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The City of Dubuque, Iowa
Soon after the close of the
war and the discharge of the volunteer army,
the writer, with some twenty others who had
served through the war, formed a company for
the purpose of laying out the town of
Dubuque. One of their number, Capt. James
Craig, being a surveyor, he was selected to
survey the lines and lay out the town. About
the middle of September, 1832, he started
out from Galena with his chain-carriers,
stake-drivers, etc., (stakes having been
previously sawed and split on an island
opposite, all ready for use), and in due
time completed the survey. Blocks fronting
the river on three or four streets back were
completed, each lot receiving its stakes,
whilst those farther back were staked as
blocks, and not subdivided. A few of the
original proprietors built and took
possession at once. Among them were the
Messrs. Langworthy, enterprising and
energetic young gentlemen, who commenced
business as grocers in a small way, with
supplies for miners. Their faith was strong
that adventurers would come in, and that the
time was not far distant when the town would
take a start, and in a few years become a
populous city. Miners and prospectors soon
took possession of claims in the immediate
vicinity, and in one instance a claim was
made and ore struck within the limits of our
survey.
It was well known that the Indians had been
in the habit, for many years, of visiting
this portion of their country, for the
purpose of getting their supplies of lead;
hence the supposition of miners, who had
long been engaged in prospecting for
lead-mining, that lead would be found on
this side of the river and in the vicinity
of Dubuque. This caused a great rush to the
new fields, of hundreds, who expected to
strike it rich with less labor and expense.
All were aware, however, that under the
treaty just made with the Sacs and Foxes by
Gen. Scott and Gov. Reynolds, they had no
right to enter upon these lands, and stood
in daily fear of being ordered off by United
States troops. But their numbers steadily
increased. At length the long expected order
came. Major Davenport, Indian Agent at Rock
Island, was ordered to go forward, and, with
one company of infantry in two Mackinaw
boats, commanded by Lieut. Beach, they
landed near the mouth of Fever river
(Galena) about the first of October. The
Major came up to Galena with a letter from
Col. George Davenport to the writer, to
assist him in the discharge of his delicate
duty. Word was sent to Lieut. Beach not to
proceed up the river until the afternoon of
the next day, as the sight of troops by the
miners might make them hard to manage;
otherwise, I assured the Major, he would
have no trouble. We proceeded at once to a
point opposite Dubuque, where we found a
comfortable stopping place with the
ferryman, and he being a man of considerable
influence, I suggested to him the propriety
of going over to Dubuque to send men to all
the mining camps, requesting a meeting the
next morning, at nine o'clock, of all the
miners, with the agent, to hear what he had
to say, and to assure them at the same time
that his mission was a peaceable one, and
that there should be no objection manifested
to disobey the orders of the Government.
After the departure of our messenger we took
a private room to talk over the program for
the meeting, when we suggested that, on
assembling, the Major should make a little
speech explanatory of his visit, in which he
should express sorrow for the hardships it
would be to leave their claims, with the
hope that the time was not distant when all
might lawfully return, etc. The Major said
he was not a speech-maker, or a very good
talker, but would read the orders sent to
him to dispossess them, and see that they
crossed the river.
After some discussion, the writer, at his
request, wrote out a short address for the
Major, and on going over the next morning,
we met some four or five hundred miners at
the grocery store, who had assembled to
listen to the orders sent for their removal.
There being no boards or boxes into which to
improvise a stand for the speaker, a
whisky-barrel was introduced, from the head
of which, after apologizing to the miners
for the disagreeable duty that had been
placed upon the Major, and in consequence of
his suffering from a bad cold, we had taken
the stand to read to them his short address,
and as most of them had spent the summer in
the service of the Government as soldiers in
the field, and had been honorably
discharged, the Major felt satisfied that
there would be no objection manifested by
any one in the large crowd before us to
disobey an order from the Government. After
the close of the Major's address, the
question was put to vote by raising of
hands. There was a general upraising of
hands, which was declared to be unanimous
for immediate removal. Owing to the good
treatment received by the Major, he proposed
to treat the entire party, and, to
facilitate the matter, buckets of whisky
with tin cups were passed around, and after
all had partaken they shook hands with the
Major and commenced Crossing over in
flatboats.
At three o'clock in the afternoon we crossed
over on the last boat, and took our
departure for Galena. During the evening the
Major's report of how his peaceable removal
of a large body of intruders from the west
to the east bank of the Mississippi had been
accomplished, was made out and mailed. But
the further fact that all those miners had
recrossed the river, and were then in their
mining camps, was not recorded, for the
reason that the Major had not been posted as
to their intentions.
Owing to the provisions of the treaty, it
was a long time before Congress passed an
act for the sale of these lands, and
confirmation to the titles of town sites,
hence, many of those who had laid out the
town of Dubuque had left the county, and at
the time of proving up their claims failed
to put in an appearance--the writer being
one of them--whilst those who remained, with
the Messrs. Langworthy, became sole
proprietors--the latter having lived to see
the town rise in importance, and at this
time become one of the most populous cities
on the west side of the Mississippi. The books presented are for
their historical value only and are not the
opinions of the Webmasters of the site.
Autobiography of Black
Hawk or Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak,
Copyrighted By J. B. Patterson, 1882
Black Hawk Indian WarFree
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