USA > Iowa > Dubuque County > History of Dubuque County, Iowa; being a general survey of Dubuque County history, including a history of the city of Dubuque and special account of districts throughout the county, from the earliest settlement to the present time > Part 4
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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY
were not intruders upon the public lands and ought not to have been so regarded and treated by the secretary of war" (see Senate Documents, 29th Congress, 2d session, Vol III, No. 218).
Finally, the Senate committee "are fully satisfied that justice demands that the report of the board of commissioners aforesaid should be approved and that the title to the said tract of land should be confirmed by the United States to the said Julien Dubuque, his heirs, assignees, or legal representatives; and in con- formity to these views they have reported a bill and recommended its passage." (March 3, 1847, see No. 218, Senate Documents, 29th Congress, 2d session, Vol. III).
The Senate committee on public lands, on July 1, 1842, "thought it very obvious that the grant, permit, or concession, by whatever name it may be called of the Indians in council to Dubuque, was never intended by either of the parties to give any greater interest in the land or mines to Dubuque than a mere personal permit or privilege of working the mines as long as he pleased and of leaving them whenever he should think proper."
They therefore concluded that the government preemption laws should apply to the Dubuque tract. In other words that settlers could preempt land there as on other land owned by the United States. (Senate Documents, Vol. V, 27th Congress, 2d session, No. 34I.)
The House of Representatives committee on public lands reported that they felt "assured that the Indians considered the privilege granted by them to Julien Dubuque as a personal privilege, from the fact that, as early as the year 1830, and previous to the cession by treaty of the land called the 'Black Hawk Purchase' to the United States (and which includes this tract of land) and while all of what is now comprised within the limits of the territory of Iowa belonged to the Indian tribes, divers persons crossed the Mississippi river and commenced mining upon this tract of land (the Dubuque claim) ; which occupancy was resisted and com- plained of by the Indians, and upon proper representations being made the government sent a military force to expel such persons, which was accomplished; and said military force was then sta- tioned at the place where now stands the town of Dubuque. After the making of the treaty of September 21, 1832 (the Black Hawk Purchase ), and previous to the ratification thereof, the whites again crossed the river and commenced mining and making gardens in the vicinity of what is now the town of Dubuque. By the said treaty it was stipulated that the Indians were to retain possession of the lands so ceded until the Ist of June, 1833. To keep which stipulation inviolate the government again sent a military force to expel its citizens, which was as far as practicable effected ; and that after the due ratification of the said treaty, to-wit: On the Ist day of June, 1833. said military force was withdrawn, and the
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settlers were permitted, encouraged and invited by the government to occupy said tract of land under the government." (See H. R. Docs., 27th Congress, 2d session, No. 894. )
Those who petitioned Congress regarding the Dubuque claim and title in 1835-6 were Elizabeth Mullanphy, Octavia Mullanphy, Ann Biddle, Mary Harney, William S. Harney, Bryan Mullanphy, James Clemens, Jr., Eliza Clemens, R. Graham, Catherine Graham, Charles Chambers, Jane M. Chambers, Cerre Chouteau (in her own right and as executrix of Auguste Chouteau, deceased ), E. Chou- teau, Henry Chouteau, Gabriel S. Chouteau, Aug'te P. Chouteau (by Pr. Chouteau, Jr., attorney in fact). They had been dispos- sessed of their property under this claim and asked to be restored to the possession of their property until the title should be adjudicated.
In 1842 the citizens who had settled upon the Dubuque claim petitioned Congress to the following effect : That they had settled there after June 6, 1833, and were therefore entitled to the privi- leges granted by the preemption laws ; that the privilege of making proof and payment for their homes under such laws was denied them by the register and receiver at Dubuque on the ground that the tract was reserved from sale as shown by a letter from the commissioner of the general land office dated April 4, 1839. The House com- mittee of Congress took the position "that the privilege given to Julien Dubuque by the Indian tribes was the mere personal privilege of hunting, mining, smelting, fishing, etc., within certain limits (twenty-one miles front upon the Mississippi river by nine miles in depth ) and was not intended to convey to him any further right or privilege." The committee showed that the government had "not only on all proper occasions heretofore denied the validity of such claim, but has since purchased this same tract of land from the Indians by treaty dated September 21, 1832, at Rock Island, and given through its agents to the settlers written permission to reside on and occupy said tract of land and to work at the mines thereon, to erect houses for their protection and enclose gardens for the support of the settlers, they paying to the agents of the United States for the benefit of the United States, certain proportions of the amount of mineral raised or lead ore smelted by them." For these and other reasons the committee reported a bill in favor of the relief prayed for by the petitioners.
The Miners' Express of July 28, 1842, contained the report of the committee on public lands in the United States Senate, to whom was referred a bill extending the right of preemption to settlers, etc., on the Dubuque claim, denying the validity of the claim, which was accompanied by a bill providing that settlers might enter their lands as if no claim existed ; that patents issued for lands so entered should be considered as a relinquishment of the title of the United States to the land ; but, if, at any future time the claim should be declared valid by a proper tribunal and the patentee should be
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lawfully ejected, the purchase money should be refunded to the patentee.
Much land in the county was unentered previous to March, 1847, owing to the Dubuque claim. but at this date Congress removed the difficulty and the land was thrown into market.
Iowa, in the language of the Indians. means "the beautiful land." What is now Dubuque county was seen first by white men in 1673; in that year Joliet and Marquette passed down the Mississippi and may have landed in this county. Joliet was sent out on an expedi- tion to find the "great river" and a water route to the South Sea, „as the Pacific ocean was then called, and Marquette was chosen to accompany him. The latter called the Mississippi "La Conception." Later La Salle called it "Colbert." In 1788 the Fox Indians pos- sessed the soil, the lands of the Sacs being farther down the river. In 1836-7 Congress ordered the town of Dubuque surveyed and platted, but this act did not remove the claim of Dubuque's heirs and for many years the land was kept out of market on this account. In Congress a strong delegation worked persistently in favor of the Dubuque-Chouteau claim.
"Afterward when the lands were ordered to be sold and the proclamation of sale duly made, and when Iowa was unrepresented in that body, the United States Senate passed a resolution request- ing a withdrawal of the land from sale. This startled our people and Messrs. Hastings and Leffler, our representatives in Congress, were interviewed. They called upon the President and learned that the act of the Senate could not be disregarded; but they learned that if the House should pass a resolution ordering the sale, it would proceed. Mr. Hastings accordingly presented such a reso- lution in the House, whereupon a Missouri member violently pro- tested against it and raised such a commotion that when the vote was taken it was difficult to decide whether it was passed or not. The clerk thought it was lost and so entered it on his memorandum. At the adjournment Mr. Hastings ( familiarly known as 'Old Red') went to him for a copy of the resolution. The clerk replied: 'I thought the resolution failed to pass.' He replied, 'No, sir, give me a certified copy to be handed to the President.' The clerk did so, the copy was presented to the President and the sale proceeded. This act of Mr. Hastings was one of more benefit to our city and county than any other single act in the history of our legislation. Had that sale not taken place at that time, it might never have taken place, for the claim of Chouteau might have been confirmed by Congress and this confirmation would have depopulated the eastern half of this county, or if the sale had ever been made it would have been after years of delay, fraught with destruction to the prosperity of our city and county. After the public sale Mr. Chou- teau brought a suit against Mr. P. Maloney, one of our worthy citizens, to test the validity of his title, and the decision before
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referred to was made by the United States Supreme court. Another temporary incubus upon the prosperity of our city and county was the attempt to take the mineral leads from our early miners by pretended government agents, who claimed to have authority to lease these lands. Certain adventurers procured such appointments and granted to their own secret agents and tools, leases of rich lodes discovered after much labor and expense by such men as Richard and Robert Waller, the Langworthys, Antoine Loire and many others and these pretended agents asked the judge here for an injunction to prevent all working of our mines without a license from him. The judge decided that the law authorizing this leasing did not apply to Iowa, whereupon the secretary of war, Mr. Spencer, wrote to the judge to prepare himself for a removal from office for the reason that the law did apply to that part of Iowa which was east of the Mississippi. Daniel Webster hearing of this, called upon Mr. Spencer, gave him a short lesson in geography and the judge was not removed."-(Judge Thomas S. Wilson in Herald of September 4, 1883).
Comparatively little is known of Dubuque during the twenty-one years' residence here. So far as known no portrait of him is in existence ; all such are purely imaginary and should have no place in history. Neither is it known that he had an Indian wife. Elipha- let Price, an early settler near here, said that one of Dubuque's employes told him that Dubuque had no Indian wife. If he had one what became of her after his death? If there were any children what became of them? Would not the wife and children have claimed his estate here and elsewhere? Not the slightest trace of them has ever been found .- (See Judge T. S. Wilson in Herald, February 6, 1887). Peosta was a Fox chief and a warrior of the Kettle Chief's Tribe. The name Pesota usually bestowed upon Dubuque's alleged Indian wife, seems to be a distortion of Peosta. Dubuque and nine other Frenchmen, it is said, came here in 1788. It would be interesting to know who his white companions were, how long they remained, the terms upon which they worked for him, etc. Dubuque wrote his name as it is now written ; he did not use a capital B. In French the name is written Debuc .- (See Herald, January 8, 1866.) At his death Dubuque was concealed on the bluff where his monument now stands; his body was placed in a cave. In 1823 when this cave was opened, Mr. Langworthy, who was present, said the skeleton was yet there with the hat still on the head or skull .- ( Miners' Erpress, September 18. 1850). It is said that the Indians for many years kept a fire burning at the cave or grave. His Indian name was "La Petit Nuit." The Great Washington of the Foxes, Kettle Chief, was buried on the same mound. On the cross at the grave is the following inscription in French. "Julien Dubuque Mineure De La Mine D'Espagne, Moret Le 24 Marse, 1810; Agee 451/2 anne."-(Translation : Julien
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HISTORY OF DUBUQUE COUNTY
Dubuque, Miner of the Mines of Spain, died the 24th of March, 1810, aged 45 years and 6 months). Dubuque was thus a young man when he came here-about twenty-four years old.
Dubuque was a French Canadian born in the Province of Quebec, January 10, 1762, and was a mineralogist. At the age of twenty- two years he settled near Prairie du Chien and soon learned of the lead ore near the mouth of Catfish creek, where the Kettle Chief's village was located, containing about four hundred Indians. In 1788 he secured the right to work the mines. He opened stores, built smelting furnaces, bought furs, built houses and horse mills, opened gardens and farms, sold or traded goods and mined lead for market. From time to time he had Frenchmen to assist him and no doubt also Indian women and old men. He was doubtless good to the Indians, treated them fairly, taught them how to secure many comforts and become strong and it was no wonder they loved, respected and obeyed him. Twice a year he took a boat load of lead ore, furs and hides to St. Louis and returned with fresh goods, money and supplies of food, clothing and ammunition. The inscrip- tion on his grave, or cross, says that he died March 24, 1810, aged forty-five years and six months ; if so, he was born about September, 1764, instead of the date given above.
A new impetus was given to the growth of Dubuque by the final settlement of the Dubuque claim. This settlement was practically made by Congress in 1846-7. The President by proclamation adver- tised the lands for sale, whereupon the Senate presented a resolution asking for a postponement of the sale, but this was prevented by an Iowa member, who asked that there be no postponement unless upon petition of the settlers. This passed and was sanctioned by the President. Previous to 1846-7 all titles at Dubuque were con- sidered uncertain. Many pioneers refused to settle here. All who settled prepared their affairs so as to meet the Dubuque claims in case his heirs won. Dubuque was thus crippled for years. In 1847 the growth was large as a consequence of the Congressional act of 1846-7. Over 150 buildings were erected in Dubuque from March I, 1847, to December I ; a majority were brick.
When the case of Chouteau vs. Maloney (the Dubuque claim case) was called in the Supreme court of the United States in December, 1853, every member of the Iowa delegation in Congress was present. The case was concluded in January, 1854. Judge Thomas S. Wilson, of Dubuque, first addressed the Court and upheld the views of Albert Gallatin. He was followed by Mr. Carmack, who assailed the views of Gallatin and upheld the justice of the old Senate committee report. Platt Smith spoke, as did Judge Wilson : so did Attorney General Cushing. The whole Pierce administration favored the Iowa contention. Briefly the points made by Judge Wilson were as follows: I. The Indians could not and did not sell the land, as it belonged to Spain. 2. Dubuque
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had only peaceable possession and not full proprietorship. 3. The bounds were indefinite. 4. Carondelet only gave permission to work the mines, as his language was not such as was usually used in making land grants, and no process verbal nor order of survey accompanied his order. 5. Carondelet had no authority to make such a sale or grant. 6. If Carondelet had such power, he could give only an inchoate and imperfect title-one that would avail nothing in a court of law. 7. There must be a compliance with Spanish law and there was not in this case, and therefore no sale was meant. 8. The land was acquired from France in 1803 and from the Indians in 1832; Congress had authorized the sale to the settlers, had recognized their preemption rights and had given them patents to their tracts of land; would the government now reverse all this, and exclude the thousands of settlers? Justice Wayne delivered the unanimous opinion of the Supreme court in favor of the settlers. On February 28, 1854, there was received here a telegram that the Dubuque case had been decided in favor of Iowa. Immediately an impromptu celebration was held; the cannon was fired, bells were rung and all congratulated each other on the out- come and the good news. Thus at last this vexatious case was settled forever.
Dubuque county has little Indian history, because the tribes were removed before the arrival of the pioneers. The early settlers found the usual artificial mounds which doubtless were thrown up by the Indians and not by the Mound Builders proper. Several of these mounds stood originally where Dubuque's monument now stands. "One opened in Dubuque county disclosed a vault divided into three cells. In the center one were found eight skeletons sitting in a circle and in the center of the group was a drinking vessel made from a sea shell. The whole chamber was covered with logs preserved in cement." One mile northeast of Dyersville, on section 29, township 89 north, range 2 west, were formerly a group of Indian mounds-nine in all, seven circular and two embankments.
Originally the Dakota family of Indians possessed what is now Iowa. In this family were the Iowa, Omaha, Winnebago, Mascou- tin, Otoe, Sisseton and other tribes. Farther south were the Illinois, Fox, Chippewa, Attouays, Pottawattomie and other tribes of the great Algonquin family. In the fierce wars between the two fami- lies the Sacs and Foxes gained possession of what is now Dubuque county and were found here by the first white men. Dubuque secured his grant from the Foxes, and lived with them until his death. A large Fox village of sixty to seventy bark and log dwell- ings stood on the present site of Dubuque, and nearby in the valley were the Indian corn, bean and pumpkin fields. Before the whites came, the Sioux, it is related, were attacked on the bluff about two hundred yards below the mouth of Catfish creek, on the first bluff below the one on which stands Dubuque's monument, by a
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large band of Sacs and Foxes. In the rush they endeavored to drive the mounted Sioux over the bluff. Many were forced over the steep bank and the Sioux were defeated in the end. As a proof of this battle the first settlers found at the bottom of the bluff, on the east side, many Indian skeletons, more or less disjointed, scattered around for a considerable distance. Bones of Indians and horses could be seen there as late as twenty or thirty years ago. During the fight, it is related, a Sioux leaped his horse down the north side, which was not so steep, and escaped, from that circumstance the bluff has been known as Horse Bluff. The date of this battle is not known, but was before August 19, 1825, at which date a treaty removed the Sioux permanently farther northward. The Horse Shoe Bluff there is named from the shape of the small valley.
In 1832 the Sacs, Foxes and Winnebagoes ceded a large tract, including Dubuque county, to the United States government for the consideration of $20,000 per annum for thirty years; $50,000 to be paid to Indian traders; 6,000 bushels of corn, fifty barrels of flour ; thirty barrels of pork; thirty-beef cattle, and twelve bushels of salt.
Late in May, 1838, a few wandering and dissipated Winnebago Indians came down the river and camped on an island opposite the lower end of town. A night or two later a few roughs from Dubuque went there for dishonorable purposes and were resisted by the braves and squaws, during which a squaw was mortally wounded. She was buried by the people of Dubuque and the roughs were pursued and punished. Several were wounded in the struggle. One of the roughs escaped. Joseph Ducoste, who was charged with the murder of the squaw, Se-a-co, broke jail at Dubuque in June, 1838, and Sheriff Cummings offered a reward of $50 for liis arrest.
"Indians About .- A company of about forty Indians of the Pottawattomie tribe were encamped at Table Mound, near this city, during last week. We understand they were a little amusing to the people in that neighborhood. In a drunken frolic they had three of their horses killed. Those that visited the city were fine looking, well-dressed Indians."-(Miners' E.rpress, June 6, 1849.)
"We were amused at the antics of a party of Pottawattomie Indians who were allowed to ride backwards on the tender. They evidently thought it great sport as they whooped and hallooed until they rivaled the neigh of the iron steed. But the shriek of that animal evidently took them down some-or up rather, as one fellow jumped three feet into the air when the engineer let the whistle loose."-E. & H., June 4, 1855).
CITY OF DUBUQUE, 1788 TO 1849.
S YO FAR as known, Julien Dubuque and his French companions were the first white persons to reside permanently in what is now Dubuque county, Iowa. They came here probably in 1788 and began to work the lead mines, and Dubuque, at least, lived here more or less continuously until his death in 1810. After the latter date until 1827, it is not probable that any white persons resided permanently here, though doubtless, in spite of the fact that the Indian title was not extinguished and the Indians themselves were hostile to such advances, white explorers from the older Galena and Wisconsin districts, invaded cautiously this county with the ob- ject of settlement when the lands should be secured by treaty and thrown into market. It is also known that white traders resided more or less permanently on the islands in front of Dubuque from 1810 to 1830. The period from 1827 to 1832 has thus been called the period of exploration when white men on the east side of the Mississippi invaded the wilds west of the river to select homes with the view of early future settlement. This invasion was doubtless one of the sequences of the Indian treaties of 1804, 1818, 1824. etc., which forecast the speedy acquirement by the government of lands west of the river. Many who afterward became permanent resi- dents of this county made explorations during this period ; among them were James L. Langworthy, Lucius H. Langworthy, James McPeters, E. M. Wren, Samuel Scales, George W. Jones, Thomas McCraney, Anton Loire and others.
A party of ladies and gentlemen from Galena celebrated the Fourth of July, 1828, at the mouth of Catfish creek, Dubuque county. This was probably the first time in what is now Iowa that the flag was raised and that day celebrated. In 1832 another party from Galena celebrated the same day at the same place .- (Herald, November 2, 1865. )
George W. Jones came here to trade with the Indians as early as 1828; he then resided at Sinsinawa Mound. In order to convey his ox team and cart across the river, he lashed two canoes or other boats together and then put his whole outfit on board and all were ferried over by the Indians. He obtained lead and gave money and goods therefor. The Langworthys and a dozen other men who afterward became settlers here were thus engaged, several of them as early as 1827. Some times they dealt with the traders on the
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islands and sometimes directly with the Indians. It is said that one or more of Dubuque's French companions resided here or on the islands until 1826.
When the first explorers arrived they found a large village was still standing silent, solitary and deserted, at the mouth of Catfish creek. Every Indian had vanished. About seventy buildings, con- structed with poles and the bark of trees, were all that remained. The council house, though rude, was large and contained a great number of furnaces where kettles had been placed to prepare the feasts of peace or war. On the inner surfaces of the bark of the council house were paintings of elks, buffaloes, bears, panthers and other animals. Even their sports, feasts and fights were thus repre- sented. Here seemed to be a rude record of their history. The whole place was destroyed by fire in the summer of 1830 by some visitors in a spirit of vandalism, much to the regret of the first settlers.
The treaty with the Sacs and Foxes by which what is now Dubuque county became open to settlement, was concluded Sep- tember 2, 1832, and took effect in June, 1833. No sooner was it learned that the treaty had been concluded than miners, adventurers, explorers, families and homeseekers generally began to cross the river in order to secure first choice of permanent locations. This fact reaching the knowledge of the authorities caused orders to be issued to the soldiers at Prairie du Chien to remove all such per- sons ; whereupon Lieutenants Gardonnier, Abercrombie, Wilson and Davis (the latter becoming afterwards President of the Southern Confederacy) came to what is now Dubuque and compelled the invaders to re-cross to the east side, though many went no farther than the islands in the middle of the river, where traders had sojourned for many years. Being fully convinced that the treaty would soon be confirmed, the settlers returned when the soldiers lost their vigilance or were withdrawn. The result was that a score or more of permanent settlers made their claims in Dubuque county late in 1832 and early in 1833. After the spring of 1833 the sol- diers did not longer seriously molest the settlers here. Some score or more of the first settlers date their settlement here from 1832, because they came then and went away temporarily only because the soldiers compelled them to go.
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