History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 5

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 574

USA > Iowa > Buchanan County > History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 5

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of the territory, now comprising Buchanan county, must have been a rare sight, during the season of vegetation, even before the advent of its civilized inhabitants. Its numerous streams revealed by the silver sheen of their serpentine currents, by the white lines of sand drift, or the beetling bluffs along their margins, and still more by the wide belts of luxuriant timber by which they were for the most part bordered ; its limitless prairies, mostly un- dulating, but sometimes stretching away in a broad and level expanse, covered with grass and flowers, gleaming in sunlight or flecked with shadow, and dotted here and there with herds of buffaloes, grazing upon the slopes or, perhaps, stampeding before pursuing wolves or Indian hunters-all this afforded a picture which, if there had been an artist's eye to behold it, would have filled his soul with delight.

But civilization came, and a change has passed over the scene, as if produced by the waving of an enchanter's wand, or the utterance of a magical incantation. The main outlines of surface and stream and forest belt con- tinue, though the latter has been broken up in many places to make room for human dwellings or cultivated fields. Much of the original forest. too, has been re- moved for fuel or building material ; but on a large por- tion of the space thus cleared a second growth has been

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

allowed to spring up, which has become as beautiful and luxuriant as the first ; and this, together with the almost numberless groves and orchards that have been planted, probably makes the present number of trees in the county more than twice as great as when it first began to be settled.

The multiplication of cultivated groves is, indeed, one of the principal characteristics in the settlement of a prairie country ; but, from a bird's eye view, there are others which have, perhaps, even a more marked effect upon the landscape. Such are the breaking up of the soil, the enclosing of fields and their cultivation in vari- ous kinds of grain, the multiplication of flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, the erection of dwellings, school- houses, churches, bridges, and other architectural struct- ures, and the grouping of these together in hamlets, villages and towns. All these have so changed the face of the country now composing Buchanan county, that the "century-living crow" which may have flown over it fifty years ago, on one of his migratory flights, would hardly recognize it were he now, for the first time since that not very remote day, to fly over it once more. The historical account of these changes will be given in its appropriate place farther on; but we desire to present here, a little more in detail, a picture of the present feat- ures of the country, both natural and artificial, as seen from above. Word-painting is not our forte, but if the reader will accompany us in an imaginary balloon ascen- sion, we will see what we can see.

Here we are, then, directly over the central point of the county, at an altitude of two or three thousand feet ; from which the entire surface of its sixteen townships lies clearly revealed to our vision, which has been sharp- ened up for this special occasion. The point over which our aerial car is suspended, is near the corners of the four townships-Washington, Byron, Liberty and Sum- ner, and would have been exactly the point where those four townships would have touched each other, had it not been for the "correction line" and the recent enlarge- ment of Washington, made for the sake of allowing the ambitious city of Independence to expand without cross- ing a township line.

If the reader is as simple-minded as the writer, it has seemed to him that we ought to be able to discern, from our present lookout, those boundary lines and colors which are so striking upon maps, and become so identi- fied with all our notions of geography. The lines do, indeed, exist, and are sufficiently visible to the imagina- tion ; but we now perceive, more clearly than ever before, that, like the equator, tropics, parallels and meridians, they are only "imaginary."

It is an interesting coincidence that, from our lofty altitude, we are looking directly down upon two objects which stand as the principal symbols of American civiliza- tion, and of the moral improvement and elevation of our people. These two objects are a church and a school- house. The former is the Bethel Presbyterian church, situated on the main road, about three miles east of Independence, in the southwest corner of Byron town- ship; and the latter, located upon adjoining ground, is

one of the district school buildings with which, as we can see at a glance, the whole surface of the county is dotted over, there being seven or eight, on an average, in every township. The location of these two structures in such elose proximity, at the very centre of the county, is not only symbolical of the general intelligence and virtue of the people; but it also seems to imply that religion and learning are here regarded as the central in- fluences to which all other beneficent influences are sub- sidiary, and upon which the people are chiefly to rely for securing their highest prosperity and happiness.

But we came here, not so much to moralize about the people of Buchanan, as to study and enjoy the physical features of their county. In furtherance of this design let us direct our attention for a few minutes to

THE PRINCIPAL STREAMS,

by which, paradoxical as it may sound, the county is both drained and watered. Drainage is here, of course, the principal object of the streams ; for imported as are numerous living watercourses in a stock growing region, still, in a territory like this, where the average annual of rain-fall is forty inches, if there were not a sufficient slope, and a sufficient number of stream-valleys to af- ford timely escape for the surplus water, the whole sur- face of the country would be one continuous marsh, breeding pestilence for the destruction of men, rather than furnishing arable fields for their support. As it is, there are very few marshes in the county; and the most, if not all of these can be artificially drained, and doubt- less will be as soon as land becomes sufficiently valuable (as it will some day), to insure a compensation for the necessary expense; while on the other hand, there are probably still fewer places which, except in very unusu- al seasons, are ever seriously afflicted by drouth.

The general trend of the land in Buchanan county, like that of the State at large, is from the northwest to the southeast. Its principal valley, that of the Wapsipin- icon river, stretches directly through its centre, in the di- rection stated, receiving and carrying off all its waters, with the following exceptions: Those of Jefferson and Westburg, and of a part of Perry, Sumner and Horner, in the southwest corner of the county, flow into the Ce- dar; while those of a part of Madison and Fremont, in the northeast corner, make their way into the Maquo- keta.

The most conspicuous object below us (for we hope the reader will not forget, even if the writer should, that we are "up in a balloon")-is, of course, the "Wapsie" with its magnificent belt of timber, the largest originally unbroken forest of which lies a little southeast of us, in Liberty township. If we let our eye follow up the me- andering course of the river till we come to the little town of Littleton, in the northern part of Perry town- ship, we find at that point the principal fork made by the river in this county. The river approaches the village from the west, having entered the county at the north- west corner of Perry township; while the stream with which it forks (very respectable in size and named the Little Wapsie) flows down from the north, having come

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

in from the county of Fayette, about a mile and a half east of the northwest corner of Fairbank, and passes completely through that township in a southerly direc- tion. We are not certain but that the Wapsipinicon might justly lay claim to the title, "Father of waters," since we know of at least two Little Wapsies-there be- ing, besides the one here mentioned, another formed very much in the same way in Howard and Chickasaw counties. Our Little Wapsie receives several small streams after entering the county- the largest, being on its western side and named Buck creek, entering Fair- bank township in section seven, and emptying into the Little Wapsie in thirty-two of the same township.

Now let us retrace the course of the river from the fork above described and note the streams that flow into it. The first we come to is scarcely more than a brook, flowing from the south and emptying into the river in section fifteen, in Perry township. It looks like a thread of silver winding through the green carpet of the prairie. We consult the map, which we have not forgotten to bring with us, and find that it has no recorded name. As our eyes glance over the county they will fall upon many such streams-some of them considerably larger than this. And we desire here to say, that when we come to the township histories, if we find any names of streams that have been left hitherto unrecorded, we shall see to it that the nameless ones are duly christened.

The next that we come to is a fine, large stream flow- ing from the north through Hazletown and Washington townships, and joining the river in section nineteen of the latter. This is Otter creek, one of the most beautiful streams in the county, and more copiously wooded than any other, except father Wapsie himself. As our eyes wander up through its charming valley, they discover four branches emptying into it, all unnamed on the map. Three of these are quite small, flowing from the east and joining the creek in Hazleton township. The other is larger, rising on the west side of the creek, a little north of the county line, flowing almost due south through the western part of Hazleton (the most of the way parallel with the creek) and emptying into it in section six of Washington.

Resuming our survey down the river we come to two small streams which enter it about a mile apart, the first in section twenty-eight, and the second in section thirty- four of Washington township, a little above Inde- pendence. Neither is named on the map, but the one nearest the city is called (so we are informed) Harter creek. They both rise in the northern part of Washing- ton, and flow nearly south.

Next passing down the rapids through Independence, we come to the mouth of Malone creek, just below the city, in section three of what was at first Sumner town- ship, but is now a part of Washington. It also rises in Washington (in the northeast corner) and flows in a southwesterly direction. Two little streams, so small that we can hardly discern them even with our sharpened bird's-eye vision, rise almost directly below us-the first in.section thirty-one of Byron, and the second in section one of the addition to Washington. They are each

about two miles in length, flow southwest and empty into the Wapsie, in section ten of Sumner.

Still passing on down the river, we see no entering stream worthy of note till, about seven or eight miles be- low those last mentioned, we come to the mouth of Pine creek, not more than two miles above Quasqueton, in section twenty-eight, Liberty township. This is a fine stream flowing from the north like nearly all those which empty into the Wapsie. It rises nearly in the centre of Buffalo township, and flows south through Byron and Liberty. It receives many small tributaries, mostly through its left bank, like the Wapsie and all the other streams in the county. It is about fourteen miles in length-its lower half being well timbered, but the upper half flowing through an open prairie region. "Pilot Grove" which we see gleaming through the hazy autumn atmosphere, seven or eight miles away to the north, is about two miles from the source of this stream. Although less than a quarter of a mile in diameter (on an average) this grove is a very striking object, from the fact that there is no timber within about five miles of it in any direction.

But a few rods from the mouth of Pine creek is that of Halstead's run, which has for an "occasional contribu- tor" Dry creek; and about a quarter of a mile from the mouth of this run is that of Nash creek, in section twenty-seven in Liberty township. Each of these streams is about five miles in length, rising in the southern part of Byron and running nearly south. From the mouth of Nash creek, which is about half a mile above Quasque- ton, to the point where the Wapsie leaves the county, we can count by close inspection eight tributaries to that river-all but two on its left (that is its eastern bank. None of these ereeks are named on any map that we have seen. The larger of the two on the right bank is the largest entering the river on that side in its whole course through the county. Yet it is only about four miles in length, rising in the northwestern part of Cono, and joining the river in section fourteen of that town- ship. The largest and the last of these lower tributaries, on the other side, is about eight miles in length, rising in the southern part of Middlefield, flowing nearly south through the centre of Newton nearly to the county line, then turning abruptly to the west and entering the river in section thirty-one of the last mentioned township.

But the largest tributary to the Wapsie (though it does not enter the river within the limits of the county) re- mains yet to be noticed. If the reader (still up in the balloon, remember) will cast his eye toward the east, be- yond Pine creek (as far east of that creek as we are west of it, that is about three miles), he will observe a stream flowing in a very straight course about south southeast, parallel with Pine creek and the Wapsie, and bordered by a very narrow belt of timber. That stream is Buffalo creek, the longest branch of our Father of Waters, and, with the exception of the river, the longest stretch of water in Buchanan county. It rises in the southern part of Fayette county, flows in the direction indicated above, entering our county in section three of Buffalo township, and continuing till, at about twelve miles from its source,

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

it reaches the northwest corner of section thirty-one in Madison township. There it turns abruptly to the west, making nearly a right angle, and continuing in that course for about two miles, when it receives a branch which has flowed parallel with it almost from its beginning. Then it makes another sudden turn to the south southeast again, taking the line of the branch, which it holds with very little variation till it unites with the Wapsie in Jones county.

This apparent turning aside from their own valley to make a sudden debouche into that of one of their branches is a frequent and singular freak of streams, both small and great. There are no less than three other examples of it in this county. The Little Wapsie does it when it receives its Buek creek branch. Otter creek does it when it receives that branch, unnamed on the map, which has flowed parallel with it for six or seven miles. And Father Wapsie himself does it, when he unites with Pine creek. In the case of the first three pairs of streams mentioned above, there is the singular additional coincidence that the parallel streams, in each case, are just about two miles apart.

Almost numberless examples of the above mentioned freak of watercourses might be given if we chose to go out of the county; and we will do so just to mention those of a single river-which we can do without lower- ing our balloon. We refer to the Missouri, which per- forms this freak at least five times: first, when it receives the White river; second, when it receives the Niobrara; third, when it receives the James; fourth, when it receives the Big Sioux; and last, but not least, when it receives the Mississippi-for everybody knows that it is the Mis souri that receives the Mississippi, and not the Missis- sippi that receives the Missouri. To call the united streams the Mississippi was the most stupid of geograph- ical misnomers-was, indeed like setting the tail to wag- ging the dog, instead of letting the dog wag his own tail.

In regard to the scientific explanation of these singu- lar fluvial performances, we will state simply that they are attributed by the learned to the action of the ice dur- ing what is termed, in geology, the "glacial period." But their explanations, though plausible in certain cases, are beset with difficulties.

To return (as the French say) "to our sheep"- that is, to the streams of Buchanan county. If the reader will turn his eye to the northeast, some five or six miles beyond the abrupt bend in Buffalo ereek, he will per- ceive a large, isolated grove of native timber, with a stream of considerable size passing through it to the southeast. This stream is the south branch of Maquo- keta river. It rises in the southern part of Fayette county, and the part of it belonging there (being about six miles in length) is called Prairie creek. Why this is thus we are not informed. Suffice it to say that this is the unmistakable Maquoketa, which passes through Manchester, in the adjoining county of Delaware; and there, at the distance of twenty or twenty-five miles from its mouth, proves to be an industrious and serviceable mill stream. Its length in this county is about six miles, passing through the northeast corner of Madison, the

northcast township, entering in section five and going out in section twenty-four. It has several small branches.

South of the stream last described, and nearly east of us, we perceive another and much smaller one, flowing in the same general direction, through prairies and fields entirely destitute of native timber. It rises in section four of Fremont township, flows some nine miles in a sort of circuitous course, and passes out through section thirty-six of the same township into Delaware county. It is there called Coffin's Grove creek, from the name of an isolated body of timber through which it passes; but whether or not it has that name in this county, the mapmaker has not informed us.

If now we turn our eyes to the west and southwest, beyond the watershed of the Wapsipinicon, we shall see several small streanis flowing in a southwesterly direction, and also get a glimpse of the Cedar river, which just touches this county at its southwest corner, the same being the corner of Jefferson township. Of these small streams, the two that we see directly west are a couple of small branches that unite to form Spring creek, which lies wholly beyond our county, in Black Hawk. The farthest of these small branches barely touches Perry township. The other rises in section twenty of Perry, flows south into Westburgh, and out at section seven of the latter.

Passing south, the next that we come to is Little Spring creek, a branch of the former, rising in sixteen, Westburgh, flowing southwest and leaving the county at six, Jefferson. Then comes a small stream unnamed, rising in eight, Jefferson, and passing out at thirty-one of the same. Turning east we come to Lime creek, which rises in fourteen, Westburgh, flows south (with a slight circuit to the east and then to the west) and passes through Jefferson, leaving it at seetion thirty-three. Next and last we come to Bear creek, which rises in seventeen of the adjoining township of Sumner, makes a circuit quite similar to the former, passes through a part of Homer, enters Jefferson at twenty-five, and leaves it at thirty-six.

Thus ends our survey of Buchanan waters. The bird's- eye view would be improved with a lake or two, but they are not needed for any other than esthetic purposes. We fear the reader will think we are staying up in the air a long time; but we are not yet quite ready to come down.

FLUVIAL NOMENCLATURE.

Before we leave the subject of Buchanan streams, however, we desire to say a few words in regard to their names. All names are more or less significant; and it is probable that no one was ever given without there being, in the mind of the giver, a definite reason why that par- ticular one, and not another was assigned to the object named. The reason may never be announced, or, if once made known, may become forgotten; or it may be thought too trivial to remember. But the fact remains, that every object named must have both a namer and a reason for its name. And the reason may continue to be known long after the namer has been forgotten. Thus it is probably at present unknown who first gave

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

the name of Bear creek to the stream last mentioned; but there can be no reasonable doubt as to the reason why that name was given. As it would be bare nonsense to call a stream Bear creek if no bears had ever been found upon its banks, so we may safely take it for granted that the name was given to perpetuate the memory of the fact that bears were once found there. This stream, therefore, and also Buck, Otter, and Buffalo creeks, are standing (or rather running) monuments to a fauna which, in this county, has become extinct. And we cannot help thinking that, if certain other species that once abounded here, but have now disappeared or are fast disappearing) such as the elk, beaver, muskrat, wolf, wild turkey, grouse, etc.), could have been commemor- ated in a similar way, it would have been a very graceful thing to do.

What the names of the streams above mentioned have done for the fauna of the county, the name of Pine creek has done for the flora-that stream being so named on account of the white pines which grow along its banks. They are found mostly in Liberty township, with the de- ciduous trees. It is believed that no native pines are . found anywhere in the county, except along this stream).

The name of Lime creek does not seem specially sig- nificant, since limestone is the principal outcropping rock found in the county. As a name, however, it probably serves its purpose as well as another. The personal names given to several of the streams are those of prominent individuals now or formerly living in their vicinity. These individuals will be suitably mentioned in the sketches of their several townships. The name of the Mayuoketa is evidently of Indian origin, but we have not as yet been able to ascertain its meaning.

As to the Wapsipinicon, the Indian legend, said to be connected with its name, is sufficiently romantic to satisfy the most sentimental of novel readers. Wapsie and Pinicon (so the story goes) were a brave Indian youth and a beautiful girl of the same race, but of a different tribe. We may suppose (for the location favors the sup- position, and there is nothing in the legend to contradict it) that Wapsie was one of the warlike Sioux, and that Pinicon belonged to the equally warlike and hostile tribe of Sacs. Love laughs at tribal prejudices; and so this ill-fated pair, who had thus far resisted all amorous attractions within their individual tribes, having met by chance, the usual way, up somewhere on the neutral ground, fell desperately in love with each other at first sight. Both had the blood of a long line of chieftains in their veins-which circumstance, while it gave a heroic intensity to the ardor of their passion, interposed a mountain of obstacles in the way of its gratification. Love may laugh, as we have hinted, at tribal and family prejudices, but parental authority is very apt to make an inflexible religion out of those unamiable sentiments. Thus it was in the present instance. When Pinicon's father discovered that his daughter had turned a favor- able ear to the addresses of a scion of a hostile house, his rage knew no bounds, and he sternly forbade her to have any further communication with the presumptuous and impudent young warrior, or even to think of him

again as a desirable or possible husband. The law of love, however, is stronger than that of a parent's will; and the lovers still found means to continue their corres- pondence- but with a circumspection that entirely eluded the father's vigilant eye.

At length, weary of the long frustration of their hopes, and despairing of the paternal consent, they determined upon an elopement. Pinicon, though she could not tell a lie, had not hesitated to let her father believe that she had yielded to his wishes, and given up her ill-starred attachment. By this he was led to relax his accustomed vigilance, and he set out upon a hunt of several days, without leaving anyone specially charged with the duty of watching her movements. The faithful Pinicon con- trived to inform her constant Wapsie of this favorable opportunity, and he hastened to avail himself of it to bear her away to his northern home. But as bad luck would have it, the father returned unexpectedly, just as they were preparing for their flight. Finding the hated Wapsie under his roof, he exclaimed in a towering rage : "Wah beh jobangunk! Kommen sie in diesen ort nicht zurück, wenn sie auch nicht hangen wollen, wo die vogel ihre hirnschalenhaut picken werden!" Which means, freely translated, "Get out of this! And if you ever darken the door of my wigwam again, I'll hang your scalp on a crabapple tree for the birds to pick at!" The brave Wapsie, though taken by surprise, was not at all frightened; but he was too magnanimous to fight her father in the presence of his adorable Pinicon. So he retreated backward, bowing like a courtier as he went, and calmly saying, as he left the door: "Auf wreder- schen! Yach goonic Filippimini weeho!" That is "good bye! We'll meet again at Philippi!"

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History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 5

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers Number of Pages: 574

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 574