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Fort des Moines no. 1, 1834–1837 This is the best cavalry station I know of above Jefferson Barracks—we are on the west side of the Mississippi and just at the head of the Des Moines Rapids— we are 12 miles in advance of the Missouri State Line and within striking distance (80 or 100 miles) of the chief body of the Sac and Fox Indians.—Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Watts Kearny, 1834 Location, Location, Location Fort Des Moines No. 1stood on the right bank of the Mississippi River at the head of the Des Moines Rapids, at the modern-day town of Montrose. Beginning above the mouth of the Des Moines River, the rapids extended for more than 11miles upstream. The rapids were a significant landscape feature until they were tamed by a canal in 1877. Subsequently, in 1913, a lock and dam built at Keokuk, Iowa, further quieted the rapids (Collins 1989:167–168; Doresey 1941; Hallwas 2001). The head of the rapids had long been a gathering location where goods headed downstream were off-loaded to be transported around the swift waters. Similarly, cargo headed upstream had to be repacked after completing the journey from the foot of the rapids (Collins 1989:167–168). If the water was high, a steamboat could tow cargo on a flat-bottomed keelboat over the rapids, but it took considerable time and labor to load and unload the keelboat, doubling the cost of transport (Hallwas 2001; Murray 1854:97–98). Low water conditions made transportation through the rapids treacherous . Often depending upon the season, goods were carried overland, or items were packed into canoes guided upstream by resident experts. Later, cargo loads were transferred from steamboats to low draft keelboats, which were then pulled upstream by horses plodding trails along the riverbank. k a T h r y n e. M. g o u r l e y 11 134 | Fort Des Moines No. 1 Because of its importance to trade, the head of the rapids has long been settled. Undoubtedly, the area was important in prehistoric times (Collins 1989; Whittaker 2007d). Historic documents record the area’s use by Native Americans. William Ewing, the agricultural agent to the Sauk and Meskwaki, lived on the east side of the river, and the Sauk maintained a village on the Iowa side by the early 1800s. The exact location of this Sauk settlement, Quashquame’s Village, is not known, but historical evidence suggests it was at the northwest edge of Montrose. Quashquame’s village was still occupied in 1829 when Caleb Atwater visited, and was intermittently occupied until the 1840s (Pike 1966:12; Van der Zee 1916:479–481; Whittaker 2007d, 2009a). InadditiontotheSaukandthecloselyalliedMeskwaki,Euro-Americans were at the head of the rapids. When the present-day Iowa area was under Spanish rule (1762–1800), Montbrun’s Fort, discussed in chapter 2, possibly stood somewhere near this area during the American Revolution. In the last decades of the eighteenth century, the land encompassing the western shore at the head of the rapids was awarded by Spain to Louis Honore Tesson . While Tesson may have resided on the claim as early as 1793, he was not given legal rights to the property until 1799. Cabins were erected and an apple orchard established on the claim (Annals of Iowa 1931; Van der Zee 1916:479). To satisfy his debts, Tesson’s land grant was assigned to Joseph Robidoux; subsequently, the land was transferred to Thomas F. Reddick. In 1816 Reddick asked the U.S. government to confirm his title to these lands. The federal government approved Reddick’s title to one square mile but acknowledged that tribal nations might have rights to the land as well (Van der Zee 1916:479). This land grant prominently factors into presentday efforts to identify the location of Fort Des Moines No. 1. An 1824 treaty between the U.S. government and the Sauk and Meskwaki established an area called the Half-Breed Tract. This parcel of land was reserved for children of mixed Sauk or Meskwaki and Euro-American parentage. This tract consisted of a triangular area in the far southeastern corner of present-day Iowa, essentially the southern half of Lee County. Reddick’s claim occupied a small portion of the tract. Founding of the Fort In the 1820s and 1830s the Mississippi River marked the edge of the frontier . The Indian Removal Act of 1830 established a policy of moving eastern [18.191.41.236] Project MUSE...

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