USA > Iowa > Muscatine County > The History of Muscatine county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 53
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY.
Congress, and made their report to the Secretary of the Territory of Iowa on the 15th of January, 1839, about the time the difficulty was taking place on the dis- puted tract in Van Buren County. But it seems that the line surveyed by Lee and Davis was never approved of by Congress, and consequently did not become the boundary between Missouri and Iowa.
" Soon after the troubles in Van Buren County. the Legislature of Iowa passed a law that if any person should exercise any official function within the jurisdiction of the Territory, or within the limits of any of the counties therein, by virtue of any commission or authority not received from the Territory or Government of the United States, every person so offending should be fined not exceeding $1,000, or be imprisoned not exceeding five years. That if any person residing within the limits of the Territory should accept of any office or trust from any State or authority other than the United States or the Territory of Iowa, every person so offending should be fined not exceeding $1,000, or be imprisoned not exceeding five years.
"Soon after the organization of the county of Davis, this law was called into requisition. The county of Adair, as it was then organized, embraced within its boundaries a portion of what now composes Davis County. The Sheriff of Adair County. Preston Mullinix, and his Deputy, William P. Linder, were indicted in Davis County : the Sheriff for exercising his office within the bound- aries of Iowa. without legal authority and contrary to the statutes, and the Dep- nty for an assault and battery and kidnapping and falsely imprisoning one Frederick Acheson, a citizen of Iowa, which acts were done on the disputed tract.
" Mullinix and Linder were both arrested and held under bail to answer to the indictment at the next term of court. At that time they both appeared and Linder went to trial, which resulted in his conviction and a sentence of a fine and ten days' imprisonment in the Penitentiary. The trial of Mullinix, the Sheriff, was continued to the next term of court, and he was required to enter into a recognizance (without security) for his appearance, which he refused to do, and the Court ordered him to be committed to prison.
" As soon as these transactions were made known to Gov. Chambers, he pardoned Linder and remitted his fine, and also pardoned Mullinix for the offense for which he stood committed, and ordered him to be discharged from prison. After the arrest of Mullinix and Linder. the county of Adair was divided, and the territory adjoining Davis County was embraced with the limits of Schuyler County.
" After the county of Schuyler. Mo., was organized. about the 1st of Jan- mary, 1846. Samuel Riggs, the Sheriff of Davis County, Iowa, had put into his hands a writ of attachment against the property of an individual on the tract of land in dispute, and while attempting to serve the writ, he was arrested by the Sheriff of Schuyler County, on a charge of attempting to execute the func- tions of his office in Missouri, and was required to give security for his appear- ance at the next term of the court in that county. A few days after this, another attempt was made by a large number of men from Missouri to resist the execution of a process in the hands of the Sheriff of Davis County, but without success, for the Sheriff and his posse, though inferior in numbers. executed the writ and secured the property attached. This dispute. as to who had juris- diction over this country, had a bad influence in .the community, and caused many reckless and desperate characters to rendezvous in that vicinity. with the hope that in the contest with the authorities they might escape the punishment justly due their crimes.
449
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY.
" The arrest of the Sheriff of Davis County called forth a special message from Gov. Clark, then Governor of the Territory, to the Legislature of Iowa, which was then in session, and they passed a special law authorizing the Gov- ernor to draw upon the Territorial Treasurer for the sum of $1,500, and that the sum, or any amount thereof, which he might think proper, should be placed at his discretion for the employment of counsel to manage and defend all cases growing out of this difficulty. in which the Territory or any of the citizens thereof. should be a party on the one side, and Missouri or the authorities of that State upon the other. The Court of Schuyler County convened at Lan- caster, the county seat, on the 9th of May, and an indictment was found against Riggs, who immediately appeared and answered thereto in discharge of his bail.
" David Rorer, of Burlington, a gentleman of high legal talents, was em- ployed by Gov. Clark, on behalf of Iowa, to defend Riggs. Rorer attended this term of Court for the purpose of defending him, but from a desire on the part of both parties to defer judicial action in the case until an adjustment of the disputed boundary question could be effected, the case was continued until the next term of Court, and Riggs was discharged upon his own individual recognizance, and he was subsequently discharged entirely. To compensate him for his trouble and expense, the Iowa Legislature passed a law authorizing him to file his petition in the District Court of Davis County, claiming compen- sation for his time and expenses in defending himself against all prosecutions which had been commenced against him by the authorities of Missouri, for exercising his office on the disputed territory ; and they provided that the Court should hear the case and determine the amount which was justly due Riggs, and the amount so determined was directed to be paid out of the State Treasury.
" On the 17th of June, 1844, Congress passed an act respecting the north- ern boundary of Missouri, in which it was provided that the Governor of Iowa, by and with the advice and consent of the Council of the Territory, should appoint a Commissioner to act in conjunction with a Commissioner to be appointed by the State of Missouri, and the two were to select a third person, and it was made their duty to ascertain, survey and mark out the northern boundary of Missouri, and to cause plats of their survey to be returned to the Secretary of the United States, and to the Secretaries' offices of Missouri and Iowa-which plats were to be accompanied with their proceedings in the premises. The Commissioners were empowered to employ surveyors and other hands necessary to accomplish the survey, and the line established and ratified by them, or any two of them, was to be final and conclusive, and to be and remain as the northern boundary line of the State. But it was provided that this act should not go into effect until it should be assented to by Missouri and Iowa.' Iowa was willing to accede to this proposition, and the Legislature of Missouri passed an act assenting to this mode of settling the difficulty ; but the Governor of Missouri, John C. Edwards, placed his veto on the bill, and it failed to become a law. The Governor's objection to this mode of settling the difficulty seemed to be, that it involved legal rights, and should be adjudicated by a judicial tribunal.
" After this, application was made by both contending parties to Congress to pass a law authorizing them to institute a suit in the Supreme Court of the United States, and have the controversy judicially settled. This application was made on the part of Missouri by an act passed by the Legislature, on the 25th of March. 1845, and on the part of Iowa by a memorial of her Council
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY.
and House of Representatives, passed on the 17th of January, 1846, in which both parties asked for ' the commencement and speedy determination of such a suit as might be necessary to procure a final decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, upon the true location of the northern boundary of the State.' Congress respected these requests and passed the necessary law.
" After the passage of the law by Congress, authorizing the settling of the dispute in the Supreme Court, the Legislature of Iowa passed an act empower- ing the Governor to agree with Missouri for the commencement of such a suit as might be necessary to procure from the Supreme Court of the United States a final decision upon the true location of the southern boundary of the State. This act made it the duty of the Governor to cause to be procured all evidence which might be necessary to the legal and proper decision of such a suit, and to employ counsel and do whatever else might be necessary to maintain the rights of the State. Charles Mason was employed on the part of Iowa, who hunted up and prepared the testimony of the trial, and he got Thomas Ewing, of Ohio. to assist him in arguing the case before the Court. The State of Missouri filed the original bill against the State of Iowa, and lowa filed a cross-bill against Missouri.
" This case was tried at the December term of 1848, and the Supreme Court decided that the line as surveyed by Sullivan was the northern boundary of Missouri, which decision gave Iowa all the territory she claimed. The Court appointed Henry B. Hendershott, of Iowa, and Joseph C. Brown, of Missouri, Commissioners to run out and mark the boundary line. Brown having died before the work was commenced, Robert W. Wells was appointed in his place, but he resigned the trust, and William G. Minor received the appointment on the part of Missouri.
" The Commissioners, for the purpose of making the necessary arrange- ments for the survey, met at St. Louis in March, 1850, and selected their sur- veyors. William Dewey was selected on the part of Iowa, and Robert Walker for Missouri. The Commissioners made their arrangements to meet with their surveyors and other parties, at the point where Sullivan had established the northwest corner of Missouri. They left their respective homes on the 10th of April and met on the 28th. To aid them in their work before they started. they obtained from the office of the Surveyor General at St. Louis, a copy of the field-notes of Sullivan's survey ; but the space of nearly thirty-four years having elapsed since this work was done, the marks of the survey being nearly all obliterated, they could not readily find the spot they sought. No precise traces of the old northwest corner remained; the witness-trees to it were on the margin of a vast prairie, and had apparently been destroyed years before; con- sequently its exact position could not be ascertained from anything visible near the spot.
" The point known as the old northwest corner of Missouri was the north- ern termination of Sullivan's line. running north and south, run by him in 1816, and was 100 miles north of the mouth of the Kansas River, and the point at which he turned east run to the Des Moines River. His field-notes showed that his miles were numbered north from the Kansas River, and east from the northwest corner of the State, beginning anew at that corner. Find- ing no conclusive evidence of the exact site or the required corner. they undertook to trace those lines for the purpose of finding some evidence of the old survey.
" Near the supposed spot of the location of the ninety-ninth mile-corner, on the north line, they found a decayed tree and stamp, which corresponded in
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY.
course, distance and description with the witness-trees to that corner, and, cut- ting into the tree, they saw what they supposed to be the remains of an old blaze, upon which was preserved a part, apparently, of the letter M. This supposition was verified by their measuring two miles further south to a point which they found to be Sullivan's ninety-seventh mile corner, from one wit- ness-tree, which was perfectly sound; the marks upon it, two or three inches beneath the bark, were plain and legible. On the east line, they found the witness-tree to the third mile-corner ; the wood upon which the marks had been inscribed was decayed, but their reversed impression appeared upon the new growth which covered the old blaze, and was cut out in a solid block. Pro- longing these lines three miles from the point thus determined, their intersec- tion was assumed as the desired corner, and at that point was planted a mon- ument, designating the northwest corner of Missouri, as the boundary existed before acquiring that tract of land known as the 'Plat Purchase,' lying between the old west line of that State and the Missouri River, which point was found to be in the northeast quarter of Section 35, in Township 67 north, Range 33 west, in latitude 40° 34' 40" north, and in longitude 94° 30' west from Greenwich.
" At this point, they planted a large cast-iron pillar, weighing between fifteen and sixteen hundred pounds, four feet six inches long, twelve inches square at the base, and eight inches at the top. The pillar was legibly marked with the words ' Missouri ' on the south side, 'Iowa' on the north side, and ' State Line' on the east. From this corner they ran one west, keeping on the same parallel of latitude on which the pillar was erected, till they reached the Missouri River. They commenced the survey on the 24th of May, and reached the river, a distance of sixty-miles and sixty-one chains, on the 12th of July. At the terminus of the sixtieth mile, as near the bank of the Missouri River as the perishable nature of the soil would permit, they planted a monument similar to the one erected at the old northwest corner of Missouri, the words ' State Line' facing the east.
" The Commissioners then returned to the old northwest corner, and com- m'enced to run the line east, and, by close examination, they were enabled to discover abundant blazes and many witness-trees of the old survey, by which they easily found and re-marked the line run by Sullivan in 1816. The sur- veying of the eastern portion of the line was commenced on the 13th of August, and terminated on the 18th of September, it being a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, forty-one chains and eight links, which, with the sixty miles and sixty-one chains first surveyed, makes the southern boundary of the State between the Missouri and Des Moines Rivers, two hundred and eleven miles, thirty-two chains and eight links.
" Near the west bank of the Des Moines River, where the boundary termi- nates, on the line was planted a cast-iron pillar, similar to the other two, with the words 'State Line' fronting the west. The line was also designated by cast-iron pillars, four feet long, eight inches square at the base and five inches at the top, placed at intervals of thirty miles apart; and one four feet long, seven inches square at the base and four at the top, at intermediate spaces of ten miles apart ; all of which pillars mark in iron monument every ten miles the whole length of the boundary line.
"Sullivan's line was found in some places to deviate from a true east and west line, which was corrected by the surveyors. The iron pillars were planted in Sullivan's line, as found at the particular points ; but as the line was bend- ing in the ten-mile spaces between the pillars, it was found necessary to erect
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY.
wooden posts at the termination of each mile, in order to mark the line with more accuracy. In the prairies, the mile-posts were marked with the letters 'B. L.' facing the east, the letter . I.' facing the north, and the letter . M.' facing the south, and the number of miles on the west face of the post. Where timber exists, the number of the mile is marked on witness-trees, or pointers, with let- ters appropriate to each stake, there being one tree marked on each side of the line wherever it was possible to do so. The front of each witness-tree is marked with the letters 'B. L.' In all cases where the posts are set in mounds, the post is invariably nine links west, to designate it from other surveys. This line. as surveyed and designated under the direction of the Commissioners Hendershott and Minor, was adjudged and deereed by the Supreme Court to be the true and proper boundary line between Missouri and Towa. And thus closed a long and vexed dispute between the two authorities about the extent of their jurisdiction. Each State placed $2,000 at the disposal of the Commissioner, to defray expenses, but that sum was not enough. The Supreme Court allowed fees equal to $10,000, and that amount was finally equally divided between lowa and Missouri."
The local history of this matter lives fresh in the minds of those who joined the ranks of the "army." Judge S. C. Hastings was Captain ; Suel Foster was his Orderly Sergeant ; J. W. Brady and Barton Lee were chosen Lieuten- ants ; John Vanater was commissioned Colonel. J. E. Fletcher, Major General of Militia, was in the front, and Brig. Gen. Frierson was swinging his sword in anticipation of bloodshed. Maj. D. R. Warfield, William Gordon, and many others, were among the Muscatine men. The summons came in Decem- ber, 1839. One company of cavalry and two of infantry responded from this region. Of the incidents of the march to Burlington, Suel Foster furnishes the following:
" After all the volunteers had been raised that could be enlisted, a draft was resorted to, to fill up the army. The baggage-wagons were loaded with a month's provisions, and they. with the infantry, were ordered to march, one cold day in December, 1839. when the snow was six inches deep. Capt. Hastings' cavalry was two hours later in starting, and then a halt was twice ordered and squads sent back to bring in deserters. One of the most trouble- some men was Dr. Lewis McKee. When about six miles down the slough, he suddenly became so cold that he was compelled to stop at a farmhouse and warm himself Orderly Foster was sent back to bring him up. Then Lieut. Brady and Sergt. Howland were sent for the Orderly, whereupon McKee swore that he would not stir a step until the whole company was sent to bring him. At this most alarming demoralization of the flower of the army, the Com- mander-in-Chief. Gen. Fletcher, rode hastily back and declared that he would arrest the whole lot, and court-martial them. McKee dryly remarked that, as the company was nearly all there, he would go with them. But Capt. Hastings became enangered, and finally sent a challenge to Gen. Fletcher. The latter declined to fight, on the score of Hastings' inferior rank. So the dlay wore away, and night found the company in camp some twelve miles from Bloomington. The Iowa River froze over that night, and the men crossed on the ice. Dr. Eli Reynolds. however, was less fortunate than most of the men, and broke through into the river, eseaping with a thorough drenching. The drummer of the company, Maj. W. T. De Weber. was very proud of his skill with the drumsticks, and displayed his ability to the utmost. At night, some one who had less awe of military life than love of a practical joke. burst in the head of his drum, and used it as drum was probably seldom used before.
4
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY.
" Thus, with joke and disorder, the army went forth to battle ; but no foe- men met their glittering steel. The nearest they came to a fight was when they encamped in old Zion Church, in Burlington, and the hospitable citizens rolled in a keg of good whisky. After a few days' sojourn in Burlington, the troops were ordered home, where they doffed the panoply of war and returned to their peaceful avocations."
THE NAME "MUSCATINE."
There is always more or less obscurity surrounding the origin and significa- tion of Indian names. The title "Musquitine " (as it was originally spelled) was bestowed upon this county because of the Indian name given the island in the Mississippi River opposite it. The choice of the name for the city, when it was found that Bloomington was no longer desirable, was but a natural one. What the Indians meant by the term, however, is less easily determined. Mr. Suel Foster has ingeniously traced out the origin to a band of Indians who inhabited Wisconsin. In Bancroft's History, where the Indian tribes are spoken of and their homes defined, the following sentences occur: "The last village on Fox River ever visited by the French were found Kickapoos, Mus- coutins, and Miamis, who dwelt together on a beautiful hill, in the center of prairies and magnificent groves," etc. Further on, the historian, in speaking of Marquette and Joliet's explorations, says : "Marquette begged two guides of these Indians to pilot them to the portage from the Fox to the Wisconsin Rivers, when he and he his companion Joliet went on their voyage and first discovered the Upper Mississippi River." Mr. Foster argues that the remnants of this tribe, which existed in 1673, but not at the later period of white occupation of the West, were driven westward and found a lodgement in this vicinity. The island became known as the home of the Muscoutins among the more recent tribes, and hence the name. Mr. Foster also states that Antoine Le Claire once wrote him that there was no known meaning of the name among the Indians here.
Mr. J. P. Walton offers another interpretation. He declares that the Indians informed him that "Musquitine " meant "burning island," a title given because of the rank grass which grew thereon, and which was annually destroyed by fire. Mr. Walton also says that Le Claire gave the same interpretation of the word. This conflicting report from the celebrated half-breed, is not alto- gether surprising to those who know of his occasional errors of memory.
THE NAME "HAWKEYE."
The title " Hawkeye," as applied to a resident of Iowa or to the State itself, first appeared in print, so far as we have been able to ascertain, in the Fort Madison Patriot of March 24, 1838. That issue was the first one of the paper founded by James G. Edwards in this region. In an editorial, the following suggestion was made :
"If a division of the Territory [Wisconsin] is effected, we propose that the Iowans take the cognomen of Hawkeyes. Our etymology can then be more definitely traced than can that of the Wolverines, Suckers, Gophers, etc., and we shall rescue from oblivion a memento, at least, of the name of the old chief (Black Hawk.)"
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HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY.
September 5, 1839, Mr. Edwards, who had moved his office to Burlington, gave the name of Hawk-Eye to his paper, as is shown in the history of the press. He was familiarly styled " Old Hawk " by his friends throughout the West, even to the day of his death. It is quite likely that the Indians had used their synonym of Hawkeye as a distinctive title for some of their associ- ates, but there is no evidence to show that the name had been offered prior to Mr. Edwards' suggestion of it, to apply to Iowa at large. It has been stated that the Indian trader S. S. Phelps was called " Old Hawkeye" by the red men ; but if he was, the cognomen went no further.
Until conclusive evidence is adduced to the contrary, the people of Iowa will be disposed to accredit Mr. Edwards with the honor of having affixed to the State a name which will live as long as Iowa itself endures.
MUSCATINE COUNTY DURING THE WAR.
The honor of writing the history of Muscatine County from 1861 to the close of the war should fall to the lot of one of those brave men who partici- pated in the scenes of those days. The value of the history will depend upon the exhaustiveness of the work undertaken. In such cases, details form the chief interest, and no one is able to furnish those except the men who helped to perform the acts. We offer this suggestion : Let some one who has a knowl- edge of the events compile them before it is too late. As time rolls on, the difficulties of doing so desirable a labor will be increased, and speedy prepara- tions should be made to preserve the grand record of the county from oblivion. It is true that the history of the regiments is saved in the Adjutant General's Reports, and many sketches have been written concerning life in the field ; but we refer now not so much to the history of the regiments as to the history of the people who inspired the formation of those regiments. Let some one who can write the story of the heroism of fathers, mothers, sisters and wives-that vast host of loyal men and women who said, "Go; and may God protect you and our nation !"-tell of the devotion of the women, who, while their hearts were bleeding, smiled a farewell, lest the soldiers be disheartened ! Tell of the long weeks of anguish which followed the departure of the loved ones; write of the deeds of bravery that have never been told. The soldier who sleeps beneath the Southern sod, in an unknown grave, deserves the plaudits of his fellow-men ; and does not the grief-stricken widow merit a share in the volume of praise ?
The youth, who so readily accepted the trust of defending the nation from its foc, learned the meaning of patriotism from the history of the Revolution. The artist's pencil, the poet's pen, the historian's glowing words, portrayed to His mind the duties of an American. Shall we not, then. expect the future strength of loyal men to grow by feeding upon the record of patriotism during the days of the rebellion ?
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