Lee County occupies
the extreme southeastern corner of the state. On
the north it is bounded by the counties of Henry and
Des Moines, being separated from the latter by the
Skunk River; on the east by the Mississippi River,
which separates it from the State of Illinois; on the
southwest by the State of Missouri, from which it is
separated by the Des Moines River, and on the west by
the County of VanBuren. The form of the county is that
of an irregular trapezoid and its area is a little
over five hundred square miles.
Along the boundary streams the surface is somewhat
broken, the bluffs sometimes reaching a height of 200
feet or more. In the interior the county is an
elevated plateau, the surface of which is gently
undulating or rolling. Across this plateau there are
two wide, shallow troughs trending toward the
southeast, marked by the valleys of East and West
Sugar creeks. The narrow watershed between these two
troughs terminates at the Mississippi River in what is
known as "Keokuk Point."
East Sugar Creek rises in the southwestern part of
Henry County and flows a southeasterly course through
the townships of Marion, Franklin, West Point and
Jefferson. Not far from the little station called Beck
Siding, on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Railroad, it receives the waters of Panther Creek, and
about half a mile below the mouth of Panther Creek it
unites with the Little Devil Creek to form Devil
Creek, which empties into the Mississippi about
halfway between Fort Madison and Montrose. Its total
length is a little over thirty miles.
Panther Creek, the principal tributary of East Sugar
from the west, rises in the southern part of Franklin
Township, about a mile east of the Town of Donnellson,
and flows a south easterly direction for some ten or
twelve miles, when it unites its waters with those of
East Sugar Creek as already stated.
Little Devil Creek has its source in the northeastern
part of West Point Township and flows in a general
southerly direction throughout its entire course. It
is about ten miles in length.
West Sugar Creek rises in Cedar Township, near the
northwest corner of the county, and flows
southeastwardly through the townships of Cedar,
Harrison, Franklin, Charleston, Des Moines, Montrose
and Jackson, a distance of some thirty-five miles, or
until it empties into the Des Moines River about six
miles west of Keokuk.
The principal tributary of West Sugar Creek is called
Main Creek. Its source is about a mile north of Argyle
Station, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
Railroad, and its source is southeasterly until it
empties into West Sugar Creek, near the northwest
corner of Jackson Township.
The Des Moines River is Iowa's principal stream. It
rises in the northwestern part of the state and flows
diagonally across the entire state to the extreme
southeast corner, where it mingles its waters with
those of the Mississippi. It first strikes Lee County
near the southwest corner of section 18, township 67
north, range 7 west, from which point it forms the
boundary between Iowa and Missouri for a distance of
about thirty miles, or throughout the remainder of its
course. In early days, during the spring floods,
steamboats from the Mississippi would ascend the river
as far as Raccoon Fork, and smaller steamboats would
go up as far as Fort Dodge. Clearing away the timber
and cultivating the soil have changed conditions so
that the river has been robbed of a good portion of
its original water supply and it is much smaller than
formerly. On some of the old maps made by early French
explorers the river is shown as being fully as large
as either the Mississippi or Missouri.
There has been considerable speculation as to the
origin of the name "Des Moines." The first reference
to the stream was made by Joliet, who, on his map of
1674, gives the stream the name of "Ouacuiatanas." In
1688 Franquelin made a map, or "Carte de la
Louisiane," upon which the river appears as the
"Moingona." DeLisle's map of 1707 shows it as the
"Riviere les Moingona," and the French called the
Indians living along its course "Les Moins." In time
the river came to be generally known as "La Riviere
des Moines," which is unquestionably French, and has
been interpreted as meaning "The River of the Monks."
When Lieut. Zebulon Pike explored the Upper
Mississippi Valley in 1805-06, he called particular
attention to this stream, which he called the "River
de Moyen" and expressed the opinion that the name thus
spelled is a -corruption of La Riviere des Moines, or
River of the Monks. Charles Rollin Keyes, who served
as assistant state geologist along in the '90s, and
who made a somewhat exhaustive study of Iowa's
physical characteristics and resources, says the name
as given by Pike means "the middle." He accounts for
it on the hypothesis that when the French voyageurs
visited St. Louis and were asked from what part of the
country they came they replied "De Moyen," meaning the
country between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers,
or the middle of the interior. Mr. Keyes is inclined
to think that this is the true origin of the name, and
that the transition from "De Moyen" to "Des Moines"
was a comparatively easy matter.
Concerning the Skunk River, which forms the dividing
line between Lee and Des Moines counties, Frank
Labiseur, who was the United States interpreter for
the Sac and Fox Indians in early days, says: "The
Indian name was Chicaque, which, in their language, is
anything of a strong or obnoxious odor — such as
onion, skunk, etc. From the fact that the headwaters
of the stream abound in wild onions, the
interpretation should have been 'Onion.' "
South of the Skunk River and almost parallel to it is
Lost Creek, which rises in the southern part of
Pleasant Ridge Township and flows southeast through
Pleasant Ridge, Denmark, Washington and Green Bay
townships. Near the little hamlet of Wever, in the
last named township, it formerly sank into the earth
and found its way to the Mississippi through a
subterranean channel, but now runs by an open channel
into Green Bay.
Jack Creek rises near the Village of Charleston and
flows in a southeasterly direction through Jefferson
and Montrose townships, emptying into the Mississippi
near the Town of Montrose. Other tributaries of the
Mississippi are Lamelee Creek, in the southern part of
Montrose Township ; Price Creek, in the central part
of Jackson; and Soap Creek, at Keokuk.
Lick Creek flows southward through the
western part of Harrison and Van Buren townships and
empties into the Des Moines River near the Village of
Croton. About five miles farther down Mumm Creek, a
small stream, some four miles in length, joins the Des
Moines, and Monk Creek empties into the same river at
Belfast. Prairie Creek flows in a northwesterly
direction through the western part of Pleasant Ridge
Township; Sutton Creek, in the same township, flows to
the Skunk River; Cedar Creek crosses the northwest
corner of Cedar Township, and there are a number of
smaller streams in different parts of the county,
giving Lee an excellent system of natural drainage.
The waters of all these streams ultimately reach the
Mississippi.
Altitudes
West Point, in the northwestern part of the township
of the same name, is the highest point in the county;
the next highest is at Big Mound, in Cedar Township,
and the lowest known level is at the low watermark of
the Mississippi River at Keokuk. The following table
shows the altitude of various places in the county
above both the low water level of the Mississippi at
Keokuk and the sea level:
PLACE
|
ABOVE
LOW
WATER
|
ABOVE
SEA
LEVEL
|
Argyle
|
191
|
668
|
Belfast
|
68
|
543
|
Big Mound
|
271
|
748
|
Charleston
|
217
|
694
|
Croton
|
73
|
550
|
Donnellson
|
219
|
695
|
Fort Madison
(Santa Fe depot)
|
46
|
523
|
Keokuk
|
0
|
477
|
Keokuk
(Fourteenth and Grand Ave.)
|
178
|
655
|
Montrose
(R.
R. Station)
|
40
|
507
|
Pilot Grove
|
168
|
645
|
Saint Paul
|
166
|
643
|
Summitville
|
193
|
670
|
Warren
|
226
|
703
|
West Point
|
281
|
758
|
The figures given in this table are taken
from surveys made by civil engineers in the
construction of railroads, the surveys of the
Mississippi River Commission, and other sources. They
are believed to be as near authentic as they can be
made. By taking a map of the county and studying it in
comparison with the table, a good general idea of the
topography of this portion of Southeastern Iowa may be
obtained.
Soils
Alluvial plains border all the streams of the county,
especially along the lower portion of their courses.
On the Mississippi River, however, the alluvial
deposits are important at two points only — one a
triangular district between the Skunk River and Fort
Madison and embracing the greater part of Green Bay
Township, and the other alluvial area including a
large part of Jefferson and a portion of Montrose
townships. In these two sections the plains near the
river are low and wet, subject to overflow in times of
high water, but farther back the surface rises in a
series of sand terraces to a height of about fifty
feet. In his report for 1895, the state geologist
says: "These terraces represent the flood-water stages
of the river in times somewhat remote, yet subsequent
to the deposition of the drift which once covered the
area and which was removed by the river in the process
of widening its valley."
At Sand Prairie, or Vincennes, on the Des Moines
River, is an alluvial plain similar in all respects to
the terraced areas on the Mississippi. In all these
districts the soil is above the average in fertility,
while along the smaller streams the alluvial deposits,
consisting chiefly of a sandy loam, yield large
crops.
On the uplands of Lee County, the soil is chiefly a
black loam-like humus, less sandy than the bottom
lands, ranging from two to five feet in depth. In a
few places there are small areas of that tenacious
soil known as "gumbo," which can be cultivated only
with great difficulty, but by far the greater portion
of the county is composed of a rich, tractable soil,
well adapted to agriculture.
Geology
During the years 1847 to 1850, Dr. D. D. Owen, acting
under the authority of the United States Land Office,
undertook the study of the mineral lands of the
Northwest, and it was through his work that the first
accurate accounts of the geology of the region now
comprising the State of Iowa were given to the
scientific world. A brief reconnaissance of Lee County
was made in 1858 by A. H. Worthen, afterward state
geologist of Illinois, but owing to the limited time
allowed for his work he was unable to go into details.
About 1870 Dr. C. A. White published a geological
account of the state, in which some references are
made to Lee and the adjoining counties.
It was not until 1893, however, that any comprehensive
survey was made of the geological formation and
resources of Lee County, the result of which was
published in Volume III of the Iowa Geological Survey.
According to this report, "The stratified, or
indurated, rocks are almost entirely Lower
Carboniferous limestones. These form the great
basement upon which the coal measures of the region
were laid down. * * * The total thickness of the rocks
exposed above low-water level in Lee County is not far
from four hundred feet, though the actual vertical
measurement of an outcrop at any one place is probably
nowhere more than one-half of this maximum."
Several typical or standard sections are
given. Probably the most important of these are the
ones at the old McGavic mill, two miles below the
union depot at Keokuk; the record of the Hubinger well
in Keokuk; the bluff section at Fort Madison; a
section at Denmark, on the Skunk River; one at Croton,
on the Des Moines River, and one on East Sugar Creek,
about two miles northwest of Franklin. From the
investigations made at these and other points in the
county, the geologist prepared a "General Geological
Section," which shows the geological construction of
the county to be about as follows:
Beginning at the surface, there is a deposit of
alluvium, loess and till, of the Pleistocene age,
averaging about sixty feet in thickness. Immediately
below this are the lower coal measures, varying from
five to forty feet. Next comes the St. Louis
limestone, about thirty feet in thickness, after which
comes the Augusta limestones, and below the Augusta
group lie the Kinderhook shales. Arranging the
different strata in the form of a table, the section
would show the relative proportions of the different
formations to be as follows — starting at the surface:
|
PLEISTOCENE |
FEET
|
Alluvium
|
20
|
Loess
|
15
|
Till
|
25
|
CARBONIFEROUS
|
FEET
|
Lower Coal
Measures
|
40
|
St. Louis
Limestone
|
30
|
Sonora
Shales
|
8
|
Warsaw
Shales
|
20
|
Geode Bed
|
33
|
Keokuk
Limestone
|
53
|
Montrose
Chert
|
30
|
Upper
Burlington Limestone
|
50
|
Lower
Burlington Limestone
|
80
|
Kinderhook
Shales
|
12
|
Total
|
416
|
All the strata lying between the Kinderhook shales
and the St. Louis limestone belong to the Augusta
stage. The Kinderhook shales are best exposed on the
Des Moines County side of the Skunk River, near
Patterson station; the Burlington limestones are also
seen to best advantage along the Skunk River from its
mouth up as far as Augusta; the Keokuk limestone has a
fine exposure at the mouth of Soap Creek and near the
old McGavic mill site; the geode bed, the Sonora and
Warsaw shales, the St. Louis limestones and the coal
measures are also seen in the outcrops in that
locality. The geological report already referred to
says: "These several outcrops serve as standards to
which all sections in the county may be readily
referred. * All the bedded rocks have been subjected
to profound erosion, which has carved out deep
channels and numberless minor depressions. Over this
uneven surface the glacial materials have been spread,
obscuring in great part the harder rocks. Subsequent
action of running waters has cut through the drift
mantle and laid bare the underlying strata at many
places."
The Glacial Epoch
Far back in the geologic past, about the close of the
Paleozoic period, came the Pleistocene or "Ice Age,"
during which all of what is now the State of Iowa was
covered with a vast sheet of ice, called a glacier,
extending from the region of the Great Lakes to the
Rocky Mountains. This glacier was formed in the
northern part of the continent by successive falls of
snow. The weight added by each snowfall aided in
compressing the mass below into a solid body of ice.
In time the entire glacier began to move slowly
southward, carrying with it great boulders, clay,
soils, etc., to be deposited in regions far distant
from those from which they were taken. As the huge
mass moved slowly along, the boulders and other hard
substances at the bottom of the glacier left scratches
or striae upon the bed rocks, and from these scorings
the geologist has been able to determine the course of
the glacier. At various places along the west bank of
the Mississippi River, from the mouth of the Iowa to
the southern border of the state, the striae have been
noted upon the rocks of the bluffs, indicating the
general direction of the great glacier to have been
toward the southeast.
As the ice melted, the materials carried by the
glacier were deposited upon the bed rocks in the form
of drift, which constitutes the alluvium, loess and
till as noted in the preceding table. At the close of
the glacial period the surface was void of either
animal or plant life. Gradually the action of the rain
and winds leveled the surface, the heat of the sun
warmed the earth, and life in primitive forms made its
appearance.
It is a noticeable fact that within the limits of Lee
County there are no deposits representing the period
of time intervening between the laying down of the
lower coal measures and the beginning of the
Pleistocene or Ice Age. If later coal measures or
Tertiary strata were deposited they were removed by
erosive agencies before the beginning of the glacial
epoch. The effect of this erosion has been noted by
geologists in the discovery of preglacial valleys of
the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers.
As early as 1858 geologists noted the great
development of glacial material along the west bank of
the Mississippi in the vicinity of Fort Madison.
Twenty years later Maj. G. K. Warren first made known
the existence of an old river valley in that locality.
In 1890, without knowing of Warren's work, C. H.
Gordon prepared a map showing the course of the river
in ancient times, his conclusions corresponding in
every particular with those of Major Warren. Gordon's
map shows that from the mouth of the Skunk River to
Montrose the old channel was not materially different
from the present one. From Montrose the old valley
swept with a broad westward bend to the Des Moines
River, a short distance below the present Village of
Sand Prairie. Concerning the evidences of this, Gordon
says: "The comparatively narrow rocky gorge within
which the river now flows from Montrose to Keokuk is
itself suggestive of its more recent origin than the
broad valley above and below bordered for the most
part by drift covered slopes."
The width of the preglacial channel of the Mississippi
is about six miles, which is about the width of the
valley at the present time above Fort Madison. It is
quite probable that the preglacial river was no larger
than the present stream. After cutting its early
channel it then continued the work of erosion until
the valley was widened to the limits indicated upon
Gordon's map.
The existence of a buried channel through the western
part of the county — probably the preglacial course of
the Des Moines River -was first observed by geologists
in 1893. This old valley is approximately marked by
the present course of West Sugar Creek. Geologists
find abundant evidence that the present channel of the
Des Moines River above Sand Prairie is of
comparatively recent date and are inclined to the
opinion that the river once flowed farther eastward
than now, joining the Mississippi near Sand Prairie.
Then came the Ice Age, during which the underflow of
waters started a change in the course of the streams,
and after the ice melted the rivers were forced to cut
new channels through the drift.
Character of the
Drift
At the bottom of the glacial deposits is the "lower
till," which in Lee County averages about twenty-five
feet in thickness. It is composed of a blue clay,
filled with bowlders of various kinds and sizes, with
deposits of sand at intervals. These sand beds often
constitute the source of water supply in wells on the
upper levels. Above the blue clay is a yellow clay,
which also contains boulders. At what are known as the
"Yellow Banks," on the Des Moines River, the lower
till is seen to consist of "twenty-five feet of sand
resting upon blue clay and over this fifteen feet of
silty clay, dark above and overlain by eight feet of
yellow clay, which in turn is capped by a thin veneer
of loess."
The sand varies in places to a fine gravel and along
the east bank of West Sugar Creek, near the mouth of
the stream, it gradually merges into a coarse,
incoherent sandstone. The yellow clay deposits also
contain much sand, as may be seen in the cuts along
the line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
Railroad where it cuts through the main divide between
the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers.
Loess consists chiefly of a fine, ash-colored silt and
is distributed over all of Southeastern Iowa in
deposits varying in thickness from two feet to fifteen
feet or more. A little south of New Boston, on the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, it has a
development of fifteen feet, somewhat marly at the
bottom, and at Keokuk the bowlder accumulation is
covered by stratified white and iron bearing sand
grading upward into pure loess. Here the thickness of
the silt and stratified sand is about thirty feet. The
loess is also seen in the exposures along Soap Creek
and in the terraces above Montrose.
Above the loess lies the alluvium or soil, which is
composed of the lighter materials carried by the
glacier and decayed vegetable matter that has been
deposited since the close of the glacial epoch. As
this portion of the drift constitutes the surface and
is seen in all parts of the county, it is not deemed
necessary to give any extended account of its
character or the manner in which it was deposited.
Economic Geology
While a general discussion of the structure and
formation of Lee County may be of interest to the
student of geology, there is no doubt that the average
reader will find much more interest in the subject of
economic geology — that branch of the science which
treats of the commercial and industrial importance of
the various mineral deposits within the limits of the
county. Probably the most important of the minerals is
Building Stone
Lee County is well supplied with stone suitable for
nearly all classes of construction, every stratum of
the Lower Carboniferous limestone affording a good
grade, though varying greatly in texture and quality.
In at least thirteen of the sixteen townships quarries
have been opened and profitably worked. The Burlington
limestones are durable, easily quarried and readily
dressed. The thick ledges of this formation are well
adapted to dimension work of all kinds. In the Keokuk
limestone is found a hard, compact rock, which breaks
evenly and is quarried without difficulty. The upper
part of this formation, often called the Warsaw, is
principally a magnesian limestone, some sand and small
pebbles. The largest quarries of this stone are on the
east side of the Mississippi, at Sonora, where it is
quarried under the name of Sonora sandstone. Buildings
in Keokuk erected of this material more than half a
century ago are still standing and the action of the
atmosphere has not eradicated all the tool marks upon
the stone, which attests its durability. The St. Louis
white limestone is fine-grained, compact, usually
bluish or gray in color. Some layers have been used
for lithographic purposes.
Jackson Township leads all the others in the amount of
stone quarried. Along the Mississippi at the base of
the bluff, immediately north of Keokuk, and in the
western part of the city, along Soap Creek, there are
several large quarries in operation, most of the stone
being of the blue Keokuk limestone, though some Warsaw
stone is also taken out. The stone is shipped over the
railroads centering at Keokuk to all parts of the
Central United States. In the northern part of the
city several small quarries have been opened in the
St. Louis limestone for sidewalk, street crossings,
etc.
In Des Moines Township there are quarries near the
station of Sand Prairie, from which stone is taken for
local use, and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe
Railroad Company has a quarry near Hinsdale. In the
same vicinity the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific
Railroad Company has a quarry, from which stone is
taken for bridge abutments, etc.
Near Ballinger station, in the southeastern part of
Montrose Township, a quarry was opened about twenty
years ago by McManus & Tucker in the Warsaw
magnesian limestone. It was from this quarry that the
stone for some of the additions to the state
penitentiary at Fort Madison was taken. Other
additions were built of the dolomite limestone from
the Schafer quarries across the river in Illinois. The
Fort Madison High School and the building of the Fort
Madison Canning Company are also constructed of this
stone. There is another quarry in this township
directly south of the Town of Montrose, but the stone
produced there is chiefly for local use.
In Jefferson Township the Wemmer quarry, on the west
side of Sugar Creek, near the northwest corner of the
township, was opened about 1880 and has been operated
on a small scale more or less continuously since that
time. The stone from this quarry hardens greatly upon
being exposed to the weather. None has ever been
shipped, the output being used in the surrounding
country for foundations, bridge abutments, and similar
purposes.
There are but few exposures of the bed rock in
Charleston Township, owing to the fact that there are
no large streams. About a mile southwest of
Donnellson, on a small tributary of Sugar Creek, is
the Donnell quarry, the output of which is used
locally for foundations and retaining walls. At a few
other points along the creek there are exposures of a
white oolitic limestone, which is believed to belong
to the St. Louis formation, and on Panther Creek, in
section 13, near the eastern boundary of the township
there are some outcrops of the St. Louis stone that
have been quarried to some extent.
Near Crotton, Van Buren Township, a quarry was opened
some time in the '60s, during the days of slack water
navigation, in a deposit of massive yellow sandstone
belonging to the lower coal measures. Stone from this
quarry was used in the construction of the locks and
dams in the Des Moines River. It is not much used at
the present time. There are outcrops on Lick and Mumm
creeks and near the mouth of Monk Creek from which
stone is taken for local use, but no regular quarry is
operated.
Near the Town of Franklin, in the township of that
name, there are several small quarries in the white,
granular ledge of the St. Louis limestone. At the
Graner quarry, about a mile east of the town, a good
quality of flagging is quarried. A mile north of this
is the Pardall quarry, from which stone has been sent
to Fort Madison after being dressed at the quarry. The
church at St. Paul is built of this stone. White
limestone is also taken from quarries along Sugar
Creek and some of its tributaries, and sandstone is
exposed at various points in the coal measures.
In West Point Township the building stone is nearly
all of the St. Louis limestone. Most of the quarries
are in the western part of the township. Some of the
beds dress well and are used in making tombstones and
bases for monuments. Considerable lime is manufactured
in this section of the county. In section 30, on
Little Sugar Creek there is a deposit of fine white
sandstone which hardens upon exposure and is quarried
to some extent. There are several other deposits in
the township where quarries might be profitably worked
if suitable transportation facilities were
provided.
On Lost Creek, in the eastern part of Washington
Township, considerable stone for constructional
purposes has been taken. The output here is entirely
local and is used chiefly for foundations.
Very little building stone has been produced in Green
Bay Township, the principal quarry being near the
railroad bridge over the Skunk River about a mile
north of Wever. The stone here is the Lower Burlington
limestone.
Along the Skunk River, in Denmark Township, there is
an abundance of good building stone of the Burlington,
Keokuk and St. Louis limestones in sight and some
quarrying has been done. At South Augusta considerable
stone is taken from the bed of the river, which here
passes over rapids, and at several other points in
that neighborhood small openings have been made. There
is no doubt that someday this stone will be quarried
more extensively, as it is easily accessible and of
good quality.
The oolitic bed of the St. Louis limestone is the
principal stone quarried in Pleasant Ridge Township.
There are a number of small openings from which the
stone is taken as needed for local use.
The old Jarret quarry is the principal one in Marion
Township. It is located in section 36, near the
southeast corner of the township. Farther up Sugar
Creek is the Pilot Grove quarry, from which flagging,
foundation stone and material for bridge abutments are
taken.
Coal
Probably the first mention of coal in Iowa was made by
the English tourist, Featherstonhaugh, who went down
the Mississippi in a canoe in 1835 and noticed
indications of coal in some of the outcrops along the
river. Later in the same year Albert Lea, an agent of
the United States Government, appointed to ascertain
the resources of the Black Hawk purchase, reported
"large coal deposits between the mouth of the Des
Moines River and Raccoon Forks."
As Lee County lies on the extreme eastern margin of
the great coal field west of the Mississippi, it can
never be expected to occupy a place among the
important coal producing counties of the state. The
coal deposits, however, are large enough to be of some
commercial value, local demand being supplied to some
extent in certain sections of the county. The largest
deposits noticed so far are in the coal measure rocks
in the northern part of the county, particularly in
Franklin, Marion and Pleasant Ridge townships.
Although the coal measures exist in fully one-half of
Van Buren Township no attempt has ever been made to
open mines. There is also a small district of the coal
measures near Keokuk, in Jackson Township.
Mining has been carried on for many years, but in a
rather desultory manner. The largest mines operated
are on Sutton Creek, in Pleasant Ridge Township, about
five miles northwest of the Town of Denmark. The coal
beds here form a portion of the coal-bearing area
which extends northward into Henry County. At the old
Norris mine a considerable quantity of coal was mined
years ago, the output going to West Point and the
adjacent country. In recent years none of the mines
has been worked systematically, the coal now being
obtained chiefly by "stripping" along the creek, where
the vein ranges from two to three feet or more in
thickness. No doubt, as the better mines of the
western coal field are worked out, these deposits will
be developed and mined with profit.
In Marion Township the Stevenson mine, a short
distance east of the Town of St. Paul, has been used
for a number of years as a source of local coal
supply; but it is worked mainly during the winter
months when the demand for coal is great enough to
make mining profitable. Three miles southwest of the
Stevenson mine is a small shaft from which coal has
been taken annually for several years and supplied to
the people living in the vicinity.
Nearly four-fifths of Franklin Township lie in the
coal field and coal has been mined at several places.
About two miles from West Point, in the eastern part
of the township, is a mine from which small quantities
of coal have been taken at intervals for a number of
years. In the early '90s washouts in the road leading
west from West Point exposed a vein of coal varying
from one to two feet in thickness and this has been
mined in a limited way. Several mines have been opened
on Sugar Creek, in the northwestern part of the
township, the best known being the old Hardwick mine,
from which sufficient quantities of coal were taken at
one time to supply the local demand. This mine was
once worked by means of a shaft, but that method has
been abandoned and the coal is now obtained by drifts
in the ravine. The vein here is the thickest
discovered so far in the county, measuring in some
places over three feet. Small drifts have been made
about a mile down the creek from the Hardwick mine and
some coal has been taken from the beds at that
point.
In Jackson Township coal of good quality has been
developed below the City of Keokuk, on the upper side
of the Nassau Slough, where the vein is about eighteen
inches thick. North of the city, in the bluffs near
Rand Park, coal was once mined by means of drifts, but
some years ago the entrance was blocked by debris from
the falling roof and the mines have not been
reopened.
Clay Deposits
At numerous places in the superficial or drift
deposits of the county are beds of good clay, and some
of the geological formations also furnish a good grade
of this material. Probably the best known clays are
those which overlie the coal deposits, but the Warsaw
beds have been used successfully in the manufacture of
brick, and it has been demonstrated that the
Kinderhook shales are well adapted to the manufacture
of high-grade paving blocks. The Hubinger Brick Works
at Keokuk were utilizing the Warsaw shale at that
point more than twenty years ago. Thin bands and
nodules of lime rock make the shale difficult to use,
as it has to be specially treated to get rid of these
ingredients, after which brick of high grade can be
made from it.
The shales of the coal measures are found in various
parts of the county and in many places they are
accompanied by coal sufficient to burn the clay
products. Some of the light-colored shales, where free
from grit, are excellent for pottery, and the drab and
yellow shales can be made into brick.
The blue clay of the lower till is seldom well exposed
at the surface and is, therefore, little used in
making clay goods, although tenacious, fine-grained
and well adapted to the purpose. The yellow clay of
the till contains too many foreign substances to make
it profitable to attempt to utilize it in
manufacture.
For ordinary brick the alluvium has been used in some
places. The best clays in this formation are found
chiefly along the Des Moines and Skunk rivers, and
along some of the larger creeks.
At Keokuk pressed and ornamental brick are made from
the Warsaw and Kinderhook shales, though the former is
much more extensively used, owing to the ease with
which it can be obtained. Fire brick, furnace linings,
etc., are manufactured from the clays that lie
immediately below the coal seams. Among the early clay
industries at Keokuk were the Hubinger Brick Works,
the brick yards of R. P. Creel and James Mitchell, and
the Spaan and Worley companies.
There are several brick yards in the vicinity of Fort
Madison, most of them utilizing the clay deposits in
the southern part of Washington Township. One of the
oldest is that known as the Reichelt yard, which has
been in successful operation for a number of years.
The Stellern and Hansmann yards, in the same locality,
also manufacture large quantities of brick, and the
Wiggenjost and Bartell yards do a good business.
At Donnellson a brick yard was opened in 1891 at the
west side of the town, where bricks for the public
school building were made by hand from prairie soil.
Three miles north of the town was found a bed of clay
in the coal measures which was used in the manufacture
of pottery, a factory for that purpose having been
erected near the junction of the two railroads. After
a fairly successful career of two or three years the
works were moved to Farmington, Van Buren
County.
Miscellaneous
Sand suitable for making mortar for building purposes
is found in the beds of nearly all the streams, the
Mississippi, Des Moines and Skunk rivers supplying at
almost any point an abundance of clean, sharp river
sand of a high grade. At various places in the county
there are lenticular beds of sand in the drift, which
might be utilized for mortar making, and the soft
sandstone of the coal measures, when disintegrated by
the action of the air, makes a clean, sharp material
equal to the best river sand. In a few places a pure,
white sand has been found which, it is believed, could
be used to advantage in the manufacture of ordinary
glassware, and at various points in the drift beds are
deposits of sand suitable for molding purposes. So far
none of these deposits has been developed to any great
extent.
Although the geological survey reports the presence of
gravel beds scattered widely over the county, the
rivers and creeks especially affording an abundance of
this material, and at places in the drift the beds
being of comparatively easy access, the deposits have
been scarcely touched in an economic way. In the
southern part of the county there are a few miles of
gravel road, but stone being plentiful in all parts of
the county, it is the principal road-building
material. It is possible that at some future time the
gravel deposits may be developed and their contents
used in the construction of highways. All in all, Lee
County is as well supplied with road-building
materials as any county in the state, and every year
the macadam road is becoming more popular.
Some hydraulic rock has been reported from time to
time, but it appears the deposits are small and none
has been utilized in the manufacture of cement. Lime
is burned at several places in the county, the
greatest quantities being produced at Keokuk and
Montrose, where the Burlington and Keokuk limestones
are used. Lime kilns have also been in operation at
Denmark for many years.
In addition to the minerals already mentioned, there
are some not now attracting attention which may become
of commercial importance in the future. Sulphide of
nickel has been found in the upper part of the Keokuk
limestone at Keokuk and Fort Madison; copper, gold and
silver have all been noted in the county, but it is
not to be expected that they will ever become money
makers. In some of the limestones below Keokuk silver
to the amount of four or five ounces to the ton has
been shown by assays. Zinc blende, iron pyrites and
sulphide of iron have all been found in the county,
while in the geode beds quartz, calcopyrite, rutile,
aragonite and dolomite are known to exist in greater
or less quantities. At the bottom of the geode beds a
fine white powder, believed to be the hydrous silicate
of aluminum, has been noticed at several points.
The Water Supply
In every township of the county, particularly in the
hills bordering the streams, there are springs of good
water, many of which are never failing, while others
almost dry up in seasons of slight rainfall. All over
the county wells of moderate depth yield an abundant
supply of good, wholesome water. In the southeastern
half, and probably in the entire county, the
conditions are favorable for securing a supply of
artesian water. The great Keokuk syncline or trough
underlies a large part of the county and throughout
this area the pressure is sufficient to insure flowing
wells at almost any point. The best known wells of
this character are at Fort Madison and Keokuk. At Fort
Madison six artesian wells have been sunk. They are
the old up-town Atlee well, the well at the Atlee
Mills, the one in Ivanhoe Park, the well at the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad Hospital, the
well of the Brown Paper Company, and the city well in
the Old Settlers' Park, completed in August, 1914. At
Keokuk the best artesian wells are the Hubinger well
and the one at the Young Men's Christian Association.
The water from these wells is wholesome, though one
has "to learn to like it," on account of a peculiar
taste, which after a time, becomes unnoticeable. There
are also several mineral springs in the coal fields,
but generally they are too small to supply more than
the local demand for water. They contain various
sulphates and some of them, no doubt, possess certain
medicinal properties.
Source: History
of Lee County, Iowa, by Dr. S. W. Moorhead and
Nelson C. Roberts, 1914
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