USA > Iowa > Polk County > Des Moines > Des Moines, the pioneer of municipal progress and reform of the middle West, together with the history of Polk County, Iowa, the largest, most populous and most prosperous county in the state of Iowa; Volume I > Part 8
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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 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97
" Towa Journal of History and Politics, v. 8, No. 4, pp. 542-43.
# Historic Rock, etc. Register and Leader, Des Moines, July 17, 1910.
CHAPTER III.
CAPTAIN ALLEN EXPLORES THE UPPER DES MOINES VALLEY ABOVE FORT DES MOINES.
Buried deep in the Executive Documents1 is a letter of W. L. Marcy, Secre- tary of War, dated March 20, 1846, addressed to Hon. John W. Davis, Speaker of the House of Representatives, in response to a resolution of the House, passed January 29, 1845, requiring the Secretary of War to communicate to the House "a copy of the report, journal, and map of Captain J. Allen, of the first regiment of dragoons, of his expedition during the past summer to the heads of the rivers Des Moines, Blue Earth, etc., in the northwest." The report of Cap- tain Allen was transmitted through Adjutant General R. Jones, who informed his chief that "instead of the map of the route accompanying the report," he would submit "the more perfect map of the Upper Mississippi by Nicollet (from which Captain Allen's sketch no doubt was taken,) upon which the route of the troops under his command" had been carefully traced, in red lines, in the topo- graphical bureau.
Then follow the Report and the Journal of Captain Allen, in which we learn that the company was organized for this expedition in the early part of July, but was detained by orders until August II, 1844. It marched from Fort Des Moines with the following strength:
Captain J. Allen, Ist dragoons, commanding; Asst. Surgeon J. F. Griffin, medical aid; First Lieut. P. Calhoun, 2d dragoons; Second Lieut. P. Noble, Ist dragoons ; brevet Second Lieut. J. H. Potter, Ist infantry, A. C. S., and A. Q. M .; 50 rank and file of dragoons; and 2 privates of infantry.'
The troops were provisioned with pork for forty days, flour for sixty days, and small rations for seventy days. The route designated in the department orders was "up the Des Moines river, and to the sources of the Blue Earth river, of the St. Peter's ; thence to the waters of the Missouri, and thence returning through the country of the Pottawatomies."
The full report,2 with the accompanying journal, giving daily observations will make a valuable addition to the next history of Iowa. So much of the report and the journal as describes the region along the river at Beaver creek and be- yond, within the present limits of Polk county, is an especially valuable addition to this work, as being the first official observations made along the Des Moines above the Raccoon Fork.
The party followed the river on the west side, as far as the "Iron Banks," when they crossed, "a few miles above its forks and 100 miles above the mouth of the Raccoon; thence up between the forks, but near the west branch, to the extreme source of this branch, in a lake which," says Captain Allen, "I have named 'the Lake of the Oaks,' 248 miles from the mouth of the Raccoon. This lake," he takes to be "the true source of the Des Moines river, being at the most northerly point of any of its waters, and the furthest from its mouth." He finds the lake "remarkable for a singular arrangement of peninsulas, running into it from all sides, and for a heavy growth of timber that covers these penin- sulas and the borders of the lake." He found, by several observations, its lati- tude was 43ยบ57' 32": but, with only a small and imperfect sextant, he does not vouch for the correctness of these figures. Thence he explored the country north 37 miles; thence east to the St. Peter's river. Thence he made a circuit
1 Twenty-ninth Congress, First Session, Doc. 168, pp. 1-18. 1845-6.
2 As yet not mentioned in any history of Iowa.
55
56
CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY
of 57 miles to the southward, returning to the Lake of the Oaks, where a por- tion of his command had remained encamped. Thence he marched nearly due west 38 miles to a river which he took to be the Big Sioux of the Missouri. He followed this river down 159 miles to its mouth, in the Missouri, and thence took the nearest practicable route back to Fort Des Moines, crossing on the way the Little Sioux and several minor streams.
Captain Allen describes the features of the country from Fort Des Moines to the upper fork as "much the same as those of the country. bordering this beautiful river below-elevated rich prairie, broken by points of timber, and well timbered ravines extending into it from the river every few miles. The valley of the river often expands to make bottoms, sometimes prairie and some- times timber, of one, two and three miles in breadth, and always of the richest quality of soil. The timber of the Des Moines for this distance he finds ""fully equal to the wants of its share of the prairie dividing it from other streams, and," he doubts not, "will easily supply all of the farms that may be made tributary to the river." Beyond the "Iron Banks" he finds "the timber falls off very much."
He describes the first twenty miles of prairie north of Fort Des Moines as "elevated, rolling, and dry ; the soil sandy, and mud mixed with pebbles and small fragments of lime and primitive rock."
On the return, approaching the upper branches of the Raccoon, he finds the prairie "flat and wet, and much filled up with marshes and grassy ponds," through which it would be "difficult to find a practicable route."
Crossing the Raccoon, he finds the country between it and the tributaries of the Des Moines is "rolling, dry, and rich, and easy to march over." .He reports the Raccoon as about 100 miles long, running all the way in a deep, narrow val- ley clothed with the richest of timber. "This river," he declares, "is one of the most beautiful in the territory, and will soon induce settlement and cultivation of its borders along its whole length."
Responding to a demand for information as to recent floods, Captain Allen reports that the Des Moines at the Raccoon fork "rose 131/2 feet above its com- mon stage; but it was at this point, and generally above, confined within its proper banks. It did not overflow any of its prairie bottoms" as far as he had observed, up to its extreme source. "Its timbered bottoms, being generally lower than the prairie, were, many of them, covered from one to three feet. The earthy deposits in the timbered bottoms varied with the depth of the overflow, and would not anywhere exceed a half inch in thickness for three feet of over- flow." He reports that the river "seemed to have risen in proportion to its volume or breadth all the way up. Thus at Iron Banks, 100 miles above the Raccoon, it had risen 101/2 feet, and 100 miles farther up it had risen 7 feet ; but, he adds, "this river has but few tributaries above Raccoon, and drains a country only extensive in length. It is generally broad and shallow, and much of the country along it being flat and marshy and slow to draw off, it may never rise in height like some other streams of lesser magnitude,"-a conjecture far re- moved from the actual, as the story of "the flood of '51" will show.
He found "the Raccoon had been unusually high everywhere; all of its woodland bottoms were filled with driftwood timber and other vegetable debris, until within 20 or 30 miles of its mouth, after which it appeared, like the Des Moines to have been confined to its immediate banks."
The Captain's "journal of march into the Indian country in the northern part of Iowa Territory in 1844," gives the first detailed report of the country north and west of "the Forks" now comprising some of the choicest portions of Polk county. The journal entries relating to the region now included in Polk county are as follows :
"August II. Marched from Fort Des Moines in very good order at 10 a. m .; followed the 'Oregon trail' three or four miles; then left it to cross the Beaver river, a tributary of the Des Moines; crossed it and encamped on its left bank
From a painting by Forgy, in possession of Major Hoyt Sherman.
RACCOON FORKS
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CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY
eight miles from the post. Weather and prairie fair; distance 8 miles; course NW. by N.
"August 12. We were detained till Io o'clock to recover oxen that had strayed during the night. Marched on a narrow dividing ridge between Beaver and Des Moines, the Beaver running close to and nearly parallel to the Des Moines. Encamped at 5 p. m. on a ravine and branch of that river ; there were many of these little ravines thrown out from the river on this day's march; they are very deep, and give pure spring water. The ox team is very slow and sluggish, and sticks worse in the mud than the mules; but all the wagons are heavily loaded, and the prairie is soft; it rained hard in the night. Distance 16 miles ; course N N W.
"August 13. Started at 7, and soon got on a broad prairie; passed the head of the Beaver about 12, where the prairie expands still more; kept on the west side of the prairie towards the Des Moines; many wet places to detain the wagons ; encamped at 5 on a deep and well-wooded ravine; found one bee tree with good honey. Course very crooked, but generally NW. by N .; distance 17 miles."
The journal, kept from day to day, gives a detailed description of the slow march, sometimes following the river, at other times exploring its tributaries, and at still other times leaving the water-courses far behind. The entry of August 15 reports elk, "too wild to be chased or shot," deer, bears and turkeys. The close of the day found the party near the neutral ground. On the 18th, the party "struck a deep ravine leading to the Des Moines, the mouth of which is called the 'Delaware battle-ground,' a place where a party of some 20 Delawares were killed by the Sioux three years since."3 Thence, on to the Iron Banks, where they crossed at a rapid ford,-and so on by slow stages from six to fifteen miles a day, with one open prairie march of 23 miles, and another 20, and another 25 miles a day, finally reaching St. Peter's river. The return was attended with enough of hunting adventures and conferences with Indians to make the marches interesting.
On September 29, the party encountered what seemed to be the west branch of the Raccoon. Thence, they reached the main branch of that river. The prai- rie, though somewhat hilly, was found to afford them easy marching. Resuming the journal report: "The bluffs of this stream, where we are encamped, are high and steep; its valley is about a mile broad and well timbered. Course S .; dis- tance 20 miles.
"September 30. Started late, everything being tired from the too long march of yesterday. The grass has been so much deadened by the many frosts, that it no longer gives the horses a good subsistence; the horses and mules have failed wonderfully since we left the Little Sioux though we have walked (on foot) most of the way. Followed down the bluffs of the Raccoon on our right, and crossed two small creeks running into it, both running in deep valleys clothed with heavy, good timber. Encamped on the last. Course SE .; distance 12 miles.
"October I. Marched on the dry ridge between Raccoon and Beaver, the timber of both being in sight nearly all the way. Killed a fine bear on the prairie in chase; Sergeant Williams shot him dead on first fire with his carbine from his horse on a gallop. We move slowly from previous fatigue. Encamped on Beaver river. Course S E by S .; distance 16 miles.
"October 2. The route was a little rough, being intersected by ravines both of Raccoon and Beaver; hoped to reach home, but could not from weariness of teams. Encamped again on the Beaver, near our trail going out. Course SE .; distance 16 miles.
"October 3. Struck our trail going out, and followed it home. Distance eight miles. Reached Fort Des Moines at I p. m., having marched, since we left the post, 740 miles, and having been absent 54 days."
3 Gue's History of Iowa, v. I, p. 104.
CHAPTER IV.
FROM GARRISON TO FRONTIER VILLAGE-HISTORY AND REMINISCENCE.
At midnight on the IIth of October, 1845, the three years' title of the In- dians to the Des Moines valley reservation expired by limitation, and a new chapter in the history of the valley was auspiciously commenced. The event threw open to every squatter on the reservation and every camper along the border-line the opportunity to possess a half-section of the richest land in the world, full title to be acquired when the Government should bring the lands into market. Long before the expiration of the Indian title, the settlers around the fort had organized in anticipation of this event, had arranged one with another as to their so-called claims. Some had even gone so far as to measure and stake off their respective holdings,-not that such course gave any validity to their claims, but to facilitate the official survey by preventing a possible duplication of claims.
The day of days, the IIth of October, having arrived, hundreds impatiently waited the hour of midnight. By pre-arrangement it was understood that a gun from the Agency House should announce the hour at which "the empire of the red man in the Des Moines valley should cease, and the sway of the white man should commence." "Precisely at twelve o'clock," writes Turrill, "the loud report of a musket fell upon hundreds of eager ears. Answering reports rang sharply on the night air, in quick succession, from every hill-top, and in every valley, till the signal was conveyed for miles around, and all understood that civilization had now commenced her reign in Central Iowa."
In view of the far-reaching significance, of the event, our pioneer historian may easily be forgiven for indulgence in a lofty flight of rhetoric. He says :1 "The moon was slowly sinking in the west, and its beams afforded a feeble and uncertain light, for the measuring of claims, in which so many were engaged. Ere long the landscape was shrouded in darkness, save the wild and fitful glaring of torches, carried by the claim-makers. Before the night had entirely worn away, the rough surveys were finished, and the Indian lands had found new tenants. Throughout the country thousands of acres were laid off in claims before dawn. Settlers rushed in by hundreds, and the region lately so tranquil ' and silent, felt the impulse of the change, and became vocal with the sounds of industry and enterprise."
Life in the little village of Fort Des Moines, during those first few years after the soldiers had moved on, was without dramatic incidents and events. The total population as given in the first state census, that of 1847, was only 127. The usual industries of the country village were carried on in the regula- tion way. The hotel was rarely without its transient guests. The home-seekers, the speculators, the circuit-riders, the gamblers, the horse-thieves, and the re- turning braves were frequently met on the cross-country roads leading to the town, and these made strange bedfellows at the inns.
The doctor was there, but there was little for him to do beyond presiding at the advent of a young pioneer, and administering blue mass and quinine to those who had not yet become immune to the ills of the river bottom in the new country.
1 Turrill-Historical Reminiscences, p. 17.
58
PAVILION Waveland Golf Links
ELKS' CLUB
OLD GRANT CLUB
GOLF LINKS
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CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY
The lawyer found little to do, save to advise equable settlement of differ- ences between man and man, and to draw up transfer papers in due and ancient form. There were no courts; there was no pressing need of courts. The prin- ciples of equity, the rock-bottom foundation upon which the Common Law struc- ture is builded, were the bases of every settlement of differences. A development of this illustration of pure and simple local self-government including an account of a public meeting of the citizens of Polk county in Fort Des Moines, early. in 1848, more properly belongs to the History of Polk county, and will there be given in full under the title, "A Study in Local Self-Government."
The approaching fiftieth anniversary of Edwin R. Clapp's residence in Iowa drew from the Iowa, State Register of February 19, 1887, a long biographi- cal sketch which contains not a little of interest. In March, 1846, Mr. Clapp, a boy of nineteen, came to Fort Des Moines to clerk for his brother, Wallace, a trader with the Indians.
The Register in this connection names only seven other pioneers of Des Moines, then living, who, with Mr. Clapp, had resided a half-century in Iowa, namely : George W. and John W. Jones, W. W. and D. D. Skinner, and Mrs. D. D. Skinner, Colonel J. W. Griffiths and Ira Cook.
Mr. Clapp came from Mount Pleasant to Fort Des Moines afoot, having hired a teamster to haul his valise, he helping the team through sloughs and up-hill as occasion required. At the time there were only three houses between Oskaloosa and Des Moines, and these were taverns-one the hospitable home of "Tom" Mitchell, on Camp Creek in what was then Camp township, on the old stage road. "Nearly every one who came to this part of Iowa," says the Regis- ter, "or who passed through here going beyond, shared the hospitality of that generous home." Dr. T. K. Brooks's home, on the east side of the present city of Des Moines, was then on the edge of town.
When Mr. Clapp came to Fort Des Moines, there were no dwellers on the West side outside the Fort. The Government still owned the land, and the only settlers in the vicinity of the Fort were on the East side, and there were few of them. His brother's store was on the East bank of the river, where the Burlington road now passes. H. M. Hoxie, afterward prominent in political and railroad circles, was then living on the East side. His father had a trading store at the junction of East Walnut street with the river. "Hub" and "Ed" became fast friends.
When Mr. Clapp "came to town," all the soldiers had left except Corporal Hill and a squad of eight men.
When the old Des Moines House was built, part of the structure was made by covering over some of the vacated barracks.
The large government store was located on the corner of Third and Vine streets. This was the depot of supplies for the troops, and, in emergencies, for the settlers.
In 1886 there was a house occupied by "Father" French, at the foot of the first alley south of Walnut street fronting the river, which was thought to be the last relic of old Fort Des Moines. It had been clapboarded over.
Mr. Clapp found one "old settler" John Parmelee, twelve miles south of the Fort, on Middle river, who had built on a Government permit in 1842. He had made himself necessary by grinding corn for the Indians and the soldiers.
The only man known to be living, in 1886, who was in this region when Mr. Clapp came, was "Tom" Mitchell. The "palaces" of Fort Des Moines in '46 were the vacated soldiers' barracks. These were occupied for many years.
As far back in the past as June 8, 1846, Gen. A. C. Dodge made a speech in Congress in which he referred to the Des Moines river as "navigable for a con- siderable portion of the year," and as "susceptible, with the greatest facility and slightest expenditure, of being made so for many hundred miles at all sea- sons of the year, when not obstructed by ice. The country through which it runs" he declared to be "one of unsurpassed fertility, and is now being densely
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CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY
inhabited." He then prophetically pictured the event of eight years thereafter, the removal of the Capital, saying: "From the central position of this river, and its other advantages, there is a very large portion of the people of Iowa who believe and desire their ultimate seat of Government should be upon it."
Turrill records an interesting event in the social life of the community at this time: the first marriage ever solemnized within the limits of Polk county, "and perhaps in the Indian purchase which includes it." On the IIth of June, 1846, Benjamin Bryant and Elvira B .. Burge were united in matrimony by Aaron D. Stark, Esq. This was also Justice Stark's first case of matrimony, and he is said to have introduced some variations from the ordinary ritual. The parties united were still residents of Des Moines in 1857.
B. F. Allen, pioneer banker, merchant, and promoter, in a letter to his for- mer townsman, Major Sherman, dated San Dimas, California, July 11, 1896, reverted to his coming to Raccoon Forks, or Fort Des Moines, nearly fifty years prior thereto, and of the many events since then crowded into his own life and that of Des Moines. He was saddened by the thought that so many of his friends and neighbors had departed this life. "From the day I flrst landed in Raccoon Forks, or Fort Des Moines," he says, "I had great faith in its future greatness, and always predicted that Des Moines would grow to be the largest and most important city in the great State of Iowa."
The location of the county seat of Polk was attended by a lively contest of conflicting interests. Polk City vigorously presented her claims. "Dudley" tried hard to make for herself a permanent place on the map of the new county. Dr. T. K. Brooks exerted all his influence to secure the location for Brooklyn, or "Brookline," the location of the Phelps trading house, not far from the present State Fair grounds. The Saylors presented the claims of Saylorville. Jerry Church. "the fiddling pioneer," urged "Churchville" situated some distance south of the Fort. But the superior advantages and prestige of Fort Des Moines left little question as to the outcome.
The county seat of Polk was located by three commissioners appointed by the Governor as directed by law. The commissioners appointed were Thomas Hughes, of Johnson County, M. T. Williams, of Mahaska, and Giles M. Pinneo, of Scott. Looking the ground over they were agreed that Fort Des Moines was the most central and accessible point, presenting advantages impossible to be overlooked, and they so reported and their report was duly approved by Gov- ernor Lucas.
Two of the three county commissioners, Meacham and Saylor, met June I, 1846, and recorded an order in effect that A. D. Jones, County Surveyor, pro- ceed soon as practicable to lay off a town, at the site selected for the county; seat of Polk county. It was ordered that a notice of a sale of lots in Fort Des Moines, on the 15th day of July, 1846, be published for three successive weeks in the Iowa Capital Reporter, at Iowa City, the Burlington Hawkeye and the Iowa Democrat at Keosauqua. The terms of the sale were: one sixth cash in hand, the balance in three equal installments-six, twelve and eighteen months.
The town was accordingly laid out by the county surveyor, assisted by Dr. Fagan. The first election held in the new town, April 6, 1846, resulted in the selection of Rev. Thompson Bird, president; members of the Council, Hoyt Sherman, P. M. Casady, L. P. Sherman, C. D. Reinking, R. W. Sypher and Jesse S. Dicks.
Turrill in his Reminiscences gives the terms at which several lots were sold at this sale and the price of the same lots in 1857, when the location of the State Capitol had abnormally inflated land values in Des Moines.
MRS. EDWIN R. CLAPP
EDWIN R. CLAPP Taken when about twenty-two years of age
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CITY OF DES MOINES AND POLK COUNTY
No. Lot. No. Block.
Location.
Original Price.
Present Price
5
3I
Cor. Walnut & Court Av.
$ 35.00
$5,000.00
I
3I
Cor. Walnut and Third.
18.00
5,000.00
I
20 Cor. Court Av. & P. Sq.
52.00
4,500.00
I
34
Cor. Court and Second.
30.00
5,000.00
7
34
Cor. Vine and Water
50.00
4,000.00
5
35
Sec., bet. Vine and Court
25.00
5,200.00
8
28
Cor. Sec. and Market sts.
IO6.00
4,000.00
At the public sale of lots, after the Government had deeded the land to the new county seat, Mr. Clapp bought the corner lot 66 feet front, and what is now the corner of First and Elm streets, paying $105, the highest price paid at the sale. Lots in the present business part of the city were appraised at $15, $20 and $25. The 132 feet square on which the Kirkwood Hotel now stands was ap- praised at $35. Granville Holland sold the square early in the Fifties to J. C. Savery for $600. Mr. Savery here erected the first Savery Hotel.
After the sale of lots, building began in earnest, and, as Turrill euphemistic- ally puts it, "the incipient town transferred itself from paper plats to an actual terraqueous existence." The hazel brush soon disappeared and shops, stores and dwellings dotted the old-time reservation. A postoffice was established at Fort Des Moines in 1846, with Joseph Smart, the Indian interpreter, as postmas- ter. He soon resigned and Dr. T. K. Brooks succeeded him. At first the postoffice was in the abandoned Agency House. It was later removed to a building owned by the Fur Company, near the river, south of the town. It is related that the late Phineas M. Casady, an appointee of President Polk to the postmastership of Fort Des Moines would frequently bring in his hat all the mail for the Fort, "so little correspondence did the pioneers of this region have with the world they had left behind them." Mails were carried on horseback through uninhabited regions, and were subject to the vicissitudes of storms and floods.
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