USA > Iowa > Marion County > History of Marion County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 23
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"Section 3. All commissioned officers of the militia (staff offi- cers excepted ) shall be elected by the persons liable to perform mili- tary duty, and shall be commissioned by the governor."
Supplementary to these constitutional provisions, the Legislature has, from time to time, enacted laws for the organization, support and regulation of the state troops. Under the act of 1902 the Iowa National Guard was declared to consist of "four regiments of in- fantry, one signal company, and, at the discretion of the commander- in-chief, two batteries of artillery."
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The Marion County company that enlisted for the Spanish- American war and served in the Philippines was reorganized as part of the National Guard on December 11, 1899. Following the act of 1902 the four regiments of the Guard were numbered to succeed the last regiment serving in the war with Spain, becoming the Fifty- second, Fifty-third, Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth. In the general re- organization the Marion company was made Company D, Fifty-fifth Regiment. On January 11, 1911, the company was mustered out, but during the year it was reorganized and again mustered in, with its former letter and regiment, on January 8, 1912. It then continued in the Iowa National Guard as Company D, Fifty-fifth Regiment, until December 31, 1914, when it was again mustered out of service. At that time the company numbered sixty-four men, rank and file, Capt. R. S. Mentzer being the only commissioned officer.
SOLDIERS' MONUMENT
Albert Hobbs Circle, No. 57, Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, was organized at Pella on December 10, 1907, with four- teen charter members, and Mrs. Edna Dennis as president. About a year later the circle started the movement for the erection of a monument in the public square at Pella, to be dedicated to those who served in the army or navy of the United States during the Civil war. The first money paid into the monument fund was the sum of $10, which was received from the sale of white carnations for "Mothers' Day" in 1909. With this $10 as a nucleus, the circle began giving socials and other entertainments, each adding a few dollars to the fund.
After more than two years of this labor of love on the part of these patriotic women, a monument was erected, at a cost of $650, on the corner of the public square at the junction of Main and Franklin streets, and was formally dedicated on Memorial Day, 1911. On the front of the monument-that is, the side facing the streets -- is the inscription :
"Erected by Albert Hobbs Circle No. 57, Ladies of G. A. R. May 30, 1911."
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On the reverse side of the monument is the inscription :
"Dedicated to the Soldiers and Sailors of the Civil War 1861-1865."
On the occasion of the unveiling or dedication of this memorial Gen. James B. Weaver was the orator of the day, and paid a glowing tribute to the "Boys in Blue," to whom the monument was dedicated. An address was also delivered by John F. Lacy, and others made short speeches. In 1912 Albert Hobbs Post, No. 404, obtained two 3-inch rifled cannon and mounted them on concrete blocks in front of the monument. Measured in dollars and cents, the Pella soldiers' monu- ment is indeed a modest affair, but measured in true patriotic senti- ment; in loyalty to the principles for which those to whom it is con- secrated fought; in gratitude to the veterans of the Civil war, it is as large as any monument in the country. It was not erected for show, but to give expression to the loyalty, patriotism and gratitude of a generation many of whom were unborn when the tocsin of war was sounded through the country in 1861.
CHAPTER XIII INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS
CONDITIONS IN 1843-DEVELOPMENT OF SEVENTY-TWO YEARS-RIVER TRANSPORTATION-DES MOINES RIVER LAND GRANT-STEAMBOATS ON THE DES MOINES-PUBLIC HIGHWAYS-OLD INDIAN TRAILS- CORDUROY-FIRST ROADS ESTABLISHED BY THE COUNTY- FERRIES AND BRIDGES-THE RAILROAD ERA-EARLY OPPOSITION TO RAIL- ROADS-RAILROAD MEETING AT KNOXVILLE IN 1853-THE VARIOUS LINES OF RAILWAY IN MARION COUNTY-MILEAGE AND VALU- ATION.
When the first white men came to what is now Marion County the country was in its primeval state, inhabited only by the savage Indian, or the roving uncertain hunters, trappers and agents of the great fur companies, who rarely remained long enough in one place to attempt anything in the way of internal improvements. Here and there an Indian trail wound through the forest or over the prairie, and these were the only thoroughfares. They were mere paths, to accommodate the Indian custom of traveling single file, and were not adapted to the passage of vehicles. No roads had been opened by the white man for his convenience, the streams were not bridged. and it was not an unusual sight to find some immigrant camped upon the bank of a creek or river, waiting for the waters to subside so that he could continue his journey. Then there were not more than five thousand miles of railroad in the United States, and not a mile of that west of the State of Ohio.
What changes have come since the Government of the United States acquired title to the Indian lands that now comprise Marion County in 1843! When the citizen of the county has occasion to make a trip to the county seat, or to some neighboring town, it is an easy matter to hitch a horse to a buggy or step into his automobile, and pass along a public highway to his destination. If he finds it neces- sary to make a longer journey, he can take his seat in a reclining chair car, or in a Pullman coach, if he desires to travel in state, and be whirled to some distant city at the rate of fifty miles an hour on one Vol. 1-15
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of the great railway systems of the country. But does the average person pause to think of how all these conveniences were brought about for his comfort and accommodation? The establishment of all these improvements was a work of almost herculean proportions- accomplished by a slow and tedious process-as one can see if he will but draw upon his imagination for the conditions that existed in 1843 and compare them with the conditions of the present day. And does the average citizen appreciate the advantages of the age in which he lives, or give due credit to those who went before him to prepare the way for his present enjoyment?
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RIVER TRANSPORTATION
In the early days the rivers of the country were the principal arteries of commerce and travel. Over them passed the light canoe of the Indian, the pirogue or bateau of the trader, and later came the keelboat and the steamboat. Due to this fact, and also to the fact that the march of civilization was toward the West, the natural se- quence was that the first settlements in what is now the State of lowa should be made along the eastern border, near the Mississippi, so that the pioneers could keep in touch with the outside world by means of the great Father of Waters.
As the settlements extended westward into the interior of the state, efforts were made to navigate the Des Moines River with steam- boats of light draft, in order to carry supplies and open up trade with the new settlements. Quite a number of the early settlements along this river have grown into cities of considerable size and commercial importance, notably Farmington, Keosauqua, Ottumwa, Des Moines and Fort Dodge. Charles Negus, in an article published in the Annals of Iowa some years ago, gives the following account of the first navigation of the Des Moines River by steamboat :
"In 1836 the Sacs and Foxes, having disposed of their reserva- tion on the Iowa River, where they had villages, moved west and set- tled in the valley of the River Des Moines, in what is now Wapello County, and, as a natural consequence, trading posts were established in this vicinity, which had to be supplied with goods. In the fall of 1837 the few settlers along the banks of this river were for the first time gladdened with the sound of the shrill whistle of a steamboat, making its way up the river with supplies for these trading posts. This boat was the S. B. Science, commanded by Captain Clark, which, by forcing its way against the swift current, passing safely over the concealed sandbars and hidden rocks, demonstrated that the waters
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of the river, at high stages, were navigable, much to the joy and satis- faction of those who lived in the vicinity, and afforded a theme for pleasant conversation for days and months."
Another steamboat which ascended the river in 1837 was the Pavillion, Capt. William Phelps, which passed up as far as Fort Dodge at a time when there was a good stage of water, and returned without serious difficulty. The trip of Captain Phelps aroused con- siderable enthusiasm and created the impression that the Des Moines was navigable, at least for the greater part of the distance between the mouth of the river and Fort Dodge. The Pavillion was doubtless the first steamboat to pass through what is now Marion County. Other early steamboats on the Des Moines were the Otter and the Dove, but they ascended the river no farther than Farmington or Keosauqua.
In May, 1843, when the eastern portion of Marion County was thrown open to settlement, the Government established Fort Des Moines, where the City of Des Moines now stands, and the little steamer Ione carried a detachment of dragoons and their stores up to the new fort. The officer in command, in his official report, gave an account of the successful voyage up the river, and this added greatly to the belief that the stream was, or could be made, navigable. A movement was started to secure government aid in the improvement of the river, and on August 8, 1846, President Polk approved an act of Congress granting to the Territory of Iowa alternate sections of land, in such of the public domain as remained unsold, in a strip five miles wide on each side of the river, "for the purpose of aiding said territory to improve the navigation of the Des Moines River from its mouth to the Raccoon Fork," etc.
Iowa was admitted as a state on December 28, 1846, and the land grant for the improvement of the Des Moines River was accepted by the Legislature on January 9, 1847. At the same session an act was passed providing for the organization of a board of public works to sell the lands and make the improvements. In 1849 Samuel R. Curtis was employed to make a survey of the river and report a plan for the improvement of navigation. He recommended a system of locks and dams, to be located at various places along the river, one of which was to be near the old Town of Rousseau, in Marion County. Contracts were let for the construction of three of the dams and a canal, but none was ever completed according to the original speci- fications. By 1854 the board of public works had disposed of most of the lands below the mouth of the Raccoon Fork, and 58,000 acres above it, and had incurred an indebtedness of $70,000 over and above
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the proceeds derived from the land sales. With the approval of Con- gress, the remainder of the land grant was transferred in 1854 to a company called the Des Moines Navigation and Railroad Company, which assumed the $70,000 indebtedness incurred by the board of public works. About this time a dispute arose as to whether the land grant extended above the mouth of the Raccoon Fork (where the City of Des Moines is now located) and a compromise was effected by which the Des Moines Navigation and Railroad Company ac- cepted all the land that had been certified to the state and paid the state $20,000. In 1862 Congress settled the question by an act which extended the land grant to the north line of the state. The Legisla- ture then granted the remainder of the lands to the Des Moines Valley Railroad Company, which had succeeded to the rights and franchises of the old Des Moines Navigation and Railroad Company. This ended all hope of improving the river. Concerning the land grant and the manner in which the improvement of the river was under- taken by the old board of public works, Charles Negus, in the article already referred to, says :
"This was a most magnificent grant, embracing some of the best lands in the state ; and if the proceeds had been judiciously and prop- erly expended, would have made a great thoroughfare for steamboats, besides affording immense waterpower for driving machinery. But, through the incompetency of managing the means and the intrigues of designing men, the whole of the lands below the Raccoon Fork, and a large quantity above, were disposed of and very little practical good accomplished toward the navigation of the river."
Although the project to improve the river ended in failure, steamboats continued to ascend the river as far as Farmington, Keo- sauqua and Ottumwa, and occasionally one went up as far as Des Moines when the state of water would permit. Among these early Des Moines River steamboats were the Agatha, Captain May, which made two or three trips in 1843; the Kentucky in 1849, and the Jenny Lind in 1850, both commanded by Captain Ainsworth; and the Maid of Iowa, Capt. William Phelps, in 1851. During the next five years the Colonel Morgan, the Michigan, the Defiance, the George H. Wilson and the Revenue Cutter all plied upon the waters of the Des Moines, a few going up as far as the capital city. In 1856 Captain Wilson took the steamer Charles Rogers up to Fort Dodge. In the latter '50s the Belfast, Captain Milburn, the Des Moines Belle, the Ad Hines, the Clara Hines and the Flora Temple were engaged in the Des Moines River trade. Old settlers still remember how, when they were boys attending the school on the hill near Coalport, they
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used to listen to the whistles of these old-time steamboats as they signaled the landing. These youngsters were always pleased when a boat stopped to "coal up" during the noon hour, so that they could run down to the landing to watch the proceeding. The failure of the river improvement project, and soon afterward the advent of the railroad, put an end to the efforts to make Iowa's longest river a great commercial avenue. The last navigation of the river of which there is any account was in 1894, when "General" Kelly's "Army of . the Commonweal" floated down the stream in such craft as could be picked up or hastily constructed at Des Moines for the voyage to Keokuk.
PUBLIC HIGHWAYS
In a speech many years ago, Col. Thomas H. Benton, United States senator from Missouri, presented a peculiar and interesting theory concerning the origin of a number of the western highways. He suggested that the buffaloes were the first road engineers; that the paths trodden by them were, as a matter of convenience, followed by the Indians, and later by the whites, with such improvements as were found to be necessary for civilized modes of travel. "It is but reasonable to suppose," said he, "that the buffaloes would instinctively choose the most practical routes and fords in their migrations from one pasture to another. Then the Indians, following, possessed of about as much enterprise as their predecessors, the buffaloes, made no improvements, and were finally driven from the track by those who would."
The buffalo path, or the Indian trail, followed the line of least resistance, as suggested by Colonel Benton, and was somewhat sinuous in its course. But where these trails were available they were used by the pioneers until better roads could be opened. Says Donnel : "Among the many roads in this county known to be only Indian trails at the period of which we are writing, is one from Red Rock to Knox- ville, and those traversing the bottoms on either side of the river above and below Red Rock. Under the cliffs south of the river, above town, this trail was so narrow as barely to permit the passage of a horseman between the bayou and the rocky wall."
The first highways constructed by civilized man were crude affairs-usually a route marked out at will by stakes upon the prairie and trees blazed through the timber, with here and there a few trees removed to permit the passage of vehicles. Sloughs and swampy places were filled with small logs, thrown crosswise of the driveway,
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thus forming the historic "corduroy" road, which was neither easy on the team nor comfortable for the occupants of the wagon, but it kept the vehicle from miring down.
On January 6, 1846, John Conrey and others presented a petition to the county commissioners asking for the opening of a public road "Commencing at the house of Samuel Nicholson, thence running in a northerly direction so as to strike John Conrey's claim near the southwest corner, thence by the nearest and best route to Knoxville." Samuel Nicholson lived in what is now Indiana Township. After hearing the petition, the commissioners granted the request, provided the road could be opened without expense to the county. Garrett W. Clark, John T. Pierce and Reuben S. Lowrey were appointed viewers, and Isaac B. Power, county surveyor, was instructed to make a survey of the route. Mr. Power made his report on January 15, 1846, show- ing that the road was about eight miles in length. This was the first public highway officially established in the county.
On April 14, 1846, the county commissioners divided the county into ten road districts and appointed a supervisor for cach. The boundaries of these districts and a list of the supervisors are given in Chapter IV. True, there were then no public roads over which the supervisors could exercise authority, but the establishment of road districts was a preparatory step toward the construction of highways.
At the July term of the commissioners' court seven petitions for the opening of roads were presented, and after being considered by the board all were granted, with the understanding that the roads were to be viewed and located without expense to the county. The roads petitioned for were as follows :
1. A petition from George Gillaspy and others for a relocation of a territorial road "Commencing where said road crosses the ford of the lake in Lake Prairie, thence to the terminus of said road," but the location of the "terminus" is not made plain.
2. George Gillaspy also headed a petition for a road from Joseph McPherson's house, near the east line of the county, via Dur- ham's ford, to Knoxville. John T. Pierce, John Conrey and John B. Hamilton were appointed to view the route and report as to the ad- visability of opening the road. They made a favorable report on September 26, 1846.
3. Landon J. Burch and others came forward with a petition for a road from Red Rock, via Burch's mill, to Knoxville. George Gil- laspy, Garrett Harsin and L. C. Conrey were appointed viewers. They met at the house of Lewis M. Pierce, in the town of Knoxville,
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August 1, 1846, and after going over the route recommended the opening of the road.
4. John D. Bedell and others petitioned for a road "from the terminus of the territorial road running from Bush's mill in Jefferson County, via Agency City, Ottumwa, Eddyville, Harrisburg and Lake Prairie, opposite the mouth of the White Breast, thence via Red Rock to the north line of the county in the direction of Tool's Point." Tool's Point is now the Town of Monroe, Jasper County. This road was viewed and recommended by N. P. Swan, Asa Hughes and Simon Drouillard, who were appointed for that purpose by the board of commissioners.
5. A petition signed by John Henry and a number of others was presented, asking for a road "to begin at a point on the territorial road about one and a half miles south of the north line of the county and two miles east of the center line of the county, running north and south, thence west, as nearly parallel as possible to the north line of the county, to Markly's ferry on the Des Moines River." Daniel Kyger, Claiborne Hall and Jonathan Markly were appointed viewers for this road.
6. John D. Bedell and others living in the northern part of the county asked for the opening of a road "from the north line of the county, via Gilmore Logan's claim and the town of Red Rock, to the territorial road running from Oskaloosa to Fort Des Moines." This road was viewed and recommended by Thomas Morgan, John P. Glenn and John D. Bedell.
7. L. C. Conrey and others presented a petition asking for a road "from the east line of the county, near Nathan Gregory's, via Jasper Koons', Garnett Harsin's and Lawson G. Terry's, to the Town of Knoxville." William Reed, James Brown and Garrett Harsin were appointed viewers and the road was opened that autumn.
At the time these first roads were ordered the section lines had not yet been established, hence the description of the route in the peti- tions was lacking in technicality. The Government survey of the lands in the eastern half of the county was made in 1846-47, and the direction of some of these early highways was changed to conform to the lines of the survey.
Scarcely a meeting of the county commissioners was held during the early years of the county's history at which one or more petitions praying for the opening of highways were not presented and con- sidered. In fact, the records of the county from 1845 to 1855 are full of instances of this character. During that decade a number of roads were opened as the settlement of the county progressed, and it would
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be impracticable, if not utterly impossible, to give an account of each of the early roads. The examples given above, however, are repre- sentative cases of how the first roads were established.
FERRIES AND BRIDGES
For a number of years after the first settlements were made in the county the public revenues were insufficient for constructing bridges over the streams, especially the larger ones, and the traveler had to depend on fords at the smaller creeks and ferries over the rivers. To equip and maintain a ferry required a considerable outlay of capital for that day, and in order to protect the ferryman from in- jurious competition the board of county commissioners granted him a license, giving him the exclusive right to operate a ferry at a certain point for a definite period, usually one year. The fee for a ferry license in Marion County was generally $2 per year, and the board fixed the schedule of rates to be charged by the operator of the ferry.
The first entry in the records relating to the establishment of a ferry at any point in the county was on January 6, 1846, when David Durham, one of the county commissioners, asked for and was granted a license to "keep a ferry across the Des Moines River at the place known as Durham's Ford." It was also ordered that Mr. Durham could charge the following rates for his services: For each wagon drawn by one or two horses, 25 cents; for a four-horse wagon, 50 cents ; man and horse, 121/2 cents ; each yoke of oxen, 121/2 cents ; each footman, 614 cents ; each head of cattle or horses, 614 cents; each hog or sheep, 3 cents.
Probably the second ferry established in the county was that of Nathan Tolman, at Red Rock. Mr. Tolman's license was granted on July 7, 1846, upon petition of Reuben Matthews and others, and the rates of ferriage fixed by the board of commissioners were the same as those in the case of Mr. Durham. In one of the road peti- tions acted upon at this session mention is made of Markly's ferry across the Des Moines River, but examination of the early records fails to disclose the fact that a license had been granted for its operation.
Durham's ferry was on the direct road from Oskaloosa to Knox- ville and was probably the best patronized of any of the early ferries across the Des Moines. Other early ferries were Horn's, Keables' and Wilson's. For more than a quarter of a century after the organi- zation of the county the only means of crossing the Des Moines River was by some of the ferries, chiefly the old Tolman ferry at Red Rock and Horn's ferry on the road leading from Knoxville to Pella.
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In 1865 a proposition to build a bridge across the Des Moines River was submitted to the voters of the county. Several localities wanted the bridge, and this conflict of interests defeated the proposi- tion by a vote of 1,700 to 863. Thus the matter rested for fifteen years. Early in the spring of 1880 the board of county supervisors received a proposition from some of the citizens of the county to furnish the money necessary for the erection of the bridge on very favorable terms, and at the June session the board adopted a resolution to build the bridge immediately. The location selected was at Horn's ferry, on the road from Knoxville to Pella. Advertisements were published in the newspapers of the county and the contract was awarded to C. C. Collins for $10,259. Some changes were afterward made in the original specifications, such as the substitution of stone for iron piers, etc., which brought the total cost of the bridge up to $17,787. It was completed early in 1881 and was the first bridge across the river in the county. Since then bridges have been built across the Des Moines at Rousseau, in the northern part of Polk Township; at the Town of Red Rock ; and about a mile and a half west of the Town of Percy.
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