Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-06-20


2 bratiOn.
mer rains on the famous fields where
armies met in battle. Sacred be the
trusts committed to our care, and
bright the visions of coming sages.
Forever may this structure stand
and eternal be our nations future"
Bridge Formidable Undertaking.
Charles erik of Davenport and J.
B. Oakleaf of Moline were the other
two speakers of the afternoon. The
latter, at the Davenport home, re-
viewed the story of the life of Colonel
Davenport and told of the important
part he played in the work of the
pioneers of this locality, while Mr. d.
erik was heard on the site of the
bridge pier and devoted his remarks
mainly to a discussion of the signifi-
canoe Of the spanning of the Iowa and
Illinois shores in those early days.
Mr.. erik in his address said:
In our day, when engineering skill
has made such tremendous advances
We are hardly capable of estimating
the Importance OF the bridge when it
was built 1t was the first bridge ever
built across the Mississippi river be-
tween Lake Itasca and the Gulf OF
Mexico. Davenport became known as
the bridge city. Even before the
bridge was built it was the cause OF
tremendous jealousy and became Cele-
brated in the courts. The city of St
Louis, through its chamber of COM
merce, tried TO have the erection OF
| the bridge declared an uncOnstitutiOn-
al act, and the owners of the steamer
! Effey Alton, which was destroyed
while endeavoring to pass the draw
| when struck by wind, burned the
steamer, drowned passengers, and
/ burned part of the bridge, sued the
| bridge company on those grounds, and
no less a person than Abraham Lin
coin defended the bridge and won its
case in the federal courts.
Robert Z. Lee, then a major of en-
! gineers, had charge of the work oil
placing the draw, having himself fig,
ured the currents Of the river, and in
the site of the bridge, Jefferson Davis
young army officer, had charge oil
! Chief Black Hawk when he was taken
captive and imprisoned by the United
States government.
Feat Now Lost.
| The great engineering feat of erect
ing this bridge is almost lost upon ouT
| generation, but to the generation thai
! lived here when it was built it was
one of the wonders of the world. The
| bridge itself would, even in our time
be an imposing structure 1t was
built entirely of timber and iron, be-
! ing 1881 feet long, y feet above high
water mark; it had five spans of psi
feet each in length, and a draw span
of 285 feet in length, leaving a great
| channel of 120 feet on each side OF
! the draw pier. The bridge proper
cost S250000, and the work of cross.
ing the river from the Illinois side tt
! the Iowa side cost 100000. One mil
/ lion eight hundred thousand feet OF
lumber, 100000 pounds of wrought
iron and 100000 pounds of cast iron
were used in its construction. The
piers on which it stood were 7 feet
wide at the top, So feet long and IS
feet high, resting on the solid rock
Sept. l, 1858, Antoine LeClaire, al
Fifth and Rock Island streets, broke
the first ground on the Mississippi &
I Missouri railroad, to extend from Dav-
| export to the Pacific
Feb. %, 1854, the mayor and coun-
Gil of Chicago came on the first train
over the completed Chicago & Rock
/ Is1n t.
pleting the railroad service with the
Atlantic seaboard.
Sept. /, 1854, the cornerstone Of
the first bridge was laid
! "On April 8, 1856, the draw frs
swung open. and on April 81, 1856, the
! first locomotive crossed the river.
The commercial development and
| progress resulting from the building
| of the bridge is beyond estimate. II
made Davenport and the three cities
! They were the first distributing cen.
tiers to the great west The greatest
/ investment ever made for the CITY OF
Davenport was the building of the
| first bridge in connection with the
two railway systems which it connect
ed and which have since become one
Brings Great Growth.
IN 1852, after 10 years of slow
/ growth, the population of Davenport
was $500, in 1853 it was 1900. in 1854
it was 5000. in 1855 it was 5000. in
1856 it was 1.500, and in 1857 it was
$4,000. During the five-year period
from 1852 to 1857 the increase of pop-
ulation was 400 per cent. and during
/ the last IS months of that period sc
per cent, and it is no small wonder
! that the newspapers and public men
! OF Davenport at that time regarded
the growth of the city without parallel
/ IN the history of our country.
] To put the figures in another way
in 1852 the assessed valuation OF prop
! erty in the city OF Davenport was
100000; in 1854, $780, 900; in 1855
100000; in 1856, $3.50 600; in 1857
/ $5,225 ,09l.9l. In this last wear l2l4
houses were erected in the city.
| Never was there an event that was
more clearly the cause of great growth
and progress than the building of this
bridge. That the people then living
appreciated its Importance was fur
Their shown by the fact that when A
vote was taken in September, 1858. OH
| having the city and county subscribe
to the stock of the Mississippi- Mis-
souri, Railway company, only 10 votes
were recorded against the proposition.