The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-02-08

/ for the depot. Well did b. f. Yoakum
the wise builder of railways, declare
that a railroad is never finished. I'm
provements are necessarily added
| every year as business increases and
traffic grows heavier.
Sometimes a flood would wash
away a piling bridge, heavy SHOWS de
| layeGt work, financial embarrassment
arose, and D. w. Kilbourne and his
aids were compelled to deal with very
serious problems. Still. the D. "
| existed and kept moving onward. Con
/ nections by stage lines helped travel
ers to reach other roads for the west
and hundred miles or more were
sometimes made in this old style
mode of travel. Much suffering and
| exposure were encountered
The writer knew for years a man
whose mind was injured by one OF
] those long, wearisome stage coach
| journeys over a wild district IN the
central west.
| Along the Winding Des Moines.
Scenery along the Des Moines is
romantic and affords study in geologi
cal formations and river meanderings
Travels on the D. v. road have the
river in close perspective, and during
the early years, 1856 to 1870, an OBJ
server viewed the keel boat, propelled
by man power; steamboats, Of various
! sizes, log and lumber RATS, canoes
row boats. barges and slowly moving
| white covered emigrant wag ons wind
ing their way along curves and over
plains and hills. At the busy little
pioneer village OF Croton, a substan
! tial dam was built across the Des
Moines to furnish power for the large
/ Touring and carding mills at that sta
ton. Opposite Croton, at Athens
were large mile, and the recorder in
/ his young years used to go to mill
there, and one Of the attractions OF
| the noisy temple OF industry were the
/ large water wheels moving In their
| for the great mills. A crude lock
] system allowed steamers to pass
/ through the dam. Sections 70 the dam
i the river. In civil war years the
youths of Athens and Croton would
sometimes engage in serious strife
an6, chase each other across to their
/ respective empires, sometimes the
conflict inclining to favor the Missouri
/ boys and at other times the banner
of victory passed to the youths OF
! Croton.
/ The First Dam at Croton.
| This being the first dam in the Des
Moines, the passway OF fish was I'm.
! possible only at hours when the lock
gates were opened. Here then was
! the most famous locality for fishing
on all the river. The business became
| Wholesale and abnormal.
From Croton to Pennington a fine
terrace gives an ideal road-bed and
easy progress.
Mention is here made that the dam
at Croton and Athens was damaged
| and some OF the mills on the Iowa
side were destroyed by the high wat
| er and ice gorge which came so SUD.
| denly following thawing in January
| 1866.
Progress continued as the series OF
years passed, and the Iowa State Ga
! zetteer of late 1866 contains an off,
cial report furnished by Kilbourne,
Leighton and Company. 1esees. as to
| the Des Moines Valley railroad in that
year. The report is as follows:
Starting Tor Haccoon FORKS.
I "This road was commenced In 1850
/ The design was to build first class
road from Keokuk, Lee county, at the
foot Of the lower rapids OF the Mis-
sissippi river, and the head of large
steamboat navigation, to Des MONIES,
| in Polk county, the capital OF Iowa.
a central point on the route to Colo
RADIO and the Pacific. distance of one
| hundred, and fifty-six miles Through
the celebrated valley Dfs the {! Des
/ Moines, a region the earliest settled
| OF any portion of the state of Iowa
/ and unsurpassed in the west Tor Ter
] tility. There are now in operation
one hundred and sixteen miles of the
road. from Keokuk to Pella, passing
through and giving railroad facilities
! to the fiourishing towns OF Belfast,
| Croton. Pennington, Bonaparte, Ben
tonsport. Summit, Independent, OF
tumwa, Eddyville, Oskaloosa, Pella
and others of minor note and import
ance. The grading on the road be-
tween Pella and Des Moines is now
progressing rapidly. the design being
| to build about thirteen miles. OF the
road as far as Monroe, Jasper county.
| this year. and to finish the whole road
to Des Moines early inS1S66, thus
| uniting with iron bandsfthe capital OF
Iowa and the commercial city Of keo-
kuk and giving to the merchants and
other residents along the line of the
| road q choice of, eastern or southern
! markets, as their interests may die
tate. =.
The road connects at keokuk with
the Toledo, Wabash and Western rail
| road. one of the largest railroads In
/! the United States. ani at La Buda
with the Chicago, Burlington and
| Quincy, at Ottumwa with the Buriing-
! ton and Missouri railroad, and thence
| to Chicago, should that city be the
destination. For southern markets
| again at Keokuk it connects with the
{, stea mers OF the St. Louis and Keokuk
! Packet company, and at st. LOUIS
with the new boats OF the Atlantic
and Mississippi Steamship company,
and the Peoples Line of steamers for
/ Cairo. Memphis, Natchez and New Or.