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 54
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The organization of Linn county progressed very satisfactorily, and, in 1839, the county seat was located at a site since known as Marion, and a tol- erably populous town.
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CEDAR RAPIDS, although it is not the county seat, is the most important town in Linn county. The Cedar river runs through Rapids township, and this eity stands on the east bank of that stream. There could hardly be found a more delightful location for a town. A plain, about half a mile in breadth, rising from the river bank, with a surface slightly rolling, just enough to secure drainage for the resi- dences of citizens, and every building site worthy of a palace. Rising from this plain, somewhat abruptly, are heights which vary from twenty to fifty feet, with terraees at many points on which substantial manufacturers and merchants have loeated their abodes, retaining, in part, the features of the forest which used to crown the whole of this elevation, and making the present appearance of the city of Cedar Rapids picturesque in the ex- treme. These residences extend for miles in every direction, testifying to the prosperity of the town in which the comforts and elegancies of these spacious homes are earned by skillful hand and able hrain taking hold of the natural advantages of the country.
South of the river is Valley City, but it is very evident that, before many years have rolled by, the whole will be known by one name. Already, an ob- server at a distance sees but one eenter of population, and thinks it is all Ce- dar Rapids City.
There is no rival to the greatness of this little metropolis within twenty miles, and the rich, extensive area of farming lands would, of itself, assure the future of this trading community, even if there were no water powers, no factories, nor any other of the won- drous facilities for producing wealth which are incidental to inventive skill and commercial energy. Railroads, leading from and to all parts of the country, have made the whole union familiar with the name of Cedar Rap- ids, and happily the reputation of the eity does not dim itself by any evil reeord. The men who have built up this flourishing town have watched over the best interests of their sueeess- ors by building their fortunes slowly on a basis which must endure.
The water powers made avilable for manufacturers by Cedar Rapids will locate a large number of valuable works at a point very near to the Mis-
sissippi river, the advantages attend- ant upon which circumstance will be seen at a glance. There is no better assemblage of powers in the world than can be found at this point on the Cedar river, and local capitalists have not been slow to avail themselves of their opportunity. A dam and a race which have cost $30,000, have been constructed and other operations are already projected. There is no other point, which ean be made in contem- plating the future, more certain than that the city of Cedar Rapids will be a great manufacturing center, giving employment to thousands of handi- craftsmen and artificers, as well as a prosperous shipping place for an im- mense farming district.
Cedar Rapids first attracted settlers in 1839, but there had been a gang of desperadoes, horse thieves and others in the neighborhood long before, and they were driven out of the country in 1851. The attempt to establish a town of Columbus at this point in 1838 was a failure. A dam was constructed across the river in 1842, and two years later there were two saw mills and a flouring mill in operation, one ot which had been at work more than twelve months. Another flouring mill was built in 1846, a woolen mill in 1848; then a steam engine was intro- dueed, and from that time there have been paper mills, a second woolen mill, newspapers, factories and workshops innumerable to meet the wants and provide for the comforts of a popula- tion of over seven thousand persons in the eity, and an ever inereasing com- munity distributed over the farms of the distriet. The number of newspa- pers published at Cedar Rapids is simply legion. The property, real and personal, assessed in 1875, in the city, amounted $1,769,857, and the growth keeps on in an increasing ratio. The school provision at this point is as good as could be desired for a young community, and there is a manifest determination on the part of those con- cerned to make every improvement that may be suggested by scientific ad- vaneement.
MARION, the county seat, was found- ed in 1839, when commissioners were appointed to locate the seat of govern- ment. Unlike most towns in a new country, it had neither river nor lake to make its position picturesque; but
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the groves with which it may he said | al to study in almost any form entitles to be surrounded would satisfy the most exigeant lover of the beautiful. From the admirably wooded land in which it was first platted, the citizens appeared to have learned how to plant trees and shrubberies in the highest perfection, and the ornamentation of their homes and grounds in that way seems to have become a passion. Their park is a marvel of beauty, and their residences are made elegant by trees of all kinds, and variegated flowering shrubs.
What has been said about the groves in the midst of which Marion was lo- cated, conveys the fact that the county seat has an abundance of choice tim- ber within easy reach. Soon after the town had been laid off, settlers came pouring in from all parts of the state, and business hecame brisk beyond the most sanguine expectations.
In the year 1841, a school house was built, and that erection continued long after to be used for religious ser- vices as well as for schooling the juve- nile population. The provision for such work is now on a much larger scale; the churches are numerous and handsome, and the central high school building, which was erected in 1869, cost $25,000. There are other schools besides that carried on in the central building, and the whole are graded in such a manner as to secure the best re- sults from the labors of the several teachers.
The population of Marion is a little over two thousand, according to the census of 1875, and the number of workshops and factories within the limits of the city will necessitate a much wider expansion of the corpo- rate city limits to provide for the mul- titude of workmen attracted by its en- terprise and general prosperity.
The court honse at Marion is sub- stantial but not beautiful, although it cost the county $40,000. when erected in 1842. There is a jail also in the city, for which an expenditure of $15,000 was incurred in 1858. And the alms house is located upon a farm, which is about six miles from the city, and which has cost, up to the present time, $12,000.
WESTERN COLLEGE is located eight miles from the city of Cedar Rapids going southeast. It is sectional in its aims, but the general culture incident-
the institution to notice as one of the evidences of the general well being of the community in which it is placed. The building is of brick, with exten- sive and well shaded grounds, in a de- lightful area of country. The man- agement have made special provision for lady students, and as a whole the college must be pronounced an un- equivocal success. The first buildings were erected in 1856, and many addi- tions have since been made as occa- sions have arisen. When the college was first opened there were fifty eight students, and it is gratifying to note that the present number is three hun- dred and ten, the institution being in a flourishing condition, the rates for tuition low and results excellent.
CORNELL COLLEGE is at Mount Ver- non, sixteen miles from Cedar Rapids, going east, on the Chicago and North- western railroad, and the city in which it is located is one of the most orderly description to be found anywhere in the United States. The grounds are high and finely shaded, the building occupies an elevated site, and the scenery in all directions is superb. This also is a sectional institution ; in- deed there are very few such establish- ments possible apart from sects and or- ganizations having peculiar views, unless in those cases in which the gen- eral government or the state assume the responsibility of education on a basis of indifference as to religion.
In the Cornell college as in the Western college, there is one very re- freshing feature in common; the col- lege course with all the degrees, is as free to one sex as to the other. That is as it should be. It is time for the whole nation to de- termine, that the race shall be an equitable one, between man and woman, with equal honors, rights and emoluments, to be won by the most worthy, without regard to sex, and in- asmuch as the older colleges and uni- versities are barred against the pres- ence of women, every new institution which starts on the career of educa- tion, opening its doors to young women as well as to young men, should have God speed from every faithtul soul.
The resources in every other respect are full of promise for the future of Linn county, and as we have seen, the
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educational prospect is well worthy of the state of Iowa.
Lonisa County is one of the favored sections, with a frontage to the Missis- sippi river, in the third tier north of the Missouri boundary, and it con- tains a superficial area of about three hundred and eight miles. The county is on the whole well watered, the prin- cipal stream in the interior is the Iowa river, and the Cedar river joins that stream in the northern part of the county. Among the smaller streams, Goose, Crooked and Short creeks lie in the northwestern, Long creek in the center, and Otter creek in the southern part of the county, but all on the west side of the river Iowa. The Indian is the only stream of any importance on the east side, and its course lies through the central and southern sections of this region. Muscatine slough is a large bayou which has a course of about fif- teen miles in Louisa county. The creeks, rivers and bayous are all skirted with timber in considerable quantities; in some cases there are very large groves and it is estimated that nearly one half of the area of the county is woodland, the rest being prairie or untimbered valleys and bottom lands fit for immediate culti- vation. There are in this county the usually observed features of bluffs, bold and almost precipitous, in some cases fronting on the Mississippi and the Iowa rivers, but the general charac- ter of the surface is rolling. The soil, a very heavy dark loam and in some places very deep, almost defics exhaustion. The staple productions need not be enumerated.
Limestone quarries are numerous in the southeastern townships, and the stone obtainable is of an excellent quality for building purposes. The manufacture of quick lime is largely carried on. Bricks can be made wherever men are inclined to make search for suitable material, and there will be a considerable demand for bricks in this county.
The streams in some places give very good water power, but the loca- tions are not so numerous here as along some streams flowing through other counties that have been de- scribed.
mouth of the Iowa river, an ancient fortification behind which the mound builders may have made good their de- fense for a time against savage and predatory neighbors, but there is no man to write the history of the dark and troubled time from which so many hints continually reach us. Were there only inscriptions upon their remains, some Rawleson or Lay- ard might decipher the connected story, but the mounds and a few ruins are all, except here and there scraps of pottery, which say hardly anything of the mental status of the potter who had power over that clay. Some bones have been found which would indicate a race of giants, and skulls of a caliber which dwarfs the largest occiput of our time, but also who can say whether these osseous remains came from an average man or an exception. Many of the remains undoubtedly indicate nothing gigantic in the men who have left their cerements of clay "By life's unresting sea."
Graziers find the bottom lands in this county exceedingly well adapted to their business, their cattle are more or less protected by the clumps of tim- ber, they find water of the best quality for their use, and the native grass which springs abundant beneath their feet, is sufficiently nutritious to fatten them ready for the market. Stock raisers cannot discover a better coun- try. The land which the cattle breed- ers of Iowa are now busily engaged in utilizing in Louisa county to day was for many centuries undoubtedly the favorite hunting grounds of the tribes over whom Black Hawk and Keokuk were chiefs. Wild animals and their hunters haunted the grounds of old time where their civilized successors bring their more valuable domesticat- ed animals now. The charms of fertil- ity which held the one, attracted the other also.
The first white settlements in this county date from 1835, after which time the pioneers were speedily found in all parts of the county seeking fav- orable locations for their special de- signs. The name of the county was given in honor of a young woman mentioned by us in the history of Dn- buque county who shot a man because he had declared that he would shoot her brother. The deed was admired
There is a curious ruin near the | sufficiently to secure for the heroine
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as much of immortallty as is involved in the perpetuation of her first name among the records of the county, and is a household word among the people. The county was organized in 1837.
WAPELLO was surveyed and platted in 1838, and is the county seat of Louisa county, under the authority of a popular vote taken in 1839. The name of the town perpetuates the memory of an Indian chief who ruled over a village of Musquakas on the site now occupied by the county seat. The town stands on the west side of the Iowa, about six miles from the first landing on the Mississippi river, although the river on which the town rises travels sixteen miles further be- fore reaching the mighty stream. The town was incorporated in 1855 and its position as a depot on the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota Railroad secures for the people residing there a large amount of shipping and other business. The water powers at this point are very good and a little outlay would make them first class. The country round Wapello is very good indeed and there will be a large ship- ping of cereals and live stock from this point.
COLUMBUS JUNCTION is a station town en the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota Railroad in which a large business is done by a compara- tively small population. The place thrives and will grow.
There are several other villages and post offices with more or less of popu- lation and business in Louisa county, and pursuant to our practice hitherto, we append their names: Clifton, Cairo, Columbus City, Grand View, Fredonia, Letts, Morning Sun, Mid Prairie, Port Louisa, Port Allen, Twin Oak and Toolsborough.
Lucas County is one of the center counties in the state of Iowa, in the second tier from the southern bound- ary of the state, and its area consists of about 276,480 acres. The great watershed which sends its streams partly to the Missouri and partly to the Mississippi, has its ridge line in this county, running almost east and west, but in somewhat irregular course. Near the north line of the southern tier of townships there is a narrow strip of land almost level, as though the country had been loth to decide
between the two rivers, seeing that both were neighbors. On the south side there is no hesitation, the surface bending eagearly toward the Charlton river, a stream which makes a bend into this region from Clark county, and after a brief but pleasant stay, leaves Lucas county to travel south. The stream receives many tributaries in its course, some of them by no means small. The indecision noticed above continues on the northern side, the state of doubt is still visible in the " lingering steps and slow " with which the descent is made. The little streams go toyingly along, meander- ing among the undulating slopes by which very numerous tributaries glide onward to the Des Moines river. Whitebreast creek, with two forks running more than half through the county, gathers up many of these tiny streams. The Des Moines river, by its feeders, takes the drainage of the northeast and southeast angles of the county. The whole of the rivers and streams in this county are contorted by the peculiarities of the watershed, making the river system one of the picturesque that can be found when it is viewed as a whole from some conl- manding eminence.
There is no better drained county in the state; every township has a con- siderable stream, and some have more than one into which affluents pour their offering, after they have irrigated the surrounding country and brought away the moisture that is not required for use or storage. The general eleva- tion of Lucas county is about one thousand feet above the river level, a sufficient guarantee with such a con- tour as we have indicated that the country must be well drained.
The outline of the county is much diversified. The top of the divide, and the subordinate surfaces which trend in the same direction, are almost level, but these uplands are broken con- siderably by ravines as they approach the water courses, and in these recesses young forests are springing up with lusty growth. Then there are valleys, not gently hollowed out by nature in a graceful mood, but angular valleys, flat in the bottom land and rudely end- ing in the steep rocks by which they are shut in. Some of these formations are very deep, the sides rising with more or less of the abrupt character
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indicated, until the uplands are reached, two hundred feet above. In the valley of the Whitebreast there is a terrace formation of considerable extent crossing the valley about twen- ty-five feet above the level of the stream. Such formations in the valley of the Salt Lake, as at Heher's Beach and at Ogden, indicate what probably was once the shore of the vast lake which spread from that level in the Wahsatch mountains to beyond Lake Erie, with only a few islands to break the inland sea, hut this feature is unique or almost unique in the to- pography of Iowa, and it is not easy to assign its cause. Enough has been said to demonstrate the wide variety of scene presented in Lucas county.
Drift deposits prevail, having been distributed over the surface to a con- siderable depth, and the geologist has fine material here from which to com- pile a chapter of the history of the earth's crust. Gravel beds which in many places underlie the drift are ab- sent here or but very slightly devel- oped. Through such deposits in the absence of stratified rocks, partially or entirely, the streams have easily cut their way to great depths, until the coal measures have presented more formi- dable opposition to the water's force. The Charlton valleys sometimes over- flow and probably for that reason they are filled with a rich vegetable mould upon which the native grasses come to rare excellence. Tame grasses, when they are cared for, flourish in these localtities. Forests of native timber are found in some of these bot- tom lands, and as a consequence the farmer is shut out from these locali- ties, but in the other department of his avocation as a grazier and a dairy farmer, he procures good value in the rich feed and the perfect shelter which these wooded excavations along the river beds afford to his cattle. Where timber has not grown, the soil gives a rich crop which cannot be surpassed.
The upland soil is deep, containing much vegetable mould, and is found very productive, as is customary with the soil overlying the porous drift for- mation and subsoil; a natural reser- voir for the moisture which is not wanted upon the surface during rainy seasons, but which in dry spells be- comes of priceless value. Prairie sur- face is common on the uplands, but
throughout this county there is a large average of wooded land, sufficient for every use of fuel, building or fencing, to which the people may find it necessary to apply their arborescent treasure.
Coal has been found in the county in the upper, middle and lower coal measures, distributed in various parts of the county; but the actual area, beneficially occupied, has not been satisfactorily ascertained. Certain it is that there is an abundance of fuel, not only for home consumption but also for shipment, but it is probable that in some places the operation of mining must be carried on at great depths.
Many of the streams have cut down through the drift to the coal measures ; and in the narrow valleys which are found along their sides, the capitalists will, it is probable, locate their shafts --- with due precautions against occas- ional floods-finding, in that way, much of the unprofitable work done to his hand. Where the coal beds have been worked, their quality has been found to be good, and the thick- ness such as to pay well for working.
Stone quarries, of excellent quality for building purposes, have been opened in many localities; and there is no difficulty in finding the materials for quick-lime wherever it is required. Limestone and sandstone are found, the first near Charlton, the latter in the northeast of the county; and brick- makers' clay can be found in the drift formation or among the coal measures, of excellent quality, in quantities to fill any demand.
The soil and climate of this county, and the configuration of surface de- scrihed, will assist those of our readers who are interested in agricultural pur- suits, to determine what crops are most likely to succeed. Those who do not know anything about the mat- ter would hardly thank us for an elab- orate description which, in the main, must only repeat what has been writ- ten in describing other counties Stock raising has succeeded admir- ably, and the pursuit will increase in importance every year.
The Osage orange hedge has been cultivated by the farmers in this county with excellent results, as that growth makes a permanent fence, absolutely impregnable to cattle, after due care
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has been bestowed on its renewal in cases of accident, for a few years.
The county is well provided with railway accommodation, as the Chi- cago, Burlington and Quincy com- pany, operating the Burlington and Missouri River railroad, traverses the region, bringing every settler within an easy distance of some point at which he enters, upon the best lines of travel for a journey across the con- tinent. Charlton is one of the stations of a branch of this line.
The Mormons, making their flight from Illinois, and bending all their energies toward the land where they are now seated, or indeed to any land beyond the probability of contact with gentiles, passed through Lucas county. At this point they remained for about a year to recruit their ener- gies, before they resumed their march. Joe Smith was dead, and a much more able man had secured the doubtful honor of leadership. The half deluded man who was shrewd enough to per- suade his followers that he could walk upon the surface of the deep, had fallen a martyr to violence, and his disciples more than ever thought him a saint. They were now convinced that they were a chosen people, going in search of the promised land, and there was among the most ignorant a fervor which would have accounted it a small matter to move a mountain. Some were fanatical enough to spoil the Egyptians by any means, with or without orders from their superiors. Many of them afterwards committed murder when they were sent out as "Danites " and "Destroying Angels" by the head of the church; but they were welded into a great semi-military force by the pressure of discipline, and they were ready to eke out, by craft and duplicity, what they could not accomplish by fanaticism and violence. They concern us chiefly in this case as having been the first white settlers in Lucas county. Here, in considerable numbers, they built them- selves log cabins, worked rude farms and collected the produce.
When they were gone on their way to Council Bluffs, the announced ren- dezvous, it was not likely that any white man would speedily come into this region, but in the latter part of 1847, a white family came to the neigh- borhood of the site of Charlton and
made a home for his family. The work never flagged from that time ; one family came after another without preconcert for some time, but the con- tinuous stream kept on, and there were eight families assembled at a town called Inland, toward the end of 1848. The county was organized in 1849, and the place, now known as Charlton, was selected as the site for the county seat. The name then pro- posed was Polk, it was then changed to Charlton Point, a name by which one of the carly settlements is still known, but eventually the site being approved, the appellation agreed upon and adopted was Charlton.
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