DAVENPORT PAST AND PRESENT

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CHAPTER V.

In the Spring of '37, the first duel "on record," inIowa, was fought between a couple of Winnebago Indians.  A party of thetribe was here fishing, and encamped on Rock Island.  A couple of young menwere carousing at Stephenson, and, in a little while, commenced quarreling. The blow was passed.  Too refined, by their intercourse with thewhites, to avenge the blow with knife or tomahawk, they resorted to the code ofhonor.  Unfortunately for one of them, the choice of weapons was not fullyup to the prevailing principles of the code duello.  One had a shot gun,the other wisely took the rifle.  On the willow island, below the city,they drew up the required distance, and blazed away.  The heavy lead of thecracking rifle was "too much" for the lighter pellets of its morenoisy brother - the Shot Gun.  The shot gun and its holder went down, andthe latter was buried not far from the grave yard below the city, an upon thebanks of the noble Mississippi, whose everlasting voices hymned his advent tothe Spirit Land.

The Rifle hero fled to his home in Rock River country.  Butvengeance overtook him even there.  The friends and relations of the slainclamored for the blood of the slayer - and the sister of the latter wentfor the survivor.  She found him - entreated him to come back to RockIsland, and be killed, to appease the wrathful manes of the departed.  Suchlogic was irresistable - he came - and in a canoe paddled by his own sister, hereached the Island, singing his death song.  A shallow grave was dug, andkneeling upon its brink, his body tumbled into it, and his death song was hushedas the greedy knives of his executioners drank the blood of his brave heart. Can the white man show a nobler act than this, among all his bravest deedsin the arena of the duellist.  The chiaro oscuro of Spartan deeds presentsno more beautiful blending of heroism and duty than this - ney verily.

This same Willow Island, whereupon the shot gun hero bit thedust, is also memorable as being a spot upon which the immortal "Rough andReady" once received, what Santa Anna ever failed to give him, namely, amilitary thrashing.  In 1812, Col. Taylor, with two companies of Regulars,and accompanied by a Captain Rector, with two or three companies of Rangers, wasproceeding down the river.  The Indians, knowing his approach, had, underthe superintendence of a Mr. Graham, (a man well known by many of our citizens,)fixed a small cannon among the sand hills, on the Illinois side, which theybrought to bear most effectually upon the boats.  The latter, galled by thefire, steered for the Island, but here they were assailed by a volley from anambuscade.  They resolved to land and clear the Island.  Rector, andhis rangers, sprang ashore, and each man took "cover" to fight theIndians in their own style.  Taylor landed, and formed his men immediately inline to charge bayonets!  The thick growth of willows would hardlyadmit a musket, much less a company, formed in line to charge.  The serriedlines formed a splendid target for the concealed copper-skins, and they were nottardy in availing themselves of the opportunity.  To "cover" wasnot in the manuel - to "about face," and "quick time,march!" to the boats, was, and in the next minute, Taylor and his regulars,were shooting down the Mississippi as fast as stout oars and lusty"elbow-grease" could carry them.  The rage of Capt. Rector, whenhe saw Col. Taylor "countermarching" on his own advance, was boundless- his first resolution was to order his men to fire upon the regulars, who wereexecuting such a "masterly retreat" down the river, but the necessityof saving his lead for the Indians restrained him.  If Col. Taylorafterwards earned the bays at Buena Vista and Monterey, he certainly could claimno more than the willow in his attempt to charge bayonets in line upon anambuscade of Indians on Willow Island.

In the Spring of this year a party of Sacs and Foxes, andanother of Pottowatomie's were engaged in fishing, and were encampted in the"hollow" below Cannon's Mills.  A keg of whisky induced a row,and the long knives of the belligerants soon settled it.  Some dozen ormore were engaged in the fight; and its expense was an unlimited quantity ofugly cuts, and two breathless braves.  Face to face the two implacableswere seated in the same grave, and the ground piled about them to the height oftheir waists, leaving their bodies, and ghastly visages, to front each otherdefiantly, and to present a spectacle less seemly than characteristic of theIndian.  Enemies in life, they rotted as lovingly in death, as brothers,and the ghastly grin which came upon one's fleshless jaws was imitated by theother till the whilom foes seemed to find in each other's lineaments somehorrible provocative to jollity.

Some considerable alarm was felt at the time by the citizens, asthe Indians, maddened by blood and whisky, went yelling through the streets, anda messenger was despatched to Montrose for assistance.  The Indians,however, quieted down without doing further damage.

The river which had closed the 20th December the winterprevious, opened March 23d, of 1837, and a steamboat came up the same day.

The first case of matrimony, on record, occurred in the Spring. The happy couple who first "led off" the vast gymenial dance,and pioneered the long array of wedding favors, bliss, and incipient heaven, wasa Mr. Wm. B. Watts, and a niece of Antoine LeClaire.  It may not bethe best of logic, but still without a "first couple" there could beno second, or third, or any others - hence all who have married since, or whomay hereafter, owe no small debt of gratitude to Mr. Watts and lady.  Whyshould not the day of their marriage be marked in the calendar as a Golden one -and be set apart as a day to be crowned with orange blossoms, and sacred to theworship of Eros?  The suggestion is not a studied one - still it is nonethe less worthy of the profound consideration of all that vast crowd who sincehave gone to that matrimonial bourne "whence no man returns" - abachelor.

Mr. Watts, alluded to above, as is learned from a littlereminiscence, experienced the truth of the idea, that lovers endure muchtribulation.  While "doing" the agreeable operation of courting,he met with a mishap, as unexpected as it was distressing and ludicrous. At the time, a yankee teamster was employed by Mr. LeClaire, whoexperienced a variety of those soft, half-angelic and half-devilish feelings, yclept love, towards the lady whom Mr. Watts after married - and with hislove there came jealousy toward his rival.  With the latter's success, hegrew revengeful; and diabolical, doubtless, were the schemes he devised, and thetorments he inflicted, in imagination, upon his fortunate antagonist.  Onenight Mr. Watts was spending the evening with the lady.  The Yankee couldcontain his bursting indignation no longer - and he shaved the tail of Watt'shorse as smooth and naked as a roll of sausage!  The indecorous appearanceof his steed's caudal prolongation - his entire unwillingness to bestride suchan institution, may well be imagined.  The transition from thelow-whispered love-tales of the parlor to the clean-shaved tail of his steed,which, as Byron says, "glittered in bony whiteness, there," - from the"airy nothings" of one to the nothing hairy of the other - wasentirely too sudden, and too vivid in its contrasts, to afford such else thanexpletives more profane than elegant.

While hoping that his happiness may descend upon all, who, likehim, are disposed to matrimony, yet let us wish that his mishaps will not alsobe en-tailed upon his successors.

The graceful misses of ripe twenty, and younger, whose origin isproudly claimed by Davenport, will be pleased to learn that the predecessor oftheir sex in the dim-remembered mysteries of being born, was a daughter of D. C.Eldredge, who pioneered her sex in May of this year.  It is a pleasure toadd, that she "still lives" to enjoy the honor of having preceded thehosts of fair flowers which, in connection with not a few exotics, give graceand beauty to the magnificent parterre of our goodly city.

The same gentleman who introduced the "first daughter"also introduced the first flouring mill, one of "Getty's Patent MetallicMills."  It was somewhat larger than a coffee mill, and, as ourinformant states, "the motive-power was horse-flesh, and it was engineeredby an Irishman, a discharged soldier from the Fort, who was known, and will beremembered by all old settlers as "Joe Topin."  Poor Joe has gone! a victim to misplaced confidence in a whisky jug!"

The present well-known and powerful Ferry Company dates itsorigin to this Spring - although not in its present corporate character. John Wilson bought out Mr. LeClaire for one thousand dollars, and, until1839, teams, &c., were transported in a flat boat.

Dr. A. E. Donaldson, from Pennsylvania, came in July of thisyear, and was, it is said, the first resident physician.  His successors,in the short space of twenty years, have increased, if not by legions, at leastfully in proportion ot the demand.

There was no lack of sociability among the Indians at this time.Parties would come in from the territory, encamp near the town, and spend a fewdays in lounging and drinking whisky, then would leave, and their place besupplied by others.  That the Indian sometimes descends from his sublimestoicism to a vulgar curiosity, is illustrated in a case related by Mr. Eldredge. Having sickness in his family, it was necessary to keep a light burningall night.  Indians straggling about late, to yell, dance, and walk off theeffects of "fire-water," would be struck with the phenomenon of alight at such a time of night, and proportionally anxious to ascertain itscause; mingled, no doubt, with a little very natural curiosity in regard to thenight-arrangement of a white man's bedroom.  Hearing a noise at the window,one evening, Mr. Eldredge stole noiselessly out at the back door, and passedaround to the front, with a stout splinter of board in his hand.  Therestood a "son of the forest," upon tip-toe, peering over the windowcurtain, and undoubtedly cogitation upon the superior appearance of a"white squaw" en chemisette.  A stinging pain upon a partjust below his wampum belt was the first intimation he received of theindecorousness of his proceeding; while a succession of rapid blows, to which heperformed an impromptu dance, not laid down in the saltatory code of the Indian,and to which he yelled an appropriate accompaniment, convinced him also thatevery sweet has its bitter.  He made threats after, of depriving hiscastigator of his "har" - but the latter staid at home for a fewnights, and the Indian left, doubtness, well assured of the fact, that at bottomthere is no real enjoyment in the satisfaction of that squaw-ish trait,curiosity.

In September, a party of Sacs and Foxes came in to receive thelast annuity, which was paid them at Rock Island - Gen. Street, the Governmentagent, soon after removing to Racoon Forks, now fort Des Moines.  Whilethey were here, some of their scouts brought in word that a body of Sioux werein the "Timber," a place now occupied by Oakdale Cemetery.  Theirdesign was, undoubtedly, to wait until the Sacs and Foxes had received theirusual annuity, and were oblivious in the "big drunk" which generallysucceeded these payments, and then to steal their horses.  They failed,however, for scarcely had the scouts reported their presence, before threehundred Sac and Fox braves had steaked themselves with war-paint, and followedby half the white population, were in their saddles, and after the Sioux. The Dacotahs (as the Sacs and Foxes termed the Sioux,) received notice ofthe approach of their intended prey, and seasonably decamped - therebypreserving intact not a few of that valuable and highly ornamental article -their scalps.

Old settlers recalling this occasion speak enthusiastically ofKeokuk's eloquence - he having delivered a speech of some three hours in length,in which there was not a single repetition.  When one considers that theChief spoke almost with the velocity of lightning, it is inferable that hismental reservoir was neither shallow nor indifferently well filled.

Keokuk's eloquence on this occasion arose from the fact thatGovernment had sent out one half their annuities in goods - instead of money -as was stipulated in the Treaty.  The Indians very indignantly refused toreceive them, and in consequence of this, and also in order to settle somedifficulty with the Sioux, a large party of Sacs and Foxes, Whites and Sioux,went on to Washington.  While in Washington a "grand talk" washeld, in which the Sioux and Sacs and Foxes detailed their grievances.  ASioux chief remarked in his speech that "it was no use talking to the Sacsand Foxes - they were deaf - their ears should be bored out with a stick!" Keokuk listened to the Sioux Brave, while every vein and muscle swelledunder his taunts almost to bursting.  When the latter concluded he rose,and with his spear (his insignia of office,) in his hand, he said:

"It is useless to bore out the ears of the Sioux with a stick- their skulls are too thick.  They can only be bored out with this!" and the indignant Brave shook his iron-headed spear fiercely in the faceof the scowling Sioux.

After the return from Washington, Mr. LeClaire, G. L. Davenport,and others, started to "haul" out the goods which the Indians hadrefused, and which Government had decided to present to the Indians.  Theystarted for Moscow, (then a trading station,) in Cedar county, and on the routemet an Indian, who was on his way to Rock Island, to complain that one of histribe had been murdered at Moscow by a White.  Mr. LeClaire sent a man withhim, and the remainder pushed on to Moscow.  When they arrived, theylearned the circumstances of the murder.  A party of Indians had beendancing and drinking at a whisky shop in Moscow, during which, a couple of whitemen in amusing their refined propensities, had been betting which could knocka drunken Indian the farthest.  One would induce an Indian to approach,by holding out some whisky, and when he approached the bait the other wouldstrike him, and mark the distance at which he fell.  Then the other empiriewould try the force of his flexors and extensors, by changing places, andknocking the next Indian who came up for the whisky.  The Indians,naturally enough, grew enraged at such treatment, and a row ensued.  Duringthe excitement, the stove-pipe was knocked down, which so enraged one of thewhites,  that he struck one of the Indians, and fractured his skull, andcontinued his action by kicking the Indian out doors, and then concluded hishumane operation by punching the insensible body with a rail!

G. C. R. Mitchell was sent for, the body of the murdered bravewas exhumed, an examination had, and an effort made to convict the pale-facedmurderer.  Moscow was, at that time, a rallying point for thieves,counterfeiters, and rogues generally-the accused sent around for his friends,and, on the day of examination, some sixty of his friends-a ruffianly,God-forsaken crowd, were present.  The justice did not dare to convicthim-he was released on straw-bail, and was afterwards acquitted at Dubuque, ashanging a white man for the simple offence of murdering an Indian did not enterthe ethics of the age.

After his trial he returned to Moscow, and sent for therelatives of the murdered Indian-promising to pay them the usual satisfaction. They came, and agreed to accept a certain number of horses assatisfaction, which were to be paid on a certain day.  The day came, as didthe Indians, but the treacherous creditor, with his family, had fled toIllinois!  Filled with disappointment, the Indians, on their return fromCedar River, met, on their trail, an inoffensive Methodist, itenerant, preacher,named ________ whom they unmercifully sacrificed, to appease the manes of theirslaughtered brother.  The thinking reader will duly consider the moralityof the actors in this anecdote.  Moralization is perfectly useless.

In October a notable case of trover occurred.  Itwas the first trouble of note among the squatters, and it involved the last actof moment of the judicial proceedings of Dubuque county.  Maj. Wilson had aclaim, (which he was holding for Messrs. Davenport and LeClaire,) upon theground now occupied by Mount Ida Female College, which was "jumped" bya man from Stephenson, named Stephens.  Sheriff Cummings was sent for fromDubuque to oust the intruder, and with a posse of some fifty men, (about all inDavenport,) he proceeded to the spot, and ordered the gentleman to vacate.

But Mr. Stephens, either enjoying the superlative beauty of theprospect-or foreseeing the stately edifice which would, in time, arise upon thespot, or else actuated by simple mulishness, very firmly, not to say impolitelyand profanely, refused to comply-threatening dire vengeance upon the first whoshould touch him, with divers fire-arms and bowie-knives, with which he hadfortified his position.  Sheriff Cummings, however, proved himself equal tothe trying emergency, for, sending for a yoke of oxen, and a strong chain, heproceeded to put in practice a new theory of expulsion.  The chain wasfastened to a corner log, the cattle started, and, in a remarkably brief spaceof time, Mr. Stephens bolted out to prevent the consequence which might happenform falling timbers.  He was shown immediately the most direct route toStephenson, of which information he availed himself forthwith, and gave up,thereafter, the precarious employment of jumping claims in Davenport.

The posse which assisted Sheriff Cumming, at this time, was aportion of a Confederation, which was composed of the inhabitants, generally, ofDavenport, Rockingham, and adjacentsettlements.  It was organized March,'37, had regular laws, officers, &c., and was intended for the regulation ofClaims, and the settlement of disputes connected therewith.  One of itslaws provided that no man could hold more than half a section land.  A bookwas kept, in which every member registered his claim, his name, thelocality of his claim, and with the addition of one dollar, as initiation fee,he was entitled to all the benefits and protection of the society.

The first Brick Yard was constructed this year under theauspices and ownership of our present worthy Sheriff- Harvey H. Leonard.

The religious services this year, and for some year or twoafter, were among Protestants, held in one place - house belonging to D. C.Eldredge.  Occasional services were held there by Clergymen form theMethodist, Presbyterian, Disciples, Congregational, and, at longer intervals,from the Episcopalian.  Everybody attended these services, for the variousdenominations had, as yet, assumed no individuality.  It cannot be stated,with certainty, whether a proportional fructification followed these labors, yetgood influences were probably disseminated, which time, sooner or later,practically developed.

The population at the close of this year was about one hundredand fifty - six new houses had been erected, on the new site, making in allfifteen.  The River did not close until February 13th, of 1838 - a day ortwo before the memorable election for county seat.

The Wisconsin Legislature met in December of this year atBurlington.  An act was passed at this session creating Scott county, theboundaries of which were as follows:

"Beginning at a point in the middle of the main channel ofthe Mississippi river, where the line dividing one and two, east of the fifthprincipal meridian intersects the same; thence north, with said range-line, tothe line dividing township seventy-eight and seventy-nine north; thence westwith said line, to the fifth principal; meridian; thence north with saidmeridian to the line dividing townships eighty and eighty-one north; thence eastwith said line to a point where the said line intersects or crosses theWapasipinica river; thence down the middle of the main channel of said river toits mouth; thence due east to the middle of the main channel to the place ofbeginning; shall be, and the same is hereby constituted, a separate county, tobe called Scott."

The same act also provides for the election for county seat,between Rockingham and Davenport, which election "shall be held at H. W.Higgin's Hotel in Rockingham, John H. McGregor's Hotel in Davenport, and thehouse of J. A. Richards, at the house of E. Parkhurst, in Parkhurst, (aboveLeClaire,) on the third Monday in February of 1838."  An act alsoprovided for the election of three County Commissioners - which board ofCommissioners represented the County in all suits and County Business ofwhatever nature.

An act was also passed at this session, giving a Charter tocertain persons, the authority to act as trustees of the "Davenport ManualLabor College."  This scheme of a Manual Labor College was a fine one,but it never amounted to anything for two reasons - a lack of students, and awant of money.  It evinced, however, a most commendable desire upon thepart of those engaged in it to promote educational interests - a desire whichsince has been practically developed into as fine a Common School system, andother Institutes as may be found west of the most forward sea-board communities.

The number of acres in the County is two hundred and eightythousand, five hundred and sixteen.  Swamp Lands, ten thousand five hundredand sixteen acres; and the number liable to taxation, two hundred andseventy-four thousand.  Davenport is thus defined:  All the sections(fractional) contained in township seventy-eight, Range, three east, fifthMeridian, in all, twenty-one thousand, seven hundred and forty acres.  Thesurvey of the latter was completed in March of 1837.