THE IOWA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS APRIL NINETEEN HUNDRED FOURTEEN VOLUME TWELVE NUMBER TWO VOL. XII-11 FORTS IN THE IOWA COUNTRY But Of the territory now comprised within the borders of the State of Iowa, and indeed of the whole trans-Mississippi region, most of the early history may well be summarized in the statement: "it is a history of governments."1 documentary materials unearthed in archives at home and abroad, though largely illustrative of French and Spanish official life in this western country, reveal not a little knowledge of that other phase of history: human adventure and human endeavor. Thus, for example, one may read the accounts of early discoveries and explorations, of the activities of Jesuit missionaries, of traders in furs and minerals, and of Indian tribes with which European invaders came into business and social relations. And although the story of those early years is oftentimes not easily ascertainable because the records are scattered or fragmentary, on the whole a satisfactory picture of the times may be obtained. TRADING POSTS Long before the glamor of American frontier romance began to center in Indian treaties and land cessions, in the advance of the pioneers and their occupation of virgin prairies and primeval forests, and in the establishment of government forts for preserving peace among hostile Indian tribes and protecting settlers from pillage and massacre, French traders and explorers dreamed of a chain of well-garrisoned forts along the St. Lawrence River to the 1 See an article on Iowa History from 1699 to 1821 by Professor Benj. F. Shambaugh in the Iowa Historical Record, Vol. XVI, p. 29; and Documentary Material Relating to the History of Iowa, in three volumes, edited by the same author. 163 As is well Ohio and thence down to the Gulf of Mexico. known, they realized part of their dream: they were only scheming to retain the trade monopoly in the furs and minerals of the West, and heartily desired to check the encroachments of their aggressive neighbors and enemies, both British and Spanish. In the Mississippi Valley signs of French enterprise began to appear at an early date along the river bankscenters of industry and later, sometimes, of Jesuit missionary zeal. Their crude stockades were designated "forts", but these forts, consisting merely of traders' huts surrounded perhaps with high fences of pickets or split logs, were points of commercial vantage rather than military strongholds. Here the simple-minded savages bartered away products of the trap and chase for the civilized white man's products of factory, gun-shop, and distillery, the gaudier the goods and the stronger the spirits the more they attracted the Indians. That the Iowa country, teeming with buffalo, elk, and deer, and wild animals of river and forest, furnished certain Indian tribes a comfortable livelihood there is no dearth of evidence to prove: the Iowa wilderness came to be included within the scope of French trading operations soon after French traders and missionaries reached the Great River. Although very little was known of the upper trans-Mississippi country before 1700 except from reports 2 Parkman's A Half Century of Conflict (Little, Brown & Co., 1892), Vol. II, pp. 61-77. For this article on forts the writer has not undertaken to delve in the field of the antiquarian in order to present a theory about the vestiges of mounds to be found in various parts of the State. Many writers declare their belief that a race of people antedating the Indians constructed these embankments for purposes of defence, thereby evincing a remarkable knowledge of engineering and military science. The reader is referred to Newhall's Sketches of Iowa, pp. 230-239; and Dr. Duren J. H. Ward's article in THE IOWA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS, Vol. I, p. 56. Nor does the writer pretend to give an |