Era Of Settlement—Dubuque And His Party Of Miners—The Settlements Of Honori And Of Giard—English Pioneers Throughout The Territory—Efforts Of Mr. Longworthy—Code Of Laws For The Government Of The Dubuque Miners—Forcible Removal Of The Dubuque Settlers—The Lead Mines—Settlement Of The Black Hawk Purchase—The First Of Many Things—Pioneers At The Bluffs.
THE first permanent settlement by the whites within the limits of Iowa was made by Julien Dubuque, in 1788, when, with a small party of miners, he settled on the site of the city that now bears his name, where he lived until his death, in 1810. Louis Honori settled on the site of the present town of Montrose, probably in 1799, L and resided there until 1805, when his property passed into other hands. Of the Giard settlement, opposite Prairie du Chien, little is known, except that it was occupied by some parties prior to the commencement of the present century, and contained three cabins in 1805. Indian traders, although not strictly to be considered settlers, had established themselves at various points at an early date. A Mr. Johnson, agent of the American Fur Company, had a trading post below Burlington, where he carried on traffic with the Indians some time before the United States possessed the country. In 1820 Le Moliese, a French trader, had a station at what is now Sandusky, six miles above Keokuk, in Lee County. In 1829 Dr. Isaac Gallaud made a settlement on the Lower Rapids, at what is now Nashville.
The first settlement in Lee County was made in 1820, by Dr. Samuel C. Muir, a surgeon in the United States Army, who had been stationed at Fort Edwards, now Warsaw, Ill., and who built a cabin where the city of Keokuk now stands. Dr. Muir was a man of strict integrity and irreproachable character. While stationed at a military post on the Upper Mississippi, he had married an Indian woman of the Fox nation. Of his marriage, the following romantic account is given:
The post at which he was stationed was visited by a beautiful Indian maiden-whose native name, unfortunately, has not been preserved-who, in her dreams, had seen a white brave unmoor his canoe, paddle it across the river and come directly to her lodge. She felt assured, according to the superstitious belief of her race,