The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1857-05-07
INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF
DUANE f. GAYLORD,
FIRST MAYOR or oTTrMwA,

10 WHICH your pdTuditty has CaiIeu me, can
not refrain from abiding tn the fact, that since
my residence in this place il has grown I
from mere hamlet of only fourteen building.
TO its present size and prosperous condition.
Then its buildings were of the crudest charac.
ter. and It's streets almost impossible. We now
behold flourshing city, with some fifteer
hundred inhabitants, well defined with passi-
BE streets, and ornamentcd with many build.
ings which would do credit to older and larger
places. This rapid increase, and these improve.
ments are owing not only to the peculiar loca
advantages we enjoy, but in high degree to
the industry, enterprise and morality of GU,
citizens. The rapid progress which our place
has made from wilderness to an incorpora.
ted city, authorizes each of MS proudly 10 re.
fleet upon the agency we have had in efectine
this great and interesting change.
effecting its permanent improvements from
foreign capital. II has beenysettled and bull,
up in the main by citizen laborers, profession.
al men, merchants and mechanics, whose cap.
ital was economy, industry, intelligence and
perseverance and we may now look around
us and say these are the fruits of our honest
industry, unfagging perseverance and persis.
tent economy, applied to one of the most high.
" favored places in the State. These element.
of individual and social prosperity have con-
verted wilderness into city. And to us
surely this must be day of pride and Joy
We have founded and reared city before we
have passed the meridian Of life. In other
countries and other times the city Of ottumwa
would have been the result of the labor and
accumulations of successive generations; but
the men who wrought this change are now
sitting within the sound of my voice, and at
the council board Of our city.
Well, then, may We indulge an honest pride
as we look back upon our history, and let the
review elevate our hopes and animate our ex-
ertions. Together have we struggled through
the harships of an infant settlement, and the
embarrassments Of Strengthened circumstance
and together let us rejoice and be happy in
the glorious reward that has crowned our la
bors We have no conflicting interests, and
we ought to have no hostile feelings.
The competition of business and the ardor
Of political excitement, may, fer a time, have
aroused unfriehdly feelings and passions /; but
we would be both unwise in regard 10 our own
happiness, and unjust to those with whom we
may have differed, should we permit such
feelings and passions to survive the contest
which gave them birth. In the intercourse of
social life, and on all occasions involving the
interests of our new city, let us lose sight of
politics and party, and remember only that
our friends and fellow citizens have conferred
upon us confidence and power for the sole
purpose of advancing the public good, and not
that Of party. Surely, in the prosperity Of
our young city we have common interest,"
Here the welfare Of us all Is embarked in a
common bottom, and it cannot be too much to
expect union of councils and exertions to
secure our prosperity and happiness.
Situated, as we are. in the valley of the Des
Moines, universally conceded to comprise the
richest and most fertile portion of Iowa and,
taken as whole, one of the most fertile val
leys in the world, with its beautiful river
draining country of over five hundred miles
in extent, Astounding in mineral and agricul-
tural capabilities unsurpassed in richness, and
as yet measurably undeveloped, and consisting
of iron, gypsum, stone, and coal of the best
quality, and more abundant than IN any other
portion of our State. We possess every nat
ural resource enjoyed by the most favored re-
gion.
Ipresume there is no one more familiar with
the entire valley than myself Yet with the
general features of that portion below Fort
Des MONIES, know yon are all too well &C.
quainted to require any allusion to il from me-
Above Fort Des Moines the country is more
fertile than that below, and equally beautiful.
From the Minnesota line to the source OF the
Dss Moines river, human eye never beheld a
more lovely or fertile country. It's undalating
prairies and fine groves Of majestic timber,
and the numerous lakes and streams Of pure
water, truly entities that region of country to
the appellation Of the Eden of the Northwest.
1t is not unreasonable for us to believe that at
w "" y iCnioec pSiiou, TIE COmmeTCe OF LHts
entire valley will, in great measure, pass
through this city. Having now touched upon
the past, find great cause to hope for the fu-
tHre.
In calling your attention to the present con-
dition Of our city, and the improvements now
projected, which will have powerful influ-
ence on our future prosperity, it is proper that
| should allude to those projected improve
uents separately. Action has been taken to
build bridge across the Des Moines river at
this place. This certainly is a praiseworthy
project, and Of much importance to us, as il
is well understood that very much of the trade
Of this city comes from the west side Of the
river. have no doubt but the funds to erect
such bridge as is needed might now be raised.
However, with the prospect of dams on the
Des Moines, and railroad crossings, perhaps
a better time to bridge this river is near at
hand il so, it would be we'll to take no def
mite action in this matter at present. We want
a good bridge or none. The certainty OF
the completion Of the Burlington and Missouri
River Railroad to the city this fall, and the
speedy completion OF the Keokuk, Fort Des
Moines and Minnesota Railroad, and the
present fattering prospects of the North Mis-
souri, Railroad connecting with those roads
hara oriv.. "a mar rsfv oovar folk