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January, 1863, Number I
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HIST0RY OF SCOTT COUNTY, IOWA.
CHAPTER IV
DAVENPORT TOWNSHIP |
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This township,
like Rockingham, has bluff lands that are some what broken
near the river, until we reach a point three mile above the
city of Davenport, where it opens out into a beautiful
prairie called Pleasant Valley. The bluff, or timber line,
between the river and prairie is from one to two miles
wide, and was formerly well wooded.
By the “bluffs”
of the Mississippi river, we do not mean here that they are
an abrupt or perpendicular ascent, but a gentle rise from
the river or bottom lands, not so steep but roads may be
contracted up almost any part of them. The general elevation
of these bluffs, or high-lands, is about one hundred
feet above the waters of the Mississippi, and, in many
places, of very gentle ascent, and covered with cultivated
fields and gardens to their tops.
But Davenport
township differs from all others upon the river in the
beautiful rolling prairies, immediately back from the river,
alter passing the bluffs. These prairies are not broken,
as in common with those that approach so near the river,
but are susceptible of the highest state of cultivation.
Back of the city of Davenport, the 'slope from the top of
the bluff to Duck creek, covered as it is with gardens and
fields, is one of uncommon beauty and richness; and the
farms, that now cover the prairie for seven or eight miles
back, cannot be excelled in any country.
Duck creek,
which passes through the whole length of this township,
rises in Blue Grass, sonic ten miles West of Davenport and
running East, empties into the Mississippi five miles
above the city; its course being up stream, parallel with
the Mississippi, and only one or two miles distant from
it. It affords an ample supply of water for stock, and is
never dry in summer, being led by numerous springs along
its
course. Its Indian name is Si-kama-que Sepo, or Gar
creek, instead of Duck creek.
But before entering in
detail upon the settlement of this township, there is much
to interest and engage the attention of those who may
desire a knowledge of its more remote history, which,
although but little known, is interesting and important. As
has already been observed, the locality of Davenport and
its surroundings have been the camping ground of the Indian
from time immortal. Marquette mid Joliet, the
first
discoverers of the country, one hundred and eighty-nine
years ago, found the tribes of the Illini here. (See
Discoveries and Explorations of Mississippi River, by
Shea, Vol. i., p.30; also, Annals of the West, p. 31.) There
were three villages or towns; the main one at which they
landed was called "Pewaria," where we suppose Davenport now
stands, as it is laid down upon Marquette's original map on
the West side of
the "River Conception," as he named the
Mississippi. This map is a facsimile of the autograph one,
by Father Marquette, at the time of his voyage down the
river in June, 1673 and was taken from the original,
preserved at St. Mary's College, Montreal. (See explorations
of the Mississippi River, by Shea, p. 280.)
Of
the tribes found here by Father Marquette, and among whom he
established a Mission, little is known, except his first
account of them, as they have become extinct. The tribes
of the Illini aboriginal, (Hall’s Sketches of the West,
vol. i, part ii, p. 142,) seem to have been very
numerous at that time, being scattered over the vast country
lying between Lake Superior and the Mississippi, for we find
that Marquette, in his second voyage here to found the
Mission, (Shea, vol. i, p. 53,) was accompanied part of the
way by some “ Illinois and Pottawatomies,” and we find
them settled at that day upon the Illinois river, at Peoria
and La Salle’s trading post; and also on the Kankakee and as
low down on the Mississippi river as Cape Girardeau. They
seemed to be less warlike than the Iroquois and Wyandots,
and roamed at pleasure unmolested, over all lands and
among all tribes.
The Sacs and Foxes came from the
northern lakes, but at what date it is difficult to
ascertain. The Foxes were originally called Outagamies
(Schoolcraft, vol. VI, p. 193.) From what tribe they
descended is not known. About the seventeenth century we
find them with the Iroquois committing depredations upon
the whites among the great lakes of the North.
It
has been inferred, says Schoolcraft, (Vol. VI, p. 193,)
“from their language, that they belonged to the Algonquin
tribes, but at an early day were ejected from, and
forsaken by them,” We find them in 1712 with the Iroquois
making an attempt to destroy Detroit; being routed, they
retired to a peninsula in Lake St. Claire, where they were
attacked by the French and Indians, and driven out of the
country. We next find them on Fox river, at Green Bay.
Their character seem to be perfidious. They were a
constant annoyance to the trapper and the trader, ever
creating difficulty and disturbance among other tribes.
“Having been defeated at the battle of “Butte des Morts,”
or “Hill of the Dead,” with great slaughter, the
remnants of the tribe fled to the banks of the Wisconsin.”
(Schoolcraft, vol. VI, p. il9l.) We have no further notice
of them until their settlement upon the Mississippi and
its tributaries.
“The Sacs and Foxes took possession
of the lands belonging to the lowas, (Annals of the West, p.
713,) whom they partly subjugated." "The Foxes had their
principal village on the West side of the Mississippi river,
at Davenport.” “A small Sauk village was on the West side
of the Mississippi, near the mouth of the mouth of the
Des Moines river.” This was between 1785 and 1800. The Sauks
wore the original occupants of Saginaw, on Lake
Michigan, and were allies of the Foxes in 1712, in an
attempt to drive the French oat of Michigan.
Thus far
in our history are we able to trace the immediate occupants
of our soil, prior to possession by the United States. The
early French trader’s found a village of Foxes at Du
Buque, with the Chief “ Piea-Maskie,” and another at the
mouth of the Wabesse-pinecon river, a Sauk village with
“No-No” as Chief. But a still larger village of Foxes was
where the city of Rock Island now stands, called “Wa-pello’s
Village,” while the main Sauk village, "Black Hawk’s
Town” was on Rock river, between Camden and Rock Island. The
traffic with the Indians was carried on by the Canadian
French, in Mackinaw boats. There were no established trading
posts. The constant wars among the tribes continued to
diminish their numbers. The Sioux, the Chippewas, the
Winnebagoes, and Menomenies were the bitter enemies of the
Sauks and Foxes. They were ever lurking upon each
other’s trail, and never letting slip an opportunity of
gathering a few scalps, in revenge for some fancied
wrong.
In the Spring of 1823, the Indian Agent at
Prairie Du Chien, by request of the Sioux, Winnebagoes and
Menomenies, then allied in their petty wars, sent an
invitation to the Chiefs and Braves of the Fox village at Du
Buque, to meet their enemies in council, and forever bury
the tomahawk, and settle all differences existing
between the several tribes. The Sacs and Foxes were becoming
reduced in numbers. Their
faithless, perfidious and
treacherous course of life among all the nations through
which they had traveled, from the great Lakes of the North, to the valley of the
Mississippi, had followed them.
Their warriors had been slain, and they felt their strength
fading away. They were willing now to live on terms of
peace with their neighbors, and they readily accepted the
invitation. Piea-Moskie was their Chief. Not suspecting the treachery of their enemies, all the principal Chiefs and
Braves of their band left their village at Du Buque, for the
treaty at Prairie Du Chien.
The Sioux .and
Winnebagoes had deceived their Agent, and only laid a plot
to draw the Foxes from their village, for the purpose of
entrapping them. They therefore sent spies down the
river, just before the appointed time for the treaty, to
watch the movements of the unsuspecting Foxes. On the
second night after leaving Du Buque, the party made an
encampment a little below the mouth of the Wisconsin river,
on the eastern shore, and while cooking their evening
meal, and smoking around their camp-fires, without the least
suspicion of danger, they were fired upon by more than a
hundred of their enemies; a war party that had been sent
down for that purpose. But two of the whole number
escaped. In the general massacre that followed, these jumped
into the river and swam to the western shore, carrying the
sad news of the murder to their village. This produced
consternation and alarm. Such treachery, even in Indian
warfare, was startling. The Chiefs and brave men had
been slaughtered without mercy, and an attack upon their
village might be expected. Their leaders were dead, and
dismay and confusion reigned throughout the camp.
The surviving warriors were assembled in Council to
select another Chief. A half-breed, of Scotch descent, of
much daring and bravery, by the name of Morgan, was
elected and named Ma que-pra um. A war party was soon formed
under their new leader to march on the faithless Sioux
and avenge the death of their Chief and brave men. The
preparations were soon completed. The plot was laid. All was
ready. The council fire was again lighted and the
warrior band, headed by their new Chief, sat around in
sullen silence, painted and hung in all the paraphernalia of the Indian warrior. The wail and
lamentation for the dead were changed to the deep, piercing
yell of the savage! All thedark hatred of the Indian
nature was depicted on the countenances of this revengeful
group, and there went up a shout, the war-cry of their
tribe, such as the rugged cliffs and hills of Du Buque had
never heard before or since. With blackened faces chanting
the death song, they entered their canoes and started on
their mission of blood.
Ariving in the vicinity of
Prairie Du Chien, from the opposite bluffs, the spies of the
party discovered the encampment of the foe, almost
directly under the guns of the Fort. The setting sun was
just gilding the walls of Fort Crawford, and the sentinel on
its ramparts had just been roused from his listlessness
by the beat of “tat oo;” the Indians lay indolently in their
camp, little dreaming of the fate that awaited them. On
seeing the position of the enemy, the plan of attack was soon
formed. The Foxes lay in ambush until the darkness of the
night should shield them from observation. A sufficient
number was left with the canoes, with instructions to be a
short distance below the Fort. The warriors then
stripped themselves of every encumbrance, but the girdle,
containing the tomahawk and scalping knife, and went up the river some little distance, when, about midnight, they
swam the Mississippi and stealthily crawled down upon the
encampment.
All was darkness and silence! No sentinel
watched the doomed camp! The smouldering fire of the first
wigwam they reached, revealed to them, as they threw
aside the curtained door, an Indian smoking his pipe in
meditative silence. The leader Chief seized him, and without noise carried him outside the lodge and slew him without
alarming the camp. The work of death went on from lodge to
lodge in stillness and
silence, until the knife and
hatchet had done their bloody work, severing not only the
scalp but many of the heads of their Chieftains!
The
work was done, and with one loud, wild whoop of satisfaction
and revenge, the Fort was awakened, the sentry sent forth
his note of alarm, while the assailants took to the
canoes belonging to the enemy, rejoined the party, and with
a yell of triumph were far down the Mississippi before
the officers of the Fort were in readiness to march. With
the trophies of victory they soon reached their village,
dancing
the “scalp-dance.” Packing up their valuables,
the whole band deserted their town at Du Buque, descending
the river, and settled where the city of Davenport now
stands.
This massacre took place within the memory of
some now living here, who related these facts to the author,
and they still have a most vivid recollection of seeing
the returning band, as they came down past Rock Island with
their canoes lashed side by side, the heads and scalps of
their slaughtered enemies, set upon poles, still reeking
with the blood of their victims. They landed amid the most
deafening shouts of
savage triumph, and celebrated their
victory with the Sacs, singing their war-songs and
exhibiting with savage ferocity, the clotted scalps and
ghastly faces of the treacherous Sioux, Winnebagoe and
Menomenie, of whom they had killed seventeen of their best
Chiefs and warriors, besides other men, women and
children of the tribe. From that event, until the removal of
the Sacs and Foxes, this village was called “Morgan”
after their Chieftain.
This brief sketch of the
history of our immediate vicinity, before the dawn of
civilization, must suffice. The Indian who possessed the
soil was here in his own right, by whatever means he
possessed it. The early missionaries had taught him the
first principles of Christianity. He believed in the
Great Spirit. He worshipped no idols, nor bowed to any
superior but the great “ Manito.” They had their Seers and
Prophets, and believed in a tutelar spirit. They made no
sacrifice of human life to appease the wrath of an offended
Deity. They observed their fasts and holy days with
blackened faces, and with midnight lamentations. They
believed in a future of rewards but not of punishments, and
were ever ready, and proud to sing the death song even at
the stake, that they might enter the elysian fields of the
good hunting ground. They never blasphemed. There is no
word in their language by which to express it.
The
Indian’s home is wherever the finger of destiny points; yet
his sympathies often cluster deeply around the place of his
nativity and the scenes of his earlier life. Thus was it
with them when they came to leave their home upon
As-sin-ne-Me-ness, (Rock Island,) and the As- sin-ne-Se-pe,
(Rock River.) In all their wanderings, from the great Lakes
on the north, to the Ohio on the south, and the Mississippi
on the
west, they had never found a home like this. The
bluffs and the islands furnished them animals for the chase,
while the clear waters of the As-sin-ne-Se-po gave them
the finest fish. The fields yielded them an abundance of the
maize, the potato, beans, melons and pumpkins, and they
were as happy as the roving spirit of their nature would
allow, when in the spring of 1814, the white man came, and
with the din of
preparation for work, the solitude was
broken, and the first sounds of civilization burst upon
their ears.
Attempts were made at that time to plant
Forts along the Upper Mississippi. (Annals of the West, p.
743.) The only means of transportation was by armed
boats. Maj. Zachary Taylor, (President of the U.S. in 1850,)
was in command of one of these boats. He left Cap au Gris,
(Cap au Grey,) in August, of this year, with three
hundred and thirty-four men, for the Indian Towns at Rock
Island, with instructions to destroy their villages and
cornfields. (Annals p. 744.) The Indians were located on
both sides of the river “above and below the rapids.” But in
this attempt he was frustrated by the Indians receiving
aid from neighboring tribes and some British allies then at
Prairie du Chien. The battle was severe, and lasted some
three hours, commencing on the rapids above, at Campbell
Island (p. 745.)
In May, 1816, the Eighth Regiment
and a Company of riflemen, in command of Col. Lawrence, came
up the river in boats, and landed at the mouth of Rock
River. After some examination, the lower end of Rock Island
was fixed on, for a site to build a Fort. On the 10th of
May, they landed on the Island. A store house was first
put up, which was the first building ever on the Island. A
bake-house was next built, and then Fort Armstrong was
commenced. At this time there were about ten thousand
Indians in, and around the place on both sides of the river.
Col. George Davenport, then attached to the army, was
general superintendent. (See Biog. Col. D., in Davenport
Past and Present.) The Indians were much dissatisfied,
and complained that the noise made by the white man in
building on the Island would disturb the Great Spirit,
whose residence they believed to be in a cave at the foot of
the Island.
From this date until the Black Hawk War,
Rock Island was 0nly a frontier military post, and although
this notice does not come strictly into the History of
Scott County, yet so intimately are its early pioneer scenes
connected with it, that it is seems almost indispensible to
make some mention of it. Tranquility had in a measure
been restored between the whites and Indians, when the Black
Hawk War broke out. A few remarks on the causes of this
war may not be uninteresting.
Black Hawk had ever
been dissatisfied with the treaty made at St. Louis in 1804,
(American State Papers—16—247 and Land Laws 514,) by
Gen. Harrison for their lands on Rock River, and upon a
requisition of the United States to surrender these lands to
the whites for settlement. Black Hawk refused. He had
been in the service of Great Britain in the war of 1812, and
received pay and presents annually. He openly proclaimed
himself and party British subjects. (Annals, p. 649.) At the
treaty held at Portage Des Sioux in 1814, to recognize and
re-establish the treaty of Gen. Harrison, which had
been broken on the part of some of the Indians, by the part
they took in the war of 1812, Black Hawk and his band
refused to attend. It appears that he had continued
depredations on the whites after peace was declared, and at
this treaty, a “talk” at Portage Des Sioux, the
Commissioners on the part of the United States required them
to render up and restore all such property as they had
plundered or stolen from the whites and in default thereof,
to be cut off from their proportion of the annuities, which
they were to receive for their lands, by the treaty at
St. Louis in 1804. This was one of the causes that led to
the Black Hawk war. The disaffected portion of the tribe
under Black Hawk were for resistance, while Keokuk, the
chief of the peace party, had signed the articles of
treaty with his principal braves.
There was a general
dissatisfaction among all the tribes of the Upper
Mississippi at this lime. In the transportation of military
stores and traders’ goods, in boats, the whites were
often attacked, and they had to go armed. Col. Taylor had an
engagement in person, with several hundred Indians among
the islands, just below this city. Being overpowered by
numbers he was obliged to retire with a small loss.
In the treaty which ceded the lands of Rock River to the
United States, it was stipulated that the Indians should
retain possession of them until they were brought into
market, or sold for actual settlement. This gave to the
Indian as much right, as a fee simple title, until 1829, at
which time the lands were sold, and Black Hawk’s tower,
between Camden and Rock Island, passed into the hands of the
whites. On his
return from hunting in the spring of
1830, he was informed for the first time that his home had
passed into other hands; and that he must remove, with
the rest of his tribe, West of the Mississippi. This he
refused to do in the strongest terms. He visited Canada to
see his British Father, and Gen. Cass at Detroit, who
advised him, if he owned the land to remain where he was,
that he could not be disturbed. (Wilkie’s
Davenport Past
and Present, p. 23.)
All efforts made by Keokuk, or
his white friends, to induce Black Hawk, on his return, to
remove West, were unavailing. He is said to have
exhibited more attachment for his native land at this time,
than ever before or after. In the spring of 1881, his people
commenced planting corn at his village, and the whites
who had laid claim to it, ploughed it up. This aroused all
the native fire and indignation of Black Hawk. He at
once formed his plan of resistance. He threatened the
whites. They became alarmed. The little Fort at Rock Island
was too weak at such aremote point, and Gen. Gaines
ordered ten companies of militia to Fort Armstrong. A
conference was had with Black Hawk but he still refused
to leave. The troops inarched upon his town, and he retired
across the river and located his village where the farm of
the Hon. E. Cook was formerly, just below the city of
Davenport. Another talk was then had, and Black Hawk agreed
not to cross the river without permission. But the
following spring he is found pressing his way up Rock River
with his whole band of warriors, men, women and children,
expecting to be joined by other tribes and his friends,
the British allies. But in this he was disappointed, and
being pursued by Gen. Atkinson with six hundred
regulars, he fled for the wilds of Wisconsin, committing
depredations and massacres along his route. The war was now
begun in good earnest.
On the 15th of Sept., 1832,
the Black Hawk war being ended, a treaty was held with the
Sacs and Foxes by Gen. Scott, upon the ground now
occupied by the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company in
this city. At this treaty a small strip of land only was
ceded to the United States, called the “Black Hawk
Purchase.” It lay along the Mississippi river, beginning at
a point on the boundary line between Missouri and Iowa,
which is now the south east corner of Davis County, and
running thence to a point on Cedar river, near the north
east corner of Johnson County, thence in a northwest
direction to a point on the south boundary of the Neutral
Grounds, then occupied by the Winnebagoes, and thence
with said line to a point on the Mississippi river, a short
distance above Prairie du Chien, it being only about sixty miles in the widest place and contained about six
millions of acres. The Indians peaceably removed from it on
the first of June, 1838, and thus gave to the whites
free access to this beautiful land.
We now enter into
details upon the first settlements in and around the city of
Davenport. The beauty of its location has been often
descanted upon. It needs no pen of mine to describe its
loveliness, nor the rich and varied landscape that surrounds
it. But there are thoughts that crowd upon the memory as
we gaze upon its unparalleled growth and importance. Let us
review for a moment, before we trace its history.
Twenty-seven years ago, the first cabin was erected by the
white man. The retreating foot-steps of the red-man were
still heard over these bluffs. The poles of his wigwam
still stuck along the banks of this noble river. The graves
of his people were still fresh upon the brow of our
bluffs, and the corn-hills and play grounds of his children
have been covered over with the habitations of man!
This mighty river that once bore to our shores the frail
bark of a Marquette and a Joliet, has become the
thoroughfare of nations. Where the light canoe of the
savage once glided in safety, the Seu-ti-chemon, (fire canoe
or steamboat,) of the white man now floats with majesty and splendor, and this magnificent river has become the
highway of a mighty nation. The Mackinaw trading boat with
its French voyageur, has left its moorings on As-sin-ne
Man-ess, (Rock Island;) and old Fort Armstrong that had
stood like a watchful sentinel on the jutting rocks of
the Island for more than forty years, has been burned down
by sacrilegious hands.
In the Spring of 1836, John
Wilson, or “Wild Cat Wilson,” as he was called, who was an
old “claim maker,” (he and his boys having made and sold
the one where Rockingham was located, and one where now is
the farm of Judge Weston), commenced making a claim on the
edge of the Prairie, on the Blue Grass road from
Davenport, where the farm of Mr. Depro now is, afterwards the
Dr. Bardwell place. The Indians who were then living on
the Iowa river frequently came in here to the trading house
of Col. Davenport, on Rock Island. The trail passed directly
across where Wilson was making his claim. He was cutting
trees for logs, and had some two or three yoke of oxen
hauling them together for the house, when a company of
Indians came along on their way to the trading house. They
were a part of the disaffected band of Black Hawk, and
as usual felt cross and bitter toward the white man, whom
they looked upon as an intruder. They ordered Wilson to
desist from making any improvements; told him that he
should not live there, and that he must leave. “Old Wild
Cat,” who was used to Indians, with whom he often had
difficulties, and most probably with some of this very band,
took little heed of what they said, but urged on his work
without any fear of trouble from them. The Indians,
after remaining in Davenport and on the Island for a few
days, left for their home, full of whisky, and ripe for
a quarrel. On arriving at Wilson’s they rode up to the
spring, near which the house was building; (the same that
now stands there, used as a stable.) They got off and
turned their ponies loose, laid off their blankets and
deliberately prepared for a fight. Wilson and his two
sons were all there were of the whites. Wilson was a short
distance in the woods chopping. The attack was made upon
James, who was driving the team. He ran for his father
and Samuel. On their arrival, the old man, who never feared
Indian or white man, bear or wild cat, pitched in for a
general fight. The Indians, some twelve or fourteen in
number, soon had “Old Wild Cat” down, when one of the boys,
not having any weapon, unyoked an ox, and with the bow
knocked down two or three of the Indians, which released his
father, who springing to his feet caught his axe, which
he had dropped in the first onset, and turning upon them, he
struck an Indian in the back, splitting him open from
the neck nearly to the small of the back. This dampened the
ardor of the savages for a moment, when Wilson
calling on
his boys to fight, and raising the “Wild Cat” yell, he made
at them again, when they gathered up the wounded Indian
and fled. He soon died, and the next Sunday the Indians
gathered in great numbers in the neighborhood of
Wilson’s with threatening aspects.
Wilson, with
his boys and a few neighbors, was forted in John Friday’s
cabin, where the Indians kept them nearly all day. A runner
was sent to Mr. Le Claire and Col. Davenport, who
settled the matter with the Indians, and cautioned them
about traveling across the lands of “Old Wild Cat,”
telling them of his threats; that he would scalp the first
“red-skin” he caught upon that trail. The Indians made a new
trail from Davenport, running further North, through
Little’s Grove, and were never known to pass Wilson’s after
that affair.
Wilson, with his son Samuel, was hunting
and trapping, in the Autumn of 1840 on, the “neutral
grounds” belonging to the Winnebagoes, when a party of
some thirty Indians fell upon him and robbed him of
everything he had except a little clothing. Whether he was
known by these Indians, or whether some of the Sacs and
Foxes were present, he never knew; but they took his team
with all his effects and followed
him out of their
country. Mr. Wilson died a few years since near Moscow, on
the Cedar river in this State.
George L. Davenport,
Esq., made the first claim in Davenport Township,
immediately after the treaty in 1832, which was before the
time expired that the Indians were to give possession to
the whites (June 1, 1833). Mr. Davenport has been familiar
with the Indians from boyhood; was adopted into the Fox
tribe while young, and had no playmates in early life but
the Indian boys. He learned to speak their language, and
was an expert archer, swimmer and racer; ever ready to join
in all their sports, and a general favorite with the whole
tribe. This explains why he was permitted to go upon the
lands while others were kept off until the next year; for
many emigrants took possession in the Autumn of 1832
after the treaty, but were driven off and had to await the
time specified in the treaty for possession, viz; the 1st of June, 1833.
There is therefore an error in the
history of Buffalo Township as to the first claim, and also
the first ferry. Capt. Clark might have established the
first public ferry, but Col. Davenport had a float boat and
used it for ferry purposes as early as 1827, running between
the Island and the main shore, carrying pack-horses,
cattle and goods for the Indian trade. He also kept a
wood-yard on the Island after steamboats began to run
here, and brought wood from Maple Island, and other places.
The claim upon which Davenport now stands was first made
in the Spring of 1833, by R. II. Spencer and a Mr. McCloud.
A difficulty arose between these men in respect to the
claim, or some portion of it, when, to end the dispute,
Antoine Le Claire purchased from both their entire
interest for one hundred dollars. This was the first
transaction in real estate in the city of Davenport, some of
which has since been
sold as high as two hundred
dollars a foot. This claim comprised that portion of the
city lying west of Harrison street, being outside of Le
Claire’s reserve. He fenced in and cultivated a portion of
it near the bluff, embracing the ground now occupied by the
Court-House and Jail. The early settlers will very readily call to mind the natural state of the ground in that
portion of the city lying below Western Avenue. Where
Washington Square is now enclosed, filled up and beautified,
there was a quagmire that extended westward between Second
and Fourth streets to the limits of the city. This
slough that headed in Washington Square was caused by
springs, forming soft spongy ground, impassable for man
or beast; and until 1845, there were no streets opened, nor
crossings, from Second to Fourth, below Western Avenue.
Some of the residents of 1837 and 1838 will recollect cattle
miring in this slough, and one or two instances in which
they died in it. This portion of our city is now largely
built up by the Germans, who mostly reside in the western
portion of the city, and whose industry, energy and
taste have turned this low land into beautiful gardens, and
covered it with homes and workshops.
In the Autumn of
1835, Antoine Le Clare, Maj. Thos. Smith, Maj. Wm. Gordon,
Phillip Hambaugh, Alex. W. McGregor, Levi S. Colton, Capt. James May, with Col. George Davenport, met at the house
of the latter gentleman, on Rock Island, to consult as to
the propriety of laying out a town upon Mr. Le Claire’s
claim, on the west bank of the Mississippi river. The
arguments offered in favor of such a project were, the
unexampled fertility of the soil, the necessity for a town
at some future day at the foot of the rapids, the unrivaled
beauty of the location, its healthy position. This
meeting resulted in the purchase from Mr. Le Claire of all
the land west of Harrison street, running along the bluff as far west as Warren street, and thence south to the
river, at a cost of two thousand dollars. The town was
named after Col. George
Davenport. It was surveyed by
Maj. Gordon in the Spring of 1836, who is said to have
performed the service in less than a day, with his
mental vision very much obscured by a certain decoction
called by the Indian scuti appo, the “white man’s fire
water.” From some of the lines which I have had occasion
to trace since, I have never doubted the assertion.
The first improvements within the present city limits, were
made by Mr. Le Claire upon the ground now occupied by the M.
& M. R. R. Depot, in the Spring of 1833. But nothing in
the way of farming or the more substantial improvements,
took place till May, 1836, when Dr. James Hall and his
two eldest sons took a contract from Mr. Le Claire to break
a certain amount of land upon his “reserve,” as it was
called. This
tract for breaking lay East of Brady
street, beginning near the present corner of Brady and
Second, extending up Second to Rock Island, and as far
back as Sixth street. This was contracted for at five
dollars an acre, except a certain portion, which the Halls
were to have free of rent and two dollars and a half an
acre for breaking, which they planted in potatoes and corn,
obtaining the seed from Fort Armstrong, paying a dollar
and a quarter a bushel for potatoes. The next year, this
same ground was rented to the Halls for fifteen dollars an
acre, upon which they sowed some wheat and raised a crop.
The first public house, or tavern, was built on the
corner of Front and Ripley streets, in 1830, by Messrs. Le
Claire and Davenport, and opened by Edward Powers, from
Stephenson. The next year it passed into the hands of John
McGregor, from Kentucky.
In June, 1836, a very
important personage arrived, bringing with him all the
ingredients of a pioneer whisky shop, the first introduced
upon the soil of Scott county. It was Capt. John Litch, from
Newburyport, N.H. He had been a seafaring man, was far
advanced in life, of a jovial disposition, full of anecdotes
and ever ready to toss off a glass of grog with any one who
desired to join him. His log shanty stood on Front Street,
below the subsequent site of Burnell, Gillet & Co’s mill.
Being in possession of the Captain’s account book, or log,
as he called it, it may interest some to make a few
extracts; particularly as to the cost of material and labor
at that day for building. His cabin was about 16x20 feet. It
was afterwards enlarged. June 20, 1835
| Paid |
Amount Paid |
| Paid Hampton for logs, &c., |
$112.00 |
| Paid for nails & sundries |
$6.00 |
| For raising 8 logs, C beams
& sleepers |
$24.50 |
| Lime & hauling rock |
$12.00 |
| Lumber of Shoals &
Eldridge, (Capt. Shoals & D.C. Eldridge) |
$14.44 |
| Lumber of
Capt. Clark |
$24.93 |
| Carpenters & Joiners |
$63.50 |
| Nails % liquor |
$10.00 |
| Shingles, glass, sash &
clear stuff |
$29.47 |
| Underpinning & painting,
whitewashing, &c. |
$11.00 |
| Locks, butts & screws |
$3.11 |
| Horse-rack & sawing corners
of cabin |
$6.00 |
| Digging cellar, planking &
timber |
$19.05 |
|
Cost of the first whisky shop |
$386.00 |
| |
|
Nov. 16.—R; H. Dr. to 4
glasses of whisky, 25 cents, 4 lbs. salt 12 cts.
To 2 glasses whisky, 12 cts., crackers and herring,
12 |
$.37
$.25 |
Dec. 3.— To 2 mackerel, 25 cts., 1 pt. whisky, 12 cts.
To 1 quart whisky, 25c., tobacco 12 cts., |
$.371/2
$.371/2 |
|
J. M. Cr. by 1 bbl. flour |
$13.00 |
| By
three days’ work, $1 per day |
$3.00 |
| Dr.
to 4 barrels of lime, $1.50 per bbl |
$6.00 |
| June 3, 157. ---Mr. E
---- |
|
| To 73 muskrat at 22 cts., 4
minks 25c |
$16.06 |
| To
1 fisher skin, 1 wolf, 1 badger, and 1 coon skin, 22 cts.,
each, 88 |
$.88 |
| Cr. by 2 bush, corn, at
$1.25 per bush |
$2.60 |
| |
|
But flour was sold as high as $16
per barrel this year; pork 10 cts. a pound, and corn $3 a
bushel.
The eccentric Captain dealt in almost
anything and everything that came along, as may he seen by
his “log book” from the fine furs of the beaver and the
otter, down to the wolf and polecat. In the provision line,
he kept everything that could be had from pork and flour
down to pumpkins and turnips; but the great attraction,
however, the great leading, article, was whisky. The
Captain, too, had such a nice, peculiar way of making the “
critter'" palatable by various other ingredients, that his
punches, cobblers, juleps and cocktails, all made from
whisky, were much sought after and his store became the
resort of not only those who wished to purchase the
necessaries of life, but the professional man, the
politician, the claim speculator, the old discharged soldier
and the Indian, all met here upon one common level, and
talked over all matters of interest, under the balm
influence of the Captain’s good cheer. His was the only
store, tavern, saloon or public place of entertainment in
the town or country, and was as much, perhaps to many, a
resort of necessity as & place to quench thirst. Captain
Litch died on the 5th of March, 1841, aged 55 years, with
the stigma of having planted the first whisky-shop upon the
soil of Scott county.
A ferry across the Mississippi
was established in the year 1836, by Mr. Le Claire, who was
appointed Postmaster and carried the mail in his pocket,
while ferrying. It is said that his percentage due on his
first quarter, was seventy- five cents! The ferry soon
passed into the hands of Capt. John Wilson, who ran a
flat-boat with oars until 1841, when it was supplied with a
horse ferry, and in 1843 by a steam ferry boat. Capt. John
Wilson, who for so many years owned and personally had
charge of the ferry, was a native of New Hampshire. He
purchased the ferry privilege of Mr. Le Claire in the Spring
of 1837, although he had been engaged in it the year
previous as special partner. The rights and privileges for
ferry purposes, conveyed to Capt. Wilson by Mr. Le Claire,
were one mile up and down the river each way from the ferry
house, then standing at the foot of Main street, for the sum
of one thousand dollars. Many will remember the faith
services of the old, experienced ferryman, who, in storm or
tempest, night or day, was always at his post, in Summer on
the water, in Winter on the ice, ready to do good service,
ever meeting you with a smile, and one hand always extended,
with his fingers playing to receive “that dime.” He died of
cholera in 1853.
The first white male child born in
Davenport, was a son of Levi S. Colton, in the Autumn of
1836, who died at the Indian village, on the Iowa river, in
August, 1840. The first female child was a daughter of D. C.
Eldridge, still living. Alexander W. McGregor opened the
first law office, in 1836. A. M. Gavit, a. Methodist
minister, preached the first sermon, in the house of Mr. D.
C. Eldridge, corner of Front and Ripley streets. There were
seven deaths this year, the first being that of Mrs.
Tanneyhill. She was buried upon the brow of the bluff, where
the first Baptist church now stands, on Sixth and Main
streets, where a place had been selected as the burial
grounds of the town. Others were buried in Mr. LeClaire’s
private ground, corner of 6th and LeClair streets. This spot
is now covered with improvements, (the graves all having
been removed,) and is occupied by the family residence of W.
Barrows, Esq. In his garden was buried Dr. Emerson, the
owner of the celebrated Dred Scott, who accompanied his
master to this territory, while he was in the army at Fort
Armstrong; and it was upon this ground that the suit was
predicated for Dred’s freedom. |
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