Correction of Errors
Volume I, page xv, The title of illustration, “Breaking Prairie,” &c., the cut was lost and does not appear.
Volume I, page 267, fourth line from the bottom, October, 1863, should be October, 1853.
Volume II, page 39, line 25 from the top, the word fourteen should be eight; and in line 26 the words ten and twenty-two should be three and thirteen.
Volume II, page 77, line 17 from top, F. H. Pierpont should be Frederick Holbrook.
Volume III, page ix, “List of Illustrations,” after “Frontispiece” should be Frederick E. Bissell, page 12.
Volume III, page 274, 9th line from the bottom. Sixth General Assembly should be Sixteenth General Assembly.
Volume III, page x, “List of Illustrations,” “Lead Mining near Dubuque” should be page 438, instead of page 443.
Some of the cuts used in this work were made from old and faded photographs and are imperfect, but the best attainable.
In the case of Colonel Asbury B. Porter, Vol. II, page 387, and Vol. IV, page 214, appears the statement that he was dismissed from the service. This statement made in the published official reports of the Adjutant-General’s office was incorrect.
Colonel Porter resigned for disability, and his resignation was accepted by General Grant, then department commander, March 19, 1863, and he was honorably discharged from the service. Some person reported him absent without leave, and under a misapprehension of the facts, the President ordered his dismissal, April 30.
Instead of entering his honorable discharge on the records, dating from March 8, 1863, the Adjutant-General’s Department erroneously made the entry “Dismissed.” This error has never been corrected in the public Reports of that office: hence writers of war history have been misled and great injustice done a gallant Iowa officer.
General Introduction
WHILE Iowa is one of the younger states of the Republic, as compared with the Thirteen Colonies which won independence from Great Britain through the War of the Revolution, it has a history which may be traced with some degree of certainty for a period of more than two hundred years. From the time of its discovery in 1673, by Marquette and Joliet, investigation has brought to the knowledge of civilized people many facts relating to the prehistoric period during which it was occupied by the aboriginal races who preserve no history. Through traditions handed down from one generation to another by the Indian tribes, and recorded observations of the earliest explorers who ventured among them, much of the history of the Red Men who made their homes in Iowa has been gathered. The story of the first explorers of our rivers who gave them names, is incomplete, and even the origin and signification of the beautiful name of our State is involved in obscurity and uncertainty.
No connected history of Iowa from the earliest period down to the close of the Nineteenth Century is in existence and the time has arrived when the growing prominence of our State among the members of the Union would seem to justify the presentation of a narrative of the important events of the past. The approaching centennial anniversary of the acquisition of Louisiana, a vast region west of the Mississippi River of which Iowa is one of the greatest states, renders it especially appropriate that its written history should now be given to the public.
In preparing this work the utmost care has been exercised in the investigation of authorities examined, and in all cases of conflict the evidence has been sifted with the sole purpose of discovering the truth. These conflicts of opinion, which are not uncommon, compel the writer to act as a judge in the trial of causes, giving due to the preponderance of evidence and the credibility of witnesses.
Having been a citizen of Iowa for more than half a century, and for a large portion of that period an active participant in political and other conflicts as an editor and legislator, I am well aware that it is difficult to exercise strict impartiality in recording events which, in times of great excitement during the Civil War and numerous heated political campaigns, aroused the passions and prejudices of the active participants. But the lapse of time and the cooler judgment coming with mature years has, I trust, eliminated prejudice and enabled me to deal justly with all.
Believing that one who has lived in the State during the period of development from a frontier region of wild prairies, stretching almost unbroken from the Mississippi to the Missouri, who has witnessed settlement from scattered log cabins along its water courses and among its native groves, with a population of less than two hundred thousand to more than two million two hundred thousand, who has known personally most of the public men who have framed its laws, founded its public institutions and shaped its policy—can better tell the story of the “building of the State,” than the profound scholar or deeply learned historian who has lived apart from its life, struggles, and conflicts, through which growth and development come to people or countries.
The pioneers who closely followed the retreating Indians laid the first foundations upon which the fabric of our commonwealth has been slowly reared. These rugged settlers led the way through hardships and privations, creating from nature's resources new homes where the rude log cabins crowded the vanishing wigwams farther westward. They first ventured upon the unsheltered prairies and turned over the sod of countless years' formation, which carpeted with grass and flowers a soil of fertility. They brought from distant states and countries habits, customs, religions, prejudices, and virtues of widely separated communities and nationalities. It was through compromising and harmonizing these diverse elements that our first laws were evolved, schools established, and churches organized.
Among the earliest educators and civilizers were the pioneer newspapers which made their appearance soon after the first civil government was extended over the land acquired by treaty with the Indians. The files of the first weekly journal printed on Iowa soil, before it became a separate Territory, bear unmistakable evidence of the spirit of progress which even then characterized the newspaper, long before the advent of regular mails, railroads, or telegraphs. It was the leader in local enterprises, public opinion and the policy of the earliest forms of government. The files of early newspapers, wisely preserved by Theodore S. Parvin, and Chandler Childs of Dubuque, and the State Historical Society of Iowa City, contain much of the current history from 1836 to 1850 that would otherwise have been lost. Many of these ancient Iowa newspapers are now accessible to the public in the fireproof rooms of the Historical Department at Des Moines. While newspaper history is not always reliable, it leads the investigator to the fixing of dates, examination of additional authorities and the resurrection of many forgotten events which might have been lost to the historian.
The “Annals of Iowa,” established in 1863 by the State Historical Society, and now published by the Historical Department, the “Historical Record” of Iowa City, the publication by the State of the valuable papers and addresses of the “Pioneer Lawmakers' Association”—furnished a large amount of material of inestimable value which has been liberally drawn upon in the preparation of this history.
Among the authorities consulted relating to the earliest period of which any knowledge can be obtained of Iowa and its ancient inhabitants may be mentioned "The Ice Age of North America" by G. F. Wright; Foster's "Prehistoric Races of the United States"; Geological Reports of Iowa by Owen, Hall, McGee, White and Calvin; Monett's "History of the Mississippi Valley"; De Soto's Expedition, Parkman's Historical Works on the French occupation of America; "Expedition of Marquette and Joliet"; Voyages and Travels of La Salle and Hennepin in the Mississippi Valley; Reports of the Expeditions of Captains Lewis and Clark, of Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, of Major S. H. Long; "Notes on the Iowa District of Wisconsin Territory" by Lieutenant Albert M. Lea; Gayarre's "History of Louisiana"; Galland's "Iowa Emigrant of 1840"; Newhall's "Glimpse of Iowa in 1846."
The history of Iowa Indians has been compiled from the following works: Schoolcraft's "Indians of the United States," Catlin's "North American Indians," Thatchers's "Indian Biographies," Drake's "Indians of North America," Fulton's "Red Men of Iowa," the "Life of Black Hawk" and writings of numerous pioneers.
The facts relating to the Sioux Indian hostilities in northwestern Iowa, the causes leading thereto, the massacre at the lakes, captivity of four young women, the march and sufferings of the Relief Expedition have been gathered from "Historical Sketches of Northwestern Iowa" by Major William Williams, "History of the Spirit Massacre" by Abbie Gardner Sharp, one of the captives, addresses by members of the Relief Expedition delivered at Webster City upon the occasion of the erection of a tablet to the memory of Captain Johnson's Hamilton County Company and R. A. Smith's "History of Dickinson County."
Among the authorities used in the preparation of the political and statistical records were the following: Hildreth's, Bancroft's and Bryant's Histories of the United States; Appleton's Cyclopedia Annuals; the Whig, Tribune and World Almanacs; the “Iowa Political Register”; Cleveland's “Political Text Book”; Fairall's “Manual of Iowa Politics”; Official Registers of Iowa from 1880 to 1902; Official Registers of the United States from 1846 to 1901; United States and Iowa Census Reports and hundreds of volumes of State Documents.
The record of Iowa in the Civil War from 1861 to 1865, inclusive, has been gathered from nine volumes of the Reports of Adjutant-General Nathaniel B. Baker; numerous histories of Iowa regiments; Ingersoll's “Iowa and the Rebellion”; Stuart's “Iowa Colonels and Regiments”; Lathrop's “Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood”; Greeley's “American Conflict”; Personal Memoirs of Generals Grant and Sherman.
In compiling a history of the causes and events leading to the Civil War the following authorities have been consulted: “Garrison and the Antislavery Movement”; Halloway's “History of Kansas”; “John Brown and Mis Men” by Hinton; Sanborn's “Life and Letters of John Brown”; “Life of Abraham Lincoln” by Nicholay and Hay.
The historical sketches of Iowa counties have been gleaned from more than one hundred county histories: “Andrea's Historical Atlas of Iowa”; Fulton's “Sketches of Iowa Counties” and personal recollections of early settlers.
The biographical sketches have been prepared from data procured from the subjects of the sketches, or from those who knew them intimately where the facts desired could not be found in some of the numerous biographical publications of notable Iowa men and women.
A number of the illustrations in the several volumes were obtained from the “Annals of Iowa,” the “Iowa Geological Survey,” the “Midland Monthly,” the “Overland Stage to California,” by Root and the “Progressive Men of Iowa.” These acknowledgments are made here in preference to quoting authorities in foot notes through the body of the work.
It will be observed that the general plan of this history embraces the following distinctive features:
First.—A connected narrative of the most important events relating to Iowa, shown by scientific investigations to have transpired before the historic period.
Second.—Reasonably authenticated history of the Indian tribes known to have occupied Iowa.
Third.—Brief records of the exploring expeditions which discovered the Mississippi River and valley. The western trend of settlements towards the prairie regions. The acquisition of Louisiana, a country larger than the entire Republic east of the Mississippi River. Discoveries made by the various exploring expeditions which examined portions of the Mississippi Valley and Iowa from 1673 to 1836.
Fourth.—The first white adventurers and pioneer settlers who entered the region which became Iowa. The evolution of civil government from claim regulations to written constitutions. Early political parties, nominating conventions and elections.
Fifth.—Progress of slavery agitation and legislation leading to civil war and emancipation. The part taken by Iowa citizens and lawmakers in these critical times.
Sixth.—Iowa statesmen, citizens and soldiers during the Civil War. History of Iowa Volunteer Regiments.
Seventh.—The period of development in settlement, education, transportation, labor-saving inventions, manufactures, mining and civil government from the close of the war to the beginning of the Twentieth Century.
Eighth.—Historical sketches of Iowa counties; the naming and changing of boundaries; establishing of county-seats; the first settlers, county officials and newspapers.
Ninth.—A complete Directory of Iowa public officials, Territorial, State, and National from the establishment of the first civil government over the “Black Hawk Purchase” to the beginning of the Twentieth Century.
Tenth.—Biographical sketches of more than four hundred notable Iowa men and women who were prominent in some work of public interest during the Nineteenth Century.
It has been my purpose, so far as practicable in a work of this size, to make it a cyclopedia of general information pertaining to Iowa, that will render it indispensable as a work of reference to all who are interested in the founding, development, government, and resources of the foremost State of the Louisiana Purchase as well as in the character and achievements of its people.
A distinguished citizen of Iowa has said, “Of all that is good Iowa affords the best.” I have endeavored to show in these volumes wherein this claim has solid foundation and that this classic phrase is not an extravagant statement as applied to the progress made by our people in education, general intelligence, good government, and exemplary citizenship Des Moines, Iowa.
March Third, 1902.
[B. F. Gue]
Title page
HISTORY OF IOWA
From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century
FOUR VOLUMES
Table of Contents
Chapter | | Contents | Pages
I | How Science Reveals the History of the Past—Geology Unfolds the Mysteries of Earth’s Formation—Comparative Antiquity of the Continents—Animal Life Evolved—Submerged Iowa—Slow Formation of Rocks—Ancient Rivers, Lakes, Forests and Animals—Once a Tropical Climate—Coming of the Ice Age—Return of Heat and Life—How Soils Were Formed—Theories as to the Origin of the Prairies | 1-14
II | The First Inhabitants of Iowa—The “Mound Builders”—Spanish Adventurers in America—Narvaez’ Disastrous Expedition—Fernando De Soto’s Army of Freebooters—Attempts to Enslave and Subdue the Indians—Fierce Resistance—Wanderings of the Army of Invasion—Retribution Visited Upon the Freebooters—Discovery of the Mississippi River—Crossing the Prairie Regions of Arkansas and Kansas—Retreat, Sickness and Death—De Soto Finds a Grave in the Mississippi—Fate of the Survivors | 15-27
List of Illustrations
MOUTH OF THE WISCONSIN RIVER Where Marquette Discovered Iowa. Iowa Shore in the Distance Beyond the Mississippi River
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Chapter I
NATURE'S supreme laws of never ending change from one degree of development to another, seem to pervade the universe. Man in all ages has been slowly reading these immutable statutes, unwritten, and only to be known through careful observation and patient investigation.
A little gained by one generation handed down to another, since the first appearance of man upon the earth, has made the sum of human knowledge. For how many ages on some other far off planet human intellect has been slowly pursuing the same great study we have no means of knowing.
Here the astronomer has discovered the existence of other worlds, has carefully computed their size, has measured their distance from the earth and each other, has observed their motion, their satellites, and learned some of the laws which govern them. He has even constructed a plausible theory as to how these planets were formed from the original elements.
As to the comparative antiquity of the eastern and western continents of our own earth, recent investigation brings evidence to reverse the old belief that Asia and Africa were earlier formations than America. Agassiz says:
“First born among the continents, though so much later in culture and civilization than some of more recent birth, America, so far as her physical history is concerned, has been falsely denominated the 'new world.' Hers was the first dry land lifted out of the waters; here the first shores washed by the ocean that enveloped all the earth besides; and while Europe was represented only by islands rising here and there above the sea, America already stretched one unbroken line of land from Nova Scotia to the far west.”
In our limited world the investigators have explored the beds of ancient rivers, lakes and seas; the caverns of rocks and mountains, and penetrated deep into the earth in search of knowledge that may be derived from rock formations, animal and vegetable fossils. These to the scientist reveal much of the story of earth's growth; its stages of development; its desolations and changes through the agencies of fire, water and air. In these reservoirs have been found keys to earth’s prehistoric changes. They reveal to the student a history of its geological growth, vegetable and animal development for millions of years before written history begins. Scientists explore every known country, every island of the ocean, examine rocks, clays, gravels and fossils in pursuit of knowledge of the past. From these they read much of the story of the earliest formations, convulsions, growth and population of the earth with almost as much certainty as though the events had been inscribed in legible characters on imperishable tablets. If is from these evidences that we learn some of the history of the remote past, relating to the land we live in, which men have named Iowa.
Professor Samuel Calvin has well said:
“The finding of a single genuine prehistoric arrow-point may enable us to write up an important chapter in the history of a people that no historian ever saw, and concerning whose existence there is not even the shadow of a human tradition. When, as is often possible, we may add the knowledge gained by exploring their homes, their shrines and sepulchers, we are in a position to write up somewhat more fully the portion of their history which deals with their daily occupations and their domestic life. Many records tell of other facts than the mere presence of human occupants in a region such as Iowa. Vegetable remains preserved in peat bogs in the mud that accumulated at the bottom of ancient ponds and lakes enable us to reconstruct the prehistoric forests. With such vegetable remains are usually found bones of the animals that lived in the forests. Human weapons or human skeletons are often there too. So in records preserved in the peat bog or in the lake bed, science may rehabilitate in a general way the prehistoric landscapes, and may see them enlivened with multitudes of struggling creatures, man among the rest; all bent on accomplishing the two great objects for which living things below the higher planes of humanity seem to strive,—'to eat and to escape being eaten.' Not only may we restore the forests in the shadow of which prehistoric man lived, we may know the size and habits of the animals that roamed through the forest; those that man chased and those from which he in turn fled; we may even go farther and determine the climatic conditions under which all this assemblage of animal and plant life existed.”
Geology unfolds to us a wonderful history of the most remote periods of time, which reduced to language reads like a fairy tale. It tells us nearly all we know of the countless years that passed away while the continent, of which Iowa is a part, was in the process of formation. Professor Calvin continues:
“These geologic records, untampered with, and unimpeachable, declare that for uncounted years Iowa, together with the great valley of the Mississippi, lay beneath the level of the sea. So far as it was inhabited at all, marine forms of animals and plants were its only occupants.”
During the ages of submergence, the sedimentary strata of Iowa, as well as of all the adjacent States, was being formed on the sea bottom. This formation contains a record of a period of duration altogether incomprehensible. Centuries pass while the light colored limestones so well represented at Anamosa are slowly forming by an imperceptible sedimentary accumulation. Other ages come and go while the limestones represented in Johnson County are forming. About this time a small portion of northeastern Iowa rises above the sea, while all the vast region south and west is still buried deep beneath the all pervading water. Odd shaped fishes and a species of ferns mark the highest point reached in the evolution of animal and plant life at this time.
Ages again go by while the sediment of the sea is forming beds of rock which appear in Marshall, Des Moines and Lee counties. Then slowly come the Coal measures and rocks above them. Ferns and air-breathing creatures have made their appearance. The sea gradually recedes to the southward and the surface of our whole State is visible. Later forests and other forms of vegetation cover portions of the land; birds appear in the woods and a few small rat-like animals are found, as well as reptiles.
But another great change comes; the waters again cover the northwestern portion of the State and ages come and go before the sea recedes, never to return. Iowa has finally been raised above the sea level and the waters drain toward the ocean, forming great rivers, and plowing deep channels through the oozing sediment. The sun and wind finally dry the surface; forests and rank vegetation again make their appearance; animals come forth from Nature's nurseries and spread themselves over the land, and roam through the jungles, preying upon each other in their struggle for food. The climate is that of the tropics, and myriads of forms of life are evolved.
All of the conditions are now favorable for the advent of man, but no evidence is found of his existence on any portion of the earth at this period. The rivers, which ages later were named the Mississippi and Missouri, were then carrying the inland waters to the sea which reached as far north as the Ohio river.
Where the upper Missouri now flows through the prairies of Nebraska, the Dakotas and Montana, where lakes spreading over a large portion of these States. Remains of forests and strange species of animals, long since extinct, have been found in the sediment that was formed in these lakes. Tropical trees such as the cypress, magnolia, cinnamon, fig and palm flourished in Iowa, Dakota, and far northward into British America; tropical birds sang in the forests; huge reptiles crawled about in the rank vegetation and swamps.
Then came the Tertiary period. Iowa was a part of the land area which then made up the half formed continent of North America. The drainage of the State must have been much the same as now, although the altitude above sea level was several hundred feet lower.
In the beds of Tertiary lakes were entombed animals and plant remains which man in these late generations has found. The sediment exposed to the action of the atmosphere has been converted into vast plains and prairies. In many cases the lakes have been gradually filled and converted into dry land. Modern streams, such as the Yellowstone, Missouri and the Platte rivers cut their way through these old lake beds. The surface of the sediment underwent continual changes through erosion. The remains of plants and animals were thus slowly laid bare, and the scientist was able to read the story of their lives. Such beds are believed to be the only places of importance where the records of Tertiary plants and animals have been preserved. While none of these lake beds have been found within the limits of our State, it cannot be doubted that the conditions which prevailed upon our western and northern boundaries were not unlike those which obtained here.
The animal inhabitants of this period consisted of opossums, a strange species of squirrel, beavers and gophers. There were large hoofed animals not unlike the rhinoceros; others bore resemblance to the tapir and the swine family. There were creatures with three hoofs to each foot and three toes on each hoof, of a species related to the horse. There were others resembling camels, oxen and cud-chewing animals that seemed to be a combination of the deer, the camel and the hog. There was a family of short jawed animals resembling the panther with sharp, knife-like teeth. There were saber-toothed tigers more powerful and cruel than the Asiatic species; there were monkeys, foxes and wolves. Huge snakes, lizards and turtles infested the swamps. Bright winged birds flitted among the forests and open glades. Bats and myriads of strange insects were present preying upon others.
Throughout the Tertiary period the climatic conditions appear to have been remarkably uniform over regions extending north to Greenland and westward to Montana. Iowa, and all adjacent regions far north and westward reveled in the luxuriance of a tropical climate. The air was balmy and laden with the odor of flowers and fruits. The bright summer days seemed never ending. A listless languor sent the birds and beasts into the shade at midday. Tropical vegetation grew spontaneously; brilliant foliage and flowers, luxuriant ferns and clinging vines mingled with the forests and open vistas in landscapes of surpassing beauty.
But in the course of time a change was perceptible. The intense heat of the long summer days was tempered by refreshing breezes, and the nights became delightfully cool. The winters were slowly growing colder. Snow storms came and piercing winds swept over plain and forest. Tropical plants were stricken with early frosts; ice formed in lakes and streams where it had never had before appeared. The more hardy animals sought the shelter of wooded ravines and deep gorges. Snow fell to unusual depths; year after year it came earlier, and winter continued later. The earth became frozen to great depths; fruits and trees disappeared. As the snow piled higher each succeeding year, and the summers were too short and cold to melt it, all animal life perished. The pressure of mountains of snow and the percolating rains converted the mass into a solid sheet of glacier ice that not only covered nearly all of Iowa, but reached out over the northern half of North America.
The ice sheet of this period had its southern margin south of the latitude of St. Louis. The ice was slowly moving outward from the center of accumulation, grinding over the underlying rocks, crushing them into the finest powder. Fragments of enormous size were frequently caught in the lower portion of the flowing ice and carried forward bodily, grinding the rock strata into rock flour, and being themselves planed and grooved on the lower surface. All bowlders of crystalline rock which we find strewn over our State were carried from their native ledges in British America by these ice sheets of what geologists call the Quaternary period.
BOWLDER IN BUCHANAN COUNTY
GLACIAL MARKING ON ROCKS IN DES MOINES COUNTY.
Another climatic change slowly came, and the ice began to melt. Rivers were gradually formed, carrying on their turbid waters the soil made by the grinding ice. This was deposited over the surface of the State, forming yellow clay.
Professor Samuel Calvin, State Geologist for Iowa, has told how the soils of the State were produced by the action of the ice in the glacial period. He says:
“Glaciers and glacial action have contributed in a very large degree to the making of our magnificent state. What Iowa would have been had it never suffered from the effects of the ponderous ice sheets that successfully overflowed its surface, is illustrated, but not perfectly, in the driftless area. Here we have an area that was not invaded by glaciers. Allamakee, parts of Jackson, Dubuque, Clayton, Fayette, and Winneshiek counties belong to the driftless area. During the last two decades numerous wells have been bored through the loose surface deposits, and down into the underlying rocks. The record of these wells shows that the rocks surface is very uneven. Before the glacial drift which now mantles nearly the whole of Iowa was deposited, the surface had been carved into the intricate of hills and valleys.
“To a person passing from the drift-covered to the driftless part of the state the topography presents a series of surprises. The principal drainage streams flow in valleys that measure, from the summits to the divides, six hundred feet or more in depth. The Oneota, or upper Iowa River, in Allamakee County, for example, flows between picturesque cliffs that rise almost vertically from three to four hundred feet, while from the summit of the cliffs the land rises gradually to the crest of the divide, three, four, or five miles back from the stream. Tributary streams cut the lateral slopes and canyon walls at intervals. These again have tributaries of the second order. In such a region a quarter section of level land would be a curiosity. This is a fair sample of what Iowa would have been had it not been planed down by the leveling effects of the glaciers. Soils of uniforms excellence would have been impossible in a non-glacial Iowa. The soils of Iowa have a value equal to all of the silver and gold mines of the world combined.
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