BACKTRACKING
Knox County Early
History
Part I -When There Were
Prairies
by Terry Hogan
Knox County was once a land of prairie seas and
wooded islands. Time changes all
things, often speeded up with the help of man. For Knox County, this speeding
up can arguably be defined as starting in the early 1800s. This marked the period when Europeans
no longer just passed through the area via the rivers, but settled to form
farms and villages. Footprints
were replaced with plowed prairies and wagon trails that grew to become the
early roads. As one insightful
person once pointed out to me - look at the roads in Knox County. If they run straight and north and
south and east and west, they are new; formed by the result of surveyors and
townships as part of the "Military Tract". If, on the other hand, the roads meander and cross streams
at easy points, these are the roads with history. Many were first Indian trails that were followed by
Europeans on horse, followed by wagons, and so it went. A good example of the
meandering road is the one known locally as the "Angling Road" in
northwestern Warren County.
The purpose of these articles is to meander like the early
roads, taking the path of least resistance, while trying to paint an
impressionist image, incomplete and probably a little inaccurate in the
details, of early Knox County.
This is Part I. The last part will be the one when I am done. Hopefully, I will know before the
reader, when I have reached this point.
With a little luck, perhaps the genealogist interested in early Knox
County will find a morsel or two worth gnawing on that might yield some
substance to his own family history. Thus is my goal.
Thus is my beginning.
First residents
In local histories, there is always the need to address the
first this and the first that.
Family feuds have occurred over whose ancestors arrived before the
other. Such is the danger that
angels avoid. But, alas, I am no
angel. I am more likely the latter of the old adage. This will be my
opportunity to prove that "any fool can write a column".
Early Knox County history seems to be ambivalent on the
"first pioneers". The
history must have been written by an ambidextrous historian. On the one hand, Daniel and Alexander
Robertson and Richard Matthews are attributed as being the first settlers. They settled near Henderson Grove in
February 1828 (Bateman, 1889). But
on the other hand, local history also notes that a man named Palmer, purported
to be a bee hunter, came to what is now the Maquon area around 1826 or 1827 and
built a house (Bateman, 1899).
There is also another historical account of another group of bee hunters
in 1827. These were Andy Osborn,
Andrew Scott, John Slatten and Gaddial Scott from Sangamon County. They
reportedly set up camp along the Knox and Warren county line (Chapman, 1878).
But in any event, this is the place to begin the history. Without European settlers; without
written history; without western civilization, there would have been no Knox
County history to review.
But, of course, the land was there long before the European
and long before the Indian/Native American (also not a native to America).
The land as it was found
Knox County was mostly prairie, with the tall grasses hiding
rich soil below. The land was
described as being "undulated", perhaps relating to the river and
stream valleys that drained the prairies.
It was in these valleys that most of the wooded land of the county was
to be found. Early settlers to the county often sought a parcel of land that
provided them both prairie land to till and wooded stream valley that provided
both water and timber for a cabin and fence material. Wood was also used for heating, for cooking, for cooking
implements, for furniture, and for
wagons. Streams and rivers also
provided a reliable transportation route by boat. The timbered banks also
provided riparian habitat for wildlife.
The wildlife, in turn, provided a source of nutrients for early settlers
before livestock could fulfill much of that role. The timbered riverbanks also provided familiar ground for
immigrants from the southern reaches who were more comfortable in the woods
than the prairies (Davis, 1998).
Only after these fingers of water and timber were claimed,
did settlers move out more into the open prairies. Even the shape of Lake Michigan encouraged early water craft
to hug the southern shore of Lake Michigan to what would become Chicago. Chicago would become the interface
between water and land travel, made even more important with the coming of the
railroads.
In 1837, Knox County was described in the following manner:
Knox County is in the
Military Bounty Tract, and nearly central between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. It is bounded north by Henry, east by
Peoria and Putnam, south by Fulton, and west by Warren and Mercer
counties. It is thirty miles long,
and from thirty to thirty-four in breadth, containing 792 square miles. This county is watered by Spoon river
and its tributaries, and also by the head streams of Henderson's and Pope's
rivers. The surface is generally prairie, moderately undulating, and of
first-rate quality of soil, with considerable tracts of excellent timber along
the water-courses. The inhabitants
amounted in 1835 to 1600. (Mitchell,
1837).
Much of what made Illinois and Knox County what it was - a
relatively flat land with rich soils and well-watered, is attributable to
history that began long before the 1800's. Most of Illinois, including Knox
County, was shaped by glaciers that progressed south, scouring and then retreating. But in their retreat, they left flat
land, deposits of rich soil, laced with limestone. Settlers in Knox County
found rich soils, relatively free of the boulders and bedrock found in New
England and in northern Minnesota.
The melting glaciers also helped establish waterways. The glaciers also get credit for the
Great Lakes, and the navigation routes of the Great Lakes helped shape
Illinois' future.
Another shaper of Knox County history is the lack of
mountains to the south. This allowed the weather from the Gulf of Mexico to
come north unimpeded. There were
no mountains to cause the dumping of moisture on the southern slopes, denying
moisture to the land to the north.
Illinois was blessed with sufficiently reliable rains in most years to help assure
dependable crops and sufficient water for livestock. In the winter, the warming winds of the south also helped
moderate winter temperatures, making prairie life more tenable. (Davis, 1998).
The presence of native timber along the riparian slopes, the
existence of wetlands in the floodplains, and the capture and slow release of
water by the broad expanses of prairie resulted in stream and river hydrology
much different than we see today.
The streams and rivers were less "flashy", i.e. less subject to
flooding and draught. This helped
ensure a more reliable water supply and easier rivers to navigate. Less
flooding, less flotsam, fewer riffles and gravel bars were present to impede
the shipment of early goods downstream.
Part 1b
Knox County was not favored with large rivers, however. For these, travel was required to the
west to the Mississippi or to the east to the Illinois. Oquawka ("Yellow Banks") and
Peoria were located on these rivers, respectively, and had high hopes for
growth and success. Knox County had to make the best of the Spoon River and
Cedar and Pope Creeks. Spoon River is the biggest river, as small as it might
be. It drains about 4/5ths of the
county and empties into the Illinois River. At one time, it was thought, or at least hoped, that it
might be good for navigation, but this was never to be.
Originally, there were clear distinctions between the
prairie and wooded areas. The prairie grasses were tall and had deep roots that
were strongly interconnected. The
deep tangle of roots and the tall grass made it difficult for any would-be tree
invaders to establish root. In addition, the frequent prairie fires burned the
prairie grasses which quickly reestablished themselves. Woody vegetation was not so responsive
to the fires.
In time, man's use of the steel plow to till the soil and
the introduction of non-native trees were to bring a big change to Illinois and
Knox County. This will be discussed more later, but let it be just said here
that the landscape history of Illinois changed markedly with the arrival of
settlers and the establishment of the Military Tract.
The early wildlife
The earliest settlers were what one might call practical
taxonomists. They often knew common (regional) names of wildlife and knew what
was good for eating and how to prepare it. But such knowledge, because of the uncertainty of species
names to local names, is of little use, at least to me. As such, I will rely on an 1878 history
that refers to early wildlife in Knox County. The old history recalls the loss
of beaver, elk, badger, panther, black wolf and black bear. It also mentions a
number of species that were becoming rare, including the gray fox, "the
catamount", otter, lynx and the Virginia deer. From the area of the Spoon River, it is reported that
possum, raccoon, mink, muskrat, the common weasel, the small brown weasel,
skunk, "woodchuck, or Maryland marmot", prairie mole, common shrew
mole, meadow and deer mouse, and the gray rabbit could be found. Squirrels in the form of the "fox, chipmunk, the large, gray prairie
squirrel, the striped and the spotted prairie squirrel, and the beautiful
flying squirrel" were found (Chapman, 1878).
Change on the horizon
With the first settlers arriving in what was to become Knox County, they arrived bringing
changes and bringing conflicts.
Conflicts would be between those who came from New England and those who
came from the south. Their
cultures and perspectives of what life was, were fundamentally different. There were conflicts between man and
nature. These early conflicts also added to the other changes brought to Knox
County. Farms were
established. Villages were laid
out. Schools and governments that started as dreams became reality.
References
Bateman, Newton, et al. 1899. Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and Knox County. Munsell
Publishing Company. Chicago. 968 pages.
Chapman, Chas. 1878. History
of Knox County, Illinois. Chicago. 718 pages (reprinted version by Knox
County Genealogical Society, Galesburg, IL).
Davis, James. 1998. Frontier
Illinois. Indiana University Press. 515 pages.
Mitchell, A. 1837. Illinois
in 1837; A sketch descriptive of the
situation, boundaries, face of the country, prominent districts, prairies,
rivers, minerals, animals, agricultural productions, public lands, plans of
internal improvement, manufactures etc. Philadelphia. 143 pages.
1-24-06