USA > Iowa > Wright County > History of Wright County, Iowa, its peoples, industries and institutions > Part 2
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193
Second Iowa Cavalry 141
Secret Societies
205
Senators, State
112
Settlement of County 53
Settler, the First
53, 68
Settlers, Early
54
Sheep Raising
125
Sheffield
68
Sheriffs
106
Slavery Prohibited
40
Snow Storm, A Late 374
Soil of the County
44
Solburg
298
Soldiers from Wright County 140
State Capital, Locating the 39
State Line War
37
State of Iowa Created
38
State Representatives
113
State Senators
112
Statistics
119
Stock Raising
116, 123
Store, First in County 68
Streams
50
Stryker, William
53, 68, 91, 132, 327
Sugar Beet Culture
125
Sunday School Work
186
Supervisors
85, 92,
109
Supervisors, First Board of.
85
Surveyors, County
106
Swamp Land Fund.
99
Swamp Lands
127
T
Teachers' Association
200
Telephone Companies
379
HISTORICAL INDEX.
Thirty-second Regiment 140
Thrall
132, 319, 361, 365
Timber
46
Timber Bounties
90
Township Organizations 76
Transportation
132
Treasurers, County
105
Treaties with the Indians.
35
Trees
46
Troy Township-
Agriculture 124
Centennial History 338
Description of.
338
Early Events
342
First Settlers
53, 68, 132
Groves
338
Name
339
Organization of 76,
339
Pioneer Hardships
340
Railroads
338
Road Tax Apportionment, 1860 84
School Apportionment, 1860
84
Schools
201
Settlers
54, 68
Sunday School Work 186
Twin Lakes
49
U
United Brethren Churches
70,
183
United Lutheran Church 179
United Presbyterian Churches
183
United Workmen, Ancient Order of 215
V
Valuations, Assessed, 1884. 99
Vernon Township-
Boundaries 345
Churches
176
Horticulture
123
Location
345
Organization of 76, 349
Population
348
Railroad Tax
92
Road Tax Apportionment, 1860 84
Schools
201
Settlement
345
Veterans' Association
142
Village Plats
360
W
Wall Lake
49, 353
Wall Lake Township-
Churches 183
Description 350
Drainage
355
353
Hog Cholera 125
Name
350
Population 350
Railroad Tax
92
Schools
201
Settlers
69,
350
War of the Rebellion 138
Waterman 353
365
Weather Statistics 119
Weber, N. F. 162
301
Wild Game 380
Wolf Scalp Bounty 99
Woman's Relief Corps 222
Woodmen
215, 217
Woolstock-
Altitude 47
Banks 236
Business Interests, 1915 358
Churches
175,
179
Creamery
122
Early Business Interests 358
Lodges 214,
217
Municipal History 359
Newspapers 146
Plaited 358, 361
Population
358
Postoffice
359, 365
Railroads
136
Woolstock Township-
Description 356
log Cholera 125
Organization
357
Population
356
Settlers
69, 356
Streams
356
Wright County Medical Society
230
Y
Yeomen of America
218
Wells, Flowing 47.
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX
A
Ahrends, Orren 620
Aker, John W 961
Aldrich, Friend 915
Aldrich, Herbert 821
Aldrich, R. E. Lee 926
Allen, Edgar A. 418
Allen, Fred El. 569
Allen, James W. 908
Anderson, Ilenry 496
Andersou, John O.
552
Anderson, Otto T. 891
Arends, John C. 1023
Asbe, Hans T. 650
Austin, Roland S. 829
Axen, Peter A. 845
B
9
Baines, John E. 1046
Baker, Jacob W. 516
Baker, Ralf A. 807
Baldus, Charles C., D. D. S. 1055
Ballou, Edwin
400
Ballou, Edwin R.
752
Bamford, llarry L. 874
Barkey, Willard N.
789
Barnes, Arthur Il. 827
Bates, P. F.
963
Beinhauer, Louis 1 ..
779
Beisner, Herman C. 871
~Bell, Willie 536
Bernard, Julian 6.39
Bernard, Ransom, M. D. 814
Best, E. E., M. D). 426
Bingham, Edgar 917 Birdsall, Benjamin P. 928
Bisgrove, Frank 605
Bjelland, Samuel 1032
Blake, W. R.
709
Bobo, Benjamin F. 766
Bosworth, Amos Il. 936
Boughton, Edward 770
Boughton, Frank 680
Boyington, John 850
Boyington, Spencer J. 976
Braden, Millard D. 800
Brassfield, Major Minter 415
Breckenridge. Robert W. 608
Brewster, George 763
Brisbin, William A. 713
Bronlewee, George 13א
Brooks, Harry J. 932
Brooks, James L. 488
Buck, Jacob F. 1001
Buckton, John G. 971
Burnett, Daniel M. 546
Burrows, Edwin C. 843
Burt, Henry 432
Burt, William R.
854
Butts, George W. 729
Byro, Ole .1. 581
C
Callender, Edinund M. 1016
Cameron, Robert M. 484
Campbell, John 424
Campbell, William T. 613
Cantillon, James P. 776
Carpenter, Joseph B. 544
Chapman, Hon. . 1. S. 417
Chapman, Willis E. 704
Christena, Peter 503
Christensen, Chris. 716
Christensen, Hans 582
Christensen, J. R., M. D 687
Christensen, Rasmus P. 583
Clarke, !.. J. 701
Claude, Jule 560
Claude, Paul 967
Clausen, Christian M. 1052
Cleveland, E. S.
383
9E_5-
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
1
Collins, Warren 977
Cook, George D. 826
Cooke, Harry A. 806
Coons, M. F. 661
Cooper, John 545
Coulter. James R. 501
Cowley, Col. Amos F. 989
Cramer, Jelske 416
Cunningham, Mitchell W. 712
Cuppett, David L.
419
V.IT. ..
D
Darkas, Martin 542
Denger, George D. 898
Denio, John W.
888
Dennison, John D. 438
Doctor, John W.
553
Duerst, Nicholas C.
522
Duffy, Robert R. 476
E
Eardley, Rev. Michael F. 732
Eastman, R. K. 410
Elder, George F. 912
Eldridge, George T. 995
Enger, Hedley C.
735
Engstrom, Fred
549
Engstrom, Oscar A. 743
Erickson, Benhard
700
Erickson, E. N. 528
Evans, Burton D. 987
Evans, Edward
884
Evans, Fleming
886
F
Fagan, John, Sr. 811
Fairbanks, Jeremiah 793
Fenninger, John E. 862
Fillmore, Floyd D. 774
Finn, William 1012
Fisher, Bert E. 824
Fisher, Lon 706
Fitts, Frank O. 499
Flett, James 880
Flindt, L. Peter 567
Flynn, Sylvester 797
Fobes, Marvin G. 458
Focht, Lawrence G. 596
إر.
Folkedal, Peter 738
Fort, John S. 667
France, Richard 451
France, William H.
634
Fritze, Henry II.
512
Fuller, Albert C. 947
G
George, Joseph, M. D. 758
Gibbs, William F.
411
Gillespie, S. I.
5.29
Glendy, Gilbert A. 1000
Goslin, Peter H.
427
Granger, Thomas E. 998
Green, James 841
Griesy, Valentine 728
Griffith, Charles 11. 533
Groen, Henry
073
=
Hallock, HI. B. 796
Hamer, Thomas 699
Hammond. Clyde E. 782
Hansen, Andrew
570
Hanson, Ilans 950
ilardy, George Il.
412
llartshorn, Fred C. 590
Ilarwood, Burt 830
Hauge, Lewis 997
Haukole, Charles
916
Helland, Lewis E. 1026
Henn, Jacob F. 985
Henneberry, J. W. 764
llenry, Francis A. 550
Hewett, Hon, Sumner B. 394
Mill. Charles W. 481
Hill, Leroy. G. 921
Hinman, Stephen N. 865
llirt, Robert 690
Hobbet, Ole A. 714
Hohenshell, George
601
Holmes, Anton
895
Iloward, Calvin J.
1037
llowell, Martin L ..
869
llowland, E. A.
393
Hoyt, Perry J. 557
Huey, Calvin E. 902
Humphrey, Hon. W. T. R. 456
Humphreys, Christopher C. 606
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
I
Imboden, John
635
J
James, George
573
Jameson, George H. 1028
Johnson, Christian B. 504
Johnson, J. N.
506
Johnson, John
607
Johnson, John J.
Johnson, Lawrence P.
612
Johnson, Ludwig C.
958
Johnson, Thomas 1 ..
598
668
Jones, J. R.
Jones, Edward L.
1047
Jones, James M.
447
K
Kastler, Louis A. 697
Keith, John S. 920)
'Keith, Karl K.
993
Kelling, John F. 678
Kellogg, George H.
860
747
Kent, John F.
Kent, William L.
514
1039
Kinghorn, Harry H.
698
Kirstein, John
695
Kitley, Frank 1054
Knight, Thomas A. 490
Knight, Thomas L.
904
Knox, James I.
Knutson, Joseph A. 682
Koltvet, Nels 726
Krieger, Andrew 543
L
Larson, John J. 624
Laurent, Charles 694
Leonard, Charles O. 739
Leonard, Thomas 969
Lewis, Charles O. 1057
Lewis, Osman J. 440
Lilleskau, Jacob B. 684
lindley, G. F. 637
Loats, Fred 1027
Long, J. E. D. D. S. 991
Longley, Charles E. 498
Loobey, N. M. 674
Loomis, Perry C. 857
Lotts, Ernest G., D. D. S. 982
Luick, Ernest W.
745
Luick, Frederick J.
454
Luick, Harold F.
463
Luick, Michael H.
863
1022
Lynch, Fred
Mc
McAlpine, John L. 442
Mc Bride, Duncan
640
McComber, Joseph D.
579
McConaughy, Clyde IL., D. D. S.
784
McCormick, James 671
McCulloch, Benjamin E., D. V. S. 710
McCurry, William W:
736
Mellhinney, Albert C.
1033
MeGrath, John W. 518
McGrath, William C., M. D.
408
Melntosh, Oliver C.
409
McKay. George A.
Mc Kinley, Ephraim 878
McKinley. Lewis W. 878
McNaughton, L. D., M. D 896
MeNulty, Thomas, Sr.
494
MeVicker, Ira D.
992
M
Madsen, Fred 875
Mantle, Ilarry 548
Mantle, William 11. 665
Marshall, Rush A. 629
Martfeld, August 652
428
Mechem, Emmer L.
757
Mechem, George 1 ..
Mechem, John G. 621
Meeker, Joe W. 618
Meister, William 835
Meyer, C. W. 478
833
Meyer, George F.
867
Meyer, Henry E., M. D
Meyer, John 11. 1056
Mickelson, Michael A. 422
Middleton, Jesse C. 511
Middleton, Lyman B. 802
Middleton, Samuel .1. 794
893
Miller, George A.
524
McDaniels, Frank
521
.
Martin, C. 11.
760
2
754
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
Miller, James E. 930
Milnes, Samuel C. 847
Montgomery, John M. 659
Morse, Charles H., M. D. 588
Morse, Rufus C.
1019
Morse, Willard J. 733
Morton, Oliver P. 688
Murphy, Rev. Richard P. 799
Myers, Oscar R.
832
morse, John L father willand N
Nail, William IL. 696
Nelson, Addison B. 627
Nelson. Adney R. 628
Nelson, Charles D. 616
Nelson, Frederick
483
Nickles, John 1 ..
465
Nolan, Very Rev. T.
864
O
Oberton, H. H. 475
Ogden, Erie O. 818
Okdale, Rev. Henry A. 859
Olson, Andrew M.
587
Orcutt, John W.
563
Osier, F. E. 825
O'Toole, Thomas J., M. D. 703
Overbaugh, Charles N. 385
Overbaugh, John M. 722
Overbaugh, William H. 721
Owens, N. W.
791
P
Paine, Frank L. 571
Paine, Warren A. 568
Palmer, Emanuel J. 592
Pardun, Frank C. 468
Pardun, Orson J.
1007
Parrish, Solomon E.
681
Parsons, James
943
Pascoe, William A.
852
Paskn, William H. 534
Patton, James 1043
Peppers, John L., M. D. 663
Pester, Frank A. 986
Peterson, Albert J. 945
Peterson, Charles F.
1003
Peterson. Fred II. 939
Pinion, Alfred 461
Pletcher, John 555
Pohlman, Frank C. 772
Poncin, Fird 768
Poncin, Victor 877
Porter, Cyrus H. 578
Potter, William, M. D. 848
Pritchard, J. S.
433
Pritchett, John D. 922
Pye, William A.
1009
Reed, Edwin S.
+ Orphie L.
20c'
Ramsay, Wallace R.
725
Rapp, Anthony 654
Reed, J. Deloss 632
Reese, Nicholas
508
Renne. James
691
Richards, William T. 1041
Rolfe, Adelbert M. 1000
Rompf, Richard
724
Rompf, William
724
Root, Herbert P. 910
Rosecrans, William I. 429
Rowen, llon. John E. 395, 964
Rowland, llon. E. A.
393
Russell, Michael, Sr.
817
S
Sadler, Anthony
539
Sadler, Henry 538
St. Clair, Dr. Floyd P., A. B. 957
Sampson, Charles
750
Sams, Joseph H., M. D. 656
Sanders, Isaac B. 856
.Schaff, Walter E., D. D. S.
785
Schaffter, Eugene
603
Schipull, Charles
510
Schnug, George E., M. D.
761
Schroder, Albert
1049
Schroder, Herman C. 979
Schroeder, F. M. 839
Schroeder, Louis W.
954
Schumacher, George 810
Schutt, John A. 541
Schwieger, Louis E. 837
Schwenck, John R. 658
Scott, Ole J.
585
Sebby, Rasmus R.
631
chard family see packard genealogy p. 52-3
Schleiffarth, Walter D. 924
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
Serex, Emile 900
Shaw, James O. 400
Sheffield, Dawson J. 599
Sheldon, F. B. 430
Sheplee, John K.
448
Sherman, Daniel 480
Shillington, Thomas .1. 625
Shoen, Henry W.
531
Short, William H.
672
Simerson, Simon
1014
Simpson, Edward A.
526
Skeie. Samuel
719
Skouge, George
595
Smith, Jesse 445
Smith, John C.
646
Smith, Hon. John R. 495
Smith, Nelson
974
Smith, Hon. William C.
397
Smutney, Edd 815.
Snyder, John B.
787
Spangler, Charles M. 472
Spavin, John
450
Stark, William A. 820
Starr, George 2אא
State, John M.
610
Stecher, Wilhelm
1059
Sterling, James II. 929
Stockdale, T. T. 679
Stockseth, Henry O. 1017
Stockseth, Nels O.
741
Strever, George R.
540
Stroup, Irvin A.
558
Stryker, J. D. 566
Suiter, Benjamin B.
942
Sumners, Harry
633
Sumners. S. W.
753
T
Tallman, George A. 1011
Tallman, Wilbur H. 467
Tanck, J. H. 519
Thayer, James R. 464
Thebiay, Edward
644
Thielen, Peter 537
Thissen, R. J., D. C. 707
Thompson, C. J.
692
Thompson, Ole
486
Thompson, Oscar W. 1020
Thornley, Frederick S., D. D. S. 778
Thul, John C.
617
Tompkins, E. D., M. D. 436
Tracy, U. B. 444
Trask, Grant L. 564
Trausch, Stephen 623
Trees, Pink
1025
Trooien, P. O., M. D.
686
Tyrrell, Lewis W.
643
U
Ulrich, John W.
469
U'lstad, Oscar
576
U'mbreit, Frederick W. 471
Wallace, Thomas
614
Wallace, Thomas S. 492
Wallin, Manuel 675
Wasem, John 407
Watkins, Louis F. 584
Webster, George L. 960
Weeks, Elling O. 767
Whipple, Thomas K. 1036
Whitten, Hugh J. 906
Wilcox, Henry
642
Wilcox, Stephen 561
Wilcox, Stephen 717
Williams, George C., D. V. S. 809
Williams, Harry C.
562
Wobbeking, William 11. 1050
Woodin, John C. 938
Woodley, Levi D. 934
Worrell, O. M.
648
Worthington, Frank L.
933
Y
Yearous, Aaron
403
Yeoman, Lucius D.
913
Young, George W.
405
Z
Zenor. Frank M.
718
Zinn, Edgar N., M. D.
669
HISTORICAL
CHAPTER I.
RELATED STATE HISTORY.
INDIAN OCCUPANCY-FIRST APPEARANCE OF WHITE MEN.
Before entering upon the history of Wright county, proper, it is well to make a brief statement as to the occupancy of this locality by various Indian tribes; also something concerning the domain including this county when it was yet a part of Iowa territory and still later, when it became a state.
PRE-HISTORIC AND INDIAN RACES.
Of what is termed the pre-historic race that inhabited this section of the Northwest, there is but little known, the only history of this extinct race being the mounds and the contents of the same. These mounds are found scattered here and there in many sections of this and other states, and some have been found in Wright county. Whether these Mound Builders were a distinct race from the North American Indian or not, is still an unsettled question, but the evidence so far goes to show that they sprang from some of the tribes of Asia. Those best versed in such matters claim that this settle- ment from the Orient came about either by ship-wrecked sailors or by true immigration from Asia, by way of Bering strait. There is evidence that the Mound Builders were people well up in art and science, as then understood in the world, and that copper was mined and worked in a fashion now un- known to the most skilled artisan. They made implements of war and had elaborate houses, practiced domestic economy and were possibly the ances- tors of the North American Indian.
For more than one hundred years after Marquette and Joliet trod the
(3)
34
WRIGHT COUNTY, IOWA,
soil of Iowa, and admired its fertile plains not a single settlement was made or even attempted here; not even a trading post was established. During this time the Illinois Indians, once a powerful tribe, gave up the entire possession of this "Beautiful Land" ( as its name, "Iowa," really signified) to the Sacs and Foxes. In 1803 when Louisiana was purchased by the United States, the Sac and Fox tribes, with the Iowas, possessed the entire domain within Iowa. The Sacs and Foxes occupied also most of the present state of Illi- nois. The four most important towns of the Sacs were along the Mississippi, two on the east side, one near the mouth of the Upper lowa and one at the head of the Des Moines rapids near the present town of Montrose. Those of the Foxes were, one on the west side of the Mississippi, just above Daven- port ; one about twelve miles from the river back of the Dubuque lead mines, and one on Turkey river. The principal village of the Iowa was on the Des Moines river, in Van Buren county, where Iowaville now stands. Here the great and last battle between the Sacs and Foxes and the lowas was fought. in which Black Hawk, then a young man, commanded the attacking forces.
THE NEUTRAL STRIP.
The Sioux had the northern portion of this state and southern Minne- sota. They were a fierce and war-like nation who often disputed possession with their rivals in savage and bloody warfare; but, finally, a boundary line was established by a treaty between them and the government of the United States, made at Prairie Du Chien in 1825. This however, became the source of an increased number of quarrels between the tribes, as each trespassed, or was thought to trespass, upon the rights of those on the other side of the line. In 1830, therefore, the government created a forty-mile strip of neutral ground between them, which policy proved to be more successful in the inter- csts of peace.
Soon after Louisiana was acquired from France by the United States, the latter adopted measures for the exploration of the new territory, having in view the conciliation of the numerous tribes of Indians by whom it was possessed, and also the selection of proper sites for military posts and trading stations. This was accordingly accomplished. But before the country could be opened up for settlement by the whites, it was necessary that the Indian titles should be extinguished and the red men removed. When the government assumed control of the country by virtue of the Louisiana pur- chase, nearly all Iowa was in possession of the Sac and Foxes, at whose head stood the rising, daring and intelligent Black Hawk. On November 3, 1804,
35
WRIGHT COUNTY, IOWA.
a treaty was completed with these tribes, by which they ceded to the United States the Illinois side of the river Mississippi in consideration of goods to the value of two thousand two hundred and thirty-four dollars and fifty cents then delivered and an annuity of one thousand dollars, to be paid in goods at cost ; but Black Hawk always maintained that the chief who entered into that compact acted without authority, and that, herefore the treaty was not binding. The first fort on lowa soil was built at Ft. Madison. A short time before, a military post was fixed at what is now Warsaw, Illinois, and named Ft. Edwards. These enterprises caused mistrust among the Indian tribes. Indeed Ft. Madison was located in violation of the treaty of 1804. The Indians sent delegations to the whites at these forts to learn what they were doing and what they intended. On being informed that those struc- tures were merely trading posts, they were incredulous and became more and more suspicious. Black Hawk, therefore, led a party to the vicinity of Ft. Madison and attempted its destruction, but a premature attack by him caused his failure.
1823692
In 1812, when war was declared between this country and Great Britain, Black Hawk and his band allied themselves with the British, partly because they were dazzled with specious promises, but mostly, perhaps, because they had been deceived by the Americans. Black Hawk said plainly that the latter fact was the cause. A portion of the Sacs and Foxes, however, headed by Keokuk ( Watchful Fox) could not be persuaded into hostilities against the United States, they being disposed to stand by the treaty of 1804. The Indians were, therefore, divided into the "war" and the "peace" parties. On Black Hawk's return from the British army, he said he was introduced to Keokuk as the war chief of the braves then in that village. On inquiry as to how he became chief, there were given him the particulars of his having killed a Sioux in battle, which fact placed him among the warriors and of his having headed an expedition in defence of their village at Peoria. In person, Keokuk was tall and of stately bearing, and in speech he was a gen- nine, though uneducated orator. He never mastered the English language, hence his biographers have never been able to do his character justice. He was a friend of the United States government and ever tried to persuade the Indians that it was useless to attack a nation so powerful as that of the United States.
The treaty of 1804 was renewed in 1816, and Black Hawk himself signed it, though he afterwards held that he was deceived and that the treaty was not even yet binding. But there was no further serious trouble with
36
.
WRIGHT COUNTY, IOWA.
the Indians until the noted Black Hawk War of 1832, all of which took place in Illinois and Wisconsin, with the expected result-the defeat and capture of old Black Hawk and the final removal of all hostile Indians to the west of the Mississippi river. Black Hawk died on October 3. 1838, at his home in this state, and was buried there, but his remains were afterwards placed in a museum of the Historical Society at Burlington, where they were accidentally destroyed by fire.
More or less affecting the territory now included within the state of Iowa, fifteen treaties have been made, an outline of which is here given: In 1804, when the whites agreed to not settle west of the Mississippi on Indian lands; in 1815, with the Sioux, ratifying peace with Great Britain and the United States; with the Sacs, a treaty of similar nature and also ratifying that of 1804, the Indians agreeing not to join their brethren who, under Black Hawk, had aided the British; with the Foxes, ratifying the treaty of 1804, the Indians agreeing to deliver up all their prisoners; with the Iowas, a treaty of friendship; in 1816, with the Sacs of Rock River, rati- fying the treaty of 1804; in 1824, with the Sacs and Foxes, the latter relin- quishing all their lands in Missouri, and that portion of the southeast corner of Iowa known as the Half-Breed tract, being set off to the half-breeds; in 1825, placing a boundary line between the Sacs and Foxes on the south and the Sioux on the north; in 1830 when the line was widened to forty miles; also, in the same year, with the several tribes, who ceded the large portion of their possession in the western part of the state; in 1832, with the Winne- bagoes, exchanging lands with them and providing a school, etc., for them; also, in the same year, the Black Hawk purchase was made, of about six million acres along the west side of the Mississippi from the southern line of Iowa to the mouth of the Iowa river; in 1836, with the Sacs and Foxes, ceding Keokuk's reserve to the United States; in 1837, with the same, when , another slice of territory, comprising one million and a quarter acres, joining west of the foregoing tract, was obtained; also, in the same year, when these Indians gave up all their lands allowed them under former treaties; and finally, in 1842, when they relinquished their title to all their lands west of the Mississippi river.
IOWA TERRITORY.
In 1834 this state was incorporated into the territory of Michigan and thus became subject to the ordinance of 1787. Two years later it became a part of Wisconsin territory, and, two years thereafter, became the territory of Iowa, with sixteen counties and a population of twenty-three thousand.
37
WRIGHT COUNTY, IOWA.
The first Legislature was held at Belmont, Wisconsin, in October, 1836; the second at Burlington, Iowa, in November, 1837, and a third also at the last named place in 1838.
As early as 1837, the people of Iowa began to petition Congress for a separate territorial organization, which was granted, June 12 following. Ex- governor Lucas, of Ohio, was appointed by President Van Buren to be the first governor of the newly-created territory. About this time there occurred what is known as the
STATE LINE WAR.
This was a difficulty that arose between the territories of Missouri and Iowa, over the location of the line between the two. The strip in question was from eight to ten miles in width, nearly across the domain between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Both territories claimed this valuable land. Missouri's officers, who attempted to collect taxes within the disputed terri- tory, were at once arrested and confined in jail by Iowa sheriffs and the respective governors called out the militia, preparing for bloodshed. About one thousand two hundred Jowa men enlisted, and five hundred were actually armed and encamped in Van Buren county, ready to defend their territory, when three prominent and able men were sent to Missouri as envoys, to effect, if possible, a peaceable adjustment of the difficulty. Upon their arri- val they found that the county commissioners of Clark county, Missouri, had rescinded their orders for the collection of taxes, and that Governor Boggs had dispatched messengers to the governor of Iowa proposing to sub- mit an agreed case to the supreme court of the United States for the settle- ment of the boundary line question. This proposition was declined; but afterward, upon petition of Iowa and Missouri, Congress authorized the suit to settle the controversy.
The suit was instituted, and resulted in the decision that Iowa had only asserted the "truth of history" and that she knew where the rapids of the Des Moines were located (this being the point from which the boundary line west was to take its place of beginning). Thus ended the Jowa-Missouri war. Many years later, Judge C. C. Nourse stated that if Missourians "did not know where the rapids of the river were located, that was no sufficient reason for killing them off with powder and lead; and if we did know a little more of the history and geography than they did, we ought not to be shot for our learning. We commend our mutual forebearance to older and greater people."
38
WRIGHT COUNTY, IOWA.
IOWA MADE A STATE.
In 1844, the population of Iowa territory had reached a sufficient num- ber to justify it being organized into a state, and the territorial Legislature passed an act on February 12, that year, submitting to the people the question of the formation of a state constitution and providing for the election of delegates to a convention to be called together for that purpose. The people voted on this proposition at their township elections in the following April, giving the measure a large majority. The elected delegates assembled in convention at Iowa City, October 7, 1844, and finished their work on Novem- ber I. Hon. Shepherd Leffler, the president of the convention, was instruct- ed to transmit a certified copy of the proposed constitution to the President for submittal by him to Congress at the earliest day. It also provided that it should be submitted, together with any changes that might be made by Con- gress, to the people of the territory, for their approval or rejection, at the township elections of April, 1845. The proposed boundaries were unsatis- factory to the people and this constitution was rejected. It really abridged Iowa's territory, so that we had no land west of Kossuth county and extend- ed thirty miles over into what is now Minnesota.
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