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THE NEW YORV. PUBLIC 1185 488
ASTER LENSE TILDEN L ADIDAS
John 6. Hartman.
HISTORY
OF
BLACK HAWK COUNTY IOWA
AND ITS PEOPLE
JOHN C. HARTMAN SUPERVISING EDITOR
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME I
A
1
›
,
-
CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1915
chr
704-186
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PREFACE
Seventy years have elapsed since the first permanent white settlers built their humble log cabins within the present confines of Black Hawk County. To gather the chronicles of the period covered and to present those most likely to interest the greatest number of readers has been the endeavor of the writer hereof.
Little or no attempt to record the happenings of the first few years was made by the settlers and a decade elapsed before the printing press arrived. Files of the earliest newspapers are but fragmentary now, the publishers having little realized their value to future generations. Hence the author has sought out such of the few real pioneers and their descendants as are still living and believes that sketches supplied by these in narrative form will meet with general approval.
Ruthless time has all but swept into the past, but happily not into oblivion, the true American pioneer, a type of manhood and womanhood that arose to the conditions of its day and fearlessly and faithfully fulfilled its mission. A sturdy people they, possessed of a fortitude and spirit that enabled them to surmount difficulties that none but the most courageous could overcome. To enjoy the per- sonal acquaintance of many of the first settlers of the county, to listen to the stories of pioneer days as they fell from their own lips, to partake of their bound- less hospitality and feel the hearty handclasp of the true American was a privilege that the writer prizes most highly.
Black Hawk County long since shed its swaddling clothes and in agriculture, finance and manufacturing occupies a leading position. Its educational institu- tions are among the best in the land and all these are splendid tributes to the pro- gressive spirit implanted by its founders. May historians of the future have still greater achievements to record.
To all who have contributed to this volume and to the advisory editors, the editor and publishers desire to express their most sincere thanks.
111
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
GEOLOGY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY By Melvin F. Arey.
INTRODUCTION-LOCATION AND AREA-PHYSIOGRAPHY-TOPOGRAPHY-ALTI- TUDES - DRAINAGE - GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS- GENERAL RELATIONS OF STRATA-DEVONIAN SYSTEM-WAPSIPINICON STAGE-CEDAR VALLEY STAGE- GENERAL SECTION OF CEDAR VALLEY LIMESTONE-PLEISTOCENE SYSTEM -- KANSAN STAGE-IOWAN STAGE-ALLUVIUM AND TERRACES-CRETACEOUS MATERIAL IN THE DRIFT-SOILS-DEFORMATIONS-UNCONFORMITIES- ECONOMIC PRODUCTS-BUILDING STONE-LIME-BRICK CLAY-ROAD MATE- RIALS-WATER SUPPLY -- WATER POWER-ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS-UNDER- GROUND WATERS : SOURCES AND DISTRIBUTION-CITY AND VILLAGE SUPPLIES -IN WATERLOO
I
CHAPTER II.
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY.
INTRODUCTION-LAND OPENING-FIRST SETTLEMENTS-FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT-FIRST VITAL STATISTICS-FIRST BUSINESS ENTERPRISES-HOW SOCIETY HAS CHANGED-COURIER CLIPPINGS-SOME FIRST THINGS IN BLACK HAWK-MEN AND SCENES OF A IIALF CENTURY AGO-EARLY LEADERS-POST- OFFICE HISTORY-A FEW EARLY FOURTHS OF JULY. 35
CHAPTER III.
ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT OF COUNTY.
ORGANIZATION-FIRST ASSESSMENT ROLLS-ROADS-FIRST LAND ENTRIES-VOT- ING PRECINCTS- LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT-A RECORD OF COMMISSIONERS' PROCEEDINGS-FURTHER ORGANIZATION OF COUNTY-COURT HOUSE-THE
CONTENTS
TO0515 AY FERAIT FIRST TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS -THEIR FIRST LEGISL. 1- DU-TEWESELE CHANGES COUNTY POOR AND OTHER ACTS-BOARD OF BOOST SERVIRESTOU MY POOR SUMMARY OF COUNTY JUDGES-CIR- CS SE FOSSEROY JUDGE- PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS -DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S -COSTE AFTENENS TREASURERS AND RECORDERS-TREASURERS-RECORD- V-AUPORK CLERKS OF DISTRICT COURT-SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS SURVEYORS STATE REPRESENTATIVES - STATE
53
1
CHAPTER IN.
EARLY TOWNSHIP HISTORIES.
BLACK HAWK TOWNSHIP AN OLD ELK HUNT-OLDEST RESIDENT OF TOWNSHIP -DAS TOWNSHIP- CEDAR FALLS TOWNSHIP-EAGLE TOWNSHIP-EAST WATFELED TOWNSHIP-FOX TOWNSHIP- JUBILEE-LESTER TOWNSIHIP-LIN- WFILM TOWNSHIP MOUNTVERNON TOWNSHIP-ORANGE TOWNSHIP-POYNER TOWNSHIP SPRING CREEK TOWNSHIP-UNION TOWNSHIP-WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP WATERLOO TOWNSHIP BARCLAY TOWNSHIP - BENNINGTON TOMALYSHUIT ER, CRLEK TOWNSHIP
69
CHAPTER V.
REMINISCENCES.
HVIS WATERLAND, BY I B. ALLEN-EAST WATERLOO'S FIRST SETTLER-PIONEER DASS IS THE COUNTY, BA ELIZABETH RANCHER CAPTAIN SPEER'S STORY-AN LAMIS ILITER \ PIONEER MERCHANT'S STORY-JOIN TENNANT-A PEEP BACK THROUGH THE VISTAOF YEARS EARLY INDIAN FEAST IN UNION TOWN- SHIP EARLY DAYS IN WATERLOO-TIMBER RELAY STATION FOR HORSE THIEVES RECOLLECTIONS BY EDWIN MESICK -- \ PIONEER WOMAN'S LIFE- JOHN SMELSER'S STORY J. O. ROWND- REMINISCENCES BY HIERAM LUDDING- TON-FARLA SETTLERS OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY, BY H. F. ADAMS. PRESCOTT, WIZOSA EARLY AMUSEMENTS, BY MRS. E. A. SNYDER-A BUFFALO HUNT. EN TAMIS VIRDEN-TIMBER GROWTH AN EARLY NIMROD 97
CHAPTER VL
MILITARY HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY.
INFECTION- LINCOLNS NOMINATION -- FIRST ORGANIZATION IN WATERLOO CEDNE FALLS ENLISTMENTS ACTION OF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OTHER ENLIGTMENTS AND MEETINGS EARLY WAR TIMES- THE FIRST CASUALTIES DENETS-ANNOUNCEMENT OF VICTORY-LINCOLN'S DEATH-THE SPAN- ICH-AMERICAN WAR-PRISINI WAR STRENGTH OF COUNTY-ROSTER OF VOL- I NYIUNE FROM BLACK HAWK COUNTY IN CIVIL WAR. 165
vii
CONTENTS
CHAPTER VII.
THE CITY OF WATERLOO.
REMINISCENCES OF GEORGE W. HIANNA, JR .- FIRST THINGS IN WATERLOO- EARLY SETTLING-LAND ENTRIES-LATER SETTLERS AND BUILDING-EVENTS YEAR BY YEAR FROM 1853 TO 1915-THE PRESENT WATERLOO-INCORPORA- TION AND ROLL OF CITY OFFICERS-MAYORS-CLERKS-TREASURERS-MAR- STALS-ASSESSORS-SOLICITORS-FRANCHISES-WATERLOO WATER WORKS- TH .: CITIZENS' GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY-WATERLOO BANKS-BANK BE- GINN 'NGS-THE BANKING INTERESTS-THE PRESENT DAY BANKS-SOME WATERLOO BANKERS-BUILDING AND LOAN-NEWSPAPERS OF WATERLOO- MASONRY-OTHER LODGES-FIRE DEPARTMENTS-LIBRARIES-POLICE PRO- TECTION-BOARD OF TRADE AND COMMERCIAL CLUB-WATERLOO CLUB AND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE-CITY PARKS-CITY MARKETS-PULMOTOR-WIRE- LESS TELEGRAPHY-CHARITY-WATERLOO POPULATION IN 1855-POPULA- TION AND GROWTH-ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL-TRADE UNIONS-RUSSELL-LAM- SON HOTEL AND ITS SITE-ATHLETICS-WATERLOO POULTRY ASSOCIATION- -THE THREE EPOCHS OF WATERLOO .21I
CHAPTER VIII.
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF CEDAR FALLS.
EARLY SETTLEMENT-TOWN PLAT-FIRST COMERS-GOVERNMENT-INDUSTRIES -NEWSPAPERS-CEDAR FALLS SCHOOLS-BANKS-GAS COMPANY-PUBLIC UTILITIES-MUNICIPAL LIGHT PLANT-WATER AND WATER WORKS OF CITY -LIBRARIES-SOCIETIES-BLACK HAWK IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION-SAR- TORI HOSPITAL-MISCELLANEOUS. 273
CHAPTER IX.
HISTORY OF LA PORTE CITY.
EARLY SETTLEMENT-INCORPORATION-NEWSPAPERS-BANKS-SOCIETIES-THE STORY OF LA PORTE CITY BY W. L. ( UNCLE BILLY ) FOX. 287
CHAPTER X.
OTHER TOWNS.
..
HUDSON-GILBERTVILLE-DUNKERTON-WASHBURN-CEDAR VALLEY-VILLAGES.305
viil
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XL
HISTORY OF EDUCATION.
FRE DET SCHOOLS IN EACH TOWNSHIP WATERLOO SCHOOLS- EAST SIDE WHOLE-WEST SIDE SCHOOLS PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS-BUSINESS COLLEGES- CEA SINT SCHONSTATE TRADI SCHOOL THE PRESENT SCHOOL> SCHEN TOWNSHIPS RURAL INDEPENDENT DISTRICTS -- PRIVATE SCHOOLS - THE JOWA STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE THE FOUNDING OF THE SCHOOL AT CEDAS FALLS HIHI SIXTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY-THE SENATE RECORD 0. MEN U'RETHE HOUSE RECORD ON MEASURE-THE SEVENTEENTH GEN- FRAL ASSEMBLY FIRST BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND FIRST BUSINESS MEETING IMPROVEMENTS THE PRESENT SCHOOL 309
CHAPTER XIL. HISTORY OF RELIGION AND CHURCHES.
THE CHURCH IN THE TOWNSHIPS: ITS BEGINNING AND DEVELOPMENT-THE CHURCHES OF WATERLOO: GRACE METHODIST EPISCOPAL-FIRST METHODIST -ST MARY'S-WALNUT STREET BAPTIST -- FREE WILL BAPTIST-FIRST BAP- IST - FIRST CONGREGATION ME ST. JOSEPH S ROMAN CATHOLIC-THE GER- MAN LUTHERAN CHURCH - GERMAN LUTHERAN IMMANCEL -EMANUEL EVANGELION. ASSOCIATIONS UNIVERSALIST-UNITED EVANGELICAL-CHRIS- TIAN-UNITED PRESBYTERIAN-WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN-FIRST PRES- BATERIAN EPISCOPAL CHURCH-ST. MARK'S-CALVARY BAPTIST-SONS OF IWCOB: JEWISHI GREEK CHURCH CHURCH OF THE SACRED HEART-UNITED BRETTEREN COLORED CHERCHES OTHER SOCIETIES-CHURCHES OF CEDAR FALLS: METHODIST EPISCOPAL-ST. PATRICK'S CATHOLIC-BAPTIST-DANISH BAPTIST -PRESBYTERIAN-CONGREGATIONAL-ST. LUKE'S PROTESTANT EPIS- COPAL-GERMAN LUTHERAN NAZARETH DANISHI LUTHERAN-BETHLEHEM DANISH LUTHERAN-GERMAN EVANGELICAL .- UNIVERSALIST-CHURCH OF CHRIST - ST. JOHN'S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN - ZION EVANGELICAL. - CHERCHES OF LA PORTE CITY : METHODIST EPISCOPAL-PRESBYTERIAN- CATHOLIC- EMANUEL EVANGELICAL, EBENEZER UNITED EVANGELICAL. . . . 327
CHAPTER XHL
ROADS AND RAILROADS.
FIRST LEFORT - ILLINOIS CENTRAL LINES IN IOWA: DUBUQUE AND PACIFIC- DU BUQUE AND SHOESCHY THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL SHOPS-ANOTHER WATER- ICHCEDAR IVIS CONTIST THOMAS W. PLACE-THE INTERURBAN LIVE- SUMMARY OF INTERURBAN GROWTHROADS-RAILROAD WRECKS IN THE COUNTY .
355
ix
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XIV.
WATERWAYS AND BRIDGES.
RIVERS AND STREAMS-FERRIES-THE COMING OF BRIDGES-DAMS-HIGH WATER -RED CEDAR RIVER-LOVERS' ISLAND-TIIE "BLACK HAWK" ...... .37
CHAPTER XV.
THE BENCH AND BAR OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY.
SKETCHES OF PROMINENT LAWYERS, PAST AND PRESENT, AND STORY OF EARLY COURTS- THE PRESENT BAR-FIRST TERM OF DISTRICT COURT-THE CIRCUIT COURT-EARLY BENCH AND BAR, BY H. B. EDWARDS. . 381
CHAPTER XVI.
INDUSTRIES.
WATERLOO'S PIONEER MANUFACTURER-THE GROWTH OF INDUSTRY-WHOLE-
... SALING .395
CHAPTER XVII.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
THE RISE OF THE PROFESSION-FIRST DOCTORS IN THE COUNTY-BLACK HAWK COUNTY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION-WATERLOO MEDICAL SOCIETY. . . . 40I
CHAPTER XVIII.
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE AND DAIRY INDUSTRY.
DEVELOPMENT-DAIRY CATTLE CONGRESS-HISTORY OF BREEDS: AYRSHIRES- BROWN SWISS-GUERNSEYS-HOLSTEIN-FRIESIANS-JERSEYS-COMPARISON OF DAIRY BREEDS (A TABLE )-DAIRY JOURNALS-BREEDERS .405
CHAPTER XIX. CLIMATOLOGY.
STATISTICS ON TEMPERATURE, PRECIPITATION AND SNOWFALL FOR EVERY MONTH OF EVERY YEAR FROM 1883 TO 1915 .......
413
X
CONTENTS CHAPTER XX.
REPRESENTATIVE MEN.
SKETCHISS OF MEN WHO HAVE BEEN PROMINENT IN THE HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
423
CHAPTER XXL.
MISCELLANEOUS.
CROPS-HIGHWAYS-PESTS- BLACK HAWK COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY- THE GRANGE-WILD CAT BANKS-"SAMP" . 429 .
History of Black Hawk County
CHAPTER I
GEOLOGY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY By Melvin F. Arey
INTRODUCTION
LOCATION AND AREA
The fourth from the Mississippi River and also the fourth from the Minnesota line, Black Hawk County lies four square, the only irregularity in its outline being an offset of one mile made by the correction line which passes through the middle of the county. The row of sections immediately south of this line are reduced about one-fourth in area, thus making the area of the county about five hundred and seventy square miles. Bremer County bounds it upon the north; Buchanan on the east; Benton and Tama on the south and Grundy and Butler on the west. The only known indurated rock within its bounds is the Devonian; and of the unconsolidated materials, alluvium and Iowan drift are the only representatives at the surface excepting a small area of loess in Waterloo Township. Wherever there is any considerable depth of mantle rock, however, its greater bulk is Kansan drift, the Iowan being everywhere comparatively thin.
In this county no very serious geological problems present themselves, nor does the rock or drift offer any unusually interesting phases of expression or development, yet to the observant and thoughtful no inconsiderable part of the wonderful geological story is told in a clear and very entertaining manner.
PREVIOUS GEOLOGICAL WORK
Since neither the rock nor the surface of Black Hawk County affords striking or obviously important characteristics, such as would challenge the attention of those who were making an examination of an extensive region with limited oppor- Vol. I-1
1
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
tunities at their command, the history of geological work within its bounds is a brief one.
Worthen passed through Cedar Falls in 1850 and in his report to Hall makes the following note: "At Cedar Falls the only rocks exposed are in the bed of the river, forming a ripple across the stream at this point. The lowest stratum exposed is a brown, arenaceous limestone from fifteen to eighteen inches in thickness, over- lain by some thin strata of buff and gray limestone. No fossils were detected in the rocks here, and the exposure was not sufficient to afford an interesting section."
Mr. O. H. St. John, a resident of Waterloo, made some collections of fossils at that place, which contributed materially to the knowledge of the ancient life in this region. In 1866 Mr. R. P. Whitfield spent some time at Waterloo, Ray- mond and other localities in neighboring counties and made quite an extensive collection of specimens. In the twenty-third annual report on the state cabinet of New York, from the data thus obtained. Hall and Whitfield attempted to cor- relate the rock formation of Black Hawk and adjacent counties with the Devonian formation of New York.
The futility of such an effort has been set forth very plainly by Calvin in his report on Buchanan County .* The present writer can do no better than to quote from Calvin: "It is worth noting that some years ago the quarry stone at Ray- mond was referred to the Schoharic. the coral-bearing beds at Waterloo were called Corniferous, the limestones at Independence were assigned to the Hamilton, and the Lime Creek shales were called Chemung. Now the Lime Creek fauna is found in shales below the Independence limestones, and so, judging from the fauna, the Independence shales are also Chemung. Furthermore, the coral-bearing beds of Waterloo are younger than the limestones at Independence, for they lie above them, and the quarry stone at Raymond is still younger than the coral beds that were referred to the Corniferous. Beginning with the Independence shales, the actual order of the strata of Iowa, according to the correlation referred to, would be ( 1) Chemung, (2) Hamilton, (3) Corniferous, (4) Schoharie-a com- plete reversal of the order observed in New York."
No allusion to Black Hawk County geology appears in White's report. McGee in his "Pleistocene History of Northeastern Iowa" t mentions the county along with many others in describing their streams, common characteristics, etc., much of which is interesting reading to the student of geology of the county. Calvin has visited portions of the county and makes incidental reference to its geology in some of his reports on sister counties.
PHYSIOGRAPHY
TOPOGRAPHY
The surface of this county is made up chiefly of the valleys of the Cedar and the Wapsipinicon rivers and their larger tributaries, and the lowan plains which lie between and on either side of these valleys. Low bluffs rise near the south side of the west fork of the Cedar, and also along the south side of Beaver
* Calvin : "Towa Geol. Surv .. " Vol. VIII. p. 205, and 221-222.
t McGee : "Eleventh Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Surv .. " pp. 202, 210, 223. 400, 481, et al.
3
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
Creek at a varying distance from the stream. These bluffs at first are low, but increase in height eastward, and merge into the higher and more precipitous bluffs of the Cedar. For two miles above Cedar Falls the bluffs rise immediately from the river banks to an average height of sixty feet. At Cedar Falls they sweep away from the river, leaving a level area on which the older part of the city is built. They then give way for the passage of the waters of Dry Run. Then at once recovering their height they pass in a southeasterly direction, reced- ing from the river and gradually losing their height and steepness of slope. Beyond Waterloo they maintain a distinct line between the valley and the drift plain for many miles, though at a considerable distance from the river and with a marked diminution in altitude.
These bluffs are gashed by numerous ravines such as characterize the Kansan drift areas, and which evidently owe their origin to the pre-glacial erosion interval. Between Cedar Falls and Waterloo the Kansan drift features are further manifest in rounded hilltops crowned with loess, though Iowan drift appears in thin veneerings in the immediate neighborhood, and sound granitoid bowlders are frequently seen. Thus in sections 16, 17, 20 and 21 of Waterloo Township the prevailing topography is essentially Kansan. The same can be said, though in a less emphatic way, of sections 11, 12, 13 and 24 of Orange Township and of sections 18 and 19 of Cedar Township. In the sections named, and in a more or less extended area adjacent to them, the lowan drift deposit is thin at best and only partially, if at all, obliterates the effects of the extended erosion period preceding the Iowan ice invasion.
Once beyond the region mentioned above, the Iowan plain appears and con- stitutes the surface of the greater part of the townships of Cedar Falls, Orange, Cedar and Big Creek and the whole of Black Hawk, Lincoln and Eagle townships. The latter townships are remote from the river and, excepting the narrow, sinuous channels of a few small streams, scarcely show a scar anywhere upon their sur- face, so gently have the erosive agents dealt with them since the withdrawal of the last great ice sheet that visited this region.
On the north and east of the Cedar the valley plain rises very gradually and usually imperceptibly to the general level of the drift plain. It is for the most part three or four miles wide, level and sandy, and was once wood clad, but now much of it has been deforested. There are numerous indications that nearly every part of the valley proper has been traversed at some time by the river. Many large oxbows are still in connection with it at ordinary stages of the water. Narrow, curved bodies of water, locally known as lakes, some of them two or three miles in length, as in Cedar Township, often in line and connected more or less completely, plainly locate former channels. These lakes, often fringed with bushes and trees, contribute to the beauty of the scenery along the river and, being stocked with fish in many instances, are favorite resorts with those who would seek recreation apart from their wonted scenes of activity. Depressions of every gradation of size, but always similar in shape and trend, are so abundant as to make their occurrence a remarkable feature of this valley. At the time of freshets, not only does the river fill the old channels, but it occupies much of the intervening valley.
A little before the river leaves the county, the valley narrows and loses to. some extent the characteristics it presents elsewhere. There is also a noticeable.
-4
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
constriction of the valley at Waterloo. In the northeastern part of the county the entire townships of Union and Washington are in the valleys of the Cedar and its tributaries. The topography of Union Township is materially different from that of any other. The winds seem to have had an unimpeded sweep previous to its settlement and gathered the sand into dunes of considerable height and extent, giving the region a broken aspect unlike that of any other part of the county. The poplars, burr oak and other trees and shrubs of similar habitat, have taken posses- sion of many of these dunes, and all are now covered with vegetation of some kind, though the carly settlers say that when first they knew the country, there were stretches of naked sand still at the mercy and sport of the winds.
The same features that characterize the valley of the Cedar may be observed, though in modified form, in the valleys of its larger tributaries, as well as in the valleys of the Wapsipinicon and its tributary, Crane Creek. Spring Creek which runs not far from the eastern border of the south half of the county is an excep- tion in that its valley is narrow and with moderately sloping sides for most of its course, as if it had been the last born of the streams of the county.
In Bennington and Barclay townships, in the north half of Poyner and in the western two-thirds of Fox Township, the Jowan drift plain appears at its best, there being no large streams to interrupt the seeming endless succession of low, wide-arched ridges and shallow concavities along the lowest part of which, grassy and most gently descending, the surplus water from the heavy rains and melting snows finds its way as best it can. The other townships are mostly within the valleys already described. In a part of East Waterloo, Poyner and Spring Creek townships the river approaches the eastern border of its valley and the level of the drift plain is reached by a somewhat abrupt slope, though at no such great height above the river valley as is the case on the other side of the river.
There is little in the topography of the county that is exceptional and distinct from the features described above. An occasional kettlehole occurs in Lester and Bennington townships and perhaps elsewhere, but they present nothing worthy of further notice. In the northwest quarter of section 24, Eagle Township, is a prominent ridge extending northeast and southwest, having little soil upon its crest and upper slopes. The greater mass of the elevation is limestone and is the only rock in a wide area, embracing the whole southwest quarter of the county. It was doubtless one of those islands in the sea of Iowan ice mentioned repeatedly by Calvin in earlier volumes of the "Jowa Geological Survey."
The other exceptional elevations in the county, which occur in Cedar, Orange and Waterloo townships, are capped with loess and are composed for the greater part, if not wholly, of Kansan till.
ALTITUDES
The elevation of the principal places as given in Gannett's "Dictionary of Altitudes," is as follows :
Station.
Feet.
.Authority.
Cedar Falls
854
B. C. R. & N. R. R.
Dewar
8&‹
C. Gt. W. R. R.
Dunkerton
945
C. Gt. W. R. R.
E. Waterloo
843
C. Gt. W. R. R.
5
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
Station.
Feet.
Authority.
Hudson
883
C. Gt. W. R. R.
Jacobs Siding
982
I. C. R. R.
La Porte City
SI2
B. C. R. & N. R. R.
Mona Junction .
865
I. C. R. R.
Normal Hill, Corner Normal and 24th Sts.
937
T. R. Warriner
Norris
864
B. C. R. & N. R. R.
Raymond
885
I. C. R. R.
Washburn
827
B. C. R. & N. R. R.
Wilson Junction
870
C. Gt. W. R. R.
Winslow
884 B. C. R. & N. R. R.
Janesville
891
I. C. R. R.
Jesup
982
I. C. R. R.
Janesville and Jesup are reported, though not in the county, since they are close upon its borders. It is interesting to note that Jesup and Jacobs Siding, near the eastern and western limits of the county respectively and on nearly the same parallel, have the same altitude, 982 feet. Janesville on the Cedar at its entrance into the county has 891 feet, and La Porte City, seven miles from the place where it leaves the county, has 812 feet elevation, a difference of 79 feet. The winding course of the Cedar between the two points is about thirty-seven miles, making the average fall of the river about two feet per mile.
Jacobs Siding is the highest elevation given in the county. It is about two miles west of Cedar Falls on the Illinois Central Railway and has long been unfavorably known among the railroad men as the Cedar Falls Hill. Recently it has been avoided by the railroad company by the construction of a new line nearer the river, which reaches the level of the country between Cedar Falls and New Hartford by a much easier grade.
From the elevation of Fairbank, which is not far from the northeast corner of the county, that part of the county has an elevation equal to, if not greater, than Jacobs Siding.
DRAINAGE
The drainage of the county is accomplished almost wholly by the Cedar River system. The Wapsipinicon with its tributary, Crane Creek, cuts the northeast corner of the county, the only townships affected by their agency being Lester, the east half of Bennington and the northeast corner of Barclay.
The Cedar, as it is known in Black Hawk County, is the product of the union of three nearly equal streams, the Cedar from the north and east, the Shell Rock from the northwest and the West Fork from the west. The two latter, however, effect: a junction about one mile above their junction with the Cedar. From this point, which is within a mile and a half of the north line of the county, the Cedar pursues its way, in size and importance second only to the Des Moines among the rivers within the borders of Iowa. Excepting for a short distance below the dam at Cedar Falls and also at Waterloo, its bed is in unconsolidated material. Little indurated rock outcrops anywhere along its banks, even the high bluffs in the neighborhood of Cedar Falls and Waterloo being apparently made up wholly
6
HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK COUNTY
ni duit material. Its course for the first four or five miles is nearly south, then southeast until at Gilbertsville it again takes a southward direction for four or I've miles when it bends to the southeast, keeping that direction for the re- mainder of its passage through the county.
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