lated a grammar, prayers, portions of scripture, hymns and a short catechism. From these translations, with which we were kindly presented some time since by Col. McKinney, one of the superintendents, we extract the mode of counting ten:

It is no uncommon thing for a few representatives of the original tribes to visit the county at the present day on trading expeditions. As a general thing, however, the Indians that are occasionally seen in the county now are representatives of the tribe who have a reservation in Tama county. The Indians at that reservation are comparatively quiet and peaceable, but degenerate both physically and morally, year by year, and gradually approach inevitable extinction.

Early in the spring of 1880 the News, published at Mitchellville, contained the following in relation to a Musquawkie Indian woman, who died near that place, aged over one hundred years:

"Kesco, an Indian woman of the Musquawkie tribe, died in her wigwam at Trullinger Grove, two and three-quarter miles north of Mitchellville, Saturday, March 20th. She was 101 years old, and died of old age. Indian Jim, with his wife and a few other Indians, buried Kesco on Sabbath afternoon, near the fence and just outside the Franklin cemetery, one-half mile from where she died.

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Although Kesco had been a burden to her tribe for many moons, they took care of her until the Great Spirit carried her away to the happy hunting grounds. A striking contrast to some pale-faces who live within ten miles of where Kesco died, and who are trying to steal their parents' possessions and send the latter

'Over the hill to the poor house.'

"Jim got some boards and made a rough box; Kesco was shrouded in a blanket and laid in the box; a tin pail filled with corn, beans and bread was set beside her inside the coffin; also a bottle of water. Next the cover was put on, the coffin lowered into the grave, a buffalo robe and roll of blankets was laid on the foot of the coffin, then the grave was filled with earth. Jim's wife gathered the squaws about her and divided Kesco's few trinkets among them, then all went back to camp. Everything was done decently and in order.

"A few whites witnessed the burial."

During the Spirit Lake massacre it is said that one woman came in here who, with several other women, defended a log cabin for several hours against the Indians, and finally beat them off. She had the mark of a rifle

ball upon one cheek and also one upon the thigh. She was out two days and one night in March, with nothing on but the clothes she wore about the house and a single crust of bread to eat, and with a child two months' old in her arms. She knew nothing of the fate of her husband until she got here, nor he of her.

But the Indian was destined to create no further disturbances upon the soil which the white man had marked for his own. In accordance with the stipulations of sacred treaties and likewise agreeably to the demands of the times, the allotted time had now come for the red man to move westward again on his roving mission and add one more proof that his race is fast passing away, and must eventually disappear before the restless march of the Anglo-Saxon race, as did the traditionary Mound Builders give place to the predatory red man of later times.

And did the dust

Of these fair solitudes once stir with life

And burn with passion? Let the mighty mounds
That overlook the rivers, or that rise

In the dim forests crowded with old oaks

Answer: A race that has long passed away
Built them. The red man came-

The roaming hunter tribes, warlike and fierce-
And the Mound Builders vanished from the earth.
The solitude of centuries untold

Has settled where they dwelt. The prairie wolf
Howls in their meadows and his fresh dug den
Yawns by my path. The gopher mines the ground
Where stood their swarming cities. All is gone-
All! save the piles of earth that hold their bones

The platforms where they worshiped unknown gods.

Thus as those traditionary Mound Builders were forced to give way to the plundering red men of later times, so must he give place to his palefaced successor, and his night of ignorance and superstition in which he so delights to revel, must give place to the approaching light of intelligence and civilization as truly as the darkest shades of midnight are dispelled by the approaching light of day. When the last barrier of restraint was thus removed, the tide of emigration, so long held in check, began to come in at a rapid rate over these prairies, and thus has it continued to roll, wave after wave, until it has reached the western shore, carrying with it the energy and talents and enterprise of nations; and washing to the surface the gold from the mountains and valleys of the Pacific Slope, it has enveloped our land in the mighty main of enterprise and civilization.

CHAPTER IV.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

Importance of First Beginnings-Character of First Settlers-Fort Des Moines-Captain Allen-The Dragoons-Indian Traders-Government Attaches-Thrift the Tailor-Peter Newcomer-Thomas Mitchell-John Saylor-John Dennison Parmelee-Benjamin Bryant-Settlements at Fort Des Moines, South Des Moines, North Des Moines, Big Creek, Four Mile, Camp Creek, Skunk River, Indian Creek, Beaver Creek, Walnut Creek-General Summary.

EVERY nation does not possess an authentic account of its origin, neither do all communities have the correct data whereby it is possible to accurately

predicate the condition of their first beginnings. Nevertheless, to be intensely interested in such things is characteristic of the race, and it is particularly the province of the historian to deal with first causes. Should these facts, as is often the case, be lost in the mythical tradition of the past, the chronicler invades the realm of the ideal, and compels his imagination to paint the missing picture. The patriotic Roman was not content till he had found the "First Settlers," and then he was satisfied, although they were found in the very undesirable company of a she bear, and located on a drift, which the receding waters of the Tiber had permitted them to preempt.

and

One of the advantages pertaining to a residence in a new country, one seldom appreciated is the fact that we can go back to the first beginnings. We are thus enabled, not only to trace results to their causes, but also to grasp the facts which have contributed to form and mould these causes. We observe that a State or county has attained a certain position, and we at once try to trace out the reasons for this position in its early settlement and surroundings, in the class of men by whom it was peopled, and in the many chances and changes which have wrought out results in all the recorded deeds of mankind. In the history of Polk county, we may trace its early settlers to their homes in the Eastern States and in the countries of the Old World. We may follow the course of the hardy woodman of the "Buckeye" or the "Hoosier" State on his way west to "grow up with the country," trusting only to his strong arm and his willing heart to work out his ambition of a home for himself and wife, and a competence for his children. Yet again, we may see the path worn by the Missourian in his new experience in a land which to him was a land of progress, far in advance of that southern soil upon which he had made his temporary home, in his effort to adapt himself to new conditions. We may see here the growth which came with knowledge, and the progress which grew upon him with progress around him, and how his better side developed. The pride of Kentucky blood, or the rain glorying of the F. F. V.'s, was here seen in an early day only to be modified in its advent from the crucible of democracy when servitude was eliminated from the solution. Yet others have been animated with the impulse to "move on," after making themselves a part of the community, and have sought the newer parts of the extreme West, where civilization had not penetrated, or returned to their native soil. We shall find much of that distinctive New England character which has contributed so many men and women to other portions of our State and the West; also we shall find many an industrious native of Germany or the British Isles, and a few of the industrious and economical French-all of whom have contributed to modify types of men already existing here.

Those who have noted the career of the decendants of those brave, strong men, in subduing the wilds and overcoming the obstacles, and withstanding the hardships of this country in early times, can but admit that they are worthy sons of illustrious sires.

With confidence that general results will prove that there is much of good in everything, and that a justice almost poetic has been meted out to the faults and follies, the integrity and virtue of the early settlers of the county, we may now enter upon an account of them.

The Indian title to the lands now included in the bounds of Polk county

expired at midnight of October 11th, 1845. Mr. H. B. Turrill, in his brief work entitled "Historical Reminescences of Des Moines," says:

"This period was impatiently awaited by those who were already here, for after that time each one was at liberty to make a claim of three hundred and twenty acres, which could be held until the government brought the lands into market, and then purchased under such regulations as are now (1857) in force. Long before the expiration of the Indian title, the settlers around the Fort had made arrangements with each other, and the most valuable tracts were already considered claims. Some claims were even measured and staked off, but this was of no validity, and done only for convenience or to facilitate such subsequent survey as was absolutely necessary to establish and identify it.

"So eager were the settlers, who had previously remained only at the suffrance of the General Government, to have permanent homes near the Fort, that during the fore part of the night, preceding October 11th, men were stationed in all directions around, with instructions to immediately begin the measurement of claims as soon as midnight arrived.

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Precisely at midnight the loud report of a musket, fired from the Agency House, announced that the empire of the red man had ended forever, and that of his master race had begun. Answering reports rang sharply on the night air, in quick succession, from every hill-top, and in every valley, till the signal was conveyed for miles around, and all understood that civilization had now commenced her reign in Central Iowa. The moon was slowly sinking in the west, and its beams afforded a feeble and uncertain light for the measurement of claims in which so many were engaged. Ere long the landscape was shrouded in darkness, save the wild and fitful glaring of the torches, carried by the claim-makers. Before the night had entirely worn away, the rough surveys were finished and the Indian lands had found new tenants. Throughout the country thousands of acres were laid off in claims before dawn. Settlers rushed in by hundreds and the region lately so tranquil and silent, felt the impulse of the change and became vocal with sounds of industry and enterprise.

"A reserve of a square mile around the Fort was maintained so long as Fort Des Moines remained a military post. Part of the troops were removed in the autumn of 1845, the remainder continued until June of the ensuing year. One hundred and sixty acres of this reserve, including all the buildings belonging to the Fort, were afterward ceded by Congress to Polk county, and for several years these buildings furnished the county with various public offices."

The settlement of Polk county properly began in October, 1845, as prior to that time no settlements were possible except by special permit of the General Government and in the interests of the garrison of the Fort. The history of the county begins, however, over three years earlier, when the Fort was established at the Raccoon Fork and when the first white persons located there, many of whom afterward became permanent settlers of the county. There is no doubt but that the location of the Fort at the Raccoon Fork settled the destiny of the future capital city and did much to hasten the development of the material resources of the surrounding country. In speaking of the first beginnings of the settlement of Polk county, we must necessarily refer to this important event-the establishment of Fort Des Moines. In doing so, we can do no better than again quote from the admirable little work of Mr. Turrill, few copies of which, unfortu

nately, are now in existence. We are indebted to Mr. Simon Casady for a copy, from which the following extracts are gleaned:

"On the 9th of May, 1843, the little steamer Ione arrived at the place where our city now stands with a detachment of troops on board, who, immediately on their landing, commenced the work of constructing the various buildings, which were denominated the Fort.' The Ione was the first steamboat that had ever ventured to disturb the clear water of the Des Moines so far from its mouth. Having disembarked the troops, with their accoutrements, baggage and the military stores which composed her lading, she departed. Capt. Allen, the commandant of the future Fort, returned with her to make arrangements for bringing on the rest of the troops. In a month or two they arrived to join their comrades, a mere corporal's guard, which Capt. Allen had left, and all immediately engaged heartily in building their barracks.

"While thus employed they encamped along the bank of the river above what is now Court Avenue. Their labors were severe, and they had many privations to undergo, but a soldier's disposition grows very facile and readily accommodates itself to every change of circumstances. Their gay songs and loud laughter at evenings, mingled with the dashings of the river, and the beating of the morning drum, or the loud bugle notes, awakened to new responses the echoes of the surrounding hills, and gave the western breezes their first lessons in our national melodies. The balmy air was invigorating and healthful, the beauties of summer adorned the forests and prairies, the enchantments were profusely spread around them, all combining to render their situation pleasing and attractive, so far as natural charms could do so.

"Their number was nearly one hundred-consisting of two companies, one of infantry, the other of cavalry. All were under the command of Capt. James Allen, an officer experienced and determined, of sound judg ment and excellent military talent. Lieutenants Greer, King and Potter served under him; the first belonged to the cavalry troop, the others, at separate times, commanded in the infantry.

"Capt. Allen's quarters were situated somewhat east of where the Collins House now (1857) stands. The building, like the others belonging to the Fort, was of one story, of rough logs, strong and comfortable. Within the last year or two it has been demolished to make room for other edifices.

"The buildings which composed the Fort were scattered along the banks of the Des Moines river, and at various points through what is now the business part of the town. They consisted of barracks for the men and stables for the horses, and were some twenty or twenty-five in number, a part of which yet (1857) remain, and will serve the curious reader with a sample of what the others were, their appearance and construction being very similar."

The foregoing will afford a good idea of what Fort Des Moines was from 1843 to 1846. The part of the buildings which Mr. Turrell speaks of as still remaining "to serve the curious reader with a sample," have long since been demolished, and we will endeavor to describe them: In one sense they were double log cabins, such as the early settlers often built, and most of our readers have heard of; in another sense they were different from the typical double log cabin, in that they were designed for a place of defense against any possible hostile incursion of the Indians. The double log cabin