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 43
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
the skunk (Mephitis mephitica). The French, perhaps, had sufficient reason to name him " le enfant diable," but he is a great entomologist, if he does occasionally disgrace himself, and conducting his entomological excursions by night, he rids the farmer of many a pest otherwise sadly destructive. Notwithstanding that his scalp commands a bounty, the industrious gopher ( Geomys bursarius) piles his mounds of dirt here and there, all unconscious of the legal care of which he is the recipient. In addition to the animals above mentioned, there are in the county the fol- lowing:
Purorius vison, common mink.
Procyon lotor, raccoon.
Vespertilio subulatus, little brown bat.
noctivagans, black bat.
66 sp,
Atala pha crepuscularis, twilight-bat; rare here. 66 noveboracensis, common.
(?) Corynorhinus macrotis; not sure of this determination.
Sciuropterus volucella, flying squirrel; in Missouri bottom.
Sciurus niger, fox squirrel; common.
Sciurus carolinensis, gray squirrel; abundant.
Sciuns hudsonius, chickaree, common, especially along the Nishnabotany. lamias striatus, chipmunk, in all wooded sections.
Spermophilus tridecemlineatus, striped gopher.
Arctomys monax, woodchuck.
Zapus husonius, jumping mouse, rare.
Hesperomys leucopus, deer mouse, everywhere.
Ochetodon humilis, harvest mouse, local.
Arvicola riparius, meadow mouse.
austerus, commonly confounded with the last.
Synaptomys cooperi, Cooper's mouse.
Castor fiber, beaver; two specimens trapped in the Nishnabotany December 9, 1880 .- CALL.
Fiber zibethicus, muskrat.
Erethizon dorsatus, porcupine; not seen, listed by tradition.
(?) Lepus sylvaticus, hare, determination doubtful.
This list comprises the major part of the mammalian fauna of the county. Further study will correct it, perhaps, by the addition of a few species. This simple enumeration of varieties may aid the future student in the determination of the county animal resources.
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
INDIAN AFFAIRS.
The Indian! What crowds of memories, incidents, and adventures come trooping to the mind at the bare mention of that name, once fear-inspiring, now commonplace and powerless. A name once so dreaded, and often freighted with murder and rapine, is history's, as a memento of which but a few outcast and hunted tribes alone remain.
The savage of Nature and he whom poets sing are different beings. The latter, kingly in mien and sullenly morose in habit, animated by the noblest of motives, engaging in chase or in war as fancy or necessity dic- tated, disdaining peril and knowing no fear-such as he existed only in the imagination of Cooper, or are painted in the verse of authors equally gifted as he. The former, with passions unrestrained and by nature treacher- ous, slothful, repulsive and unclean-such is the savage of Nature, as unlike him celebrated in song as well he could be. Yet, there is some- thing that calls for our sympathy in the history of this unfortunate race. The same harrowing lust for gold which impelled Pizarro to the conquest of the Incas, and Cortez to the destruction of the mighty empire of the Montezumas, in a newer, and perhaps less revolting form, has driven the red man from the homes in which his ancestors, for many generations past, have roamed at will, and left him-what? The inheritance of extinc- tion, and that alone. He was, rather than is. "The only hope of the per . petuity of his race seems now to center in the Choctaws, Cherokees, Creeks and Chickasaws of the Indian Territory. These nations, number- ing in the aggregate about eight thousand souls, have attained a considera- ble degree of civilization; and with just and liberal dealing on the part of the government the outlook for the future is not discouraging. Most of the other Indian tribes seem to be rapidly approaching extinction. Right or wrong, such is the logic of events. Whether the red man has been justly deprived of the ownership of the New World will remain a subject of debate; that he has been deprived, cannot be denied. The Saxon has come. His conquering foot has trodden the vast domain from shore to shore. The weaker race has withdrawn from his presence and his sword. By the majestic rivers and in the depths of the solitary woods the feeble sons of the bow and arrow will be seen no more. Only their names remain on hill, and stream, and mountain. The red man sinks and fails. His eyes are to the west. To the prairies and forests, the hunting- grounds of his ancestors, he says farewell. He is gone! The cypress and the hemlock sing his requiem."
But whence did he come? This opens up a field of inquiry which has
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
engaged the attention of earnest students since the Indian first was known. It seems to be settled that he certainly did not come from that mythologi- cal "cradle of the race," Asia, but more than that is yet to be settled. Long ages anterior to his occupation of the land there lived and thrived other races-men who, in that far off time built the mounds and made the imple- ments that we now so commonly find. Suppose that they were the lineal descendents of the mound builders-what then? we have only moved the difficulty but a step back, and still man was. There is no knowledge, re- vealed or human, that throws any light upon the origin of the race of men, and nothing historical to enlighten us as to the kind of men the mound-builders were. They have left their works-some of them in Fre- mont county-but tell us more than habits and distribution they do not.
Concerning the tribes of recent Indians who formerly made this county their home, the reader is referred to the history of Iowa in the preceding portion of this volume. It is sufficient here to state that the territory of which the county is now composed was once possessed by the Sac and Fox and Pottawattomie Indians. They were not, however, the original owners of the soil. The tribe of Iowas, belonging to the great family of Dakotas, were the first possessors when its known history begins. The Sac and Fox and Pottawattomie Indians were formerly residents east of the Mississippi, and were a portion of the great family of the Algonquins. This great family at the beginning of the seventeenth century numbered nearly a quarter million souls, but their habits, their wars and wasting dis- eases, has reduced their numbers to a mere handful, a disheartened and reckless remnant of a once proud race. At the close of the celebrated Black Hawk war the Sac and Fox tribe came into Iowa, unable longer to resist the advance of the white man.
In 1842 was made a treaty in accordance with the provisions of which the Sac and Fox and Pottawattomies ceded to the general government the western portion of the State of Iowa, and "their right of title and interest therein." The parties to the treaty were, as has been said on page 162, Governor Chambers of Iowa Territory on the part of the government, and Chiefs Keokuk, Appanoose and Panassa among others, in behalf of the red men.
In the spring of 1846 the Indians finally retired to Kansas, and here the history of their connection with Iowa soil finally ends.
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
THE FLOODS OF 1849 AND 1851.
The winter of 1848 and 1849 will always be remembered as one of unprecedented snow-falls. The area of the fall was the entire northwest, with exceptionally heavy snows in the upper Missouri. Like a winding sheet about the dead, the mantle of snow covered the hills and filled the valleys-beautiful and white, but filled with the potency of death and desolation. When the warm rains of the spring and the genial rays of a returning summer sun caused the accumulated snows to melt, they came pouring down the ravines and filling the water-courses to repletion. When the accumulating water reached the lower Missouri the circumjacent country was submerged, dwellings and out-buildings were carried away, farms disappeared beneath its waters, the channel changed, the river's course became somewhat different, but higher and higher still the water rose, until the month of August, when they began slowly to subside. The damage had been done, valuable tracts of land lay unimproved for that year, and thousands of dollars, in property, had gone down with the rush- ing waters.
The flood of 1851 was of a similar character to that of 1849. The im- mediate cause, however, was a heavy fall of rain of seven days continu- ance. The rain-fall all over the state was of a most remarkable nature, the smaller streams all attained a high water mark, which has never since been reached. Great damage was done by carrying away fencing and other improvements along the banks of the various streams. This over- flow reached its culmination in May, and the waters began then to recede.
The deaths that were caused-and they were not few-were mainly the result of foolish daring and recklessness. When the floods reached their greatest height, the fords, of course, were impassable, and unless great risks were taken, no communication could be had with neighboring fami- lies. Boats and rafts were improvised, or the foolish method of swimming the streams was adopted, both of which contributed to the mortality through accident or bravado. Deaths, caused directly by the overflow, there were none, or few at most.
THE NAME WAHBONSIE.
Attention has previously been called to the Wahbonsie lake, situated on the line between Fremont and Mills counties, and a history of its naming may not be out of place.
The lake was named for Wahbonsie, a chief of the Pottawattomies, who resided with a band of that tribe on the borders of the lake, and was 4
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
considered its owner. With these Indians and with Wahbonsie, Major Cooper carried on an extensive trading business. When the final treaty, in 1842, was made, ceding these lands to the government, Wahbonsie was one of the few who lingered after nearly all the others had departed for their Kansas home. During his sojourn it seems he contracted certain debts, after the manner of many white men, which he evinced no disposi- tion to pay and prepared to leave without settlement. Among the oldest of the records preserved, before Fremont became a county, is found the fol- lowing document, showing how the fated Wahbonsie became entangled in the meshes of the law.
STATE OF MISSOURI, COUNTY OF ATCHINSON SS.
Before me, James Cummings, a justice of the peace, of the county aforesaid, this day personally came Rufus Hitchcock, who being duly sworn sayeth that Wahbonchey justly owes him twenty-two dollars, and that said Waubonchey is a leaving the country without paying him or leaving property for him, and that he wants a writ of attachment against the goods, chattels, monies of Waubon- chey and further sayeth not, this November 14, 1846.
RUFUS HITCHCOCK.
Sworn to and subscribed to before me this 14th day of November, 1846.
[SEAL.]
JAMES CUMINGS. Justice of the Peace.
It will be noticed that Hicthcock was a trader, and also that the writ of attachment was issued by authority of the state of Missouri. The affi- davit was made at Austin, the original capital of the county.
COUNTY ORGANIZATION.
With regard to the origin of the division of individual states into county and township organizations, which in an important measure should have the power and opportunity of transacting their own business and governing themselves, under the approval of, and subject to the state and general government of which they each formed a part, we quote from Elijah M. Haines, who is considered good authority on the subject.
In his "Laws of Illinois, Relative to Township Organizations," he says the county system
"Originated with Virginia, whose early settlers soon became large-landed proprietors, aristocratic in feeling, living apart in almost baronial magnificence
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
on their own estates, and owning the laboring part of the population. Thus the materials for a town were not at hand, the voters being thinly distributed over a great area.
" The county organization, where a few influential men managed the whole business of the community, retaining their places almost at their pleasure, scarcely responsible at all, except in name, and permitted to conduct the county concerns as their ideas or wishes might direct, was moreover consonant with their recollections or traditions of the judicial and social dignities of the landed aris- tocracy of England, in descent from whom the Virginia gertleman felt so much pride. In 1734 eight counties were organized in Virginia, and the system ex- tending throughout the state, spread into all the southern states, and some of the northern states; unless we except the nearly similar division into 'districts' in South Carolina, and that into ' parishes' in Louisiana, from the French laws.
" Illinois, which with its vast additional territory, became a county of Vir- ginia, on its conquest by Gen. George Rogers Clark, retained the county organi- zation, which was formally extended over the state by the constitution of 1818, and continued in exclusive use until the constitution of 1848. Under this sys- tem, as in other states adopting it, most local business was transacted by those commissioners in each county, who constituted a county court, with quarterly sessions.
" During the period ending with the constitution of 1847, a large portion of the state had become filled with a population of New England birth or character, daily growing more and more compact and dissatisfied with the comparatively arbitrary and inefficient county system. It was maintained by the people that the heavily populated districts would always control the election of the commis- sioners to the disadvantage of the more thinly populated sections-in short that under that system, 'equal and exact justice' to all parts of the county could not be secured. The township system had its origin in Massachusetts, and dates back to 1635. The first legal enactment concerning this system provided that, ' whereas, particular towns have many things which concern only themselves, and the ordering of their own affairs, and disposing of business in their own town,' therefore, 'the freemen of every town, or the majority part of them, shall only have power to dispose of their own lands and woods, with all the appurten- ances of said town, to grant lots, and to make such orders as may concern the well-ordering of their own towns, not repugnant to the laws and orders estab- lished by the general court.'
" They might also (says Mr. Haines) impose fines of not more than twenty shillings, and 'choose their own particular officers, as constables, surveyors for the highways, and the like.' Evidently this enactment relieved the general court of a mass of municipal details, without any danger to the power of that body in controlling general measures of public policy. Probably also a demand from the freemen of the towns was felt for the control of their own home concerns.
" The New England colonies were first governed by a 'general court,' or leg- islature, composed of a governor and a small council, which court consisted of the most influential inhabitants, and possessed and exercised both legislative and
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
judicial powers, which were limited only by the wisdom of the holders. They made laws, ordered their execution by officers, tried and decided civil and crim- inal causes, enacted all manner of municipal regulations, and, in fact, did all the public business of the colony. Similar provisions for the incorporation of towns were made in the first constitution of Connecticut, adopted in 1639; and the plan of township organization, as experience proved its remarkable economy, efficiency, and adaptations to the requirements of a free and intelligent people, became uni- versal throughout New England, and went westward with the emigrants from New England into New York, Ohio and other western states."
When the Mormons were expelled from Illinois, in 1846, by the Gen- tiles with the connivance of the civil authorities, they migrated westward through Iowa,-some of them going on to Salt Lake, Utah, others, at- tracted by the pleasant climate and beautiful woodlands, remained at divers points in the state. Among their stopping places were Council Bluffs (then Kanesville), Silver Creek, Trader's Point, Keg Creek, in the Missouri bottom, and wherever good soil, timber, and water were found conjoined. The Mormons were in excess of the Gentile population, and are said to have made themselves odious to the residents along the bot- toms and through the country. With increase of population the balance of power began to change and opinions adverse to Mormon government and Mormon doctrines began to find expression in overt action. In Oc- tober, 1848, a public meeting for political purposes was called and held at the Wahbonsie Indian Agency's Cabin, some four or five miles northwest of the present site of Tabor, near the residence of John Lambert, son of Ezekiel Lambert. There were perhaps forty or fifty persons present, and among them were I. D. Blanchard, L. W. Platt, G. B. Gaston, D. P. Mat- thews, Charles W. Tolles, J. B. Hall, and the Rev. John Todd. During the progress of the meeting a paper was drawn up and signed, petitioning the legislature to organize a county in southwestern Iowa, with the belief that it could be successfully controlled by the Gentiles. J. B. Hall and John Todd, who were then in the county in search of an eligible site for a new town contemplated by a body of men in Oberlin, Ohio, were about to set out across the state on their return home. To them the petition was intrusted, with instructions to place it in the hands of the first mem- ber of the Iowa legislature that they might find. They soon after set out for Ohio on horseback, but found no member of the legislature until they reached Fairfield. Here they were directed to a Mr. Baker, a blacksmith, whom they found in his shop at work. On informing him that they had a little business which they wished through him to present to the legisla- ture, he seated himself on his anvil and gave audience. They at once presented him the petition intrusted to them, and volunteered cogent argu- ments of their own, in their endeavor to further the cause of the residents of the Missouri bottom, and requested him to submit the same to the next
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
General Assembly of the state. That petition was never heard from until many years after. It was then learned from Mr. Baker himself, who afterwards removed to Council Bluffs, that he judged it all a Mormon project, and that he had never presented the petition to the legislature at all. Mr. Baker's hasty judgment hardly does the General Assembly, as a body, justice, but it is possible men were more justifiable in those early days than now in entertaining opinions of a suspicious character.
Whether this petition had any influence upon Mr. Baker when he voted is a thing from its very nature not to be determined. In the year in which he was to pre- sent it (1849) the county was, nevertheless organized, but whether by reason of a petition is not known. Previous to that year, the county was attached, for political and judicial purposes, to Polk county, and began an independent existence only when David M. English, the appointed or- ganizing sheriff, had finished his work, and the people, by the selection of officers, had declared themselves an official part of the great state of Iowa.
The first election, pursuant to the proclamation of the organizing sheriff, was held in April 1849, at which David Jones, William K. McKissick, and Isaac Hunsaker were elected county commissioners; Milton Richards, clerk of district court; A. H. Argyle, clerk of county court, and David M. Eng- lish, sheriff; T. L. Buckham, treasurer and collector; S. T. Cromwell, inspector of weights and measures.
The election, it is almost superfluous to say, had nothing in common with a political contest. The object was not the emoluments of office, but the organization of the county. It was left for a later day and a newer gen- eration to wrangle over the spoils of office and to originate imaginary issues.
The following are the proceedings of the first session of the county com- missioners, Sept. 10th, 1849.
Wm. McKissick, Isaac Hunsaker, and David Jones, having been duly elected and qualified county commissioners for Fremont county, state of Iowa, convened at the house of Archibald H. Argyle,* clerk of the board of county commissioners in said county on the 10th day of September, A. D., 1849, and, after opening court according to law, proceeded as follows:
Ordered, That the bond of Tilden L. Buckham, as treasurer and collector, is presented, examined and approved.
Ordered, That the bond of Archibald H. Argyle, as clerk of the board of county commissioners, is presented, examined and approved, and ordered to be filed with the treasurer and collector.
Ordered, That the bond of Archibald H. Argyle, as recorder, is presented, examined and approved.
*Then at the town of Austin, the capital of the county.
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
Ordered, That the bond of Stephen T. Cromwell, as inspector of weights and measures, is presented, examined and approved.
The bonds of A. J. Singleton, constable of Franklin precinct, and Geo. Farney, constable of Henry precinct, were approved.
A. H. Argyle and Geo. A. W. Belcher received licences for ferries across the Nishnabotany, at their respective residences, for one year, on the payment of five dollars each.
Ordered, That the rates of ferriage on the Nishnabotany river be as follows: For crossing single man, 5 cents; for man and horse, ten cents; two-horse wagon and team, empty, 25 cents-loaded, 30 cents; four-horse wagon and team, empty, 40 cents-loaded, 50 cents; six-horse team and wagon, empty, 60 cents-loaded, 70 cents; loose horses and cattle, 5 cents per head; sheep and hogs, 2} cents per head.
Ordered, That A. H. Argyle be allowed twelve dollars for two books, one for tlie clerk of the board of county commissioners and one for recorder.
Ordered, That this court is now adjourned until the 11th inst., at 9 o'clock, A. M.
At the third meeting of the county commissioners, October 15, 1849, the following, among other proceedings were had:
Ordered, That a county road is hereby established on the old road, commenc- ing at the southern line of Fremont county, near the forks of said road near the farm of H. Watts; thence northwest to A. H. Argyle's ferry, on the Nishna- botany; thence northwest to Mr. C. Thomas'.
[NOTE .-- This was the first road established in Fremont county.] * * ×
* * * * *
The clerk of this court, pursuant to a previous order, has presented a list of all the county and state taxes due upon the property of residents, together with all the poll taxes, amounting to two hundred and eighty-six dollars and fifty-four cents ($286.54), which was accepted and approved by this court.
[NOTE .- This was levied at the rate of six mills on the dollar.]
Ordered, That D. M. English receive fifty-two dollars for services as organizing sheriff and for assessment, as per account rendered.
Ordered, That A. H. Argyle, as treasurer, be required to collect all the county and state taxes, together with all poll taxes for this county, and make a return of the same on the first Monday in January next.
[NOTE .- Although the record shows that T. L. Buckham was duly qualified as treasurer of the county, it seems he did not exercise the duties of the office; and, further, while there is no explicit statement that Argyle was ever appointed treasurer by the commission- ers, it appears that he was appointed. Probably in the foregoing order the words "as treasurer " were deemed sufficient to indicate hisappointmen.]
At the January meeting, 1850, John Boulware received a license for a ferry across the Missouri river, "opposite old Ft. Kearney, for three years, at $8 per annum." The rates of ferriage were fixed at, "for four-horse team and wagon, $1.75, if loaded; if empty, $1.50; two-horse wagon and team, loaded or empty, $1.25; one-horse carriage, $1; man and
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HISTORY OF FREMONT COUNTY.
horse, 25 cents; footman, 12} cents; all loose stock, 12} cents; hogs and sheep, 5 cents per head; for every 100 pounds of freight not loaded, 8 cents."
At this session of the commissioners the boundaries of "Henry " and " Fulton " townships were fixed:
Ordered, That the boundaries of Henry township be as follows, to-wit: Com- mencing at the farm of J. H. Whitehead at the edge of the bluff, and from thence along under the bluff, to include the settlers immediately under the bluff, to the northern line of the county, and from thence along said line to the east line of the county and from thence to the line of Franklin township, and from thence along said line west to the place of beginning.
Ordered, That the boundaries of Fulton township be as follows, to-wit: Com- mencing at J. H. Whitehead's farm at the edge ofthe bluff, and thence along the bluff to the north line of the county,and from thence west to the Missouri river, and from thence along said river south to the line of Franklin township, and from thence along said line to the place of beginning.
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