USA > Iowa > Kossuth County > History of Kossuth County, Iowa > Part 4
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"Peat has its origin in the partial decomposition of vegetable matter under water, or in a condition of great moisture on or near the site of its growth. In some parts of the world having a moist atmosphere it is found occupying ele- vated positions ; but in our state it may be invariably looked for in low marshes. most of which have doubtless once been ponds. Wherever a pond has existed, rank grasses, rushes, and other plants have grown upon its borders, and the frost of each returning November laid them beneath its surface their commu- nicated fragments, narrowing the area and lessening the depth of its water until the surface became the habitat of a peculiar mass which continues to flourish upon the rapidly decomposing bodies of the present stems without a proper root. and which with the remains of the grasses and other plants that grew with it, has filled some of the ponds with carbonaceous matter, thus produced. A few of these ponds are found only partially filled, a wide margin of peat marsh sur- rounding the open water in the middle. Peat then, in a country so dry as ours.
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can never be found where there have been no ponds, and consequently is not likely to be found extensively in the drained regions of the state. At the close of the period in the earth's history, known among geologists as the glacial epoch, when the continents which now exist had already assumed their present dimen- sions and shapes, that portion of the surface in which our state is situated was much more uniform than it now is; shallow depressions only existed, and then gave initial direction to the courses of the stream into which the surface waters were gathered. The rains, floods and frosts of the unnumbered years that have passed since then, together with their steady flow, have worn their channels deeper and deeper, causing the deepening also of their tributaries as well as the small ravines and depressions which led into them. Thus wherever the streams are numerous and their valleys deep, the country is perfectly drained; and con- sequently few or no ponds are found. But in a region where streams have their rise, the depressions will, for a part of the year at least, be filled with water because there is no accumulation of water beyond to send the current of water across them to cut a channel for their outlet.
"It is not indispensable that peat should be manufactured before it is burned, for it has been used in the crude state for hundreds of years. Drain the marsh by cutting one or more ditches clear through it, communicating with the outlet, and put a gate at the outlet that you may protect it from the annual prairie fires by flooding it. When well drained, strip off the sod with a very sharp spade; cut the peat into convenient blocks; dry them on the ground and store them in a dry place for use. Well dried hickory is probably the best fire- wood in use, but from the fact that it will float upon water, while pure, dry, well-manufactured peat will sink in it, it is evident that the latter contains the greatest amount of combustible matter, bulk for bulk."
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CHAPTER IV LONG-AGO JOURNEYS ACROSS KOSSUTH
There never can be any dispute as to who the very first settlers were who built their primitive cabins in Kossuth county. That fact has been too well authenticated by proof, that is being preserved on the pages of history, to be in danger of being successfully contradicted. It is well known that that honor belongs to the two Call brothers. That point being settled it is in order to ask : Who were the first white men known to have trod the soil now constituting this county? What white men, if any, were here before the first settlers came? What was the mission of these visitors? Who sent them? Was their coming of any value to this county and this section of the country in general? From what source comes the evidence that any white man traversed Kossuth county soil before the first claims were taken? Where has this evidence been in hiding until recent years? To answer these questions is the purpose of this chapter and the succeeding one.
Much valuable information, concerning events connected with the early his- tory of the country, is coming to light through the persistent efforts of the va- rious state historical societies. Research work, along that line in one state, occa- sionally brings to view source material that is of much benefit to some other state. Thus from the publications of The Missouri State Historical Society, which came to the State Historical Society of Iowa, we get the surprising infor- mation that thirty-four years before the first settlers arrived in Kossuth, a mili- tary organization passed over our soil. Along with this force was Capt. Stephen W. Kearney, the official journalist. His manuscript is the only known record of that expedition, and is now the property of the Missouri State His- torical Society. The author of this volume happened to be at the Iowa State Department of History when Curator E. R. Harlan was having Kearney's record made ready for publication in the Annals of Iowa. From his proof sheets the author was permitted to obtain the information concerning that expedition for this history.
CAPTAIN MAGEE'S EXPEDITION-1820.
It is well known that the Indian tribes, which allied themselves with the British forces during the War of 1812, were very hostile and difficult to manage after that war had ended. The administration in 1818 decided to erect, for the first time, forts at points west of the Mississippi river, and occupy them with troops for the protection of the extreme frontier settlers, and for the encourage- ment of the great fur industry. The Fifth United States Infantry with a fight-
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ing force of 416, under the command of Lieut. Col. Henry Leavenworth, was sent up the Mississippi to construct a post a little below the Falls of St. Anthony. There in the spring of 1820 this force erected Camp Coldwater, which later be- came Fort Snelling, near the Twin Cities. Detachments from this force were stationed in the meantime at Prairie du Chien and Fort Armstrong to protect the settlers in that region.
When this movement began, the Sixth United States Infantry and the United States Rifle Regiment, under command of Col. Henry Atkinson, were ordered to proceed up the Missouri to the mouth of the Yellowstone river. This force of 1,126 men in 1819 erected Camp Missouri, near the present site of Omaha. Re- ferring to this location, John C. Calhoun, then Secretary of War, declared : "The position is an important one. It is not more than 180 miles in advance of our settlements on the Missouri, and is in the center of the most powerful tribes and the most numerous Indian population west of the Mississippi."
The administration, knowing the need of a road for the freedom of the troops while passing between Camp Missouri and Camp Coldwater, ordered that a force from the former be sent to open up the route-a distance in straight line of about 300 miles, but fully 1,200 by any water route. No troops or other white men had ever crossed between the two rivers at such a great distance above their junction. This overland expedition was intrusted to the command of Captain Magee of the Rifle Regiment, and Lieut. Andrew Talcott of the engineers. Besides these officers the train consisted of Lieut. Col. Willoughby Morgan, Capt. S. W. Kearney, the journalist, two junior officers, fifteen soldiers, four servants, an Indian guide, his wife and papoose, eight mules, seven horses, several wagons and the necessary camp equipment. These twenty-five white people in crossing through what is now Kossuth, were the first of their race, so far as yet discov- ered, who trod the soil of this county. It took this train twenty-three days to pass from the Missouri post to the other. Lieutenant Talcott, with his sextant, took observation from time to time to ascertain in what location they were. The line of their march, as indicated by Kearney's map made at the time, starts near Omaha, and runs in the direction of Emmet county until it reaches a point about the center of Buena Vista; then it turns to the right, and after cutting through the corners of Pocahontas and Palo Alto, and then on through Kossuth, passes- over the state line in the region of the northern boundary of Winnebago or Worth. From there it runs to Lake Pepin, and then on up the river to St. Paul.
This expedition passed over the soil of this county before even the land now embraced in the state belonged to the Territory of Michigan. It occurred the very same month that Missouri was admitted into the Union, and at the time when what is now lowa soil was detached from all governmental control except that of the United States alone. In spite of that fact the record under consid- eration enables one to discover fairly well the route over which the expedition passed at that early date. On account of the incidents of the march, especially the sight of vast herds of buffaloes in this section, it would be decidedly interest- ing to locate the points at which the soldiers camped each night while en route between Omaha and the eastern edge of this county. That. however, would be a difficult task, from the fact that the little sextant, with which Lieutenant Tal- cott made observations of the latitude where the encampments were made, was im- perfect and unreliable; and from the further fact that many of the names of
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the streams, over which they passed, as noted in Captain Kearney's report, are wholly unknown to our oldest settlers. The Indian guide, moreover, who was piloting the expedition, became confused during the latter part of the journey and gave the officers erroneous information about the route, because he did not know where they were at the time.
According to Kearney's journal the overland expedition left Camp Missouri on the second of July, 1820, and proceeded to march in a northeasterly direc- tion. Two days later they crossed the Boyer, and the next day crossed it again, and then camped forty-five miles from the mouth of that river. That evidently brought them near the center of Crawford county. Going twenty-one miles on the following day and heading the waters of the Soldiers river before camping. they must have reached a point a little west of the center of Sac county for a stopping place. After going east of north about ten miles the next day, and while evidently in Sac county, Kearney saw a conspicuous object about a mile east of the route, and riding over there to make an investigation, he discovered that it was the monumental mound where Red Hawk was buried. He found it to be on a high hill overlooking a vast extent of country. It was twelve feet in diameter, six feet high, and had a pole twelve feet long standing in the center.
Kearney says this about the chief : "Red Hawk was a powerful chief of the Sisseton band of Sioux, and was the first that visited the prophet-about the time of the declaration of war on the Wabash-from his tribe, and he excited his whole nationality to take up arms against the Americans."
That same day they marched sixteen miles, saw many elk, crossed a branch of the Sioux called the Leve Grave-after the first man who traded on that river with the Indians. He also says that they camped that night in latitude 42 degrees and 58 seconds. This river which he calls Leve Grave must have been the Maple river, for he says it was a branch of the Sioux. The latitude in which Talcott's sextant informed him they were, appears to be some twenty miles too far north to agree with the distance which Kearney says they had been traveling since they started. They were then near the south line of Buena Vista, if the distance claimed to have been traveled is correct. They only marched four miles the next day, and then camped on Mary's stream, which he says emptied into the Leve Grave. During their journey on the day following they "saw a gang of about 200 she elk," and some wolves, sand-hill cranes, and two or three Indian trails. Referring to the beauty of the country, the journalist notes that "the scattered groves of box elders on the Leve Grave give the scenery a handsome effect." They camped that night, he says, by a fine sulphur spring. This fact indicates that they were then in Buena Vista, at about the point where Kearney's map shows that the expedition changed its route course by turning further to the right.
During their march of seventeen miles the next day, July 11, Kearney re- ports having seen a large herd of buffaloes which he estimated to number about 5,000, and later saw another herd of about 100. They chased the latter herd and killed a yearling for food, after which they camped at Elk lake. Query: Where did they see those herds of buffaloes? and where was that lake? In the direction in which they were going, seventeen miles of march from Sulphur Springs, in Buena Vista, would bring them to the region of Swan lake in the northwest corner of Pocahontas, to Mud lake in the southeast corner of Clay, or possibly
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to Elbow lake at Ruthven in Palo Alto. None of these, however, seem to fit his description of Elk lake, which he says was nearly circular with a circumference of about four miles, having banks covered with sand and pebbles and a thin growth of timber, and having an outlet which led to the Leve Grave. Talcott noted the latitude of Elk lake as being 42 degrees 11 minutes and 3 seconds. Elbow lake is in about that latitude, but it does not have Kearney's outlet. The North Lizard is the outlet to Mud lake, but that runs away from the Leve Grave. The outlet to Swan lake runs in the right direction to correspond with his description, but that is the Boyer river with which the guide must have been familiar. Moreover, these two lakes are too far south to correspond with Tal- cott's calculations. Kearney says the lake received its name on account of the Indians at one time having driven "a large gang of Elk on the ice" which broke through and thus made the killing an easy matter for the savages.
The route of the next day's march is also shrouded in mystery. The journal says: "After having left Elk lake and holding a northeast course for about ten miles over prairies, occasionally level and then rolling, reached the Des Moines river (having headed the Raccoon branch of it) over which without much diffi- culty we found a fording place and crossed. The river is handsomely covered with timber and its waters clean and bottom sandy. About ten leagues to the northwest of our crossing place is Spirit lake at the head of the Sioux river. After leaving the Des Moines and traveling three miles, reached a lake a mile in circumference where we halted for our dinner, and after obtaining which, proceeded and traveled over prairie for about ten miles, a great part of which is low, wet and marshy, and having made twenty-three miles, halted on the Little Blue Earth river for the night." The guide later saw his mistake and said that it was not the Little Blue Earth where they were camping but Point Coupee, a stream that flowed into that river. From the fact that no mention is made of crossing any river after they had crossed the west fork of the Des Moines in the forenoon until they reached Point Coupee, it is evident this Coupee was the east branch of the Des Moines, or possibly the Black Cat. Since the distances reported to have been traveled were largely based upon the time it took, they may have been far from accurate. Kearney's twenty-three miles from Elk lake to Coupee may have been twenty-five or more. If that lake was Elbow lake it would be about that distance across to the east branch. It seems quite clear that the guide considered Coupee to be all that part of the east branch of the Des Moines above the mouth of Buffalo fork, and as being a tributary to the Blue Earth, which began up in Minnesota or at Bancroft lake, in Grant township, and continued down to the forks in Humboldt county.
The next day after wandering around ponds and heading sloughs they "reached at sundown, an old bed of a river about a quarter or a half a mile wide," which they crossed, "the water and mire being occasionally belly deep to the horses and mules." That was no doubt the Union slough before it became filled with its enormous mass of peat. That night at dark they camped east of the slough on one of the little tributaries to the Blue Earth. In meandering the ponds that day they would have traveled to reach their camping place about twenty-two miles, just as Kearney reported. It is very apparent that the guide was badly bewildered at this point, for he again changed his mind and told the officers that the stream where they were camping was the same one near which
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they slept the night before. It is no wonder the journalist says that he had lost confidence in him as a guide. They saw many buffaloes in that section, 100 being seen in one herd.
For some reason they changed their course the next day and marched south of east, and camped that night several miles further south than where they were in the morning, according to Engineer Talcott's sextant, which Kearney declares was as unreliable as the Indian guide. One singular notation in the journal is of interest and may be of value. It is .this: "Saw and heard many rattle-snakes, but they are not an object of much terror to our Indian guide, inasmuch as the prairie contains plenty of Bois Blanc De Prairie (white wood of the pine) and LaPaine, the decoction of whose roots are considered a speedy and infallible cure for the severest sting from them."
Having traced the route of the soldiers in their march of this expedition, as definitely as possible, until it leaves this section of the country, the purpose of this chapter does not require that it be followed any further in the direction of Camp Coldwater, near St. Paul, where the troops were going.
BOONE'S "NEUTRAL GROUND" SURVEY-1832
What old settler ever saw a line of posts set one mile apart, and running from the southwest corner of the county to a point some six or eight miles north of the southeast corner of Prairie Township? No one. Was such a line ever set? Indeed there was. Was it set before the first settlers came? Long before. How long before? Twenty-two years. Well, who set those posts? Nathan Boone. Who was he? The youngest son of the famous old Kentucky back- woods scout and pioneer. To whom did the land then belong over which he established that line of posts? The government. To what territory or state was this part of the country attached at that time for revenue and judicial pur- poses? It belonged in that respect no where. What authority had Boone for setting those posts? He was ordered to do so by the administration at Wash- ington through its commissioners on Indian affairs. In what year was the work done? 1832. Who helped him to do the work? His surveying crew, protection guard and a force of laborers. How long was that line of posts that ran across the corner of this county? It began on the bank of the West Fork, near the southwest corner of this county, and extended to the Mississippi at a point near the northeast corner of the state. Why was that line established? So that the Indians could see the line of posts. What Indians? The Sioux and the Sacs and Foxes. For what purpose? So that these tribes could discover that the posts marked the north boundary line of the famous "Neutral Ground," on which they knew they were prohibited from engaging in warfare or establishing villages. How wide was that Neutral Ground? Forty miles. How far south on that strip were the Sioux allowed to go? If they went peaceably they could go just to the south line, but not an inch further. What about the Sacs and Foxes on the south side? They could go on the same conditions just to the north line.
The Nathan Boone surveying party was the second set of white men to pass over the soil now composing this county. This man, Boone, figures conspic- uously in the very early history of this section of the country. He was here
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again three years later on an entirely different mission. While Kentucky has named many objects in honor of old Daniel Boone, lowa has named a number in honor of his son, Nathan, among them being Boone river, Boone county, Boones- boro, Boone, and Booneville.
If the line of posts Boone set was of oak and of considerable size, the bot- toms of some of them must have been in evidence when the settlements began to form along that line in 1856 and '57. It is possible that more than one break- ing plow turned them out : for there are stubs of oak posts yet in the ground in other parts of the county and apparently in sound condition, that were placed there more than forty years ago. The posts Boone set in 1832, however, may not have been oak, and if they were they may have been too small to last for thirty-five years.
THE MARCH OF THE DRAGOONS-1835
Our 1854 settlers lived in this county many years before they passed away, but they died without being informed that during the summer of 1835 three com- panies of dragoons marched through Kossuth from north to south. The journal, kept by the historian who was along with these troops on that journey, having come to light, the State Historical Society of Iowa has been disseminating the information it contained, through its publications, throughout the state. As a result each county historian has appropriated such portions of the account as per- tains to his own county.
It appears that Charles W. Gaston, who belonged to this dragoon military organization and who later became the first settler in Boone county, had for many years the journal in his possession. At his death in 1892, his step-daughter, Mrs. Kate Zimbleman, of Boone, received the journal. Six years later C. L. Lucas, president of the Madrid Historical Society, upon learning about the his- toric relic, caused it to be published in the Madrid News-Register that fall. A short time later Supt. B. F. Shambaugh, of our State Historical Society, ob- tained possession of the original manuscript and had Prof. Louis Pelzer edit it for the Iowa Journal of History and Politics.
The First United States Dragoons was organized in 1833 and was composed of ten companies, under command of Col. Henry Dodge. The purpose of the organization was to protect the frontier settlements and to make treaties with the Indians. The rendezvous was at St. Louis. The other principal officers were Lieut. Col. Stephen W. Kearney, Capt. Nathan Boone, Capt. Edwin V. Summer, Lieut. Jefferson Davis, and Lieut. Albert M. Lea. Here we see Kear- ney and Boone again and get a glimpse of the future General Summer of Civil War fame, and the future President Davis of the Confederacy. The introduction of Lieut. Albert M. Lea, brings to the front the officer in whom this county has the most interest, so far as its history is concerned.
Lieut. Col. Kearney in the spring of 1835 was ordered to proceed with a detachment of three companies to the mouth of the Raccoon river, and then, after viewing that point with reference to its position for establishing a military post, was to march to Wabashaw's Sioux village, near the head waters of the Mississippi, where, after treating with the Sioux chief, he was to proceed west- wardly, and then march south, following the Des Moines river down on the west side. The three companies on that expedition were commanded as fol-
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lows: B, Lieut. H. S. Turner ; H, Capt. Nathan Boone; I, Lieut. Albert M. Lea. Boone appears to have been in immediate command of the detachment while on that journey, and Lea engaged in taking notes of the appearance of the coun- try, and in compiling data for the book which he published during the year fol- lowing. This little book he called "Notes on Wisconsin Territory, particularly with reference to the Iowa District." To accompany his description of the land traveled across by the dragoons, he made a map indicating the line of march. The Iowa Indians and the Iowa river being in this section of the country, sug- gested to him the propriety of referring to this region as the "Iowa District." So far as known he was the first person to apply the name "Iowa" to land now embraced within the boundaries of the state.
One of the curiosities at our state historical building is a copy of Albert M. Lea's little book and the accompanying map. While at Des Moines a short time the writer inspected the map to see where the dragoons, on coming from the north, entered Kossuth.
After leaving the vicinity where Des Moines is situated, these 150 soldiers marched up on the east side of the river into Hamilton county, arriving June 22. The river they saw there emptying into the Des Moines they called "Boone." From this point they turned their course further to the right, and marched in the direction of Wabashaw's village, near the present Winona, on the Mississippi. In passing out of the state they evidently crossed portions of what are now Wright, Franklin, Cerro Gordo and Mitchell counties. Some place along that line, on June 25, they saw a Sioux fort on the prairie. It consisted of twenty or thirty holes in a circle, each of which was large enough to contain five or six men. They had no barricading except the dirt that was thrown out of them. The soldiers spent about a week at, or near Wabashaw's village, and in the mean- time Colonel Kearney made some kind of treaty arrangements with the old Sioux chief.
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