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EDITED BY John C. Parish
Associate Editor of the State Historical Society of Iowa
| Volume II |
April 1921 |
No. 4 |
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Copyright 1921 by the State Historical Society of Iowa
(Transcribed by Gayle Harper)
THE RIPPLE
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In June, 1841, the roofless stone walls of the new
Territorial capitol rose bare and open to the sun on the crest
of a hill overlooking the Iowa River. Facing the unfinished
building was a mushroom growth of houses, stores, and inns
which had sprung up within two years' time, ready for the
coming of legislators and office holders and the attendant
population that was expected in the newly created seat of
government.
Iowa City was resonant with building
activities in those days; but on the twentieth of June there
was probably no tapping of hammers or rasping of saws, for it
was Sunday. Down at the foot of the hill back of the new
capitol was a ferry landing where a boat served the needs of
travelers on the Old Military Road; and here was staged on
this June Sunday an incident that is best left to the
descriptive powers of the editor of The Iowa City Standard, in
a news item entitled "Arrival Extraordinary!!!".
"We
this week announce an event which in our judgment, is of more
importance than any that has happened since our city has had
an existence.
"On the 20th instant our citizens were
surprised by hearing the puffing of an approaching Steamer. We
need not speak of the astonishment caused, by such unusual
sounds;—sounds which were for the first time heard on our
peaceful river—nor of the many conjectures which were started
as to the course from whence they proceeded. Our doubts were
soon dispelled by the glorious reality, as the STEAMER RIPPLE
for the first time came dashing up the Iowa and landed at the
ferry, which henceforth is only to be known by the more
appropriate name of the Steam Boat Landing.
"The hearty
cheers which hailed the arrival, and the warm welcome which
the Captain, crew and passengers received from our citizens,
showed that they appreciated the enterprise and determination
which had originated and successfully carried out such an
undertaking. Among the passengers on board we noticed Messrs.
Wesley Jones, Moses Cramer, Jas. W. Neally, D. W. C. Barron,
Jno. Taylor, of Burlington, Maj. Jno. B. Newhall, the talented
author of 'The Sketches of Iowa,' and our fellow townsman
James Herron.
" The Ripple arrived at the conjunction
of the Iowa and Cedar river on Friday evening. On Saturday
morning she started and ran up within four miles of this city
before she stopped for the night. There were no impediments
found to an easy and safe navigation of the river, if we may
except a few snags and projecting trees, a few miles below the
city, which will be removed by our citizens during the present
week. The experiment on the whole was a most satisfactory one.
The present comparatively low stage of water will effectually
silence any sneers that may be thrown out concerning high
water navigation, &;c., and we now have the fact proved,
beyond the possibility of a doubt, that the Iowa river is
navigable beyond this place for seven months at least during
every year.
"This arrival has effectually changed the
relation in which we formerly stood to the other towns in this
Territory. We are now no longer dependent on the towns on the
Mississippi for our imports— nor are we subjected to the labor
and expense of drawing across the country all articles brought
from abroad. We have now a situation in many respects superior
to any in the Territory.
"The advantage of being the
furthest point in the interior, which has a safe and easy
communication by water with all the great commercial cities in
the west, is too manifest to need remark. Indeed some of our
neighboring towns on the Mississippi have laid claims to being
places of great importance, on this ground alone. We trust we
have settled all disputes on this point and that they will now
at once yield the palm to us, and surrender all claims that
they may have on this score. But when we add to these
advantages our acknowledged superiority in beauty of location
and fertility of soil and call to mind our almost total
exemption from those diseases, which are and have ever been
the scourges of the west, we can confidently demand the
attention of emigrants and others to a situation which
combines every advantage that can attract the merchant and the
farmer, 'the man of business or the man of pleasure.' "
It was a day and an occasion worth celebrating. The
citizens calmed themselves sufficiently to retire for the
night, but on Monday morning they held a mass meeting at the
City Hotel and among other things appointed a committee to
invite the captain of the Ripple and the crew and passengers
to a public dinner in their honor to be given by the people of
Iowa City. Another committee was named to interview the
innkeepers of the town with this celebration in view. And it
was resolved "that a suitable person be selected to accompany
the STEAM BOAT RIPPLE down the Iowa River so far as may be
necessary to ascertain the principal obstructions, and the
best mode and the probable expense of removing said
obstructions." Captain Frederick M. Irish, a prominent settler
in the town, who had run away to sea in his youth, shipped on
a three years' whaling voyage to the northern Pacific and
elsewhere, and later became a New York harbor pilot, was
deemed a suitable person and was so deputized.
By two
o'clock in the afternoon arrangements had been made, the
invitation delivered and accepted, and the citizens and their
visiting friends sat down to a sumptuous dinner at the
National Hotel. The Iowa City Standard prints at length the
speeches and toasts that enlivened the occasion.
The
most notable of the passengers who came up with the Ripple was
John B. Newhall, a Burlington resident, who bore the title
Major, and acted as Iowa's first real press agent. In the
early months of 1841 he had already published a volume
entitled Sketches of Iowa, or the Emigrant's Guide. Two years
later he was lecturing in England on the resources and
possibilities of "Western America"; and in 1844 he published
in London an Emigrant's Handbook for these western States, and
followed it by A Glimpse of Iowa in 1846.
His was the
principal address at the dinner in honor of the Ripple and we
give it here in part:
"GENTLEMEN:—It is with feelings of
heartfelt gratification that we return our thanks for the
cordial reception with which we have been honored by our
friends of Iowa City. This, is indeed, a triumph; an
achievement well deserving all the encomiums so justly
bestowed upon my worthy friend Capt. Jones.
"What are
the circumstances under which we are assembled? Gentlemen, we
are here this day to commemorate the fact that on the 20th of
June, 1841, the first Steam Boat moored alongside the bluff of
your City!
"From this day forward the practicability of
navigating the Iowa river remains no longer the subject of
conjecture.—From this day henceforth, a new era will commence
in the destinies of your City. The most skeptical must now
believe; for here is the evidence before you—yes, gentlemen,
ere another month shall elapse the performance of the gallant
little 'Ripple' shall be emblazoned to the world in letters of
living light.
"I know the farmers of Johnson county
will hail this as an auspicious omen. Well do I know too, that
every settler upon the verdant banks of the Iowa looks upon it
as an era pregnant with the happiest results of the future.
Would you know how the people of every village and cabin from
the mouth of the Iowa, hailed our arrival with the spirit of
gladness 'Ask the passengers of the 'Ripple.' They will tell
you of the cheering voice of welcome, not only the loud
huzzahs, but in the sharp crack of the 'rifle' which the
sturdy pioneer loaded in the morning for the fleetest
deer—little dreaming that ere the sun should sink behind the
western prairie— his charge was to salute the FIRST steamer
that had ever dared penetrate the serpentine windings of the
'Iowa Fork'.
"A few short years ago 'Fulton and Rumsey'
were thought to be insane for agitating the subject of
propelling vessels by steam across the ocean. This too—in the
intelligent circles of enlightened Paris. Now gentlemen 28
days will bring you from the Grey Towers of Windsor Castle to
the rude Wigwam of my friend Poweshiek.
"Thirty months
ago and what was the condition of your country' The shrill
'puff' of the steamer might have startled the wolf from his
lair; or perchance the Indian hunter returning to his Wigwam.
The impress of civilization had not even marked its outline.
But a change has come over the face of the wilderness. But
yesterday morning—and 250 intelligent and accomplished
citizens of both sexes, were embarking on a pleasure excursion
from your landing, up the Iowa by 'steam.' Johnson County
—from nothing two years and half ago, now contains a
population of about 2300 freemen! —And who compose this
population on the frontier of the 'far west. '— Is it that
renown class of outlaws yeleped the 'Squatters?' Let us
analyze, for a moment the character of our
population,—gentlemen they never asked me 'down east' if you
were actually cannibals. But some of the knowing ones thought
you were 'mighty' near it. I only wish those respectable
personages, who view the world from 'Vauxhall Garden' to the
'Battery' could suddenly be transported to your firesides.
Could 'drop' into your rude court houses; they forget that the
unshackled and mighty mind of man, soars beyond brick walls
and pavements. That the conceptions of the pioneer are tinged
with sublimity. Look at him as he grapples with the
surrounding elements; look at his self reliance. His sole
trust in his own energies that subdues the forest and makes
the wilderness blossom like the rose. The man who lives and
dies within the confines of his native country east of the
Alleghenies, knows not the character of the western man. But
to these traits of heroism, of unshrinking energies, do I
attribute the mighty power that we are destined to wield.
"Such, gentlemen, are the wonders of the 19th century;
such the onward march of the freemen of Iowa. The page of our
history will be resplendent with brightness, so long as
intelligence and virtue are the basis of our actions.
"In conclusion allow me to propose the following sentiment to
which I believe your response will be amen.
"The
gallant little 'Ripple' first to decide the practicability of
navigating the Iowa. May her enterprising commander be first
in the esteem of our citizens, and first to reap the rewards
of his triumphant achievement."
Captain D. Jones, whom
Newhall so warmly toasted, was a Mormon and a resident of
Nauvoo, according to Captain F. M. Irish. He went out with the
great migration to Utah some years later and died in the West.
For information on his earlier life the reader is referred to
this modest response to the toast of Major Newhall:
"GENTLEMEN:—I am neither an orator, nor the son of an orator;
but merely a son of Neptune, a son of the Five Oceans.
"From such a one you will not expect a fluent speech, lest you
be disappointed. Permit me, however, to make one or two plain
and unvarnished remarks on the present occasion. Exploring has
been my study and delight from a boy. To accomplish this
object, I have sacrificed the comforts of the social hearth.
To this end I have endured the rage of the five elements. I
have endured the smiles and frowns of heathen Monarchs. I have
grappled with the Lion and Tiger. I have contended with the
cannibals, warclub and tomahawk, when my comrades were cut
down by my side. I have also been an almost only survivor in
shipwrecks. But gentlemen, I have the gratification to say
that the reverse has been my fortune in exploring the Iowa
river. Providence smiled on this enterprise. "Instead of the
red man's war club; I have been saluted by the hunters rifle,
echoing from bluff to glen. Instead of the roaring Lion, the
loud hurrahs of my well-wishers welcoming me up your river.
"Encouraged by the generous and spirited feelings of my
passengers and officers, with confidence in the suitableness
of my boat,—I have surmounted I every obstacle, and have come
here to prove beyond I contradiction, that the Iowa river is
navigable. "It's true gentlemen; that I have been somewhat
presumptuous in thus risking my all to the accomplishing of
this object without a guarantee that I could clear my
expenses, or that I should be able to I return with my boat
out of your river. But gentlemen, I am here and congratulate
you on this occasion, in this beautiful little queen of Iowa,
hoping I that the rising generation, who so beckoned me up
your river, may enjoy the benefits of this enterprise, and
make it a bright page in the annals of the history of Iowa
City. And now, gentlemen; your river is navigable. The boat is
ready; your obedient servant, is at your service, whenever the
public spirit, and generous enthusiasm of your growing City is
ready. Permit me to acknowledge the honor you have done me,
and with gratitude, believe me to be ever your obedient
servant. "
Following this effort, various citizens toasted
the Ripple and its Captain; and wishing them both many happy
returns, the company broke up.
On Thursday morning of
the same week, citizens of a small town over on the Cedar
River were thrilled by the cry "She comes, she comes!". The
Ripple had reached Rochester in Cedar County. And straightway,
the enthusiastic citizens, headed by Dr. S. B. Grubbs,
welcomed and toasted Captain Jones at a public dinner, and
indulged in visions of a great future for the town.
But
alas for human hopes. Neither Iowa City nor Rochester owes
much to steamboat commerce. Occasionally in later years a boat
nosed its way up to Iowa City and in the sixties a steamer was
built and launched there. But the river commerce failed to
develop.
As for the Ripple, it never returned. No one
seems to know what became of the little craft that first
roused the community hope. And though hope was rekindled at
each later arrival of a steamer, it is doubtful if the people
of Iowa City were ever again stirred as deeply as when Captain
D. Jones, the lion hunter, moored the Ripple at the ferry
landing back of the rising capitol.
JOHN C. PARISH
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