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Fifty Years Ago
When the writer first
visited this most beautiful Island in the
Mississippi river, then and now known as
Rock Island, the ground on which the triplet
cities of Davenport, Rock Island, and Moline
now stands, was covered with prairie grass,
and apparently a sterile waste as regards to
the two former, whilst the latter was
principally covered with timber. Now how
changed! Then the site of Davenport was
claimed to be the most beautiful on the west
bank of the Mississippi, between St. Paul
and St. Louis by Black Hawk and his
confreres, who had traveled up and down the
river in canoes, whilst his judgment was
confirmed by thousands of passengers who
viewed it from steamboats in after years.
Now the triple cities are widely known as
the leading manufacturing cities of the
great west, with railroads stretching out
from ocean to ocean, and although the
Mississippi makes a dividing line, they are
united by a magnificent bridge, which makes
their intercourse easier than over paved
streets.
Rock Island, at that time, was excluded from
settlement by the orders of Government, as
it had been reserved, on the recommendation
of Hon. Lewis Cass, whilst he was in the
Senate and Cabinet, as a site for a United
States Arsenal and Armory. Fort Armstrong
was situated on the lower end of the Island,
and was then in command of Col. William
Davenport. The Sac and Fox agency (Maj.
Davenport, agent,) stood on the bank of the
river about half a mile above the Fort; next
came the residence and office of Antoine Le
Clair, United States Interpreter for the Sam
and Foxes, and a little higher up, the
residence, store-house and out buildings of
Col. George Davenport, who had by an act of
Congress, preempted a claim of two hundred
acres of land running across the Island from
bank to bank of the river. The Island is
about two miles long, and being at the foot
of the rapids has the best water power on
the river, capable of running a much greater
amount of machinery than is at present in
operation. The entire Island is now owned
and occupied by the Government, (the heirs
of Col. Davenport having sold and deeded
their interest), and is now used as an
Armory and arsenal, which are destined to be
in the near future, the most extensive works
of the kind probably in the world. Indeed,
army officers who have traveled extensively
in the Old World, say they have never seen
anything to compare with it, in elegant
grounds, water power and buildings, and with
such facilities for moving anything to and
from the Arsenal. These works were commenced
under the supervision of Gen. Rodman, the
inventor of the Rodman gun, and since the
death of the General, D. W. Flagler, Lieut.
Col. of Ordinance, has been in command, and
a more efficient and better qualified
officer for the place could not have been
found in the army.
There are already completed ten massive
stone buildings, which are used for work
shops, storage, etc., officers' quarters,
both durable and comfortable, and many other
buildings. The former residence of Col.
George Davenport, (the House in which he as
killed for money many years ago) built in
1831, of solid hewed timber, and afterwards
weather-boarded, still stands unoccupied.
The Island is mostly covered with trees of
different varieties, which are kept neatly
trimmed, and is laid out like a park, with
wide avenues extending its whole length,
which makes the most elegant drives and
shady walks for the thousands of visitors
who flock to the Island to feast their eyes
upon its magnificence. 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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