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 73
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wounded; date and place un- known.
Mack, Talbert, S., December 29, 1863. Madison, Bartie M., December 28, 1863.
596
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
McMichael, William, December 23,
1863; killed at Atlanta July 20, 1864.
Myerkoff, Herman T., December 29, 1863.
McKelorge, Hugh, January 4.
Murphy, James, January 4, 1864.
Nagle, Webster, December 31, 1863. Parker, Madison, January 4, 1864. Payne, James P., December 22, 1863. Stutsınan, Solomon, January 4, 1864.
Simmonds, Wm. V., December 26, 1863.
Stemper, William H., January 4, 1864.
Titus, Selah H., January 2, 1864.
Thacker, Fielding T., January 4, 1864.
Terro, Henry, January 1, 1864. West, Thomas C., December 1863.
23,
Wright, William, December 1863. 29,
Baker, Lewis P., March 12, 1864.
Bishard, John F., March 11, 1864.
Curran, James R., January 26, 1864.
Cooper, Charles B., March 8, 1864. Harmison, Andrew, August 1864.
20,
Reeder, Wm. H., March 21, 1864.
Reeder, Robert F., March 21, 1864; died at Jeffersonville, Indiana, January 22, 1865.
Scott, Andrew, August 20, 1864. Young, John, January 26, 1864.
SECOND BATTERY.+
Lewis Reynolds, first sergeant; en- listed August 11.
*John Burke, third corporal, Au- gust 1.
Thomas Foley, artificer, August 1. PRIVATES.
Alderman, Jno. V., enlisted August 1.
*Re-enlisted in First Veteran battery March 23, 1864.
+Enlisted in 1861, unless otherwise stated.
Buttolph, Jno. R., August 1.
Buttolph, Romulnous, August 1; died at St. Louis December 9, 1861.
Cluie, Squire G., August 1.
Davis, Oliver P., August 1; pro- moted to second corporal July 24, 1862.
*Ingraham, Joseph, August 1. *Phillip, Lewis F., August 1.
Sunsteim, Wm., August 1; dis- charged October 16, 1862.
Stobaugh, Samuel, August 1.
Whittaker, Deacon J., August 1.
ADDITIONAL ENLISTMENTS.
Bowman, Thomas, enlisted Septem- ber 5, 1864.
Burke, James S., September 5, 1864.
Campbell, Wilson M., August 14, 1864.
Coburn, Francis, August 29, 1864. Gilman, Milan A., March 21, 1864. Groves, Eli, August 29, 1864.
Hines, Peter, February 25, 1864.
Jones, James M., March 30. 1864. Jones, John, February 19, 1864;
died at Davenport April 17, 1864. Johnson, Joel, February 19, 1864.
Kurtz, John, September 5, 1864; died at Selma, Alabama, July 7, 1865.
Lee, H. Peter, February 19, 1864; died at Memphis March 25, 1865. Reed, Samuel, February 19, 1864.
Reed, William, February 16, 1864. Runs, Andrew J., August 20, 1864, Stephenson, Geo. R., March 30, 1862.
Simmons, Baily R., September 5. 1864.
*Bliler, Franklin F., November 10, 1862.
*Doak, Wm., October 1, 1862.
*Nelson, James, October 17, 1862. *Harris, George N., October 26, 1862.
597
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
Crowe, Jno. F., September 25, 1862.
Roberts, Abel W., October 1, 1862.
Dazey, Charles P., October 17, Webber, Jno. T., September 20, 1864.
1862.
MISCELLANEOUS CAVALRY REGIMENTS.
FIRST.
George P. Ranslow, company G; en- listed August 26, 1862; discharged November 30, 1864.
John B. McClelland, company M; enlisted September 1, 1861; died November 18, 1862, at St. Louis. William McGuire, company .un- known; enlisted December 9, 1863. Clement Burson, company D; enlist- ed February 4, 1864.
Jacob Keffer, enlisted September 20, 1864; company unknown.
James R. Scoggs, enlisted Septem- ber 24, 1864; company unknown. Stewart Madison, enlisted March 30, 1864; company unknown. James A. Weak, enlisted September 24, 1864; company unknown.
FOURTH.
Puriton, Lewis A., company I; en- listed December 26, 1863.
SIXTH.
Garrett, James M., private, company B: enlisted November 15, 1862. Stickney, Galusha A., private, com- pany F; enlisted Sept. 15, 1862. Jones, John W., private, company H; enlisted October 2, 1862. Brady, Edward, private, company M; enlisted October 27, 1862.
DODGE'S BRIGADE BAND.
Edmund N. Curl, enlisted October 16, 1862.
RECAPITULATION.
The capital of the State may well be proud of her war record. Her sol- diers were the bravest of the brave, abundantly evidenced by the rapidity of promotion. She was represented in thirty-five regimental organizations and furnished over twelve hundred men to the army, largely in excess of her quota. The number of commissioned officers was as follows:
Brigadier-generals, 3; colonels, 5; lieutenant-colonels, 6; majors, 10; surgeons, 7; adjutants, 6; quartermasters, 2; captains, 40; first lieuten- ants, 56; second lieutenants, 43.
FIELD AND STAFF.
INFANTRY REGIMENTS.
Noe W. Mills, colonel, Second infantry. Marcellus M. Crocker, colonel, Second infantry.
Noe W. Mills, lieutenant-colonel, Second infantry.
Marcellus M. Crocker, lieutenant-colonel, Second infantry. Marcellus M. Crocker, major. Second infantry. George L. Godfrey, adjutant, Second infantry. Edward L. Marsh, sergeant major, Second infantry. Samuel H. Lont, sergeant-major, Second infantry. Jared Warner, commissary-sergeant, Second infantry. John Lynde, commissary-sergeant. Second infantry. Ephriam P. Davis, hospital steward. Second infantry. George F. Lyon, hospital steward, Second infantry.
598
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
Chas. H. Rawson, surgeon, Fifth infantry. Nathaniel McCalla, major, Tenth infantry. John C. Bennett, major, Tenth infantry. Wm. P. Davis, surgeon, Tenth infantry. J. O. Skinner, assistant-surgeon, Tenth infantry. Wm. J. Hanger, drum-major, Tenth infantry. John E. Smith, fife-major, Tenth infantry. Wm. H. Purdy, chief musician, Tenth infantry. Chas. Fox, first musician, Tenth infantry. Samuel Noble, second musician, Tenth infantry. Adam C. Bausman, third musician, Tenth infantry. John W. Warner, third musician, Tenth infantry. Edward J. McGorrisk, surgeon, Ninth infantry. James A. Williamson, colonel, Fourth infantry. James A. Williamson, lieutenant-colonel, Fourth infantry. Alex. Shaw, assistant-surgeon, Fourth infantry. David Beach, assistant-surgeon, Fourth infantry. James A. Williamson, adjutant, Fourth infantry. John E. Sells, adjutant, Fourth infantry.
Marcellns M. Crocker, colonel, Thirteenth infantry. James H. Flynt, quartermaster-sergeant, Fifteenth infantry. Louis Boudinot, hospital steward, Fifteenth infantry. Edward J. McGorrisk, assistant-surgeon, Seventeenth infantry. William Ragan, major, Eighteenth infantry. Charles J. Clark, lieutenant-colonel, Twenty-third infantry. Charles J. Clark, major, Twenty-third infantry. Leonard B. Houston, major, Twenty-third infantry. W. H. Ward, assistant-surgeon, Twenty-third infantry. Matthew C. Brown, adjutant, Twenty-third infantry. Robert W. Cross, quartermaster, Twenty-third infantry. William Merrill, quartermaster, Twenty-third infantry. Arthur J. Barton, chaplain, Twenty-third infantry. Charles S. Hepburn, hospital steward, Twenty-third infantry. James R. Crawshaw, fife-major, Twenty-third infantry. Charles H. Sharman, adjutant, Thirty-third infantry. Francis M. Slusser, chaplain, Thirth-third infantry. John S. Davis, hospital steward, Thirty-fourth infantry. Joseph M. Griffiths, colonel Thirty-ninth infantry. Joseph M. Griffiths, lieutenant-colonel, Thirty-ninth infantry. Joseph M. Griffiths, major, Thirty-ninth infantry. George C. Tichenor, adjutant, Thirty-ninth infantry. Josiah Hopkins, major, Forty-fourth infantry. George J. North, major, Forty-seventh infantry. James P. Roach, chaplain, Forty-seventh infantry.
CAVALRY REGIMENTS.
P. H. Van Slyck, quartermaster-sergeant, Third cavalry. Joseph E. Jewett, major, Fourth cavalry. Charles Graham, second battalion saddler-sergeant, Fourth cavalry. Orren F. Mitchell, commissary-sergeant, Eighth cavalry. Edgar T. Ensign, major, Ninth cavalry.
599
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
CAPTAINS.
INFANTRY REGIMENTS.
Marcellus M. Crocker, company D, Second infantry.
Noe W. Mills, company D, Second infantry.
Edgar T. Ensign, company D, Sec- : ond infantry.
Nathaniel McCalla, company A, Tenth infantry.
Samuel J. Dangler, United States . Veterans.
Henry H. Griffiths, company E, Fourth infantry.
Wilmer S. Simmons, company E, Fourth infantry.
Nathaniel McCalla, company A, Tenth infantry.
Ebenezer E. Howe, company A, Tenth infantry.
Robert Lusby, company K, Tenth infantry.
Julien Bausman, company K, Tenth infantry.
William Rahn, company K, Tenth infantry.
Wilson T. Smith, company B, Fif- teenth infantry.
Adolphus G. Studor, company B, Fifteenth infantry.
Christopher E. Lanstrum, company B, Fifteenth infantry.
William H. Goodrell, company B, Fifteenth infantry.
William H. Hoxie, company B, Sev- enteenth infantry.
John H. Browne, company F, Sev- enteenth infantry.
John H. Looby, company G, Eighteenth infantry.
Leonard B. Houston, company A, Twenty-third infantry.
Theodore G. Cree, company A, Twenty-third infantry.
Charles J. Clark, company B, Twen- ty-third infantry.
Joel M. Walker, company B, Twen- ty-third infantry.
James C. Gregg, company C, Twen- ty-third infantry.
John A. T. Hull, company C, Twen- ty-third infantry.
Benjamin Jennings, company C, Twenty-third infantry.
Robert W. Cross, company G, Twenty-third infantry.
Robert W. Cross, company H, Twenty-third infantry.
John H. Dykeman, company B, Thirty-ninth infantry.
Andrew T. Blodgett, company B, Thirty-ninth infantry.
Augustus Yerger, company I, Thir- ty ninth infantry.
Robert C. Hunter, company I, Thir- ty-ninth infantry.
Josiah Hopkins, company H, Forty- fourth infantry.
David J. Pattee, company F, Forty- seventh infantry.
Adoniram J. Merritt, company K, engineer regiment of the west.
CAVALRY REGIMENTS.
George C. Graves, company D, Sec- ond cavalry.
Francis M. Griffith, company D, Second cavalry.
William H. Hoxie, company M, Eighth cavalry.
Henry Moreland, company M, Eighth cavalry.
LIGHT ARTILLERY.
Henry H. Griffiths, First battery. Melville C. Wright, Third battery.
FIRST LIEUTENANTS.
INFANTRY REGIMENTS.
Norton L. Dykeman, company D, Second infantry.
Samuel H. Lunt, company D, Sec- ond infantry.
Edgar T. Ensign, company D, Sec- ond infantry.
Geo. L. Godfrey, company D, Sec- ond infantry.
Edward L. Marsh, company D, Sec- ond infantry.
44
600
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
Wm. L. Davis (veteran), company D, Second infantry.
Chas. J. Clark, company A, Tenth infantry. ·
John G. Hanna, company A, Tenth infantry.
Hezekiah Van Dorn, company A, Tenth infantry.
Ebenezer E. Howe, company A, Tenth infantry.
William G. Swim, company A, Tenth infantry.
Wilmer S. Simmons, company E, Fourth infantry.
John E. Sells, company E, Fourth infantry.
Sheldon C. Treat, company E, Fourth infantry.
Emerson S. Bramholl, company E, Fourth infantry.
George M. Bentley, company B, Tenth infantry. B,
Steel Kenworthy, company Tenth infantry.
Julian Bausman, company K, Tenth infantry.
William Rhan, company K, Tenth infantry.
William C. Baylies, company K, Tenth infantry.
Adolphus G. Studor, company B, Tenth infantry.
Christopher E, Lanstrum, company B, Tenth infantry.
David King, company B, Tenth in- fantry.
William H. Goodrell, company F, Fifteenth infantry.
John H. Browne, company F, Sev- enteenth infantry.
John A. Fullerton, company K, Sev- enteenth infantry.
William Ragan, company I, Eigh- teenth infantry.
Charles M. Condon, company I, Eighteenth infantry.
Joel M. Walker, company B, Twen- ty-third infantry.
Stephen Waterbury, company B, Twenty-third infantry.
Henry Crabtree, company B, Twen- ty-third infantry.
John A. T. Hull, company C, Twen- ty-third infantry.
Benjamin Jennings, company C, Twenty-third infantry.
Lyle A. Garrett, company C, Twen- ty-third infantry.
William E. Houston, company E, Twenty-third infantry.
William Merrill, company E, Twen- ty-third infantry.
Charles H. Sharman, company G, Thirty-third infantry.
Andrew T. Blodgett, company B, Thirty-ninth infantry.
Franklin R. Thurber, company B, Thirty-ninth infantry.
Augustus Yerger, company I, Thir- ty-ninth infantry.
Robert C. Hunter, company I, Thir- ty-ninth infantry.
Erastus Scott, company I, Thirty- ninth infantry.
William Van Dorn, company H, Forty-fourth infantry.
Welden England, company F, For- ty-seventh infantry.
CAVALRY REGIMENTS.
Gustavus Washburn, company D, Second cavalry.
Samuel J. Dangler, company D, Second cavalry.
Franklin Deford, company A, Seventh cavalry.
Henry Moreland, company M,
Eighth cavalry.
LIGHT ARTILLERY.
Selah H. Titus, First battery. John Burk, Second battery.
SECOND LIEUTENANTS.
INFANTRY REGIMENTS.
Noe W. Mills, company D, Second infantry.
Matthew C. Brown, company B, | Edgar T. Ensign, company D, Sec- Twenty-third infantry. ond infantry.
601
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
George L. Godfrey, company D, Second infantry.
Edward L. Marsh, company D, Sec- ond infantry.
John Lynde, company D, Second in- fantry.
Augustus R. Robinson, Second U. S. volunteers.
Josiah Hopkins, company A, Tenth infantry.
Wm. P. Meekins, company A, Tenth · infantry.
Isaac Whicher, company E, Fourth infantry.
Sheldon C. Treat, company E, Fourth infantry.
Richard W. Ross, company E, Fourth infantry.
Felix T. Gandy, company E, Fourth infantry.
Josiah Hopkins, company A, Fourth infantry.
William P. Meekins, company A, Fourth infantry.
Jonathan J. Wright, company A, Fourth infantry.
John W. Wright, company B, Fourth infantry.
John H. Watson, company F, Thir- teenth infantry.
Chris. E. Lanstrum, company B, Fifteenth infantry.
Reese Wilkins, company B, Fif- teenth infantry.
John S. Green, company B, Fif- teenth infantry.
David King, company B, Fifteenth infantry.
Robert Lyon, company B, Fifteenth infantry.
Samuel T. Reese, company B, Sev. enteenth infantry.
John H. Browne, company F, Seven- teenth infantry.
John H. Looby, company G, Eigh- teenth infantry.
Charles M. Condon, company I, Eighteenth infantry.
Theodore Cree, company A, Twenty- third infantry.
Stephen A. Waterbury, company B, Twenty-third infantry.
Chauncey A. Williams, company B, Twenty-third infantry.
Francis Weitman, company B, Twenty-third infantry.
Benjamin Jennings, company C, Twenty-third infantry.
William H. Downs, company C, Twenty-third infantry.
William E. Houston, company E, Twenty third infantry.
Charles H. Sharman, company G, Thirty-third infantry.
Robert C. Hunter, company I, Thir- ty-ninth infantry.
William Van Dorn, company H, Forty-fourth infantry.
Josiah M. Vale, company F, Forty- seventh infantry.
CAVALRY REGIMENTS.
Joseph. E. Jewett, company D, Sec- ond cavalry.
Samuel Noel, company D, Second cavalry. Daniel Hall, company D, Second cavalry.
Francis M. Griffith, company D, Second cavalry.
Eli Keeler, company M, Eighth cavalry.
602
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
CHAPTER XI.
Land grants in which Polk county was interested-Des Moines river improvement-Leonard' . Brown's recollection of early men and things.
THE original purpose of the general government in its liberal and mag- nificent land grants for school purposes and purposes of internal improve- ment, was a wise and truly magnificient one. The people were thereby to be benefited, and that to a most deserving class of people; those who had braved the dangers and endured the hardships of frontier life, and by their sacrifices made the settlement of the Far West, not only possible but actual .. Such was the purpose of the government, but instead of proving a blessing it has proved a curse to the people, and in the end none but powerful cor- porations have reaped any benefit. In tracing out the history of these land grants and the difficulties and misunderstandings growing out of them, in which the people of this section have performed a leading part, it is our purpose to neither court the favor of the powerful nor appeal to the preju- dices of the weak. Facts and those copied chiefly from official records and decisions, will compose the material of this chapter, while our own words will only be used by way of amplification or explanation.
There have been altogether ten different land grants which have been. made in the State of Iowa. Some of these grants affect and interest the people of the whole State equally and the same, while other grants affected the settlers of Polk county peculiarly and had a special bearing upon the progress and development of the county. First was the five hundred thous- and acre grant. This grant was made to Iowa in common with similar grants to other States, and by the provisions of the first State constitution was set aside as a perpetual fund for the support of schools throughout the State.
Second-The sixteenth section grant whereby the sixteenth section in every township in the State was set aside for school purposes.
Third -- Mortgage school lands. These lands do not strictly belong to. any particular grant, but became school lands by being bid off by the State ..
Fourth-The university grant. This grant consisted of two townships of land for the use of the university in the Territory of Iowa.
Fifth-The saline lands. This grant consisted of forty-six thousand one hundred and one acres and fifty-three one hundredths acres, and the proceeds of the sale of the same were set apart in the first place for the founding of a State lunatic asylum, but afterward the fund was added to the university fund.
Sixth-The Des Moines river grant. By this grant the State came into. possession of a strip of land five miles in width on each side of the Des Moines river, to be used in making the river navigable for steamboats.
Seventh-The Des Moines river school lands. This grant consisted of some twenty-eight thousand acres in Webster and Hamilton counties, the proceeds from the sale of which became a part of the permanent school fund.
Eighth-The swamp lands. By this grant the State came into the pos- session of all the swamp lands.
Ninth-The railroad grant. By this grant the State came into posses- sion of a large quantity of lands which were donated to certain corporations in aid of several lines of railroads.
603
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
Tenth-The agricultural college grant. By this grant each State in the Union received for the purpose of founding an agricultural college, a quantity of lands equal to thirty thousand acres for each senator and re- presentative in Congress. Out of this fund was founded the college at Ames.
Having thus merely alluded to the different grants it is now our purpose to speak more fully of those grants in which Polk county has more partic- ularly been interested, viz: Des Moines river grants and the swamp land grant.
At the time Iowa was a Territory, organized under the act of June 12, 1838. (5 Stat. 235.) On the eighth of August, 1846, Congress passed the act making the Des Moines river grant, the material parts of which are as follows:
" AN ACT granting certain lands to the Territory of |Iowa to aid in the improvement of the navigation of the Des Moines river in said Terri- tory.
" Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled: That there be, and hereby is, granted to said Territory of Iowa, for the purpose of aiding said Territory to improve the navigation of the Des Moines river from its mouth to the Racoon Fork (so-called) in said Territory, one equal moiety, in alternate sections of the public lands (remaining unsold, and not otherwise disposed of, incumbered or appropriated), in a strip five miles in width on each side of said river, to be selected within said Territory by an agent or agents to be appointed by the Governor thereof, subject to the approval of the Secre- tary of the treasury of the United States.
" SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, that the lands hereby granted shall not be conveyed or disposed of by said Territory, nor by any State to be formed out of the same, except as said improvements shall progress; that is, the said Territory or State may sell so much of said lands as shall pro- duce the sum of thirty thousand dollars, and then the sales shall cease un- til the Governor of said Territory or State shall certify the fact to the President of the United States that one-half of said sum has been expended upon said improvements, when the said Territory or State may sell and convey a quantity of the residue of said lands sufficient to replace the amount expended; and thus the sale shall progress as the proceeds thereof shall be expended, and the fact of such expenditure shall be certified as aforesaid.
"SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That whenever the Territory of Iowa shall be admitted into the Union as a State, the lands hereby granted for the above purpose shall be and become the property of said State for the purpose contemplated in this act, and for no other, provided the Legislature of the State of Iowa shall accept the said grant for the said purpose."
On the 17th of October, 1846, the Commissioner of the General Land Office requested the Governor of the Territory to appoint an agent to select the land under the river grant, at the same time intimating that the grant only extended from the Missouri line to the Raccoon Fork of the Des Moines river. On the 17th of December, a few days before the admission of the State, the territorial authorities designated the odd-numbered sec- tions as the lands selected under the grant.
The State accepted the grant in form by joint resolution of the General Assembly, approved January 9, 1847. On the 24th of February following
604
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
the State created a " Board of Public Works," to whom were committed the work, construction and management of the river improvement and the care, control, sale, disposal and management of the lands granted the State by the act of 1846. This board was organized September 22, 1847, and on the 17th of February, 1848, the Commissioner of the General Land Office, in an official communication to the Secretary of the board, gave it as the opinion of his office that the grant extended throughout the whole length of the river within the limits of the State.
On the 19th of June, 1848, without any notice of a revocation of this opinion, a proclamation was issued by the President, putting in market some of the lands above the Raccoon Fork, which would go to the State if the Commissioner was right in the construction he gave the grant. This led to a correspondence on the subject between the proper officers of the State and the United States, which resulted in the promulgation of an offi- cial opinion by the Secretary of the Treasury, bearing date March 2, 1849, to the effect that the grant extended from the Missouri line to the source of the river. In consequence of this opinion the Commissioner of the Gener- al Land Office, on the first of the following June, directed the Registers and Receivers of the local land offices to withhold from sale all the odd-num- bered sections within five miles on each side of the river above the Raccoon Fork.
Afterward, the State authorities called on the Commissioner of the Gen- eral Land Office for a list of lands above the Raccoon Fork which would fall to the State under this ruling. The list was accordingly made out, and on the 14th of January, 1850, submitted to the Secretary of the Interior for approval-jurisdiction of matters of that kind having been before that transferred by law from the Treasury to the Interior Department. On the 6th of April, the Secretary returned the list to the land office with a letter declining to recognize the grant as extending above the Raccoon Fork with- out the aid of an explanatory act of Congress, but advised that any imme- diate steps for bringing the lands into market be postponed in order that Congress might have an opportunity of acting on the matter if it saw fit.
On the 29th of October, 1851, the Secretary of the Interior, after consul- tation with the President and his Cabinet, and pursuant to a decision there made, wrote the Commissioner of the General Land Office as follows:
"SIR: I herewith return all the papers in the Des Moines case, which were recalled from your office about the first of the present month.
"I have reconsidered and carefully reviewed my decision of the 26th July last, and in doing so find that no decision which I can make will be final, as the question involved partakes more of a judicial than an executive character, which must ultimately be determined by the judicial tribunals of the country, and although my own opinion on the true construction of the grant is unchanged, yet in view of the great conflict of opinion among the executive officers of the government, and also in view of the opinions of several eminent jurists which have been presented to me in favor of the con- struction contended for by the State, I am willing to recognize the claim of the State, and to approve the selections without prejudice to the rights, if any there be, of other parties, thus leaving the question as to the proper con- struction of the statute entirely open to the action of the judiciary. You will please, therefore, as soon as may be practicable, submit for my approv- al such lists as may have been prepared, and proceed to report for like ap- proval, lists of the alternate sections claimed by the State of Iowa above the.
605
HISTORY OF POLK COUNTY.
Raccoon Fork, as far as the surveys have progressed or may hereafter be completed and returned."
The lists were made out accordingly. Until the 17th of December, 1853, the State itself, through its board of public works, carried on the work of improving the river, paying the expense from the proceeds of the sales of the lands included in the river grant. A land office had also been estab- lished for the sale of these lands. On that day the State entered into a contract with one Henry O'Reilly to complete the work. This contract O'Reilly transferred, with the consent of the State, to the Des Moines Nav- igation and Railroad Company, a New York corporation, and on the 9th of June, 1854, in consequence of this transfer, a new contract was entered into between the State and the corporation for the purpose of simplifying and more fully explaining the original contracts and agreements. By the new contract the State agreed to convey to the company "all of the lands do- nated to the State of Iowa for the improvement of the Des Moines river by act of Congress of August 6, 1846, which the said party of the second part" (the State) " had not sold up to the 23d day of December, 1853." This was the date at which it was supposed the sale of lands could be stopped at the State land office after the contract with O'Reilly.
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