History: History of the State of Iowa From the A.T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875 ************************************************* Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************* EARLY SETTLEMENT. The first known settlement by a white man within the limits of Iowa, was made by Julien Dubuque, in 1788. At that date Dubuque settled with a small colony of miners on the site of the city which bears his name, and was a resident at the mines opened by him till the time of his death, which occurred March 24, 1810, where also his remains still repose in their humble resting place by the Father of Waters. Louis Honori resided on the site of the present town on Montrose, probably from 1799 till 1805. Of the Giard settlement, opposite Prairie Du Chien, we know little, except that it was occupied by some parties prior to the beginning of the present century, and in 1805 contained three small houses. Indian traders, though many of them were not strictly settlers of the country, had established themselves at different points at an early time. As early as 1820, Le Moliese, a French trader, had a station at what is now Sandusky, six miles above Keokuk, in Lee County. Dr. Isaac Calland made a settlement in 1829 at what is now Nashville, on the Lower Rapids. A Mr. Johnson, agent of the American Fur Company had a trading post below Burlington, where he carried on trade with the Indians long prior to the cession of the country to the United States. Probably the first settlement in Lee County was made in 1828. The history of this settlement, as furnished the writer by Valencourt Van Ansdal, who came into the country at the time referred to as follows: Dr. Samuel Muir, a surgeon in the army stationed at Fort Edwards, now Warsaw, Ill., erected a cabin where Keokuk is now situated in 1820, having married a woman of the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians. He had five half-breed children who were mostly brought up in this vicinity, one of whom is still living in Keokuk, or was a few years ago. Being obliged to leave the army on account of a military order prohibiting intermarriage with the Indians, and to seek a place of medical practice where there was a settlement, Dr. Muir leased his claim to Otis Reynolds and John Culver, of St. Louis, for a term of ten years, and went practice medicine at Galena. The latter employed as their agent, Moses Stillwell, who came here with his family in 1828. Stillwell had two brothers-in-law who came with him, viz., Amos and Valencourt Van Ansdal, the latter still residing in Keokuk, or was residing there in the Fall of 1873. Margaret Stillwell, now Mrs. Ford of Keokuk, was probably the first white American child born in this territory now embraced in the State of Iowa. She was born at the foot of the Rapids, Puck-e-she-tuck, where Keokuk now stands, in 1831. At the last mentioned date the American Fur Company's agent at the foot of the Rapids removed to another location, and Dr. Muir having returned, he and Isaac R. Campbell took the place and buildings of the Company, and remained there permanently, carrying on trade with the Indians and half-breeds. Isaac R. Campbell first visited and passed through the southern part of Iowa with a team, in 1821. He was an enterprising settler, and besides trading considerably with the Indians, carried on a farm and a tavern. Dr. Muir died of cholera in 1832. In 1830 James L. and Lucius H. Langworthy, two brothers, natives of Vermont, visited the territory for the purpose of working the lead mines at Dubuque. They had been engaged in lead mining at Galena, Illinois, the former from as early as 1824. The lead mines in the Dubuque region were an object of great interest to the miners about galena, for they were known to be rich in lead ore. To explore these mines, and to obtain permission to work them, was therefore, eminently desirable. In 1829 James L. Langworthy resolved to visit Dubuque mines. Crossing the Mississippi at the point now known as Dunleith, in a canoe, and swimming his horse by its side, he landed on the spot now known as the Jones Street Levee. Before him spread out a beautiful prairie, on which the City of Dubuque now stands. Two miles south, at the mouth of Catfish Creek, was a village of Sacs and Foxes. Thither Mr. Langworthy proceeded, and was well received by the natives. He endeavored to obtain permission from them to mine in their hills but they refused. He however succeeded in gaining the confidence of the chief to such an extent as to be allowed to travel in the interior for three weeks and explore the country. He employed two young Indians as guides, and traversed in different directions the whole region lying between the Maquoketa and Turkey Rivers. He returned to the village, secured the good will of the Indians, and returning to Galena, formed plans of future operations, to be executed as soon as circumstances would permit. In 1830, with his brother Lucius H. and others, having obtained the consent of the Indians, Me. Langworthy crossed the Mississippi and commenced mining in the vicinity around Dubuque. The first act resembling Legislation in the territory, was an agreement regulating mining claims and interests drawn up on an old cottonwood drift-log on the shore, by these adventurous pioneers. They continued to work successfully till the Winter of 1831, when the United States authorities ordered the miners to desist and remove from the territory on the west side of the Mississippi. They obeyed the order, and abandoning their claims for a season, returned to Galena. After the Black Hawk War, and the treaty of September, 1832, the miners, supposing they now had a right to enter the territory, returned to the mines and prosecuted their mining operations with great success. In the Fall of 1832, they were again ordered to leave the diggings and their improved claims, on the ground that the treaty had not been ratified by the Senate of the united States. The order was enforced by Gen. Zachary Taylor, then colonel commanding at Fort Crawford. Mr. Langworthy retired to an island near the west bank of the river, taking the precaution to carry away his mineral treasures, and he and several others passed the Winter of 1832 on the island amidst their pigs of lead, amounting to several hundred thousand pounds in weight. The treaty being perfected in June, 1833, Mr. Langworthy, his brother and others, returned and took possession of their well earned mineral prospects and their home claims. In the same year Mr/ Langworthy assisted in building the first school house in Iowa, and thus was formed the nucleus of the now populous and thriving city of Dubuque. Mr. Langworthy lived to see the naked prairie on which he first landed, become the site of a city of fifteen thousand inhabitants, the small school house which he aided in constructing replaced by three substantial edifices, wherein two thousand children were being trained, churches erected in every part of the city, and railroads connecting the wilderness which he first explored with all the eastern world. He died suddenly on the 13th of March, 1865, while on a trip over the Dubuque and Southwestern Railroad at Monticello, and the evening train brought the news of his death and his remains. Lucius H. Langworthy, his brother was one of the most worthy, gifted, and influential of the old settlers of this section of Iowa. He died, greatly lamented by many friends, in June 1865. We can only mention in this place a few of the pioneers. They are quite extensively referred to in the County Histories and the Biographical department of this work. Captain James White, in 1832 made a claim on the present site of Montrose. In 1834 a garrison of dragoons was established here under command of Col. Stephen W. Kearney, which was retained as a military post till 1837, when the soldiers were removed to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Soon after the Black hawk War, in 1832, Zachariah Hawkins, Benjamin Jennings, Aaron White, Augustine Horton, Samuel Gooch, Daniel Thompson and Peter Williams, made claims at Fort Madison. In 1833, these claims were purchased by John and Nathaniel Knapp, upon which, in 1835, they laid out a town. The next Summer lots were sold. The town was subsequently re-surveyed and platted by the United States Government. At the close of the Black Hawk War, parties who had been impatiently looking across upon "Flint Hills", now Burlington, came over from Illinois and made claims. The first was Samuel S. White, in the Fall of 1832, who erected a cabin on the site of Burlington. About the same time David Tothero made a claim on the prairie about three miles back from the river, at a place since known as the farm of Judge Morgan. In the Winter of that year they were driven off by the military from Rock Island as intruders upon the rights of the Indians, and White's cabin was burnt by the soldiers. He retired to Illinois, where he spent the Winter, and in the Summer, as soon as the Indian title expired, returned and re-built his cabin. White was joined by his brother-in-law, Doolittle, and they together laid out the original town of Burlington, in 1834. Settlers about this time were crowding in all along the borders of the Black Hawk Purchase. The first claim where Davenport now stands was made by Col. George Davenport, immediately after the treaty of September, 1832. As early as 1827, Col. Davenport had established a flatboat ferry, which ran between the island and the main shore of Iowa, by which he carried on a trade with the Indians west of the Mississippi. In 1833, Capt. Benjamin W. Clark moved across from Illinois, and laid the foundation of the town of Buffalo, in Scott County, which was the first actual settlement within the limits of that county. Among other early settlers in this part of the Territory, Adrian H. Coleman, J. M. Camp, William White, H. W. Higgins, Cornelius Harrold, Richard Harrison, E. H. Shepherd, and Dr. E. S. Barrows. The first settlers of Davenport were Antoine Le Claire, Col. George Davenport, Major Thomas Smith, Major William Gordon, Phillip Hambough, Alexander W. McGregor, Levi S. Colton, Captain James May, and others. In Clayton County the first settlement was made in the Spring of 1832 on Turkey River, by Robert Hatfield and William W. Wayman. No further settlement was made in this part of the stare till the beginning of 1836. In that portion now known as Muscatine County, settlements were made in 1834, by Benjamin Nye, John Vanater, and G. W. Casey, who were the first settlers. E. E. Fay, William St. John, N. Fullington, H. Reece, John Pettibone, R. P. Lowe, Stephen Whicher, Abijah Whiting, J. E. Fletcher, W. D. Abernathy and Alexas Smith, who were early settlers of Muscatine. The first post master in Iowa was Milo H. Prentice, appointed at Dubuque in 1833. The first justice of the peace was Antoine Le Claire, appointed in 1833, as "a very suitable person to adjust the difficulties between the white settlers and the Indians still remaining there." The first Methodist society in the territory was formed at Dubuque on the 18th of May, 1834, and the first class meeting was held June 1st of that year. The first church bell brought into Iowa, was in March, 1834. The first mass of the Roman Catholic Church in the territory was celebrated at Dubuque in the house of Patrick Quigley, in the Fall of 1833. The first school house in the territory was erected by the Dubuque miners in 1833. The first Sabbath school was organized at Dubuque early in the Summer of 1834. The first woman who came to this part of the territory with a view to permanent residence, was Mrs. Noble F. Dean, in the Fall of 1832, and she is still living, and in the enjoyment of good health. The first family that lived in this part of Iowa was that of Hosea T. Camp, in 1832 The first meeting house was built by the Methodist Episcopal church, at Dubuque, in 1834. The first newspaper in Iowa was the Dubuque Visitor, issued May 11th, 1836. John King, afterwards Judge King, was editor, and William C. Jones, printer. (See history of newspapers in the County Histories.) The pioneers of Iowa, as a class, were a brave, hardy, intelligent, and enterprising people. The Western States, which are rapidly growing into controlling importance in the Union, have been settled by many of the best and most enterprising men of the older states, and a large immigration of the best blood of the Old World, who removing to an area of larger opportunities, in a more fertile soil and congenial climate, have developed a spirit and an energy peculiarly Western. In no country on the globe have enterprises of all kinds been pushed forward with such rapidity, or has there been such independence and freedom of competition. Among those who have pioneered the civilization of the West, and been the founders of great states, none have been ranked higher in the scale of intelligence and moral worth than the pioneers of Iowa, who came to the territory when it was an Indian country, and through hardship, privation and suffering, laid the foundations of the populous and prosperous Commonwealth, which to-day dispenses in blessings to a million and a quarter of people. From the inception of her institutions, Iowa has had able men to manage her affairs, wise legislators to frame her laws and shape her polity, and intelligent and impartial jurists to administer justice to her citizens; her bar, pulpit, and press have been able and widely influential; and in all the professions, arts, enterprises and industries which go to make a great and prosperous commonwealth, she has taken and holds a front rank among her sister states of the West. TERRITORIAL ORGANIZATION. In the Fall of 1837 the question of a separate territorial organization for Iowa began to be agitated. A convention was called at Burlington on the first of November, which petitioned Congress to organize a Territory west of the Mississippi, and to settle the boundary lines between Wisconsin territory and Missouri. The Legislature then in session joined in the petition. Gen. George W. Jones, of Dubuque, residing then at Sinsinawa Mound, Wisconsin Territory, was delegate in Congress, and through his indefatigable efforts, Congress, on the 12th of June, 1838 approved the bill authorizing the organization of Iowa Territory, to take effect on the 4th of July following. The Legislature of Wisconsin Territory had convened in Burlington in June, 1838, but the formation of a new territory leaving their functions obsolete, and they having nothing further to do as legislators, adjourned sine die on the 3rd of July, preparatory to the incoming Iowa. Ex-Governor Robert Lucas, of Ohio, was appointed Governor of Iowa Territory by President Van Buren, and immediately on his arrival issued a proclamation for an election of members of the first legislative assembly, and dividing the Territory into suitable districts of that purpose. The election was held on the 10th of September, 1838, and the Legislature, in accordance with the Governor's proclamation, met at Burlington on the first day of November of that year. The Assembly was composed of a Council of thirteen members, and a House of Representatives of twenty-six members. One of the members returned elected, namely Cyrus S. Jacobs, of Des Moines County, was killed in an unfortunate encounter in Burlington before the meeting of the Legislature, and George H. Beeler was elected to fill the vacancy. Samuel R. Murray, of Comanche, Clinton County, was returned as elected from the district composed of the Counties of Scott and Clinton, but his seat was successfully contested by J. A. Burchard, Jr., of Scott County. With these exceptions, the members returned elected, and proclaimed as such by the Governor, held their seats during the session. At that day national politics were little thought of in the Territory. Notwithstanding a large majority of the members of both branches of the Legislature were Democrats, yet Gen. Jesse B. Browne (Whig), of Lee County was elected President of the Council, and Hon. William H. Wallace (Whig0, of Henry County, Speaker of the House of Representatives ___ the former unanimously, and the latter, with but little opposition. Party lines began to be strongly drawn in the Territory in the campaign for election of President in 1840. The first session of the Iowa Territorial Legislature at Burlington was in many respects a stormy one. Under the provisions of the organic law, the Governor had an unqualified veto, if he chose to exercise it, of all bills passed by the Legislature. The members thought he used the power rather too freely, and an exciting controversy was the result. The seat of government question, also gave rise to much excitement. The friends of a central location favored the plan of the Governor, as recommended in his message, namely the appointment of commissioners with a view to making a central location. The extent of the future State of Iowa was probably then not thought of, and a central location at that time meant some situation central in the small eastern strip of Iowa then cleared of the Indian titles. The southern members were in favor of Burlington, but finally withdrew that place and united on Mount Pleasant. The parties were very equally divided, and much excitement prevailed. The party for a central location finally succeeded, and Robert Ralston, of Des Moines County, John Ronalds, of Louisa County, and Chauncey Swan, of Dubuque County, were appointed commissioners under the law, and met at a place called Napoleon, in Johnson County, in the Spring of 1939, and located the Capital at Iowa City. The law provided that the seat of government should remain at Burlington till suitable buildings could be erected for it at the new location. (See History of the Location of the Capital, further on.) At the election in September, 1838, there were four candidates in the field for delegates to Congress, viz., William W. Chapman, and David Rohfer, of Des Moines County. B. F. Wallace, of Henry County, and Peter Hill Engle, Dubuque County. William W. Chapman was elected by a majority of thirty-six, over P.H. Engle. The Federal appointments in the Territory, in addition to the Governor, were as follows; William B. Conway, of Pittsburg, Secretary of the Territory; Charles Mason, of Burlington, Thomas S. Wilson, of Dubuque, and Joseph Williams, of Pennsylvania, Judges of the Supreme and District Courts; Mr. Van Allen, of New York, United Stated District Attorney; Francis Gehon, of Dubuque, United States Marshal; Augustus C. Dodge, Register of the Land Office at Burlington, and Thomas McNight, Receiver of the Land Office at Dubuque. Mr. Van Allen, the District Attorney, died at Rockingham, soon after his appointment, and Col. Charles Weston was appointed to fill the vacancy. Mr. Conway, the Secretary, also died at Burlington, during the second session for the Legislature, and James Clarke, editor of the Gazette, was appointed in his place. The question of the boundary line between Missouri and the Territory of Iowa became a vexed one in 1838, in the consequence of claims growing out of taxes and titles, and came near leading to a civil war. The militia and volunteers were called out on both sides, and preparations for resistance extensively made, but no blood was shed, and the question was finally decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in favor of Iowa. The first legislative assembly laid broad the foundation of civil equality, on which has been constructed one of the most liberal governments in the Union. Its first act was to recognize the equality of woman with man before the law by providing that "no action commenced by a single woman, who intermarried during the pendency thereof, shall abate on account of such marriage." This principle has been adopted by all subsequent legislation in Iowa, and to-day woman has full and equal civil rights with man, except only the right of the ballot. Religious toleration was also secured to all, personal liberty strictly guarded, the rights and privileges of citizenship extended to all white persons, and the purity of elections secured by heavy penalties against bribery and corruption. The judiciary power was vested in a Supreme Court, District Court, Probate Court, and justices of the Peace. Real estate was made divisible by will, and intestate property divided equitably among heirs. Murder was made punishable by death, and proportionate penalties fixed for lesser crimes. A system of free schools, open for every class of white citizens, was established. Provision was made for a system of roads and highways. Thus, under the territorial organization, the country began to emerge from a savage wilderness, and take on the forms of civil government. By act of Congress of June 12th, 1838, the lands which had been purchased of the Indians were brought into market, and land offices opened in Dubuque and Burlington. Congress provided for military roads and bridges, which greatly aided the settlers who were now coming in by thousands, to make their homes on the fertile prairies of Iowa ___ the Beautiful Land. The fame of the country had spread far and wide; even before the Indian title was extinguished, many were crowding the borders, impatient to cross over and stake out their claims on the choicest spots they could find in the new territory. As soon as the country was open for settlement, the borders of the Black Hawk Purchase, all along the Mississippi, and up the principal rivers and streams, and out over the broad and rolling prairies, began to be thronged with eager land hunters and immigrants, seeking homes in Iowa. It was a sight to delight the eyes of all comers from every land --- its noble streams, beautiful and picturesque hills and valleys, broad and fertile prairies extending as far as the eye could reach, with soil surpassing in richness anything which they had ever seen. It is not to be wondered at that immigration into Iowa was rapid and within less than a decade from the organization of the territory, it contained a hundred and fifty thousand people. STATE ORGANIZATION From 1838 to 1845, Iowa remained a separate Territory, during which time the office of Governor was held by Robert Lucas, John Chambers, and James Clarke. Congress made provision by an act approved March 3, 1845, for its admission into the Union as a State, with boundaries at variance with those established. By this act, the State was to extend north to the parallel of latitude passing through Mankato, or Blue Earth River, in the present State of Minnesota, and went to the meridian of 17° 30' west from Washington. This boundary would have made the state very long and narrow, extending it away up north, and depriving it of the Missouri slope and the boundary of that river on the west, so that, instead of being the well shaped state that it is, with the two grand rivers of the continent flowing on wither side of it, it would have been ill shaped, and had another territory lying between it and the Missouri. The boundaries, however, were not settled in that way. In October, 1844, a Constitutional Convention had been held in Iowa City, and a Constitution framed, which embraced boundaries taking in much of the southern portion of Minnesota. The people of the territory disapproved of the reduction of these boundaries by Congress, and at an election held August 4, 1845, rejected the Constitution. The vote stood 7,235 for, and 7,656 against it. In 1846, Congress proposed the present boundary lines, and another Constitutional Convention met at Iowa City on the 4th of May of that year. A session of fifteen days resulted in the framing of a Constitution which was sanctioned by the people at an election held August 3, 1846. The popular vote this time was 9,492 for, and 9,036 against the Constitution. This Constitution was agreed to by Congress, and on the 28th of December of the same year, Iowa was admitted into the Union as a sovereign State. On the 26th of October preceding, the first election had been held for state offices, when Ansel Briggs was elected Governor; Elisha Cutler Jr., Secretary of State; Joseph T. Fales, Auditor; and Morgan Reno, Treasurer. A third Constitutional Convention convened in Iowa City in January, 1857, and framed the present State Constitution, which was sanctioned by the people at an election held August 3, 1857, the popular vote being 40,311 for, and 38,681 against the Constitution. Under the new Constitution, all political power is inherent in the people, and all men are declared to be by nature free and equal. No law can be enacted respecting the establishment of religion, or interfering with the free exercise of the same. No person can be compelled to pay tithes, taxes or other rates to support any religious system in which he does not believe, and no religious test can be required as a qualification for holding any office of public trust, or for the exercise of any of the rights of citizenship. Every person is allowed to speak, write and publish his sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right, and no law can be passed restraining liberty of speech, or of the press. All foreigners who are residents of Iowa have the same rights in respect to the possession, enjoyment, and descent of property, as native born citizens. By legislative enactment, all distinction between citizens and resident and non- resident foreigners, in reference to acquisition, possession, and enjoyment of property, real and personal, by gift, devise, descent, or in any manner is abolished. Every male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years, not an idiot or insane person, or convicted of any infamous crime, who shall have been resident of this state six months, and of the county in which he claims his vote sixty days, next preceding the election, is entitled to vota at all elections authorized by law. By subsequent legislative enactment all distinction is abolished; no distinction is now made between husband and wife in the possession and enjoyment of property. One-third in value of all real estate of the husband, in case of his death, goes to the wife as her property, in fee-simple, if she survives him. The husband inherits one-third of the wife's real estate in the same way, in case he survives her. Each is entitled to the same right of dower in the estate of the other, and a like interest descends to their respective heirs. Neither the husband nor the wife is liable for the debts of the other incurred before marriage, nor is either liable for the separate debts of the other. Family expenses, including expenses incurred in the education of children, are chargeable upon the property of both husband and wife, or either of them, in relation thereto they may be sued jointly, or by the husband separately. Contracts may be made by the wife, and liabilities incurred, and the same enforced by or against her to the same extent and in the same manner as if she was unmarried. A married woman may sue and be sued without the husband being joined in the action, except in the case where the cause of action is common. If a husband, being a father, has deserted his family, the wife, being a mother, may defend in his name any action or suit which he might have prosecuted or defended, and has the same powers and rights therein which he might have had. Under the circumstances, the same right applies to the husband upon the desertion of the wife. LOCATION OF THE CAPITAL The first session of the Legislature, at Burlington, convened in a two-story frame house, built for the purpose by Jeremiah Smith, Jr., a member of the Council. During the Winter this building was destroyed by fire. The Legislature thereafter met in the Methodist Episcopal Church, known as "Old Zion Church." This Wisconsin Legislature further divided the two counties of Dubuque and Des Moines into sixteen, which included all the country in which the Indian title land had been extinguished. Among the first matters naturally to attract the attention of the new Iowa Legislature, was the erection of public buildings for the use of the territorial government, for which purpose Congress had in the organic act appropriated the sum of $20,000. Accordingly, on the 21st of January, 1839, two acts were passed appointing three commissioners, viz.,: Chauncey Swan, Robert Ralston, and John Ronalds, to select a site for a permanent seat of government within the limits of Johnson County. There they were to lay out 640 acres into a town to be called Iowa City, and to proceed to sell lots and erect public buildings thereon. A section of land having been granted by Congress for the purpose, a selection was presently made of lands just purchased of the Sac and Fox Indians, and which were that season surveyed. Here a town was laid out; the first sale of lots taking place on the 16th of August, 1839. A plan for the building had been designed by Mr. John F. Rague, the architect, a resident of Springfield, Ill. The Legislative Assembly, at its second session, passed an act requiring the commissioners having the work in charge to adopt such plan for the building that at the aggregate cost, when completed, should not exceed $51,000, and if they had already adopted a plan contemplating a greater expenditure, they were to set it aside. When the Legislature came together at Burlington, in July, 1840, Governor Lucas could say that on the fourth day of the same month he had been at Iowa City and found the basement of the capitol nearly completed. January 15, 1841, a bill authorizing a loan of $20,000 for the work was passed, the unsold lots at Iowa City to be given as security. Under this act $3,500 was obtained. On Monday, the 6th of December, 1841, the Fourth Legislative Assembly met at Iowa City. Here, as at Burlington, a temporary frame house had been erected for the use of the Legislature, which occupied it during the sessions of 1841 and 1842. At this session the Superintendent of Public Buildings who, with the Territorial Agent, had superseded the first commissioners, estimated the expense of completing the building at $33,330 and at $15,600 to complete rooms for the use of the Legislature. During the year 1842, the Superintendent began to get stone from a new quarry, about ten miles north-east of the city, where a fine bed of rock was found. This is now known as the "Old Capitol" quarry, and yet contains it is believed, an immense quantity of excellent building materials. From this source the remainder of the stone for the building was obtained. On the fifth day of December, 1842, the new capitol having been sufficiently completed, the Legislative Assembly convened in that building. At this session the Superintendent estimated that it would cost $39,143 to finish the house. This it will be observed, was higher, by nearly $6,000 than the previous estimate, notwithstanding a large expenditure meantime. This discrepancy may be accounted for by the fact that the officers in charge of the work were constantly cramped for means. Besides the appropriation of $20,000 by Congress, already mentioned, and loans of $5,500 obtained from the Miners' Bank of Dubuque, all the funds for the prosecution of the work were obtained from sales of lots, which went off very slowly, from certificates of indebtedness, and from scrip based upon unsold lots, to be received in payment for such lots when sold. At one time the Superintendent made a requisition for bills of iron and glass which could not be obtained short of St. Louis. To meet this the agent sold more lots for a draft payable at Pittsburgh, for which he had to pay twenty-five percent exchange. This draft, amounting to $507, that officer reported to be more than half the actual cash handled by him during a season when the disbursements were nearly $24,000. With such uncertainty as to means, accuracy in estimates could not be expected. Nevertheless, the work seems to have been prosecuted with prudence, and with all the expedition the circumstances would permit. Iowa was admitted into the Union December 28, 1846. At this time there were twenty-seven organized counties, with a population of nearly one hundred thousand, and settlements were pushing toward the Missouri River. At the first session of the State Legislature, the State Treasurer reported the capitol building in a very unprotected condition, subject to be injured by storm, and expressed the hope that the Legislature would make some provision to complete it at least sufficiently to protect it from the weather. The General Assembly responded to this appeal by voting the sum of $2,500 for the completion of the public buildings. The question of the western boundary of Iowa having been settled, a discussion arose in regard to the relocation of the capital; it being conceded Iowa City was too far to the eastward for the permanent seat of government. The first General assembly accordingly appointed commissioners to locate the seat of government, and to select five sections of land, being the amount granted by Congress for the erection of public buildings; and granted the unfinished edifice at Iowa City to the newly created State University, to be used, however, by the Legislature and state officers until other provisions were made. These commissioners forthwith entered upon their duties, and selected four sections and two half sections in Jasper County. Two of these sections are in what is now Des Moines Township, the remainder in Fairview Township. These lands are situated between Prairie City and Monroe, on the Keokuk and Des Moines Railroad, which runs diagonally through them. Here a town was platted , called Monroe City, and a sale of lots took place. Four hundred and fifteen were disposed of, at prices not strikingly remunerative. The cash payment, one fourth, yielded $1,797.43; while expenses of the sale, and the claim of the commissioners for services, exceeded this amount by $409.14. When the report of the commissioners, making this brilliant financial showing, had been read to the House of Representatives, and while it was under consideration, an indignant member, afterwards known as the eccentric Judge McFarland, moved to refer the report to a select committee of five, with instructions to report how much of said City of Monroe was under water, and how much was burned up. The report was referred without the instructions. The result was, Monroe City ceased to be the seat of government, and was forthwith vacated, the money paid for lots being mostly refunded to the purchasers. The same session, $3,000 more were appropriated for the building at Iowa City to complete the cupola, the offices of state, the Supreme Court room, etc. In 1850, $2,500 more was appropriated for completing the State House; in 1852 the further sum of $5,000; and finally in 1854, $4,000 more, making the whole cost about $123,000, partly paid by the General Government, and partly by the state, but mainly by the proceeds of the sale of lots at Iowa City. Meantime, the question of the permanent location of the seat of government had not been settled. In 1851, bills were introduced into the House of Representatives to remove the capital to Pella and to Fort Des Moines. That designating the latter place seemed to have support of a majority of the members, but was finally lost on ordering to a third reading. A bill was introduced into the Senate the following session, for removal to Fort Des Moines; this was barely defeated upon the final vote. The effort was resumed at the next session, and with success; and on the 15th of January, 1855, the Governor approved the bill re-locating the seat of government within two miles of the Raccoon fork of the Des Moines, and providing for the appointment of commissioners for that purpose. In accordance with this act, a site was selected in 1856, the land being given to the state by citizens and property-holders in Des Moines. An association of private individuals erected the building for a temporary capitol, leasing it at a nominal rent. Having been advised of the completion of this edifice, Governor Grimes, on the 19th of October, 1857, issued his proclamation declaring the City of Des Moines the capital of Iowa. The removal of the offices and archives was forthwith commenced, and continued through the Fall of that year. It was an undertaking of no small undertaking; not a mile of railroad was there to facilitate the work, and the season was an unusually disagreeable one. Rain, snow, and their accompaniments increased the difficulties; so that it was not until December that the last of the effects, the safe of the treasurer of the state, drawn on two bob-sleds, by ten yoke of oxen, entered the new capitol. It is not imprudent now to whisper that while on this passage, over hills and prairies, across the rivers, and through the bottom- lands and the timber, several of the safes belonging to the different departments, contained considerable quantities of money, most of it, however, individual funds. Thus Iowa City finally ceased to be the seat of government, after having witnessed the meetings of four legislatures of the territory, and six of the state, besides three constitutional conventions. On the 11th of January, 1858, the Seventh General Assembly convened at Des Moines, now made by the fundamental law the permanent seat of government. The state obtained title to the building by purchase in 1864. Its inadequacy for the purposes of its construction, however, has long been felt. The offices have become more and more crowded, and the legislative halls more and more meager. Accordingly, in 1870, the General Assembly, deeming the time had come for commencing work on a permanent edifice for the state government, took steps to that end by providing for the appointment of a board of commissioners, making an appropriation for a beginning. The Board of Commissioners consisted of the following persons: Gov. Samuel Merrill, President ex-officio (now governor Carpenter, the Governor of the state being by virtue of his office President of the Board); Grenville M. Dodge, Council Bluffs; James F. Wilson, Fairfield; James Dawson, Washington; Simon G. Stein, Muscatine; James O. Crosby, Garnavillo; Charles Dudley, Agency City; John N. Dewey, Des Moines; William M. Joy, Sioux City; Alexander R. Fulton, Des Moines, Secretary. The act provided that the building should be constructed of the best material, and should be fire-proof; should be heated and ventilated in the most approved manner; should contain suitable legislative halls, rooms for the judiciary, executive officers, library, committees, archives and collections of the State Agricultural Society, and for all purposes of the state government; and should be erected on the ground held by the state for that purpose. It provided that no contract should be made in the construction and furnishing of the building, the amount of which should bind the state beyond the sums at the time appropriated by law for such object. The initial sum appropriated was one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. A design was drawn, and plans and specifications furnished by Cochrane and Piquenard, architects, which was accepted by the Board; and on the 23rd of November, 1871, the corner-stone was laid with appropriate ceremonies. The work of construction has been carried on in a satisfactory manner, and at the present writing the basement and first story are nearly completed. It will be a structure worthy of the great State of Iowa, and will crown with architectural beauty a magnificent elevation in the midst of a landscape, which for natural scenery, is unsurpassed in the West. (See view of the Capitol, taken from the architect's drawing, in the frontispiece of this work.) GROWTH AND PROGRESS At the time of the organization of Wisconsin Territory, in 1836, the entire white population of that portion of the territory now embraced in the State of Iowa was 10,531. The territory then embraced two counties, Dubuque and Des Moines, which had been erected by act of the Territorial Legislature of Michigan, in 1834.the Legislature under Wisconsin Territory, from 1836 to 1838, increased the counties in the territory to sixteen, the population in the meantime increasing to 22,859. Since then the counties have increased to ninety-nine in number, while the state, according to the latest census returns (1875), contains a population of 1,350,000. This is a gain of about 100,000 over the census of 1873, when the total population was 1,251,333. Of the ninety-nine counties in the state, these figures include seventy-six, which, up to this date, have made reports to the Secretary of State, leaving twenty-three counties yet to hear from. The gain over 1873, in the counties having made returns, is in round numbers, 82,000, so that if the ration of increase is maintained in the remaining twenty-three counties, the gain will be over 116,000. The gains in the largest proportion have been made in t the newer counties of the north and northwest, the older ones in the eastern and southern portions of the state having in several instances barely held their own. Only three counties report a falling off in population, viz., Black Hawk, Johnson, and Emmet. The latter was one of the severely stricken by the grasshopper plague of 1874, and this decrease is readily accounted for, many of the people having been forced by successive disasters to leave its borders. In the case of Black Hawk and Johnson Counties, it is thought there must have been a mistake either in the last or previous enumeration. The most populous county in the state is Dubuque, 43,845, and the next is Scott, 39,736. For the sake of comparison, we subjoin the following table. Showing the population at different periods since the organization of Iowa Territory: Year. Population. Year. Population. 1838………………………………………...22,589 1856……………………………………..519,055 1840………………………………………...43,114 1859…………………………………..…638,775 1844…………………….…………………..75,152 1860……………………………..…….674,913 1846………………………...………………97,588 1863………………………………..….701,732 1847……………….……………………….116,651 1865………………………………..….754,699 1849………………………………………..152,988 1867………………………………..….902,040 1850………………………………………..191,982 1869……………………….…...1,040,819 1851………………………………...……204,774 1870……………………………………1,191,727 1852………………………………………..230,713 1873……………………………………1,251,333 1854………………………………………..326,013 1875……………………………………1,366,000 Not only in population has Iowa made rapid progress, but in everything contributing to the greatness of a state. In little more than two score of years this prairie wilderness has advanced from a savage condition to a highly civilized commonwealth, embracing all the elements of progress which characterize the older states of the Union. Thriving towns and cities dot its fair surface; more than three thousand miles of railroads are woven in an iron net-work over its broad acres; nine thousand school houses, in which five hundred thousand children are taught the rudiments of an education, testify to the liberal spirit and culture of people; high schools, colleges, and universities, are liberally endowed throughout the state; manufactories are spring up along the water courses, and in most cities and towns. From the sixteenth in rank, as an agricultural state, Iowa has advanced to the third in the Union; while in arts and commerce she holds a place of noble distinction. Whether regarded from the date of first settlement, or from the organization of the territory, or from her admission as a state into the Union, the first years of Iowa show a growth unsurpassed in any similar period by any commonwealth of which we have knowledge. And who shall predict the future? Who shall measure undeveloped possibilities? With her vast extent of rich soil, with millions of untouched acres awaiting the pioneer's plow, with treasures of mineral wealth stores away for coming generations, with a healthful and invigorating climate, an intelligent and liberty-loving people with liberal and just laws, free schools, religious and elemosynary institutions, the future of Iowa may well surpass the brighter anticipations of her present citizen. Looking abroad over our whole country, we can hardly realize the changes which have occurred since Iowa first began to be settled by Americans. Then the number of states was twenty-six, their total population about twenty millions. Democracy was comparatively an experiment, put upon trial. Our development in agricultural and mineral wealth had barely commenced. The star of empire had hardly started on its westward way. Much of the mighty Mississippi Valley, with its rich soils and mineral deposits, lay a wide wilderness, its abundant riches scarcely imagined. West of the great Mississippi River for thousands of miles was almost an unknown country. Less than a quarter of a century ago we had no Pacific Railroad --- no San Francisco. California, Nevada, Arizona, all these were Mexican Territory. Kansas and Nebraska were not organized. Neither science nor observation had detected their deposits of gold and silver. That now great railroad center of the West, Chicago, was just coming into public view. That vast mineral, grazing, and agricultural region traversed by the Union and Central Great Pacific Railroads, was noted by historians as the "Great American Desert," or the "Wild Cat Country," in which it would have been a misfortune to own land. Now thirty- seven states make up our beloved country. Forty millions of people press our soil --- people who, knowing their rights, dare maintain them. This great brotherhood extends from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico, and from Plymouth Rock, on the Atlantic coast, to the golden shores of the Pacific.