USA > Iowa > Marion County > The History of Marion County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, & C. > Part 41
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While there was much amusement afforded the pioneer in hunting and trapping, and while there was a good deal of profit as well, yet these pleas- ures and profits were doubtless more than counterbalanced by the annoy- ance and destruction of property occasioned by the wild animals.
THE CALIFORNIA GOLD EXCITEMENT.
No doubt the desire for " gold " has been a mainspring of all progress and enterprise in the county from the beginning till the present time, and will so continue till the remote ages. Usually, however, this desire has been manifested in the usnal avenues of thrift, industry and enterprise. On one occasion, however, it passed the bounds of reason and assumed the character of a mania.
The gold mania first broke out in the fall of 1849, when stories began to be first spread abroad of the wonderful richness of the placer mines of Cal- ifornia. The excitement grew daily, feeding on the marvelous reports that came from the Pacific slope, and nothing was talked of but the achieve- ments of the Argonauts of '49.
Instead of dying out, the fever mounted higher and higher. It was too late to cross the plains, but thousands of people throughout the States be- gan their preparations for starting the following spring, and among the number were many in Marion county. The one great subject of discussion about the firesides and in the log cabins that winter was the gold of Cali- fornia. It is said that at one time the majority of the able-bodied men of the county were unsettled in mind and were considering the project of starting to California. Even the most thoughtful and sober-minded fonnd it dificult to resist the infection.
Wonderful sights were seen when this great emigration passed through -sights that may never be again seen in the county, perhaps. Some of the wagons were drawn by cows; other gold-hunters went on foot and hauled their worldly goods in hand-carts. The gold-hunters generally had left the moralities of life behind them, and were infested with a spirit of disorder and demoralization. The settlers breathed easier when they had passed.
Early in the spring of 1850 the rush began, one line of the California trail passing directly through this county. It must have been a scene to
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beggar all description. There was one continuous line of wagons from east to west as far as the eye could reach, moving steadily westward, and like a cyclone, drawing into its course on the right and left many of those along its pathway. The gold-hunters from this county crowded eagerly into the gaps in the wagon-trains, bidding farewell to their nearest and dearest friends, many of them never to be seen again on earth. Sad- der farewells were never spoken. Many of the gold-hunters left their quiet, peaceful homes only to find in the " Far West " utter disappoint- ment and death. Very, very few of them ever gained anything, and the great majority lost everything, including even " their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor." The persons who really gained by the gold excitement were those who remained on their farms and sold their produce to the gold-crazy emigrants. The rush continued until about the first of June, 1850, when the great tide began to abate, although belated gold- hunters kept passing through for some time. But the excitement be- gan to die away, and those citizens who had judgment enough to resist the contagion now settled down in quiet to pursue the even tenor of their way.
The scene along this line, through this vicinity, is thus described by one who was an eye-witness:
"It seemed that Bedlam itself had been let loose. A continuous line of wagons stretched away to the west as far as the eye could see. If a wagon was detained by being broken down, or by reason of a sick horse or ox, it was dropped out of line, and the gap closed up immediately. If a poor mortal should sicken and die, the corpse was buried hurriedly by the way- side, without coffin or burial service. When night came on, the line of wagons was turned aside, and their proprietors would go into camp. Very soon the sound of revelry would begin around the camp-fires thickly set on every hand, first to bottle and then to cards, to the echo of the most horrid oaths and imprecations that were ever conceived or uttered since the fall of man. These poor deluded votaries of Mammon scattered that dreadful scourge, small-pox, everywhere that they came in contact with the settlers on the way. Game cards were strewn all along the line of travel. Glass bottles, after being emptied of their nefarious contents down the throats of men, were dashed against wagon wheels, pieces of which were strewn all along the road, as if to mock the madness of the advancing column of these fervent janizaries of the golden calf.
" At the time of the treaty of Gaudaloupe Hidalgo, the population of California did not exceed thirty thousand, while at the time of which we are writing (1850) there were more than one hundred and fifty thousand people who had found their way thither, of which number at least one bun- dred thousand were gold-hunters from the States. There had been taken from the auriferous beds of California, up to January, 1850, over $40,000,- 000 in gold.
"The evil effects of this gold mania upon the moral status of the people of the United States is still seen and felt everywhere, and among all classes of society, and no man can see the end. It has popularized the worship of Mammon to an alarming extent throughout the country, and to this worship may be imputed, to a great extent, the moral declension of to-day."
The Des Moines Gazette from time to time gave graphic accounts of the wald-hunters as they thronged through that county."The following has
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
been compiled from files of that paper, published during the weeks when the rush was greatest:
List of companies which crossed the river at Des Moines for California for week ending Wednesday evening, April 17, 1850: Persons, 675; wag- ona, 252; of the teams about fifty were ox-teams, averaging five yoke to a team; 205 horse-teams, averaging three and a third to a wagon, making 717 horses.
A gentleman who had just come to Des Moines from the Bluffs, says 2,000 were encamped there, and he met three or four hundred between there and here.
Week ending April 24-199 teams and 540 men, making total for season of 690 teams and 1,797 persons.
Week ending May 1st-156 teams, 459 persons, total for season, 846 teams and 2,256 persons.
Next week-130 teams, 363 persons; total for season, 976 teams, and 2,829 persons:
Next week-Seventy-three teams, 184 persons; total for season, 1,049 teams, 2,813 persons.
Years after, this county had another gold excitement, which, happily, was not so serious as the first, and did not produce the same evil effeets. But it is an equally good illustration to show how quickly men will lose their sense when they hope to gain wealth more rapidly than by honest work and thrift.
The excitement of the discovery of gold at Pike's Peak, in 1859, drew off a large number of the citizens of the county, many of whom returned poorer than they went, and glad and anxious to get home again from that fand of high prices and small profits from mining. We have not been able to discover that any of the gold-seekers from this county ever became " bonanza kings."
WESTERN STAGE COMPANY.
During pioneer times public travel was exclusively by stage. The jour- ney was often long and wearisome. The sloughs were not bridged and in the spring it was no uncommon thing for a passenger on the stage to make his journey on foot and carry a rail with which to help pry the stage out of the mire. This was "high-toned " traveling and from this may be imag- ined what sort of a journey was that of a lone settler and an ox-team.
A history of the county would not be complete without mention of the transportation company which preceded the day of railroads. It was called the Western Stage Company. Among the prominent partners of this company were E. S. Alvord, of Indianapolis, president; Kimball Porter, of Iowa City; Messrs. Shoemaker, W. H. Sullivan, D. Talmadge and Campbell, of Ohio, and Col. E. F. Hooker, of Des Moines.
The headquarters of the company were at the Everett House in Fort Des Moines, the office of the company being located there July 1, 1854, when A. Morris was the proprietor of the hotel. The general manager of the stage lines was Col. E. F. Hooker, whose residence and business office were located near the present site of Harbach's furniture establishment. A gentleman by the naine of Smith was the first agent of the company, and he was succeeded by W. H. McChesney who died in 1858. The last agent was A. T. Johnson, who is now favorably known by the people of Des Moines and vicinity. E. B. Alvord, T. R. Fletcher, E. W. Sparhawk
HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
and E. G. Sears were secretaries of the company at various times, and re- sided in Des Moines.
The shops and barn of the company were located on the present site of Getchell's lumber yard, Des Moines, corner of Eighth and Vine streets. These shops were divided into five departments, in one of them the wood. work was done, in another the iron work, in the third the painting, in the fourth the horse shoeing and in the other the harness-making, all of which were for some time under the superintendency of A. B. Woodbury.
Ool. E. F. Hooker retired from the superintendency of the company in 1866, and was succeeded by R. Lounsberry, who was the last one filling this office. H. B. Alvord settled up the affairs of the company at its close, with great profit to the corporation. To give some idea of the busi- ness of the company, it is proper to state in this connection that the re- ceipts for one year on the line between Des Moines and Boone reached the extraordinary sum of $100,000. After the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was completed to Council Bluffs, the Boone line fell into insignificance and the days of the Western Stage Company, as far as Iowa was concerned, were numbered. The stages of this corporation transported to Davenport. with all their personal equipments, the members of the Thirty-third and Thirty-ninth Iowa infantry, requiring just two days to take an entire regiment. In this way parts of the Second, Sixth, Tenth and Fifteenth regiments were taken to their rendezvous. On the day after the adjournment, in olden times, the members of the Legislature, living abroad, were either at their homes or far on the way to their destination.
The last coach belonging to the company in Des Moines was sold to James Stephenson, of Omaha, in 1874. Mr. Johnson rode on the driver's seat from the stage barn to the freight depot of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, and as he left the old vehicle to take its journey west- ward on the cars he bade it an affectionate farewell. The Western Stage Company was quite an important factor in all central Iowa. It had two lines to Council Bluffs, one to Fort Dodge by the way of Boonesboro, and other lines reaching out in all directions. They changed from semi-weekly to tri-weekly, and then to daily trips as the country settled up and business warranted it. It was the only means of conveyance for travelers and the mails, and many were the anxious ones who waited for news or friends by the old stage company. It was like all other human agencies, in that it was fallible, and complaints were made against it. It was some of these com- plaints which provoked the following newspaper article in 1858:
"We notice a number of our exchanges are raking down the Western Stage Company for the manner in which they convey passengers over their lines. A little reflection will doubtless show to those who are censuring the stage company that they are wrong in their censures. The company, we think, deserves the praise of the people of Iowa for its indomitable per- severance in ploughing through snow, rain, sleet, and mud for the past eight months, imperiling the lives of their drivers and teams in crossing swollen streams to accomodate the traveling public and deliver the mails at the post-offices. But few persons would endure the privations and hard- ships which the company has passed through in Iowa during the past eight months for double the amount they receive. We believe the com- pany has done more to forward the mails and passengers than the public could reasonably expect at their hands, taking into consideration the awful condition of the roads. A little more work on the highways and a little
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more patience on the part of passengers would be a good thing just at this time."
OLAIM-CLUBS.
Sometime before the lands were all surveyed, and consequently before any were offered for sale, speculators from the East with plenty of money in their pockets, industriously scoured the country over, noted the most valu- able portions, even though they were claims, and were prepared to give high prices for them when they came into market, thus robbing the first settlers who had borne the privations and hardships of the wilderness for several years of their lands and whatever improvements they had put upon them. The homesteads which they had wrested from the primitive wilderness of prairie or forest and changed by enterprise and industry into cultivated fields laden with yellow corn or waving grain were liable to become the property of land-sharks, whose avaricious eyes saw the value of the land and cared little for justice or right, provided themselves might secure a handsome profit. With longer purses they could afford to pay higher prices than the poor settler; while the latter sensible of their rights and aware how, by labor, exposure and self-denial they had acquired these rights felt, in the view of these prospects, indignant and exasperated, and felt so justly.
So highly incensed did the people become at the idea of speculators over- bidding them at the land sales, that they viewed every stranger with dis- trust, lest his errand among them should be to note the numbers of some choice tracts, and make them his own by giving prices beyond the reach of the claimant. A unity of feeling on this subject filled the entire conn- try. They were determined to save their claims despite any effort or inter- vention to the contrary, and, if possible, their intention was to pay no more than the lowest government price. Strangers passing through the country bad to be careful not to meddle with the lands claimed, otherwise than bon- estly buying them from the possessors. If the object was thought to be different, if they were suspected of being engaged in any scheme for the unjust deprival of any settler of what were considered his unquestionable rights, they at once incurred the hostile feeling of every inhabitant, and were not safe until they had entirely left the country.
It soon became evident that some regular organization was needed among the settlers to better to control any outbreaks of popular rage, and cause non-residents to pay due respect to the claims which has been inade, as also to prevent difficulties among the settlers themselves, the dishonest of whom did not scruple to take advantage of a neighbor's temporary absence, sick- ness or remoteness from aid, and "jump his claim", that is, take and hold possession of it vi et armis, depriving him totally of his rights in the pre- mises. The settlers, or citizens as they may now more properly be called, held meetings in the various parts of the county for the purpose of organiz- ing themselves for mutual protection. These organizations were known as claim-clubs.
The first claim-club organized in the Territory was formed in Jefferson county in 1838.
The resolutions which that first claim-club adopted were known as the claim-law, which was afterward partially, approved and sanctioned by the Legislature of the Territory.
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
The clubs which were afterward organized throughont the State were similar to the Jefferson county club and the resolutions or by-laws which governed their action, were similar to the one approved by the Legislature. It therefore followed that the objects of these different claim-clubs were similar and the by-laws or written resolutions which governed them were nearly the same. We herewith reproduce the claim-law which was adopted by one of the Marion county clubs.
WHEREAS, It has become a custom in the Western States as soon as the Indian ti- tle to the public lands has been extinguished by the general government, for the citizens of the United States to settle upon and improve said lands, and heretofore the improvement and claim of the settler, to the extent of three hundred and twenty acres, has been respected by both the citizens and laws of Iowa,
Resolaed, That we will protect all citizens upon the public lands in the peaceable possession of their claims, to the extent of three hundred and twenty acres, for two years after the land sales, and longer if necessary.
Resolved, That if any person or persons shall enter the claim of any settler, that he or they shall immediately deed it back again to said settler, and wait three years without inter- est.
Resolved, That if he refuses to comply with the above requisitions he shall be subject to such punishment as the settlers shall choose to inflict.
Resolved. That we will remove any person or persons who may enter the claim of any set- tler and settle upon it, peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must, even if their removal should lead in bloodshed, being compelled to do so for our own common safety, that we may not be driven by ruthless speculators from our firesides and our homes.
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to settle all differences that may arise.
Resolved, That each settler that applies first shall have his or her name registered, and if any two claims should conflict, then it shall be the duty of the second settler, for the same piece of land, to call the committee together and have the matter settled; and each settler that expects the benefit of these resolutions, must have his or her claim registered by the 20th of the present month.
Resolved, That it shall be the duty of each settler to sign these by-laws, and he that re- fuses to do so cannot and shall not be protected by us.
Resolved, That any settler who may have signed these by-laws, and refuses to render serv- ice when called upon by the proper officers, and without a reasonable excuse, shall be fined the sum of ten dollars, to be divided among those who may have rendered the necessary service.
As a rule, land speculators and others had very tender consciences which prompted them to respect the rights of settlers when they were associated together in an organization of this kind. A certain claim-club had, among other articles of their written code, the following:
Resolved, That the filing of any intention to preempt, in contravention of any member hereof, shall be regarded as an attempt to deprive one member of his rights under the eternal fitness of things and we pledge ourselves. one to the other, to meet the offender on the home-stretch with the logic of life or death.
Notwithstanding this there were occasional instances in which persons dared to contend with the clubs, but their " logic" proved too much for the offender on the home-stretch.
As a rule all claim difficulties were peaceably adjusted by these clubs, .but in a few instances there was a resort to violence. We shall refer to a few of these both in and without the county. One of these difficulties is commonly known as the "Majors' War," the circumstances of which briefly stated were as follows:
A large family consisting of five brothers and two sisters by the name of Majors came from the State of Illinois, and settled near the Marion county line in the western part of Mahaska county in the year 1844. They
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HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.
were wealthy, and with the ready money which they had at their command, were able to enter the lands which composed their own claims, and other additional land. During the year 1847 Jacob H. Majors, who acted as general agent for the family, entered all the land which had been claimed by the different members of the family, and beside that proceeded to enter three different claims which had been taken by other settlers. These overt acts created much excitement among the settlers, who assembled together and passed resolutions denouncing the Majors. The various claim-clubs in Warren and Mahaska counties were notified of a general meeting which was to take place near Majors' residence for the purpose of compelling him to make restitution. When the indignant settlers met at the appointed place Majors was away and a message was sent to him to return by a speci- fied time, under the penalty of having his buildings destroyed. He failed to comply with the demand, and during the following night his stable and corn-cribs were burned. Upon hearing that his property was being de- stroyed, Majors sent word to the settlers that he would deed back the land which he had improperly entered to the rightful owners. This promise Majors failed to fulfill, and in addition to this had warrants issued for the arrest of the parties whom he supposed were chiefly concerned in the de- struction of his property. Another meeting of the settlers was called, and it was resolved to proceed immediately to Oskaloosa and release the pris- oners who had been arrested under the warrants which had been sworn out by Majors. The place of rendezvous appointed at this meeting was Dur- ham's Ferry, in Marion county, abont eight miles east of Knoxville. Dur- ing the following night and the morning of the next day a large force assembled from both counties, some on horseback, some in wagons and some on foot. The whole force numbering about five hundred proceeded to Oskaloosa, where a man by the name of Parsons was then on trial for having assisted in the destruction of Majors' buildings. Upon the arrival of this force in Oskaloosa, the authorities became much frightened, and Parsons was set at liberty. Moreover, Majors, who was there also, re- deemed his previons promise by delivering to the settlers whose claims he had improperly entered, deeds for the lands in question.
This action on the part of the county officials and Majors' action in deeding back the land was the accomplishment of all the settlers demanded, whereupon they disbanded and returned home.
Majors, however, considered himself a much wronged man, and his de- sire for revenge was abiding. He continued to prosecute the several indi- viduals whom he supposed to have been chiefly concerned in the destruc- tion of his property, and by so doing finally became so odious to the settlers that they determined to punish him. To this end a select company was secretly formed which proceeded to Majors' house and after some difficulty captured him. They conveyed him to Knoxville, where they handed him over to another select company, who were disguised. Majors was by these taken north of Knoxville and thoroughly tarred and feathered. He was then released with the warning not to repeat his offense by again engaging in the prosecution of any of the settlers. Majors returned home by the most public road, passing directly through Knoxville, intending thereby to arouse public sympathy in his interest, but in this he failed, for in at- tempting further prosecution he was again defeated by the settlers, who surrounded the court-house and prevented the lawyers and witnesses from proceeding with the trial.
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Majors soon after sold all his possessions and in connection with the rest of the family removed to Missouri.
This was a most unfortunate and disgraceful affair throughout, but un- der the circumstances the settlers were probably not to be censured.
The claim-clubs of Polk county had a very exciting and troublesome time with a man by the name of Perkins, who was in league with some speenla- tors. The circumstances of that noted case will represent the subject un- der consideration and we give a brief account of the case:
The difficulty occurred in 1849 and at first sprung from a contention about land. Ass Flemming had made a claim a few miles below Des Moines, and B. Perkins, a neighbor, endeavored to preempt it, and had act- tually filed his intention to that effect. Perkins' fraudulent scheme being discovered caused a great excitement in the vicinity, and many and dire were the imprecations invoked upon his head. It was also rumored that one Holland had been a partner of Perkins in the movement, and was to furnish the money with which to obtain the patent from the United States, but the truth of this report was never fully substantiated.
Perkins and Flemming were both members of the claim-club, whose rules and regulations have already been given, and this circumstance prov- ing fully the perfidious character of the former, enlisted an additional ha- tred against him. Non-residents and strangers, the settlers expected would encroach upon their rights. Such they were vigorously watching, and were prepared to counteract and resist any innovations from such sources; but that one of their own citizens-one who was a member of an organ- ization for the mutual protection of all-who had bound himself to abide hy the club-laws, and whose interests if jeopardized would have been am- ply guarded from danger, would prove recreant to every sentiment of integ- rity, justice and honor, was unthought of, unexpected and therefore the more condemned and detested. Under the circumstances Flemming easily succeeded in effecting a combination of the settlers residing near him for the protection of his claim, and to administer exemplary punishment to Perkins. The members of the claim-club were all ready to assist, for the interests of one were the interests of the whole community. If Perkins should succeed in his plans others would follow his example; a claim would soon be of no value, and a general disturbance would arise throughout the whole country.
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