USA > Iowa > Polk County > The history of Polk County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., biographical sketches of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men > Part 32
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
National House of Representatives as a good debater and soon was the ac- knowledged leader of the opposition to the administration of John Quincy Adams. Upon the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency he be- came one of the chief supporters of the administration. He received the nomination of his party for Speaker of the House, but was defeated through a coalition between the Whigs and a few disaffected Democrats who supported Mr. Bell. In 1835 he was elected Speaker, and again in 1837, and also in 1839. After having served fourteen years in Congress, he de- clined to be a candidate for re-election, and was chosen Governor of Ten- nessee. At the expiration of his term of Governor, he was a candidate for re-election, but was defeated, his competitor receiving the small majority of three thousand two hundred and twenty-two votes. Early in May, 1844, the Democratic national convention assembled at Baltimore for the purpose of adopting a platform and nominating candidates for president and vice-president. The difficulty between Texas and Mexico had aroused an intense feeling of sympathy for the former and excitement was high. The question of annexation of Texas, and a consequent war with Mexico, was universally agitated throughout the United States, and was so generally advocated by the leaders of the Democratic party that the adoption of this measure was the accepted policy of that party. That political party known as Whigs were opposed to this measure, and as it was generally regarded as a move for the further extension of slavery, it was also opposed by all the anti-slavery people throughout the North. The intense hostility of the anti-slavery party to this measure found expression in the National House of Representatives a short time after, when Tom Corwin, of Ohio, gave ex- pression to the daring and eloquent words in which he advised Mexico to "Welcome the invader with bloody hands to hospitable graves." That Iowa, which in the organization of counties, should have done so much to commemorate that struggle and at the same time be the first and most rad- ical of the anti-slavery States seems strange; but to return to the Balti- more convention. Mr. Polk was nominated on the ninth ballot, and was triumphantly elected, notwithstanding he had for an opponent the justly renowned and deservedly popular Clay. The popular vote stood as fol- lows: Polk, 1,335,834; Clay, 1,297,033; Birney, 62,270. The election of Polk being regarded as decisive proof that the people favored the annexa- tion of Texas, that measure was effected before his inauguration.
One of his first acts after assuming the duties of chief executive, was to send General Taylor with a small force to occupy the disputed territory lying between the Nueces and the Rio Grande rivers. In April, 1846, the first actual hostilities occurred, and President Polk immediately sent a message to Congress, informing that body of the existence of war between the two countries, and asking for men and money to prosecute the same. Congress promptly responded and appropriated $10,000,000, and author- ized the enlistment of 50,000 men. The vigorous manner in which Presi- dent Polk prosecuted the war and its speedy and favorable conclusion are matters of general history with which we have nothing to do. Among the additional events of Polk's administration, were the adoption of the following measures: Low tariff; independent treasury system, whereby revenues were collected without the aid of banks; institution of the De- partment of the Interior; admission of Wisconsin.
Mr. Polk was not a candidate for election to a second term and upon the inauguration of his successor he retired to Nashville, Tennessee, where he
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
died June 15th, 1849, just three months and eleven days after retiring from the office which he had filled with such great distinction.
Thus much have we deemed proper to be said with regard to the person for whom the county was named. So much every boy and girl, whose home is within the bounds of the county, should know, and less than that certainly would be unsatisfactory to one whose mind has ever been led to the investigation of the county's history.
CHAPTER II.
PHYSICAL FEATURES.
Situation - Extent-Surface-Rivers - Timber-Climate - Prairies-Soils-Geology-Eco- nomic Geology-Coal-Building stone-Clays-Mineral springs-Spring and well water.
POLK county is situated near the center of the State. Accurately speak- ing, it is about twenty miles west and about twenty five miles south of the geographical center of the State. The town of State Center, a station on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, in Marshall county, is probably very nearly the geographical center of Iowa, while the city of Des Moines is probably more nearly in the center of wealth and population than any other point in the State. Numbering by counties it is in the fourth tier numbering from the south boundary of the State, in the sixth tier from the north boundary, in the seventh from the Mississippi river, and in the sixth counting from the Missouri. Its latitude is a little less than 42 degrees north, it being a very little north of the latitude of New York City; its longitude is about 93 degrees and 30 minutes west of Greenwich, and the center of the county is about 13 degrees and 50 minutes, or nearly 1,150 miles, west of the national capital.
It is bounded on the north by the counties of Boone and Story; on the east by Jasper and Marion; on the south by Warren and Dallas; on the west by Dallas. About one-fourth of the north boundary touches on Boone and three-fourths on Story; on the east Jasper county forms the boundary, except that portion of the county lying between the township line and the Des Moines river, a distance of about one mile, where Polk county touches Marion; on the south, Warren county forms the boundary except at the southwest corner, where a strip of Dallas county, six miles long and one mile wide, overlaps Polk county. This loss is compensated on the east, where a strip of like length and width overlaps Jasper county. It comprises congressional township 78, of ranges 22, 23 and 24, and all of 25 except the strip before referred to, which belongs to Dallas, and in ad- dition the aforementioned strip taken out of Jasper; also, townships 79, 80 and 81, of ranges 22, 23, 24 and 25.
The county, were it in the shape of a square, consisting of sixteen con- gressional townships, would be twenty-four miles each way, and would contain three hundred and sixty eight thousand, six hundred and forty acres. As it is it contains some three thousand acres in addition to that amount. The civil townships as now constituted are as follows: Camp, Four Mile, Allen, Grant, Lee, Des Moines, Bloomfield, Walnut, Webster, Valley, Saylor, Delaware, Clay, Beaver, Franklin, Douglas, Crocker, Jef- ferson, Madison, Lincoln, Elkhart and Washington, twenty-two in all. Of these, five coincide with their corresponding congressional townships; they
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
are as follows: Washington, Elkhart, Lincoln, Douglas and Franklin: Three of the civil townships are larger than the corresponding congressional townships, viz: Camp, Bloomfield and Madison. The remaining civil townships are less than congressional townships, Lee being the smallest township in the county.
The county was at one time divided into civil townships, whose bounda- ries more generally corresponded with the boundaries of the congressional townships, but in later years very material changes were made, whereby natural boundaries, such as rivers, density of population, and the conveni- ence of the people were consulted, rather than the arbitrary lines laid down in the original government surveys. These changes will be more fully and definitely discussed at the proper place. Part of the townships have reg- ular and well-defined boundaries, while the larger number of them have irregular and ill-defined boundaries. This is due to the fact that in many cases the boundary lines consist of the irregular and changeable channels of rivers and smaller streams. Owing to the fact that bridges, however numerous they may be, do not furnish convenient and ready means of com- munication between the people of a township lying on both sides of a stream, this arrangement is probably the best subdivision of the county into civil townships which could be made, although in many respects the plan of constituting each congressional township into a civil township has its advantages.
These streams of water, while they present many obstacles in the way of settlement and improvement, and are continually suggesting problems over which the county dignitaries may propose and cogitate, are at the same time of incalculable benefit to the county. They will be described at the appropriate place.
The elevation of the county is somewhat less than the average of the State. The average of the county is not far from 850 feet above the level of the sea, or 406 feet above low water mark in the Mississippi river at Keokuk. The highest point in the county is about midway between the valleys of the Des Moines and Skunk, near the north part of the county, where the elevation is about 960 feet above the sea level, or 524 feet above low water mark in the Mississippi river at Keokuk. The lowest point is at the Des Moines river at the southeast corner of the county, where the elevation is about 700 feet, or 256 feet above low water mark in the Mis- sissippi at Keokuk. The difference in elevation between low water mark in the Des Moines river at Des Moines and the Mississippi at Davenport is 230 feet, and between low water mark in the Des Moines river at Des Moines and the Mississippi at Keokuk, 314 feet. The elevations of the principal points on the various railroads in the county are as follows:
Mitchellville, 948 feet above sea level.
Depot at Des Moines, 795 feet above sea level.
Crossing of 'Coon, west of Des Moines, 838 feet above sea level.
Polk City (approx.), 950 feet above sea level.
The land in the county, away from the streams, is generally an undulat- ing prairie, and has altogether a diversity of country seldom found in so small a space. At a varying distance from the larger streams rise irregu- lar lines of bluffs, or hills, sometimes wooded and sometimes, previous to improvement, covered with a luxuriant growth of prairie grass, having between them water bottom lands of surprising beauty and unsurpassed fertility. These hills are generally a gentle slope, easily ascended and de-
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
scended by wagons, and sinking into mere benches, moderately lifted above the surface of the valley; again, sometimes, they rise to a height of over one hundred 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 the higher points the eye often commands views of exquisite loveliness, embracing the silvery course of river or creek, the wav- ing foliage of trees, the changing outlines of hills and the undulating sur- face of flower-decked prairie, with cultivated 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, and the palatial mansions of the wealthy capitalist. A writer of considerable reputation and a close-stu- dent of natural history, 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 land- scape. For centuries the successive annual crops have accumulated organic matter on the surface to such an extent that the succession even of exhaust- ing crops will not materially impoverish the land."
The " small lakes," so called, have proved to be simply ponds or marshes, which, in certain seasons of the year, resemble small lakes. The county has less land unfitted for cultivation by reason of sloughs and marshes, than any of the neighboring counties. According to the report of the Commis- sioner of the Land Office this county had but 14,596 acres of swamp lands; Boone, 27,773; Story, 15,640.
There is probably not a section of country of like extent in the State which possesses such an extensive and well distributed drainage system as Polk county. There is proportionately such a small area of waste and swamp lands, and the facilities for drainage of such are so admirable, that waste lands arising from this cause are too insignificant to be worthy of particular mention.
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 impassable sloughs, without stumps or other obstructions, and furnish the best of conditions favorable to the use of reaping machines, mowers, corn planters, and other kinds of labor-saving machinery.
RIVERS.
Polk county is so well supplied with living streams of water, and they are so well distributed over the county, that the people of the county could not possibly make an improvement upon the arrangement if they were allowed the privilege and endowed with the power to make a readjustment of the system of rivers and creeks. Many of these streams have fine mill-sites, and by reason of the water power thus made so accessible, the early settler was spared many of the hardships and inconveniences experienced by the pioneers of other sections. These mill-sites even to the present day consti-
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
tute a very important factor in the further development of the material resources of the county.
Des Moines river .- The Des Moines river is the principal stream of the county, as it also is of the State. It enters the county from the west about four and a half miles from the north boundary line; it flows in a southeast direction for a distance of somé seven or eight miles, and then a little east of south until it reaches the city of Des Moines; from the latter point its course is south of east, and it leaves the county at the extreme southeastern corner. Of course this description of the river has reference to its general course; it has many abrupt turns and coils; at some points its direction suddenly changes and for a short distance its course is directly east, after which it almost invariably makes a short circuit and flows west till it reaches the longitude of its departure. At Corydon, in Madison township, it turns so as to make an acute angle and flows for a short distance in a northeast direction, and then making an angle equally acute, flows southwest, making a circuit of over a mile, while the distance straight across is not more than a quarter of a mile. In section thirty, township eighty, range twenty-four, a very marked change has taken place in modern times in the channel of the river: the direction of the channel at that place formerly was to the southwest, then making a graceful curve it ran northeast considerably past the longitude of departure, then making another curve came back to a point directly south of its first departure from the general course; its course there formerly resembled the letter S; at present the channel extends across in a direct line. This we believe is the only important change which has taken place in the channel of the river in this county in historic times. About a mile and a half north of the present city limits of Des Moines the river makes an abrupt turn from an almost southerly direction, and flows some two miles south of east, where it makes another abrupt turn and flows west of south till about half way through the city limits; here it makes a graceful curve to the southwest, thus embracing about one half of the East Side in its ample fold. Were East Des Moines built along the banks of the river, extending back at all points an equal distance from the stream, it would very nearly resemble New Orleans, and like the latter might prop- erly be termed the " Crescent City." The average width of the Des Moines river in Polk county is considerably 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 propagation of any kind of machinery. The available water power along the Des Moines river in Polk county alone, were it utilized, would furnish a remunerative occu- pation 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 instance) is become to be regarded as the foundation of future municipal wealth and great- ness.
In naming newly discovered streams of water the first settlers of Iowa usually followed the custom of adopting Indian names. This custom had its origin in the precedent laid down by the first settlers of America. The wisdom of this plan has gradually become more and more apparent, as by use the ear becomes accustomed to the sound and the eye familiar with the sight of these names.
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
By following this custom our language becomes greatly enriched, and each successive generation is reminded of a people once numerous and powerful, but now so weak and abject as to be virtually eliminated from the family of nations. These names have invariably a pleasing sound when the ear becomes accustomed to them, and their adoption is a most befitting tribute to a nation which, although savage, possessed certain char- acteristics which make the story of their misfortunes the most remarkable to be found on the pages of history and the most pathetic which has been wrought by the stern vicissitudes of time.
The Des Moines river furnishes an exception to the rule, as it is of French rather than of Indian origin. For a time it was thought that- the word Des Moines was an Indian word, but this theory is no longer held by any one who has taken any pains to look up its etymology.
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 desig- nated 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.
From an article written by Judge Negus, of Fairfield, published in the Annals of Iowa some ten years since, entitled " The River of the Mounds," we make the following extracts:
" Nearly every State has some one particular river which especially attracts the attention of its citizens, on which their minds delight to dwell, about which they bestow their praise. Iowa has the beautiful river Des Moines on which her citizens delight to bestow their eulogies. More has been done, said and thought about this river than all the other rivers in the State. In beauty of native scenery, in productiveness of soil, in mineral wealth, and in the many things that attract attention and add to the com- fort of man, the valley of the Des Moines is not surpassed by any locality in the world.
"The banks of this great water-course and the surrounding country bear the marks of having been the home of a numerous people, centuries in the past, and that this people were possessed of many of the arts of civilized life. But of what race of people they were, and of the acts and scenes which have taken place in this beautiful valley, we may imagine, but prob- ably never know. Of their habits and customs they have left some marks; but still there is wrapped around these evidences of their doings a mystery that is hard to solve."
The writer then proceeds to give an account of the first discovery of the river by Europeans:
" About sixty leagues below the mouth of the Wisconsin, on the west banks of the Mississippi, for the first time they (Marquette and Joliet) dis- covered the signs of human beings. There they found in the sand foot- prints of a man. Following these tracks they discovered a trail leading across the beautiful prairie, and, leaving their boats in the care of their
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
companions, themselves alone pursued the unknown path to ascertain whose feet had made it. After walking about six miles they discovered an Indian village on the bank of a beautiful river, and three other villages on a slope at the distance of a mile and a half from the first. This stream was what is now known as the crystal waters of the river Des Moines, which at that time was called by the natives Mon-in-gou-e-na, or Moin- gona."
The writer then proceeds to speak of the mounds:
"These works bear the marks of great age, and from facts gathered con- cerning them we may deduce an age for most of these monuments of . not less than two thousand years. But by whom built, and whether their authors migrated to remote lands, under the combined attractions of a more fertile soil and a more congenial clime, or whether they disappeared before the victorious arms of an alien race, or were swept out of existence by some direful epidemic, or universal famine, are questions probably be- yond the power of human invention to answer. These mounds are numer- ous in Iowa, and especially in the region of the river Des Moines and the lower rapids of the Mississippi.
" In Wapello county there is a chain of mounds commencing near the mouth of Sugar creek, and extending twelve miles to the northwest, at a distance between reaching as far as two miles. The one nearest the Des Moines river is one hundred and forty feet in circumference, and is situated on an eminence, the highest point in the vicinity. The second mound lies directly north of the first, at a distance of about one-fourth of a mile. This mound is two hundred and twenty-six feet in circumference. In May, 1874, a party made an examination of the larger mound, and upon digging into the center of it they found a ledge of stones at the depth of, four feet, which bore all the marks of having passed through the fire. They also found a mass of charcoal, a bed of ashes and human bones."
Cedar creek is a small tributary of the Des Moines river, flowing into the latter stream about ten miles below Ottumwa. Speaking of a bluff on this creek the writer says:
"At the first settlement of the country the bluff on the north side, from the bank of the creek for some thirty feet or more high, was nearly per- pendicular, and mostly composed of a solid sandstone, and then for several feet more, gently sloping back, was earth and rock. This location must have been a place of attraction, and visited by those who had some knowl- edge of the arts of civilization, long before Iowa was permitted to be set- tled by the whites; for when this place was first seen by the early settlers of the country, at a point on this bluff most difficult of access, near the top, there was discovered, bedded in and firmly bolted onto the solid sand rock, an iron cross, the shaft of which was about three feet and the cross-bar eighteen inches long. A short distance from this place, a little northeast, on the summit of a high ridge, there is a series of mounds, which give evi- dence of having been built by human hands many years in the past."
The writer then proceeds to speak of some mounds located on one of the chief tributaries of the Des Moines:
"Sac City, the county seat of Sac county, is situated on a beautiful bend of the Raccoon river. Within the limits of this town there are found eight mounds, arranged in a general direction from northeast to southwest, but without regular order, the distance between the extremes in that direc- tion being a little less than eight hundred feet, and in the transverse
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HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
direction less than one hundred feet. Two of the mounds are elliptical in shape, and the others are circular. The two elliptical ones are located furthest north. One of them is ninety feet in diameter east and west, thirty feet north and south, and two feet high. The circular mounds range from sixty to eighty feet in diameter and from two to six feet high. These mounds have been dug into, but no human bones or works of art have been discovered."
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