USA > Iowa > Lee County > The history of Lee county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 50
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
from fifteen to twenty feet in thickness. No coal, however, is at present known to occur in this neighborhood.
It is probable, this sandstone was once connected with the outliers of coal which exist on the opposite side of the river, in Hancock County, Ill. It appears to withstand the action of frost very well, the rock in the bluff present- ing sharp angles, where it has long been exposed, and its massive character renders it well adapted to purposes of heavy masonry.
CONCRETIONARY LIMESTONE.
This member of the Mountain limestone series forms the surface rock, when the superficial material is removed, hence, in economical values, becomes one of the most important limestone deposits. It forms the upper portion of the bluffs, from Croton, on the Des Moines, to Montrose, on the Mississippi, and, in the southeastern part of the county, is an irregularly bedded, brecciated and con- cretionary limestone, of a steel or bluish gray color, passing upward into a reg- ularly-bedded, nearly white, compact limestone at the top. It is by far the purest limestone in the county, and hence forms the best resource for the burn- ing of quicklime. Its concretionary character in this part of the county renders it of little value as a building material ; but in its more northerly and western extensions, it becomes more regularly bedded in strata from two to twelve inches in thickness, and is extensively used in the interior and northwestern portions of the county for building purposes. In Franklin, Marion, West Point and Pleasant Ridge Townships, this rock may be obtained in great abundance, on North Sugar Creek and the small tributaries of Skunk River ; and in Charles- ton and Des Moines Townships, it is found on the South or Sugar Creek of the Des Moines. In the bluffs of the Des Moines, at the town of Croton, the bed exhibits both its most characteristic features : the lower portion, from fifteen to twenty feet in thickness, is concretionary and brecciated, with irregular seams of green, marly clay ; while above, it becomes a regularly bedded light-gray limestone, in strata from six to twenty inches in thickness, the upper layers having an oolitic structure. The material for the construction of the lock at this point was obtained from the upper part of this bed and the sandstone above it. The changes in the lithological characters of this bed, which form one of its most striking peculiarities, probably led Dr. Owen into the erroneous supposition that there were two distinct beds of concretionary limestone, which he has repre- sented in his general section, with a bed of sandstone between.
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Fossils .- The only fossil obtained from this bed in this county, and the one which may be regarded as most characteristic of it everywhere, is the coral known as Lithostrotion Canadense of Castelnau, or Lithostrotion basaltiforme of Owen, which weathers out from it almost everywhere, and is found in detached masses in the beds of streams where this rock is exposed. From Southern Iowa to Northern Alabama, this fossil forms a well-marked and reliable horizon for the determination of the position of geological strata, making its appearance wherever rocks of this age are to be found. These corals are always siliceous, and weather out from the limestones in so perfect a state of preserva- tion that those unacquainted with the subject can scarcely believe that they were ever imbedded in the solid limestone strata.
WARSAW ARCHIMEDES LIMESTONE.
This deposit is not very extensively developed in Iowa ; disappearing in a northerly and westerly direction shortly after leaving the mouth of the Des Moines River, either by wedging out, or by merging in the concretionary bed
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
above. On the east side of the Mississippi, it is a well-marked member of the group, and retains its lithological character for at least one hundred miles, or to near the mouth of the Illinois River. In the bluffs of the Mississippi, just above the mouth of the Des Moines, this bed may be seen in place. The upper portion consists of a massive arenaceous limestone from ten to twelve feet in thickness, underlaid by blue marly clays with irregular bands of impure lime- stone ; and forming a durable material for heavy masonry, in some cases attain- ing a thickness of from two to three feet.
Fossils .- The most characteristic fossils of this formation are the screw-shaped coral Fenestella (Archimedes) wortheni, Pentremites conoidens, Orthis dubia, Rhynchonella subcuneata, Capulus acutirostris, together with many species of Crinoidea, Bryozoa, etc., yet undescribed.
MAGNESIAN LIMESTONE.
Immediately below the beds last mentioned, we find a deposit of brownish- gray magnesian limestome, sometimes inclining to a yellowish color, usually deposited in massive strata from one to three feet in thickness. Although this bed seldom exceeds ten or twelve feet in thickness, it has afforded a large amount of material for heavy masonary. It has been used in the construction of the locks, at several points, on the Des Moines, and is admirably adapted to works of that kind, where strength and durability are mainly required. When first taken from the quarry, it is soft enough to be cut with facility, but hardens on exposure and becomes exceedingly durable. This rock may be quarried almost anywhere in the bluffs of the Des Moines below Croton, as well as along the Mississippi from Keokuk to Montrose. Above this point, it was not seen pre- senting its usual characters ; and at Judy's mill, on Sugar Creek, the most northerly point where it was observed, it was represented by about four or five feet of brown, shelly limestone. It is probable that it thins out entirely at some point not much north of Skunk River.
Fossils .- The most conspicuous fossils belonging to this bed are a large Conularia, a Lingula, and the palate-bones of fishes ; all of which are at the present time undescribed.
GEODE BED.
Below the magnesian limestone, we find a deposit of marly clays and argil- laceous limestones, filled with spherical masses of siliceous material termed geodes ; many of which are hollow, and, on being broken, present many mag- nificent crystals of quartz, calc spar, dolomite, zinc blende and iron pyrites, as well as mammillary and botryoid forms of chalcedony. This bed affords notlı- ing of economical value, and contains no fossils, except where there is an inter- calation of thin bands of limestone.
KEOKUK LIMESTONE.
The beds of rock to which this name has been given consist of regularly- stratified bluish-gray limestones, in strata from four inches to two feet in thickness, with seams of chert and blue, marly clay between. This has been extensively quarried in the vicinity of Keokuk, and used for building purposes, to which it is well adapted. One stratum, near the base of the quarries, is a semi-crystal- line light-gray crinoidal limestone, usually quite free from chert; being sus- ceptible of a fine polish, it is well adapted for cutting, and is generally used for caps and sills. A mill was erected, some two years since, at the lower end of the city, for the purpose of sawing this rock into the various forms required ; but the siliceous character of the imbedded fossils, even when the rock itself
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
appears free from chert, renders it unsuitable for that purpose, and the under- taking was soon abandoned. This bed of rocks forms the base of the bluffs from the mouth of the Des Moines to Montrose, and is also exposed on Lost Creek, one mile and a half southeast of Denmark, where extensive quarries have been opened on the lands of Mr. McNeil. It is extensively used in the vicinity of Keokuk for making quicklime ; but as a material for that purpose, I regard it as inferior to the concretionary limestone above it.
Fossils .- This rock has sometimes been called Lower Archimedes limestone, from the fact that it is the lowest bed at present known to contain fossil corals of that genus ; one species of which the Fenestella ( Archimedes) owenana, is a characteristic fossil of this bed. Near the upper part of this limestone, a thin stratum is frequently found containing the teeth and palate-bones of fishes in considerable abundance. Among the well-known species of fossils may be men- tioned Agaricocrinus tuberosus, Actinocrinus Mississippiensis, Platryerinus saffordii, Palechinus multipora ?, Productus semireticulatus, P. cora, P. punc- tutus, Spirifer striatus ?, with many undescribed species of Crinoidem Brachi- opoda and Bryozoa.
CHERTY BEDS.
Underlying the Keokuk limestones, we find a bed, some forty feet in thick- ness, made up of alternations of chert with irregular seams of light-gray lime. stone, usually too thin to be of any economical value. The siliceous material which forms the greater portion of this bed is not sufficiently free from foreign ingredients to be of value for any of the uses to which silex, in its purer forms, is usually applied. It is more or less colored with oxide of iron, and where it decomposes, forms a reddish-brown, marly clay. This bed outerops along the Mississippi River, near the water-level, from Keokuk to Montrose; also, on Lost Creek, between Denmark and Wilson's mill ; and caps the bluffs at South Augusta, overlying the Burlington limestones.
Fossils .- The fossils of this bed generally agree, specifically, with those of the Koeknk limestone, except the Fenestella (Archimedes) owenana, which I have not observed in it.
BURLINGTON CRINOIDAL LIMESTONE.
These beds, which form the base of the Mountain limestone series, and which rest directly on rocks of Devonian age, equivalent to the Chemung group of New York, consist of light-gray, semi-crystalline erinoidal limestone, the strata varying from four to eighteen inches in thickness, with intercalations of chert in seams and lenticular masses. This bed forms the greater portion of the river-bluffs, on the south side of Skuuk River, from the north line of Green Bay Township to a point abont two miles above Augusta, where it is overlaid by the cherty beds above mentioned. It also outerops on Lost Creek, at Wilson's mill, on Section 12, in Washington Township, the most southerly point where it has been observed in this county. The quarries in the vicinity of Augusta are capable of yielding an almost unlimited amount of building material of an excellent quality. A more extended notice of this limestone, with its charac- teristic fossils, will be given in the report on Des Moines County, where it ont- crops over a much larger surface.
CHEMUNG GRITSTONES AND OOLITIC LIMESTONE.
These beds, which are referable to the Devonian system, outerop at the base of the bluffs, beneath the Burlington limestone, from the lower end of these bluffs, on the south side of Skunk River, to the neighborhood of Augusta,
G
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
where they dip below the river-level and disappear. As their outcrop is so exceedingly limited in this county, and they yield no material of economical value, a more extended notice of them will be omitted for the present.
ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY.
BUILDING AND FLAGGING STONES.
Nearly every part of this county is supplied with good building-rock, easily accessible, and costing, at the present time, no more than the labor of quarrying. The northeastern portion of the county is supplied from the beds of crinoidal lime- stone, which outcrop in the bluff on the south side of Skunk River, as well as on Lost Creek, in the vicinity of Wilson's mill. This rock is usually a soft, granular limestone, in strata from six to fifteen inches thick, easily wrought, and well adapted for the ordinary purposes for which limestones are required. Some of the layers are semi-crystalline and susceptible of a good polish, and may be used as a marble. The Keokuk limestone also furnishes an abundant supply of good building-material, and is accessible along the bluffs of the Mississippi, from Montrose to Keokuk, and also one and a half miles southeast of Denmark, and at several points on Skunk and Des Moines Rivers. The interior portion of the county, however, is mostly supplied from the concretionary limestone which outcrops on both Sugar Creeks, affording an abundant supply for the middle and western portions of the county. This bed also affords an excel- lent flagging-stone, in the vicinity of Denmark, where the upper layers are somewhat arenaceous and from two to four inches in thickness.
Quicklime .- Quicklime is made from all the limestones above named, though the concretionary is undoubtedly the best adapted to this purpose. At Keokuk, the city is mainly supplied with this material from the upper layers of the Keokuk limestones. Some layers of this bed, as well as a portion of the crinoidal limestone, afford a very good lime; but they usually contain too much arenaceous or siliceous material, and require to be selected with consider- able care when used for the manufacture of lime.
CLAY AND SAND.
An inexhaustible supply of these materials for the manufacture of brick 1 may be obtained from the drift or bowlder formation in all parts of the county. The clays are accessible everywhere at a short distance below the surface; and the sands, which are mostly in the middle and lower part of the deposit, may be obtained in the bluffs of the streams, and also in their beds. Fire-clay, suitable for the manufacture of fire-brick and pottery, may usually be obtained from the underclay of the lower coal-seam, outliers of which are found at sev- eral points in this county.
Few counties in this State are more bountifully supplied with all the elements of material wealth than the county of Lee, having an abundant supply of building-stone, timber and water, and a soil of unsurpassed fertility. Although no valuable deposits of mineral wealth have been found within the limits of the county, nevertheless her citizens possess a mine of wealth in the rich soil everywhere overspreading the surface, of far more importance and greater value than the richest mineral deposits, accompanied, as such deposits usually are, with a barren and unproductive soil. To those who are desirous of ascertaining whether coal may be found in any particular locality, I would suggest that, by simply boring down to the limestone, the question will
427
HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
be definitely settled, as no workable coal-seam has ever been found below the concretionary limestone. From the character of the outliers of coal in this county which have fallen under my observation, it is not probable that they will prove to be of any great economical value.
ANCIENT MOUNDS.
RELICS AND CURIOSITIES OF PAST AGES.
This volume would be incomplete without some reference to the numerous mounds of ancient origin that are to be found in various parts of the county. These mounds are generally conceded to be the work of a semi-civilized people I that existed prior to the North American Indians. Archaeologists have deter- mined that the mounds of America may be properly classed under three general heads, viz .: 'Mounds of Observation, Mounds of Sacrifice, and Mounds of Burial. The first were doubtless used as posts of communication between distant bands. They are always found on elevated lands, from which wide areas of territory may be seen, if modern timber or edifices do not intervene. From one to another a signal-fire or flag might have conveyed intelligence of invasion, of joy or of distress.
Justus M. T. Myers, who was raised from boyhood to man's estate in Lee County, where he is still a resident, and who is a naturalist of more than ordinary acquirements, and has given much thought to the mounds and their origin, submits the following statements :
" As far as I know, there are some fifteen or twenty mounds on my father's farm, in Green Bay Township, and several others on adjoining farms, all of which are of oval formation, from two to seven feet in height, and from twelve to thirty feet in diameter. I have drifted into some of these mounds, and found pieces of flint, pottery, and bones, both human and animal. Some of these bones were burnt or charred, as if the occupants of the country at that period of time cremated their dead, or sacrificed them as burnt-offerings. In one of the mounds into which I drifted, I found thirty-two human skeletons, that had evidently been left there at the time of sepulture in a sitting position, but had fallen over with the lapse of time, until their heads were drooping down between their legs when I uncovered them. The skeletons were incased in limestone vaults that had been made by setting broad stones on their edges, and covered over with broad, flat stones. Some of these stones would weigh as much as two hundred and fifty or two hundred and seventy-five pounds. As there are no limestone beds nearer than one and a half miles of this mound, the question arises, How were they transported there ? and by what race of people were the mounds built ? Not by the Indians of the present or past, but by a race of people that inhabited the American continent before the Indians. The children of Israel ? Scripture tells us of that people traveling toward the rising sun. They could have crossed Behring's Straits, or, perhaps, what is not impossible, Asia and North America were joined together by a small belt of land, of which the Aleutian Isles are the remains. They, and not the Indians, built these mounds, and may not our Indians be descended from the Mound- Builders ? If they were the creation of the Indians, some one or the other of the numerous tribes would be able to tell about them, as in all likelihood the story of their building would have been handed down from father to son. Ask the Indians, and they know nothing about their origin. *
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
No doubt the mounds found in Europe correspond with the mounds found in Lee County.
" There are also several of these mounds in the near vicinity of Wever and Jollyville. One of them is to be seen in the door-yard of Mr. John Junge, on the old Burlington road, near Jollyville. Two others were leveled down when he was planting his orchard. Another one, in the meadow of Mr. E. A. Layton, has attracted a good deal of attention and speculation. This mound is from seven to nine feet in height, probably thirty-two feet in diameter, and fifty feet in length. There are also mounds in other parts of the county, but I am not so familiar with their immediate location, size or surroundings.
" There are evidences of the country having been occupied centuries ago, as the remains of an ancient building have been found on the farm of Samuel Hyter, in Green Bay Township. The shape of the building was that of a cross, and is probably the remains of some Jesuit mission building, where the early French Missionaries sought to enlighten the Indian mind. *
" A few years ago, my brother and myself found a medal at the site of this old stone wall, that is quite different from any in use by any of the religious societies of the present time. A representation of the cross, the crucified Saviour, the Virgin Mary-whose heart is being pierced with seven daggers- four angels, a ladder and a palace, supposed to be intended to represent heaven. On the reverse side there is a monogram, and the words and figures, 'To all the faithful who recite an Ave Maria before this holy image, an indul- gence of 1080 days is granted.'"
This medal is oval in shape, and between the size of a silver half-dollar and dollar of American coinage. It is in the possession of Mr. Myers, subject to the examination of the curious and speculative.
In preparing this sketch of the mounds of Lee County, Mr. Myers offered some elaborate ideas as to the Mound-Builders, the origin of the mounds, etc., but as such papers belong more to scientific than historic works, they are omitted from these pages. The numerous relics in his possession, such as stone axes, arrowheads, etc., nearly all of which were gathered from the mounds into which he drifted, or their near vicinity, are objects of curiosity as the works of the primitive man of the stone age.
COLLECTIONS.
Mr. Myers has accumulated a rare and valuable collection of fossils and minerals. His cabinet embraces 2,500 different varieties, from the finest crinoides to commonest pebbles. Nearly all those specimens are from Lee County.
RELICS AND CURIOSITIES.
Among Mr. Myers' collection of relics and curiosities, are the following: The sword of the Mormon Prophet, Jo Smith, taken from him at the time of his arrest and sudden taking-off in June, 1844; the hand of Gabriel grasping the trumpet, carved in stone, from the Nauvoo temple, and specimens from the Salt Lake temple, which is built from black and white granite; petrified sage, from the Salt Lake region, presented to Mrs. Dr. Roberts by Brigham Young, when, with others, she visited that famous inter-American city, in 1871, and contributed to Myers' collection by that estimable lady on her return ; Black Hawk's pipe of peace, made of red stone taken from the wonderful pipestone quarry in Pipe Stone County, in Southwestern Minnesota; a Sioux pipe, elabo- rately carved out, of stone of the same color, taken from the Iowa quarry, near Fort Dodge; the pipe of Little Crow, the leader of the Minnesota mas-
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
sacre at Mankato, in that State, during the years of the late rebellion, for which a number of them were executed. Little Crow, however, managed to evade arrest and kept himself secreted in the "Big Woods " and among the chain of small lakes that abound in Minnesota. A large reward was offered for his body, dead or alive. In hopes of securing that reward, Little Crow's half-brother started on his trail, which he followed like a sleuth-hound. At last he came in sight of the red murderer just as he was in the act of lighting his pipe, and deliberately and coolly shot him through the head. His pipe was filled and had just been touched with a spark of fire from the steel and flint. Subsequently, the slayer of his brother found his way on board a Mississippi River steamboat, the pilot of which was a friend of Myers', to whom he told the story of the pipe. The pilot mesmerized the Indian and got possession of the pipe and added it to Myers' collection, where it remains, just as it was taken from the murdering Little Crow.
Besides the curiosities above named, there are hundreds of others, each one of which has a history.
Not the least curious are the mound relics, consisting of polished and unpolished stone axes, flints, arrowheads, pieces of pottery, pieces of human and animal bones, etc., which were taken from the mounds on the farms of J. F. Myers, J. Junge, and others, in Green Bay Township.
ENTOMOLOGY.
This part of nature's work has always been a favorite study with Mr. Myers, and there is scarcely a bug, butterfly or moth, native or foreign, of which he has not learned the nature and habits, thus contributing largely to the benefit of mankind. To quote his own words :
" Thrice often have I been convinced that no object was created without being designed for some important use, and many times in my wanderings have I exclaimed,
" 'Sorrowing I beheld,
The night come on, but soon did night display More wonders than it veiled ; innumerous tribes From wood and cover swarmed, and darkness made Their beauties visible. Awhile they streamed A bright blue radiance upon flowers that closed Their gorgeous colors from the eye of day Then motionless and dark. Clouded search Self-shrouded ; and anon, starring the sky, Rose like a shower of fire The beautiful fire-fly.'
" Why do we not more generally teach natural history in our common schools ? What a grand knowledge to understand nature ?"
Of the Coleoptera, or Beetle, Mr. M. has collected over three thousand dif- ferent species ; of these, 2,500 are common to Iowa, or more directly speaking, to Lee County.
Of Lepidoptera, or Butterflies, he has 250 different varieties, 200 of which are common to Iowa. The other fifty are from foreign correspondence and exchange. Of moths, 300 varieties, of which, 250 are common to Iowa, and 50 to other parts of the world.
To enumerate these different varieties, or give the technical names and classification, would be a too comprehensive undertaking. Such undertaking belongs to naturalists and not to local historians.
The foreign addition to Mr. Myers' entomological collection are from Bra- zil, South America, the East and West Indies, Europe and other parts of the
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
globe. He has a system of correspondence and exchange with naturalists in different parts of the country, by which he is almost constantly adding rare varieties to his already large collection. Among his correspondents are the fol- lowing well-known characters :
Geology, Prof. James Hall, Albany, N. Y., and Prof. Wetherby, Cincin -. nati, Ohio.
Archeological Relies, A. F. Berlin, Reading, Penn.
Entomology, Dr. D. M. Castle, Philadelphia, Penn .; Dr. G. W. Dietz, Hazleton, Penn. ; Frank Zesch, Buffalo, N. Y .; O. Reinecke, 500 Main street, N. Y .; E. P. Austin, 46 E. Newton street, Boston, Mass .; S. Auxer, Lancas- ter, Penn. ; Fred. Bowditch, Brookline, Mass .; G. W. Dunn, San Franciseo, Cal. ; George W. Belfrage, Clifton, Bosque Co., Texas
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