USA > Iowa > Warren County > The history of Warren County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics &c > Part 17
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The Coal-measure Group .- The formations of this group are divided
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
into the Lower, Middle, and Upper Coal-measures. Omitting particular reference to the other strata of the Lower Coal-measure, we refer only to the coal which this formation contains. Far the greater part of that indis- pensible element of material prosperity is contained in the strata of the Lower Coal-measures. Beds are now being mined in this formation that reach to the thickness of seven feet of solid coal. Natural exposures of this formation are few, but coal strata are being mined in a number of local- ities.
The area occupied by the Middle Coal-measure is smaller than that of either of the others, and constitutes a narrow region between them. The passage of the strata of the Lower with the Middle Coal-measure is not Inarked by any well defined line of division.
The area occupied by the Upper Coal-measure formation in Iowa is very great, comprising thirteen whole counties in the southwestern part of the State, together with parts of seven or eight others adjoining. It ad- joins by its northern and eastern boundary the area occupied by the Middle Coal-measures. The western and southern limits in Iowa of the Upper Coal-measures are the western and southern boundaries of the State, but the formation extends without interruption far into the States of Missouri, Ne- braska and Kansas. It contains but a single bed of true coal, and that very thin. Its principal economic value is confined to its limestone. Wherever this stone is exposed it furnishes good material for masonry, and also for lime. The prevailing color of the limestone is light gray, with usually a tinge of blue. The sandstones of this formation are usually shaly, and quite worthless.
CRETACEOUS SYSTEM.
The Nishnabotany Sandstone .- This formation is well exposed in the valley of the East Nishnabotany river, from which circumstance Dr. White has so named it. It is found as far east as the southeastern part of Guthrie county, and as far south as the southern part of Montgomery county. To the northwestward it passes beneath the Woodbury sandstones and shales, the latter in turn passing beneath the Inoceramus, or chalky beds. It reaches a maximum thickness in Iowa, so far as known, of about 100 feet, but the exposures usually show a much less thickness. It is a soft sandstone, and, with few exceptions, almost valueless for economic purposes. The most valuable quarries in the strata of this formation, so far as known, are at Lewis, Cass county, and in the northeastern part of Mills county. Several buildings have been constructed of it at Lewis, but with some the color is objectionable, being of a dark brown color. A few fossils have been found in it, being leaves too fragmentary for identification.
The Woodbury Sandstones and Shales .- These are composed of alternat. ing sandstones and shales, as the name implies, and rest upon the Nishna- botany sandstone. They have not been observed outside of the limits of Woodbury county, but they are found there to reach a maximum of about 150 feet. Some layers are firm and compact, but the larger part is impure and shaly. The best of it is suitable for only common masonry, but it fur- nishes the only material of that kind in that part of the State. Some slight fossil remains have been found in this formation.
The Inoceramus Beds .- These beds constitute the upper formation of the Cretaceous System in Iowa, and have a maximum thickness of about 50 feet. They rest directly upon the Woodbury sandstones and shales. They are
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
observed nowhere in Iowa except along the bluffs of the Big Sioux river, in Woodbury and Plymouth counties. They are composed of calcareous mate- rial, but are not a true, compact limestone. The material of the upper por- tion is used for lime, the quality of which is equal to that of common limestone. No good building material is obtained from these beds. Some fossil fish have been found in them.
Above all the formations above-mentioned rests the Post-Tertiary, or Drift deposit, which is more fully mentioned in connection with the Soils of Iowa.
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY.
Coal-Peat-Building Stone-Lime-Lead-Gypsum-Spring and Well Water-Clays- Mineral Paint.
COAL.
Every year is adding to our knowledge of, and attesting the importance and value of our vast coal deposits. In some unknown age of the past, long before the history of our race began, Nature by some wise process, made a bountiful provision for the time when, in the order of things, it should become necessary for civilized man to take possession of these broad rich prairies. As an equivalent for the lack of trees, she quietly stored away beneath the soil those wonderful carboniferous treasures for the use and comfort of man at the proper time. The increased demand for coal has in many portions of the State led to improved methods of mining, so that in many counties the business is becoming a lucrative and important one, especially where railroads furnish the means of transportation. The coal field of the State embraces an area of at least 20,000 square miles, and coal is successfully mined in about thirty counties, embracing a territory larger than the State of Massachusetts. Among the most important coal produc- ing counties may be mentioned Appanoose, Boone, Davis, Jefferson, Ma- haska, Marion, Monroe, Polk, Van Buren, Wapello, and Webster. Within the last few years many discoveries of new deposits have been made, and counties not previously numbered among the coal counties of the State are now yielding rich returns to the miner. Among these may be mentioned the counties of Boone, Dallas, Hamilton, Hardin, and Webster. A vein of coal of excellent quality, seven feet in thickness, has been opened, and is now being successfully worked, about five miles southeast of Fort Dodge, in Webster county. Large quantities of coal are shipped from that point to Dubuque and the towns along the line of the Dubuque and Sioux City Rail- road. "A few years ago it was barely known that some coal existed in Boone county, as indicated by exposures along the Des Moines river, and it is only within the last few years that the coal mines of Moingona have furnished the vast supplies shipped along the Chicago and Northwestern Rail- road, both east and west. The great productive coal field of Iowa is embraced chiefly within the valley of the Des Moines river and its tributaries, extend- ing up the valley from Lee county nearly to the north line of Webster county. Within the coal field embraced by this valley deep mining is nowhere necessary. The Des Moines and its larger tributaries have gener- ally cut their channels down through the coal measure strata.
The coal of Iowa is of the class known as bituminous, and is equal in quality and value to coal of the same class in other parts of the world. The veins which have so far been worked are from three to eight feet in
126
HISTORY OF IOWA.
thickness, but we do not have to dig from one thousand to two thousand feet to reach the coal, as miners are obliged to do in some countries. But little coal has in this State been raised from a depth greater than one hun- dred feet.
Prof. Gustavus Hinrich, of the State University, who also officiated as State Chemist in the prosecution of the recent Geological Survey, gives an analysis showing the comparative value of Iowa coal with that of other countries. The following is from a table prepared by him - 100 represent- ing the combustible:
NAME AND LOCALITY.
Carbon.
Bitumen.
Ashes.
Moisture.
Equivalent.
Value.
Brown coal, from Arbesan, Bohemia.
3
11
114
Brown coal, from Bilin, Bohemia .
40
67
16
00
123
81
Bituminous coal, from Bentheu, Silisia
51
49
21
5
126
80
Cannel coal, from Wigan, England
61
39
10
3
113
87
Anthracite, from Pennsylvania
94
6
2
2
104
96
lowa coals-average
50
50
5
5
110
90
In this table the excess of the equivalent above 100, expresses the amount of impurities (ashes and moisture) in the coal. The analysis shows that the average Iowa coals contains only ten parts of impurities for one hundred parts combustible (carbon and bitumen), being the purest of all the samples analyzed, except the Anthracite from Pennsylvania.
PEAT.
Extensive deposits of peat in several of the northern counties of Iowa have attracted considerable attention. In 1866, Dr. White, the State Geologist, made careful observations in some of those counties, including Franklin, Wright, Cerro Gordo, Hancock, Winnebago, Worth, and Kossuth. It is estimated that the counties above named contain an average of at least four * thousand acres each of good peat lands. The depth of the beds are from four to ten feet, and the quality is but little, if any, inferior to that of Ireland. As yet, but little use has been made of it as a fuel, but when it is considered that it lies wholly beyond the coal-field, in a sparsely timbered region of the State, its prospective value is regarded as very great. Dr. White estimates that 160 acres of peat, four feet deep, will supply two hundred and thirteen families with fuel for upward of twenty-five years. It must not be inferred that the presence of these peat beds in that part of the State is in any degree prejudicial to health, for such is not the case. The dry, rolling prairie land usually comes up to the very border of the peat marsh, and the winds, or breezes, which prevail through the summer season, do not allow water to become stagnant. Nature seems to have designed these peat deposits to supply the deficiency of other material for fuel. The penetration of this portion of the State by railroads, and the rapid growth of timber may Icave a resort to peat for fuel as a matter of choice, and not of necessity. It there- fore remains to be seen of what economic value in the future the peat beds of Iowa may be. Peat has also been found in Muscatine, Linn, Clinton, and other eastern and southern counties of the State, but the fertile region of
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
Northern Iowa, least favored with other kinds of fuel, is peculiarly the peat region of the State.
BUILDING STONE.
There is no scarcity of good building stone to be found along nearly all the streams east of the Des Moines river, and along that stream from its mouth up to the north line of Humboldt county. Some of the counties west of the Des Moines, as Cass and Madison, as well as most of the southern counties of the State, are supplied with good building stone. Building stone of peculiarly fine quality is quarried at and near the following places: Keosau- qua, Van Buren county; Mt. Pleasant, Henry county; Fairfield, Jefferson county; Ottumwa, Wapello county; Winterset, Madison county; Ft. Dodge, Webster county; Springvale and Dakota, Humboldt county; Marshalltown, Marshall county; Orford, Tama county; Vinton, Benton county; Charles City, Floyd county; Mason City, Cerro Gordo county; Mitchell and Osage, Mitchell county; Anamosa, Jones county; Iowa Falls, Hardin county; Hampton, Franklin county; and at nearly all points along the Mississippi river. In some places, as in Marshall and Tama counties, several species of inarble are found, which are susceptible of the finest finish, and are very beautiful.
LIME.
Good material for the manufacture of quick-lime is found in abundance in nearly all parts of the State. Even in the northwestern counties, where there are but few exposures of rock "in place," limestone is found among the boulders scattered over the prairies and about the lakes. So abundant is limestone suitable for the manufacture of quick-lime, that it is needless to mention any particular locality as possessing superior advantages in furnish- ing this useful building material. At the following points parties have been engaged somewhat extensively in the manufacture of lime, to-wit: Ft. Dodge, Webster county; Springvale, Humboldt county; Orford and Indiantown, Tama county; Iowa Falls, Hardin county; Mitchell, Mitchell county; and at nearly all the towns along the streams northeast of Cedar river.
LEAD.
Long before the permanent settlement of Iowa by the whites lead was mined at Dubuque by Julien Dubuque and others, and the business is still carried on successfully. From four to six million pounds of ore have been smelted annually at the Dubuque mines, yielding from 68 to 70 per cent of lead. So far as known, the lead deposits of Iowa that may be profitably worked, are confined to a belt four or five miles in width along the Missis- sippi above and below the city of Dubuque.
GYPSUM.
One of the finest and purest deposits of gypsum known in the world exists at Fort Dodge in this State. It is confined to an area of about six by three miles on both sides of the Des Moines river, and is found to be from twenty- five to thirty feet in thickness. The main deposit is of uniform gray color,
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
but large masses of almost pure white (resembling alabaster) have been found embedded in the main deposits. The quantity of this article is prac- tically inexhaustible, and the time will certainly come when it will be a source of wealth to that part of the State. It has been used to a consider- able extent in the manufacture of Plaster-of-Paris, and has been found equal to the best in quality. It has also been used to a limited extent for paving and building purposes.
SPRING AND WELL WATER.
As before stated, the surface of Iowa is generally drained by the rolling or undulating character of the country, and the numerous streams, large and small. This fact might lead some to suppose that it might be difficult to procure good spring or well water for domestic uses. Such, however, is not the case, for good pure well water is easily obtained all over the State, even on the highest prairies. It is rarely necessary to dig more than thirty feet deep to find an abundance of that most indispensible element, good water. Along the streams are found many springs breaking out from the banks, affording a constant supply of pure water. As a rule, it is necessary to dig deeper for well water in the timber portions of the State, than on the prairies. Nearly all the spring and well waters of the State contain a small proportion of lime, as they do in the Eastern and Middle States. There are some springs which contain mineral properties, similar to the springs often resorted to by invalids and others in other States. In Davis county there are some "Salt Springs," as they are commonly called, the water being found to contain a considerable amount of common salt, sulphuric acid, and other mineral ingredients. Mineral waters are found in different parts of the State. No one need apprehend any difficulty about finding in all parts of Iowa an abundant supply of good wholesome water.
CLAYS.
In nearly all parts of the State the material suitable for the manufacture of brick is found in abundance. Sand is obtained in the bluffs along the streams and in their beds. Potter's clay, and fire-clay suitable for fire-brick, are found in many places. An excellent article of fire-brick is made at Eldora, Hardin county, where there are several extensive potteries in opera- tion. Fire-clay is usually found underlying the coal-seams. There are extensive potteries in operation in the counties of Lee, Van Buren, Des Moines, Wapello, Boone, Hamilton, Hardin, and perhaps others.
MINERAL PAINT.
In Montgomery county a fine vein of clay, containing a large proportion of ochre, was several years ago discovered, and has been extensively used in that part of the State for painting barns and out-houses. It is of a dark red color, and is believed to be equal in quality, if properly manufactured, to the mineral paints imported from other States. The use of it was first introdneed by Mr. J. B. Packard, of Red Oak, on whose land there is an extonsive de- posit of this material.
HISTORY OF IOWA.
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A PRAIRIE HOME.
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
HOW THE TITLE TO IOWA LANDS IS DERIVED.
Right of Discovery-Title of France and Spain-Cession to the United States-Territorial Changes-Treaties with the Indians-The Dubuque Grant-The Giard Grant-The Hon- ori Grant-The Half-Breed Tract-System of Public Surveys.
THE title to the soil of Iowa was, of course, primarily vested in the origi- nal occupants who inhabited the country prior to its discovery by the whites. But the Indians, being savages, possessed but few rights that civilized nations considered themselves bound to respect, so that when they found this coun- try in the possession of such a people they claimed it in the name of the King of France, by the right of discovery. It remained under the juris- diction of France until the year 1763.
Prior to the year 1763, the entire continent of North America was divided between France, England, Spain, and Russia. France held all that portion of what now constitutes our national domain west of the Mississippi river, except Texas and the territory which we have obtained from Mexico and Russia. This vast region, while under the jurisdiction of France, was known as the "Province of Louisiana," and embraced the present State of Iowa. At the close of the "Old French War," in 1763, France gave up her share of the continent, and Spain came into possession of the territory west of the Mississippi river, while Great Britain retained Canada and the regions northward, having obtained that territory by conquest in the war with France. For thirty-seven years the territory now embraced within the limits of Iowa remained as a part of the possession of Spain, and then went back to France by the treaty of St. Idlefonso, October 1, 1800. On the 30th of April, 1803, France ceded it to the United States in consideration of receiving $11,250,000, and the liquidation of certain claims held by citi- zens of the United States against France, which amounted to the further sum of $3,750,000, and making a total of $15,000,000. It will thus be seen that France has twice, and Spain once, held sovereignty over the territory embracing Iowa, but the financial needs of Napoleon afforded our govern- ment an opportunity to add another empire to its domain.
On the 31st of October, 1803, an act of Congress was approved anthor- izing the President to take possession of the newly acquired territory and provide for it a temporary government, and another act approved March 26, 1804, authorized the division of the "Louisiana Purchase," as it was then called, into two separate Territories. All that portion south of the 33d parallel of north latitude, was called the "Territory of Orleans," and that north of the said parallel was known as the "District of Louisiana," and was placed under the jurisdiction of what was then known as "Indiana Territory."
By virtue of an act of Congress, approved March 3, 1805, the "District of Louisiana " was organized as the "'Territory of Louisiana," with a Terri- torial government of its own, which went into operation July 4th, of the same year, and it so remained until 1812. In this year the "Territory of Orleans" became the State of Louisiana, and the "Territory of Louisiana" was organized as the "Territory of Missouri." This change took place under an act of Congress approved June 4, 1812. In 1819, a portion of this territory was organized as "Arkansaw Territory," and in 1821 the State of Missouri was admitted, being a part of the former "Territory of Missouri." This left a vast domain still to the north, including the present States of Iowa and Minnesota, which was, in 1834, made a part of the "Territory of
131
HISTORY OF IOWA.
Michigan." In July, 1836, the territory embracing the present States of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin was detached from Michigan, and organized with a separate Territorial government under the name of " Wisconsin Ter- ritory."
By virtue of an act of Congress, approved June 12, 1838, on the 3d of July of the same year, the "Territory of Iowa" was constituted. It em- braced the present State of Iowa, and the greater portion of what is now the State of Minnesota.
To say nothing of the title to the soil of Iowa that may once have vested in the natives who claimed and occupied it, it is a matter of some interest to glance at the various changes of ownership and jurisdiction through which it has passed within the time of our historical period:
1. It belonged to France, with other territory now belonging to our na- tional domain.
2. In 1763, with other territory, it was ceded to Spain.
3. October 1, 1800, it was ceded with other territory from Spain back to France.
4. April 30, 1803, it was ceded with other territory by France to the United States.
5. October 31, 1803, a temporary government was authorized by Con- gress for the newly acquired territory.
6. October 1, 1804, it was included in the "District of Louisiana," and placed under the jurisdiction of the Territorial government of Indiana.
7. July 4, 1805, it was included as a part of the "Territory of Louis- iana," thien organized with a separate Territorial government.
8. June 4, 1812, it was embraced in what was then made the "Territory of Missouri."
9. June 28, 1834, it became part of the "Territory of Michigan."
10. July 3, 1836, it was included as a part of the newly organized "Ter- ritory of Wisconsin."
11. June 12, 1838, it was included in, and constituted a part of the newly organized "Territory of Iowa."
12. 'December 28, 1846, it was admitted into the Union as a State.
The cession by France, April 30, 1803, vested the title in the United States, subject to the claims of the Indians, which it was very justly the policy of the government to recognize. The several changes of territorial jurisdiction after the treaty with France did not affect the title to the soil.
Before the government of the United States could vest clear title to the soil in its grantees it was necessary to extinguish the Indian title by pur- chase. The treaties vesting the Indian title to the lands within the limits of what is now the State of Iowa, were made at different times. The fol- lowing is a synopsis of the several treaties by which the Indians relinquished to the United States their rights in Iowa:
1. Treaty with the Sacs and Foxes, Aug. 4, 1824 .- This treaty between the United States and the Sacs and Foxes, was made at the City of Wash- ington, William Clark being commissioner on the part of the United States. By this treaty the Sacs and Foxes relinquished their title to all lands in Missouri, Iowa then being a part of Missouri. In this treaty the land in the southeast corner of Iowa known as the "Half-Breed Tract," was re- served for the use of the half-breeds of the Sacs and Foxes, they holding the title to the same in the same manner as Indians. This treaty was rati- fied January 18, 1825.
132
HISTORY OF. IOWA.
2. Treaty with various tribes, Aug. 19, 1825 .- This treaty was also made at the city of Washington, by William Clark as Commissioner on the part of the United States, with the Chippewas, Sacs and Foxes, Menomonees, Winnebagoes and a portion of the Ottawas and Pottawattamies. This treaty was intended mainly to make peace between certain contending tribes as to the limits of their respective hunting grounds in Iowa. It was agreed that the United States should run a boundary line between the Sioux on the north and the Sacs and Foxes on the south, as follows: Commencing at the mouth of the Upper Iowa river, on the west bank of the Mississippi, and ascending said Iowa river to its west fork; thence up the fork to its source; thence crossing the fork of Red Cedar river in a direct line to the second or upper fork of the Des Moines river; thence in a direct line to the lower fork of the Calumet (Big Sioux) river, and down that to its junction with the Missouri river.
3. Treaty with the Sacs and Foxes, July 15, 1830 .- By this treaty the Sacs and Foxes ceded to the United States a strip of country twenty miles in width lying directly south of the line designated in the treaty of Aug. 19, 1825, and extending from the Mississippi to the Des Moines river.
4. Treaty with the Sioux, July 15, 1830 .- By this treaty was ceded to the United States a strip twenty miles in width, on the north of the line designated by the treaty of Aug. 19, 1825, and extending from the Missis- sippi to the Des Moines river. By these treaties made at the same date the United States came into possession of a strip forty miles wide from the Mississippi to the Des Moines river. It was known as the "Neutral Ground," and the tribes on either side of it were allowed to use it in com- mon as a fishing and hunting ground until the government should make other disposition of it.
5. Treaty with various tribes, July 15, 1830 .- This was a treaty with the Sacs and Foxes, Sioux, Omahas, Iowas and Missouris, by which they ceded to the United States a tract bounded as follows: Beginning at the upper fork of the Des Moines river, and passing the sources of the Little Sioux and Floyd rivers, to the fork of the first creek that falls into the Big Sioux, or Calumet river, on the east side; thence down said creek and the Calumet river to the Missouri river; thence down said Missouri river to the Missouri State line above the Kansas; thence along said line to the northeast corner of said State; thence to the highlands between the waters falling into the Missouri and Des Moines, passing to said highlands along the dividing ridge between the forks of the Grand river; thence along said highlands or ridge separating the waters of the Missouri from those of the Des Moines, to a point opposite the source of the Boyer river, and tlience in a direct line to the upper fork of the Des Moines, the place of beginning. The lands ceded by this treaty were to be assigned, or allotted, under the direction of the President of the United States, to the tribes then living thereon, or to such other tribes as the President might locate thereon for hunting and other purposes. In consideration of the land ceded by this treaty the United States stipulated to make certain payments to the several tribes joining in the treaty. The treaty took effect by proclamation, February 24, 1831.
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