CHAPTER VI.

(Pictures included with chapter are:  Entrance to Oakdale Cemetery - General View of Davenport From The Rock Island Shore - Island Abutment, First Railroad Bridge - Willard Barrows - Buffalo Public School - Post Office Buffalo - Along the Driveway in Fejervary Park - Davenport From the Mississippi River - Early Home of J. M. D. Burrows - Residence of Dr. Barrows, 6th and Rock Island Streets - Old Fort Armstrong When First Built - North Side of Second Street, Between Brady and Perry Streets, Picture taken in 1858 - Davenport About 1862 - Home of Col. George Davenport - J. M. D. Burrows - Prospect Terrace - German Savings Bank - First National Bank - The Well, Central Park - Le Claire House - Pennsylvania House - Burtis House - Kemper Hall, Davenport - Father Pelamourgues - The Webb House - Old Methodist Church, 5th and Brady Streets - Fourteenth Street E. M. Church, On Site of St. John's M. E. Church - Old Trintiy Church, which stood at the corner of 5th and Rock Island Streets - Street View of Princeton - Pleasant Valley From Pope's Bluff, Looking East - Street Scene, Le Claire - Presbyterian Church, Le Claire - Main Street, Le Claire - Le Claire Depot - Long Grove - Christian Church, Long Grove - Blue Grass Savings Bank - Campbell's Hotel, Blue Grass - Keppy's Store, Donahue - Henry Klindt's Store, Maysville)

THE BARROWS HISTORY.

A HISTORY WRITTEN BY A PIONEER AT THE REQUEST OF OTHER PIONEERS - RECEIVED ON ITS APEARANCE WITH GREAT COMMENDATION - HIS OWN ESTIMATE OF THE GRAVITY OF HIS COMMISSION - SOME INCIDENTS WHICH HAVE BEEN NOTED SINCE THE BARROWS HISTORY WAS WRITTEN - BIOGRAPHY OF THE HISTORIAN - THE HISTORY ITSELF WITHOUT OMISSION, ERASURE OR COMMENT - A MONUMENTAL WORK.

Of all the counties of Iowa, Scott county is peculiarly fortunate in that its early history was written down while yet the incidents were fresh in the memories of those who had made that history by one who brought to that task every qualification necessary to the work, - Willard Barrows.  This gifted gentleman came to this region as a government surveyor, camped among the Indians and learned their language and traditions, entered into comradeship with the hardy pioneers in this outpost of civilization, here made his home and became one of Davenport's most beloved and honored citizens.  After the town had existed long enough to have "old settlers" an organization was formed among them and Willard Barrows, the scholarly pioneer, student, linguist and finished gentleman was requested to prepare a history of the county.  The work was to his taste and he entered thereon with enthusiasm.  The authentic, delightful and circumstantial record of pioneer days which is reproduced entire in this work was the result.

Barrows' History of Scott County appeared serially in the Davenport Gazette, beginning in the issue of June 30, 1859 and ending March 1, 1860.  The history was reprinted in the Annals of Iowa, the official organ of the Iowa State Historical society, the first installment appearing in the issue of January, 1863.  Other portions appear in subsequent issues of 1863 and 1864.  The author brought to date in this second publishing almost all paragraphs in which such editing was necessary.

VERIFICATION AND CORRECTION.

In the interim between these two printings of the history suggestions as to corrections of fact were invited by the author and all criticisms were investigated and correction made where necessary.  Owing to these circumstances this record of early days became well nigh perfect in narration, and was hailed with delight by all those interested in Scott county and in Iowa history.  The Gazette commented as follows in the issue of March 1, 1860.  "As a local history these sketches cannot be too highly estimated.  A great many interesting and even important facts which were fast psssing into oblivion have been placed on imperishable record.  The first tracings of civilization here have been mapped.  The early trials and struggles of the pioneers - the gradual gathering of strong hearts and vigorous forms from far distant places - the redeeming of prairie and wilderness - the opening of farms and the founding of villages - and the process of development from the home of the Indian to the home of a population of 26,000 people surrounded by all the elements of plenty, wealth,civilization and christianity are well depicted in this history of Scott county.  Our community owes a debt of gratitude to the author for his earnest and assiduous labors, opposed as they were at times by most perplexing obstacles in gathering the material for this book and presenting them to the public in so pleasant a form.  He does not claim perfection for the result, but we claim for him that he has done his duty well and faithfully and that he is probably the only competent man in the county who could or would have devoted so much time and labor, and without pecuniary reward to an enterprise in which he has no more personal or selfish interest than many other citizens.  His sketches have been read with great interest by old and new settlers, and at home and abroad."

OTHER COMMENTS.

A writer at Grinnell voiced an appreciation of Mr. Barrows as the historian of Scott county through his long residence, personal participation in many of the scenes and incidents and intimate acquaintance with all old settlers, the sources from which his information was taken.  This writer also notes Mr. Barrows' habits of close observation, peculiar taste for conducting researches, extending to the far past, and his ability to tell the results of his observation and investigation.

A Muscatine paper of later date speaks of Mr. Barrows as:  "One of Scott county's citizens, an old settler of whom the state is justly proud, who furnished the first and best county history."  The Iowa Religious New Letter, Dubuque, 1863, the only religious journal in the state at the time, adds its word, "Fortunate would it be for the state if every county could find so faithful and painstaking a historian."

HIS OWN ESTIMATE.

Light is thrown on Willard Barrows' estimate of the importance of his mission as historian and his devotion to this work which he considered a duty laid upon him by his fellow citizens by his response at the third annual festival of the Pioneer Settlers' association, February 22, 1860, to a toast, "The historian of Scott county, - his indefatigable research in the gathering of facts, statistics and incidents, and his untiring industry in combining them in the indelible record of types have created a living memory of the pioneer history of Scott county with which the name of the historian must ever be connected."  In responding Mr. Barrows said, in part:  "The crude and imperfect material which has been compiled may be of service to the future historian when the great valley of the Mississippi shall have put on her strength and beauty, when her vast plains shall be dotted over with the habitations of man, and the commerce of a great people be seen floating upon the bosom of our noble river.  It will be then, sir, that the living memories of the pioneers of Scott county will stand forth amid the splendor of coming ages and receive their just need of praise.

"To this glorious result we have all here tonight contributed.  Alike have we borne the heat and burden of a pioneer life.  It was you, pioneer fathers and mothers of Scott county, - it was you that first planted the seeds of this history.  It is you that make up this history.  It was you that covered up the last footprints of the Indian upon the soil of Scott county, and reared the altars of civilization upon the ruins of barbsrism.  As I look around me here, tonight, and behold the familiar faces of old and tried friends, how well do I remember the trials and conflicts of our early history.

"The material, sir, for the future historian of Iowa will be rich and abundant, and although we cannot point to a Mt. Nebo, a Lebanon or a Zion, or to rivers made sacred by the presence of patriarchs and prophets, yet we have our own lovely plains with their Eden-like beauty, and the deep rolling Mississippi for our Ganges, our Euphrates and our Nile.  We have no Plymouth Rock made memorable by the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, no battlefields upon which the proud monument rears its lofty head.  But we can stand upon our own native bluffs and contemplate with wonder and admiration the never tiring waves of that mighty river whose tributaries drain a country greater in extent than the empire of Alexander, and which bears upon its bosom a commerce greater than that of all the rivers tributary to Imperial Rome.

THE GLORY OF THE WEST.

"Think you, sir, that the 'rock-bound coast' of New England should become more memorable by the footprints of the Pilgrims than the landing of Marquette and Joliet, 186 years ago upon the soil of Scott county?  Were the scenes enacted in Plymouth harbor more thrilling or important in their results than the discover of the Mississippi valley?  Should the rock that was immortalized by having been pressed by the Pilgrims' feet have cast around it a greater halo of glory than the presence of these pioneers upon the very ground upon which we this night celebrate?  For we believe it was here that the village of Pewaria stood when Marquette and Joliet first landed among the tribes of the Illini.

"Yes, Mr. President, Scott county has a history, avaried and a thrilling one, and for me to feel that I have aided even by my feeble efforts in handing its records down to posterity is requital enough for all the labor bestowed by me."

Across the gulf of fifty years the thoughts of the present dwellers in Scott county may well go back in grateful appreciation to this fine old writer of an early day who made certain the record of events of pioneer times and laid the foundations for the love of Scott county and pride in Scott county, imperishable in all who know its splendid history.

It is remarkable that in only one particular has the verity of the Barrows history been seriously called in question.  In his admirable history of Davis county Captain Hosea B. Horn speaks of Mr. Barrows locating the grave of Black Hawk in Wapllo county as an error, claiming that it was over the line in Davis county and citing proof from those living near - proof that seems indisputable.  This historian gives the name of the doctor who took Black Hawk's bones from his grave as Turner and his residence as Lixington, Van Buren county.

Since the printing of the Barrows history many items of early days have come to the surface.  It is probable that he knew of many of these but felt the limitations put upon him by his publishers.  He resisted the temptation to go too far afield and widen the scope of his work into a state history.  He makes mention of the neighboring county of Muscatine because the early settlers of Muscatine county had much to do with those of Scott county.   Montpelier, at the mouth of Pine creek, was the first postoffice in that county and letters were directed to Iowa postoffice, Black Hawk purchase, Wisconsin territory.  Benjamin Nye landed at the "Mouth of Pine" in 1834, had a store and owned the town with Major Gordon.  Muscatine had a variety of early names, Kasey, Newburg, Bloomington and then Musquitine, the spelling given by Stephen Whicher who wrote the petition upon which Judge Grant made the change of name.  Fairport was originally called Salem, and was laid out in 1836 by Alfred Lyon & Co. 

The William Gordon who is mentioned as one of the proprietors of Iowa, the town also known as Mouth of pine, was one of the incorporators of Davenport.  He left St. Louis in 1843 on an expedition up the Mississippi river and nothing definite was afterwards learned of him.  There were rumors that he had been seen in California.  Gordon was a Tenneseean, son of Capt. Gordon who commanded a company of scouts under General Jackson in the Creek war.  He was liberally educated and had represented the American Fur Company in the Rocky mountains.  He was about fifty years of age when he disappeared.  Gordon was an elegant and engaging conversationalist, spicy, original and humorous.  He lived in a house near the present site of the Lorenzen building.  The dash of eccentricity in his makeup was shown in his never sleeping in a bed, but lay even when ill on buffalo robes spread on the floor with his feet to the fire.  His love for women in general brought him into difficulties.  Once he was knocked down with a club and stabbed by an irate husband and did not recover for months.

A FUTURE STATE CAPITAL.

The town of Iowa caught the fancy of Lieutenant Albert M. Lea, who investigated the Black Hawk purchase for the government and published a map with notes in 1836 the date that Davenport was incorporated.  He must have made investments there for early issues of Andrew Logan's Iowa Sun show display advertising of Albert Lea, offering lots in this coming metropolis of the West.  In his map Lieutenant Lea extols in extravagant phrase the prospects of this small settlement:  "This will be the point of deposit for the trade of the country included between the Iowa, Wabesapineca and Mississippi, and for the disembarkation of emigrants for that reason.  Should the seat of the future government of Iowa be located on the Mississippi, it will probably be fixed at Iowa, owing to the central position and commercial advantage of the place, and if it be located in the interior, it must be near the Iowa river, as the weight of population will be there, and then the town of Iowa will be the nearest port on the Mississippi to the capital of the state."  The prophetic lieutenant liked Buffalo and Clark's ferry, and allowed that with a better bank for landing a ferry boat Buffalo would run a great race with Iowa for the location of the metropolis.

Lieutenant Lea cast a jaundiced horoscope for Davenport, just struggling for a place on the map.  He calls it a town "just laid out on a reserve belonging to Antoine LeClaire.  It is nearly opposite to the lower end of Rock Island, about 350 miles from St. Louis by river, and situated on high ground with a beautiful range of sloping hills running in the rear of it.  The town of Stephenson, the mouth of Rock river, the picturesque works on Rock Island and LeClaire's house and plantation are all within full view of this point.  Its situation is certainly delightful, as far as beauty and health are concerned; but there is doubt as to convenience in landing.  Its position near the foot of the rapids where navigation is much obstructed will cause it to be resorted to as a place of shipment both for persons and freight.  Water power, building stone and bituminous coal are convenient and abundance of excellent timber is to be found on the hills and creeks of the vicinity.

"The town has been laid out on a liberal scale with a view to its becoming a large city.  Three public squares have been reserved from sale, one of which it is supposed by the proprietors will be occupied by the publice buildings of the future state of Iowa; for they confidently predict that the seat of government of this forthcoming commonwealth will be no other than the city of Davenport itself.  Nous verrons."

If Albert Lea kept his eye on Davenport for a few years he saw this city the capital of the territory of Iowa, at least when Governor Conway came to town.  But that is another story to be taken up in a later chapter.

This same traveler, Lieutenant Lea, made sage opinion that all Parkhurst needed was people and houses to be quite a town.  There were neither there when he saw the location of the handsome settlement at the upper end of the rapids now called LeClaire.

SUEL FOSTER'S PEDESTRIAN TRIP.

Suel Foster, for many years an honored resident of Muscatine wrote this story of early days when every acre of Iowa soil fronting on the Mississippi was considered by somebody an appropriate and probable site for the state capitol.  "In April, 1836, I was living at Rock Island, Illinois.  In May the town of Davenport was laid out on government land, joining on the west of LeClaire's reserve.  In June of that year I took a short journey in the Black Hawk purchase, as it was then called.  I do not think the name of Iowa had been given to it then, for it was the new western wild district of Michigan territory.  I passed thiry miles down the west bank of the Mississippi river, a beautiful, flat limestone shore most of the way, and I have never found any part of the West so prolific of town sites.  I had to pick my way along among town lot stakes much of the way.

"The first town was Davenport; the second, four miles, Rockingham; the third, one mile, Monte Video; the fourth, five miles, New Buffalo; the fifth, six miles, Iowa.  This town was laid out by Captain Robert E. Lee and William Gordon, (the same Lee afterwards the great Rebel general).  The sixth, one mile was Montpelier; the seventh, four miles, Salem; the eighth, one mile, Wyoming; the ninth, four miles, Geneva; the tenth, three miles, Bloomington; the eleventh, half a mile, Newburgh.  At that time Stephen T. Mason was governor of our Michigan territory.  We had no counties.

"I recollect the names of several of the mayors of these cities - Antoine Le Claire, of Davenport; John H. Sullivan, of Rockingham; Capt. Benjamin Clark of New Buffalo; Capt. Robert E. Lee, of Iowa.  He was absent at that time, surveying the route of the great river, United States engineer, which river has flowed ever since in the old channel which Lee marked out.  The mayor of Montpelier was Benjamin Nye; Salem, James and William Chambers; Wyoming, Samuel Collier; Geneva, Dr. Eli Reynolds; Bloomington, now Muscatine, John Vanater; Newburgh, G. W. Kasey.  All the intermediate cities between Davenport and Muscatine are now (1885) in the suburbs of these two cities."

Mr. Foster purchased a claim in Muscatine and the deed showed the style of description necessary in transferring realty before government surveys were made.  John Vanater's cabin was made the point of departure and measure in describing the 160-acre claim purchased.

THE NAMING OF DAVENPORT.

To Mr. Barrows' statement that the city of Davenport was named for Col. George Davenport is added the testimony of Rev. Elnathan Gavit, who preached the first sermon in this city back in 1837, it having come to Mr. Gavit's notice that in the New York campaign of 1885, the candidate for governor, Ira L. Davenport was spoken of in the eastern press as the son of Ira Davenport who "had invested in Iowa lands when that state was in its infancy, and the town of Davenport owed its name to this fact," a letter was written covering the subject.  Mr. Gavit says:  "As a minister of the Methodist church and a member of the Ohio conference and as a missionary to the Northwestern territory I landed with my family and in company with Captain Stanton Sholes and his family upon Rock island in the spring of 1835, and by the kindness of Colonel George Davenport we secured a log house in which we lived until we were enabled to provide a home of our own.  Mr. Sholes, my brother-in-law, having purchased an interest in the town of Davenport, in company with myself, we erected the first frame house in that place, which is still standing (1885) not far from the margin of the river.  In this house I preached the first sermon, formed the first class, and established the first Sabbath school, and married the first couple in what is now the beautiful and flourishing city of Davenport, and have some knowledge of the early commencement of this place, and for whom it was named.  I have no misgivings in stating that the town of Davenport in the state of Iowa was named for Colonel George Davenport, of Rock Island, and for no other person or family by the name of Davenport, east or west, north or south, living or dead, politically, religiously or otherwise.  I not only have this testimony in person from Colonel George Davenport himself but also from Mr. A. LeClaire, the earliest proprietor of this village, and that he himself suggested the name in honor of his personal friend, Colonel Davenport, and that his influence and popularity at home and abroad, and especially in St. Louis, would contribute largely to the sale of lots and increase the popularity of the place, which was not only a compliment to Mr. George Davenport, but was a wise conclusion, financially."

Two years later this pioneer clergyman paid a visit to Davenport and told of his appointment by the Ohio conference to labor among the Sacs and Foxes in a circuit which embraced everything between the Missouri state line and St. Anthony's falls.  From his log cabin home on Rock island nothing of civilization was to be seen on the Iowa shore except the small house of Antoine LeClaire.  Mr. Gavit traveled his extensive circuit on horseback carrying food in his saddlebags and bivouacking at night on the prairie, seeking people to whom he could preach the scriptures.  When he reached his Davenport home he preached to the soldiers at Fort Armstrong, Captain Zachary Taylor and Colonel Davenport being in his congregation.  He was on friendly terms with Black Hawk and Keokuk.  While the family resided here their little boy, aged four years died and was buried in the cemetery at the fort.

DAVENPORT ENTERTAINS A BISHOP.

It was in 1837 that the Episcopalians of this vicinity entertained Bishop Chase upon his first episcopal visitation.  His notes have been preserved and tell the story of his coming and going with some heartfelt hopes for the spiritual health of this budding community:  "July 13, 1837,-Came to that most pleasantly situated and rising village, Stephenson.  Was recrivrd most kindly by good Mr. Brackett.  July 14,-visited a sick man, and in the evening, preached in the school house.  July 15,-again visited the sick and at 3 o'clock crossed the river Mississippi and preached in the village of Davenport, which is in the Wisconsin territory.  Returned to Stephenson.  July 16,-3 p. m., crossed the Mississippi and preached in the Wisconsin territory.  Same night returned to Stephenson.  Found a letter of invitation to preach at Rockingham in the W. T.  July 17,-crossed over the third time the river justly called the 'Father of Waters.'  Rode down its banks to R., that rapidly growing place to which I had been so kindly invited, where I preached in the afternoon.  In reflecting on these three villages-Stephenson, Davenport, and Rockingham-my mind is deeply impressed with their importance and peculiar advantages.  And why may not religion be among the blessings which they enjoy?  When men for worldly interest flock together, as they do in these places, should not true Christians go with them to promote their eternal welfare?  Let pass a few years, and all the busy, bustling first settlers of these beautiful places will be in their graves.  And what will be the character and destiny of those who occupy their places if nothing more be done than now appears to form their manners and their hearts anew?  July 18,-I was conveyed across the Mississippi and up to the mouth of Rock river by the exertions and kind assistance of Dr. Barrows and other gentlemen of Rockingham.  The same friends also attended me for some distance on land till put on a trail leading to home, thence bearing southeast, distant sixty miles."

FIRST DEATH IN DAVENPORT.

Mr. Barrows speaks of the death of Mrs. Tannehill in 1836 as the first to occur in the village of Davenport.  It is not a matter of particular importance and probably he was right, but another writer tells of a death which preceded the one given precedence by Mr. Barrows.  It was the demise from typhoid fever of an Indianian who bivouacked in his hooded wagon near Fifth and Perry streets while he was doing some breaking for Antoine LeClaire near where the Macaroni plant is now situated.  When the kind and hospitable folks of the little settlement learned of his condition, he was taken to a log cabin near Second and Scott streets and cared for until he died.  Rough boards were nailed together for a coffin and he was buried on the edge of the city, where  the first burial ground thus begun was located - near Sixth and Main streets.  Here in the midst of the city he rests, his grave unmarked, his name forgotten, even his existence uncertain.

A SUMMER RESORT.

The LeClaire house built in 1839 and demolished in the spring of 1910 was the scene of much of the history that Mr. Barrows wrote.  In its palmy days it was the finest hotel in the Mississippi Valley and attracted guests from the south.  A correspondent of the New Orleans Delta writes in the '40s, "The LeClaire house is a great resort for the people of St. Louis to spend three or four months in hunting and fishing.  The prairie grouse which is as large as a common hen affords the finest opportunity for the exercise of the gun.  Your humble contributor bagged twenty-five in one afternoon, shooting one at a time on the wing."

UNIQUE CELEBRATION.

In 1840 this little settlement of a few hundred ambitious and impulsive souls was visited by a Chicago newspaper man who enjoyed himself and wrote something for his paper which was reprinted in the Sun of October 24, 1840.  "We venture to say that the LeClaire house, whether we consider the outward structure or the internal finish, or even furniture, has no equal in this state,  Missouri or the territories.  It was named after Mr. LeClaire, a celebrated Indian trader who had done much with another trader whose name the town bears, for the growth and beauty of the place.  The Iowa Sun is published here.  We had but very little time to take any notes of Davenport, being attracted across the river by its splendid illumination in honor of being chosen the seat of justice for Scott county, and being compelled to leave early the next morning.  But our short stay was a very pleasurable one, as we found all the youth and beauty of the place congregated at the LeClaire house at a social ball, where we found an old friend, Judge Williams, as ready to play or dance as ever, and Messrs. Parker, of Scott, Walworth, of Cedar, and Murray of Clinton, all canvassing for a seat in the legislature.  We also found there Colonels Dodge and Brophy, late of the Patriot army, and one who also deserves an honorable mention, the generous and enterprising LeClaire.  Between so many ladies educated with all the refinements of our eastern and southern cities it would be invidious to individualize.  But aggregately we will say of a company of some seventy-five ladies that no town of the size of Davenport in the Union can produce their superiors whether we speak of their mental or external accomplishments.  And hereafter when we hear of a settler of Iowa passing by Davenport when in search of a wife, whether under the pretense of grace, beauty, intelligence or even wealth, we shall believe him acting from necessity and without honor to his own country."

It is not remarkable that the gallant newspaper man swayed by feminine "external accomplishments" should have been previously impressed by the illumination over the county seat matter, for it is a reminiscence of the oldest settlers that it was a unique demonstration.  One citizen seldom praised for generosity set fire to his own hay stacks under the influence of excitement and danced round them while they expressed his pleasure over the result of the election.  Another number in the impromptu program of illumination was the atacking of combustibles on a large shed which being scooted around on the sand of the river front by means of long ropes so fascinated and bewildered the citizens of Stephenson that the river was dotted with skiffs bearing the curious citizens of the sister town who came across to see not only what it was all about but also how in the world it was done.

ROYALTY VISITS THE CITY.

Mr. Barrows mentions the stay of Prince DeJoinville and his suite at the LeClaire house in 1841.  When that nobleman returned to France he printed a volume of American travels which were unusual in interest.  When the company were here they told of the cupidity of the hotel keeper in Galena, the Illinois metropolis, who charged up a list of extras which made the distinguished travelers feel that this section was strictly abreast with the hotels of continental Europe.  One item was $3, for the use of the hotel piano for one tune, played with indifferent success.

THE FIRST DUEL ON IOWA SOIL.

In an autobiography of Andrew W. Griffith, of Keokuk, written in 1882, and unpublished, hitherto in 1882, appeared the following account of a duel, probably the first on Iowa soil, of which he was an eye witness:

"During my stay in Davenport I witnessed the only duel ever fought in Iowa.  There were two young men from Philadelphia rusticating between Rock Island and Davenport, a Mr. Charles Hegner and a Mr. Sperry.  He, Sperry, was a West Pointer out rusticating.  Hegner was a son of a wealthy liquor merchant of Philadelphia, had plenty of money and good clothes.  There were also two other fine looking gentlemen wintering alternately between Davenport and Rock Island by the name of John Finch and a Mr. Ralston.  Finch taught writing school and Ralston was a gentleman of leisure.  They all met at a party at the old Rock Island House in the town of Rock Island.  The difficulty grew out of Mr. Hegner's and Mr. Ralston's being engaged to dance the same set with a young lady by the name of Sophia Fisher.  Mr. Ralston held the fort and Hegner challenged him to fight a duel.  Ralston accepted and selected pistols at twenty paces, the battle to be fought on Iowa soil on the bank of the father of waters one mile below what was then the town of Davenport, but now in the city, at sunrise the second morning following the challenge.  Mr. Ralston selected Flinch for his second and Mr. Hegner selected Sperry; Dr. Craig of Rock Island, surgeon.  Jack Evans, of Davenport, and myself being anxious to see the fun, were on the ground at sunrise, found the combatants on the ground, thirsting for blood.  They took their positions, when Mr. Ralston offered a compromise, but nothing but blood would satisfy Mr. Hegner.  Mr. Ralston then replied:  'D___n you, I will not kill you but I will wing you.'  The word was given and both fired.  Hegner was shot in the right arm and Ralston was not touched.  The surgeon dressed the wound, the duelists shook hands and all went up to the LeClaire House and took a drink.  Then the fun commenced with the officers of the law.  They got after them for fighting on Iowa soil.  The combatants flew across the river.  There the officers go after them for passing a challenge.  Finally they run them out of the country.  The truth as to the trouble between the two belligerents was that Mr. Ralston was a little better poker player than Hegner.  John Finch is now living in Dallas, Illinois.  Mr. Ralston is dead.   The other two I have lost track of."

NEWHALL'S IMMIGRANT PICTURE.

The rush of immigration to the Black Hawk purchase described by Mr. Barrows might be illustrated by an extract from a little work called "A Glimpse of Iowa in 1846, or the Emigrant's Guide," written by J. B. Newhall, an early writer who did much to attract settlers to this state.  These paragrpahs are his:

"The writer of these lines having frequent occasion to traverse the great thoroughfares of Illinois and Indiana in the years of 1836 and 1837, the roads would be literally lined with the long, blue wagons of the emigrants, slowly wending their way over the broad prairies, the cattle and horsemen and dogs, and frequently men and women forming the rear of the van, often ten, twenty, thirty  wagons in company.  Ask them where their destination was, and they would reply, the Black Hawk Purchase.  I well remember on a beautiful autumnal evening in 1836 crossing the military tract in Illinois.  The last rays of the sun were gilding the tree tops and shedding their mellow tints upon the fleecy clouds, as my horse turned the sharp angle of a neighboring ticket.  Here I encountered a settler camped for the night.  How little do the trans-Alleghanians know of such a scene.  I'll try to give them the picture, not coleur de rose, but from life, breathing and real.

"The old lady had just built her campfire, and was busily engaged in frying prairie chickens which the unerring rifle of her boy had brought to the ground.  One of the girls, was milking a brindle cow, and that tall girl yonder with swarthy arms and yellow sunbonnet is nailing the coffee mill on the side of a scrub oak which the little boy had blazed out with his hatchet.  There sat the old man on a log, quietly shaving himself by a six-penny looking glass which he had tacked to a neighboring tree.  And yonder old decrepit man, sitting on the low, rush-bottomed chair, is the aged grandsire of all; better than his bones be left by the wayside than that he be left among strangers.  He sits quietly smoking his pipe with all the serenity of a patriarch - apparently as ready to shuffle off this mortal coil that night as to sit down to his prairie chicken supper.  What a picturesque group for the pencil of a painter; yet these are the scenes that we frequently witness in the far West.  This is emigrating.  'Tis not going away from home.  The home was there, that night, with the settlers on Camp creek, under the broad canopy of heaven, by that gurgling brook where the cattle browsed, the dogs barked, and the children quietly slumbered."

In this way Scott county was settled, and of these people Willard Barrows wrote.

BIOGRAPHY OF WILLARD BARROWS.

In the intial issue of the Annals of Iowa appeared as a preface and introduction to the history a memoir by the editor which will serve to introduce to present day readers this author of the days of early Iowa.  The memoir reads:

"Willard Barrows, Esq., the writer of the following history, was born at Munson, Mass., in 1806.  He received a thorough education in the common schools and academies of New England.  In 1827 he settled in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, where he taught school for several years; and was married in 1832.  Selecting the pursuit of engineering and surveying he engaged in a contract with the government to finish the surveys of the Choctaw Indian purchase, in the cypress swamps and cane brakes on the Yazoo and Sunflower rivers, in the region where the northwestern army and navy of the United States have lately operated.  By the sudden rise of the Mississippi river which overflowed all the country except rhe ridges his party was cut off from all inhabitants and supplies during the winter of 1836-7, reducing them to short allowance and even to the fruit of the persimmon tree and the flesh of the opossum for food.  All other animals fled except that a hawk or an owl was occasionally killed.  About the 1st of March the flood so far subsided that they went by canoes to Vicksburg and Natchez, and he proceeded to Jackson, Miss., to report there to the surveyor general.

"In 1837 he was occupied in the first surveys of Iowa by the government and spent the winter on the Wapsipinicon river.  And in July, 1838, he settled with his family in Rockingham, five miles below Davenport.

"In 1840 Mr. Barrows surveyed the islands of the Mississippi from the mouth of the Rock river to Quincy, Ill.  In 1841-2 the public surveys being suspended he engaged in farming, and held the offices of justice of the peace, of postmaster and notary public at Rockingham, in which he continued until 1843 when he entered upon the survey of the Kickapoo country north of the Wisconsin river.  There the Winnebago Indians stole the provisions of the party, and he was compelled to go to Prairie du Chien for supplies.  On his return his way was obstructed by prostrate timber hurled in every direction by a terrific tornado through which with the help of indolent Indians he was able to cut a passage only two and one-half miles in two days.  Forced to send his provisions up the Kickapoo by the Indians in canoes, he followed on by land till they were past the track of the whirlwind.  The supplies were landed and the Indians dismissed.  He then carried the provisions a half mile and concealed them.  The next day, early, he took a bag of flour and a little pork on a single pack-horse and hastened to relieve his men as fast as he could through the wilderness over the 'Sugar Loaves of Wisconsin' as the region is called where Col. 'Atkinson, in 1832, in pursuit of Black Hawk and his Indian warriors was obliged to leave his wagons and baggage with the loss of many horses.  On the fourth day he came upon one starving man of his party, and after refreshing him he pressed on to the camp where the rest, neglecting to rescue themselves when they were able, and supposing him to be murdered by the Indians were sunken in despair.  Cheered by his arrival and strengthened with food, they all started for the depot of provisions on the Kickapoo, and reached the place to find them all stolen again by the Indians.  The only means of saving their lives, then, was to ascend the Kickapoo to a ford and thence go to Prairie du Chien.  On the third day after they reached a settlement where they stayed a week and recruited, and when arrived at Prairie du Chien they found many articles of their clothing in the liquor shops that the Root Indians had stolen and sold.  Their horses had previously been scattered during the tornado, so that the party had been compelled to eat their two dogs, at the camp, making soup of the bones and nettles, and boiling part of their harness for food instead of horse flesh.

"Afterward Mr. Barrows traversed northern Iowa, then in possession of the Indian tribes with a view to a knowledge of the region.  He visited the mission school then at Fort Atkinson, where he got a passport over that section of the country from Rev. Mr. Lowrey, then in charge of the mission.

"'Barrows' New Map of Iowa, with Notes,' was published in 1854 by Doolittle & Munson, Cincinnati, and it was considered of so much importance that the legislature of Iowa ordered copies of it for the members of both houses and also for the state officers.  This work together with letters published in the Davenport Democrat from California whither he went in 1850 by the overland route, enduring almost incredible hardships and returning by Mexico and Cuba, and also some communications for the press of a scientific character constitute along with the hisotry that here follows the chief literary productions of Mr. Barrows, all descriptive of new parts of our country. 

"At intervals Mr. Barrows has turned his attention to land business with success.  His suburban residence and grounds are conspicuous to every person passing in the cars southwest of Davenport where he enjoys the fruits of his past activity and enterprise.

"In person, as in indicated by his protrait in this number, Mr. Barrows is full and portly.  In manners he is courteous and genial.  As a Christian, 'the highest style of man,' he is charitble and discreet.  And, to use the words of the author of 'Davenport, Past and Present' to which the reader is referred for fuller particulars and from which these are drawn, 'may many years yet be his protion, as happy and pleasant as his early life has been laborious and active.'"

BARROW'S HISTORY OF SCOTT COUNTY.

INTRODUCTION.

In compliance with a formal request of the curators of the State Historical society I have undertaken the task of writing a full history of Scott county, Iowa, or more particularly facts and incidents connected with its early history.  A residence of twenty-five years in this county has given me an opportunity for observation and a knowledge of the proper sources from which to obtain information.

Much care has been taken to gather information from the early settlers of the county, and a hearty response has come up from some parts.  In many instances difference of opinion has arisen as to dates and circumstances.  In such cased I have generally taken the decision of the majority.

It might be supposed that our existence as a county is so brief, not twenty-eight years, that the incidents connected with its settlement and growth would be fresh in the minds of all.  Such may be the case with much of our history, while some important facts are lost.  The early settler seldom finds time, if he has the ability to record passing events, save in the memory.  The unparalleled rapidity with which the west has marched forward to greatness and power is a sufficient excuse for the pioneer historian, when he fails through want of facts, to give a full and perfect account of his first struggles.  The early emigrant to a new country finds that all his time and energies are required to provide even for the necessaries of life; the rude cabin must be raised, for a temporary abode at least, the virgin soil must be broken up and fenced, and numberless little requisites for the comfort of himself or family crowd upon his attention, so that the new beginner is most emphatically his own "hewer of wood and drawer of water."

In collection the material for this work the author has often been doubly repaid for his labor in the pleasant meetings he has had with many an "old settler," from whom the whirl and bustle of life has separated him for years.  Such reunions are sweet and profitable, and these hardy sons of toil, meeting after many years of separation like old soldiers retire to some shady nook,  there recount the scenes through which they have passed and "fight their battles o'er again."  Although the trials and hardships of the pioneers of Scott county may not compare with the early settlement of Kentucky, Ohio, or some other western states, yet there are many incidents connected with its early history that are worthy of record and should be gathered before they pass beyond our reach.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL REMARKS.

The county of Scott, being situated on the Mississippi river and having a water front of some thirty-five miles upon its south and eastern boundary, has many natural advantages not found in more inland counties.  Upon the north it is bounded by the Wau-bessa-pinnecon Se-po, which in Indian language signifies "the place of white potatoes."  The name is derived from the two Indian words "Waubessa," white or swan-like, and "Pinneac," a potato, Sepo being the Indian name for river.  The river was probably so named from the fact of great quantities of the wild artichoke being found in that region.

This stream is some ten or twelve rods wide with a swift, clear current and its banks generally skirted with timber.  Its bottom lands are from a half to a mile or two wide and are subject to annual overflow, affording great pasturage for stock, not being in general dry enough for cultivation.  The western boundary of the county is upon rich, rolling prairie extending along the fifth principal meridian, separating it from the counties of Cedar and Muscatine.

There is much in the early history of this country to interest and excite the antiquarian and lover of research.  Long before the discovery of the Great River by Marquette and Joliet on the 17th of June, 1673, tradition tells us that the spot of ground now occupied by the city of Davenport was a large and populous Indian village.  There can be but little doubt from the history of those early pioneers that it was here that they first landed in their voyage down the Mississippi after they entered it from the mouth of the Wisconsin on the 17th of June.

The first landing made by them on record was on the 21st, four days after they entered the Mississippi, and was upon the western bank, where say they:  "We discovered footprints of some fellow mortals, and a little path (trail) leading into a pleasant meadow."  Following the trail a short distance, they heard the savages talking, and "making their presence known by a loud cry," they were led to the village of the "Illinies."

There could not have been sufficient time between the 17th and the 21st for the voyagers to have descended beyond this point or to have reached the lower or Des Moines rapids, which some historians claim to have been the landing place spoken of.  There having been an Indian village here from time immemorial, according to Indian tradition, fixes the fact most conclusively that it was at this place, Davenport, that the soil of Iowa was first pressed by the foot of a white man.  The legends of the Indians are full of historic lore pertaining to this beautiful spot comprising Davenport, Rock Island and their surroundings.

Black Hawk was ever ready to tell of the traditions of his people, and often dwelt with much interest and excitement on the traditions of his fathers.  He says they came from Gitche Gammee, "the big water," Lake Superior, and Indians that are yet living say that the home of their fathers was at Saukie creek that empties into Lake Superior, and that as they traveled westward they encountered foes whom they fought and conquered, and that in turn they were conquered by their enemies, and tribe fought tribe for possession of the land; until they reached the great river, the Massa-Sepo, which signifies "The Father of Rivers."

The tradition of the Saukies, who have always lived upon the prairies, is that their name means 'Man of the prairie," or Prairie Indian.

They also aver that their friends, the Musquakies, which signifies "Foxes," were a sly and cunning people and united with them for strength to fight their enemies, the tribes of the Kickapoo and Illini, and that they have ever lived in peace as one tribe and one people.

These were the Indians in possession of the country when the United States assumed jurisdiction over it and of whom it was purchased.

There were many traces of the aborigines existing when the first settlers came to Iowa.  Several Indian mounds or burial places of quite large dimensions were still used by wandering tribes of Indians as late as 1835 and 1836 situated on the banks of the river about two miles below this city, where was formerly the farm of the Hon. E. Cook.  Indian graves have been foung in excavations about this city, and relics of ancient date discovered, showing that this spot has been the home of the red man for centuries, and corroborating the testimony of Black Hawlk and others as to the traditions of thier fathers.

The scenery presented in ascending the Mississippi, taking in the whole view from the point of the bluff below Rockingham as far up as Hampton, on the Illinois shore, is one of unexcelled beauty and loveliness.  Its islands dotting the broad expanse of waters, the secnery of the bluffs upon the Iowa side, and Rock island with old Fort Armstrong, have been admired and more sketches taken of this panoramic view by home and foreign artists than any other portion of the Mississippi valley.

Of the early history of Scott county we have a most vivid and truthful history compiled from living witesses.

At the close of the Black Hawk war in 1832, there were no settlers upon this side of the river.  The purchase from the Sac (or Saukie) and Fox tribe of Indians of the soil of Scott county was made, in common with that of all the river counties on the 15th of September, 1832, upon the ground now occupied by the depot buildings of the Mississippi and Missouri R. R. Company in this city.  The treaty was held by Gen. Scott.

The cholera was raging among the troops at Fort Armstrong at the time and for prudential reasons it was thought best to meet the Indians upon this side of the river.

In this sale the Indians reserved a section, (640 acres) and presented it to Antoine LeClaire, Esq., their interpreter.  This reserve was located upon the river between Harrison street and Bridge avenue, in Fulton's addition to the city of Davenport, running back over the bluff to a line due east and west, a few rods this side of Locust street.  They also gave Mr. LeClaire another section of land at the head of the rapids where the city of LeClaire now stands.

The treaty of Gen. Scott with the Indians was ratified by Congress at their session in the winter of 1833.  Thus did the United States come into possession of the soil of Scott county.

Of the Indians from whom it was purchased and of the tribes who had been in possession in early days we should like to give a more extended notice than we are permitted in this brief history of Scott county.

The Sacs and Foxes were provided with homes in Kansas, where they now reside.  They are fast dwindling away, and but a remnant is left of the tribes of the Winnebagoes, the Chippewas, Pottawattamies, Ottawas, Menominees and other powerful bands that were in possession of all the country from the Lakes to the Missouri at the termination of the American Revolution.  Where the sad remnants of any of these tribes are found, they present but a faint resemblance of their former greatness and renown or of their warlike and noble bearing.  A few squalid families may be found loitering about the frontier towns, made beggars by the low and wasting vices of the white man.

But their destiny is written.  The onward march of the Anglo-Saxon race tells with unerring prophecy the fate of the Red man.  Already have his haunts been broken up in the quiet dells of the Rocky mountains; already have the plains of Utah drunk the blood of this ill-fated and unhappy race, and ere long his retreating footprints will be found along the shores of the Pacific hastening to the spirit land, the "Great Hereafter."

We now enter upon our history more in detail, considering each township, beginning with Buffalo.

CHAPTER II.

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF BUFFALO TOWNSHIP

In 1833 Capt. Benjamin W. Clark, a native of Virginia, who had settled and made some improvements on the Illinois shore where the town of Andalusia now is, moved across the Mississippi and commenced a settlement upon the present site of the town of Buffalo, and was probably the first settler on the soil of Scott county.  He had been captain of a company of mounted volunteer rangers in the Black Hawk war under Gen. Dodge.  Here, in Buffalo, he made the first "claim," erected the first cabin, broke the first ground, planted the first corn and raised the first produce in the county.  His nearest neighbors at this time upon the Iowa shore, then called the "Black Hawk Purchase,"  were at Burlington and Dubuque.

The first stock of goods ever opened in the county was at Buffalo by a Mr. Lynde, of Stephenson, now Rock Island.  The first orchard planted and the first coal ever discovered and dug in this county were by Capt. Clark in 1834.  The first public ferry across the Mississippi between Burlington and Dubuque was at Buffalo, and for several years "Clark's Ferry" was the only place of crossing in all this region of country.  In the early part of the year 1835 he erected a public house which is still standing, a large frame building  two stories high, which at that time was considered a great enterprise.  He brought the lumber from Cincinnati at a cost of $60 a thousand feet.

In 1836 Capt. Clark laid out the town of Buffalo, it being the first town regularly laid out in this county.  He succeeded in building up quite a village, but there was much need of flouring and lumber mills, and in 1836 he erected, near the mouth of Duck creek, the first saw mill in the county, or in this part of Iowa; and although it was on a small scale, and quite inadequate to the wants of the settlers who began to seek homes beyond the Mississippi, yet it proved of the greatest public benefit and served the people for many years.

The ferry was established at Buffalo while Capt. Clark lived at Andalusia before he moved across the river.  The first ferriage collected by him, after he had completed his flat-boat was attended by the following amusing circumstances.  Late one evening a company of French traders, who were returning from the Iowa river to the trading post on Rock island, encamped on the bank of the river where the hotel now stands in Buffalo.  They heard the report of the captain's intention to establish a ferry across the river at this point, and feeling somewhat inclined to ridicule such an enterprise, they called loudly for the ferry boat, saying that they had a drove of cattle to cross, an assertion perfectly ridiculous in itself, as nothing in the shape of cattle nearer than buffalo or elk had ever appeared upon the western banks of the Mississipp river.  But the captain was not to be trifled with.  He had made ready his boat.  His ferry was established, and being a man of bold and most unflinching,, uncompromising sterness and perseverance, he rallied his men, manned his boat with some eight men and boys and very quietly crossed over to answer the continued calls of the noisy Frenchmen.  It was a very dark night, and as the oars were plied to the ponderous flatboat Capt. Clark stood at the helm steering his rude craft over the swelling waves of the Mississippi with nothing to guide him but the blaze of the campfire and noise of the company on the Iowa shore, meditating most undoubltedly in a frame of mind not the most serene.  When nearing the shore the traders on discovering him, set up a most uncourteous roar of laughter, turning the whole matter off as a joke, called them fools, and told the captain they had nothing to ferry, and that he might return to the Illinois side.  But Capt. Clark's anger was now raised to the highest pitch.  He landed his boat and with his men marched into the camp of the insolent Frenchmen and demanded $10.00 as a fee for ferriage.  No man who knew Capt. Clark ever wanted to parley with him when his usually mild temper was aroused by insult.  The party soon became satisfied that under the circumstances it was their best policy to pay up.  The great difficulty now was that they had not $10.00 in the company, but very willingly proffered two bolts of calico, which, among Indians at least, was considered legal tender.  This was accepted and taken as the first ferriage ever received in Scott county.  Capt. Clark and his party returned, having taught the wild traders one of the first lessons of civilization.

Capt. Clark claimed the honor of being the father of the first white child born in Scott county.  This son, David H. Clark, now a resident of Poke county, in this state, was born in Buffalo, the 21st of April, 1834.

For many years the town of Buffalo attracted much attention and bid fair to become a serious rival to Stephenson, then just merging itno existence.  But Davenport and Rockingham were soon laid off and a ferry being established between Davenport and Stephenson by Mr. LeClaire, travel was directed to that point and the division of the country into counties left Buffalo in no enviable situation.  It had been the most prosperous town in this region of country, doing a large business with the emigrants to the territory who were then beginning to settle up and down the river and along the Cedar valley, furnishing grain and provisions of all kinds to the newcomers.  Capt. Clark spent muchtime in showing emigrants the country and assisting them in making claims, and probably did more toward the early settlement of this country than any other man that ever came into it.  He died at Buffalo, October 25, 1839.

To show the prospects of Buffalo as a point of interest at that day we might relate a circumstance that occurred in reference to the value of town lots.  After Davenport was laid out, Major Wm. Gordon and some others, proprietors, called on Capt. Clark and offered him an even exchange of forty or sixty lots in Davenport for an equal number in Buffalo, but the captain declined, regarding it as a poor offer, as it probably looked to be at that time.

It will be seen by reference to the map of Scott county that it lacks a township in the southwest corner (No. 78, N., R. I, E.) of being square.  As it has always been a mystery to many, particularly to the new corner, why this township should have been set off to Muscatine county, while it so naturally belonged to Scott, I will here explain.

In the first territorial legislature which convened at Burlington, in December, 1837, an act was passed creating the boundaries of Scott county, as well as many others.  Unfortunately for the well-being of many a town site and village this honorable body had too many speculators in town lots among its members.  Dr. Reynolds, then living three miles above Bloomington, now Muscatine, being a member, had laid off a place called Geneva upon which all his efforts for the county seat were centered.  The manner and extent in laying off the counties were of course to decide the destiny of many a town site which had been made especially for the county seat.  The object of Dr. Reynolds was to press the upper line of Muscatine county up the river as far as possible so as to make Geneva central and lessen the chances of Bloomington which was an applicant for favor.  The Davenport and Rockingham member, Alex W. McGregor, Esq., knew that if the Scott county line ran too far down the river, Buffalo, then a rival and by far the most populous and important town above Burlington, would stand too great a chance, so that a compromise was entered into and this township was given to Muscatine county which gives to our county its present ill-shaped appearance.

Buffalo with all her just claims was sacrificed by placing her in the lower end of the county.  Dr. Reynolds' grand scheme was frustrated, for Bloomington got the county seat for Muscatine county and Davenport and Rockingham "doubled teams" on Buffalo, got the county seat and then fought for choice of location, as will be noticed under its proper head.  This was the killing stroke to Buffalo.  Davenport ultimately received all the benefits derived from the trickery and corruption of legislative enactments while Geneva, Montpelier, Salem, Freeport, Mouth of Pine and some half dozen more towns that were laid out along the Mississippi river from Muscatine island to Davenport "went under" carrying with them all their visionary schemes for greatness and power.

Buffalo township has more timber land than any other in the county.  There are thousands of acres now covered with a growth that has arisen since the first settlement that will cut from twenty to fifty cords of wood to the acre.  It is estimated that there is five times as much timber in Buffalo township as there was at the time of the first settlement in 1834, a fact showing how easily timber may be produced, if cared for, and the annual fires kept out of the woodlands.

There is another very important item to appear in the history of this township.  Coal was first discovered here in 1834 and as early as 1835 and 1836 was dug and sold to steamboats at the mouth of Bowling's creek which empties into the Mississippi about half way between Buffalo and Rockingham.  The first bank opened was about half a mile up this creek, and was worked to considerable extent by Dr. A. C. Donaldson who settled in 1837 near its mouth.  Still higher up this creek, some three miles, Benjamin Wright and Capt. E. Murray, from Zanesville, Ohio, opened a bank in 1838 and furnished coal to Davenport and Rockingham for 15 cents per bushel, and from that day to this mines have been opened and worked in almost every part of the township until at the present time more than twenty-five coal mines are open and ready for work.  The most extensive now in operation are near Buffalo and belong to Capt. W. L. Clark & Co., who are getting out about 1,000 bushels per day.  They are preparing to lay a rail track to the river and when completed the company will be able to deliver on the bank or in barges from 2,500 to 4,000 bushels per day.  Their road will accommodate many other banks now open and that will be opened along the track.  The coal now obtained is far superior to that formerly dug and is said to be a better article for making steam and for other purposes, giving off more flame and igniting very readily.  Experienced steamboat men who have examined this coal and used it say that 1,000 bushels of it will go further and make more steam than 1,200 bushels of the Rock river coal.

Capt. W. L. Clark, son of the original proprietor of Buffalo, is now a resident of Davenport, but holds large interests of lands and coal banks in this county.  The very lands claimed by his father in 1832 soon after the Black Hawk war are still in the possession of Capt. W. L. Clark.

James M. Bowling from Virginia, now a resident of Davenport, settled in Buffalo township on 4th of July, 1835, at the mouth of Bowling's creek.  He purchased the "claim" of one Orange Babbett, the quitclaim deed to which has recently been presented to the State Historical society by Mr. Bowling.  This property now belongs to Capt. Leroy Dodge.  Mr. Bowling commenced farming in 1835.  That fall he went back to Virginia, married and returned in 1836 with his wife and two sisters.  In 1837 he had the prospect of a fine crop, but the Indians who still loitered about the country were encamped upon this creek.  In June there were some 500 Indians living near him and very troublesome.  They set fire to the prairie and burned up the fence surrounding his corn which was at the time six inches high.  The Indian horses then ate much of it and he was compelled in the heat of summer to cut timber and make rails to enclose his field again; but notwithstanding all his misfortune, he succeeded in raising a very good crop.  The Indians, however, were a constant annoyance to him.

In his absence on one occasion a lot of Indians came to the house and Mrs. Bowling having the door fastened by putting a gimlet over the latch, with his sisters, remained in silence for some time until they pushed out the chinking of the cabin near the door and running in their arms pulled out the gimlet, when Mrs. Bowling and sisters braced themselves against the door and by main strength kept them at bay until weary of the effort to make an entry they left the premises.  This is but one instance among many of the trials and hardships to which the first settlers were exposed and through which they passed with patience and toil.

Although Buffalo became almost extinct after her defeat and downfall, yet in 1855 it was resurveyed and mostly purchased by the Germans who settled in and around the town.  It has a steam mill, three stores, an Episcopal church organized and one of Disciples or Christians.  Both societies worship in the schoolhouse.  Buffalo now contains about 500 inhabitants and is one of the most beautiful town sites on the Mississippi river.

Many of the first settlers of this township are still living at Buffalo enjoying in afluence the sure reward of their early struggles.  One among the many who have retired from the more active pursuits of life and now enjoy life's comforts is Capt. Leroy Dodge, who emigrated to Iowa in 1836 from the state of New York.  He was for many years a pilot on the Mississippi and then commander of steamboats.  Having secured some 400 acres along the river and bluff above Buffalo, he built him a pleasant cottage on the banks of the river and turned his attention to agriculture, principally to stock raising, of which he has some noble specimens.  In 1852 he represented Scott county in our state legislature.  He was an unflinching democrat and loved the cause of human rights.

Among others who settled at an early day in this township were Joseph and Matthias Mounts, Elias Moore and Andrew W. Campbell.  Mr. Campbell was among the most enterprising of the early settlers, having opened a large farm on the bottom land of the river.  He sold it to Henry C. Morehead at an early day and removed to the prairie near where the town of Blue Grass now is, where he opened another large farm that now belongs to his heirs.  He was elected in February, 1838, one of the county commissioners, it being the first election ever held for officers under the county organization.  He also filled other places of responsibility and trust.  Being fond of travel and adventure, he frequently took excursions into the interior of Iowa while it was yet in the possession of the Indians, seeming to forget all business cares and enjoy every much the solitude and loveliness of our western wilds.  In the spring of 1850 he crossed the plains to California and returned by way of the Isthmus that fall.  The following summer he again set forth for California by the overland route in company with a son and a married daughter whose husband was in California.  His health had been for years somewhat impaired and his constitution broken.  On Green river, in the great basin of the Rocky mountains he sickened and died, and his bones are left to moulder in the cheerless desert with no lasting monument to point the weary pilgrim to his lonely grave.

CHAPTER III.

ROCKINGHAM TOWNSHIP.

In ascending the river from Buffalo, we next enter upon Rockingham township, the settlement of which began simultaneously with that of LeClaire, Princeton and the Groves.  This township comprising the bluffs of the Mississippi is somewhat broken, and was formerly covered with heavy timber.  The bottom lands that are above overflow are excellent farming lands.  The settlement was begun at Rockingham in the fall of 1835.  Col. John Sullivan, of Zanesville, O., James and Adrian H. Davenport, Henry W. Higgins and others, purchased the claim that had been made upon the present site of Rockingham which is directly opposite the mouth of Rock River.

Like many other places selected in those days for town sites, Rockingham "possessed many advantages," the most prominent of which was that it would command the trade of Rock river which at that time was supposed to be navigable.  It was laid off into lots in the spring of 1836.  Its location upon the banks of the Mississippi with Rock river on the opposite side was well drawn and lithograph maps made and circulated in eastern cities and presented a picture of much beauty.  For a while it was a place of considerable importance.  Emigrants unacquainted with the annual overflow of the Mississippi were deceived.  To the eye in low water, all was beautiful and many a settler felt happy in finding so delightful a home in the west.  But with the rise of the river, its vast sloughs were filled and the embryo city became an island.  All communication with the bluff was cut off by a slough running back of the town near th bluffs so deep, it is said, that keelboats had often navigated it with heavy loads.  The first overflow was considered an "uncommon occurence."  The second a thing that might "never happen again," and unknown "to the oldest inhabitants."

In March, 1834, Adrian H. Davenport made a claim on Credit island.  This island containing nearly 400 acres belongs to Scott county, it being on the Iowa side of the channel of the Mississippi, and lies just above the mouth of Rock river and a little above the town of Rockingham.  The early French traders had a trading post on this island and credit was here first given to the Indians, hence the name "Credit island" was given to it.  Soon after the settlement of Mr. Davenport upon this island he was joined by his father, Marmaduke Davenport, who had been Indian agent at Rock island.  This island was purchased from the government by Mr. Davenport and is now owned by Mr. J. H. Jenny of this city.  On the 14th of August, 1834, Mr. Davenport had a son born which was the second white make child born in the county, unless one of Levi Chamberlain's of Pleasant Valley be the second.  This child of Mr. Davenport's died while young.  The Davenports in the selection and location of Rockingham became proprietors and were dry goods and grocery merchants for many years.

In 1850, A. H. Davenport and his father removed to LeClaire wher his father died in 1852, much respected for his many social and Christian virtues.  Adrian H., his son, while living at Rockingham in 1838 received the appointment from Gov. Lucas of sheriff of Scott and Clinton counties, Clinton being attached to Scott for judicial purposes.  The office he retained for twelve years and filled it with great fidelity and acceptance to the people.  He was ever a democrat, a man of untiring energy of character and of moral worth.  By his removal to LeClaire in 1850 he not only secured to himself an ample fortune, but probably did more for the building up of that beautiful and enterprising city than any other man in it.  He was in 1860 mayor of the city of LeClaire and will be more immediately identified when we came to speak of this part of our county.

James Davenport, his uncle, and the one more particularly interested in the laying out of the town of Rockingham, removed from that place in 1848 to Shullsburgh, Wisconsin, about fourteen miles from Galena where he has been largely engaged in mining.  Not only has he been successful in his new employment and secured to himself ample stores of this world's goods, but has made himself useful in trying to arrest the progress of intemperance among the miners; employing none but sober and industrious men and by percept and example teaching with humility the pure principles of Christianity before which irreligion and vice have bery much diminished.

The 1st of August, 1836, Col. Sullivan returned from Zanesville with his family and some emigrants for settlement.  The town on the 1st of May of this year contained two log cabins, one being occupied by A. H. Davenport and his family and the other by Mr. Foster.  Mr. Sullivan brought with him a small stock of goods and removing his store from Stephenson where he had been trading for a year, he erected a small building and soon opened a dry goods and gorcery store.  In the fall and winter of 1836 Rockingham contained some thirteen houses and about 100 inhabitants, among whom were Col. Sullivan and family, the Davenport families, Millington and Franklin Easly, Capt. John Coleman and brothers, William Lingo, Messrs. Mountain and Cale, John Willis, S. S. Brown, Henry C. Morehead, David Sullivan, Etheral and J. M. Camp, William White, William Dutro, H. W. Higgins, Cornelius Harold, Richard Harrison, James B. McCoy and E. H. Shepherd.  Dr. E. S. Barrows located here in the fall of 1836.  He was the first practicing physician located on the Iowa side of the river between Burlington and Dubuque.  For many years his practice extended over a large extent of country, embracing Clinton, Cedar and Muscatine counties.  In 1843 he removed to Davenport and continued his practice, until a few years since he retired to enjoy in quiet the fruits of his early labor.  He has ever stood at the head of his profession and has been president of the "Iowa State Medical society."

Of the early settlers of Rockingham many are still inhabitants of Scott county.  Some have died and many settled in other portions of the state.  We should like to speak more in detail of the early trials and difficulties through which they passed; of their joys and sorrows, of disappointed hopes; and be allowed to follow each in his fortunes since the days of old Rockingham, but the limit of this work will not allow.  There is, however, one truthful remark that may be written.  No village of the "far west" at that day could boast of a better class of citizens or those of whom she could be more proud than Rockingham, both on account of their high toned moral character, their social and friendly qualities and for their kind and liberal attentions to the sick and to the stranger.  Many a wanderer from the home circle has been made to know this, when, laid upon a sick bed in a far western village, he has found the kindly tones and skillful hands of woman, in his sick room, and has at the same time substantial proof that he was not forgotten by the "sterner sex."

A large hotel was erected by the proprietors in 1836 and kept for several years by H. W. Wiggins and was one of the best public houses west of the Mississippi river.  It is still standing, and is occupied by W. D. Westlake, Esq.  Capt. John Coleman still lives in this fallen city, the last of the first settlers.  In the spring of 1837 two more dry goods stores were opened, one by the Davenports and one by John S. Sheller & Co.

During the years of 1835, 1836 and 1837 a few settlers made claims back from the river, along under the bluffs and on the edge of the prairie.  Among these were David Sullivan, in 1835, immediately back of Rockingham under the bluff.  His farm extended to the bottom lands.  Rufus Ricker also settled the same year and Rev. Enoch Mead in the winter of 1837.  The Hon. James Grant opened a large farm in 1838 upon the edge of the prairie at a little grove called at the time "Picayune grove."  He enclosed 320 acres, much of which he put under cultivation.  He introduced the first blooded stock into the county, if not into the state, and did much for the agricultural interests of the county at that early day.  The stock introduced by Judge Grant at that time has been of immense value to our county, the fruits of which may be seen in the herds of many of our best farmers.

Among those who settled on the bluffs and on the edge of the prairie were Lewis Ringlesby, Esq., E. W. H. Winfield, John Wilson, more particularly known as "Wildcat Wilson," from having often, as he said, "whipt his weight in wild cats," and John Friday who broke the first ground upon the bluffs, seven acres for himself and four for Mr. Winfield.

Flour in the winter of 1836 was from $16 to $20 per barrel; corn meal, $1.75 per bushel, and no meat of any kind for sale at any price, except deer, wild turkey and other wild game, of which there was plenty at that day in the timber lands of the bluff.

John W. Brown, Wm. VanTuyl and John Burnsides also made claims or purchased them on Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiah-Sepo, or Black Hawk creek, just above Rockingham in 1836.  John Wilson obtained that fall two bushels of seed wheat from John Dunn, who had settled in Allen's Grove which seed he had brought from Ohio.  Mr. Winfield sowed the wheat that fall and cut the crop the following year with a sickle.  Such were the beginnings in agriculture by the settlers of 1826.

At this early day business of all kinds was dull and the inhabitants sought pleasure and pastime in hunting and fishing.  Enormous specimens of the finny tribe were taken, and to the newcomer were objects of surprise and curiosity.  Catfish were taken weighing from 150 to 175 pounds.  I caught a species of the pike called the muskelunge in Sugar creek which empties into Cedar river in June, 1837, that weighed 35 1/2 pounds and measured 5 1/2 feet long.  The same summer E. W. H. Winfield caught a catfish in the Mississippi  at Rockingham that weighed 175 pounds.  Having hauled it up in front of  the hotel it was soon surrounded with spectators.  A little daughter of H. W. Higgins having caught a sight of the monster fish through the crowd,  as it lay floundering on the ground, and not knowing exactly what it was, or the exact cause of the excitment, started off upon the run, exclaiming, "There, now, if I don't go and tell my Pa.  They have killed our old sow."  The river and the forest furnished ample sport as well as food for the early settler.  Venison was often purchased for 2 or 3 cents per pound.  Wild turkeys for 25 to 50 cents, and prairie chickens were so plentiful that they were generally given away by the sportsmen.

In the summer of 1837 a steam saw and flouring mill was erected by Capt. Sullivan, it being the first of the kind built in Scott county, or upon this side of the Mississippi between Burlington and Dubuque.  A Methodist church was organized in 1836 and in the fall of 1837 Rev. Enoch Mead gathered a small church of the Presbyterian order.  In 1840, the Rev. Zachariah Goldsmith, an Episcopalian, organized a church.  'All congregations worshipped by turns in a small church building, erected by common subscription.  It was also used as a school house.  In 1838 Rockingham contained forty-five houses including stores and workshops, and in 1839 there were four dry goods and three grocery stores, besides a drug store and some whiskey shops.  Mechanics of nearly all trades had settled there, but the financial state of things at that date was so low that but little was done in the way of trade.

Scott county was organized and named after Gen. Winfield Scott, at the session of the legislature of Wisconsin territory which met at Burlington in December, 1837.  The same act provided for holding an election for the county seat on the third Monday of February, 1838.  Rockingham and Davenport being the only points to be voted for, the polls were to be opened at the Rockingham house in Rockingham and the Davenport hotel in Davenport, and at the house of E. Parkhurst, in the town of Parkhurst, now LeClaire.  This same legilative act also provided for an election to be held two weeks after the county seat election for choice of county officers, at which last election Rockingham elected her candidates.  The commissioners were B. F. Pike, Alfred Carter and A. W. Campbell, with E. Cook for county clerk.

The great importance of the county seat election is apparent.  The fortunate town in the election was to become important from having the seat of justice.  Great preparations were made for a spirited contest.  The matter had been before the legislature and an attempt was made to locate it by that body, but a scheme of bribery and corruption among some of its members was brought to light and an act then passed to leave it to the people.  The leading men in the contest upon the Rockingham side were Col. Sullivan, the Messrs. Davenport, Dr. E. S. Barrows, G. B. Sargent, J. S. Shiller, J. C. Higginson, W. Barrows, H. W. Higgins, Wm. VanTuyl, O. G. McLain, Fitzpatrick, Phipps, Shepherd and others, besides many that were non-residents of the town who lent their influence and time upon the occasion.  Davenport had her LeClaire, Col. Davenport and sons, a host of others, men of means, talent and influence.

Rockingham in this first election, if conducted on fair principles, had no cause to fear the result.  She had no need of resorting to unfair means to gain the election.  The southern part of the county at that time was the most densely populated.  She could pull more votes than Davenport, beside which the LeClaire township at the head of the rapids took sides with Rockingham, expecting at some future time to effect an alteration in the county lines on the north so as to make leClaire more central and of course it was policy to vote for the most southern point in the election.

The returns of the election were to be made to Gov. Dodge, of Wisconsin, we then belonging to that territory.  The act specified that the place having the largest number of votes should be declared the county seat, and that it should be the duty of the governor upon such return being made to issue his proclamation accordingly.  Davenport, well knowing her weakness and want of "material aid," entered into a contract with a man by the name of Bellows from Dubuque to furnish voters at so much per head, board, whiskey and lodging to be furnished by the party requiring service.

The day of election came and with it came also the importation of voters by the "Bellows express."  They were from Dubuque and Snake Diggings, eleven sleigh loads of the most wretched looking rowdies and vagabonds that had ever appeared in the streets of Davenport.  They were the dregs of the mining district of that early day; filled with impudence and profanity, soaked in whiskey and done up in rags.  Illinois contributed largely by vote for Davenport.  There was no use in challenging such a crowd of corruption, for they hardly knew the meaning of the word perjury, so they were permitted to vote, unmolested.  Rockingham at this election, whatever she may have done afterwards, observed a strict, honest and impartial method of voting.  There was no necessity for a resort to intrigue.  She knew her strength and had it within herself.  The election being over, the Dubuque delegation of miners returned home having drunk ten barrles of whiskey and cost the contracting parties over $3,000 in cash!

Davenport polled a majority of votes.  The rejoicing was most enthusiastic.  Bonfires and illuminations were exhibited and the result was considered a great and final triumph.  But while these rejoicings were going on in Davenport, Dr. E. S. Barrows and John C. Higginson were on their way to Mineral Point, Wis., to see Gov. Dodge with documents sufficient to prove the frauds that had been perpetrated at Davenport.  Upon this exposure the governor refused to issue his certificate of election.

Thus things remained until the legislature met in June at Burlington, at which time they passed an act for another election for the county seat between Davenport and Rockingham to be held in the following August.  This act more particularly defined the manner in which the election should be carried on and voters were required to have a residence fo sixty days.  The returns of this election were to be made by County Commissioners' Clerk E. Cook, Esq. to the sheriff of Dubuque county, and he was to count the votes in the presence of the county commissioners of that county.  The place having the greatest number of votes was to be entered upon the books of the commissioners and such place to become the seat of justice.

At this election Rockingham feeling rather sore under the treatment of the last election, laid aside all conscientious scruples in relation to the whole matter, and chose to fight the enemy in their own way, well knowing that act by its wording did not require legal votes.  The campaign opened with vigor.  The note of preparation was sounded and contending parties summoned to the field.  The county was canvassed and the unstable and wavering were brought into the ranks on one or the other side.  Building lots were proffered and accepted for influence and for votes in both places.  Col. Sullivan employed many extra hands around his mill, just about that time.  The struggle was harder than before and the corruption much greater, though carried on in a different manner.  The day of election came.  The officers appointed to attend the polls were either not sworn at all or sworn illegally, so that in case of defeat a plea might be set up for a new election.  The ballot box was stuffed.  Illegal voting in various ways was permitted.  Non-residents of Scott county swore that they were "old settlers," while the poll books and ballot box showed a list of names that no human tongue was ever found to answer to.

A great mystery seemed to hang over the Rockingham polls.  They had been watched by the Davenport party, and yet when the ballot box was emptied of its contents, it showed most astonishing results.  The committee sent down from Davenport to watch the polls could never explain where all the votes came from.  The names in the box and on the poll books agreed, but the great difficulty seemed to be, that the settlement did not warrant such a tremendous vote.  This, however, was afterwards explained as being in strict conformity with the oath taken by some of the judges or clerks of the election which was that they should "to the best of their abilty see that votes enough were polled to elect Rockingham the county seat."

The election being over, the returns were made to the sheriff of Dubuque county and counted in the presence of the commissioners as provided in the act, when a majority was found for Rockingham.  The commissioners, for some cause, failed to make the entry upon their records as required by the act, but during the week took the liberty of "purging the polls," throwing out a sufficient number of votes to give Davenport the majority by two votes.  One of the votes thus thrown out was that of John W. Brown, who settled on Black Hawk creek in 1835 and was still living there.

By this proceeding Davenport was declared the county seat.  Whereupon the Rockingham party made application to the supreme court for a mandamus directed to the county commissioners of Dubuque county, requiring them to make the proper entry upon their records of the election in Scott county in accordance with the act of the legislature.

On the final hearing of the case the court decided that they had no original jurisdiction over the case, but at the request of the parties the case having been fully argued upon its merits, the court examined the whole question and gave an opinion, the effect of which was that Rockingham was the county seat.

The legislature being then in session at Burlington passed an act for another election.  At this election there were two other points added to Davenport and Rockingham as aspirants for the county seat.  One was "the geographical center," now Sloperville, and the other was a quarter section of land at her mouth of Duck creek called "Winfield."  Before the election the geographical center was dropped.  Davenport and Rockingham then commenced offering town lots and money for the use of the county in case the county seat should be located upon their ground.  Thousands of dollars and donations of lots and lands were made and bonds given to secure it to the county in case of the selection of the point desired by either party.  But at length Rockingham withdrew her claims upon condition that Davenport would build, free of expense to the county, a courthouse and jail similar to those in Rock Island, which she entered into bonds to do and the election was left for decision between Davenport and the "Duck creek corn field," as it was called.

The commissioners elected by the Rockingham party issued an order for contract to build a jail in Rockingham, as will be seen by the following notice published in the Iowa Sun of May 12, 1840:

NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS.

Sealed proposals will be received by the board of commissioners of Scott county for building a jail in the town  of Rockingham until the first day of July next, on which day the proposals will be opened and the contract let.

A plan and specifications may be seen by calling on John H. Sullivan, Esq., commissioner to superintend the erections.

Proposals to be endorsed:  "Proposals for erecting a jail in Scott county" and directed to "John H. Sullivan, Esq., commissioner to superintend the erection of a jail in Rockingham."

By order of the board of commissioners of Scott county, Rockingham, May 12, 1840.

                                                                                   EBENEZER COOK, Clerk.

Davenport gained the election, built the public buildings free of all cost to the county, according to her contract, and thus terminated one of the most exciting questions that had ever disturbed the quiet of our peaceful community.

The battle was long and spirited.  The contending parties withdrew from the bloodless field with happy triumph, each having outgeneraled the other, and found that even when a victory was won, the laurels are not always sure.  A peace treaty was held at the Rockingham hotel in the winter of 1840, where the most prominent actors in the past scenes met as mutual friends and buried the hatchet forever, ratifying the treaty, as it was called, by a grand ball, where more than forty couples mingled in the dance and seemed to forget at once all the strife and bickerings of the past, and seal their friendship anew with earnest and willing hearts.

During the whole of this controversy, singular as it may appear, the utmost good feeling and gentlemanly conduct prevailed.  No personal feuds grew out of it, and to this day it is often the source of much merriment among the old settlers; and is looked upon only as the freaks and follies of a frontier life.

Rockingham was settled by a class of people noted for their social and friendly virtues.  Nowhere in the west was there a more open-hearted and generous people.  In sickness, of which there was much at an early day, all had sympathy and attention and the most cordial good feeling prevailed thoughout the whole community.  They were united in every good work and enterprise and always ready to kindly act.

A ferry was established across the Mississippi river in the spring of 1837 connecting with the State road up the south side of Rock river, which brought much travel on that route.

In 1845 the town began to decline.  Many of the inhabitants left and settled in other parts of the country, some in the city of Davenport.  At present Rockingham is a deserted village, having but three or four families left in it, the buildings having been moved into the country for farm houses or to Davenport for dwellings.

CHAPTER IV.

DAVENPORT TOWNSHIP.

The township like Rockingham has bluff lands that are somewhat broken near the river until we reach a point three miles above the city of Davenport where it opens out into a beautiful prairie called Pleasant Valley.  The bluff or timber line between the river and prairie is from one to two miles wide, and was formerly well wooded.

By the "bluffs" of the Mississippi river we do not mean here that they are an abrupt or perpendicular ascent, but a gentle rise from the river or bottom lands, not so steep but roads may be constructed up almost any part of them.  The general elevation of these bluffs or high lands is about 100 feet above the waters of the Mississippi, and in many places of very gentle ascent and covered with cultivated fields and gardens to their tops.

But Davenport township differs from all others upon the river in the beautiful, rolling prairies immediately back from the river afrer passing the bluffs.  These prairies are not broken, as is common with those that approach so near the river, but are susceptible of the highest state of cultivation.  Back of the city of Davenport the slope from the top of the bluff to Duck creek, covered as it is with gardens and fields, is one of uncommon beauty and richness, and the farms that now cover the prairie for seven or eight miles back cannot be excelled in any country.

Duck creek, which passes through the whole length of this township, rises in Blue Grass, some ten miles west of Davenport, and running east empties into the Mississippi, five miles above the city, its course being up stream, parallel with the Mississippi and only one or two miles distant from it.  It affords an ample supply of water for stock, and is never dry in summer, being fed by numerous springs along its course.  Its Indian name is Si-ka-ma-que Sepo, or Gar creek, instead of Duck creek.

But before entering in detail upon the settlement of this township, there is much to interest and engage the attention of thsoe who may desire a knowledge of its more remote history which although but little known is interesting and important.  As has already been observed the lociality of Davenport and its surroundings have been the camping ground of the Indian from time immemorial.  Marquette and Joliet the first discoverers of the country, 189 years ago, found the tribes of the Illini here (See Discoveries and Explorations of Mississippi River, by Shea, vol. I, page 30; also Annals of the West, p. 31).  There were three villages or towns; the main one at which they landed was called "Pewaria" where we suppose Davenport now stands, as it is laid down upon Marquette's original map on the west side of the "River Conception," as he named the Mississippi.  This map is a fac-simile of the autograph one by Father Marquette, at the time of his voyage down the river in June, 1673, and was taken from the original, preserved at St. Mary's college, Montreal, (See Explorations of the Mississippi River, by Shea, p. 280.)

Of the tribes found here by Father Marquette and among whom he established a mission, little is known, except his first account of them, as they have become extinct.  The tribes of the "Illini" aboriginal, (Hall's Sketches of the West, vol. I, part ii, p. 142) seem to have been very numerous at that time, being scattered over the vast country lying between Lake Superior and the Mississippi, for we find that Marquette in his second voyage here to found the Mission (Shea, vol. I, p. 53) was accompanied part of the way by some "Illinois and Pottawattamies," "and we find them settled at that day upon the Illinois river at Peoria and LaSalle's trading post, and also on the Kankakee, and as low down on the Mississippi river as Cape Girardeau.  They seemed to be less warlike than the Iroquois and the Wyandots, and roamed at pleasure unmolested over all lands and among all tribes.

The Sacs and Foxes came from the northern lakes, but at what date it is difficult to ascertain.  The Foxes were originally called Outagamies, Schoolcraft, (vol. VI, p. 193).  From what tribe they descended is not known.  About the seventeenth century we find them with the Iroquois committing depredations upon the whites among the great lakes of the north.

"It has been inferred," says Schoolcraft, (vol. VI, p. 193) "from their language that they belonged to the Algoquin tribes, but at an early day were ejected from and forsaken by them."  We find them in 1712 with the Iroquois making an atempt to destroy Detroit; being routed, they retired to a penisula in Lake St. Claire where they were attacked by the French and Indians and driven out of the country.  We next find them on Fox river at Green bay.  Their character seems to be perfidious.  They were a constant annoyance to the trapper and the trader, ever creating difficulty and disturbance among the other tribes.  "Having been defeated at the battle of 'Butte des Mortes,' or 'Hill of the Dead,' with great slaughter the remnants of the tribe fled to the banks of the Wisconsin."  (Schoolcraft, vol. VI, p. 191.)  We have no further notice of them until their settlement upon the Mississippi and its tributaries.

"The Sacs and Foxes took possession of the lands belonging to the Iowas, (Annals of the West, p. 713) whom they partly subjugated."  "The Foxes had their principal village on the west side of the Mississippi at Davenport."  "A small Sauk village was on the west side of the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Des Moines river."  This was between 1785 and 1800.  The Sauks were the original occupants of Saginaw on Lake Michigan, and were allies of the Foxes in 1712, in an attempt to drive the French out of Michigan.

Thus far in our history are we able to trace the immediate occupants of our soil prior to possession by the United States.  The nearly French traders found a village of Foxes at Dubuque with the chief "Piea-Maskie," and another at the mouth of the Wabesse-pinecon river, a Sauk village, with "No-No" as chief.  But a still larger village of Foxes was where the city of Rock Island now stands, called "Wa-pello's village," while the main Sauk village, "Black Hawk's town," was on Rock river between Camden and Rock Island.  The traffic with the Indians was carried on by the Canadian French in Mackinaw boats.  There were no established trading posts.  The constant wars among the tribes continued to diminish their numbers.  The Sioux, the Cippewas, the Winnebagoes and the Menomenies were the bitter enemies of the Sauks and Foxes.  They were ever lurking upon each other's trail, and never letting slip an opportunity of gathering a few scalps in revenge for some fancied wrong.

In the spring of 1828 the Indian agent at Prairie du Chien by request of the Sioux, Winnebagoes and Menomenies, then allied in their petty wars, sent an invitation to the chiefs and braves of the Fox village at Dubuque to meet their enemies in council and forever bury the tomahawk, and settle all differences existing between the several tribes.  The Sacs and Foxes were becoming reduced in numbers.  Their faithless, perfidious and treacherous course of life among all the nations through which they had traveled, from the great lakes of the north to the valley of the Mississippi had followed them.  Their warriors had been slain, and they felt their strength fading away.  They were willing now to live on terms of peace with their neighbors and very readily accepted the invitation.  Piea-Maskie was their chief.  not suspecting the treachery of their enemies, all the principal chiefs and braves of their band left their village at Dubuque, for the treaty at Prairie du Chien.

The Sioux and Winnebagoes had deceived their agent and only laid a plot to draw the Foxes from their village for the purpose of entrapping them.  They therefore sent spies down the river, just before the appointed time for the treaty, to watch the movements of the unsuspecting Foxes.  On the second night after leaving Dubuque the party made an encampment a little below the mouth of the Wisconsin river on the eastern shore and while cooking their evening meal and smoking around their campfires without the least suspicion of danger, they were fired upon by more than 100 of their enemies; a war party that had been sent down for that purpose.  But two of the whole number escaped.  In the general massacre that followed these jumped into the river and swam to the western shore, carrying the sad news of the murder to their village.  This produced consternation and alarm.  Such treachery, even in Indian warfare, was startling.  The chiefs and brave men had been slaughtered without mercy and an attack upon their village might be expected.  Their leaders were dead, and dismay and confusion reigned throughout the camp.

The surviving warriors were assembled in council to select another chief.  A half-breed of Scotch descent of much daring and bravery named Morgan was elected and named Ma-que-pra-um.  A war party was soon formed under their new leader to march on the faithless Sioux and avenge the death of their chief and brave men.  The preparations were soon completed.  The plot was laid.  All was ready.  The council fire was again lighted and the warrior band, headed by their new chief sat around in sullen silence, painted and hung in all the paraphernalia of an Indian warrior.  The wail and lamentation for the dead were changed to the deep, piercing yell of the savage.  All the dark hatred of the Indian nature was depicted on the countenances of this revengeful group, and there went up a shout, the war cry of their tribe, such as the rugged cliffs and hills of Dubuque had never heard before or since.  With blackened faces, chanting the death song, they entered their canoes and started on their mission of blood.

Arriving  in the vicinity of Prairie du Chien, from the opposite bluffs the spies of the party discovered the encampment of the foe, almost directly under the guns of the fort.  The setting sun was just gliding the walls of Fort Crawford and the sentinel on its ramparts had just been roused from his listlessness by the beat of the "tattoo;" the Indians lay indolently in their camp, little dreaming of the fate that awaited them.  On seeing the position of the enemy the plan of attack was soon formed.  The Foxes lay in ambush until the darkness of the night should shield them from observation.  A sufficient number was left with the canoes with instructions to be a short distance below the fort.  The warriors then stripped themselves of every incumbrance but the gridle containing the tomahawk and scalping knife, and went up the river some little distance, when, about midnight, they swam the Mississippi and stealthily crawled down upon the encampment.

All was darkness and silence!  No sentinel watched the doomed camp!  The smouldering fire of the first wigwam they reached revealed to them, as they threw aside the curtained door an Indian smoking his pipe in meditative silence.  The leader chief seized him and without noise carried him outside the lodge and slew him without alarming the camp.  The work of death went on from lodge to lodge in stillness and silence until the knife and hatchet had done their bloody work, severing not only the scalp but many of the heads of their chieftains.

The work was done and with one loud, wild whoop of satisfaction and revenge the fort was awakened, the sentry sent forth his note of alarm, while the assailants took to the canoes belonging to the enemy, rejoined the party, and with a yell of triumph were far down the Mississippi before the officers of the fort were in readiness to march.  With the trophies of victory they soon reached their village, dancing the "scalp dance."  Packing up their valuables the whole tribe deserted their town at Dubuque, descending the river and settled where the city of Davenport now stands.

This massacre took place within the memory of some now living here who related these facts to the author, and they still have a most vivid recollection of seeing the returning band as they came down past Rock Island with their canoes lashed side by side, the heads and scalps of their slaughtered enemies set upon poles still reeking with the blood of their victims.  They landed amid the most deafening shouts of savage triumph and celebrated their victory with the Sacs, singing their war songs and exhibiting with savage ferocity the clotted scalps and ghastly faces of the treacherous Sioux, Winnebagoes and Menomenies, of whom they had killed seventeen of their best chiefs and warriors, besides other men, women and children of the tribe.  From that event until the removal of the Sacs and Foxes this village was called "Morgan." after their chieftain.

This brief sketch of the history of our immediate vicinity before the dawn of civilization must suffice.  The Indian who possessed the soil was here in his own right by whatever means he possessed it.  The early missionaries had taught him the first principles of Christianity.  He believed in the Great Spirit.  He worshipped no idols, nor bowed to any superior but the great "Manito."  They had their seers and prophets, and believed in a tutelar spirit.  They made no sacrifice of human life to appease the wrath of an offended deity.  They observed their fasts and holy days with blackened faces and with midnight lamentations.  They believed in future of rewards but not of punishments, and were ever ready and proud to sing the death song even at the stake, that they might enter the elysian fields of the good hunting ground.  They never blasphemed.  There is no word in their language by which to express it.

The Indian's home is wherever the finger of destiny points; yet his sympathies often chuster deeply around the place of his nativity and the scenes of his earlier life.  Thus was it with them when they came to leave their home upon As-sin-ne-Mee-ness.  (Rock island) and the As-sin-ne-Se-po, (Rock river).  In all their wanderings from the great lakes on the north to the Ohio river on the south and the Mississippi on the west they had never found a home like this.  The bluffs and the islands furnished them animals for the chase, while the clear waters of the As-sin-ne-Se-po gave them the finest fish.  The fields yielded them an abundance of the maize, the potato, beans, melons and pumpkins, and they were as happy as the roving spirit of their nature would allow, when in the spring of 1814 the white man came and with the din of preparation for work, the solitude was borken and the first sounds of civilization broke upon their ears.

Attempts were made at that time to plant forts along the Upper Mississippi.  (Annals of the West. p. 743.)  The only means of transportation was by armed boats.  Maj. Zachary Taylor, (president of the United States in 1850) was in command of one of these boats.  He left Cap au Gris (Cap au Grey) in August of this year with 334 men for the Indian towns at Rock island with instructions to destroy their villages and cornfields.  (Annals. p. 744.)  The Indians were located on both sides of the river "above and below the rapids."  But in this attempt he was frustrated by the Indians receiving aid from neighboring tribes and some British allies then at Prairie du Chien.  The battle was severe and lasted some three hours, commencing on the rapids above at Campbell's island (p. 745).

In May, 1816, the Eighth regiment and a company of riflemen in command of Col. Lawrence came up the river in boats and landed at the mouth of Rock river.  After some examination the lower end of Rock island was fixed on for a site to build a fort.  On the 10th of May they landed on the island.  A store house was first put up, which was the first building ever on the island.  A bake house was next built, and then Fort Armstrong was commenced.  At this time there were about 10,000 Indians in and around the place on both sides of the river.  Col. George Davenport, then attached to the army, was general superintendent.  (See biog. Col. D. in Davenport Past and Present.)  The Indians were much dissatisfied and complained that the noise made by the white man in building on the island would disturb the Great Spirit whose residence they believed to be in a cave at the foot of the island.

From this date until the Black Hawk war Rock island was only a frontier military post, and although this notice does not come strictly into the history of Scott county, yet so intimately are its early pioneer scenes connected with it, that it seems almost indispensable to make some mention of it.  Tranquility had in a measure been restored between the whites and the Indians when the Black Hawk war broke out.  A few remarks on the causes of this war may not be uninteresting.

Black Hawk had ever been dissatisfied with the treaty made at St. Louis in 1804 (American State Papers-16-247 and Land Laws, 514) by Gen. Harrison for their lands on Rock river, and upon a requisition of the United States to surrender these lands to the whites for settlement Black Hawk refused.  He had been in the service of Great Britain in the War of 1812 and received pay and presents annually.  He openly proclaimed himself and party British subjects.  (Annals, p. 649.)  At the treaty held at Portage des Sioux in 1814 to recognize and re-establish the treaty of Gen. Harrison which had been broken on the part of some of the Indians, by the part they took in the War of 1812, Black Hawk and his band refused to attend.  It appears that he had continued depredations on the whites after peace was declared, and at this treaty, a "talk" at Portage des Sioux, the commissioners on the part of the United States required them to render up and restore all such property as they had plundered or stolen from the whites, and in default thereof to be cut off from their proportion of the annuities, which they were to receive for their lands by the treaty at St. Louis in 1804.  This was one of the causees that led to the Black Hawk war.  The disaffected portion of the tribe under Black Hawk were for resistance, while Keokuk, the chief of the peace party, had signed the articles of treaty with his principal braves.

There was a general dissatisfaction among all the tribes of the Upper Mississippi at this time.  In the transportation of military stores and traders' goods in boats the whites were often attacked and they had to go armed.  Col. Taylor had an engagement in person with several hundred Indians among the islands just below this city.  Being overpowered by numbers he was obliged to retire with a small loss.

In the treaty which ceded the lands of Rock river to the United States it was stipulated that the Indians should retain possession of them until they were brought into market or sold for actual settlement.  This gave to the Indian as much right as a fee simple title until 1829, at which time the lands were sold, and Black Hawk's tower between Camden and Rock Island passed into the hands of the whites.  On his return from hunting in the spring of 1830 he was informed for the first time that his home had passed into other hands, and that he must remove with the  rest of his tribe west of the Mississippi.  This he refused to do in the strongest terms.  He visited Canada to see his British Father, and Gen. Cass at Detroit, who advised him if he owned the land to remain where he was, that he could not be disturbed.  (Wilkie's Davenport Past and Present, p.23.)

All efforts made by Keokuk or his white friends to induce Black Hawk on his return to remove west were unavailing.  He is said to have exhibited more attachment for his native land at this time than ever before or after.  In the spring of 1831 his people commenced planting corn at his village and the whites who had laid claim to it ploughed it up.  This aroused all the native fire and indignation of Black Hawk.  He at once formed his plan of resistance.  He threatened the whites.  They became alarmed.  The little fort at Rock island was too weak at such a remote point and Gen. Gaines ordered ten companies of militia to Fort Armstrong.  A conference was had with Black Hawk, but he still refused to leave.  The troops marched upon his town, and he retired across the river and located his village where the farm of the Hon. E. Cook was formerly, just below the city of Davenport.  Another talk was then had, and Black Hawk agreed not to cross the river without permission, but the following spring he is found pressing his way up Rock river with his whole band of warriors, men, women and children, expecting to be joined by other tribes and his friends the British allies.  But in this he was disappointed, and being pursued by General Atkinson with 600 regulars, he fled for the wilds of Wisconsin, committing depredations and massacres along his route.  The war was now begun in good earnest.

On the 15th of September, 1832, the Black Hawk war being ended a treaty was held with the Sacs and Foxes by Gen. Scott upon the ground now occupied by the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad company in this city.  At this treaty a small strip of land only was ceded to the United  States, called the "Black Hawk purchase."  It lay along the Mississippi river, beginning at a point on the boundary line between Missouri and Iowa which is now the southeast corner of Davis county, and running thence to a point on Cedar river near the northeast corner of Johnson county, thence in a northwest direction to a point on the south boundary of the Neutral Grounds, then occupied by the Winnebagoes, and thence with said line to a point on the Mississippi river a short distance above Prairie du Chien, it being only about sixty miles in the widest place and contained about 6,000,000 acres.  The Indians peaceably removed from it on the 1st of June, 1833, and thus gave to the whites free access to this beautiful land.

We now enter into details upon the first settlements in and around the city of Davenport.  The beauty of its location has been often descanted upon.  It needs no pen of mine to describe its loveliness, nor the rich and varied landscape that surrounds it.  But there are thoughts that crowd upon the memory as we gaze upon its unparalleled growth and importance.  Le us review for a moment, before we trace its history.

Twenty-seven years ago the first cabin was erected by the white man.  The retreating footsteps of the red man were still heard over these bluffs.  The poles of his wigwam still stuck along the banks of this noble river.  The graves of his people were still fresh upon the brow of our bluffs, and the cornhills and playgrounds of his children have been covered over with the habitations of man!

This mighty river that once bore to our shores the frail bark of a Marquette and Joliet has become the thoroughfare of nations.  Where the light canoe of the savage once glided in safety, the Scu-ti-chemon, (fire canoe or steamboat) of the white man now floats with majesty and splendor, and this magnificent river has become the highway of a mighty nation.  The Mackinaw trading boat with its French voyageur has left its moorings on As-sin-ne-Man-ess, (Rock island,) and old Fort Armstrong that had stood like a watchful sentinel on the jutting rocks of the island for more than 40 years has been burned down by sacrilegious hands.

In the spring of 1836 John Wilson, or "Wild Cat Wilson," as he was called, who was an old "claim-maker" (he and his boys having made and sold the one where Rockingham was located and one where is now the farm of Judge Weston,) commenced making a claim on the edge of the prairie on the Blue Grass road from Davenport, where the farm of Mr. Depro now is, afterwards the Dr. Bardwell place.  The Indians who were then living on the Iowa river frequently came in here to the trading house of Col. Davenport, on Rock island.  The trail passed directly across where Wilson was making his claim.  He was cutting trees for logs and had some two or three yoke of oxen hauling them together for the house, when a company of Indians came along on their way to the trading house.  They were a part of the disaffected band of Black Hawk and as usual felt cross and bitter toward the white man whom they looked upon as an intruder.  They ordered Wilson to desist from making any improvements:  told him that he should not live there and that he must leave.  "Old Wild Cat" who was used to Indians, with whom he often had difficulties and most probably with some of this very band, took very little heed of what they said, but urged on his work without any fear of trouble from them.  The Indians after remaining at Davenport and on the island for a few days left for their home full of whiskey and ripe for a quarrel.  On arriving at Wilson's they rode up to the spring near which the house was building (the same that now stands there, used as a stable).  They got off and turned their ponies loose, laid off their blankets and deliberately prepared for a fight.  Wilson and his two sons were all there were of the whites.  Wilson was a short distance in the woods, chopping. The attack was made upon James, who was driving the team.  He ran for his father and Samuel.  On their arrival the old man who never feared Indian or white man, bear or wild cat, pitched in for a general fight.  The Indians, some twelve or fourteen in number, soon had "Old Wild Cat" down, when one of the boys not having any weapon, unyoked an ox, and with the bow knocked down two or three of the Indians,  which released the father, who springing to his feet, caught his axe which he had dropped in the first onset, and turning upon them, he struck an Indian in the back, splitting him open from the neck nearly to the small of the back.  This dampened the ardor of the savages for a moment, when Wilson calling on his boys to fight and raising the "Wild Cat" yell he made at them again, when they gathered up the wounded Indian and fled.  He soon died, and the next Sunday the Indians gathered in great nembers in the neighborhood of Wilson's, with threatening aspects.

Wilson with his boys and a few neighbors was forted in John Friday's cabin where the Indians kept them nearly all day.  A runner was sent to Mr. LeClaire and Col. Davenport, who settled the matter with the Indians and cautioned them about traveling across the lands of "Old Wild Cat," telling them of his threats, that he would scalp the first "redskin" he caught upon that trail.  The Indians made a new trail from Davenport, running farther north through Little's Grove, and were never known to pass Wilson's after that affair.

Wilson, and his son Samuel was hunting and trapping in the autumn of 1840 on the "neutral grounds" belonging to the Winnebagoes when a part of some thirty Indians fell upon him and robbed him of everything he had except a little clothing.  Whether he was known by these Indians or whether some of the Sacs and Foxes were present, he never knew; but they took his team with all his effects and followed him out of their country.  Mr. Wilson died a few years since near Moscow on the Cedar river in this state.

George L. Davenport, Esq., made the first claim in Davenport township immediately after the treaty in 1832, which was before the time expired that the Indians were to give possession to the whites (June 1, 1833).  Mr. Davenport has been familiar with the Indians from boyhood, was adopted into the Fox tribe while young and had no playmates in early life but Indian boys.  He learned to speak their language and was an expert archer, swimmer and racer, ever ready to join in all their sports, and a general favorite with the whole tribe.  This explains why he was permitted to go upon the lands while others were kept off until the next year; for many emigrants took possession in the autumn of 1832 after the treaty, but were driven off and had to await the time specified in the treaty for possession, viz. the 1st of June, 1833.

There is therefore an error in the history of Buffalo township as to the first claim and also the first ferry.  Capt. Clark might have established the first public ferry, but Col. Davenport had a flatboat and used it for ferry purposes as early as 1827, running between the island and main shore, carrying pack horses, cattle and goods for the Indian trade.  He also kept a wood yard on the island after steamboats began to run here, and brought wood from Maple island and other places.

The claim upon which Davenport now stands was first made in the spring of 1833 by R. H. Spencer and a Mr. McCloud.  A difficulty arose between these men in respect to the claim or some portion of it, when to end the dispute Antoine LeClaire purchased from both their entire interest for $100.  This was the first transaction in real estate in the city of Davenport, some of which has since been sold as high as $200 a foot.  This claim comprised that portion of the city lying west of Harrison street, being outside of LeClaire's reserve.  He fenced in and cultivated a portion of it near the bluff embracing the ground now occupied by the courthouse and jail.  The early settlers will very readily call to mind the natural state of the ground in that portion of the city lying below Western avenue.  Where Washington square is now enclosed filled up and beautified there was a quagmire that extended westward between Second and Fourth streets to the limit of the city.  This slough that headed in Washington square was caused by springs, forming soft, spongy ground, impassable for man or beast; and until 1845 there were no streets opened nor crossing from Second to Fourth below Western avenue.  Some of the residents of 1837 and 1838 will recollect cattle miring in this slough, and one or two instances in which they died in it.  This portion of our city is now largely built up by the Germans who mostly reside in the western portion of our city, and whose industry, energy and taste have turned this lowland into beautiful gardens and covered it with homes and workshops.

In the autumn of 1835 Antoine LeClaire, Maj. Thomas Smith, Maj. Wm. Gordon, Philip Hambaugh, Alex. W. McGregor, Levi S. Colton, Capt. James May with Col. George Davenport, met at the house of the latter gentleman on Rock island to consult as to the propriety of laying out a town upon Mr. LeClaire's claim on the west bank of the Mississippi river.  The agruments offered in favor of such a project were:  the unexampled fertility of the soil, the necessity for a town at some future day at the foot of the rapids, the unrivaled beauty of the location, its healthy position, etc.  This meeting resulted in the purchase from Mr. LeClaire of all the land west of Harrison street running along the bluff as far west as Warren street and thence sought to the river at a cost of $2,000.  The town was named after Col. George Davenport.  It was surveyed by Maj. Gordon in the spring of 1836, who is said to have performed the service in less than a day with his mental vision very much obscured by a certain decoction called by the Indians scuti-appo, the "white man's fire water."  From some of the lines which I have had occasion to trace since I have never doubted the assertion.

The first improvements within the present city limits were made by Mr. LeClaire upon the ground now occupied by the M. & M. R. R. depot, in the spring of 1833.  But nothing in the way of farming or more substantial improvements took place till May, 1836, when Dr. James Hall and his two eldest sons took a contract from Mr. LeClaire to break a certain amount of land upon his "reserve" as it was called.   This tract for breaking lay east of Brady street, beginning near the present corner of Brady and Second, extending up Second to Rock Island, and as far back as Sixth street.  This was contracted for at $5 an acre except a certain portion which the Halls were to have free of rent and $2.50 an acre for breaking, which they planted in potatoes and corn, obtaining the seed from Fort Armstrong, paying $1.25 a bushel for potatoes.  The next year this same ground was rented to the Halls for $15 an acre, upon which they sowed some wheat and raised a crop.

The first public house or tavern was built upon the corner of Front and Ripley streets, in 1836 by Messrs. LeClaire and Davenport, and opened by Edward Powers from Stephenson.  The next year it passed into the hands of John McGregor from Kentucky.

In June, 1836 a very important personage arrived, bringing with him all the ingredients of a pioneer whiskey shop, the first introduced upon the soil of Scott county.  It was Capt. John Litch, from Newburyport, N. H.  He had been a sea-faring man, was far advanced in life, of a jovial disposition, full of anecdotes and ever ready to toss off a glass of grog with anyone who desired to join him.  His log shanty stood on Front street below the subsequent site of Burnell, Gillett & Co.'s mill.  Being in possession of the captain's account book, or log, as he called it, it may interest some to make a few extracts; particularly as to the cost of material and labor at that day for building.  His cabin was about 16x20 feet.  It was afterwards enlarged.