USA > Iowa > Clarke County > Biographical and historical record of Clarke County, Iowa > Part 15
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Burlington University, eight instructors and forty-three pupils.
Callanan College, at Des Moines, has eighteen in the faculty and one hundred and twenty students enrolled.
Central University, at Pella, Marion County, is under the auspices of the Baptist church, and has cleven in the faculty and one hundred and two students.
Coe College, at Cedar Rapids, has a faculty of ten, and an attendance of one hundred and ninety-nine.
HISTORY OF ION'A.
Cornell College, Methodist Episcopal, at Mt. Vernon, Linn County, has eighteen members of the faculty and four hundred and seventy-nine scholars. This is a strong institution.
Drake University, at Des Moines, has thirty instructors and three hundred and twenty-five pupils.
Griswold College, at Davenport, is under the control of the Episcopal church, and has seven instructors and seventy-five stu- dents.
lowa College, at Grinnell, is permanently endowed. Has fourteen instructors and three hundred and eighty-four students.
Iowa Wesleyan University (Methodist Episcopal), at Mt. Pleasant, has six mem- bers of the faculty and one hundred and seventy-five students.
Luther College, at Decorah, Winneshiek County, has a faculty of ten, and one hun- dred and sixty-five pupils.
Oskaloosa College has a faculty of five, and one hundred and thirty-five students.
Penn College, at Oskaloosa, has a faculty of five members, and one hundred and forty pupils in attendance.
Simpson Centenary College, at Indianola, Warren County (Methodist Episcopal), has a faculty of seven and an attendance of two hundred.
Tabor College, at Tabor, Fremont County, modeled after the Oberlin (Ohio) College, has twelve members in the faculty and an attendance of two hundred and ten scholars.
University of Des Moines has five in- structors and fifty pupils.
Upper Iowa University (Methodist Epis- copal), located at Fayette, in Fayette County, has cleven instructors and three hundred and fifty students.
Whittier College, at Salem, Henry County, is under the auspices of the Friends. There are two instructors and sixty pupils.
STATISTICAL.
When Wisconsin Territory was organ- ized in 1836, the entire population of that portion of the Territory now embraced in the State of Iowa was 10,531. The Terri- tory then embraced two counties, Dubuque and Des Moines, crected by the Territory of. Michigan in 1834. Since then the counties have increased to ninety-nine, and the population in ISSo was 1,624.463. The following table will show the population at different periods since the erection of Iowa Territory :
Year.
Population| Year
Population
IS3S.
22,5Sg IS59.
638,775
IS10.
43,115 1860.
674,913
IS46.
97,5SS|1865.
750,699
IS47.
116,651 1867.
902,040
IS49
152,9SS 1$69.
1.040,S19
IS50.
191,9S2 1S70.
1,191,727
IS51.
204,774 IS73
1,251,333
IS:2.
. 230.713, 1875
1 366,000
1854.
.326,013 ISSO.
IS56.
519.055
The most populous county is Dubuque -- 42,997. Polk County has 42,395, and Scott, 41,270. Not only in population, but in everything contributing to the growth and greatness of a State, has Iowa made rapid progress. In a little more than thirty-five years its wild but beautiful prairies have advanced from the home of the savage to a highly civilized commonwealth.
The first railroad across the State was completed to Council Bluffs in January, IS71. The completion of three others scon followed. In 1854 there was not a mile of railroad in Iowa. Within the succeeding twenty years, 3,765 miles were built and put in successful operation.
The present value of buildings for our State institutions is as follows :
Sta e Capitol .. . . $2,5ro,coo In-titutions for the
State University. 400,000| Insane .... . $1, 149,000
Agricultural Col. and Farm
Orphans' II .me .. 62,050
300,000' Penitentiaries. ... 405,000
Inst. for the Blind
150,000 Normal School .. 50,000
Institution for the Deaf and Dumb
Reform School .. 93,000
225,000
1,624 463
75,15211863
701,732
158
HISTORY OF IOWA.
The State has never levied more than two and one-half mills on the dollar for State tax, and this is at present the consti- tutional limit.
łowa has no State debt. Whatever obli- gations have been incurred in the past have been promptly met and fully paid. Many of the counties are in debt, but only four of them to an amount exceeding $100,000 each. The bonded debt of the counties amounts in the aggregate to $2,592,222, and the float- ing debt, $153,456; total, $2,745,678.
In the language of Judge C. C. Nourse, we feel compelled to say : " The great ulti- mate fact that America would demonstrate is, the existence of a people capable of at- taining and preserving a superior civiliza- tion, with a government self-imposed, self- administered and self-perpetuated. In this age of wonderful progress, America can exhibit nothing to the world of mankind more wonderful or more glorious than her new States-young empires, born of her own enterprise and tutored at her own political hearth-stone. Well may she say to the monarchies of the Old World, who look for evidence of her regal grandeur and state, 'Behold, these are my jewels" and may she never blush to add, . This one in the center of the diadem is IOWA!"
that of 10° 36', or merely three degrees : but this does not include the small angle at the southeast corner. The length of the State from east to west is about 265 miles. The area is 55.044 square miles, nearly all of which is readily tillable and highly fer- tile.
The State lies wholly within, and com- prises a part of a vast plain, and there is no mountainous or even hilly country within its borders, excepting the bluffs of the larger rivers. The highest point is near Spirit Lake, and is but 1,200 feet above the lowest, which is in the southeast corner, and is 444 feet above the level of the Gulf of Mexico. The average descent per mile between these two points is four feet, and that from Spirit Lake to the northeast corner of the State, at low-water mark of the Mississippi, is five feet five inches.
It has been estimated that about seven- eighths of lowa was prairie when the white race first settled here. It seems to be a set- tled point in science that the annual fires of the Indians, prevented this western country from becoming heavily timbered.
GEOLOGY.
Geologists divide the soil of Iowa into three general divisions, which not only PHYSICAL FEATURES. possess different physical characters, but also differ in the mode of their origin. Iowa, in the highly figurative and ex- pressive language of the aborigines, is said to signify " The Beautiful Land," and was applied by them to this magnificent section These are drift, bluff and alluvial and be- long respectively to the deposits bearing the same names. The drift occupies a much larger part of the surface of the State of the country between the two great rivers. . than both the others. The bluff has the next greatest area of surface.
The general shape of the State is that of a rectangle, the northern and southern All soil is disintegrated rock. The drift deposit of Iowa was derived to a consider- able extent from the rocks of Minnesota; but the greater part was derived from its own rocks, much of which has been trans- ported but a short distance. In Northern and Northwestern lowa the drift contains boundaries being due east and west lines, and its eastern and western boundaries de- termined by southerly flowing rivers -- the Mississippi on the east and the Missouri and the Big Sioux on the west. The width of the State from north to south is over 200 miles, being from the parallel of 43 30' to , more sand and gravel than elsewhere. In
HISTORY OF IOWA.
159
Southern lowa the soil is frequently stiff and clavey. The bluff soil is found only in the western part of the State, and adjacent to Missouri River. Although it contains : less than i per cent. of clay in its com- position, it is in no respect inferior to the best drift soil. The alluvial soil is that of the flood plains of the river valleys, or bot- tom lands. That which is periodically flooded by the rivers is of little value for agricultural purposes ; but a large part of it is entirely above the reach of the highest flood, and is very productive.
The stratified rocks of Iowa range from the Azoic to the Mesozoic, inclusive; but the greater portion of the surface of the State is occupied by those of the Paleozoic age. The table below will show each of these formations in their order :
Azoic ..
Lower Silurlan. .
Upper Silurian. .. . Niagara.
Devonlan ..
Carboniferous. ..
Cretaccous.
AGES.
SYSTEMS.
. Huronian.
Primordial
Trenton ..
Cincinnati
.. Hamilton.
Subcarboniferous ..
Coal Measures ....
( Lower Cretaceous.
Post Tertiary ....
PERIODS. GROUPS.
Sloux Quartzite ..
LPOCHS.
FORMATHINS.
50
300
250
So
20%)
250
So
350
200
175
196
200
200
200
100
130
50
THICKNESS
The Sioux quartzite, in the azoic system, is found exposed in natural ledges only upon a few acres in the extreme northwest corner of the State, upon the banks of the Big Sioux River, for which reason the specific name of Sioux quartzite has been given them. It is an intensely hard rock, breaks in splintery fracture, and of a color varying, in different localities, from a light to deep red. The process of metamor phism has been so complete throughout the whole formation that the rock is almost every- where of uniform texture. The dip is four or five degrees to the northward, and the trend of the outcrop is eastward and west- ward.
The Potsdam sandstone formation is ex- posed only in a small portion of the north- eastern part of the State. It is only to be seen in the bases of the bluffs and steep valley sides which border the river there. It is nearly valueless for economic purposes. No fossils have been discovered in this for- mation in Iowa.
The Lower Magnesian limestone has but little greater geographical extent in Iowa than the Potsdam sandstone. It lacks a uniformity of texture and stratification, ow- ing to which it is not generally valuable for building purposes.
The St. Peter's sandstone formation is remarkably uniform in thickness through- out its known geographical extent, and it occupies a large portion of the northern half of Allamakee County; immediately be- neath the drift.
With the exception of the Trenton lime- stone, all the limestones of both Upper and Lower Silurian age in Iowa are magnesian limestone. This formation occupies large portions of Winneshiek and Allamakee counties, and a small part of Clayton. The greater part of it is useless for economic purposes ; but there are some compact, even layers that furnish fine material for window caps and sills.
( Potsdam Sandstone ...
Lower Magnesian Limestone ..
( St. Peter's Sandstone ..
Trenton Limestone ..
( Galena Limestone ..
. . Maquoketa Shales,
. Niagara Limestone ...
. Hamilton Limestone and Shales ...
Kinderhook Beds ...
Burlington Limestone ..
Keokuk Limestone.
St. Louis Limestone.
( Lower Coal Measures
Middle Coal Measures.
Upper Coal Measures.
Nishnabotany Sandstone .. .
Woodbury Sandstone and Shales. ...
- -
Drift
( Inoceramous Bed ..
.10 10 200
IN FEET.
·
-
75
HISTORY OF IOWA.
160
The Galena limestone is the upper for- mation of the Trenton Group. It is 150 miles long and seldom exceeds twelve miles in width. It exhibits its greatest develop- ment in Dubuque County. It is nearly a pure dolomite with a slight admixture of silicious matter ; good blocks for dressing are sometimes found near the top of the bed, although it is usually unfit for such a purpose. This formation is the source of the lead ore of the Dubuque lead mines. The lead region proper is confined to an arca of about fifteen miles square in the vicinity of Dubuque. The ore occurs in vertical fissures, which traverse the rock at regular intervals from cast to west; some is found in those which have a north and south direction. This ore is mostly that known as galena, or sulphuret of lead, very small quantities only of the carbonate being found with it.
The surface occupied by the Maquoketa shales is more than 100 miles in length, but is singularly long and narrow, seldom reach- ing more than a mile or two in width. The most northern exposure yet recognized is in the western part of Winneshiek County, while the most southerly is in Jackson County, in the bluffs of the Mississippi. The formation is largely composed of bluish and brownish shales, sometimes slightly arenaceous, sometimes calcareous, which weather into a tenacious clay upon the sur- face, and the soil derived from it is usually stiff and clayey.
The area occupied by the Niagara lime- stone is forty and fifty miles in width and nearly 160 miles long from north to south. This formation is entirely a magnesian lime- : stone, with a considerable portion of sili- cions matter, in some places, in the form of chert or coarse flint. A large part of it probably affords the best and greatest amount of quarry rock in the State. The quarrics at Anamosa, Le Claire and Farley are all opened in this formation.
The area of surface occupied by the Ilamilton limestone and shales, is as great as those by all the formations of both Upper and Lower Silurian age in the State. Its length is nearly 200 miles, and width from forty to fifty. Portions of it are valuable for economic purposes ; and, having a large geographical extent in the State, is a very important formation. Its value for the pro- duction of hydraulic lime has been demon- strated at Waverly, Bremer County. The heavier and more uniform magnesian beds furnish material for bridge piers and other material requiring strength and durability. A coral occurs near Iowa City, known as "Iowa City marble" and " bird's-eye mar- ble."
Of the three groups of formations that constitute the carboniferous, viz., the sub- carboniferous, coal measures and Permian, only the first two are found in Iowa.
The Subcarboniferous group occupies a very large area of surface. Its eastern border passes from the northeastern part of Winnebago County, with considerable di- rectness in a southeasterly direction to the northern part of Washington County. It then makes a broad and direct bend nearly eastward, striking the Mississippi at Mus- catinc. The southern and western bound- aries are to a considerable extent the same as that which separates it from the real field. From the southern part of Poca- hontas County it passes southeast to Fort Dodge, thence to Webster City, thence to a point three or four miles northeast of El- dora, in Hardin County, thence southward to the middle of the north line of Jasper County, thence southeastward to Sigour- ney, in Keokuk County, thence to the north- eastern corner of Jefferson County, thence sweeping a few miles eastward to the south- east corner of Van Buren County. Its arc is about 250 miles long and from twenty to fifty miles wide.
The most southerly exposure of the Kin-
7 ..... . ... .... ...
HISTORY OF IOWA. 16:
derhook beds is in Des Moines County, near the mouth of Skunk River. The most northerly now known is in the eastern part of Pocahontas County, more than 200 miles distant. The principal exposures of this formation are along the bluffs which border the Mississippi and Skunk rivers, where they form the eastern and northern bound- ary of Des Moines County ; along English River, in Washington County ; along the Iowa River, in Tama, Marshall, Hamlin and Franklin counties, and along the Des Moines River, in Humboldt County. This formation has a considerable economic value, particularly in the northern portion of the region it occupies. In Pocahontas and IIumboldt counties it is invaluable, as no other stone except a few boulders are found here. At Iowa Falls the lower division is very good for building purposes. In Marshall County all the limestone to be obtained comes from this formation, and the quarries near Le Grand are very valu- able. At this point some of the layers are finely veined with peroxide of iron, and are wrought into both useful and ornamental objects. In Tama County the oolitic mem- ber is well exposed, where it is manufact- ured into lime. Upon exposure to atmos- phere and frost it crumbles to pieces ; consequently it is not valuable for building purposes.
The Burlington limestone is carried down by the southerly dip of the lowa rocks, so that it is seen for the last time in this State in the valley of Skunk River, near the southern boundary of Des Moines County; it has been recognized in the northern part of Washington County, which is the most northerly point that it has been found ; but it probably exists as far north as Marshall County. Much valuable material is afforded by this formation for economic purposes. The upper division furnishes excellent com- mon quarry rock. Gcologists are attracted by the great abundance and variety of its
fossils-crinoids-now known to be more than 300.
The Keokuk limestone formation is to be seen only in four counties : Lee, Van Buren, Henry and Des Moines. In some localities the upper silicious portion is known as the Geode bed; it is not recognizable in the northern portion of the formation, nor in connection with it where it is exposed, about eighty miles below Keokuk. The geodes of the Geode bed are more or less masses of silex, usually hollow and lined with crystals of quartz; the outer crust is rough and unsightly, but the crystals which stud the interior are often very beautiful ; they vary in size from the size of a walnut to a foot in diameter. This formation is'of great economic value. Large quantities of its stone have been used in the finest structures in the State, among which are the postoffices at Dubuque and Des Moines. The principal quarries are along the banks of the Mississippi, from Keokuk to Nauvoo.
The St. Louis limestone is the uppermost of the subcarboniferous group in lowa. It occupies a small superficial area, consisting of long, narrow strips, yet its extent is very great. It is first seen resting on the Geode division of the Keokuk limestone, near Keo- kuk; proceeding northward, it forms a narrow border along the edge of the coal fields in Lee, Des Moines, Henry, Jeffer- son, Washington, Keokuk and Mahaska counties; it is then lost sight of until it appears again in the banks of Boone River, where it again passes out of view under the Coal Measures, until it is next seen in the banks of the Des Moines, near Fort Dodge. As it exists in Iowa, it consists of three tolerably distinct sub-divisions : The mag- nesian, arenaceous and calcareous. The upper division furnishes excellent material for quicklime, and when quarries are well opened, as in the north western part of Van Buren County, large blocks are obtained. The sandstone, or middle division, is of
162
HISTORY OF IOWA.
little value. The lower, or magnesian di- vision, furnishes a valuable and durable stone, exposures of which are found on Lick Creek, in Van Buren County, and on Long Creek, seven miles west of Burlington.
The Coal Measure group is properly divided into three formations, viz .: The Lower, Middle and Upper Coal Measures, each having a vertical thickness of about 200 feet. The Lower Coal Measures exist eastward and northward of the Des Moines River, and also occupy a large area west- ward and south ward of that river, but their southerly dip passes them below the Middle Coal Measures at no great distance from the river. This formation possesses greater economic value than any other in the whole State. The clay that underlies almost every bed of coal furnishes a large amount of ma- terial for potter's use. The sandstone of these measures is usually soft and unfit, but in some places, as in 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.
The Upper Coal Measures occupy a very large area, comprising thirteen whole counties, in the southwestern part of the State. By its northern and eastern bound- aries it adjoins the area occupied by the Middle Coal Measures.
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 south ward and west- ward, but have a general dip of their own to the north of westward, which, however, is very slight. Although the actual ex- posures 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 they have been removed by denudation, which has taken place at two separate periods.
The Nishnabotany sandstone has the most easterly and southerly extent of the cre- taceous deposits of lowa, 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 chalky beds. This sandstone is, with few exceptions, valueless for economic purposes.
The chalky beds rest upon the Wood- bury sandstone 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 composed almost entirely of calcareous ma- terial, the upper portion of which is exten- sively used for lime. No building material can be obtained from these beds, and the only value they possess, except lime, are the marls, which at some time may be use- ful on the soil of the adjacent region.
Extensive beds of peat exist in Northern Middle Iowa, which, it is estimated, contain the following areas: Cerro Gordo County, 1,500 acres ; Worth, 2.000; Winnebago, 2,- 000; Hancock, 1,500; Wright, 500; Kos- suth, 700; Dickinson, So. Several other counties contain peat beds, but the peat is inferior to that in the northern part of the State. 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. At present this peat is not utilized; but owing to its great distance from the coal fields and the absence of timber, the time is coming when its value will be fully realized.
The only sulphate of the alkaline earths of any economic value is gypsum, and it may be found in the vicinity of Fort Dodge in Webster County. The deposit occupies a nearly central position in the 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
ES2015
HISTORY OF IOWA.
163
rock cliff and ledges, and also occurring abundantly in similar positions along both sides of the valleys of the smaller streams and of the numerous ravines coming into the river valley. The most northerly known limit of the deposit is at a point near the mouth of Lizard Creek, a tributary of the Des Moines River and almost adjoining the town of Fort Dodge. The most southerly point at which it has been exposed is about six miles, by way of the river, from the northerly point mentioned. The width of the area is unknown, as the gypsum be- comes lost beneath the overlying drift, as one goes up the ravines and minor valleys.
On either side of the creeks and ravines which come into the valley of the Des Moines River, the gypsum is seen jutting out from beneath the drift in the form of ledges and bold quarry fronts, having al- most the exact appearance of ordinary lime- stone exposures, so horizontal and regular its lines of stratification, and so similar in color is it to some varieties of that rock. The principal quarries now opened are on Two Mile Creek, a couple of miles below Fort Dodge. .
Epsomite, or native Epsom salts, having been discovered near Burlington, all the sulphates of alkaline earths of natural origin have been recognized in Iowa, all except the sulphate of lime being in very small quantity.
Sulphate of lime in the various forms of fibrous gypsum, selenite and small, amor- phous masses, has also been discovered in various 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 of deposit there. The quantity of gypsum in these minor deposits is always too small to be of any practical value, usually occurring in shales and shaly clays, associated with strata that contain more or less sulphuret of iron. Gypsum has thus 15
been detected in the Coal Measures, the St. Louis limestone, the Cretaceous strata, and also in the dead caves of Dubuque.
Sulphate of strontia is found at Fort Dodge.
CLIMATE.
The greatest objection to the climate of this State is the prevalence of wind, which is somewhat greater than in the States south and cast, but not so great as farther west. The air is purer than either east or south, as indicated by the bluer sky and conse- quent deeper green vegetation, and is therefore more bracing. By way of con- trast, Northern Illinois has a whiter sky and a consequent more yellowish green vegetation.
The prevailing direction of the wind is from the west.
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