeeded in
uniting the western Indians for the next Spring's campaign, the West
would indeed have been swept from the Mississippi to the Allegheny
Mountains, and the great blow struck, which had been contemplated from
the commencement, by the British.

" But for this small army of dripping, but fearless Virginians, the
union of all the tribes from Georoia to Maine as^ainst the colonies mio-ht
have been effected, and the whole current of our history chan":ed."

At this time some fears were entertained by the Colonial Govern-
ments that the Indians in the North and Northwest were inclinino- to the
British, and under the instructions of Washington, now Commander-in-
Chief of the Colonial army, and so bravely fighting for American inde-
pendence, armed forces were sent against the Six Nations, and upon the
Oiiio frontier. Col. Bowman, acting under the same general's orders,
marched against Indians within the present limits of that State. These
expeditions were in the main successful, and the Indians were compelled
to sue for peace.

54 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

During this same year (1779) the famous "Land Laws" of Virginia
were passed. The passage of these laws was of more consequence to the
pioneers of Kentucky and the Northwest than the gaining of a few Indian
conflicts. These laws confirmed in main all grants made, and guaranteed
to all actual settlers their rights and privileges. After providing for the
settlers, the laws provided for selling the balance of the public lands at
forty cents per acre. To carry the Land Laws into effect, the Legislature
sent four Virginians westward to attend to the various claims, over many
of which great confusion prevailed concerning their validity. These
gentlemen opened their court on October 13, 1779, at St. Asaphs, and
continued until April 26, 1780, when they adjourned, having decided
three thousand claims. They were succeeded by the surveyor, who
came in the person of Mr. George May, and assumed his duties on the
10th day of the month whose name he bore. With the opening of the
next year (1780) the troubles concerning the navigation of the Missis-
sippi commenced. The Spanish Government exacted such measures in
relation to its trade as to cause the overtures made to the United States
to be rejected. The American Government considered they had a right
to navierate its channel. To enforce their claims, a fort was erected below
the mouth of the Ohio on the Kentucky side of the river. The settle-
ments in Kentucky were being rapidly filled by emigrants. It was dur-
ing this year that the first seminary of learning was established in the
West in this young and enterprising Commonwealth.

The settlers here did not look upon the building of this fort in a
friendly manner, as it aroused the hostility of the Indians. Spain had
been friendly to the Colonies during their struggle for independence,
and though for a while this friendship appeared in danger from the
refusal of the free navigation of the river, yet it was finally settled to the
satisfaction of both nations.

The Winter of 1779-80 was one of the most unusually severe ones
ever experienced in the West. The Indians always referred to it as the
"Great Cold." Numbers of wild animals perished, and not a few
pioneers lost their lives. The following Summer a party of Canadians
and Indians attacked St. Louis, and attempted to take possession of it
in consequence of the friendly disposition of Spain to the revolting
colonies. They met with such a determined resistance on the part of the
inhabitants, even the women taking part in the battle, that they wei-e
compelled to abandon the contest. They also made an attack on the
settlements in Kentucky, but, becoming alarmed in some unaccountable
manner, they fled the country in great haste.

About this time arose the question in the Colonial Congress con-
cerning the western lands claimed Ijy Virginia, New York, Massachusetts

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 55

and Connecticut. The agitation concerning this subject finally led New
York, on the 19th of February, 1780, to pass a law giving to the dele-
gates of tliat State in Congress the power to cede her western lands for
the benefit of the United States. This law was laid before Congress
during the next month, but no steps were taken concerning it until Sep-
tember 6th, when a resolution passed that body calling upon the States
claiming western lands to release their claims in favor of the whole body.
This basis formed the union, and was the first after all of those legislative
measures which resulted in the creation of the States of Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In December of the same
year, the plan of conquering Detroit again arose. The conquest might
have easily been effected by Clark had the necessary aid been furnished
him. Nothing decisive was done, vet the heads of the Government knew
that the safety of the Northwest from British invasion lay in the capture
and retention of that important post, the only unconquered one in the
territory.

Before the close of the year, Kentucky was divided into the Coun-
ties of Lincoln, Fayette and Jefferson, and the act establishing the Town
of Louisville was passed. This same year is also noted in the annals of
American history as the year in which occurred Arnold's treason to the
United States.

Virginia, in accordance with the resolution of Congress, on the 2d
day of January, 1781, agreed to yield her western lands to the United
States upon certain conditions, which Congress would not accede to, and
the Act of Cession, on the part of the Old Dominion, failed, nor was
anything farther done until 1783. During all that time the Colonies
were busily engaged in the struggle with the mother country, and in.
consequence thereof but little heed was given to the western settlements.
Upon the 16th of April, 1781, the first birth north of the Ohio River of
American parentage occurred, being that of Mary Heckewelder, daughter
of the widely known Moravian missionary, whose band of Christian
Indians suffered in after years a horrible massacre by the hands of the
frontier settlers, who had been exasperated by the murder of several of
their neighbors, and in their rage committed, without regard to humanity,
a deed which forever afterwards cast a shade of shame upon their lives.
For this and kindred outrages on the part of the whites, the Indians
committed many deeds of cruelty which darken the years of 1771 and
1772 in the history of the Northwest.

During the year 1782 a number of battles among the Indians and
frontiersmen occurred, and between the Moravian Indians and the Wyan-
dots. In these, horrible acts of cruelty were practised on the captives,
many of such dark deeds transpiring under the leadership of the notorious

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

frontier outlaw, Simon Girty, whose name, as well as those of his brothers,
was a terror to women and children. These occurred chiefly in the Ohio
valleys. Cotemporary with them were several engagements in Kentucky,
in which the famous Daniel Boone engaged, and who, often by his skill
and knowledge of Indian warfare, saved the outposts from cruel destruc-

-c-1

INDIANS ATTACKING FKONTIEESMEN.

tion. By the close of the year victory had perched upon the American
banner, and on the 30th of November, provisional articles of peace had
been arranged between the Commissioners of England and her uncon-
querable colonies. Cornwallis had been defeated on the 19th of October
preceding, and the liberty of America was assured. On the 19th of
April following, the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, peace was

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 57

proclaimed to the array of the United States, and on the 3d of the next
September, the definite treaty which ended our revolutionary struggle
was concluded. By the terms of that treaty, the boundaries of the West
were as follows : On the north the line was to extend along the center of
the Great Lakes ; from the western point of Lake Superior to Long Lake ;
thence to the Lake of the Woods ; thence to the head of the Mississippi
River; down its center to the 31st parallel of latitude, then on that line
east to the head of the Appalachicola River; down its center to its junc-
tion with the Flint ; thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River, and
thence down along its center to the Atlantic Ocean.

Following the cessation of hostilities with England, several posts
were still occupied by the British in the North and West. Among these
was Detroit, still in the hands of the enemy. Numerous engagements
with the Indians throughout Ohio and Lidiana occurred, upon whose
lands adventurous whites would settle ere the title had been acquired by
the proper treaty.

To remedy this latter evil. Congress appointed commissioners to
treat with the natives and purchase their lands, and prohibited the set-
tlement of the territory until this could be done. Before the close of the
year another attempt was made to capture Detroit, which was, however,
not pushed, and Virginia, no longer feeling the interest in the Northwest
she had formerly done, withdrew her troops, having on the 20th of
December preceding authorized the whole of her possessions to be deeded
to the United States. This was done on the 1st of March following, and
the Northwest Territory passed from the control of the Old Dominion.
To Gen. Clark and his soldiers, however, she gave a tract of one hundred
and fifty thousand acres of land, to be situated any where north of the
Ohio wherever they chose to locate them. They selected the region
opposite the falls of the Ohio, where is now the dilapidated village of
Clarksville, about midway between the Cities of New Albany and Jeffer-
sonville, Indiana.

While the frontier remained thus, and Gen. Haldimand at Detroit
refused to evacuate alleging that he had no orders from his King to do
so, settlers were rapidly gathering about the inland forts. In the Spring
of 1784, Pittsburgh was regularly laid out, and from the journal of Arthur
Lee, who passed through the town soon after on his way to the Indian
council at Fort Mcintosh, we suppose it was not very prepossessing in
appearance. He says :

" Pittsburgh is inhabited almost entirely by Scots and Irish, who
live in paltry log houses, and are as dirty as if in the north of Ireland or
even Scotland. There is a great deal of trade carried on, the goods being
bought at the vast expense of forty-five shillings per pound from Phila-

58 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

delphia and Baltimore. They take in the shops flour, wheat, skins and
money. There are in the town four attorneys, two doctors, and not a
priest of any persuasion, nor church nor chapel."

Kentucky at this time contained thirty thousand inhabitants, and
was beginning to discuss measures for a separation from Virginia. A
land office was opened at Louisville, and measures were adopted to take
defensive precaution against the Indians who were yet, in some instances,
incited to deeds of violence by the British. Before the close of this year,
1784, the military claimants of land began to occupy them, although no
entries were recorded until 1787.

The Indian title to the Northwest was not yet extinguished. They
held large tracts of lands, and in order to prevent bloodshed Congress
adopted means for treaties with the original owners and provided for the
surveys of the lands gained thereby, as well as for those north of the
Ohio, now in its possession. On January 31, 1786, a treaty was made
with the Wabash Indians. The treaty of Fort Stanwix had been made
in 1784. That at Fort Mcintosh in 1785, and through these much land
was gained. The Wabash Indians, however, afterward refused to comply
with the provisions of the treaty made with them, and in order to compel
their adherence to its provisions, force was used. Daring the year 1786,
the free navigation of the Mississippi came up in Congress, and caused
various discussions, which resulted in no definite action, only serving to
excite speculation in regard to the western lands. Congress had promised
bounties of land to the soldiers of the Revolution, but owing to the
unsettled condition of affairs along the Mississippi respecting its naviga-
tion, and the trade of the Northwest, that body had, in 1783, declared
its inability to fulfill these promises until a treaty could be concluded
between the two Governments. Before the close of the year 1786, how-
ever, it was able, through the treaties with the Indians, to allow some
grants and the settlement thereon, and on the 14th of September Con-
necticut ceded to the General Government the tract of land known as
the " Connecticut Reserve," and before the close of the following year a
large tract of land north of the Ohio was sold to a company, who at once
took measures to settle it. By the provisions of this grant, the company
were to pay the United States one dollar per acre, subject to a deduction
of one-third for bad lands and other contingencies. They received
750,000 acres, bounded on the south by the Ohio, on the east by the
seventh range of townships, on the west by the sixteenth range, and on
the north by a line so drawn as to make the grant complete without
the reservations. In addition to this. Congress afterward granted 100,000
acres to actual settlers, and 214,285 acres as army bounties under the
resolutions of 1789 and 1700.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

While Dr. Cutler, one of the agents of the company, was pressing
its claims before Congress, that body was bringing into form an ordinance
for the political and social organization of this Territory. When the
cession was made by Virginia, in 1784, a plan was offered, but rejected.
A motion had been made to strike from the proposed plan the prohibition
of slavery, which prevailed. The plan was then discussed and altered,
and finally passed unanimously, with the exception of South Carolina.
By this proposition, the Territory was to have been divided into states

A PRAIRIE STORM.

by parallels and meridian lines. This, it was thought, would make ten
states, which were to have been named as follows — beginning at the
northwest corner and going southwardly : Sylvania, Michigania, Cher-
sonesus, Assenisipia, Metropotamia, Illenoia, Saratoga, Washington, Poly-
potamia and Pelisipia.

There was a more serious objection to this plan than its category of
names, — the boundaries. The root of the difficulty was in the resolu-
tion of Congress passed in October, 1780, which fixed the boundaries
of the ceded lands to be from one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles

60 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

square. These resolutions being presented to the Legislatures of Vir-
ginia and Massachusetts, they desired a change, and in July, 1T86, the
subject was taken up in Congress, and changed to favor a division into
not more than five states, and not less than three. This was approved by
the State Legislature of Virginia. The subject of the Government was
again taken up by Congress in 1786, and discussed throughout that year
and until July, 1787, Avhen the famous " Compact of 1787 " was passed,
and the foundation of the government of the Northwest laid. This com-
pact is fully discussed and explained in the history of Illinois in this book,
and to it the reader is referred.

The passage of this act and the grant to the New England Company
was soon followed by an application to the Government by John Cleves
Symmes, of New Jersey, for a grant of the land between the Miamis.
This gentleman had visited these lands soon after the treaty of 1786, and,
being greatly pleased with them, offered similar terms to those given to the
New England Company. The petition was referred to the Treasury
Board witli power to act, and a contract was concluded the following
year. During the Autumn the directors of the New England Company
were preparing to occupy their grant the following Sj^ring, and upon the
23d of November made arrangements for a party of forty-seven men,
under the superintendency of Gen. Rufus Putnam, to set forward. Six
boat-builders were to leave at once, and on the first of January the sur-
veyors and their assistants, twenty-six in number, were to meet at Hart-
ford and proceed on their journey westward ; the remainder to follow as
soon as possible. Congress, in the meantime, upon the od of October,
had ordered seven hundred troops for defense of the western settlers, and
to prevent unauthorized intrusions ; and two days later appointed Arthur
St. Clair Governor of the Territory of the Northwest.

AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS.

The civil organization of the Northwest Territory was now com-
plete, and notwithstanding the uncertainty of Indian affairs, settlers from
the East began to come into the country rapidly. The New England
Company sent their men during the Winter of 1787-8 pressing on'^over
the Allcghenies by the old Indian path wliich had been opened into
Braddock's road, and whicli has since been made a national turnpike
from Cuml)erland westward. Through the weary winter days they toiled
on, and l)y Aj.ril were all gathered on the Yohiogany, where boats had
been built, an<1 at one; starttul f„r tlie Muskingum. Here they arrived
on the 7th of that mouth, an<l unless the Moravian missionaries be regarded
<as the pioneers of Ohio, this little band can justly claim that honor.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

Gen. St. Clair, the appointed Governor of the Northwest, not having
yet arrived, a set of Laws were passed, written out, and published by-
being nailed to a tree in the embryo town, and Jonathan Meigs appointed
to administer them.

Washington in writing of this, the first American settlement in the
Northwest, said : " No colony in America was ever settled under
such favorable auspices as that which has just commenced at Muskingum.
Information, property and strength will be its characteristics. I know
many of its settlers personally, and there never were men better calcu-
lated to promote the welfare of such a community."

A PIONEER DWELLING.

On the 2d of July a meeting of the directors and agents was held
on the banks of the Muskingum, " for the purpose of naming the new-
born city and its squares." As yet the settlement was known as the
"Muskingum," but that was now changed to the name Marietta, in honor
of Marie Antoinette. The square upon which the block -houses stood
was called '•''Campus Martins ;''' square number 19, '•'- Capitolium ;^'' square
number 61, '■'- Cecilia f and the great road through the covert way, " Sacra
Via." Two days after, an oration was delivered by James M. Varnum,
who with S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong had been appointed to the
judicial bench of the territory on the 16th of October, 1787. On July 9,
Gov. St. Clair arrived, and the colony began to assume form. The act
of 1787 provided two district grades of government for the Northwest,

62 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

under the first of which the whole power was invested in the hands of a
governor and three district judges. This was immediately formed upon
the Governor's arrival, and the first laws of the colony passed on the 25th
of July. These provided for the organization of the militia, and on the.
next day appeared the Governor's proclamation, erecting all that country
that had been ceded by the Indians east of the Scioto River into the
County of Washington. From that time forward, notwithstanding the
doubts yet existing as to the Indians, all Marietta prospered, and on the
2d of September the first court of the territory was held with imposing
ceremonies.

The emigration westward at this time was very great. The com-
mander at Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Muskingum, reported four
thousand five hundred persons as having passed that post between Feb-
ruary and June, 1788 — many of whom would have purchased of the
"Associates," as the New England Company was called, had they been
ready to receive them.

On the 26th of November, 1787, Symmes issued a pamphlet stating
the terms of his contract and the plan of sale he intended to adopt. In
January, 1788, Matthias Denman, of New Jersey, took an active interest
in Symmes' purchase, and located among other tracts the sections upon
which Cincinnati has been built. Retaining one-third of this locality, he
sold the other two-thirds to Robert Patterson and John Filson, and the
three, about August, commenced to lay out a town on the spot, which
was designated as being opposite Licking River, to the mouth of which
they proposed to have a road cut from Lexington. The naming of the
town is thus narrated in the "Western Annals " : — " Mr. Filson, who had
been a schoolmaster, was appointed to name the town, and, in respect to
its situation, and as if willi a prophetic perception of the mixed race that
were to inhabit it in after days, he named it Losantiville, which, being
interj)reted, means : ville^ the town ; anti^ against or opposite to ; os, the
moutli ; L. of Licking."

Meanwhile, in July, Symmes got thirty persons and eight four-horse
teams under way for the West. These reached Limestone (now Mays-
ville) in September, where were several persons from Redstone. Here
Mr. Synmies tried to found a settlement, but the great freshet of 1789
caused the " Point," as it was and is yet called, to be fifteen feet under
water, and the settlement to be abandoned. The little band of settlers
removed to the mouth of the Miami. Before Symmes and his colony left
the " Point," two settlements had been made on his purchase. The first
was by Mr. Stiltes, the original projector of the whole plan, who, with a
colony of Redstone people, hud located at the mouth of the Miami,
whither Symmes went with his Maysville colony. Here a clearing had

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

been made by the Indians owing to the great fertility of the soil. Mr.
Stiltes with his colony came to this place on the 18th of November, 1788,
with twenty-six persons, and, building a block-house, prepared to remain
through the Winter. They named the settlement Columbia. Here they
were kindly treated by the Indians, but suffered greatly from the flood
of 1789.

On the 4th of March, 1789, the Constitution of the United States
went into operation, and on April 30, George Washington was inaug-
urated President of the American people, and during the next Summer,
an Indian war was commenced by the tribes north of the Ohio. The
President at first used pacific means ; but these failing, he sent General
Harmer against the hostile tribes. He destroyed several villages, but

•••^^st*

BREAKING PKAIRIE.

was defeated in two battles, near the present City of Fort Wayne,
Indiana. From this time till the close of 1795, the principal events were
the wars with the various Indian tribes. In 1796, General St. Clair
was appointed in command, and marched against the Indians ; but while
he was encamped on a stream, the St. Mary, a branch of the Maumee,
he was attacked and defeated with the loss of six hundred men.

General Wayne was now sent against the savages. In August, 1794,
he met them near the rapids of the Maumee, and gained a complete
victory. This success, followed by vigorous measures, compelled the
Indians to sue for peace, and on the 30th of July, the following year, the
treaty of Greenville was signed by the principal chiefs, by which a large
tract of country was ceded to the United States.

Before proceeding in our narrative, we will pause to notice Fort
Washington, erected in the early part of this war on the site of Cincinnati.
Nearly all of the great cities of the Northwest, and indeed of the

64 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

whole country, have had their nuclei in those rude pioneer structures,
known as forts or stockades. Thus Forts Dearborn, Washington, Pon-
ehartrain, mark the original sites of the now proud Cities of Chicago,
Cincinnati and Detroit. So of most of the flourishing cities east and west
of the Mississippi. Fort Washington, erected by Doughty in 1790, was a
rude but highly interesting structure. It was composed of a number of
strongly-built hewed log cabins. Those designed for soldiers' barracks
were a story and a half high, while those composing the officers quarters
were more imposing and more conveniently arranged and furnished.
The whole were so placed as to form a hollow square, enclosing about an
acre of ground, with a block house at each of the four angles.

The lo'Ts for the construction of this fort were cut from the ground
upon which it was erected. It stood between Third and Fourth Streets
of the present city (Cincinnati) extending east of Eastern Row, now
Broadway, which was then a narrow alley, and the eastern boundary of
of the town as it was originally laid out. On the bank of the river,
immediately in front of the fort, was an appendage of the fort, called the
Artificer's Yard. It contained about two acres of ground, enclosed by
small contiguous buildings, occupied by workshops and quarters of
laborers. Within this enclosure there was a large two-story frame house,
familiarly called the " Yellow House," built for the accommodation of
the Quartermaster General. For many years this was the best finished
and most commodious edifice in the Queen City. Fort Washington was
for some time the headquarters of both the civil and military governments
of the Northwestern Territory.

Following the consummation of the treaty various gigantic land spec-
ulations were entered into by different persons, who hoped to obtain
from the Indians in Michigan and northern Indiana, large tracts of lands.
These were generally discovered in time to prevent the outrageous
schemes from being carried out, and from involving the settlers in war.
On October 27, 1795, the treaty between the United States and Spain
was signed, whereby the free navigation of the Mississippi was secured.

No sooner had the treat}'' of 1795 been ratified than settlements began
to j)0ur rapidly into the West. The great event of the year 1796 was the
occupation of that part of the Northwest including Michigan, which was
this year, under the provisions of the treaty, evacuated by the British
forces. The United States, owing to certain conditions, did not feel
justified in addressing the authorities in Canada in relation to Detroit
and other frontier ])osts. When at last the British authorities were
called to give them up, they at once complied, and General Wayne, who
had done so mucli to preserve llie frontier settlements, and who, before
the year's close, sickened and died near Erie, transferred his head-

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. ' 65

quarters to the neighborhood of the lakes, where a county named after
him was formed, which included the northwest of Ohio, all of Michigan,
and the northeast of Indiana. Daring this same year settlements were
formed at the present City of Chillicothe, along the Miami from Middle-
town to Piqua, while in the more distant West, settlers and speculators
began to appear in great numbers. In September, the City of Cleveland
was laid out, and during the Summer and Autumn, Samuel Jackson and
Jonathan Sharpless erected the first manufactory of paper — the " Red-
stone Paper Mill" — in the West. St. Louis contained some seventy
houses, and Detroit over three hundred, and along the river, contiguous
to it, were more than three thousand inhabitants, mostly French Canadians,
Indians and half-breeds, scarcely any Americans venturing yet into that
part of the Northwest.

The election of representatives for the territory had taken place,
and on the 4th of February, 1799, they convened at Losantiville — now
known as Cincinnati, having been named so by Gov. St. Clair, and
considered the capital of the Territory — to nominate persons from whom
the members of the Legislature were to be chosen in accordance with
a previous ordinance. This nomination being made, the Assembly
adjourned until the 16th of the following Sei)tember. From those named
the President selected as members of the council, Henry Vandenburg,
of Vincennes, Robert Oliver, of Marietta, James Findlay and Jacob
Burnett, of Cincinnati, and David Vance, of Vanceville. On the 16th
of September the Territorial Legislature met, and on the 24th the two
houses were duly organized, Henry Vandenburg being elected President
of the Council.

The message of Gov. St. Clair was addressed to the Legislature
September 20th, and on October 13th that body elected as a delegate to
Congress Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison, who received eleven of the votes
cast, being a majority of one over his opponent, Arthur St. Clair, son of
Gen. St. Clair.

The whole number of acts passed at this session, and approved by
the Governor, were thirty-seven — eleven others were passed, but received
his veto. The most important of those passed related to the militia, to
the administration, and to taxation. On the 19th of December this pro-
tracted session of the first Legislature in the West was closed, and on the
30th of December the President nominated Charles Willing Brj'd to the
office of Secretary of the Territory vice Wm. Henry Harrison, elected to
Congress. The Senate confirmed his nomination the next day.

^Q THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

DIVISION OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

The increased emigration to the Northwest, the extent of the domain,
and the inconvenient modes of travel, made it very difficult to conduct
the ordinary operations of government, and rendered the efficient action
of courts almost impossible. To remedy this, it was deemed advisable to
divide the territory for civil purposes. Congress, in 1800, appointed a
committee to examine the question and report some means for its solution.
This committee, on the od of March, reported that :

" In the three western countries there has been but one court having
cognizance of crimes, in five years, and the immunity which offenders
experience attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile and abandoned crim-
inals, and at the same time deters useful citizens from making settlements
in such society. The extreme necessity of judiciary attention and assist-
ance is experienced in civil as well as in criminal cases. * * * * To
minister a remedy to these and other evils, it occurs to this committee
that it is expedient that a division of said territory into two distinct and
separate governments should be made ; and that such division be made
by a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami River, running
directly nortli until it intersects the boundary between the United States
and Canada."

The report was accepted by Congress, and, in accordance with its
suggestions, that body passed an Act extinguishing the Northwest Terri-
tory, which Act was approved May 7. Among its provisions were these :

" That from and after July 4 next, all that part of the Territory of
the United States northwest of the Ohio River, which lies to the westward
of a line beginning at a point on the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of the
Kentucky River, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north
until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and
Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a
separate territory, and be called the Indiana Territory."

After providing for the exercise of the civil and criminal powers of
the territories, and otlier provisions, the Act furtlier provides:

" That until it shall otherwise be ordered by the Legislatures of the
said Territories, respectively, Chillicothe on the Scioto River shall be the
seat of government of the Territory of the United States northwest of the
Ohio River ; and that St. Vincennes on the Wabash River shall be the
seat of government for the Indiana Territory."

Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison was appointed Governor of the Indiana
Territory, and entered upon his duties about a year later. Connecticut
also about this time released her claims to the reserve, and in March a law

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 67

was passed accepting this cession. Settlements had been made upon
thirty-five of the townships in the reserve, mills had been built, and seven
hundred miles of road cut in various directions. On the 3d of November
the General Assembly met at Chillicothe. Near the close of the year,
the first missionary of the Connecticut Reserve came, who found no
township containing more than eleven families. It was upon the first of
October that the secret treaty had been made between Napoleon and the
King of Spain, whereby the latter agreed to cede to France the province
of Louisiana.

In January, 1802, the Assembly of the Northwestern Territory char-
tered the collesre at Athens. From the earliest dawn of the western
colonies, education was promptly provided for, and as early as 1787,
newspapers were issued from Pittsburgh and Kentucky, and largely read
throughout the frontier settlements. Before the close of this year, the
Congress of the United States granted to the citizens of the Northwestern
territory the formation of a State government. One of the provisions of
the "compact of 1787" provided that whenever the number of inhabit-
ants within prescribed limits exceeded 45,000, they should be entitled to
a separate government. The prescribed limits of Ohio contained, from a
census taken to ascertain the legality of the act, more than that number,
and on the 30th of April, 1802, Congress passed the act defining its limits,
and on the 29th of November the Constitution of the new State of Ohio,
so named from the beautiful river forming its southern boundary, came
into existence. The exact limits of Lake Michigan were not then known,
but the territory now included within the State of Michigan was wholly
within the territory of Indiana.

Gen. Harrison, while residing at Vincennes, made several treaties
with the Indians, thereby gaining large tracts of lands. The next year is
memorable in the history of the West for the purchase of Louisiana from
France by the United States for $15,000,000. Thus by a peaceful mode,
the domain of the United States was extended over a large tract of
country west of the Mississippi, and was for a time under the jurisdiction
of the Northwest government, and, as has been mentioned in the early
part of this narrative, was called the "New Northwest." The limits
of this history will not allow a description of its territory. The same year
large grants of land were obtained from the Indians, and the House of
Representatives of the new State of Ohio signed a bill respecting the
College Township in the district of Cincinnati.

Before the close of the year, Gen. Harrison obtained additional
grants of lands from the various Indian nations in Indiana and the present
limits of Illinois, and on the 18th of August, 1804, completed a treaty at
St. Louis, whereby over 51,000,000 acres of lands were obtained from the

68 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

aborieines. Measures were also taken to learn the condition of affairs in
and about Detroit.

C. Jouett, the Indian agent in Michigan, still a part of Indiana Terri-
tory, reported as follows upon the condition of matters at that post :

" The Town of Detroit. — The charter, which is for fifteen miles
square, was granted in the time of Louis XIV. of France, and is now,
from the best information I have been able to get, at Quebec. Of those
two hundred and twenty-five acres, only four are occupied by the town
and Fort Lenault. The remainder is a common, except twenty-four
acres, which were added twenty years ago to a farm belonging to Wm.
Macomb. * * * ^ stockade incloses the town, fort and citadel. The
pickets, as well as the public houses, are in a state of gradual decay. The
streets are narrow, straight and regular, and intersect each other at right
angles. The houses are, for the most part, low and inelegant."

During this year, Congress grunted a township of land for the sup-
port of a college, and began to offer inducements for settlers in these
wilds, and the country now comprising the State of Michigan began to
fill rapidly with settlers along its southern borders. This same year, also,
a law was passed organizing the Southwest Territory, dividing it into two
portions, the Territory of New Orleans, which city was made the seat of
government, and the District of Louisiana, which was annexed to the
domain of Gen. Harrison.

On the 11th of January, 1805, the Territory of Michigan was formed,
Wm. Hull was appointed governor, with headquarters at Detroit, the
change to take effect on June 30. On the 11th of that month, a fire
occurred at Detroit, which destroyed almost every building in the place.
When the officers of the new territory reached the post, they found it in
ruins, and the inhabitants scattered throughout the country. Rebuild-
ing, however, soon commenced, and ere long the town contained more
houses than before the fire, and many of them much better built.

While this was being done, Indiana had passed to the second grade
of government, and through her General Assembly had obtained large
tracts of land from the Indian tribes. To all this the celebrated Indian,
Tecumthe or Tecumseh, vigorously protested, and it was the main cause
of his attempts to unite the various Indian tribes in a conflict with the
settlers. To obtain a full account of these attempts, the workings of the
British, and the signal failure, culminating in the death of Tecumseh at
the battle of tlie Thames, and the close of the war of 1812 in the Northwest,
we will step aside in our story, and relate the principal events of his life,
and his connection with this conflict.

THE NOKTHWEST TERRITORY,

6;f

TECUMSEH, THE SHAWANOE CHIEFTAIN.

fO THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

TECUMSEH, AND THE WAR OF 1812.

This famous Indian chief was born about the year 1768, not far from
the site of the present City of Piqua, Ohio. His father, Puckeshinwa,
was a member of the Kisopok tribe of the Swanoese nation, and his
mother, Methontaske, was a member of the Turtle tribe of the same
people. They removed from Florida about the middle of the last century
to the birthplace of Tecumseh. In 1774, his father, who had risen to be
chief, was slain at the battle of Point Pleasant, and not long after Tecum-
seh, by his bravery, became the leader of his tribe. In 1795 he was
declared chief, and then lived at Deer Creek, near the site of the
present City of Urbana. He remained here about one year, when he
returned to Piqua, and in 1798, he Avent to White River, Indiana. In
1805, lie and his brother, Laulewasikan (Open Door), who had announced
himself as a prophet, went to a tract of land on the Wabash River, given
them by the Pottawatomies and Kickapoos. From this date the chiei
comes into prominence. He was now about thirty-seven years of age,
was five feet and ten inches in height, was stoutly built, and possessed of
enormous powers of endurance. His countenance was naturally pleas-
ing, and he was, in general, devoid of those savage attributes possessed
by most Indians. It is stated he could read and write, and had a confi-
dential secretary and adviser, named Billy Caldwell, a half-breed, who
afterward became chief of the Pottawatomies. He occupied the first
house built on the site of Chicago. At tliis time, Tecumseh entered
upon the great work of his life. He had long objected to the grants of
land made by the Indians to the whites, and determined to unite all the
Indian tribes into a league, in order that no treaties or grants of land
could be made save by the consent of this confederation.

He traveled constantly, going from north to south ; from the south
to the nortli, everywhere urging the Indians to this step. He was a
matchless orator, and his burning words had their effect.

Gen. Harrison, then Governor of Indiana, by watching the move-
ments of tlie Indians, became convinced that a grand conspiracy was
forming, and made preparations to defend the settlements. Tecumseli's
plan was similar to Pontiac's, elsewhere described, and to the cunning
artifice of that chieftain was added his own sagacit}-.

During the year 1809, Tecumseh and the prophet were actively pre-
paring for the work. In that year. Gen. Harrison entered into a treaty
with the Delawares, Kickapoos, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Eel River Indians
and Weas, in which these tribes ceded to the whites certain lands upon
the Wabash, to all of which Tecumseh entered a bitter protest, averring

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 71

as one principal reason that he did not want the Indians to give up any
lands north and west of the Ohio River.

Tecumseh, in August, 1810, visited the General at Vincennes and
held a council relating to the grievances of the Indians. Becoming unduly
angry at this conference he was dismissed from the village, and soon after
departed to incite the southern Indian tribes to the conflict.

Gen. Harrison determined to move upon the chief's headquarters at
Tippecanoe, and for this purpose went about sixty-five miles up the
Wabash, where he built Fort Harrison. From this place he went to the
prophet's town, where he informed the Indians he had no hostile inten-
tions, provided they were true to the existing treaties. He encamped
near the village early in October, and on the morning of November 7, he
was attacked by a large force of the Indians, and the famous battle of
Tippecanoe occurred. The Indians were routed and their town broken
up. Tecumseh returning not long after, was greatly exasperated at his
brother, the prophet, even threatening to kill him for rashly precipitating
the war, and foiling his (Tecumseh's) plans.

Tecumseh sent word to Gen. Harrison that he was now returned
from the South, and was ready to visit the President as had at one time
previously been proposed. Gen. Harrison informed him he could not go
as a chief, which method Tecumseh desired, and the visit was never
made.

In June of the following year, he visited the Indian agent at
Fort Wayne. Here he disavowed any intention to make a war against
the United States, and reproached Gen. Harrison for marching against his
people. The agent replied to this ; Tecumseh listened with a cold indif-
ference, and after making a few general remarks, with a haughty air drew
his blanket about him, left the council house, and departed for Fort Mai-
den, in Upper Canada, where he joined the British standard.

He remained under this Government, doing effective work for the
Crown while engaged in the war of 1812 which now opened. He was,
however, always humane in his treatment of the prisoners, never allow-
ing his warriors to ruthlessly mutilate the bodies of those slain, or wan-
tonly murder the captive.

In the Summer of 1813, Perry's victor}'- on Lake Erie occurred, and
shortly after active preparations were made to capture Maiden. On the
27th of September, the American army, under Gen. Harrison, set sail for
the shores of Canada, and in a few hours stood around the ruins of Mai-
den, from which the British army, under Proctor, had retreated to Sand-
wich, intending to make its way to the heart of Canada by the Valley of
the Thames. On the 29th Gen. Harrison was at Sandwich, and Gen.
McArthur took possession of Detroit and the territory of Michigan.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

On the 2d of October, the Americans began their pursuit of Proctor,
whom they overtook on the 5th, and the battle of the Thames followed.
Earl3r in the engagement, Tecumseh who was at the head of the column
of Indians was slain, and they, no longer hearing the voice of their chief-
tain, fled. The victory was decisive, and practically closed the w§ir in
the Northwest.

INDIANS ATTACKING A STOCKADE.

Just who killed the great chief has been a matter of much dispute ;
but the weight of opinion awards the act to Col. Richard M. Johnson,
who fired at him with a pistol, the shot proving fatal.

In 1805 occurred Burr's Insurrection. He took possession of a
beautiful island in the Ohio, after the killing of Hamilton, and is charged
by many with attempting to set up an independent government. His
plans were frustrated l)y the general government, his property confiscated
and he was compelled to flee the country for safety.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 73

In January, 1807, Governor Hull, of Michigan Territory, made a
treaty with the Indians, whereby all that peninsula was ceded to the
United States. Before the close of the year, a stockade was built about
Detroit. It was also during this year that Indiana and Illinois endeavored
to obtain the repeal of that section of the compact of 1787, whereby
slavery was excluded from the Northwest Territory. These attempts,
however, all signally failed.

In 1809 it was deemed advisable to divide the Indiana Territory.
This was done, and the Territory of Illinois was formed from the western
part, the seat of government being fixed at Kaskaskia. The next year,
the intentions of Tecumseh manifested themselves in open hostilities, and
then began the events already narrated.

While this war was in progress, emigration to the West went on with
surprising rapidity. In 1811, under Mr. Roosevelt of New York, the
first steamboat trip was made on the Ohio, much to the astonishment of
the natives, many of whom fled in terror at the appearance of the
*' monster." It arrived at Louisville on the 10th day of October. At the
close of the first week of January, 1812, it arrived at Natchez, after being
nearly overwhelmed in the great earthquake which occurred while on its
downward trip.

The battle of the Thames was fought on October 6, 1813. It
effectually closed hostilities in the Northwest, although peace was not
fully restored until July 22, 1814, when a treaty was formed at Green-
ville, under the direction of General Harrison, between the United States
and the Indian tribes, in which it was stipulated that the Indians should
cease hostilities against the Americans if the war were continued. Such,
happily,^ was not the case, and on the 24th of December the treaty
of Ghent was signed by the representatives of England and the United
States. This treaty was followed the next year by treaties with various
Indian tribes throughout the West and Northwest, and quiet was again
restored in this part of the new world.

On the 18th of March, 1816, Pittsburgh was incorporated as a city.
It then had a population of 8,000 people, and was already noted for its
manufacturing interests. On April 19, Indiana Territory was allowed
to form a state government. At that time there were thirteen counties
organized, containing about sixty -three thousand inhabitants. The first
election of state officers was held in August, when Jonathan Jennings
was chosen Governor. The officers were sworn in on November 7, and
on December 11, the State was formally admitted into the Union. For
some time the seat of government was at Corydon, but a more central
location being desirable, the present capital, Indianapolis (City of Indiana),
was laid out January 1, 1825.

74 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

On the 28th of December the Bank of Illinois, at Shawneetown, was
chartered, with a capital of $300,000. At this period all banks were
under the control of the States, and were allowed to establish bran^.hes
at different convenient points.

Until this time Chillicothe and Cincinnati had in turn enjoyed the
privileges of being the capital of Ohio. But the rapid settlement of the
northern and eastern portions of the State demanded, as in Indiana, a
more central location, and before the close of the year, the site of Col-
umbus was selected and surveyed as the future capital of the State.
Banking had begun in Ohio as early as 1808, when the first bank was
chartered at Marietta, but here as elsewhere it did not bring to the state
the hoped-for assistance. It and other banks were subsequently unable
to redeem their currency, and were obliged to suspend.

In 1818, Illinois was made a state, and all the territory north of her
northern limits was erected into a separate territory and joined to Mich-
igan for judicial purposes. By the following year, navigation of the lakes
was increasing with great rapidity and affording an immense source of
revenue to the dwellers in the Northwest, but it was not until 1826 that
the trade was extended to Lake Michigan, or that steamships began to
navigate the bosom of that inland sea.

Until the year 1832, the commencement of the Black Hawk War,
but few hostilities were experienced with the Indians. Roads were
opened, canals were dug, cities were built, common schools were estab-
lished, universities were founded, many of which, especially the Michigan
University, have achieved a world wide-reputation. The people were
becoming wealthy. The domains of the United States had been extended,
and had the sons of the forest been treated with honesty and justice, the
record of many years would have been that of peace and continuous pros-
perity.

BLACK HAWK AND THE BLACK HAWK WAR.

This conflict, though confined to Illinois, is an important epoch in
the Northwestern history, being the last war with the Indians in this part
of the United States.

Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiali, or Black Hawk, was born in the principal
Sac vilhige, about three miles from the junction of Rock River with the
Mississii)pi, in the year 1767. His father's name was Py-e-sa or Pahaes ;
his grandfather's, Na-na-ma-kee, or the Thunderer. Black Hawk early
distinguished Iiimself as a warrior, and at the age of fifteen was permitted
to paint and was ranked among the braves. About the year 1783, he
went on an expedition against the enemies of his nation, the Osages, one

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

BLACK ITAWK, THE SAC CHIEFTAIN.

76 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

of whom he killed and scalped, and for this deed of Indian bravery he was
permitted to join in the scalp dance. Three or four years after he, at the
head of two hundred braves, went on another expedition against the
Osages, to avenge the murder of some women and children belonging to
his own tribe. Meeting an equal number of Osage warriors, a fierce
battle ensued, in which the latter tribe lost one-half their number. The
Sacs lost only about nineteen warriors. He next attacked the Cherokees
for a similar cause. In a severe battle with them, near the present City
of St. Louis, his father was slain, and Black Hawk, taking possession of
the " Medicine Bag," at once announced himself chief of the Sac nation.
He had now conquered the Cherokees, and about the year 1800, at the
head of five hundred Sacs and Foxes, and a hundred lowas, he waged
war against the Osasce nation and subdued it. For two vears he battled
successfully with other Indian tribes, all of whom he conquered.

Black Hawk does not at any time seem to have been friendly to
the Americans. When on a visit to St. Louis to see his " Spanish
Father," he declined to see any of the Americans, alleging, as a reason,
he did not want two fathers.

The treaty at St. Louis was consummated in 1804. The next year the
United States Government erected a fort near the head of the Des Moines
Rapids, called Fort Edwards. This seemed to enrage Black Hawk, who
a,t once determined to capture Fort Madison, standing on the west side of
the Mississippi above the mouth of the Des Moines River. The fort was
garrisoned by about fifty men. Here he was defeated. The difficulties
with the British Government arose about this time, and the War of 1812
followed. That government, extending aid to the Western Indians, by
giving them arms and ammunition, induced them to remain hostile to the
Americans. In August, 1812, Black Hawk, at the head of about five
hundred braves, started to join the British forces at Detroit, passing on
his way the site of Chicago, where the famous Fort Dearborn Massacre
' ' a few days before occurred. Of his connection with the British
,.;. . ernment but little is known. In 1813 he with his little band descended
the Mississippi, and attacking some United States troops at Fort Howard
was defeated.

In the early part of 1815, the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi
were notified that peace had been declared between the United States
and England, and nearly all hostilities had ceased. Black Hawk did not
sign any treaty, however, until May of the following year. He then recog-
nized the validity of the treaty at St. Louis in 1804. From the time of
signing this treaty in 1816, until the breaking out of the war in 1832, he
and his band passed their time in the common pursuits of Indian life.

Ten years before tiie commencement of this war, the Sac and Fox

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 77

Indians were urged to join the lowas on the west bank of the Father of
Waters. All were agreed, save the band known as the British Band, of
which Black Hawk was leader. He strenuously objected to the removal,
and was induced to comply only after being threatened with the power of
the Government. This and various actions on the part of the white set-
tlers provoked Black Hawk and his band to attempt the capture of his
native village now occupied by the whites. The war followed. He and
his" actions were undoubtedly misunderstood, and had his wishes been
acquiesced in at the beginning of the struggle, much bloodshed would
have been prevented.

Black Hawk was chief now of the Sac and Fox nations, and a noted
warrior. He and his tribe inhabited a village on Rock River, nearly three
miles above its confluence with the Mississippi, where the tribe had lived
many generations. When that portion of Illinois was reserved to them,
they remained in peaceable possession of their reservation, spending their
time in the enjoyment of Indian life. The fine situation of their village
and the quality of their lands incited the more lawless white settlers, who
from time to time began to encroach upon the red men's domain. From
one pretext to another, and from one step to another, the crafty white
men gained a foothold, until through whisky and artifice they obtained
deeds from many of the Indians for their possessions. The Indians were
finally induced to cross over the Father of Waters and locate among the
lowas. Black Hawk was strenuously opposed to all this, but as the
authorities of Illinois and the United States thought this the best move, he
was forced to comply. Moreover other tribes joined the whites and urged
the removal. Black Hawk would not agree to the terms of the treaty
made with his nation for their lands, and as soon as the military, called to
enforce his removal, had retired, he returned to the Illinois side of the
river. A large force was at once raised and marched against him. On
the evening of May 14, 1832, the first engagement occurred between a
band from this army and Black Hawk's band, in which the former were
defeated.

This attack and its result aroused the whites. A large force of men
was raised, and Gen. Scott hastened from the seaboard, by way of the
lakes, with United States troops and artillery to aid in the subjugation of
the Indians. On the 24th of June, Black Hawk, with 200 warriors, was
repulsed by Major Demont between Rock River and Galena. The Ameri-
can army continued to move up Rock River toward the main body of
the Indians, and on the 21st of July came upon Black Hawk and his band,
and defeated them near the Blue Mounds.

Before this action. Gen. Henry, in command, sent word to the main
army by whom he was immediately rejoined, and the whole crossed' the

Note.— The above is the generally accepted version of the cause of the Black Hawk War, but in our History of
Jo Davies-s County. 111., we bad tccasim lo gro to the bottom of this matter, and have, we think, found the actual
■cause of tlie war, whicli will be found on page 157.

78 THE NORTHWEST TEREITORy.

"Wisconsin in pursuit of Black Hawk and his band who were fleeing to the
Mississippi. They were overtaken on the 2d of August, and in the battle
which followed the power of the Indian chief was completely broken. He
fled, but was seized by the Winnebagoes and delivered to the whites.

On the 21st of September, 1832, Gen. Scott and Gov. Reynolds con-
cluded a treaty with the Winnebagoes, Sacs and Foxes by which they
ceded to the United States a vast tract of country, and agreed to remain
peaceable with the whites. For the faithful performance of the provi-
sions of this treaty on the part of the Indians, it was stipulated that
Black Hawk, his two sons, the prophet Wabokieshiek, and six other chiefs
of the hostile bands should be retained as hostages during the pleasure
of the President. They were confined at Fort Barracks and put in irons.

The next Spring, by order of the Secretary of War, they were taken
to Washington. From there they were removed to Fortress Monroe,
"there to remain until tlie conduct of their nation was such as to justify
their being set at liberty." They were retained here until the 4th of
June, when the authorities directed them to be taken to the principal
cities so that they might see the folly of contending against the white
people. Everywhere they were observed by thousands, the name of the
old chief being extensively known. By the middle of August they
reached Fort Armstrong on Rock Island, where Black Hawk was soon
after released to go to his countrymen. As he passed the site of his birth-
place, now the home of the white man, he was deeply moved. His village
where he was born, where he had so happily lived, and where he had
hoped to die, was now another's dwelling place, and he was a wanderer.

On the next day after his release, he went at once to his tribe and
his lodge. His wife was yet living, and with her he passed the remainder
of his days. To his credit it may be said that Black Hawk always re-
mained true to his wife, and served her with a devotion uncommon among
the Indians, living with her upward of forty years.

Black Hawk now passed his time hunting and fishing. A deep mel-
ancholy had settled over him from which he could not be freed. At all
times when he visited the whites he was received with marked atten-
tion. He was an honored guest at the old settlers' reunion in Lee County,
Illinois, at some of their meetings, and received many tokens of esteem.
In September, 1838, while on his way to Rock Island to receive his
annuity from the Government, he contracted a severe cold which resulted
in a fatal attack of bilious fever which terminated his life on October 3.
His faithful wife, who was devotedly attached to him, mourned deeply
during liis sickness. After his death he was dressed in the uniform pre-
sented to him by the President while in Washington. He was buried in
a grave six feet in depth, situated upon a beautiful eminence. "The

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 79

body was placed in the middle of the grave, in a sitting posture, upon a
seat constructed for the purpose. On his left side, the cane, given him
"by Henry Clay, was placed upright, with his right hand resting upon it.
Many of the old warrior's trophies were placed in the grave, and some
Indian garments, together with his favorite weapons."

No sooner was the Black Hawk war concluded than settlers began
rapidly to pour into the northern parts of Illinois, and into Wisconsin,
now free from Indian depredations. Chicago, from a trading post, had
grown to a commercial center, and was rapidly coming into prominence.
In 1835, the formation of a State Government in Michigan was discussed,
but did not take active form until 'two years later, when the State became
a part of the Federal Union.

The main attraction to that portion of the Northwest lying west of
Lake Michigan, now included in the State of Wisconsin, was its alluvial
wealth. Copper ore was found about Lake Superior. For some time this
region was attached to Michigan for judiciary purposes, but in 183»! was
made a territory, then including Minnesota and Iowa. The latter State
was detached two years later. In 1848, Wisconsin was admitted as a
State, Madison being made the capital. We have now traced the various
divisions of the Northwest Territory (save a little in Minnesota) from
the time it was a unit comprising this vast territory, until circumstances
compelled its present division.

OTHER INDIAN TROUBLES.

Before leaving this part of the narrative, we will narrate briefly the
Indian troubles in Minnesota and elsewhere by the Sioux Indians.

In August, 1862, the Sioux Indians living on the western borders of
Minnesota fell upon the unsuspecting settlers, and in a few hours mas-
sacred ten or twelve hundred persons. A distressful panic was the
immediate result, fully thirty thousand persons fleeing from their homes
to districts supposed to be better protected. The military authorities
at once took active measures to punish the savages, and a large number
were killed and captured. About a year after. Little Crow, the chief,
was killed by a Mr. Lampson near Scattered Lake. Of those captured,
thirty were hung at Mankato, and the remainder, through fears of mob
violence, were removed to Camp McClellan, on the outskirts of the City
of Davenport. It was here that Big Eagle came into prominence and
secured his release by the following order :

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

BIG EAGLE.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 81

"Special Order, No. 430. "War Department,

" Adjutant General's Office, Washington, Dec. 3, 1864,

" Big Eagle, an Indian now in confinement at Davenport, Iowa,
will, upon the receipt of this order, be immediately released from confine-
ment and set at liberty.

" By order of the President of the United States.
" Official : " E. D. Townsend, Ass't Adft Gen.

" Capt. James Vanderventer, CortCy Suh. Vols.
"Through Com'g Gen'l, Washington, D. C."

Another Indian who figures more prominently than Big Eagle, and
who was more cowardly in his nature, with his band of Modoc Indians,
is noted in the annals of the New Northwest : we refer to Captain Jack.
This distinguished Indian, noted for his cowardly murder of Gen. Canby^
was a chief of a Modoc tribe of Indians inhabiting the border lands
between California and Oregon. This region of country comprises Avhat
is known as the " Lava Beds," a tract of land described as utterly impene-
trable, save by those savages who had made it their home.

The Modocs are known as an exceedingly fierce and treacherous
race. They had, according to their own traditions, resided here for many
generations, and at one time were exceedingly numerous and powerful.
A famine carried off nearly half their numbers, and disease, indolence
and the vices of the white man have reduced them to a poor, weak and
insignificant tiibe.

Soon after the settlement of California and Oregon, complaints began
to be heard of massacres of emigrant trains passing through the Modoc
country. In 1847, an emigrant train, comprising eighteen souls, was en-
tirely destroyed at a place since known as " Bloody Point." These occur-
rences caused the United States Government to appoint a peace commission,
who, after repeated attempts, in 1864, made a treaty with the Modocs,
Snakes and Klamaths, in which it was agreed on their part to remove to
a reservation set apart for them in the southern part of Oregon.

With the exception of Captain Jack and a band of his followers, who
remained at Clear Lake, about six miles from Klamath, all the Indians
complied. The Modocs who went to the reservation were under chief
Schonchin. Captain Jack remained at the lake without disturbance
until 1869, when he was also induced to remove to the reservation. The
Modocs and the Klamaths soon became involved in a quarrel, and Captain
Jack and his band returned to the Lava Beds.

Several attempts were made by the Indian Commissioners to induce
them to return to the reservation, and finally becoming involved iu a

82 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

difficulty with the commissioner and his military escort, a fight ensued,
in which the chief and his band were routed. They were greatly enraged,
and on their retreat, before the day closed, killed eleven inoffensive whites.

The nation was aroused and immediate action demanded. A com-
mission was at once appointed by the Government to see what could be
done. It comprised the following persons : Gen. E. R. S. Canby. Rev.
Dr. E. Thomas, a leading Methodist divine of California ; Mr. A. B.
Meacham, Judge Rosborough, of California, and a Mr. Dyer, of Oregon.
After several interviews, in which the savages were always aggressive,
often appearing with scalps in their belts. Bogus Charley came to the
commission on the evening of April 10, 1873, and informed them that
Capt. Jack and his band would have a " talk " to-morrow at a place near
Clear Lake, about three miles distant. Here the Commissioners, accom-
panied by Charley, Riddle, the interpreter, and Boston Charley repaired.
After the usual greeting the council proceedings commenced. On behalf
of the Indians there were present : Capt. Jack, Black Jim, Schnac Nasty
Jim, Ellen's Man, and Hooker Jim. They had no guns, but carried pis-
tols. After short speeches by Mr. Meacham, Gen. Canby and Dr. Thomas,
Chief Schonchin arose to speak. He had scarcely proceeded when,
as if by a preconcerted arrangement, Capt. Jack drew his pistol and shot
Gen. Canby dead. In less than a minute a dozen shots were fired by the
savages, and the massacre completed. Mr. Meacham was shot by Schon-
chin, and Dr. Thomas by Boston Charley. Mr. Dyer barely escaped, being
fired at twice. Riddle, the interpreter, and his squaw escaped. The
troops rushed to the spot where they found Gen. Canby and Dr. Thomas
dead, and Mr. Meacham badly wounded. The savages had escaped to
their impenetrable fastnesses and could not be pursued.

The whole country was aroused by this brutal massacre ; but it was
not until the following May that the murderers were brought to justice.
At that time Boston Charley gave himself up, and offered to guide the
troops to Capt. Jack's stronghold. This led to the capture of his entire
gang, a number of whom were murdered b}'' Oregon volunteers while on
their way to trial. The remaining Indians were held as prisoners until
July wlien their trial occurred, which led to the conviction of Capt.
Jack, Schonchin, Boston Charley, Hooker Jim, Broncho, alias One-Eyed
Jim, and Slotuck, who were sentenced to be hanged. These sentences
were approved by the President, save in the case of Slotuck and Broncho
whose sentences were commuted to imprisonment for life. The others
were executed at Fort Klamath, October 3, 1873.

These closed the Indian troubles for a time in the Northwest, and for
several years the borders of civilization remained in peace. They were
again involved in a conflict with the savages about the country of the

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

CAPTAIN JACK, THE MODOC CHIEFTAIN.

jJ4 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

Black Hills, in which war the gallant Gen. Custer lost his hfe. Just
now the borders of Oregon and California are again in fear of hostilities ;
but as the Government has learned how to deal with the Indians, they
will be of short duration. The red man is fast passing away before the
march of the white man, and a few more generations will read of the
Indians as one of the nations of the past.

The Northwest abounds in memorable places. We have generally
noticed them in the narrative, but our space forbids their description in
detail, save of the most important places. Detroit, Cincinnati, Vincennes,
Kaskaskia and their kindred towns have all been described. But ere we
leave the narrative we will present our readers with an account of the
Kinzie house, the old landmark of Chicago, and the discovery of the
source of the Mississippi River, each of which may well find a place in
the annals of the Northwest.

Mr. John Kinzie, of the Kinzie house, represented in the illustra-
tion, established a trading house at Fort Dearborn in 1804. The stockade
had been erected the year previous, and named Fort Dearborn in honor
of the Secretary of War. It had a block house at each of the two angles,
on the southern side a sallyport, a covered way on the north side, that led
down to the river, for the double purpose of providing means of escape,
and of procuring water in the event of a siege.

Fort Dearborn stood on the south bank of the Chicago River, about
half a mile from its mouth. When Major Whistler built it, his soldiers
hauled all the timber, for he had no oxen, and so economically did he
work that the fort cost the Government only fifty dollars. For a while
*the garrison could get no grain, and Whistler and his men subsisted on
acorns. Now Chicaij^o is the greatest grain center in the world.

Mr. Kinzie bought the hut of the first settler, Jean Baj^tiste Point au
Sable, on the site of which he erected his mansion. Within an inclosure
in front he planted some Lombardy poplars, seen in the engraving, and in
the rear he soon had a fine garden and growing orchard.

In 1812 the Kinzie house and its surroundings became the theater
of stirring events. The garrison of Fort Dearborn consisted of fifty-four
men, under the charge of Capt. Nathan Heald, assisted by Lieutenant
Lenai T. Helm (son-in-law to Mrs. Kinzie), and Ensign Ronan. The
surgeon was Dr. Voorhees. The only residents at the post at that time
were tlie wives of Capt. Heald and Lieutenant Helm and a few of the
soldiers, Mr. Kinzie and his family, and a few Canadian voyagers with their
wives and childieii. Tiie soldiers and Mr. Kinzie were on the most
friendly terms with the Pottawatomies and the Winnebagoes, the prin-
cipal tribes around them, but they could not win them from their attach-
ment to the British.

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

After the battle of Tippecanoe it was observed that some of the lead-
ing chiefs became sullen, for some of their people had perished in that
conflict with American troops.

One evening in April, 1812, Mr. Kinzie sat playing his violin and his
children were dancing to the music, when Mrs. Kinzie came rushing into
the house pale with terror, and exclaiming, " The Indians ! the Indians ! "
" What? Where ? " eagerly inquired Mr. Kinzie. " Up at Lee's, killing
and scalping," answered the frightened mother, who, when the alarm was
given, was attending Mrs. Burns, a newly-made mother, living not far off.

KINZIE HOUSE.

Mr. Kinzie and his family crossed the river in boats, and took refuge in
the fort, to which place Mrs. Burns and her infant, not a day old, were
conveyed in safety to the shelter of the guns of Fort Dearborn, and the
rest of the white inhabitants fled. The Indians were a scalping party of
Winnebagoes, who hovered around the fort some days, when the}' dis-
appeared, and for several weeks the inhabitants were not disturbed by
alarms.

Chicago was then so deep in the wilderness, that the news of the
declaration of war against Great Britain, made on the 19th of June, 1812,
did not reach the commander of the garrison at Fort Dearborn till the 7th
of August. Now the fast mail train will carry a man from New York to
Chicago in twenty-seven hours, and such a declaration might be sent,
every word, by the telegraph in less than the same number of minutes.

THE KOETHWEST TERRITORY.

PRESENT CONDITION OF THE NORTHWEST,

Preceding chapters have brought us to the close of the Black Hawk
war, and we now turn to the contemplation of the growth and prosperity
of the Northwest under the smile of peace and the blessings of our civili-
za-tion. The pioneers of this region date events back to the deep snow

A REPRESENTATIVE PIONEER.

of 1831, no one arriving here since that date taking first honors. The
inciting cause of the immigration which overflowed the prairies early in
the '30s was the reports of the marvelous beauty and fertility of the
region distributed through the East by those who had participated in the
Black Hawk campaign with Gen. Scott. Chicago and Milwaukee then
had a few hundred inhabitants, and Gurdon S. Hubbard's trail from the
former city to Kaskaskia led almost through a wilderness. Vegetables
and clothing were largely distributed through the regions adjoining the

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

lakes by steamers from the Ohio towns. There are men now living in
Illinois who came to the state when barely an acre was in cultivation,
and a man now prominent in the business circles of Chicago looked over
the swampy, cheerless site of that metropolis in 1818 and went south
ward into civilization. Emigrants from Pennsylvania in 1830 left behind

LIIsXOLN MONUMENT, SPKINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

them but one small railway in the coal regions, thirty miles in length,
and made their way to the Northwest mostly with ox teams, finding in
Northern Illinois petty settlements scores of miles apart, altliough the
southern portion of the state was fairly dotted with farms. The
water courses of the lakes and rivers furnished transportation to the
second great army of immigrants, and about 1850 railroads were
pushed to that extent that the crisis of 1837 was precipitated upon us,

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

from the effects of which the Western country had not fully recovered
at the outbreak of the war. Hostilities found the colonists of the prairies
fully alive to the demands of the occasion, and the honor of recruiting

iliiHlltir..

o
o

the vast armies of the Union fell largely to the Governors of the Western
States. Tlic struggle, on the Avhole, had a marked effect for the better on the
new Northwest, giving it an impetus which twenty years of peace would not have
produced. In a large degree, this prosperity was an inflated one; and, with
the rest of the Union, we have since been compelled to atone therefor by four

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 89

years of depression of values, of scarcity of employment, and loss of
fortune. To a less degree, however, than the manufacturing or mining
regions has the West suffered during the prolonged panic now so near its
end. Agriculture, still the leading feature in our industries, has been
quite prosperous through all these dark years, and the farmers have
cleared away many incumbrances resting over them from the period of
fictitious values. The population has steadily increased, the arts and
sciences are gaining a stronger foothold, the trade area of the region is
becoming daily more extended, and we have been largely exempt from
the financial calamities which have nearly wrecked communities on the
seaboard dependent wholly on foreign commerce or domestic manufacture.

At the present period there are no great schemes broached for the
Northwest, no propositions for government subsidies or national works
of improvement, but the capital of the world is attracted hither for the
purchase of our products or the expansion of our capacity for serving the
nation at large. A new era is dawning as to transportation, and we bid
fair to deal almost exclusively with the increasing and expanding lines
of steel rail running through every few miles of territory on the prairies.
The lake marine will no doubt continue to be useful in the warmer
season, and to serve as a regulator of freight rates ; but experienced
navigators forecast the decay of the system in moving to the seaboard
the enormous crops of the West. Within the past five years it has
become quite common to see direct shipments to Europe and the West
Indies going through from the second-class towns along the Mississippi
and Missouri.

As to popular education, the standard has of late risen very greatly,
and our schools would be creditable to any section of the Union.

More and more as the events of the war pass into obscurity will the
fate of the Northwest be linked with that of the Southwest, and the
next Congressional apportionment will give the valley of the Mississippi
absolute control of the legislation of the nation, and do much toward
securing the removal of the Federal capitol to some more central location.

Our public men continue to wield the full share of influence pertain-
ing to their rank in the national autonomy, and seem not to forget that
for the past sixteen years they and their constituents have dictated the
principles which should govern the country.

In a work like this, destined to lie on the shelves of the library for
generations, and not doomed to daily destruction like a newspaper, one
can not indulge in the same glowing predictions, the sanguine statements
of actualities that fill the columns of ephemeral publications. Time may
bring grief to the pet projects of a writer, and explode castles erected on
a pedestal of facts. Yet there are unmistakable indications before us of

90 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

the same radical change in our great Northwest which characterizes its
history for the past thirty years. Our domain has a sort of natural
geographical border, save where it melts away to the southward in the
cattle raising districts of the southwest.

Our prime interest will for some years doubtless be the growth of
the food of the world, in which branch it has already outstripped all
competitors, and our great rival in this duty will naturally be the fertile
plains of Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, to say nothing of the new
empire so rapidly growing up in Texas. Over these regions there is a
continued progress in agriculture and in railway building, and we must
look to our laurels. Intelligent observers of events are fully aware of
the strides made in the way of shipments of fresh meats to Europe,
many of these ocean cargoes being actually slaughtered in the West and
transported on ice to the wharves of the seaboard cities. That this new
enterprise will continue there is no reason to doubt. There are in
Chicago several factories for the canning of prepared meats for European
consumption, and the orders for this class of goods are already immense.
English capital is becoming daily more and more dissatisfied with railway
loans and investments, and is gradually seeking niammoth outlays in
lands and live stock. The stock yards in Chicago, Indianapolis and East
St. Louis are yearly increasing their facilities, and their j^lant steadily
grows more valuable. Importations of blooded animals from the pro-
gressive countries of Europe are destined to greatly improve the quality
of our beef and mutton. Nowhere is there to be seen a more enticing
display in this line than at oar state and county fairs, and the interest
in the matter is on the increase.

To attempt to give statistics of our grain production for 1877 would
be useless, so far have we surpassed ourselves in the quantity and
quality of our product. We are too liable to forget that we are giving
the world its first article of necessity — its food supply. An opportunity
to learn this fact so it never can be forgotten was afforded at Chicago at
the outbreak of the great panic of 1873, when Canadian purchasers,
fearing the prostration of business mightbring about an anarchical condition
of affairs, went to that city with coin in bulk and foreign drafts to secure
their supplies in their own currency at first hands. It may be justly
claimed by the agricultural community that their combined efforts gave
the nation its first impetus toward a restoration of its crippled industries,
and their labor brought the gold premium to a lower depth than the
government was able to reach by its most intense efforts of legislation
and compulsion. Tin- liundreds of millions aboyt to be disbursed for
farm products have already, by the anticipation common to all commercial

a?HE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

nations, set the wheels in motion, and will relieve us from the perils so
long shadowing our efforts to return to a healthy tone.

Manufacturing has attained in the chief cities a foothold which bids
fair to render the Northwest independent of the outside world. Nearly

. 'ijiitij i|

our whole region has a distribution of coal measures which will in time
support the manufactures necessary to our comfort and prosperity. As
to transportation, the chief factor in the production of all articles except
food, no section is so magnificently endowed, and our facilities are yearly
increasing beyond those of any other region.

92 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

The period from a central point of the war to the outbreak of the
panic was marked by a tremendous growth in our railway lines, but the
•depression of the times caused almost a total suspension of operations.
Now that prosperity is returning to our stricken country we witness its
anticipation by the railroad interest in a series of projects, extensions,
and leases which bid fair to largely increase our transportation facilities.
The process of foreclosure and sale of incumbered lines is another matter
to be considered. In the case of the Illinois Central road, which formerly
transferred to other lines at Cairo the vast burden of freight destined for
the Gulf region, we now see the incorporation of the tracks connecting
through to New Orleans, every mile co-operating in turning toward the
northwestern metropolis the weight of the inter-state commerce of a
thousand miles or more of fertile plantations. Three competing routes
to Texas have established in Chicago their general freight and passenger
agencies. Four or five lines compete for all Pacific freights to a point as
as far as the interior of Nebraska. Half a dozen or more splendid bridge
structures have been thrown across the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers by
the railways. The Chicago and Northwestern line has become an aggre-
gation of over two thousand miles of rail, and the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul is its close rival in extent and importance. The three lines
running to Cairo via Vincennes form a through route for all traffic with
the states to the southward. The chief projects now under discussion
are the Chicago and Atlantic, which is to unite with lines now built to
Charleston, and the Chicago and Canada Southern, which line will con-
nect Avith all the various branches of that Canadian enterprise. Our
latest new road is the Chicago and Lake Huron, formed of three lines,
and entering the city from Valparaiso on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne
and Chicago track. The trunk lines being mainly in operation, the
progress made in the way of shortening tracks, making air-line branches,
and running extensions does not show to the advantage it deserves, as
this process is constantly adding new facilities to the established order
of things. The panic reduced the price of steel to a point where the
railways could hardly afford to use iron rails, and all our northwestern
lines report large relays of Bessemer track. The immense crops now
being moved have given a great rise to the value of railway stocks, and
their transportation must result in heavy pecuniary advantages.

Few are aware of the importance of the wholesale and jobbing trade
of Chicago. One leading firm has since the panic sold $24,000,000 of
dry goods in one year, and they now expect most confidently to add
seventy per cent, to tlie figures of their last year's business. In boots
and shoes and in clothing, twenty or more great firms from the east have
placed here their distributing agents or their factories ; and in groceries

THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.

Chicago supplies the entire Northwest at rates presenting advantages
over New York.

Chicago has stepped in between New York and the rural banks as a
financial center, and scarcely a banking institution in the grain or cattle
regions but keeps its reserve funds in the vaults of our commercial insti-
tutions. Accumulating here throughout the spring and summer months,
they are summoned home at pleasure to move the products of the
prairies. This process greatly strengthens the northwest in its financial
operations, leaving home capital to supplement local operations on
behalf of home interests.

It is impossible to forecast thr destiny of this grand and growing
section of the Union. Figures and predictions made at this date might
seem ten years hence so ludicrously small as to excite only derision.

^«$^Sii^^^

' ^^^^ir^l^^A^^^'^'^i;^^

HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST.

CHICAGO.

It is impossible in our brief space to give more than a meager sketch
of such a city as Chicago, which is in itself the greatest marvel of the
Prairie State. This mysterious, majestic, mighty city, born first of water,
and next of fire; sown in weakness, and raised in power; planted among
the willows of the marsh, and crowned with the glory of the mountains ;
sleeping on the bosom of the prairie, and rocked on the bosom of the sea ,

CHICAGO IN 16'6'6.

the youngest city of the ■worlcl, and still the eye of the prairie, as Damas-
cus, the oldest city of the ■world, is the eye of the desert. With a com-
merce far exceeding that of Corinth on her isthmus, in the highway to
the East ; with the defenses of a continent piled around her by the thou-
sand miles, making her far safer than Rome on the banks of the Tiber;

96 HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST.

with schools eclipsing Alexandria and Athens : with liberties more con-
spicuous than those of the old republics ; with a heroism equal to the first
Carthage, and with a sanctity scarcely second to that of Jerusalem — set
your thoughts on all this, lifted into the eyes of all men by the miracle of
its growth, illuminated by the flame of its fall, and transfigured by the
divinity of its resurrection, and you will feel, as I do, the utter impossi-
bility of compassing this subject as it deserves. Some impression of her
importance is received from the shock her burning gave to the civilized
world.

When the doubt of her calamity was removed, and the horrid fact
was accepted, there went a shudder over all cities, and a quiver over all
lands. There was scarcely a town in the civilized world that did not
shake on the brink of this opening chasm. The flames of our homes red-
dened all skies. The city was set upon a hill, and could not be hid. All
eyes were turned upon it. To have struggled and suffered amid the
scenes of its fall is as distinguishing as to have fought at Thermopylse, or
Salamis, or Hastings, or Waterloo, or Bunker Hill.

Its calamity amazed the world, because it was felt to be the common
property of mankind.

The early history of the city is full of interest, just as the early his-
tory of such a man as Washington or Lincoln becomes public property,
and is cherished by every patriot.

Starting with 560 acres in 1833, it embraced and occupied 23,000
acres in 1869, and, having now a population of more than 500,000, it com-
mands general attention.

The first settler — Jean Baptiste Pointe au Sable, a mulatto from the
West Indies — came and began trade with the Indians in 1796. John
Kinzie became his successor in 1804, in which year Fort Dearborn was
erected.

A mere trading-post was kept here from that time till about the time
of the Blackhawk war, in 1832. It was not the city. It was merely a
cock crowing at midnight. The morning was not yet. In 1833 the set-
tlement about the fort was incorporated as a town. The voters were
divided on the propriety of such corporation, twelve voting for it and one
against it. Four years later it was incorporated as a city, and embraced
660 acres.

The produce handled in this city is an indication of its power. Grain
and flour were imported from the East till as late as 1837. The first
exportation by way of experiment was in 1839. Exports exceeded imports
first in 1842. The Board of Trade was organized in 1848, but it was so
weak that it needed nursing till 1855. Grain was purchased by the
wagon-load in the street.

I remember sitting with my father on a load of wheat, in the long

HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST. 9T

line of wagons along Lake street, while the buyers came and untied the
bags, and examined the grain, and made their bids. That manner of
business had to cease with the day of small things. Now our elevators
will hold 15,000,000 bushels of grain. The cash value of the produce
handled in a year is $215,000,000, and the produce weighs 7,000,000
tons or 700,000 car loads. This handles thirteen and a half ton each
minute, all the year round. One tenth of all the wheat in the United
States is handled in Chicago. Even as long ago as 1853 the receipts of
grain in Chicago exceeded those of the goodly city of St. Louis, and in
1854 the exports of grain from Chicago exceeded those of New York and
doubled those of St. Petersburg, Archangel, or Odessa, the largest grain,
markets in Europe.

The manufacturing interests of the city are not contemptible. In
1873 manufactories employed 45,000 operatives ; in 1876, 60,000. The
manufactured product in 1875 was worth -$177,000,000.

No estimate of the size and power of Chicago would be adequate
that did not put large emphasis on the railroads. Before they came
thundering along our streets canals were the hope of our country. But
who ever thinks now of traveling by canal packets ? In June, 1852,
there were only forty miles of railroad connected with the city. The
old Galena division of the Northwestern ran out to Elgin. But now,
who can count the trains and measure the roads that seek a terminus or
connection in this city ? The lake stretches away to the north, gathering
in to this center all the harvests that might otherwise pass to the north
of us. If you will take a map and look at the adjustment of railroads,
you will see, first, that Chicago is the great railroad center of the world,
as New York is the commercial city of this continent ; and, second, that
the railroad lines form the iron spokes of a great wheel whose - hub is
this city. The lake furnishes the only break in the spokes, and this
seems simply to have pushed a few spokes together on each shore. See
the eighteen trunk lines, exclusive of eastern connections.

Pass round the circle, and view their numbers and extent. There
is the great Northwestern, with all its branches, one branch creeping
along the lake shore, and so reaching to the north, into the Lake Superior
regions, away to the right, and on to the Northern Pacific on the left,
swinging around Green Bay for iron and copper and silver, twelve months
in the year, and reaching out for the wealth of the great agricultural
belt and isothermal line traversed by the Northern Pacific. Another
branch, not so far north, feeling for the heart of the Badger State.
Another pushing lower down the Mississippi — all these make many con-
nections, and tapping all the vast wheat regions of Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Iowa, and all the regions this side of sunset. There is that elegant road,
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, running out a goodly number of

HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST.

OLD FOET DEARBORN, 1830.

PKKSKKX SlTJi OF LAKii tiTKKKT BiilDGK, CHICAGO, 12f lt)o3.

HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST. 99

branches, and reaping the great fields this side of the Missouri River.
I can only mention the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis, our Illinois Central,
described elsewhere, and the Chicago & Rock Island. Further around
we come to the lines connecting us with all the eastern cities. The
Chicago, Indianapolis & St. Louis, the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne &
Chicago, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and the Michigan Cen-
tral and Great Western, give us many highways to the seaboard. Thus we
reach the Mississippi at five points, from St. Paul to Cairo and the Gulf
itself by two routes. We also reach Cincinnati and Baltimore, and Pitts-
burgh and Philadelphia, and New York. North and south run the water
courses of the lakes and the rivers, broken just enough at this point to
make a pass. Through this, from east to west, run the long lines that
stretch from ocean to ocean.

This is the neck of the glass, and the golden sands of commerce
must pass into our hands. Altogether we have more than 10,000 miles
of railroad, directly tributary to this city, seeking to unload their wealth
in our coffers. All these roads have come themselves by the infallible
instinct of capital. Not a dollar was ever given by the city to secure
one of them, and only a small per cent, of stock taken originally by her
sitizens, and that taken simply as an investment. Coming in the natural
order of events, they will not be easily diverted.

There is still another showing to ail this. The connection between
New York and San Francisco is by the middle route. This passes inevit-
ably through Chicago. St. Louis wants the Southern Pacific or Kansas
Pacific, and pushes it out through Denver, and so on up to Cheyenne.
But before the road is fairly under way, the Chicago roads shove out to
Kansas City, making even the Kansas Pacific a feeder, and actually leav-
ing St. Louis out in the cold. It is not too much to expect that Dakota,
Montana, and Washington Territory will find their great market in Chi-
cago.

But these are not all. Perhaps I had better notice here the ten or
fifteen new roads that have just entered, or are just entering, our city.
Their names are all that is necessary to give. Chicago & St. Paul, look-
ing up the Red River country to the British possessions ; the Chicago,
Atlantic & Pacific ; the Chicago, Decatur & State Line ; the Baltimore &
Ohio; the Chicago, Danville & Vincennes; the Chicago & LaSalle Rail-
road ; the Chicago,. Pittsburgh & Cincinnati j the Chicago and Canada
Southern ; the Chicago and Illinois River Railroad. These, with their
connections, and with the new connections of the old roads, already in
process of erection, give to Chicago not less than 10,000 miles of new
tributaries from the richest land on the continent. Thus there will be
added to the reserve power, to the capital within reach of this city, not
less than $1,000,000,000.

998989

100 HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST.

Add to all this transporting power the ships that sail one every nine
minutes of the business hours of the season of navigation ; add, also, the
canal boats that leave one every five minutes during the same time — and
you will see something of the business of the city.

THE COMMERCE OF THIS CITY

has been leaping along to keep pace with the growth of the country
around us. In 1852, our commerce reached the hopeful sum of
$20,000,000. In 1870 it reached $400,000,000. In 1871 it was pushed
up above 8450,000,000. And in 1875 it touched nearly double that.

One-half of our imported goods come directly to Chicago. Grain
enough is exported directly from our docks to the old world to employ a
semi-weekly line of steamers of 3,000 tons capacity. This branch is
not likely to be greatly developed. Even after the great Welland Canal
is completed we shall have only fourteen feet of water. The great ocean
vessels will continue to control the trade.

The banking capital of Chicago is $24,431,000. Total exchange in
1875, 1659,000,000. Her wholesale business in 1875 was $294,000,000.
The rate of taxes is less than in any other great city.

The schools of Chicago are unsurpassed in America. Out of a popu-
lation of 300,000 there were only 186 persons between the ages of six
and twenty-one unable to read. This is the best known record.

In 1831 the mail system was condensed into a half-breed, who went
on foot to Niles, Mich., once in two weeks, and brought back what papers
and news he could find. As late as 1846 there was often only one mail
a week. A post-office was established in Chicago in 1833, and the post-
master nailed up old boot-legs on one side of his shop to serve as boxes
for the nabobs and literary men.

It is an interesting fact in the growth of the young city that in the
active life of the business men of that day the mail matter has grown to
a daily average of over 6,500 pounds. It speaks equally well for the
intelligence of the people and the commercial importance of the place,
that the mail matter distributed to the territory immediately tributary to
Chicago is seven times greater than that distributed to the territory
immediately tributary to St. Louis.

The improvements that have characterized the city are as startling
as the city itself. In 1831, Mark Beaubien established a ferry over the
river, and put himself under bonds to carry all the citizens free for the
privilege of charging strangers. Now there are twenty-four large brido'es
and two tunnels.

In 1833 the government expended $30,000 on the harbor. Then
commenced that series of manoeuvers with the river that has made it one

HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST. 101

of the world's curiosities. It used to wind around in the lower end of
the town, and make its way rippling over the sand into the lake at the
foot of Madison street. Tliey took it up and put it down where it now
is. It was a narrow stream, so narrow that even moderately small crafts
had to go up through the willows and cat's tails to the point near Lake
street bridge, and Lack up one of the branches to get room enough in
which to turn around.

In 1844 the quagmires in the streets were first pontooned by plank
roads, which acted in wet weather as public squirt-guns. Keeping you
out of the mud, they compromised by squirting the mud over you. The
wooden-block pavements came to Chicago in 1857. In 1840 water was
delivered by peddlers in carts or by hand. Then a twenty -five horse-
power engine pushed it through hollow or bored logs along the streets
till 1854, when it was introduced into the houses by new works. The
first fire-engine was used in 1835, and the first steam fire-engine in 1859.
Gas was utilized for lighting the city in 1850. The Young Men's Chris-
tian Association was organized in 1858, and horse railroads carried them
to their work in 1859. The museum was opened in 1863. The alarm
telegraph adopted in 1864. The opera-house built in 1865. The city
grew from 560 acres in 1833 to 23,000 in 1869. In 1834, the taxes
amounted to $48.90, and the trustees of the town borrowed 160 more for
opening and improving streets. In 1835, the legislature authorized a loan
of $2,000, and the treasurer and street commissioners resigned rather than
plunge the town into such a gulf.

Now the city embraces 36 square miles of territory, and has 30 miles
of water front, besides the outside harbor of refuge, of 400 acres, inclosed
by a crib sea-wall. One-third of the city has been raised up an average
of eight feet, giving good pitch to the 263 miles of sewerage. The water
of the city is above all competition. It is received through two tunnels
extending to a crib in the lake two miles from shore. The closest analy-
sis fails to detect any impurities, and, received 35 feet below the surface,
it is always clear and cold. The first tunnel is five feet two inches in
diameter and two miles long, and can deliver 50,000,000 of gallons per
day. The second tunnel is seven feet in diameter and six miles long,
running four miles under the city, and can deliver 100,000,000 of gal-
lons per day. This water is distributed through 410 miles of water-
mains.

The three grand engineering exploits of the city are : First, lifting
the city up on jack-screws, whole squares at a time, without interrupting
the business, thus giving us good drainage ; second, running the tunnels
under the lake, giving us the best water in the world ; and third, the
turning the current of the river in its own channel, delivering us from the
old abominations, and making decency possible. They redound about

102 HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST.

equally to the credit of the engineering, to the energy of the people, and
to the health of the city.

That which really constitutes the city, its indescribable spirit, its soul,
the way it lights up in every feature in the hour of action, has not been
touched. In meeting strangers, one is often surprised how some homely
women marry so well. Their forms are bad, their gait uneven and awk-
ward, their complexion is dull, their features are misshapen and mismatch-
ed, and when we see them there is no beauty that we should desire them.
But when once they are aroused on some subject, they put on new pro-
portions. They light up into great power. The real person comes out
from its unseemly ambush, and captures us at will. They have power.
They have ability to cause things to come to pass. We no longer wonder
why they are in such high demand. So it is with our city.

There is no grand scenery except the two seas, one of water, the
other of prairie. Nevertheless, there is a spirit about it, a push, a breadth,
a power, that soon makes it a place never to be forsaken. One soon
ceases to believe in impossibilities. Balaams are the only prophets that are
disappointed. The bottom that has been on the point of falling out has
been there so long that it has grown fast. It can not fall out. It has all
the capital of the world itching to get inside the corporation.

The two great laws that govern the growth and size of cities are,
first, the amount of territory for which they are the distributing and
receiving points ; second, the number of medium or moderate dealers that
do this distributing. Monopolists build up themselves, not the cities.
They neither eat, wear, nor live in proportion to their business. Both
these laws help Chicago.

The tide of trade is eastward — not up or down the map, but across
the map. The lake runs up a wingdam for 500 miles to gather in the
business. Commerce can not ferry up there for seven months in the year,
and the facilities for seven months can do the work for twelve. Then the
great region west of us is nearly all good, productive land. Dropping
south into the trail of St. Louis, you fall into vast deserts and rocky dis-
tricts, useful in holding the world together. St. Louis and Cincinnati,
instead of rivaling and hurting Chicago, are her greatest sureties of
dominion. They are far enough away to give sea-room, — farther off than
Paris is from London, — and yet they are near enough to prevent the
springing up of any other great city between them.

St. Louis will be helped by the opening of the Mississippi, but also
hurt. That will put New Orleans on her feet, and with a railroad running
over into Texas and so West, she will tap the streams that now crawl up
the Texas and Missouri road. The current is East, not North, and a sea-
port at New Orleans can not permanently help St. Louis.

Chicago is in the ficild almost alone, to handle the wealth of one-

HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST. 103

fourth of the territory of this great republic. This strip of seacoast
divides its margins between Portland, Boston, New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore and Savannah, or some other great port to be created for the
South in the next decade. But Chicago has a dozen empires casting their
treasuj;es into her lap. On a bed of coal that can run all the machinery
of the world for 500 centuries ; in a garden that can feed the race by the
thousand years; at the head of the lakes that give her a temperature as a
summer resort equaled by no great city in the land ; with a climate that
insures the health of her citizens ; surrounded by all the great deposits
of natural wealth in mines and forests and herds, Chicago is the wonder
of to-day, and will be the city of the future.

MASSACRE AT FORT DEARBORN.

During the war of 1812, Fort Dearborn became the theater of stirring
<jvents. The garrison consisted of fifty-four men under command of
Captain Nathan Heald, assisted by Lieutenant Helm (son-in-law of Mrs.
Kinzie) and Ensign Ronan. Dr. Voorhees was surgeon. The only resi-
dents at the post at that time were the wives of Captain Heald and Lieu-
tenant Helm, and a few of the soldiers, Mr. Kinzie and his family, and
a few Canadian voyageurs^ with their wives and children. The soldiers
and Mr. Kinzie were on most friendly terms with the Pottawattamies
and Winnebagos, the principal tribes around them, but they could not
win them from their attachment to the British.

One evening in April, 1812, Mr. Kinzie sat playing on his violin and
his children were dancing to the music, when Mrs. Kinzie came rushing
into the house, pale with terror, and exclaiming: "The Indians! the
Indians!" "What? Where?" eagerly inquired Mr. Kinzie. "Up
at Lee's, killing and scalping," answered the frightened mother, who,
when the alarm was given, was attending ]\'Irs. Barnes (just confined)
living not far off. Mr. Kinzie and his family crossed the river and took
refuge in the fort, to which place Mrs. Barnes and her infant not a day
old were safely conveyed. The rest of the inhabitants took shelter in the
fort. This alarm was caused by a scalping party of Winnebagos, who
hovered about the fort several days, when they disappeared, and for several
weeks the inhabitants were undisturbed.

On the 7th of August, 1812, General Hull, at Detroit, sent orders to
Captain Heald to evacuate Fort Dearborn, and to distribute all the United
States property to the Indians in the neighborhood — a most insane order.
The Pottawattamie chief, who brought the dispatch, had more wisdom
than the commanding general. He advised Captain Heald not to make
the distribution. Said he : " Leave the fort and stores as they are, and
let the Indians make distribution for themselves ; and while they are
engaged in the business, the white people may escape to Fort Wayne."

o
■J
<

HISTORY OF THE NORTHAVEST. 105

Captain Heald held a council with the Indians on the afternoon of
the 12th, in which his officers refused to join, for they had been informed
that treachery was designed — that the Indians intended to murder the
white people in the council, and then destroy those in the fort. Captain
Heald, however, took the precaution to open a port-hole displaying a
cannon pointing directly upon the council, and by that means saved
his life.

Mr. Kinzie, who knew the Indians well, begged Captain Heald not
to confide in their promises, nor distribute the arms and munitions among
them, for it would only put power into their hands to destroy the whites.
Acting upon this advice, Heald resolved to withhold the munitions of
war ; and on the night of the 13th, after the distribution of the other
property had been made, the powder, ball and liquors were thrown into
the river, the muskets broken up and destroyed.

Black Partridge, a friendly chief, came to Captain Heald, and said :
*' Linden birds have been singing in my ears to-day: be careful on the
march you are going to take." On that dark night vigilant Indians had
crept near the fort and discovered the destruction of their promised booty
going on within. The next morning the powder was seen floating on the
surface of the river. The savages were exasperated and made loud com-
plaints and threats.

On the following day when preparations were making to leave the
fort, and all the inmates were deeply impressed with a sense of impend-
ing danger, Capt. Wells, an uncle of Mrs. Heald, was discovered upon
the Indian trail among the sand-hills on the borders of the lake, not far
distant, with a band of mounted Miamis, of whose tribe he was chief,
having been adopted by the famous Miami warrior, Little Turtle. When
news of Hull's surrender reached Fort Wayne, he had started with this
force to assist Heald in defending Fort Dearborn. He was too late.
Every means for its defense had been destroyed the night before, and
arrangements were made for leaving the fort on the morning of the loth.

It was a warm bright morning in the middle of August. Indications
were positive that the savages intended to murder the white people ; and
when they moved out of the southern gate of the fort, the march was
like a funeral procession. The band, feeling the solemnity of the occa-
sion, struck up the Dead March in Saul.

Capt. Wells, who had blackened his face with gun-powder in token
of his fate, took the lead with his band of Miamis, followed by Capt.
Heald, with his wife by his side on horseback. Mr. Kinzie hoped by his
personal influence to avert the impending blow, and therefore accompanied
them, leaving his family in a boat in charge of a friendly Indian, to be
taken to his trading station at the site of Niles, Michigan, in the event of
his death.

106

HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST.

HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST. 107

The procession moved slowly along the lake shore till they reached
the sand-hills between the prairie and the beach, when the Pottawattamie
escort, under the leadership of Blackbird, filed to the right, placing those
hills between them and the white people. Wells, with his Miamis, had
kept in the advance. They suddenly came rushing back. Wells exclaim-
ing, " They are about to attack us ; form instantly." These words were
quickly followed by a storm of bullets, which came whistling over the
little hills which the treacherous savages had made the covert for their
murderous attack. The white troops charged upon the Indians, drove
them back to the prairie, and then the battle was waged between fifty-
four soldiers, twelve civilians and three or four women (the cowardly
Miamis having fled at the outset) against five hundred Indian warriors.
The white people, hopeless, resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible.
Ensign Ronan wielded his weapon vigorously, even after falling upon his
knees weak from the loss of blood. Capt. Wells, who was by the side of
his niece, Mrs. Heald, when the conflict began, behaved with the greatest
coolness and courage. He said to her, " We have not the slightest chance
for life. We must part to meet no more in this world. God bless you."'
And then he dashed forward. Seeing a young warrior, painted like a
demon, climb into a wagon in which were twelve childi'en, and tomahawk
them all, he cried out, unmindful of his personal danger, " If that is your
game, butchering women and children, I will kill too." He spurred his
horse towards the Indian camp, where they had left their squaws and
papooses, hotly pursued by swift-footed young warriors, who sent bullets
whistling after him. One of these killed his horse and wounded him
severely in the leg. With a yell the young braves rushed to make him
their prisoner and reserve him for torture. He resolved not to be made
a captive, and by the use of the most provoking epithets tried to induce
them to kill him instantly. He called a fiery young chief a squaw, when
the enraged warrior killed Wells instantly with his tomahawk, jumped
upon his body, cut out his heart, and ate a portion of the warm morsel
with savage delight !

In this fearful combat women bore a conspicuous part. Mrs. Heald
was an excellent equestrian and an expert in the use of the rifle. She
fought the savages bravely, receiving several severe wounds. Though
faint from the loss of blood, she managed to keep her saddle. A savage
raised his tomahawk to kill her, when she looked him full in the face,
and with a sweet smile and in a gentle voice said, in his own language,
" Surely you will not kill a squaw ! " The arm of the savage fell, and
the life of the heroic woman was saved.

Mrs. Helm, the step-daughter of Mr. Kinzie, had an encounter with
a stout Indian, who attempted to tomahawk her. Springing to one side,
she received the glancing blow on her shoulder, and at the same instant

108 HISTORY OF THE NORTHAVEST.

seized the savage round the neck with her arms and endeavored to get
hold of his scalping knife, which hung in a sheath at his breast. While
she was thus struggling she was dragged from lier antagonist by anc bhei
powerful Indian, who bore her, in spite of her struggles, to the margin
of the lake and plunged her in. To her astonishment she Avas held by
him so that she would not drown, and she soon perceived that she was
in the hands of the friendly Black Partridge, who had saved her life.

The wife of Sergeant Holt, a large and powerful woman, behaved as
bravely as an Amazon. She rode a fine, high-spirited horse, which the
Indians coveted, and several of them attacked her with the butts of their
guns, for the purpose of dismounting her ; but she used the sword which
she had snatched from her disabled husband so skillfully that she foiled
them ; and, suddenly wheeling her horse, she dashed over the prairie,
followed by the savages shouting, " The brave woman ! the brave woman !
Don't hurt her ! " They finally overtook her, and while she was fighting
them in front, a powerful savage came up behind her, seized her by the
neck and dragged her to the ground. Horse and woman were made
captives. Mrs. Holt was a long time a captive among the Indians, but
was afterwards ransomed.

In this sharp conflict two-thirds of the white people were slain and
wounded, and all their horses, baggage and provision were lost. Only
twentv-eight straggling men now remained to fight five hundred Indians
rendered furious by the sight of blood. They succeeded in breaking
through the ranks of the murderers and gaining a slight eminence on the
prairie near the Oak Woods. The Indians did not pursue, but gathered
on their flanks, while the chiefs held a consultation on the sand-hills, and
showed signs of willingness to parley. It would have been madness on
the part of the whites to renew the fight ; and so Capt. Heald went for-
ward and met Blackbird on the open prairie, where terms of surrender
were soon agreed upon. It was arranged that the white people should
give up their arms to Blackbird, and that the survivors should become
prisoners of war, to be exchanged for ransoms as soon as practicable.
With this understanding captives and captors started for the Indian
camp near the fort, to which Mrs. Helm had been taken bleeding and
suffering by Black Partridge, and had met her step-father and learned
that her husband was safe.

A new scene of horror was now opened at the Indian camp. The
wounded, not being included in the terms of surrender, as it Avas inter-
preted by the Indians, and the British general. Proctor, having offered a
liberal bounty for American scalps, delivered at Maiden, nearly all the
wounded men were killed and scalped, and the price of the trophies was
afterwards paid by the British government.

THE STATE OF IOWA.

GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION.

The State of Iowa has an outline figure nearly approaching that of a rec-
tangular parallelogram, the northern and southern boundaries being nearly due
east and west lines, and its eastern and western boundaries determined by
southerly flowing rivers — the Mississippi on the east, and the Missouri, together
with its tributary, the Big Sioux, on the west. The northern boundary is upon
the parallel of forty-three degrees thirty minutes, and the southern is approxi-
mately upon that of forty degrees and thirty-six minutes. The distance from
the northern to the southern boundary, excluding the small prominent angle at
the southeast corner, is a little more than two hundred miles. Owing to the
irregularity of the river boundaries, however, the number of square miles does
not reach that of the multiple of these numbers ; but according to a report of
the Secretary of the Treasury to the United States Senate, March 12, 1863,
the State of Iowa contains 35,228,200 acres, or 55,044 square miles. When it
is understood that all this vast extent of surface, except that which is occupied
by our rivers, lakes and peat beds of the northern counties, is susceptible of the
highest cultivation, some idea may be formed of the immense agricultural
resources of the State. Iowa is nearly as large as England, and twice as large
as Scotland ; but when we consider the relative area of surface which may be
made to yield to the wants of man, those countries of the Old World will bear
no comparison with Iowa.

TOPOGRAPHY.

No complete topographical survey of the State of Iowa has yet been made.
Therefore all the knowledge we have yet upon the subject has been obtained
from incidental observations of geological corps, from barometrical observations
by authority of the General Government, and levelings done by railroad en-
gineer corps within the State.

Taking into view the facts that the highest point in the State is but a little
more than twelve hundred feet above the lowest point, that these two points are
nearly three hundred miles apart, and that the whole State is traversed by

109 •

110 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

gently flowing rivers, it will be seen that in reality the State of Iowa rests
wholly within, and comprises a part of, a vast plain, with no mountain or hill
rancres within its borders.

A clearer idea of the great uniformity of the surface of the State may be
obtained from a statement of the general slopes in feet per mile, from point to
point, in straight lines across it :

From the N. E. corner to the S. E. corner of the State 1 foot 1 inch per mile.

From the N. E. corner to Spirit Lake 5 feet 5 inches per mile.

From the N. W. corner to Spirit Lake 5 feetO inches per mile.

From the N. W. corner to the S. W. corner of the State 2 feet inches per mile.

From the S. W corner to the highest ridge between the two

great rivers (in Ringgold County)... 4 feet 1 inch per mile

From the dividing ridge in the S. E. corner of the State 5 feet 7 inches per mile.

From the highest point in the State (near Spirit Lake) to the
lowest point in the State (at the mouth of Des Moines
River) 4 feet inches per mile.

It will be seen, therefore, that there is a good degree of propriety in regard-
ing the whole State as a part of a great plain, the lowest point of which within
its borders, the southeast corner of the State, is only 444 feet above the level of
the sea. The average height of the whole State above the level of the sea is
not far from eight hundred feet, although it is more than a thousand miles
inland from the nearest sea coast. These remarks are, of course, to be under-
stood as applying to the surface of the State as a whole. When we come to
consider its surface feature in detail, we find a great diversity of surface by the
formation of valleys out of the general level, which have been evolved by the
action of streams during the unnumbered years of the terrace epoch.

It is in the northeastern part of the State that the river valleys are deepest ;
consequently the country there has the greatest diversity of surface, and its
physical features are most strongly marked.

DRAINAGE SYSTEM.

The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers form the eastern and western bounda-
ries of the State, and receive the eastern and western drainage of it.

The eastern drainage system comprises not far from two-thirds of the en-
tire surface of the State. The great watershed which divides these two systems
is formed by the highest land between those rivers along the whole length of a.
line running southward from, a point on the northern boundary line of the State
near Spirit Lake, in Dickinson County, to a nearly central point in the northern
part of Adair County.

From the last named point, this highest ridge of land, between the tw^o great
rivers, continues southward, without change of character, through Ringgold
County into the State of Missouri ; but southward from that point, in Adair
County, it is no longer the great watershed. From that point, another and
lower ridge bears off more nearly southeastward, through the counties of Madi-
son, Clarke, Lucas and Appanoose, and becomes itself the great watershed.

•

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. Ill

RIVERS.

All streams that rise in Iowa rise upon the incoherent surface deposits,
occupying at first only slight depressions in the surface, and scarcely percept-
ible. These successively coalesce to form the streams.

The drift and bluff deposits are both so thick in Iowa that its streams not
only rise upon their surface, but they also reach considerable depth into these
deposits alone, in some cases to a depth of nearly two hundred feet from the
general prairie level.

The majority of streams that constitute the western system of Iowa drainage
run, either along the whole or a part of their course, upon that peculir deposit
known as bliiflF deposit. Their banks are often, even of the small streams,
from five to ten feet in height, quite perpendicular, so that they make the
streams almost everywhere unfordable, and a great impediment to travel across
the open country where there are no bridges.

The material of this deposit is of a slightly yellowish ash color, except
where darkened by decaying vegetation, very fine and silicious, but not sandy,
not very cohesive, and not at all plastic. It forms excellent soil, and does not
bake or crack in drying, except limy concretions, which are generally dis-
tributed throughout the mass, in shape and size resembling pebbles ; not a
stone or pebble can be found in the whole deposit. It was called " silicious
marl" by Dr. Owen, in his geological report to the General Government, and
its origin referred to an accumulation of sediment in an ancient lake, which
was afterward drained, when its sediment became dry land. Prof. Swallaw
gives it the name of "bluff," which is here adopted; the term Lacustral would
have been better. The peculiar properties of this deposit are that it will stand
securely with a precipitous front two hundred feet high, and yet is easily
excavated with a spade. Wells dug in it require only to be walled to a point just
above the water line. Yet, compact as it is, it is very porous, so that water
which falls on its surface does not remain, but percolates through it ; neither
does it accumulate within its mass, as it does upon the surface of and within
the drift and the stratified formations.

The bluff deposit is known to occupy a region through which the Missouri
runs almost centrally, and measures, as far as is known, more than two hun-
dred miles in length and nearly one hundred miles in width. The thickest
part yet known in Iowa is in Fremont County, where it reaches two hundred
feet. The boundaries of this deposit in Iowa are nearly as follows : Com-
mencing at the southeast corner of Fremont County, follow up the watershed
between the East Nishnabotany and the West Tarkio Rivers to the southern
boundary of Cass County ; thence to the center of Audubon County ; thence
to Tip Top Station, on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway ; thence b}" a
broad curve Avestwavd to the northwest corner of Plymouth County.

This deposit is composed of fine sedimentary particles, similar to tiiat
which the Missouri River now deposits from its waters, and is the same which

112 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

that river did deposit in a broad depression in the surface of the drift that
formed a hike-like expansion of that river in the earliest period of the history
of its valley. That lake, as shown by its deposit, which now remains, was
about one hundred miles wide and more than twice as long. The water of the
river was muddy then, as now, and the broad lake became filled with the sedi-
ment which the river brought down, before its valley had enough in the lower
portion of its course to drain it. After the lake became filled with the sedi-
ment, the valley below became deepened by the constant erosive action of the
waters, to a depth of more than sufficient to have drained the lake of its first
waters ; but the only effect then was to cause it to cut its valley out of the de-
posits its own muddy waters had formed. Thus along the valley of that river,
so far as it forms the western boundary of Iowa, the bluifs which border it are
composed of that sediment known as bluff deposit, forming a distinct border
along the broad, level flood plain, the width of which varies from five to fifteen
miles, while the original sedimentary deposit stretches far inland.

All the rivers of the western system of drainage, except the Missouri itself^
are quite incomplete as rivers, in consequence of their being really only
branches of other larger tributaries of that great river , or, if they empty into
the Missouri direct, they have yet all the usual characteristics of Iowa rivers,
from their sources to their mouths.

Chariton and G-rand Rivers both rise and run for the first twenty-five miles
of their courses upon the drift deposit alone. The first strata that are exposed
by the deepening valleys of both these streams belong to the upper coal meas-
ures, and they both continue upon the same formation until they make their
exit from the State (the former in Appanoose County, the latter in Ringgold
County), near the boundary of which they have passed nearly or quite through
the whole of that formation to the middle coal measures. Their valleys gradu-
ally deepen from their upper portions downward, so that within fifteen or twenty
miles they have reached a depth of near a hundred and fifty feet below the gen-
eral level of the adjacent high land. When the rivers have cut their valleys
down through the series of limestone strata, they reach those of a clayey com-
position. Upon these they widen their valleys and make broad flood plains
(commonly termed "bottoms"), the soil of which is stifl[' and clayey, except
where modified by sandy washings.

A considerable breadth of woodland occupies the bottoms and valley sides
along a great part of their length ; but their upper branches and tributaries are
mostly prairie streams.

Platte River. — This river belongs mainly to Missouri. Its upper branches
pass through Ringgold County, and, with the west fork of the Grand River,
drain a large region of country.

Here the drift deposit reaches its maximum thickness on an east and west
line across the State, and the valleys are eroded in some instances to a depth of
two hundred feet, apparently, through this deposit alone.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 113

The term " drift deposit " applies to the soil and sub-soil of the greater part
of the State, and in it alone many of our wells are dug and our forests take
root. It rests upon the stratified rocks. It is composed of clay, sand, gravel
aud boulders, promiscuously intermixed, without stratification, varying in char-
acter in difierent parts of the State.

The proportion of lime in the drift of Iowa is so great that the water of all
our wells and springs is too '' hard " for washing purposes ; and the same sub-
stance is so prevalent in the drift clays that they are always found to have suffi-
cient flux when used for the manufacture of brick.

One Hundred and Two River is represented in Taylor County, the valleys
of which have the same general character of those just described. The country
around and between the east and west forks of this stream is almost entirely
prairie.

Nodaway River. — This stream is represented by east, middle and west
branches. The two former rise in Adair County, the latter in Cass County.
These rivers and valleys are fine examples of the small rivers and valleys of
Southern Iowa. They have the general character of drift valleys, and with
beautiful undulating and sloping sides. The Nodaways drain one of the finest
agricultural regions in the State, the soil of which is tillable almost to their very
banks. The banks and the adjacent narrow flood plains are almost everywhere
composed of a rich, deep, dark loam.

Nishnabotany River. — This river is represented by east and west branches,
the former having its source in Anderson County, the latter in Shelby County.
Both these branches, from their source to their confluence — and also the main
stream, from thence to the point where it enters the great flood plain of the
Missouri — run through a region the surface of which is occupied by the bluff
deposit. The West Nishnabotany is probably without any valuable mill sites.
In the western part of Cass County, the East Nishnabotany loses its identity
by becoming abruptly divided up into five or six difierent creeks. A few
good mill sites occur here on this stream. None, however, that are thought
reliable exist on either of these rivers, or on the main stream below the
confluence, except, perhaps, one or two in Montgomery County. The
valleys of the two branches, and the intervening upland, possess remarkable
fertility.

Boyer River. — Until it enters the flood plain of the Missouri, the Boyer
runs almost, if not quite, its entire course through the region occupied by the
bluff deposit, and has cut its valley entirely through it along most of its pas-
sage. The only rocks exposed are the upper coal measures, near Reed's mill, in
Harrison County. The exposures are slight, and are the most northerly now
known in Iowa. The valley of this river has usually gently sloping sides, and an
ndistinctly defined flood plain. Along the lower half of its course the adjacent
upland presents a surface of the billowy character, peculiar to the bluft' deposit.
The source of this river is in Sac County.

114 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

Soldier River. — The east and middle branches of this stream have their
source in Crawford County, and the west branch in Ida County. The whole
course of this river is through the bluff deposit. It has no exposure of strata
along its course.

Little Sioux River. — Under this head are included both the main and west
branches of that stream, together with the Maple, which is one of its branches.
The west branch and the Maple are so similar to the Soldier River that they
need no separate description. The main stream has its boundary near the
northern boundary of the State, and runs most of its course upon drift deposit
alone, entering the region of the bluff deposit in the southern part of Cherokee
County. The two principal upper branches, near their source in Dickinson
and Osceola .Counties, are small prairie creeks, with indistinct valleys. On
entering Clay County, the valley deepens, and at their confluence has a depth
of one hundred feet, which still further increases until along the boundary line
between Clay and Buena Vista Counties, it reaches a depth of two hundred
feet. Just as the valley enters Cherokee County, it turns to the southward and
becomes much widened, with its sides gently sloping to the uplands. When the
valley enters the region of the bluff deposit, it assumes the billowy appearance.
Ko exposures of strata of any kind have been found in the valley of the Little
Sioux or any of its branches.

Floyd River. — This river rises upon the drift in O'Brien County, and flow-
ing southward enters the region of the bluff deposit a little north of the center
of Plymouth County. Almost from its source to its mouth it is a prairie stream,
with slightly sloping valley sides, which blend gradually with the uplands. A
single slight exposure of sandstone of cretaceous age occurs in the valley near
Sioux City, and which is the only known exposure of rock of any kind along
its whole length. Near this exposure is a mill site, but farther up the stream
it is not valuable for such purposes.

Rock River. — This stream passes through Lyon and Sioux Counties. It
was evidently so named from the fact that considerable exposures of the red
Sioux quartzite occur along the main branches of the stream in Minnesota, a
few miles north of our State boundary. Within this State tlie main stream and
its branches are drift streams, and strata are exposed. The beds and banks of
the streams are usually sandy and gravelly, with occasional boulders intermixed.

Big Sioux River. — Tlie valley of this river, from the northwest corner of
the State to its mouth, possesses much the same character as all the streams of
the surface deposits. At Sioux Falls, a few miles above the northwest corner
of the State, the stream meets with remarkable obstructions from the presence
of Sioux quartzite, which outcrops directly across the stream, and causes a fall
of about sixty feet within a distance of half a mile, producing a series of cas-
cades. For the first twenty-five miles above its mouth, the valley is very broad,
with a broad, flat flood plain, with gentle slopes occasionally showing indistinctly
defined terraces. These terraces and valley bottoms constitute some of the finest

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 115

agricultural land of the region. On the Iowa side of the valley the upland
presents abrupt bluffs, steep as the materials of which they are composed will
stand, and from one hundred to nearly two hundred feet high above the stream.
At rare intervals, about fifteen miles from its mouth, the cretaceous strata are
found exposed in the face of the bluffs of the Iowa side. No other strata are
exposed along that part of the valley which borders our State, with the single
exception of Sioux quartzite at its extreme northwestern corner. Some good mill
sites may be secured along that portion of this river which borders Lyon County,
but below this the fall will probably be found insufficient and the location for
dams insecure.

Missouri River. — This is one of th-e muddiest streams on the o;lobe, and its
waters are known to be very turbid far toward its source. The chief pecul-
iarity of this river is its broad flood plains, and its adjacent bluff deposits.
Much the greater part of the flood plain of this river is upon the Iowa side, and
continuous from the south boundary line of the State to Sioux City, a distance
of more than one hundred miles in length, varying from three to five miles in
width. This alluvial plain is estimated to contain more than half a million acres
of land within the State, upward of four hundred thousand of which are now
tillable.

The rivers of the eastern system of drainage have quite a different character
from those of the western system. They are larger, longer and have their val-
leys modified to a much greater extent by the underlying strata. For the lat-
ter reason, water-power is much more abundant upon them than upon the
streams of the western system.

Des Moines River. — This river has its source in Minnesota, but it enters
Iowa before it has attained any size, and flows almost centrally through it from
northwest to southeast, emptying into the Mississippi at the extreme southeast-
ern corner of the State. It drains a greater area than any river within the
State. The upper portion of it is divided into two branches known as the east
and west forks. These unite in Humboldt County. The valleys of these
branches above their confluence are drift-valleys, except a few small exposures
of subcarboniferous limestone about five miles above their confluence. These
exposures produce several small mill-sites. The valleys vary from a few hun-
dred yards to half a mile in width, and are the finest agricultural lands. In the
northern part of Webster County, the character of the main valley is modified
by the presence of ledges and low cliffs of the subcarboniferous limestone and
gypsum. From a point a little below Fort Dodge to near Amsterdam, in Ma-
rion County, the river runs all the way through and upon the lower coal-meas
ure strata. Along this part of its course the flood-plain varies from an eighth
to half a mile or more in width. From Amsterdam to Ottumwa the subcarbon-
iferous limestone appears at intervals in the valley sides. Near Ottumwa, the sub-
carboniferous rocks pass beneath the liver again, bringing down the coal-measure
strata into its bed ; but they rise again from it in the extreme northwestern part

116 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

of Van Buren County, and subcarbonjferous strata resume and keep their place
along the valley to the north of the river. From Fort Dodge to the northern
part of Lee County, the strata of the lower coal measures are present in the
valley. Its flood plain is frequently sandy, from the debris of the sandstone
and sandy shales of the coal measures produced by their removal in the process
of the formation of the valley.

The principal tributaries of the Des Moines are upon the western side.
These are the Raccoon and the three rivers, viz.: South, Middle and North Riv-
ers. The three latter have their source in the region occupied by the upper
coal-measure limestone formation, flow eastward over the middle coal measures,
and enter the valley of the Des Moines upon the lower coal measures. These
streams, especially South and Middle Rivers, are frequently bordered by high,
rocky clifis. Raccoon River has its source upon the heavy surface deposits of
the middle region of Western Iowa, and along the greater part of its course it
has excavated its valley out those deposits and the middle coal measures alone.
The valley of tlie Des Moines and its branches are destined to become the seat
of extensive manufactures in consequence of the numerous mill sites of immense
power, and the fact that the main valley traverses the entire length of ihe Iowa
coal fields.

Skunk River. — This river has its source in Hamilton County, and runs
almost its entire course upon the border of the outcrop of the lower coal meas-
ures, or, more properly speaking, upon the subcarboniferous limestone, just where
it begins to pass beneath the coal measures by its southerly and westerly dip.
Its general course is southeast. From the western part of Henry County, up
as far as Story County, the broad, flat flood plain is covered with a rich deep
clay soil, which, in time of long-continued I'ains and overflows of the river, has
made the valley of Skunk River a terror to travelers from the earliest settle-
ment of the country. There are some excellent mill sites on the lower half of
this river, but they are not so numerous or valuable as on other rivers of the
eastern system.

loiva River. — This river rises in Hancock County, in the midst of a broad,
slightly undulating drift region. The first rock exposure is that of subcarbon-
iferous limestone, in the southwestern corner of Franklin County. It enters
the region of the Devonian strata near the southwestern corner of Benton
County, and in this it continues to its confluence with the Cedar in Louisa
County. Below the junction with the Cedar, and for some miles above that
point, its valley is broad, and especially on the northern side, with a well
marked flood plain. Its borders gradually blend with the uplands as they slope
away in the distance from the river. The Iowa furnishes numerous and valua-
ble mill sites.

Cedar River. — This stream is usually understood to be a branch of the
Iowa, but it ought, really, to be regarded as the main stream. It rises by
numerous branches in the northern part of the State, and flows the entire length

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 117

of the State, through the region occupied liy the Devonian strata and along the
trend occupied by that formation.

The valley of this river, in the upper part of its course, is narrow, and the
sides slope so gently as to scarcely show where the lowlands end and the up-
lands begin. Below the confluence with the Shell Rock, the flood plain is more
distinctly marked and the valley broad and shallow. The valley of the Cedar
is one of the finest regions in the State, and both the main stream and its
branches afford abundant and reliable mill sites.

Wapsipinnicon River. — This river has its source near the source of the
Cedar, and runs parallel and near it almost its entire course, the upper half
upon the same formation — the Devonian. In the northeastern part of Linn
County, it enters the region of the Niagara limestone, upon which it continues
to the Mississippi. It^is one hundred miles long, and yet the area of its drain-
age is only from twelve to twenty miles in width. Hence, its numerous mill
sites are unusually secure.

Turkey River. — This river and the Upper Iowa are, in many respects, un-
like other Iowa rivers. The difference is due to the great depth they have
CT'oded their valleys and the diff'erent character of the material through which
they have eroded. Turkey River rises in Howard County, and in Winnesheik
County, a few miles from its source, its valley has attained a depth of more than
two hundred feet, and in Fayette and Clayton Counties its depth is increased to
three and four hundred feet. The summit of the uplands, bordering nearly the
whole length of the valley, is capped by the Maquoketa shales. These shales
are underlaid by the Galena limestone, between two and three hundred feet
thick. The valley has been eroded through these, and runs upon the Trenton
limestone. Thus, all the formations along and within this valley are Lower
Silurian. The valley is usually narrow, and without a well-marked flood plain.
Water power is abundant, but in most places inaccessible.

Up>per Iowa River. — This river rises in Minnesota, just beyond the north-
ern boundary line, and enters our State in Howard County before it has attained
any considerable size. Its course is nearly eastward until it reaches the Mis-
sissippi. It rises in the region of the Devonian rocks, and flows across the out-
crops, respectively, of the Niagara, Galena and Trenton limestone, the lower
magnesian limestone and Potsdam sandstone, into and through all of which,
except the last, it has cut its valley, which is the deepest of any in Iowa. The
valley sides are, almost everywhere, high and steep, and cliffs of lower magne-
sian and Trenton limestone give them a wild and rugged aspect. * In the lower
part of the valley, the flood plain reaches a width sufficient for the location of
small farms, but usually it is too narrow for such purposes. On the higher
surface, however, as soon as you leave the valley you come immediately upon a
cultivated country. This stream has the greatest slope per mile of any in Iowa,
consequently it furnishes immense water power. In some places, where creeks
come into it, the valley widens and affords good locations for farms. The town

118 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA,

of Decorali, in Winnesheik County, is located in one of these spots, which
makes it a lovely location ; and the power of the river and the small spring
streams around it offer fine facilities for manufacturing. This river and its
tributaries are the only trout streams in Iowa.

Blississipjn Rive)-. — This river may be described, in general terms, as a broad
canal cut out of the general level of the country through which the river flows.
It is bordered by abrupt hills or bluffs. The bottom of the valley ranges from
one to eight miles in width. The whole space between the bluffs is occupied by
the river and its bottom, or flood plain only, if we except the occasional terraces
or remains of ancient flood plains, which are not now reached by the highest
floods of the river. The river itself is from half a mile to nearly a mile in
width. There are but four points along the whole length of the State where the
bluffs approach the stream on both sides. The Lower Silurian formations com-
pose the bluffs in the northern part of the State, but they gradually disappear
by a southerly dip, and the bluffs are continued successively by the Upper
Silurian, Devonian, and subcarboniferous rocks, which are reached near the
southeastern corner of the State.

Considered in their relation to the present general surface of the state, the
relative ages of the river valley of Iowa date back only tQ the close of the
glacial epoch ; but that the Mississippi, and all the rivers of Northeastern Iowa,
if no others, had at least a large part of the rocky portions of their valleys
eroded by pre-glacial, or perhaps even by palaeozoic rivers, can scarcely be
doubted.

LAKES.

The lakes of Iowa may be properly divided into two distinct classes. The
first may be called drift lakes, having had their origin in the depressions left
in the surface of the drift at the close of the glacial epoch, and have rested upon
the undisturbed surface of the drift deposit ever since the glaciers disappeared.
The others may be properly termed Jluvatile or alluvial lakes, because they have
had their origin by the action of rivers while cutting their own valleys out from
the surface of the drift as it existed at the close of the glacial epoch, and are now
found resting upon the alluvium, as the others rest upon the drift. By the term
alluvium is meant the deposit which has accumulated in the valleys of rivers by
the action of their own currents. It is largely composed of sand and other
coarse material, and upon that deposit are some of the best and most productive
soils in the State. It is this deposit which form the flood plains and deltas of
our rivers, as well as the terraces of their valleys.

The regions to which the drift lakes are principally confined are near the
head waters of the principal streams of the State. We consequently find them
in those regions wliicli lie between the Cedar and Des Moines Rivers, and the
Dcs Moines and Little Sioux. No drift lakes are found in Southern Iowa.
The largest of the lakes to be found in the State are Spirit and Okoboji, in

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 119

Dickinson County ; Clear Lake, in Cerro Gordo County ; and Storm Lake, in
Bunea Vista County.

Spirit Lake. — The width and length of this lake are about equal , and it
contains about twelve square miles of surface^ its northern border resting directly
on the boundary of the State. It lies almost directly upon the great watershed.
Its shores are mostly gravelly, and the country about it fertile.

OJcoboji Lake. — This body of water lies directly south of Spirit Lake, and
has somewhat the shape of a horse-shoe, with its eastern projection within a few
rods of Spirit Lake, where it receives the outlet of the latter. Okoboji Lake
extends about five miles southward from Spirit Lake, thence about the same
distance westward, and then bends north Avard about as far as the eastern projec-
tion. The eastern portion is narrow, but the western is larger, and in some
places a hundred feet deep. The surroundings of this and Spirit Lake are very
pleasant. Fish are abundant in them, and they are the resort of myriads of
water fowl.

Clear Lake. — This lake is situated in Cerro Gordo County, upon the
watershed between the Iowa and Cedar Rivers. It is about five miles long,
and two or three miles wide, and has a maximum depth of only fifteen
feet. Its shores and the country around it are like that of Spirit Lake.

Storm Lake. — This body of water rests upon the great water shed in Buena
Vista County. It is a clear, beautiful sheet of water, containing a surface area
of between four and five square miles.

The outlets of all these drift-lakes are dry during a portion of the year, ex-
cept Okoboji.

Walled Lakes. — Along the water sheds of Northern Iowa great numbers of
small lakes exist, varying from half a mile to a mile in diameter. One of the lakes
in Wright County, and another in Sac, have each received the name of " Walled
Lake," on account of the existence of embankments on their borders, which are
supposed to be the work of ancient inhabitants. These embankments are from
two to ten feet in height, and from five to thirty feet across. They are the
result of natural causes alone, being referable to the periodic action of ice, aided,
to some extent, by the force of the waves. These lakes are very shallow, and
in winter freeze to the bottom, so that but little unfrozen water remains in the
middle. The ice freezes fast to everything upon the bottom, and the expansive
power of the water in freezing acts in all directions from the center to the cir-
cumference, and whatever was on the bottom of the lake has been thus carried
to the shore, and this has been going on from year to year, from century to
century, forming the embankments which have caused so much wonder.

SPRINGS.

Springs issue from all formations, and from the sides of almost every valley,
but they are more numerous, and assume proportions which give rise to the
name of sink-holes, along the upland borders of the Upper Iowa River, owing

120 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

to the peculiar fissured and laminated character and great thickness of the strata
of tlie a<i-e of tlie Trenton limestone which underlies the whole region of the
valley of that stream.

No mineral springs, properly so called, have yet been discovered in Iowa,
though the water of several artesian wells is frequently found charged with
soluble mineral substances.

ORIGIN OF THE PRAIRIES.

It is estimated that seven-eighths of the surface of the State was prairie
when first settled. They are not confined to level surfaces, nor to any partic-
ular variety of soil, for within the State they rest upon all formations, from
those of the Azoic to those of the Cretaceous age, inclusive. Whatever may
have been their origin, their present existence in Iowa is not due to the influ-
ence of climate, nor the soil, nor any of the underlying formations. The real
cause is the prevalence of the annual fires. If these had been prevented fifty
years ago, Iowa would now be a timbered country. The encroachment of forest
trees upon prairie farms as soon as the bordering Avoodland is protected from
tiie annual prairie fires, is well known to farmers throughout the State.

The soil of Iowa is justly famous for its fertility, and there is probably no
equal area of the earth's surface that contains so little untillable land, or whose
soil has so high an average of fertility. Ninety-five per cent, of its surface is
tillable land.

GEOLOGY.

The soil of Iowa may be separated into three general divisions, which not
only possess different physical characters, but also differ in the mode of their
origin. These are drift, bluff and alluvial, and belong respectively to the
deposits bearing the same names. The drift occupies a much larger part of the
surface of the State than both the others. The bluff has the next greatest area
of surface, and the alluvial least.

All soil is disintegrated rock. Tlie drift deposit of Iowa Avas derived, to a
considerable extent, from the rocks of Minnesota; but the greater part of Iowa
drift was derived from its own rocks, much of which has been transported but a
short distance. In general terms the constant component element of the di'ift
soil is that portion which was transported from the north, while the inconstant
elements are those portions which were derived from the adjacent or underlying
strata. For example, in Western Iowa, wherever that cretaceous formation
known as the Nishnabotany sandstone exists, the soil contains more sand than
elsewhere. The same may be said of the soil of some parts of the State occu-
pied by the lower coal measures, the sandstones and sandy shales of that forma-
tion furnishing tlie sand.

In Northern and Northwestern Iowa, the drift contains more sand and
gravel than elsewhere. This sand and gravel was, doubtless, derived from the

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA

121

cretaceous rocks that now do, or formerly did, exist there, and also in part
from the conglomerate and pudding-stone beds of the Sioux quartzite.

In Southern Iowa, the soil is frequently stiff and clayey. This preponder-
ating clay is doubtless derived from the clayey and shaly beds which alternate
with the limestones of that region.

The bluff soil is that which rests upon, and constitutes a part of, the bluff
deposit. It is found only in the western part of the State, and adjacent to the
Missouri River. Although it contains less than one per cent, of clay in its
composition, it is in no respect inferior to the best drift soil.

The alluvial soil is that of the flood plains of the river valleys, or bottom
lands. That which is periodically flooded by the rivers is of little value for
agricultural purposes ; but a large part of it is entirely above the reach of the
highest floods, and is very productive.

The stratified rocks of Iowa range from the Azoic to the Mesozoic, inclu-
sive ; but the greater portion of the surface of the State is occupied by those
of the Palaeozoic age. The table below will show each of these formations in
their order :

SYSTEMS.

AGES.

Cretaceous

Carboniferous..

Devonian

Upper Silurian

Lower Silurian
Azoic

GROOPS.

PERIODS.

f Post Tertiary

( Lower Cretaceous. <

Coal Measures. <

Subcarboniferous.

Hamilton

Niagara

Cincinnati

Trenton.

Primordial.
Huronian

FORMATIONS.

EPOCHS.

Drift

Inoceramous bed ,

Woodbury Sandstone and Shales.

Nishnabotany Sandstone ,

Upper Coal Measures

Middle Coal Measures

Lower Coal Measures

St. Louis Limestone

Keokuk Limestone

Burl ington Limestone

Kinderhook beds

Hamilton Limestone and Shales

Niagara Limestone

Maquoketa Shales

Galena Limestone

Trenton Limestone

!St. Peter's Sandstone

Lower Magnesian Limestone....

Potsdam Sandstone

Sioux Quart zite

THICKNESS.

IN FEET.

to 200

50
130
100
200
200
200

7.5

90
196
175
200
350

80
250
200

80
250
300

THE AZOIC SYSTEM.

The Sioux quartzite is found exposed in natural ledges only upon a few
acres in the extreme northwest corner of the State, upon the banks of the Big
Sioux River, for which reason the specific name of Sioux Quartzite has been
given them. It is an intensely hard rock, breaks in splintery fracture, and a
color varying, in different localities, from a light to deep red. The process of
metamorphism has been so complete throughout the whole formation that the
rock is almost everywhere of uniform texture. The dip is four or five degrees
to the northward, and the trend of the outcrop is eastward and westward. This

122 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

rock may be quarried in a few rare cases, but usually it cannot be secured in
dry forms except that into which it naturally cracks, and the tendency is to
angular pieces. It is absolutely indestructible.

LOWER SILURIAN SYSTEM.

PRIMORDIAL GROUP.

Potsdam Sandstone. — This formation is exposed only in a small portion of
the northeastern portion of the State. It is only to be seen in the bases of the
bluffs and steep valley sides which border the river there. It may be seen
underlying the lower magnesian limestone, St. Peter s sandstone and Trenton
limestone, in their regular order, along the bluffs of the Mississippi from the
northern boundary of the State as far south as Guttenburg, along the Upper
Iowa for a distance of about twenty miles from its mouth, and along a few of
the streams which empty into the Mississippi in Allamakee County.

It is nearly valueless for economic purposes.

No fossils have been discovered in this formation in Iowa.

Lower Magnesium Limestone. — This formation has but little greater geo-
graphical extent in Iowa than the Potsdam sandstone. It lacks a uniformity
of texture and stratification, owing to which it is not generally valuable for
building purposes.

The only fossils found in this formation in Iowa are a few traces of crinoids,
near McGregor.

St. Peter s Sandstone. — This formation is remarkably uniform in thickness
throughout its known geographical extent ; and it is evident it occupies a large
portion of the northern half of Allamakee County, immediately beneath the
drift.

TRENTON GROUP.

Trenton Limestotie. — With the exception of this, all the limestones of both
Upper and Lower Silurian age in Iowa are magnesian limestones — nearly pure
dolomites. This formation occupies large portions of Winnesheik and Alla-
makee Counties and a portion of Clayton. The greater part of it is useless for
economic purposes, yet there are in some places compact and evenly bedded
layers, which afford fine material for window caps and sills.

In this formation, fossils are abundant, so much so that, in some places, the
rock is made up of a mass of shells, corals and fragments of tribolites, cemented
by calcareous material into a solid rock. Some of these fossils are new to
science and peculiar to Iowa.

The Galena Limestone. — This is the upper formation of the Trenton group.
It seldom exceeds twelve miles in width, although it is fully one hundred and
fifty miles long. The outcrop traverses portions of the counties of Howard,
Winnesheik, Allamakee, Fayette, Clayton, Dubuque and Jackson. It exhibits
its greatest development in Dubuque County. It is nearly a pure dolomite,
with a slight admixture of silicious matter. It is usually unfit for dressing,

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 123

though sometimes near the top of the bed good blocks for dressing are found.
This formation is the source of the lead ore of the Dubuque lead mines. The
lead region proper is confined to an area of about fifteen miles square in the
vicinity of Dubuque. The ore occurs in vertical fissures, which traverse the
rock at regular intervals from east to west; some is found in those which have
a north and south direction. The ore is mostly that known as Galena, or sul-
phuret of lead, very small quantities only of the carbonate being found with it.

CINCINNATI GROUP.

Maquoketa SJiales. — The surface occupied by this formation is singularly
long and narrow, seldom reaching more than a mile or two in width, but more
than a hundred miles in length. Its most southerly exposure is in the bluffs of
the Mississippi near Bellevue, in Jackson County, and the most northerly yet
recognized is in the western part of Winnesheik County. The whole formation
is largely composed of bluish and brownish shales, sometimes slightly arena-
ceous, sometimes calcareous, which weather into a tenacious clay upon the sur-
face, and the soil derived from it is usually stiff and clayey. Its economic
value is very slight.

Several species of fossils which characterize the Cincinnati group are found
in the Maquoketa shales ; but they contain a larger number that have been
found anyAvhere else than in these shales in Iowa, and their distinct faunal char-
acteristics seem to warrant the separation of the Maquoketa shales as a distinct
formation from any others of the group.

UPPER SILURIAN SYSTEM.

NIAGARA GHOIP.

Niagara Limestone. — The area occupied by the Niagara limestone is nearly
one hundred and sixty miles long from north to south, and forty and fifty miles
wide.

This formation is entirely a magnesian limestone, with in some places a con-
siderable proportion of silicious matter in the form of chert or coarse flint. A
large part of it is evenly bedded, and probably affords the best and greatest
amount of quarry rock in the State. The quarries at Anamosa, LeClaire and
Farley are all opened in this formation.

DEVONIAN SYSTEM.

HAMILTON GROUP.

Hamilton Limestone. — The area of surface occupied by the Hamilton lime-
stone and shales is fully as great as those by all the formations of both Upper
and Lower Silurian age in the State. It is nearly two hundred miles long and
from forty to fifty miles broad. The general trend is northwestward and south-
eastwfvcd.'

Although a large part of the material of this formation is practically quite
TTorthless, yet other portions are valuable for economic purposes ; and having a

]-24 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

larcre jjeo^raphical extent in the State, is one of the most important formations,
in a practical point of view. At Waverly, Bremer County, its value for the
production of hydraulic lime has been practically demonstrated. The heavier
and more uniform magnesian beds furnish material for bridge piers and other
material requiring strength and durability.

All the Devonian strata of Iowa evidently belong to a single epoch, and re-
ferable to the Hamilton, as recognized by New York geologists.

The most conspicuous and characteristic fossils of this formation are bra-
chiopod. mollusks and corals. The coral Acervularia Davidsoni occurs near
Iowa City, and is known as " Iowa City Marble," and " bird's-eye marble."

CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM.

Of the three groups of formations that constitute the carboniferous system,
viz.. the subcarboniferous. coal measures and permian, only the first two are
found in Iowa.

SUBCARBONIFEROUS GROUP.

The area of the surface occupied by this group is very large. Its eastern'
border passes from the northeastern part of Winnebago County, with consider-
able directness in a southeasterly direction to the northern part of Washington
County. Here it makes a broad and direct bend nearly eastward, striking
the Mississippi River at Muscatine. The southern and western boundary is to
a considerable extent the same as that which separates it from the coal field.
From the southern part of Pocahontas County it passes southeast to Fort Dodge,
thence to Webster City, thence to a point three or four miles northeast of El-
dora, in Hardin County, thence southward to the middle of the north line of
Jasper County, thence southeastward to Sigourney, in Keokuk County, thence
to the northeastern corner of Jefferson County, thence sweeping a few miles
eastward to the southeast corner of Van Buren County. Its area is nearly two
hundred and fifty miles long, and from twenty to fifty miles wide.

Tlie Kinderhook Beds. — The most southerly exposure of these beds is near
the mouth of Skunk River, in Des Moines County. The most northerly now
known is in the eastern part of Pocahontas County, more than two hundred
miles distant. The principal exposures of this formation are along the bluffs
which border the Mississippi and Skunk Rivers, where they form the eastern
and northern boundary of Des Moines County, alono; Enorlish River, in Wash-
ington County : along the Iowa River, in Tama, Marshall, Hamlin and Frank-
lin Counties ; and along the Des Moines River, in Humboldt County.

The economic value of this formation is very considerable, particularly in
the northern portion of the region it occupies. In Pocahontas and Humboldt
Counties it is almost invaluable, as no other stone except a few boulders are
found here. At Iowa Falls the lower division is very good for building pur-
poses. In Marshall County all the limestone to be obtained comes from this
formation, and the quarries near LeGrand are very valuable. At this point

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 125

some of the layers are finely veined with peroxide of iron, and are wrought into
ornamental and useful objects.

In Tama County, the oolitic member is well exposed, where it is manufac-
tured into lime. It is not valuable for building, as upon exposure to atmosphere
and frost, it crumbles to pieces.

The remains of fishes are the only fossils yet discovered in this formation
that can be referred to the sub-kingdom vertebrata ; and so far as yet recog-
nized, they all belong to the order selachians.

Of ARTICULATES, only two species have been recognized, both of which
belong to the genus phillipsia.

The sub-kingdom mollusca is largely represented.

The EADIATA are represented by a few crinoids, usually found in a very im-
perfect condition. The sub-kingdom is also represented by corals.

The prominent feature in the life of this epoch was molluscan ; so much so
in fact as to overshadow all other branches of the animal kingdom. The pre-
vailing classes are: lameUihranchiates, in the more arenaceous portions; and
brachiopods, in the more calcareous portions.

No remains of veccetation have been detected in anv of the strata of this
formation.

The Burlington Limestone. — This formation consists of two distinct calca-
reous divisions, which are separated by a series of silicious beds. Both divi-
sions are eminently crinoidal.

The southerly dip of the Iowa rocks carries the Burlington limestone down,
so that it is seen for the last time in this State in the valley of Skunk River,
near the southern boundary of Des Moines County. The most northerly point
at which it has been recognized is in the northern part of Washington County.
It prcjbably exists as far north as IMarshall County.

This formation affords much valuable material for economic purposes. The
upper division furnishes excellent common quarry rock.

The great abundance and variety of its fossils — crinoids — now known to be
more than three hundred, have justly attracted the attention of geologists in all
parts of the world.

The only remains of vertebrates discovered in this formation are those of
fishes, and consist of teeth and spines ; bone of bony fishes, like those most
common at the present day, are found in these rocks. On Buffington Creek, in
Louisa County, is a stratum in an exposure so fully charged with these remains
that it m'ghtwith propriety be called bone breccia.

Remains of articulates are rare in this formation. So far as yet discovered,
they are confined to two species of tribolites of the genus jjhillipsia.

Fossil shells are very common.

The two lowest classes of the sub-kingdom radiata are represented in the
genera zaphrentis, amplexus and syringapora, while the highest class — echino-
derms — are found in most extraordinary profusion.

126 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

The Keokuk Limestone. — It is only in the four counties of Lee, Van
Buren, Henry and Des Moines that this formation is to be seen. .

In some localities the upper silicious portion of this formation is known as
the Geode bed. It is not recognizable in the northern portion of the formation^
nor in connection with it where it is exposed, about eighty miles below Keokuk.

The geodes of the Geode bed are more or less spherical masses of silex,
usually hollow and lined with crystals of quartz. The outer crust is rough and
unsightly, but the crystals which stud the interior are often very beautiful.
They vary in size from the size of a walnut to a foot in diameter.

The economic value of this formation is very great. Large quantities of its
stone have been used in the finest structures in the State, among which are the
post cflSces at Dubuque and Des Moines. The principal quarries are along the
banks of the Mississippi, from Keokuk to Nauvoo.

The only vertebrate fossils found in the formation are fishes, all belonging
to the order selachians, some of which indicate that their owners reached a
length of twenty -five or thirty feet.

Of the articulates, only two species of the genus philUp.sia have been found
in this formation.

Of the mollusks, no cephalopods have yet been recognized in this formation in
this State ; gasteropods are rare ; brachiopods and polyzoans are quite abundant.

Of radiates, corals of genera zaphrentes, amplexus and aulopera are found,
but crinoids are most abundant.

Of the low forms of animal life, the protozoans, a small fossil related to the
sponges, is found in this formation in small numbers.

The St. Louis Limestone. — This is the uppermost of the subcarboniferous
group in Iowa. The superficial area it occupies is comparatively small, because
it consists of long, narrow strips, yet its exten* is very great. It is first seen
resting on the geode division of the Keokuk limestone, near Keokuk. Pro-
ceeding northward, it forms a narrow border along the edge of the coal fields
in Lee, Des Moines, Henry, Jefferson, Washington, Keokuk and Mahaska
Counties. It is then lost sight of until it appears again in the banks of Boone
River, where it again passes out of view under the coal measures until it is
next seen in the banks of the Des Moines, near Fort Dodge. As it exists in
Iowa, it consists of three tolerably distinct subdivisions — the magnesian, arena-
ceous and calcareous.

The upper division furnishes excellent material for quicklime, and when
quarries are well opened, as in the northwestern part of Van Buren County,
large blocks are obtained. The sandstone, or middle division, is of little
economic value. The lower or magnesian division furnishes a valuable
and durable stone, exposures of wliich are found on Lick Creek, in Van Buren
County, and on Long Creek, seven miles west of Burlington.

Of the fossils of this formation, the vertebrates are represented only by the
remains of fish, belonging to the two orders, selachians and ganoids. The

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 127

articulates are represented by one species of the trilobite, genus pMllipsia, and
two ostracoid, genera, cythre and heyricia. The moUusks distinguish this
formation more than any other branch of the animal kingdom. Radiates are
exceedingly rare, showing a marked contrast between this formation and the
two preceding it.

The rocks of the subcarboniferous period have in other countries, and in
other parts of our own country, furnished valuable minerals, and even coal, but
in loAva the economic value is confined to its stone alone.

The Lower Silurian, Upper Silurian and Devonian rocks of Iowa are largely
composed of limestone. Magnesia also enters largely into the subcarbon-
iferous group. With the completion of the St. Louis limestone, the
production of the magnesian limestone seems to have ceased among the rocks of
Iowa.

Although the Devonian age has been called the age of fishes, yet so far as
Iowa is concerned, the rocks of no period can compare with the subcarbon-
iferous in the abundance and variety of the fish remains, and, for this reason,
the Burlington and Keokuk limestones wall in the future become more
famous among geologists, perhaps, than any other formations in North
America.

,. It will be seen that the Chester limestone is omitted from the subcarbon-
iferous group, and which completes the full geological series. It is probable
the whole surface of Iowa was above the sea during the time of the
formation of the Chester limestone to the southward about one hundred
miles.

At the close of the epoch of the Chester limestone, the shallow seas in
which the low^er coal measures Avere formed again occupied the land, extending
almost as far north as that sea had done in which the Kinderhook beds were
formed, and to the northeastward its deposits extended beyond the subcarbon-
iferous groups, outlines of which are found upon the next, or Devonian rock.

THE COAL-MEASURE GROUP.

The coal-measure group of Iowa is properly divided into three formations,
viz., the lower, middle and upper coal measures, each having a vertical thick-
ness of about two hundred feet.

A line drawn upon the map of Iowa as follows, will represent the eastern
and northern boundaries of the coal fields of the State : Commencing at the
southeast corner of Van Buren County, carry the line to the northeast corner
of Jeiferson County by a slight easterly curve through the western portions of
Lee and Henry Counties. Produce this line until it reaches a point six or
eight miles northward from the one last named, and then carry it northwest-
ward, keeping it at about the same distance to the northward of Skunk River
and its north branch that it had at first, until it reaches the southern boundary
of Marshall County, a little west of its center. Then carry it to a point

128 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

three or four miles northeast from Eldora, in Hardin County ; thence west-
ward to a point a little north of Webster City, in Hamilton County; and
thence further westward to a point a little north of Fort Dodge, in Webster

County.

Loiver Coal Measures. — In consequence of the recedence to the southward
of the borders of the middle and upper coal measures, the lower coal measures
alone exist to the eastward and northward of Des jNIoines River. They also
occupy a large area westward and southward of that river, but their southerly
dip passes them below the middle coal measures at no great distance from the

river.

No other formation in the whole State possesses the economic value of the
lower coal measures. The clay that underlies almost every bed of coal furnishes
a large amount of material for potters' use. The sandstone of these measures
is usually soft and unfit, but in some places, as near Red Rock, in Marion
County, blocks of large dimensions are obtained which make good building
material, samples of which can be seen in the State Arsenal, at Des Moines.
On the whole, that portion of the State occupied by the lower coal measures,
is not well supplied with stone.

But few fossils have been found in any of the strata of the lower coal meas-
ures, but such animal remains as have been found are without exception of
marine origin.

Of fossil plants found in these measures, all probably belong to the class
acrogens. Specimens of calamites, and several species of ferns, are found in
all of the coal measures, but the genus lepidodendron seems not to have existed
later than the epoch of the middle coal measures.

Middle Coal Measures. — This formation within the State of Iowa occupies
a narrow belt of territory in the southern central portion of the State, embrac-
ing a superficial area of about fourteen hundred square miles. The counties
more or less underlaid by this formation are Guthrie, Dallas, Polk, Madison,
Warren, Clarke, Lucas, iMonroe, Wayne and Appanoose.

This formation is composed of alternating beds of clay, sandstone and lime-
stone, the clays or shales constituting the bulk of the formation, the limestone
occurring in their bands, the lithological peculiarities of which offer many con-
trasts to the limestones of the upper and lower coal measures. The formation
is also characterized by regular wave-like undulations, with a parallelism which
indicates a widespread disturbance, though no dislocation of the strata have
been discovered.

Generally speaking, few species of foss^ils occur in these beds. Some of the
shales and sandstone have afforded a few imperfectly preserved land plants —
three or four species of ferns, belonging to the genera. Some of the carbonif-
erous shales afford beautiful specimens of what appear to have been sea-weeds.
Radiates are represented by corals. The mollusks are most numerously repre-
sented. Ti'tlobites and ostracoids are the only remains known of articulates.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 129

Vertebrates are only known by the remains of salacliians, or sharks, and
ganoids.

Upper Coal Measures. — The area occupied by this formation in Iowa is
very great, comprising thirteen whole counties, in the southwestern part of the
State. It adjoins by its northern and eastern boundaries the area occupied by
the middle coal measures.

The prominent lithological features of this formation are its limestones, yet
it contains a considerable proportion of shales and sandstones. Although it is
known by the name of upper coal measures, it contains but a single bed of coal,
and that only about twenty inches in maximum thickness.

The limestone exposed in this formation furnishes good material for building
as in Madison and Fremont Counties. The sandstones are quite worthless. No
beds of clay for potter's use are found in the whole formation.

The fossils in this formation are much more numerous than in either the
middle or lower coal measures. The vertebrates are represented by the fishes
of the orders selachians and ganoids. The articulates are represented by the
trilobites and ostracoids. Mollusks are represented by the classes cephalapoda^
yasteropoda, lamelli, branehiata, brachiapoda and polyzoa. Radiates are more
numerous than in the lower and middle coal measures. Protogoans are repre-
sented in the greatest abundance, some layers of limestone being almost entirely
composed of their small fusiform shells.

CRETACEOUS SYSTEM.

There being no rocks, in Iowa, of permian, triassic or Jurassic age, the
next strata in the geological series are of the cretaceous age. They are found
in the western half of the State, and do not dip, as do all the other formations
upon which they rest, to the southward and westward, but have a general dip
of their own to the north of westward, which, however, is very slight..
Although the actual exposures of cretaceous rocks are few in Iowa, there is
reason to believe that nearly all the western half of the State was originally
occupied by them ; but being very friable, they have been removed by denuda-
tion, which has taken place at two separate periods. The first period was
during its elevation from the cretaceous sea, and during the long tertiary age
that passed between the time of that elevation and the commencement of the
glacial epoch. The second period was during the glacial epoch, when the ice
produced their entire removal over considerable areas.

It is difficult to indicate the exact boundaries of these rocks ; the following
will approximate the outlines of the area :

From the northeast corner to the southwest corner of Kossuth County ;
thence to the southeast corner of Guthrie County; thence to the southeast
corner of Cass County; thence to the middle of the south boundary of Mont-
gomery County ; thence to the middle of the north boundary of Pottawattamie
County; thence to the middle of the south boundary of Woodbury County;

130 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

thence to Sergeant's bluffs ; up the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers to the
northwest corner of the State ; eastward along the State line to the place of
beginning.

All the cretaceous rocks in Iowa are a part of the same deposits farther up
the Missouri River, and in reality form their eastern boundary.

Nishnahotany Sandstone. — This rock has the most easterly and southerly
extent of the cretaceous deposits of Iowa, reaching the southeastern part of
Guthrie County and the southern part of Montgomery County. To the north-
ward, it passes beneath the Woodbury sandstones and shales, the latter passing
beneath the inoceramus, or chalky, beds. This sandstone is, with few excep-
tions, almost valueless for economic purposes.

The only fossils found in this formation are a few fragments of angiosper-
mous leaves.

Woodbury Sandstones and Shales. — These strata rest upon the Nishna-
botany sandstone, and have not been observed outside of "Woodbury County,
hence their name. Their principal exposure is at Sergeant's Bluffs, seven
miles below Sioux City.

This rock has no value except for purposes of common masonry.

Fossil remains are rare. Detached scales of a lepidoginoid species have
been detected, but no other vertebrate remains. Of remains of vegetation,
leaves of salix meekii and sassafras cretaceum have been occasionally found.

Inoceramus Beds. — These beds rest upon the Woodbury sandstones and
shales. They have not been observed in Iowa, except in the bluffs which
border the Big Sioux River in Woodbury and Plymouth Counties. They are
composed almost entirely of calcareous material, the upper portion of which is
extensively used for lime. No building material is to be obtained from these
beds ; and the only value they possess, except lime, are the marls, which at
some time may be useful on the soil of the adjacent region.

The only vertebrate remains found in tlie cretaceous rocks are the fishes.
Those in the inoceramus beds of Iowa are two species of squoloid selachians,
or cestratront, and three genera of teliosts. Molluscan remains are rare.

PEAT.

Extensive beds of peat exist in Northern Middle Iowa, w^hich, it is esti-
mated, contain the followinir areas :

Counties. Acres.

Cerro Gordo 1,500

Worth -i,! 00

Winnebago ." 2,000

Hancock l,5t)0

Wright 500

Kossuth 700

Dickinson 80 •

Several other counties contain peat beds, but the character of the peat is
inferior to that in the northern jiart of the State. The character of the peat

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 131

named is equal to that of Ireland. The beds are of an average depth of four
feet. It is estimated that each acre of these beds will furnish two hundred and
fifty tons of dry fuel for each foot in depth. At present, owing to the sparse-
ness of the population, this peat is not utilized ; but, owing to its great distance
from the coal fields and the absence of timber, the time is coming Avhen their
value will be realized, and the fact demonstrated that Nature has abundantly
compensated the deficiency of other fuel.

GYPSUM.

The only deposits of the sulphates of the alkaline earths of any economic
value in Iowa are those of gypsum at and in the vicinity of Fort Dodge, in
Webster County. All others are small and unimportant. The deposit occupies
a nearly central position in Webster County, the Des Moines River running
nearly centrally through it, along the valley sides of which the gypsum is seen
in the form of ordinary rock cliff and ledges, and also occurring abundantly in
similar positions along both sides of the valleys of the smaller streams and of
the numerous ravines coming into the river valley.

The most northerly known limit of the deposit is at a point near the mouth
of Lizard Creek, a tributary of the Des Moines River, and almost adjoining
the town of Fort Dodge. The most southerly point at which it has been
found exposed is about six miles, by way of the river, from this northerly point
before mentioned. Our knowledge of the width of the area occupied by it is
limited by the exposures seen in the valleys of the small streams and in the
ravines which come into the valley within the distance mentioned. As one goes
up these ravines and minor valleys, the gypsum becomes lost beneath the over-
lying drift. There can be no doubt that the different parts of this deposit, now
disconnected by the valleys and ravines having been cut through it, were orig-
inally connected as a continuous deposit, and there seems to be as little reason
to doubt that the gypsum still extends to considerable distance on each side of
the valley of the river beneath the drift which covers the region to a depth of
from twenty to sixty feet.

The country round about this region has the prairie surface approximating
a general level which is so characteristic of the greater part of the State, and
which exists irrespective of the character or geological age of the strata beneath,
mainly because the drift is so deep and uniformly distributed that it frequently
almost alone gives character to the surface. The valley sides of the Des Moines
River, in the vicinity of Fort Dodge, are somewhat abrupt, having a depth there
from the general level of the upland of about one hundred and seventy feet,
and consequently presents somewhat bold and interesting features in the land-
scape.

As one walks up and down the creeks and ravines which come into the
valley of the Des Moines River there, he sees the gypsum exposed on
either side of them, jutting out from beneath the drift in the form of

132 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

ledges and bold quarry fronts, having almost the exact appearance of
ordinary limestone exposures, so horizontal and regular are its lines of
stratification, and so similar in color is it to some varieties of that rock. The
principal quarries now opened are on Two Mile Creek, a couple of miles below
Fort Dodge.

The reader will please bear in mind that the gypsum of this remarkable
deposit does not occur in "heaps" or "nests," as it does in most deposits of
gypsum in the States farther eastward, but that it exists here in the form of a
regularly stratified, continuous formation, as uniform in texture, color and
quality throughout the whole region, and from top to bottom of the deposit
as the granite of the Quincy quarries is. Its color is a uniform gray, result-
ing from alternating fine horizontal lines of nearly white, with similar lines
of darker shade. The gypsum of the white lines is almost entirely pure, the
darker lines containing the impurity. This is at intervals barely sufficient in
amount to cause the separation of the mass upon those lines into beds or layers,
thus facilitating the quarrying of it into desired shapes. These bedding sur-
faces have occasionally a clayey feeling to the touch, but there is nowhere any
intercalation of clay or other foreign substance in a separate form. The deposit
is known to reach a thickness of thirty feet at the quarries referred to, but
although it Avill probably be found to exceed this thickness at some other points,
at the natural exposures, it is seldom seen to be more than from ten to twenty
feet thick.

Since the drift is usually seen to rest directly upon the gypsum, with noth-
ing intervening, except at a few points where traces appear of an overlying bed
of clayey material without doubt of the same age as the gypsum, the latter
probably lost something of its thickness by mechanical erosion during the
glacial epoch ; and it has, doubtless, also sufi'ered some diminution of thickness
since then by solution in the waters which constantly percolate through the
drift from the surface. The drift of this region being somewhat clayey, partic-
ulary in its lower part, it has doubtless served in some degree as a protection
against the diminution of the gypsum by solution in consequence of its partial
imperviousness to water. If the gypsum had been covered by a deposit of sand
instead of the drift clays, it would have no doubt long since disappeared by
being dissolved in the water that would have constantly reached it from the sur-
face. Water merely resting upon it would not dissolve it away to any extent,
but it rapidly disappears under the action of running water. Where little rills
of Avater at the time of every rain run over the face of an unused quarry, from
the surface above it, deep grooves are thereby cut into it, giving it somewhat the
appearance of melting ice around a waterfall. The fact that gypsum is now
suffering a constant, but, of course, very slight, diminution, is apparent in the
fact the springs of the region contain more or less of it in solution in their
waters. An analysis of water from one of these springs will be found in Prof.
Emery's report.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 133

Besides the clayey beds that are sometimes seen to rest upon the gypsum,
there are occasionally others seen beneath them that are also of the same
age, and not of the age of the coal-measure strata upon which they rest.

Age of the Gypsum Deposit. — In neither the gypsum nor the associated
clays has any trace of any fossil remains been found, nor has any other indica-
tion of its geological age been observed, except that -which is afforded by its
stratigraphical relations ; and the most that can be said with certainty is that it
is newer than the coal measures, and older than the drift. The indications
afforded by the stratigraphical relations of the gypsum deposit of Fort Dodge
are, however, of considerable value.

As already shown, it rests in that region directly. and unconformably upon
the lower coal measures ; but going southward from there, the whole series of
coal-measure strata from the top of the subcarboniferous group to the upper
coal measures, inclusive, can be traced without break or unconformability.
The strata of the latter also may be traced in the same manner up into the
Permian rocks of Kansas; and through this long series, there is no place or
horizon which suggests that the gypsum deposit might belong there.

Again, no Tertiary deposits are known to exist within or near the borders
of Iowa to suggest that the gypsum might be of that age ; nor are any of the
palaeozoic strata newer than the subcarboniferous unconformable upon each
other as the other gypsum is unconformable upon the strata beneath it. It
therefore seems, in a measure, conclusive, that the gypsum is of Mesozoic age,
perhaps older than the Cretaceous.

Lithological Origin. — As little can be said with certainty concerning the
lithological origin of this deposit as can be said concerning its geological age,
for it seems to present itself in this relation, as in the former one, as an i.solated
fact. None of the associated strata show any traces of a double decomposition
of pre-existing materials, such as some have supposed all deposits of gypsum to
have resulted from. No considerable quantities of oxide of iron nor any trace
of native sulphur have been found in connection with it ; nor has any salt been
found in the waters of the region. These substances are common in association
with other gypsum deposits, and are regarded by some persons as indicative of
the method of or resulting from their origin as such. Throughout the whole
region, the Fort Dodge gypsum has the exact appearance of a sedimentary
deposit. It is arranged in layers like the regular layers of limestone, and the
whole mass, from top to bottom, is traced with fine horizontal laminae of alter-
nating white and gray gypsum, parallel with the bedding surfaces of the layers,
but the whole so intimately blended as to form a solid mass. The darker lines
contain almost all the impurity there is in the gypsum, and that impurity is
evidently sedimentary in its character. Frcn these facts, and also from the
further one that no trace of fossil remains has been detected in the gypsum, it
seems not unreasonable to entertain the opinion that the gypsum of Fort Dodge
originated as a chemical precipitation in comparatively still waters which were

134 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

saturated with sulphate of lime and destitute of life ; its stratification and
impurities being deposited at the same time as clayey impurities which had been
held suspended in the same waters.

Physical Properties. — Much has already been said of the physical proper-
ties or character of this gypsum, but as it is so different in some respects from
that of other deposits, there are yet other matters worthy of mention in connec-
tion with those. According to the results of a complete and exhaustive anal-
ysis by Prof Emery, the ordinary gray gypsum contains only about eight per
cent, of impurity ; and it is possible that the average impurity for the whole
deposit will not exceed that proportion, so uniform in quality is it from to top
to bottom and from one pnd of the region to the other.

When it is remembered that plaster for agricultural purposes is sometimes
prepared from gypsum that contains as much as thirty per cent, of impurity, it
will be seen that ours is a very superior article for such purposes. The impu-
rities are also of such a character that they do not in any way interfere with its
value for use in the arts. Although the gypsum rock has a gray color, it
becomes quite white by grinding, and still whiter by the calcining process nec-
essary in the preparation of plaster of Paris. These tests have all been practi-
cally made in the rooms of the Geological Survey, and the quality of the plaster
of Paris still further tested by actual use and experiment. No hesitation,
therefore, is felt in stating that the Fort Dodge gypsum is of as good a quality
as any in the country, even for the finest uses.

In view of the bounteousness of the primitive fertility of our Iowa soils,
many persons forget that a time may come when Nature will refuse to respond
so generously to our demand as she does now, without an adequate return.
Such are apt to say that this vast deposit of gypsum is valueless to our com-
monwealth, except to the small extent that it may be used in the arts. This
is undoubtedly a short-sighted view of the subject, for the time is even now
rapidly passing away when a man may purchase a new farm for less money
than he can re-fertilize and restore the partially wasted primitive fertility of the
one he now occupies. There are farms even now in a large part of the older
settled portions of the State that would be greatly benefited by the proper
application of plaster, and such areas will continue to increase until it will be
difficult to estimate the value of the deposit of gypsum at Fort Dodge. It
should 1)0 remembered, also, that the inhabitants of an extent of country
adjoining our State more than three times as great as its own area will find it
more convenient to obtain their supplies from Fort Dodge than from any other
source.

For want of direct railroad communication between this region and other
parts of the State, the only use yet made of the gypsum by the inhabitants is
for the purposes of ordinary building stone. It is so compact that it is found
to be comparatively unaffected by the frost, and its ordinary situation in walls
of houses is such that it i=! protected from the dissolving action of water, which

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 135

can at most reach it only from occasional rains, and the effect of these is too
slight to be perceived after the lapse of several years.

One of the citizens of Fort Dodge, Hon. John F. Duncombe, built a large,
fine residence of it, in 1861, the walls of which appear as unaffected by
exposure and as beautiful as they were when first erected. It has been so long
and successfully used for building stone by the inhabitants that they now prefer
it to the limestone of good quality, which also exists in the immediate vicinity.
This preference is due to the cheapness of the gypsum, as compared with the
stone. The cheapness of the former is largely due to the facility with which it
is quarried and wrought. Several other houses have been constructed of it in
Fort Dodge, including the depot building of the Dubuque & Sioux City Rail-
road. The company have also constructed a large culvert of the same material
to span a creek near the town, limestone only being used for the lower courses,
which come in contact with the water. It is a fine arch, each stone of gypsum
being nicely hewn, and it will doubtless prove a very durable one. Many of
the sidewalks in the town are made of the slabs or flags of gypsum which occur
in some of the quarries in the form of thin layers. They are more durable
than their softness would lead one to suppose. They also possess an advantage
over stone in not becoming slippery when worn.

The method adopted in quarrying and dressing the blocks of gypsum is
peculiar, and quite unlike that adopted in similar treatment of ordinary stone.
Taking a stout auger-bit of an ordinary brace, such as is used by carpenters,
and filing the cutting parts of it into a peculiar form, the quarryman bores his
holes into the gypsum quarry for blasting, in the same manner and with as
great facility as a carpenter would bore hard wood. The pieces being loosened
by blasting, they are broken up with sledges into convenient sizes, or hewn
into the desired shapes by means of hatchets or ordinary chopping axes, or cut
by means of ordinary wood-saws. So little grit does the gypsum contain that
these tools, made for working wood, are found to be better adapted for working
the former substance than those tools are which are universally used for work-
ing stone.

MINOR DEPOSITS OF SULPHATE OF LIME.

Besides the great gypsum deposit of Fort Dodge, sulphate of lime in the
various forms of fibrous gypsum, selenite, and small, amorphous masses, has
also been discovered in various formations in different parts of the State, includ-
ing the coal -measure shales near Fort Dodge, where it exists in small quanti-
ties, quite independently of the great gypsum deposit there. The quantity of
gypsum in these minor deposits is always too small to be of any practical value,
and frequently minute. They usually occur in shales and shaly clays, asso-
ciated with strata that contain more or less sulphuret of iron (iron pyrites).
Gypsum has thus been detected in the coal measures, the St. Louis limestone,
the cretaceous strata, and also in the lead caves of Dubuque. In most of these
cases it is evidently the result of double decomposition of iron pyrites and car-

136 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

bonate of lime, previously existing there ; in which cases the gypsum is of course
not an original deposit as the great one at Fort Dodge is supjwsed to be.

The existence of these comparatively minute quantities of gypsum in the
shales of the coal measures and the subcarboniferous limestone which are exposed
within the reo^ion of and occupy a stratigraphical position beneath the great
gypsum deposits, suggests the possibility that the former may have originated as
a precipitate from percolating waters, holding gypsum in solution which they
had derived from that deposit in passing over or through it. Since, however,
the same substance is found in similar small quantities and under similar con-
ditions in regions where they could have had no possible connection with that
deposit, it is believed that none of those mentioned have necessarily originated
from it, not even those that are found in close proximity to it.

The gypsum found in the lead caves is usually in the form of efflorescent
fibers, and is always in small quantity. In the lower coal-measure shale near
Fort Dodge, a small mass was found in the form of an intercalated layer, which
h-id a distinct fibrous structure, the fibers being perpendicular to the plane of
the layer. The same mass had also distinct, horizontal planes of cleavage at
right angles with the perpendicular fibers. Thus, being more or less transpa-
rent, the mass combined the characters of both fibrous gypsum and selenite.
No anhydrous sulphate of lime {anhydrite) has been found in connection with
the great gypsum deposit, nor elsewhere in Iowa, so far as yet known.

SULPHATE OF STRONTIA.
{^Celes'ine.)
The only locality at which this interesting mineral has yet been found in
Iowa, or, so far as is known, in the great valley of the Mississippi, is at Fort
Dodge. It occurs there in very small quantity in both the shales of the lower
coal measures and in the clays that overlie the gypsum deposit, and which are
regarded as of the same age with it. The first is just below the city, near Rees'
coal bank, and occurs as a layer intercalated among the coal measure shales,
amounting in quantity to only a few hundred pounds' weight. The mineral is
fibrous and crystalline, the fibers being perpendicular to the plane of the layer.
Breaking also with more or less distinct horizontal planes of cleavage, it resem-
bles, in physical character, the layer of fibro-crystalline gypsum before men-
tioned. Its color is light blue, is transparent and shows crystaline facets upon
both the upper and under surfaces of the layer; those of the upper surfiice
being smallest and most numerous. It breaks up readily into small masses
along the lines of the perpendicular fibers or columns. The layer is probably
not more than a rod in extent in any direction and about three inches in maxi-
mum thickness. Apparent lines of stratification occur in it, corresponding with
those of the shales which imbed it.

The other deposit was still smaller in amount, and occurred as a mass of
crystals imbedded in the clays that overlie the gypsum at Cummins' quarry in

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 137

the valley of Soldier Creek, upon the north side of the town. The mineral is
in this case nearly colorless, and but for the form of the separate crystals would
closely resemble masses of impure salt. The crystals are so closely aggregated
that they enclose but little impurity in the mass, but in almost all cases their
fundamental forms are obscured. This mineral has almost no real practical
value, and its occurrence, as described, is interesting only as a mineralogical
fact.

SULPHATE OF BARYTA.
[Barytes, Heavy Spar.)

This mineral has been found only in minute quantities in Iowa. It has
been detected in the coal-measure shales of Decatur, Madison and Marion
Counties, the Devonian limestone of Johnson and Bremer Counties and in the
lead caves of Dubuque. In all these cases, it is in the form of crystals or small
crystalline masses.

SULPHATE OF MAGNESIA.
[Epsomite.)

Epsomite, or native epsom salts, having been discovered near Burlington,
we have thus recognized in Iowa all the sulphates of the alkaline earths of
natural origin ; all of them, except the sulphate of lime, being in very small
quantity. Even if the sulphate of magnesia were produced in nature, in large
i^uantities, it is so very soluble that it can accumulate only in such positions as
aiford it complete shelter from the rains or running water The epsomite
mentioned was found beneath the overhanging cliff of Burlington limestone,
near Starr's mill, which are represented in the sketch upon another page, illus-
trating the subcarboniferous rocks. It occurs in the form of efflorescent encrus-
tations upon the surface of stones and in similar small fragile masses among the
fine debris that has fallen down beneath the overhanging cliff. The projection
of the cliff over the perpendicular face of the strata beneath amounts to near
twenty feet at the point where epsomite was found. Consequently the rains
never reach far beneath it from any quarter. The rock upon which the epsom-
ite accumulates is an impure limestone, containing also some carbonate of mag-
nesia, together with a small proportion of iron pyrites in a finely divided con-
dition. It is doubtless by double decomposition of these that the epsomite re-
sults. By experiments with this native salt in the office of the Survey, a fine
article of epsom salts was produced, but the quantity that might be annually
obtained there would amount to only a few pounds, and of course is of no prac-
tical value whatever, on account of its cheapness in the market.

CLIMATOLOGY.

No extended record of the climatology of Iowa has been made, yet much of
great value may be learned from observations made at a single point. Prof. T.
S. Parvin, of the State University, has recorded observations made from 1839
to the present time. Previous to 1860, these observations were made at Mus-

138 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

catine. Since that date, they were made in Iowa City. The result is that the
atmospheric conditions of the climate of Iowa are in the highest degree favor-
able to health.

The highest temperature here occurs in August, while July is the hottest
month in the year by two degrees, and January the coldest by three degrees.

The mean temperature of April and October most nearly corresponds to the
mean temperature of the year, as well as their seasons of Spring and Fall,
while that of Summer and Winter is best represented in that of August and
December.

The period of greatest heat ranges from June 22d to August 31st ; the next
mean time being July 27th. The lowest temperature extends from December
16th to February 15th, the average being January 20th — the range in each
case being two full months.

The climate of Iowa embraces the range of that of New York, Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The seasons are not characterized by the
frequent and sudden changes so common in the latitudes further south. The
temperature of the Winters is somewhat lower than States eastward, but of other
seasons it is higher. The atmosphere is dry and invigorating. The surface of
the State being free at all seasons of the year from stagnant water, with good
breezes at nearly all seasons, the miasmatic and pulmonary diseases are
unknown. Mortuary statistics show this to be one of the most healthful States
in the Union, being one death to every ninety-four persons. The Spring,
Summer and Fall months are delightful ; indeed, the glory of Iowa is her
Autumn, and nothing can transcend the splendor of her Indian Summer, which
lasts for weeks, and finally blends, almost imperceptibly, into Winter.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

DISCOVERY AND OCCUPATION.

Iowa, in the symbolical and expressive language of the aboriginal inhab-
itants, is said to signify " The Beautiful Land," and was applied to this
magnificent and fruitful region by its ancient owners, to express their apprecia-
tion of its superiority of climate, soil and location. Prior to 1803, the Mississippi
River was the extreme western boundary of the United States. All the great
empire lying west of the " Father of Waters," from the Gulf of Mexico on the
south to British America on the north, and westward to the Pacific Ocean, was
a Spanish province. A brief historical sketch of the discovery and occupation
of this grand empire by the Spanish and French governments will be a fitting
introduction to the history of the young and thriving State of Iowa, which,
until the commencement of the present century, was a part of the Spanish
possessions in America.

Early in the Spring of 1542, fifty years after Columbus discovered the New
World, and one hundred and thirty years before the French missionaries discov-
ered its upper waters, Ferdinand De Soto discovered the mouth of the Mississippi
River at the mouth of the Washita. After the sudden death of De Soto, in
May of the same year, his followers built a small vessel, and in July, 1543,
descended the great river to the Gulf of JNIexico.

In accordance with the usage of nations, under which title to the soil was
claimed by right of discovery, Spain, having conquered Florida and discovered
the Mississippi, claimed all the territory bordering on that river and the Gulf of
Mexico. But it was also held by the European nations that, while discovery
gave title, that title must be perfected by actual possession and occupation.
Although Spain claimed the territory by right of first discovery, she made no
effort to occupy it ; by no permanent settlement had she perfected and held her
title, and therefore had forfeited it when, at a later period, the Lower Mississippi
Valley was re-discovered and occupied by France.

The unparalleled labors of the zealous Fn nc^ Jesuits of Canada in penetrating
the unknown region of the West, commencing in 1611, form a history of no ordi-
nary interest, but have no particular connection with the scope of the present
work, until in the Fall of 1665. Pierre Claude Allouez, who had entered Lake
Superior in September, and sailed along the southern coast in search of copper,
had arrived at the great village of the Chippewas at Chegoincegon. Here a
grand council of some ten or twelve of the principal Indian nations was held.
The Pottawatomies of Lake Michigan, the Sacs and Foxes of the West, the
Hurons from the North, the Illin^^is from the South, and the Sioux from the
land of the prairie and wild rice, wire all assembled there. The Illinois told

140 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

the storv of their ancient glory and about the noble river on the banks of which
they dwelt. The Sioux also told their white brother of the same great river,
and Allouez promised to the assembled tribes the protection of the French
nation against all their enemies, native or foreign.

The purpose of discovering the great river about which the Indian na-
tions had given such glowing accounts appears to have originated with Mar-
quette, in 1G69. In the year previous, he and Claude Dablon had established
the Mission of St. Mary's, the oldest white settlement within the present limits
of the State of Michigan. Marquette was delayed in the execution of his great
undertaking, and spent the interval in studying the language and habits of the
Illinois Indians, among Avhom he expected to travel.

About this time, the French Government had determined to extend the do-
minion of France to the extreme western borders of Canada, Nicholas Perrot
was sent as the agent of the government, to propose a grand council of the
Indian nations, at St. Mary's.

When Perrot reached Green Bay, he extended the invitation far and near ;
and, escorted by Pottawatomies, repaired on a mission of peace and friend-
ship to the Miamis, who occupied the region about the present location of
Chicago.

In May, 1671, a great council of Indians gathered at the Falls of St.
Mary, from all parts of the Northwest, from the head waters of the St. Law-
rence, from the valley of the Mississippi and from the Red River of the North.
Perrot met with them, and after grave consultation, formally announced to the
assembled nations that their good French Father felt an abiding interest in their
welfare, and had placed them all under the powerful protection of the French
Government.

Marquette, during that same year, had gathered at Point St. Ignace the
vemn ants of one branch of the Hurons. This station, for a long series of
years, was considered the key to the unknown West.

The time was now auspicious for the consummation of Marquette's grand
project. The successful termination of Perrot's mission, and the general friend-
liness of the native tribes, rendered the contemplated expedition much less per-
ilous. But it Avas not until 1673 that the intrepid and enthusiastic priest was
finally ready to depart on his daring and perilous journey to lands never trod by
white men.

The Indians, who had gathered in large numbers to witness his departure,
were astounded at the boldness of the proposed undertaking, and tried to dis-
courage him, representing that the Indians of the Mississippi Valley were cruel
and bloodthirsty, and would resent the intrusion of strangers upon their domain.
The great river itself, they said, was the abode of terrible monsters, who could
swallow both canoes and men.

But Marquette was hot to be diverted from his purpose by these fearful re-
ports. He assured his dusky friends that he was ready to make any sacrifice,
even to liiy down his life for tlio sacred cause in which he was eno-aged. He
prayed with them ; and having implored the blessing of God upon his undertak-
ing, on the 18th day of May, 1673, with Joliet and five Canadian-French voy-
ageurs, or boatmen, he left the mission on his daring journey. Ascending
Green Bay and Fox River, these bold and enthusiastic pioneers of religion and
discovery proceeded until they reached a Miami and Kickapoo village, where
Marquette was delighted to find " a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the
town, ornamented with white skins, red gir'iles and bows and arrows, which
these good people had ofiered to the Great A^anitou, or God, to thank Him for

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 1-il

clie pity He had bestowed on tliem during the \Yinter, in having given them
abundant chase."

This was tlie extreme point beyond which the explorations of tlie French
missionaries had not then extended. Here Marquette was instructed by his
Indian hosts in the secret of a root that cures the bite of the venomous rattle-
snake, drank mineral water with them and was entertained with generous hos-
pitalitv. He called together the principal men of the village, and informed
them that his companion, Joliet, had been sent by the French Governor of Can-
ada to discover new countries, to be added to the dominion of France ; but that
he, himself, had been sent by the Most High God, to carry the glorious religion
of the Cross ; and assured his wondering hearers that on this mission he had
no fear of death, to which he knew he would be exposed on his perilous journeys.

Obtaining the services of two Miami guides, to conduct his little band to the
Wisconsin River, he left the hospitable Indians on tlie 10th of June. Conduct-
ing them across the portage, their Indian guides returned to their village, and
the little party descended the Wisconsin, to the great river which had so long
been so anxiously looked for, and boldly floated down its unknown waters.

On the 25th of June, the explorers discovered indications of Indians on the
west bank of the river and land d a little above the mouth of the river now
known as Des Moines, and for the first time Europeans trod the soil of Iowa.
Leaving the Canadians to guard the canoes, Marquette and Joliet boldly fol-
lowed the trail into the interior for fourteen miles (some authorities say six), to
an Indian villaiie situate on the banks of a river, and discovered two other vil-
lages, on the rising ground about half a league distant. Their visit, while it
created much astonishment, did not seem to be entirely unexpected, for there
was a tradition or prophecy among the Indians that white visitors were to come
to them. They were, therefore, received with great respect and hospitality, and
were cordially tendered the calumet or pipe of peace. They were informed that
this band was a part of the Illini nation and that their village was called Mon-
in-o-ou-ma or Moinfrona, which was the name of the river on which it stood.
This, fr(jm its similarity of sound, Marquette corrupted into Des Moines
(Monk's River), its present name.

Here the voyagers remained six days, learning much of the manners and
customs of their new friends. The new religion they boldly preached and the
authority of the King of France they proclaimed were received Avithout hos-
tility or remonstrance by their savage entertainers. On their departure, they
were accompanied to their canoes by the chiefs and hundreds of warriors.
Marquette received from them the sacred calumet, the emblem of peace and
safetfuard among the nations, and re-embarked for the rest of his iournev.

It is needless to follow him further, as his explorations beyond his discovery
of Iowa more properly belong to the history of another State.

In 1682, La Salle descended the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, and in
the iiame of the King of France, took formal possession of all the immense
region watered by the great river and its tributaries from its source to its mouth,
and named it Louisiana, in honor of his master, Louis XI Y. The river he
called " Colbert," after the French Minister, and at its mouth erected a column
and a cross bearing the inscription, in the French language,

"Louis the Great, King of France and Navarre,
Reigning April 9th, 1682."

xVt the close of the seventeenth century, France claimed, by right of dis-
covery and occupancy, the whole valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries,
™ including Texas, as far as the Rio del Norte.

142 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA

The province of Louisiana stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the sources
of the Tennessee, the Kanawha, the Allegheny and the Monongahela on the
east, and the Missouri and the other great tributaries of the Father of Waters
on the west. Says Bancroft, " France had obtained, under Providence, the
guardianship of this immense district of country, not, as it proved, for her own
benefit, but rather as a trustee for the infant nation by which it was one day to
be inherited."

By the treaty of Utrecht, France ceded to England her possessions
in Hudson's Bay, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. France still retained
Louisiana ; but the province had so far failed to meet the expectations of the
crown and the people that a change in the government and policy of the country
was deemed indispensable. Accordingly, in 1711, the province was placed in
the hands of a Governor General, with headquarters at Mobile. This govern-
ment was of brief duration, and in 1712 a charter was granted to Anthony
Crozat, a wealthy merchant of Paris, giving him the entire control and mo-
nopoly of all the trade and resources of Louisiana. But this scheme also failed.
Crozat met with no success in his commercial operations ; every Spanish harbor
on the Gulf was closed against his vessels; the occupation of Louisiana was-
deemed an encroachment on Spanish territory ; Spain was jealous of the am-
bition of France.

Failing in his efforts to open the ports of the district, Crozat "sought to
develop the internal resources of Louisiana, by causing trading posts to be
opened, and explorations to be made to its remotest borders. But he
actually accomplished nothing for the advancement of the colony. The only
prosperity which it ever possessed grew out of the enterprise of humble indi-
viduals, who had succeeded in instituting a little barter bjtwejn themselves
and the natives, and a petty trade with neighboring European settlements.
After a persevering effort of nearly five years, he surrendered his charter in
August, 1717."

Immediately following the surrender of his charter by Crozat, another and
more magnificent scheme was inaugurated. The national government of France
was deeply involved in debt; the colonies were nearly bankrupt, and John Law
appeared on the scene with his famous Mississippi Company, as the Louisiana
branch of the Bank of France. The charter granted to this company gave it a
legal existence of twenty-five years, and conferred upon it more extensive powers
and privileges than had been granted to Crozat. It invested the new company
with the exclusive privilege of the entire commerce of Louisiana, and of New
France, and with authority to enforce their rights. The Company was author-
ized to mono})(>lize all the trade in the country ; to make treaties with the
Indians ; to declare and prosecute war ; to grant lands, erect forts, open mines
of precious metals, levy taxes, nominate civil officers, commission those of the
army, and to appoint and remove judges, to cast cannon, and build and equip
ships of war. All this was to be done with the paper currency of John Law's
Bank of France. He had succeeded in getting His Majesty the French King
to adopt and sanction his scheme of financial operations both in France and in
the colonies, and probably there never was such a huge financial bubble ever
blown by a visionary theorist. Still, such was the condition of France that it
was accepted as a national deliverance, and Law became the most powerful man
in France. He became a Catholic, and was appointed Comptroller General of
Finance.

Among the first operations of the Company was to send eight hundred
emigrants to Louisiana, who arrived at Dauphine Island in 1718.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 143

In 1719, Philipe Francis Renault arrived in Illinois with two hundred
miners and artisans. The war between France and Spain at this time rendered
it extremely probable that the Mississippi Valley might become the theater of
Spanish hostilities against the French settlements ; to prevent this, as well as to
extend French claims, a chain of forts was begun, to keep open the connection
between the mouth and the sources of the Mississippi. Fort Orleans, high up
the Mississippi River, was erected as an outpost in 1720.

The Mississippi scheme was at the zenith of its power and glory in January,
1720, but the gigantic bubble collapsed more suddenly than it had been inflated,
and tlie Company was declared hopelessly bankrupt in May following. France
was impoverished by it, both private and public credit were overthrown, capi-
talists suddenly found themselves paupers, and labor was left without employ-
ment. The effect on the colony of Louisiana was disastrous.

While this was going on in Lower Louisiana, the region about the lakes was
the theater of Indian hostilities, rendering the passage from Canada to Louisiana
extremely dangerous for many years. The English had not only extended their
Indian trade into the vicinity of the French settlements, but through their
friends, the Iroquois, had gained a marked ascendancy over the Foxes, a fierce
and powerful tribe, of Iroquois descent, whom they incited to hostilities against
the French. The Foxes began their hostilities with the siege of Detroit in
1712, a siege which they continued for nineteen consecutive days, and although
the expedition resulted in diminishing their numbers and humbling their pride,
yet it was not until after several successive campaigns, embodying the best
military resources of New France, had been directed against them, that were
finally defeated at the great battles of Butte des Morts, and on the Wisconsin
River, and driven west in 1746.

The Company, having found that the cost of defending Louisiana exceeded
the returns from its commerce, solicited leave to surrender the Mississippi
wilderness to the home government. Accordingly, on the 10th of April, 1732,
the jurisdiction and control over the commerce reverted to the crown of France.
The Company had held possession of Louisiana fourteen years. In 1735, Bien-
ville returned to assume command for the King.

A glance at a few of the old French settlements will show the progress made
in portions of Louisiana during the early part of the eighteenth century. As
early as 1705, traders and hunters had penetrated the fertile regions of the
Wabash, and from this region, at that early date, fifteen thousand hides and
skins had been collected and sent to Mobile for the European market.

In the year 1716, the French population on the Wabash kept up a lucrative
commerce with Mobile by means of traders and voyageurs. The Ohio River
was comparatively unknown.

In 1746, agriculture on the Wabash had attained to greater prosperity than
in any of the French settlements besides, and in that year six hundred barrels
of flour were manufactured and shipped to New Orleans, together with consider-
able quantities of hides, peltry, tallow and beeswax.

In the Illinois country, also, considerable settlements had been made, so that,
in 1730, they embraced one hundred and forty French families, about six
hundred " converted Indians," and many traders and voyageurs.

In 1753, the first actual conflict arose between Louisiana and the Atlantic
colonies. From the earliest advent of the Jesuit fathers, up to the period of
which we speak, the great ambition of the French had been, not alone to preserve
their possessions in the West, but by every possible means to prevent the
slightest attempt of the English, east of the mountains, to extend their settle-

144 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

merits toward the Mississippi. France was resolved on retaining possession of
the great territory which her missionaries had discovered and revealed to the
world. French commandants had avowed their purpose of seizing every
Englishman within the Ohio Valley.

The colonies of Pennsylvania, New York and Virginia were most affected by
the encroachments of France in the extension of her dominion, and particularly
in the great scheme of uniting Canada with Louisiana. To carry out this
purpose, the French had taken possession of a tract of country claimed by Vir-
crinia. and had commenced a line of forts extending from the lakes to the Ohio
River. Virginia was not only alive to her own interests, but attentive to the
vast importance of an immediate and effectual resistance on the part of all
the English colonies to the actual and contemplated encroachments of the
French.

In lies, Governor Dinwiddle, of Virginia, sent George Washington, then a
young man just twenty-one, to demand of the French commandant '' a reason
for invading British dominions while a solid peace subsisted." Washington met
the French commandant, Gardeur de St. Pierre, on the head waters of the
Alleghany, and having communicated to him the object of his journey, received
the insolent answer that the French would not discuss the matter of risht, but
would make prisoners of every Englishman found trading on the Ohio and its
waters. The country, he said, belonged to the French, by virtue of the dis-
coveries of La Salle, and they would not withdraw from it.

In January, 1754, Washington returned to Virginia, and made his report to
the Governor and Council. Forces were at once raised, and Washington, as
Lieutenant Colonel, was dispatched at the head of a hundred and fifty men, to
the forks of the Ohio, with orders to "finish the fort already begun there by the
Ohio Company, and to make prisoners, kill or destroy all Avho interrupted the
English settlements."

On his march through the forests of Western Pennsylvania, Washington,
through the aid of friendly Indians, discovered the French concealed among the
rocks, and as they ran to seize their arms, ordered his men to fire upon them, at
the same time, with his own musket, setting the example. An action lasting
about a quarter of an hour ensued; ten of the Frenchmen were killed, among
tliera Jumonville, the commander of the party, and twenty-one Avere made pris-
oners. The dead were scalped by the Indians, and the chief, bearing a toma-
hawk and a scalp, visited all the tribes of the Miamis, urging them to join the
Six Nations and the English against the French, The French, however, were
soon re-enforced, and Col. Washington was compelled to return to Fort
Necessity. Here, on the 3d day of July, De Villiers invested the fort with
6U0 French troops and ICO Indians. On the 4tli, Washington accepted
terms of capitulation, and the English garrison withdrew from the valley of
the Ohio.

This attack of Washington upon Jumonville aroused the indignation of
France, and war was formally declared in May, 1T5G, and the "French and
Indian War" devastated the colonies for several years. Montreal, Detroit
and all Canada were surrendered to the English, and on the 10th of February,
17t53, by the treaty of Paris — which had been signed, though not formally ratified
by the respective governments, on the 3d of November, 1762 — France relinriuished
to Great Britian all that portion of the province of Louisiana lying on the east
sideof the Mississippi, except the island and town of New Orleans. On the
same day that the treaty of Paris was signed, France, by a secret treaty, ceded
to Spain all her possessions on the west side of the Mississippi, including the

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 145

whole country to the head waters of the Great River, and west to the Rocky
Mountains, and the jurisdiction of France in America, which had lasted nearly
a century, was ended.

At the close of the Revolutionary war, by the treaty of peace between Great
Britain and the United States, the English Government ceded to the latter
all the territory on the east side of the Mississippi River and north of the thirty-
first parallel of north latitude. At the same time. Great Britain ceded to
Spain all the Floridas, comprising all the territory east of the Mississippi and
south of the southern limits of the United States.

At this time, therefore, the present State of Iowa was a part of the Spanish
possessions in North America, as all the territory west of the Mississippi River
was under the dominion of Spain. That government also possessed all the
territory of the Floridas east of the great river and south of the thirty-first
parallel of north latitude. The Mississippi, therefore, so essential to the pros-
perity of the western portion of the United States, for the last three hundred
miles of its course flowed wholly within the Spanish dominions, and that govern-
ment claimed the exclusive right to use and control it below the southern boun-
dary of the United States.

The free navigation of the Mississippi was a very important question during
all the time that Louisiana remained a dependency of the Spanish Crown, and
as the final settlement intimately aifected the status of the then future State
of Iowa, it will be interesting to trace its progress.

Tlie people of the United States occupied and exercised jurisdiction over
the entire eastern valley of the Mississippi, embracing all the country drained
by its eastern tributaries ; they had a natural right, according to the accepted in-
ternational law, to follow these rivers to the sea, and to the use of the Missis-
sippi River accordingly, as the great natural channel of commerce. The river
was not only necessary but absolutely indispensable to the prosperity and growth
of the western settlements then rapidly rising into commercial and political
importance. They were situated in the heart of the great valley, and with
wonderfully expansive energies and accumulating resources, it was very evident
that jao power on earth could deprive them of the free use of the river below
them, only while their numbers were insufficient to enable them to maintain
their right by force. Inevitably, therefore, immediately after the ratification of
the treaty of 1783, the Western people began to demand the free navigation
of the Mississippi — not as a favor, but as a right. In 1786, both banks of
the river, below the mouth of the Ohio, were occupied by Spain, and military
posts on the east bank enforced her power to exact heavy duties on all im-
ports by way of the river for the Ohio region. Every boat descending the
river was forced to land and submit to the arbitrary revenue exactions of the
Spanish authorities. Under the administration of Governor Miro, these rigor-
ous exactions were somewhat relaxed from 1787 to 1790 ; but Spain held it as
her right to make them. Taking advantage of the claim of the American people,
that the Mississippi should be opened to them, in 1791, the Spanish Govern-
ment concocted a scheme for the dismerabership of the Union. The plan Avas
to induce the Western people to separate from the Eastern States by liberal land
grants and extraordinary commercial privileges.

Spanish emissaries, among the people of Ohio and Kentucky, informed them
that the Spanish Government would gi-ant them favorable commercial privilfeges,
provided they would secede from the Federal Government east of the mountains.
The Spanish Minister to the United States plainly declared to his confidential
correspondent that, unless the Western people would declare their independence

14(3 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

and refuse to remain in the Union, Spain was determined never to grant the
free navigation of the Mississippi.

By the treaty of Madrid, October 20, 1795, however, Spain formally stip-
ulated that the Mississippi River, from its source to the Gulf, for its entire width,
should be free to American trade and commerce, and that the people of the
United States should be permitted, for three years, to use the port of New
Orleans as a port of deposit for their merchandise and produce, duty free.

In November, 1801, the United States Government received, through Rufus
Kino-, its Minister at the Court of St. James, a copy of the treaty between Spain
and France, signed at Madrid March 21, 1801, by which the cession of Loui-
siana to France, made the previous Autumn, was confirmed.

The change offered a favorable opportunity to secure the just rights of the
United States, in relation to the free navigation of the Mississippi, and ended
the attempt to dismember the Union by an effort to secure an independent
government west of the Alleghany Mountains. On the 7th of January, 1803,
the American House of Representatives adopted a resolution declaring their
" unalterable determination to maintain the boundaries and the rights of navi-
gation and commerce through the River Mississippi, as established by existing
treaties."

In the same month. President Jefferson nominated and the Senate confirmed
Robert R. Livingston and James Monroe as Envoys Plenipotentiary to the
Court of France, and Charles Pinckney and James Monroe to the Court of
Spain, with plenary powers to negotiate treaties to effect the object enunciated
by the popular branch of the National Legislature. These envoys were in-
structed to secure, if possible, the cession of Florida and New Orleans, but it
does not appear that Mr. Jefferson and his Cabinet had any idea of purchasing
that part of Louisiana lying on the west side of the Mississippi. In fact, on
the 2d of March following, the instructions were sent to our Ministers, contain-
ing a plan Avhich expressly left to France "all her territory on the west side of
the Mississippi." Had these instructions been followed, it might have been that
there would not have been any State of Iowa or any other member of the glori-
ous L^nion of States west of the " Father of Waters."

In obedience to his instructions, however, Mr. Livingston broached this
plan to M. Talleyrand, Napoleon's Prime Minister, when that courtly diplo-
matist quietly suggested to the American Minister that France might be willing
to cede the whole French domain in North America to the United States, and
asked how much the Federal Government would be willing to give for it. Liv-
ingston intimated that twenty millions of francs might be a fair price. Talley-
rand thought that not enough, but asked the Americans to "think of it." A
few days later. Napoleon, in an interview with Mr. Livingston, in effect informed
the American Envoy that he had secured Louisiana in a contract with Spain
for the purpose of turning it over to the United States for a mere nominal sum.
He had been compelled to provide for the safety of that province by the treaty,
and he was " anxious to give the United States a magnificent bargain for a
mere trifle." The price proposed was one hundred and twenty-five million
francs. This was subsequently modified to fifteen million dollars, and on this
basis a treaty was negotiated, and was signed on the 30th day of April, 1803.

This treaty was ratified by the Federal Government, and by act of Congress,
approved October 31, 1803, the President of the United States was authorized
to take possession of the territory and provide for it a temporary government.
Accordingly, on the 20th day of December following, on behalf of the Presi-
dent, Gov. Clairborno and Gen. Wilkinson took possession of the Louisiana

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 147

purchase, and raised the American flag over the newly acquired domain, at New
Orleans. V Spain, although it had by treaty ceded the province to France in
1801, still held quasi possession, and at first objected to the transfer, but with-
drev/ her opposition early in 1804.

By this treaty, thus successfully consummated, and the peaceable withdrawal
of Spain, the then infant nation of the New World extended its dominion west
of the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean, and north from the Gulf of Mexico to
British America.

If the original design of Jefferson's administration had been accomplished,
the United States would have acquired only that portion of the French territory
lying east of the INlississippi Iliver, and while the American people would thus
have acquired the free navigation of that great river, all of ihe vast and fertile
empire on the west, so rich in its agricultural and inexhaustible mineral
resources, would have remained under the dominion of a foreign power. To
Napoleon's desire to sell the whole of his North American possessions, and Liv-
ingston's act transcending his instructions, which w^as acquiesced in after it was
done, does Iowa owe her position as a part of the United States by the
Louisiana purchase.

By authority of an act of Congress, approved INIarch 26, 1804, the newly
acquired territory was, on the 1st day of October following, divided : that part
lying south of the 33d parallel of north latitude was called the Territory of
Orleans, and all north of that parallel the District of Louisiana, which was placed
under the authority of the officers of Indiana Territory, until July 4, 1805, when
it was organized, with territorial government of its ow^n, and so remained until
1812, Avhen the Territory of Orleans became the State of Louisiana, and the
name of the Territory of Louisiana was changed to Missouri. On the 4th of
July, 1814, that part of Missouri Territory comprising the present State of
Arkansas, and the country to the westward, was organized into the Arkansas
Territory.

On the 2d of March, 1821, the State of Missouri, being a part of the Terri-
tory of that name, was admitted to the Union. June 28, 1834, the territory
west of the Mississippi River and north of Missouri was made a part of the
Territory of Michigan ; but two years later, on the 4th of July, 1836, Wiscon-
sin Territory was erected, embracing within its limits the present States of
Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

By act of Congress, approved June 12, 1838, the

TERRITORY OF lOW^A

was erected, comprising, in addition to the present State, much the larger part
of Minnesota, and extending north to the boundary of the British Possessions.

THE 0RI(5lXAL OWNERS.

Having traced the early history of the great empire lying west of the Mis-
sissippi, of which the State of Iowa constitutes a part, from the earliest dis-
covery to the organization of the Territory of Iowa, it becomes necessary to
give some history of

THE INDIANS OF IOWA.

According to the policy of the European nations, possession perfected title
to any territory. We have seen that the country west of the Mississippi was first
discovered by the Spaniards, but afterward, was visited and occupied by the
French. It was ceded by France to Spain, and by Spain back to France again.

148 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

and then was purchased and occupied by the United States. During all that
time, it does not appear to have entered into the heads or hearts of the high
contracting parties that the country they bought, sold and gave away was in
the possession of a race of men who, although savage, owned the vast domain
before Columbus first crossed the Atlantic. Having purchased the territory,
the United States found it still in the possession of its original owners, who had
never been dispossessed; and it became necessary to purchase again what had
already been bought before, or forcibly eject the occupants; therefore, the his-
tory of the Indian nations who occupied Iowa prior to and during its early set-
tlement by the whites, becomes an important chapter in the history of the State,
that cannot be omitted.

For more than one hundred years after Marquette and Joliet trod the virgin
soil of Iowa, not a single settlement had been made or attempted ; not even a
trading post had been established. The whole country remained in the undis-
puted possession of the native tribes, who roamed at will over her beautiful and
fertile prairies, hunted in her woods, fished in her streams, and often poured out
their life-blood in obstinately contested contests for supremacy. That this State
so aptly styled "The Beautiful Land," had been the theater of numerous,
fierce and bloody struggles between rival nations, for possession of the favored
region, long before its settlement by civilized man, there is no room for doubt.
In these savage wars, the weaker party, whether aggressive or defensive, was
either exterminated or driven from their ancient hunting grounds.

In 1673, when Marquette discovered Iowa, the Illini were a very powerful
people, occupying a large portion of the State ; but when the country was again
visited by the whites, not a remnant of that once powerful tribe remained on
the west side of the Mississippi, and Iowa was principally in the possession of
the Sacs and Foxes, a warlike tribe which, originally two distinct nations,
residing in New York and on the waters of the St. Lawrence, had gradually
fought their way westward, and united, probably, after the Foxes had been driven
out of the Fox River country, in 1846, and crossed the Mississippi. The death
of Pontiac, a f:imous Sac chieftain, was made the pretext for war against the
Illini, and a fierce and bloody struggle ensued, which continued until the Illinois
were nearly destroyed and their hunting grounds possessed by their victorious
foes. The lowas also occupied a portion of the State for a time, in common
with the Sacs, but they, too, were nearly destroyed by the Sacs and Foxes, and,
in "The Beautiful Land," these natives met their equally warlike foes, the
Morthern Sioux, with whom they maintained a constant warfare for the posses-
sion of the country for many years.

When tlie United States came in possession of the great valley of the Mis-
sissippi, by tlie Louisiana purchase, the Sacs and Foxes and lowas possessed
the entire territory now comprising the State of Iowa. The Sacs and Foxes,
also, occupied the most of the State of Illinois.

The Sacs had four principal villages, wliere most of them resided, viz. :
Their hu'gest and most important town — if an Indian village may be called
such — and from which emanated most of the obstacles and difficulties encoun-
tered by the Government in the extinguishment of Indian titles to land in this
region, was on Rock River, near Rock Island ; anotlier was on the east bank of
the Mississippi, near the mouth of Henderson River; the third was at the
head of tlie Des Moines Rapids, near the present site of Montrose, and the fourth
was near the mouth of the LTpper Iowa.

The Foxes had three principal villages, viz. : One on the west side of the
Mississippi, six miles above the rapids of Rock River ; another about twelve

HISTORY OF T[IE STATE OF IOWA. 149

miles from the river, in the rear of the Dubuque lead mines, and the third on

Turkey River

The lowas, at one time identified with the Sacs, of Rock River, had "with-
drawn from them and become a separate tribe. Their principal village was oi^
the Des Moines River, in Van Buren County, on the site where lowaville now
stands. Here the last great battle between the Sacs and Foxes and the lowas
was fought, in which Black Hawk, then a young man, commanded one division
of the attacking forces. The following account of the battle has been given :

'• Contrary to long established custom of Indian attack, this battle was commenced in the day
time, the attending circumstances justifying this departure from the well settled usages of Indian
warfare. The battle field was a level river bottom, about four miles in lecgth, and two miles
wide near the middle, narrowing to a point at either end. The main area of this bottom rises
perhaps twenty feet above the river, leaving a narrow strip of low bottom along the shore, covered
with trees that belted the prairie on the river side with a thick forest, and the immediate bank of
the river was fringed with a dense growth of willows. Near the lower end of this prairie, near
the river bank, was situated the Iowa village. About two miles above it and near the middle of
the prairie is a mound, covered at the time with a tuft of small trees and underbrush growing on
its summit. In the rear of this little elevation or mound lay a belt of wet prairie, covered, at that
time, with a dense growth of rank, coarse grass. Bordering this wet prairie on the north, the
country rises abruptly into elevated broken river bluffs, covered with a heavy forest for many
miles in extent, and in places thickly clustered with undergrowth, affording a convenient shelter
for the stealthy approach of the foe.

" Through this forest the Sac and Fox war party made their way in the night and secreted
themselves in the tall grass spoken of above, intending to remain in ambush during the day and
make such observations as tliis near proximity to their intended victim might afford, to aid them
in their contemplated attack on the town during the following night. From this situation their
spies could take a full survey of the village, and watch every movement of the inhabitants, by
which means they were soon convinced that the lowas had no suspicion of their presence.

"At the foot of themound above mentioned, the lowas had their race course, where they diverted
themselves with the excitement of horse racing, and schooled their young warriors in cavalry
evolutions. In these exercises mock battles were fought, and the Indian tactics of attack and
defense carefully inculcated, by which meansaskill in horsemanship was acquired rarely excelled.
Unfortunately for them this day was selected for their equestrian sports, and wholly uncon-
scious of the proximity of their foes, the warriors repaired to the race ground, leaving most of
their arms in the village and their old men and women and children unprotected.

" Pash-a-po-po, who was chief in command of the Sacs and Foxes, perceived at once the
advantage tliis state of things afforded for a complete surprise of his now doomel victims, and
ordered Black Hawk to file off with his young warriors through the tall grass and gain the cover
of the timber along the river bank, and with the utmost speed reach the village and commence
the battle, while he remained with his division in the ambush to make a simultaneous as-ault, on
the unarmed men whose attention was engrossed with the excitement of the races. Tlie plan
was skillfully laid and most dexterously executed. Black Hawk with his forces reai he 1 the
village undiscovered, and made a furious onslaught upon the defenseless inhabiiants, by firing
one general volley into their midst, and completing the slaughter with the tomahawk and scalp-
ing knife, aided by the devouring flames with which they enveloped the village as suoj as the
fire brand could be spread from lodge to lodge.

" On the instant of the report of fire arms at the village the forces under Pash-i-po-po
leaped from their couchaiit position in the grass and sprang tiger-like upon the astonished and
unarme 1 lowas in the midst of their r.icing sports. The first impulse of ttie latter natuially led
them to m ike the utmost speed toward their arms in the village, and protect if poss ble their
wives and ch.l Iren from the attack of their merciless assailants. The distance from tlie p!;iC3 of
attiick on the prairie was two miles, and a great number fell in their flight by the bulleis and
tomahawks of their enemies, who pressed them closely with a running fire the whole way. and
the survivors only reached their town in time to witness the horrors of its destructiin. Their
whole village was in fl;:mes, and the dearest objects of their lives lay in slaughter d heaps
amidst the devouring clem nt, an I th3 agonizing groans of the dying, mingled with th; exu ting
shouts of the victorious foe, fillet their he uts with maddening despair. Their wives an 1 chi.ilren
who had been spared the general massacre were prisoners, and together with thei;- arms were in
the hands of the victors; and all that could now be done was to draw off their shaiterel and
defenseless forces, and save as many lives as possible by a retreit across the Des Moines River,
which they effected in the best possible manner, and took a position among the Soap Creek
Hills."

The Sacs and Foxes, prior to the settlement of their village on Rock River,
h?fl a fierce conflict with the Winnebagoes, subdued them and took nossession

150 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

of their lands. Their village on Rock River, at one time, contained upward of
sixty lodges, and was among the largest Indian villages on the continent. In
1825, the Secretary of War estimated the entire number of the Sacs and Foxes
at 4,600 souls. Their village was situated in the immediate vicinity of the
upper rapids of the Mississippi, where the beautiful and flourishing towns of
Rock Island and Davenport are noAv situated. The beautiful scenery of the
island, the extensive prairies, dotted over with groves ; the picturesque bluffs
along the river banks, the rich and fertile soil, producing large crops of corn,
squash and other vegetables, with little labor ; the abundance of wild fruit,
game, fish, and almost everything calculated to make it a delightful spot for an
Indian village, which was found there, had made this place a favorite home of
the Sacs, and secured for it the strong attachment and veneration of the whole
nation.

North of the hunting grounds of the Sacs and Foxes, were those of the
Sioux, a fierce and warlike nation, who often disputed possession with their
rivals in savage and bloody warfare. The possessions of these tribes were
mostly located in Minnesota, but extended over a portion of Northern and
Western Iowa to the Missouri River. Their descent from the north upon the
hunting grounds of Iowa frequently brought them into collision with the Sacs
and Foxes ; and after many a conflict and bloody struggle, a boundary line was
established between them by the Government of the Unitcl States, in a treaty
held at Prairie du Chien, in 1825. But this, instead of settling the difficulties,
caused them to quarrel all the more, in consequence of alleged trespasses upon
each other's side of the line. These contests were kept up and became so unre-
lenting that, in 1830, Government bought of the respective tribes of the Sacs
and Foxes, and the Sioux, a strip of land twenty miles in width, on both sides
of the line, and ihus throwing them forty miles apart by creating between them
a "neutral ground," commanded them to cease their hostilities. Both the
Sacs and Foxes and the Sioux, however, were allowed to fish and hunt on this
ground unmolested, provided they did not interfere with each other on United
States territory. The Sacs and Foxes and the Sioux were deadly enemies, and
neither let an opportunity to punish the other pass unimproved.

In April, 1852, a fight occurred between the Musquaka band of Sacs and
Foxes and a band of Sioux, about six miles above Algona, in Kossuth County,
on the west side of the Des Moines River. The Sacs and Foxes were under
the leadership of Ko-ko-wah, a subordinate chief, and had gone up from their
home in Tama County, by way of Clear Lake, to what was then the "neutral
ground." At Clear Lake, Ko-ko-wah was informed that a party of Sioux were
encamped on the west side of the East Fork of the Des Moines, and he deter-
mined to attack them. With sixty of his warriors, he started and arrived at a
point on the east side of the river, about a mile above the Sioux encampment,
in the night, and concealed themselves in a grove, where they were able to dis-
cover the position and strength of their hereditary foes. The next morning,
after many of the Sioux braves had left their camp on hunting tours, the vin-
dictive Sacs and Foxes crossed the river and suddenly attacked the camp. The
conflict was desperate for a short time, but the advantage was with the assail-
ants, and the Sioux were routed. Sixteen of them, including some of their
women and children, wore killed, and a boy 14 years old was captured. One
of the INIusquakas was shot in the breast by a squaw as they were rushing into
the Sioux's camp. He started to run away, when the same brave squaw shot
him through the body, at a distance of twenty rods, and he fell dead. Three
other Sac braves were killed. But few of the Sioux escaped. The victorious

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 151

party hurriedly buried their own dead, leaving the dead Sioux above ground,
and made their way home, with their captive, with all possible expedition.

pike's expedition.

Very soon after the acquisition of Louisiana, the United States Government
adopted measures for the exploration of the new territory, having in view the
conciliation of the numerous tribes of Indians by whom it was possessad, and,
also, the selection of proper sites for the establishment of military posts and
trading stations. The Army of the West, Gen. James Wilkinson commanding,
had its headquarters at St Louis. From this post, Captains Lewis and Clark,
with a sufficient force, were detailed to explore the unknown sources of the
Missouri, and Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike to ascend to the head waters of the Mis-
sissippi. Lieut. Pike, with one Sergeant, two Corporals and seventeen privates,
left the military camp, near St. Louis, in a keel-boat, with four months' rations,
on the 9th day of August, 1805. On the 20th of the same month, the expe-
dition arrived within the present limits of Iowa, at the foot of the Des Moines
Rapids, where Pike met William Ewing, who had just been appointed Indian
Agent at this point, a French interpreter and four chiefs and fifteen Sac and
Fox warriors.

At the head of the Rapids, where Montrose is now situated, Pike held a
council with the Indians, in which he addressed them substantially as follows :
" Your great Father, the President of the United States, wished to be more
intimately acquainted with the situation and wants of the different nations of
red people in our newlv acquired territory of Louisiana, and has ordered the
General to send a number of his warriors in different directions to take them by
the hand and make such inquiries as might afford the satisfaction required."
At the close of the council he presented the red men with some knives, whisky
and tobacco.

Pursuing his way up the river, he arrived, on the 2-3d of August, at what is
supposed, from his description, to be the site of the present city of Burlington,
which he selected as the location of a military post. He describes the place as
being " on a hill, about forty miles above the River de Moyne Rapids, on the
west side of the river, in latitude about 41° 21' north. The channel of the
river runs on that shore; the hill in front is about sixty feet perpendicular;
nearly level on top ; four hundred yards in the rear is a small prairie fit for
gardening, and immediately under the hill is a limestone spring, sufficient for
the consumption of a whole regiment." In addition to this description, which
corresponds to Burlington, the spot is laid down on his map at a bend in the
river, a short distance below tbe mouth of the Henderson, which pours its waters
into the Mississippi from Illinois. Tliefort was built at Fort Madison, but from
the distance, latitude, description and map furnished by Pike, it could not have
been the place selected by him, while all the circumstances corroborate the
opinion that the place he selected was the spot where Burlington is now located,
called by the early voyagers on the Mississippi, "Flint Hills."

On the 24th, with one of his men, he went on shore on a hunting expedition,
and following a stream which they supposed to be a part of the Mississippi, they
were led away from their course. Owing to the intense heat and tall grass, his
two favorite dogs, which he had taken with him, became exhausted and he left
them on the prairie, supposing that they would follow him as soon as they
should get rested, and went on to overtake his boat. Reaching the river, he
waited some time for his canine friends, but they did not come, and as he deemed
it inexpedient to detam the boat longer, two of his men volunteered to go in pur-

152 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

suit of them, and he continued on his way up the river, expecting that the two
men wouhl soon overtake him. They lost their way, however, and for six days
were without food, except a few morsels gathered from the stream, and might
have perished, had they not accidentally met a trader from St. Louis, who in-
duced two Indians to take them up the river, and they overtook the boat at
Dubuque.

At Dubuque, Pike was cordially received by Julien Dubuque, a Frenchman,
who held a mining claim under a grant from Spain. Dubuque had an old field
piece and fired a salute in honor of the advent of the first Americans who had
visited that part of the Territory. Dubuque, however^ was not disposed to pub-
lish the wealth of his mines, and the young and evidently inquisitive officer
obtained but little information from him.

After leaving this place, Pike pursued his way up the river, but as he passed
beyond the limits of the present State of Iowa, a detailed history of his explo-
rations on the upper waters of the Mississippi more properly belongs to the his-
tory of another State.

It is sufficient to say that on the site of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, at the
mouth of the Minnesota River, Pike held a council with the Sioux, September
23, and obtained from them a grant of one hundred thousand acres of land.
On the 8th of January, 1806, Pike arrived at a trading post belonging to the
Northwest Company, on Lake De Sable, in latitude 47°. At this time the
then powerful Northwest Company carried on their immense operations from
Hudson's Bay to the St. Lawrence ; up that river on both sides, along the great
lakes to the head of Lake Superior, thence to the sources of the Red River of
the north and west, to the Rocky Mountains, embracing within the scope of
their operations the entire Territory of Iowa. After successfully accomplishing
his mission, and performing a valuable service to Iowa and the whole Northwest,
Pike returned to St. Louis, arriving there on the 30th of April, 1806.

INDIAN WARS.

The Territory of Iowa, although it had been purchased by the United States,
and was ostensibly in the possession of the Government, was still occupied by
the Indians, who claimed title to the soil by right of ownership and possession.
Before it could be open to settlement by the whites, it was indispensable that
the Indian title should be extinguished and the original owners removed. The
accomplishment of this purpose required the expenditure of la'ge sums of
money and blood, and for a long series of years the frontier was disturbed by
Indian Avars, terminated repeatedly by treaty, only to be renewed by some act
of oppression on the part of the whites or some violation of treaty stipulation.

As previously shown, at the time when the United States assumed the con-
trol of the country by virtue of the Louisiana purchase, nearly the whole State
was in possession of the Sacs and Foxes, a powerful and warlike nation, who
were not disposed to submit without a struggle to what they considered the
encroachments of the pale faces.

Among the most noted chiefs, and one whose restlessness and hatred of the
Americans occasioned more trouble to the Government than any other of his
tribe, was Black Ilawdc, who was born at the Sac village, on Rock River, in
1767. He was simply the chief of his own band of Sac warriors, but by his
energy and ambition he became the leading spirit of the united nation of Sacs
and Foxes, and one of the prominent figures in the history of the country from
1804 until his death. In early manhood he attained some distinction as a
fighting chief, having led campaigns against the Osages, and other neighboring

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 153

tribes. About the beginning of the present century he began to appear prom-
inent in affairs on the Mississippi. Some historians liave added to the statement
that " it does not appear that he was ever a great general, or possessed any of
the qualifications of a successful leader." If this was so, his life was a marvel.
How any man who had none of the qualifications of a leader became so prom-
inent as sucii, as he did, indicates either that he had some aliility, or that his
cotemporaries, both Indian and Anglo-Saxon, had less than he. He is said
to have been the " victim of a narrow prejudice and bitter ill-will against the
Americans," but the impartial historian must admit that if he was the enemy
of theAmericans, it was certainly not without some reason.

It will be remembered that Spain did not give up possession of the country
to France on its cession to the latter })ower, in 1801, but retained possession of
it, and, by the authority of France, transferred it to the United States, in 1804,
Black Hawk and his band were in St. Louis at the time, and were invited to be
present and witness the ceremonies of the transfer, but he refused the invitation,
and it is but just to say that this refusal was caused probably more from
regret that the Indians were to be transferred from the jurisdiction of the
Spanish authorities than from any special hatred toward the Americans. In
his life he says : " I found many sad and gloomy faces because the United
States were about to take possession of the town and country. Soon after the
Americans came, I took my band and went to take leave of our Spanish father.
The Americans came to see him also. Seeing them approach, we passed out
of one door as they entered another, and immediately started in our canoes for
our village, on Hock River, not liking the change any more than our friends
appeared to at St. Louis. On arriving at our village, Ave gave the news that
strange pe()})le had arrived at St. Louis, and that we should never see our
Spanish father again. The information made all our people sorry."

On the 3d day of November, 1804, a treaty was concluded between William
Henry Hnrrison, then (lovernor of Indiana Territory, on behalf of the United
States, and five chiefs of the Sac and Fox nation, by Avhich the latter, in con-
sideration of two thousand two hundred and thirty-four dollars' worth of goods
then delivered, and a yearly annuity of one thousand dollars to be paid in
goods at just cost, ceded to the United States all that land on the east side of
the Mississppi, extending from a point opposite the Jeffei-son, in Missouri, to
the Wisconsin River, embracing an ai'ea of over fifty-one millions of acres.

To this treaty Black Hawk always objected and always refused to consider
it binding upon his people. He asserted that the chiefs or braves who made it
had no authority to relin(iuish the title of the nation to any of the lands they
held or occupied ; and, moreover, that they had been sent to St. Louis on quite
a different errand, namely, to get one of their people released, who had been
imprisoned at St. Louis for killing a white man.

The year following this treaty (180")), Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike came up
the river for the purpose of holding friendly councils with the Indians and select-
ing sites for forts within the territory recently acquired from France by the
United States. Lieutenant Pike seems to have been the first American whom
Black Hawk ever met or had a personal interview with ; and he was very much
prepossessed in Pike's favor. He gives the following account of his visit to
Rock Island :

" A boat came up the river with a young American chief and a small party
of soldiers. We heard of them soon after they passed Salt River. Some of our
young braves watched them every day, to see what sort of people he had on
board. The boat at length arrived at Rock River, and the young chief came on

154 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

shore with his interpreter, and made a speech and gave us some presents. We
in turn presented them with meat and such other provisions as we had to spare.
We were well pleased with the young chief. • He gave us good advice, and said
our American father would treat us Avell."

The events Avhich soon followed Pike's expedition were the erection of Fort
Edwards, at what is now Warsaw, Illinois, and Fort Madison, on the site of the
present town of that name, the latter being the first fort erected in Iowa. These
movements occasioned great uneasiness among the Indians. When work was
commenced on Fort Edwards, a delegation from their nation, headed by some of
their chiefs, went down to see what the Americans were doing, and had an in-
terview with the commander; after which they returned home apparently satis-
fied. In like manner, when Fort Madison Avas being erected, they sent down
another delegation from a council of the nation held at Rock River. Accord-
ing to Black Hawk's account, the American chief told them that he was build-
ing a house for a trader Avho was coming to sell them goods cheap, and that the
soldiers were coming to keep him company — a statement which Black Hawk
says they distrusted at the time, believing that the fort Avas an encroachment
upon their rights, and designed to aid in getting their lands away from them.

It has been held by good American authorities, that the erection of Fort
Madison at the point where it was located was a violation of the treaty of 1804,
By the eleventh article of that treaty, the United States had a right to build a
fort near the mouth of the Wisconsin River ; by article six they had bound
themselves "that if any citizen of the United States or any other white persons
should form a settlement upon their lands, such intruders should forthwith be
removed." Probably the authorities of the United States did not regard the
establishment of military posts as coming properly within the meaning of the
terra "settlement," as used in the treaty. At all events, they erected Fort
Madison Avithin the territory reserved to the Indians, avIio became very indig-
nant. Not long after the fort Avas built, a party led by Black IlaAvk attempted
its destruction. They sent spies to Avatch the movements of the garrison, Avho
ascertained that the soldiers Avere in the habit of marching out of the fort every .
morning and evening for parade, and the plan of the party Avas to conceal them-
selves near the fort, and attack and surprise them Avhen they Avere outside. On
the morning of the proposed day of attack, five soldiers came out and Avere fired
upon by the Indians, two of them being killed. The Indians were too hasty in
their movement, for the regular drill had not yet commenced. However, they
kept up the attack fi)r several days, attempting the old Fox strategy of setting
fire to the fort Avith blazing arroAvs ; but finding their efforts unavailing, ihey
soon gave up and returned to Rock River.

When Avar Avas declared between the United States and Great Britain, m
1812, Black ILiAvk and his band allied themselves with the British, partly
because he Avas dazzled by their specious promises, and more probably because
they had been deceived by tlie Americans. Black HaAvk himself declared that
they were "forced into the Avar by being deceived." He narrates the circum-
stances as follow'S : " ScA^cral of the chiefs and head men of the Sacs and
Foxes were called upon to go to Washington to see their Great Father. On
their return, they related Avhat had been said and done. They said the Great
Father wished them, in the event of a Avar taking place with England, not to
interfere on either side, but to remain neutral. He did not Avant our help, but
wished us to hunt and supi)()rt our families, and live in peace. He said that
British traders Avould not be permitted to come on the Mississippi to furnish us
with good<, but that we should be supplied with an American trader. Our

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 155

chiefs then told him that the British traders always gave them credit in the
Fall for guns, powder and goods, to enable us to hunt and clothe our families.
He repeated that the traders at Fort Madison Avould have plenty of goods :
that we should go there in the Fall and he would supply us on credit, as the
British traders had done."

Black Hawk seems to have accepted of this proposition, and he and his
people were very much pleased. Acting in good faith, they fitted out for their
Winter's hunt, and went to Fort Madison in high spirits to receive from the
trader their outfit of supplies. But, after waiting some time, they were told by
the trader that he would not trust them. It was in vain that they pleaded the
promise of their great father at Washington. The trader was inexorable ; and,
disappointed and crestfallen, they turned sadly toward their own village. ''Few
of us," says Black Hawk, "slept that night; all was gloom and discontent. In
the morning, a canoe was seen ascending the river ; it soon arrived, bearing an
express, who brought intelligence that a British trader had landed at Rock
Island with two boats loaded with goods, and requested ua to come up imme-
diately, because he had good news for us, and a variety of presents. The
express presented us with tobacco, pipes and wampum. The news ran through
our camp like fire on a prairie. Our lodges were soon taken down, and all
started for Rock Island. Here ended all hopes of our remaining at peace,
having been forced into the war by being deceived."

He joined the British, who flattered him, styled him " Gen. Black Hawk,"
decked him Avith medals, excited his jealousies against the Americans, and
armed his band ; but he met with defeat and disappointment, and soon aban-
doned the service and came home.

With all his skill and courage, Black Hawk was unable to lead all the Sacs
and Foxes into hostilities to the United States. A portion of them, at the head
of whom was Keokuk ("the Watchful Fox"), were disposed to abide by the
treaty of 1804, and to cultivate friendly relations with the American people.
Therefore, when Black Hawk and his band joined the fortunes of Great
Britain, the rest of the nation remained neutral, and, for protection, organized,
with Keokuk for their chief. This divided the nation into the " War and the
Peace party."

Black Hawk says he was informed, after he had gone to the war, that the
nation, W'hich had been reduced to so small a body of fighting men, were unable
to defend themselves in case the Americans should attack them, and havmg all
the old men and women and children belonging to the warriors who had joined
the British on their hands to provide for, a council was held, and it was agreed
that Quash-qua-me (the Lance) and other chiefs, together with the old men,
women and children, and such others as chose to accompany them, should go to
St. Louis and place themselves under the American chief stationed there.
They accordingly went down, and were received as the "friendly band" of the
Sacs and Foxes, and were provided for and sent up the Missouri River. On
Black Hawk's return from the British army, he says Keokuk was introduced
to him as the Avar chief of the braves then in the village. He inquired how he
had become chief, and was informed that their spies had seen a lai-ge armed
force going tOAvard Peoria, and fears were entertained of an attack upon the
village ; Avhereupon a council was held, which concluded to leave the village
and cross over to the Avest side of the Mississippi. Keokuk had been standing
at the door of the lodge Avhere the council was held, not being alloAved to enter
on account of noA^er having killed an enemy, Avhere he remained until Wa-co-me
came out. Keokuk asked permission to speak in the council, which Wa-co-me

156 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

obtained for him, Keokuk then addressed the chiefs ; he remonstrated against
the desertion of their village, their own homes and the graves of their fathers,
and offered to defend the village. The council consented that he should be
their war chief. He marshaled his braves, sent out spies, and advanced on the
trail leading to Peoria, but returned without seeing the enemy. The Americans
did not disturb the village, and all were satisfied with the appointment of
Keokuk.

Keokuk, like Black Hawk, was a descendant of the Sac branch of the
nation, and Avas born on Rock River, in 1780. He was of a pacific disposition,
but possessed the elements of true courage, and could fight, when occasion
required, with a cool judgment and heroic energy. In his first battle, he en-
countered and killed a Sioux, which placed him in the rank of Avarriors, and he
was honored Avith a public feast by his tribe in commemoration of the event.

Keokuk has been described as an orator, entitled to rank with the most
gifted of his race. In person, he was tall and of portly bearing; in his public
speeches, he displayed a commanding attitude and graceful gestures ; he spoke
rapidly, but his enunciation Avas clear, distinct and forcible ; he culled his fig-
ures from the stores of nature and based his arguments on skillful logic. Un-
fortunately for the reputation of Keokuk, as an orator among white people, he
was never able to obtain an interpreter who could claim OA^en a slight acquaint-
ance with philosophy. With one exception only, his interpreters were unac-
quainted with the elements of their mother-tongue. Of this serious hindrance
to his fame, Keokuk was well aAvare, and retained Frank Labershure, who had
received a rudimental education in the French and English languages, until the
latter broke doAvn by dissipation and died. But during the meridian of his
career among the Avhite people, he Avas compelled to submit his speeches for
translation to uneducated men, whose rano;e of thought fell below the flights of
a gifted mind, and the fine imagery drawn from nature was beyond their power
of reproduction. He had sufficient knoAvledge of the English language tu make
him sensible of this bad rendering of his thoughts, and often a feeling of morti-
fication at the bungling efforts Avas depicted on his countenance Avhile speaking.
The proper place to form a correct estimate of his ability as an orator was in
the Indian council, where he addressed himself exclusively to those who under-
stood his language, and witness the electrical effect of his eloquence upon his
audience.

Keokuk seems to have possessed a more sober judgment, and to have had a
more intelligent view of the great strength and resources of the United States,
than his noted and restless cotemporary, Black Hawk. He knew from the first
that the reckless Avar which Black HaAvk and his baud had determined to carry on
could result in nothing but defeat and disaster, and used every argument against
it. The large number of warriors Avhom he had dissuaded from folloAving Black
HaAvk became, hoAvever, greatly excited with the war spirit after Stillman's
defeat, and but for the signal tact displayed by Keokuk on that occasion. Avould
have forced him to submit to their Avishes in joining the rest of the Avarriors in
the field. A Avar-danco was held, and Keokuk took part in it, seeming to be
moved Avith the current of the rising storm. When the dance Avas over, he
called the council to prepare for war. He made a speech, in Avhich he admitted
the justice of their conn)luints against the Americans. To seek redress Avas a
noble aspiration of their nature. The blood of their brethren had been shed by
the Avhite man, and the spirits of their braves, slain in battle, called loudly for
vengeance. " I am your chief," he said, " and it is my duty to lead you to bat-
tle, if, after fully considering the matter, you are determined to go. But before*

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 157

you decide on taking this important step, it is wise to inquire into the chances of
success." He then portrayed to them the great power of the United States,
against Avhom they woukl have to contend, that their chance of success was
utterly hopeless. " But," said he, " if you do determine to go upon the war-
patli, I will agree to lead you, on one condition, viz.: that before we go, Ave will
kill all our old men and our wives and children, to save them from a lingering
death of starvation, and that every one of us determine to leave our homes on
the other side of the Mississippi."

This was a strong but truthful picture of the prospect before them, and Avas
presented in such a forcible light as to cool their ardor, and cause them to aban-
don tlie rasli undertaking.

But during the war of 1832, it is now considered certain that small bands of
Indians, from the Avest side of the Mississippi, made incursions into the Avhite
settlements, in the lead mining region, and committed some murders and dep-
redations.

When peace Avas declared betAveen the United States and England, Black
HaAvk was required to make peace Avith the former, and entered into a treaty
at Portage des Sioux, September 14, 1815, but did not "touch the goose-quill
to it until May 13, 1816, Avhen he smoked the pipe of peace Avith the great
Avhite chief," at St. Louis. Tliis treaty Avas a rcneAval of the treaty of 1804,
but Black HaAvk declared he had been deceived ; that he did not knoAv that by
signing the treaty he Avas giving away his village. This weighed upon his mind,
already soured by previous disappointment and the irresistible encroachments of
the Avhites ; and Avhen, a feAv years later, he and his people Avere driven from
their possessions by the military, he determined to return to the home of his
fatliers.

It is also to be remarked that, in 1816, by treaty Avith A^arious tribes, the
United States relinquished to the Indians all the lands lying north of a line
draAvn from the southernmost point of Lake Michigan Avest to the Mississippi,
except a reservation five leagues square, on the Mississippi River, supposed then
to be sufficient to include all the mineral lands on and adjacent to Fever River,
and one league square at the mouth of the Wisconsin River.

THE BLACK HAWK AVAR.

The immediate cause of the Indian outbreak in 1830 was the occupation of
Black Hawk's village, on the Rock River, by the whites, during the absence of
tbe chief and his braves on a hunting expedition, on the Avest side of the
Mississippi. When they returned, they found their wigAvams occupied by Avhite
families, and their own women and children Avere shelterless on the banks of
the river. The Indians were indignant, and determined to repossess their village
at all hazards, and early in the Spring of 1831 recrossed the Mississippi and
menacingly took possession of their oAvn cornfields and cabins. It may bcAvell
to remark here that it was expressly stipulated in the treaty of 1804, to Avhich
they attributed all their troubles, that the Indians should not be obliged to
leave their lands until they were sold by the United States, and it does not
appear that they occupied any lands other than those OAvned by the Government.
If this Avas true, the Indians had good cause for indignation and complaint.
But the Avliites, driven out in turn by the returning Indians, became so clamorous
against what they termed the encroachments of the natives, that Gov. Reynolds, of
Illinois, ordered Gen Gaines to Rock Island with a military force to drive the
Indians again from their homes to the Avest side of the Mississippi. Black HaAvk
says he did not intend to be provoked into war by anything less than the blood of

158 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

some of his own people ; in other words, that there Avould be no war unless it should
be commenced by the pale faces. But it was said and probably thought by the mili-
tary commanders along the frontier that the Indians intended to unite in a general
war against the Avhites, from Rock River to the Mexican borders. But it does not
appear that the hardy frontiersmen themselves had any fears, for their experi-
ence had been that, when well treated, their Indian neighbors were not danger-
ous. Black Hawk and his band had done no more than to attempt to repossess the
the old homes of which they had been deprived in their absence. No blood
had been shed. Black Hawk and his chiefs sent a flag of truce, and a new
treaty Avas made, by which Black Hawk and his band agreed to remain forever
on the Iowa side and never recross the river without tlie permission of the
President or the Governor of Illinois. Whether the Indians clearly understood
the terms of this treaty is uncertain. As was usual, the Indian traders had
dictated terms on their behalf, and they had received a large amount of pro-
visions, etc., from the Government, but it may well be doubted whether the
Indians comprehended that they could never revisit the graves of their fathers
without violating their treaty. They undoubtedly thought that they had agreed
never to recross the Mississippi with hostile intent. However this may be, on
the 6th day of April, 1832, Black Hawk and his entire band, with their women
and children, again recrossed the Mississippi in plain view of the garrison of
Fort Armstrong, and went up Rock River. Although this act was construed
into an act of hostility by the military authorities, who declared that Black
Hawk intended to recover his village, or the site where it stood, by force ; but
it does not appear that he made any such attempt, nor did his apearance
create any special alarm among the settlers. They knew that the Indians never
went on the war path encumbered with the old men, their women and their
children.

The Gale7iian, printed in Galena, of May 2, 1832, says that Black Hawk
was invited hy the Prophet and had taken possession of a tract about forty
miles up Rock River ; but that he did not remain there long, but commenced
his march up Rock River. Capt. W. B. Green, who served in Capt. Stephen-
son's company of mounted rangers, says that " Black Hawk and h^s band
crossed the river with no hostile intent, but that his band had had bad luck in
hunting during the previous Winter, were actually in a starving condition, and
liad come over to spend the Summer with a friendly tribe on the head waters of
the Rock and Illinois Rivers, by invitation from their chief Other old set-
tlers, who all agree that Black Hawk had no idea of fighting, say that he came
back to the Avest side expecting to negotiate another treaty, and get a new
supply of provisions. The most reasonable explanation of this movement, Avliich
resulted so disastrously to Black Hawk and his starving people, is that, during
the Fall and Winter of 1831-2, his people became deeply indebted to their
favorite trader at Fort Armstrong (Rock Island). They had not been fortunate
in hunting, and he was likely to lose heavily, as an Indian debt was outlawed
in one year. If, therefore, the Indians could be induced to come over, and the
fears of the military could be sufficiently aroused to pursue them, another treaty
could be negotiated, and from the payments from the Government the shrewd
trader could get liis pay. Just a week after Black Hawk crossed the river, on
the 13th of A})ril, 1832, George Davenport Avrote to Gen. Atkinson : " I am
informed that the British band of Sac Indians are determined to make Avar on~
the frontier settlements. * * * From every information that I liave
received, I am of the opinion that the intention of the British band of Sac
Indians is to commit depredations on the inhabitants of the frontier." And

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 159

yet, from the 6th day of April until after Stillman's men commenced war by
firing on a flag of truce from Black Hawk, no murders nor depredations were
committed by the British band of Sac Indians.

It is not the purpose of this sketch to detail the incidents of the Black
Hawk war of 1832, as it pertains rather to the history of the State of Illinois.
It is sufficient to say that, after the disgraceful affair at Stillman's Run, Black
Hawk, concluding that the whites, refusing to treat with him, were determined
to exterminate his people, determined to return to the Iowa side of the Missis-
sippi. He could not return by the way he came, for the army was behind him,
an army, too, that would sternly refuse to recognize the white flag of peace.
His only course was to make his way northward and reach the Mississippi, if
possible, before the troops could overtake him, and this he did ; but, before he
could get his women and children across the Wisconsin, he Avas overtaken, and a
battle ensued. Here, again, he sued for peace, and, through his trusty Lieu-
tenant, "the Prophet," the whites were plainly informed that the starving
Indians did not Avish to fight, but would return to the Avest side of the Missis-
sippi, peaceably, if they could be permitted to do so. No attention was paid to
this second effort to negotiate peace, and, as soon as supplies could be obtained,
the pursuit Avas resumed, the flying Indians Avere overtaken again eight miles
before they reached the mouth of the Bad Axe, and the slaughter (it should not
be dignified by the name of battle) commenced. Here, overcome by starvation
and the victorious Avhites, his band Avas scattered, on the 2d day of August,
1832, Black HaAvk escaped, but was brought into camp at Prairie du Chien
by three Winnebagoes. He Avas confined in Jefferson Barracks until the
Spring of 1833, A\'hen he was sent to Washington, arriAdng there April 22. On
the 26th of April, they were taken to Fortress Monroe, where they remained
till the 4th of June, 1833, Avhen orders were given for them to be liberated and
returned to tlieir own country. By order of the President, he was brought
back to Iowa through the principal Eastern cities. Crowds flocked to see him
all along his route, and he Avas very much flattered by the attentions he
received. He lived among his people on the Iowa River till that reservation
was sold, in 1836, when, Avith the rest of the Sacs and Foxes, he removed to
the Des Moines Reservation, Avhcre he remained till his death, Avhich occurred
on the 3d of October, 1838.

INDIAN PURCHASES, RESERVES AND TREATIES.

At the close of the Bla<;k Hawk War, in 1832, a treaty was made at a
council held on the west bank of the Mississippi, Avhere noAv stands the thriving
city of Davenport, on grounds noAv occupied by the Chicago, Rock Island &
Pacific Railroad Company, on the 21st day of September, 1832. At this
council, the United States Avere represented by Gen. Wnifield Scott and Gov.
Reynolds, of Illinois. Keokuk, Pash-a-pa-ho and some thirty other chiefs and
Avarriors of the Sac and Fox nation were present. By this treaty, the Sacs and
Foxes ceded to the United States a strip of land on the eastern border of loAva
fifty miles wide, from the northern boundary of Missouri to the mouth of the
Upper Iowa River, containing about six million acres. The western line of the
purchase was parallel Avith the Mississippi. In consideration of this cession,
the United States Govei'nment stipulated to pay annually to the confederated
tribes, for thirty consecutive years, tAventy thousand dollars in specie, and to
pay the debts of the Indians at Rock Island, which had been accumulating for

160 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

seventeen years and amounted to fifty thousand dollars, due to Davenport &
Farnham, Indian traders. The Government also generously donated to the
Sac and Fox women and children whose husbands and fathers had fallen in the
Black Hawk war, thirty-five beef cattle, twelve bushels of salt, thirty barrels of
pork, fifty barrels of flour and six thousand bushels of corn.

This territory is known as the "Black Hawk Purchase." Although it was
not the first portion of Iowa ceded to the United States by the Sacs and Foxes,
it was the first opened to actual settlement by the tide of emigration that flowed
across the Mississippi as soon as the Indian title was extinguished. The treaty
was ratified February 13, 1833, and took effect on the 1st of June following,
when the Indians quietly removed from the ceded territory, and this fertile and
beautiful region was opened to white settlers.

By the terms of the treaty, out of the Black Hawk Purchase was reserved for
the Sacs and Foxes 400 square miles of land situated on the Iowa River, and in-
Icuding within its limits Keokuk's village, on the right bank of that river. This
tract was known as " Keokuk's Reserve, ' and was occupied by the Indians until
1836, when, by a treaty made in September between them and Gov. Dodge, of
Wisconsin Territory, it was coded to the United States. The council was held
on the banks of the Mississippi, above Davenport, and was the largest assem-
blage of the kind ever held by the Sacs and Foxes to treat for the sale of lands.
About one thousand of their chiefs and braves were present, and Keokuk was
their leading spirit and principal speaker on the occasion. By the terms of the
treaty, the Sacs and Foxes were removed to another reservation on the Des
Moines River, where an agency was established for them at what is now the
town of Agency City.

Besides the Keokuk Reserve, the Government gave out of the Black Hawk
Purchase to Antoine Le Claire, interpreter, in fee simple, one section of land
opposite Rock Island, and another at the head of the first rapids above the
island, on the Iowa side. This was the first land title granted by the United
States to an individual in Iowa.

Soon after the rem.oval of the Sacs and Foxes to their new reservation
on the Des Moines River, Gen. Joseph M. Street Avas transferred from the
agency of the Winnebagoes, at Prairie du Chien, to establish an agency
among them. A farm was selected, on which the necessary buildings were
erected, including a comfortable farm house for the agent and his fiimily, at
the expense of the Indian Fund. A salaried agent was employed to superin-
tend the farm and dispose of the crops. Two mills were erected, one on Soap
Creek and the other on Sugar Creek. The latter was soon swept away by a
flood, but the former remained and did good service for many years. Connected
with the agency were Joseph Smart and John Goodell, interpreters. The
latter was interpreter for Hard Fish's band. Three of the Indian chiefs, Keo-
kuk, Wapello and Appanoose, had each a large field improved, the two former
on the right bank of the Des Moines, back from the river, in what is now
" Keokuk's Prairie," and the latter on thepresent site of the city of Ottumwa.
Among the traders connected Avith the agency were the Messrs. Ewing, from
Ohio, and Phelps & Co., from Illinois, and also Mr. J. P. Eddy, who estab-
lished his post at what is now the site of Eddyville.

The Indians at this agency became idle and listless in the absence of their
natural and wonted excitements, and many of them plunged into dissipation.
Keokuk himself became dissipated in the latter years of his life, and it has
boon reported that he died of deUrium tremens after his removal with his
tribe to Kansas.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 161

In May, 1843, most of the Indians were removed up the Des Moines River,
above the temporary line of Red Rock, having ceded the remnant of their
lands in Iowa to the United States on the 21st of September, 1837, and on the
11th of October, 1842. By the terms of the latter treaty, they held possession
of the " New Purchase " till the Autumn of 1845, when the most of them
were removed to their reservation in Kansas, the balance being removed in the
Spring of 1846.

1. Treaty u'ith the Sioux — Made July 19, 1815 ; ratified December IG, 1815. This treaty
was made at Portage des Sioux, between the Sioux of Minnesota and Upper Iowa and the United
States, by William Clark and Ninian Edwards, Commissioners, and was merely a treaty of peace
and friendship on the part of those Indians toward the United States at the close of the war of
1812.

2. Treaty with the Sics. — A similar treaty of peace was made at Portage des Sioux, between
the United States and the Sacs, by William Clark, jsinian Edwards and Auguste Choteau, on the
13th of September, 1815, and ratified at the same date as the above. In this, the treaty of 1804
was re-affirmed, and the Sacs here represented promised for themselves and their bands to keep
entirely separate from the Sacs of Ilock River, who, under Black Hawk, had joined the British
in the war just then closed.

3. Treaty with the Foxea. — A separate treaty of peace was made with the Foxes at Portage
des Sioux, by the same Commissioners, on the 14th of September, 1815, and ratified the same as
the al)ovc, wherein the Foxes re-affirmed the treaty of St. Louis, of November 3, 1804, and
agreed to deliver up all their prisoners to the officer in command at Fort Clark, now Peoria,
Illinois.

4. Treaty with the lowas. — A treaty of peace and mutual good will was made between the
United States and the Iowa tribe of Indians, at Portage des Sioux, by the same Commissioners
as above, on the IGth of September, 1815, at the close of the war with Great Britain, and ratified
at tiie same date as the others.

5. Treaty with the S<.cs of Ro'k River— ^lade at St. Louis on the 13th of May, 1816, between
the United States and the Sacs of Rock River, by the Commissioners, William Clark, Ninian
Edwards and Auguste Choteau, and ratified December 30, 1816. In this treaty, that of 1804
was re established and confirmed by twenty-two chiefs and head men of the Sacj of Rock River,
and Black Ilawk himself attached to it his signature, or, as he said, '• touched the goose quill."

0. Treaty of 1S24 — On the 4th of August, 1824, a treaty was made between the United
States and the Sacs and Foxes, in the city of Washington, by William Clark, Commissioner,
wherein the Sac and Fox nation relinquished their title to all lands in Missouri and that portion
of the southeast corner of Iowa known as the " Ilalf-Breed Tract" was set off and reserved for
the use of the half-breeds of the Sacs and Foxes, they holding title in the same manner as In-
dians. Ratified January 18, 1825.

7. Treaty of Auyust 19, 1S25. — At this date a treaty was made by William Clark and Lewis
Cass, at Prairie du Chien, between the United States and the Chippewas, Sacs and Foxes, Me-
nonionees, Winnebagoes and a portion of the Ottawas and Pottawatomies. In this treaty, in
order to make peace between the contending tribes as to the limits of their respective hunting
grounds in Iowa, it was agreed that the United States Government should run a boundary line
between the Sioux, on the north, and the Sacs and Foxes, on the south, as follows:

Commencing at the mouth of the Upper Iowa River, on the west bank of the Mississippi,
and ascending said Iowa River to its west fork ; thence up the fork to its source ; thence cross-
ing the fork of Red Cedar River in a direct line to the second or upper fork of the Des Moines
River ; thence in a direct line to the lower fork of the Calumet River, and down that river to its
junction with the Missouri River.

8. Treaty of 1S30.— On the 15th of July, 1830, the confederate tribes of the Sacs and Foxes
ceded to the United States a strip of country lying south of the above line, twenty miles in width,
and extending along the line aforesaid from tlie Mississippi to the Des Moines River. The Sioux
also, whose possessions were north of the line, ceded to the Government, in the same treaty, a
like strip on the north side of the boundary. Thus the United States, at the ratification of this
treaty, February 24, 1831, came into possession of a portion of Iowa forty miles wide, extend-
ing along the Clark and Cass line of 1825, from the Mississippi to the Des Moines River. Thif
terri(ory was known as the " Neutral Ground," and the tribes on either side of the line were
allowed to fish and hunt on it unmolested till it was made a Winnebago reservation, and the
Winnebagoes were removed to it in 1841.

9. Treaty tvith the Sacs arid Foxes and other Tribes. — At the same time of the above treaty re-
specting the " Neutral Ground" (July 15, 1830), the Sacs and Foxes, Western Sioux, Omahas,
lowas and Missouris ceded to the United States a portion of the western slope of Iowa, the boun-
daries of which were defined as follows : Beginning at the upper fork of the Des Moines River,
and passing the sources of the Little Sioux and Floyd Rivers, to the fork of the first creek that
falls into the Big Sioux, or Calumet, on the east side ; thence down said ci-eek and the Calumet

162 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

River to the Missouri River; thence down said Missouri River to the Missouri State line above
the Kansas ; thence along said line to the northwest corner of said State ; thence to the high lands
between the waters falling into the Missouri and Des Moines, passing to said high lands along
the dividing ridge between the forks of the Grand River ; thence along said high lands or ridge
separating the waters of the Missouri from those of the Des Moines, to a point opposite the source
of the Boyer River, and thence in a direct line to the upper fork of the Des Moines, the place of
beginning.

It was understood that the lands ceded and relinquished by this treaty were to be assigned
and allotted, under the direction of the President of the United States, to the tribes then living
thereon, or to such other tribes as the President might locate thereon for hunting and other pur-
poses. In consideration of three tracts of land ceded in this treaty, the United States agreed to
pay to the Sacs three thousand dollars ; to the Foxes, three thousand dollai's ; to the Sioux,
two thousand dollars; to the Yankton and Santie bands of Sioux, three thousand dollars; to the
Omahas, two thousand five hundred dollars; and to the Ottoes and Missouris, two thousand five
hundred dollars — to be paid annually for ten successive years. In addition to these annuities,
the Government agreed to furnish some of the tribes with blacksmiths and agricultural imple-
ments to the amount of two hundred dollars, at the expense of the United States, and to set apart
three thousand dollars annually for the education of the children of these tribes. It does not
appear that any fort was erected in this territory prior to the erection of Fort Atkinson on the
Neutral Ground, in 1840-41.

This treaty was made by William Clark, Superintendent of Indian affairs, and Col. Willoughby
Morgan, of the United States First Infimtry, and came into effect by proclamation, February
24, 1831.

10. Treaty with the Winnebagoes. — Made at Fort Armstrong, Rock Island, September 15, 1832,
by Gen. Winfield Scott and Hon. John Reynolds, Governor of Illinois. In this treaty the Win-
nebagoes ceded to the United States all their land lying on the east side of the Mississippi, and
in part consideration therefor the United States granted to the Winnebagoes, to be held as other
Indian lands are held, that portion of Iowa known as the Neutral Ground. The exchange of the
two tracts of country was to take place on or before the 1st day of June, 1833. In addition to
the Neutral Ground, it was stipulated that the United States should give the Winnebagoes, begin-
ning in September, 1833, and continuing for twenty-seven successive years, ten thousand dollars
in specie, and establish a school among them, with a farm and garden, and provide other facili-
ties for the education of their children, not to exceed in cost three thousand dollars a year, and
to continue the same for twenty-seven successive years. Six agriculturists, twelve yoke of oxen
and plows and other farming tools were to be supplied by the Government.

11. Treaty of 1S32 with the Sacs and Foxes. — Already mentioned as the Black Hawk purchase.

12. Treaty of 1836, with the Sacs and Foxes, ceding Keokuk's Reserve to the United States;
for which the Government stipulated to pay thirty thousand dollars, and an annuity of ten thou-
sand dollars for ten successive years, together with other sums and debts of the Indians to
various parties.

13. Treaty of 1837.— On the 21st of October, 1837, a treaty was made at the city of Wash-
ington, between Carey A. Harris, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and the confederate tribes of
Sacs and Foxes, ratified February 21, 1838, wherein another slice of the soil of Iowa was obtained,
described in the treaty as follows: "A tract of country containing 1,250,000 acres, lying west
and adjoining the tract conveyed by them to the United States in the treaty of September 21,
1832. It is understood that the points of termination for the present cession shall be the north-
ern and southern points of said tract as fixed by the survey made under the authority of the
United States, and that a line shall be drawn between them so as to intersect a line extended
wfstwardly from the angle of said tract nearly opposite to Rock Island, as laid down in the above
survey, so far as may be necessary to include the number of acres hereby ceded, which last
mentioned line, it is estimated, will be about twenty-five miles."

This piece of land was twenty-five miles wide in the middle, and ran ofif to a point at both
ends, lying directly back of the Black Hawk Purchase, and of the same length.

14. Treaty of Relinquishment. — At the same date as the above treaty, in the city of Washing-
ton, Carey A. Harris, Commissioner, the Sacs and Foxes ceded to the United States all their
right and interest in the country lying south of the boundary line between the Sacs and Foxes
and Sioux, as described in the treaty of August 19, 1825, and between the Mississippi and Mis-
souri Rivers, the United States paying for the same one hundred and sixty thousand dollars.
The Indians also gave up all claims and interests under the treaties previously made with them,
for the satisfaction of which no appropriations had been made.

15. Treaty of 1842. — The last treaty was made with the Sacs and Foxes October 11, 1842;
ratified March 23, 1843. It was made at the Sac and Fox agency (Agency City), by John
Chambers, Commissioner on behalf of the United States. In this treaty the Sac and Fox Indians
" ceded to the United States all their lands west of the Mississippi to which they had any claim
or title." By the terms f f this treaty they were to be removed from the country at the expira-
tion of three years, and all who remained after that were to move at their own expense. Part
of them were removed to Kansas in the Fall of 1845, and the rest the Spring following.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 163

SPANISH GRANTS.

While the territory now emhraced in the State of Iowa was under Spanish
rule as a part of its province of Louisiana, certain claims to and grants of land
were made by the Spanish authorities, with which, in addition to the extinguishment
of Indian titles, the United States had to deal. It is proper that these should
be briefly revicAved.

Buhuque. — On the 22d day of September, 1788, Julien Dubuque, a French-
man, from Prairie du Chien, obtained from the Foxes a cession or lease of lands
on the Mississippi River for mining purposes, on the site of the present city of
Dubuque. Lead had been discovered here eight years before, in 1780, by the
wife of Peosta Fox, a warrior, and Dubuque's claim embraced nearly all the lead
bearing lands in that vicinity. He immediately took possession of his claim and
commenced mining, at the same time making a settlement. The place became
known as the "Spanish Miners," or, more commonly, "Dubuque's Lead
Mines."

In 1796, Dubuque filed a petition with Baron de Carondelet, the Spanish
Governor of Louisiana, asking that the tract ceded to him by the Indians might
be granted to him by patent from the Spanish Government. In this petition,
Dubuque rather indefinitely set forth the boundaries of this claim as " about
seven leagues along the Mississippi River, and three leagues in width from the
river," intending to include, as is supposed, the river front between the Little
. Maquoketa and the Tete des Mertz Rivers, embracing more than twenty thou-
sand acres. Carondelet granted the prayer of the petition, and the grant was
subsequently confirmed by the Board of Land Commissioners of Louisiana.

In October, 1804, Dubuque transferred the larger part of his claim to
Auguste Choteau, of St. Louis, and on the 17th of May, 1805, he and Choteau
jointly filed their claims with the Board of Commissioners. On the 20th of
September, 1806, the Board decided in their favor, pronouncing the claim to be
a regular Spanish grant, made and completed prior to the 1st day of October,
1800, only one member, J. B. C. Lucas, dissenting.

Dubuque died March 24, 1810. The Indians, understanding that the claim
of Dubuque under their former act of cession Avas only a permit to occupy the
tract and Avork the mines during his life, and that at his death they reverted to
them, took possession and continued mining operations, and Avere sustained by
the military authority of the United States, notAvithstanding the decision of the
Commissioners. When the Black HaAvk purchase was consummated, the Du-
buque claim thus held by the Indians Avas absorbed by the United States, as the
Sacs and Foxes made no reservation of it in the treaty of 1832.

The heirs of Choteau, hoAvever, Avere not disposed to relinquish their claim
Avithout a struggle. Late in 1832, they employed an agent to look after their
interests, and authorized him to lease the right to dig lead on the lands. The
miners Avho commenced Avork under this agent were compelled by the military to
abandon their operations, and one of the claimants went to Galena to institute
legal proceedings, but found no court of competent jurisdiction, although he did
bring an action for the recovery of a quantity of lead dug at Dubuque, for the
purpose of testing the title. Being unable to identify the lead, hoAvever, he was
non-suited.

By act of Congress, approved July 2, 1836, Jhe town of Dubuque Avas sur-
veyed and platted. After lots had been sold and occupied by the purchasers,
Henry Chotean brought an action of ejectment against Patrick MaJony, who

164 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF lOAVA.

held land in Dubuque under a patent from the United States, for the recovery
of seven undivided eighth parts of the Dubuque claim,'as purchased by Augusta
Choteau in 1804. The case was tried in the District Court of the United States
for the District of Iowa, and was decided adversely to the plaintiff. The case was
carried to the Supreme Court of the United States on a writ of error, when it
was heard at the December term, 1853, and the decision of the lower court was
affirmed, the court holding that the permit from Carondolet was merely a lease
or permit to work the mines ; that Dubuque asked, and the Governor of Louisiana
granted, nothing more than the "peaceable possession " of certain lands obtained
from the Indians ; that Carondelet had no legal authority to make snch a grant
as claimed, and that, even if he had, this was but an " inchoate and imperfect
title."

Giard. — In 1795, the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Louisiana granted to
Basil Giard five thousand eight hundred and sixty acres of land, in what is now
Clayton County, known as the "Giard Tract." He occupied the land during
the time that Iowa passed from Spain to France, and from France to the United
States, in consideration of which the Federal Government granted a patent of
the same to Giard in his own right. His heirs sold the whole tract to James H.
Lockwood and Thomas P. Burnett, of Prairie du Chien, for three hundred dollars.

Honori. — March 30, 1799, Zenon Trudeau, Acting Lieutenant Governor of
Upper Louisiana, granted to Louis Honori a tract of land on the site of the
present town of Montrose, as follows : " It is permitted to Mr. Louis (Fresson)
Henori, or Louis Honore Fesson, to establish himself at the head of the rapids
of the River Des Moines, and his establishment once formed, notice of it shall be
given to the Governor General, in order to obtain for him a commission of a space
sufficient to give value to such establishment, and at the same time to render it
useful to the commerce of the peltries of this country, to watch the Indians and
keep them in the fidelity which they owe to His Majesty."

Honori took immediate possession of his claim, which he retained until 1805.
While trading with the natives, he became indebted to Joseph Robedoux, wdio
obtained an execution on which the property was sold May 13, 1803, and was
purchased by the creditor. In these proceedings the property was described as
being " about six leagues above the River Des Moines." Robedoux died soon
after he purchased the proprerty. Auguste Choteau, his executor, disposed of
the Honori tract to Thomas F. Reddeck, in April, 1805, up to which time
Honori continued to occupy it. The grant, as made by the Spanish government,
was a league square, but only one mile square was confirmed by the United
States. After the half-breeds sold their lands, in which the Honori grant was
included, various claimants resorted to litigation in attempts to invalidate the
title of the Reddeck heirs, but it was finally confirmed by a decision of the
Supreme Court of the United States in 1839, and is the oldest legal title to any
land in the State of Iowa.

THE HALF-BREED TRACT.

Before any permanent settlement had been made in the Territory of Iowa,
white adventurers, trap])ers and traders, many of whom were scattered along
the Mississippi and its tributaries, as agents and employes of the American Fur
Company, intermarried with the females of the Sac and Fox Indians, producing
a i-ace of half-breeds, whose number was never definitely ascertamed. There
were some respectable and excellent people among them, children of men of
some refinement and education. For instance : Dr. Muir, a gentleman educated

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 165

at Edinburgh, Scotland, a surgeon in the United States Army, stationed at a
military post located on the present site of Warsaw, married an Indian woman,
and reared his family of three daughters in the city of Keokuk, Other exam-
ples might be cited, but they are probably exceptions to the general rule, and
the race is now nearly or quite extinct in Iowa.

A treaty was made at Washington, August 4, 1824, between the Sacs and
Foxes and the United States, by which that portion of Lee County was reserved
to the half-breeds of those tribes, and which was afterward known as " The
Half-Breed Tract." This reservation is the triangular piece of land, containing
about 119,000 acres, lying between the Mississippi andDes Moines Rivers. It is
bounded on the north by the prolongation of the northern line of Missouri.
This line was intended to be a straight one, running due east, which would have
caused it to strike the Mississippi River at or below Montrose ; but the surveyor who
run it took no notice of the change in the variation of the needle as he proceeded
eastward, and, in consequence, the line he run was bent, deviating more and more
to the northward of a direct line as he approached the Mississippi, so that it
struck that river at the lower edge of the town of Fort jNIadison. " This errone-
ous line," says Judge Mason, "-has been acquiesced in as well in fixing the
northern limit of the Half-Breed Tract as in determining the northern boundary
line of the State of Missouri." The line thus run included in the reservation
a portion of the lower part of the city of Fort Madison, and all of the present
townsliips of Van Buren, Charleston, Jefferson, Des Moines, Montrose and
Jackson.

Under the treaty of 1824, the half-breeds had the right to occupy the soil,
but could not convey it, the reversion being reserved to the United States. But
on the 30th day of January, 1834, by act of Congress, this reversionary right
was relinquished, and the half-breeds acquired the lands in fee simple. This
was no sooner done, than a horde of speculators rushed in to buy land of the
half-breed owners, and, in many instances, a gun, a blanket, a pony or a few
quarts of whisky was sufficient for the purchase of large estates. There was
a deal of sharp practice on both sides ; Indians would often claim OAvnership of
land by virtue of being half-breeds, and had no difficulty in proving their mixed
blood by the Indians, and they would then cheat the speculators by selling land
to which they had no rightful title. On the other hand, speculators often
claimed land in which they had no ownership. It was diamond cut diamond,
until at last things became badly mixed. There were no authorized surveys,
and no boundary lines to claims, and, as a natural result, numerous conflicts and
([uarrels ensued.

To settle these difficulties, to decide the validity of claims or sell them for
the benefit of tlie real owners, by act of the Legislature of Wisconsin Territory,
approved January 16, 1838, Edward Johnstone, Thomas S. Wdson and David
Brigham were appointed Commissioners, and clothed with power to effect these
objects. The act provided that these Commissioners should be paid six dollars
a day each. The commission entered upon its duties and continued until the
next session of the Legislature, Avhen the act creating it was repealed, invalidat-
ing all that had been done and depriving the Commissioners of their pay. The
repealing act, however, authorized the Commissioners to commence action against
the owners of the Half-Breed Tract, to receive pay for their services, in the Dis-
trict Court of Lee County. Two judgments were obtained, and on execution
the whole of the tract Avas sold to Hugh T. Reid, the Sheriff' executing the
deed. Mr. Reid sold portions of it to various parties, but his own title was
questioned and he became involved in litigation. Decisions in favor of Reid

166 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

and those holding under him were made by both District and Supreme Courts,
but in December, 1850, these decisions were finally reversed by the Supreme
Court of the United States in the case of Joseph Webster, plaintiff in error, vs.
Hugh T. Reid, and the judgment titles failed. About nine years before the
"judgment titles " were finally abrogated as above, another class of titles were
brought into competition with them, and in the conflict between the two, the
final decision Avas obtained. These were the titles based on the " decree of
partition " issued by the United States District Court for the Territory of Iowa,
on the 8th of May, 1841, and certified to by the Clerk on the 2d day of June of
that year. Edward Johnstone and Hugh T. Reid, then law partners at Fort
Madison, filed the petition for the decree in behalf of the St. Louis claimants of
half-breed lands. Francis S. Key, author of the Star Spangled Banner, who
was then attorney for the New York Land Company, Avhich held heavy interests
in these lands, took a leading part in the measure, and drew up the document in
which it was presented to the court. Judge Charles Mason, of Burlington, pre-
sided. The plan of partition divided the tract into one hundred and one shares
and arranged tliat each claimant should draw his proportion by lot, and should .
abide the result, whatever it might be. The arrangement Avas entered into, the
lots draAvn, and the plat of the same filed in the Recorder's office, October 6,
1841. Upon this basis the titles to land in the Half-Breed Tract are now held.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

The first permanent settlement by the whites within the limits of Iowa was
• made by Julien Dubuque, in 1788, when, Avith a small party of miners, he set-
tled on the site of the city that now bears his name, where he lived until his
death, in 1810. Louis Honori settled on the site of the present toAvn of Mon-
trose, probably in 1799, and resided there until 1805, Avhen his property passed
into other hands. Of the Giard settlement, opposite Prairie du Chien, little is
knoAvn, except that it was occupied by some parties prior to the commencement
of the present century, and contained three cabins in 1805. Indian traders,
although not strictly to be considered settlers, had established themselves at
various points at an early date. A Mr. Johnson, agent of the American Fur
Company, had a trading post below Burlington, Avhere he carried on traffic Avith
the Indians some time before the United States possessed the country. In
1820, Le Moliese, a French trader, had a station at Avhat is now Sandusky, six
miles aboA-e Keokuk, in Lee County. In 1829, Dr. Isaac Gallaud made a set-
tlement on the Lower Rapids, at Avhat is noAv Nashville.

The first settlement in Lee County Avas made in 1820, by Dr. Samuel C.
Muir, a surgeon in the United States army, Avho had been stationed at Fort
Edwards, now WarsaAv, 111., and Avho built a cabin Avhere the city of Keokuk
now stands. Dr. Muir was a man of strict integrity and irreproachable char-
acter. While stationed at a military post on tlie Upper Mississippi, he had
married an Indian woman of the Fox nation. Of his marriage, the following
romantic account is given :

The post at which he was stationed was visited by a beautiful Indian maiden — whose native
name, unfortunately, has not been preserved — who, in her dreams, had seen a white brave un-
moor his canoe, paddle it across tlie river and come directly to her lodge. She felt assured,
accordin;^ to the superstitious belief of lier race, that, in her dreams, she had seen her future
husband, and had come to tlie fort to find liim. Mooting Dr. Muir, she instantly recognized
him as the hero of her dream, wliicli, with childlike innocence and simplicity, she related to
him. Her dream was, indeed, prophetic. Charmed with Sophia's beauty, innocence and devo-
tion, the doctor honorably niarried lier ; but after a while, the sneers and gibes of his brother

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 167

officers — less honorable than he, perhaps — made him feel ashamed of his dark-skinned wife, and
when his regiment was ordered down the river, to Bellefontaine, it is said he embraced the
opportunity to rid himself of her, and left her, never expecting to see her again, and little
dreaming that she would have the courage to follow him. But, with her infant child, this in-
trepid wife and mother started alone in her canoe, and, after many days of weary labor and a
lonely journey of nine hundred miles, she, at last, reached him. She afterward remarked, when
speaking of this toilsome journey down the river in search of her husband, " When I got there
I was all perished away — so thin ! " The doctor, touched by such unexampled devotion, took her
to his heart, and ever after, until his death, treated her with marked respect. She always pre-
sided at his table with grace and dignity, but never abandoned her native style of dress. In
lyiO-20, he was stationed at Fort Edward, but the senseless ridicule of some of his brother
officers on account of his Indian wife induced him to resign his commission.

After building his cabin, as above stated, he leased his claim for a term of years to Otis
Reynolds and John Culver, of St. Louis, and went to La Pointe, afterward Galena, where he
practiced his profession for ten years, when he returned to Keokuk. His Indian wife bore to
him four children — Louise (married at Keokuk, since dead), James, (drowned at Keokuk), Mary
and Sophia. Dr. Muir died suddenly of cholera, in 1832, but left his property in such condition
that it was soon wasted in vexatious litigation, and his brave and faithful wife, left friendless and
penniless, became discouraged, and, with her children, disappeared, and, it is said, returned to
her people on the Upper Missouri.

Messrs. Reynolds k Culver, who had leased Dr. Muir's claim at Keokuk,
subsequently employed as their agent Mr. Moses Stillwell, who arrived with
his family in 1828, and took possession of Muir's cabin. His brothers-in-law,
Amos and Valencourt Van Ansdal, came with him and settled near.

His daughter, Margaret Stillwell (afterward Mrs. Ford) Avas born in 1831.
at the foot of the rapids, called by the Indians Puch-a-she-tuck, where Keokuk
now stands. She was probably the first wdiite American child born in Iowa.

In 1831, Mr. Johnson, Agent of the American Fur Company, who had a
station at the foot of the rapids, removed to another location, and, Dr. Muir
having returned from Galena, he and Isaac R. Campbell took the place and
buildings vacated by the Company and carried on trade with the Indians and
half-breeds. Campbell, who had first visited and traveled through the southern
part of Iowa, in 1821, was an enterprising settler, and besides trading with the
natives carried on a farm and kept a tavern.

Dr. Muir died of cholera in 1832.

In 1830, James L. and Lucius H. Langworthy, brothers aijd natives of
Vermont, visited the Territory for the purpose of working the lead mines at Du-
buque. They had been engaged in lead mining at Galena, Illinois, the former
from as early as 1824. The lead mines in the Dubuque region were an object
of great interest to the miners about Galena, for they were known to be rich in
lead ore. To ex])lore these mines and to obtain permission to work them was
therefore eminently desirable.

In 1829, James L. Langworthy resolved to visit the Dubuque mines. Cross-
ing the Mississippi at a point now known as Dunleith, in a canoe, and swim-
ming his horse by his side, he landed on the spot now known as Jones Street
Levee. Before him spread out a beautiful prairie, on which the city of Du-
buque now stands. Two miles south, at the mouth of Catfish Creek, was a vil-
lage of Sacs and Foxes. Thither Mr. Langworthy proceeded, and was well re-
ceived by the natives. He endeavored to obtain permission from them to mine
in their hills, but this they refused. He, however, succeeded in gaining the con-
fidence of the chief to such an extent as to be allowed to travel in the interior
for three weeks and explore the country. He employed two young Indians as
guides, and traversed in diiferent directions the whole region lying between the
Maquoketa and Turkey Rivers. He returned to the village, secured the good
will of the Indians, and, returning to Galena, formed plans for future opera-
tions, to be executed as soon as circumstances would permit.
i

168 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

In 1830, with his brother, Lucius H., and others, having obtained the con-
sent of the Indians, Mr. Langworthy crossed the Mississippi and commenced
mining in the vicinity around Dubutjue.

At this time, the Lands were not in the actual possession of the United States.
Although they had been purchased from France, the Indian title had not been
extinguished, and these adventurous persons were beyond the limits of any State
or Territorial government. The first settlers were therefore obliged to be their
own law-makers, and to agree to such regulations as the exigencies of the case
demanded. The first act resembling civil legislation within the limits of the
present State of Iowa was done by the miners at this point, in June, 1830. They
met on the bank of the river, by the side of an old cottonwood drift log, at
what is now the Jones Street Levee, Dubuque, and elected a Committee, con-
sisting of J. L. Langworthy, H. F. Lander, James McPhetres, Samuel Scales,
and E. M. Wren. This may be called the first Legislature in Iowa, the mem-
bers of Avhich gathered around that old cottonwood log, and agreed to and re-
ported the following, Avritten by Mr. Langworthy, on a half sheet of coarse, un-
ruled paper, the old log being the writing desk :

We, a Comniiltee having been chosen to draft certain rules and regulations (laws) by
which we as miners will be governed, and having duly considered the subject, do unanimously
agree that we will be governed by the regulations on the east side of the Mississippi River,* with
the following exceptions, to wit :

Abticlb I. That each and every man shall hold 200 yards square of ground by working
said ground one day in six.

Artiple if. We further agree that there shall be chosen, by the majority of the miners
present, a person who shall hold this article, and who shall grant letters of arbitration on appli-
cation having been made, and that said letters of arbitration shall be obligatory on the parties so
applying.

The report was accepted by the miners present, who elected Dr. Jarote, in
accordance with Article 2. Here, then, Ave have, in 1830, a primitive Legisla-
ture elected by the people, the law drafted by it being submitted to the people
for approval, and under it Dr. Jarote was elected first Governor within the
limits of the present State of Iowa. And it is to bo said that the laws thus
enacted were as promptly obeyed, and the acts of the executive officer thus
elected as duly respected, as any have been since.

The miners who had thus erected an independent government of tlioir own
on the west side of the Mississippi River continued to work successfully for a
long time, and the new settlement attracted considerable attention. But the
west side of the Mississippi belonged to the Sac and Fox Indians, and the Gov-
ernment, in order to preserve peace on the frontier, as well as to protect the
Indians in their rights under the treaty, ordered the settlers not only to stop
mining, but to remove from the Indian territory. They were simply intruders.
The execution of this order was entrusted to Col. Zachary Taylor, then in com-
mand of tlie military post at Prairie du Chicn, who, early in July, sent an officer
to the miners with orders to forbid settlement, and to command the miners to
remove within ten days to the east side of the Mississippi, or they wouhl be
driven off by armed force. The miners, however, were reluctant about leaving
the ricli "leads" tliey had already discovered and opened, and were not dis-
posed to obey the order to remove witli any considerable degree of alacrity. In
due time, Col. Taylor dispatched a detachment of troops to enforce his order. Tlie
miners, anticipating their arrival, had, excepting three, recrossed the river, and
from the east bank saw the troops land on the western shore. The three who
had lingered a little too long were, however, permitted to make their escape

* Established by the Superintendent of U. S. Lead Mines at Fever River. ,

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 169

unmolested. From this time, a military force was stationed at Dubuque to
prevent the settlers from returning, until June, 1832. The Indians returned,
and were encouaged to operate the rich mines opened by the late white
occupants.

In June, 1832, the troops were ordered to the east side to assist in the
annihilation of the very Indians whose rights they had been protecting on the
west side. Immediately after the close of the Black Hawk war, and the negotia-
tions of the treaty in September, 1832, by which the Sacs and Foxes ceded to
the United States the tract known as the "Black Hawk Purchase," the set-
tlers, supposing that now they had a right to re-enter the territory, returned
and took possession of their claims, built cabins, erected furnaces and prepared
large quantities of lead for market. Dubuque was becoming a noted place on
the river, but the prospects of the hardy and enterprising settlers and miners
were again ruthlessly interfered with by the Government, on the ground that
the treaty with the Indians would not go into force until June 1, 1833, although
they had withdrawn from the vicinity of the settlement. Col. Taylor was again
ordered by the War Department to remove the miners, and in January, 1833,
troops were again sent from Prairie du Chion to Dubu([ue for that purpose.
This was a serious and perhaps unnecessary hardship imposed upon the settlers.
They were compelled to abandon their cabins and homes in mid-winter. It
must now be said, simply, that "red tape" should be respected. The purchase
had been made, the treaty ratified, or Avas sure to be ; the Indians had retired,
and, after the lapse of nearly fifty years, no very satisfactory reason for this
rigorous action of the Government can be given.

But the orders had been given, and there was no alternative but to obey.
Many of the settlers recrossed the river, and did not return ; a few, hoAvever,
removed to an island near the east bank of the river, built rude cabins of poles,
in which to store their lead until Spring, when they could float the fruits of
their labor to St, Louis for sale, and where they could remain until the treaty
went into force, when they could return. Among these were James L. Lang-
worthy, and his brother Lucius, who had on hand about three hundred thousand
pounds of lead.

Lieut. Covington, who had been placed in command at Dubuque by Col.
Taylor, ordered some of the cabins of the settlers to be torn down, and wagons
and other property to be destroyed. This wanton ami inexcusable action on
the part of a subordinate clothed with a little brief authority was sternly
rebuked by Col. Taylor, and Covington was superseded by Lieut. George Wil-
son, Avho pursued a just and friendly course with the pioneers, who were only
waiting for the time when they could repossess their claims.

June 1, 1833, the treaty formally went into effect, the troops were withdrawn,
and the Langworthy brothers and a few others at once returned and resumed
possession of their home claims and mineral prospects, and from this time the
first permanent settlement of this portion of Iowa must date. Mr. John P.
Sheldon was appointed Superintendent of the mines by the Government, and a
system of permits to miners and licenses to smelters was adopted, similar to that
which had been in operation at Galena, since 1825, under Lieut. Martin Thomas
andCapt. Thomas C. Legate. Substantially the primitive law enacted by the
miners assembled around that old cottonwood drift log in 1830 was adopted and
enforced by the United States Government, except that miners were required to
sell their mineral to licensed smelters and the smelter was required to give bonds
for the payment of six per cent, of all lead manufactured to the Government.
This was the same rule adopted in the United States mines on Fever River in

170 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

Illinois, except that, until 1830, the Illinois miners were compelled to pay 10
per cent. tax. This tax upon the miners created much dissatisfaction among
the miners on the west side as it had on the east side of tlie Mississippi. They
thought they had suffered hardships and privations enough in opening the way
for civilization, without being subjected to the imposition of an odious Govern-
ment tax upon their means of subsistence, when the Federal Government could
better afford to aid than to extort from them. The measure soon became unpop-
ular. It was difficult to collect the taxes, and the whole system was abolished
in about ten years.

During 1833, after the Indian title was fully extinguished, about five hun-
dred people arrived at the mining district, about one hundred and fifty of them
from Galena.

In the same year, Mr. Langworthy assisted in building the first school house
in Iowa, and thus was formed the nucleus of the now populous and thriving
City of Dubuque. Mr. Langworthy lived to see the naked prairie on which he
first landed become the site of a city of fifteen thousand inhabitants, the small
school house which he aided in constructing replaced by three substantial edifices,
wherein two thousand children Avere being trained, churches erected in every
part of the city, and railroads connecting the wilderness which he first explored
with all the eastern world. He died suddenly on the 13th of March, 1865,
while on a trip over the Dubucpe & Southwestern Railroad, at Monticello,
and tlie evening train brought the news of his death and his remains.

Lucius H. Langworthy, his brother, was one of the most worthy, gifted and
mfluential of the old settlers of this section of Iowa. He died, greatly lamented
by many friends, in June, 1865.

Tiie name Dubuque was given to the settlement by the miners at a meeting
held in 1834.

In 1832, Captain James White made a claim on the present site of Montrose.
In 1834, a military post was established at this point, and a garrison of cavalry
was stationed here, under the command of Col. Stephen W. Kearney. The
soldiers were removed from this post to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1837.

During the same year, 1832, soon after the close of the Black Hawk War,
Zachariah Hawkins, Benjamin Jennings, Aaron White, Augustine Horton,
Samuel Gooch, Daniel Thompson and Peter Williams made claims at Fort
Madison. In 1833, these claims were purchased by John and Nathaniel
Knapp, upon which, in 1835, they laid out the town. The next Summer, lots
were sold. The town was subsequently re-surveyed and platted by the United
States Government.

At the close of the Black Hawk War. parties who had been impatiently
looking across upon "Flint Hills," now Burlington, came over from Illinois
and made claims The first was Samuel S. White, in the Fall of 1832, who
erected a cabin on the site of the city of Burlington. About the same time,
David Tothero made a claim on the prairie about three miles back from the
river, at a place since known as thefaim of Judge Morgan. In the Winter of
that year, they were driven off by the military from Rock Island, as intruders
upon the rights of the Indians, and White's cabin was burnt by the soldiers.
He retired to Illinois, where he spent the Winter, and in the Summer, as soon
as the Indian title was extinguished, returned and rebuilt his cabin. Wliite
was joined by his brother-in-law, Doolittle, and they laid out the original town
of Burlington in 1834.

All along the river borders of the Black Hawk Purchase settlerswere flocking
into Iowa. Immediately after the treaty with the Sacs and Foxes, in Septem-

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 171

ber, 1832, Col. George Davenport made the first claim on the spot where the
thriving city of Davenport now stands. As early as 1827, Col. Davenport had
established a flatboat ferry, which ran between the island and the main shore of
Iowa, by which he carried on a trade with the Indians west of the Mississippi.
In 1833, Capt. Benjamin W. Clark moved across from Illinois, and laid the
foundation of the town of Buifalo, in Scott County, which was the first actual
settlement within the limits of that county. Among other early settlers in this
part of the Territory were Adrian H. Davenport, Col. John Sullivan, Mulli-
gan and Franklin Easly, Capt. John Coleman, J. M. Camp, William White,
H. W. Higgins, Cornelius Harrold, Richard Harrison, E. H. Shepherd and
Dr. E. S. Barrows.

The first settlers of Davenport were Antoine LeClaire, Col. George Daven-
port, Major Thomas Smith, Major William Gordon, Philip Hambough, Alexan-
der W. McGregor, Levi S. Colton, Capt. James May and others. Of Antoine
LeClaire, as the representative of the two races of men who at this time occu-
pied Iowa, lion. C. C. Nourse, in his admirable Centennial Address, says :
•' Antoine LeClaire was born at St. Joseph, Michigan, in 1797. His father
was French, his mother a granddaugliter of a Pottowatomie chief. In 1818,
he acted as official interpreter to Col. Davenport, at Fort Armstrong (now Rock
Island). He was well acquainted with a dozen Indian dialects, and was a man
of strict integrity and great energy. In 1820, he married the granddaughter
of a Sac chief. The Sac and Fox Indians reserved for him and his wife two
sections of land in the treaty of 1833, one at the town of LeClaire and one at
Davenport. The Pottawatomies, in the treaty at Prairie du Chien, also
reserved for him two sections of land, at the present site of Moline, 111. He
received the appointment of Postmaster and Justice of the Peace in the Black
Hawk Purchase, at an early day. In 1833, he bought for $100 a claim on the
land upon which the original tt)wn of Davenport was surveyed and platted in
1836. In 1836, LeClaire built the hotel, known since, with its valuable addi-
tion, as the LeClaire House. He died September 25, 1861."

In Clayton County, the first settlement was made in the Spring of 1832,
on Turkey River, by Robert Hatfield and William W. Wayman. No further
settlement was made in this part of the State till the beginning of 1836.

In that portion now known as Muscatine County, settlements were made in
1834, by Benjamin Nye, John Vanater and G. W. Kasey, who were the first
settlers. E. E. Fay, William St. John, N. Fullington, H. Reece, Jona Petti-
bone, R. P. Lowe, Stephen Whicher, Abijah Whiting, J. E. Fletcher, W. D.
Abernethy and Alexis Smith were early settlers of Muscatine.

During the Summer of 1835, William Bennett and his family, from Galena,
built the first cabin within the present limits of Delaware County, in some
timber since known as Eads' Grove.

The first post office in Iowa was established at Dubuque in 1833. Milo H.
Prentice was appointed Postmaster.

The first Justice of the Peace was Antoine Le Claire, appointed in 1833, as
"a very suitable person to adjust the difficulties between the white settlers and
the Indians still remaining there."

The first Methodist Society in the Territory was formed at Dubuque on
the 18th of May, 1834, and the first class meeting was held June 1st of that
year.

The first church bell brought into Iowa was in March, 1834.

The first mass of the Roman Catholic Church in the Territory was celebrated
at Dubuque, in the house of Patrick Quigley, in the Fall of 1833.

172 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

The first school house in the Territory was erected by the Dubuque miners
in 1833.

The first Sabbath school was organized at Dubuque early in the Summer
of 1834.

The first woman who came to this part of the Territory with a view to per-
manent residence was Mrs. Noble F. Dean, in the Fall of 1832.

The first family that lived in this part of Iowa was that of Hosea T. Camp,
in 1832.

The first meeting house was built by the Methodist Episcopal Church, at
Dubuque, in 1834.

The first newspaper in Iowa was the Dubuque Visitor, issued May 11th, 1836.
John King, afterward Judge King, was editor, and William C. Jones, printer.

The pioneers of Iowa, as a class, were brave, hardy, intelligent and
enterprising people. ,

As early as 1824, a French trader named Hart had established a trading
post, and built a cabin on the bluffs above the large spring now known as
" Mvnster Spring," within the limits of the present city of Council Bluffs, and
had probably been there some time, as the post was known to the employes of
the American Fvir Company as Lacote de Hart, or " Hart's Bluff." In 1827,
an agent of the American Fur Company, Francis Guittar, with others, encamped
in the timber at the foot of the bluffs, about on the present location of Broad-
way, and afterward settled there. In 1839, a block house Ava,s built on the
blnff in the east part of the city. The Pottawatomie Indians occupied this part
of the State until 1846-7, when they relinquished the territory and removed to
Kansas. Billy Caldwell was then principal chief. There were no white settlers
in that part of the State except Indian traders, until the arrival of the Mormons
under the lead of Brigham Young. These people on their way westward halted
for the Winter of 1846-7 on the west bank of the Missouri River, about five
miles above Omaha, at a place now called Florence. Some of them had
reached the eastern bank of the river the Spring before, in season to plant a
crop. In the Spring of 1847, Young and a portion of the colony pursued their
journey to Salt Lake, but a large portion of them returned to the Iowa side and
settled mainly within the limits of Pottawattamie County. The principal settle-
ment of this strange community was at a place first called " INIiller's Hollow,"
on Indian Creek, and afterward named Kanesville, in honor of Col. Kane, of
Pennsylvania, who visited them soon afterward. The Mormon settlement
extended over the county and into neighboring counties, wherever timber and
water furnished desirable locations. Orson Hyde, priest, lawyer and editor, was
installed as President of the Quorum of Twelve, and all that part of the State
remained under Monnon control for several years. In 1846, they raised a bat-
talion, numbering some five hundred men, for the Mexican war. In 1848, Hyde
started a paper called the Frontier Guardian, at Kanesville. In 1849, after
many of the fiithfnl had left to join Brigham Young at Salt Lake, the Mormons
in this section of Iowa numbered 6,552, and in 1850, 7,828, but they were not
all within the limits of Pottawattamie County. This county was organized in
1848, all the first officials being Mormons. In 1852, the order was promulgated
that all the true believers should aatlier together at Salt Lake. Gentiles flocked
in, and in a few years nearly all the first settlers were gone.

May 9, 1843, Captain James Allen, with a small detachment of troops on
board the steamer lone, arrived at the present site of the capital of the State,
Des Moines. The lone was the first steamer to ascend the Des Moines River
to this point. The troops and stores were landed at wliat is now the foot of

HISTORY OP THE STATE OF IOWA. 173

Court avenue, Des Moines, and Capt. Allen returned in the steamer to Fort
Sanford to arrange for bringing up more soldiers and supplies. In due time
they, too, arrived, and a fort was built near the mouth of Raccoon Fork, at its
confluence with the Des Moines, and named Fort Des Moines. Soon after the
arrival of tlie troops, a trading post was established on the east side of the river,
by two noted Indian traders named Ewing, from Ohio.

Among the first settlers in this part of Iowa were Benjamin Bryant, J. B.
Scott, James Drake (gunsmith), John Sturtevant, Robert Kinzie, Alexander
Turner, Peter NcAvcomer, and others.

The Western States have been settled by many of the best and most enter-
prising men of the older States, and a large immigration of the best blood of
the Old World, who, removing to an arena of larger opportunities, in a more
fertile soil and congenial climate, have developed a spirit and an energy
peculiarly Western. In no country on the globe have enterprises of all kinds
been pushed forward with such rapidity, or has there been such independence
and freedom of competition. Among those who have pioneered the civiliza-
tion of the West, and been the founders of great States, none have ranked
higher in the scale of intelligence and moral worth than the pioneers of Iowa,
who came to the territory when it was an Indian country, and through hardship,
privation and suffering, laid the foundations of the populous and prosperous
commonwealth which to-day dispenses its blessings to a million and a quarter
of people. From her first settlement and from her first organization as a terri-.
tory to the present day, Iowa has had able men to manage her affairs, Avise
statesmen to shape her destiny and frame her laws, and intelligent and impartial
jurists to administer justice to her citizens ; her bar, pulpit and press have been
able and widely influential ; and in all the professions, arts, enterprises and
industries which go to make up a great and prosperous commonwealth, she has
taken and holds a front rank among her sister States of the West.

TERRITORIAL HISTORY.

By act of Congress, approved October 31, 1803, the President of the United
States was authorized to take possession of the territory included in the
Louisiana purchase, and provide for a temporary government. By another act
of the same session, approved March 26, 1804, the newly acquired country was
divided, October 1, 1804 into the Territory of Orleans, south of the thirty-third
parallel of north latitude, and the district of Louisiana, which latter was placed
under the authority of the officers of Indiana Territory.

In 1805, the District of Louisiana was organized as a Territory with a go\'-
ernment of its own. In 1807, Iowa was included in the Territory of Illinois,
and in 1812 in the Territory of Missouri. When Missouri was admitted as a
State, March 2, 1821, "Iowa," says Hon. C. C. Nourse, "was left a political
orphan," until by act of Congress, approved June 28, 1834, the Black Hawk
purchase having been made, all the territory west of the Mississippi and north
of the northern boundary of Missouri, was made a part of Michigan Territory.
L'^p to this time there had been no county or other organization in what is now
the State of Iowa, although one or two Justices of the Peace had been appointed
and a post office was established at Dubuque in 1833. In September, 1834,
however, the Territorial Legislature of Michigan created two counties on the
west side of the Mississippi River, viz. : Dubuque and Des Moines, separated
by a line drawn westward from the foot of Rock Island. These counties were

174 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

partially organized. John King was appointed Chief Justice of Dubuque
County, and Isaac Leffler, of Burlington, of Des Moines County. Two
Associate Justices, in each county, were appointed by the Governor.

On the first Monday in October, 1835, Gen. George W. Jones, now a citi-
zen of Dubuque, was elected a Delegate to Congress from this part of Michigan
Territory. On the 20th of April, 1836, through the efforts of Gen. Jones,
Congress passed a bill creating the Territory of Wisconsin, which went into
operation, July 4, 1836, and Iowa was then included in

THE TERRITORY OP WISCONSIN,

of which Gen. Henry Dodge was appointed Governor; John S. Horner, Secre-
tary of the Territory ; Charles Dunn, Chief Justice ; David Irwin and William
C. Frazer, Associate Justices.

September 9, 1836, Governor Dodge ordered the census of the new Territory
to be taken. This census resulted in showing a population of 10,531 in the
counties of Dubuque and Des Moines. Under the apportionment, these two
counties were entitled to six members of the Council and thirteen of the House
of Representatives. The Governor issued his proclamation for an election to be
held on the first Monday of October, 1836, on which day the following members
of the First Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin were elected from the two
counties in the Black Hawk purchase :

Duhuque County. — Council: John Fally, Thomas McKnight, Thomas Mc-
Craney. House : Loring Wheeler, Hardin Nowlan, Peter Hill Engle, Patrick
Quigley, Hosea T. Camp.

Des Moines County. — Council: Jeremiah Smith, Jr., Joseph B. Teas,
Arthur B. Ingram. House: Isaac Leffler, Thomas Blair, Warren L. Jenkins,
John Box, George W. Teas, Eli Reynolds, David R. Chance.

The first Legislature assembled at Belmont, in the present State of Wiscon-
sin, on the 25th day of October, 1836, and was organized by electing Henry T.
Baird President of the Council, and Peter Hill Engle, of Dubuque, Speaker of
the House. It adjourned December 9, 1836.

The second Legislature assembled at Burlington, November 10, 1837.
Adjourned January 20, 1838. The third session was at Burlington ; com-
menced June 1st, and adjourned June 12, 1838.

During the first session of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, in 1836,
the county of Des Moines was divided into Des Moines, Lee, Van Buren, Henry,
Muscatine and Cook (the latter being subsequently changed to Scott) and defined
their boundaries. During the second session, out of the territory embraced in
Dubuque County, were created the counties of Dubuque, Clayton, Fayette,
Delaware, Buchanan, Jackson, Jones, Linn, Clinton and Cedar, and their boun-
daries defined, but the most of them were not organized until several years
afterward, under the authority of the Territorial Legislature of Iowa.

Tlie ({uestion of a separate territorial organization for Iowa, which was then
a part of Wisconsin Territory, began to be agitated early in the Autumn of
1837. The wishes of the people found expression in a convention held at Bur-
lington on the 1st of November, which memorialized Congress to organize a
Territory west of the Mississippi, and to settle the boundary line between Wis-
consin Territory and Missouri. The Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin, then
in session at Burlington, joined in the petition. Gen. George W. Jones, of
Dubuque, then residing at Sinsinawa Mound, in what -is now Wisconsin, w^as
Delegate to Congress from Wisconsin Territory, and labored so earnestly and
successfully, that " An act to divide the Territory of Wisconsin, and to estab-

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. . 175

lish the Territorial Government of Iowa," was approved June 12, 1838, to take
effect and be in force on and after July 3, 1838. The new Territory embraced
"all that part of the present Territory of Wisconsin which lies west of the Mis-
sissippi River, and west of a line drawn due north from the head water or
sources of the Mississippi to tlie territorial line." The organic act provided
for a Governor, whose term of office should be three years, and for a Secretary,
Chief Justice, two Associate Justices, and Attorney and Marshal, who should
serve four years, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate. The act also provided for the election, by the white
male inhabitants, citizens of the United States, over twenty-one years of age,
of a House of Representatives, consisting of twenty-six members, and a Council,
to consist of thirteen members. It also appropriated §5,000 for a public library,
and f 20, 000 for the erection of public buildings.

President Van Buren appointed Ex-Governor Robert Lucas, of Ohio, to be
the first Governor of the new Territory. William B. Conway, of Pittsburgh,
was appointed Secretary of the Territory ; Charles Mason, of Burlington,
Chief Justice, and Thomas S. Wilson, of Dubuque, and Joseph Williams, of
Pennsylvania, Associate Judges of the Supreme and District Courts; Mr. Var.
Allen, of New York, Attorney; Francis Gehon, of Dubuque, Marshal; Au
gustus C. Dodge, Register of the Land Office at Burlington, and Thomas Mc
Knigbt, Receiver of the Land Office at Dubuque. Mr. Van Allen, the Districi
Attorney, died at Rockingham, soon after his appointment, and Col. Charleii
Weston was appointed to fill his vacancy. Mr. Conway, the Secretary, als<i
died at Burlington, during the second session of the Legislature, and Jameii
Clarke, editor of the Gazette, was appointed to succeed him.

Immediately after his arrival. Governor Lucas issued a proclamation for tho
election of members of the first Territorial Legislature, to be held on the lOtk
of September, dividing the Territory into election districts for that purpose, and
appointing the 12th day of November for meeting of the Legislature to b(}
elected, at Burlington.

The first Territorial Legislature was elected in September and assembled at
Burlington on the 12th of November, and consisted of the following members :

Council. — Jesse B. Brown, J. Keith, E. A. M. Swazey, Arthur Ingram.
Robert Ralston, George Hepner, Jesse J. Payne, D. B. Hughes, James M
Clark, Charles Whittlesey, Jonathan W. Parker, Warner Lewis, StepheL
Hempstead.

House. — William Patterson, Hawkins Taylor, Calvin J. Price, Jame«
Brierly, James Hall, Gideon S. Bailey, Samuel Parker, James W, Grimes,
George Temple, Van B. Delashmutt, Thomas Blair, George H. Beeler,"
William G. Coop, William H. Wallace, Asbury B. Porter, John Frierson,
William L. Toole, Levi Thornton, S. C. Hastings, Robert G. Roberts, Laurel
Summers, t Jabez A. Burchard, Jr., Chauncey Swan, Andrew Bankson, Thomas
Cox and Hardin Nowlin.

Notwithstanding a large majority of the members of both branches of the
Legislature were Democrats, yet Gen. Jesse B. Browne (Whig), of Lee County,
was elected President of the Council, and Hon. William H. Wallace (Whig), of
Henry County, Speaker of the House of Representatives — the former unani-
mously and the latter with bur. little opposition. At that time, national politics

* Cyrus S. Jacobs, who was elected for Pes Moines County, was killed in an unfortunate encounter at Burlington
before the meeting of the Legislature, and Mr. Beeler was elected to fill the vacancy.

■f Samuel R, Murray was returned as elected from Clinton County, but his seat was succeBsfuUy contested by
Burcuard.

176 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

were little heeded by the people of the new Territory, but in 1840, during the
Presidential campaign, party lines were strongly drawn.

At the election in September, 1838, for members of the Legislature, a Con-
gressional Delegate was also elected. There were four candidates, viz. : William
W. Chapman and David Rohrer, of Des Moines County ; B. F. Wallace, of
Henry County, and P. H. Engle, of Dubu(|ue County. Chapman was elected,
receiving a majority of thirty-six over Engle.

The first session of the Iowa Territorial Legislature was a stormy and excit-
ing one. By the organic law, the Governor was clothed with almost unlimited
veto power. Governor Lucas seemed disposed to make free use of it, and the
independent Hawkeyes could not quietly submit to arbitrary and absolute rule,
and the result was an unpleasant controversy between the Executive and Legis-
lative departments. Congress, however, by act approved March 3, 1839,
amended the organic law by restricting the veto power of the Governor to the
two-thirds rule, and took from him the power to appoint Sheriffs and Magistrates.

Among the first important matters demanding attention was the location of
the seat of government and provision for the erection of public buildings, for
which Congress had appropriated §20,000. Governor Lucas, in his message,
had recommended the appointment of Commissioners, with a view to making a
central location. The extent of the future State of Iowa was not known or
thought of Only on a strip of land fifty miles wide, bordering on the Missis-
sippi River, was the Indian title extinguished, and a central location meant some
central point in the Black Hawk Purchase. The friends of a central location
supported the Governor's suggestion. The southern members were divided
between Burlington and Mount Pleasant, but finally united on the latter as the
proper location for the seat of government. The central and southern parties
were very nearly equal, and, in consequence, much excitement prevailed. The
central party at last triumphed, and on the 21st day of January, 1839, an act
was passed, appointing Chauncey Swan, of Dubuque County ; John Ronalds,
of Louisa County, and Robert Ralston, of Des Moines County, Commissioners,
to select a site for a permanent seat of Government within the limits of John-
son County.

Johnson County had been created by act of the Territorial Legislature of
Wisconsin, approved December 21, 1837, and organized by act passed at the
special session at Burlington in June, 1838, the organization to date from July
4th, following. Napoleon, on the Iowa River, a few miles below the future
Iowa City, Avas designated as the county seat, temporarily.

Then there existed good reason for locating the capital in the county. The
Territory of Iowa was bounded on the north by the British Possessions ; east, by
the Mississippi River to its source; thence by a line drawn due north to the
northern boundary of the United States; south, by the State of Missouri, and west,
by the Missouri and White Earth Rivers. But this immense territory was in un-
disputed possession of the Indians, except a strip on the Mississippi, known as
the Bhick Hawk Purchase. Johnson County was, from north to south, in the
geogiaphical center of this purchase, and as near the east and west geographical
center of the future State of Iowa as could then be made, as the boundary line
between the lands of the United States and the Indians, established by the
treaty of October 21, 1837, was immediately west of the county limits.

The Commissioners, after selecting tlie site, were directed to lay out 640
acres into a town, to be called Iowa City, and to proceed to sell lots and erect
public buildings thereon. Congress having granted a section of land to be
selected by the Territory for this purpose. The Commissioners met at Napo-

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. , 177

leon, Johnson County, May 1, 1839, selected for a site Section 10, in Town-
ship 79 North of Range 6 West of the Fifth Principal Meridian, and immedi-
ately surveyed it and laid off the town. The first sale of lots took place August
16, 1839. The site selected for the public buildings was a little Avest of the
geographical center of the section, where a square of ten acres on the elevated
grounds overlooking the river was reserved for the purpose. The capitol is
located in the center of this square. The second Territorial Legislature, which
assembled in November, 1839, passed an act requiring tlie Commissioners to
adopt such plan for the building that the aggregate cost when complete should
not exceed $51,000, and if they had already adopted a plan involving a greater
expenditure they were directed to abandon it. Plans for the building were designed
and drawn by Mr. John F. Rague, of Springfield, 111., and on the 4th day of July,
1840, the corner stone of the edifice Avas laid with appropriate ceremonies.
Samuel C. Trowbridge was Marshal of the day, and Gov. Lucas delivered the
address on tliat occasion.

When the Legislature assembled at Burlington in special session, July 13,
1840, Gov. Lucas announced that on the 4th of that month he had visited Iowa
City, and found the basement of the capitol nearly completed. A bill author-
izing a loan of $20,000 for the building was passed, January 15, 1841, the
unsold lots of Iowa City being the security oflfered, but only $5,500 was
obtained under the act.

THE BOUNDARY QUESTION.

The boundary line between the Territory of Iowa and the State of Missouri
was a difiicult question to settle in 1838, in consequence of claims arising from
taxes and titles, and at one time civil war was imminent. In defining tlie
boundaries of the counties bordering on Missouri, the Iowa authorities had fixed
a line that has since been established as the boundary between Iowa and Mis-
souri. The Constitution of Missouri defined her northern boundary to be the
parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of the Des Moines River.
The lower rapids of the Mississippi immediately above the mouth of the Des
Moines River had always been known as the Des Moines Rapids, or "the
rapids of the Des Moines River." The Missourians (evidently not well versed
in history or geography) insisted on running the northern boundary line from
the rapids in the Des Moines River, just below Keosau((ua, thus taking from
Iowa, a strip of territory eight or ten miles wide. Assuming this as her
northern boundary line, Missouri attempted to exercise jurisdiction over the
disputed territory by assessing taxes, and sending her Sherifts to collect them by
distraining the personal property of the settlers. The lowans, however, were
not disposed to submit, and the Missouri officials were arrested by the Sheriffs
of Davis and Van Buren Counties and confined in jail. Gov. Boggs, of
Missouri, called out his militia to enforce the claim and sustain the officers of
Missouri. Gov. Lucas called out the militia of Iowa, and both parties made
active preparations for war. In Iowa, about 1,200 men were enlisted, and
500 were actually armed and encamped in Van Buren County, ready to defend
the integrity of the Territory. Subsequently, Gen. A. C. Dodge, of Burlington,
Gen. Churchman, of Dubuque, and Dr. Clark, of Fort Madison, were sent to
Missouri as envoys plenipotentiary, to effect, if possible, a peaceable adjustment
of the difficulty. Upon their arrival, they found that the County Commissioners
of Clarke County , Missouri, had rescinded their order for the collection of the taxes,
and that Gov. Boggs had despatched messengers to the Governor of Iowa proposing

178 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

to submit an agreed case to the Supreme Court of the United States for the
final settlement of the boundary question. This proposition was declined, but
afterward Congress authorized a suit to settle the controversy, which was insti-
tuted, and Aviiich resulted in a judgment for Iowa. Under this decision,
William G. Miner, of Missouri, and Henry B. Hendershott were appointed
Commissioners to survey and establish the boundary. Mr. Nourse remarks
that " the expenses of the war on the part of Iowa were never paid, either by
the United States or the Territorial Government. The patriots who furnished
supplies to the troops had to bear the cost and charges of the struggle."

The first legislative assembly laid the broad foundation of civil equality, on
which has been constructed one of the most liberal governments in the Union.
Its first act was to recognize the equality of woman Avith man before the law by
providing that " no action commenced by a single woman, who intermarries
during the pendency thereof, shall abate on account of such marriage." This prin-
ciple has been adopted by all subsequent legislation in Iowa, and to-day woman
has full and equal civil rights with man, except only the right of the ballot.

Religious toleration was also secured to all, personal liberty strictly guarded,
the rights and privileges of citizenship extended to all white persons, and the
purity of elections secured by heavy penalties against bribery and corruption.
The judiciary power was vested in a Supreme Court, District Court, Probate
Court, and Justices of the Peace. Real estate Avas made divisible by will, and
intestate property divided equitably among heirs. Murder was made punishable
by death, and proportionate penalties fixed for lesser crimes. A system of free
schools, open for every class of white citizens, was established. Provision was
made for a system of roads and highways. Thus under the territorial organi-
zation, the country began to emerge from a savage wilderness, and take on the
forms of civil government.

By act of Congress of June 12, 1838, the lands which had been purchased
of the Indians Avere brought into market, and land offices opened in Dubuque
and Burlington. Congress provided for military roads and bridges, which
greatly aided the settlers, who were now coming in by thousands, to make their
homes on the fertile prairies of Iowa — " the Beautiful Land." The fame of the
country had spread far and wide ; even before the Indian title was extinguished,
many were crowding the borders, impatient to cross over and stake out their
claims on the choicest spots they could find in the new Territory. As
soon as the country Avas open for settlement, the borders, the Black Hawk
Purchase, all along the Mississipi, and up the principal rivers and streams, and
out over the broad and rolling prairies, began to be thronged Avith eager land
hunters and immigrants, seeking homes in loAva. It Avas a sight to delight the
eyes of all comers from cA-^ery land — its noble streams, beautiful and picturesque
hills and valleys, broad and fertile prairies extending as far as the eye could
reach, Avith a soil surpassing in richness anything Avhich they had ever seen. It
is not to be Avondered at that immigration into loAva Avas rapid, and that Avithin
less than a decade from the organization of the Territory, it contained a hundred
and fifty thousand people.

As rapidly as the Indian titles were extinguished and the original owners
removed, the resistless tide of emigration flowed AvestAvard. The folloAving extract
from Judge Nourse's Centennial Address shoAVs hoAV the immigrants gathered
on the Indian boundary, ready for the removal of tlie barrier :

In obedience to our progressive and aggressive spirit, the Government of the United States
made another treaty with the Sac and Fox Indians, on the 11th day of August, 1842, for the
remaining portion of their land in Iowa. The treaty provided that the Indians should retain

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 179

possession of all the lands thus ceded until May 1, 1843, and should occupy that portion of the
ceded territory west of a line runnino; north and south through Kedrock, until October 11, 1845.
These tribes, at this time, had their principal village at Ot-tum-wa-no, now called Ottumwa. As
soon as it became known that the treaty hud been concluded, there was a rush of immigration to
Iowa, and a great number of temporary settlements were made near the Indian boundary, wait-
ing for the 1st day of May. As the day approached, hundreds of families encamped along the
line, and their tents and wagons gave the scene the appearance of a military expedition. The
country beyond had been thoroughly explored, but the United States military authorities had
prevented any settlement or even the making out of claims by any monuments whatever.

To aid them in making out their claims when the hour should arrive, the settlers had placed
piles of dry wood on the rising ground, at convenient distances, and a short time before twelve
o'clock of the night of the 30th of April, these were lighted, and when the midnight hour arrived,
it was announced by the discharge of firearms. The niglit was dark, but this army of occupa-
tion pressed forward, torch in hand, with axe and hatchet, blazing lines with all manner of
curves and angles. When daylight came and revealed the confusion of these wonderful surveys,
numerous disputes arose, settled generally by compromise, but sometimes by violence Between
midnight of the 30th of April and sundown of the 1st of May, over one thousand families had
settled on their new purchase.

While this scene was transpiring, the retreating Indians were enacting one more impressive
and melancholy. The Winter of 1842-43 was one of unusual severity, and the Indian prophet,
who had disapproved of the treaty, attributed the severity of the Winter to the anger of tlie Great
Spirit, because they had sold their country. Many religious rites were performed to atone for
the crime. When the time for leaving Ot-tum-wa-no arrived, a solemn silence pervaded the Indian
camp, and the faces of their stoutest men were bathed in tears; and when their cavalcade was
put in motion, toward the setting sun, there was a spontaneous outburst of frantic grief from the
entire procession.

The Indians remained the appointed time beyond the line running north and south through
Redrock. The government established a trading post and military encampment at the Raccoon
Fork of the Des iMoines River, then and for many years known as Fort Des Moines. Here the
red man lingered until the 11th of October, 184-5, when the same scene that we have before
described was re-enacted, and the wave of immigration swept over the remainder of the " New
Purchase." The lands thus occupied and claimed by the settlers still belonged in fee to the Gen-
eral Government. The surveys were not completed until some time after the Indian title was
extinguished. After their survey, the lands were publicly proclaimed or advertised for sale at
public auction. Under the laws of the United States, a pre-emption or exclusive right to purchase
public lands could not be acquired until after the lands had thus been publicly ofl'ered and not
sold for want of bidders. Then, and not until then, an occupant making improvements in good
faith might acquire a right over others to enter the land at the minimum price of §1.25 per
acre. The " claim laws " were unknown to the United States statutes., They originated in the
" eternal fitness of things," and were enforced, probably, as belonging to that class of natural
rights not enumerated in the constitution, and not impaired or disparaged by its enumeration.

The settlers organized in every settlement prior to the public land sales, appointed officers,
and adopted their own rules and regulations. Each man's claim was duly ascertained and
recorded by the Secretary. It was the duty of all to attend the sales. The Secretary bid oif the
lands of each settler at $1.25 per acre. The others were there, to see, first, that he did his duty
and bid in the land, and, secondly, to see that no one else bid. This, of course, sometimes led to
trouble, but it saved the excitement of competition, and gave a formality and degree of order
and regularity to the proceedings they would not otherwise have attained. As far as practicable,
the Territorial Legislature recognized the validity of these " claims " upon the public lands, and
in 1839 passed an act legalizing their sale and making their transfer a valid consideration to sup-
port a promise to pay for the same. (Acts of 1843, p. 456). The Supreme Territorial Court
held this law to be valid. (See Hill v. Smith, 1st Morris Rep. 70). The opinion not only con-
tains a decision of the question involved, but also contains much valuable erudition upon that
" spirit of Anglo-Saxon liberty" which the Iowa settlers unquestionably inherited in a direct
line of descent from the said " Anglo-Saxons." But the early settler was not always able to pay
even this dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for his land.

Many of the settlers had nothing to begin with, save their hands, health and
courage and their family jewels, "the pledges of love," and the "consumers of
bread." It was not so easy to accumulate money in the early days of the State,
and the "beautiful prairies," the "noble streams," and all that sort of poetic
imagery, did not prevent the early settlers from becoming discouraged.

An old settler, in speaking of the privations and trials of those early days,
says:

Well do the "old settlers ' of Iowa remember the days from the first settlement to 1840.
Those were days of sadness and distress. The endearments of home in another land had been

180 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

broken up ; and all that was hallowed on earth, the home of childhood and the scenes of youth,
we severed ; and we sat down by the gentle waters of our noble river, and often " hung our harps
on the willows."

Another, from another part of the State, testifies :

There was no such thing as getting money for any kind of labor. I laid brick at $3.00
per thousand, and took my pay in anything I could eat or wear. I built the first Methodist
Church at Keokuk, 42x60 feet, of brick, for $600, and took my pay in a subscription paper, part
of which I never collected, and upon which I only received $50 00 in money. Wheat was hauled
100 miles from the interior, and sold for STi cents per bushel.

Another old settler, speaking of a later period, 1843, says :

Land and everything had gone down in value to almost nominal prices. Corn and oats
could be bought for six or ten cents a bushel ; pork, $1.00 per hundred ; and the best horse a
man could raise sold for $50.00. Nearly all were in debt, and the Sheriff and Constable, with
legal processes, were common visitors at almost every man's door. These were indeed "the times
that tried men's souls."

"A few," says Mr. Nourse, "who were not equal to the trial, returned to
their old homes, but such as had the courage and faith to be the worthy founders
of a great State remained, to more than realize the fruition of their hopes, and
the reward of their self-denial."

On Monday, December 6, 1841, the fourth Legislative Assembly met, at
the new capital, Iowa City, but the capitol building could not be used, and the
Legislature occupied a temporary frame house, that had been erected for that
purpose, during the session of 1841-2. At this session, the Superintendent of
Public Buildings (who, with the Territorial Agent, had superseded the Commis-
sioners first appointed), estimated the expense of completing the building at
$33,330, and that rooms for the use of the Legislature could be completed for
$15,600.

During 1842, the Superintendent commenced obtaining stone from a new
quarry, about ten miles northeast of the city. This is now known as the '' Old
Capitol Quarry," and contains, it is thought, an immense quantity of excellent
building stone. Here all the stone for completing the building was obtained,
and it was so far completed, that on the 5th day of December, 1842, the Legis-
lature assembled in the new capitol. At this session, the Superintendent esti-
mated that it would cost $39,143 to finish the building. This was nearly
$6,000 higher than the estimate of the previous year, notwithstanding a large
sum had been expended in the meantime. This rather discouraging discrep-
ancy was accounted for by the fact that the officers in charge of the work were
constantly short of funds. Except the congressional appropriation of $20,000
and the loan of $5,500, obtained from the Miners' Bank, of Dubuque, all the
funds for the prosecution of the work were derived from the sale of the city
lots (which did not sell very rapidly), from certificates of indebtedness, and from
scrip, based upon unsold lots, which was to be received in payment for such lots
when they were sold. At one time, the Superintendent made a requisition for
bills of iron and glass, which could not be obtained nearer than St. Louis. To
meet this, the Agent sold some lots for a draft, payable at Pittsburgh, Pa., for
which he was compelled to pay twenty-five per cent, exchange. This draft,
amounting to $507, that officer reported to be more than one-half the cash
actually handled by him during the entire season, when the disbursements
amounted to very nearly $24,000.

With such uncertainty, it could not be expected that estimates could be very
accurate. With all these disadvantages, however, the work appears to have
been prudently prosecuted, and as rapidly as circumstances would permit.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 181

Iowa remained a Territory from 1838 to 1846, during which the office of
Governor was held by Robert Lucas, John Chambers and James Clarke.

STATE ORGANIZATION.

By an act of the Territorial Legislature of Iowa, approved February 12,

1844, the question of the formation of a State Constitution and providing for
the election of Delegates to a convention to be convened for that purpose was
submitted to the people, to be voted upon at their township elections in April
following. The vote was largely in favor of the measure, and the Delegates
elected assembled in convention at Iowa City, on the 7th of October, 1844.
On the first day of November following, the convention completed its work and
adopted the first State Constitution.

The President of the convention, Hon. Shepherd Leffler, was instructed to
transmit a certified copy of this Constitution to the Delegate in Congress, to be
by him submitted to that body at the earliest practicable day. It was also pro-
vided that it should be submitted, together with any conditions or changes that
might be made by Congress, to the people of the Territory, for their approval
or rejection, at the township election in April, 1845.

The boundaries of the State, as defined by this Constitution, were as fol-
lows :

Beginning in the middle of the channel of the Mississippi River, opposite mouth of the
Des Moines River, thence up the said river Des ]\Ioines, in the middle of the main channel
thereof, to a point where it is intersected by the Old Indian Boundary line, or line run by John
C. Sullivan, in the year 1816 ; thence westwardly along said line to the " old " northwest corner
of Missouri; thence due west to the middle of the main channel of the Missouri River; thence
up in the middle of the main channel of the river last mentioned to the mouth of the Sioux or
Calumet River ; thence in a direct line to the middle of the main channel of the St. Peters River,
where the Watonwan River — according to Nicollet's map — enters the same ; thence down the
middle of the main channel of said river to the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi
River ; thence down the middle of the main channel of said river to the place of beginning.

These boundaries were rejected by Congress, but by act approved March 3,

1845, a State called Iowa was admitted into the Union, provided the people
accepted the act, bounded as follows :

Beginning at the mouth of the Des Moines River, at the middle of the Mississippi, thence
by the middle of the channel of that river to a parallel of latitude passing through the mouth of
the Mankato or Blue Earth River; thence west, along said parallel of latitude, to a point where
it is intersected by a meridian line seventeen degrees and thirty minutes west of the meridian
of Washington City ; thence due south, to the northern boundary line of the State of Missouri;
thence eastwardly, following that boundary to the point at which the same intersects the Des
Moines River ; thence by the middle of the channel of that river to the place of beginning.

These boundaries, had they been accepted, would have placed the northern
boundary of the State about thirty miles north of its present location, and would
have deprived it of the Missouri slope and the boundary of that river. The
western boundary would have been near the west line of what is now Kossuth
County. But it was not so to be. In consequence of this radical and unwel-
come change in the boundaries, the people refused to accept the act of Congress
and rejected the Constitution at the election, held August 4, 1845, by a vote of
7,656 to 7,2-35.

A second Constitutional Convention assembled at Iowa City on the 4th day
of May, 1846, and on the 18th of the same month another Constitution for the
new State with the present boundaries, was adopted and submitted to the people
for ratification on the 3d day of August following, when it was accepted ; 9,4H2
votes were cast "for the Constitution," and 9,036 "against the Constitution "

182 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

The Constitution was approved by Congress, and by act of Congress approved
December 28, 1846, Iowa was admitted as a sovereign State in the American
Union.

Prior to this action of Congress, however, the people of the new State held
an election under the new Constitution on the 26th day of October, and elected
Oresel Briggs, Governor ; Elisha Cutler, Jr., Secretary of State ; Joseph T.
Fales, Auditor ; Morgan Reno, Treasurer ; and members of the Senate and
House of Representatives.

At this time there were twenty-seven organized counties in the State, with
a population of nearly 100,000, and the frontier settlements were rapidly push-
ing toward the Missouri River. The Mormons had already reached there.

The first General Assembly of the State of Iowa was composed of nineteen
Senators and forty Representatives. It assembled at Iowa City, November 30,
1846, about a month before the State was admitted into the Union.

At the first session of the State Legislature, the Treasurer of State reported
that the capitol building was in a very exposed condition, liable to injury from
storms, and expressed the hope that some provision would be made to complete
it, at least sufficiently to protect it from the weather. The General Assembly
responded by appropriating $2,500 for the completion of the public buildings.
At the first session also arose the question of the re-location of the capital. The
western boundary of the State, as now determined, left Iowa City too far toward
the eastern and southern boundary of the State ; this was conceded. Congress
had appropriated five sections of land for tlie erection of public buildings, and
toward the close of the session a bill was introduced providing for the re-location
of the seat of government, involving to some extent tlie location of the State
University, which had already been discussed. This bill gave rise to a deal of
discussion and parliamentary maneuvering, almost purely sectional in its character.
It provided for the appointment of three Commissioners, who were authorized to
make a location as near the geographical center of the State as a healthy and
eligible site could be obtained ; to select the five sections of land donated by
Congress ; to survey and plat into town lots not exceeding one section of the
land so selected ; to sell lots at public sale, not to exceed two in each block.
Having done this, they were then required to suspend further operations, and
make a report of their proceedings to the Governor. The bill passed both
Houses by decisive votes, received the signature of the Governor, and became a
law. Soon after, by "An act to locate and establish a State University,"
approved February 25, 1847, the unfinished public buildings at Iowa City,
together witli the ten acres of land on which they Avere situated, were granted
for the use of the University, reserving their use, however, by the General
Assembly and the State officers, until other provisions Avere made by law.

The Commissioners forthwith entered upon their duties, and selected four
sections and two half sections in Jasper County. Two of these sections are in
what is now Des Moines Township, and the others in Fairview Township, in the
southern part of that county. These lands are situated between Prairie City
and Monroe, on the Keokuk & Des Moines Railroad, which runs diagonally
through them. Here a town Avas platted, called Monroe City, and a sale of
lots took place. Four hundred and fifteen lots Avere sold, at prices that Avere
not considered remarkably remunerative. The cash payments (one-fourth)
amounted to $1,797.43, Avhile the expenses of the sale and the claims of the
Commissioners for services amounted to $2,206.57. The Commissioners made
a report of their proceedings to the Governor, as required by law, but the loca-
tion Avas generally condemned.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 183

"When the report of the Commissioners, showing this brilliant financial ope-
ration, had been read in the House of Representatives, at the next session, and
while it was under consideration, an indignant member, afterward known as
the eccentric Judge McFarland, moved to refer the report to a select Committee
of Five, with instructions to report " how much of said city of Monroe was under
water and how much was burned." The report was referred, without the
instructions, however, but Monroe City never became the seat of government.
By an act approved January 15, 1849, the law by which the location had been
made was repealed and the new town was vacated, the money paid by purchas-
ers of lots being refunded to them. This, of course, retained the seat of govern-
ment at Iowa City, and precluded, for the time, the occupation of the building
and grounds by the University.

At the same session, $3,000 more were appropriated for completing the
State building at Iowa City. In 1852, the further sum of $5,000, and in 1854
$4,000 more were apppropriated for the same purpose, making the whole cost
$123,000, paid partly by the General Government and partly by the State, but
principally from the proceeds of the sale of lots in Iowa City.

But the question of the permanent location of the seat of government was
not settled, and in 1851 bills were introduced for the removal of the capital to
Bella and to Fort Des Moines. The latter appeared to have the support of the
majority, but was finally lost in the House on the question of ordering it to its
third reading.

At the next session, in 1853, a bill was introduced in the Senate for the
removal of the seat of government to Fort Des Moines, and, on final vote,
was just barely defeated. At the next session, however, the effort was more
successful, and on the 15th day of January, 1855, a bill re-locating the capital
within two miles of the Raccoon Fork of the Des Moines, and for the appoint-
ment of Commissioners, was approved by Gov. Grimes. The site was selected
in 1856, in accordance with the provisions of this act, the land being donated
to the State by citizens and property -holders of Des Moines. An association of
citizens erected a building for a temporary capitol, and leased it to the State at
a nominal rent.

The third Constitutional Convention to revise the Constitution of the State
assembled at Iowa City, January 19, 1857. The new Constitution framed by
this convention was submitted to the people at an election held August 3, 1857,
when it was approved and adopted by a vote of 40,311 " for " to 38,681
" against," and on the 3d day of September following was declared by a procla-
mation of the Governor to be the supreme law of the State of Iowa.

Advised of the completion of the temporary State House at Des Moines, on
the 19th of October following, Governor Grimes issued another proclamation,
declaring the City of Des Moines to be the capital of the State of Iowa.

The removal of the archives and offices was commenced at once and con-
tinued through the Fall. It was an undertaking of no small magnitude; there
was not a mile of railroad to facilitate the work, and the season was unusually
disagreeable. Rain, snow and other accompaniments increased the difficulties ;
and it was not until December, that the last of the eff'ects — the safe of the State
Treasurer, loaded on two large " bob-sleds " — drawn by ten yoke of oxen was de-
posited in the new capital. It is not imprudent now to remark that, during this
passage over hills and prairies, across rivers, through bottom lands and timber,
the safes belonging to the several departments contained large sums of money,
mostly individual funds, however. Thus, Iowa City ceased to be the capital of
the State, after four Territorial Legislatures, six State Legislatures and three

184 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

Constitutional Conventions had held their sessions there. By the exchange,
the old capitol at Iowa City became the seat of the University, and, except the
rooms occupied by the United States District Court, passed under the immedi-
ate and direct control of the Trustees of that institution.

Des Moines Avas now the permanent seat of government, made so by the
fundamental law of the State, and on the 11th day of January, 1858, the
seventh General Assembly convened at the new capital. The building used
for governmental purposes was purchased in 1864. It soon became inadequate
for the purposes for which it was designed, and it became apparent that a new,
large and permanent State House must be erected. In 1870, the General
Assembly ujade an appropriation and provided for the appointment of a Board
of Commissioners to commence the work. The board consisted of Gov. Samuel
Merrill, ex officio. President ; Grenville M. Dodge, Council Bluffs ; James F.
Wilson, Fairfield; James Dawson, Washington; Simon G. Stein, Muscatine;
James 0. Crosby, Gainsville ; Charles Dudley, Agency City ; John N. Dewey,
Des Moines; W^illiam L. Joy, Sioux City ; Alexander R. Fulton, Des Moines,
Secretary.

The act of 1870 provided that the building should be constructed of the
best material and should be fire proof; to be heated and ventilated in the most
approved manner; should contain suitable legislative halls, rooms for State
officers, the judiciary, library, committees, archives and the collections of the
State Agricultural Society, and for all purpoees of State Government, and
should be erected on grounds held by the State for that purpose. The sum first
appropriated was $150,000 ; and the law provided that no contract should be
made, either for constructing or furnishing the building, which should bind the
State for larger sums than those at the time appropriated. A design was drawn
and plans and specifications furnished by Cochrane & Piquenard, architects,
which were accepted by the board, and on the 23d of November, 1871, the cor-
ner stone was laid with appropriate ceremonies. The estimated cost and present
value of the capitol is fixed at $2,000,000.

From 1858 to 1860, the Sioux became troublesome in the northwestern
part of the State. These warlike Indians made frequent plundering raids upon
the settlci-s, and murdered several families. In 1861, several companies of
militia were ordered to that portion of the State to hunt down and punish the
murderous thieves. No battles were fought, however, for the Indians fled
when they ascertained that systematic and adequate measures had been adopted
to protect the settlers.

"The year 1856 marked a new era in the history of Iowa. In 1854, the
Chicago & Rock Island Railroad had been completed to the east bank of the
Mississippi River, opposite Davenport. In 1854, the corner stone of a railroad
bridge, that was to be the first to span the "Father of Waters," was laid with
appropriate ceremonies at this point. St. Louis had resolved that the enter-
prise was unconstitutional, and by writs of injunction made an unsuccessful
effort to prevent its completion. Twenty years later in her history, St. Louis
repented her folly, and made atonement for her sin by imitating our example.
On the 1st day of January, 1856, this railroad was completed to Iowa City.
In the meantime, two other railroads had reached the east bank of the Missis-
sippi — one opposite Burlington, and one opposite Dubuque — and these were
being extended into the interior of the State. Indeed, four lines of railroad
had been projected across the State from the Mississippi to the Missouri, hav-
ing eastern connections. On the 15th of May, 1856, the Congress of the
United States passed an act granting to the State, to aid in the construction of

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 185

railroads, the public lands in alternate sections, six miles on either side of the
proposed lines. An extra session of the General Assembly was called in July
of this year, that disposed of the grant to the several companies that proposed
to complete these enterprises. The population of our State at this time had
increased to 500,000. Public attention had been called to the necessity of a
railroad across the continent. The position of Iowa, in the very heart and
center of the Republic, on the route of this great highway across the continent,
began to attract attention Cities and towns sprang up through the State as
if by magic. Capital began to pour into the State, and had it been employed
in developing our vast coal measures and establishing manufactories among us,
or if it had been expended in improving our lands, and building houses and
barns, it would have been well. But all were in haste to get rich, and the
spirit of speculation ruled the hour.

" In the meantime, every effort was made to help the speedy completion of
the railroads. Nearly every county and city on the Mississippi, and many in
the interior, voted large corporate subscriptions to the stock of the railroad
companies, and issued their negotiable bonds for the amount." Thus enormous
county and city debts were incurred, the payment of which these municipalities
tried to avoid upon the plea that they had exceeded the constitutional limit-
ation of their powers. The Supreme Court of the United States held these
bonds to be valid ; and the courts by mandamus compelled the city and county
authorities to levy taxes to pay the judgments. These debts are not all paid
even yet, but the worst is over and ultimately the burden will be entirely
removed

The first railroad across the State was completed to Council Bluffs in Jan-
uary, 1871. The others were completed soon after. In 1854, there was not
a mile of railroad in the State. In 1874, twenty years after, there were 3,765
miles in successful operation.

GROWTH AND PROGRESS.

When Wisconsin Territory was organized, in 1836, the entire population of
that portion of the Territory now embraced in the State of Iowa Avas 10.531.
The Territory then embraced two counties, Dubuque and Des Moines, erected
by the Territory of Michigan, in 1834. From 1836 to 1838, the Territorial
Legislature of Wisconsin increased the number of counties to sixteen, and the
population had increased to 22,859. Since then, the counties have increased
to ninety-nine, and the population, in 1875, was 1,366,000. The following
table will show the population at different periods since the erection of Iowa
Territory :

Year. Population. I Year. Population.

1838 22,589 ; 1852 230,713

1840 43,115 1854 326,013

1844 75,152

1846 '.)7,588

1847 116,651

1849 152,988

1850 191,982

1851 204,774

Year. Population.

1869 1,040,819

1870 1,191,727

1873 1,251,333

1875 1,366,000

1876

1877

1856 519.055

1859 638,775

1860 674,913

1863 701,732

1865 754,699

1867 902,040

The most populous county in the State is Dubuque. Not only in popula-
tion, but in everything contributing to the growth and greatness of a State has
Iowa made rapid progress. In a little more than thirty years, its wild but
beautiful prairies have advanced from the home of the savage to a highly civ-
ilized commonwealth, embracing all the elements of progress which characterize
the older States.

186 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

Thriving cities and towns dot its fair surface ; an iron net-work of thou-
sands of miles of railroads is woven over its broad acres ; ten thousand school
houses, in which more than five hundred thousand children are being taught
the rudiments of education, testify to the culture and liberality of the people;
high schools, colleges and universities are generously endowed by the State ;
manufactories spring up on all her water courses, and in most of her cities
and towns.

Whether measured from the date of her first settlement, her organization as
a Territory or admission as a State, Iowa has thus far shown a growth unsur-
passed, in a similar period, by any commonwealth on the face of the earth ;
and, with her vast extent of fertile soil, with her inexhaustible treasures of
mineral wealth, with a healthful, invigorating climate ; an intelligent, liberty-
loving people; with equal, just and liberal laws, and her free schools, the
future of Iowa may be expected to surpass the most hopeful anticipations of her
present citizens.

Looking upon Iowa as she is to-day — populous, prosperous and happy — it
is hard to realize the wonderful changes that have occurred since the first Avhite
settlements were made within her borders. When the number of States was
only twenty-six, and their total population about twenty millions, our repub-
lican form of government was hardly more than an experiment, just fairly put
upon trial. The development of our agricultural resources and inexhaustible
mineral wealth had hardly commenced. Westward the "Star of Empire"
had scarcely started on its way. West of the great Mississippi was a mighty
empire, but almost unknown, and marked on the maps of the period as " The
Great American Desert."

Now, thirty-eight stars glitter on our national escutcheon, and forty-five
millions of people, who know their rights and dare maintain them, tread
American soil, and the grand sisterhood of States extends from the Gulf of
Mexico to the Canadian border, and from the rocky coast of the Atlantic to
the golden shores of the Pacific.

THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE AND FARM.

Ames, Story County.

The Iowa State Agricultural College and Farm were established by au act
of the General Assembly, approved March 22, 1858. A Board of Trustees was
appointed, consisting of Governor R. P. Lowe, John D. Wright, William Duane
Wilson, M. W. Robinson, Timothy Day, Richard Gaines, John Pattee, G. W.
F. Sherwin, Suel Foster, S. W. Henderson, Clement Coffin and E. G. Day ;
the Governors of the State and President of the College being ex officio mem-
bers. Subsequently the number of Trustees was reduced to five. The Board
met in June, 1859, and received propositions for the location of the College and
Farm from Hardin, Polk, Story and Boone, Marshall, Jefferson and Tama
Counties. In July, the proposition of Story County and some of its citizens
and by the citizens of Boone County was accepted, and the farm and the site
for the buildings were located. In 1860-61, the farm-house and barn were
erected. In 1862, Congress granted to the State 240,000 acres of land for the
endowment of schools of agriculture and the mechanical arts, and 195,000 acres
were located by Peter Melendy, Commissioner, in 1862-3. George W. Bassett
was appointed Land Agent for the institution. In 1864, the General Assem-
bly appropriated $20,000 for the erection of the college building.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 18T

In June of that year, the Building Committee, consisting of Suel Foster,
Peter Melendy and A. J. Bronson, proceeded to let the contract. John Browne,
of Des Moines, was employed as architect, and furnished the plans of the build-
ing, but was superseded in its construction by C. A, Dunham. The $20,000
appropriated by the General Assembly were expended in putting in the foun-
dations and making the brick for the structure. An additional appropriation
of $91,000 was made in 1866, and the building was completed in 1868.

Tuition m this college is made by law forever free to pupils from the State
over sixteen years of age, who have been resident of the State six months pre-
vious to their admission. Each county in the State has a prior right of tuition
for three scholars from each county ; the remainder, equal to the capacity of the
college, are by the Trustees distributed among the counties in proportion to the
population, and subject to the above rule. All sale of ardent spirits, wine or
beer are prohibited by law within a distance of three miles from the college,
except for sacramental, mechanical or medical purposes.

The course of instruction in the Agricultural College embraces the following
branches: Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Botany, Horticulture, Fruit Growing,
Forestry, Animal and Vegetable Anatomy, Geology, Mineralogy, Meteorology,
Entomology, Zoology, the Veterinary Art, Plane Mensuration, Leveling, Sur-
veying, Bookkeeping, and such Mechanical Arts as are directly connected
with agriculture ; also such other studies as the Trustees may from time to time
prescribe, not inconsistent with the purposes of the institution.

The funds arising from the lease and sale of lands and interest on invest-
ments are sufficient for the support of the institution. Several College Societies
are maintained among the students, who publish a monthly paper. There is
also an " out-law " called the " ATA^ Chapter Omega."

The Board of Trustees in 1877 was composed of C. W. "Warden, Otturawa,
Chairman ; Hon. Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa City ; William B. Treadway,
Sioux City ; Buel Sherman, Fredericksburg, and Laurel Summers, Le Claire.
E. W. Starten, Secretary ; William D. Lucas, Treasurer.

Board of Instruction. — A. S. Welch, LL. D., President and Professor of
Psychology and Philosophy of Science ; Gen. J. L. Geddes, Professor of Mili-
tary Tactics and Engineering; W. H. Wynn, A. M., Ph. D., Professor of
English Literature; C. E. Bessey, M. S., Professor of Botany, Zoology, Ento-
mology ; A. Thompson, C. E., Mechanical Engineering and Superintendent of
Workshops; F. E. L. Beal, B. S., Civil Engineering; T. E. Pope, A. M.,
Chemistry; M. Stalker, Agricultural and Veterinary Science; J. L. Budd,
Horticulture; J. K. Macomber, Physics; E. W. Stanton, Mathematics and
Political Economy ; Mrs. Margaret P. Stanton, Preceptress, Instructor in
French and Mathematics.

THE STATE UNIVERSITY.

Iowa City, Johnson County.

In the famous Ordinance of 1787, enacted by Congress before the Territory
of the United States extended beyond the Mississippi River, it was declared
that in all the territory northwest of the Ohio River, " Schools and the means
of education shall forever be encouraged." By act of Congress, approved July
20, 1840, the Secretary of the Treasury was authorized " to set apart and re-
serve from sale, out of any of the public lands within the Territory of Iowa, to
which the Indian title has been or may be extinguished, and not otherwise ap-
propriated, a quantity of land, not exceeding the entire townships, for the use

188 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

and support of a university within said Territorry when it becomes a State, and
for no other use or purpose whatever ; to be located in tracts of not less than an
entire section, corresponding with any of the large divisions into which the pub-
lic land are authorized to be surveyed."

William W. Dodge, of Scott County, was appointed by the Secretary of the
Treasury to make the selections. He selected Section 5 in Township 78, north
of Range 3, east of the Fifth Principal Meridian, and then removed from the
Territory. No more lands were selected until 1846, when, at the request of the
Assembly, John M. Whitakerof Van Buren County, was appointed, who selected
the remainder of the grant except about 122 acres.

In the first Constitution, under which Iowa was admitted to the Union, the
people directed the disposition of the proceeds of this munificent grant in ac-
cordance with its terms, and instructed the General Assembly to provide, as soon
as may be, effectual means for the improvement and permanent security of the
funds of the university derived from the lands.

The first General Assembly, by act approved February 25, 1847, established
the " State University of Iowa " at Iowa City, then the capital of the State,
"with such other branches as public convenience may hereafter require."
The " public buildings at Iowa City, together with the ten acres of land in which
they are situated," were granted for the use of said university, j)'t^ovided, how-
ever, that the sessions of the Legislature and State offices should be held in the
capitol until otherwise provided by law. The control and management of the
University were committed to a board of fifteen Trustees, to be appointed by the
Legislature, five of whom were to be chosen bienially. The Superintendent
of Public Instruction was made President of this Board. Provisions were made
for the disposal of the two townships of land, and for the investment of the funds
arising therefrom. The act further provides that the University shall never be
under the exclusive control of any religious denomination whatever," and as
soon as the revenue for the grant and donations amounts to $2,000 a year, the
University should commence and continue the instruction, free of charge, of fifty
students annually. The General Assembly retained full supervision over the
University, its officers and the grants and donations made and to be made to it
by the State.

Section 5 of the act appointed James P. Carleton, H. D. Downey, Thomas
Snyder, Samuel McCrory, Curtis Bates, Silas Foster, E. C. Lyon, James H.
Gower, George G. Vincent, Wm. G. Woodward, Theoiore S. Parvin, George
Atchinson, S. G. Matson, H. W. Starr and Ansel Briggs, the first Board of
Trustees.

The organization of the LTniversity at Iowa City was impracticable, how-
ever, so long as the seat of government was retained there.

In January, 1849, two branches of the University and three Normal
Schools were established. The branches were located — one at Fairfield, and
the other at Dubuque, and were placed upon an equal footing, in respect to
funds and all other matters, with the University established at Iowa City.
"This act," says Col. Benton, "created tliree State Universities, with equal
rights and powers, instead of a 'University witii such branches as public conven-
ience may liereafter demand,'' as provided by tlie Constitution."

The Board of Directors of the Fairfield Branch consisted of Barnet Ris-
tine, Christian W. Slagle, Daniel Rider, Horace Gaylord, Bernhart Ilenn and
Samuel S. Bayard. At the first meeting of the Board, Mr. Henn was elected
President, Mr. Slagle Secretary, and Mr. Gaylord Treasurer. Twenty acres
of land were purchased, and a building erected thereon, costing $2,500.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 189

This building was nearly destroyed by a hurricane, in 1850, but was rebuilt
more substantially, all by contributions of the citizens of Fairfield. This
branch never received any aid from the State or from the University Fund,
and by act approved January 24, 1853, at the request of the Board, the Gen-
eral Assembly terminated its relation to the State.

The branch at Dubuque was placed under the control of the Superintendent
of Public Instruction, and John King, Caleb H. Booth, James M. Emerson,
Michael J. Sullivan, Richard Benson and the Governor of the State as
Trustees. The Trustees never organized, and its existence was only nominal.

The Normal Schools were located at Andrew, Oskaloosa and Mount
Pleasant, respectively. Each was to be governed by a board of seven Trustees, to
be appointed by the Trustees of the University. Each was to receive $500 annu-
ally from the income of the University Fund, upon condition that they should ed-
ucate eight common school teachers, free of charge for tuition, and that the citizens
should contribute an equal sum for the erection of the requisite buildings.
The several Boards of Trustees were appointed. At Andrew, the school was
organized Nov. 21, 1849; Samuel Ray, Principal; Miss J. S. Dorr, Assist-
ant. A building was commenced and over $1,000 expended on it, but it was
never completed. At Oskaloosa, the Trustees organized in April, 1852. This
school was opened in the Court House, September 13, 1852, under the charge
of Prof. G. M. Drake and wife. A two story brick building was completed in
1853, costing $2,473. The school at Mount Pleasant was never organized.
Neitlier of these schools received any aid from the University Fund, but in
1857 the Legislature appropriated $1,000 each for those at Oskaloosa and
-Andrew, and repealed the law authorizing the payment of money to them from
the University Fund. From that time they made no further effort to
continue in operation.

At a special meeting of the Board of Trustees, held February 21, 1850,
the " College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Upper Mississippi," established
at Davenport, was recognized as the " College of Physicians and Surgeons of
the State University of loAva," expressly stipulating, however, that such recog-
nition should not render the University liable for any pecuniary aid, nor was
the Board to have any control over the property or management of the Medical
Association. Soon after, this College was removed to Keokuk, its second ses-
sion being opened there in November, 1850. In 1851, the General Assembly
confirmed the action of the Board, and by act approved January 22, 1855,
placed the Medical College under the supervision of the Board of Trustees of
the Univevsit3% and it continued in operation until this arrangement was termi-
nated by the new Constitution, September 3, 1857.

From 1847 to 1855, the Board of Trustees was kept full by regular elec-
tions by the Legislature, and the Trustees held frequent meetings, but there was
no effectual organization of the University. In March, 1855, it was partially
opened for a term of sixteen weeks. July 16, 1855, Amos Dean, of Albany,
N. Y., was elected President, but he never entered fully upon its duties. The
University was again opened in September, 1855, and continued in operation
until June, 1856, under Professors Johnson, Welton, Van Valkenburg and
Gufiin.

In the Spring of 1856, the capital of the State was located at Des Moines;
but there were no buildings there, and the capitol at Iowa City was not vacated
by the State until December, 1857.

In June, 1856, the faculty was re-organized, with some changes, and the
University was again opened on the third Wednesday of September, 1856.

190 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

There were one hundred and twenty-four students — eighty-three males and
forty-one females — in attendance during the year 1856-7, and the first regular
catalogue was published.

At a special meeting of the Board, September 22, 1857, the honorary de-
gree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred on D. Franklin Wells. This was the
first degree conferred by the Board.

Article IX, Section 11, of the new State Constitution, which went into force

Sc-ptember 3, 1857, provided as follows :

The State TIniversiry shall be established at one place, without branches at any other place ;
and the University fund shall be applied to that institution, and no other.

Article XI, Section 8, provided that

The seat of Government is hereby permanently established, as now fixed by law, at the city
of Des Jloines, in the county of Polk ; and the State University at Iowa City, in the county of
Johnson.

The new Constitution created the Board of Education, consisting of the
Lieutenant Governor, who was ex officio President, and one member to be elected
from each judicial district in the State. This Board was endowed with
" full power and authority to legislate and make all needful rules and regula-
tions in relation to common schools and other educational institutions," subject
to alteration, amendment or repeal by the General Assembly, which was vested
with authority to abolish or re-organize the Board at any time after 1863.

In December, 1857, the old capitol building, now known as Central Hall of
the University, except the rooms occupied by the United States District Court,
and the property, with that exception, passed under the control of the Trustees,
and became the seat of tlie University. The old building had had hard usage,
and its arrangement was illy adapted for University purposes. Extensive repairs
and changes were necessary, but the Board was without funds for these pur-
poses.

The last meeting of the Board, under the old law, was held in January,
1858. At this meeting, a resolution was introduced, and seriously considered,
to exclude females from the University ; but it finally failed.

March 12, 1858, the first Legislature under the new Constitution enacted
a new law in relation to the University, but it was not materially different from
the former. March 11, 1858, the Legislature appropriated $3,000 for the re-
pair and modification of the old capitol building, and $10,000 for the erection
of a boarding house, now known as South Hall.

The Board of Trustees created by the new law met and duly organized
April 27, 1858, and determined to close the University until the income from its
fund should be adequate to meet the current expenses, and the buildings should
be ready for occupation. Until this term, the building known as the " Mechan-
ics' Academy" had been used for the school. The Faculty, except the Chan-
cellor (Dean), was dismissed, and all further instruction suspended, from the close
of the term then in progress until September, 1859. At this meeting, a reso-
lution was adopted excluding females from the University after the close of the
existing term ; but this was afterward, in August, modified, so as to admit them
to the Normal Department.

At the meeting of the Board, August 4, 1858, the degree of Bachelor of
Science was conferred upon Dexter Edson Smith, being the first degree con-
ferred upon a student of the University. Diplomas Avere awarded to the mem-
bers of the first graduating class of the Normal Department as follows : Levi
P. Ayiworth, Cellina H. Aylworth, Elizabeth L. Humphrey, Annie A. Pinney
and Sylvia M. Thompson.

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 191

An "Act for the Government and Regulation of the State University of
Iowa," approved December 25, 1858, was mainly a re-enactment of the law of
March 12, 1858, except that changes were made in the Board of Trustees, and
manner of their appointment. This law provided that both sexes were to be
admitted on equal terms to all departments of the institution, leaving the Board
no discretion in the matter.

The new Board met and organized, February 2, 1859, and decided to con-
tinue the Normal Department only to the end of the current term, and that it
was unwise to re-open the University at that time ; but at the annual meeting
of the Board, in June of the same year, it was resolved to continue the Normal
Department in operation ; and at a special meetmg, October 25, 1859, it was
decided to re-open the University in September, 1860. Mr. Dean had resigned
as Chancellor prior to this meeting, and Silas Totten, D. D., LL. D., was elected
President, at a salary of $2,000, and his term commenced June, 1860.

At the annual meeting, June 28, 1860, a full Faculty was appointed, and
the University re-opened, under this new organization, September 19, 1860
(third Wednesday) ; and at this date the actual existence of the University may
be said to commence.

August 19, 1862, Dr. Totten having resigned. Prof. Oliver M. Spencer
was elected President and the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred
upon Judge Samuel F. Miller, of Keokuk.

At the commencement, in June, 1863, was the first class of graduates in
the Collegiate Department.

The Board of Education was abolished March 19, 1864, and the office of
Superintendent of Public Instruction was restored ; the General Assembly
resumed control of the subject of education, and on March 21, an act was ap-
proved for the government of the University. It was substantially the same as
the former law, but provided that the Governor should be ex officio President of
the Board of Trustees. Until 1858, the Superintendent of Public Instruction
had been ex officio President. During the period of the Board of Education,
the University Trustees were elected by it, and elected their own President.

President Spencer was granted leave of absence from April 10, 1866, for
fifteen months, to visit Europe; and Prof. Nathan R. Leonard was elected
President pro tern.

The North Hall was completed late in 1866.

At the annual meeting in June, 1867, the resignation of President Spencer
(absent in Europe) was accepted, and Prof. Leonard continued as President pro
tern., until March 4, 1868, when James Black, D. D., Vice President of Wash-
ington and Jefferson College, Penn., was elected President. Dr. Black entered
upon his duties in September, 1868.

The Law Department was established in June, 1868, and, in September fol-
lowing, an arrangement was perfected with the Iowa Law School, at Des Moines,
which had been in successful operation for three years, under the management
of Messrs. George G. Wright, Chester C. Cole and William G. Hammond, by
which that institution was transferred to Iowa City and merged in the Law De-
partment of the University. The Faculty of this department consisted of the
President of the University, Hon. Wm. G. Hammond, Resident Professor and
Principal of the Department, and Professors G. G. Wright and C. C. Cole.

Nine students entered at the commencement of the first term, and during
the year ending June, 1877, there were 103 students in this department.

At a special meeting of the Board, on the 17th of September, 1868, a Com-
mittee was appointed to consider the expediency of establishing a Medical De-

192 HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA.

partment. This Committee reported at once in favor of the proposition, the
Faculty to consist of the President of the University and seven Professors, and
recommended that, if practicable, the new department should be opened at the
commencement of the University year, in 1869-70. At this meeting, Hon.
Ezekiel Clark was elected Treasurer of the University.

By an act of the General Assembly, approved April 11, 1870, the "Board
of Regents " was instituted as the governing power of the University, and since
that time it has been the fundamental law of the institution. The Board of
Regents held its first meeting June 28, 1870. Wm. J. Haddock was elected
Secretary, and Mr. Clark, Treasurer.

Dr. Black tendered his resignation as President, at a special meeting of the
Board, held August 18, 1870, to take effect on the 1st of December following.
His resignation was accepted.

The South Hall having been fitted up for the purpose, the first term of the
Medical Department was opened October 24, 1870, and continued until March,
1871, at which time there were three graduates and thirty-nine students.

March 1, 1871, Rev. George Thacher was elected President of the Univer-
sity. Mr. Thacher accepted, entered upon his duties April 1st, and was form-
ally inaugurated at the annual meeting in June, 1861.

In June, 1874, the " Chair of Military Instruction" was established, and
the President of the United States was requested to detail an officer to perform
its duties. In compliance with this request, Lieut. A. D. Schenck, Second Artil-
lery, U. S. A., was detailed as "Professor of Military Science and Tactics,"
at Iowa State University, by order of the War Department, August 26, 1874,
who reported for duty on the 10th of September following. Lieut. Schenck
was relieved by Lieut. James Chester, Third Artillery, January 1, 1877.

Treasurer Clark resigned November 3, 1875, and John N. Coldren elected
in his stead.

At the annual meeting, in 1876, a Department of Homoeopathy was
established.

In March, 1877, a resolution was adopted affiliating the High Schools of
the State with the University.

In June, 1877, Dr. Thacher's connection with the University was termi-
nated, and C. W. Slagle, a member of the Board of Regents, was elected Pres-
ident.

In 1872, the ex officio membership of the Superintendent of Public Instruc-
tion was abolished ; but it was restored in 1876. Following is a catalogue of
the oflBcers of this important institution, from 1847 to 1878 :

TRUSTEES OR REGENTS.

PRESIDENTS.

FROM TO

James Harlan, Superintendent Public Instruction, ex officio 1847 1848

Thomas H. Benton, Jr,, Superintendent Public Instruction, ex officio 1848 1854

James D. Eads, Superintendent Public Instruction, ex officio 1864 1857

Maturin L. Fisher, Superintendent Public Instruction, ex officio 1857 1858

Amos Dean, Chancellor, ex officio 1858 1859

Thomas H. Benton, Jr 1859 1803

Francis Springer 1863 1864

William M. Stone, Governor, ex officio 1864 1868

Samuel Merrill, Governor, ox officio 1868 1872

Cyrus C. Carpenter, Governor, ex officio 1872 1876

Samuel J. Kirkwood, Governor, ex officio 1576 1877

Joshua G. Newbold, Governor, ex officio 1877 1878

John H. Gear 1878

HISTORY OF THE STATE OF IOWA. 19^

/ VICE PRESIDENTS. FROM TO

Silas Foste(- 1847 1851

Robert Lucas 1851 1853

Edward Connelly 1854 1855

Moses J. Morsman 1855 1858

SECRETARIES.

Hugh D. Downey 1847 1851

Anson Hart 1851 1857

Elijah Sells 1857 1858

Anson Hart 1858 1864

William J. Haddock 1864

TREASURERS.

Morgan Reno, State Treasurer, ex officio 1847 1850

Israel Kister, State Treasurer, ex officio 1850 1852

Martin L. Morris, State Treasurer, ex officio 1852 1855

Henry W. Lathrop 1855 1862

William Crum 1862 1868

Ezekiel Clark 1868 1876

John N. Coldren 1876

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY.

Amos Dean, LL. D 1855 1858

Silas Totten, D. D., LL. D I860 1862

Oliver M. Spencer, D. D.* 1862 1867

James Black, D. D 1868 1870

George Thacher, D. D 1871 1877

C. W. Slagle 1877

The present educational corps of the University consists of the President^
nine Professors in the Collegiate Department, one Professor and six Instructors
in Military Science ; Chancellor, three Professors and four Lecturers in the
Law Department ; eight Professor Demonstrators of Anatomy ; Prosector of
Surgery and two Lecturers in the Medical Department, and two Professors in.
the Homoeopathic Medical Department.

STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

By act of the General Assembly, approved January 28, 1857, a State His-
torical Society was provided for in connection Avith the University. At the
commencement, an appropriation of $250 was made, to be expended in collecting,
embodying, and preserving in an authentic form a library of books, pamphlets,
charts, maps, manuscripts, papers, paintings, statuary, and other materials illus-
trative of the history of Iowa; and with the further object to rescu