USA > Iowa > Boone County > The history of Boone County, Iowa, containing biographical sketches war records of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, history of the Northwest, history of Iowa, map of Boone county etc. > Part 33
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Whoever has made it his business to study the "Great Northwest" as it has unfolded itself in history during the last quarter of a century has doubt- less met with ever recurring surprises. The story of its unparalleled growth and almost phenomenal development has so often been repeated that it has become a commonplace platitude; but a careful study of the country will suggest questions which have thus far not been answered, and cannot be. Why, for instance, have some sections filled up so rapidly, and certain cit-
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ies sprung up as if by magic, while others, seemingly no less favored by na- ture, are still in the first stages of development? These questions cannot, in all cases, be answered; but whoever has studied the matter carefully can- not fail to have discovered a law of growth which is as unvarying as any law of nature. The two leading factors in the problem of municipal growth are location and character of first settlers. The location of Boone county was most favorable; and what is true of Boone county is true of the whole State. Almost surrounded, as it is, by two of the most renowned water-courses of the world, one will readily see that it possessed advan- tages enjoyed by no other State in the Union. These conditions, so favora- ble to the past and future development of the country, are beautifully illustrated by an ingenious little poem entitled "Two Ancient Misses" written by a gentleman who has won a wide-spread reputation at the bar, and whose name, were we at liberty to give it, would be familiar to most of the people of Boone county. We here quote it, as it well illustrates our our point and is of sufficient merit to be preserved.
TWO ANCIENT MISSES.
I know two ancient misses Who ever onward go, From a cold and rigid northern clime Through a land of wheat and corn and wine, To the southern sea where the fig and the lime And the golden orange grow.
In graceful curves they wind about Upon their long and lonely route, Among the beauteous hills; They never cease their onward step, Though day and night they're dripping wet, And oft with the sleet and snow beset, And sometimes with the chills.
The one is a romping, dark brunette, As fickle and gay as any coquette; She glides along by the western plains, And changes her bed every time it rains; Witching as any dark-eyed houri, This romping, wild brunette Missouri.
The other is placid, mild and fair, With a gentle, sylph-like, quiet air, And a voice as sweet as a soft guitar; She moves along the meadows and parks Where naiads play Æolian harps- None ever go by fits and starts- No fickle coquette of the city, But gentle, constant Mississippi.
I love the wild and dark brunette Because she is a gay coquette; Her, too, I love, of quiet air, Because she's gentle, true and fair. The land of my birth, on the east and the west, Embraced by these is doubly blest- 'Tis hard to tell which I love best.
It has been intimated by one that there is nothing in a name, but a name sometimes means a great deal. In this case it indicates the character
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of the people who settled the county, and have given to it its distinctive characteristics.
Names are sometimes given to towns and countries by accident; some- times they originate in the childish caprice of some one individual, whose dictate, by reason of some real or imaginary superiority, is law. However, in this instance, the county and its chief city did not receive a name by ac- cident; neither did it originate in the childish caprice of one man, but the christening took place after mature deliberation and by general consent.
Among the hardy pioneers whose restless and daring spirits tired of the staid and monotonous ways of the older settled communities, there was one who early crossed the Alleghanies and wrested from the warlike savages a home in what has very properly been named the "Dark and Bloody Ground." For true manliness of character, for bravery and for skill in dealing with the crafty red man of the forest he was without a peer. His name was Daniel Boone. This man had a son who inherited a great many traits of his father and was in a remarkable degree endowed with those characteristics which distinguished the daring frontiersman of the far West.
It would be entirely unnecessary to explain to the early settlers who were the United States Dragoons. Though the early settlers of this county are mostly well along in years and their recollection of early events is gradu- ally wearing away by the erasion of passing events, there are doubtless none but what appreciate the significance of the term "Dragoon" and who even at this late day can call back the picture of those dignified and pom- pous, though brave and honorable, persons who were a terror alike to the predatory savage and the covetous claim hunter. The children of the pioneer and those people who have come to the country in later years have not been accustomed to associate with these doughty champions of law and order, and for the benefit of such a word of explanation would, perhaps, not be amiss.
The term dragoon originated in England many years ago and was applied to a certain species of cavalry soldiers who rode swift horses, went lightly armed and whose business it was to scour the King's dominions and by menace or actual deeds of violence awe the obstinate Saxon into sub- mission.
Their first appearance in America was during the Revolutionary War when they performed important service by making long and rapid excur- sions through the country within the American lines and thus keeping open a line of communication with the tories who were scattered throughout the whole country. What the Cossack is to the Russian army, and what Mosby's and Forest's swift riders were to the Confederate army, that the dragoons were to the English soldiery. When the war of independence closed and the colonies, by the terms of the treaty of peace, became free and inde- pendent, it became necessary for the republic to organize an army, and in the organization of this army, that of England was taken as a model; and not only English tactics but English military terms were appropriated. The term dragoon is no longer used in military parliance but from the or- ganization of the United States army till sometime after the close of the Mexican War the dragoon was an important, and what was supposed to be an indispensable, factor in the service. Their peculiar mission for over fifty years was to lead in the van of civilization and act as umpire in cases of dispute between the pioneer and the savage. In time of war they encircled
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the scattering settlements of the frontier like a wall of fire and many a de- fenseless settler owed the protection of his. life and family to these men. They fully understood the Indian character and Indian tactics and under ordinary circumstances one dragoon was a match for five Indians in an open and hand to hand conflict. In time of peace, however, the dragoon knew no friends and was as swift and unrelenting in administering punishment to the trespassing settler as to the savage Indian. One day his mission would be to pursue a band of hostile Indians who had left their reservation and menaced the life or property of the settler; the next day, perchance, his task would be to search out the aggressive squatter who, ignoring Indian treaties, had erected a cabin across the boundary line; when he found such the dragoon would invariably burn the cabin and drive the squatter back across the line.
One of the first companies of United States Dragoons stationed in this section of country was commanded by Colonel Boone. He was among the first white men who explored the region and gave a correct account of its natural resources and as a tribute to his memory the county bears his name.
The following brief biography of Colonel Boone will be of interest to every reader of this work and will doubtless be regarded as relevant at this place. For the facts in this biography we are indebted to Chas. Negus whose able article on the subject, published in the Annals of Iowa in 1872, has come to be regarded as an important part of the permanent history of the Hawk-Eye State:
"There is one name, which, whenever it is mentioned among military men and old frontiermen, is always mentioned with respect, and that name is Nathan Boone. On account of his father, Colonel Daniel Boone, of Ken- tucky, the fame of the son is not as wide-spread as it should be, nor is it such as he was justly entitled to. He was born in Kentucky in 1772, in the settlement made by his father; lived there until he was grown to man- hood, and then moved to the Territory of Missouri, where, at thirty years of age, and on the 25th day of March, 1812, he was made, by the President of the United States, a captain of mounted rangers. These rangers, of which there were seven companies, were raised during the war with Great Britian, for the protection of the frontier of the United States against the Indians, and were to serve on foot or horseback, as the exigencies of the service might require. He served through the whole war, his company being made up of frontiersmen from Missouri Territory. He was promoted major of the Missouri mounted rangers, on the 10th of December, 1813, continued as captain in 1814, and his command was finally disbanded when the whole army was cut down at the close of the war, in June, 1815. By nature he was cool and daring, combining the superior knowledge of the white man with the cunning of the Indian. He had the passion peculiar to his family for the chase, and often went off on long and lonely marches, far beyond the most extended frontier settlements, in pursuit of the denizens of the forest. After leaving the army, he was sometimes employed as a surveyor, and laid off many In- dian boundaries in the territory north of Missouri; and sometimes as a trapper, when he indulged his love for hunting for months together. His home he moved beyond the Ozark Mountains, where, in a beautiful valley, and far in advance of civilization, he made it cheerful and happy.
"There he lived until the breaking out of the Black Hawk War, when he
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was again called upon by the President to servehis country in the field. A battalion of mounted rangers was raised and placed under the command of Major Henry Dodge, the six companies of which it was composed being commanded respectively by Captains Lemuel Ford, Benjamin V. Becks, Jesse B. Brown, Jesse Bean, Nathan Boone, and Matthew Duncan. Captain Boone's commi cion was dated June 16, 1832. This battalion rendered good service da .. . ng the Black Hawk troubles, and after the war closed it was sent west ot the Mississippi, and served in the Indian country. Here, Boone's knowledge of woodcraft was invaluable, and he was known to be one of the ablest woodsmen that ever belonged to the United States army. He could go to any point in a straight line, no matter whether it was across the prairie or through the timber, and possessed a keener instinct than the Indians themselves. He was an extraordinary man, and it is said that no Indian hunter excelled him in the knowledge of woodcraft.
"In August, 1833, the battalion of rangers was reorganized as the First regiment of United States dragoons, Major Dodge having been promoted colonel; Stephen W. Kearney lieutenant-colonel, and Richard B. Mason, major. Five of the captains in the rangers were retained, Captain Becks having been discharged, and five other captains from the old army ap- pointed to the regiment; these were Clinton Wharton, Edwin V. Sumner, Eustace Trenor, David Hunter, and Reuben Holmes.
"While a captain, Boone was stationed at Fort Des Moines, and at Leav- enworth, but every summer his company made long expeditions far out in the Indian country. He was the favorite pioneer captain of Colo- nel Kearney, who had the most implicit confidence in his knowledge and sagacity. It is related that at one time, while out in the buffalo range, several young and enthusiastic officers started out and followed a drove of buffalo a long distance. They became separated from the main command and from one another, and, in fact, got lost. Night came on, but still the young gentlemen did not return, and all became exceedingly apprehensive in regard to their safety. A long night ensued, but with the first light of the following morning Boone was on the trail, though in some places it had been obliterated by the hoofs of thousands of buffaloes; and after a long search, found them completely lost, and almost insane.
"At another time, an officer, while in pursuit of buffaloes, after riding several miles, lost his hat, but in the hurry of pursuit did not stop to pick it up. After shooting a buffalo, he returned and tried to find it, but could not do so, and tying his handkerchief around his head he returned to the main body. Boone asked him where he had lost his hat, and the officer told him it was somewhere out on the plain-he did not know where. Asa hat at that time could not well be replaced, it was worth looking after, and Boone rode out, and having been gone an hour or two, returned with the hat.
"In the settlement of the Osage Indian difficulties, in 1837, and those of the Cherokees, which originated in the death of Boudinot and Ridges, in 1839, Boone acted a conspicuous part.
"During the Mexican War he was kept on the plains in the Indian coun- try, where it was thought he could be more usefully employed than he could further south. He was promoted major in the First regiment on the 15th of February, 1847, and served as such until the 25th of July, 1850, when he was promoted lieutenant-colonel of the Second dragoons. Feeling that old age was wearing upon him, and that he was no longer able to keep
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the field, he resigned out of the army on the 15th of July, 1853, and died at his home in Missouri, in January, 1857, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. "Several of the paths leading towards the Rocky Mountains were first traveled by parties under the leadership of Boone, and he discovered many of the water-courses and streams along which travelers have since wended their way to the shores of the Pacific. This work has been claimed by ex- plorers who have visited the country long since his time, and who have robbed him of the credit which was due him as a successful pioneer and noted leader on our wide western domain. He was a man of great mod- esty and simplicity of character. His education was quite limited, as he lived nearly his whole life on the frontier, away from schools and the ad- vantages which most other Americans possess. He had the most unflinch- ing perseverance, combined with personal courage, and an integrity which nothing could shake. In personal appearance he is said to have strongly resembled his celebrated father, Daniel Boone, the first settler of Ken- tucky.
CHAPTER II.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
Situation - Extent - Surface - Rivers-Timber-Climate-Prairies-Soils-Geology-Eco- nomic Geology-Coal-Building Stone-Clays-Spring and Well Water.
BOONE county is situated near the center of the State-accurately speak- ing it is about thirty miles west and a very little south of the geographical center; it is considerably west and north of the center of wealth and pop- ulation. Numbering by counties it is in the fifth tier numbering either from the north or south boundary of the State, in the eighth, numbering from the east, and in the fifth from the west boundary of the State. Its latitude is about 42 degrees and 10 minutes, being somewhat north of the city of New York, and its longitude is about 93 degrees, and 50 minutes west of Greenwich, and 15 degrees and 50 minutes, or about 1,150 miles west of Washington City.
It is bounded, on the north by Webster and Hamilton counties; on the east by Story county; on the south by Dallas and Polk; on the west by Greene. It comprises the congressional townships 82, 83, 84 and 85 of ranges 25, 26, 27 and 28 west.
Boone county is in the shape of a square as nearly as could be made, estimated by the measurements of the original surveys, and is twenty-four miles each way, giving it a superficial area of five hundred and seventy-six square miles, or three hundred and sixty-eight thousand, six hundred and forty acres. The civil townships as now constitued are as follows: Harri- son, Dodge, Pilot Mound, Grant, Amaqua, Yell, Des Moines, Jackson, Col- fax, Worth, Marcy, Beaver, Union, Peoples, Cass, Douglas and Garden. Of these, Harrison, Jackson, Colfax, Garden, Peoples, Union, Beaver, A maqua, and Grant have the same boundaries as the corresponding con- gressional townships; Dodge, Marcy and Des Moines are larger, while Pilot Mound, Yell, Worth, Douglas and Cass are smaller than congres- sional townships. Dodge is the largest township and Douglas the smallest.
The county was originally divided into civil townships whose boundaries in the main corresponded with the boundaries of the congressional town-
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
ships, but in later years some important changes were made which will be mentioned more particularly at the proper place. All the townships, as at present constituted have regular boundaries, except where they border upon the Des Moines river. Owing to the great expense necessarily in- volved in bridging this river, but few bridges have been erected, conse- quetly the river forms an impassable barrier during certain portions of the year thus making it very inconvenient, if not altogether impassable, hence it has been so arranged that no township, as at present constituted, extends on both sides of the stream.
Boone county's elevation is somewhat greater than the average county of Iowa in this latitude; from this circumstance it earned the appellation in early times of "High Boone."
The elevation of the county is probably about 950 feet above the level of the sea, or 506 feet above low water mark in the Mississippi river at Keokuk. According to the railroad levels, the highest point on a line drawn east and west across the center of the county is near the east bound- ary line, where the elevation is 1,188 feet above the sea or 744 feet above low water in the Mississippi river at Keokuk. The elevation of the prin- cipal points on the railroad in the county is as follows:
Boone. .951 feet above the sea.
Moingona 919 feet above the sea.
Ogden 1,080 feet above the sea.
Beaver Station 1,039 feet above the sea.
The water in the Des Moines river, here, is about 460 feet higher than at its mouth.
The county is generally of an undulating prairie, and has altogether a diversity of country seldom seen in so small a space. At a varying distance from the streams rises an irregular line of bluffs, or hills, sometimes wooded, and sometimes, previous to improvement, covered with a luxuriant growth of prairie grass, having between them the water bottom lands of unsurpassed fertility. These hills are usually a gentle slope, easily ascended and descended by wagons and sinking into mere benches, mod- erately lifted above the surface of the valley; again they rise oft-times to the height of one hundred and fifty feet above the bed of the Des Moines river. From side to side between these hills the streams meander with banks varied by hill, meadow and forest. Rising to these higher grounds the eye often commands views of exquisite loveliness, embracing the silvery course of river or creek, the waving foliage of trees, the changing outlines of hills and the undulating surface of flower-decked prairie, with culti- vated farms, with farm houses from the log hut of the first settler to the brick or painted houses and barns of the more advanced cultivator of the soil.
A remarkable chain of bluffs or hills, called Mineral Ridge, extends the entire width of the north side of the county. The surveyors declared that the ridge contained deposits of iron from the fact that their compass needles were deflected when running lines in that locality. This is the reason why the elevations were called Mineral Ridge.
An old record says that:
"Opposite to Honey creek in section 18, township 84, range 26, is a row
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HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY.
of ancient mounds, nine in number, the largest one being in the center and over fifteen feet high. "
Professor Owen says:
"The real beauty of this section can hardly be surpassed. Undulating prairies interspersed with open groves of timber and watered with pebbly or rocky streams, pure and transparent, hills of moderate height and gentle slope; here and there, especially toward the heads of the streams, small lakes as clear as the streams, skirted with timber, some with banks covered with the green sward of the prairie. These are the ordinary features of the landscape. For centuries the successive annual crops have accumulated organic matter on the surface to such an extent that the succession even of exhausting crops will not materially impoverish the land. "
The country presented to the first settler an easy task in subduing the wild land. Its natural prairies were fields almost ready for the planting of the crop, and its rich black soil seemed to be awaiting the opportunity of paying rewards as a tribute to the labor of the husbandman. The farms of Iowa at present are generally large, level, unbroken by impassa- ble sloughs, without stumps or other obstructions, and furnish the best of conditions favorable to the use of reaping machines, mower, corn planters and other kinds of labor-saving machinery.
Boone county is well supplied with good living streams, many of them having fine mill sites. The Des Moines river is the principal stream of the county, as it also is of the State. It enters the county a mile west of the center of the nothern boundary line and pursues a southeasterly course, leaving the county four miles east of the center of the south boundary line. Its average width is over one hundred yards and its waters are of a crystal clearness when not disturbed by freshets. Many mill sites may be found along this stream within the bounds of the county, but few of these have thus far been improved. No county in this or any other State has better facilities than this for flouring mills, or the propaga- tion of any kind of machinery. The available water power along the Des Moines river in Boone county alone, were it utilized, would furnish a remu- nerative occupation for all the able-bodied men in the county. It has been but recently that the full value of the Des Moines river for water power begun to be appreciated and at some points (as at Ottumwa for in- stance), is become to be regarded as the foundation of future municipal wealth and greatness.
As to the significance of the name of this river. According to Nicollet the name Des Moines, which has been attached to the largest river, one of the first counties organized and the capital of the State, is a corruption of an Indian word signifying "at the road. " He remarks, " but in the later times the inhabitants associated this name (Revere des Moins) with that of the Trappist Monks (Moines de la Trappe) who resided on the Indian mounds of the American Bottom. It was then concluded that the true reading of the Rivere Des Moins was Rivere Des Moines or River of the Monks, by which name it is designated on all the maps.
The older settlers have doubtless noticed quite a change in the spelling of this name in later years, the approved way of spelling in former times having been Demoin.
The other streams of the county are small, but nevertheless important. Equaw creek in the northeast part of the county is a fine, rapid stream of clear, pure water, having a plentiful supply of timber and settlements
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along its banks; it is a tributary of Skunk river. It is said that Equiwa is the Indians' name of the creek and signifies woman's. Hence the white settlers soon accustomed themselves to call it Squaw creek, which detest- able custom in this case as in the case of Skunk river has resulted in the dropping of the pleasant sounding Indian name and the substitution of a name which is unpleasant both to the ear and the eye. Notwithstanding the stream has practically lost its beautiful name it has lost none of its beautiful characteristics for which it is deservedly noted.
Amaqua creek waters the western portion of the county; its course is southward and has along its banks a plentiful supply of timber. It is said that Amaqua, an Indian word, means beaver, consequently the stream is frequently if not generally called by that name-another evidence of the etymological researches of the early settlers, which is more creditable to their industry than good taste. Two townships, through which this tream flows, Amaqua and Beaver, received their names from it. This stream furnishes abundance of water for that region.
The other streams are short tributaries of the Des Moines river. They are called Bear creek, Bluff creek, Cryton's creek, all on west side; Hull's creek, Pea's creek and Honey creek on the east side. The banks of all these streams are lined with timber, and imbedded in them are mines of wealth in the form of coal, stone and potter's clay. Two of these streams, viz .: Hull's creek and Pea's creek, received their names from the two first settlers, John Pea and Hull. It is very appropriate for the names of these hardy pioneers thus to be perpetuated, and so long as the present race occupy the land they will remain unchanged by the vicissitudes of time.
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