USA > Iowa > Poweshiek County > The History of Poweshiek County, Iowa : containing a history of the County, its cities, towns, &c.,. > Part 33
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" Oh! lonesome, windy, grassy place, Where buffalo and snakes prevail; The first with dreadful looking face, The last with dreadful sounding tail! I'd rather live on camel hump, And be a Yankee Doodle beggar, Than where I never see a stump, And shake to death with fever 'n ager."
As before remarked, there are two reasons why the first settler re- fused to locate at a distance from timber and chose the groves which bor- dered along the streams. The pioneers were, in the main, descendants of
259
HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
the hardy backwoodsmen of the East when that was a new country. When farms were opened up in these countries a large belt of timber was invaria- bly reserved, from which the farmer would draw his supply of logs for lumber and fence rails and fuel for cooking and heating purposes. Even to the present day a farm without this accompanying patch of timber is ex- ceedingly rare in these countries.
Having, from their youth up, been accustomed to the familiar sight of timber, there is no wonder that the early immigrants were dissatisfied, de- prived of the familiar sight of forest trees and shut off from the familiar sound of the wind passing through the branches of the oaks.
Then, again, timber was an actual necessity to the early settler. In this day of railroads, herd laws, cheap lumber and cheap fuel, it is easy enough to open a farm and build up a comfortable home away out on the prairie, far from the sight of timber. But not so under the circumstances sur- rounding the first settlers. There was no way of shipping lumber from the markets of the East, coal mines were unknown, and before a parcel of land could be cultivated it was necessary to fence it. In order to settle the prairie countries it was necessary to have railroads, and in order to have railroads it was necessary that at least a portion of the country should be settled. Hence the most important resource in the development of this Western country was the belts of timber which skirted the streams; and the settlers who first hewed out homes in the timber, while at present not' the most enterprising and progressive, were nevertheless an essential factor in the solution of the problem.
Along either side of the various streams which flow across the county, were originally narrow belts of timber; at certain places, generally near the mouths of smaller tributaries, the belt of timber widened out, thus forming a grove, or what was frequently called a point, and at these points or groves were the first settlements made; here were the first beginnings of civiliza- tion; here began to operate the forces which have made the wilderness a fruitful place and caused the desert to blossom as the rose.
Much of the primeval forest has been removed and has been economically manufactured into lumber for the building of houses and the construction of fences; other portions, and probably the larger part, have been ruthlessly and improvidently destroyed. This destruction of timber has been more than compensated by the planting of artificial groves and there is now in the county more timber than at any other time in its past history.
Among the most abundant of all trees originally found was the black walnut, so highly prized in all countries for manufacturing purposes. Tim- ber of this kind was very plentiful and of good quality originally, but the
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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
high prices paid for this kind of timber presented itself as a temptation to destroy it, which the people, frequently in straightened circumstances, could not resist. Red, white and black oak are still very plentiful, although they have for many years been extensively used as fuel. Crab apple, elm, maple, ash, cottonwood and wild cherry are also found. The best timber in the State is to be found in this county.
Detatched groves, both natural and artificial, are found in many places throughout the county, which are not only ornamental, in that they vary the monotony of the prairie, but likewise very useful in that they have a very important bearing on the climate. It is a fact fully demonstrated by the best of authority that climate varies with the physiognomy of a country.
CLIMATE.
The climate is what is generally termed a healthy one, subject, however, to frequent and sudden changes from heat to cold. The winters, however, are as a general thing uniform, although there seem to have been very marked modifications in the climate during the past few years, resulting, doubtless, from the changes which have taken place in the phisiognomy of the country.
At one time it was asserted with much confidence, that the climate of the Mississippi Valley was much warmer than that of the Atlantic States in the same latitude, but this idea has long since been exploded by observa- tions which have been made in both regions.
From Blodgett's Climatology of the United States we learn that the " Early distinctions between the Atlantic States and the Mississippi Valley have been quite dropped, as the progress of observation has shown them to be practically the same, or to differ only in unimportant particulars. It is difficult to designate any important fact entitling them to any separate classification; they are both alike subject to great extremes; they both have strongly marked continental features at some seasons and decided tropical features at others, and these influence the whole district similarly, without showing any line of separation. At a distance from the Gulf of Mexico, to remove the local effect, the same peculiarities appear which be- long to Fort Snelling; Montreal, as well as to Albany, Baltimore and Rich- mond."
As this county is nearly in the same parallel as central New York, it is fair to presume that the climate is nearly identical, provided the above be true, yet observation shows that there is a perceptible tendency to extremes as we go further West, owing to the lakes and prairies probably, and shows that the spring and summer are decidedly warmer, and the winter colder
261
HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
here than in New York. From the open country, the great sweep of the winds and the force of the sun, the malaria arising from the rich prairie lands is counteracted and dispelled, so that the climate here is as healthy as in any portion of the known world.
March and November are essentially winter months, as the mean tem- perature rises but little, if any, above the freezing point. The hottest days occur some years in July, and in other years they occur in August. Ob- servations made during the period of twenty years show that the hottest day of the year has ranged from June 22 to August 31. During that period the hottest day of the year occurred twice in June, nine times in July and nine times in August. The coldest days occur some years in De- cember and in other years in January, while observation has established the fact that not unfrequently the coldest day occurs in February. During a period of twenty years, extending from 1850 to 1870, the coldest day occurred seven times during the month of February, nine times during the month of January, and four times during December. The coldest day came earliest during the year 1851, when it occurred on the 16th of De- cember, and it came latest in 1868, when it was on the 10th of February. The days upon which the temperature most closely approximates the mean annual temperature occur in April and October. During a period of twenty years they occurred in no other month, except in 1866, when the day most nearly approximating mean annual temperature occurred No- vember 2.
During a period of thirty-one years, extending from 1839 to 1870, the latest appearance of frost has ranged from April 5 to May 26, and its ear- liest appearance has ranged from September 2 to October 23. This is true of all the years except 1863, when there was frost every month of the year, the latest frost occurring August 25 and the earliest August 29. During these thirty-one years the latest frost occurred twenty times in April, twenty times in May and one time in August. The earliest frost occurred nineteen times in September, twenty-one times in October and one time in August. It will thus be seen that, with the exception of the year 1863, when there was frost every month in the year, there was no frost during the months of June, July and August. Heavy frosts, of such severity as to destroy fruit, seldom occur later than April 15; even during the year 1863, when there was frost every month, there was none of suffi- cient severity to damage anything after that date.
With regard to rain-fall, Prof. Parvin, who is the best authority in the State, says:
"The array of facts presented will, it is hoped, prove to be of much inter-
262
HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
est to the residents of the State of Iowa and the Mississippi Valley, and also to dwellers upon the seaboard, by furnishing a datum whereby a com- parison may be made as to the temperature, amount of rain-fall, causes thereof, and also their distribution throughout the seasons of the year. Eastern meteorologists have been greatly surprised at the amount of pre- cipitation of vapor in the valley of the Mississippi, overlooking the fact that there the rain winds are from the northeast, and here they are from the southwest. The amount of precipitation has not diminished since the first settlement of the country, and probably will not, as the area covered by timber has not decreased with the settlement of the State, and is not likely to in the future; on the contrary, is increasing, and is likely to increase with the growth of the settlements in age and extent. The pecu- liarities of our soil and climate are such that the past decades have demon- strated that our State can endure an extreme of drouth or rain with as little or less loss than any other cultivated region of our country."
The largest rain-fall during any one year since the settlement of the county was in 1851, when it amounted to 74.40 inches; the least was in 1854, when it was only 23.35 inches. August was the month of greatest rain-fall, and January the least.
The following table shows the amount of rain for each year during the twenty-one years from 1848 to 1870:
1848
26.29 inches. 1859
32.65 inches.
1849
.59.27
1860
25.10
1850
49.06
1861
47.89 66
1851
74.49
1862
44.78 66
1852
59.49
1863
33.75
66
1853
45.78
1864
51.57
66
1854
23.35
66
1865
45.34
66
1855
28.38
66
1866 43.37
1856
38.17
1867
42.18
66
1857
39.52
1868
46.00
1858
.51.28
66
1869
47.56
66
Observations have gone to show that a large proportion of the rains which fall in this locality is accompanied by southwestern winds. Twenty per cent of the rainy days were accompanied by N.N.E. winds; eighteen per cent by E.S.E. winds; forty per cent by S.S.W. winds, and nineteen per cent by W.N.W. winds; or, to sum up, sixty-two per cent of the rains occur in connection with winds from a westerly course. The greatest rain- fall in a given length of time occurred in August, 1851, between the hours
263
HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
of 11 o'clock P. M., of the 10th, and 3 o'clock A. M., of the 11th, a period of four hours, during which time 10.71 inches fell. The wind, both days, was from the northeast. The greatest snow-fall was on the 21st day of De- cember, 1848, when 20.50 inches fell; the next largest snow-fall was on December 28th, 1863, when the amount was 15.10 inches, in twelve hours.
The winter of 1848 will never be forgotten by the early settlers. The snow commenced early in November, before the ground had become frozen, covering the earth with a heavy coat of white, and continued until the unprecedented snow-fall of December 21, before alluded to, which was the most fearful one ever witnessed in the county. The snow continued at a depth of over three feet until the following February. Often there were heavy driving storms, and after a few days' cessation followed others of such driving force as to render it impossible for the settlers to venture out or to get from place to place without danger of being lost or frozen to death.
There being yet comparatively few settlers in the county, and not a great deal of marketing to be done or foreign trading to be transacted, travel was not sufficient to keep the roads open or to form a beaten track in any direc- tion. If any one found it necessary to venture out any distance from home the driving winds filled up his tracks almost as fast as he made them, so that he was unable to find the same track upon returning.
The inhabitants of the pioneer cabins were completely snow-bound all winter, never venturing out except in cases of absolute necessity, and then it was at the peril of their lives, or at least of frosted ears and toes, espe- cially if they had any great distance to go. It afforded unparalleled oppor- tunity for enjoying home life in the case of those who were fortunately favored with the necessary comforts, but to those who were not thus favored it was a terrible winter.
It is said that it was no unusual thing to make several attempts to get through the snow-drifts, by those who were, on account of pressing want, driven to make the attempt.
This was probably the only winter since the first settlement of the county that the snow was so deep, and the cold so severe as to occasion want and suffering of a general character.
The year 1863 was a peculiarly cold one throughout. As before re- marked, frost occurred every month of the year, and in order to be com- fortable it was necessary to keep up a fire occasionally each month, July and August not excepted.
Persons who have been in the county quite a number of years say that it is very seldom that the frost injures the corn crop, it being a characteris-
264
HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
itc of the climate that when the spring is late the fall is either quite hot or lengthened so as to fully mature the crop. At one time it was supposed that fruit could not be successfully raised in this section. This is prob- ably true with some varieties of fruit, particularly the peach. The mean time for late frosts is May 4, and the mean time for the flowering of fruit trees is May 5, and the peach being a very delicate tree, the buds are liable to be destroyed by the late frosts, even though the body of the tree survives the rigors of the winter. With regard to apples and all kinds of small fruit the experience of many years has gone to establish the fact that this region has no equal in the United States.
PRAIRIES.
Prairie is the prevailing characteristic of the county. It is abundant in quantity, and mostly excellent in quality. Prairies are found in this county of as great extent as in most of the counties of Iowa, but they are not so long and so wide as are those of Illinois. The soil, however, will compare favorably with that of the best prairies of Illinois; and there are none in which the soil is of an inferior character. On nearly all of the di- vides between the rivers and running streams, are found large tracts of beautiful, rolling prairie lands, well drained, easily cultivated, highly pro- ductive and conveniently located to water, timber, mills and markets. The character of the soil in these prairies is such that good crops are raised even during very wet and very dry seasons. The soil is light and porous, so that ten hours' of bright sunshine will dry the roads after a heavy rain, and fit the plowed field to be cultivated. The same peculiarity of soil which enables crops to withstand much moisture and thrive during a very wet season, also enables them to endure prolonged drouths-the soil being very porous is capable of absorbing a large amount of water during the rainy season, and when the drouth sets in the forces of nature bring back to the surface the surplus moisture from the subterraneous store-houses with as much ease as the water in the first place was absorbed. This is not the case with that quality of soil commonly known as hard-pan; the subsoil not being porous, only a small quantity of water is absorbed, after which it gathers on the surface in pools and is then carried away by the process of evaporation; drouth sets in, and as soon as the moisture is exhausted from the surface soil, plants wither and die.
GEOLOGY.
The geological characteristics of the county are not as various as those of some other counties in the State, but they are, nevertheless, an interesting
265
HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
subject of study and investigation. In this progressive age, and the ad- vanced stage of scientific research, the intelligent people of Poweshiek 'county will not fail to be interested by a somewhat elaborate dissertation upon the subject of local geology as applied to the formation of their own lands, the constituents of their own soil, and the comparisons and contrasts which will be made with other and adjoining counties. In discussing this subject we draw not only upon facts of our own observation, but avail our- selves of the best authority at our command.
By reference to White's Geology of Iowa, it will be seen that by far the larger part of the county, probably more than nine-tenths of its area, is called subcarboniferous, while the remaining portion, a small region in the southwest corner, belongs to the middle and lower coal-measures.
Post-tertiary drift is spread generally over the county, and is of a varia- ble thickness, estimated at from fifteen to twenty feet. The bluffs along the streams are largely composed of these deposits.
The Drift is made up of clays, representing the original glacial deposits and gravel beds, besides boulders, pebbles and "sand pockets," with occa- sional fragments of coniferous wood.
The deposit to which the name drift is applied has a far wider distribu- tion than any other surface deposit. In the language of Prof. White, " It meets our eyes almost everywhere, covering the earth like a mantle, and hiding the stratified rocks from view, except where they are exposed by the removal of drift through the erosive action of water. It forms the soil and subsoil of the greater part of the State, and in it alone many of our wells are dug and our forests take root." The drift is composed of clay, sand, gravel, pebbles and sometimes boulders, promiscuously intermixed with- out stratification or regular arrangement of its materials.
The clay is always impure and is disseminated through the whole deposit; not unfrequently, however, irregular masses of it are separated from the other materials, and at such places the best material is procured for pot- tery or brick. The color of this clay, when found in its purest condition, is yellow, arising from the presence of peroxide of iron; it is the presence of this constituent which imparts to brick their peculiar color.
The proportion of lime in the drift is not so great in the drift of Powe- shiek county as farther south; the proportion of sand is much greater, al- though it is seldom found separated from the other materials in any degree of purity; it is not unfrequently the case, however, that sand exists in ex- cess of the other materials, and, in some cases, accumulations or " pockets" are found having a considerable degree of purity. The large proportion of sand in the soil and subsoil of Poweshiek county is what imparts to it the
266
HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
peculiar quality of withstanding drouth or excessive moisture, before ex- plained.
Alluvium .- The deposits strictly referable to this formation in Powe- shiek county, are: the soil everywhere covering the surface, and narrow belts of alluvial bottom lands skirting the principal streams; these consist of irregular stratified deposits of sand, gravel and decomposed vegetable matter, the whole seldom exceeding ten or twelve feet in thickness. The reader will understand that the original surface of the land consisted of rock; portions of these rocks having been detatched by the action of the elements, by chemical causes and the action of glaciers in prehistoric times were afterward transported by subsequent floods; this constitutes the soil and is alluvium or drift, according to its peculiar formation.
As before remarked, a small portion of the southwestern corner of the county is referable to the formation known as the middle and lower coal- measures. With regard to the economic value of this formation the State Geologist says:
" No other formation in the whole State possesses anything near the economic value that the lower coal-measures do, nor is there one which will have so great an influence upon its future prosperity. These remarks, of course, refer to the coal which the formation contains; for although the middle coal-measures will furnish no inconsiderable quantities of coal, and the upper coal-measures also small quantities, far the greater part of that indispensable element of material prosperity is contained in the strata of the lower coal-measures."
Owing to the fact that a portion of the county lies within the bounds of the coal-field it has been supposed that coal in paying quantities might be found. Although much prospecting has been done, and considerable labor and money has been expended, no mines are now being operated, be- cause coal in paying quantities has not been found. It is possible that - some future enterprise of this kind will be rewarded with success; and again, it is very probable that coal in paying quantities does not exist. With ref- erence to this matter, the State Geologist remarks:
" The present existence of outliers of coal-measure strata at a distance from the now unbroken border of the coal-field, is now largely due to the former existence of these depressions; for there is presumptive evidence that the coal-field originally extended, unbrokenly, as far as Scott, Cedar, 'Linn, Benton and Humboldt counties, but its deposits there were, doubtless, originally very thin, too thin, it is believed, to have afforded profitable beds of coal if they had remained, and they were subsequently nearly all swept away by glacial or other agency, leaving only those portions which occupied the
267
HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
hollows as ' basin outliers.' The real character of these outliers, as found in Scott, Cedar, Johnson, Benton, Tama, Marshall, Humboldt, Poweshiek, Washington, Louisa and other counties, being popularly misunderstood, has given occasion to much useless expenditure of labor and money in the search for coal.
" As a rule these outliers may be regarded as practically worthless, al- though they are unmistakably of coal-measure age. The large outlier ex- tending from Muscatine to Davenport is an exception, and probably others will prove so, but even this contains only a single bed of little comparative, although it may be of great positive, value under some circumstances. The mining of it will be unprofitable, however, when brought into competition with the main coal-field by railway transportation. The writer is aware of the possibility of finding profitable, although comparatively limited depos- its of coal beyond the designated border line of the coal-field, but his object is to inform the public of the unusual hazard they are believed to incur in seeking it beyond that line."
The foregoing remarks would seem to imply that there is very little prob- ability that coal exists in paying quantities except in the extreme south- west part of the county, and very little probability of finding much there. The work from which we quote, however,"was published ten years ago and the observations upon which the theory of the State Geologist was predi- cated were made some time prior to the publication of the book, and it is fair to presume, that while he may have been correct in his general outlines he was mistaken in particulars. Observations which have been made dur- ing later years have disproved some of Professor White's statements, and it is a generally admitted fact that the boundaries of the coal-field must, by a future geologist, be extended outward several miles further on both sides of the Des Moines River. The coal miners of What Cheer, in Keokuk county, have done much to modify the preconceived opinions of learned theorists in regard to the boundaries of the Iowa coal-field; observations more recently made in Marshall and Hardin counties have also disproved the preconceived notions of writers on this subject, and while the existence of coal in small pockets and shallow veins is no evidence that it exists fur- ther down in paying quantities, it may be said on the other hand, with equal force, that the statements of the State Geologist do not contain con- clusive evidence that coal in paying quantities does not exist outside the bounds of the theoretical coal-field.
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HISTORY OF POWESHIEK COUNTY.
CHAPTER III.
INDIAN AFFAIRS.
Indian Policy of the Government-Treaties-Annuities-The Sac and Fox Indians-Keokuk -Wapello-Poweshiek-Indian Incidents and Reminiscences-The Neutral Strip-The Pottawattamies-Johnny Greene and his Band-The Tama County Reservation-The Sioux-The Lott Atrocity-The Revenge and the Retaliation.
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