USA > Iowa > Dickinson County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 45
USA > Iowa > Emmet County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 45
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
After Mr. Blackert died I sold the farm to a Land Company, on which many people in good homes now live.
Thinking the readers of the Herald will be further interested in some of the old landmarks of "ye olden time," I think I have the exact knowledge of their whereabouts and will proceed to tell. The building owned by Uncle Henry Schuneman and where my husband died, and where he kept the first store, was on the site and is now a part of the Presbyterian Manse. The small house east of the original Chandler residence was owned by Dr. Ball. The building remains there. Orlando Howe owned and lived on the present site of Senator Francis' palatial residence, which is the pride of many citizens of the town. B. F. Carpenter owned the site where John Deibner and happy wife now entertain well and often, but the old house is a part of Prof. Tompkins' house where his small active urchins circle around the hearthstone and are bright stars indeed. Where Ed Carleton's delightful cool home is in the north part of the city was owned in early times by G. P. and G. M. Howe, the first school being presided over by Miss Mary Howe as first teacher and held in their attic. She died less than two years ago at Lake Park known as Mrs. Henry Kitts.
The cottage commonly known as the Van Burens, near the bridge, was erected and occupied by Henry Barkman near the McMahon home in
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the northwest part of town, afterwards moved on the Gruhlke home site, then to its present location.
Going back to the summer of 1861 I will endeavor to collect correctly some of the incidents. Alarming reports of Indian troubles in adjoining counties were brought in by different ways, did not stop the erection of a new brick courthouse, that was well on the way of being some protection from the untutored Indian. The present one stands on nearly the same site. A cupola had been built at the top for several reasons. The second story had the windows in place, also a large share of the floor laid. A tramway where workmen took up the material was the only stairway. The windows and doors were not put in below, so even there we had very little protection.
The settlers becoming anxious about the safety of . their families decided that all grown men that could be spared should leave immediately for Sioux City and enlist as soldiers. The Indians must have learned of their going away and planned to execute their well-laid scheme of kill- ing all the white people through to Minnesota. Ere any returned from Soiux City our fears were realized, when twenty-five Indians appeared in a body, pretending they were going to Ocheyedan River to hunt elk. Provi- dentially two of our men, who had left their families to enlist, were returning home and met the Indians near town, and forced them to return, taking them to the place where the Lake Park Hotel stands, since built. Blazing trees in a circle, men stood guard, with orders to "shoot them on the spot" if they attempted to escape. Early the next morning they were released on promising to leave the country; men escorted them toward Estherville, the few settlers being warned of their movements. Afterwards were found signs of their murderous intentions painted on stones and trees, probably for the other sixty that passed west and north of Spirit Lake, going to Belmont, four miles north of Jackson, where the massacre followed, which has been printed in several historical books.
I then lived with my small children in a log house, in after years known as the D'Arcy homestead. The only door was placed in the open- ing at night and taken down during the day, a poor, if any protection, had the Indians attacked us. My step-sons, Frank, Henry and George, had found light employment among the neighbors.
As I remember, the third morning after the going away of the Indians, a man came to Luther Stimpson (a settler living a few miles north) at 3 o'clock in the morning, and told him of the massacre. At dawn of day Mr. Stimpson arrived, and he, with others, set out on horseback to urge the settlers to come in as quickly as possible. I think Mr. Stimpson had not yet arrived when I was doing my morning chores, when a passing stranger stopped and said, "Why don't you come in? The Indians are coming!" I was so stunned and frightened at the news and the thought of my helpless condition that I scarcely did anything really sane, and it
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seems now an eternity of torture as I think of the fright I received. The man returned to the mill at the Isthmus, now Orleans, bringing back with him a small child that was unconscious, he having carried it all the way from Belmont, walking through the night, hiding from fear of the enemy. I took care of them at a place somewhere near the courthouse guarded by soldiers. I think the child survived less than two days; I prepared it for burial and it was laid to rest in the first burying place in the northeast part of town, then the father went away and I never saw him again.
I then went into the courthouse; I distinctly remember Mrs. Daniel Bennett, (residing at Dixon's beach) relating to myself and others the horror of the ride behind the oxen as the family came to town that day with a cook stove, some clothing and pieces of bedding. The settlers brought to the courthouse old muskets, shotguns and several rifles, having enough ammunition to last but an hour in battle with the Red Men, but that was one secret the enemy had not fathomed.
We all slept on beds arranged on the floor, placed lower than the win- dows to be more safe from a night attack and always getting them pre- pared during the day, as lights were not allowed, nor speaking above a whisper. All the cooking was done out of doors during the day.
One day the watchman on the cupola described a long line of supposed Indians coming from the east, which caused quite a panic among us but proved to be people coming for protection and bringing their cattle with them.
The problem and necessity of building a stockade to protect both set- tlers and soldiers who had now all returned with horses to scour the country every day that we might not be surprised-was before us, and the good work begun. Brave men and women gave their aid, with brawn and brain all helpful. While the men sawed the timbers at Okoboji saw- mill, women nerved themselves to bravery, and men and boys drove the ox-teams after material. My boys, Henry and George, went, and when we parted with our children in the morning we were not assured we would see each other alive again. George was only ten years of age, and one day his ox-team ran into Lake Okoboji to swimming depth, then went out; George expected to be drowned, and this reminiscence still lingers with him.
The stockade was finished in due time and occupied by the cavalry horses. After several weeks the Red Rascals were caught and thirty-two executed at Mankato at one drop of the machine. Thus ended the Indian troubles in Dickinson county. The families went to their several homes ; I went to the old Rice house, of which Senator Francis recently acquired title. I boarded twenty-one soldiers for a long time, in fact, until I entered a home in reality.
For the fifty-five years I have spent among you, I think there is not a Vol. 1-27
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spot of ground over which my feet have not trod; I love it all and have always felt interested in everyone coming and going. There is a tender closeness for me that I think few people here feel as I have, heartaches I have realized, but through it all the silver lining shines over the many happy days I spend with you or thinking of you, and understand that my last are my best days, with goodwill toward all and malice toward none. Here I now live and here will I be buried, and as I. pass over the Divide looking forward to the meeting beyond with those who suffered so much,
"I hope again some where, some time, To fondly clasp your hands in mine, And fear, companionship not mar, When all have passed the Gates ajar."
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CHAPTER XXXIII.
CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY.
IMPORTANCE OF DATES IN THE STUDY OF HISTORY-INFLUENCE OF EVENTS ON THOSE THAT FOLLOW-EXAMPLES THE SUMMARY-LIST OF EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE ORGANIZATION OF EMMET AND DICKINSON COUNTIES-IMPORTANT OCCURRENCES SINCE THE FIRST SETTLEMENT.
In the study of history dates play an important part. One event follows another in the process of development, and each event wields more or less influence upon those that follow. In the foregoing chapters a conscientious effort has been made to show the progress of Emmet and Dickinson counties along industrial, educational, religious and profes- sional lines, as well as their part in the political and military affairs of the state and nation. As a fitting conclusion to this work, the following summary of events leading up to the settlement of the counties, their organization, and occurrences having some bearing upon their more recent history has been compiled for the ready reference of the reader.
At first glance, many of these events may seem to have no connec- tion-or at least a very remote one-with local history, but this is another case of the "Seen and the Unseen" mentioned in a former chapter. Each event, great or small, played its allotted part in shaping the destiny of the great State of Iowa and of Emmet and Dickinson counties. For example: The discovery of the Mississippi River by De Soto in 1541; the English grant of land to the Plymouth Company in 1620; the organi- zation of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670; or the claiming of the Mississippi Valley by La Salle in 1682, may appear to the casual reader as having no place in the history of Emmet and Dickinson counties. Yet these events were the forerunners of the conflict of Spanish, Eng- lish and French interests in America-a conflict which finally ended by the purchase of Louisiana by the United States, whereby the territory now comprising the State of Iowa became a part of the Federal Union. Without the happening of any one of these events, the history of this country might be differently written.
THE SUMMARY
1541. Hernando de Soto discovered the Mississippi River near the site of the present City of Memphis, Tennessee. This discovery formed the basis of the Spanish claim to the interior of North America.
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1620. The Plymouth Company received a charter from the English Government to a large tract of land including the present State of Iowa.
May 2, 1670. The Hudson's Bay Company chartered by the English Government. This was the first of the great companies formed for the purpose of trading with the North American Indians.
June 17, 1673. Marquette and Joliet, the French explorers, discovered the Mississippi River at the mouth of the Wisconsin and saw the bluffs near the present City of McGregor, Iowa.
April 9, 1682. Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, claimed all the territory drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries for France and gave the region the name of Louisiana. Iowa was included in this claim.
November 3, 1762. The Treaty of Fontainebleau, by which France ceded all that part of Louisiana west of the Mississippi to Spain. Iowa thus became a Spanish possession.
February 10, 1763. The Treaty of Fontainebleau ratified and con- firmed by the Treaty of Paris.
September 3, 1783. Conclusion of the treaty that ended the Revolu- tionary war and fixed the western boundary of the United States at the Mississippi River.
, 1788. The first white settlement in the present State of Iowa made by Julien Dubuque on the site of the city that bears his name.
October 1, 1800. Treaty of San Ildefonso concluded, by which Spain ceded back to France that portion of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River.
April 30, 1803. Conclusion of the Treaty of Paris, by which the United States purchased Louisiana. Iowa by this treaty became the prop- erty of the United States Government.
October 31, 1803. Congress passed an act authorizing the President- to take possession of Louisiana and establish a temporary government therein.
December 20, 1803. The United States commissioners take formal possession of Louisiana at New Orleans.
October 1, 1804. Louisiana divided into the Territory of Orleans and the District of Louisiana. Iowa was included in the latter, which was placed under the jurisdiction of the Indiana Territory.
November 4, 1804. First treaty with the Sac and Fox Indians nego- tiated at St. Louis by Gen. William H. Harrison.
January 11, 1805. The Territory of Michigan established by act of Congress. .
August 9, 1805. Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike left St. Louis to explore the upper Mississippi River. On the 21st of the same month he held a coun-
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cil with some Iowa Indians at the head of the rapids of the Mississippi, in what is now Lee County.
-, 1807. Iowa attached to the Territory of Illinois by act of Congress.
June 4, 1812. The Territory of Missouri was created and Iowa attached to the new territory.
September 13, 1815. Treaty of peace with the Sac and Fox Indians of Iowa concluded at Portage des Sioux.
March, 1821. Missouri admitted into the Union as a state and Iowa left without any form of civil government.
-, 1824. A trader named Harte established a post where the City of Council Bluffs now stands.
July 15, 1830. Treaty of Prairie du Chien establishing the "Neutral Ground" between the Sioux on the north and the Sac and Fox tribes on the south. At the same time the territory now comprising Emmet and Dickinson counties was ceded to the United States.
February 24, 1831. The above treaty declared in effect by procla- mation of President Jackson.
August 2, 1832. Last battle of the Black Hawk war, in which the Indians were defeated.
September 21, 1832. A treaty concluded at Davenport, Iowa, by which the Sacs and Foxes ceded to the United States the strip of land forty miles wide across the eastern part of the state. This strip, known as the "Black Hawk Purchase," was the first land in Iowa acquired by the Government for white occupation.
June, 1833. The first postoffice in Iowa was established at Dubuque. June 28, 1834. President Jackson approved the act attaching Iowa to the Territory of Michigan.
September, 1834. The Michigan Legislature divided the present State of Iowa into two counties-Dubuque and Des Moines. Emmet and Dickinson were included in the County of Dubuque.
April 20, 1836. President Jackson approved the bill creating the , Territory of Wisconsin, which included all the present State of Iowa, the act to take effect July 4, 1836.
May 11, 1836. The Dubuque Visitor, the first newspaper in Iowa, established by John King.
May, 1836. First census in Iowa taken by order of Governor Dodge of Wisconsin. Population, 10,351.
October 3, 1836. First election ever held in Iowa, for members of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature.
November 6, 1837. A convention at Burlington adopted a memorial to Congress asking for the establishment of a new territory west of the Mississippi.
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April 7, 1838. J. N. Nicollet appointed by President Van Buren to make a hydrographic survey of the upper Mississippi basin. Nicollet visited the region about Spirit and Okamanpadu lakes.
June 12, 1838. President Van Buren approved the act of Congress creating the Territory of Iowa.
October 3, 1838. Death of Black Hawk, the great chief of the Sacs and Foxes.
May 9, 1843. Capt. James Allen came up the Des Moines River on the Steamer Ione with a detachment of troops and established Fort Des Moines, where the capital of the state now stands.
October 7, 1844. Iowa's first constitutional convention met at Iowa City. That constitution was rejected by the people.
May 4, 1846. Second constitutional convention assembled at Iowa City. The second constitution ratified by the voters on August 3, 1846.
December 28, 1846. President Polk approved the act of Congress admitting Iowa into the Union as a state.
September 28, 1850. Congress passed the act giving to the several states certain swamp lands within their borders.
January 15, 1851. Gov. Stephen Hempstead approved an act of the Iowa Legislature creating fifty new counties, among which were Emmet and Dickinson.
August 5, 1851. Treaty of Mendota, by which the Mdewakanton Sioux relinquished their claims to lands in Iowa.
April, 1852. Last battle between the Sioux and Sac and Fox Indians on Iowa soil took place in Kossuth County.
June, 1856. Jesse Coverdale and George C. Granger, the first white settlers in Emmet County, located claims in what is now Emmet Town- ship.
July 16, 1856. The first settlement established in Dickinson County by Rowland Gardner and Harvey Luce.
January 4, 1857. Birth of Peter Rourke, the first white child born in Emmet County.
January 19, 1857. Third constitutional convention assembled at Iowa City. Emmet, Dickinson and twenty-one other northwestern counties represented by Daniel W. Price.
March 8, 1857. Beginning of the Spirit Lake massacre by the mur- der of the Gardner and Mattock families.
March 24, 1857. Expeditionary forces under Maj. William Williams left Fort Dodge for Spirit Lake.
May 11, 1857. First religious services in Dickinson County conducted at the Gardner cabin by Rev. J. S. Prescott.
June, 1857. The town of Spirit Lake located by Howe, Parmenter and Wheelock.
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August 4, 1857. First election for county officers of Dickinson County.
- - 1857. First postoffice established in Emmet County with George C. Granger as postmaster.
1857. In the fall of this year the first sawmill in Dickin- son County was established on the shore of East Okoboji Lake by Jones & Miller.
February, 1858. A postoffice was established at Spirit Lake with R. U. Wheelock as postmaster.
February, 1858. Robert W., son of Orlando C. Howe and wife, born. He was the first white child born in Dickinson County.
June, 1858. Blackbirds ravaged the fields of Dickinson County.
February 7, 1859. First election for county officers in Emmet County.
April 29, 1859. Marriage of George Jenkins and Miss Sophronia A. Ridley-the first marriage in Emmet County.
1859. In the spring of this year the first marriage occurred in Dickinson County, between William E. Root and Miss Addie Ring.
1859. First grist mill in Dickinson County started in this year by a man named Peters.
1859. A weekly mail route was opened from Algona to Spirit Lake.
1859. First school in Emmet County was taught in this year by Miss Mary Howe.
1860. A postoffice was established at Estherville with Adolphus Jenkins as postmaster.
December 24, 1860. First schoolhouse at Estherville dedicated with a supper and dance.
April 17, 1861. Gov. Samuel J. Kirkwood issued his proclamation calling for one regiment of volunteers for service in the Civil war.
May 1, 1861. The plat of Estherville was filed with the recorder of Emmet County.
1862. In the fall of this year Fort Defiance was built at Estherville by Company A, Northern Border Brigade.
November, 1862. First school in Dickinson County opened at Oko- boji by Miss Myra Smith.
December 14, 1868. Bates & Northrop issued the first number of the Northern Vindicator at Estherville-the first newspaper in North- western Iowa.
January 18, 1870. Ole Knudtson, a fourteen-year-old boy, lost in a blizzard and frozen to death in Emmet County.
September 6, 1870. First issue of the Spirit Lake Beacon, the first newspaper in Dickinson County.
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October 3, 1871. A disastrous prairie fire in the southern part of Emmet County.
November 24, 1871. The Dickinson County courthouse was destroyed by fire.
February 16, 1872. Two saloons in Estherville wrecked by women crusaders and the liquor emptied into the streets.
June 4, 1873. Grasshoppers made their first appearance in Emmet County. Early in July they struck Dickinson County.
-, 1876. The first bank in Emmet County established at Estherville by Howard Graves.
October, 1876. The Emmet County courthouse burned.
January 1, 1877. The first bank in Dickinson County was opened by Snyder, Smith & Company.
May 10, 1879. An aerolite weighing several hundred pounds landed in Emmet Township, Emmet County, about two miles north of Esther- ville.
October 14, 1879. At the general election in Emmet County a major- ity of the voters expressed themselves in favor of the removal of the county seat to Swan Lake.
October, 1879. The Town of Spirit Lake was incorporated.
December 2, 1881. The first officers of the incorporated Town of Estherville were inaugurated.
June 8, 1882. The first train on the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern (now the Rock Island) Railroad arrived at Estherville.
June 27, 1882. Special election on the constitutional amendment to prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors in Iowa. In Emmet County the vote was in favor of the amendment.
July 11, 1882. The Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railroad was completed to Spirit Lake.
August 1, 1882. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad ran the first train into Dickinson County.
November 7, 1882. The voters of Emmet County decided in favor of removing the county seat back to Estherville.
November 22, 1884. The present courthouse in Emmet County was accepted by the board of supervisors.
June, 1887. The board of supervisors of Emmet County appropri- ated $400 for an artesian well at Estherville.
November 24, 1891. The present courthouse in Dickinson County was completed and accepted by the board of supervisors.
December 22, 1892. Estherville was made a city of the second class by the state authorities.
March 6, 1893. First election of city officers in Estherville.
July, 1893. First Chautauqua Assembly in Dickinson County.
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March 22, 1895. Office and plant of the Estherville Democrat destroyed by fire.
July 25, 1895. Monument commemorating the Spirit Lake massacre dedicated.
August 3, 1897. Upper Des Moines Valley Medical Association organ- ized at Spirit Lake.
May 25, 1898. Fifty-second Iowa Infantry mustered into the United States service for the Spanish-American war. Eight Emmet County men were enrolled in Company K.
1899. The Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad was built through Emmet and Dickinson counties.
, 1900. A geological survey of Dickinson County was made by Thomas H. MacBride. Mr. MacBride also made a geological survey of Emmet County in 1903.
November 8, 1904. Dickinson County voters indorsed a bond issue for the purchase of a county poor farm.
December 26, 1904. The Coon Block at Estherville, and several adjacent buildings were destroyed by fire.
May 3, 1905. A destructive tornado swept over Dickinson County. May 13, 1909. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad depot at Estherville burned.
September 21, 1909. The Northwestern Iowa Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church began its session in Estherville.
November 8, 1910. At the general election on this date the voters of Emmett County indorsed the proposition to buy a poor farm by a vote of 1,357 to 504.
March 26, 1914. The publication office of the Estherville Enterprise was destroyed by fire.
January 8, 1917. fire destroyed the Grand Theater at Estherville causing a loss of nearly two hundred thousand dollarss.
POSTSCRIPT-IN LIEU OF A PREFACE
To write of the deeds and achievements of those who have gone before us; to profit by their mistakes as well as to emulate their examples ; to keep green the memories of by-gone days; to preserve a record of past events, is but a duty that every individual owes to a common human- ity. It was with thoughts such as these in mind that this History of Emmet and Dickinson Counties was undertaken.
Less than a century ago the region now comprising the State of Iowa was part of the great "unexplored" domain of the United States. The Indian and the wild beast were the only occupants. The hills and dales of Emmet and Dickinson counties were covered with the primeval forests or the tall grass of the prairie. The muskrat and the beaver inhabited
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the swamps unmolested. Then came the white man with plow and ax and all was changed. The Indian and the wolf have departed. The swamps have been drained and brought under cultivation. To tell the story of the hardships of the pioneers, as well as the accomplishments of those who followed them, has been the object in view in the writing of this history. How well that object has been attained is for the reader to determine.
In presenting this work to the people of Emmet and Dickinson coun- ties, the publishers desire to state that no effort has been spared to make the history both authentic and comprehensive. Authentic, because, as far as possible, the official records have been consulted as sources of information ; and comprehensive, because, it is believed, no important event has been overlooked or neglected.
The work has been one involving great care and labor and at times no little difficulty has been encountered. Much credit is due to old resi- dents and others for their ready and willing coooperation in the collec- tion of data regarding events in the years gone by, their scrap-books, etc., having played no inconsiderable part in the compilation of the history.
In bidding the reader good-bye, the publishers take this opportunity to express their obligations to the county officials and their deputies; the editors of the various newspapers, who generously permitted the use of their files; and the librarians of the public libraries at Estherville and Spirit Lake for their uniform courtesies while the work was in course of preparation.
THE END
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