USA > Iowa > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County, Iowa, Volume I > Part 3
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Another feature of interest is the artesian wells and springs that are found in nearly all parts of the county. One of the most wonderful springs in the county bursts from the rocks near the margin of Boone river on the Mclaughlin farm in Cass township.
Perhaps the most notable artesian well in the county is located at Webster City. A company organized to prospect for gas, commenced drilling near the Chicago & North-Western Railway track on Bank street. After going down over 1,200 feet, they failed to discover gas, but they did develop a magnificent flowing well of very superior water.
MCMURRAY'S REPORT
Fortunately, at the time this well was sunk, L. A. McMurray, a member of the company became interested in the project from a scientific standpoint and kept a record of the strata through which the well drill passed. He not only made a report to those in charge of the state geological survey, but he preserved in a glass tube, actual samples of each stratum of earth and rock in the order they were originally formed. This graphic portrayal of the foundation stones of Webster City may be seen by any one who will call at the Auditor's office in the Hamilton county court house.
Mr. McMurray's report to the geological survey is as follows :
XIX. WEBSTER CITY
Owner . Gas Well Co.
1,250 feet Depth
Diameter 8 inches-6 inches
Elevation of curb A. T.
1,048 feet
Head of Water A. T. 1,064 feet
Date of beginning Feb. 3. 1888
Date of completion
June 28, 1888
This first flow from this well was obtained at the depth of 675 feet and its head was six feet above the curb. The source of the present flow, heading six- teen feet above the curb, is at about 1,200 feet. The discharge was originally about seventy gallons a minute. It has since diminished, owing presumably to neglect, but is still strong. The water has both the odor and taste of sulphur, and so rapidly corrodes iron that the best galvanized pipe withstands its constant flow but about two years. For these reasons it is only used in a public watering trough. The well is cased to or near the bottom.
14
HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
ANALYSIS
Grains per U. S. Gallon.
Parts per million
Silica ( Sio2) .
1.889
32.571
Alumina (ALO;)
Trace
Trace
Ferric oxide (Fe203)
Trace
Trace
Lime (Cao)
14.285
246.286
Magnesia ( Mgo)
2.593
44.714
Potash ( K20)
Soda (Na.,0)
8.791
151.571
Chlorine (C1)
.596
10.286
Sulphur trioxide (So3)
24.890
429.143
Carbon dioxide (Co2)
12.354
213.000
Water in combination (H2O)
2.494
43.000
UNITED AS FOLLOWS
Grains per U. S. Gallon
Parts per million
Calcium bicarbonate (CaH2CO3)
22.529
388.428
Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) .
.265
4.571
Ferrous bicarbonate ( FeHI,CO3)2
Trace
Trace
Calcium sulphate (CaSo,) ..
15.494
67.143
Magnesium sulphate (MgSO4)
7.747
133-573
Sodium sulphate (Na2 SO4)
18.891
325.714
Sodium chloride (NaCl)
.994
17.143
Alumina (Al2O3)
Trace
Trace
Silica (SiO2)
1.889
32.571
Oxygen replaced by chlorine
.084
1.428
Solids
.67.803 1,170.571 Analyst, Prof. J. B. Weems. Date, July 9, 1896.
RECORD OF STRATA
Thickness Depth
20. From surface to rock, 180 feet, soil, clay, sand, thin layers of rock, etc. .180 180
19. Sandstone, gray, of quartz of various colors, yellow, pink and black, grains imperfectly rounded; mingled with the sand is a large quantity of light yellow limestone. . .
20
20
18. Limestone, light gray, soft, carthy, in flaky chips, fossili- ferous 150
350
17. Shale, blue IO
360
16. Limestone, dark drab, mottled with white calcite, crystalline. 100 460
15. Limestone, magnesian, hard brown, crystalline. 40
500
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
14. Shale, calcareous, dark gray, siliceous with microscopic par- ticles of quartz. 20
520
13. Dolomite, or magnesium limestone, dark brown, compact crystalline 30 550
12. Limestone, dark blue gray, crystalline effervescence slow .. 45 595
II. Limestone, light yellow-gray, soft, crystalline, effervescence slow
55
650
IO. Dolomite, or magnesian limestone, as No. 13. 30
680
9. Limestone, light gray, saccharoidal.
95
775
8. Limestone, close-grained, no samples.
45
820
7. Limestone, brown, crystalline.
60
880
6. Limestone, or shale, highly argillaceous, blue-gray
I20
1,000
5. Shale, drab, calcareous.
75
1,075
4. Limestone, magnesian, brown, crystalline.
15
1,090
3. Limestone, in pure, white crystalline sand
40
1,130
2. Limestone (?), pure white, no sample. I20
1,250
I. Limestone, light buff, in fine sand.
1,250
SUMMARY
This section is a difficult one to interpret with the data at hand, and the following assignments are made more for general stratigraphical reasons than because of any direct evidence carried by the drillings themselves.
Depth
Thickness
A. T.
19-20. Alluvium, Drift and Coal measures
200
848
17-18. Mississippian
160
668
7-16. Devonian and Niagra
520
168
5,(6?) Maquoketa
195
27
1-4. Galena-Trenton penetrated 175
202
CHAPTER II
OUR TITLE
.
ABSTRACT OF TITLE TO HAMILTON COUNTY-INDIAN RIGHTS-THE NEUTRAL STRIP -CESSION OF 1842-HENRY LOT'S TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS-THE : LOT MONUMENT-REPULSE OF GOVERNMENT SURVEYORS BY INDIANS-HENRY LOT'S REVENGE-A PIONEER INQUEST.
ABSTRACT OF TITLE TO HAMILTON COUNTY
When the prudent citizen buys a tract of land, he is always concerned about the abstract of title. This document shows the names of all who have owned or held legal claims against the land since it was first sold to the settler by the government. Perhaps it would be interesting to know who owned or claimed the land of Hamilton county before the United States government had the right to sell it to the settler. This information was collected by Capt. Frank E. Landers some years ago, and was published in the "Annals of Iowa" under the title of "An Abstract of Title to the State of Iowa" and so much of it as refers to the territory of which Hamilton county was a part is given below :
GRANT TO THE KING AND QUEEN OF SPAIN
1493. Pope Alexander VI granted to Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Aragon and Castile-Spain-all the continents, inhabited by infidels, which they had discovered, extending the assignment to their heirs and suc- cessors, the kings of Castile and Leon. The boundary between the grants to Spain and Portugal was fixed on a line drawn from pole to pole, one hundred leagues west of the Azores. All countries east of that meridian not actually possessed by any Christian prince were to belong to Portugal; all to the west, to Spain. Owing to the dissatisfaction of Portugal, as to the boundary fixed in the grant to that country and Spain, a commission was appointed, which, on July 2, 1493, agreed on a line two hundred and seventy leagues farther west. In the first assignment, Portugal secured only the title to what was found to be a vast expanse of ocean, and the change of meridian was made in the belief that she would thereby acquire some portion of "terra firma." But in this she was also doomed to disappointment.
THE CABOT PATENTS
1496. Henry VII, King of England, granted to John Cabot and his sons. Lewis, Sebastian and Sancius, a patent of discovery, possession and trade. This Vol. 1-2
17
18
HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
was to include all lands they might discover, of which they were to take posses- sion in the name of the English Crown. England laid claim in 1498 to all of North America, through the discoveries of the Cabots.
THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY'S CHARTER
1620. James I. King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, granted to the Council at Plymouth, England, all that part of America lying between the fortieth and forty-eighth degrees of north latitude, and extending from "sea to sea." This grant included within its limits the whole of lowa, and challenged any rights Spain may have received from the Pope.
THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COMPANY'S CHARTER
1628. The "Council established at Plymouth," England, granted to Sir Henry Roswell and others, all that part of New England in America, extending along the Atlantic coast from three miles north of the Merrimac to three miles south of the Charles river, and westward between the latitude of 42ยบ, 2' and a point three miles north of the most southerly bend of the Merrimac, to the South Sea. This grant gave to the Massachusetts Company that part of Iowa lying between parallels passing through the north edge of Clinton county and the south part of Clayton county and includes Hamilton county. Charles I. King of England, granted, March 4, 1629, to Sir Henry Roswell and twenty others, a charter similar to that of 1628, with the exception, that no part of the lands therein granted were, on the 3d day of November, 1620, inhabited by any other Christian prince or within the limits of the Southern Colony of Virginia. The associates were made "one body corporate and politic in fact and name, by the name of the governor and company of Massachusetts Bay in New England."
THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY'S CHARTER
1635. The charter of the Plymouth Company was surrendered to the Crown of England, to obtain a confirmation of the respective rights of the original members of the company. The grant was divided into twelve parts, and dis- tributed by lot. No territory was partitioned lying west of forty miles west of the Hudson. The province of Virginia, on the surrender of the charter of the Plymouth Company, extended its jurisdiction to the forty-first parallel. the south line of the Warwick grant. The territory of Iowa was then claimed by Virginia, the assignees of the Earl of Warwick, and Massachusetts, to the north line of Massachusetts, and from thence north by the Crown of England.
LA SALLE'S PATENT
1678. Louis XIV. King of France and Navarre, granted a patent to Robert de la Salle, permitting him to endeavor to discover the western part of New France. April 9. 1682, La Salle, having descended the Mississippi and explored the shore of the Gulf of Mexico to the westward, took formal possession of
19
HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
the country in the name of the King of France, "from the mouth of the Ohio; also along the Mississippi and the rivers discharging themselves thereinto from its source beyond the country of the Nadouessioux as far as its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico."
THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COMPANY'S CHIAKTER
1684. The Court of Chancery of Westminster, England, decreed that the patent of Massachusetts should be brought into court and cancelled.
THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY COMPANY'S CHARTER
1691. William and Mary, King and Queen of England, granted a charter uniting the colonies of Massachusetts, New Plymouth and others under a new name of "Province of Massachusetts Bay in New England." The charter in- cluded the same territory in Iowa as did that of the charters of 1628 and 1629.
CROZAT'S PATENT
1712. Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre, granted a patent to Anthony Crozat, for fifteen years, with the right to carry on a trade in the country be- tween Carolina and New Mexico. The country was to retain the name of Louisiana and be annexed as a dependent of New France. The laws of France were extended to the province.
THE WESTERN COMPANY'S PATENT
1717. Crozat surrendered his patent to the Crown of France, and King Louis XV granted to the Western Company, for twenty-five years, the exclusive commerce of Louisiana, and the right of beaver trade with New France. The charter gave rights of civil and military jurisdiction. It was surrendered to the crown in 1730.
THE ACT OF FONTAINBLEAU
1762. A preliminary treaty was signed between England, France and Spain by which it was agreed that the boundary between the provinces of England and France should be irrevocably fixed by a line drawn in the middle of the Mississippi river, from its source to the Iberville, etc. Louis XV. King of France, ceded Louisiana to Spain. The province was formally taken possession of August 18, 1769. By this treaty the territory comprised in the bounds of the state of Iowa was definitely placed in the province of Louisiana, and the rights of the English claimants terminated.
THE TREATY OF PARIS
1763. A definitive treaty was signed between England. France and Spain. confirming the boundary between the possessions of England and France as agreed upon by the Act of Fontainbleau, of 1762.
20
HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
THE TREATY OF ILDEFONSO
1800. A secret agreement was entered into by which the King of Spain was to re-cede the province of Louisiana to France, upon a fulfillment of certain considerations to be performed by the French Republic.
The agreement of the treaty of Madrid, made the following year, provided that the retrocession of Louisiana as provided in the treaty of Ildefonso should be carried out.
THE TREATY OF PARIS
1803. France ceded the province of Louisiana to the United States. The treaty was ratified and proclaimed October 1, 1803. The province comprised all west of the Mississippi river north and east of the Spanish possessions, with the island of Orleans.
DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
1804. The part of the province of Louisiana south of the thirty-third parallel was detached to form the territory of Orleans, by act of congress, and the residue named "District of Louisiana," and placed under the control of the governor and judges of Indiana territory.
TERRITORY OF LOUISIANA
1805. A territorial government was established by congress in the District of Louisiana, and the name changed to "Territory of Louisiana."
TERRITORY OF MISSOURI
1812. The government of the territory of Louisiana was re-organized and the name changed to "Territory of Missouri."
TERRITORY OF MISSOURI
1821. Missouri was admitted as a state, and the remaining portion of the territory, that part north and west of Missouri and Arkansas, left without any form of government.
MICHIGAN TERRITORY
1834. The boundaries of Michigan territory were extended by act of con- gress westward to the Missouri river. This act again placed Iowa among the governments cast of the Mississippi river. Michigan territory extended from Lake Huron to the Missouri river, and from the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missottri north to the British possessions.
WISCONSIN TERRITORY
1836. Michigan territory was divided by act of congress April 20, 1836, and the western part established as "Wisconsin Territory."
21
HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
IOWA TERRITORY
1838. Wisconsin territory was divided by act of congress of June 12, 1838, and the western part given a territorial government and named "Iowa Terri- tory." This territory embraced the territory of the present state of Iowa, North and South Dakota east of the Missouri and White Earth rivers, and Minnesota west of the Mississippi river and a line drawn from its source to the British possessions.
STATE OF IOWA
1846. Application was made to congress February 12, 1844, for admission of Iowa as a state. On the first day of November of that year a constitution was adopted by a territorial convention. An act of admission was passed by congress on the 3d day of March, 1845, but at the election held on the 4th of August following, the people rejected it. The reason for this action is given below. On the 18th day of May, 1846, another constitution was adopted by a second convention, called for that purpose. This constitution proved acceptable to the people and was adopted at an election held August 3 of the same year. On the following August 4, 1846, congress passed an act repealing the law of March 3, 1845, and accepting the boundaries of the state as defined in this last constitution and as they exist today. On the 28th day of December, 1846, congress passed an act admitting Jowa as a state. The boundaries were set forth in the act as follows :
"Beginning in the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river, at a point due east of the middle of the mouth of the main channel of the Des Moines river ; thence up the middle of the main channel of the said Des Moines river to a point on said river where the northern boundary of the state of Missouri-as established by the constitution of that state, adopted June 12- crosses the said middle of the main channel of the said Des Moines river ; thence westerly along the said northern boundary line of the state of Missouri, as established at the time aforesaid, until an extension of said line intersects the middle of the main channel of the Missouri river; thence up the middle of the main channel of the said Missouri river to a point opposite the middle of the main channel of the big Sioux river, according to Nicollett's map; thence up the middle of the main channel of the Big Sioux river, according to the said map, until it is intersected by the parallel of forty-three degrees and thirty minutes, north latitude; thence east along said parallel of forty-three degrees and thirty minutes, until said parallel intersects the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence down the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river to the place of beginning."
INDIAN RIGHTS
The examiner of the above "abstract" might well make the objection that it is not complete in so much as it does not take into account the rights of the American Indian, who occupied the land, at the time the United States secured its title from foreign claimants.
About the time of the Louisiana purchase, when the United States first
22
HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
acquired a proprietary interest in the state of Iowa, a large portion of the state was occupied by the Sacs and Fox Indians, and for many years, there was a running warfare between these tribes and the Sioux, that swept down from the Dakotas and Minnesota. During this warfare, Wright and Hamilton counties were without doubt the scene of many a fierce Indian battle and it is believed that at one time of uncertain date an Indian battle was fought upon the ground now occupied by Webster City. Credence is given to this supposition by the fact that in excavating for cellars and cisterns in the block now occupied by the new government postoffice, many human bones have been brought to light and these were most probably the bones of Indians killed in battle.
TIIE NEUTRAL STRIP
In 1825, Governor Clark met in council with about 3,000 Indian chiefs and warriors at Prairie Du Chien. Here he assured them that the "Great Father" wanted "not the smallest piece" of their land, but he did want them to quit fighting with each other and to become quiet, peaceable people. To this end it was agreed that the Sioux should stay north and the Sacs and Foxes, south, of a certain line extending east and west across the state. This line extended from about 20 miles south of the northeast corner of the state to the fork of the Des Moines river in Humboldt county and thence northwest to the forks of the Big Sioux river in Lyon county. The line passed through Wright county near Belmond, Clarion and Goldfield. But this imaginary line was not sufficient to keep the warring tribes apart and the uncertainty as to its exact location was a constant canse for controversy. So in 1830 the line was broadened. Certain of the Sioux tribes ceded to the United States a strip of land 20 miles wide, abutting this line on the north and extending from the Mississippi to the Des Moines river. At the same time the confederated tribes of the Sacs and Foxes ceded to the United States a corresponding strip 20 miles wide abutting the treaty line on the south and extending to the Des Moines river, and also some other lands in the western part of the state. This was known as the "Neutral Strip." The south line of this strip enters Hamilton county at about the northeast corner of section one, in Rose Grove township, crosses Boone river near the Bone's mill bridge and leaves the county at Homer in Webster town- ship. The United States now had dominion over this territory, but the con- tracting tribes had the right to hunt upon the ceded lands. The neutral strip and the other lands ceded in 1830, cost the United States in money and presents about 3 cents per acre.
TIIE CESSION OF 1842
That portion of Hamilton county lying south of the neutral strip was still in the dominion of the Sacs and Fox Indians, but in 1842, they ceded to the United States, all of their land cast of the Missouri and agreed to evacuate within three years. Land had evidently commenced to advance in price, for the cession of 1842 cost the United States 10 cents per acre.
So, the prudent man who has an abstract showing an unbroken chain of conveyances, from the United States to himself, may feel assured that no human
23
HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
being, either civilized or savage, has a legal or moral claim to the acres he owns equal to his own. And if it is suggested that the Indians did not receive enough for their lands, and that their ignorance was taken advantage of, it may well be retorted that the Indians drove a harder bargain and received much more per acre for their land than did Napoleon when he sold Louisiana to the emissaries of Thomas Jefferson.
But in spite of the fact that all of the territory within the present limits of Hamilton county had been purchased from the Indians, some tribes were loth to surrender their hunting grounds to the white man, and consequently it hap- pened that when the first settlers arrived, they were received with unveiled hostility. Among the manuscripts of F. Q. Lee is found the following account of the trouble between Henry Lot, and the Indians.
HENRY LOT'S TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS
"In the summer of 1847, Henry Lot with his family, consisting of a wife and three children, moved up from near Des Moines to the forks of the Boone and Des Moines rivers and built himself a cabin. He brought with him a couple of barrels of whiskey, some cattle and a horse and a few articles intended to be used in trading with the Indians.
The country was occupied by a tribe of Sioux Indians, Si-dom-i-na-do-tah being their chief. Lot had not been long at his new place of residence when he was visited by Si-dom-i-na-do-tah and a few of his warriors and informed that he was an intruder and that he must leave within a given time. Lot did not leave and when the given time had expired, the old chief and his band came again, no doubt to drive him away. While Lot evidently did not believe the Indians would return to interfere with him, he was nevertheless on the lookout for them. But it happened that when they came. he, with two older sons, was at some distance from his cabin, unarmed. They saw the Indians enter the cabin, heard the screams of Mrs. Lot, and saw the younger boy run from the back door of the house westward toward the Des Moines river. The screaming of Mrs. Lot soon ceased, and Lot, judging that the Indians had murdered her, took the two boys he had with him and made his way down the river to Pea's Point in Boone county, and reported that his wife had been murdered by the Indians. His arrival, and the news he brought, alarmed the whole settlement, and fearing the Sioux might follow Lot and fall upon the settlement, the settlers assembled at the house of John M. Crooks and took measures for their defense in case they were attacked.
John Pea proposed an immediate expedition to take vengeance upon Si-dom- i-na-do-tah and his band, but as the force of settlers was small, it was thought best not to leave their own families, but to procure assistance. Accordingly, Lot was sent to Elk Rapids for aid. When he reached Elk Rapids he found Chemisne, a Pottawottomie chief, with whom he was acquainted, and several hundred of his tribe there encamped. This chief was known among the settlers as Johnnie Green. Lot appealed to Johnnie Green, who, after hearing his story, immediately called a council of his braves wherein it was determined that the chief with twenty-six of his warriors should accompany Lot. Accordingly, they painted themselves in a most hideous manner, their custom when going upon
24
HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY
the warpath, and mounting their ponies, the whole party, with several white men, set out for Pea's Point to join the settlers there in an expedition against the Sioux. From a history of Boone county we copy :
'Lot, with several white men and the Pottawottomies were rapidly advancing across the prairie towards Crook's house, the Indians in front, yelling as was their custom when starting upon the warpath, and not in the vicinity of danger. The settlers, supposing them to be the Sioux coming to attack them, prepared for action, each singling out his Indian, and were upon the point of firing, when they recognized Lot and other white men, and were happily disappointed to find them all friends.'
John Pea and six other white men accompanied Lot and the Pottawottomies tc the mouth of Boone river and there found that the family had not been tomahawked as Lot had represented, but that no serious harm had been done to them. But a cow and one or two hogs had been killed and Lot's pony had been taken. The whiskey, however, was safe and after scouting the country over for a few miles, and failing to find any of the Sioux, Lot gave his Indian friends all the whiskey they could carry and they returned to Elk Rapids, where, to celebrate the expedition, they took a rousing spree.
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