History of Wright County, Iowa, its peoples, industries and institutions, Part 2

Author: Birdsall, B. P., ed
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis : B. F. Bowen and Co.
Number of Pages: 1132


USA > Iowa > Wright County > History of Wright County, Iowa, its peoples, industries and institutions > Part 2


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


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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."


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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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