History and Cultural Experiences Along the Des Moines River in Van Buren County by Ralph Arnold

Come, my friend, let us float the placid Des Moines together. Let me tell you the history of the river, let me point out the geographical sites as we go along.

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We will put our canoes in the water at Shidepoke boat ramp on the right bank of the river a few feet above the Selma bridge. Van Buren County stretches a little over a mile upstream to the Davis County line. Here on the county line, on the left bank of the river, once stood Iowaville, one of the many ghost towns of old Van Buren. It was here that Wild Bill Phelps and his competitor James Jorden, had a post to trade with the Sauk and Fox Indians. There was at least one riverboat constructed here. The entire population camped together for three weeks in the hills when the river flooded in 1851. The business district was made up of a blacksmith shop, a general store, a hotel and a few other businesses, but no church or schoolhouse in town. It was at this place that the noted Indian Blackhawk lived his last days. On one of the land rises less than half a mile to the west, the Chieftan was buried in a sitting position, and his grave was marked with a huge limestone rock and a picket fence.

Across the river, on the right where Vesser Creek enters the river, once stood two towns. Blackhawk was on the left bank of the creek, and very near the river. It contained two or three cabins.

On the right bank of the river was New Market, a much bigger town than Blackhawk. The entire village belonged to the Davis family. They owned the blacksmith shop, the general store, the grist mill, and the saw mill and they bought and sold grain. They also operated a large distillery, and had an assembly line barrel factory.

Let us continue on down river now. Past the Shidepoke landing, there can be seen the remains of a closed Consolidated school house. We’ll float for about four miles with farm land on both sides of the river. Oh, there will be a sprinkling of houses well back from the flood plain, and cabins on the river’s edge, before we come to the twin cities of Douds/Leando. Douds is on the left bank, and is the larger of the two. It was once the coal mining capital of the country, and is now home to the largest underground limestone mine in the State of Iowa. The oldest bank in the county is here. You can get something to eat here, and you can buy beer, but you have to drink it off property, because there is no tavern in town.

On the right bank is Leando, whose only claim to fame was once being called Portland, and Portland, Oregon was named after it. By happy circumstances the Douds Telephone Company is in Leando, as is the Douds Methodist Church and the Douds schoolhouse. Holcomb Creek flows into the Des Moines in the east end of town. A large flour mill, nationally known in its time, once stood on the river bank in Leando, but one day the steam boiler exploded killing a couple of men. That was the end of the milling industry in the community.

On down the river now, past the weed patch on the left bank just below Douds was the ghost town of Alexander. It never had but two or three log cabins. It was supposed to be the companion of Portland, but was a total failure.

We will pass the opening to the Douds Stone Quarry, and you can see the operation of the above ground business, with pile after pile of crushed rock. We will travel about five more miles through farmland with fishermen’s cabins along the river’s edge, until we come to the cluster of houses called Kilbourne. As we move along enjoy the quiet solitude, listen to the chirps and melodies of God’s little poultry, happily singing their hearts out while perched in the shrubs and trees along the river bank.

Kilbourne, first named Philadelphia, before the railroad came along, was once the post office for Birmingham. It was a bustling, thriving village long ago. There were all kinds of businesses there, even a tanning yard.

It’s at Kilbourne where Lick Creek joins the river on the left bank. The river’s backwaters in the creek is a fisherman’s dream. The creek stretches to the Des Moines/Skunk River divide from Stockport to the east to Libertyville to the West.

Just east of the creek bridge, for several rods, stood the shantytown of the Irish laborers. It was here that an enraged laborer cut the throat of a fellow worker with a razor sharp axe.

We will float under a condemned bridge, and slowly enter the curve of the Big Bend. For about four miles we will travel in a southerly direction before we turn eastward to make the Big Bend. We’ll pass Austin Park, a place to camp and fish, on the right bank. We will find Fox Island and see the cluster of dwellings at Anderson Park on the left bank.

On we will float, past the magnificent old house built by George C. Duffield, the site where Blue Boy, the fictitious boar, in the novel State Fair by Phil Stong is supposed to have lived. We will pass the site of the Church Tree on the right bank where the first Church services west of the Des Moines River were held in 1837. It is said the White congregation sat on the ground in front of the preacher, while a band of Indians stood in a semi-circle around the whites.

Shortly, we will pass the mouth of Chequest Creek, the best riverboat harbor on the Des Moines, Zebblin Pike claimed. On the Creek’s left bank the town of Rising Sun once stood, now totally obliterated. The town of Pittsburg begins on the Creek’s right bank.

The large red brick house facing the river, above the bridge, is the house Phil Stong, the noted writer, was born in. The other brick house along the highway is the oldest house in town. Pittsburg once boasted of a distillery and a gristmill. The first rural mail route in the county was out of the post office here.

Maybe a mile below the bridge, high on the right bank and among the pine trees is a steel post marking the spot where the Brown Survey Party started the State Line between Iowa and Missouri. It is at this place that the river falls two feet in a short stretch. It is known as the rapids in the Des Moines, not the Des Moines Rapids, they are in the Mississippi River.

On the right bank of the river is a sign proclaiming this site as Ely’s Ford and Mormon’s Crossing. A few Mormons did ford the river here, but most of them crossed the river at Pittsburg where the bottom is bedrock. Duckworth Creek, named after the man that originally cleared what is now the Lacey State Park, enters the river here. In pioneer times the Ely family operated a horse trading business on the left bank. Some accounts indicate the horses were stolen.

Long ago a cabin stood on each side of the mouth of the Duckworth. As the result of a disagreement over a gander pull, one of the occupants of the cabin shot and killed the other. The murderer escaped to Missouri in a thunderstorm. The cabins rotted down.

You will find Name Rock on the right bank a litle way ahead. There are hundreds of names on the rock, and you can add yours if you can reach it. As we begin to make the curve of the big bend we will float by the line of Indian burial mounds know as the Mounds of the Monks. Some think the Des Moines River is named after them. They were robbed in about 1870 by White men.

In a short while we will be in Keosauqua, where we can find food, drink and shelter for the night. There is the Hotel Manning on the riverbank. The Manning Mansion is up on the hill. The Courthouse is the second oldest in the nation. The Pearson house is down the street where run-a-way slaves were thought to be hidden. You will find Bonneyview the oldest house in town. Get a brochure for the town and enjoy the other places and things in the own. Get your nights lodging here, and in the morning we will pass other sites and historical places down river.

As we launch our canoes from Port Keosauqua boat landing remember that the city was first named Port Oro. Directly across the river from the landing is Pleasant Hill, home to Barker Wire, Inc. As we straighten up the canoes to head down river we pass a rock wall once a part of a dam here, and also a pile of rubble, what is left of the grist mill that exploded, killing two men. The wall and rubble are on the National Historical Registry. We will float over the foundation logs of two dams here. We can’t see them if the river is flowing normally.

On past the new, yet old Des Moines City that is part of Keosauqua. Then the ghost town of Rochester appears on the left bank. For one day the town was the county seat of Van Buren County, until the legislature changed its vote.

We will pass the so called cattle chute, thought by some to be a place live cattle were loaded on keel boats in an early day. It’s really the place where Wild Bill Phelps hid his boatload of lard from the Indians in the fall of 1831. He tricked the Territory Militia into digging it up for him in the dead of winter.

Just as the curve begins to straighten out was Rock Port, the railroad siding built to load limestone for the State Capitol building at Des Moines. The rock was rejected a year later, and replaced with limestone from nearer Des Moines.

We will come to Columbus, also one of Van Buren’s ghost towns. The first murder in the county took place here. A man killed his roommate one night in the hotel. The murderer escaped and died in western Missouri. The Home Guard trained on the Columbus Commons during the Civil War.

After we have passed the site of Columbus the shelf land along the left bank narrows to just a few feet. Upon the bluff, just before we pass the mouth of Coppers Creek, are a series of Indian burial mounds. On the high point of the shelf, where it narrows before the escarpment is the grave of Yellow Bird’s 20-year-old son. He was the first Indian to be buried in any kind of casket. Jim Jorden convinced Chief Yellow Bird to use a rifle crate for a casket.

Now we are in Bentonsport/Vernon. Bentonsport on the left bank, Vernon on the right. Vernon is home to the Mohr Studios in the old schoolhouse. The place is home to two bridges, the only community in Van Buren County with two bridges. One is new, and the other is a relic of a bygone age, and is only to walk on.

Dock your canoe on the Bentonsport side. Get ready for an interesting hour or more. Tour the beautiful Rose Garden on the riverbank. Be certain to visit the Mason House, go see the Presbyterian Church on the hill. You will find the most magnificent display of Indian artifacts of all Iowa here in town, too. Watch the creative work going on in the combination blacksmith and pottery shop. You will find it unusual. See if you can find someone that can tell you the history of the two villages. You’ll see why it’s called the Williamsburg of Iowa.

You will hear of Aunt Mournin’ the slave lady. Maybe they will tell you the story of the Indians stealing a white baby. Somebody may know about Shapley Ross, and why he left town on a black horse in the dead of night. Maybe they will tell of the alleged alchemists that came to town during prohibition days and set up shop for a couple of weeks. Maybe you will hear the tale of the bank heist. All too soon we will have to float on down the river, but we can come back later.

A short mile above Bonaparte a long time ago stood the town of Lexington, another ghost town of old Van Buren. It was the home of Dr. Turner, who first stole Blackhawk’s head out of the grave at Iowaville. He later returned and stole the entire body. He boiled the flesh off the body in an old black kettle that is now in the museum at Rock Island, Illinois. Blackhawk’s skeleton was destroyed in a fire at Burlington; Turner escaped the wrath of the Indians.

Tie up your canoe here at Bonaparte and explore the village. You will find a unique Main Street; in fact, it is Main Street USA. Eat and drink at the Bonaparte Retreat, or any of the other taverns. Tour the town and see the grand old houses that show there was once wealth in the community.

There was a mitten factory, a pants factory, and a wool-carding mill at one time. One of the county’s famous gristmills operated here, and people came for miles to have their grinding done. There was even a bunkhouse for the patrons of the mill to stay in while waiting for the grinding to be done. Because of the mills the town was once known as Meek’s Mills.

In the river, a short distance downstream from the mouth of Honey Creek and near the City Park, you will notice rippled water. This is caused by the number of dams that stood here, dams of the crib type to an aborted idea of a rock dam with old car bodies. It was here that Jack London went over the dam with Kelly’s army. Not a single sailor was lost in the act.

On the right bank, just above the bridge, is the site of Napolean, another of Van Buren’s ghost towns, and just below the bridge was Palestine, also a ghost town. The storekeeper at Palestine answered a questionnaire from the U.S. government, by saying the population of the town was 2,500 if you counted the Indians that stole merchandise out of his store.

On we will go now down river. You will find the flow of the river is a little faster than it has been. We will pass the mouth of Reed’s Creek where the Mormons camped as they fled Illinois. There were Indian bundle burials stretched across the second bottom fields here.

We begin the last leg of our trip down the beautiful Des Moines. We pass the high rock cliffs on the right. This is where for generations there were signs telling you to watch for that famous Indian, "Falling Rock." Nobody ever saw him.

On the left bank was Plymouth, with a brick hotel of long ago. There was a pottery here once. We will pass the lost lot to the river. Death Smith ground grain for the pioneers.

On the right bank was Watertown, and at the mouth of Indian Creek just past the wagon bridge, stood Harrisburg. Both are Van Buren ghost towns. The abutments for the once covered Railroad Bridges are still in the river’s waters.

On the left is Farmington in all its splendid glory. Home of the Strawberry Festival and once the strawberry plant capital of the world. The Berg Wagon factory is here and you can see a church converted to a museum. There is food and drink to be had here at the Bridge Café.

We can take our canoes out of the water, or travel just a little bit further and see the most eastward iron post marking the Iowa/Missouri border on the right bank. For the next mile is Van Buren’s peninsula that was Salubria, a colony of eastern intellectuals, led by Abner Kneeland, branded the Infidel Colony by their neighbors. That statement was far from the truth.

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