USA > Iowa > Webster County > Fort Dodge > History of Fort Dodge and Webster County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 6
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Even before Napoleon offered Louisiana to the United States, the question of ownership of Louisiana had been of deep concern to American statesmen. In 1790 Jefferson wrote to President Washington "of the magnitude of the danger which will attend our government if Louisiana and the Floridas be added to the British Empire." The United States really disliked the idea, of having France for a neighbor on the west, as much as Spain. In fact the time had come when they desired New Orleans, the key to the whole situation, for themselves. But Napoleon would not sell New Orleans without the rest of the province. Livingston and Monroe were without instructions from President Jefferson as to the country west of the Mississippi. But they accepted the offer and made the purchase. The treaty of cession was signed April 30, 1803. Iowa for the last time changed ownership. Hitherto her existence had been under two flags. Henceforth she was to have but one, "the Flag of the Free." Napo- leon said concerning the treaty, "you asked me for a city, I have given you an empire."
The treaty came before the senate for ratification. Constitutional objections were made. But the national and commercial benefits were soon seen, and opposition disappeared. Probably the letter written by Livingston to Madison, June 25, 1803, hastened the action of congress. In this letter he says, "I hope nothing will prevent your immediate ratification without altering a syllable of the terms. Be persuaded that France is sick of the bargain, that Spain is much dissatisfied, and that the slightest pretense will lose you the treaty." Congress ratified the treaty the 19th of October. President Jefferson was authorized to take possession and occupy the "promised land," October 31, 1803. Salter says : "The triumphs of diplomacy are more honorable than those of war. The peace- makers are of superior dignity to the war-makers. It is note-worthy that the author of the Declaration of Independence was the director of the Louisiana Purchase, and that Livingston, the chief agent in making the treaty, was one of the committee to draw up the Declaration. Their fame was as statesmen, not as soldiers. Monroe had a similar honor."
In the extent of the purchase, Jefferson saw, "a widespread field for free- domi and equal laws." After signing the treaty Livingston rose and shook hands with Monroe and with Marbois, the French Minister of Finance, and said, "we have lived long but this is the noblest work of our lives. This treaty will change vast solitudes into flourishing districts, and prepare ages of happiness for innu- merable generations." Jefferson wrote to Livingston that he was well pleased, that the negotiations were conducted with a frankess and a sincerity honorable to both nations and comfortable to a man of honest heart to review. In writ-
MRS. JOHN D. STROW (MARIA B.)
JOHN D. STROW
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HISTORY OF WEBSTER COUNTY
ing to Livingston he called the transaction "your treaty" giving him full credit for his part in it.
Even with their Yankee shrewdness, the United States little dreamed of the bargain they were making. In fact none' of the previous owners of Louisiana had ever appreciated its worth. The purchase price $15,000,000 at that time seemed a huge sum. Some said it would make such a large national debt that it could never be paid. The national debt is now a billion and a quarter dollars, and yet it causes no particular concern. Today Webster county less than a thousandth part of the Louisiana territory could not be bought for its purchase price. Today less than a century from that time, one American citizen has in his life time made from the raw resources of this land a fortune of over $265,000,000.
During the forty years that Spain owned Iowa, there were but three grants of land within its territory. In 1788, Julien Dubuque, a French Canadian, secured a permit from the Fox Chiefs to work the lead mines in a tract extend- ing along the Mississippi river, from the mouth of the Little Maquoketa to the Tete des Morts. These lead mines had been discovered in 1780 by the wife of Peosta, a prominent Fox Chief. Dubuque brought from Prairie du Chien ten Canadians to assist him as smelters, wood choppers and boatmen. A smelting furnace was erected on a point of land now known as Dubuque Bluff. At that time there was a Fox village called Kettle Chief on the present site of Dubuque. Since Dubuque and most of his companions had taken squaw wives, the Indians allowed them to live in this village. Many of the old men and women of the tribe worked in the mines. Dubuque built up a good trade in lead with the merchants of St. Louis, and in furs with the different tribes. It was a rule of Spain that none but Spaniards could hold mines so he became a Spaniard and named his mines "Spanish Mines." Dubuque representing to Carondelet, the governor of Louisiana, that he had bought the land from the Indians, secured a grant in 1796. The truth was that Dubuque had never bought the land, but had secured only a permit from the Indians to work the mines. Dubuque was not a successful business man and he became heavily in debt to Auguste Chou- teau a prominent merchant of St. Louis. In settlement of this indebtedness Dubuque conveyed to Chouteau an undivided seven-sixteenths interest of his land estimated to consist of 73,324 acres. It was also provided that at the death of Dubuque the remainder should become the property of Chouteau or his heirs. In 1805 Dubuque and Chouteau filed a claim with the United States asking to have their title confirmed to all of the land which Dubuque had originally leased of the Indians. For nearly fifty years this claim was pending in various tribu- nals. Both the original claimants died long before the matter was finally set- tled by a decision of the supreme court of the United States rendered in March, 1853. The case was one of the most important and closely contested law-cases in Iowa litigation. Able attorneys were employed on both sides. The title to a large tract of land, including the city of Dubuque and its valuable lead mines, was involved. The final decision of the court was based upon the legal con- struction to be given to the original grant made by the Indian council to Dubuque in 1788, and also upon the nature of the grant received by him from Governor Carondelet in 1796. The court held that both these grants were but in the nature Vol. 1-4
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of permits or leases to mine lead, and were not intended to convey actual title. During the time Dubuque lived in Iowa, three flags had floated over him, the red and yellow of Spain, the tricolor of France, and the Stars and Stripes of the United States. A monument erected to his memory bears this inscription : "Julien Dubuque, Miner of the Mines of Spain, the founder of our city, died March 24th, 1810, aged 45 years and six months." The other two grants were, one to Basil Girard of the land where the city of McGregor now stands, the other to Louis Tesson, called by some Honore or Honori, of the land on which Mont- rose in Lee county is situated. These two grants were later confirmed by the United States.
Before the Louisiana territory could be transferred to the United States, it was necessary that France should first formally receive it from Spain. Accord- ingly the French appointed M. Laussat to receive the government of the prov- ince. He arrived at New Orleans November 30, 1803, and presented the Span- ish authorities his credentials with the order for the transfer of the province. Laussat remained in authority until the twentieth of December when the United States commissioners, Governor Claiborne, and Governor James Wilkinson arrived and formally received the province from the French, Salter gives this description of the ceremony: "The day was fine. A large crowd assembled. The treaty and the credentials of the commissioners were read. Laussat then gave the keys of the city to Claiborne and proclaimed the transfer of Louisiana to the United States. The French flag came down and the American flag went up. As they met in midair, cannon and guns resounded with salutes to both flags. On the same day Governor Claiborne issued a proclamation declaring the authority of Spain and France at an end, and the establishment of that of the United States of America." The transfer of Upper Louisiana the same writer describes thus: "The following spring similar ceremonies took place at St. Louis. Captain Amos Stoddard, of the United States Artillery, was com- missioned to act for both the French Republic and the United States. On the ninth of March, 1804, he received for France the government of Upper Louisiana from Don Carlos de Hault De Lassus, the Spanish lieutenant governor, a man of high character, French by birth, but long in the Spanish service, and a personal friend of General William Henry Harrison, then governor of the adjoin- ing Indiana territory. On the next day, the tenth of March, Captain Stoddard, acting for both countries, transferred the government from France, and received it for the United States. On one day the flag of Spain gave way to that of France, on the next day the flag of France gave way to that of the United States."
Iowa has two inheritances, geographical and political. Dr. Shambaugh says : "As a geographical area, the Iowa country became a part of the United States through the purchase of the province of Louisiana in 1803; and so her territorial descent is traced through the district of Louisiana, the territory of Louisiana, and the territory of Missouri. On the other hand the political inheritances of Iowa, which are Anglo-American, were transmitted through the territories of the Old Northwest, especially the Northwest territory, the Indiana territory, the territory of Michigan, and the original territory of Wisconsin.
On March 26, 1804, congress passed an act extending the constitution and
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MELANCTHON WOOLSEY WELLES
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HISTORY OF WEBSTER COUNTY
laws of the United States to Louisiana. The territory of Louisiana was divided into two parts, and the thirty-third degree of north latitude, or about the north line of Arkansas was fixed as the dividing line. The southern part was called the territory of Orleans, and was given government similar to that of the adjoin- ing territory of Mississippi. The northern part was called the district of Louisiana, and its government was vested in the governor and judges of Indiana. The district of Louisiana had an existence of nine months as a part of the Indiana territory. During this time the district of St. Charles was formed. This included the inhabited portion north of the Missouri river,-the settlements of Tesson, Dubuque and Girard in what is now Iowa.
Even at this early day, the question of slavery had entered into National legislation. Indiana was a free territory. It had been organized under the "Ordinance of 1787," which had forever prohibited the introduction of slavery within its limits. This ordinance had been applied to the Mississippi territory excepting, however, the clause prohibiting slavery. On October 1, 1804, General William Henry Harrison, then governor of Indiana, assumed the office of gov- ernor of the territory of Louisiana also. But the people of St. Louis were dis- satisfied with the government of Indiana. Remonstrances were sent to Wash- ington. They said, "that placing the district under the territory where slavery is proscribed is calculated to alarm the people, and create the presumption of a disposition in congress to abolish slavery in the district at a future day." They claimed, "that in view of the treaty, the people were entitled to their slaves and to the right of importing slaves." But John Randolph, to whom the petition of remonstrance had been referred stood firm, and reported, "that the prohibition of the importation of foreign slaves was a wise and salutary restriction equally dictated by humanity and policy." A year previous some Indiana citizens had petitioned to have the articles of the ordinace which prohibited slavery sus- pended claiming that it tended to prevent the immigration of persons who would come if they could bring their slaves with them. Randolph had then replied, "that it was inexpedient to impair a provision wisely calculated to promote the happiness and prosperity of the northwestern country." Congress denied the peti- tion of the citizens of Indiana, but yielded to the demands of those on the west side of the Mississippi river. Governor Harrison and the judges associated with him were instructed to enact "a law respecting slaves," that would be pleasing to the citizens of the district of Louisiana. Thus in spite of the fact that the district of Louisiana had been organized under the Ordinance of 1787, and with the clause prohibiting slavery in full force, slavery was fastened upon it from the southern boundary to the British line.
Another important event which occurred in the district during Harrison's governorship was the Lewis and Clark expedition. Even before the Louisiana Purchase, President Jefferson had sent a confidential message to congress ask- ing an appropriation of twenty-five hundred dollars for the exploration of the Missouri river, and the discovery of a passage from its head waters to the Pacific ocean. Congress voted the appropriation as asked. An exploring party was organized under the command of Captain Lewis and Clark. Arriving at St. Louis in December, 1803, the party planned to spend the winter with Daniel Boone, on the Missouri river. But the Spanish governor, not yet having received
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the official notice of the transfer of the province would not allow them to remain. They therefore wintered on the east side of the Mississippi opposite the mouth of the Missouri. From here they started out on their long journey, May 14th, 1804. They ascended the Missouri river, and on the eighteenth of July, they reached the western boundary of Iowa. They continued their course up the boundary river until they came to the mouth of the Big Sioux river, August 21. Here occurred the only tragic event of the whole voyage,-the death of Sergeant Charles Floyd. He was buried on the top of the bluff over- looking the river. His comrades marked this pot with a cedar post inscribed with his name and the date of his death, and in his memory called it "Floyd's Bluff." Here, in 1901, another generation erected a lofty obelisk to his memory. The exploring party continued their course up the Missouri to its source in the Rocky mountains, then crossing the divide to the Columbia, they reached the shores of the Pacific ocean, November 16, 1805. Their long journey was at an end.
On July 4. 1805, the district of Louisiana became the territory of Louisiana, and President Jefferson appointed General James Wilkinson governor. The most important events in his administration were the exploration by Lieutenant Zebulon Pike, of the upper valley of the Mississippi river, and the estab- lishment of Fort Madison in Iowa. The next change was when the people of Orleans territory, having organized a state government and named it Louisi- ana, and the state being admitted into the Union in April 1812, congress gave another name to the territory of Louisiana and called it the territory of Mis- souri. William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition was appointed gov- ernor and continued in office during the nine years of the existence of the territory of Missouri. Edwin Hempstead, a native of Connecticut and a man of high character, was chosen delegate to congress. He was especially inter- ested in securing legislation for the support of schools.
On the eighteenth of July, 1812, congress declared war against England. The valley of the Mississippi was the scene of incessant warfare. England made a desperate effort to keep the Indian trade and the Indian country in the West in the hands of the British fur companies. Red men fought against each other, now the ally of the British, now the ally of the American. During the year 1816, peace was generally established throughout the West. With the coming of peace, a great influx of immigration into the territory of Missouri followed. The population doubled in five years.
Illinois became a state, December 3, 1818, much to the dissatisfaction of the people of the Missouri territory who had long desired statehood for them- selves. They therefore presented a memorial to congress, stating: "That their population was but little less than one hundred thousand, was daily increasing with a rapidity almost unequalled, and that the territorial limits were too exten- sive to admit of a convenient government." They therefore asked that the boundaries of the territory be reduced, and that within such new boundaries they be allowed to establish a new state. One reason which the people of the Missouri territory advanced for the reduction of their northern boundary was as follows: "The districts of the country that are fertile and susceptible of cultivation are small. and separated from each other at great distances by
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CENTRAL AVENUE, FORT DODGE, IN 1912
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immense plains and barren tracts which must for ages remain waste and uninhabited. These frontier settlements can only become important and respect- able by being united, and one great object is the formation of an effectual barrier against Indian excursions by pushing a strong settlement on the Little Platte to the west, and on the Des Moines to the north." Today there is scarcely an acre of this land that is not under cultivation and improvement.
Soon after the presentation of his memorial to congress, a bill authorizing the people of Missouri to form a state government was introduced in the house of representatives. On February 13, 1819, the bill being under discussion, James Tallmadge, Jr., of New York made a motion to prohibit the further introduction of slaves into the proposed state, and give freedom to all children of slaves born there after the admission of the state into the Union, at the age of twenty-five. Heated debates followed. Prohibition of slavery was declared unconstitutional. In the senate, Rufus King of New York maintained the con- stitutional right and the duty of congress to prohibit slavery in Missouri. Having been a member of the convention which framed the constitution his words carried force and weight. Thomas H. Benton calls them, "the signal guns of the controversy, which was to follow." Yet they were spoken with no heat or passion. The house of representatives passed the bill authorizing the people of Missouri to form a state government but with a provision prohibiting further introduction of slavery in its boundary. But the senate refused to con- cur in the prohibition of slavery clause, and the whole bill came to naught.
The territory of Arkansas was formed out of the southern part of the ter- ritory of Missouri, and a motion to prohibit slavery in its boundaries, was lost in both houses of congress. The whole country became aroused over the question. The dark shadows of the Civil war had even now begun to fall. The North and the South had begun to take sides against each other. The North claimed that the territory of the Louisiana Purchase should be free. The South insisted that it shauld be slave, if the people of the territory so desired. The question was resumed the next congress. On one side was Charles Pinck- ney of South Carolina. Opposed to him was Rufus King of New York. Both had been members of the convention that framed the constitution of the United States, and now from opposing sides sought to interpret its provisions. The Missouri Compromise with its temporizing measures was passed; and Mis- souri became a state August 12, 1821.
Upon the admission of the " .e of Missouri into the Union, the country to the north of that state, and the rest of the Louisiana Purchase was left with- out law or government, except the prohibition of slavery and laws to regulate the Indian trade. Traders and army officers, however, still carried slaves into the territory.
Iowa at that time, was the home of a few Indian tribes, living in villages on the banks of the rivers and streams. All told they were not more than ten thousand in number. In the eastern and central part of the state were the Sacs and Foxes and Iowas. In the western part of the state were the Otoes, Pawnees and Omahas. In the north were roving bands of Sioux. War and the hunt were the chief occupations of the various tribes, although some agri-
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culture was carried on by the women and old men of the tribes. At Dubuque the Indians mined small quantities of lead.
The Indian trade was monopolized by the American Fur Company, who reaped enormous profits therefrom. In spite of the law prohibiting the sale ยท of intoxicating liquors in the Indian country, it was smuggled in, to be exchanged, together with gaudy trinkets for valuable furs and lead ore. The foundations of the Astor millions were made from the profits of this Indian trade.
Congress fostering the rich fur trade of the far west paid little attention to the country between the Mississippi and the Missouri. Both President Mon- roe and President Jackson in their annual messages to congress suggested that this country be made a home for the northern Indians, and recommended the removal thereto of the Indian tribes east of the Mississippi, with the estab- - lishment of industrial schools for their education. Had these suggestions been carried out Iowa would have been a reservation for the Indians of the North, similar to what Indian Territory later became for the Indians of the South.
But the Indians did not readily take to either civilization or industry. They preferred war and the hunt. As their hunting grounds were more or less restricted, they often came in conflict. The Sacs and Foxes were the hereditary foes of the Sioux and these tribes were in constant warfare. Had the tribes remained at peace with each other and with the United States they might have for a long time retained their Iowa homes. There was no disposition on the part of the United States at that time to acquire their possessions. Large tracts of lands east of the Mississippi were still unsettled. There seemed no necessity, as there was no demand, for more land to be thrown open to settlement. The constant warfare between the tribes, and their general condition, however, made it seem best for the United States to intervene. Hoping to promote peace between the various tribes and to establish permanent boundaries, Governor Clark sent invitations to the various tribes from the Lakes to the Missouri to send their chief men to a great council to be held at Prairie du Chien in the sum- mer of 1825.
It was a great gathering. Three thousand were in attendance. The summer was spent in feasts and councils. At last after many discussions the warring tribes buried the tomahawk; and in the smoke of the peace pipe, one hundred and thirty-four chiefs made their mark approving the treaty. The treaty fixed the boundaries between the various tribes. No tribe was to hunt upon the ter- ritory of another without their assent.
The dividing line between the Sacs and Foxes and the Sioux, as established by the treaty, began at the mouth of the Upper Iowa thence up the river to the source of its left fork, thence crossing the Red Cedar in a direct line to the upper fork of the Des Moines, near Dakota City in Humboldt county, thence in a direct line to the lower fork of the Calumet or Big Sioux, and down that - river to the Missouri. This line was called the "Neutral Line."
The Indians, however, could not keep their agreement. "Touching the goose quill," as they styled it, meant nothing to them. On the slightest provoca- tion they were at war again. The Sioux still made war on the Sacs and Foxes.
Finally another council of their chiefs was convened at Prairie du Chien,
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HON. WILLIAM S. KENYON United States Senator from Iowa, elected April 12, 1911
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July, 1830, and it was decided to erect a barrier between them. On the north of the "Neutral Line" the Sioux ceded to the United States a strip twenty miles wide, and on the south the Sacs and Foxes ceded a similar strip. This was known as "Neutral Grounds" or the "Neutral Strip." The southwest corner of this "Neutral Strip" was about four miles below the present city of Fort Dodge. Later, in 1833, the "Neutral Strip" was granted by the United States to the Winnebagoes in exchange for their lands in Illinois and Wisconsin. Under the terms of the same treaty, the Sacs and Foxes together with the Iowas, Mis- sourias, Omahas, Otoes and bands of Sioux, joined in ceding to the United States all their lands lying west of the watershed between the Des Moines and Missouri rivers, eastward to the "Neutral Strip" and northward to the present state of Minnesota. This was the first cession of Indian land in Iowa. Twenty- one years later the Sioux made the last cession, and the Indian title of the land of Iowa was extinguished, except the small reservation which is still held by the Musquakie in Tama county. Yet Governor Clark, at the Prairie du Chien council of 1825, had assured the Indian chiefs, that the "Great Father" wanted nothing, "not the smallest piece" of their land. For this title the United States paid the Indians a little over eight cents per acre.
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