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 49
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Missouri Valley is a rather large name for a very important town on the line of the Chicago and Northwestern railroad, not far from the southern boundary of the county, and only six miles from the Missouri. The town was laid out in 1867. The rich farm- ing land surrounding this desirable location, gives a large average of ship- ping business to the Missouri Valley station, and the town largely shares in the advantages thence arising. There is an enterprising newspaper pub- lished in the town.
DUNLAP stands on a high terrace which overlooks the valley of the Boy- er river, surrounded by excellent lands on which some fine farms have been located. Nearly forty sections of land are covered by timber about five miles from the town, and the Boyer river has some very admirable water powers. The town was laid out in 1867, and the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company have made their division station here, consequently there is a large passenger depot, with other, con- veniences for themselves and the pub- lic, including machine and repair shops and a freight house. There is a large shipping business done here and the interests of the youth have been cared for by the erection of good school buildings. Dunlap has a newspaper fully up to the average of such sheets.
LOGAN is six miles south of Magno- lia, near the center of the county on the second bottom of the river Boyer, and it is a very lively town, containing within itself the elements for consider- able growth. The town was laid out |
in 1867, and like most places of that date, was located on the railroad line where a convenient station enables it to effect a large shipping business, with a corresponding retail trade.
LITTLE SIOUX is a village waiting for opportunities to develop it; the right stuff is there in abundance, but the opening hy which the place is to rise into importance does not yet appear.
CALHOUN and WOODBINE are vil- lages of the same status with Little Sioux, but the first named place de- serves special notice, having been the site of the first white settler's abode iu this county in 1848, when his nearest neighbor was twelve miles away.
Henry County stands near but not on the Mississippi river, being in the second tier from that great highway and the like distance from the southern boundary of the state. The county has an area of four hundred and thirty- two square miles or 276,480 acres. The surface of Henry county undulates considerably and stands at a consider- able altitude. Good drainage and an abundance of water for every section are provided by numerous streams which flow in and through the county contributing very largely to the beauty of the scene. Good well water can be procured at the average depth all over this county, and the supply from such sources never fails. Rich black loam mixed with sand is the prevailing quality of soil here and it is found very casy in tillage as well as quick and fruitful in production. Grain, grass, vegetables and fruit in all the several varieties found in the best lands of Iowa can be raised here in profusion. Fruit prospers well. There is enough of timber for every purpose, and the Skunk river traversing the county di- agonally with a considerable fall in its course affords many desirable water powers. Cedar and Big creeks also offer many sites upon which mills may he erccted in good time when popula- tion increases.
Near the western boundary of this county coal has been found in consid- erable quantities on Cedar creek, and it is probable that there will be some day a large population here engaged in mining, although there is but a narrow strip of Henry county within the coal field. Good building stone has been
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found in the sandstone quarries, and | buildings amounts to $33.000. Besides limestone in abundance for quicklime these there are several private establish- ments of great repute, some sectarian in their aims, and others general, which have operated very beneficially up on the educational status of the city and county. and for other purposes. Potters clay, such as is customarily sought for the manufacture of tiles and pottery, is very plentiful here, being largely used by men who know how to turn its best qualities to account. Brick clay is also found, and brick making must employ thousands of men here.
The climate of this county is much liked by residents, as the surface being gencrally high and well drained, there are no swamps nor morasses to fill the air with exhalations.
The first settlement in Henry county was made near the site of Mt. Pleasant in 1834. From that date settlers have come in steadily from every point of the compass. Organization was effected in 1836-7, when an act for the purpose was passed by the territorial legislature of Wisconsin, and the coun- ty seat was located at Mt. Pleasant. Augusta had an ambitious desire in that direction, but she was forced to take a back seat in spite of many well directed efforts.
MT. PLEASANT is the county seat and has been from the first organization of the county. It stands very near to the geographical center upon high prairie, with a surrounding of excellent land. To the north of the town, Big creek commences a course which incloses three sides of the city to the north, west and south, and the course of the stream is marked by admirable growths of timber. Open prairie, well dotted with farms in a high condition of cultiva- tion stretches away to the east of the city for many miles. The first build- ing was erected in the town in 1835, and the regular survey followed in 1836. The city was chartered in 1842 by the legislatare of Iowa, which in the meantime exercised jurisdiction in the territory.
Nine years later, a second charter was procured, as the first document had fallen into desuetude, and since that time there has been a steady main- terance of local government, the pow- ers of the corporation being increased in 1857, so that it ranks as a city of the second class.
There are two graded school build- ings in the city, which is an independ- ent school district, and the best talent obtainable is always secured for those institutions. The aggregate cost of the
The Iowa State Hospital for the In- sane is located here, and the building cost $400,000. The site is very beauti- ful and the edifice has a splendid ap- pearance from every point of observa- tion. There are two newspapers pub- lished in this city and they are very well conducted, having good circula- tions.
The county has a great number of thriving towns and villages, but there are few noticeable features in their his- tory and prospects. They stand general- ly in the centers of good farming lands, often on the banks of streams with good water powers wanting improvement. Generally they are well supplied with timber, and they bide their time, wait- ing for the word that shall call them into larger prosperity. The most prominent places are: Lowell, Mar- shall, Hillsborough, Rome, New Lon- don, Salem, and Trenton. Besides these there are post offices at Cotton Grove, Boyleston, Swedesborough, Oakland Mills, Winfield, Wayne aud Winona.
Howard County is the third west of the Mississippi, in the northern tier of counties, and is chiefly of prairie, well adapted to agriculture and grazing. The surface of the county undulates, consequently there is an opportunity for good drainage; but generally the configuration of the county saves the settler from all trouble on that score. The elevation of Howard county is not excessive, but it abounds in broad and beautiful landscapes. There is some rough land in Albion township, but it is not beyond the reach of agricultural skill and perseverance. Indeed there is hardly any waste land in this county. The soil, customarily a dark brown loam, has a clay subsoil, and in some cases the vegetable deposit reaches to the limestone formation at considera- ble depths. The value of such soil will need no description at our hands. Corn and wheat, fruits, grasses, and vegetables, can be obtained in any quantity by the arts and industry of the farmers' craft, and for stock raising
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it would be hard to beat Howard county.
Only about one acre in twelve in this county is timbered, and of course most of the wood borders the streams, the western Wapsipinicon being par- ticularly favored, but there are many bodies of young timber slowly push- ing their way into notice, since settle- ment began, which will eventually give a new aspect to this fertile land. Farmers are giving considerable atten- tion to grove planting in many parts of Howard county, and that fact, joined to hedge planting, which has lately come into vogue in districts most in need of shelter, will render this county more delightful to the eye, more con- venient for stock, and more profitable to the farmer than it has been hitherto.
The Big Wapsipinicon is said in some Indian dialects to mean "white potatoes," while in other Indian dia- lects it is claimed to mean " Crawfish." We are not sufficiently learned in Cherokee to give a final decision, but it may be hoped that our readers will be happy notwithstanding. The Big Wapsipinicon, whatever the name may mean, is a valuable stream in Howard county, as it flows with many wind- ings through that region, giving drain- age and fertility to much territory, and beauty everywhere. The Little Wap- sipinicon rises in this county, and al- though its volume is not great, its val- ue is beyond question. The greatest stream in the county is the Upper Iowa river, running to the east through the northern townships. The Turkey river, often mentioned by us, has its head waters in Howard county, very near the center. Crane creek, as the south fork of the Turkey river is sometimes called, takes a southeast course through the center of the county. The small brooks and rivulets are tributaries to these several streams, and the larger streams, more especially the Upper Iowa river, afford good water powers. The dryest season brings no drought to dwellers in this county
There are numerous quarries in many parts of the county from which good building stone has been procured, and quick lime is manufactured to meet every demand.
This county has an excellent school system under which the youth of this section of country can easily obtain every educational advantage at moder-
ate cost. There are twenty graded schools in full operation, and eighty ungraded, employing nearly one hun- dred and fifty teachers, two-thirds of whom are ladies. The number of scholars enrolled is considerably more than two thousand, and the value of the school buildings, $45,175.
An agricultural society was formed in the county in 1858, and held its first fair the same year, but two other asso- ciations were established in succession before the present organization came into existence. The fairs now held are truly a credit to the county. There is an old settlers' society established, which has held annual gatherings since 1869, and much good fellowship has been promoted in that way.
The first settlement in this county dates from 1851, but the more substan- tial work of that kind was not begun until 1854. Prior to 1855, Chickasaw held jurisdiction over this county, but after that time organization on a bet- ter basis was effected. The county seat was temporarily located at Vernon Springs, but in 1857, the change to Howard Center was effected. Another contest arose, and Court House hill was selected for the center of admin- istration. In the spring of 1865, Ver- non Springs again won the honor, which it retained until 1867, when Cresco had the happiness to become the location, giving a fine stone build- ing, which is now occupied by the county officials, as an offset to the con- sideration obtained. There had been quite a check to settlement during the days of the great rebellion, but after that struggle terminated there was once more a rush of population toward the unsettled lands. In 1866, the Milwau- kee and St. Paul Railroad extended their line through Howard county, and from that time onward progress has been rapid, especially in the districts where stations have been located by the company.
CRESCO is a young and thriving city, surrounded by just such country as would be desired to back up a town full of intelligent, go-ahead men every way fit for business. From a radius of nearly twenty miles of such farm lands, the people bring their produce to Cresco for shipment, and of course the trade of the town in other respects is great in proportion. The Milwau- kee and St. Paul Company have a
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SKETCHES OF COUNTIES.
splendid station and depot here, afford- ing facilities of every kind to the com- munity. The town is very well laid out, the streets being wide enough for any amount of traffic, and most of the business premises are very substantial. The court house is located here, there are many fine residences, and what is thought of far greater importance, a steam elevator helps to facilitate the shipment of grain upon the busy road. Lately the Davenport and St. Paul Railroad has made a junction with the line first established, and when the new work has been completed through to its destination, the gain to Cresco will be very great indeed. The town of Cresco has no history worth men- tioning; it grew suddenly because it happened to be wanted quickly, and it continues to prosper because it meets the wants of a large class of people. The population of Cresco is now over fifteen hundred. The incorporation of the city was effected in 1868, and there are several newspapers of more than average merit published there.
The principal school building in this city cost $12,000, at different times, for its erection ; it is a handsome stone edifice, and is well conducted, the av- erage attendance being very good, and the system of tuition pursued giving results which are highly satisfactory. The first school building used is now a private residence.
Cresco has a driving park associa- tion and the organization is very suc- cessful ; almost entirely out of debt, with good grounds, well inelosed, and a splendid one mile track.
LIME SPRINGS STATION takes rank next to Cresco, having a considerable population and a pushing business. The Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad made the town when it offered facilities here for shipping grain and other produce. Land which had scarcely been of value suddenly came into great demand, the old settlement about a mile from the depot, which was settled in 1854, tried to move itself to the new location, but died in the effort, and the young branch came in as heir to all the effects. The united populations aggregate nearly nine hundred. The farming commu- nity make good use of the station, and a very large shipping business is ef- fected.
CHESTER is a village station on the line of the railroad already mentioned,
Į and a good shipping business brings to the place some retail trade which is of great value. The village has a post- office, which is important to people in the farming country round Chester.
FORESTON, Saratoga, Florenceville, Howard Center, New Oregon and Busti, are postoffice villages only, but there is a good future before several of these stations.
Humboldt County is situated on the Upper Des Moines Valley, its su- perficial area being four hundred and thirty-two square miles. The country is well supplied with running streams, the principal of which are Des Moines river, Boone river, Lotts creek, Indian creek, Beacon creek and Badger creek. The Des Moines river has two branch- es. These streams and their branches fairly cover the county, scarcely leav- ing any section without a stream or streams of some importance. There are several bodies of timber of consid- erable size bordering these streams, and a few groves of heavy timber scat- tered among the smaller creeks. The county altogether is not heavily tim- bered, but there is no spot in the coun- ty more than eight miles from a grove or belt of considerable extent. Five thousand acres of wooded land have been estimated as the area that has been left unravaged by destructive fires, but as usual now that settlement has begun the lands once wooded and aborted by continued fires will soon become clothed anew. The best wood and the largest quantities are found massed near the two branches of the Des Moines river.
Near Owl Lake there are some grassy marshes which can be expedi- tiously and economically drained whenever the exigencies of settlement demand such operations. Generally the county is high and rolling, with a high average of fertility, and the val- leys are unexceptionable in point of value. The soil is that which is cus- tomarily found overlying the drift formation in northern Iowa. The Des Moines river, on both branches, will become favorite locations for mills and other such works.
Good stone for building purposes can be found here, but chiefly the va- rieties of limestone are relied upon. The subcarboniferous formation is found on the Des Moines river in
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TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
quantity. Magnesian limestone capa- ble of a very high polish is found in some places, and limestone fit for man- ufacturing into quick lime is also very plentiful.
As though to compensate for the limited quantity of timber available for fuel, peat has been found in small quantities in the eastern townships of the county, and coal has been mined to some extent.
The earliest settlement by white men, known of in this county, was at Lotts Creek in 1852. The persons who settled there seemed to have for their main object the murder of some Indi- ans whose lodge was situated near the selection. Some years before, the In- dian chief had been engaged in effect- ing the removal of Lott from the In- dian territory, and the outrage which was soon after this time committed was designed to avenge that injury. The Indian chief and six members of his family were murdered by the whites, disguised as Indians, two only re- maining to tell the story of their wrongs, and to organize the vendetta which came with murderous destruc- tion upon the innocent, unsuspecting settlers, near Spirit Lake, afterwards. The scene of the outrage upon the In- dians is a creek known ever since that event as Bloody Run.
The first permanent settlement was commenced about two years later. Lott burned his cabin and left the country for parts unknown as soon as his revenge had been accomplished. A site near where Dakota City now stands was selected by the earliest per- manent residents in this county. Or- ganization was effected and the coun- ty seat located at Dakota City in 1857, but as usual this caused some bicker- ing.
DAKOTA CITY, the county seat, stands on a high prairie between the two arms of the Des Moines river which seem to embrace the location. There is a fine grove of timber near the city, which is three miles above the junc- tion of the two streams. There is a substantial brick court house here; a good school house; and a paper is published in Dakota. The first of- ficers elected to administer the affairs of the county at this point failed to qualify, and it became necessary to elect a new set of officials. Such honors seldom go a begging now.
HUMBOLDT was called Springvale at first, and it is located three miles above the junction of the two streams, on the east side of the west fork of the Des Moines river. The Des Moines valley is a beautiful site for a town, with the prairie lands sloping back, forming a crescent to the east, and the river for the other boundary. There are good streets, ample parks, shade trees, handsome residences, and besides all these features, Humboldt College, which has its location here, to add beauty to the scene. The school house, a fine building of lime- stome, cost $4,000, and it is very well conducted. There is a newspaper published in this town.
RUTLAND is built four miles west of the town last named, and the place mainly relies upon the water power near which it is located. Two mills are now in operation, and a third is about to be built.
There are some few other villages and post offices which must be named to complete the catalogue : McKnight's Point, Addison, Park Grove, Von. Vi- ona, Wacousta, Sumner, Nora and Randolph.
Ida County is the second cast from the Missouri, and in the fourth line from the northern boundary of Iowa, the area being four hundred and thirty- two square miles. There are several streams which travel over the territory, draining and watering the soil. Ma- ple river runs from northwest to south- est, in Ida county, with the Odebolt and Elk flowing in from the east, and Battle creek the principal tributary from the west. Soldier river waters the southern townships, running west- wards. Besides these there are many small streams which render important services to the county. The valleys are very beautiful to look upon, and fertile in an unsurpassed degree. Ma- ple valley is especially noted for such qualities, gratifying alike to taste and treasury. There are many very good mill sites on Maple river, but the wealth of water power in all parts of Iowa, seems to distract the attention of cap- italists. The valleys mentioned above contain a soil of rich, dark mold, very deep, and exceedingly fertile; in some cases the soil is found to be six feet deep.
The general character of the county
.
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is rolling prairie, in some places un- dulating, in some few broken, but not in any place too much broken to per- mit of thorough cultivation. There is some clay in the upland soil which renders it very well suited for wheat and other cereals. There is but a small quantity of timber at present in this county, but planting and natural growth will soon supply all require- ments. Ida grove, near Maple river, very near to the centre of the county, is the most considerable body of tim- ber found, and the whole area in the county does not exceed a thousand acres. Planting in such a case is a necessity.
Blue joint grass grows wild in this county, and can be harvested in vast quantities. Given only the requisite wood for shelter, and there is not a county in Iowa which would surpass this region for raising stock and for dairy farming. Well water can be procured at a depth of twenty-five feet in almost any part of the county, and generally at much less. The boulders often mentioned, left by the glacial visitors, are here the main dependence of builders, as there are no stratified rocks found on the surface. Bricks have been made of the bluff deposit, and there is a good quality of clay ob- tainable.
Wheat, oats, corn, rye, potatoes, and some fruits, chiefly the smaller frults, flourish here. Apples have been raised successfully, but in some few cases there have been failures.
The first white settlement in Ida county took place in 1856, at Ida Grove, on Maple river, and two years later the county was organized, the county seat being located at the spot where the first settlement was commenced.
IDA is the county seat, and the site has been described. The village com- mands a fine view of the surrounding country, from which by and by, great wealth will come to the population at the center. There was an Indian en- campment at one time on a ridge near Ida village, and the remains from the feasts of the warriors are still visible, half buried in the soil. Evidently the place was long frequented by the red men, as the trail which was worn by successive generations has cut deep into many parts of the track. It is not many years since the Indians took This county has expended $90,000 their departure from this part of Iowa. [ in public school buildings, without
There is no long list of towns and vil- lages to be chronicled in connection with this county ; Silver Creek and Wil- low Dale are the only post offices out- .side the town of Ida, and there are no railroads made nor projected to stim- ulate the community.
Iowa County contains an area of five hundred and seventy-six square miles, and stands the fourth county from the Mississippi river, in the fourth tier from the southern bound- ary of the state. This county is very heavily timbered; in some parts, a considerable surplus remaining after all local demands have been supplied. Well wooded streams traverse this re- gion north and south. Broken and un- even lands are found near the streams in some parts. Some of the bottom lands being low placed and somewhat too level, there will have to be some ingenuity exercised in draining such localities; but when these small mat- ters have been adequately cared for, it would be very difficult to find superior farming lands. Marengo, Kostza and Genoa Bluffs have table lands and river valleys of small extent which are wonderfully fertile. The North Eng- lish river and its tributaries, drain and water the southern portion of Iowa county, in which are found beautiful successions of timber land and fertile prairie, which are as delightful to the eye of the tourist as they prove in the experience of the farmer and grazier. In the southern parts of the county there is a plateau forming the " di- vide," between the streams of the north and the south, and a more fer- tile piece of prairie can hardly be con- ceived. There are occasional groves on the plateau which stretches from twelve to fifteen miles wide through the county east and west.
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