Buffalo trails used by Indians and hunters

     The buffaloes followed paths across the prairies and through the woodlands. These paths were also used by the Indians, and thus began the first roads in Iowa. When the trader later arrived with his beads and blankets for barter with the Indians, he, too, followed the well-beaten trails. Of more importance, however, were the rivers, which became the highways of early trade and travel.

Rivers as highways

     Father Marquette and Joliet paddled their canoes up and down the rivers. The explorers Lewis and Clark and Pike used long keep boats, made like common rowboats, but propelled by poles. When the white settlers began to pour into Iowa, steamboats already plied the large rivers, making trips as far as St. Paul, Minnesota on the Mississippi, and as far as Great Falls, Montana, on the Missouri.

    Frequently the settlers built flatboats of green wood, loaded them with their corn, beef and pork and floated them down to St. Louis or New Orleans, where cargoes and boats were sold. The men in charge would then have to make their way back on foot or by steamboat.

    Besides the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers, the Iowa, the Cedar and especially the Des Moines, were at one time important highways of travel. On the Cedar, steamboats ran as far as Iowa City, but rarely above the city of Des Moines on the Des Moines River.

    The coming of the first steamboat was an even which the settlers and residents along the way never forgot. "The whistle called young and old to the landing place. They literally swarmed over the boat and there was not a nook or corner which did not receive attention." Some steamboats were stern-wheelers, others side-wheelers. Several decks were common. The steamboats carried freight and passengers up and down the rivers. In wet weather when the poor roads of early Iowa were especially bad, the steamboats were likely to be crowded with passengers.

    The people of early Iowa considered the Des Moines River of so much importance for transportation, that the Legislative Assembly in 1846 asked Congress for a grant of land to improve the river with locks and canals as far as the city of Des Moines. A generous land grand was made by Congress and accepted by the General As-....

Page 58

....sembly in 1847. The State spent several hundred thousand dollars of the money obtained from the sales of the land, and then, because of the growth of the railroads, abandoned the project in 1858.

Roads and ferries

     Since river transportation accommodated mainly the towns along the navigable streams, the settlers had to turn their attention to road building. Where the Indian trails could not be used, the white men "blazed" new trails by marking the trees or even by plowing furrows from town to town. About 1840 a man was hired to plow a furrow from Dubuque to Iowa City. This served as a guide for travelers. If river had to be crossed, a place had to be found where the channel was shallow enough to be forded. Deep rivers were crossed by ferries. A ferry was a large flat boat on which travelers could cross with their goods, cattle and rigs. A ferry man had to operate his ferry at definite hours, so that travelers would not be kept waiting too long. Ferry men had to obtain licenses to operate.

    To aid the Territory of Iowa, Congress built a military road from Dubuque to the Missouri boundary. This road had bridges and was better graded than most of the other early roads, which were mainly tracks across the country worn deeper and deeper until finally abandoned and new tracks alongside the old ones were started.

    At one time there was much interest in plank roads. These were built like a present-day corduroy roads across swamps. A plank road was built westward from Burlington and many others were projected. Had it not been for the coming of the railroads, many more plank roads would undoubtedly have been built.

Letters C.O. D.

     Except along the rivers, mail, fright, and passengers in early Iowa, were carried by stages. When roads were impassible for the stages, post-riders carried mail. Twenty-five cents was charged for delivering a letter weighting one half ounce. The amount was frequently paid by the receiver, since it was often uncertain whether the letter would be delivered.

"Jerkies" and coaches

     The stages ran according to time-tables, like the trains of today, arriving and leaving the towns along the route at definite hours. Some of the stages used farm wagons with springs and white mus....

Page 59

....lin tops. Buggies called "jerkies" might be seen on some routes, but the most popular vehicle was the brightly painted and closed Concord coach. It would accommodate from seven to nine passengers. When crowded some rode on top with the baggage.

    The Concord coach was drawn by four horses. When approaching a town, a driver sounded a horn, cracked the whip over the horses, and swung up to the station at a run. Passengers were received or let off, the names on the letters addressed to people in the town read out aloud, horses perhaps exchanged, the long whip cracked again, and the coach was off for the next town.

    The fare for passengers averaged about seven cents a mile. Members of the legislature were carried free of charge. The stage business was profitable. It was thought that the Western Stage Company, which operated many routes in Iowa, made about $100,000 in one year. Stage coaching continued in Iowa until after the Civil War.

Questions and Exercises: Describe the first Iowa roads. On what Iowa rivers were these steamboats operating? What were the two kinds of steamboats in use? What was done to improve the Des Moines River for navigation? What kind of roads did the pioneers build? Describe a ferry. Who might operate a ferry? What kind of vehicles were used by the stage companies? What put the stage companies out of business?