pg 37
The kaleidoscopic changes of dominion which the territory now embraced in this county underwent, the different jurisdictions and various forms of governmental administration to which it was subjected before the time Iowa became an organized territory, have been briefly set forth in chronological order in the table "Appendix," entitled "Charters, Grants, Treaties and Laws, affecting Louisa county." Spain, France and England, at various times and under various claims and pretexts, asserted sovereignty over this part of the world prior to 1803. Then Napoleon, seeking in the interest of France to build up a maritime rival to England, and Jefferson, though feeling that he thereby may have overstepped the constitution, arranged for the purchase by the United States of the territory then called the province of Louisiana. Congress in 1804 divided "that portion of the country ceded by France to the United States under the name of Louisiana," and provided that all of it south of Mississippi territory and south of thirty-three degrees of north latitude should constitute the territory of Orleans, and that "the residue of the province of Louisiana should be called the district of Louisiana and be under the jurisdiction of the governor and judges of Indiana territory."
By another slight change we became, on March 3, 1805, a part of the territory of Louisiana; and in 1812, after the admission of Louisiana as a state, we were turned over to the jurisdiction of Missouri territory; and as a part of the compromise by which that territory was admitted to the Union as a slave state, we came to belong to the part in which there was never to be any slavery. However, we were left "orphans" without any local government until, in June, 1834, congress attached us to the territory of Michigan. In reality we had no local government worthy of the name until the organization of Wisconsin territory by the act of congress, approved June 12, 1836, which took effect on the 3d of July of that year.
As pointed out by Dr. Shambaugh, in his "History of the Constitutions of Iowa." the changes we have just been noting were largely, if not entirely, "changes in subordinate jurisdiction over a geographical area, and in no sense the annals of a political society" since this country wtls practically without white inhabitants prior to 1830, and had but few of them up to 1833.
Indeed, in some quarters it was supposed that we were in the land of the terrible Sioux. A "View of the Mississippi Valley," etc., published by H. S. ...
pg 38
...
Tanner in 1832, purporting to be an "emigrants and travelers' guide to the west." designates what is now Iowa as a part of the great Sioux district預 district said to contain 162,385 square miles and to have within its limits 25,000 Sioux Indians. No settlement or fort in Iowa is shown on Tanner's map, nor does the Iowa river appear on it. It may also be interesting in this connection to note that although the state of Illinois was admitted in 1818, it appears from Tanner's work that in 1830 there were only twenty-six inhabitants in Mercer county, Illinois; forty-one in Henry county, Illinois; three hundred and eight in Warren county; and two hundred and seventy-four in Knox county.
The knowledge, or rather lack of knowledge, of the part of country west of the Mississippi river as portrayed in Mr. Tanner's book, was probably due to the fact that the country was not then open for settlement, and not expected to be for many years to come. Before Pike and his immediate predecessors, Lewis and Clark, had made and reported their explorations, this was considered to be an arid and uninhabitable country "except upon the borders of rivers and creeks."
On August 9, 1805, a government expedition of twenty men, under command of the fearless and brilliant Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, left St. Louis for a trip up the Mississippi river, with a view of visiting the various Indian tribes in the upper Mississippi valley and gaining information about the country. August 20th the expedition had arrived at the foot of the Rapids des Moines, and in passing up these rapids they were met by William Ewing, an agent of the United States, accompanied by a French interpreter and fifteen Sac Indians in their canoes, who came to assist the expedition over the rapids. After passing Burlington and noting a good place for a fort, where Crapo Park now is, Lieutenant Pike, according to his journal, on Saturday, August 24th, "encamped on the west shore nearly opposite a chalk bank." This was undoubtedly in Louisa county, a little north of the Des Moines county line, and nearly opposite the town of Keithsburg. Just before this, Pike had been out hunting on the west shore and had lost his two favorite hunting dogs. Two of his men had volunteered to find them. These men wandered northward, meeting with Indians probably along the Muscatine slough, and with these Indians for guides they finally joined Pike at Dubuque on the 1st of September. These two men, whose names have not been given, are doubtless the first white men who traversed Louisa county from north to south, and the first to travel any considerable part of it since the visit of Marquette.
On Sunday, the 25th, the expedition stopped on a "sandbank prairie" on the east side of the river, from which there was a beautiful view down the river, and the next day it is recorded that they passed the mouth of the Iowa river and camped at night on Grant's prairie. The explorer thus speaks of the Iowa river: "The Iowa river bears from the Mississippi S. W. and is one hundred and fifty yards wide at its mouth. In ascending the Iowa thirty-six miles, you come to a fork. The right branch is called the Red Cedar from the great quantity of that wood found on its banks. It is navigable for bateaux nearly three hundred miles. It then branches into three forks called the Turkey's Foot. Ten miles up the Iowa from its mouth is a village of Iowa Indians."
The village of Iowa Indians here referred to is shown on Lieutenant Pike's map as being on the north side of the Iowa opposite the big bend in the river just about north of Elrick Junction.
pg 39
On the night of August 25th, Pike's men camped on the west side at what he calls Grant's prairie, and this is supposed to have been at about the boundary line between Muscatine and Louisa counties, and opposite the lower end of Blanchard's Island. Speaking of the Iowa Indians, Lieutenant Pike says that they had two villages, one on the Iowa river, and one on the river "De Moyen" and that their hunting ground was from the west side of the Mississippi river to the river De Moyen, and westward to the Missouri, and that their wars and alliances were the same as those of the Sacs and Foxes (called by him Sauks and Reynards), under whose special protection they considered themselves to be. He speaks of the Iowa Indians as less civilized than the Sacs and Foxes, though they were in the habit of cultivating corn to some extent.
In 1808 a fort was built near Fort Madison, but this was claimed by the Indians to be in violation of the treaty of 1804 and caused a great deal of trouble. There were several Indian attacks made upon it and finally in 1813, in the face of an attack from an overwhelming force of Indians, it was abandoned and destroyed by its small remaining garrison, the latter escaping down the river in boats.
About the time Fort Madison was built, a trading post was established at Flint Hills, near the present site of Burlington, by Colonel Johnson, but this was burned within a few years. From this time on there were occasional new arrivals in the neighborhood of Keokuk, but they were few and far between. About 1830, as Professor Parvin has shown, there were enough families settled near Keokuk for Berryman Jennings to organize and teach the first school taught in what is now Iowa. This was, at the time, the only school north of Missouri between the Mississippi river and the Pacific ocean. But, to come a little nearer home, we find that the Stockbridge Indians from up near Green Bay sent a delegation to visit the Sacs and Foxes in 1834, to try to prevail on them to abandon their savage life, to have schools established among them, and to take on some of the ways of civilized life. Along with this delegation was the Rev. Cutting Marsh, a member of the American board of commissioners for foreign missions, and his observations made shortly after the visit and which are recorded in the Wisconsin Historical Collection, Vol. XV, are worthy of a place in our history, because they record his impressions of this county and of its savage inhabitants just prior to the entry of the white man:
"Keokuk's, the principal village of the Sacs, is situated on the eastern bank of the Iowa river, about twelve miles from its mouth. It contains between forty and fifty lodges, some are forty or fifty feet in length, constructed of bark. The village is at the northern extremity of a delightful prairie extending south and west. There were probably four hundred souls in it. Upon entering the village, which is formed without any order, my attention was attracted by Black Hawk's lodge. This was enclosed by a neat fence of poles, embracing four or five rods in a circular form. A little gate led into it; around the inside, melon vines had been planted. The lodge was constructed of peeled bark. It was perfectly tight, except a hole at the top for the smoke to pass out. At the sides, places were built all around, about three feet from the ground, and mats spread over, on which they sat and slept. It was furnished with some dining chairs, which I saw at no other lodge in the nation, I was received politely by the children of Black Hawk, himself and wife being absent. I never before witnessed such a specimen ...
pg 40
.. of neatness and good order in any Indian lodge. Although Black Hawk is not permitted to hold any office, it is questionable whether he is not as much respected as the haughty Keokuk, who now holds the reins of government.
"Wending my way to Keokuk's lodge, which was about fifty feet long, I found him sitting with prince-like dignity in one corner, surrounded by his young men, and wives not less than five. He appeared distant and not disposed to converse, but treated me with politeness and hospitality, and ordered his young men to put out the horses, and supper to be prepared. I found him unwilling to listen to any suggestions respecting the object of my visit, as was the other chief. Pash-e-pa-ho, the Stabber. There was the same unwillingness to hear anything respecting religion, and all made light of it when mentioned in the presence of the latter chief.
"Wapello's village is about ten miles above Keokuk's, is considered to contain thirty lodges. He is a notorious drunkard, and his band follows the example of their chief. At this village I learned that a man murdered his wife a few days before, and then cut off her nose and ears. The Indians are jealous of their wives, and if at such times an Indian cuts off the nose or ears of his wife, no notice is taken of it.
"Poweshiek's village is upon the Red Cedar, a branch of the Iowa, about ten miles from its mouth. Poweshiek is second chief among the Foxes. The village contains about forty lodges and four hundred souls, as Poweshiek informed me. He sent one of his young men to inform me I could stay at his lodge, and assigned me a place in it. He is about forty years of age, savage in appearance, and very much debased, as well as all his band. Still he was more willing to converse than either of the chiefs before mentioned. I inquired about the instruction of his young men. He replied that he would like to have two or three educated for interpreters, but he did not want schools, for he wished to have his young men warriors. I inquired if he should not like to have his young men to make farms. He answered they could work with a hoe, and did not want a plow; they chose rather to hunt for a living than cultivate the ground. He said, 'The Great Spirit made us to fight and kill one another when we are a mind to.' I showed some young men specimens of Ojibwa writing, and asked if they would not like to have some one come and teach them. They answered, 'We do not want to learn: we want to kill Sioux.' . . . Besides the villages enumerated there are a number of others consisting of three or four or half a dozen lodges, some of which I visited.
"The Sacs and Foxes are strongly attached to their superstitions; I have seen no Indians so much so, and they guard with jealous care against any change. Their great object is war and hunting, so as to rank among the braves, wear the polecat's tail upon the calves of the legs, and the shau-no-e-hun (small bells), and strike the post in the war dance, and tell the number they have killed in battle. To this there are some exceptions. One of the most striking is Appanoose. He is young and inspiring, and possesses more independence of mind than any of the rest of the chiefs. He expressed a desire to have something done for the improvement of his people. . . .
"Keokuk in years past manifested a desire to have one of his sons educated, but his mind has been changed. He is altogether under the influence of the traders of the American Fur Company, who are exceedingly hostile to missionary ...
pg 41
...operations. At a council, Colonel William Davenport, commanding officer at Fort Armstrong, strongly urged upon the chiefs to have missionaries. They replied, 'We do not want missionaries.'"
Another and quite different estimate of the Sac and Fox Indians is found in Volume 28, Thwaite's Early Western Travels, in a republication of "Farnham's Travels.
It is as follows: "For centuries the prairies of Illinois and Iowa were the theater of their exterminating prowess, and to them is to be attributed the almost entire destruction of the Missouris, the Illinois, Cahokias, Kaskaskias and Peorias. They were, however, steady and sincere in their friendships for the whites; and many is the honest old settler on the borders of their old dominion, who mentions with the warmest feelings, the respectful treatment he has received from them, while he cut the logs for his cabin, and ploughed his potato patch on that lonely and unprotected frontier."
As we have already noted, the Black Hawk war brought this part of the country into very great and very sudden notoriety. In a few short weeks, from a comparatively unknown and untalked of wilderness, it became one of the foremost topics on the lips of many in the south and east who were looking for broader acres on which to make better homes. About this time the antiquated methods of transportation by flatboats or bateaux was giving way to boats propelled by steam power, and this part of the country, because of the Mississippi along its entire eastern border and of other great rivers which permeated it, was considered especially desirable: for in those days navigable streams were of vastly more importance than they are since the advent of the railroad. Many of our earliest settlers came from Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and states near to or bordering on the Ohio river; and that river was for a while the principal road to Iowa. And we may be sure that when the country about the Iowa river was first looked upon by the white man, he longed to possess it. We shall leave its description to some of those who saw it before it had been disfigured by the civilizing hand of man, and when the river itself was unvexed by bridges or dams, and the forests along its banks were still strangers to the woodman's ax. One of the earliest and most important books which made Iowa known to the world is a little book of fifty-three pages, with pasteboard covers, about three by six inches, written by Lieutenant Albert M. Lea, of Tennessee, a member of the United States Dragoons, and published by Henry S. Tanner, at Philadelphia, in 1836. This is an extremely rare book, there being probably not more than a dozen copies now in existence. The copy from which our extracts are made is the property of Mrs. J. L. Kent, of Port Louisa township, and was once owned by her father, William Fowler, who came to this county in 1836, and whose autograph is on the fly leaf of the book. It is in this book where the name of Iowa appears to have been first used in print in reference to this part of the country, it being called the "Iowa District." The title of the book is "Notes on Wisconsin Territory, with a Map," but practically all of it is devoted to what is called the Iowa District. The author states that he had been employed in his professional duties for more than a year within the limits of the country referred to, and that during that time he had traveled extensively and had collected information from surveyors, traders, explorers and residents.
pg 42
The information contained in the book may properly be dated as of the year 1835, and the only towns mentioned as being in this part of what is now Iowa, were Keokuk, Madison and Burlington. The place which is now Muscatine was called "Kasey's," and it is said that a gentleman of that name intended laying out a town there, it being at the head of the Muscatine Slue. Lieutenant Lea seemed to think that the proximity of the swamps of Muscatine Island and of Sturgeon Bay would tend to create much disease at this point, but was of the opinion that it must be in future a place of considerable trade, "being the first place above Burlington on the west bank of the river where a town could be built." We quote what he says of our immediate vicinity.
"There are several sites for towns spoken of about the mouth of the Iowa; but none of these places can have any importance; as I deem it certain that there can be no town of magnitude the Mississippi, unless it be on the Mississippi, except in very peculiar cases, such as that of Galena in the lead mines."
After describing the geographical situation of the country and its climate and soil, the author says:
"The general appearance of the country is one of great beauty. It may be represented as one grand rolling prairie, along one side of which flows the mightiest river in the world, and through which numerous navigable streams pursue their devious way toward the ocean. In every part of this whole district, beautiful rivers and creeks are to be found, whose transparent waters are perpetually renewed by the springs from which they flow. . . All these rivers, creeks and lakes are skirted by woods, often several miles in width, affording shelter from intense cold or heat to the animals that may there take refuge from the contiguous prairies. These woods also afford the timber necessary for building houses, fences and boats. . . . No part of the district is probably more than three miles from good timber. . . . Taking this district all in all, for convenience of navigation, water, fuel and timber; for richness of soil; for beauty of appearance; and for pleasantness of climate, it surpasses any portion of the United States with which I am acquainted. . . .
"Could I present to the mind of the reader that view of this country that is now before my eyes, he would not deem my assertion unfounded. He would see the broad Mississippi with its ten thousand islands, flowing gently and lingeringly along one entire side of this district, as if in regret at leaving so delightful a region; he would see half a dozen navigable rivers taking their sources in distant regions, and gradually accumulating their waters as they glide steadily along through this favored region to pay their tribute to the great 'Father of Waters he would see innumerable creeks and rivulets meandering through rich pasturages, where now the domestic ox has taken the place of the untamed bison; he would see here and there neat groves of oak, and elm, and walnut, half shading, half concealing beautiful little lakes, that mirror back their waving branches; he would see neat looking prairies of two or three miles in extent, and apparently enclosed by woods on all sides, and along the borders of which are ranged the neat hewed log cabins of the emigrants with their fields stretching far into the prairies, where their herds are luxuriating on the native grass; he would see villages springing up, as by magic, along the banks of the rivers, and even far in the interior; and he would...
pg 43
... see the swift moving steamboats, as they ply up and down the Mississippi to supply the wants of the settlers, to take away their surplus produce, or to bring an accession to this growing population, anxious to participate in the enjoyment of nature's bounties, here so liberally dispensed.
The agricultural productions consist chiefly of maize, wheat, rye, oats and potatoes. The large white corn of the south may be produced as far north as Rock Island, and yields from fifty to one hundred bushels per acre; but the yellow flint corn grows well anywhere, and yields from forty to seventy-five bushels per acre; the latter is the more certain crop. Wheat is produced with a facility unknown except in the west. I have known the sod of the prairie to be simply turned over, the seed harrowed in, and thirty bushels per acre to be harvested. But the usual crop, after the first, is from twenty-five to forty bushels per acre with negligent farming. Oats yield usually from sixty to seventy bushels per acre, and seventy-five bushels have been cut at Du Baque. Potatoes grow abundantly and are famous throughout the west for their fine quality. . . .
"The population of the whole district, exclusive of Indians, was about sixteen thousand, at the end of 1835, a time little more than two years after the first settlement was made. During the year 1835 the chief part of this population arrived; and there is every indication of a vast accession during the year 1836. Indeed large portions of the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri seem to be about to emigrate to this region. There are now here emigrants from all these states, and every other state in the Union, as well as many foreigners. Whole neighborhoods are moving from Indiana and Illinois to this land of promise. During a ride of one hundred and fifty miles through the district, in the month of January, 1836, I was surprised at the number of improvements then being made, for occupation as soon as the warm season should set in. The character of this population is such as is rarely to be found in our newly acquired territories. With very few exceptions, there is not a more orderly, industrious, active, painstaking population west of the Alleghanies than is this of the Iowa District. Those who have been accustomed to associate the name of squatter with the idea of idleness and recklessness, would be quite surprised to see the systematic manner in which everything is here conducted. For intelligence, I boldly assert that they are not surpassed, as a body, by an equal number of citizens of any country in the world."
Lieutenant Lea has this interesting statement concerning the government, or rather want of government, then existing.
"From the 1st of June, 1833, to the 30th of June, 1834, the settlers in this district were without any municipal law whatever. At the latter date congress passed a law attaching it to the Territory of Michigan, 'for judicial purposes;' and under that law, the legislative council of Michigan extended her laws over the district, dividing it into two counties, and providing for the regular administration of justice. But when Michigan determined to assume her place as one of the states of the Union, she could no longer govern any district as a territory. Accordingly, she cast off what was then called Wisconsin, together with this district, directing them to form a government for themselves, and providing that her own laws should continue in force until superseded by others. Under this provision, the authorities of Iowa District have continued to act; and all the ordinary local business has been regularly transacted under the laws of Michigan, though the judge of the district court of the United States has refused to consider any cases of appeal taken to his court from ...
pg 44
...the west side of the Mississippi. It is a matter of some doubt, in fact, whether there be any.law at all among these people; but this question will soon be put at rest by the organization of the Territory of Wisconsin, within which the Iowa District is by law included."
Lieutenant Lea seems to have been especially enamored with the Iowa river and the country bordering upon it. He quotes Major Gordon, an army officer, who passed through this part of the country in August, 1835, as saying that
"In point of beauty and fertility it is unsurpassed by any portion of the United States," and he himself has this to say of the Iowa river: "Iowa river has been usually much less esteemed than its advantages deserve. It is the largest tributary of the Mississippi above the Illinois, and probably affords more water than that river. It takes its rise among the innumerable lakes in the high flat country which divides the waters which run northwest into the Saint Peter's river, from those which run southeast into the Mississippi. This high country is a continuation of that which, being intersected by the action of the current, overhangs the Mississippi below Lake Pepin, and is there called 'The Highlands.' Having its source in these lakes, the river is perennially supplied with pure and limpid water, and as it meanders its way for three hundred miles to the Father of Waters, receiving large tributary streams, as it moves along through rich meadows, deep forests, projecting cliffs, and sloping landscapes, it presents to the imagination the finest picture on earth of a country prepared by Providence for the habitation of man."
But Lieutenant Lea was not the only one who was charmed with the beauties of the country, or whose praises were printed in advertisement of it. Many of the pioneers wrote back to their friends and relatives telling them what was here, and bidding them to come; and nearly every traveler wrote his home folks, or his home papers in the same vein. One of the most flowery descriptions that we have come across is contained in a little book written by Rev. James L. Scott, containing the journal of his missionary tour through Pennsylvania. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan, and which on the title page is said to comprise "A concise description of different sections of country; health and climate; inducements for emigration with the embarrassments; the religious condition of the people; meetings connected with the mission, etc." As the destination of Rev. Scott was Fredonia, in this county, we will have occasion to refer to his book later on, his visit having occurred in 1842. We refer to the book now for the purpose of giving the following description of the country as he saw it.
"Well, reader, follow a short time and we will survey the country. We walk through a dense forest of large trees, interspersed with the smaller productions of nature. The ground is covered with green grass, through which the lily, the pink, wild rose and almost every variety of flowers shoot and open their blossoms. We now and then rise a bluff, pass a ravine, cross a rippling brook, and sip from the cold spring thepure water to allay our thirst.
"Charmed by the beauties of nature, and the wonders of the forest, we breathe the sweet air, and are greeted by the warbling notes of the songsters of the wood, that hop from branch to branch, and pour forth their mingled strains upon the ...
pg 45
... listening group, until we emerge from this scene, and leaving the forest, stand upon an unbounded prairie.
"The prairie is sufficiently undulating to present a lively scene, and each undulation wafts the vision on with increased velocity and enchanting power.
"The green carpet,溶ever-to-be-described clusters of flowers,葉he prairie hen, rising and falling into this and that bed,葉he snipe, with his chattering bill, 葉he turkey buzzard, floating carelessly in the air,葉he sand-hill crane strutting around,葉he yelping wolf as he slips along from bank to bank, and add to this the enlivening notes of the feathered songsters, and who could help being enchanted?"
Another graceful tribute to this country was paid by the Rev. Asa Turner, a noted pioneer preacher, and an early settler of Denmark, in Des Moines county, who explored the Black Hawk Purchase in 1836 as far up as Crow creek, in Scott county. His report to the Home Missionary officials in New York city was that he could find but one objection to the country, viz: "It is so beautiful, there might be an unwillingness to exchange it for the Paradise above." Father Turner was pastor of the first Congregational church in Iowa, and was the first regularly installed pastor of any denomination in the Territory of Iowa, and he devoted many years to educational and Christian work, before departing for the "Paradise above."
We find one army officer, however, Colonel George Crogan, inspector general of the army, who was neither in favor of an immediate settlement of the country, nor inclined to speak a good word for those who had already taken up claims. Colonel Crogan was sent out in the winter of 1835-6, and in his report, referring to a bill that had been introduced in congress to lay out a road between old Fort Des Moines and Fort Leavenworth, says: "There is now already too much traveling between the several forts for the quiet of the frontier; and good roads would only increase the evil by opening the whole territory to the ravenous appetites of lawless vagabonds and more greedy land speculators. Already has this description of persons began to talk about the fine lands on the Ioway and Des Moines, and perhaps before two years are gone by they will be crying aloud for a new territory on that side of the Mississippi." Colonel Crogan may have had an erroneous opinion of the settlers as a class, but his fears as to the probable "crying aloud for a new territory" proved to be well founded.
Local government was first organized here by virtue of the act of the governor and legislative council of Michigan, of September 6, 1834, entitled An Act to Lay Off and Organize Counties West of the Mississippi River. It provided that all of that district of the country which was attached to Michigan Territory by the act of congress, of June 28, 1834, and to which the Indians title had been extinguished and which was situated north of a line drawn due west from the lower end of Rock Island to the Missouri river, should constitute the county of Dubuque, and that that county should constitute a township called Julien. Section 2 provided that all that part of the district aforesaid, which was attached as aforesaid to the Territory of Michigan, and situated south of the line drawn west from the lower end of Rock Island, should constitute the county and be called Demoine, and that this county should constitute a township to be called Flint Hill.
pg 46
Provision was made for the establishment of a county court and court was to be held in Demoine county on the second Mondays in April and September. Permission was given to the inhabitants of said townships to hold an election for township officers on the first Monday in November following, the elections in the county of Demoine to be held at the seat of justice, the place of which was to be designated by the judges of the county court. The act itself was to take effect from and after the first day of October.
Officers were appointed for Des Moines county by Governor Mason, and that county was duly organized, but we know of nothing of consequence which happened while "we" were under the jurisdiction of Des Moines county.
