USA > Iowa > Hardin County > History of Hardin county, Iowa, together with sketches of its towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 10
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PEAT.
Extensive beds of peat exist in Northern Middle Iowa, which, it is estimated, con- tain the following areas: Cerro Gordo county, 1,500 acres; Worth, 2,000; Winne- bago, 2,000; Hancock, 1,500; Wright, 500; Kossuth, 700; Dickinson, 80. Several con- tain peat beds, but the peat is inferior to that in the northern part of the State. The beds are of an average depth of four feet. It is estimated that each acre of these beds will furnish 250 tons of dry fuel for each foot in depth. At present this peat is not utilized, but, owing to its . great distance from the coal fields, and the absence of timber, the time is coming when their value will be fully realized.
GYPSUM.
The only sulphate of the alkaline earth of any economic value is gypsum, and it may be found in the vicinity of Fort Dodge, in Webster county. The deposit occupies a nearly central position in the county, the DesMoines river running nearly centrally through it, along the valley sides of which the gypsum is seen in the form of ordinary rock cliff and ledges, and also oc- curring abundantly in similar positions along both sides of the valleys of the smaller streams and of the numerous ravines coming into the river valley. The
most northerly known limit of the deposit is at a point near the mouth of Lizard creek, a tributary of the DesMoines river and almost adjoining the town of Fort Dodge. The most southerly point at which it has been exposed is about six miles, by way of the river, from the northerly point mentioned. The width of the area is un- known, as the gypsum becomes lost be- neath the overlying drift, as one goes up the ravines and minor valleys.
On either side of the creeks and ravines which come into the valley of the Des Moines river, the gypsum is seen jutting out from beneath the drift in the form of ledges and bold quarry fronts, having almost the exact appearance of ordinary limestone exposures, so horizontal and reg- ular are its lines of stratification, and so similar in color is it to some varieties of that rock. The principal quarries now opened are on Two-Mile creek, a couple of miles below Fort Dodge.
Age of the Gypsum Deposit .- No trace of fossil remains has been found in the gypsum or associated clays; neither has any other indication of its geologic age been observed except that which is afforded by its stratigraphical relations; the most that can be said with certainty is that it is newer than the coal measures, and older than the drift. The indications afforded by the stratigraphical relations of the gyp- sum deposit of Fort Dodge are, however, of considerable value. No Tertiary de- posits are known to exist within or near the borders of Iowa, to suggest that it might be of that age, nor are any of the Palæozoic strata newer than the subcar- boniferous unconformable upon each other
HISTORY OF IOWA.
as the other gypsum is unconformable upon the strata beneath it. It therefore seems, in a measure, conclusive that the gypsum is of Mesozoic age; perhaps older than the cretaceous.
The lithological origin of this deposit is as uncertain as its geological age. It secms to present itself in this relation, as in the former one,-an isolated fact. None of the associated strata show any traces of a double decomposition of pre-existing ma- terials, such as some have supposed all de- posits of gypsum to have resulted from. No considerable quantities of oxide of iron nor any trace of native sulphur have been found in connection with it, nor has any salt been found in the waters of the region. These substances arc common in associa- tion with other gypsum deposits, and by many are regarded as indicative of the method of or resulting from their origin as such. Throughout the whole region the Fort Dodge gypsum has the exact appear- ance of a sedimentary deposit. From these facts it seems not unreasonable to en- tertain the opinion that this gypsum origin- ated as a chemical precipitation in com- paratively still waters which were satu- rated with sulphate of lime and destitute of life; its stratification and impurities being deposited at the same time as clayey impurities which had been suspended in the same waters.
Physical Properties .- Much has already been said of the physical character of this gypsum; but as it is so different in some respects from other deposits, there are still other matters worthy of mention in con- nection with those. According to the re- sults of a complete analysis of Prof.Emery,
the ordinary gray gypsum contains only about eight per cent. of impurity, and it is possible that the average impurity for the whole deposit will not excecd that pro- portion, so uniform in quality is it from top to bottom and from one end of the region to the other. As plaster for agri- cultural purposes is sometimes prepared from gypsum that contains thirty per cent. of impurity, it will be seen that this is a very superior article for such purposes. The impurities are of such a character that they do not in any way interfere with its value for use in the arts.
Although the gypsum rock has a gray color, it becomes quite white by grinding, and still whiter by the calcimining process necessary in the preparation of plaster of Paris. These tests have all been practi- cally made in the rooms of the Geological Survey, and the quality of the plaster of Paris still further tested by actual use and experiment. The only use yet made of the gypsum by the inahabitants is for the purposes of ordinary building stone. It is so compact it is found to be comparatively unaffected by frost, and its ordinary situa- tion in walls of houses is such that it is protected from the dissolving action of water, which can, at most, reach it only from occasional rains, and the effect of these is too slight to be perceived after the lapse of several years. Hon. John F. Duncombe, of Fort Dodge, built a fine residence of it in 1861, the walls of which appcar as unaffected by exposure and as beautiful as they were when first ercctcd. Several other houses in Fort Dodge have been constructed of it, including the depot buildings of the Dubuque and Sioux City Railroad. Many of the sidewalks in the
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
town are made of the slabs or flags of gyp- sum which occur in some of the quarries in the form of thin layers.
MINOR DEPOSITS OF SULPHATE OF LIME.
Sulphate of lime in the various forms of fibrous gypsum, selenite and small amorphous masses, has also been discov ered in various formations in different parts of the State, including the Coal Measure shales near Fort Dodge, where it exists in small quantities, quite independ- ently of the great gypsum deposit there. The quantity of gypsum in these minor deposits is always too small to be of any practical value, usually occurring in shales and shaly clays. Associated with strata that contain more or less sulphuret of iron, gypsum has thus been detected in the Coal Measures, the St. Louis lime- stone, the Cretaceous strata, and also in the Dead Caves of Dubuque.
SULPHATE OF STRONITA.
This mineral is found at Fort Dodge, which is, perhaps, the only place in Iowa or in the valley of the Mississippi where it has as yet been discovered. There, it occurs in very small quantities in both the shales of the Lower Coal Measures and in the clays that overlie the gypsum deposit, and which is regarded as of the same age with it. The mineral is fibrous and crys- talline, the fibers being perpendicular to the plane of the layer; it resembles, in physical character, the layer of fibro-crys- talline gypsum, before mentioned. Its color is of light b'ue, is transparent, and shows crystalline facets upon both the
upper and under surfaces of the layer, of the upper surface being smaller and more numerous. The layer is probably not more than a rod in extent in any direction, and about three inches in maximum thick- ness. Apparent lines of stratification occur in it, corresponding with those of the shales which imbed it. The other deposit was still smaller in amount, and occurred as a mass of crystals imbedded in the clays that overlie the gypsum at Cummins' quarry, in the valley of Sol- diers' creek, upon the north side of the town. The mineral in this clay is nearly colorless, and somewhat resembles masses of impure salt. The crystals are so closely aggregated that they enclose but little im- purity in the mass, but in almost all other cases their fundamental forms are ob- sured. This mineral has almost no prac- tical value, and is only interesting as a mineralogical fact.
SULPHATE OF BARYTA.
In Iowa this mineral has been found only in minute quantities. It has been de- tected in the Coal Measure shales of De- catur, Madison and Marion counties, Devonian limestone of Johnson and Bre- mer counties, and, also, in the lead caves of Dubuque. It is in the form of crystals or small crystalline masses.
SULPHATE OF MAGNESIA.
Epsomite, or native Epsom salts, having been discovered near Burlington, all the sulphates of alkaline earths of natural origin have been recognized in Iowa; all except the sulphate of lime being in very small quantity. The Epsomite mentioned
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
was found beneath the overhanging cliff of Burlington limestone near Starr's Mill. It occurs in the form of efflorescent encrusta- tions upon the surface of stones, and in similar small fragile masses among the pine debris that has fallen down beneath the overhanging cliff. The projection of the cliff over the perpendicular face of the strata beneath, amounts to near 20 feet at the point where Epsomite was found. The rock upon which it accumulates is an im- pure limestone, containing also some car- bonate of magnesia, together with a small proportion of iron pyrites, in a finely divided condition. By experiments with this native salt in the office of the Survey, a fine article of Epsom salts was produced, but the quantity obtained there is very small, and would be of no practical value on account of the cheapness in the market.
CLIMATE.
The greatest objection to the climate of this State is the prevalence of wind, which is somewhat greater than in the States south and east, but not so great as it is west. The air is pure and generally bra- cing,-the northern part particularly so during the winter. The prevailing direc- tion of the wind during the whole year is easterly. Correspondingly, thunder-storms are somewhat more violent in this State than east or south, but not near so much so as toward the mountains. As elsewhere in the Northwestern States, easterly wind- bring rain and snow, while westerly ones clear the sky. While the highest temper- ature occurs here in August, the month of July averages the hottest, and January the coldest. The mean temperature of April and October nearly corresponds to the
mean temperature of the year, as well as to the seasons of spring and fall, while that of summer and winter is best represented by August and December. Indian summer is delightful and well prolonged. Untimely frosts sometimes occur, but seldom severely enough to do great injury. The wheat crop being a staple product of the State, and is not injured at all by frost, this great resource of the State continues intact.
TOPOGRAPHY.
All the knowledge we have at present of the topography of the State of Iowa is that derived from incidental observations of geological corps, from the surveys made by railroad engineers, and from barometri- cal observations made by authority of the Federal Government. No complete topo- graphical survey has yet been made, but this will doubtless be attended to in a few years.
The State lies wholly within, and com- prises a part of, a vast plain, and there is no mountainous or even hilly country within its borders; for the highest point is but 1,200 feet above the lowest point; these two points are nearly 300 miles apart, and the whole State is traversed by gently flowing rivers. A clearer idea of the great uniformity of the surface of the State may be obtained from a statement of the gen- eral slopes in feet per mile, from point to point, in straight lines across it.
From N. E. corner to S. E. cor- Per Mile.
ner of State .1 ft. 1 in. From N. E. corner to Spirit Lake, 5 ft. 5 in From N. W. corner to Spirit Lake, 5 ft. From N.W. corner to S.W. cor- ner of the State .2 ft.
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
Per Mile.
From S. W. corner to highest ridge between the two great rivers (in Ringgold county) .. 4 ft. 1 in. From the highest point in the State (near Spirit Lake) to the lowest point in the State (at the mouth of DesMoines river) 4 ft.
We thus find that there is good degree of propriety in regarding the whole State as belonging to a great plain, the lowest point of which within its border, the south- eastern corner of the State, is only 444 feet above the level of the sea. The aver- age height of the whole State above the level of the sea is not far from 800 feet, although it is a thousand miles from the nearest ocean.
These remarks are, of course, to be un- derstood as applying to the State as a whole. On examining its surface in detail, we find a great diversity of surface by the formation of valleys out of the general level, which have been evolved by the actions of streams during the unnumbered years of the terrace epoch. These river valleys are deepest in the northwestern part of the State, and consequently it is there that the country has the greatest di- versity of surface, and its physical features are most strongly marked.
The greater part of Iowa was formerly one vast prairie. It has, indeed, been estimated that seven-eigliths of the surface of the State was prairie when first settled. By prairie it must not be inferred that a level surface is meant, for they are found in hilly countries as well. Nor are they confined to any particular variety of soil, for they rest upon all formations, from those of the Azotic to those of the Creta-
ceous age, inclusive. Whatever may have been their origin, their present existence in lowa is not due to the influence of cli- mate, of the soil, or of any of the under- lying formations. The real cause is the prevalence of the annual fires. If these had been prevented fifty years ago, Iowa would now be a timbered country. The encroachment of forest trees upon prairie farms as soon as the bordering wood- land is protected from the annual prairie fires, is well known to farmers throughout the State. The soil of Iowa is justly famous for its fertility, and there is prob- ably no equal area of the earth's surface that contains so little untillable land, or whose soil has so high an average of fer- tility. Ninety-five per cent. of its surface is capable of a high state of cultivation.
LAKES AND STREAMS.
Lakes -The lakes of Iowa may be prop- erly divided into two distinct classes. The first may be called drift lakes, having had their origin in the depressions left in the surface of the drift at the close of the gla- cial epoch, and have rested upon the undis- turbed surface of the drift deposit ever since the glaciers disappeared. The others may be properly termed fluviatile or allu- vial lakes, because they have had their origin by the action of rivers while cut- ting their own valleys out from the surface of the drift as it existed at the close of the glacial epoch, and are now found resting upon the alluvium. By "alluvium" is meant the deposit which has accumulated in the valleys of rivers by the action of their own currents. It is largely composed of sand and other coarse material, and
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
upon that deposit are some of the best productive soils in the State. It is this deposit which forms the flood plains and deltas of our rivers, as well as the terraces of their valleys. The regions to which the drift lakes are principally confined are near the head waters of the principal streams of the State. They are consequently found in those region's which lie between the Cedar and DesMoines rivers, and the Des Moines and Little Sioux. No drift lakes are found in Southern Iowa. The largest of the lakes to be found in the State are Spirit and Okoboji, in Dickinson county, Clear Lake in Cerro Gordo county. and Storm Lake in Buena Vista county.
SPIRIT LAKE .- The width and length of this lake are about equal, and it contains about 12 square miles of surface, its north- ern border resting directly on the boun- dary of the State. It lies almost directly upon the great water-shed. Its shores are mostly gravelly, and the country about it fertile.
OKOBOJI LAKE .- This body of water lies directly south of Spirit Lake, and has somewhat the shape of a horse-shoe, with its eastern projection within a few rods of Spirit Lake, where it receives the out- let of the latter. Okoboji Lake extends about five miles southward from Spirit Lake, thence about the same distance westward, and it then bends north ward about as far as the eastern projection. The eastern portion is narrow, but the western is larger, and in some places 100 feet deep. The surroundings of this and Spirit Lake are very pleasant; fish are abundant in them, and they are the re- sort of myriads of water-fowl.
CLEAR LAKE .- This lake is situated upon the water-shed between the Iowa and Cedar rivers. It is about 5 miles long, 2 or 3 miles wide, and has a maximum depth of only 15 feet. Its shores and the country around are like that of Spirit Lake.
STORM LAKE .- This lake rests upon the great water-shed. in Buena Vista county. It is a clear, beautiful sheet of water, con- taining a surface area of between 4 and 5 square miles. The outlets of all these drift lakes are dry during a portion of the year, except Okoboji.
WALLED LAKES .- Along the water-sheds of Northern Iowa great numbers of small lakes exist, varying from half a mile to a mile in diameter. One of the lakes in Wright county, and another in Sac, have each received the name of "Walled Lake," on account of the embankments on their borders, which are supposed to be the work of ancient inhabitants. These embank- ments are from 2 to 10 feet in height, and from 5 to 30 feet across. They are the result of natural causes alone, being refer- able to the periodic action of ice, aided to some extent by the action of the waves.
These lakes are very shallow, and in win- ter freeze to the bottom, so that but little unfrozen water remains in the middle. The ice freezes fast to everything on the bot- tom, and the expansive power of the water in freezing acts in all directions from the center to the circumference, and whatever was on the bottom of the lake has been thus carried to the shore. This has been going on from year to ycar, from century to century, forming the embankments which have caused so much wonder.
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
Springs issue from all the geological formations, and form the sides of almost every valley, but they are more numerous, and assume proportions which give rise to the name of sink-holes, along the upland borders of the Upper Iowa river, owing to the peculiar fissued and laminated charac- ter and great thickness of the stra'a of the age of the Trenton limestone which under- lies the whole region of the valley of that stream. No mineral springs, properly so- called, have yet been discovered in Iowa, though the water of several artesian wells is frequently found charged with soluable mineral substances.
Rivers .- The two great rivers, the Mis- sissipi and Missouri, from the eastern and the western boundaries, respectively, of the State, receive the eastern and western drainage of it. The Mississippi with its tributaries in Eastern Iowa drain two- thirds of the State, and the Missouri with its tributaries drain the western third. The great water-shed which divides these two systems is a land running south ward from a point on the northern boundary line of the State, near Spirit Lake, in Dickinson county, to a nearly central point in the northern part of Adair county. From the last named point this highest ridge of land between the two great rivers continues south ward, without change of character, through Ringgold county, into the State of Missouri; but it is no longer the great water-shed. From that point another ridge bears off southward, through the counties of Madison, Clarke, Lucas and Appanoose, which is now the water-shed.
All streams that rise in Iowa occupy, at first, only slight depressions of the land,
and are scarcely perceptible. These uniting into larger streams, though still flowing over drift and bluff deposits, reach consid- erable depth into these deposits, in some cases to a depth of nearly 200 feet from the general prairie level.
The greater part of the streams in West- ern Iowa run either along the whole or a part of their course, upon that peculiar deposit known as bluff deposit. The banks even of the small streams are often five to ten feet in height and quite perpen- dicular, so that they render the streams almost everywhere unfordable, and a great impediment to travel across the open country where there are no bridges.
This deposit is of a slightly yellowish ash color, except when darkened by decay- ing vegetation, very fine and silicious, but not sandy, not very cohesive, and not at all plastic. It forms excellent soil, and does not bake or crack in drying, except limy concretions, which are generally dis- tributed throughout the mass, in shape and size resembling pebbles; but not a stone or a pebble can be found in the whole deposit. It was called "silicious marl" by Dr. Owen, in his geological re- port to the Government, and he attributes its origin to an accumulation of sediment in an ancient lake, which was afterward drained, and the sediment became dry land. Prof. Swallow gives it the name of "bluff," which is here adopted; but the term, "la- custrine" would have been more appro- priate. The peculiar properties of this deposit are that it will stand securely with a precipitous front 200 feet high, and yet is easily excavated with a spade. Wells dug in it require only to be walled to a point just above the water-line. Yet, com-
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
pact as it is, it is very porous, so that water which falls on it does not remain at the surface, but percolates through it; neither does it accumulate within it at any point, as it does upon and within the drift and the stratified formations.
The thickest deposit yet known in Iowa is in Fremont county, where it reaches 200 feet. It is found throughout a region more than 200 miles in length, and nearly 100 miles in width, and through which the Missouri runs almost centrally.
This fine sediment is the same which the Missouri once deposited in a broad depression in the surface of the drift that formed a lake-like expansion of that river in the earliest period of the history of its valley. The extent of the deposit shows this lake to have been 100 miles wide and more than twice as long. The water of the river was muddy then as now, and the broad lake became filled with the scdiment which the river brought down. After the lake became filled with the sediment, the valley below became dcepened by the con- stant erosive action of the waters, to a depth sufficient to have drained the lake of its first waters; but the only effect then was to cause it to cut its valley out of the deposits its own muddy waters had formed. Thus along the valley of that river, so far as it forms the western boundary of Iowa, the bluffs which border it are composed of that sediment known as bluff deposit, forming a distinct border along the broad, level flood plain, the width of which varies from five to fifteen miles, while the orig- inal sedimentary deposit stretches far in- land.
Chariton and Grand rivers rise and run for twenty-five miles of their course
upon the drift deposits alone. The first strata that are exposed by the deepening valleys of both these streams belong to the Upper Coal Measures, and they both continue upon the same formation until they make their exit from the State, (the former in Appanoose county, the latter in Ringgold county,) near the boundary of which they passed nearly or quite through the whole of that formation to the Middle Coal Measures. Their valleys deepen gradually, and 15 or 20 miles from the river they are nearly 150 feet below the gen- eral level of the adjacent highland. When the rivers have cut their valleys down through the series of limestone strata, they reach those of a clayey composition. Upon these they widen their valleys, and make broad flood plains or " bottoms," the soil of which is stiff and clayey, except where modified by sandy washings. These streams are prairie streams in their upper branches and tributaries, but flow through woodland farther down. The proportion of lime in the drift of Iowa is so great that the water of all the wells and springs is too " hard " for washing purposes, and the same substance is so prevalent in the drift clays that they are always found to have sufficient flux when used for the manufac- ture of brick.
Platte river belongs mainly to Missouri. Its upper branches pass through Ringgold county. Here the drift deposit reaches its maximum thickness on an east and west line across the State, and the valleys are erodcd in some instances to a depth of 200 feet, apparently, through this deposit alonc. The term " drift deposit " applies to thic soil and sub soil of the greater part
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