of
Muscatine County Iowa
1879
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1879 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Historical Section, 1879, pages 393-394
THE ARRIVAL OF THE WHITE MAN. A period is now reached in the history of this section that is more local in its character. When once the foot of the white man has trodden upon new soil, there is no power strong enough to turn back the tide of immigration. It is the fate of barbarous peoples to give way before the superior races. As is shown in the General History which precedes this portion of the work, the portion of Iowa in which Muscatine County is located was included in the first cession of lands from the Indians, known as the "Black Hawk Purchase." The war inaugurated by the noted Brave, which resulted so disastrously to the red men, opened up eastern Iowa to the whites. The fame of the newly-purchased territory spread rapidly throughout the East, and men who felt a desire to improve their condition in life by beginning anew in an undeveloped country were persuaded to venture over the imaginary boundary into the lands thus acquired, even before the limit placed on the Indian occupancy had expired. There was the usual eagerness to be first, which is always manifested by pioneers.
It so chanced that, in 1829, while yet the Indians were in undisputed possession of this region, two white men were employed to work upon the trading-post buildings at Flint Hills. These men, Simpson S. White and Amzi Doolittle, foresaw the inevitable transfer of the lands to the Government, at no very distant day, and were shrewd enough to explore the country adjacent to the post. As soon as they had investigated the matter, they made selections and patiently awaited the time when they could claim the same. Nor had they many years to wait, for, in 1832, the purchase of lands were made. In the fall of that year, a company of some score or more made a preliminary exploration of the region adjoining Flint Hills. White and Doolittle then laid claim to the site of Burlington, and David Tothero staked out a farm about three miles from that point, but back from the river. These men built cabins, and disregarded the provisions of the treaty with the Indians, which stipulated that no settlements should be made prior to June 1, 1833.
In February, 1833, twelve or fifteen families moved into the Purchase, near Flint Hills. In the spring of that year, Jefferson Davis, then a Lieutenant in the army, stationed at Rock Island, with a squad of men, drove the invading settlers from their claims, burned the few cabins and destroyed the improvements. Most of the settlers retired no further than the head of the island, just below Burlington, and on the 1st of June returned to their claims. Thus began the settlement of Southern Iowa.
In 1833, Capt. Benjamin W. Clark established a claim to the lands where Buffalo now stands, in Scott County. Clark was the first settler there, and instituted a ferry between his place and a point opposite. This was the first ferry between Burlington and Dubuque. In 1836, Clark laid out the town of Buffalo.
Back to Historical Index Page