USA > Iowa > Van Buren County > The history of Van Buren County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c, a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics history of the Northwest, history of Iowa &c > Part 46
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The old road from Fort Madison, in Lee County, to Iowaville, was ordered reviewed and established in August, 1844. Benjamin Saylor and Joel Avery were appointed Commissioners.
February 15, 1844, the name of Hartford was changed to that of Fleming.
A joint resolution was passed by the Legislature February 14, 1844, requesting the establishment of numerous weekly mail-routes in the State. Among them one from Fox Post Office, Van Buren County, to Davis Court House, thence to center of Appanoose County.
Uriah Biggs, of Van Buren, was appointed, by the Legislature, Subagent for that county of the University lands.
In 1845, a Territorial road was established by Samuel Swearingen and Israel Kister, of Davis County, and John B. Wilson, of Van Buren, from the Sullivan line of Missouri, where the road from Keosauqua to Churchville crossed; thence on the divide between Fox River and Indian Creek via Fox Post Office, Sabastian Streeter's and L. A. Nelson's, keeping the divide between Fox River, Cherrynest and Soap Creeks, to the western line of Davis County. The Commissioner were ordered to meet on the first Monday of July.
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January 15, 1846, Elisha Center, Jr., Clerk of the District Court for Van Buren County, was authorized to refile, transcribe and arrange all papers, books and documents in his office.
In 1847, a State road was laid out from West Point, in Lee County, to Bonaparte. Jacob Henkle, Sr., and Jacob Grewell, of Lee County, and Giles Wells, of Van Buren, Commissioners. Ordered to meet the second Monday in April.
A State road was established, in 1847, from Wood's Mills, in Van Buren County, to Bloomfield, in Davis County. John Hale. of Van Buren, James Hawkins and Reason Wilkerson, of Davis County, Commissioners. Ordered to meet the first Monday in May.
A State road was laid out between Iowaville to Lancaster, Keokuk Co., by way of Creaseville, in 1847. Michael Peibler and Jacob L. Sears, of Jeffer- son County, and Joel Skinner, of Keokuk County, Commissioners. Met in April.
A State road was laid out, in 1847, from Portland to Bloomfield. Banks Winton and Adam Row, of Davis, and James S. Parks, of Van Buren, Com- missioners.
David Ferguson was appointed agent to select two townships of land for the State University, and was allowed $2 per day for his actual time thus employed.
The city of Farmington was incorporated, by act of the State Legislature, approved February 22, 1847.
INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF WAREHAM G. CLARK
The sketch here given serves to illustrate the dangers and hardships attend- ing the settlement of this region, even as late as 1842.
In the year 1840, William W. Rankin emigrated from La Fayette, Ind., and located on a temporary or small claim near the extreme western line of the then defined Government lands. The treaty of 1837 opened up to claimants a large area of lands which had been, prior to that date, the stamping-grounds of the Indians. It is necessary to merely allude to this limit here, as the sub- ject is properly treated in another portion of the work.
When Van Buren County was geographically defined, the western boundary extended to a point within the ceded territory. A strip of land was still left west of the county about a mile and a half in width. This strip lay in what afterward became, subsequent to the Indian treaty of 1842, the county of Davis. The strip was attached to Van Buren County for all judicial and official pur- poses, but at the period of which we write was withont distinctive title.
The year 1840, was a comparatively late one in the settlement of Van Buren, but the attached wild lands had not received much benefit from the civilizing influences of the influx of pioneers in the eastern and central part of Van Buren. West of the county line all was a wilderness.
It will be remembered by the early settlers that the general laws of the country forbade encroachments on the Indian lands by white men. Location of claims could not be made except at the hazard of loss of property, if not at the peril of life. Timber could not be cut, nor could game be pursued by whites without risking severe punishment. It is folly to assert that the laws defensive of the rights of the red man were fully observed; for it is a known fact that timber was stripped from the eastern boundary, and that many a vent- uresome hunter added to the zest of his sport by combining the excitement of the chase with a vigorous watchfulness for the stealthy red man. Had an Indian detected a poacher on his domain, the latter would have been summarily
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disposed of. This fact is corroborated by the stories told of hair-breadth escapes of hunters under such circumstances.
Nor were hunters the only violators of the law of trespass. Some men, foreseeing the advantages of early possession, were reckless enough to make settlers' claim to some of the best locations, just across the boundary, and erect thereon log cabins. The class which carried matters to such an extreme, encountered more than the hostility of outraged Indians; for at that time the Government made a show of protecting poor Lo in his rights. A system of espionage was maintained after a fashion commensurate with the importance of the case and the crudity of the times. It is not to be supposed that the most thorough watchfulness was observed, for that would be attributing to the Gov- ernment a higher degree of paternal feeling than it has ever manifested ; but the appearance of authority was kept up by the appointment of agents and the occasional visitation of suspected localities by those properly empowered repre- sentatives of the Great Father at Washington.
The men who actually made claims on the Indian territory were, very naturally, persons of the most heedless disposition. The pleasure of making locations there consisted fully as much in the consciousness of law violated, as it did in the sense of semi-proprietorship. It is likely that some of these men were connected with the organized gangs of horse-thieves and counterfeiters which infested the West at that time, and found more freedom there for the prosecution of the latter part of their nefarious trades, as well as a greater immunity from the law of the better settled counties of the Territory. The cabins of such "claimants " may have been places of refuge for dangerous men, when pursued by the officers of the law. A sort of friendship may have existed between some of the white renegades and the Indians, which served as a protection to them. At all events, whether these conjectures be reasonable or not, it is certain that the squatters on Indian lands dreaded the white men more than the Indians, and were always ready to defend their wilderness homes from the agents of the Government.
When Mr. Rankin located in the narrow strip of land adjacent to Van Buren County, he did so with the intention of seeking a better site as soon as it was possible to do so with safety. He was residing on his claim, which was three miles of the present village of Drakeville, in the year 1842.
In 1840, W. G. Clark, who figured so largely in the early history of Mon- roe County, gave up the idea of spending his life in New York City, where he had resided for some ten years, and concluded to seek his fortune in the West. The Territory of Iowa was regarded by the young New Yorker as the further- most limit of the desirable country, or, at all events, far enough away from the whirl of the metropolis to be an available prospecting-ground. He prepared to shake Eastern dust from his feet and join the great army of emigrants which was then moving westward. Among the supplies purchased by him, as a neces- sary preliminary to fortune-hunting, was a pair of very fine bay horses. The team was not only a particularly good one, but it was also a decidedly notice- able pair, because of size and marks. They stood eighteen hands high, were very speedy travelers, and, more remarkable than all else, had been treated to the "docking process." Their tails were cut short after the fashion of that time. In the West, the few teams met with were allowed their normal quantity of caudal appendage, and the introduction of a pair of big "bob-tailed " bays caused considerable comment among the pioneers of the new country.
Mr. Clark came on to Iowa, and entered the southern portion of the Terri- tory. He was in no special haste to locate permanently, and devoted his time
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- to going about from settlement to settlement. Wherever he went, his fine team excited remark, and he was soon known throughout Van Buren County. His horses were also known in the entire region.
During the course of his investigation of the country, Mr. Clark went into the attached portion of Van Buren County, and there formed the acquaintance of Mr. Rankin, wife and daughter. The year 1842 found Mr. Clark not only a friend of the Rankins, but a still more particular guest at their house, for he had become engaged to the daughter. The marriage day was not decided upon at once, as it was deemed essential to first select a site for a home. Thus the spring of 1842 beheld Mr. Clark more eager than ever for a speedy termination of his protracted search for a claim. The Indian treaty of 1842 was pending, but no locations could then be made on the beautiful lands contained in the reserve. The sight of the rolling prairies and beautiful groves was too tempt- ing to be withstood, and Mr. Clark determined to make a tour of examination in anticipation of the time when he could legally lay claim to a farm site thereon.
One day in the late spring, Mr. Clark persuaded the Rankins to join him in a short excursion over the Indian lands, with the view of aiding him in his ultimate choice of a home. The famous team was hitched to a comfortable spring-wagon. and the two ladies, Mrs. and Miss Rankin, were snugly seated for a genuine camping-out trip. The party was provided with necessaries in the way of blankets, etc., but only a limited amount of provisions were taken, as it was not intended to remain out more than two or three days.
The first day's journey was a delightful one. The party had driven about sixteen or seventeen miles through a region in a perfect state of nature, and at one of the most charming seasons of the year. Night overtook them just as they came in sight of a deserted log cabin. The discovery of such a building, where reason and law taught them to suppose no building stood, was a surprise indeed. The men made a careful inspection of the premises, and concluded that some squatter had ventured on the reserve, but had become tired of his claim and had forsaken it. Mr. Rankin made the most of their apparent good- fortune, and proceeded to arrange a snug sleeping-place in the cabin for the women. He and Clark fitted up a bed in the wagon for themselves. The horses were tied in a clump of trees some twenty rods from the wagon, and there left in supposed security for the night.
The weary travelers were soon fast asleep. Mr. Clark says that he has no idea just how long he slept, but he was awakened in the night by the restless- ness of his horses. He thought nothing of the disturbance, however, and pro- ceeded to compose himself for another nap. Later in the night he was again aroused, but this time by hearing one of his horses break his halter and dash off over the prairie at high speed. Even then his suspicions of evil were not aroused, because he was firm in his belief that no human beings, save them- selves, were within miles of his team. Again he laid his head down, but could not sleep soundly. For a short time all was quiet, when suddenly the remain- ing horse broke loose and scudded away to join its mate. The night was so dark that search was impossible then, and Mr. Clark concluded that he would wait until daylight before beginning his tramp. He thought his horses had gone but a short distance out on the prairie, where they would soon eat their fill and remain quietly until he could capture them. He noticed that neither Mr. Rankin nor the women had been awakened by the disturbance, and that
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confirmed him in his determination to await until he could reasonably call upon Mr. R. for assistance.
Mr. Clark did not sleep again that night, and as soon as it was daybreak he silently arose, without awakening Mr. Rankin, and went over to where his team had stood. The high grass was trampled down in one direction, and thither he went until he could obtain a commanding view of the surrounding country.
He could see that the horses had gone eastward, and the first idea that occurred to him was that they had started back toward the settlement from whence they had come. Mr. Clark felt that every moment was precious, and that he could scarcely afford the time required to return to camp and arouse his friends. If he kept on at once, he might soon overtake the team and get back before the camp was awake. He had taken no food with him, however, and a long tramp was imprudent; but he would go a short way further and then, if he saw no traces of his horses, he would go back to camp and prepare for a thorough search. So on he pushed, through the wet, harsh prarie grass for some distance. The heavy tread of the horses had left a deep impress in the sod and the rank vegetation was bent and twisted by their rapid movements. Along this trail Mr. Clark hurried, expecting every moment to reach some point from which he could discover more encouraging prospects. Suddenly he came upon a blind track over the prairie. The newly-made trail of his horses ceased. but along the older path he saw the hoof-marks of his team. But that was not all. Side by side with his own horses, another animal had ran from this point on. From the size of the track, Mr. Clark concluded that it must have been an Indian pony.
The discovery of this alarming evidence of the cause of the stampede did not create any unpleasant feelings in Mr. Clark's mind. A more experienced Westerner would have retraced his steps at once and aroused the camp ; but Mr. Clark was new to the ways and dangers of the West. He had come from a region where crime was guarded, regulated and spied upon by professionals ; where it was not incumbent upon every citizen to play many parts in turn. He did not understand woodcraft or know that detective work was a part of a pioneer's duty. He was not a Leatherstocking, or to the wilderness born. Hence, when the third hoof-print was discovered, he merely surmised that some Indian had gone that way the day before. He did not associate the contiguity of tracks as cause and effect.
By this time, Mr. Clark had gone so far that returning without his team seemed impossible. So, on he went. On and on he pushed, now losing the trail and anon finding it, until it became broad day. High noon found him still rambling on, hungry and footsore, but determined to work out the salva- tion of his favorite animals.
When the meridian of day was passed, and the sunlight fell from the west- ward, stray patches of cloud occasionally obscured the rays. These shadows were grateful to the weary man, who did not then realize the awful danger of becoming hopelessly lost on the trackless prairie or in the wild growth of trees that bordered some stream.
As night settled down, the clouds increased in density and concealed the sun entirely. The inexperienced young man, deprived of the only sure director, was left in total ignorance of his whereabouts. His long fast of nearly twenty- four hours, began to tell upon his unaccustomed muscles. A man bred in city ways cannot endure the privations of wild life like those who are inured to such
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hardships. The comparative inactivity of mercantile life had made Mr. Clark, who was not thirty years of age at the time of which we write, little fitted for a protracted tramp through the woods. He naturally could not husband his strength, nor could he practice any of the many physical economies known to hunters.
In this pitiable plight, night found the wanderer. He had long before that given up search for the trail of his horses, for he had learned that self-preser- vation was Nature's first law. At last, exhausted and half-despairing, he set down upon an old log and turned his coat collar about his neck. Compressing himself into as small a compass as possible, he tried to pass the night. Imagine the scene! A young man, who but a day before saw life stretching out pleasantly in anticipation before him, sound in mind and body, and with every reasonable expectation of prosperity, now lost in the wilderness, without the slightest ray of hope, alone in the darkness and the rain, with the prairie winds whistling and groaning around him as though to aggravate his sense of terror at his situation, and chilling him to the marrow as it drove the gusts of. rain upon his unprotected head. Think of that long, dreary night, which seemed interminable to him. Added to all the imaginary dangers, were the ever-present pangs of hunger, gnawing at his vitals and weakening him minute by minute.
If ever the daylight was welcomed by mortal in distress, surely that which told the hero of this sketch the east from the west was. The long hours which succeeded the rising of the sun behind a gray and crimson bank of clouds were but repetitions of those of the preceding day. Early in the morning, the rain began to fall, and continued ceaselessly day and night. The tall prairie grass, which cut like knife-blades, soon wore away the fine cloth pants which Clark then wore, leaving the flesh naked to their cruel teeth. In self-protection, he bound leaves about his legs, and plodded on, not knowing whither. More than once, a bird, startled by the strange apparition of an unknown being, flew from her nest, revealing the brood of unfledged young within. The instinct to devour those little birds was strong; but the force of civilized habits overcame, for the time, the savage nature of man. Now and then, an elm-tree was found, and from the inner bark of it the famished man ate greedily. Wild strawberry leaves, and such vegetation as was known to be edible, formed the staple of his unsatisfactory diet.
Again night shut down upon him, and despair hovered over the almost desperate man. In the darkness he heard the weird cry of noc- turnal birds. His cars were keen to detect unnatural sounds. Above his hard resting-place rang out the terrifying shriek of a panther, and in the distance the barking of wolves could be distinctly heard. In the darkness he arose and moved about, impressed with a sense of greater security if in motion.
Day succeeded night. Another weary march, another fruitless search for traces of human habitation. Again the sun sank and shut out the monotonous landscape. The wanderer gathered boughs and made a rude shelter from the piercing wind. Sleep forsook him, and a long watch for light began.
Three days had passed since he had eaten Christian food. The fearful thought that he had gone from his friends without acquainting them of his purpose intensified his agony of mind and body. The horses gone and he himself missing must have aroused the strangest thoughts among
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his friends. The morning came at last, but it found him in nearly an ex- hausted frame.
Fortune at last smiled upon the persistent efforts made by Mr. Clark. Had the last day of his experiences in the wilderness ended like those which pre- ceded, this story would have been far different in character. A tale of secret disappearance, a few bleached human bones, discovered by some settler on the spot, and an unraveled mystery, would have been the leading points. As it proved, the search made for a habitation led to the discovery of a cabin on the plains. A fierce dog bounded out to attack the poor, tattered man, as he stag- gered up to the door and called for aid. The settler came to his rescue, and soon supplied him with food. His life was saved.
Mr. Clark remained a short time at the cabin, and then pushed on toward where he learned the campers must be. The settler aided in the work of re-uniting the separated friends. As good luck would have it, Mr. Rankin was soon seen coming toward them, and the story of Mr. Clark's bewilderment and escape was speedily told.
It was afterward ascertained that Mr. C. traveled some twenty miles or more from the camp, and that at least three times that distance must have been traversed by him in his wanderings.
The sequel to this story is fully as interesting as the account here given of the experiences of Mr. C. The pony-track seen in the grass on the first day satisfied the settlers that Mr. Clark's horses had been stolen. The amateur detectives took up the clue from the known occupants of the cabin where the party camped, the fact of the absence of the men, etc., and followed the trail south, into Missouri. The peculiar docking of the horses' tails, the large size and fine appearance made it an easy task to trace the animals out. Near Lan- caster, Mo., the team was recovered, and a man named Shaffer was arrested by the posse, charged with the crime. A fellow named Wooden was suspected of complicity in the matter, but he was not proved guilty.
Shaffer was taken by force and brought into Van Buren County. As the posse had no warrant to take him in Missouri, he was allowed to go free on Van Buren soil, and then immediately arrested on a legal process. The crime for which he was taken having been committed on Indian territory, which was not within the jurisdiction of the Van Buren District Court, necessitated his trial at Fort Madison, in the United States District Court. Shaffer was confined at Keosauqua pending the required preliminary proceedings, and thence taken to Fort Madison. There the trial resulted in a verdict of guilty. The law did not provide incarceration for such offenses, but it did not allow a total relinquishment of a prisoner proven guilty. The verdict, in com- pliance with the general statute, was the infliction of twenty-odd lashes upon the bare back. Accordingly, the proper officer procceded to carry out the finding of the Court. Shaffer was stripped, and the lash was heartily laid on his quivering flesh. This was probably the last public whipping ever adminis- tered in the Territory under orders of a lawful court. Judge Lynch often ruled such punishment ; but the more civilized officers of the regular judiciary adopted a less summary method of punishment. The whipping was done in 1843.
The place where Mr. Clark was lost is now known as Hacklebarney, in Davis County.
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POEM.
Written for and read before the Old Settlers of Van Buren County, at their Annual Meeting, at Keosauqua, Iowa August 19, 1874.
BY KATE HARRINGTON.
Kind friends, 'twas something new for me to say I'd meet the dear Old Settlers here to-day. "Tis passing strange I should consent to come, To leave the privacy of hearth and home, And thus present a paradox to you- A maiden effort at full forty-two. Yet 'tis appropriate-I mean the age- For veteran soldier, nor yet gray-haired sage, E' er looks for fresh young spring to re-appear When autumn strews the ground with leaflets sere.
Life's soft October, with its golden glow, Brings back to us the vanished long ago. The eyes that followed us, the hands we prest, The smile that thrilled us and the voice that blessed. From countless homes, Old Settlers, have there passed Lives all too beautiful and bright to last ; The dear ones cherished in our bosom's core Who wait for us till life's brief dream is o'er.
This ground is hallowed. Though our mortal sight May not behold the ladder from yon height Let softly down, that shining ones may stream Along its path, as in the patriarch's dream, Still do they come, their white robes gleaming there The sunlight shimmering through their golden hair ; All silently they join your waiting throng, And, hushed and solemn, list to prayer and song.
Go with me first to quiet Farmington. From my old home my flight shall be begun, And ere my fancy takes its circling round Kneel with her there on consecrated ground. With the low murmur of the near Des Moines, In solemn requiem let our voices join ; Our footfalls, too, must take a softer tread Above the sacred sods that hold our dead. 'Tis most like home-that city on the hill, Whose inmates sleep so peacefully and still. 'Tis there the oldest settler calmly rests, With still hands folded on his pulseless breast. Upon the marble, gleaming pure and white, We read the names of Alfrey, Dickey, Wright, Swazey and Kelley, Bolter, Good and Shreeves, From slumbers roused not by the whispering leaves ; All undisturbed by the green boughs that moan Their ceaseless miserere o'er each stone.
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Oh ! stout the hearts beyond the ocean's waves, Who left, on England's shores, their fathers' graves ; Who came, Columbia's wilderness to tread Without the sacred ashes of their dead ; Who felt that nevermore might lips be pressed To flowers that bloomed above a mother's breast. Who left behind, mid throes of anguish wild, The consecrated mound that held a child. 'Twould matter little where my steps might rove Did not this magnet draw-the graves I love.
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