USA > Iowa > Floyd County > History of Floyd County, Iowa : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 6
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In June, 1832, Black Hawk with a band of 150 warriors, attacked the Apple River Fort, near Galena, defended by 25 men. This fort, a mere palisade of logs,was erected to afford protection to the miners. For 15 consecutive hours the garrison had to sustain the assault of the savage enemy, but knowing very well that no quarter would be given them, they fought with such fury and desperation that the Indians, after losing many of their best warriors, were compelled to retreat.
Another party of 11 Indians murdered two men near Fort Ham- ilton. They were afterward overtaken by a company of 20 men and every one of them was killed.
ROCK RIVER EXPEDITION.
A new regiment, under the command of Gen. Atkinson, assem- bled on the banks of the Illinois in the latter part of June. Maj. Dement, with a small party, was sent out to reconnoiter the move-
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ments of a large body of Indians, whose endeavors to surround him made it advisable for him to retire. Upon hearing of this engagement, Gen. Atkinson sent a detachment to intercept the Indians, while he, with the main body of his army, moved north to meet the Indians under Black Hawk. They moved slowly and cautiously through the country, passed through Turtle Village, and marched up along Rock River. On their arrival news was brought of the discovery of the main trail of the Indians. Con- siderable search was made, but they were unable to discover any vestige of Indians save two, who had shot two soldiers the day previous.
Hearing that Black Hawk was encamped on Rock River, at the Manitou village, they resolved at once to advance upon the enemy, but in the execution of their design they met with opposition from their officers and men. The officers of Gen. Henry handed to him a written protest; but he, a man equal to any emergency, ordered the officers to be arrested and escorted to Gen. Atkinson. Within a few minutes after the stern order was given, the officers all col- lected around the General's quarters, many of them with tears in their eyes, pledging themselves that if forgiven they would return to duty and never do the like again. The General rescinded the order, and they at once resumed duty.
THE BATTLE OF BAD-AXE.
Gen. Henry marched on the 15th of July in pursuit of the In- dians, reaching Rock River after three days' journey, where he learned Black Hawk was encamped further up the river. On July 19 the troops were ordered to commence their march. After having made 50 miles, they were overtaken by a terrible thunder storm, which lasted all night. Nothing cooled, however, in their courage and zeal, they marched again 50 miles the next day, en- camping near the place where the Indians had encamped the night before. Hurrying along as fast as they could, the infantry keep- ing up an equal pace with the mounted force, the troops, on the morning of the 21st, crossed the river connecting two of the four lakes, by which the Indians had been endeavoring to escape. They found, on their way, the ground strewn with kettles and articles of baggage, which in the haste of retreat the Indians were obliged to throw away. The troops, inspired with new ardor, advanced so rapidly that at noon they fell in with the rear guard of the In- dians. Those who closely pursued them were saluted by a sudden
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fire of musketry from a body of Indians who had concealed them- selves in the high grass of the prairie. A most desperate charge was made upon the Indians, who, unable to resist, retreated ob- liquely, in order to out-flank the volunteers on the right; but the latter charged the Indians in their ambush, and expelled them from their thickets at the point of the bayonet, and dispersed them. Night set in and the battle ended, having cost the Indians 68 of their bravest men, while the loss of the Illinoisans amounted to but one killed and eight wounded.
Soon after this battle Gens. Atkinson and Henry joined their forces and pursued the Indians. Gen. Henry struck the main trail, left his horses behind, formed an advance guard of eight men, and marched forward upon their trail. When these eight men came within sight of the river, they were suddenly fired upon and five of them killed, the remaining three maintaining their ground till Gen. Henry came up. Then the Indians, charged upon with the bayonet, fell back upon their main force. The battle now be- came general; the Indians fought with desperate valor, but were furiously assailed by the volunteers with their bayonets, cutting many of the Indians to pieces and driving the rest into the river. Those who escaped from being drowned found refuge on an island. On hearing the frequent discharge of musketry, indicating a general engagement, Gen. Atkinson abandoned the pursuit of the 20 Indians under Black Hawk himself, and hurried to the scene of action, where he arrived too late to take part in the battle. He immediately forded the river with his troops, the water reaching up to their necks, and landed on the island where the Indians had secreted themselves. The soldiers rushed upon the Indians, killed several of them, took others prisoners, and chased the rest into the river, where they were either drowned or shot before reaching the opposite shore. Thus ended the battle, the Indians losing 300, be- sides 50 prisoners; the whites but 17 killed and 12 wounded.
BLACK HAWK CAPTURED.
Black Hawk, with his 20 braves, retreated up the Wisconsin River. The Winnebagos, desirous of securing the friendship of the whites, went in pursuit and captured and delivered them to Gen. Street, the United States Indian Agent. Among the prisoners were the son of Black Hawk and the prophet of the tribe. These with Black Hawk were taken to Washington, D. C., and soon con- signed as prisoners at Fortress Monroe.
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At the interview Black Hawk had with the President, he closed his speech delivered on the occasion in the following words: "We did not expect to conquer the whites. They have too many houses, too many men. I took up the hatchet, for my part, to revenge injuries which my people could no longer endure. Had I borne them longer without striking, my people would have said: 'Black Hawk is a woman; he is too old to be a chief; he is no Sac. These reflections caused me to raise the war-whoop. I say no more. It is known to you. Keokuk once was here; you took him by the hand, and when he wished to return to his home, you were willing. Black Hawk expects, like Keokuk, he shall be permitted to return, too.'"
By order of the President, Black Hawk and his companions, who were in confinement at Fortress Monroe, were set free on the 4th day of June, 1833.
After their release from prison they were conducted in charge of Major Garland, through some of the principal cities, that they might witness the power of the United States and learn their own inability to cope with them in war. Great multitudes flocked to see them wherever they were taken, and the attention paid themn rendered their progress through the country a triumphal proces- sion, instead of the transportation of prisoners by an officer. At Rock Island the prisoners were given their liberty amid great and impressive ceremony. In 1838 Black Hawk built him a dwelling near Des Moines, this State, and furnished it after the manner of the whites, and engaged in agricultural pursuits and hunting and fishing. Here, with his wife, to whom he was greatly attached, he passed the few remaining days of his life. To his credit, it may be said, that Black Hawk remained true to his wife, and served her with a devotion uncommon among Indians, living with her up- ward of 40 years.
BLACK HAWK'S DEATH AND BURIAL.
At all times when Black Hawk visited the whites he was received with marked attention. He was an honored guest at the old set- tlers' re-union in Lee County, Illinois, at some of their meetings, and received marked tokens of esteem. In September, 1838, while on his way to Rock Island to receive his annuity from the Gov- ernment, he contracted a severe cold which resulted in a severe attack of bilious fever, and terminated his life Oct. 3. After his death he was dressed in the uniform presented to him by the Pres-
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ident while in Washington. He was buried in a grave six feet in depth, situated upon a beautiful eminence. The body was placed in the middle of the grave, in a sitting position upon a seat con- structed for the purpose. On his left side the cane given him by Henry Clay was placed upright, with his right hand resting upon it.
His remains were afterward stolen and carried away, but they were recovered by the Governor of Iowa and placed in the museum of the Historical Society at Burlington, where they were finally destroyed by fire.
THE STATE OF IOWA.
DESCRIPTIVE.
GEOGRAPHY.
Iowa, in the symbolical and expressive language of the aborigi- nal inhabitants, is said to signify "The Beautiful Land," and was applied to this magnificent and fruitful region by its ancient own- ers, to express their appreciation of its superiority of climate and location. It is bounded on the north by Minnesota, and for small distances by Dakota, Wisconsin and Illinois; on the east by Wis- consin and Illinois; on the south by Illinois, Missouri and Nebraska; and on the west by Nebraska, Dakota, and, with regard to the southeastern corner, by Missouri. It is on the right bank of the greatest river in the world, and near the center of a valley already admitted to be the richest cultivated by man.
The general shape of the State is that of a rectangle, the north- ern and southern boundaries being due east and west lines, and its eastern and western boundaries determined by southerly flowing rivers-the Mississippi on the east, the Missouri and the Big Sioux on the west. The width of the State from north to south is over 200 miles, being from the parallel of 43 ° 30', to that of 40 ° 36', or nearly three degrees. This doesnot include the small promi- nent angle at the southeast corner. The length is considerably more. It averages perhaps 265 miles. The whole surface is 55,044 square miles, or 35,228,200 acres. It is worthy of note that all this vast extent, except the small part occupied by our rivers, lakes and peat beds of the northern counties, is suscep- tible of the highest cultivation. We thus get some idea of the in-
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mense agricultural resources of Iowa. Too often the number of square miles in a county or State must be diminished by a third or a half, on account of mountainous or desert lands, to enable one to correctly estimate the real value to mankind. This State is nearly as large as England, and twice as large as Scotland; but when we consider the relative areas of surface which may be made to yield to the wants of man, those great countries will not compare with Iowa. It is almost idle to predict the future. Figures which would be reasonable now, would only provoke a smile a few years hence. It may safely be affirmed, however, that under thorough cultivation, this one State could easily support the 50,000,000 of people in the United States.
TOPOGRAPHY.
All the knowledge we have at present of the topography of the State of Iowa is that derived from incidental observations of geo- logical corps, from the surveys made by railroad engineers, and from barometrical observations made by authority of the Federal Government. No complete topographical survey has yet been made, but this will doubtless be attended to in a few years.
The State lies wholly within, and comprises a part of, a vast plain, and there is no mountainous or even hilly country within its borders; for the highest point is but 1,200 feet above the low- est point; these two points are nearly 300 miles apart, and the whole State is traversed by gently flowing rivers. A clearer idea of the great uniformity of the surface of the State may be obtained from a statement of the general slopes in feet per mile, from point to point, in straight lines across it.
Per mile.
From N. E. corner to S. E. corner of State. 1 foot 1 inch. From N. E corner to Spirit Lake. .5 feet 5 inches.
From N. W. corner to Spirit Lake. .5 feet. From N. W. corner to S. W. corner of the State. .2 feet.
From S. W. corner to highest ridge between the two great rivers (in Ringgold Co.). 4 feet 1 inch. From the highest point in the State (near Spirit Lake) to the low-
est point in the State (at the mouth of Des Moines River). .4 feet.
We thus find that there is good degree of propriety in regarding the whole State as belonging to a great plain, the lowest point of which within its border, the southeastern corner of the State, is only 444 feet above the level of the sea. The average height of the whole State above the level of the sea is not far from 800 feet, although it is a thousand miles from the nearest ocean.
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These remarks are, of course, to be understood as apply- ing to the surface of the State as a whole. On examining its sur- face in detail, we find a great diversity of surface by the formation of valleys out of the general level, which have been evolved by the action of streams during the unnumbered years of the terrace epoch. These river valleys are deepest in the northwestern part of the State, and consequently it is there that the country has the greatest diversity of surface, and its physical features are most strongly marked.
The greater part of Iowa was formerly one vast prairie. It has indeed been estimated that seven-eighths of the surface of the State was prairie when first settled. By prairies, it must not be in- ferred that a level surface is meant, for they are found in hilly countries as well. Nor are they confined to any particular variety of soil, for they rest upon all formations, from those of the Azoic to those of the Cretaceous age, inclusive. Whatever may have been their origin, their present existence in Iowa is not due to the influence of climate, of the soil, or of any of the underlying for- mations. The real cause is the prevalence of the annual fires. If these had been prevented 50 years ago, Iowa would now be a timbered country. The encroachment of forest trees upon prairie farms as soon as the bordering woodland is protected from the annual prairie fires, is well known to farmers throughout the State. The soil of Iowa is justly famous for its fertility, and there is probably no equal area of the earth's surface that contains so little untillable land, or whose soil has so high an average of fertility. Ninety-five per cent. of its surface is capable of a high state of cultivation.
LAKES AND STREAMS.
Lakes .- The lakes of Iowa may be properly divided into two distinct classes. The first may be called drift lakes, having had their origin in the depressions left in the surface of the drift at the close of the glacial epoch, and have rested upon the undisturbed surface of the drift deposit ever since the glaciers disappeared. The others may be properly termed fluviatile or alluvial lakes, because they have had their origin by the action of rivers while cutting their own valleys out from the surface of the drift as it existed at the close of the glacial epoch, and are now found resting upon the alluvium. By "alluvium" is meant the deposit which has accu-
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mulated in the valleys of rivers by the action of their own currents. It is largely composed of sand and other coarse material, and upon that deposit are some of the best, productive soils in the State. It is this deposit which forms the flood plains and deltas of our rivers, as well as the terraces of their valleys. The regions to which the drift lakes are principally confined are near the head waters of the principal streams of the State. They are consequently found in those regions which lie between the Cedar and Des Moines Rivers, and the Des Moines and Little Sioux. No drift lakes are found in Southern Iowa. The largest of the lakes to be found in the State are Spirit and Okoboji, in Dickinson County, Clear Lake in Cerro Gordo County, and Storm Lake in Buena Vista County.
SPIRIT LAKE .- The width and length of this lake are about equal, and it contains about 12 square miles of surface, its northern border resting directly on the boundary of the State. It lies almost di- rectly upon the great water-shed. Its shores are mostly gravelly, and the country about it fertile.
OKOBOJI LAKE .- This body of water lies directly south of Spirit Lake, and has somewhat the shape of a horse-shoe, with its eastern projection within a few rods of Spirit Lake, where it receives the outlet of the latter. Okoboji Lake extends about five miles south- ward from Spirit Lake, thence about the same distance westward, and then bends northward about as far as the eastern projection. The eastern portion is narrow, but the western is larger, and in some places 100 feet deep. The surroundings of this and Spirit Lake are very pleasant; fish are abundant in them, and they are the resort of myriads of water-fowl.
CLEAR LAKE .- This lake is situated upon the water-shed between the Iowa and Cedar Rivers. It is about five miles long, two or three miles wide, and has a maximum depth of only 15 feet. Its shores and the country around are like that of Spirit Lake.
STORM LAKE .- This lake rests upon the great water-shed in Buena Vista County. It is a clear, beautiful sheet of water, containing a surface area of between four and five square miles. The outlets of all these drift lakes are dry during a portion of the year, except Okoboji.
WALLED LAKES .- Along the water-sheds of Northern Iowa great numbers of small lakes exist, varying from half a mile to a mile in diameter. One of the lakes in Wright County, and another in Sac, have each received the name of "Walled Lake," on account
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of the embankments on their borders, which are supposed to be the work of ancient inhabitants. These embankments are from two to ten feet in height, and from five to 30 feet across. They are the result of natural causes alone, being referable to the periodic action of ice, aided to some extent by the action of the
waves. These lakes are very shallow, and in winter freeze to the bottom, so that but little unfrozen water remains in the middle. The ice freezes fast to everything on the bottom, and the expansive power of the water in freezing acts in all directions from the center to the circumference, and whatever was on the bottom of the lake has been thus carried to the shore. This has been going on from year to year, from century to century, forming the embankments which have caused so much wonder.
Springs issue from all the geological formations, and from the sides of almost every valley, but they are more numerous, and as- sume proportions which give rise to the name of sink-holes, along the upland borders of the Upper Iowa River, owing to the peculiar fissured and laminated character and great thickness of the strata of the age of the Trenton limestone which underlies the whole region of the valley of that stream. No mineral springs, properly so called, have yet been discovered in Iowa, though the water of several artesian wells is frequently found charged with soluble mineral substances.
Rivers .- The two great rivers, the Mississippi and the Missouri, from the eastern and the western boundaries, respectively, of the State, receive the eastern and western drainage of it. The Mississippi with its tributaries in Eastern Iowa drain two-thirds of the State, and the Missouri with its tributaries drain the west- ern third. The great water-shed which divides these two systems is a land running southward from a point on the northern boundary line of the State near Spirit Lake, in Dickinson County, to a nearly central point in the northern part of Adair County. From the last named point this highest ridge of land between the two great rivers continues southward, without change of character, through Ringgold County into the State of Missouri; but it is no longer the great water-shed. From that point another ridge bears off southeastward, through the counties of Madison, Clarke, Lucas and Appanoose, which is now the water-shed.
All streams that rise in Iowa occupy at first only slight depres- sions of the land, and are scarcely perceptible. These uniting into
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larger streams, though still flowing over drift and bluff deposits, reach considerable depth into these deposits, in some cases to a depth of nearly 200 feet from the general prairie level.
The greater part of the streams in Western Iowa run either along the whole or a part of their course, upon that peculiar de- posit known as bluff deposit. The banks even of the small streams are often five to 10 feet in height and quite perpendicular, so that they render the streams almost everywhere unfordable, and a great impediment to travel across the open country where there are no bridges.
This deposit is of a slightly yellowish ash color, except when darkened by decaying vegetation, very fine and silicious, but not sandy, not very cohesive, and not at all plastic. It forms excel- lent soil, and does not bake or crack in drying, except limy con- cretions, which are generally distributed throughout the mass, in shape and size resembling pebbles; but not a stone or a pebble can be found in the whole deposit. It was called " silicious marl " by Dr. Owen, in his geological report to the Government, and he attributes its origin to an accumulation of sediment in an ancient lake, which was afterward drained, and the sediment became dry , land. Prof. Swallow gives it the name of " bluff," which is here adopted; but the term " lacustrine " would have been more appro- priate. The peculiar properties of this deposit are that it will stand securely with a precipitous front 200 feet high, and yet is easily excavated with a spade. Wells dug in it require only to be walled to a point just above the water line. Yet, compact as it is, it is very porous, so that water which falls on it does not re- main at the surface, but percolates through it; neither does it ac- cumulate within it at any point, as it does upon and within the drift and the stratified formations.
The thickest deposit yet known in Iowa is in Fremont County, where it reaches 200 feet. It is found throughout a region more than 200 miles in length, and nearly 100 miles in width, and through which the Missouri runs almost centrally.
This fine sediment is the same which the Missouri once depos- ited in a broad depression in the surface of the drift that formed a lake-like expansion of that river in the earliest period of the history of its valley. The extent of the deposit shows this lake to have been 100 miles wide and more than twice as long. The water of the river was muddy then as now, and the broad lake became filled with the sediment which the river brought down. After the
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lake became filled with the sediment, the valley below became deepened by the constant erosive action of the waters, to a depth sufficient to have drained the lake of its first waters; but the only effect then was to cause it to cut its valley out of the deposits its own muddy waters had formed. Thus, along the valley of that river, so far as it forms the western boundary of Iowa, the bluffs which border it are composed of that sediment known as bluff de- posit, forming a distinct border along the broad, level flood plain. the width of which varies from five to 15 miles, while the origi- nal sedimentary deposit stretches far inland.
Chariton and Grand Rivers rise and run for 25 miles of their course upon the drift deposit alone. The first strata that are ex -. posed by the deepening valleys of both these streams belong to the upper coal measures, and they both continue upon the same forma- tion until they make their exit from the State (the former in Ap- panoose County, the latter in Ringgold County), near the boundary of which they have passed nearly or quite through the whole of that formation to the middle coal measures. Their valleys deepen gradually, and 15 or 20 miles from the river they are nearly 150 feet below the general level of the adjacent highland. When the rivers have cut their valleys down through the series of limestone strata, they reach those of a clayey composition. Upon these they widen their valleys and make broad flood plains, or " bot- toms, " the soil of which is stiff and clayey, except where modified by sandy washings. These streams are prairie streams in their upper branches and tributaries, but flow through woodland farther down. The proportion of lime in the drift of Iowa is so great that the water of all our wells and springs is too "hard " for washing purposes, and the same substance is so prevalent in the drift clays that they are always found to have sufficient flux when used for the manufacture of brick.
Platte River belongs mainly to Missouri. Its upper branches pass through Ringgold County. Here the drift deposit reaches its maximum thickness on an east and west line across the State, and the valleys are eroded in some instances to a depth of 200 feet, apparently, through this deposit alone. The term "drift deposit" applies to the soil and sub-soil of the greater part of the State, and in it alone many of our wells are dug and our forests take root. It rests upon the stratified rocks. It is composed of clay, sand, gravel and boulders, promiscuously intermixed, with- out stratification, varying in character in different parts of the State.
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