USA > Iowa > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, Iowa, including a condensed history of the state, the early settlement of the county together with sketches of its pioneers > Part 7
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
he, during the time of his absence, was not a squatter or settler. Brown's selection was made in the month of June, A. D. 1847, and settlement was perfected on the 7th of April, A. D. 1848.
Mr. Uriah Hawkins, on the 7th of July, A. D. 1847, accom- panied by his family, permanently " squatted " on that parcel of land in Cass township upon which he lived for nearly thirty years, and upon which he died.
It was an utter impossibility for any one to obtain title to his lands before the latter part of the year 1852, from the fact that no surveys had been completed by the government of these lands prior to that time.
The county was townshipized by government surveyors dur- ing the year 1851, and not until the month of November, 1852, was the sectionizing of the county completed by the government surveyors, who held the contract for the sectionizing of this part of the state. Hence, as Webster defines a squatter as " one who settles on new land, particularly on public land without title," there being no one who held title from the government for the land on which they resided, all, per force of circumstances, were squatters.
Under the above conditions the terms " squatter " and " early settler " are synonymous, from the fact that there were fifty or more families resident in the county before the government gave opportunity for title to the lands therein.
Squatter sovereignty, from 1847 to the spring of 1853, and for a long time thereafter, was exceedingly forceful, from the fact that a country without laws or courts became laws and courts unto themselves. Those of the present day seem to scarcely believe that the early settlers had such unbounded hospitality, charity, respect and good will to each other as was manifest in those days of weakness and dependence. Notwithstanding the selfishness, hypocrisy, dishonesty and depravity of this year of 1888, there was a time in this county, dating from 1847 to the date of the crystalization of the first bank in the county, in 1866,
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when there was an extreme necessity for the citizens to stay up the trembling hand of the overcome neighbor, to guard the rights of the neighbor with as much sacredness and fidelity and valor as they would their own castles.
During all this time, woe be unto the man or men who would even attempt to "jump " another's claim. Such an outrage . would call for the most swift and terrible punishment; "either a surrender of all rights to the claim or swing by the neck to the first and most accessible limb," the former, I am happy to say, was the universal choice.
Were any lands to be entered at the government land office at Council Bluffs (then Kanesville and afterwards Bluff City), a council of war would be called, a certain number of men would be selected, whose honesty and courage would meet and over- come any emergency, to go to the land office and either enter the land in the name of the " squatter " or " settler" or accom- pany the party thither and see that his home was secured to him. These trips to Council Bluffs, by the Regulators (as they were called), were, as far as costs to the settler was concerned, like the Gospel of Salvation, "without money and without price." Of course, these times somewhat ante-dated the prohibitory law, and the settler was expected to " set it up to the b'hoys once or twice, you know."
This " claim law " was the lex non scripta of the country, and I have often thought that if the prohibitory law of the present year could be enforced with the determination and earnestness of purpose manifest in the enforcement of the claim law, the courts of the county would not be burdened by so many indict- ments nor the county pauperized by costs.
The "jumping" of a neighbor's claim was not attempted merely for the simple amusement of the hour, neither did the settlers hurry together and defend the rights of the neighbor for the purpose of some popularity at the coming election. The
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
"home," the absolute right of all, was invaded, when one was in peril. -
One case of "jumping " is called to mind, which took place in the winter of 1855, and can be stated like this: A man-the name will not be given-who, being a stranger, and not understanding the temper of this people, supposed that he could replenish his finances by taking possession of a very excellent parcel of timber land, lying between Magnolia and, Calhoun, thought that because the claimant held down a good hundred and sixty acre tract, that, having spread himself over this number of acres, that there was not enough left of the said claimant to amount to much as the additional one hundred and sixty acre claim. Scarcely had he deposited his traps on the premises before the movement was detected. Then there was a hurrying in hot haste. " A claim jumper!" was the cry, "rally, ye regulars!" and in less than half an hour forty men were in consultation, and in double that time the erring one was arrested, not by an officer with a piece of paper, but by a score of earnest, angry men, who brought the offender to Magnolia and carried him to the Bates House to afford the jumper a "speedy trial by a jury of settlers." Judge Lynch was about to open his court, when some of the regulators more humane than others might have been, called the offender to one side, suggested to him the necessity of relinquish- ing his rights to the claim, to the proper owner in writing, which was speedily done, and as soon as completed a back window was opened, when the prisoner soon caught the suggestion and was on his way to a different climate, where necktie festivals and tight rope performances, in the middle of winter, were not fash- ionable. If any of the readers of these hastily written lines ever knew one James W. Bates, who in the latter part of the fifties, and up to 1862; built, owned and ran the Bates House in Mag- nolia, they only can form any adequate idea of the cords of oaths cut by Mr. Bates, when he learned that the prisoner had escaped. Bates was an awkward professional swearer, and up to the time of
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
the close of the rebellion could distance any man in the county in the race of words profanely directed. But in justice to Mr. Bates, I must say, that no warmer-hearted man ever lived on the " slope;" no person ever left his door hungry, and none possessed a heart so easily touched by the misfortunes of others; impulsive, honest, and withal, generous to a fanlt.
ยท Other occasions, where "jumping" was done, a written notice sent to the party transgressing the claim law, or a notice tacked to the door of the cabin, or on any substance by which the same could be seen, notifying him that if he remained in the neigh- borhood for one week or ten days, without relinquishing all his rights to the claim, transportation would at that time be given him, without expense, to the pearly gates of paradise; which suggestion received due, careful and immediate attention by the party to whom addressed.
The men constituting this company of regulators, banded together for mutual protection, were, as nearly as the memory of the writer can call the same to mind, as follows: James W. Bates, George Blackman, Wm. T. Fallon, N. G. Wyatt, Thos. B Neely, James Hardy, Lucius Merchant, Joel Patch, Peter Bar- nett, Solomon Barnett, H. H. Locklin, A. W. Locklin, Ezra Vin- cent, Henry George, Horatio Caywood and two sons George and Frank, Tom Durman, Robert Hall, Jacob Huffman, Chester Staley, Capt. Chester Hamilton, Jacob Minturn, Josiah Crom, Benj. LaPorte, Daniel Brown, Amos Chase, Ira Perjue, -. Burdno, J. W. Chatburn, Stephen Mahoney, Benj. Denice, John Ennis, O. M. Allen, Gay Cleveland, Eleazer Davis, etc., etc.
As before stated, the cases for claim jumping were not prose- cuted for the purpose of gratifying a little petty spite, because at this time all were anxious that settlement should be encouraged as much as possible. There was more country than people, and the sooner the country was settled up by good industrious bona fide settlers, so much the more would the country develop.
By treaty of 1830, the United States had obtained a cession of
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
the southwestern part of Iowa as a reservation for the Potta- wattamies, and from the completion of said treaty up to and until 1846, in the month of June of said year, the Pottawatta- mie Indians held the exclusive use and occupancy thereof, at which time last named the said tribe by treaty with the Govern- ment relinquished this reservation to the Government, and imme- diately thereafter removed west of the Missouri river.
Those familiar with the history of the country at this time will call to mind the difficulties experienced by that sect of people called Mormons, at Nauvoo, in Illinois, and in the immediate vicinity. This sect of people, zealous in many other respects than good works, were by force of circumstances compelled to change base, and as the result of the complications in the "Sucker State," they made their exit from the place above named, jour- neying from thence toward the setting of the sun, and while in that transitory state the cloud by day was removed and the pillar of fire by night extinguished, when the body of the vanguard reached Council Bluffs. Here a revelation was had from the headquarters of the Mormon god, that they should tarry on this border of the promised-land-this Pisgah-top-until further directed by Brigham Young and God. (Let it be understood that Brigham, instead of occupying a fourth-class place in the adorable quadruple, was the first personage.) Reaching this place they immediately set about preparing for the coming win- ter, and this resulted in the building of Kainsville, the Mormon name by which this energetic city was known in baptism. This place was made the headquarters of the Mormon Church; and as a result of the Mormon exodus from Illinois, as last stated, siz thousand people spread over the counties of Pottawattamie, Harrison, Shelby, Mills and Fremont during that fall and the succeeding spring.
In the summer of 1847 the " on ward to the Land of Promise" was promptly telephoned from the counsels of heaven to the great high priest, Brigham, and they who were the most worthy
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
were assembled and informed of this revelation, who soon folded their tents and rapidly took their departure to the anticipated rest of the saints, in the basin of Great Salt Lake. From 1847 to 1852 there was a sufficiency of this peculiar element left in the counties above named to control all elections, Harrison county as well as the others.
Prior to 1850, few of these squatted on the lands west of the Boyer river, but through all the groves, and on the skirts of timber around all the groves, on that part east of the Boyer, the wayward Mormon was a prominent factor. The fact is, that from 1849 to 1852, at each year, the population of the county during this time was more than one-half greater than in 1853 and 1854. The stay of this peculiar .people in this county from 1846 to 1852 was, in the language of a "quasi lawyer" of this county, only for " temporary purposes "; and when the revela- tion from headquarters, "onward to the Land of Promise," was had and received, they obeyed the order with more alacrity than did the Israelites in leaving the plague-stricken land of Egypt.
At the time of this Mormon exodus from this county, the claims of these religious "squatters" were on the market, and the sale thereof was a matter determined on by the claimant. That they were on the "go," and "go" they would, led many who happened to be in this part of the State at that time to purchase these claims at their own offering. Without question, this location was as good as any between this and the setting of the sun; but religious enthusiasm prompted this people to be at the side and under the special teachings of their Prophet, hence, they, like one of old, as respects their teacher, said and acted: "Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee, for whither thou goest I will go; and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried."
In the spring of 1852, thirty-three families left Harris Grove and journeyed towards the promised land, which was a rapid de-
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
population of this part of the county. It must be remembered that the Mormon family, when completed, was not a "society family" of the present status, viz .: one child, but to be a child of Mormon parents was the one-fifteenth or one-twentieth of the family unit. The little olive plants, or the arrows in the quiver of familyship, were numerous, and indicated a strict obe- dience to the command, "Be ye fruitful and multiply and re- plenish the earth."
This vicinity, after the removal of this column, so far as set- tlers were concerned, appeared as though the locality had been swept with plague, or the inhabitants stampeded by news of an Indian massacre, for upon removal as last named there were only five Gentile families left in the entire grove, viz .: Michael Mc- Kenney's, John A. McKenney's, William Howard's, Tommy Reeder's, and a family by the name of Orander.
The great outfitting point, to which all Mormondom centered before leaving behind settlement, was Florence, on the right bank of the Missouri river, eight miles north of Omaha. True, as before stated, the five counties forming the south half of the western line of the State, were first settled by this people, yet, notwithstanding this, they all crystalized at the place last named, prior to their final departure, and left this point in vast herds, scarcely knowing for what or whither they were going. That there was a promised land far to the west, to which they should journey, and when once possessed they should find rest, together with the ever present thought, to live under the especial guid- ance and teachings of their Prophet and High Priest, buoyed up their spirits, and caused all to take gladly to the suffering which must be endured in crossing the great American desert.
In civilized America the eye of the native-born citizen has never been educated to the sight of beholding the mother. or sister harnessed in leather breast and back-straps, and pulling in hand-carts like beasts of burden. But this was no uncommon sight in the days of 1858 and '59, when there swarmed into this
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country from England, Wales, parts of Scotland, Holland, and other European countries, vast consignments of this human freight, destined as recuperatives for the Church at Great Salt Lake. At that time Iowa City was the terminus on the west as to railroads; these people being uncarred here, were, irrespective of sex, worked like beasts of burden to hand-carts, so as to travel to Florence, as well as transport thither what baggage they possessed.
All stations of society made up this conglomerated herd of humanity: the old sire, the old mother, both worn out by the toils and cares of life, halted along, sometimes at the middle, or in the rear of the procession; the middle-aged, full of life and at the meridian of manhood; the buxom lass and beardless boy, though oftentimes weary of the hardships and monotony of the journey, kept the life in the column by the joke or song, the fiddle, or the evening dance.
The corner stone of this peculiar church once being laid, the material to complete the building had to be furnished, and to accomplish this end, apostles and teachers were, by the council of the church, sent to foreign lands, and especially instructed to labor with those whom they could the more easily persuade to em- brace this singularly curious faith. As a result the lower strata of society of foreign lands accepted this new doctrine with an alacrity far beyond the expectation of the most sanguine of those who were the originators of the thought.
They rallied from the hillsides, from the plains, work-shops, and from every conceivable condition of society, to the belief and support of this new doctrine; and under the glowing ac- counts given them of this land of promise, in the very heart of America's greatest desert, would not rest content until they had seen the Prophet, and partaken of the vine, herd and production of this earthly Eden.
Never has the pen of any writer attempted to describe the ter- rible sufferings of these immigrants, religious fanatics, or dupes
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
of designing men, as they traveled from day to day, drawing in harness, like oxen; bearing the heat of the sun and sand, the intolerable thirst of the parched and burning plains; the weari- ness of limb and scarcity of food, towards the anticipated haven in the valley of Great Salt Lake. The crusades of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries did not possess greater enthusiasm than that which permeated every muscle and fiber of those who in 1858 and '59 measured the 1,032 miles of the trackless desert, step by step, in order to help build and worship in the Temple of the Mormon faith. The Israelites had a Moses to smite the rock and procure the water, with the Almighty at the head of the clothing department; but these dupes were content to transport the fluid to reduce their swollen, parched tongues, and ceaselessly march on and on with blistered and bleeding feet, without rest or recuperation, to Mormondom or death.
That Daniel Brown of Calhoun was the first person to select a claim in the county, is now unquestioned, and that Mr. Uriah Hawkins of Cass township was the first person to permanently locate in the county, is conceded by all. Mr. Hawkins located on the claim on which he died, having lived there thirty years, during the former five of that thirty, as isolated from white society as Alexander Selkirk while on the Island of Juan Fer- nandez : "Monarch of all he surveyed, his right there was none to dispute," from Six Mile Grove westward to the Pacific Ocean, to the north pole, east nearly or quite to the present city of Des Moines. This condition remained until three years had elapsed before there were any additions in this locality in the way of set- tlement, when the spring of 1850, Mr. George Mefford and his family located near him in Twelve Mile Grove, and away to the southeast some twelve or fifteen miles at the same time, Mr. Samuel Wood, Wm. W. Wood and Uncle Billy Cox located at Union Grove, in Union township.
Daniel Brown upon settling on his claim about the 7th of April, '48, was not that sort of personage who permitted the affairs
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
of this life to cumber his liberty to any extensive degree, and being the first white settler west of the Boyer river, I will take the lib- erty at this time to give the reader a short biographical sketch of this old pioneer from the time of his location here until the time of his death. This warm-hearted old pioneer, having quarreled with the Prophet, Brigham Young, in the spring of 1847, and being of that fearless disposition that would not brook insult from King, President or Prophet, at the date last named, while the Mor- mons were in winter quarters at Florence City just north of Omaha, and west of the old village of Crescent City in Potta- wattamie county in this state, severed his connection from this peculiar people and struck out his own hook to seek a new home for himself and family where he could enjoy greater freedom. To this end he and a few others started out on a tour of explora- tion, crossing the Missouri river at Council Bluffs and from there kept up the Missouri bottoms on the left bank, at which time not a bridge was upon any of the streams between that place and the north pole.
How to cross these streams, when the same were swollen to the extent that they were, as full as the banks would hold, was the question, but the ingenuity of the pioneer is nearly always equal to the occasion ; so fastening a large dry log, one to each side of the wagon and then forcing the oxen to swim the river, the driver swimming by the side of the team to give proper direction, brought the craft safely to shore on the side required. In this manner the Pigeon and Boyer rivers were crossed, and the party shortly after their start, camped in Harrison county at or very near the place where now is the residence of Mr. Tim. O'Conner, in section 35, township 79, range 43, at the place where the little stream now know by the classic name of "Hog Creek" emerges from the bluffs and enters the Boyer bottom. At the time of going into camp the sun was a little more than an hour high, and Uncle Dan wishing to have some venison for supper, shouldered his rifle and passed out from camp a short
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
distance, and in less than one hour had killed five large fat deer, and as he has frequently said, " It wa'nt a very good time for deer neither."
From this camp they passed up the Boyer valley and came to the present site of Logan, at which place they halted and ex- pressed themselves as never having seen so beautiful a situation in all their lives, but supposing that there were better than this elsewhere, they followed up the Boyer until they came to the lands on which Woodbine is now situated, and, being highly pleased with this location, thought they were getting too far inland; they struck across to the Willow valley and followed this down to the place where this stream enters the Missouri bottom, and there felt satisfied that they had struck the place, for "which they long had sought and mourned because they'd found it not," but having found this, were wholly satisfied that, this of all others, was the place.
Here Mr. Brown staked out his claim and immediately went to work building a shanty, getting out rails and preparing a place for his family to be properly housed, when they should be brought to this newly discovered " Eden," in the spring fol- lowing.
Returning to his home, he spent the following winter there, and early in the spring, with transportation in the form of a covered wagon, and the propelling power two yoke of cattle, the wife and children snugly stowed away under the white canvass, the old patriarch, wife, children and all effects are on this un- limited highway for the "palace" on the Willow, which I have stated was prepared the year previous.
The incidents of travel across swamp, river, and over hill and dale, are the same as before stated, only, in this passenger car, the freight is more precious than in that of the year before, but soon they arrive at this beautiful spot on the table lands of what was once and still is Calhoun, and are now masters of their own
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
situation, happier than the Czar of the Russias, the Queen of England or even the then President of the United States.
The will power of this old pioneer was always equal to the occasion, but, at this time, being thirty miles from any settle- ment and no neighbors but the treacherous "dusky men and squaws" of the western prairies, he, at times, felt a little inse- cure, not on his own account, but for the safety of his wife and children.
The corn and potatoes are planted, the fence built, but the meal and flour in the barrel have become nearly exhausted and the last slice of bacon has been fried, and where are we to get a recruit of these until the harvest is come for corn and potatoes? Himself and two of the sons soon started for the State of Missouri, two hundred miles away, there to assist the people in the gather- ing of the harvest, which was then ripe for the sickle. Arriving at that place, they enter heartily into the labor of gathering and soon have earned enough to load the wagon down to the guards, and no sooner is the task completed, than they are all on their way home bringing a good supply of food for the hungry ones in the cabin on the Willow; but the incidents of travel caused the utmost vigilance, for upon arriving at one of the branches of the 'Botna, which was bridged by a pole floor, and it having rained only a short time before, the team, consisting of two yoke of oxen, became frightened and began pushing in the yoke, when the floor of the bridge parted and the front yoke, or leaders, slipped through the bridge and hung suspended by their necks until Brown, grasp- ing an axe, drove the staple out of the wooden yoke, and the cattle thus freed, fell into the water below, a distance of thirty feet. Brown was so much interested in the provisions that he did not look after the cattle which had disappeared, and when the substitute for a bridge was so repaired that he could bring over the wheel team and load, he began to look around for his leaders, and to his utter astonishment, saw them quietly grazing on the same side of the river on which he and the commissary
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY.
stores then were. But what was his astonishment on arriving at home and learning from his wife that the thieving redskins had visited his place and cabin, and had appropriated to their own use all the edibles and clothing belonging to him and the family, and that the family had been for the past three weeks living wholly on milk and young potatoes, the same being not larger than hulled walnuts. Where were the clothing and the corn and flour and bacon for the family during the winter to come from? The freedom of frontier life was affording more freedom than provisions, and the future did not look very promising; yet out of this dilemma there yet remained a hope, and this last effort was yet to be made. It was this: a hunt on the Sioux river near the mouth thereof. So early in the fall, Brown, with a few others, who had come into the settlement after his return from Missouri, started on a hunt to the mouth of the Little Sioux river, and when arriving there found the game so plentiful, that in a day or two they had their wagons loaded with elk and deer and wild turkeys, and Brown had in addition quite two barrels of wild honey. A portion of this he carted to Kanesville, sold the same for a big price, then laid out the proceeds of this sale in cot- ton domestics, jeans, shoes, groceries, etc., etc., and returned to his home with this recruit, the happiest man in all the broad expanse of the United States.
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