Dubuque, Iowa

“ He went to the then far west in 1784, when but twenty-one years of age, settling in the province of Louisiana, near Prairie du Chien. lead mines had been discovered several years before near the Mississippi River and young Dubuque determined to procure an interest in some portion of the mineral region. The Fox Indians then occupied a portion of northeastern Iowa. Dubuque, who was a shrewd, plausible man, succeeded in gaining the confidence of the Kettel Chief and his tribe and explored the country in that vicinity for lead ore, soon finding that it existed in considerable quantities. ”

“ As soon as he had secured the lease, he brought from Prairie du Chien ten Canadians to assist him as overseers, smelter, wood choppers and boatmen. There was a Fox village near where the city of Dubuque now stands, called the village of the Kettle Chief. it consisted of Indian lodges extending back from the river, sufficient to shelter about four hundred people, one hundred of whom were warriors. Dubuque had secured the friendship of the Indians who permitted him and his companions to make their homes in this village. He employed Indian women and old men of the tribe to work in the mines. ”

“ The principal educational institutions are the high school and a theological seminary for German Presbyterians. As a port of delivery, a railway junction, and the centre of the lead region of Iowa, Dubuque has an extensive and varied trade, and engages in a large number of manufacturing industries; of lead alone it exports from 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 ℔ annually. ”

“ He studied medicine, taking up his residence in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1857, where he became one of the foremost homeopathic practitioners in the State. At the beginning of the Civil War he was appointed Surgeon of the Board of Enrollment of the Third District. ”

“ At the old claim a town of miners appeared by magic, able shortly to boast "that the first white man hung in Iowa in a Christian-like manner was Patrick O'Conner, at Dubuque, in June, 1834." Dubuque was a mining camp, differing from the other villages in possessing a larger proportion of the lawless element. Generally, however, this Iowa frontier was peaceful in comparison with other frontiers. Life and property were safe, and except for its dealings with the Indians and the United States government, in which frontiers have rarely recognized a law, the community was law-abiding. ”

“ Both towns contributed their quota of students, Dubuque sending no less than twelve, although the entire population of Dubuque county was then, less than 16,000. Considering the difficulty of communications, the poverty of the pioneers, the wide extent of the sphere of influence of the school is remarkable. Students were drawn this first year from as far to the northeast as Elkader and Garnavillo. They came from Dyersville and Independence, from Quasqueton and Vinton, from Marengo, Columbus City, West Liberty, and Burlington. Muscatine alone sent seven students. ”

“ Beyond being an outlet for surplus products of the back country, it has no importance and no attractions. The traveller is now one hundred and thirty miles above Dubuque, one of the points of embarkation for those from the East who visit the State by the way of the river. If the sail is made by daylight between these places, most suggestive impressions are made on the mind of the immense area of Iowa ”

“ George Catlin, who became a famous Indian painter and historian, spent several months in Iowa during his tours among the Indians. He made a trip up the Des Moines Valley about this time and thus describes it:
“The whole country that we passed over was like a garden, wanting only cultivation, being mostly prairie. Keokuk's village is beautifully situated on a large prairie on the bank of the Des Moines River. Dubuque is a small town of about two hundred inhabitants, all built within two years. It is located in the midst of the richest country on the continent. ”

“ At the age of seventeen he began to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1836. In July of that year he came west and located in the frontier village of Dubuque, then in Michigan Territory, of which he was the first mayor. In 1841 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Iowa Territory. In 1849 he was appointed Surveyor General for Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In 1857 he was chosen treasurer of the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad Company in which he was largely interested. He built the first flouring mill in Dubuque in 1848 and was extensively engaged in lead mining. ”

“ He came to Iowa in September, 1863, locating at Dubuque, where the following year he purchased an interest in the Dubuque Herald, one of the leading Democratic journals of the State. The Herald was always a live paper which could give and take hard blows in political conflicts. ”

“ The county was named for Julien Dubuque, the first white man who made his home within the limits of Iowa. The first election was held in October, 1836, in which the citizens voted for delegate in Congress and members of the Territorial Legislature of Michigan. ”

“ The Dubuque and Pacific Railroad Company is in possession of the section of land, under a grant from Congress for the purpose of constructing a railroad from Dubuque, on the Mississippi river, to a point on the Missouri river near Sioux city. This grant was made to the State of Iowa in 1856, and is for every alternate section, (designated by odd numbers,) for six sections in width on each side of the road. The road was located, the lands designated by the United States, and accepted by Iowa; and then they were transferred to the railroad company by the Legislature of that State. ”

“ His friend, the Fox chief, was buried near his grave. For ten years after the death of Dubuque little was known of the lead mines, as the Indians had undisputed possession.
In 1820 Henry R. Schoolcraft, in company with Hon. Lewis Cass, who was then Governor of Michigan Territory, went on a journey to the sources of the Mississippi River. Schoolcraft was a distinguished scientist and had spent many years studying the habits, customs and history of the North American Indians. It was on this voyage that Mr. Schoolcraft visited the Dubuque Lead Mines. ”

“ It was not an easy matter to have to go to Muscatine or Dubuque to mill and market; to travel by night on horseback some fifty miles for a doctor, and equally far to find a drug store. There were no roads passable for a greater part of the year; the rivers were not bridged, and the streams oftentimes were swollen so that the only means of crossing was by swimming or by making some temporary raft. The pioneer settler who wandered out over the prairie in a winter blizzard no doubt many times looked for the "smoke that so gracefully curls above the green elms" to indicate that a cabin was near. ”

“ He was educated at Utica and began business for himself in the city of New York where he became an importing merchant. In 1855 he removed to Iowa, locating in Dubuque, where he engaged in the mercantile business for several years. Later he made his home on a farm in Dubuque County where he was living when the Civil War began. ”

“ The wife of a prominent Fox warrior, named Peosta, had in 1780 discovered lead within the limits of the present city of Dubuque and the shrewd Canadian soon succeeded in persuading the Indians to grant him the exclusive privilege of lead mining on a tract of land extending along the river from the mouth of the Little Maquoketa to the Tete des Morts, a distance of seven leagues, and running westward about three leagues. ”

“ Dubuque and his little white colony lived among the Indians, worked the mines, carried on trade for twenty-two years, in the limits of the future State of Iowa. many of the French Canadians married Indian wives and in a measure adopted the Indian mode of living. ”

“ Mr. Johnson, a devout Methodist, raised the money by general subscription among the citizens and the church was used by various denominations for several years. The first Catholic Church erected in Iowa was a stone edifice built in Dubuque in 1835-6, through the efforts of a French priest, Mazzuchelli. [1]
Next to Dubuque, Fort Madison was one of the earliest places in the limits of Iowa occupied by the whites. In 1832 Zachariah Hawkins, Berryman Jennings and several other young men, crossed the river and made claims in the vicinity of the old fort. ”

“ Langworthy and his brother increased their mining enterprises and in 1833 were among the leading citizens of Dubuque. They were foremost in all public enterprises, liberally aiding the schools, churches and railroads. No citizens contributed more to build up Dubuque for a quarter of a century than the Langworthy brothers. ”

“ Monuments were erected by the Fox chiefs and Dubuque to mark the boundaries on the three sides from the river front, soon after the grant was made.
The right of the Indians to sell their lands had always been recognized by Spain and Dubuque now considered his title secure. The right of the Indians to sell their lands had always been recognized by Spain and Dubuque now considered his title secure. ”

“ For the purpose of temporary government all of this territory was attached to and made a part of Michigan. At an extra session of the Sixth Legislative Assembly of Michigan held in September, 1834, the Iowa District was divided into two counties by running a line due west from the lower end of Rock Island. The territory north of this line was named Dubuque County, and all south of it was Des Moines County. A court was organized in each county, the terms of which were to be held at Dubuque and Burlington. The first court was held in a log house in Burlington in April, 1835. ”

“ His education began early and he remained a student of science throughout his life. Trained as a physician and surgeon in which profession he attained distinction, he at the same time investigated many branches of science. He became a resident of Iowa as early as 1847, settling at Dubuque which became his permanent home. He was the leader in the organization and promotion of the Iowa Institute of Science and Art which was organized at Dubuque, and was its president for many years. ”

“ The Miners’ Bank of Dubuque was the only one in Iowa. It had been badly managed and was soon compelled to suspend. Money was scarce throughout the Territory, and exchange of products was the only method of carrying on business.
The Legislature assembled at Iowa City on the 5th of December, 1842, and organized by the election of John D. Elbert, of Van Buren County, President of the Council; and James M. Morgan, of Des Moines County, Speaker of the House. John M. Coleman, Territorial Agent, reported sales of lots at Iowa City, amounting to $22,871 since he had come into office. ”

“ As yet the Iowa country, however, had been visited by few white people; and such as came were only hunters and trappers, agents of the American Fur and other trading companies, or independent traders. Two of the most active of these free-lances of early days—the French Canadian Dubuque and the Englishman Davenport—have left their names to flourishing cities.
To recount the successive purchases by which the Government freed Iowa soil from Indian domination would be wearisome. The Treaty of 1842 with the Sauks and Foxes is typical. ”

“ TIMOTHY DAVIS was born in Newark, New Jersey, in March, 1794. He received but a common school education, went to Kentucky and studied law in 1816. He practiced his profession for twenty years in the State of Missouri and then removed to Dubuque in Iowa. ”

“ In May, 1855, B. F. Parker and James Hillery issued the first number of a newspaper named the Independence Civilian. In December, 1856, Jacob Rich and Mr. Jordon began the publication of the Quasqueton Guardian in the rival town. The first railroad built into the county was the Dubuque and Sioux City, which reached Independence in December, 1859. ”

“ I was then told that Julien Dubuque, a Canadian Frenchman, had been buried on one of the bluffs of the river within the precincts of the present town, that he had been the first white settler in Iowa, and had been the only man who had ever prevailed upon the Indians to work. Among them he had become a great "Medicine," and seems for a while to have had absolute power over them. He died I think in 1800, and was buried on one of the hills over the river. "He was a bold bad man," my informant told me, "and committed every sin under heaven. But he made the Indians work." ”

“ Iowa City being the capital and Dubuque the most enterprising city in the territory and state, the public men frequently travelled to and from these cities. Harvey Higley "got caught" with the gold fever and went to California, returning in a few years to Cedar Rapids. The Higley brothers made large fortunes in real estate which have descended to their children. ”

“ He had been very bitter in denunciation of the Administration through his paper, the Dubuque Herald, charging it with gross violations of the Constitution, charging civil and military officers with infamous crimes. He was utterly fearless in his publications, which greatly exasperated the soldiers, who at times were with great difficulty restrained from acts of violence against him and his establishment. ”

“ He was a delegate at large and chairman of the Iowa delegation to the Democratic National Convention at Chicago in 1892. He has been for some time president of the Dubuque Business Men's League, an organization composed of jobbers, manufacturers, real estate owners and capitalists of Dubuque. ”