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ANNALS OF IOWA
January, 1863, Number I
INTRODUCTION ARTICLE.
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BY THE
EDITOR.
The object as well as origin, of the State
Historical Society is briefly expressed in the following
Acts of the Legislature.
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Section 1.
Be it enacted ly die General Assembly of the State of Iowa.
That there is hereby annually appropriated until the
Legislature shall by law otherwise direct, to a State
Historical Society, formed or to be formed in connection
with, and under the auspices of, the State University, the
sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, to be expended by said
Society in collecting, embodying, arranging and preserving
in an authentic firm, a library of books, pamphlets, maps,
charts, manuscripts, papers, paintings, statuary, and other
materials illustrative of the state of the history of Iowa;
to rescue from oblivion the memory of its early pioneers; to
obtain and preserve varieties of their exploits, perils and
hardy adventures; to secure facts and statements relative to
the history, genius and progress or decay of our Indian
tribes; to exhibit faithfully the antiquities, past and
present resources of Iowa ; also, to aid in the publication
of such of the collections of the Society as the Society
shall from time to time deem of value and interest; to aid
in binding its books, pamphlets, manuscripts and paper and
in paying other necessary incidental expenses of the
Society, but no part of such annual appropriation shall ever
be paid for services rendered by the officers to the
Society.
Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of the
Executive Committee of the said State Historical Society of
Iowa, to keep an accurate account of the expenditure of the
said sum of money here by appropriated, and furnish the
same, together with the vouchers thereof, to the Governor of
the State, in the month of December of the year the
Legislature shall meet, to be by him laid before the
Legislature.
Sec. 3. There shall be delivered to said
Society thirty bound copies of all documents published by
order of the State, for the purpose of effecting
exchanges with similar Societies in other States, and
also fifty bound copies of all such documents, to be
transmitted through the medium of the Secretary of said
Society, to Mr. Vattimere, at Paris, in furtherance of his
system of international literary exchange.
Sec. 4. This
act shall take effect and be in force, from and alter
its publication according to law.
| APPROVED, January 28, 1857 |
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Section 1. Be it enacted by the General
Assembly of the State of lowa, That chapter two hundred
and three (203) of the laws of the sixth General
Assembly, approved, January 28th, 1857, be amended as
follows:
That there is hereby annually appropriated,
until the Legislature shall by law otherwise direct, to the
State Historical Society, formed in connection with, and
under the auspices of, the State University, the sum of
five hundred dollars, to be expended by said Society in
collecting, embodying, arranging and preserving in
authentic form, a library of books, pamphlets, maps,
charts, manuscripts, papers, paintings, statuary and
other materials illustrative of the History of Iowa; to
rescue from oblivion the memory of its pioneers; to
obtain and preserve varieties of their exploits, perils
and hardy adventures;
to secure facts and statements
in relation to the history, genius, progress or decay of
our Indian tribes ; to exhibit faithfully the antiquities, past and present
resources of Iowa; also to aid in the publication of such
of the collections of the Society as the Society shall,
from time to time, deem of value and interest;
to aid
in binding its books, pamphlets, manuscripts and papers,
and in paying other necessary incidental expenses of the
Society.
Sec. 2. This act shall take effect and be in
force, from and after its publication in the Iowa State
Register and State Journal.
| Approved, March 26, 1860. |
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I hereby certify that the foregoing act was published in the
Iowa State Journal,
April 7th, I860; and in the Iowa
State Register, April 4, 1860. |
| ELIJAH SELLS, Secretary
of State, |
The second act of the Assembly is a mere
repetition of the first, with a few verbal alterations,
except that it increases the annual appropriation to five
hundred dollars, and does notrestrict the expenditure,
as did the first act.
With these acts of the Legislature,
the Society has begun and progressed, till a library of
about two thousand volumes, including books for
exchange, and a considerable cabinet of minerals,
shells, portraits and trophies of war has been accumulated,
together with several manuscript and printed histories of
leading counties, for publication or reference, all which
will be of great utility to the future historian of Iowa.
No apology is needed for beginning the “short and simple
Annals” of Iowa. The very name of the State, in the Indian
tongue, signifies, “ Here is the place,” of all others, in
which to dwell. Hunted, as were the native tribes, by their
enemies, until they found a home beyond the great river,
Mississippi, they exclaimed : “ Here is the spot.” Such is
the interpretation by Antoine Le Claire, Esq., the
last and best
Indian interpreter of the language, himself
a half native, by descent, as given to the writer of this
article, a few years before his decease.
The times,
indeed, are not propitious, as the nation is involved in a
most unhappy civil war, the like of which, for extent and
atrocity, the world never saw. A half million of volunteers,
fully armed and equipped as soldiers, with improved cannon, muskets, rifles, revolvers and
sabres, on land; with
three hundred vessels of war, in
part iron-clad and turreted, and manned with
fifty thousand hardy sailors, on the seas and rivers,
compose the grand army and navy of the United States
against the insurgent attacks of nine Southern States,
leagued in rebellion against the General Government of
the Union. And, here, on American soil, is to be settled
forever—the great principle, that a free, popular,
constitutional Government can defend itself against
domestic traitors, as it has done against foreign foes.
Already the nations of Europe have begun to learn a
lesson of warfare from this national struggle, which will
change the deadly implements of carnage for those more
defensive or offensive than were ever before invented. So
that civil war, and all war, will hereafter be a terrible
venture, that men of ambition and blood will scarcely
dare to try.
In this conflict for national life and
liberty, against domestic enemies, the State of Iowa has
embarked, from first to last, with fifty thousand picked
men as volunteers. Their blood has flowed like water on
the battle fields of Springfield, Blue Hills Belmont,
Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Iuka, Corinth, Arkansas Post and
Vicksburg; and wherever, in the Southwest, the fight has
been the fiercest, Iowa men have been foremost in the
assault. The annals of Iowa soldiers alone would make a
library, and the trophies of Iowa troops would fill a
cabinet of no small dimensions.
It is therefore most
fit, that some pages of current events, illustrative of
the character of a people so brave and patriotic, should
be recorded, for the benefit of future generations. Well
have the enemies of the Union, made captive by our citizen
soldiers, exclaimed: “ Where is that Iowa, from which come
so many soldiers, who fight so bravely?”
In connection,
also, with the Annals of the State, it is thought
desirable to incorporate brief biographies of distinguished
citizens of Iowa, in the various walks of life. Happily, the
Annalist of Iowa has not to go back to the story of fabulous
heroes, nor to uncertain dates, unless the origin of the
Indian tribes, once dwelling in this land, be excepted.
lowa was
made a Territory, separate
from Wisconsin, so recently as the fourth of July, in the
year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and
thirty-eight; and, by the adoption of a
Constitution, and election of a Governor, with other
officers, and a Legislature in August, of the year of our
Lord, one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, was fully
inaugurated, on the third of December following, as a
sovereign State.
Towa has already outgrown more than half
of the older States in population, having by the United
States Census of eighteen hundred and sixty, six hundred
seventy-three thousand, eight hundred and forty-four inhabitants; and ranks next to Michigan in numbers. In extent of
territory, it is equal to both New York and New Jersey,
as may be seen by inspection of the map and square miles.
In health, it stands next to
the Green Mountain State,
Vermont. In fertility and variety of soil, it is not
surpassed by any State in the Union.
Shall not such a
State, already grown so great, have a history? And will any
one say that its authentic Annals are too soon begun, or
that the aid of the intelligent citizens of this
commonwealth has been invoked too soon, to fill the Library
and Cabinet of the Historical Society, connected as it is
with
the State University?
In troublous times, these
Annals of the Society are begun. Yet humble reliance may
be reposed on the God of history, unfolding leaf after
leaf in his continual providence that ruleth over all.
He only can prosper all honest endeavors, and send a
brighter day in our country’s history. With such a
trust, this
humble publication is begun, relating to a
State, already illustrious in arms; but destined of
high Heaven, it is confidently hoped, to be still more
illustrious, when arms shall yield to peace and
prosperity throughout the whole land. |
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| ~ transcribed and submitted by
Constance |
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