USA > Iowa > Allamakee County > History of Winneshiek and Allamakee counties, Iowa > Part 36
USA > Iowa > Winneshiek County > History of Winneshiek and Allamakee counties, Iowa > Part 36
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HISTORY OF WINNESHIEK COUNTY.
mings of the Minnesota College for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind at at Faribault, and from the richer specimens of fossil stone, men- tioned in the sketch of Decorah, are made many beautiful orna- ments. Easily worked quarries of sandstone, in the eastern part of the county, furnished the elegant trimmings of the Norwe- gian Lutheran College, Decorah. In Washington and Orleans townships cream-colored brick is made that rivals the celebrated Milwaukee brick.
The finances of city and county are in excellent shape, as is shown in a previous chapter of County History. Out of debt, with good public buildings, churches and school-houses, plenty of substantial iron bridges over the streams, and all paid for, taxes, will consequently be low, and education and church privileges un- usually good. It is a good place to live in.
CLIMATE, SOIL AND SCENERY.
The latitude of Winneshiek County is about the same as cen- tral New York and Michigan, but the winters are less broken and changeable. Winter usually sets in about December 1st and some- times earlier, and continues until March, with generally a "Janu- ary thaw; the weather thereafter usually growing milder till spring . opens; but without the sudden changes of New England, and the long, drizzling rains of the Central and Eastern States. The air is invigorating, bracing, and wonderfully pure. No district in the Union will excel it in sanitary considerations. An article in the Decorah Republican has thus admirably and truthfully described the soil and the face of the county:
"The soil of the county is not excelled. It is a rich black loam with a depth of from one to six feet. It has a slight admixture of sand, just enough in quantity to make it friable and easily worked. It is well known to the scientific farmer that the land best suited to most small grains, and in which the earthy, saline and organic matters are distributed in the proportion best adapted to im- part fertility and durability, is a soil based on the calcareous rocks. This con- dition particularly characterizes the country bordering on the Mississippi and its tributaries in this latitude, as well as for a distance above and below.
"The county is well timbered, nearly, all the larger streams being bordered by a growth of both hard and soft woods. Originally about three-eighths of the county was prairie, and the same proportion burr oak open- ings. The openings have been mostly cleared and improved, having now the general appearance of prairie."
Truly this is a goodly County of a goodly State. May the true spirit of enterprise richly develop its ample resources, and the children of the present be worthy successors to the pioneers of the past.
HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
BY E. M. HANCOCK.
Prefatory; Origin of County Name; Topography; Geology; Arte- sian Wells.
"The lapsing years joined those beyond the flood, Each filled with loves, griefs, strites and honest toil;
And thus, as shadows o'er the checkered plain, Children their fathers followed to the grave, The fruitage of their lives and deeds is ours." -The Annalist.
A history of our county must necessarily consist largely of nar- ratives of a personal or biographical character, as the history of a comparatively few individuals is the history of this entire re- gion during the early days of which we are called upon to write. It is eminently fit and proper that the deeds of these pioneers should be placed on record in a convenient and permanent form for preservation, ere the hand of the relentless harvester has plucked the last of them from among us, and scaled their lips for- ever upon the facts they might relate regarding the early settle- ment and development of the country, which will be of increas- ing value and interest to their children, and children's children, as the years grow upon years. Already have so many of them gone to that bourne whence no traveler returns, that anything like a complete record of the settlement and organization of the county is beyond the bounds of possibility. It seems hardly credible that no record of the organizing election of Allamakee County can be found either among the state or county archives; but it would ap- pear that the organizing Sheriff had failed to make report of such election; and not even the scratch of a pen remains of the transac- tions of county business under the old Commissioner system. In some instances not the slightest record is to be found regarding township organizations. And now:
"Beneath those whispering pines, that oak tree's shade, Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap, Each in his warm cell forever laid,
'The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep."
-Gray.
To collate the facts still accessible and record the history of the works by which they have left us so goodly a heritage as is our fair county to-day, would be a pleasing task were it not so
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HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
fraught with difficulties and disappointments, because of the fail- ing memories and consequent conflicting recollections of those still left who were witnesses of and participants in the events of the early days. But if this work is ever to be done the time .is opportune.
In the preparation of these pages great care has been taken to verify dates and statements by such records as are obtainable, and to corroborate by cumulative testimony. Errors will doubtless be found, but we believe that in the main the history is accurate and reliable. No similar work has heretofore been attempted, and we therefore have nothing to build from as a basis. The writer is indebted to the valuable and interesting sketches prepared for the Makee township Early Settlers' Association in 1880, by G. M. Dean, and to the sketches by John Bryson, and others, for quota- tions here and there; and by diligently poring over old newspa- per files he has discovered numerous items of interest bearing up- on our early history, and establishing dates that could not other- wise be obtained. To those who have in any manner aided in his researches, he would express his thanks. If he has, in the time and space, to which he was limited, succeeded in putting together in permanent shape and convenient for reference the more im- portant facts relating to the county history, and in an acceptable manner, it is all he expected to accomplish.
NAME.
There are two theories as to the origin of "the name "Allama- kee," each of which has its supporters. One of these theories is that it is the name of an Indian chief. The other is about as fol- lows, as we find it stated in the proceedings of a meeting of the Early Settlers' Association of Lansing, published in the Mirror of Nov. 28, 1879:
"Dr. J. I. Taylor spoke of the subject of the selection of the name of the county, as he had it from John Haney, Jr., deceased. It was his recollection that David Umstead, in the Legislature from this unorganized portion of the state, gave the county its present title. An old friend of Umstead was Allen Magee, an In- dian trader, who was familiarly known to the Winnebago tribes, and, in their guttural dialect, called Al-ma-gee. Calling to mind this fact, Mr. Umstead caused the name 'Allamakee' to be insert- ed in the organizing act, and it was thus legalized."
Which of these theories is correct we will not attempt to de- cide, although we incline to prefer the first. According to the official records "David Umstead" did not represent this section in the Legislature which organized this county (the Second General Assembly). Samuel B. Olmstead was a member of the First Gen- eral Assembly, which held two sessions: Nov. 30, 1846, to Feb. 25, 1847, and Jan. 3, 1848, to Jan. 25, 1848. During the first of these sessions an act was passed defining the boundaries of sev-
327
HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
eral counties, among them the then unorganized county of Allama- kee, and it is probable its name was officially given at that time. David Umstead was a member of the Second Constitutional Conven- tion, in 1846. We have been to some pains to investigate this subject, but find nothing fully authoritative. Col. S. C. Trow- bridge, a resident of Iowa City, who came to Jowa in 1837 and surveyed and organized Johnson County, states positively that "the name Allamakee is an Indian name purely, all speculative theories to the contrary notwithstanding."
TOPOGRAPHY.
Allamakee County occupies the extreme northeastern corner of Iowa, with the Mississippi river on its eastern border, Minnesota on the north, and Winneshiek and Clayton counties on the west and south respectively. It is about twenty-nine miles in length from north to south; twenty miles from east to west at the northern line, and twenty-eight in extreme width through the center tier of townships, averaging about twenty-three; giving an area of 664 square miles. At the southern line of the County the Mississippi river is about 625 feet above the sea level. Along the river front the County is bordered its entire length with a bold out- line of bluffs from 300 to 400 feet high, from the tops of which the surface gradually slopes upward until at Waukon, eighteen miles back, it reaches an altitude of 655 feet above the river at low water mark.
The Upper Iowa River and its tributaries water the northern portion of the county; Village Creek and Paint Creek take their rise near its centre and flow eastward into the Mississippi. The for- mer north and the latter south of east-while the Yellow River takes its course through the southern tier of townships. These streams have all cut their channel deeply into the rocks, especial- ly the Upper Iowa, which flows through a narrow, winding valley, with bluffs on either side which have an elevation near its mouth but little less than those along the Mississippi. In many places the fall of these streams is quite rapid, furnishing the very best of water powers. Along the courses of the Iowa and lower part of Yellow Rivers, and a strip four to six miles wide on the river front, the surface of the country is of course, rough and badly broken, but much of this bluffy country is well wooded, as are also many of the valleys of the streams, as well as the uplands in some portions of the county. Back from the river the county rpresents a more attractive appearance to the agriculturist. The oak and hickory openings, the rich hazel-brush lands, the prairie with their deep, black loam, the warm and sometime sandy valleys, together with the rich alluvial deposits of the river bottoms, afford a di- versity of soil well adapted for all his purposes.
The prairies occupy the central and western portions ofthe county, as well as parts of the extreme northern and southern
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HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
tiers of townships, and are unsurpassed for natural fertility and beauty. They are well watered with innumerable gushing springs of clear, cold and pure water, are dotted here and there with groves, and are just sufficiently rolling to afford excellent drainage, as also relief from the monotonous level of some prairie countries.
In the valley of the Mississippi where the channel does not ap- proach the base of the bluffs, are some extremely fertile bottom lands, and a net work of sloughs, lakes and islands; some of the sloughs being of sufficient size to at times allow the passage of large steamers, as is the case with Harper's channel along the front of Taylor Township. At some points the main channel is three or four miles from the bluffs, and again it skirts their very base.
The principal tributaries of the Iowa are: on the north, Bear, Waterloo, and Clear Creeks; and on the south, Coon, Patterson, Mineral, Silver, and French Creeks. Those of the Yellow River are: from the north, the north fork, and Bear Creek; from the south, Hickory and Suttle Creeks. No less than seven of these creeks-including Village and Paint-have their sources in springs near the highest part of the county, surrounding Wau- kon, and flow thence in all directions except to the southwest. Some of these springs bubble up through the earth at the foot of a hill-slope, frequently covering a surface many feet square and forming a good-sized brook at once; others have a less preten- tious origin; while there are numerous instances in the County where the water issues in a torrent from near the base of the cav- ernous face of a limestone cliff from twenty to fifty feet high, on a side-hill.
GEOLOGY.
It is to be regretted that no complete geological survey of this County has ever been made. Enough is now known, however, from the experience of practical observers, to show that, while our system of rocks is on the whole a simple one, as demonstrated by the early explorers, in its details it is far more complicated than they supposed, owing to interruption of the regular stratifi- cation; and as it is more studied and examined the more it exhib- its surprising evidences of disturbance during its formation.
As classified by geologists all the rocks of our county come un- der the head of Lower Silurian, and many of them are rich in fos- sils of mollusks peculiar to that age. These rocks are oldest in order and lowest in the earth's superstructure, the Potsdam Sand- stone which is exposed in the valley of the Upper Iowa river, ly- ing next above the rocks of the Azoic Age-the foundation of all. Above the Potsdam Sandstone in the following order are the Low- er Magnesian Limestone, the St. Peter's Sandstone, the Trenton and Galena Limestones. The dip, or inclination of all these strata
329
HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
in this region is to the south, so that theoretically in entering the county from that direction one finds the last mentioned rock occupying the surface, and in passing northward he crosses in succession the surfaces occupied by the Trenton, St. Peter's, and the Lower Magnesian, meanwhile passing downward or back- ward in the order of their formation. And this is nearly correct practically, also. Prof. C. A. White, in his report on the Geolog- ical Survey of Iowa (unfortunately never completed) published in 1870, says: "The Upper Iowa rises in the region occupied by Devonian rocks and flows across the outcrops respectively of the Niagara, Galena, and Trenton Limestones, the St. Peter's Sand- stone, the Lower Magnesian Limestone, and Potsdam Sandstone; into, and through all of which, except the last, it has successively cut its valley, the deepest valley in Iowa, reaching a depth in its lower part of more than four hundred feet from the highest ground in the vicinity. That portion of it which traverses Alla- makee County has the Potsdam Sandstone composing the base of its valley sides, the Lower Magnesian Limestone forming the re- mainder of them. * They are every- where high and steep, the Limestone cliffs giving them a wild and rugged aspect. The farming lands of the higher surface, howev- er, extend almost to the very verge of the valley. *
This stream has the greatest slope per mile of any in the State; consequently it furnishes immense water power.
x This river and its tributaries are the only trout streams in the State."
Potsdam Sandstone .- In his report on the Geology of Iowa, pub- lished in 1858, State Geologist James Hall says of this rock: "It attains its greatest exposure in Minnesota and Wisconsin, north of the limits of Iowa, and about the region of Lake Pepin. From this point the rock dips both to the northeast and southwest. The ex- cavation of the Upper Iowa River has removed the Calciferous Sandstone (Lower Magnesian Limestone) so that in following up that river the Potsdam Sandstone forms its banks for more than
* twenty miles along its meandering course. *
Below the mouth of the Upper Iowa, this rock forms the bluffs along the Mississippi, extending for a greater or less distance up the ravines and valleys of the larger streams. The tops of the high bluffs near the river, however, soon become capped by the lower Magnesian, and the sandstone gradually declines from cliffs several hundred feet in height to the level of the river, beneath which it finally disappears at the foot of Pike's Hill, opposite the mouth of the Wisconsin River, and a short distance below McGregor's landing. * * *
It is usually a light drab color, sometimes nearly white, and not unfrequently stained brown by the oxide of iron which at some places appears in great abundance."
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HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
"Some slightly calcareous bands of this rock contain fragments of trilobites, and in numerous localities shells of Lingula are found. These fossiliferous bands appear in the vicinity of Lansing, where the bed containing trilobites lies some sixty feet above the river, In its general character this sandstone is a friable mass, usually crumbling on exposure to the frost and sun."
"The passage of this sandstone into the overlying limestone is effected by numerous repetitions and alternations of the two rocks, giving rise to a series of beds along their junction, which from their chemical composition, might as well be reckoned to one rock as the other."
Lower Magnesian Limestone .- Of this formation, Prof. Hall says: "The great dolomitic mass which overlies the Potsdam Sandstone in the Valley of the Mississippi is known throughout that region as the Lower Magnesian Limestone. * * This rock becomes a conspicuous member of the series where it forms the bluffs which overhang the Mississippi from Prairie du Chien far up the St. Croix. The undulations of the strata bring it to the surface in many val- leys in Wisconsin where the Galena or Blue limestones occupy the elevated prairie (and this is also true on the west side of the river). * Within the limits of Iowa the Lower Magnesian is most conspicious along the Upper Iowa River, it also crops out in the valleys of Paint Creek and Yellow River, but the amount of surface covered by it is quite small."
"The rock is usually checkered with seams and joints on its ex- posed surfaces, and presents a very rude exterior. In some locali- ties, however, it will produce a durable building material." "The materials of the rock appear to have been broken up while par- tially indurated; the interstices are often filled with sand, and fragments of friable sandstone are often found mingled with the broken rock itself. In some instances these fragments bear evi- dence of having been torn from inasses of rock previously indura- ted. In many cases the breceiated character seem to be due in some degree to internal action among the materials of the rock itself." In some regions, "sudden depression occur, where the succeeding rock comes in at a much lower level than it occupies on either side. The appearance is that of sudden small faults or downthrows, as if the rock over a certain area were abruptly de- pressed before the deposition of the succeeding one." "The annexed section on Bear Creek, near New Galena, thirteen miles due west of the Mississippi, shows the character and rela- tions of this rock to the over and underlying sandstones.
"Soft friable red sandstone 12 feet White crystalline dolomite, partly concealed, but showing itself at var-
ious points. . 168 feet
Beds of passage from dolomite to sandstone.
.30 feet
White sandstone, to level of Bear Creek. 83 feet
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HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
This shows "a thickness of one hundred and sixty-eight feet of the Lower Magnesian limestone, of which the lower one hundred and fourteen feet are concealed by a grassy slope. The upper fif- ty-four feet are exposed in a vertical cliff of hard white dolomite, irregularly stratified and somewhat concretionary in its structure. Of the upper-or St. Peter's-sandstone only twelve feet are here exhibited: it is a friable rock of red color." "The indications of the existence of organic life during the deposition of this lime- stone are few."
Sulphuret of lead has been found in the Lower Magnesian in such quantities that formerly many persons were led to suppose that this rock might one day become of as much importance as the Galena limestone has been. We quote Prof. Hall: "The most important deposits of lead in this rock which have been ob- served within the limits of Iowa, are situated in the valley of Min- eral Creek, a stream flowing north, through a valley lined with precipitous bluffs, into the Upper Iowa river, and about three miles south of a small settlement called New Galena: the diggings are on the southwest quarter of section 13, township 99, range 6 west. In this vicinity the Upper sandstone is well exposed on the top of the bluff, and a shaft has been sunk in it. Along the face of the bluff, in which a thickness of one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty feet of the Lower Magnesian limestone is exposed, a number of drifts have been extended into the rock, a little below its junction with the sandstone, and con- siderable galena has been taken out.
The ore appears to be associated with irregular strings and bunches of calcareous spar, ramifying through the rock, but no- where assuming a regular form like that of a vein, or appearing
* to occupy a well developed fissure. * It is said that between fifty and one hundred thousand pounds of lead had been obtained from these diggings; but it seems hardly possible that the operation should have been, on the whole, a pro- fitable one; and, X we see little to en- courage farther expenditures at this point."
The "mine" was abandoned about that time, of which we shall speak further in another place; and although during the quarter of a century since then there have been a number of persons faithful to this idea of finding lead in paying quantities in the county, none as yet has been developed. Small quantities have been found from time to time, in various portions of the county -in Paint Creek, Jefferson, Ludlow and Union Prairie townships, on Portland Prairie, and notably in the valley of Yellow River and a small tributary three or four miles from the Mississippi. In the last mentioned locality specimens have been found as lately as 1881 which assayed 89 per cent. of lead, with 249.7 ounces of sil- ver to the ton, and a trace of gold. Copper has also been ob- served in some of these specimens, as also in specimens from the
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HISTORY OF ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.
New Galena region. Zinc deposits have long been known to ex- ist in the vicinity of New Galena, and at this day there are par- ties prospecting with the purpose of developing its value and quantity.
We quote further: "The Yellow River cuts into the Lower Magnesian, but not through it. At Volney this rock is seen rising in cliffs from the bottom of the valley to the height of thir- ty or forty feet. On the south side of the river, above the Lower Magnesian, may be seen cropping out the Upper, or
St. Peter's Sandstone .- "This rock occurs as a friable or incohe- rent mass, having a thickness of from fifty to eighty and even one hundred feet, and sometimes having so little coherence as to be removed from the bank like ordinary sand or gravel. * * * Although the grains of which it is composed are of white or lim- pid quartz, the mass is often and particularly near the base, much stained by oxide of iron, while the upper portions are frequently quite free from discoloration, This sandstone will furnish an ex- cellent material for glass making, whenever that branch of indus- try shall be established in the Mississippi Valley."
This sandstone is found in many places in the county, and where accessible have proved very useful for building purposes as in the case of beds of it near Waukon. "It occurs in several outliers on the south side of the Upper Iowa River, some of them occupying considerable areas." On the banks of "the Mississippi the sum- mits of the cliffs recede abruptly from the terrace formed by the Magnesian, owing to its less power of resisting denudation," but where the Trenton Limestone appears over the sandstone, the cliffs again assume their sharp outline above, though, "even then they present a recession above the Magnesian. Sloping abruptly from this, they are capped by the succeeding limestone which rises in perpendicular or overhanging cliffs. In consequence of this character the bluffs have the aspect of a double terrace, the first being formed by the Magnesian, and the second, some eighty feet higner, by the Trenton limestone."
The Trenton Limestone, with its usual fossiliferous bluish-gray layers, occupies the elevated surface of the country through the center of this county, over a space of some ten or twelve miles in width. This rock is usually concealed by the superficial formations (drift, etc.), but crops out in the valleys, * where it is quarried for linie and as a building stone, for both of which uses it is well adapted. * The Trenton limestone proper is marked in some localities by numerous species of its characteristic fossils, while elsewhere they are extremely rare.
This rock is mostly thin-bedded; though the drab-colored layers are firmer, thicker, and usually free from seams, furnishing building stone of moderate dimensions, and, rarely of the thickness of eighteen or twenty inches. *
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