USA > Iowa > Story County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Story County, Iowa > Part 3
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
In consequence of the recedence to the south- ward of the borders of the middle and upper coal measures, the lower coal measures alone exist to the eastward and northward of Des Moines River. They also occupy a large area westward and sonthward of that river, but their southerly dip passes them below the middle coal measures at no great distance from the river. No other formation in the whole State possesses the economic value of the lower coal measures. The' clay that underlies almost every bed of coal furnishes a large amount of material for potters' use. The sandstone of these measures is usually soft and unfit, but in some places, as near Red Rock, in Marion County, blocks of large dimensions are ob- tained, which make good building material, samples of which can be seen in the State Arsenal, at Des Moines. On the whole, that portion of the State occupied by the lower coal measures is not well supplied with stone. But few fossils have been found in any of the strata of the lower coal measures, but such animal remains as have been found are, without excep- tion, of marine origin. Of fossil plants found in these measures, all probably belong to the class acrogens. Specimens of calamites and several species of ferns are found in all of the coal measures, but the genus lepidodendron seems not to have existed later than the epoch of the middle coal measures.
The middle coal measures within the State of Iowa occupy a narrow belt of territory in the southern-central portion of the State, em- bracing a superficial area of about 1,400 square miles. The counties more or less underlaid by this formation are Guthrie, Dallas, Polk, Madison, Warren, Clarke, Lucas, Monroe, Wayne and Appanoose. This formation is composed of alternating beds of clay, sandstone and limestone, the clays or shales constituting the bulk of the formation, the limestone occur-
ring in their bands, the lithological peculiarities of which offer many contrasts to the limestones of the upper and lower coal measures. The formation is also characterized by regular wave- like undulations, with a parallelism which indi- cates a widespread disturbance, though no dis- location of the strata have been discovered. Generally speaking, few species of fossils occur in these beds. Some of the shales and sand- stone have afforded a few imperfectly pre- served land plants-three or four species of ferns, belonging to the genera. Some of the carboniferous shales afford beautiful specimens of what appear to have been sea-weeds. Radi- ates are represented by corals. The mollusks are most numerously represented. Trilobites and ostracoids are the only remains known of articulates. Vertebrates are only known by the remains of salachians, or sharks, and ganoids.
The upper coal measures occupy a very large area in Iowa, comprising thirteen whole coun- ties, in the southwestern part of the State. It adjoins by its northern and eastern boundaries the area occupied by the middle coal measures. The prominent lithological features of this for- mation are its limestones, yet it contains a con- siderable proportion of shales and sandstones. Although it is known by the name of upper coal measures, it contains but a single bed of coal, and that only about twenty inches in max- imum thickness. The limestone exposed in this formation furnishes good material for building, as in Madison and Fremont Counties. The sandstones are quite worthless. No beds of clay for potter's use are found in the whole formation. The fossils in this formation are much more numerous than in either the middle or lower coal measures. The vertebrates are represented by the fishes of the orders se- lachians and ganoids. The articulates are represented by the trilobites and ostracoids. Mollusks are represented by the classes ceph-
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
alapoda, gasteropoda, lamelli, brauchiata, bra- chiapoda, and polyzoa. Radiates are more numerous than in the lower and middle coal measures. Protozoans are represented in the greatest abundance, some layers of limestone being almost entirely composed of their small fusiform shells.
There being uo rocks in Iowa of permian, triassic or jurassic age, the next strata in the geological series are of the cretaceous age. They are found in the western half of the State, and do not dip, as do all the other formations upon which they rest, to the southward and westward, but have a general dip of their owu to the north of westward, which, however, is very slight. Although the actual exposures of cretaceous rocks are few in Iowa, there is reason to believe that nearly all the western half of the State was originally occupied by them; but being very friable, they have been removed by denudation, which has taken place at two sepa- rate periods. The first period was during its elevation from the cretaceous sea, and during the long tertiary age that passed between the time of that elevation and the commencement of the glacial epoch: The second period was during the glacial epoch, when the ice pro- duced their entire removal over considerable areas. It is difficult to indicate the exact boundaries of these rocks; the following will approximate the outlines of the area: From the northeast corner to the southwest corner of Kossuth County; thence to the southeast cor- ner of Guthrie County ; thence to the southeast corner of Cass County; thence to the middle of the south boundary of Montgomery County; thence to the middle of the north boundary of Pottawattamie County; thence to the middle of the south boundary of Woodbury County; thence to Sergeant's Bluffs; up the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers to the northwest corner of the State; eastward along the State line to
the place of beginning. All the cretaceous rocks in Iowa are a part of the same deposits farther up the Missouri River, and in reality form their eastern boundary.
The Nishuabotany sandstone has the most easterly and southerly extent of the cretaceous deposits of Iowa, reaching the southeastern part of Guthrie County, and the southern part of Montgomery County. To the northward, it passes beneath the Woodbury sandstones and shales, the latter passing beneath the inocera- mus, or chalky beds. This sandstone is, with few exceptions, almost valueless for economic purposes. The only fossils found in this for- mation are a few fragments of angiospermous leaves.
Woodbury sandstones and shales rest upon the Nishnabotany sandstone, and have not been observed outside of Woodbury County, hence their name. Their principal exposure is at Sergeant's Bluffs, seven miles below Sioux City. This rock has no value except for purposes of common masonry. Fossil remains are rare. Detached scales of a lepidoginoid species have been detected, but no other vertebrate remains. Of remains of vegetation, leaves of salix meekii and sassafras cretaceum have been occasionally found.
The Inoceramus beds rest upon the Wood- bury sandstones and shales. They have not been observed in Iowa. except in the bluffs which border the Big Sioux River in Wood- bury and Plymouth Counties. They are com- posed almost entirely of calcareous material, the upper portion of which is extensively used for lime. No building material is to be ob- tained from these beds; and the ouly value they possess, except lime, are the marls, which at some time may be useful on the soil of the adjacent region. The only vertebrate remains found in the cretaceous rocks are the fishes. Those in the inoceramus beds of Iowa are two
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
species of squoloid selachians, or cestratront, and three genera of teliosts. Molluscan re- mains are rare.
Extensive beds of peat exist in Northern Middle Iowa, which, it is estimated, contain the following areas in acres: Cerro Gordo, 1,500; Worth, 2,000; Winnebago, 2,000; Han- cock, 1,500; Wright, 500; Kossuth, 700; Dick- inson, 80.
Several other counties contain peat beds, but the character of the peat is inferior to that in the northern part of the State. The character of the peat named is equal to that of Ireland. The beds are of an average depth of four feet. It is estimated that each acre of these beds will furnish 250 tons of dry fuel for each foot in depth.
The only deposits of the sulphates of the al- kaline earths of any economic value in Iowa are those of gypsum at and in the vicinity of Fort Dodge, in Webster County. All others are small and unimportant. . The deposit occupies a nearly central position in Web- ster County, the Des Moines River running nearly centrally through it, along the valley sides of which the gypsum is seen in the form of ordinary rock cliff and ledges, and also oc- curring abundantly in similar positions along both sides of the valleys of the similar streams and of the numerous ravines coming into the river valley.
Besides the great gypsum deposit of Fort Dodge, sulphate of lime in the various forms of fibrous gypsum, selenite, and small, amor- phous masses, has also been discovered in vari- ous formations in different parts of the State, including the coal-measure shales near Fort Dodge, where it exists in small quantities, quite independently of the great gypsum de- posit there. The quantity of gypsum in these minor deposits is always too small to be of any practical value, and frequently minute.
Sulphate of strontia (celestine) has only been found in Iowa, so far as is known in one place-Fort Dodge. It occurs there in very small quantity in both the shales of the lower coal measures and in the clay that overlies the gypsum deposit, and which are regarded as of the same age with it. The first is just below the city, and occurs as a layer intercalated among the coal measure shales, amounting in quantity to only a few hundred pounds' weight. The mineral is fibrous and crystalline, the fibers being perpendicular to the plane of the layer. Breaking also with more or less distinct hori- zontal planes of cleavage, it resembles, in physical character, the layer of fibro-crystalline gypsum before mentioned. Its color is light blue, is transparent and shows crystalline facets upon both the upper and under surfaces.
Sulphate of baryta (barytes, heavy spar ) has been found only in minute quantities in Iowa. It has been detected in the coal-measure shales of Decatur, Madison and Marion Counties, the Devonian limestone of Johnson and Bremer Counties and in the lead caves of Dubuque. In all these cases, it is in the form of crystals or small crystalline masses.
Sulphate of magnesia (epsomite) having been discovered near Burlington, there are repre- sented in Iowa all the sulphates of the alkaline earths of natural origin, except the sulphate of lime, which occurs in very small quantity. Even if the sulphate of magnesia were produced in nature, in large quantities, it is so very soluble that it can accumulate only in such positions as afford it complete shelter from the rain or running water. The epsomite was found beneath an overhanging cliff of Burlington limestone .. It occurs in the form of efflorescent encrustations upon the surface of stones and in similar small fragile masses among the fine debris that has fallen down beneath the overhanging cliff.
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
CHAPTER II.
CHXH
THE PERIOD OF EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY-THE LABORS OF THE FRENCH JESUITS-THEIR PACIFIC POLICY TO- WARD THE INDIANS-DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER-THE CLAIMS OF SPAIN-ENGLISH DOMINA- TION-THE BUBBLE OF JOHN LAW-THE FRENCH POPULATION OF LOUISIANA-INDIAN WARS-RIVAL
CLAIMS TO THE SOIL-CESSION TREATIES AND PEACE-THE COUNTRY PASSES TO THE UNITED STATES-FORMATION OF THE TERRITORY OF IOWA, ETC.
Extended Empire, like extended gold, Exchanges solid strength for public splendor .- Dr. S. Johnson.
OWA, in the symbolical and expressive language of the aboriginal inhab- itants, is said to signify "The Beautiful Land," and was applied to this magnificent and fruitful region by its ancient owners to ex- press their appreciation of its su- periority of climate, soil and loca- tion. Prior to 1803 the Missis- sippi River was the extreme west- ern boundary of the United States. All the great empire lying west of the "Father of Waters," from the Gulf of Mexico on the south to Brit- ish America on the north, and westward to the Pacific Ocean, was a Spanish province. A brief historical sketch of the discovery and occupation of this grand empire by the Spanish and French governments will be a fitting intro- duction to the history of the young and thriv- ing State of Iowa, which, until the commence- ment of the present century, was a part of the Spanish possessions in America.
Early in the spring of 1542, fifty years after Columbus discovered the New World, and 130 years before the French missionaries discov- ered its upper waters, Ferdinand De Soto dis- covered the Mississippi River at the month of the Washita, After the sudden death of De Soto, in May of the same year, his followers built a small vessel, and in July, 1543, de- scended the great river to the Gulf of Mexico.
In accordance with the nsage of nations, under which title to the soil was claimed by right of discovery, Spain, having conquered Florida and discovered the Mississippi, claimed all the territory bordering on that river and the Gulf of Mexico. But it was also held by the European nations that, while discovery gave title, that title must be perfected by actual possession and occupation. Although Spain claimed the territory by right of first discovery, she made no effort to occupy it; by no perma- nent settlement had she perfected and held her title, and therefore had forfeited it when, at a. later period, the Lower Mississippi Valley was re-discovered and occupied by France.
The unparalleled labors of the zealous
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
French Jesuits of Canada in penetrating the unknown region of the West, commencing in 1611, form a history of no ordinary interest, but have no particular connection with the scope of the present work, until in the fall of 1665. Pierre Claude Allouez, who had entered Lake Superior in September, and sailed along the southern coast in search of copper, had arrived at the great village of the Chippewas at Che- goincegon. Here a grand council of some ten or twelve of the principal Indian nations was held. The Pottawattamies of Lake Michigan, the Sacs and Foxes of the west, the Hurons from the north, the Illinois from the south, and the Sioux from the land of the prairie and wild rice, were all assembled there. The Illi- nois told the story of their ancient glory and about the noble river on the banks of which they dwelt. The Sioux also told their white brother of the same great river, and Allouez promised to the assembled tribes the protection of the French nation against all their enemies, native or foreign.
The purpose of discovering the great river about which the Indian nations had given such glowing accounts appears to have originated with Marquette, in 1669. In the year previ- ous, he and Claude Dablon had established the Mission of St. Mary's, the oldest white settle- ment within the present limits of the State of Michigan. Marquette was delayed in the exe- cution of his great undertaking, and spent the interval in studying the language and habits of the Illinois Indians, among whom he expected to travel.
About this time the French Government had determined to extend the dominion of France to the extreme western borders of Canada. Nicholas Perrot was sent as the agent of the government, to propose a grand council of the Indian nations at St. Mary's.
When Perrot reached Green Bay, he extend-
ed the invitation far and near; and, escorted by Pottawattamies, repaired on a mission of peace and friendship to the Miamis, who occu- pied the region about the present location of Chicago.
In May, 1671, a great council of Indians gathered at the Falls of St. Mary, from all parts of the Northwest, from the headwaters of the St. Lawrence, from the valley of the Mississippi and from the Red River of the North. Perrot met with them, and after grave consultation, formally announced to the assem- bled nations that their good French Father felt an abiding interest in their welfare, and had placed them all under the powerful protection of the French Government.
Marquette, during that same year, had gath- ered, at Point St. Ignace, the remnants of one branch of the Hurons. This station, for a long series of years, was considered the key to the unknown West.
The time was now auspicious for the con- summation of Marquette's grand project. The successful termination of Perrot's mission and the general friendliness of the native tribes rendered the contemplated expedition much less perilous. But it was not until 1673 that the intrepid and enthusiastic priest was finally ready to depart on his daring and perilous journey to lands never trod by white men.
The Indians, who had gathered in large numbers to witness his departure, were as- tounded at the boldness of the proposed under- taking, and tried to discourage him, represent- ing that the Indians of the Mississippi Valley were cruel and bloodthirsty, and would resent the intrusion of strangers upon their domain. The great river itself, they said, was the abode of terrible monsters, who could swallow both canoes and men.
But Marquette was not to be diverted from his purpose by these fearful reports. He as-
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
sured his dusky friends that he was ready to make any sacrifice, even to lay down his life for the sacred cause in which he was engaged. He prayed with them; and having implored the blessing of God upon his undertaking, on the 13th of May, 1673, with Joliet and five Canadian-French voyageurs, or boatmen, he left the mission on his daring journey. As- cending Green Bay and Fox River, these bold and enthusiastic pioneers of religion and dis- covery proceeded until they reached a Miami and Kickapoo village, where Marquette was delighted to find "a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the town, ornamented with white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows, which these good people had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to thank Him for the pity He had bestowed on them during the winter, in having given them abundant chase."
This was the extreme point beyond which the explorations of the French missionaries had not then extended. Here Marquette was instructed by his Indian hosts in the secret of a root that cures the bite of the venomous rat- tle-snake, drank mineral water with them, and was entertained with generous hospitality. He called together the principal men of the vil- lage, and informed them that his companion, Joliet, had been sent by the French governor of Canada to discover new countries, to be add- ed to the dominion of France, but that he, himself, had been sent by the Most High God, to carry the glorious religion of the Cross, and assured his wondering hearers that on this mission he had no fear of death, to which he knew he would be exposed on his perilous journeys.
Obtaining the services of two Miami guides, to conduct his little band to the Wisconsin River, he left the hospitable Indians on the 10th of June. Conducting them across the portage, their Indian guides returned to their
village, and the little party descended the Wis- consin to the great river which had so long been anxiously looked for, and boldly floated down its unknown waters.
On the 25th of June, the explorers discov- ered indications of Indians on the west bank of the river, and landed a little above the mouth of the river now known as Des Moines, and for the first time Europeans trod the soil of Iowa. Leaving the Canadians to guard the canoes, Marquette and Joliet boldly followed the trail into the interior for fourteen miles (some anthorities say six), to an Indian vil- lage situated on the banks of a river, and dis- covered two other villages on the rising ground, about half a league distant. Their visit, while it created much astonishment, did not seem to be entirely unexpected, for there was a tradi- tion or prophecy among the Indians that white visitors were to come to them. They were, therefore, received with great respect and hos- pitality, and were cordially tendered the cal- umet or pipe of peace. They were informed that this band was a part of the Illini nation, and that their village was called Mon-in-gou- ma, or Moingona, which was the name of the river on which it stood. This, from its simi- larity of sound, Marquette corrupted into Des Moines (Monk's river), its present name.
Here the voyagers remained six days, learn- ing much of the manners and customs of their new friends. The new religion they boldly preached, and the authority of the king of France they proclaimed, were received without hostility or remonstrance by their savage en- tertainers. On their departure, they were ac- companied to their canoes by the chiefs and hundreds of warriors. Marquette received from them the sacred calumet, the emblem of peace and safeguard among the nations, and re-embarked for the rest of his journey.
It is needless to follow him further, as his
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
explorations beyond his discovery of Iowa more properly belong to the history of another State.
In 1682 La Salle descended the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, and, in the name of the king of France, took formal possession of all the immense region watered by the great river and its tributaries from its source to its mouth, and named it Louisiana, in honor of his master, Louis XIV. The river he called "Colbert," after the French minister, and at its mouth erected a column and a cross bearing the inscription, in the French language:
" LOUIS THE GREAT, KING OF FRANCE AND NAVARRE, REIGNING APRIL 9TH, 1682."
At the close of the seventeenth century, France claimed, by right of discovery and oc- cupancy, the whole valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries, including Texas as far as the Rio del Norte.
The province of Louisiana stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the sources of the Ten- nessee, the Kanawha, the Allegheny and the Monongahela on the east, and the Missouri and the other great tributaries of the Father of Waters on the west. Says Bancroft: "France had obtained, under Providence, the guardian- ship of this immense district of country, not, as it proved, for her own benefit, but rather as a trustee for the infant nation by which it was one day to be inherited."
By the treaty of Utrecht, France ceded to England her possessions in Hudson's Bay, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. France still retained Louisiana, but the province had so far failed to meet the expectations of the crown and the people that a change in the govern- ment and policy of the country was deemed in- dispensable. Accordingly, in 1711, the prov- ince was placed in the hands of a governor-
general, with headquarters at Mobile. This government was of brief duration, and in 1712 a charter was granted to Anthony Crozat, a wealthy merchant of Paris, giving him the en- tire control and monopoly of all the trade and resources of Louisiana. But this scheme also failed. Crozat met with no success in. his commercial operations; every Spanish harbor on the Gulf was closed against his vessels; the occupation of Louisiana was deemed an en- croachment on Spanish territory; Spain was jealous of the ambition of France.
Failing in his efforts to open the ports of the district, Crozat "sought to develop the internal resources of Louisiana, by causing trading posts to be opened, and explorations to be made to its remotest borders. But he actually accomplished nothing for the advancement of the colony. The only prosperity which it ever possessed grew out of the enterprise of humble individuals, who had succeeded in instituting a little barter between themselves and the na- tives, and a petty trade with neighboring European settlements. After a persevering effort of nearly five years, he surrendered his charter in August, 1717."
Immediately following the surrender of his charter by Crozat, another and more magnifi- cent scheme was inaugurated. The national government of France was deeply involved in debt; the colonies were nearly bankrupt, and John Law appeared on the scene with his famous Mississippi Company, as the Louisiana branch of the Bank of France. The charter granted to this company gave it a legal exist- ence of twenty-five years, and conferred upon it more extensive powers and privileges than had been granted to Crozat. It invested the new company with the exclusive privilege of the entire commerce of Louisiana, and of New France, and with authority to enforce their rights. The Company was authorized to mo-
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
nopolize all the trade in the country; to make treaties with the Indians; to declare and prose- cute war; to grant lands, erect forts, open mines of precious metals, levy taxes, nominate civil officers, commission those of the army, and to appoint and remove judges, to cast can- non, and build and equip ships of war. All this was to be done with the paper currency of John Law's Bank of France. He had suc- ceeded in getting his majesty, the French king, to adopt and sanction his scheme of financial operations both in France and in the colonies, and probably there never was such a huge financial bubble ever blown by a visionary the- orist. Still, such was the condition of France that it was accepted as a national deliverance, and Law became the most powerful man in France. He became a Catholic, and was ap- pointed comptroller-general of finance.
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