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 61
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
Muscatine Island is a piece of land only just reclaimed from the Missis- sippi, being cut off from the main land by what is known as Muscatine
605
SKETCHES OF COUNTIES.
slough. The island is prodigiously fertile, but we would not like to guar- anty its value as a sanitary station. For some time it was treated as a place not capable of habitation, but it is now protected by a levee, and presents an area eighteen miles long, five miles wide at the broadest part, and contain- ing twenty thousand acres of land. Some of the most profitable farms in Muscatine county are on this island, and all kinds of vegetables come to an early perfection.
This county is peculiarly adapted to stock raising, as the whole area is well supplied with springs and streams. Grass grows spontaneously everywhere, sufficient to meet the wants of cattle during spring, summer and autumn, and, with the trouble of harvesting, there can be hay enough secured anywhere to supply the wants of all the stock likely to be kept for many years, through the most inclem- ent winter ever likely to visit this part of the state of Iowa.
The productions of this county are so similar to the productions of every other county in the state, that, in mer- cy to our readers, we abridge the rec- ord, saying that, with due care in his selection of land and choice of crops or cattle, there is no reason why the settler should not prosper as well in Muscatine county as in any other part of Iowa.
This county has nearly one half of its eastern and southern boundary formed by the Mississippi river, a ri- parian privilege which will largely af- fect the future history of Muscatine towns and cities. The Cedar runs through the center of the county, with an average breadth of nearly two hun- dred yards, navigable as far as Cedar Rapids at certain seasons of the year ; indeed, at one time much traffic from the city of Cedar Rapids used to come by this route before railroads came with their superior facilities, and this river, flowing into the Mississippi, gives a further water privilege of vast extent to the county. Besides these rivers, there are many smaller streams which are worthy of mention. The Wapsinonoc, a creek which preserves its Indian name signifying "white earth," is a considerable stream which runs through the county, emptying it- self eventually into the Cedar. Sugar creek is a smaller stream, which runs
through Muscatine county to the same river, near the town of Moscow. Pine creek waters four townships in this county, but eventually leaves this re- gion before it finds its outlet to the Mississippi. Mud, Sweatland, Pap- poose and Mad creeks are smaller tributaries of the great river, most of them running into the Cedar river en route to the other.
Muscatine slough has been men- tioned already for the part which it performs in making an island in the Mississippi. It is supposed that this bayou was once the main channel of the Mississippi, but that the gradual deposit of sedimentary matter formed a barrier to its progress in that direc- tion and compelled it, out of regard for its own handiwork, to force a pass- age in some other direction. The bars at the mouths of rivers are continually being formed in a similar way ou a somewhat smaller scale. The deltas of the Nile owe their existence to such operations, and, on a far grander scale, the banks of Newfoundland are being built by the gradual accretions and de- posits of that wonderful river of warm water in the sea-the Gulf Stream. The Muscatine slough unites again with the Mississippi above the mouth of the Iowa river, after making a de- tour of thirty miles, with an average volume about thirty yards across.
There are many chalybeate springs in this county which will be some day valued for their medicinal qualities; but at the present they are disliked as bad tasting water by those who have no natural nor acquired predilection for iron tinctures. The clear and beau- tiful springs of water, without any tinctures worth naming, are naturally enough valued far higher than the first mentioned, and the latter are far more numerous. There is hardly any area of country in the union better qualified for raising first-class stock than Muscatine county, and some of the bluffs which look down upon the slough shut in land of the very high- est value for farming and stock rais- ing.
One acre in eight of the area of Mus- catine county is under timber, some portion being due to the enterprise of farmers who have planted groves. The native timber covers more than thirty. two thousand acres, and the wood plant. ed scarcely exceeds one thousand.
606
TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
These groves when due to settlers have been intended as much for shelter for themselves, their stock and their crops as for profit in other directions, but eventually they will find a good return even in that way upon their invest- ment. Hedges of Osage orange have been planted in this county with the same design, and in some parts on the prairie the presence of that new fea- ture in the landscape makes quite a pleasant diversity in the scene.
Limestone quarries have been found and worked in some places on the banks of old Mississippi, where good stone has been obtained for build- ing purposes, and there is an un- bounded supply fit for the manu- facture of quicklime. Sandstone is a much more common stratum in this county, and quarries of this material have been opened in many places. Coal has been found in many places in this county, but it will not be reckoned among the great coal pro- ducing areas. The beds are thin and not of first quality. Where deposits are found in favorable positions for economical working, as for instance exposed in a bank or a bluff, so that it cau be quarried at a minimum of cost, the material is worth the trouble of winning, but it is not likely to pay for mining in the best way, and for that reason, it is an incident, not a resource.
Muscatine county was part of the ter- ritory ceded to the general government in 1832, when the Black Hawk war came to an end. The leader in that wretched enterprise was a fine looking man of rather unsociable manners, but evidently very powerful, a person very likely to obtain a mastery over the savage nature. After his attempt had been extinguished in blood, Black Hawk was removed from authority by the great chief Keokuk who was of much higher rank among the Mus- quakas, the tribe into which the Sac and Fox Indians had merged. Many Indian lodges stood on the territory which was ceded by the treaty of pur- chase, and three years were given to the warriors and their squaws to make arrangements for removal before they were to abandon their old hunting grounds, and the place where the ashes of their fathers had been laid, so that there were many opportunities for the early settlers to study the economy of their Indian neighbors.
The first white man's abode sup- posed to have been erected in this sec- tion of territory was a cabin at Musca- tine landing, where the agent of some traders resided for the greater conven- ience of his employers in delivering freight to the several Indian villages adjoining that position. That cabin was erected in 1833 and was occupied by the agent until 1835, about the time when the red men, under their treaty, were bound to quit their lands. The nations of old, when they made war, carried away the conquered people to live in captivity, but the more civil- ized warriors and diplomatists of our age care much more for real estate then they do for the people whom they may dispossess. That was the first res- ident, but the agent, using the cabin only as a store, could hardly be called a settler. The first home made in the county with a purpose of settlement was in the year 1834, near Pine creek. The Indians were still on the ground, but their right had been narrowed down to a permissive occupancy for a limited period. The first `comer platted a town and called it Montpelier, but like the spirits called from the vasty deep, those who might have been the population, would not come, so that the design was in that respect a failure. The site chosen for that town was about twelve miles above Mus- catine, and the fact that it entirely died out, while settlement was pro- gressing in other directions, may be taken as conclusive evidence that the position and surroundings were ineligi- ble.
The next attempt to lay off a town was made near the spot on which the trader's cabin stood, at a point where the river Mississippi was deep and the bank declivitous, permitting of large boats coming alongside the natural quay or wharf at all seasons. From these commencements, the work of settlement went on, and towns were platted in many places before the sur- veys had been made on behalf of the government. Until the year 1836, this territory was attached to Michigan, and for about two years after that time, Wisconsin territory held a kind of governing power, when a separate organization was effected, and the ter- ritory of Iowa began to exercise the jurisdiction which is now wielded by the sovereign state of Iowa.
607
SKETCHES OF COUNTIES.
The laws which were enacted by the | ington; the name Muscatine was sub- people of one territory, to mect the stituted at a later date. The first school was taught in 1837, so that it will be seen that Muscatine county was not very slow in commencing the work of education in which it has since hecome distinguished. The first school house was erected in 1839, and for some time thereafter, in the town of Blomington, that building was used for all public meetings and for church services, as well as for occasional merry makings. wants of another, were often ill adapted to the circumstances with which they were intended to deal, consequently the settlers made regula- tions of their own, which were en- forced by courts of a very popular de scription, with a posse comitatus of the whole population, whenever some man obtruded himself, upon merely legal rights, where the rude equities of the time made him unwelcome. In the main, the decisions of this wit- enagemote must have been just, as the progress of events when, by and hy, it brought settled institutions and better laws, customarily sustained the ver- dicts and the action of the primitive tribunals.
When county organization was ef. feeted the county seat was located at Muscatine in 1838, and all the holders of claims on the territory were allowed to procure their titles in due course for the lands which they had occupied under the arrangements of the earliest association. Very few of the parties exhibited discontent, and only one person made it necessary to have re- course to the courts. In his case it is satisfactory to state, that the courts gave a decision against him, and the supreme court reaffirmed the verdict in favor of the community at large.
The first post-office was opened in this county in 1837, and stores came very slowly in the order of progress; the year 1838 saw much more rapid advancement, and since that time Mus- catine county has gone ahead rapidly.
There was a strange emhroilment during part of the year 1839. which arose in consequence of disputes as to territory between Missouri and Iowa, but the affair was at last satisfactorily arranged. There was at one time a great prospect of fighting, but when the volunteers came to the point, a compromise was effected on a basis which has been sustained.
Bancroft says the name of the county was derived from Musquitine, the ap- pellation of a tribe of Indians who were residents on the lake country two centuries ago, but there are differ- ences of opinion among the learned on that point, and " who shall decide when doctors disagree ?"
The name of the county seat when the location was first made was Bloom-
Railroad companies have been mind- ful of their own interests in providing for the wants of Muscatine county. The Muscatine and Weston railroad, which has its main depot at the county sext, and runs west from that point, is now completed across the county, and over part of Johnson county, forming a junction with the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota railroad at the town of Nichols. The main line of the Burlingion, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota road runs through the west- ern section of Muscatine county, cross- ing, at the town of Liberty, the Chi- cago, Rock Island and Pacific rail- road, which runs through the northern townships, with a southwestern branch which connects Muscatine city with the town of Wilton, and with the rail- way system of the whole union. The accommdation thus provided is toler- ably complete, and the competing companies are ready for further devel- opments in whatever direction may seem most likely to increase the aver- age of their returns.
The public school system in Musca- tine county will bear comparison with that of any other county in the state for general efficiency. The old schools, which were rudely built in the early days of the colony, are being replaced by other and much more elegant structures which contain all the latest improvements deemed essential for the highest results in tuition. The . teachers have occasional institutes. which assist in no small degree to lift even the best educators from the ruts into which they are prone to subside ; and the normal classes are credited with having aceomplished excellent results in preparing young men and women to assume the high trust in- volved in the charge of schools.
There is a good county agricultural society in Muscatine, with extensive
ยท
608
TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
grounds in very good condition, and there has been an annual fair ever since 1853. The society is now very prosperous and its grounds adjoin Muscatine city, the county seat.
MUSCATINE is a city which will at- tain very great prosperity. The posi- tion which it occupies, at the great bend of the Mississippi near the island of Muscatine, gives it an earnest of commercial success which has been well sustained by the general develop- ment of the place. Here the great river comes nearer than at any other point in its course to the center of the state of Iowa, and the fine landing which was long since ascertained to exist at this site gives superior facili- ties to Muscatine city, as a distributing focus for general merchandise coming from various points by river and by railroad. The high land on which the city stands secures certain hygienic conditions, without which wealth and fortune are but aggravations of misery, and the drainage of the town can hardly be improved. Viewed as a ship- ping point for farmers and graziers, there are few cities in the world which possess so many advantages. Mus- catine island is close at hand with an immense wealth of products which can always be brought early to the consumer, and back of the city there is splendid land upon which some of the best agriculturists in the world have located their farms with all kinds of appliances to economize labor and to secure the best results from every outlay, while the soil at their feet gives them unsurpassable crops upon every effort put forth by them.
The city is not young and new, but although many of the blocks are old and touched by the tooth of time, there are some very fine buildings, quite new, and very substantial, and as the progress of decay or accident may in- crease the area of dilapidation, the city like the fabled bird will rise from its ashes, more glorious than ever be- fore. As before mentioned, this site was first named Bloomington, and the appellation was changed upon due de- liberation some years afterward. Very many of the premises referred to as among the aged habitations of business men date from the very earliest days of the firat nomination. Before that period the aspect of the country at the site of Muscatine city caused it to be
called Grindstone Bluffs, but under all the circumstances perhaps Muscatine is the better title, more especially as it serves to retain some memory of the old tribes and the early settlers. The day will come when a few names and words scattered sparsely in our no- menclature of cities, and in our history of events, will be all of the past that will remind us of the people who were contented to roam in these western wilds, before the days of Amerigo Ves- pucci and Columbus.
Muscatine was incorporated as a city in 1851; four years later the cars of the first railroad, then known as the Mississippi and Missouri, but now as the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad, came tearing into the city, as if fearing that some rival might have stormed the position before their ar- rival, and within two years from that date, there were gas works erected on low land near Muacatine township, which gave a grand illumination to the city in 1857. Within the current de- cade, the growth of the place has been more remarkable than at any former period in its development. Lands have gone up in value, building lots have been in demand at fair prices, and great enterprise has been displayed in the erection of stores for the rapidly increasing demands of traffic.
The lumber interest in Muscatine city is very large, and if the business in that department is to go on growing as it has done for some few years past, it will be necessary for every husband- man to employ his leisure in planting groves. The advantage which comes of that kind of enterprise is manifold. the trecs give shelter in winter and shade in summer, in every case favor- ably affecting the climate, the cattle find succulent and tender grass in such nooks and corners as the groves afford, the crops flourishing around to leaward of these plantations, grow bet- ter than in the open prairie, and in due time, with only the first labor necessery in the planting, a piece of broken land has become a valuable property capable of extending its own area and affording continuous returns.
There are several manufactories in Muscatine city and suburbs, many of them identified with the lumber trade, going on to make up into doora and sashes the material which the sawing mills employ some five hundred men
609
SKETCHES OF COUNTIES.
in preparing for the market, and in selling in the several yards. Besides there are factories in which furniture of all kinds is made; carriage and wagon shops, extensive flouring mills, agricultural implement manufactories, and an endless range of industries which will go on increasing their im- portance as long of the country back of the city, and the union at large, can find a market for goods of genuine merit.
The school buildings in this city are not among the edifices touched by old Father Time. They are fresh from the mint, many of them, and all con- tain the latest improvements for ap. peal to the minds of the young. There are several of these buildings, the schools are graded, the teachers are excellent, the attendance exemplary, and the results correspondingly good.
The newspapers in Muscatine city are numerous, and they watch over the welfare of city and county with un- wearying vigilance. As a rule, they are well managed, vigorously written and very well supported.
WEST LIBERTY is in the northwest corner of Muscatine county, and is a flourishing town, standing just where the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad crosses the line of the Bur- lington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota company, in the center of a fine tract of agricultural country. The village contains about nine hundred inhab- itants, and it is very steadily growing in wealth and importance. There is a very large steam fiouring mill in the village, and nearly every industry is represented among the citizens, from the blacksmith's forge and the car- riage factory to a really creditable bank.
The several churches have very pre- sentable edifices in the village, and the school accommodation is excellent. Besides these there is an enterprising newspaper, consequently every class in the community is provided with the means of intellectual culture.
WILTON is a village about one-third larger than the foregoing, and is a well built town, on the line of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad. The southwestern branch of that road here joins the main line, and the very fertlle country which surrounds Wilton finds here an excellent point for effecting shipments. On the western boundary
there is a fine grove, which is gradual- ly encroaching upon the prairie, and the growing timber, some of which is of very large size, gives quite a rural aspect to this center of industry. The town of Wilton was laid out in 1855, and the settlement was commenced in 1856. Cereals and live stock are shipped from this station in great quantities, and a local trade of much value is steadily growing. There is a large flouring mill here, and two news- papers. The churches are well sus- tained, and the schools, which are graded, do credit to all concerned.
O'Brien County stands second from the western and also from the northern boundary line of the state of Iowa. The county is twenty-four miles square, and therefore it contains five hundred and seventy-six square miles. It is supposed that the county was named in honor of an Italian settler, but no- body stands prepared to vouch for that fact.
The Little Sioux river, which is really much larger than the diminu- tive prefix would imply, is the largest stream in O'Brien county, but it only crosses the southeastern extremity of the district. Waterman and Mill creeks are tributaries of the first men- tioned stream, and they drain the cen- tral and southern townships. Henry creek rises in the northeast. Floyd river has many branches in the north- west, and does good service.
Timber is not liberally supplied to this region, although there are some fine groves on the Little Sioux river. The fault of the limited supply is not due to the soil, as wherever, since set- tlement commenced, the land has been protected from the fires which used to- sweep over this territory, there are now promising growths of native tim- ber, which need only time to give them much value. In addition to these fea -. tures in the growth of wood, many of the farmers have planted groves upon their holdings, and their industry is. being crowned with very flattering success. From these several sources it may be hoped that in the course of ten years, the surface of O'Brien county will present a more picturesque ap- pearance.
Wild grass flourishes everywhere, and the cattle fatten upon that descrip- tion of food, which can be cured to
39
610
TUTTLE'S HISTORY OF IOWA.
make first class hay. The usual vari- | the appellation Pringhar; hence the eties of soil are found in this county, nomination. The surrounding coun- try is very fertile, and the future of the place may be considered assured. The town is well drained, and is situated on a fine section of prairie. rich on the prairies, but richer on the bottom lands, which follow the courses of the principal streams, where the rich vegetable mold is strengthened by a tenacious subsoil of clay. The bluff deposit, with an admixture of mold, makes the soil of the uplands, and the value of such lands to the farmer needs no elucidation.
Quarries are not found in this coun- ty, but there are numerous boulders which serve the purposes of building stone, quick lime and other such de- mands, pretty well. Good bricks are made from the bluff formation, conse- quently there is no difficulty in erect- ing substantial fire proof buildings.
Coal has not been found in this county, and consequently the depend- ence of the people for fuel must he placed in groves of timber, unless dis- tant sources of supply are sought.
Water has been found wherever it has been sought, for stock purposes, and food being abundant, there will he excellent returns obtainable by farmers who give their attention to this pursuit in addition to agriculture.
The first settlement was made in 1856, when some men brought their families here from Bremer county, and made their homes. The county was organized in 1860, and the seat of ad- ministration was located at O'Brien, a town of some note in the southeast- ern angle of the county. This was the principal settlement in O'Brien county at that time, and long afterwards, un- til the Sioux City and St. Paul Rail- road was constructed. When the per- manent location of the county seat came to be determined in the year 1872, a vote of the people was given in favor of the county seat being estab- lished in the center. There was no town at that point, but there was no difficulty in making a start. The town of Pringhar was founded immediately, and the glory departed from the place which bore the same name as the county.
PRINGHAR, the county seat since the year 1872, is not extensive, but it is well laid out, with a fine park, and much hope of advancement. The names of the men who were engaged in laying off the county seat were robbed of their initials, and the string- ing together of tliese first letters made | elsewhere.
SHELDON is in the northwest of the county, on the line of the Sioux City and St. Paul Railroad, situated on a beautiful prairie, which rises from the line of travel, and slopes back to the higher lands back of the town. The first house was erected here soon after the railroad was opened, in January, 1873, and the business transacted at this depot will eventually build up a large local trade.
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.