Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-08-04

Bonaparte, August, 8. = tBy a
Staff Correspondent For the
first time within the men,
ory of the present generation there
is a practical fishway at the Bona
parte dam, possibly not constructed
exactly like the fishermen who live
further up the river would have de-
sired, but nevertheless fish with a
good hardy constitution will have no
trouble making his way through the
big gap in the dam in spite of the
fact that the water rushes through it
in q veritable torrent.
This torrent is continually widen
ing the hole in the masonry and I'M
less the water soon falls several feet
and enable Meek Bros, of Bonaparte,
the owners of the dam, to rebuild it
the task before them when they do
get an opportunity will be no less
than building an entirely new one.
Rumor says that is what they are going
to do, but representative of the Cour-
Ter could not get such statement
from Kirk Meek, one of the three
brothers. although he admitted that
there has been talk of such an I'M
dertaking and did not say that it is
improbable. Almost anyone lin Bona
parte outside of the Meek family will
say that the dam is to be rebuilt as
soon as the water recedes sufficiently
and that when the work is finished
there will be, instead of the rock and
wooden dam one of concrete, which
will rise out of the water two feet
higher than any of the three dams
which have hitherto been built and
all OF which still exist.
An Innovation.
Never since the first brush dam"
was built across the river at Bona
parte under the Supervision of Will
lam Meek, ST., the grandfather of the
three Meek boys as they are known
to Bonaparte and the surrounding
country has there been Such a free
run for the waters of the Des Moines
as now, except, of course, during high
water seasons. There was. true, a
provision by which boats could pass
through the dams in the old days
of the navigable Des Moines, but
then the dams were supplied with
gates like those in canals and the
openings were only temporary. Now
the hole through which the waters
of the muddy river rush toward the
Mississippi, or rather the holes, for
they are five in number, are obstruct-
ed by nothing, and judging from the
volume of water and the speed with
which it is travelling at that point,
the holes are being widened and deep
ened with every succeeding day.
And SO, as long as the water stays
at its present height and make re-
pairs and rebuilding alike impossible,
the game fish which chance to find
their way from the father of waters
up as far as Bonaparte will have little
trouble in continuing their journey
until they reach Ottumwa. AS is we'll
known in this city, the second dam
here is in bad condition and if the
fish still choose and. are not caught
by some of the Ottumwa fishermen,
they can go on past that and up to
where the Des Moines river is only a
little "crick."
A Famous Dam.
All this is probably a source of joy
to hundreds of men who like to fish,
but it means much along the opposite
like to the Meeks. For years father
and sons have fought against the de-
mand for a fishway or the entire re-
moval Of the dam. Thousands OF dol
lars have been spent in keeping it in
repair and in maintaining the rights
of the men who own it, For it is
the private property of the Meek
brothers and according to their claims
the river bottom from the dam to a
point mile up the river is also their
property, having been bought by
Isaiah Meek, their father, when the
river was declared to be no longer
navigable.
The dam furnished power for the
old Meek mills for scores of years. I'm
til 1893 it gave the only power by
which either the wollen mills or the
-four mills owned by the firm were
run and the water did its work we'll.
In 1898 the river was low and the
Meeks saw that if they were to con-
tinue their business as they should
they must have other power. Accord
ingly, at big expense, their WOODEN
mills were equipped with steam and
electric power but the old Touring
mills was left to be run by the big
water wheel through which the water
from the region above the dam fell
INCREASINGLY
A Change Has Come.
But since the recent high water, in
June, the big wheel has been still and
the flour mill has been idle. When
the water receded after the flood of
1908" as it will be known in the
generations to come, it was found that
while the. river was spreading out
through the towns along its banks, in
oluding Bonaparte, it had not neglect
ed to work busily at the ham which
had barred its progress for many
years, and now there are SO many
wide gaps in the masonry, and the top
has disappeared from the structure in
so many and such large places that
The waves rush over the obstrnction