Boone County IA Archives History - Books .....Days Of The Riverland Troubles, Chapter 10 1914
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Book Title: HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY IOWA

CHAPTER X
DAYS OF THE RIVERLAND TROUBLES

   When the settlement between the Iowa Legislature and the Des Moines
Navigation & Railroad Company was made, in March, 1858, it was justly pronounced
the most colossal swindle upon the people of the state which up to that time had
occurred within its history. By the terms of that settlement the navigation
company received patents for 471,000 acres of Iowa lands, for which the state
did not receive the value of a penny. The river land grant consisted of every
odd numbered section within five miles of the Des Moines River on both sides of
the stream.

   When the terms of this unfair settlement became known to the people living
along the Des Moines River, they came to the conclusion that they had at least
an equitable claim upon the timber on the land the company had got for nothing.
In Boone County at that time there were thousands of acres of good river land
timber. The capital of the state had about that time been moved to Des Moines
and the city took on a building boom. Numerous citizens of Boone County engaged
in rafting logs to Des Moines, which were easily disposed of at a good price.
Many of these logs were taken from the river land, for it was not looked upon as
much of a crime to take timber from the lands of the navigation swindlers. But
it was not long until the navigation company became informed of what was going
on and it sent men up to Boone, Dallas and other counties to look the matter up.
The plan devised by the company was to brand all the logs found in rafts in the
river, or that had been placed upon its banks to be rafted. This brand was put
on in a way that it would not be easily noticed. When the logs were floated down
the river to Des Moines they were replevined by the navigation company, using
their brand as evidence of ownership, and in this way the rafters of the logs
often lost them. In this way many logs were also taken which did not grow on the
river land, as it was called.

   There were men engaged in rafting their own logs who sometimes lost them
through this branding process. The branders became very unpopular. There was a
hrander on the west side of the river and one on the east side. The people
engaged in rafting became so exasperated at the branders that they went gunning
for them.

   In the early spring of 1859, a man named Farr, who was the west side
brainier, was caught and severely whipped with switches. The men who did the
whipping were masked, so Farr could not recognize any of them. After this man
Farr was whipped he was turned loose and ordered to leave the country as fast as
he could go. This command he obeyed as well as sore and lacerated limbs would
permit.

   Having disposed of the west side brander the squad of gunners proceeded to
the river, where they came upon Captain Warner, the east side brander, who was
on a raft just in the edge of the water on the east bank of the river, plying
his branding iron and entirely unconscious of the near proximity of the
indignant rafters. Without giving Warner any notice of their presence or
purpose, they sent a volley of bullets across the swollen stream which whizzed
so close to his head that he retreated for Boonesboro with wonderful rapidity
for a lame man. Both of the branders returned to Des Moines and reported to the
company the dangerous condition of things up the river and refused to serve any
longer as branders.

   D. O. Finch and M. M. Crocker, who were the attorneys for the navigation
company, raised a company of men and went to Boonesboro for the purpose, they
said, of enforcing the law and of prosecuting and punishing those who had so
brazenly mistreated Farr and Warner. The men who came up from Des Moines were
very boastful and overbearing, and their conduct soon aroused the ire of those
who had taken no part in rafting logs, or in the treatment given to Farr and
Warner. Several men were placed under arrest, among whom was an aged man named
Phipps, who had taken no part in anything that had been done. In fact, Farr
could not, and did not identify any one who took part in whipping him, for they
were all masked. When Farr saw the venerable gray hairs of Mr. Phipps, he
ordered D. O. Finch to release him.

   By this time the people were coming in from the country and the excitement
ran so high that it took hard work on the part of the sheriff, William Holmes,
and other level-headed citizens to prevent a bloody encounter between the
aroused people and the company from Des Moines.

   Finally the attorneys for the navigation company were given two hours' time
in which to leave Boone County with their company of men, and this time they
made good use of and departed for their homes. It was a wise and good thing for
them that they did so, for the people had borne with these men as long as they
could or would.

   About six months after this another very thrilling river land incident
occurred further down the river, which was known only to a few people. In fact,
it would have been stepping upon dangerous ground to have given the affair much
publicity at or near the time it occurred.

   The fact that Farr and Warner refused to serve any longer as log branders did
not deter the navigation company in the least. If Farr and Warner would serve no
longer, other men bold enough to brave the dangers could be found. Money, they
said, could do almost anything, and, to be sure, they had it.

   Finally two young men named Burril and Mercer, respectively, were induced to
take the vacant places. The navigation company knew it could hold the rafted
logs if they came down the river branded, but if they were brought down the
river without the company brand on them they stood but little show of making a
valid claim of them. Therefore, it was highly necessary that two shrewd, bold
and fearless men be sent up the river for this purpose. They were instructed to
brand all the logs found in rafts, or on the banks of the river. They were also
instructed to brand all logs found on the river lands and to take the name of
every man found on these lands cutting timber. These young men were very wily
and cautious in all of their movements. They were determined not to be caught or
taken by surprise and disposed of in the way that Farr and Warner had been. This
they had vowed should never be. But it will be shown farther on that neither of
them was endowed with the spirit of prophecy.

   It must be remembered that many of the men who were taking timber from the
river lands were also shrewd fellows, who were on the lookout for spies and
branders. As a rule they were prepared for an emergency at any time and knew how
to extricate themselves from difficulties and dangers. They fully believed that
they had as good a right to take and use the timber on these lands as the
swindling navigation company had. But they knew at the same time that this
company would be upheld by the courts and that they would be prosecuted if
sufficient evidence against them could be secured. From the swindled people
they/had nothing to fear. From the spies and branders the trouble, if any, would
come.

   On a beautiful afternoon in the autumn of 1859, while three men were engaged
in loading logs upon their wagons, the two astute spies came upon them. They
were very clever, talked very nicely and even assisted the woodmen in loading
one of the logs.

   On being asked what their business was, one of them replied that they
represented an eastern coal company and that they were looking up coal lands and
securing long-time leases upon them. After the conversation had run for some
time, one of the spies said: "Would you gentlemen be willing to lease the land
you are now chopping off for coal mining purposes?"

   "No," said one of the woodmen, "we will not lease this land for any purpose."

   "We regret to hear you talk that way," one of them replied, "for we have
leased nearly all the land in this hilly region."

   "Let me see one of your leases," said one of the woodmen. A blank was taken
from a large bill book and handed to him.

   "No, no," said the woodman, "let me see one of the leases already signed by
one of the landholders in these parts."

   "Yes, certainly," said the spy, "1 will gladly do so." Hastily putting the
blank lease again into his pocket, he said with considerable anger, "if you
doubt the truth of what I have told you I will show you a document which has
never failed to convince a timber thief." So saying he commenced to draw a
revolver from another pocket.

   The other two woodmen had watched and carefully listened to what was going on
and during the parley had adroitly changed their positions, until they now stood
behind a large stump only a few feet away.

   Just as the spy began to draw his revolver, two double-barreled shotguns from
across the top of the stump were leveled upon them with the peremptory demand to
hold up their hands on penalty of instant death. This sudden and unlooked for
change in the appearance of things took from the spies their defiant attitude
and their defiant look, and immediately they became humble and submissive. They
were now caught and all they could do was to submit and so up went their hands.

   While the two woodmen held the spies under their guns, the other woodman took
their weapons, and in going through their pockets found the commission which
authorized them to act as spies and branders for the navigation company.

   The woodmen were now puzzled to know what to do with their prisoners. If they
were to turn them loose they would go and file information against them, and
they would be arrested and prosecuted for stealing timber. It was plain that
some other plan would have to be pursued in order to put these two spies and
branders to silence. For the time being they were placed in an unoccupied log
cabin which stood near by and one of the men was left to guard them. The other
two took the loaded logs to a sawmill, and a little after dark returned with a
fresh team, a light wagon and some provisions.

   The three woodmen felt that they were in a close place, for they had been
caught stealing timber and had placed the spies and branders under arrest and
held them as prisoners over four hours. They did not want to do violence to the
spies, and yet they felt sure that their own safety depended on getting rid of
them in a way they would not soon be heard of again. The course to pursue was
now much of a puzzle for them. After two hours had passed by, the boldest and
the most resourceful of the three woodmen said if they would leave the matter to
him and follow his advice he would lead them out of the difficulty. To this the
other two readily agreed. A gunny sack was placed over the head of each of the
spies, their hands and feet were tied and they were placed in the wagon. Without
the utterance of a word the woodmen drove out of the timber and on the prairie
some three or four miles, where there was a prominent crossroads, and there came
to a halt. The woodman who had the disposition of things in charge left the
prisoners in the hands of his companions and was absent about half an hour,
during which he was in consultation with some friends. When matters were
arranged to suit him, he returned to the wagon, bringing with him two good
horses, each of which was saddled. He then ordered the prisoners to be unmasked
and unbound, after which he spoke to them and said: "I believe it would be
perfectly right for us to hang both of you spies to one of these trees standing
here on these corners. You drew your weapons and would have killed us if we had
not been too quick for you. For this reason you are murderers at heart. You
called us thieves for taking timber from land that your employers stole from the
people of the state. We can hang you, or we can prosecute you for assaulting us
with intent to commit murder. You are a desperate set of outlaws and scoundrels
and you should be hung at once, but we will be better to you than you intended
to be to us. If you will take an oath that you will never be seen in the upper
Des  Moines Valley again, we will let you go and will furnish each of you a good
horse and saddle to get away on."

   This proposition the spies eagerly accepted and each of them most solemnly
pledged himself never to return to those parts again, or in any way to disturb,
molest by word or act either of the three woodmen or any of their friends. They
were then put on the horses and ordered to take their departure down a lane
leading south. It was quite dark, but the spies went off on a gallop and each of
them seemed to he a good rider. When they reached the next crossing a mile
south, four men armed with lanterns, guns and clubs, suddenly arose from the
ground and stood in front of them. They were commanded to stop, dismount and
give up the stolen horses they were riding, on penalty of death. "Those two
horses were stolen from a barn not more than three miles from this place and not
more than three hours ago. We were looking for you two thieves and we have found
you. So come along with us; we will put you where you will do no more horse
stealing for a long time."

   The spies denied that they had stolen the horses and undertook to explain
matters, but they were told to hush their foolish story about being innocent.
"Horse thieves always tell just such stories as that. Nice thing indeed to talk
about your innocence when you have the stolen horses now in your possession. You
are old hands in the business no doubt."

   The spies were told that a magistrate lived down the road, and they were
taken before him, where an information was filed against them charging them with
the crime of theft. They were left in the care of the magistrate and a
constable, and the men who had captured them returned to their homes, promising
to be back next morning to give evidence in the preliminary examination. The
magistrate put the prisoners to sleep in a good room and a good bed, but he
forgot to lock the door. The result was that the prisoners escaped during the
night and were never seen in Boone County again.

    Both of these river land stories are strictly true. D. O. Finch, who was the
attorney of the navigation company, years afterward told one of the three
woodmen so prominently mentioned in the last one of these stories, that when the
spies returned to Des Moines, they came to him and told the whole story of the
treatment they had been subjected to and they wanted him to begin an action by
which they might arrest and punish those three woodmen who had held them as
prisoners. Mr. Finch advised them to have nothing more to do with the woodmen of
Boone County. "If you commence action against them, that charge of horse
stealing will be revived against you, and you may come out of it much worse off
than you are now. You had better let the woodmen of Boone County alone. They are
a hard lot to contend with." The spies took his advice.


Additional Comments:
Additional Comments:

[Transcriber's note: The first 5 chapters have to do with a brief and very
general history of Iowa, geology, and Native American sociology. These chapters
will not be transcribed.]

Extracted from:

HISTORY OF BOONE COUNTY
IOWA
N. E. GOLDTHWAIT
SUPERVISING EDITOR
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME I
CHICAGO
PIONEER PUBLISHING COMPANY
1914

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