Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-11-26

president OF the cOn1eQeraCy WHICH
opposed him, were both officers in
that war. Abraham Lincoln was a
captain of Illinois volunteers; JEFF
ferson Davis a lieutenant of the 9th |
United States infantry; Zachary |
Taylor, later president of the Unit !
ed States, was lieutenant colonel
and commander of the 9th infantry, |
and General Harvey was a member
of the regiment. General Winfield
Scott was a participant in this war.
The island and its surroundings are
still more intimately connected in
! our minds with the history of the
country when it is recalled that
Robert E. Lee, then lieutenant of
engineers, made the first survey of
| Rock Island rapids.
Became Ordnance Depot in 1910.
In 1910 some of the buildings of
the abandoned Fort Armstrong we're
put in repair and an ordnance de-
pot was established there by the
/ ordnance department. These stores
were removed to st. Louis in 1845
and from that time until the act es-
| tablishing Rock Island arsenal in
1862. the island was in charge of
civilian custodian, employed by
the war department.
There were persistent attempts
during this period on the part Of
land grabbers. manufacturers, rail-
roads and water power companies
to secure a title to lands on the is
land, but under the existing law the
secretary of war on the I'd of'March.
Uses. had informed the commission
off n
Rock Island was necessary for mil
itary purposes. and directed that 1t
be reserved from sale, and this was
done.
A similar request was made IN
1855. There were many alterations
and disagreements with claimants
| to the land, but by purchase, dispos-
| session, or otherwise, all were dis
posed Of and the land passed finally
into the states. jefferson Davis,
when secretary of war, played a
prominent part in preserving this
valuable property to the United
States.
Rock Island arsenal probably
means to everyone without military
knowledge about what it meant to
me before I went there. I thought
! of it as one of the arsenals of the
United States. l had visited Spring
! field and Frankfort. l knew some
| thing of other arsenals and ordnance
! depots. but while 1 had read state
ments of the amount of work turned
out from the island arsenal, the fig
ures made no definite impression
upon nv mind. 1t is usually so.
! Most of us have so many figures
thrust upon us that we need to see
the things they represent to really
appreciate them.
The fact that Rock Island arsenal
! is the largest of all of the arsenals;
that its buildings are the finest and
most costly; that its facilities for
/ manufacture are greater; that its
water power available for the driv-
ing of its machinery is furnished by
a natural power plant second only in
capacity TO Niagara; that its yearly
output is of greater value and more
varied in character than at any
other arsenal in the country, will
probably be as surprising to most of
our readers as it was to the writer
Nevertheless and Notwithstanding
these are the facts.
An act of congress Of July II, !
I1S62. established a national arsenal
on Rock island in the state of I'LL
nois and appropriated 100000 !
therefor. Ground was broken for
the first building in September, ,
l1S63 The original intention was to
establish only small arsenal of
storage and repair, but officers of
the war and ordnance department
had for years desired to have es-
tablished somewhere in the Missis-
sippi valley a great arsenal Of con-
struction, consistent in character
and capacity with the probable flu
ture growth, requirements and ne
cessities of the country. They saw
in Rock Island the logical spot for
such an institution.
Rodman Given Credit.
The actual birth Of the idea for
Rock island as it Is and shall be, |
may be said to date from the detail
to command of General Thomas G.
Rodman, the inventor of the Rod
man gun and otherwise distin- |
guished officer of the ordnance de-
partment.
General Rodman had large ideas. |
Even in this day the arsenal seems |
to be constructed on colossal
scale The mind of the man who |
conceived it IS years ago must have !
been a broad one. General Rodman |
is buried on Rock island, and each |
of the great buildings there may be
taken as a monument to the bril- |
lance of his comprehension and the |
results of his far-seeing wisdom.
Rock Island is about two and |
three-quarter miles long, and in
width it varies from a quarter to |
three-quarters of a mile. 1t con-
tains above low water mark go f!
acres 1t lies in the Mississippi |
river projecting 20 feet or so above
extreme high water and it is prac
ticalIy surrounded on the mainland
by the cities of Davenport, Iowa, and
RncI1 Island and MnIine Ill