USA > Iowa > Johnson County > Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa, History > Part 2
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In the same spring of 1837 another Indiana man, Pleasant Harris, afterward known as Judge Harris, came to this at-
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tractive region to make settlement. His nephew, James Mas- sey, came with him bringing his wife and child. Both of these made claims, the nephew on the west side of the river opposite the claim of Eli Myers. Pleasant Harris then returned to Indiana to bring his family, which he did the same summer, and with him came others of his relatives and acquaintances. This suggests the study of the causes of migration or the move- ments from certain states to other states, and here is an ex- ample of a movement that is typical. When one went into a new territory and the community heard of the remarkable advantages there the report had an immediate effect upon the ones who remained at home. The uneasiness produced by the going of the friends and neighbors soon resulted in an addi- tional exodus to the same neighborhood in the new state or territory. This is still going on among the people of the Middle West, especially among those of American parentage. The foreigner, or the descendant of the foreigner, holds his farm and pays for it, while the American moves on to follow his former neighbor, hoping to better himself in a new place. This may be wise since it settles new lands and furnishes usually the best material with which to begin the process of developing a new country.
In the group referred to above we find the names of Dr. I. N. Lesh, Jacob, John, and Henry Earhart, all of whom figure in many later events of the county, Bill Duvall, Tom Bradley, the Walker brothers, Samuel and James, Joseph and Henry, Eli Summy, William Wilson, Henry Felkner, and S. C. Trow- bridge, the latter two being among the first county officers. William Sturgis, later one of the county commissioners, and G. W. Hawkins and families settled about this same time in the southern part of the county. Later in the season John Trout, E. Hilton, A. D. Stephens, who had a claim after- ward on the county seat quarter, Samuel Mulholland and John Kight, whose names appear on the land afterward set apart for the capital of the territory, settled in the county. There was a town laid out during this summer on the banks of the Iowa river on the present site of River Junction. It never became anything but a town on paper, but had the Indian name of Sepe-nah-mo, or Sepanamo, as sometimes spelled. An old resident of the neighborhood, who is now past ninety-two, says
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she called it, or the same site at least, "Stump Town."" John Gilbert probably had visions of his town becoming of some consequence, but it failed to meet his expectations. Since then there have been numerous towns on paper, and many have purchased lots of the promoters without ever seeing or realizing the prospective results. The process of erecting a log cabin was familiar enough to the settlers of that time and it is decidedly interesting to listen to the description as given by one who knew all about it.
Cabin construction in the days of the pioneers, exemplified
PIONEER CABINS
the old adage that "necessity is the mother of invention," as it was made of any desired dimensions, without nails, screws, bolts, or bars, iron of any description being entirely wanting beyond the tools with which he labored. Fireplaces and what looked like brick chimneys were as often made without as with any lime or brick. The preliminary work being done of cut- ting the logs and getting them on the ground, the owner made a "raising," which meant the summoning of the entire neigh- borhood for many miles distant. The jug was always a prime consideration at these gatherings, and after it was sampled the work began. Four of the best axmen were placed at the corners of the proposed house, whose business it was to match and adjust the logs as they were rolled into place under the
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direction of the "boss." One window and one door were allowed generally, and the last two logs laid at the top of the house were made to project on both ends, and in these exten- sion notches were cut to hold a log laid in them. At regular intervals from and parallel to this cross beam other timbers were laid, one above the other, making rafters for the roof. Upon these the clapboards were placed, very much the same as modern shingles, only fewer courses, as the clapboards were about four feet long. Each course was secured in its place by means of a heavy pole placed directly over the rafter beneath and held in its place by means of braces. The first at the eaves was kept in place by putting pieces of wood with one end against the log and the other against the "staying pole." The next pole above was stayed from this, and so on to the top. The fireplace was built of rock or of wood lined with rock, or of wood and a heavy covering of clay, and the chim- neys were usually built of slats of wood lined with clay. The door was sometimes a thatched frame work, but more often composed of two large clapboards or puncheons, pinned to- gether with cross pieces and wooden pins, hung on wooden hinges and having a wooden latch. The door was opened by means of a string which passed through a hole above the latch, and when pulled lifted the wooden bar. Hence we have the customary welcome expressed in the saying that, "our latch string always hangs out." "
Gilbert's trading house was known far and wide after its construction in 1837, he having left the employ of the American Fur Company and set up for himself. He attempted to pay the Indians for the right to build on their land by filling them up with whiskey. All hands had turned in to help build the trading house, and they were always supplied with the proper amount of "fire water" while this work was going on. All the raisings, all the bees, were made up of those who had been accustomed to regard the consumption of so much liquor as the proper thing and entirely in harmony with the ideas of the best society. Only the changes of seventy-five years make the difference in opinions. The trading house that had been in charge of Gilbert now came into the possession of Wheton Chase, who had for some time conducted a trading house on the Cedar river some distance above the town of Rochester,
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the first county seat of Cedar county. He conducted the bus- iness after Gilbert had left to establish one for himself.
Labor had no organization then. It was a job here and there, and the young men who came from their homes to begin in the west found employment where they could. One tells about the first winter as a time when finances were low and they had to hustle to the river to find a job cutting steamboat wood, as all the steamers at that time burned wood. The set- tlement was called a "colony," which contained the claimants on both sides of the river from the trading houses to the southern line of the county, a scattered group but counting themselves as one settlement. In the winter of 1837 the num- ber of whites on the east side of the river is said not to have exceeded twenty, and this included the women, Mrs. Chase, Mrs. Lesh, and Mrs. Cain, with the children.
The winter season grew monotonous. There was no com- munication with the outside world, no mail, no news of any kind, no reading of any kind, no place of entertainment. It was at this juncture of affairs that a meeting was called, at the trading house of Gilbert, which was probably the first public gathering in the county of Johnson, for the purpose of considering what was best to be done under the circumstances. While there were only six present and these of three distinct races, white, black, and red, the results were extremely sur- prising when reported by those who had the leading part in the meeting. The object was the discussion of the condition of existing affairs, the want of roads and bridges, mail facil- ities, and the way to secure these things. The leading spirits present were Pleasant Harris, Dr. Lesh, Eli Myers, John Gil- bert, and Henry Felkner. This was in January, 1838. The territorial legislature of Wisconsin was in session at Burling- ton, and it was decided to send two delegates there at once to secure the desired assistance. The difficulty of furnishing the proper credentials came up for arrangement and was settled in the manner peculiar to the frontier and to the de- mands of a present need. One might say "trust the pioneer to find a way or make one," which is well illustrated in the solution of this problem. Judge Pleasant Harris dictated to Dr. Lesh the proceedings of the meeting and the regular selections of the two delegates as if there had been a conven-
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tion of six hundred instead of six, and the reading of the reso- lutions explains the purposes of the delegation. The meeting was described as being large and respectable, and the latter word certainly fits the case, and it was held at the house of the trader John Gilbert, which was also true, on a certain day in January, in the year 1838, which was likewise true. Then some strong language was used to state the purpose of the organization and a great number of gentlemen addressed the assembly of the people in able terms when the formal resolu- tions were adopted instructing the delegates or outlining the things they were to ask for when they should arrive at their destination. The "whereases" in the case numbered five; the first recited that a "great number of people had settled on the Iowa river in the vicinity of Gilbert's trading house;" that there would be a large influx of people in the spring was the burden of the second; that they were suffering great distress on account of the want of roads and bridges and mail agencies was expressed in the third and fourth; while the fifth was given because the legislature was now in session at Burlington. Then came the body of the resolution. The two delegates were appointed by the chair (there was no chairman selected by the meeting) to go to Burlington and to use their efforts to secure the establishment of roads to the Mississippi, to have the legis- lature memorialize Congress to have mail routes established from Bloomington to the trading house of John Gilbert, and finally to have a post office and postmaster appointed at the same place. Gilbert and Harris were then chosen delegates.
It was a long tramp through the deep snows of the open prairie to the capital of the territory at Burlington where they were to find the law makers in session. They met the gover- nor, and he inquired particularly about the number of the settlers on the Iowa river. One of the delegates, Gilbert, told him that there were fifteen hundred, which of course in the mind of Gilbert included the Red Men as well as all the whites for the entire valley. The delegates were informed soon after that the plans were almost completed by Congress to divide the territory and that the new territory of Iowa would soon be established.
In support of some conclusions made in a previous para- graph in regard to the effect of the emigration of a few upon a
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whole neighborhood, the spring of 1838 furnishes an example. Pleasant Harris, called Judge Harris most of the time by his associates, made a return trip to Indiana and induced several of his old neighbors to "come west" with him; among them were Green Hill, John Gardner, Joseph Stover, Benjamin Miller, and John Royal, all men with families. On the return trip Harris came by way of Saint Louis to purchase a supply of provisions and some special merchandise for the saw mill of Felkner and Myers. These he shipped on the American Fur Company's keel boat, the kind that was first used by the trading houses on the rivers of the Indian country. The Frenchman, Coté, kept one on the Cedar river for the same purpose, and the later navigation of the river was probably suggested by the custom thus established.
A new country makes many close friendships and some- times creates intense rivalries. This can be illustrated in al- most any group of settlers in the opening of this country. Harris and Gilbert are said to have been the most intimate friends in that early time and then to have grown apart be- cause of ambitions and designs that could not always be shared by the best of friends. The rivalry of county seats in the state of Iowa or in any of the newer states has been com- mon, and it began in the very first attempts to establish a town in this county. Would-be poets have tried to put into verse some of the things that happened to these rival establishments. These prospective cities were laid out in the minds of the early settlers, Harris and Gilbert, one to be called Osceola and the other Napoleon. The sites were very nearly identical, it ap- pears, but one secured the right of way, some say through strategy, and that defeated the plans of the other, although others have said there was no quarrel. This was in section twenty-two, township seventy-nine, range six, on the river not far below Iowa City." There were times, however, when rival- ry disappeared no matter how strong it might have been. When the pioneer fell ill, when he was in need of care because of the lack of professional service of men trained for such work, then the neighbor came to give aid and comfort. The fall of 1838 was one of trial in this respect. It was not only here but in all parts of the territory that the "fever and ague" made life miserable for all the settlers. Some of them packed
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their goods and returned to the old home in Indiana, to escape the malady. Among these was the Stover family, according to the story of Mrs. Benjamin Ritter, who was Miss Mary Stover, the family remaining until 1842 before returning to their claims. Those who attempted to stay the fever out had a hard time. They had no other food than the regular rations of cornbread, fat pork and coffee. No hospital diet was avail- able, the "old home comforts" could not be had on the fron-
OLD SETTLERS MEETING, 1910
tier. To escape the trials one must not attempt to make the first home in a new country. Frosty and frigid weather was said to be the best cure for the disease. There were certain drugs that were always kept ready for such ills but it seems nature had a better remedy, and the trouble finally passed forever.
John Gilbert will ever remain as the "Indian trader, and the friend of both the red and the white man" in the early history of the county. During the excitement pending the location of
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the capital of the territory, when the minds of the settlers about Napoleon were all in doubt and uncertainty, the man who had always been ready to advise and labor, sickened, and the care of all the settlement was now to make him well. It was not so ordered, for in spite of all their efforts he died in the last days of March, 1838. Just before his passing a com- mission had arrived, making him the postmaster at Napoleon. A coffin of walnut was prepared by his friends, and with sad- dened hearts both the natives and the comrades from the states paid him the last tribute as they laid him away in the little garden he had fenced near the trading house. No words were spoken at this interment, but the blackened faces of the In- dians were mute expressions of the sorrow they felt for the loss of the man who, they said, was always honest. John Gil- bert was a native of New York. He began life among the Indians in Canada, as a fur trader, and continued the prac- tice until his knowledge of the Indian became very complete. Many years after his death his remains were removed to the Iowa City cemetery, but the place of his grave is not now known to any one.
Henry Felkner once related a trying ordeal through which he passed during this time in the history of the community. It will be remembered by many that he and Eli Myers had built a saw mill on the creek north of the county seat, on what is called Rapid creek. There was a time when they ran short of provisions and the only remedy was to go after more meat. None was found at the trading house and that meant a trip to the source of supply at Bloomington. Mr. Felkner borrowed a horse of Gilbert and made the trip to get his meat supply. This was a slab of bacon weighing some seventy pounds which was carried in a sack on the horse before him. On his arrival Gilbert was not as cordial as he might have been, because of the time consumed in making the trip, his horse being needed, and for this reason the borrower refused to ask any more favors, preferring to carry his supply of pork on his back the remaining eight miles, which he did in spite of high water and bad traveling. No roads, no bridges, no means of crossing flooded sloughs but the natural one of wading made all cross country journeys anything but pleasure trips.
Like the building of a log house the method of breaking the
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prairie sod is not familiar to many now living. The present custom of using the traction engine with its dozen plows at- tached if placed beside the old long-beamed ox breaker would furnish a strange contrast. Some have seen the three horse team hitched to the patent prairie plow of later years, but none the kind that turned the furrow of twenty-four to twenty-eight inches and was supported by two wheels at the end of the long beam and required four to seven yoke of good oxen to pull when set in the tough prairie sod. The man who remembers his experiences when a lad in plowing the new sod for the first time after it was broken, and before the red roots had been well killed, can imagine what would happen to one of these big
The Home of a Pioneer, From a Pen and Ink Drawing dy Bertha Horack Shambaugh.
plows when it struck one of those obstructions. He remem- bers a sudden wrench of the plow and the twist of the body to escape the glancing blow of the handles in the ribs and then a "haul" backwards to cure the "balk." The big ox team did not stop for such things; this was left for the next time. To
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make progress at all possible it was necessary to keep the plow sharp by filing the "lay." Sometimes the driver carried his tools to the field and was able to "draw out" his cutting edge before filing, thus saving a trip to the blacksmith shop. The latter was one of the essentials of a new country and for that reason it is among the first industries to be found and among the oldest of establishments in any of the communities.
Horses were not used then, the oxen being much more eco- nomical in that they could be turned loose on the grass at night to feed for the next day. The grading on the first rail- road in this state was prepared for by using the oxen to tear up the sod. Some of the men who furnished such ox teams to assist in the work of grading the Lyons Iowa Central road are now living.8 The sod thus turned was planted to corn to furnish the food supply as soon as possible. This was also a favorite soil for some kinds of vegetables, the best of garden products being raised on new breaking if the season was favor- able. There was no want of the opportunity to gather hay for rough feed, since the quantity was unlimited. Many years after this date (1838) all the farmer had to do, until the land was fenced or "broken out" was to cut around his claim of hay land, probably held by some speculator, and the rest of the neighborhood respected his right to that much hay - unless he tried to be selfish and take more than he had just right to have. It was not easy to care for this when tools were not at hand. The first of the kind were all hand tools and those that followed where other power was used required patience to manage. The upland hay was neglected as of little conse- quence because of such trouble to bring together. The long slough grass was easier to handle in the prairie winds and much more rapidly made. This was food for beast, but meant little for man except as it furnished him something from the animal life he fed. It gave him no immediate supply of meal or flour. This he must secure from distant sources until he had corn and wheat to grind and a place to grind them at his home mill, which could be anywhere in reasonable distance.
One pleasant old lady tells of the experiences of her father in making a trip to Illinois to mill about the year 1837. He set out with his oxen to be gone a definite time, but the time passed and he did not return. The family became anxious
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and hungry, yet he failed to appear. The mother was frantic with fear of accident and there were no mails to bring her in- formation; she must simply wait the return of the missing man. Three weeks from the time he left home he came with his meal, the delay having been caused by his not being able to cross the Mississippi. Similar to this experience is that of all the pioneers. Here in the river valley they had to cross to the other side of the big Mississippi in order to find the supply. As one has put it in the following: "The usual method was for a number to unite and send one of the large breaking teams to Illinois for a load of meal for the neighborhood, which was distributed to the stockholders on its arrival. Then corn was the staff of life and flour ranked as one of the luxuries." After the meal was secured the question of getting it baked was sometimes serious enough. The oven was often borrowed of the neighbor, or one was had in common which had to be used in turn. These were made of cast iron and were portable.
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CHAPTER II
Typical Pioneers and Pioneer Experiences
'M ORE than one hundred and sixty years ago Marquette floated in silent wonder along what is now the eastern border of Iowa, and in September, 1832, the representatives of the United States and of the Sac and Fox nation of Indians met upon the west bank of the Mississippi river within the present limits of the city of Davenport and negotiated a treaty by which the Indians sold to the United States six million acres of land. The tract of land was bounded on the east by the Mississippi river and on the west by a line beginning on the north line of Missouri and extending in a northeasterly and also northwesterly direction to the Upper Iowa river, and being about fifty miles west of the Mississippi river through- out its entire length.
"Within this strip of country the Indian reserved four hun- dred square miles of land on the banks of the lower Iowa river near its mouth for their own use. That body of land was known as the Keokuk Reserve. In September, 1836, over one thousand chiefs and braves of the Sac and Fox Indians met Governor Dodge of Wisconsin near the site of the meeting of 1832 and negotiated a treaty by which the United States be- came the owners of the Keokuk Reserve. The gathering at the treaty of September, 1836, was remarkable in that it was composed of the greatest number comprising all of the great warriors and orators and chiefs of the Sac and Fox nation that had ever assembled to treat with the white men, and for the reason that at that time the United States gave to Antoine Le Claire, who had acted as interpreter during the formation of the treaty, two sections of land and this was the first transfer of land to a private individual in Iowa.
"The treaty of September, 1836, is memorable also for the reason that then and there originated the first settlement of
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Johnson county. As nearly as is known, about 1826, the American Fur Company established a trading post on the Iowa river in what is now the northeast quarter of section ten, town- ship 78 north, range 6 west, where a little stream empties into the river from the east. John Gilbert was their agent there for many years and with the Indians of this locality he attended the treaty of 1836 and while there formed the ac- quaintance of two young men who were in quest of a place to locate homes. Mr. Gilbert invited them to come with him to the trading post on the Iowa river, and see for themselves the many advantages of that locality. Mounting their horses the trader and his two guests took the deep worn trail of the In- dians and in due time reached the trading house on the banks of the Iowa. Impressed with the beauty of the landscape and the evident fertility of the soil they located claims and pro- ceeded to build cabins upon the land they had selected for their future homes. Then as the frosts of autumn began to fall they returned to the settlements in northern Indiana to pass the winter and prepare for removal to their Iowa homes in the early spring.
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