Manual of Physical Geography and Institutions of the State of Iowa

Preface

. EVERT teacher knows how little any of our school books contain concerning the state in which we live, and that the little they do contain is often erroneous. The necessity for instructing our youth in relation to the physical character, resources, history, government, and institutions of the state, is too apparent to need comment. This little book is intended to meet that great want. I was induced to write it by the urgent request of some of my former pupils, who now occupy leading educational positions in Iowa, and also in compliance with a resolution of request by a convention of principals and superintendents of schools that met in Ottumwa, in January, 1873. HINTS TO TEACHERS. Every school room should have a good sectional map of the state hung where the scholars can see it constantly, and study it at proper times.

It is necessary to have such a map in connection with the study of this book, because the one accompanying it is too small for the purpose. Such a map is especially necessary in studying chapters II., TIL, and IV., of Part First. Before commencing the study of the book, the class should be instructed by the teacher in at least the outlines of the geography of the state. Each pupil should become familiar with the name and position of each of the rivers, the names of the principal cities, and their location, and many other matters that the teacher will readily see the necessity for. Indeed, the book is so written as to presuppose some knowledge of this kind on the part of the pupil. Especial care has been taken to avoid error, but probably without entire success. It is very certain, too, that changes will be made from time to time in the laws and regulations explained and referred to, especially in Part Second.

The teacher should be watchful in this respect, and be able to make any correction that may become necessary. The questions accompanying the text are intended merely to aid the teacher in preparing the daily lessons. They embrace only a small part of the questions that will naturally arise during the recitations. CONTENTS. :p^r,t x. PARTII Chapter I. — History. Chapter I. — Introduction. II. — Boundaries and Surveys. III. — Character of the Surface. II. — State Government. III. — Counties and Townships. IV. — Rivers. IV. — Cities and Towns. V. — Lakes and Peat Marshes. V. — Elections and Taxes. VI. — Geology. VI. — The Public School Systlm. VII. — The State University and VLT. — Iowa Geology. VIII. — Mineral Resources. State Agricultural College. IX.— The Soil. VIIL — Special Educational and Charitable Institutions. IX. — Penal and Reformatory. X. — Productions of the Soil. XI. — Animals. XII — Miscellaneous Resources. XIII. — Climate. Institutions.

Introduction

. 1. Necessity for Comparative oceans, or the Gulf of Mexico, but Iowa is an inland state, many hundred miles from any sea-coast. Some have great lakes (really, fresh-water seas) upon their borders. Iowa is near no such lakes. In some states forests impeded their settlement and the cultivation of the soil. Iowa is a prairie state. Study. — In commencing the study of any region of country, we may always get a better knowledge of the subject if we con sider it in relation to surrounding regions, and by comparing it with other states or countries. This is especially true of Iowa, because the physical features of the state have a greater degree of uniformity in its various parts than those of the earth's sur face will average. For example : Some of the states and territories have mountain ranges running through them, but Iowa is a comparatively level state, with no mountain ranges within, or near, its borders.

Others border upon one of the 2. The General Features of North America. — If we start from the mouth of the Mississippi, aud follow it northward to its source, the highest surface we shall pass over is not much more than seventeen hun dred feet above the level of the sea. We shall find the greatest elevation in the broad, open country, not far from the northern boundary of the United States. level, land, having the Mississippi and Mis souri rivers as the great drainage channels of its southern portion. The elevation of the whole of this interior plain is not very great. It is enclosed, as it were, by moun tain ranges along both its eastern and west ern borders, but it is without such elevated borders either to the northward or southward. Now, looking at a map of North Ameri ca, we see that some of the tributaries of the Mississippi river reach out to the Alle gheny range of mountains on the one hand, and to the Rocky Mountains on the other.

Some of these streams, on either hand, being navigable nearly to the foot of the mountain ranges, the general slope of the country over which they flow is necessarily very slight. 4. Position of Iowa en the Conti nent. — Iowa occupies a central position on this great interior plain, being about equally distant from the two great oceans, and also about midway between the northern and southern borders of the continent. 3. The Great Central Plain.— These facts show us that the central portion of North America is a great, comparatively

Chapter II. Boundaries And Surveys

Section 1. Boundaries and Area. 5. Boundaries. — The state has for its eastern and western boundaries, s'outherly flowing rivers ; the Mississippi on the east, and the Missouri, together with its tribu tary, the Big Sioux, on the west. Its northern boundary is upon the north par allel of 43 degrees and 30 minutes, and the southern boundary is nearly upon the parallel of 40 degrees and 36 minutes. These boundaries give the state a four sided outline resembling a square. southeast corner of the state, is about two hundred miles ; and the greatest width of the state from east to west, is upward of three hundred miles. Owing to the irregular course of the river boundaries, how ever, the number of square miles the state contains does not amount to the multiple of those numbers. It has about 55,045 square miles.

An official report to the United States Senate gives the number of acres of land in Iowa as 35,288,200. 6. Area. — The distance from the northern to the southern boundary, ex cluding the small prominent angle at the 7. Artificial Boundaries. — At least a part of the boundaries of all countries are natural boundaries, — that is, such as are produced by sea-coasts, rivers, mountain ranges, etc. ; but every civilized coun try is divided up into portions of various sizes and shapes by artificial boundaries. These consist of lines surveyed from point to point, previously agreed upon or de termined. Thus, cities, towns, counties, districts, and sometimes even states, are artificially bounded and divided, with little or no regard to the natural features of the country. be seen, also, that the counties are divided into squares of regular size, unless modi fied by the rivers.

The large maps show, also, that the whole land is divided into still smaller squares. This regularity in the division of the land is the result of an admirable system of surveys adopted by the United States Government in time to apply to our own, and other interior states, before they were settled. Section 2. Land Surveys. 10. Every Person Should Under stand this System. — Therefore, an ex planation of it is given in the next section. Some of the minor details of less general importance are omitted. Beside the rela tion of this system to the geography of the state, all deeds and leases of land, tax re ceipts, and many of our laws, are written with direct reference to it. 8. Irregular Land Surveys. — Origi nal surveys consist in establishing artificial division and boundary lines, and determin ing the position of natural ones.

These artificial lines are sometimes quite irregu lar, as for example, in the towns and counties of the New England and other states. The boundaries of these are irregular, and often crooked. Those that are straight seldom correspond with any of the cardi nal points of the compass. This irregu larity resulted from the want of a public system of land surveys when the country was first settled. The boundaries of es tates were fixed by private citizens, and those of towns by local or personal influ ences. These necessarily became publicly legalized, and have consequently remained unchanged. Section 3. United States Land Surveys. 11. Original Ownership of the Land. — In the thirteen original states the state government of each owned the public lands, but in a majority of the states and territories the United States government was the first owner as regards its own citizens.

This was the case with all the land in Iowa, and all deeds and transfers of it are traced back to this source and no further. Before the land could be dis posed of to the citizens it was necessary to divide it into small parcels, and the system here described was devised for that purpose. The civil division of the state into towns, counties, etc., although based upon the land surveys, was a subsequent 9. The Rectangular System of Land Surveys. — A glance at the maps of Iowa and other interior states will show that the counties have generally a rectangular out line, the boundaries having a north-and south and east^and-west direction. It will and separate matter, and will be described in Part Second. the state of Arkansas. It runs due north through Missouri and the eastern part of Iowa, and ends upon the bank of the Mis sissippi river at the boundary line between Clayton and Dubuque counties. 12.

Points. — This system of Public Land Surveys provides for the division of the whole country into small, square por tions, of uniform size, varying from that shape only when the larger rivers, lakes, or sea borders make it necessary. To begin such a division of the land, there must of course be fixed points and lines to measure from. The points may be es tablished anywhere, but usually some natural landmark is selected for them, and a record made of its latitude and longi tude. 16. The Base Line from which all the east and west lines in Iowa are measured starts from the mouth of the St, Francis river, in Arkansas, and runs due west. It crosses the fifth principal meridian five miles west of the place of its own beginning, and forty-eight miles north of the place of beginning of the meridian.

The point of intersection of these two primary lines is really the point from which all the Iowa land surveys are measured, as well as those of Arkansas and Missouri. 13. Primary Lines. — The primary lines starting from such points are of two kinds, namely : those running due north and south, and those running due east and west. The former are called "Princi pal Meridians," and the latter, "Base Lines." 17. Division into Townships. — Com mencing with the base line and the fifth principal meridian, the whole country adjacent, and in a western, and northern direction especially, extending hundreds of miles, is divided into squares six miles across. These squares are called town ships, and are designated by numbers, and not by names such as are given to the civil townships. They arc often, however, called " congressional townships," because they were authorized by a law of congress.

This name is also used to distinguish them from civil townships, which are established by the people of each county (see Part II., paragraph 63). 14. Principal Meridians. — As errors of measurement are unavoidable in making extensive surveys, because it is incon venient to continue surveys around great lakes and across large rivers with suffi cient accuracy, and for other reasons, one principal meridian would not answer for the whole country. Therefore, new ones have been established as the surveys have been made farther and farther westward. 15. The Fifth Principal Meridian is the one from which all the north and south lines are measured. Its point of starting is at the mouth of the Arkansas river, in 18. The Township Numbers begin with No. 1 on each side of the base line, and count from that line both north and south.

For example, every township in the first tier north (or south either) of the base line, however far westward or eastward the tier may extend, is township No. 1. If we speak of any of these townships west of our principal meridian, we say it is township No. 1 west of the fifth principal meridian. proper township number of any particular congressional township it cannot be mis taken for any other. 21. Examples in Iowa. — For exampie, Dubuque, as before stated, is in township 89, but it is in range 2 east of the fifth principal meridian, while Sioux City, also in township 89, is in range 47 west of that meridian. 19. Township Numbers in Iowa.— Since the township numbers begin so far south, No. 65 is reached when we get so far north as the city of Keokuk, and the number of the northern tier of townships in Iowa is 100.

The latter fact shows that the northern boundary of Iowa is about six hundred miles north of the base line from which our townships are num bered. Every township, then, in any one of the many long tiers that extend across the state from east to west has the same number in each tier. For example, Du buque and Sioux City are both in town ship 89, although they are nearly three hundred miles apart. Des Moines and Davenport are both in township 78, al though the two cities are more than one hundred and fifty miles apart. 22. Use of these numbers as Guides to Localities. — After one becomes famil iar with this system of surveys he may calculate nearly the exact position of any township in the state as soon as he hears their proper numbers spoken. For example, Storm Lake is in township 90 north of the base line, and in range 37 west of the fifth principal meridian.

That township is therefore ten townships, or about sixty miles south of the northern state boundary. It is also thirty-six ranges, or about two hundred and sixteen miles west of the fifth principal meridian, which, in that tier of townships, is not far from the Mississippi river. 23. Correction Lines. — Since me ridian lines converge toward the pole, it follows that range lines, being all meridians, and starting six miles apart on the base line in Arkansas, would come nearer and nearer together the farther they were continued northward, if they were allowed to pursue an uninterrupted course. 20. Ranges. — This giving of the same number to many townships may at first seem like an imperfection in the system, but it is not, for, commencing on each side of the principal meridian with No. 1, the townships are again numbered, but this time, eastward and westward.

This second series of numbers are the numbers — not, properly speaking, of townships, but of ranges of townships. So, if we give the number of the range in addition to the The spaces, then, enclosed between the township and range lines, are not, after all, precisely square, but are a little narrower at the north, than they are at the south, side. This is illustrated by Figure six miles apart again. This corrects the convergence the range lines had suffered in extending northward toward the pole. See Fig. 1. 24. Correction Lines in Iowa. — There are two correction lines running entirely across the state from east to west; one constituting the northern border of the 78th tier of townships, and the other, the northern border of the 88th tier. There are two or three others in the state, but they are short, and of less importance, having been established to correct irregularities in surveying.

The northern and southern boundaries of the state are also, either wholly, or in part, correction lines. 25. Section Lines. — Each township is divided by both east and west and north and south lines into thirty-six equal parts, called sections; and the lines are called section lines. Each section is, of course, one mile square, and contains six hundred and forty acres. Sections are divided into quarters by " half-section lines." Quarter-sections may be, and often are, divided in a similar manner into four equal parts, called quarters of quarter-sections. 26. Numbering Sections and Designating their Parts. — The sections of each township are numbered from one to thirty-six, beginning in the northeast corner of the township, and counting in the order shown in Figure 2. This order in plac ing the numbers is never departed from, and one soon learns to tell his position in a township by learning the number of the 1.

To remedy this, and to keep the townships as accurately as possible, of uniform and regular size, certain of the township lines are made correction lines. These correction lines serve in part for the cor rection of such errors as may have been made in bringing the surveys so far north from the base line. They also serve the purpose, in part, of new base lines, for upon them the range lines are placed just Fig. 2. section he is upon. the forty acres in the extreme southwest corner of Cedar county wei e to be written, the description would read thus : " The southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of section thirty-one, in township seventy nine north,* range four west of the fifth principal meridian." Sections are divided into quarters, by half section lines (a, b, and c, d, Fig. 3). The quarters of a section are designated as the northeast, the north- Although the descriptions are so brief, they are sometimes made shorter by ab breviation.

The foregoing description may be abbreviated thus : SWj of SWJ of Sec. 31, Tp. 79, N., range 4 W of 5th P. M. Diagram of a Township. west, the 801lthwest, and the southeast quarters, as shown in Figure 3. The quarters of quarter-sections are designated in a similar manner, Fig. 3. an<* <* ™^ ORas- 5 trate it if we call it the Since the full description is so short, and the danger of mistakes is increased by the use of abbreviations, the latter should not be used in writings of great importance. diagram of a quarter - section, instead of a section. For example: Supposing Sec. 10 of any township were to be divided into quarters, and 28. Maps. — A "township map" is one which gives only the township and range lines of the survey. A " sectional map" is one which gives the section lines also, in addition to the township and range lines.

Maps drawn on a larger scale, such as some county maps, give, in addition to the other lines, half and quarter section lines also, and sometimes even the other boundaries of farms, etc. On sectional and township maps the range numbers are usually placed just above the northern, and just below the southern, boundary of the state. The township numbers are placed along the principal meridian, or along some other north and south line in the body of the map. Diagram of a Section its northeast quarter were also divided into quarters; these last named quarters would be called the northeast, the northwest, the southwest, and the southeast, quarters of the northwest quarter of section 10.* 27. Description of Land. — By means of this excellent system of land surveys, a clear and accurate description may be given of any farm or piece of land in very few words.

For example : If a deed for *Note to the Teacher. — Let the pupils be exercised as to the number of acres in each division or part of a section, the order of the section numbers in a township, and the position of any given section in relation to each border of the township. *That is, north of the base line, which, already explained, is in Arkansas. I CJ-JA.PTER. III. Character of the Surface. 29. The General Level. — It has al ready been shown that Iowa is in the midst of a broad, comparatively level land. Consequently the state cannot have a very great diversity of surface. Those who live near the larger rivers may think this is a mistake because they see bluffs and valleys all around them. But it is the average of the whole state that is meant when it is said to be comparatively level. One has generally to go only a short dis tance from the bluffs that border the river valleys and look out over the country, for it is mostly prairie away from the valleys, to see that, although the surface is some what uneven, it presents the appearance of a general indistinct level as far as the eye can reach.

From this general level no high hills arise, and below it there are no deep depressions except the river val leys. 30. Valleys worn out of the Gen eral Level. — Geologists believe that the valleys of Iowa have been worn down from the general level by the same streams that now flow in them. In some places the valleys have been worn out of the earthy material alone, but in others the rocky ledges also have been worn through. 31. Valley-Sides and Hills.— There are, then, not only no mountains in Iowa, but there are very few hills either, properly speaking. It is true that the steep sides of valleys are often spoken of as hills and hillsides, but they are more properly called valley-sides, because they are below the general level of the surrounding DRAINAGE OF THE RIVERS OF IOWA. " the great divide," and sometimes, "the dividing ridge."

A more proper name for it is -great water-shed.' It is called the great water-shed because it sheds the draininge each way into the two great rivers, and also to distinguish it from secondary water-sheds between the smaller rivers. The latter also are commonly called divides. None of the water-sheds in Iowa are really ridges. On the con trary, they are usually the flattest portions of the state. They have retained their original flatness of surface because no val leys have been worn out of it there. country. A hill is, properly, an elevation of land above the level of the surrounding country. 32. Drainage Slopes. — It must not be understood that this so-called general level of surface of the state is an actual level. If it were so the waters would not drain off and the streams would not flow.

Figure 4 shows how the streams of the eastern part of Iowa flow southeastward into the Mississippi, and that those of the western part flow southwestward into the Missouri. Both the great rivers also flow south ward. These facts show that there are not only an eastern and a western drain age slope, but also that the whole state slopes to the southward. The eastern, is often called the Mississippi slope, and the western, the Missouri slope. 34. The Great Water- Shed in Iowa. — If one should start at the northern state boundary to follow the great water-shed, he would cross, either wholly or in part, the following counties: Dickinson. Clay, Buena Vista, Sac, Carroll, Audabon, Guth rie, and Adair. So far southward it consti tutes the highest land along any east and west line that may be drawn across the state.

In Adair county the great water- 33. Water-Sheds. — The elevation or line which divides the Missouri and Mis sissippi drainage slopes is often called I 10 BOUNDARIES AND SURVEYS. shed bends away to the southeastward and passes across greater or smaller portions of Madison, Union, Clarke, Lucas, and Appa noose counties, when it passes into Mis souri. Along this latter part of its course the great water-shed is not the highest land between the two great rivers, but that highest land southward from an east and-west line through Adair county is the secondary watershed between Grand and Platte rivers. This water-shed passes from Adair, through Union and Ringgold counties to Missouri. The position of this high secondary water-shed is shown in the dia gram Figure 4 by the single dotted line, while the double dotted line, extending from the northern to the southern state boundary, shows the position of the great water-shed. water, at the northeast corner of the state, 660 feet.

The surface of the Big Sioux at low water, at the northwest corner of the state, about 1,344 feet. The surface of the Missouri at low wa ter, at the southwest corner of the state, 954 feet. The surface of the great water-shed at the northern state-boundary, near Spirit lake in Dickinson county, about 1,694 feet. The surface of the highest ground be tween the Mississippi and Missouri, at the southern state -boundary, in Ringgold county, about 1,220 feet. 37. Slope per Mile. — Now, by ascer taining the distance from one to another of all these points, the rate of slope of the general surface is shown to be as follows : From the great water -shed, along the northern state-boundary to northeast corner of the state, 5 feet 5 inches per mile. 35. Elevation of Iowa above the Level of the Sea. — The height of the surface above the level of the sea, at many places in the state, has been ascertained by means of the barometer, and by railroad levelings from those, and other places.

From these measurements the average height of the whole surface of the state has been estimated at between eight hun dred and nine hundred feet. This seems to be a very slight elevation when wo re member that Iowa is nearly in the center of the continent. From the same starting point to the northwest corner of the state, 5 feet per mile. From the highest land between the two great rivers, along the southern state boundary to the southeast corner of the state, 5 feet 7 inches per mile. From the same starting point to the southwest corner of the state, 4 feet 1 inch per mile. From the northeastern to the south eastern corner of the state, in a straight line, 1 foot 1 inch per mile. 36. Elevation of Principal Points above the Sea. — The surface of the Mis sissippi at low water, at the southeast cor ner of the state, 444 feet.

From the northwestern to the southwestern corner of the state, in a straight line, 2 feet per mile. The surface of the Mississippi at low From the highest point in the state (near Spirit lake), to the lowest point (at the mouth of the Des Moines river), 4 feet per mile. 38. Illustration.— It is difficult to form a correct idea of these slopes when given in feet and miles, but if the scale is reduced to feet and inches we find that the steepest slope mentioned in the last paragraph amounts to only about one-sev enth of an inch in ten feet. The average surface of our state, then, is really as level as floors usually are. All the diversity which we see about the valleys and ra vines, and upon the rolling prairies, are only wrinkles, as it were, in this general level surface. Although the term wrinkles is used, we must not forget that there is really much diversity of surface, even upon the prairies, and that many of the valleys are large and very beautiful.

Section 2. The Prairies. 39. Description. — Prairies are more or less extensive tracts of land without trees, and covered with grasses intermin gled with many brightflowered plants. They may be so level as to look much like the quiet surface of the sea, or they may be what are called rolling prairies. The latter are so called because of the pe culiar appearance of the surface. "While the river valleys were being deepened by the steady flow of water for thousands of years, the drainage of the surface water into the upper branches of the rivers dur ing that time gradually made broad smooth hollows in the surface and left smoothly rounded ridges between them. This has caused the surface of such prairies to look much like that of the sea when it is covered with large rolling waves. This likeness to the sea is much increased when, in summer, a real wavy motion is produced by the wind upon the grass.

A seeming motion is also often caused by the shifting shadows of swiftly moving clouds over the rounded ridges. and Wayne counties, and some also upon the great water-shed. The valley bottoms and sides, especially those of the larger streams, are usually covered with forest trees, but even these are sometimes prai rie surfaces. Almost without exception the broad high lands between the valleys are now or formerly were prairies. They often extend from these high lands with out interruption to the water's edge of the smaller rivers and creeks, but usually in such valleys there is a continuous border, or occasional clumps, of trees standing near the water. 40. The Prairies of Iowa are almost all rolling. A few are somewhat flat, such as some of those in Des Moines, Henry, 41. Origin of the Prairies. — The question is often asked, " How came trees to be absent from the prairies?"

Yet this absence from the prairies is no more wonderful than their presence upon for est ground is. However all this may be, it is very certain that the prairies remain such in consequence of the annual fires. This is known to be so because forest trees naturally and quickly encroach upon all praries when fires are prevented, and because all kinds of trees that grow naturally in the state will thrive well when transplanted upon prairie soil. ing smaller and. disappearing. This is caused largely by the cultivation of the land, but also by the encroachment of the forest trees upon them by natural growth. When the latter change takes place the prairies become like any other wood-land ; 42. Prairie Fires. — Almost every au tumn or winter the dry grass of the larger prairies is burned off by fires lighted by accident or otherwise.