USA > Iowa > Story County > Biographical and historical memoirs of Story County, Iowa > Part 6
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11. Treaty of 1832, with the Sacs and Foxes .- Already mentioned as the Black Hawk purchase.
12. Treaty of 1836, with the Sacs and Foxes, ceding Keokuk's Reserve to the United States; for which the Government stipulated to pay $30,000, and an annuity of $10,000 for ten successive years, together with other sums and debts of the Indians to various parties.
13. Treaty of 1837 .- On October 21, 1837, a treaty was made at the city of Washington, between Carey A. Harris, commissioner of In- dian affairs, and the confederate tribes of Sacs and Foxes, ratified February 21, 1838, wherein another slice of the soil of Iowa was obtained, described in the treaty as follows: " A tract of country containing 1,250,000 acres, lying west and adjoining the tract conveyed by them to the
United States in the treaty of September 21, 1832. It is understood that the points of termination for the present cession shall be the northern and southern points of said tract as fixed by the survey made under the author- ity of the United States, and that a line shall be drawn between them so as to intersect a line extended westwardly from the angle of said tract nearly opposite to Rock Island, as laid down in the above survey, so far as may be necessary to include the number of acres hereby ceded, which last mentioned line, it is estimated, will be about twenty-five miles."
This piece of land was twenty-five miles wide in the middle, and ran off to a point at both ends, lying directly back of the Black Hawk purchase, and of the same length.
14. Treaty of the Relinquishment .- At the same date as the above treaty, in the city of Washington, Carey A. Harris, commissioner, the Sacs and Foxes ceded to the United States all their right and interest in the country ly- ing south of the boundary line between the Sacs and Foxes and Sioux, as described in the treaty of August 19, 1825, and between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, the United States paying for the same $160,000. The Indians also gave up all claims and interests under the treaties previously made with them, for the satisfaction of which no appropriations had been made.
15. Treaty of 1842 .- The last treaty was made with the Sacs and Foxes October 11, 1842; ratified March 23, 1843. It was made at the Sac and Fox agency (Agency City), by John Chambers, commissioner on behalf of the United States. In this treaty the Sac and Fox Indians " ceded to the United States all their lands west of the Mississippi to which they had any claim or title," By the terms of this treaty they were to be removed from the country at the expiration of three years, and
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all who remained after that were to move at their own expense. Part of them were re- moved to Kansas in the fall of 1845, and the rest the spring following.
While the territory now embraced in the State of Iowa was under Spanish rule as a part of its province of Louisiana, certain claims to and grants of land were made by the Spanish authorities, with which, in addition to the ex- tinguishment of Indian titles, the United States had to deal.' It is proper that these should be briefly reviewed.
On the 22d of September, 1788, Julien Du- buque, a Frenchman, from Prairie du Chien, obtained from the Foxes a cession or lease of lands on the Mississippi River for mining pur- poses, on the site of the present city of Du- buque. Lead had been discovered here eight years before, in 1780, by the wife of Peosta Fox, a warrior, and Dubuque's claim embraced nearly all the lead-bearing lands in that vicin- ity. He immediately took possession of his claim and commenced mining, at the same time making a settlement. The place became known as the "Spanish Miners," or, more commonly, " Dubuque's Lead Mines."
In 1796 Dubuque filed a petition with Baron de Carondelet, the Spanish governor of Louisi- ana, asking that the tract ceded to him by the Indians might be granted to him by patent from the Spanish Government. In this peti- tion Dubuque rather indefinitely set forth the boundaries of this claim as "about seven leagues along the Mississippi River, and three leagues in width from the river," intending to include, as is supposed, the river front between the Little Maquoketa and the Tete des Mertz Rivers, embracing more than 20,000 acres. Carondelet granted the prayer of the petition, and the grant was subsequently confirmed by the board of land commissioners of Louisiana.
In October, 1804, Dubuque transferred the
larger part of his claim to Auguste Choteau, of St. Louis, and on the 17th of May, 1805, he and Chotean jointly filed their claims with the board of commissioners. On the 20th of Sep- tember, 1806, the board decided in their favor, pronouncing the claim to be a regular Span- ish grant, made and completed prior to the 1st day of October, 1800, only one member, J. B. C. Lucas, dissenting.
Dubuque died March 24, 1810. The Indians, understanding that the claim of Dubuque under their former act of cession was only a permit to occupy the tract and work the mines during his life, and that at his death they reverted to them, took possession and continued mining operations, and were sustained by the military authority of the United States, notwithstanding the decision of the commissioners. When the Black Hawk purchase was consummated, the Dubuque claim thus held by the Indians was absorbed by the United States, as the Sacs and Foxes made no reservation of it in the treaty of 1832.
The heirs of Choteau, however, were not dis- posed to relinquish their claim without a strug- gle. Late in 1832 they employed an agent to look after their interests, and authorized him to lease the right to dig lead on the lands. The miners who commenced work under this agent were compelled by the military to aban- don their operations, and one of the claimants went to Galena to institute legal proceedings, but found no court of competent jurisdiction, although he did bring an action for the recov- ery of a quantity of lead dug at Dubuque, for the purpose of testing the title. Being unable to identify the lead, however, he was non- suited.
By act of Congress, approved July 2, 1836, the town of Dubuque was surveyed and platted. After lots had been sold and occupied by the purchasers, Henry Choteau brought an action
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of ejectment against Patrick Malony, who held land in Dubuque under a patent from the United States, for the recovery of seven undi- vided eighth parts of the Dubuque claim, as purchased by Auguste Choteau in 1804. The case was tried in the District Court of the United States for the district of Iowa, and was decided adversely to the plaintiff. The case was car- ried to the Supreme Court of the United States on a writ of error, when it was heard at the December term, 1853, and the decision of the lower court was affirmed, the court holding that the permit from Carondelet was merely a lease or permit to work the mines; that Dubuque asked, and the governor of Louisiana granted, nothing more than the " peaceable possession " of certain lands obtained from the Indians; that Carondelet had no legal authority to make such a grant as claimed, and that, even if he had, this was but an "inchoate and imperfect title."
In 1795 the lieutenant-governor of Upper Louisiana granted to Basil Giard 5,860 acres of land, in what is now Clayton County, known as the "Giard Tract." He occupied the land during the time that Iowa passed from Spain to France, and from France to the United States, in consideration of which the Federal Government granted a patent of the same to Gi- ard, in his own right. His heirs sold the whole tract to James H. Lockwood and Thomas P. Burnett, of Prairie du Chien, for $300.
March 30, 1799, Zenon Trudeau, acting lieu- tenant-governor of Upper Louisiana, granted to Louis Honori a tract of land on the site of the present town of Montrose, as follows: "It is permitted to Mr. Louis (Fresson) Henori, or Louis Honore Fesson, to establish himself at the head of the rapids of the River Des Moines, and his establishment once formed, notice of it shall be given to the governor-gen- eral, in order to obtain for him a commission of
a space sufficient to give value to such establish- ment, and at the same time to render it useful to the commerce of the peltries of this country, to watch the Indians and keep them in the fidelity which they owe to His Majesty."
Honori took immediate possession of his claim, which he retained until 1805. While trading with the natives, he became indebted to Joseph Robidoux, who obtained an execu- tion on which the property was sold May 13, 1803, and was purchased by the creditor. In these proceedings the property was described as being " about six leagues above the River Des Moines." Robidoux died soon after he purchased the property. Auguste Choteau, his executor, disposed of the Honori tract to Thomas F. Reddeck, in April, 1805, up to which time Honori continued to occupy it. The grant, as made by the Spanish Government, was a league square, but only one mile square was confirmed by the United States. After the half-breeds sold their lands, in which the Honori grant was included, various claimants resorted to lit- igation in attempts to invalidate the title of the Reddeck heirs, but it was finally confirmed by a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1839, and is the oldest legal title to any land in the State of Iowa.
Before any permanent settlement had been made in the Territory of Iowa, white advent- urers, trappers and traders, many of whom were scattered along the Mississippi and its tributaries, as agents and employes of the American Fur Company, intermarried with the females of the Sac and Fox Indians, producing a race of half-breeds, whose number was never definitely ascertained. There were some re- spectable and excellent people among them, children of men of some refinement and edu- cation. For instance: Dr. Muir, a gentleman educated at Edinburgh, Scotland, a surgeon in the United States Army, stationed at a military
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post located on the present site of Warsaw, mar- ried an Indian woman, and reared his family of three daughters in the city of Keokuk. Other examples might be cited, but they are probably exceptions to the general rule, and the race is now nearly or quite extinct.in Iowa.
A treaty was made at Washington, August 4, 1824, between the Sacs and Foxes and the United States, by which that portion of Lee County was reserved to the half-breeds of those tribes, and which was afterward known as "The Half-Breed Tract." This reservation is the triangular piece of land, containing about 119,000 acres, lying between the Mississippi and Des Moines Rivers. It is bounded on the north by the prolongation of the northern line of Missouri. This line was intended to be a straight one, running due east, which would have caused it to strike the Mississippi River at or below Montrose, but the surveyor who run it took no notice of the change in the variation of the needle as he proceeded eastward, and, in consequence, the line he run was bent, deviat- ing more and more to the northward of a di- rect line as he approached the Mississippi, so that it struck that river at the lower edge of the town of Fort Madison. "This erroneous line," says Judge Mason, " has been acquiesced in as well in fixing the northern limit of the Half-Breed Tract as in determining the north- ern boundary line of the State of Missouri." The line thus run included in the reservation a portion of the lower part of the city of Fort Madison.
Under the treaty of 1824, the half-breeds had the right to occupy the soil, but could not convey it, the reversion being reserved to the United States. But on the 30th day of Jan- uary, 1834, by act of Congress, this reversion- ary right was relinquished, and the half- breeds acquired the lands in fee simple. This was no sooner done, than a horde of specula-
tors rushed in to buy land of the half-breed owners, and, in many instances a gun, a blanket, a pony, or a few quarts of whisky was sufficient for the purchase of large estates. There was a deal of sharp practice on both sides; Indians would often claim ownership of land by virtue of being half-breeds, and had no difficulty in proving their mixed blood by the Indians, and they would then cheat the speculators by selling land to which they had no rightful title. On the other hand, specula- tors often claimed land in which they had no ownership. It was diamond cut diamond until at last things became badly mixed. There were no authorized surveys, and no boundary lines to claims, and, as a natural result, nu- merous conflicts and quarrels ensued.
To settle these difficulties, to decide the va- lidity of claims or sell them for the benefit of the real owners, by act of the Legislature of Wisconsin Territory, approved January 16, 1838, Edward Johnstone, Thomas S. Wilson and David Brigham were appointed commis- sioners, and clothed with power to effect these objects. The act provided that these commis- sioners should be paid $6 a day each. The commission entered upon its duties and con- tinued until the next session of the Legislature, when the act creating it was repealed, invali- dating all that had been done and depriving the commissioners of their pay. The repealing act, however, authorized the commissioners to commence action against the owners of the half-breed tract, to receive pay for their serv- ices, in the district court of Lee County. Two judgments were obtained, and on execution the whole of the tract was sold to Hugh T. Reid, the sheriff executing the deed. Mr. Reid sold portions of it to various parties, but his own title was questioned and he became involved in litigation. Decisions in favor of Reid and those holding under him were made
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by both District and Supreme Courts, but in December, 1850, these decisions were finally reversed by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Joseph Webster, plaintiff in error, vs. Hugh T. Reid, and the judgment titles failed. About nine years before the " judgment titles " were finally abrogated as above, another class of titles was brought into competition with them, and in the conflict between the two, the final decision was ob- tained. These were the titles based on the " decree of partition " issued by the United States district court for the Territory of lowa, on the 8th of May, 1841, and certified to by the clerk on the 2d day of June of that year. Edward Johnstone and Hugh T. Reid, then law partners at Fort Madison, filed the petition for
the decree in behalf of the St. Louis claimants of half-breed lands. Francis S. Key, author of the "Star Spangled Banner," who was then attorney for the New York Land Company, which held heavy interests in these lands, took a leading part in the measure, and drew up the document in which it was presented to the court. Judge Charles Mason, of Burlington, presided. The plan of partition divided the tract into 101 shares and arranged that each claimant should draw his proportion by lot, and should abide the result, whatever it might be. The arrangement was entered into, the lots drawn, and the plat of the same filed in the recorder's office, October 6, 1841. Upon this basis the titles to land in the half-breed tract are now held.
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CHAPTER IV.
THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE TAKEN POSSESSION OF BY THE UNITED STATES-DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA-IOWA A PART OF THE TERRITORIES OF ILLINOIS, MISSOURI, MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN-THE FIRST OFFICERS TO GOVERN THE TERRITORY-IOWA TERRITORY FORMED-ITS LEGISLATURE AND LAWS-LOCATION OF THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT-PUBLIC BUILDINGS-SETTLEMENT OF THE MISSOURI BOUNDARY QUESTION, ETC.
They did not leave the helm in storms, And such they are make happy States. - Ben Jonson.
Y act of Congress, ap- proved October 31, 1803, the President of the Unit- ed States was authorized to take possession of the territory included in the Louisiana Purchase, and provide for a temporary government. By another act of the same session, approved March 26, 1804, the newly acquired country was divided, October 1, 1804, into the Territory of Orleans, south of the thirty-third parallel of north latitude, and the District of Louisi- ana, which latter was placed under the authority of the officers of In- diana Territory.
In 1805 the District of Louisiana was or- ganized as a Territory, with a government of its own. In 1807 Iowa was included in the Ter- ritory of Illinois, and in 1812 in the Territory of Missouri. When Missouri was admitted as a State, March 2, 1821, Iowa was left a polit- ical orphan, until by act of Congress, approved June 28, 1834, the Black Hawk purchase hav-
ing been made, all the territory west of the Mississippi and north of the northern boundary of Missouri was made a part of Michigan Territory. Up to this time there had been no county or other organization in what is now the State of Iowa, although one or two justices of the peace had been appointed and a post-office was established at Dubuque in 1833. In Sep- tember, 1834, however, the Territorial Legis- lature of Michigan created two counties on the west side of the Mississippi River, viz .: Du- buque and Des Moines, separated by a line drawn westward from the foot of Rock Island. These counties were partially organized. John King was appointed chief justice of Dubuque County, and Isaac Leffler, of Burlington, of Des Moines County. Two associate justices in each county were appointed by the governor.
On the first Monday in October, 1835, Gen. George W. Jones, now a citizen of Dubuque, was elected a delegate to Congress from this part of Michigan Territory. On the 20th of April, 1836, through the efforts of Gen. Jones, Congress passed a bill creating the Territory of Wisconsin, which went into operation July 4, 1836, and Iowa was then included in the
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Territory of Wisconsin, of which Gen. Henry Dodge was appointed governor; John S. Hor- ner, secretary of the Territory; Charles Dunn, chief justice; David Irwin and William C. Frazer, associate justices.
September 9, 1836, Gov. Dodge ordered the census of the new Territory to be taken. This census resulted in showing a population of 10,- 531 in the counties of Dubuque and Des Moines. Under the apportionment, these two counties were entitled to six members of the council and thirteen of the House of Repre- sentatives. The governor issued his procla- mation for an election to be held on the first Monday of October, 1836, on which day the following members of the First Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin were elected from the two counties in the Black Hawk purchase:
Dubuque County .- Council: John Fally, Thomas MeKnight, Thos. McCraney. House: Loring Wheeler, Hardin Nowlan, Peter Hill Engle, Patrick Quigley, Hosea T. Camp.
Des Moines County .- Council: Jeremiah Smith, Jr., Joseph B. Teas, Arthur B. Ingram. House: Isaac Leffler, Thomas Blair, Warren L. Jenkins, John Box, George W. Teas, Eli Reynolds, David R. Chance.
The first Legislature assembled at Belmont, in the present State of Wisconsin, on October 25, 1836, and was organized by electing Henry T. Baird, president of the council, and Peter Hill Engle, of Dubuque, speaker of the House. It adjourned December 9, 1836.
The second Legislature assembled at Bur- lington, November 10, 1837; adjourned Jan- uary 20, 1838. The third session was at Bur- lington; commenced June 1, and adjourned June 12, 1838.
During the first session of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, in 1836, the county of Des Moines was divided into Des Moines, Lee, Van Buren, Henry, Muscatine and Cook
(the latter being subsequently changed to Scott), and defined their boundaries. Dur- ing the second session, out of the territory embraced in Dubuque County, were created the counties of Dubuque, Clayton, Fayette, Dela- ware, Buchanan, Jackson, Jones, Linn, Clinton and Cedar, and their boundaries defined, but the most of them were not organized until several years afterward, under the authority of the Territorial Legislature of Iowa.
The question of a separate territorial organ- ization for Iowa, which was then a part of Wis- consin Territory, began to be agitated early in the autumn of 1837. The wishes of the peo- ple found expression in a convention held at Burlington on November 1, which memorial- ized Congress to organize a territory west of the Mississippi, and to settle the boundary line between Wisconsin Territory and Mis- souri. The Territorial Legislature of Wis- consin, then in session at Burlington, joined in the petition. Gen. George W. Jones, of Du- buque, then residing at Sinsinawa Mound, in what is now Wisconsin, was delegate to Con- gress from Wisconsin Territory, and labored so earnestly and successfully, that " An act to divide the Territory of Wisconsin, and to es- tablish the Territorial Government of Iowa," was approved June 12, 1838, to take effect and be in force on and after July 3, 1838. The new territory embraced " all that part of the present territory of Wisconsin which lies west of the Mississippi River, and west of a line drawn due north from the head water or sources of the Mississippi to the Territorial line." The organic act provided for a governor, whose term of office should be three years, and for a secretary, chief justice, two associate justices, and attorney and marshal, who should serve four years, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the' Senate. The act also provided for the elec-
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tion, by the white male inhabitants, citizens of the United States, over twenty-one years of age, of a House of Representatives, consisting of twenty-six members, and a council, to con- sist of thirteen members. It also appropriated $5,000 for a public library, and $20,000 for the erection of public buildings.
President Van Buren appointed Ex-Gov. Robert Lucas, of Ohio, to be the first governor of the new Territory. William B. Conway, of Pittsburgh, was appointed secretary of the Ter- ritory; Charles Mason, of Burlington, chief justice, and Thomas S. Wilson, of Dubuque, and Joseph Williams, of Pennsylvania, asso- ciate judges of the supreme and district courts ; Mr. Van Allen, of New York, attorney; Fran- cis Gehon, of Dubuque, marshal; Augustus C. Dodge, register of the land office at Burling- ton, and Thomas McKnight, receiver of the land office at Dubuque. Mr. Van Allen, the district attorney, died at Rockingham soon after his appointment, and Col. Charles Weston was appointed to fill his vacancy. Mr. Conway, the secretary, also died at Burlington, during the second session of the Legislature, and James Clarke, editor of the Gazette, was appointed to succeed him.
Immediately after his arrival, Gov. Lucas issued a proclamation for the election of mem- bers of the first Territorial Legislature, to be held on the 10th of September, dividing the Territory into election districts for that pur- pose, and appointing the 12th of November for meeting of the Legislature to be elected, at Burlington.
The first Territorial Legislature was elected in September, and· assembled at Burlington on the 12th of November, and consisted of the fol- lowing members:
Council .- Jesse B. Brown, J. Keith, E. A. M. Swazey, Arthur Ingram, Robert Ralston, George Hepner, Jesse J. Payne, D. B. Hughes,
James M. Clark, Charles Whittlesey, Jonathan W. Parker, Warner Lewis, Stephen Hemp- stead.
House .- William Patterson, Hawkins Tay- lor, Calvin J. Price, James Brierly, James Hall, Gideon S. Bailey, Samuel Parker, James W. Grimes, George Temple, Van B. Delash- mutt, Thomas Blair, *George H. Beeler, Will- iam G. Coop, William H. Wallace, Asbury B. Porter, John Frierson, William L. Toole, Levi Thornton, S. C. Hastings, Robert G. Roberts, Laurel Summers, + Jabez A. Burchard, Jr., Chauncey Swan, Andrew Bankson, Thomas Cox and Hardin Nowlin.
Notwithstanding a large majority of the members of both branches of the Legislature were Democrats, yet Gen. Jesse B. Browne (Whig), of Lee County, was elected president of the council, and Hon. William H. Wallace (Whig), of Henry County, speaker of the House of Representatives-the former unani- mously and the latter with but little opposition. At that time, national politics were little heed- ed by the people of the new Territory, but in 1840, during the presidential campaign, party lines were strongly drawn.
At the election in September, 1838, for mem- bers of the Legislature, a congressional dele- gate was also elected. There were four candi- dates, viz .: William W. Chapman and David Rohrer, of Des Moines County ; B. F. Wallace, of Henry County, and P. H. Engle, of Du- buque County. Chapman was elected, receiv- ing a majority of thirty-six over Engle.
The first session of the Iowa Territorial Legislature was a stormy and exciting one. By the organic law the governor was clothed with almost unlimited veto power. Governor
* Cyrus S. Jacobs, who was elected for Des Moines County, was killed in an unfortunate encounter at Burlington before the meeting of the Legislature, and Mr. Beeler was elected to fill the vacancy.
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