USA > Iowa > Fremont County > History of Fremont County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., a biographical directory of many of its leading citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistic, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, history of Iowa and the Northwest, map of Fremont County, constitution of the state of Iowa, reminiscences, miscellaneous matters, etc > Part 39
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323
HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
GEOGRAPHY-DESCRIPTIVE AND PHYSICAL.
Fremont county, generally speaking, is a well watered and fertile tract of land, having an abundant supply of timber, and being well adapted to agricultural purposes. The county, from west to east, in its widest part, measures twenty-six miles, and a little more than twenty-two miles from its northern to its southern boundary. Its outline is a little more irregular than is usual, owing to the winding course of the Missouri river, which forms its western limit.
The general dip of the county-averaging two feet to the mile-as in- deed of the remaining portions of southwestern Iowa, is a little west of south, its surface waters finding their way to the Missouri -the " Big Muddy." The entire eastern portion of the county is drained by the Nishnabotanys, and along their valleys some of the most beautiful scen- ery of the county is to be found. The heavily wooded sections are partly here, the streams throughout their entire courses through the county, par- taking less of the nature of true prairie streams than any other water- course within its limits. The Nishnabotany and its branches furnish the greater part of the county's drainage, the Missouri river draining the re- mainder. The drainage of the Missouri consists almost entirely of small creeks and ravines-the latter yearly growing deeper and larger-through which the waters of the upland regions reach its flood plain. In the flood plain they are lost. none of them flowing through the land in the ordinary manner of streams of running water; but reaching the Missouri by per- colation through the earth.
The surface of the county is uneven, gently undulating with hills and valleys. Here, as in every other part of the world, there is a most inti- mate connection between the configuration of the surface and the geolo- gical structure of any particular district, and it will be shown in the chap- ter devoted to the geology of this county that every peculiarity in its topog- raphy is due to the nature of the underlying strata, modified by those agencies which are to-day operating to change the entire aspect of Nature. Nowhere in the county are there eminences of material height, nor is it true that its several water-sheds are marked by distinct ridges, easily re- cognized. The county is situated on the western slope of the great divide between the " Big Muddy " and the "Father of Waters," and though so near the former, it has still a much higher elevation than the counties along the Mississippi-the difference being two hundred and sixty-three feet above the level of low water in the last named river. A most strik- ing feature in the topography of this county is the region of prairies-a term first applied by the early French settlers, and now almost universally
324
HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
adopted, to designate natural grass lands. The prairie occupies the whole of the higher portion of the country, with here and there the exception of an isolated group of trees, standing like an island in the midst of the ocean.
In ascending from the level of a river to the high land in its vicinity, we first cross the "bottom land " or " bottom," the portion of the valley which is level, and being but little elevated above the surface of the stream is usually liable to overflow, especially at the time of the spring freshets. These bottom lands are almost always heavily timbered and with a vari- ety of trees, among which the elm, linden, black walnut, black and burr oak, poplar and ash are the most common. The breadth of the bottom may be very variable, in some places from six to eight miles, and in others again with hardly more than room for the stream itself to pass between the bluffs. These latter are usually met with just after leaving the bot- tom land, and rise on either hand from one hundred to two hundred and fifty feet. " The bluffs which border the broad flood-plain or bottom land of the Missouri river, along all that part of its course which forms the western boundary of Iowa, are so peculiar in character and appearance that they cannot fail to attract the attention of every one who sees them for the first time. Their strangely and beautifully rounded summits, oc- casionally mingled with sharply-cut ridges, smooth and abruptly retreat- ing slopes, and the entire absence of rocky ledges, except in rare instances where they appear only at their base, cause them to present a marked con- trast with those of the Mississippi and other rivers of the eastern part o: the state where rocky ledges support and compose the greater part o their bulk. From the mouth of the Big Sioux to the southern boundary of the state, these bluffs present a continuous, serrated and buttressed front to the flood-plain of the great river, from which they rise abruptly to a maximum height in different parts of the line, varying from one hundred to little less than three hundred feet. Although the front they present is sc definite and continuous, it is nevertheless frequently and deeply cleft, no only by the tributaries of the great river, but also by small creeks anc short ravines that drain the surface-water from the uplands beyond, ir which the bluffy character is soon lost. Sometimes the bluff-range, de. parting a little from the general direct line, presents a full crescentic fron to the plain with an arc of several miles in length. At these places their peculiar outlines are shown in an interesting manner, and the form and ar. rangement of the numerous rounded prominences present views of im- pressive beauty as they stretch away in the distance, or form bold curves in the line of hills; while the broad flood-plain of the Missouri river, leve as a floor, stretches miles away to the westward to meet the turbid stream near the line of bluffs which borders the western, as those of Iowa do the eastern side. Trees often fill the sides of their deeper ravines or skirf
325
HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
their bases, but usually their only covering is a growth of wild grasses and annual plants; and, as the mound-like peaks and rounded ridges jut above each other, or diverge in various directions while they recede up- ward to the upland, the setting sun throws strange and weird shadows across them, producing a scene quite in keeping with that wonderful his- tory of the past of which they form a part."-(White).
The wealth of Fremont county is due to the prevalence of the deposit known as the "bluff deposit," and which covers its entire surface. The origin and nature of this material may be fully learned from the geolog- ical history of the county. It forms, however, one of the richest of the rich soils for which Iowa is so famous. Analysis of its composition show it to have a very small percentage of clay, and a very great per centum of purely silicious material. The county is peculiarly adapted to the growth of those grains and fruits that contribute to the maintenance of man, and well deserves its appellation of "the garden of Iowa." Its fer- tility is sufficiently well indicated by the rank luxuriant growth of prairie grass and the strength of most of the common wild plants. For centur- ies the earth has been giving of its substance to the nourishment of plant life-but the return it has gleaned only adds to its powers. The humus- soil containing the remains of vegetation - seems almost endowed, not only with the life-sustaining, but a life producing principle. The broad acres of Fremont were not subject to the wonderful changes which have passed over their face without a purpose, and that purpose is sufficiently clear to need no comment. For ages the earth has brought its increase, and for ages more the process of growth and decay may go on, with- out destroying the fertility of this wonderful soil.
The nature of the soils of a given district is sufficiently distinct to admit of a kind of rude classification, which serves the double purpose of nomenclature, and indicates their value. To two of the three classes into which they are usually divided -- namely drift bluff and alluvial-the soil of Fremont belongs, and to the two last named. As has been said, the bluff deposit or soil covers the surface of the entire county to a depth varying from five feet to one hundred feet. In the "bottom lands," however, is to be found the so-called "alluvial," a soil which, from the nature of its origin, is probably the very richest material known. This latter is the residue or fine sedi- mentary matter left by the waters of a stream when at highest flood. Rushing down declivities the waters of both the ancient and modern streams wore away their soft embankments, carrying the material thus derived to the lower lands, depositing them at all points where the waters were comparatively at rest. These constitute the "flat" or " bottom land" -the present flood plains of the county's rivers. Beneath this bluff deposit, the probable origin of which will be indicated further on, is found the "drift," a most fertile material, the discussion
326
HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
of the origin of which also properly belongs to the chapter on geology. Not only will the physical peculiarities of these two formations serve to distinguish them, but the different characters of their vegetations will make an excellent criterion. The flora of the deeply wooded valleys will be found to differ in many essential points from that of the prairies, each of which is characteristic. This feature is a most noticeable one in Fremont county, especially on its western side, which is infinitely diversi- fied with hills and valleys strangely and confusedly mingled together in the wildest manner. Riding west from Sidney toward the Missouri bot- tom, many valleys are crossed and hills surmounted-valleys and hills that were formed by great streams that raged through these narrow passes ages ago-and the wonderful and rapid changes in vegetation, from a prairie to a woodland flora, is a sufficiently plain indication of the changes in the formations on which they flourish. This remarkable adaptability to certain plants in particular regions, whereas in others their very exis- tence is critical, has induced a vast amount of speculation and experiment as to the adaptability of Iowa soils for the growth of forest trees. What is true of this great state as a whole, is true of the county of Fremont. Dr. White's admirable summary of discussions on this much mooted point, has demonstrated that notwithstanding the fact that the distance from the northern to the southern limits of the state is more than three degrees of latitude, in consequence of the slight difference in surface elevation, and the great degree of uniformity in the character of the soil, there is a strik- ing uniformity in the character of the native vegetation ; for the same reasons also there is an equal uniformity in the adaptability of the soil and climate to the production of cultivated crops. There areindeed many species of indigenous plants restricted to certain parts of the state, and others that are found only in habitats rendered congenial by moisture, dryness, barrenness, unusual fertility, etc., as the case may be; yet these are only exceptions to the gen- eral uniformity throughout the state, of all indigenous vegetation, includ- ing the forest trees. The subject of the distribution of indigenous vege- tation is a very suggestive and interesting one in all its bearings, but espe- cially when applied to the growth of forest trees, it becomes one of unusual practical importance to every citizen of Iowa. The great importance which attaches to this part of the subject is apparent from the fact that the wood of forest trees for fuel, no less than for other purposes, is an in- dispensable element in the prosperity, and even the inhabitation of any country, not to mention the beneficial effects of forests upon the climate, the beautifying and adornment of its landscapes, and the shading and shel- tering of its homes. Dr. White continues: "If there is really an unfit- ness of prairie soil for the growth of forest trees, then at least one-third of our state is worthless indeed. But this is not the case, for personal obser- vation in all parts of the state, extending through a period of thirty years,
327
HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
has established a knowledge of the fact that all varieties of our indigenous forest trees will grow thriftily uponall varieties of our soil; even those whose most congenial habitat is upon the alluvial soil of our river valleys, or upon the rugged slopes of the valley sides."
RIVERS.
As has been previously indicated, this county is remarkably well drained; on the east by the Nishnabotanys, and west by the numerous small streams, the waters of which ultimately find their way to the Missouri. The char- acter of these streams is determined by the nature of the surface over which they flow. The clear, sparkling rills and the dancing blue waves of New England streams are all wanting in the waters of Fremont. These latter flow throughout their entire courses in this county, in narrow, sinuous, ditch-like depressions in their flood plains, and over the materials previously mentioned as " bluff" and " alluvial." This is the cause of their excessive muddiness. Notwithstanding the fact that the beds of the Nishnabotanys dip in the direction of their courses at the average rate of 2.68 feet per mile, their sinuosity is so great, and the specific gravity of their waters so largely increased by reason of the finely comminuted material held in suspension, that they are excessively sluggish, and it would seem de- cidedly inappropriate to dignify them with the title of river. Yet there are times when it would seem that in their rage, during heavy rains or the floods of spring, they defy the power of the very hills to withstand them. Then are they seen in their full force and in all their destructiveness; then, if at all, can be appreciated the mighty eroding power of water, that power which shall ultimately level the mountains, and carry away the lands to be swallowed up in the dark recesses of the sea. Observing one of these streams at high flood, no one will longer wonder how they be- came such an important factor in earth sculpture, and how the deep valleys and lofty bluffs of Fremont county came to be as they are. On the ex- treme west of the county flows the Missouri, to-day as patiently rolling its earth-laden waters onward to the sea as when it first began the great work of digging its own valley. Nearly opposite the west central part of the county it sweeps away to the westward, making a grand curve into eastern Nebraska, and leaving to Fremont thousands of acres of its broad bottom land. Grand, silent, majestic, it sweeps ever onward in its course, as quietly now as hundreds of centuries ago when its waters ex- panded scores of miles to the east and west, forming a great inland sea, the bottom of which was the surface of Fremont county. " The only
328
HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
discussion of this remarkable river that can be given in this report must relate alone to the character of the stream and its valley along that part of its course which goes to form the western boundary of [Fremont county]. We have no information of the amount of water annually flow- ing past the state of Iowa in this great river, because no detailed hydro- graphic survey of it has been made along our border.
" It is, however, one of the muddiest streams on the globe, and its waters are known to be very turbid far toward its source. Two collections of its water have been made from its channel at Council Bluffs, and the solid contents determined by Prof. Emery. One parcel was collected at low water, on November 9, 1868, and the other on July 5, 1868, when the river was just bank-full. The amount of sediment filtered out of the water in both instances was as follows: Low water, 462 grains in one liter=52 grains in one gallon; high water, 5.672 grains in one liter=404 grains in one gallon, from which it is readily seen that the amount of sus- pended sediment at times of high water is more than twelve times as great as it is at low water."- White.
A further discussion of the history of the Missouri is reserved for an- other page.
LAKES.
There are no lakes, properly so called, in Fremont county. There are, nevertheless, several ponds which are locally called lakes. The smallest of these is in the valley of the East Nishnabotny, and properly speaking is but a relict of the ancient river-bed. Its supply of water is derived mainly or entirely from the annual flooding of the Nishnabotny bottom. In Scott township, in the northwestern part of the county, there are two of these lakes, one-the most northern, partially within the limits of Mills county- called Upper Lake, and the other, and largest in the county, about the center of the township, known as Wabonsie Lake. The origin of these lakes is similar to that at Riverton, but each receives an abundant supply of water from several drainage creeks. Their surplus water is lost in the marshes and soft sponge-like soil, so that, as in the case of the streams, it reaches the Missouri only by percolation.
329
HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
CLIMATE.
Climate is one of those most important things about which men inquire least. Few realize the fact that all the changes in wind and storm, rain and drouth take place in obedience to fixed laws. It is important to every resident of the county to know at least the effects of those laws, even though they take little interest in the laws themselves. Climatic extremes in this county are few. The winters are not excessively cold, and the summers are not intolerably hot. Heavy falls of snow are of extremely rare occurrence, and the annual fall of rain is somewhat less than that of the eastern portions of the state in the same latitude. The prevailing winds, during the winter, are from the northwest, and are rarely of that bitterly cold nature which residents in the northern portion of the state denote the "blizzard." In the spring the character of the winds suddenly changes to that of a healthful and mellow nature. Then, too, they change their quarters, blowing from a southerly direction until the late fall months, when again they blow from the north. There never have been made any meterological observations extending through a sufficient length of time from which may be gathered the statistics of the climatic conditions of the county since its settlement and organization. It differs but immateri- ally, however, from the conditions at Council Bluffs, where observations have been made through a long series of years, in pursuance of a plan devised by the general government dating back to 1819. The following table of mean temperatures for each season, compiled from data gathered at the last named place, ranging from the year 1820 to 1843 inclusive, will aid in forming a general conclusion on the climate of this county:
Latitude.
41 degrees, 30 minutes 95 48
Longitude .
Elevation, in feet .
1350
Mean spring temperature
49.3
Mean summer 74.7
Mean autumn 51.4
Mean winter 66
21.7
The year . 49.3
From this table it will be seen that the mean temperature for the year is exactly that of the spring.
A series of observations extending over a period of nineteen years, (1850-69), on the direction of the prevailing winds, give the following in- teresting facts:
1
330
HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
N. N. E.
E. S. E.
S. S. W.
W. N. N. W.
Spring
19.0
19.9
22.2
28.8
Summer
15.3
23.1
33.1
18.0
Autumn
17.3
19.5
25.1
29.2
Winter .
17.0
11.4
24.1
37.8
Year.
17.5
19.0
26.2
28.5
From this last table it will be seen that for three hundred and sixty days of the year there are perceptible winds blowing in the county. To rightly estimate their value as climatic modifiers, there must be considered many important factors, such as the distribution of heat through their agency, the distribution of moisture, and their force, questions into which it is not the purpose of this sketch to enter. They are of the greatest benefit to the sanitary condition of the county, as they prevent the accumu- lation of malaria which arises from the decay of the rich masses of vege- tation with which the prairies are covered. Another agent, active in pre- venting the origination and spread of disease by absorbing large quanti- ties of noxious gases, is the annual fall of rain, which for a period of twenty years (1850-69) gave the following in inches:
Winter, total
117.29; mean. 5.86
Spring
237.11; mean
11.85
Summer «
278.06; mean 13.90
Fall
216.73; mean 10.83
From which it will be seen that both the total and mean fall in summer exceeds that of either the other three seasons. The deductions from these statistics, that the climate is a healthful one, is further strengthened by the general elevation of the surface of the county. In all elevated lands the air is invigorating and bracing at all seasons, under all conditions that pre- vail elsewhere. The human race has not only degenerated by dwelling in low, unhealthy places, but it is again and again decimated by the pesti- lences generated in them. As Dr. Farr well remarks, "it is destroyed now periodically by five pestilences-cholera, remittent fever, yellow fever, glandular plagues and influenza. The origin or chief seat of the first is the Delta of the Ganges. Of the second, the African and other tropical coasts. Of the third, the low west coast around the Gulf of Mexico, or the Delta of the Mississippi, and the West India Islands. Of the fourth the Delta of the Nile and the low sea-side cities of the Mediterranean. Of the generating field of influenza nothing certain is known; but
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
the four great pestilential diseases-cholera, yellow fever, remittent fever and plague,-have this property in common; that they begin and are most fatal in low grounds; that their fatality diminishes in ascending the rivers and is inconsiderable around the river sources, except under such peculiar circumstances as are met with at Erzeroum, where the fea- tures of a marshy sea-side city are seen at the foot of the mountain chain of Ararat. Safety is found in flight to the hills. *
* * As the power of the Egyptians descended from the Thebaid to Memphis, from Memphis to Sais, they gradually degenerated, notwithstanding the elevation of their towns above the high waters of the Nile, their hygienic laws and the hy- drographical and other sanitary arrangements which made the country renowned, justly or unjustly, for its salubrity in the days of Herodotus, the poison of the Delta in every time of weakness and successful invasion, gradually gained the ascendancy, and as the cities declined, the canals and the embalments of the dead were neglected, and the plague gained ground. The people, subjugated by Persians, Greeks, Romans, Turks, Mamelukes, became what they have been for centuries, and what they are at the pres- ent day. Every race that settled in the Delta degenerated, and was only sustained by immigration. So, likewise, the populations on the sites of all the city-states of antiquity, on the coast of Syria, Asia Minor, Africa, Italy, seated like the people of Rome on low ground under the ruin-clad hills of their ancestors, within reach of fever ard plague, are enervated and debased apparently beyond redemption.
" The history of the nations on the Mediterranean, on the plains of the Euphrates and the Tigris, the Deltas of the Indus and the Ganges, and the rivers of China, exhibit this great fact: the gradual descent of races from the highlands, their establishment on the coasts in cities sustained and refreshed for a season by immigration from the interior, their degra- dation in successive generations under the influence of the unhealthy earth, and their final ruin, effacement or subjugation by new races of conquerors. The causes that destroy individual men, lay cities waste, which, in their nature, are immortal, and silently undermine eternal empires.
"On the highlands men feel the loftiest emotions. Every tradition places their origin there. The first nations worshiped there, high on the Indian Caucasus, on Olympus, and on other lofty mountains the Indians and the Greeks imagined the abodes of their highest gods, while they peopled the low, underground regions, the grave-land of mortality, with infernal dei- ties. Their myths have a deep signification. Man feels his immortality in the hills .* While this may not be considered as bearing directly on the climate of Fremont county, it is nevertheless a cognate theme. These are the things which have no little influence on mental and physical organization, and through them modify all the conditions of national
* P. xciv., Report of Wm. Farr, Esq., to the Registrar-General of England, 1852.
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
development. Health and intelligence, intelligence and good morals, good morals and excellent government, are sisters three without which neither nations nor men may live and prosper. While, it is true, there are no high- lands proper in this county, its whole surface is sufficiently elevated to out- general disease and stay the ravages of pestilence. Productive of good health, the climate acts with the soil in the production of unusually large crops of those cereals adapted to this latitude.
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