USA > Iowa > Boone County > History of Boone County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
As already stated, 205,489 acres had been conveyed to this com- pany on May 14, 1855, and May 6, 1856, and in these two convey- ances 266, 108 acres more, making a total of lands received by this company from the state of 471,597 acres of land, which, at $1.25 an acre, amounted to $589,311. This settlement was one of the most colossal swindles or blunders which, up to that date, had taken place in the state. The navigation company seems to have had the Legisla- ture completely under its control.
In this settlement the Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Com- pany claimed to have expended on the improvement from first to last $554, 547.84. The state commissioner on examination of the work
141
HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
figured the amount expended at $274,542. A joint committee of the Legislature had also reported upon this expenditure, making it about the same as the state commissioner had figured it. These figures are given in the special message of Governor Ralph P. Lowe to the Legislature, dated February 16, 1858, only one month and six days before making the settlement with the company. The surprising part of this settlement is that the Legislature gave to the company lands amounting in cash to many thousands of dollars more than it claimed to have expended, as the figures given show.
At the conclusion of this settlement all further thought of making the Des Moines River navigable was abandoned. By this time the people were completely disgusted with the navigation scheme and had turned their thoughts toward a railroad.
March 22, 1858, an act passed the Legislature granting to the Keokuk, Fort Des Moines & Minnesota Railroad Company all the lands included in the River Land Grant not then sold by the state or pledged to the navigation company in the settlement just made. This grant was made to aid in the construction of a railroad from the mouth of the Des Moines River to the north line of the state, provided Congress would consent that the remainder of such lands should be used for that purpose.
At the fall election in 1858, the proposition to so divert the re- mainder of these lands from the original purpose of improving the navigation of the river, to the building of the railroad, was sub- mitted to the people of the state and a large majority voted in favor of it. After this decision of the people, Congress gave its consent that the remainder of the lands might be so diverted.
As it afterwards developed the navigation company was really the Keokuk, Fort Des Moines & Minnesota Railroad Company, and instead of improving the river it had been devoting a portion of its time to the building of the railroad which, at the time of the settle- ment, was completed from Keokuk to Benton's Port, a distance of about forty miles.
Work on the railroad continued, and it was completed to Ot- tumwa early in the year 1860. About this time another conflict of rulings took place in the land department at Washington. In 1859 the Dubuque & Pacific Railroad Company claimed a part of the lands conveyed by the state to the navigation company, and a case entitled "Dubuque & Pacific Railroad Company vs. Litchfield" was tried in the Supreme Court in April, 1860.
142
HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
The court decided that the original river land grant did not extend above the Raccoon Fork. This decision brought the sale of the "river land," as it was then called, and the further extension of the railroad, to a standstill. As a pacification to the settlers on a considerable portion of these lands, the commissioner of the general land office at Washington gave notice that none of the land would be sold by the Government until the matter was thoroughly con- sidered by Congress.
On the 2d day of March, 1861 (112 stat. 251) Congress passed a joint resolution to quiet title to lands in the State of lowa. This joint resolution was simply intended to confirm the title of all bona fide purchasers claiming title of these lands above the Raccoon Fork, to whom the state, or any of its grantees, had conveyed title.
After the passage of this resolution, the river company claimed title under it, but the courts decided that titles to real estate could not pass by resolution, and that an act of Congress would be necessary to pass title.
On the 12th of July, 1862, Congress passed an act extending the river land grant of August 8, 1846, from the Raccoon Fork to the north line of the state. This act confirmed the title of the river company and the railroad company, giving them the privilege of selling their lands to the settlers at an exorbitant price, a thing that greatly troubled and discouraged the settlers on these lands. It was thought when this act passed Congress that it would settle forever the question of title to the land in dispute, but it worked such a hardship to the settlers that further litigation followed.
From first to last this land grant seems to have been a stumbling block among the officials at Washington. As late as 1863 a patent was issued to Hannah J. Riley for 160 acres of land in Webster County, signed by Abraham Lincoln. It seemed to the settlers that this patent would hold the land, and that if it held good the Govern- ment could convey also in like manner any of the lands claimed by the river company.
In 1868 a man named Wells, who was a grantee of the river company, brought action to dispossess Mrs. Riley of the home on which she held the patent referred to. The court decided that the river land title was good and assessed the cost against Mrs. Riley, after which papers for her eviction were issued and executed. This was the last of the court decisions and under it most of the settlers, who did not buy their homes at an advanced price, were forced off of them by orders from the courts. Finally in 1894 an act to indem-
143
HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
nify the settlers was passed and the few remaining ones received a small compensation for the home they were forced to leave. This ended the historic river land troubles, extending over a period of forty-eight years, beginning in 1846 and ending in 1894.
-
CHAPTER X
DAYS OF THE RIVERLAND TROUBLES
When the settlement between the Iowa Legislature and the Des Moines Navigation & Railroad Company was made, in March, 1858, it was justly pronounced the most colossal swindle upon the people of the state which up to that time had occurred within its history. By the terms of that settlement the navigation company received patents for 471,000 acres of Iowa lands, for which the state did not receive the value of a penny. The river land grant consisted of every odd numbered section within five miles of the Des Moines River on both sides of the stream.
When the terms of this unfair settlement became known to the people living along the Des Moines River, they came to the con- clusion that they had at least an equitable claim upon the timber on the land the company had got for nothing. In Boone County at that time there were thousands of acres of good river land timber. The capital of the state had about that time been moved to Des Moines and the city took on a building boom. Numerous citizens of Boone County engaged in rafting logs to Des Moines, which were easily disposed of at a good price. Many of these logs were taken from the river land, for it was not looked upon as much of a crime to take timber from the lands of the navigation swindlers. But it was not long until the navigation company became informed of what was going on and it sent men up to Boone, Dallas and other counties to look the matter up. The plan devised by the company was to brand all the logs found in rafts in the river, or that had been placed upon its banks to be rafted. This brand was put on in a way that it would not be easily noticed. When the logs were floated down the river to Des Moines they were replevined by the naviga- tion company, using their brand as evidence of ownership, and in this way the rafters of the logs often lost them. In this way many logs were also taken which did not grow on the river land, as it was called.
There were men engaged in rafting their own logs who some- times lost them through this branding process. The branders became
145
146
HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
very unpopular. There was a brander on the west side of the river and one on the east side. The people engaged in rafting became so exasperated at the branders that they went gunning for them.
In the early spring of 1859, a man named Farr, who was the west side brander, was caught and severely whipped with switches. The men who did the whipping were masked, so Farr could not recog- nize any of them. After this man Farr was whipped he was turned loose and ordered to leave the country as fast as he could go. This command he obeyed as well as sore and lacerated limbs would permit.
Having disposed of the west side brander the squad of gunners proceeded to the river, where they came upon Captain Warner, the east side brander, who was on a raft just in the edge of the water on the east bank of the river, plying his branding iron and entirely unconscious of the near proximity of the indignant rafters. With- out giving Warner any notice of their presence or purpose, they sent a volley of bullets across the swollen stream which whizzed so close to his head that he retreated for Boonesboro with wonderful rapidity for a lame man. Both of the branders returned to Des Moines and reported to the company the dangerous condition of things up the river and refused to serve any longer as branders.
Đ. O. Finch and M. M. Crocker, who were the attorneys for the navigation company, raised a company of men and went to Boonesboro for the purpose, they said, of enforcing the law and of prosecuting and punishing those who had so brazenly mistreated Farr and Warner. The men who came up from Des Moines were very boastful and overbearing, and their conduct soon aroused the ire of those who had taken no part in rafting logs, or in the treat- ment given to Farr and Warner. Several men were placed under arrest, among whom was an aged man named Phipps, who had taken no part in anything that had been done. In fact, Farr could not, and did not identify any one who took part in whipping him, for they were all masked. When Farr saw the venerable gray hairs of Mr. Phipps, he ordered D. O. Finch to release him.
By this time the people were coming in from the country and the excitement ran so high that it took hard work on the part of the sheriff, William Holmes, and other level-headed citizens to prevent a bloody encounter between the aroused people and the company from Des Moines.
Finally the attorneys for the navigation company were given two hours' time in which to leave Boone County with their company
147
HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
of men, and this time they made good use of and departed for their homes. It was a wise and good thing for them that they did so, for the people had borne with these men as long as they could or would.
About six months after this another very thrilling river land incident occurred further down the river, which was known only to a few people. In fact, it would have been stepping upon dan- gerous ground to have given the affair much publicity at or near the time it occurred.
The fact that Farr and Warner refused to serve any longer as log branders did not deter the navigation company in the least. If Farr and Warner would serve no longer, other men bold enough to brave the dangers could be found. Money, they said, could do almost anything, and, to be sure, they had it.
Finally two young men named Burril and Mercer, respectively, were induced to take the vacant places. The navigation company knew it could hold the rafted logs if they came down the river branded, but if they were brought down the river without the com- pany brand on them they stood but little show of making a valid claim of them. Therefore, it was highly necessary that two shrewd, bold and fearless men be sent up the river for this purpose. They were instructed to brand all the logs found in rafts, or on the banks of the river. They were also instructed to brand all logs found on the river lands and to take the name of every man found on these lands cutting timber. These young men were very wily and cautious in all of their movements. They were determined not to be caught or taken by surprise and disposed of in the way that Farr and Warner had been. This they had vowed should never be. But it will be shown farther on that neither of them was endowed with the spirit of prophecy.
It must be remembered that many of the men who were taking timber from the river lands were also shrewd fellows, who were on the lookout for spies and branders. As a rule they were prepared for an emergency at any time and knew how to extricate themselves from difficulties and dangers. They fully believed that they had as good a right to take and use the timber on these lands as the swindling navigation company had. But they knew at the same time that this company would be upheld by the courts and that they would be prosecuted if sufficient evidence against them could be secured. From the swindled people they had nothing to fear. From the spies and branders the trouble, if any, would come.
148
HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
On a beautiful afternoon in the autumn of 1859, while three men were engaged in loading logs upon their wagons, the two astute spies came upon them. They were very clever, talked very nicely and even assisted the woodmen in loading one of the logs.
On being asked what their business was, one of them replied that they represented an eastern coal company and that they were looking up coal lands and securing long-time leases upon them. After the conversation had run for some time, one of the spies said: "Would you gentlemen be willing to lease the land you are now chopping off for coal mining purposes?"
"No," said one of the woodmen, "we will not lease this land for any purpose."
"We regret to hear you talk that way," one of them replied, "for we have leased nearly all the land in this hilly region."
"Let me see one of your leases," said one of the woodmen. A blank was taken from a large bill book and handed to him.
"No, no," said the woodman, "let me see one of the leases already signed by one of the landholders in these parts."
"Yes, certainly," said the spy, "I will gladly do so." Hastily putting the blank lease again into his pocket, he said with consider- able anger, "if you doubt the truth of what I have told you I will show you a document which has never failed to convince a timber thief." So saying he commenced to draw a revolver from another pocket.
The other two woodmen had watched and carefully listened to what was going on and during the parley had adroitly changed their positions, until they now stood behind a large stump only a few feet away.
Just as the spy began to draw his revolver, two double-barreled shotguns from across the top of the stump were leveled upon them with the peremptory demand to hold up their hands on penalty of instant death. This sudden and unlooked for change in the appear- ance of things took from the spies their defiant attitude and their defiant look, and immediately they became humble and submissive. They were now caught and all they could do was to submit and so up went their hands.
While the two woodmen held the spies under their guns, the other woodman took their weapons, and in going through their pockets found the commission which authorized them to act as spies and branders for the navigation company.
149
HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
The woodmen were now puzzled to know what to do with their prisoners. If they were to turn them loose they would go and file information against them, and they would be arrested and prose- cuted for stealing timber. It was plain that some other plan would have to be pursued in order to put these two spies and branders to silence. For the time being they were placed in an unoccupied log cabin which stood near by and one of the men was left to guard them. The other two took the loaded logs to a sawmill, and a little after dark returned with a fresh team, a light wagon and some provisions.
The three woodmen felt that they were in a close place, for they had been caught stealing timber and had placed the spies and branders under arrest and held them as prisoners over four hours. They did not want to do violence to the spies, and yet they felt sure that their own safety depended on getting rid of them in a way they would not soon be heard of again. The course to pursue was now much of a puzzle for them. After two hours had passed by, the boldest and the most resourceful of the three woodmen said if they would leave the matter to him and follow his advice he would lead them out of the difficulty. To this the other two readily agreed. A gunny sack was placed over the head of each of the spies, their hands and feet were tied and they were placed in the wagon. With- out the utterance of a word the woodmen drove out of the timber and on the prairie some three or four miles, where there was a prominent crossroads, and there came to a halt. The woodman who had the disposition of things in charge left the prisoners in the hands of his companions and was absent about half an hour, during which he was in consultation with some friends. When matters were ar- ranged to suit him, he returned to the wagon, bringing with him two good horses, each of which was saddled. He then ordered the prisoners to be unmasked and unbound, after which he spoke to them and said: "I believe it would be perfectly right for us to hang both of you spies to one of these trees standing here on these corners. You drew your weapons and would have killed us if we had not been too quick for you. For this reason you are murderers at heart. You called us thieves for taking timber from land that your employers stole from the people of the state. We can hang you, or we can prosecute you for assaulting us with intent to commit mur- der. You are a desperate set of outlaws and scoundrels and you should be hung at once, but we will be better to you than you intended to be to us. If you will take an oath that you will never be seen in
150
HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
the upper Des Moines Valley again, we will let you go and will furnish each of you a good horse and saddle to get away on."
This proposition the spies eagerly accepted and each of them most solemnly pledged himself never to return to those parts again, or in any way to disturb, molest by word or act either of the three woodmen or any of their friends. They were then put on the horses and ordered to take their departure down a lane leading south. It was quite dark, but the spies went off on a gallop and each of them seemed to be a good rider. When they reached the next crossing a mile south, four men armed with lanterns, guns and clubs, sud- denly arose from the ground and stood in front of them. They were commanded to stop, dismount and give up the stolen horses they were riding, on penalty of death. "Those two horses were stolen from a barn not more than three miles from this place and not more than three hours ago. We were looking for you two thieves and we have found you. So come along with us; we will put you where you will do no more horse stealing for a long time."
The spies denied that they had stolen the horses and undertook to explain matters, but they were told to hush their foolish story about being innocent. "Horse thieves always tell just such stories as that. Nice thing indeed to talk about your innocence when you have the stolen horses now in your possession. You are old hands in the business no doubt."
The spies were told that a magistrate lived down the road, and they were taken before him, where an information was filed against them charging them with the crime of theft. They were left in the care of the magistrate and a constable, and the men who had cap- tured them returned to their homes, promising to be back next morn- ing to give evidence in the preliminary examination. The magis- trate put the prisoners to sleep in a good room and a good bed, but he forgot to lock the door. The result was that the prisoners escaped during the night and were never seen in Boone County again.
Both of these river land stories are strictly true. D. O. Finch, who was the attorney of the navigation company, years afterward told one of the three woodmen so prominently mentioned in the last one of these stories, that when the spies returned to Des Moines, they came to him and told the whole story of the treatment they had been subjected to and they wanted him to begin an action by which they might arrest and punish those three woodmen who had held them as prisoners. Mr. Finch advised them to have nothing more to do with the woodmen of Boone County. "If you commence
151
HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
action against them, that charge of horse stealing will be revived against you, and you may come out of it much worse off than you are now. You had better let the woodmen of Boone County alone. They are a hard lot to contend with." The spies took his advice.
CHAPTER XI
A STORY OF THE "CLAIMS CLUB"
One of the first associations of men in Iowa was the "Claims Club." The object of this primitive organization was to protect the claimants on the public lands against claim jumpers and land specu- lators. There was a well organized claims club in nearly every settle- ment, with messengers passing from one to another, thus keeping up a mutual understanding and friendly cooperation. The officers of a club consisted of a president, secretary and an executive committee with a wide range of discretionary powers.
It was the duty of each member to keep a strict outlook for claim jumpers, land speculators, or any signs of treachery in their own neighborhood and among their own members. In case of any dis- coveries of this kind a report of the same was made to the president who, if he deemed it necessary, called a meeting of the members and laid the matter before them for their consideration.
A large per cent of the pioneer settlers were poor when they came west in search of homes and per force of circumstances they had to make their living and the purchase money for their lands after selecting their claims. The custom was to select a claim of 160 acres of land, move on it, and improve it, those who did so being regarded as bona fide claimants. In many cases there were fairly good improvements made before the lands were subject to entry. When that time arrived many of the claimants did not have the money with which to purchase their lands, even at the low price of $1.25 per acre. This was before the passage of the homestead act and a mere claim by location and improvement had no legal efficiency. Any person had the legal right to go to the land office and purchase any unsold lands whether claimed or not, but in that day the exercise of that right over a claimant was looked upon as an unpardonable crime. Claim jumpers and land speculators were looked upon as demons, and it was the sworn duty of cach club member to keep up a strict scrutiny for them at all times. If one of them was found looking over an unentered claim he was sorely punished. If a mem- Vol. 1-10
153
154
HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
ber turned out to be a traitor to his fellow members he was treated as an outlaw.
In its day the Claims Club was productive of much good and served well the purpose for which it was organized. There are many interesting scraps of history, which grew out of the workings of the Claims Club that have never been published and which at this day day of much interest.
One of these incidents occurred at a settlement in the Des Moines Valley, about sixty miles north of Fort Des Moines, in 1853. It very seldom happened that a traitor was found among the members of a "Claims Club," but this incident proved to be an exception to the general rule. There were but twelve of the chosen disciples of our Savior, and one of them was a Judas. In this club there was a Judas, and a bad one at that. About this time the country swarmed with homeseekers and speculators. These land speculators, in particular, were much to be feared and the eyes of the claimholders were upon them. Among the strangers who came into the settlement just men- tioned was a man who made his stopping place at the house of Amos Wilson, who was a member of the local "Claims Club." This man had secured his claim and held a certificate of purchase for it; but his neighbor, Owen Brown, had a valuable claim, with only half enough money to pay the government price for it. Wilson and Brown were both members of the local club, but it was plain that Wilson wanted Brown's claim. He had on one occasion offered Brown a small sum for his claim, telling him at the same time that he had better take that than nothing, for he would most likely lose the claim anyway. Brown rejected this proposition with firmness and reported it to the club which, from that time, began to look upon Wilson with an eye of suspicion.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.