IOWA HISTORY PROJECT

     The southeast part of the county is included in the Lead District, and mining is an important branch of the business of the county.
     There are three large prairies and several smaller ones. The largest of these is High Prairie, beginning in township ninety-two of range three, three miles west of the Mississippi, extending in a north-westerly direction, gradually receding from the river up to the north line of the county, where it is distant from the river ten miles. Its width varies from one to six miles. The whole western country with its wealth of delightful scenery, does not afford more beautiful landscapes than are to be seen from several of the highest points of prairie.
    A similar prairie, from one to four miles in width, lies between the Turkey and Volga rivers, commencing near the junction, extending northwesterly, and is terminated by a belt of openings in the sixth range. Its rolls are much higher and not as gently undulating as High Prairie.
    Garden Prairie, extending from the northwest of Delaware, across the southwest of Clayton into the southeast of Fayette, is from one to three miles in width, well watered, thickly settled, and much more gently undulating than either of those before mentioned.
     STREAMS -- The largest stream passing through the interior of the county is Turkey River, from two to four chains in width, running rapidly through eight townships, and far below the general surface of the surrounding country, (as in fact do most of the streams in the county) with a bed varied by smooth limestone, pebbles, and white sand, for the most part between high rocky bluffs, occasionally widening out to nearly a mile in width, leaving valuable bottoms of deep rich alluvial soil, some of which are prairie and others heavily timbered.
    The timber bordering on Turkey River is of excellent quality, and extends on either side from one to five miles, and consists of the usual varieties found in Iowa, viz: white, burr, black, pin and yellow oak, linn, maple, black and white walnut, hickory, elm, ash, aspen and ironwood. Its tributaries from the north are Cedar, Dry-mill, and Pony Creeks; and from the south, Blue Belt, Little Turkey, Peck's Branch, Elk Creek and Volga River.
    The Volga passes through four townships, and is a very clear, rapid stream, one chain wide, with gravelly bottom, bounded by deep slopes mostly covered with scattering burr oaks. there are occasional bottoms as on the Turkey, but of less extent. Its principal tributaries are from the south, and are Bear, Honey and Cox Creeks.
    The streams emptying into the Mississippi are Bloody Run, about one mile north of McGregor in township 95, Snymagill in township 94, Buck Creek in township 93, Miners' Creek at Guttenberg in township 92, Turkey River opposite Cassville in Wisconsin, and Panther Creek in township 91.
     The south fork of the Maquoketa passes through the southwestern township of the county.
      In township 94, range 5, Robert's Creek sinks, and rises again about three miles southeast, under the name of Pony Creek.
     GEOLOGY -- The rocks frequently met with, exposed in the bluffs along the streams, and which underlie the greater part of the county, are coralline and pentamerus beds of upper magnesian limestone, resting on a stratum of white friable sandstone -- this sandstone is exposed at the foot of the bluffs on Turkey River, and Buck Creek, and was struck in making the road up Clayton Hill from the river, near the foot. It is white with shades of light yellow, very compact, and is well adapted to making mortar, and is so weakly cemented, that it may be easily excavated with a shovel or spade.
     Cass, township 91, range 6, lies within the drift region, described by Prof. Owen, as the largest in the world, which he calls the Cedar Drift. The drift rock, boulders or lost rock, as they are usually termed, are mostly of porphyritic granite.*

*Northwest of this county extending into Minnesota, and covering the entire table of land giving rise to numerous streams, tributaries both of the Mississippi and Missouri, the boulders are large, and the "largest of them might in an inhabited country very well be taken for cabins, in the distance." They are in this county mostly quite small, and do not rise above the surface. That these rocks are "not at home" is apparent to every one, and Prof. Owen gives the following explanation as to the probable method of their transportation: "The only explanation that is at all satisfactory in accounting for the transporting power which has brought these detached masses of granite rocks into their present position, is floating ice -- ice drifted by currents settling in from the north before the land emerged from the ocean, in the same manner as, at the present time thousands of tons of rock are precipitated on the bed of the Atlantic Ocean from icebergs, which annually work their way from the north, and melt in southern latitudes. No mere currents appear at all adequate to convey such heavy blocks across valleys and over hills, to a distance of hundreds of miles from the parent rock. their isolated position is the prairie, also indicates that they were dropped into their present position, rather than rolled into it. Under the latter supposition, even if it were possible, they would probably be close together, and more regularly assorted as to size." In a romantic place, upon an eminence in Cass township, there is a peculiar outcrop of magnesian limestone, having the appearance of an ancient castle in a fine state of preservation. It is impossible to pass within sight of it, without being attracted by its singular appearance.

      Upon the shores of the Mississippi, are pebbles in great variety; little granite boulders from the size of a pea to that of a hen's egg, gneiss, basalt, greenstone, hornblende, chalcedony, carueliau, agate, porphyry and quartz both opaque and transparent. Many of the earnelians and agates have been picked up, and after passing through the hands of the lapidary, have made beautiful settings for pins, rings and watch seals.
     There are numerous petrifying springs along the Mississippi, at the foot of the bluffs, and in some instances in the ravines opening to the river, and around them are to be found fine specimens of moss and other substances in a state of perfect petrifaction.
     In the northeast part of the county there occurs a bed of lower magnesian limestone, in the shape of the letter U, or perhaps more like a pitchfork, including within its prongs a shell bed about two miles in width. The Snymagill passes through this shell bed, and nearly follows its course to the Mississippi. The prongs are about three miles in width, and unite some fifteen miles northwest from the mouth of the Snymagill, and extend nearly to Yellow River in Allamakee county.
     The lead bearing beds of upper magnesian limestone extend across the Mississippi from Illinois, at Bellevue, and are bounded on the west by a curved line which meets the lower prong of the forked bed before mentioned, in the vicinity of Clayton, where it re-crosses the river to the east into Wisconsin.
     Some extensive lodes of lead have been found on Panther Creek in Buena Vista township, and have been profitably worked to a considerable extent. On Turkey River, from three to four miles above its mouth, there have been discovered pockets containing lead in small quantities. Large quantities are found in the vicinity of Guttenberg on Miners' Creek, in the horizontal openings of the rocks.
     Above the place known as Frenchtown on the Mississippi River, the ore is found in small quantities exposed in the crevices of rocks, said to be the lower magnesian limestone.
     Lead also has been found in numerous instances occurring in small quantities, back from the river as far as four or five miles, in different places from McGregor to the south bounds of the county.
     That portion over which the lead bearing rock extends, and in which the mineral has been found in greater or less quantities, contains an area of about seventy thousand acres, a large proportion of which is not only well timbered, but when cleared, is a good quality of land for agricultural purposes.
     EARLY HISTORY -- This county was established within its present limits, under the name of Clayton county, previous to the organization of the territory of Iowa by the Legislature of Wisconsin, by an act approved December 21st, 1837, and until the next year was attached for judicial purposes to DuBuque county.
     The first settlement was made in the spring of 1832, by Robert Hetfield and William W. Wayman, on Turkey River, about four miles from its mouth, on the north side, nearly opposite Millville, on the place known afterwards as the Lander farm, and on the Pierson farm by Captain William D. Grant. Previous to their settlement, however, there had been a cabin erected at the mouth of the river that was used as a ferry house.
      Until this time explorations had been confined principally to Turkey River, and those had mostly been made by miners, and persons in search of mineral, who were started out by the excitement consequent upon the discovery of rich lodes of ore at Galena and DuBuque. Some of these parties followed up the river to its head, thence striking across to Lake Pepin, returned in canoes procured of the Indians, down the Mississippi. But few came for the purpose of settlement.

In January, 1836, Dr. Frederick Andros made a claim on the edge of High Prairie, about one mile southeast from where Garnavillo is now situated, built a cabin and placed it in charge of a man whom he had employed to occupy the claim and make rails. A man by the name of Loomis made a claim about the same time, adjoining that of Dr. Andros. A claim was also made by John W. Gillet, which covered a part of the ground now occupied by Garnavillo. He built a cabin and moved into it. During the spring, William Correll made a claim in Farmersburg, built a cabin, and spent the summer in learning the French language and splitting rails. Allen Carpenter made a claim three miles northwest of Correll's. In June or July, Mr. Gillet brought on a breaking team, and commenced plowing on the prairie, which is believed to be the first prairie broken in the county.
On the 15th of July, Elisha Boardman, Harry Boardman, Horace D. Bronson, and a man by the name of Hastings, started on horseback from Green Bay, followed up Fox River to the Portage, where they found a Mackinaw boat belonging to the American Fur Company, that had just discharged a cargo of furs, and was about returning. In this the Boardmans took passage down the Wisconsin to Prairie du Chien, and then hired a half-breed to take them in his canoe to Cassville, where they joined Bronson and Hastings, who had proceeded to that place on horseback, following along the course of the river. Here they crossed the Mississippi and went up to Hetfield's, where they left their hoses to recruit, and with two others procured of Captain Grant and E. Price, Esq., they commenced an exploration of Turkey River, accompanied by Grant.*

*Their stock of provisions consisted of twelve pounds of pork and an equal quantity of flour; with an artillery of one small shot gun. A halt was made at the forks of the river eight miles below Fort Atkinson, and that night the Indians stole both their horses. After a fruitless search for them in the morning, they concluded to return, for having killed no game, their pork and flour had got reduced to about a pound and a half of each. The flour was mixed up, baked in the ashes and divided into five equal parts. Grant and Bronson decided to return on foot, while the others constructed a raft to float down the river. The foot passengers took the pork and started back. The raft was made of two troughs fastened together, and at first was sufficient to carry only one person. The river was low and they proceeded very slowly, making additions to the raft of such dry cedars as were convenient to the river, until it was sufficiently extensive to bear up the three. As they floated along they espied up on the bank an old coon, with three young ones. Under ordinary circumstances such game would not be very tempting; but the strong demands of appetite compelled them to bag such game as they could get. The coons were killed, taken to the Big Spring, about five miles above Elkader, roasted and eaten. After dinner a claim was marked out including the spring, but fears were entertained that it might be within the limits of the "neutral ground." Another landing was made where Elkader now stands, and Elisha Boardman marked out a claim extending on both sides of the river, and including the farm upon which he now resides. A tree upon the east bank of the river just below the dam, was recently standing, bearing upon it one of the claim marks made at that time. they continued their journey day and night, sometimes getting into the water to work the raft over shallow places, with occasional stoppages to gather gooseberries, which, aside from one duck and the coons, were their only food until at the end of four days they reached the Lander place, about three hours after Grant and Bronson had arrived. After stopping a few days to recruit, Elisha Boardman and Mr. Bronson started back for Green Bay with but one horse -- leaving the other with Captain Grant to plow our his corn. About the first of October they purchased a large bark canoe of three tons capacity and started for their new home on Turkey River. Mr. Boardman with his goods, Mr. Bronson with his goods and family, and five others who were coming to see the country, made a pretty large canoe load. At the portage the canoe and cargo were carried over and launched in the Wisconsin, whence they descended to Prairie du Chien, where they purchased a team and provisions. There was no ferry across the Mississippi at that place, and it was with much difficulty that they succeeded in obtaining an old flat boat belonging to the government, and repairing it so as to get over with their loads. Alex. McGregor, Esq., had recently come to Prairie du Chien, he rendered them material assistance in caulking and launching the boat, crossed with them and returned the boat. They were four days in traveling with their team from the Mississippi to Elkader, at which they arrived on the 10th of October. At that time there were at McGregor, [then called Coolie du Sioux] two occupied cabins built by Thomas S. Burnet, for evidence of possession of the coolie by him. In August a parse was made up by Prairie du Chien Land Company No. 1, to cut through a road on this side of the river to the top of the bluff. It was made up one of the branch ravines to the north of the one now used for a road, and reached the summit at a distance of one mile and a half from the river.

A few other persons settled on Turkey River and its tributaries during the fall, and some improvements were made by way of building saw mills. William Rowan began one on Little Turkey and sold out to Robert Hetfield, who got it to running before winter set in. William W. Wayman began one on Elk Creek near its mouth. Boardman and Bronson began one on

Dry Mill Branch on section 17, township 93, range 4, in December. When they commenced work upon it, the stream was sufficiently large to carry a saw mill to do a good business. One morning in February, 1837, upon going to the stream they discovered, much to their astonishment, that it had entirely disappeared and there was no water left. *

*Upon following up the bed of the stream about half a mile above the mill, they found a sink where the water went under ground, but thinking this might be stopped, work upon the mill was continued until it was completed about the first of May, and a log put on the carriage ready for sawing. The sink was then stopped, then others opened that were also stopped; but showers came and washed them open again, and the mill was abandoned without even starting the saw, and has always been known since as the "Dry Mill," After failing in the mill, Mr. Boardman concluded to try his fortune at farming, and accordingly purchased two additional yoke of oxen to make a breaking team, and commenced breaking on a piece of bottom land situated half a mile below Elkader, on the east side of the river and about ten feet above low water mark. After plowing five or six acres, the Indians stole three of his oxen. Search was immediately made for them and one was traced to Yellow River near the agency; the remnants of one was found on High Prairie where he had been killed, but no trace of the other could be found. To supply the place of these, others were purchased at Prairie du Chien.

      About the first of June, Bronson commenced building a saw mill for Hetfield on Buck Creek, about four miles from Garnavillo, which was completed in December following.
      In the year 1836 the public surveys were begun, and the county was run into townships. The year following the most of the townships were subdivided into sections, except that portion within the "neutral ground".
     Up to the year 1830, this part of the State was occupied by hostile tribes of Indians who were continually making war under pretext of trespasses on their hunting grounds. the Dakotahs or Sioux, on one side, and the Sacs and Foxes on the other. The former occupying north, and the latter south of an imaginary boundary line, leaving a very indefinite location. To remedy this difficulty, on the 15th day of July, 1830, the United States Government entered into a treaty with the above names tribes, by which each of the contending parties ceded to the Government a strip of land twenty miles in width along their line of division, from the Mississippi ina southwesterly direction to the head waters of the Des Moines. This was called the "neutral ground," and both parties were to have the privilege in common, of hunting and fishing upon this broad division line. About three townships in the northwest part of this county, were included in the neutral ground. The whites were not permitted to settle or make any improvements upon this tract, until after the Indians were removed in 1838.
     In the Spring of 1838, the Governor of Wisconsin Territory appointed John W. Griffith the first Sheriff of Clayton county, who proceeded to summon the grand and petit juries for the first term of the "District Court appointed to be holden at Prairie La Porte, in and for the County of Clayton, in the Territory of Wisconsin, on the fourth Monday of May." When the time arrived, the Court was organized by Hon. Charles Dunn, District Judge, in a log house, the residence of Herman Graybill. Dr. F. Andros, was appointed Clerk, William Banks, United States Attorney, and James Churchman, Prosecuting Attorney. As Grand Jurors, the following named persons who had been summoned, appeared and were empanelled: Elisha Boardman, foreman; David Springer, Dean Gray, Eliphalet Price, Edward Dickens, Henry Redmon, Solomon Wadsworth, George W. Jones, Daniel Rugby, Luther Mead, William Rowan, Horace D. Bronson, Allen Carpenter, William W. Wayman, E. R. Hill, Wm. D. Grant, and Ava Durrin. *

*Those summoned, but not appearing, were James Henderson, James Brown, Robert Campbell, and Nahum Dudley, and an order was entered by the Court, requiring them to show cause at the next term, why they should not be fined for contempt. The Grand Jury after being charged by His Honor, were attended by the Sheriff, who conducted them to their private apartments in a shingle shanty belonging to Graybill, having a roof and three sides boarded up, and situated upon one of those peculiar mounds that are scattered over that prairie. The jury deliberated and whittled shingles; while the Sheriff rode sentinel on horseback, back and forth at a respectable distance on the open side of the shanty, occasionally halting to inquire, in his individual capacity it is presumed, if it was not "about time to go and take something." The only bill of indictment found by this jury, was in the form of a memorial to the court, upon the subject of the location of the county seat at Prairie La Porte, which as "they firmly and zealously believed was effected for the purpose of promotoing the private and individual interest of a few, to the great inconvenience of their fellow citizens, and highly detrimental to the general welfare of the county." The persons summoned to attend this Court as petit jurors were, Robert Hetfield, Isaac H. Preston, Dudley Peck, H.F. Lander, John W. Gillet, William Beazley, William Harper, D.C. Vansyckle, Samuel McMasters, Chauncey S. Edson, Samuel Hastings, Baldwin Olmstead, Matthew Peck, Herman Graybil, Martin Vansyckle, Andrew Whitaker, Nathan Springer, Andrew S. Cooley, Ambrose Kennedy, and William McDowell. The jurors and officers presented their accounts for attendance, and had them certified, when the "Court adjourned until Court in course," to Herman Graybill's grocery, to partake of a meal of venison and wild fowls, and drink raw whiskey. A general jollification was held until evening, when the most of them left "with building material in their hats."

After Court the Sheriff commenced taking the FIRST CENSUS, preparatory to an election for the purpose of organizing the county, also including the present State of Minnesota which was attached to Clayton for judicial purposes. *

*That part "north of Root River and extending west to the extreme part of the territory of Wisconsin," contained at that time 204 white males, 144 white females, four free males of color, and two free females of color, making a total of 354. "The number of persons within my division , consisting of two hundred seventy-four, appears in a schedule hereto annexed, subscribed by me this 29th day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight. This division is confined to Clayton county proper.

J. W. GRIFFITH, Sheriff Clayton Co. W.T."

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Heads of families & prin'l persons	White Males	White Fem	Total	Heads of families & prin'l persons	White Males	White Fem	Total
J.W. Griffith	5	6	11	Bradford Porter	1	3	4
Robt. Campbell	3	2	5	Jacob Lemmons	3	5	8
Elias Miller	1	-	1	Henry Johnson	2	-	2
Dudley Peck	2	-	2	John Frost	1	-	1
David Springer	6	2	8	Henry Warner	1	-	1
Luther Patch	5	5	10	Jesse Dandley	6	1	7
E. Price	5	-	5	E. Boardman	4	-	4
Henry Redmon	2	2	4	Wm. W. Wayman	4	-	4
Tho's. Van Syckle	2	3	5	Naham Dudley	2	-	2
S. Wadsworth	1	1	2	E.R. Hill	3	-	3
James Henderson	6	2	8	Baldwin Ohmstead	7	2	9
Geo W. Jones	5	4	9	D.C. Van Syckle	5	2	7
Luther Mead	2	-	2	Wm. D. Grant	2	-	2
H.F. Lander	7	3	9	Samuel Johnson	2	3	5
S.L. Taintor	1	1	2	---------- McCraney	1	2	3
A.S. Cooley	5	1	6	E.E. Oliver	5	2	7
A. Kennedy	4	5	9	Wm. Walker	5	4	9
Wm. Harper	2	4	6	Jacob F. Redmon	2	-	2
C.S. Edson	1	-	1	F.L. Rudolph	1	-	1
Herman Graybill	2	1	1	Charles Latrouce	4	4	8
Wm. Warner	2	3	5	S. LaPoint	1	1	2
Patton McMellan	3	2	5	--------- Burns	2	-	2
Robert Hetfield	9	2	11
Reuben Decus	2	2	4	TOTAL	181	93	274
H.D. Bronson	2	1	3
Fred'k Andros	3	2	4
S. McMasters	4	-	4
Allen Carpenter	2	2	4
David Lowry	13	3	16

    On the 12th day of June, the organic law of the territory of Iowa, received the approval of the President, and took effect on the 4th of July following.
    On the 10th day of September the election was held, polls being opened at two places; at Turkey River settlement, where a town had been laid off by the name of Winchester, and at Prairie La Porte. Not being organized, as well as not having population sufficient to entitle it alone to any legislative representative, this county gave its vote with DuBuque and Jackson for Councilman, and with DuBuque for member of the House. The county officers elected were as follows: County Commissioners, Wm. D. Grant, Robert Campbell and George Culver; Treasurer, Ambrose Kennedy; Recorder, Frederick Andros; Sheriff and Assessor, John W. Griffith; Probate Judge, S. H. McMasters; Supreme Court Commissioner, Wm. W. Wayman; County Surveyor, C. S. Edson; Coroner, J. B. Quigley.
      The second term of the District Court was held on the second Monday of September, at Herman Graybill's, Hon. T. S . Wilson, Associate Judge of the Supreme Court, presiding. S. V. Berry was appointed U.S. and Prosecuting Attorney, pro tem. The delinquent grand jurors of the preceding term, having been notified to appear and show cause why they should not be fined for contempt; and not appearing were fined ten dollars each and costs. The next day however they appeared, were sworn, "and purged themselves of the contempt," whereupon the Court excused them and remitted their fines.
      On the 6th of October, the County Commissioners met at Prairie La Porte, and organized by appointing Dean Gay, Clerk, and adjourned to the 15th, when they again held a meeting and commenced a county organization, George W. Jones, Allen Carpenter and Baldwin Olmstead were appointed Road Commissioners. Four election precincts were established, places for holding elections designated and Judges of election appointed for them. No. 1, at Henry Holtzbecker's -- judges, D. Springer, Henry F. Lander and Henry Holtzbecker. No. 2, at

    Herman Graybill's -- judges, John W. Gillet, Patton McMellan and Baldwin Olmstead. No. 3, at Jesse Dandley's -- judges, Jesse Dandley, Allen Carpenter and C.S. Edson. No. 4, at Boardman's Mill -- judges not appointed. Permission was given to "precincts not having a sufficient number of votes to organize, to cast their votes at the nearest precinct adjoining their place of residence."
     School Commissioners were appointed for the several precincts as follows: No. 1, Ambrose Kennedy. No. 2, Herman Graybill. No. 3, John Downie. No. 4, Jesse Dandley.
    There are many items of record which were made at the commencement of business in the county, which we extract in some instances merely because they were the first, and other that are taken in the order in which they occur, for the purpose of future reference.*

* On the 19th day of March, 1839, the first license was granted to sell intoxicating liquors, and the following entry of it was made in the commissioners' records by the clerk:
"Peter Legree made aplication for permit for to retail ardent sperits on the 19th of March and granted the same according to the last act of Wesconsin Legislature, Don at Prarie Laport, March 19th, 1839.
DEAN GAY,
Clerk of Board, &c."

The county commissioners during the summer, commenced the laying out of Prairie La Porte, which is part of the present town of Guttenberg, having secured the site for the benefit of the county. C.S. Edson, the county surveyor, was employed to do the surveying. the plat was filed for record on the 6th day of December, by H.F. Lander, Patton McMellan and W.W. Wayman, commissioners. *

*It is said that the traffic in intoxicating liquors is difficult to regulate and keep within the intended limits, and that the ingenuity of men is often taxed in explicity prescribing what is intended. As an illustration of this, we copy an entry made in the commissioners' records of July 13th:
"Received of James A. McCllenan fifteen dollars to vend merchandize Groceries. Liquors not less quantity than a quart at prairie Laport. Clayton county in full for said licens. L.B. TOMPKINS, Clerk."

    The official bond of H.M. Rice, as Justice of the Peace at St. Peters, now Mendota, opposite Fort Snelling, in Minnesota, was duly approved and filed on the twelfth day of November.
    At the April term of the District court, James Crawford was admitted to the Bar, and was the first attorney admitted in the county. The following is the first entry of a case determined, upon the records:
    "Herman Graybill vs Edward E. Oliver -- Attachment. This day came the plaintiff by his attorney, and the defendant being three times solemnly called, came not -- Whereupon it was ordered that his default be recorded."
     The first case in which a conviction was had, was U.S. vs Pierre La Gris for selling spirituous liquors to the Indians. A fine was imposed upon him of [illegible], and costs.
     Hugh Kearney declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States.
     During the summer of 1839, Capt. Wm. Grant and C. S. Edson began a saw mill on Turkey River, in township 95, range 6, and had got the frame ready to raise and some of the gearing nearly completed, when Col. Lander informed them that it was the opinion of the Indian Agent that they were on the neutral ground. They immediately went in search of the line and found they had got to the north of it about five miles. Nothing further was done upon the mill; but everything except their tools was left, and when the prairie was burned over in the fall, the timbers and machinery were consumed.
     Dr. F. Andros was elected to represent this county in the Territorial Legislature.
     On the 14th day of January, 1840, an act received the approval of the Governor, to relocate the county seat. The commissioners appointed to select a new site, were D. F. Blythe, of DuBuque; D. L. Kirkpatrick, of Jackson; and Franklin Moffit, of Delaware. The act required the commissioners to "meet at Prairie La Porte, on the first Monday of May next, and proceed forthwith to locate a suitable place for the seat of justice of said county, with reference to the geographical centre, convenience and welfare of said county." The site selected by them was to be the county seat, from the 1st day of September following; provided, a majority of the qualified voters of the county should decide in favor of the same at the August election.

On the 30th day of March, by resolution of the Board of Commissioners, a tax was levied of one half of one percent on all taxable property, and $1 on each poll. On the 11th day of May, Robert Hetfield was appointed agent for the county, to sell the village lots of Prairie La Porte, for the purpose of raising funds to erect county buildings, and a contract was entered into by the commissioners with Horace D. Bronson and Jesse Jones to build a court house, for the sum of $2,450.*

*The settlements in Minnesota were not so remote but that they felt a deep interest in the unusually exciting political campaign of 1840, and upon that occasion they wished to exercise that privilege so highly prized by American citizens -- the right of suffrage -- and to give them an opportunity, the commissioners established election precinct No. 6, at the settlement at the foot of Lake Pepin, and appointed Charles Sweet, Oliver Cratts, and James Wells, judges of election. Precinct No. 7, was established at the mouth of St. Peter's River, and A.J. Bruce, Franklin Steele and H.H. Sibly, were appointed judges. H.C. Menke was paid from the county treasury the sum of $31.50, for bringing the election returns from those precincts to Prairie La Porte. Having established the ballot-box in Minnesota, for the benefit of the settlers' there, in the spring of 1841 the commissioners, for the benefit of the county, ordered "that the Assessors assess the people at the mouth of the St. Peter's River, and at all intermediate points." Henry Holtzbecker was the sheriff at that time, and upon him devolved the labor of Assessor. But before he commenced the task, a difficulty occurred between him and James A. McClellan, which terminated in McClellan's shooting him, at the house of Graybill, at Prairie La Porte. Two or three days afterwards he died. An examination was held before Justice Springer, and McClellan was acquitted. The matter was never prosecuted further. Wm. Walker was Coroner, and by virtue of his office, succeeded Holtzbecker, and appointed Thomas P. Park, his deputy, who discharged the principal duties pertaining to the office. While on his trip to St. Peter's to make the assessment, being a conservator of the peace, whenever he found persons violating the excise law, he compelled them to take a Sheriff's license. This served the purpose of making the trip a profitable one, and also of reminding the people of that sparsely settled country, that they were within the jurisdiction of Clayton county.

      On the 15th day of May, 1840, the U.S. Government leased of Thomas P. Burnet and Alexander McGregor, the grounds for warehouse purposes, upon which the same season was erected the old warehouse which is still standing at McGregor.
      The Government in 1837, had made a treaty with the Winnebago Indians, purchasing of them their lands east of the Mississippi, and giving them in part payment, the neutral ground. We neglected to mention in the statement relative to the neutral ground, that the time for which the Sioux and Sacs and Foxes were to have the occupancy in common, was limited to ten years. After the Winnebagoes sold out, they came on, a few of them, to take possession of their new home. But the Sioux and Sacs and Foxes, told them that the time of their right to occupy the neutral ground had not expired, and that the Winnebagoes must not come there until the ten years should expire, or there would be a war between them. The Winnebagoes returned to their old home, to stay until their purchase should be vacated, and they could acquire possession peaceably. In 1840, as the Sioux and Sacs and Foxes had been removed from the neutral ground and the Winnebagoes were expected on again, the Government commenced the building at Fort Atkinson. McGregor had run a flatboat ferry from Prairie du Chien to Coolie de Sioux, from the time he ferried over Mesrs. Boardman and Bronson, in 1836, until this time, under a license obtained at Prairie du Chien. The business, however, was quite small until the commencement of the work upon the Fort, when the ferry became very profitable, and McGregor's Landing, as it then was called, became an important point. A Mission Station was also established that year about four miles below the Fort. -- There was considerable opposition made to McGregor by the American Fur Company, who succeeded in getting the soldiers to make the road through the northern side of township 95, by furnishing whiskey to the soldiers while at work, and carriages for the officers to ride out in -- without any order for such work from the Department at Washington. The road was known as the upper ferry road, and made a junction with the McGregor road, at Monona. In 1841, the Winnebagoes again came on, as they supposed to a permanent residence upon the neutral ground.
      The Spanish grant, or "Giard Tract," was ceded by the Spanish Lieutenant Governor of Upper Louisiana, to Basil Giard, in the year 1795, and contained 6,808 1/2 arpents, or 5760 acres. In consideration of his occupancy of the same during the time it passed from Spain to France, and from France to the United States, our Government, on the 2d of July, 1844,

issued a patent for the same to Giard, in his own right. The whole tract was sold by the heirs of Giard, to James H. Lockwood and Thomas P. Burnett of Prairie du Chien, for the sum of three hundred dollars.
      The selection of the site for the new county seat was made by the Commissioners, on the northeast quarter of section 18, township 93, range 3, and named “Allotat,” a Sac word signifying gander. At the August election of 1840, a vote was taken pursuant to the act, and resulted in a majority of about ten in favor of retaining the county seat at Prairie La Porte. As the land had not yet been brought into market by the government, those living in the vicinity of the point selected by the Commissioners, voted in favor of Prairie La Porte, being afraid that speculators might enter their claims from under them, should the county seat be removed.
      On the 11th day of January, 1841, the land in this township was brought into market, and in the course of two years, most of the settlers had entered or secured their claims when the passage was procured of another “Act to re-locate the county seat of Clayton county,” approved 15th February, 1843. The Commissioners appointed to select the site, were Hardin Nowlin, of Dubuque County, William Jones, of Jackson County, David Moreland, of Delaware County. The act provided that the Commissioners should meet at Prairie La Porte on the first Monday of April next thereafter, or within one month from that time, and after being sworn, proceed to make their selection; commit their proceedings to writing, describing and naming the place and deliver the same, together with any deeds or donations they might receive, to the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners. The place so selected was to be and remain the seat of justice, unless the legal voters should wish to decide between it and Prairie La Porte, and should make the same known to the County Commissioners by petition signed by a majority of such voters; in which case it was made the duty of the commissioners to order an election on the first Monday of June.
      Two of the commissioners, Nowlin and Moreland, met pursuant to the requirements of the law, and drove their site stake on the one-eighth section south of the one selected by the commissioners under the act of 1840, and named it Jacksonville. Many of the inhabitants of the surrounding region, were present to witness the ceremony of location.
     The commissioners made their report, and with it delivered to the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners the following list of subscriptions to aid in the building of a court house and jail: -
      James Watson, 80 acres of land; John W. Gillet, $50 in work; Angus P. McDonnel, $15 in work; Richard Only. $50 in hauling; Timothy Killam, $10 in hauling and work; George A. Whitman, $50 in work or money.
     The deed of the land, being the land selected for the county seat, accompanied the list, and the consideration therein, was the following conditions: “That the County Commissioners shall appropriate and use all the proceeds of the sales for the said land in the erection of public buildings for the use of said county, and for no other purpose or use whatsoever.”
     The election was not ordered; and on the 2nd day of October the Board of Commissioners held their first session at Jacksonville, and the county business, after that time, was transacted at that place.
     A contract was immediately entered into by the Board of Commissioners with James King and John Banfield for the building of a court house, and with David Clark for a jail. The court house was completed and in readiness for the spring term of the court in 1844.
     By act of January 13th, 1846, the Board of Commissioners were authorized to change the name of Jacksonville top whatever name a majority of them might think proper. In pursuance of which, at a meeting of the board on the 15th day of April, the name was changed to Garnavillo.
       On the 15th of January, 1849, another legislative act for the re-location of the county seat, received the approval of the Governor.*

*The act provided, “that the legal voters of Clayton county shall vote, at the April election of 1849, for these points, to wit: Garnavillo, Guttenberg and Elkader, and if upon canvassing the votes, it is ascertained that any one point has received a majority of votes over all others, then that shall be and remain the permanent seat of justice of said Clayton county, but, if no one point shall receive such majority, then the legal voters of said county shall vote on the first Monday in May thereafter for the two points which received the highest number of votes at the April election, and the point receiving the highest number of votes shall be and remain the permanent seat of justice of said county of Clayton.”

The following list of subscriptions was received by the commissioners “to be expanded in the erection of public buildings for the said county, provided the seat of justice is located at Elkader: -

Thomson, Sage and Davis, $500; also one square containing eight lots, to be selected by the County Commissioners from any lands in the town of Elkader in our possession at the time of selection, said selection to be the site of the public buildings, lots estimated at $30 each, $240; E. G. Rolfe, 30; Ames Warner, 50; H. D. Bronson, 50; Elisha Beardman, 50; Azel J. Fuller, 10; A.D. Griswold, 25; Wm. M. Keys, 10; E. V. Carter, 10; Adam Kean, 30; A.G. Park, 10; John Downie, 10. Total, $1,025.

      Upon canvassing the returns of the April election, it was ascertained that neither place had received a majority of all the votes cast. Garnavillo received 254; Guttenberg, 177; and Elkader, 115.
      A new election was therefore ordered by the commissioners, between Garnavillo and Guttenberg, which resulted as follows: - Garnavillo received 279, and Guttenberg 245 votes, giving a majority in favor of Garnavillo of 23 votes. Whereupon the commissioners declared that in pursuance of said act, “Garnavillo be and remain the permanent seat of justice of said Clayton county.”
      At this election, of those who voted at the April election in favor of Elkader, sixty-eight voted for Guttenberg, twenty-five for Garnavillo, and twenty did not vote.
      There have been three attempts to establish societies in this county upon joint stock association plans, vix: - the “Clydesdale Joint Stock, Agricultural and Commercial Company,” the “Community Colony,” and the “Liberty Colony.”
      The CLYDESDALE COMPANY was organized in Scotland on the 4th day of April, 1849, for the purpose of acquiring land in some suitable locality in the United States of America, in which to establish by means of the united capital and industry of its partners, a comfortable home for themselves and families, where they may follow a more simple, useful and rational mode of life than is found practicable in the complex and competition state of society, from which they have become anxious to retire.” The members were John Jack, James Love, John Craig, John McAndrews, James Shanks, James Gardner, Robertson Sinclair, John Davis and John Campbell.*

*The leading provisions of their articles of association were as follows: The capital stock was fixed at $20,000, divided into eight hundred shares of $25 each. The affairs of the company to be under the control of a board of directors, consisting of a president, treasurer and secretary, who were to appoint a manager to conduct the general business. Each resident member owning four shares, was entitled to the occupancy of a house and two acres of land for the use of himself and family, and an annual allowance for their subsistence. Five per cent, one the capital stock and one-fourth of the profits went into the funds of the company, and the balance of the profits to the members individually in proportion to the time each had labored for the company.
They purchased unimproved lands in Monona township, on section 21, about three miles southwest from the village of Monona, and settled upon it in the winter of 1850 – 51. Improvements were rapidly made for a short time, when dissatisfaction and petty jealousies began to spring up among the members, and continued to increase until the 20th of March. 1852, when at a meeting of the company it was unanimously agreed to dissolve. Reuben Noble and Samuel Murdock, Esqs., were appointed their attorneys, with power to sell their property, and close up their affairs. The following fall the lands were sold, the proceeds of the sale scarcely amounting to the cost of the improvements.

The COMMUNITY COLONY was organized in July, 1850, in this county by Joseph Venus, Johan Enderes, Fred. Weis, H. Pape, T. Nagel, K. Kopp. Jacob Pensar, Lewis Weinel. Johhan Taffz, Michael Bramme, Joseph Gremfer and W. Krisinger, for the purpose of carrying on “agricultural, mechanical arts and trades, and such other industrial pursuits as they might deem expedient and desirable.” The capital of the association was made up by joining the individual property of its members, and consisted of four hundred acres of land in sections 7, 8 and 18, township 92, range 4, and eighty acres in sections 13 and 14, township 92, range 5, valued at $1,800; stock, teams, farming utensils, tools and furniture, $1,200.*

*Their constitution provided that no division of the property should be made except by the unanimous consent of its members. Each member was entitled to support, and in case of his death, the society should take care of the widow and educate the children. If the widow and children should desire to withdraw from the society, they could do so in the same manner as the husband, and take his share of the property. If the member dying should leave no widow or children, his share should vest in the society. New members might be admitted after a residence of three months with the association, by a two-third vote. But in case of rejection, candidates should make no claim for services. Members might withdraw and receive the value of the property put in by them and the balance in one and two years. For infractions of the rules and regulations of the society, and for immoral conduct, members might be expelled, in which case they were entitled to receive their shares the same as those withdrawing. The business was placed under the management and control of a president, secretary and treasurer; but for all sales and purchases amounting to over $25, the concurrence of a majority of the society was necessary.
This organization seemed to operate very well for a time. Improvements were begun and additions were made to their number, until a strong partisan spirit prevailed at their annual elections for officers, and ran so high that the minority party refused to submit to the majority. To avoid a dissolution, in July, 1858, material alterations were made in their articles of association, and the name was changed to “Communia Workingmen’s League.” The property was all transferred to the new society, and amounted to fourteen hundred and forty acres of land, valued at $6,725, and stock, tools, merchandise and building material at $5,296, making a sum total of $12,021. Showing an increase of $9,021 in the three years of its operation.

LIBERTY COLONY was organized in June, 1851, chiefly through the management of Christian Wullweber, and the articles of association were copied, with a few slight alternations, from those of Community Colony. Wullweber was president, Frederick Koch treasurer, and Fred’k Uffel secretary.*

*The lands purchased by Wullweber for the occupation of the society were eleven hundred and twenty acres on sections 20, 21, 29 and 80, township 99, range 4, and adjoining the lands of the Colony Community. It was the intention of its founder to have a large association, and no pains were spared by him to make the society prosper during the first year; but not meeting with a hearty co-operation from all of his associates, and the society being in debt for their living and improvements, disbanded on the 20th of April, 1852, and appointed S. Murdock, Esq., attorney to dispose of the property and close up the business of the concern. The lands were sold in July, 1853, to John C. Thompson, Jr., for $1,075.

     GUTTENBERG – The Town of Guttenberg is pleasantly situated on the west bank of the Mississippi River, about forty miles above DuBuque, and about six miles above the mouth of the Turkey River. The location of the town is on a handsome prairie, extending from the base of the bluff half a mile eastward to the river, and about three miles in length. This prairie received from one of the early French Missionaries the name of Prairie LaPorte – The Door Prairie.
     The village of Prairie LaPorte was probably laid out in 1837, or 1838. Here the county seat of Clayton county was first located. At this time, Clayton county was a part of the Territory of Wisconsin. The first term of the District Court of Clayton county was held by Hon. Charles Dunn at Prairie LaPorte, on the 4th Monday of May, 1838, in a log house, the residence of Herman Graybill.
      In the year 1843 the county seat was removed from Prairie LaPorte to Jacksonville, now Garnavillo. After the removal of the county seat, all the land and village lots belonging to the county in the village of Prairie LaPorte were sold and conveyed by the County Commissioners to the Western Settlement Society of Cincinnati, Ohio. This Society entered several hundred acres of land contiguous to the town, and employed John M. Gay, County Surveyor, to lay off a much larger town, including Prairie LaPorte within its limits. In January, 1847, the legislature passed an act changing the name of the old town to Guttenberg, and this name was given to the new town in honor of the renowned inventor of the art of printing. The survey of the new town was completed in June, 1847, and about this time considerable improvements was made; but for several years subsequent, owing to the pressure of the times and the paucity of the population of the surrounding country – which was then an almost unbroken wilderness – the growth of the place was not very rapid.
     During the session of the legislature in 1850 – ’51, the town was incorporated. At the time the population of the place did not exceed two hundred and fifty or three hundred, and the principal object of the citizens in obtaining a charter of incorporation was to enable the town authorities to impose a tax on real estate, and thus make the large number of non-resident property-holders bear their proportion of the expense of necessary improvements.

      The first municipal election was held in April, 1851. Since that time the growth of the town has been onward and upward. Every year has witnessed new and substantial improvements, and a large increase of trade and business.
       Since the incorporations of the town large sums have been annually expended in public improvements. Good roads have been made, leading to every part of the surrounding country. The town has an excellent steam ferry boat, which during the season of navigation, plies regularly between this place and Glen Haven, three miles up the river, on the Wisconsin side.
      The buildings are mostly of stone, of which material an excellent quality is obtained from the bluff back of the town.
      There are now in the place seven general stores; two groceries; two clothing stores; two hardware, stove and tin stores; two drug stores; three millinery and fancy stores; four blacksmith and three saddler shops; two wagon and carriage shops; one gun shop; three furniture shops; four hotels; 5 breweries; several warehouses; two flouring mills; and one saw mill; together with the usual number of mechanical shops. The Lutheran and Catholic are the leading church denominations.
      The commercial advantages of Guttenberg are not surpassed by any town of the same size on the river. It annually ships and receives large quantities of produce and merchandise. The principal articles of export are wheat, flour, barley, oats, corn, potatoes, pork, lard, beef, pig lead, etc.
      The country in the vicinity of Guttenberg is beautiful, healthy and remarkably fertile, and is settled with an intelligent and enterprising class of farmers.
      The resources of the surrounding country are unsurpassed. Independent of the unrivalled fertility of the soil, it possesses abundant sources of wealth in its cast forests of timber and rich mines of lead ore. North of the town are large tracts of timber for building, fencing, and other purposes; while to the south and west the forests extend for many miles, and abound in choice varieties of oak, walnut, hard maple, ash basswood, etc.
     The bluffs immediately back of town abound in lead ore, and on Miner’s Creek, within two or three miles of town, several rich veins of mineral have been discovered and profitably worked.
     The advantages for manufacturers are good. Miners’ Creek, in the rear of town, affords good water power, which has already been rendered available to some extent. The “Big Spring” at the upper end of the town can be used to great advantage, and at small cost, owing to the abundance of timber. With these facilities manufactories could be established and carried on profitably at this point.
     From the bluffs immediately back of town issue numerous springs of excellent water, sufficient in quantity to supply the inhabitants of a large city.
     McGREGOR is an incorporate city situated in the northeast portion of this county, on the west bank of the Mississippi River, sixty-seven miles above the City of DuBuque, and 229 miles northwest from Chicago, via the Chicago and Northwestern and the Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien Railways. It was long known as “McGregor’s Landing,” for a reason previously given in the history of Clayton county, and form the time of its being laid out as a town, and the settlement and cultivation of the country west and northwest from this point. It has enjoyed the benefits of an exceedingly active trade.*

*One would scarcely credit a true statement of the marvelous quantity of grain and produce that is shipped via this point, did they not visit the town during the busy season, and in person, see the streets crowded through their entire length from early in the morning till late in the evening, with heavily laden wagons, four abreast, many of whose owners had come fifty, a hundred, and sometimes two hundred miles, to market. Standing at the foot of Main Street, it is no uncommon sight to see it so filled to its furthest extent; and allowing twenty feet for each wagon and horses length, (four abreast) we have the following estimates for one mile, viz: one mile 5,250 feet divided by 20 – 264 x 4-1,056, or over one thousand teams for one mile alone. This is no fancy picture nor “fish story,” but a fact that thousands have witnessed daily, and is but another evidence of what will be astonishing wealth and resources of the northwest when it shall have been settled by a continued immigration of industrious, honest people, to half the density of the Eastern States.

From the fact that there has

     ELKADER, the seat of justice, is a flourishing town of about 700 inhabitants, situated on both banks of the Turley River, and near the geographical centre of the county.
     The scenery of its location is possessed of much natural beauty. The table land on which the business portion of the town is built, rises gradually for some distance, when it breaks into a steep declivity on the right bank of the river, while on the east the bank rises more rapidly and higher before the table land is reached, which undulates upward to a summit of considerable height. Upon these undulations, many beautiful residences stand, surrounded with grounds tastefully arranged and adorned with shrubbery and trees, many of which are of native growth.
     The river, flowing with a rapid current, affords a good and reliable water-power, which is to some extent improved, a dam being constructed across the stream at this point. There is one large flouring mill built of rock, taken from the neighboring quarries.
     The prairies of the adjacent country are undulating, and of a deep rich soil. The timber along the banks of the river is abundant for all fuel, fencing and building necessities; the trade of the town is flourishing, being represented by four general stores, one flouring mill, one drug, one furniture, one hardware and stove store, one hotel, one printing office, together with the usual number of blacksmith, carpenter, wagon and other mechanical shops. There are Congregational, Methodist, Episcopal, Roman Catholic and other church organizations.
      The Clayton County Journal (a weekly newspaper) is published here, by Messrs. Eibceek and Tipton.
      GARNAVILLO is a post village and township in the eastern interior of the county. The village is twelve miles southwest from McGregor, and forty-eight miles northwest from Dubuque by stage, and six miles from the Mississippi River. Shipments are made during the winter months via McGregor, and in the summer principally via Clayton and Dunleith. In April, 1845, two of the commissioners, Hardin Nowlin, of Dubuque County, and David Moreland, of Delaware County, met, pursuant to an “act to re-locate the county seat of Clayton County, and selected the north half of southeast quarter, section 18, township 93, north of range 3, west 5th principal meridian, and names it Jacksonville.
     James Watson donated the land (eighty acres) so selected, and the County Commissioners immediately laid out the town, and commenced the erection of county buildings. April 15th, 1846, the name of the village was changed to Garnavillo.
    James Watson, Dr. Frederick Andros, Capt. Robert R. Read, John W. Gillet, Richard Only, George A. Whitman, Judge Samuel Murdock, Reuben Noble and Judge Elias H. Williams, were among the first settlers.
    There are two good flouring mills and two saw mills on Buck Creek, just east of the village; also one brewery, one hotel and several stores in the town.
    The village is located on a beautiful and very productive prairie, which produces abundant crops of spring wheat, oats, corn and barley. There is an abundant supply of oak, elm, and black walnut timber in the vicinity both for building and fuel; also stone quarries and a good quality of clay for making brick. Apples grow well, and pears, plums, and cherries are grown to some extent.
    There are four churches, Methodist, Congregational, German Lutheran and Catholic, one lodge of Masons, one of Independent Order of Odd Fellows and one of Independent Order of Good Templars. Estimated population, 500.
    CLAYTON is on the west bank of the Mississippi River, ten miles below McGregor, and ten miles above Guttenberg, on sections 1 and 2, township 93, range 3, west of the 5th P.M. The site is partly a beautiful plat of ground between the bluffs and the river, but most of the residences are in a ravine through which the principal street runs from the river bank on to the high prairie. The town is easy of access from the interior and has one of the best steamboat landings on the river. It is the principal crossing place for travel between northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, northern Iowa, and southern Minnesota, there being good roads on both sides of the river, and a steam ferry boat crossing every half hour, furnishing ample accommodation for the conveyance of passengers and freight.
    The village contains two large flouring mills, one manufacturing about 20,000, and the