Iowa City

“ In 1839 Iowa City was selected as the site for the seat of government of the newly created Territory of Iowa. The legislature met for the first time in 1841 and continued to hold its sessions here until 1857, when Des Moines, on account of its more central position, was made the capital. ”

“ In the spring of 1859 his father came to Iowa and located near Cottonville in Jackson County. The son received his education in high school and in the fall of 1874 entered the Law Department of the State University at Iowa City where he graduated in 1875. ”

“ His mother, with some relatives, went to Iowa City in 1841 when the old Capitol building was being erected. From early youth he gave indications of talent in picture making, his first rude attempts being in caricature. ”

“ He was a mechanic and in 1842 came to the new Territory of Iowa, making his home in Washington County. He became an active Whig politician and in the spring of 1846 was chosen a member of the Second Constitutional Convention which assembled at Iowa City on the 4th of May and framed the Constitution under which Iowa was on the 28th of December following admitted as a State. ”

“ Here the young man began his education in the public schools, taking a course later in the High School at West Liberty and finally graduating from the State University at Iowa City. He first engaged in the furniture business at West Liberty but later took up the study of law and removing to Red Oak, entered upon the practice of his new profession. ”

“ His parents removed to Augusta, New York, where the son grew to manhood. He studied law at Albany and in 1847 removed to Iowa, locating at Iowa City where he engaged in teaching school. He became the editor of the Iowa City Republican, He was a delegate to the convention of 1856 which organized the Republican party of Iowa. ”

“ Iowa has the richest land, the lowest illiteracy rate, the largest percentages of native-born whites and motor-car owners, and the most moral and forward-looking cities of all the States, and Nautilus is the most Iowan city in Iowa. ”

“ New people were coming in great numbers, but many were leaving, for the California fever had broken out. Several outfits left Cedar Rapids, and with one of them Dr. Mansfield, my partner, whose place was taken by Dr. S. C. Koontz, a cousin of mine, one well known to the old citizens. That year the first brick buildings were erected, a dwelling on Iowa avenue near Greene's opera house, and a three-story building on Commercial street, by Judge Greene, which for a long time was the show building of the town. We began to put on city airs. ”

“ He was educated in the public schools and at an academy of Fayette County, studied law, located at Iowa City in 1855, and was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court in 1856. He has been an active politician in the Democratic party, serving as a delegate to the Philadelphia and New York National Conventions for the nomination of candidates for President. ”

“ Hart, a French trader, explored the western rives and valleys of Iowa along the Missouri and built a trading post within the present limits of the city of Council Bluffs. Quite a settlement of traders, hunters, and trappers gathered in the vicinity. Francis Guittar, a French trader, built a cabin there in 1827, and carried on trade with Indians and white hunters and trappers. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Several stores were built and opened, and the population was soon largely increased by people who were not Mormons and had no sympathy with them. The new settlers being greatly in the majority, virtually drove out the [440] "Saints," who finally left in a body to join their people at Salt Lake City.
Council Bluffs is now the most populous and flourishing city of Western Iowa. At the time of my visit, the inhabitants numbered only about 8,000, but it was then growing rapidly and bid fair to become one of the big cities of America. There is a large trade here employing an immense capital. ”

“ He came to Iowa in 1860 where he worked on a farm and taught school. He attended the State University several terms and in 1868 located at Tama City where he engaged in the mercantile business. He was for several years a resident of Grand Junction where he carried on the hardware, agricultural implement and grain trade. In 1872 he returned to Tama City and opened a hardware store, and has been member of the city council and mayor of the city. ”

“ At the World's Columbian Exposition General Wright conducted a directory for furnishing information to visitors from Iowa. In 1895 he was appointed a member of the board of public works for the city of Des Moines which position he held at the time of his death. Iowa never had a more useful and conscientious public officer than General Ed. ”

“ The capital and largest city of Iowa, it is an important manufacturing and commercial city, and noted especially for its extensive insurance interests and exceptional railroad facilities. It has many important buildings, among them the Capitol, built at a cost of three million dollars, the United States Government Building, the State Arsenal, a State Historical Building, completed in 1908 at a cost of five hundred thousand dollars, Drake University, Highland Park College, Des Moines College, and a state library. ”

“ When the Civil War began he enlisted in the Confederate army serving through the war. In 1867 he came to Iowa, locating at Boonsboro where he was superintendent of a coal mining company, and served as mayor of the city. ”

“ It was moved to Burlington in 1837 and used to print the second paper established within the limits of the Territory which became Iowa in 1838 and is reported to have done good service on papers at Osage, Mason City and Ellington before it was taken to Forest City. In the fall of 1869 the village of Lake Mills was laid out by Charles D. Smith where a large mill was built. ”

“ To the seekers after new homes, from the old world, or from the Eastern and Middle States of the Union--be they mechanics, agriculturists, or professional men--Iowa offers many advantages. On her soil, with prudence, economy and sobriety, added to good health, no one can fail to acquire a competency, if not to amass a fortune.
We have said thus much of Iowa, because we believe it to be due to her; due to her enterprise, and due to the worthy people who have made her soil their home;--and because, although no longer one of her citizens, we love her still! ”

“ Floating down the Wisconsin, they finally saw before them the broad waters of the Mississippi. It was on the 17th day of June, 1673, that Marquette and Joliet looked out on the bold bluffs of the western shore a few miles below where McGregor now stands. They were the first white men who ever saw Iowa. Pushing out into the current they beheld a wild, beautiful landscape. On the Wisconsin side was a level prairie shore stretching northward for many miles, covered with tall grass waving in the June breeze. ”

“ Half a century hence the sun is sure to shine upon countless villages, silvered spires and domes, denoting the march of intellect, and wealth's refinements, in this beautiful and far off solitude of the West, and we may perhaps hear the tinkling of the bells from our graves.” These descriptions of the country from 1832 to 1835, when Iowa was beginning to attract the attention of eastern people present a vivid picture of the beautiful prairies, rivers, valleys and groves before its soil was broken for cultivation and before its Indian population had removed from their favorite hunting grounds. ”

“ This was Iowa, as it was first seen by white men, and no more enchanting land ever met the gaze of explorers. For six days the Frenchmen remained with their Indian friends, traversing the valley of the river, hunting elk, buffalo and prairie chickens, fishing and bathing in the pure waters, feasting on the choicest of the products of the fields, forests and streams. The natives exerted themselves to provide every entertainment possible for their white visitors, and urged them to prolong their stay. ”

“ Agriculture was almost the only occupation, where every man had his herd of cattle, ponies, sheep and swine; and each was his own mechanic.
Thus lived the first settlers in the Mississippi Valley for more than a hundred years. But when their country was surrendered to English rule, many left their peaceful homes along the Illinois, the Mississippi and Wisconsin, so strong was their affection for France and its government. During the time that Iowa had been under the dominion of France, no towns had been laid out or permanent colonies established. ”

“ Newell retained a quarter interest in the “Giant,” and some weeks later after thousands of people came and gazed with awe upon the wonder, and the receipts were reported to be reaching fabulous amounts, the value of the “Giant” was estimated at $240,000. Hull and Martin about this time were understood to have disposed of their interest in the “petrified man” to the syndicate. But the reader will naturally inquire—what connection has all of this with the history of Iowa?
More than a thousand miles westward, in the upper valley of the Des Moines River, was the picturesque village of Fort Dodge. ”

“ The ax and rifle were their chief implements and dependence, and every man and boy was an expert in the use of both. The men built their own houses and constructed nearly all of their farm implements, while the women of the household, in addition to the ordinary work, spun the yarn, wove the cloth and made all the clothing for the family. Such people could make homes beyond the reach of mills, stores, mails, churches or schools, and regard it no hardship.” In the little book published in 1846 by Mr. Newhall are found many items of interest, showing the condition of Iowa when it became a State. ”

“ The rapidity with which the pioneer population of Iowa increased after the Black-Hawk war was phenomenal. It grew literally by leaps and bounds. Men came in from all parts of the Union--from the North-west, from the East, from the South, and from the South-east. They came from Maine and Massachusetts, from New York and Pennsylvania, from Virginia and the Carolinas, from Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee, and from the newer States of Ohio and Indiana. It is said that whole neighborhoods came over from Illinois. ”

“ From Cedar Rapids long iron ways, like the spokes of a wheel, reach in all directions to the limits of the state and beyond, and bring every portion of the commonwealth and the adjacent parts of our neighboring states within a few hours ride of Cornell college. It is located also in east Central Iowa, an area of the state the first to be settled and developed, an area surpassed by none in the fertility of its soils, and the wealth which has been produced from them. ”

“ Union men in the northern counties of Missouri were often driven from their homes and sought refuge in Iowa with their families. In counties where the Union men were in the majority, they retaliated by driving out Rebels, who sheltered them. This condition of affairs was stirring up civil war in our own State. In order to meet this emergency a military district was formed known as the “Western Division of Iowa,” and troops were raised for service in this territory and the adjoining counties of Missouri, if necessary. ”

“ Nor is it a matter of surprise that the pioneers of Iowa possessed the elements of character above attributed to them. In the first place, only strong and independent souls ventured to the frontier. A weaker class could not have hoped to endure the toils, the labors, the pains, and withal the loneliness of pioneer life; for the hardest and at the same time the most significant battles of the 19th century were fought with axes and plows in the winning of the West. The frontier called for men with large capacity for adaptation--men with flexible and dynamic natures. ”

“ Iowa occupies a proud position among the States today, rich in fertile soil, rich in minerals, coals, and shales, blessed with a happy and contented people; if given the benefit of improved waterways like the Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Missouri, making them great highways; and if at the same time permitted to improve our tributary rivers and the water-powers of this great Central West, it will make a mighty empire of itself—and Iowa, magnificent State that she is, will be in the center of it all. ”

“ The Making of a State. — A fertile soil and a genial climate are two very necessary elements in the creation of a Commonwealth. A third and most important factor is an intelligent, honest, and industrious people. It has been Iowa's good fortune to have such a population, without which, indeed, the figures given in the previous chapter could never have been written. But long before Iowa was settled by white men other peoples dwelt upon our rivers and roamed across our prairies. ”

“ How well and wisely the people of the Nineteenth Century who occupied Iowa, accomplished this mission, has been partially recorded in the preceding volumes of this history. The generations to come will want to know more of the lives of the leaders in the work of founding the State which, in the opening years of the Twentieth Century, has attained a position among the members of the Union which by general consent is regarded as creditable to its architects. ”