USA > Iowa > Lee County > The history of Lee county, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 62
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The worst portions of the Rapids are called by river-men "chains," of which there are five principal ones. These chains are miniature ridges, stretching diagonally across the river, and, as before stated, have worn upon them a smooth surface, with a narrow channel, or a series of them, cut through by the action of the water. These chains lie between Keokuk and Nashville (Iowa), a distance of eight miles.
At Montrose, the head of the Rapids, between the island and the main shore, there is an extensive " patch " of rock, to remove which, coffer-dams were built, the water pumped out, and a channel blasted out 200 feet wide and 5 feet deep.
The question of improving the Rapids has impressed itself upon the minds of the people of this country for many years past, and the great want of it has been felt by steamboat-men. The actual annual cost to river navigation on account of these Rapids, for lighterage, reshipment by rail, etc., has varied from $200,000 to $600,000. No one can, therefore, deny the expediency of the great work required at this point.
As early as 1830, the General Government took steps to survey the locality, and made preparations for the improvement. In 1837, Lieut. (afterward Gen- eral C. S. A.) Robert E. Lee made a survey and map of the Rapids, submitting, at the same time, various plans of improvements. Subsequently, Lieut. (after-
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ward Major General U. S. A.) G. K. Warren extended the investigation and made more professional researches into the practicability of making the Rapids navigable. It was left to Brevet Maj. Gen. J. H. Wilson to carry out the only feasible plan for the long-looked-for passage across the Lower Rapids. Gen. Wilson was assigned, in 1866, to the charge of the Des Moines and Rock Island Rapids of the Mississippi River. The improvement, as carried out by him, consists of an independent ship-canal, seven and six-tenths miles long, reaching, on the Iowa side of the river, from Keokuk to Nashville; two hundred and fifty feet wide in excavation, and from three to four hundred feet in embankment ; in extreme low-water, to have a depth of five feet.
In this canal are three locks-one guard-lock at the upper end and two lift- locks. The lower lock, at Keokuk, has a lift of ten and three-quarters feet ; the mid- dle lock, two miles above, a lift of eight feet. The guard-lock is so constructed that in very high water, it, too, can be used as a lift-lock. Each lock is 350 feet between the miter-sills, 80 feet wide in the chamber, and is filled through culverts leading from each gate recess, and, passing in the rear of the main walls, discharging through openings in the chamber-walls. Each lock can be filled in from three to five minutes.
The canal is excavated to such a depth and the embankment walls raised to such a height as to meet the requirements of the low and high waters of 1864 and 1851, respectively. The difference between the above stages of water at Keokuk is twenty and seventy-two hundredths feet.
The river embankment of the canal consists of the best earth, protected by a well-laid riprap (slope) wall. It is ten feet wide on top, and the sides having the slope of one and one-half base to one vertical on outside, and one and one- quarter to one on inside, giving an average height of twenty feet, and is two feet above high-water mark of 1851. The bank is constructed by first throw- ing in broken stone to such a height above water as to warrant the safety of lay- ing a track upon it. This " toe," or base of riprap, forms a nucleus, on the inside of which earth is thrown. This is widened and raised to the required dimensions.
When this becomes water-tight, cross-banks are constructed from the river-bank to the shore line, at irregular intervals, to inclose the portions requiring excavation. A series of pits are thus inclosed, which are pumped dry, and the prism of the canal brought to the required grade. The material thus excavated goes to form bank and wall in other places, and no material is wasted.
The locks are constructed of the best magnesian limestone, laid in hydraulic cement. The stone was quarried in the line of bluffs adjacent to the Rapids. It is of the best quality, and before acceptance of the work, each stone passed through a rigid inspection by an engineer in charge. The walls of the lower lock are twenty-three and five-twelfths feet high ; middle lock, twenty feet, and guard-lock, eighteen feet. All of them ten feet wide on bottom, six feet wide on top, and provided with suitable buttresses. The face of the chamber has a batter of one-half inch to one foot. Wooden gates, with iron heelposts and quoin-plates are supported by iron suspension-posts, held in position by rods anchored into the masonry. A stationary steam-engine, by means of appro- priate shaftings, opens and closes the gates and wickets.
The cost of the entire work, inclusive of the Montrose work, was estimated by Gen. Wilson, in 1866, to be $2,710,000. The machinery for operating the lock-gates and wickets is made from an original design of Maj. Amos Stickney, the officer in local charge of the improvement. It consists of a system of pul-
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leys, chains and wire ropes, operated by means of a pump forcing the water into hydraulic cylinders sunk behind the walls back of each gate, and connected by means of iron pipes with an engine situated near the head of the lock, so that one man at the engine can handle the massive gates and wickets with ease and precision.
The machinery was all manufactured at the Buckeye Foundry and Machine Shops of Sample, McElroy & Co., of Keokuk.
The formal opening of the canal, August 22, 1867, was an important period in the history of the Upper Mississippi Valley, and was attended by large dele- gations of business men from St. Louis and other commercial centers interested in river commerce. Since the opening, there has been no interruption in the canal traffic, although considerable work remains to be done before the enter- prise is fully completed.
The amount appropriated by the Government, to this time, has reached $4,281,000, the excess over first estimates having been caused chiefly by inad- equate appropriations, causing delays and necessitating large repairs from over- flows and natural waste.
It is believed that in the construction of this canal a vast water-power has been created, which will be utilized, at some future time, for manufacturing purposes, which will add largely to the wealth of the State and importance of Keokuk as a commercial center.
OLD-TIME RIVER-CRAFT.
Before the application of steam as a driving force for water-craft by Robert Fulton, about the year 1807, keelboats and flatboats were the only kind of ves- sels known to the commerce of American rivers. Keelboats were of oldest origin, and, as they have gone almost entirely out of use, a description of them is here preserved : Keelboats were built something like a modern barge, only their hulls were lower. They were from 50 to 80 feet long, and from 10 to 15 feet beam, and from 2 to 22 feet holds. A cargo-box was built on the deck, and generally extended to within about ten feet of either end, and set in about two feet from the gunwale, about two feet on each side, leaving a gangway or walking-board, as it was called, on each side the whole length of the boat. Sometimes, these walking-boards projected over the hull. The rudder was a long sweep, something like a gigantic oar. The keelboat was driven by poles, by rowing, poling, bushwhacking, cordeling and warping. When the water was high or the boat was running close on shore, the crew would grasp the bushes growing on the bank and pull the boat up river. This was called " bushwhacking." Sometimes a long rope would be attached to the mast, and the crew, walking on the shore with the other end, towed the craft up stream. This was called cordelling. At other times, when cordeling was impracticable, as in crossing rapids, a long line would be carried ahead and made fast to a tree or rock, or to a small anchor, and the crew in the boat, taking the line over their shoulders, would walk from bow to stern, drop the rope, then walking back on the other side to the bow, would take it up again, in the rear of the others, and thus keep the boat in motion.
THE LIGHTENING PERIOD.
From the time when steamboats first began to navigate the Upper Missis- sippi River, until the canal was so far completed as to be serviceable, these Rapids were a serious hindrance to navigation, except in stages of high water. In 1828, the steamer Mexico, in descending the river, struck a rock and sprang
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aleak. Isaac R. Campbell was on board at the time, and dived down and put a blanket in the hole, which partially stopped the rush of water. The pumps were set to work and by dint of hard exertion, the boat was got as far down the river as Nashville, where she keeled over, and remained submerged until raised by workmen on the canal. Mr. Campbell has in his possession a coffee- mill that was taken from the sunken vessel, which he preserves as a relic from one of the old-fashioned steamboats, the like of which will never be seen on any part of the Mississippi River again.
Previous to 1830, there was but little occasion for steamboating above the Rapids, but as the upper country began to settle up, river traffic increased, and it is safe to assume that the hindrances caused by these rapids in the transporta- tion of freight and the cost of lightening vessels over the Rapids, involved a loss of many millions of dollars to the people and commerce of the States that bor- der the river above them. Until the canal was opened to traffic, boats loaded at St. Louis or other lower river points for points above the Rapids, were obliged to discharge their cargoes at the foot of the falls and procure its trans- portation over the rapids by vessels of lighter draught. In river parlance, this might be called the lightening period, and involves four distinct changes before the canal :
I. KEELBOATS.
Keelboats were first used for lightening purposes. They were first propelled with poles, and afterward by oxen and horses. Six to eight horses were required to draw a keelboat with from fifty to sixty tons of freight over the rapids, and generally cost about $100. After the steamboat was unloaded, it passed over the Rapids, reloaded and went on its way.
Mr. Isaac R. Campbell engaged in the lightening business, and was the first to conduct a keelboat-lighter over the Rapids.
In keelboat times, before hack lines were established between Keokuk and Nashville, steamboat passengers, ladies excepted, walked around the Rapids. When the rush to the lead-mines and other parts of the country along the Upper Mississippi River was at full tide, steamboats were the only means of conveyance, and it was no unusual thing to see two and three hundred men trudging along between these points. Hacks, for the conveyance of passen- gers, were brought into use about 1840, and passengers were conveyed around the Rapids at a charge of from 50 cents to $1 each.
II. FLATBOATS.
In 1837, Dan and Adam Hine succeeded Mr. Campbell in the lightening traffic, and introduced flatboats. These boats were usually from 100 to 110 feet in length, with flat bottoms, and from 16 to 20 feet in width. They were towed up over the Rapids with horses. In descending, sweeps, such as are used on lumber or log rafts, were used to guide and propel the boat.
The Hines continued lightening until the steamboat interest became a monop- oly, under the name of the St. Louis & Keokuk Northern Line Packet Com- pany. which controlled the lightening business until the canal was opened.
III. STEAM TOWBOATS.
With the advance of time and the increase of business, the Hines introduced steam towboats, which they continued as long as they remained in the business. C. F. Davis, President of the State Savings-Bank at Keokuk, was engaged in the business in opposition to the Hines.
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Very few boats were detained at the Rapids at a less expense than $700 to $800 on each trip.
IV. THE RAILROAD.
The settlement and development of the upper country increased its com- merce, and there came a demand for a speedier and cheaper means of trans- portation over or around the rapids, and a company was organized to build a railroad from Keokuk to Montrose. The road was completed in 1858, and commenced carrying freight around the Rapids. The Hines continued their towboats in opposition to the railroad until the canal was opened.
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DES MOINES RIVER IMPROVEMENT.
Mr. Charles Negus, an authority in matters pertaining to the history of Iowa, published the following interesting account of the various improvement schemes connected with the Des Moines River, in the Annals of Iowa. We give the entire article :
"The river Des Moines has connected with its history many things of interest. It is proposed at this time to notice some of the historical events connected with this river since the land through which it passes was purchased by the Government from the Indians.
" On the first settlement of Iowa, the building of railroads had just com- menced, and but very few in the West knew anything about this mode of con- veyance for travel and commerce. At that time, steamboats for these purposes were the great absorbing idea. This river, in high stages of water, was thought to be susceptible of steamboat navigation far into the interior of the State, and those who first settled in the vicinity of this river eagerly looked forward to the day when steamboats would move up and down these waters in large numbers, and when from long distances from its banks, travel and com- merce would seek a conveyance through this channel. And these expectations were apparently well founded. In 1836, the Sacs and Foxes, having dis- posed of their reservation on the Iowa River, where they had villages, moved west, and settled in the valley of the river Des Moines, in what is now Wapello County, and, as a natural consequence, trading-posts were established in this vicinity, which had to be supplied with goods ; and in the fall of 1837, the few settlers along the banks of this river were for the first time, gladdened with the sound of the shrill whistle of a steamboat, making its way up the river with supplies for these trading-posts.
" This boat was the S. B. Science, commanded by Capt. Clark, which, by forcing its way against the swift current, passing safely over the concealed sandbars and hidden rocks, demonstrated that the waters of this river, at high stages, were navigable, much to the joy and satisfaction of those who lived in the vicinity, and afforded a theme for pleasant conversation for days and months
"By the treaty of 1842, by which the Sacs and Foxes sold all their lands in Iowa, they were permitted to retain possession of that portion which lay west of Red Rock, for three years, and the Indians moved up the river, and located themselves near the Raccoon Fork, and the Government thought proper to locate a body of troops at that point; and for the conveyance of soldiers and their equipage to that place, the little steamer Ione was employed and laden with stores, and a detachment of troops landed on the site where is now the city of Des Moines, on the 9th day of May, 1843. This is the first
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steamboat that ever ventured to disturb the waters of this river, so far from its mouth. The Ione, having made a successful trip, added greatly to the expects ation of the estimated importance and value of this thoroughfare, which wa- brought to the attention of Congress, and, on the 8th of August, 1846, a law was enacted giving to Iowa, for the purpose of aiding to improve the navigation of the river Des Moines, from its mouth to the Raccoon Fork, an equal moiety in alternate sections of the public lands remaining unsold, in a strip five miles wide on each side of the river, to be selected within the Territory of Iowa, by an agent, or agents, who should be appointed by the Governor of the Territory, subject to the approval of the United States Treasury.
" When this grant was first made, it was not supposed by any one that it extended above Raccoon Fork, and Gov. Clark, in communicating the intelli- gence to the Legislature, estimated the grant to amount to about three hundred thousand acres. This part of the Governor's message was referred to a select committee, for them to take into consideration whether it was advisable for the State to accept the grant, and if so, to devise the method of disposing of the lands, and the mode of improving the river.
" The committee, after having the matter under consideration several weeks, through their Chairman, Dr. James Davis, of Wapello County, made a very lengthy report. in which they took the ground that the grant was not limited to lands below the Raccoon Fork, but extended to every alternate section for five miles on each side of the river to the northwest boundary of the State, if not to the source of the river. They estimated the grant to contain 400,000 acres below the Raccoon Fork, and 560,000 above, making 960,000 acres of land. The report of the committee, at first, was looked upon as visionary, and but very little calculation was made on getting any land above the fork of the river ; but a matter of so much importance was not passed over without examination and full discussion.
" From this time on, for several years, the improvement of the river Des Moines entered largely into the politics of the State. Politicians became inter- ested in it ; the construction put upon the grant by the committee was the pop- ular side, and found many advocates, and scarcely any one opposed it. The committee reported in favor of receiving the grant, with provisos, and a bill for creating a Board of Public Works. On this report, the Legislature passed an act accepting the grant, with a proviso that it was not to form a part of the 500,000 acres which the State was entitled to by an act of Congress of 1841, giving to each new State that amount of land for internal improvements. This was conceded by the General Government, and it also permitted the State to divert 500,000 acres from works of internal improvement to the purpose of education. The Legislature, on the 5th of February, 1847, also passed an act creating a Board of Public Works, and providing for the improvement of the river. The Board consisted of a President, Secretary and Treasurer, who were to be elected by the qualified electors of the State, on the first Monday of the following August. The President was to be the active agent of the work. and was required to make monthly reports of his doings and of the progress of his work to the Board ; the Secretary was to record the proceedings of the Board and to sell the lands ; the Treasurer was to receive and disburse the moneys. The officers were required to commence the work on the Mississippi, near Keokuk, at the mouth of Dead Slough, or of the Nassau Slough, and then up the slough to the river. And subsequently, the work was commenced by under- taking to dig a canal from the mouth of Nassau Slough to St. Francisville, the first place on the river where it was thought practicable to build a dam.
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" About $150,000 were expended in the effort, but the attempt proved to be an impracticable undertaking, and after expending this large amount of money, the work of digging a canal was abandoned. At the August election, Hugh W. Sample, of Jefferson County, was elected President ; Charles Corckery, of- Dubuque County, Secretary, and Paul Braton, of Van Buren County, Treas- urer. The officers elected were qualified, and at first opened their offices at Fairfield. Samuel R. Curtis, from Ohio, was selected by the Board as Chief Engineer ; but there was very little done this season toward improving the river, further than making surveys. The necessary surveys having been com- pleted, early in the spring of 1848, the work was commenced. The canal and three dams were put under contract, and about five hundred hands were put at work. On the 21st of August, the building of ten more dams was contracted for, and there seemed to be a fair prospect for the speedy completion of the entire improvement.
" There was at this time but very little known of the resources of the upper valley of the river Des Moines. This year, by authority of the United States, provisions were made for a geological survey in Iowa, and a party was sent up the river, which explored it to its source. The report made by this party was very flattering. They reported that coal was found for two hundred miles on the Des Moines, and from indications, heavy deposits of iron were believed to exist ; that gypsum in abundance, forming cliffs for miles, was encountered ; and that limestone, that makes a superior hydraulic lime, existed in abundance; limestone, suitable for lime, clay suitable for brick, rock suitable for polishing, for grindstones, whetstones and for building purposes, some of superior quality, were found in abundance along the Des Moines. And Col. Curtis, in specu- lating upon the future, in his report to the Legislature, led the people to anticipate great results from this improvement. He said : 'No country can afford like accommodations to manufactures ; no country can produce more agricultural wealth than that within sixty miles on either side of this river.' And further : 'That, taking all things into consideration, the matter is math- ematically certain (except in times of high water in the Missouri), the trade of Council Bluffs will incline to follow down the improvement. But it is not this point alone that is reached; we enter the great valley of Nebraska, and the upper branches of the Missouri, and offer the commerce of these valleys the cheapest and most expeditious route for their products. A country of a thou- sand miles extent, capable of furnishing vast and unknown agricultural and mineral products, may, by wise and discreet energy in the prosecution of this work, become tributary to the improvement now in progress on the Des Moines.'
"These glowing reports of the country and the advantages to be derived from the improvement of the river excited the public mind to the highest expectations, and the people became very anxious to secure as much of the public lands as possible, that this great undertaking might be speedily com- pleted; and to ascertain the construction put upon the grant by the General Government, application was made to the Land Department for a decision. Richard M. Young, the Commissioner of the General Land Office, on the 23d day of February, 1848, in a letter addressed to the Board of Public Works, gave it as his opinion that the State was entitled to the alternate sections within five miles of the Des Moines River, through the whole extent of Iowa. This decision gave assurances that the 'amount of land claimed would be received. The Board of Improvement made great preparation for rapidly pushing on the work, and the public mind was exhilarated with the greatest
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hopes of speedily realizing the great advantages represented to be derived from this undertaking.
"But, as it is the lot of man to meet with disappointments, such seems to have been the result in this case; for it was found that the lands could not be sold fast enough to meet the expenses of so extensive a work aş had been undertaken. To remedy this difficulty, the Board of Public Works recom- mended to the Legislature 'that bonds, bearing the sanction of the supreme power of the State,' should be issued by the Board, and pledging the proceeds of the sales of the lands, as well as the tolls of the improvement, for their redemption. But this policy did not meet with the sanction of some of the leading Democrats of the State, who regarded such a measure as not being in accordance with Democratic principles, among whom were Ver Plank Van Antwerp. Van Antwerp, having held the office of Receiver in the first land office established in Southern Iowa, and then holding the same office at Fair- field, and also, for awhile, editor of a paper, was extensively known, and at that time exerted much influence among the people, and he took a very active part against the proposition recommended by the Board. He claimed that the measure was not only Anti-Democratic, but impolitic, and went to Iowa City as a lobby member, and made himself very busy with the members to defeat it : and the opposition with which it met from Van Antwerp and other private individuals had its effect with the members of the Legislature, and the measure was defeated, much to the discomfiture of Sample. The interference of Van Antwerp with the recommendations of the Board created a coolness between Sample and Van Antwerp which caused some singular results in the future political matters of the State.
"During the summer of 1848, a portion of the land above the Raccoon Fork was brought into the market and offered for sale at the land office at Iowa City, and some of the lands which it was supposed were embraced within the river grant were sold by the General Government. The failure of the Board to get the Legislature to authorize them to issue bonds, and the selling of these lands by the General Government, greatly frustrated the plans of the Board and put a damper upon the public expectation. For the purpose of securing the full amount of land claimed, the Legislature passed a memorial asking Con- gress to enact an explanatory law confirming to the State the quantity of land claimed. But Congress did not feel disposed to do this, and the extent of the grant was a disputed question for several years.
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