USA > Iowa > An illustrated history of the state of Iowa, being a complete civil, political, and military history of the state, from its first exploration down to 1875; > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83
202
TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
which they were settled offered for sale at the time the other lands around them were brought into the market, and probably congress would have passed an act donating these lands to them, had they continued to occupy the locality which they first se- lected. In their native country, they had been engaged in the culture of the grape, and made preparations to engage in the same business here, but finding the winters much more severe than in their native land, they came to the conclusion that the climate would not be favorable for this business, and they aban- doned their settlement at this place and moved to Texas, and other parties entered their lands.
The state auditor reported that the amount of revenue received from the several counties, from April 5, 1848, to February 22, 1849, was $26,161.89, and received for keeping United States prisoner, $34.05 : total, $26,195.94; and the disbursements, by warrants paid, $22,854.62; balance on hand, $3,341.32.
At the election for presidential electors, in 1852, the whig electors received 15,856 votes, and the democratic electors, 17,762, a majority of 1,906. The latter cast their vote for Frank- lin Pierce for president.
CROSSCUP & WEST-SC.PHILA.
Hon. Jas. W. Grimes.
CHAPTER XXV.
ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. HEMPSTEAD.
Statistics - Legislation - The Wet Season - Floods-Incidents and Anec- dotes of the Deluge in Iowa - Curious Remains - Wind and Rain.
THE THIRD session of the general assembly was held at Des Moines, and commenced on the second day of December, 1850, and adjourned February 5, 1851.
The senate was organized by the president, Enos Lowe taking the chair, and the election of Philip B. Bradley, as secretary, and in the assembly by the election of George Temple, speaker, and C. C. Rockwell, chief clerk.
The governor in his message says, "that notwithstanding the prevalence of a malignant disease in some parts of the state, Iowa has steadily increased in population and wealth; her energies have been strengthened ; her resources are being constantly de- veloped ; emigration is rapidly pouring in upon and spreading over her broad and fertile domain, and the evidence of enterprise and prosperity can be seen on every hand." He gives the fol- lowing financial statement of the affairs of the state as reported by the treasurer, viz: amount on hand and received into the treasury from October 31, 1848, to November 4, 1850, $90,444.33, and the disbursements during the same period, $90,442.94, leaving a bal- ance of $1.39 in the treasury ; that the liabilities of the state on outstanding warrants on the 4th of December, 1848, amounted to $22,651.62, and from that period to November 30, 1850, the re- ceipts of the treasury as before stated, were $90,444.33, and the expenditures, $90,442.94. This latter sum embraced the interest paid on the state loan, and $11,685.75 of the liabilities on the 4th of December, 1858; thus decreasing the liabilities on out- standing warrants on the 30th of November, 1850, to $10,965.87. The resources to discharge these liabilities, and to meet the expenses
(204)
205
ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. HEMPSTEAD.
of the coming year were $24,154.83 due from counties prior to the year 1850, and the revenue assessed in 1850, amounting to $66,- 538.33.
He stated that by an act approved January 16, 1847, he was authorized to agree with the state of Missouri for the commence- ment and termination of such suit as might be necessary to pro- cure a final decision by the supreme court of the United States in regard to the southern boundary line of the state; and that in pursuance of the authority thus granted, he, on the following February, appointed Hon. Chas. Mason to act as counsel in behalf of the state, and a notice of such appointment was given to the governor of Missouri. The case came on for argument in Feb- ruary, 1849, and a decision made by the court determining the rights of the two states, giving the state of Iowa all the territory lying between the line run by Missouri in 1837 as her northern boundary line, from the river Des Moines, due west to the Missoui river, and the line established by the decree. The governor con- gratulated the general assembly on the settlement of this vexa- tious question concerning the southern boundary.
He also called attention to perfecting the system of common school education - the formation of agricultural societies, and to the subject of normal schools, and expressed the hope that the three schools established in the state would receive the fostering care of the legislature.
On the 4th of December, the legislature met in joint convention for the purpose of opening and publishing the votes given for governor at the previous general election, August 5, 1850, at which time the votes were duly canvassed and it appeared that Stephen Hempstead received 13,486 votes; James L. Thompson, 11,403 ; Wm. P. Clark, 575, and 11 votes, scattering ; whereupon Stephen Hempstead was declared duly elected governor. A com- mittee was appointed to inform the governor elect that the two houses were ready to receive him in joint convention, in order that he might receive the oath prescribed by the constitution, which duty having been performed by the committee, the gover- nor elect, accompanied by the governor, the judges of the supreme court and the officers of state, entered the hall of the house, and having been duly announced, the governor elect delivered his in-
206
TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
augural message, after which the oath was administered by the chief justice of the supreme court.
The following are some of the important acts passed at this session : To establish new counties and to define their boundaries (the counties formed were Adair, Union, Adams, Cass, Mont- gomery, Mills, Pottawattomie, Bremer, Butler, Grundy, Hardin, Franklin, Wright, Risley, Yell, Greene, Guthrie, Carroll, Fox, Sac, Crawford, Shelby, Harrison, Monona, Ida, Waukau, Hum- boldt, Pocahontas, Buena Vista, Fayette, Cherokee, Plymouth, Allamakee, Chickasaw, Floyd, Cerro Gordo, Hancock, Kossuth, Palo Alto, Clay, O'Brien, Sioux, Howard, Mitchell, Worth, Winnebago, Winneshiek, Bancroft, Emmett, Dickinson, Oceola, and Buncombe) ; to provide for the seat of justice of the several counties therein named ; authorizing the governor to procure a title to certain ground for a penitentiary ; to provide for a medi- cal department of the university of Iowa; to provide for a loan from the school fund to pay expenses for running the boundary line between the states of Iowa and Missouri ; to provide for the prosecution of the Des Moines river improvement ; to reappor- tion the state into senate and assembly districts ; to provide for the completion of the penitentiary ; to appropriate $2,500 toward the completion of the state house at Iowa City ; to dispose of the saline lands belonging to the state, and a number of bills incor- porating cities, towns and villages, changing the names of towns and counties, granting the right of way to various rail and plank road companies ; to locate and establish state roads, and appropri- ations for the support of the government of the state.
The legislature was composed of a large majority favoring stringent corporation laws, and the liability of individual stock- holders for corporate debts. This sentiment on account of the agitation of railroad enterprises then beginning, brought a large number of prominent men to the capitol. To have an effect upon the legislature, they organized a "lobby legislature," in which these questions were ably discussed. They elected as gov- ernor, Verplank Van Antwerp, who delivered to this self-consti- tuted body, a lengthy message, in which he sharply criticised the regular general assembly. Some of the members of the latter body were in the habit of making long and useless speeches,
207
ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. HEMPSTEAD.
, much to the hindrance of business. To these he especially referred, charging them with speaking for "Buncombe," and recom- mended that as their lasting memorial, a county should be called by that name. This suggestion was readily seized upon by the legislature, and the county of " Buncombe " was created with few dissenting voices. By act of the general assembly, approved September, 11, 1862, the name was changed to " Lyon," in honor of Gen. Nathaniel Lyon, who was killed in the civil war.
The year 1851 is noted as the wet season. A great portion of the country which nature designed to be arid, was, for several weeks, deep lakes of water. It commenced to be wet weather the early part of May, and the heavens were almost daily black- ened with angry clouds, and the rain poured down in torrents, frequently accompanied with violent winds and loud pealing thunder, till July : and for the most of this time the public high- ways, where they crossed streams, could not be traveled by teams. In almost every ravine, there was a good sized rivulet, so that the finny tribes left their accustomed haunts, and swam up to, and had their sports on the highlands in the grassy prairies, and large numbers were found in the sink holes after the flood had subsided. In the cultivated low lands, the places where the farmer was accustomed to see the golden harvest, instead of rich fields of grain, were pools of muddy water; but very little was raised this season, and scarcity and want were hovering around the homes of the cultivators of the soil.
This great flood was most severely felt in the valley of the Des Moines. The fences which protected the growing crops were nearly all swept away by the angry flood, carried to other premises than the owners', and the material mostly imbedded in common piles of drift, so that it cost more than it was worth to restore it to its proper place.
All the towns on the banks of the river from Des Moines to the Mississippi were more or less covered with water, and injured by the flood, and where had been the busy tramp of business, swam the finny fish. At Des Moines, the river at one time was twenty two and a half feet above low water mark. East Des Moines was under water to the second bank, and the citizens, instead of trav- eling the streets with carriages, paddled their way in canoes. The
208
TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
town of Eddyville was for many days entirely submerged in deep water, and the citizens were forced to leave their well furnished homes, and seek shelter in hastily constructed tents, made with quilts and blankets on the hillside.
At Ottumba, the flood ran so high that all the bottom lands were many feet under water, and a long log about two feet in diameter was floated up into the town and lodged against a sign post on the main traveled street in the place, which prevented teams from passing till it was removed. The water rose several inches over the floor of the principal hotel, and the guests sought egress and ingress by means of boats. The commonly traveled road from Ottumba to Agency City, for several weeks was ob- structed with deep water. About the time the river overflowed its banks, the stage undertook to make its usual trips, and in attempting to pass a low place in the road, before he was aware of danger, the driver found his horses swamped in deep water, and to save them from being drowned had to cut their harness and abandon the coach, and the passengers with much difficulty saved themselves from a watery grave. The water continued to rise, till the coach was several feet under water, and the current washed over it so large a quantity of driftwood, that when the water went down, the drift settling upon the coach crushed it to pieces.
At Iowaville, the wide, beautiful bottom prairies were one vast sheet of water; the flood reached from bluff to bluff; the river was a mile wide; all the buildings which stood near the banks of the river were raised from their foundations and floated down the stream, and several families, when the flood abated, found them- selves without a home. The waters of the river, when they were at their highest stage, as they rushed along in their mad career, presented a most singular appearance. The surface of the river was oval ; being several feet higher in the middle of the cur- rent than at the banks; so much so, that a person of ordinary height standing at the water's edge, could not see the bank on the opposite side.
This flood surpassed anything that had ever been known in the history of the country, within the memory of the oldest inhabi- tant, or that of the native who resided here before the country
CROSSCUP & WEST-SC. PHIL A.
Tustaru Hinrich.
210
TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
was settled by the whites; nor did any traditional account of the Indians give any evidence of a like flood in all past time, and it is to be hoped the citizens of Iowa will never see the like again.
After the rains had ceased to pour down their torrents, the re- mainder of the season was very hot and dry, and the vegetation, which in the fore part of the season had been excessively moist- ened, in the latter part was parched up with heat and drouth, and the valley of the Des Moines stripped of its fencing, and covered here and there with piles of sand and debris, appeared like one vast desolated waste. Near Iowaville there was a large inclosed field, which had been under cultivation many years, and while the husbandmen were tilling the soil they did not dream they were walking about and that the luxuriant harvest was waiving over the graves of the departed dead, and little did they consider that many beings of their own race had trod on those grounds many years in the past. This flood disclosed mysterious information that was not known before. The waters in their mad career, being swollen out of their natural channel, rushed with force and violence over this inclosed field, and like as in other cultivated lands, the flood washed out deep excavations; it re- moved earth which had been dug out and replaced by human hands ; it had developed the resting place of the dead, the graves of those who had lived and died at unknown times in the past ; and as the waters had subsided, in these excavations were found the remains of human beings; bones which had been clothed with flesh in the past, skeletons of a gigantic race, trinkets and orna- ments and badges of distinction. These discoveries at the time attracted much attention and much speculation. Dr. Peter Walker, who lived near by, made a careful examination of some of these remains, and found them of an enormous size ; from the bones of one which he examined, be judged that the individual when living, must have been from eight to twelve feet high. The jaw bone, which was in a perfect state of preservation, was so large, that the doctor, though a large man himself, could easily put over his own face, and in this position the extremities ex- tended past his own ears, and some of the teeth measured an inch and a quarter across the face.
There were quite a number of articles found with the bones
211
ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. HEMPSTEAD.
which had been washed up, which gave evidence that those per- sons who had been buried there were in possession of the arts of civilization. The large skeleton, which was particularly exam- ined by Dr. Walker, was probably a noted character in his time, not only for his size, but doubtless held some important station among his people, for, among other things, there were found sev- eral of what were supposed to have been badges of distinction. Around his thighs were steel bands, and on his arms silver brace- lets, which were neatly wrought and nearly two inches wide.
On the bluffs back of Iowaville, about a mile from this burial ground, on the land of Joel F. Avery, there is a vein of coal about four feet in thickness, which crops out on the surface. In December, 1873, Benjamin F. Bryan was employed to work this mine. In drifting an entrance into the bank, twenty three feet from the surface, embedded in a solid vein of coal, about a foot from the bottom, he found a bone about seven inches long, and an inch in diameter, of a reddish color, which, from examination by those familiar with anatomy, was supposed to be bone from the arm of a human being. From the solid manner in which it was imbedded in the coal, it is evident it must have been deposited there at or before the coal formation, which would indicate that this locality had been inhahited by human beings many hundred years in the past.
This season was also noted for several severe storms of wind, one of which passed through Jefferson county, broke down nearly all the timber within its reach, leveled the fences even with the ground, and destroyed several houses. During the fore part of the summer of this year, the terrible scourge, cholera, prevailed along the river Des Moines and in most of the thickly settled parts of the state, and large numbers were swept away by the fatal malady. The most healthy and robust persons, while feeling no symptoms of disease, would suddenly be taken with vomiting and purging, and, in a few hours, large and fleshy per- sons would be reduced to mere skeletons and the skin become loose and shriveled like that of some very old persons; then cramping would set in which convulsed the whole body with the most excrutiating pains, till death released the sufferer. Persons, not apprehending any danger, would frequently be attacked, and
212
TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
in a few hours would breathe their last. When one of a family became sick, another and another would be attacked, till often whole families in a few hours would be taken away. Neighbor- hoods became alarmed, and many left their homes, and frequently it was difficult to get any one to take care of the sick or bury the dead.
The flood, the failure of the crops and the sickness in Iowa, made many dissatisfied and anxious to leave the country, and those of them who could, disposed of their farms and left the state. The working of the gold mines in California increased the discontent, for some had gone from the state to California as early as 1849, and quite a large number in the spring of 1850, and the most wonderful accounts of the rapid accumulation of fortunes were constantly being sent home to the states. The prospects of rapidly accumulating great wealth west of the Rocky mountains, and almost a famine in Iowa from the wet season, had such an effect on the citizens, that the future prospects of the state were very gloomy and unpropitions. Business became stagnant, many houses and farms were tenantless, many sold their posses- sions at reduced prices, and it seemed, for a while, as if every body was bound to leave Iowa.
On account of the failure of the crops and the large emigra- tion which passed through Iowa to California and Oregon, all the provisions which could be bought were consumed by the emi- grants, and much more was wanted. There was also a great de- mand for horses, mules, oxen and cows to take west to the moun- tains, and any farmer who had anything to sell found a ready market at his own door. Corn went up from ten cents to a dollar a bushel, and everything else in the same proportion, except real estate, which declined in value as fast as other things increased.
CHAPTER XXVI.
FORTS DES MOINES AND DODGE.
Camp Des Moines - Adventures - Battles - Encounters with the Indians - General Mason - Fort Dodge.
THE TERRITORY north of Fort Des Moines, and east of the Des Moines river, was included in the treaty or purchase made by Gov. Chambers in 1842 ; also that lying on the west side of said river as far north as the correction line at a point about one mile and three-quarters above where Fort Dodge is situated. West of the Des Moines river from the correction line north, and from that point west to the Missouri river, still belonged to the Sioux In- dians when Fort Dodge was established, and up till the ratifica- tion of the last treaty made with the Sioux Indians in Minnesota, when the Indian title to all lands within the limits of the state of Iowa was extinguished. Fort Des Moines was established at the junction of Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, as the extreme out- post on the northern frontier in the year 1843, and garrisoned by United States dragoons commanded by Captain James Allen of the U. S. army. This post was abandoned in the year 1846. At that time the country lying north of Raccoon Fort (or Fort Des Moines) was comparatively an unexplored region, the habitation of the wild Sioux Indians, buffalo, and elk, etc. The only ex- ploration of the country attempted previous to the establish- ment of Fort Des Moines, was by Capt. N. Boon of the U. S. dragoons, who by order of the secretary of war, marched with his company of dragoons from old camp Des Moines formerly a station of the U. S. dragoons, situated on the Mississippi river (now Montrose). His route was up the Des Moines river, to the fork or mouth of Raccoon river ; from thence up the river of the Sioux (which was the name of the river above the junction of (213)
214
TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
Raccoon river and Des Moines), to the junction of the east and west forks of the river, twelve miles north of Fort Dodge ; thence up the west side of the east branch (which he named " Brother river " ) to a point at or near Chain Lakes, near the present state line. There the Sioux Indians, after closely watching his move- ments all the way up, met him in force and gave battle. After a severe brush with the Indians there, he turned his course east- ward to Lake Albert Lee (which was named after Lieut. Albert Lee of his company), and from thence to Dubuque, and down the Mississippi river, back to camp Des Moines.
In 1848 surveys of the lands purchased north of Raccoon forks were commenced. Mr. Marsh of Dubuque, in the employment of the government, set out with his company from Dubuque to run and establish the correction line, from a point on the Mississippi to the Missouri river. He progressed with the work without molestation until he crossed the river of the Sioux (or Des Moines), when he was met by a body of Sioux Indians headed by Sidom-i-na-do-tah, a chief. They ordered him to pue-achee (clear out, be off), pulled up his stakes and tore down his mounds, and gave him to understand they claimed the country, and refused to let him proceed further. Giving these positive orders, they left him a short distance from the west bank of the river. After some hesitation, Mr. Marsh concluded to proceed with his work. He had not proceeded more than three-fourths of a mile, to a point about half a mile south of the town plat of Fort Dodge, on the bench of land at the head of a large ravine, when the Indians sur- rounded them in force, and robbed them of everything, taking their horses, breaking up their wagons and instruments and forced them back across the river to find their way home the best way they could. In the fall and winter of the same year, these Indians attacked Henry Lott, Jacob Mericle, L. Mericle, and one or two others who had ventured up to the Boon forks, and rob- bed them, and were constantly committing depredations on set- tlers who ventured up north or northwest of Fort Des Moines, becoming more bold after the troops left Fort Des Moines. The depredations and outrages committed by the Indians being repre- sented to the government, it was determined to establish a military post at some point on the northern frontier, for the purpose of
CROSSCUP & WEST-SC.PHILA
Hon. Cyrus C. Carpenter, Governor of lowa.
216
TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
keeping these Indians in check and protecting the frontier settlers that might come into this section of country.
Early in 1849, Brevet-Gen. Mason, colonel of the sixth regi- ment of United States infantry, was directed to select a site for a fort as near as practicable to the northwest corner of the neutral ground established by treaty between the Sac, Fox and Pottawat- tomie and the Sioux Indians, a strip of country reaching from the Des Moines river to the Mississippi. The north line of this ground is marked about three miles above Fort Dodge, where the post stands marking the northwest corner on the east bank of the Des Moines river. The site where Fort Dodge now stands was selected on the east bank of the river, a short distance below the mouth of the Lizard river, which empties into the Des Moines on the west side. At the same time great excitement prevailed among the citizens of Iowa, Tama and Benton counties, owing to a large body of Sac and Fox Indians, seven or eight hundred in number, under the lead of the chiefs, Powseschiek, Shamonie and Petacotah, having returned from the lands allotted to them west of the Missouri river and taken possession of the country lying north of Marengo, on the Iowa river, their chief village being at at what is since called Indian Town. Three companies of troops, as follows: Company E, United States dragoons, were ordered from Fort Snelling to remove these Indians and deliver them to the commanding officer at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After at- tending to that duty, company B, 2d dragoons, commanded by Lieut. Gardner, and company C, Lieut. Johnson, returned to Fort Snelling, and company E, U. S. 6th infantry, were ordered, under command of Brevet-Maj. Samuel Woods, to march to the Des Moines, to build and garrison the fort on the site selected by Gen. Mason. They took up the line of march from Camp Buck- ner, on the Iowa river, on the last day of July, 1850. Most of the officers and men of the detachment had served in Florida and Mexico; and when they started for the Des Moines, all believed, from the character given of the country they were ordered to, that they were again to be stationed in a country similar to Flori- da - a country destitute of timber and covered with lakes, ponds and swamps, but they were very agreeably disappointed. After a tedious march, having to bridge streams and sloughs and pass a
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.