Holt County, Missouri - Chapter 2, 1917

Operated Here

LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES OF HOLT COUNTY - BOTTOM LANDS AND ROLLING PRAIRIES - TREES NATIVE TO THE COUNTY - DRAINAGE AND WATER SYSTEM - WHAT A GEOLOGIST SAYS OF THE SOIL - FATE OF A CEMENT MANUFACTORY - GOLD MINE ONCE OPERATED HERE.

Holt County is located in the northwestern part of the state, and is separated from Iowa by Atchison County. It is on nearly the same parallel as Philadelphia and Sacramento and about the same meridian as Lake of the Woods and Galveston, Tex. It is bounded on the north by Atchison and Nodaway Counties, on the east by Nodaway and Andrew Counties, on the south by Kansas, and on the west by Kansas and Nebraska, from which it is separated by the Missouri River, and has an area of 434 square miles. It has ten municipal, four full congressional and nineteen fractional congressional townships.

Considerably more than one-third of the county is occupied by the Missouri River bottoms. North of Township 60 the bottom is more than ten miles in width. Southward the strip of bottom land becomes narrower, converging gradually toward the southern boundary of the county. The bluffs which separate the bottom from the uplands attain a height of from one hundred and twenty-five to two hundred feet, with occasional intervals of low hills. About two miles distant from the Missouri River bluffs, the country becomes less hilly, and soon passes into a beautiful, rolling landscape. From the mouth of the Nodaway River,- northward for a distance of ten miles, the adjacent hills are high, and the surface of the land is broken.

In the northeastern part of the county the hills are low and gently undulating. Near Squaw Creek, Davis Creek and the Tarkios the hills have gradual slopes, leading into the adjacent narrow bottoms. When the country was first settled the burrowing of gophers made the bottoms of Squaw Creek and some of the other streams dangerous for horses to pass over, but with the development of the country this conditions has passed away.

When the process of development first began the country south of Oregon consisted principally of timbered land. Near the streams in the northern part of the county a few trees were to be found, but they were mostly of small growth or shrubs. Sometimes a fringe of willow was to be found along the banks. But the plow and the ax, in the hands of the thrifty farmer have changed all of this until now most of the land is under cultivation. Some timber land remains, of course, but it is generally used for pasture, thereby adding to the income of the owner.

Following is a list of trees and shrubs indigneous to the soil of Holt County, which are now or in times past have been found here: Crab-apple, white ash, prickly ash, blackberry, bladdernut, buckeye, box-elder, buttonbush, chokecherry, coffee-tree, cottonwood, Amorpha canescens, Am. Fruticosa, coralberry, cormus sericea, cormus esperifloria, gooseberry, hackberry, hazel, shell-bark hickory, thick shell-bark hickory, pignut hickory, iron wood, honey locust, white maple, mulberry, linden, chinquepin oak, sarsaparilla, burr oak, rock-chestnut oak, scarlet oak, red oak, pin oak, pawpaw, American plum, rose, rosa lucida, red bud, sycamore, sumac, poison oak, thorn, black walnut, red, root, wahoo, willow, coral berry, red elm and American elm.

Originally it was reckoned that only about one-third of the county was prairie. Now it is doubtful if more than one-fifth of the area of the county is timbered. The prairie districts of the county were, generally speaking, in Benton, Union, Liberty, Clay and Lincoln townships. They present an undulating appearance, rather rolling, but admirably adapted to tillage, and productive to the highest degree.

One thing that is scarce in Holt County is poor land. The broken hills near the rivers are sometimes less desirable from an agricultural point of view than some other sections and the prairie between Squaw Creek and the Tarkio are covered with a rather thin soil. Some years ago an authority on geology and soils, had this to say concerning Holt County:

"Between Big Lake and Little Tarkio, in Township 63, the soil is rich and lies well for cultivation, excepting a broken strip, three-quarters of a mile in width, lying along the bluffs. A rich belt, one-quarter of a mile to one mile in width, of gently sloping land, connects the bluffs and extends from the north line of Township 62 to the north line of Township 59. The 'bluff' washed from the hills above is the principal ingredient in this soil. This land slopes off gradually and is capable of producing fine crops, and the steep hillside, which have often thirty or forty degrees ascent, produce crops of corn and wheat.

"South of Oregon and lying between the Missouri Bluffs and the Nodaway River, the soil is based on the bluffs and a disintegrated limestone. The very broken country does not exceed a mile in width, while beyond the rich, hilly, black-oak land extends for several miles. Then we have rich prairies and thicket land. The southern portion is suitable for most crops. The upland prairies, toward the northern and northeastern parts of the county, are high and rolling and rich, with fertile, beautiful valleys between the hills. The bluff knobs seem to have been left by nature for vineyards." being brought under cultivation, and because much of what was then said applies to present day conditions. There has been no change in the nature of the soil, of course, and the topography of the country is practically the same. The principal change consists in the use the man has made of the land.

Holt County is especially fortunate in the matter of water courses and natural drainage. Added to this are several drainage districts which have reclaimed to the uses of the farmer large numbers of acres of land which was formerly supposed to be useless for any other purpose than the propagation of mosquitoes.

Big Tarkio, one of the principal streams within the county, rises in Montgomery County, Iowa, a distance of more than 150 miles, enters Holt County within a few miles of the northwestern corner, and flows through the Great Bottom and empties into the Missouri River near its intersection with Oiler's Base Line.

Little Tarkio rises in the central part of Atchison County, enters Holt County about eight miles east of the northwestern corner of he county, and enters the Missouri bottom about one mile east of Craig, thence meandering through the bottom, enters one of the numerous drainage ditches and thence finds its way to the Missouri River.

Squaw Creek rises in the southern part of Atchison County, and flowing in a southwesterly direction, enters the Missouri Bottom two miles north of Mound City, and formerly emptied into the Little Tarkio near Bigelow. Its waters are now carried to the Missouri River by drainage ditches. Its principal tributaries are Ross Branch, Hog Branch, Donan's Branch and Porter's Branch.

Davis Creek rises in the northeastern part of the county, flows southwest and formerly emptied into Squaw Creek. It now flows into the main Squaw Creek drainage ditch. Pierson's Branch, Kimsey Creek, Luckhardt's Branch, Mill Creek, Ester Branch, Hardin's Branch, Nickol's Creek, Hickory Creek, Hog Creek, Higley Creek and Rolling Fork are all small water courses running in different directions through the county, constituting a great network in that system of natural drainage which renders Holt County one of the best watered and most productive farming districts in the state.

The Nodaway River is the largest stream touching the county, except the Missouri. The Nodaway River rises in Iowa, and flows along the eastern border of the county, affording the finest water power in Northwest Missouri. In fact many of the smaller streams furnish excellent mill sites which were utilized by the pioneers, before the steam and gasoline engine came into use. The Nodaway was, when first discovered, considered a navigabl stream. During the year 1871 a steam boat of light draft,

A number of lakes in the county have in the past afforded excellent sport for the hunter and fisherman. Big Lake, until a few years ago, was a popular resort, and attracted visitors from distant states because of the excellent fishing there. It has lately been rejuvenated and stocked with game fish.

The mineral resources of Holt County have never been developed to any appreciable extent, principally because the country is more generally adapted to agriculture. However, Holt County is not without minerals and in the past some time and money have been spent in an endeavor to add them to the county's resources. Daniel Kunkel, Sr., founder of the Kunkel Mills, a mile east of Oregon, half a century ago, found a four-foot vein of good coal at a depth of 665 feet. No effort has ever been made to work the vein, although geologists have expressed the opinion that the seam of Lexington coal extends as far north as Holt County. But its depth is too great to make mining profitable, the learned gentlemen say. For many years a sand stone quarry was in operation in the vicinity of Forest City. Lime stone quarries have been opened at Forest City and for six miles southeast; also on Mill Creek and Nickol's Creek.

A plant for the manufacture of cement was established by the Oregon Elevator Company two and one-half miles south by west of Oregon. The building, which was situated near the railroad tracks, was erected for use as an elevator at a cost of about $5,000. The company failed and the property passed into possession of Rhodes & Payne. Mr. Rhodes was a practical plasterer and decided to locate here after spending two years in prospecting in different sections for cement rock. James B. Payne afterwards became one of the substantial business men of Oregon. William Baskins was general agent for the cement and for a time it looked like the enterprise would be a great money maker.

The plant had a capacity of fifty barrels a day and the quality of its product was said to be superior to the St. Louis cement which was a staple article in those days. But this enterprise proved no exception to the rule that quality does not always win. The wealthy eastern concerns determined to break down this western competitor and undersold it so recklessly that it was finally forced to suspend. That stone from which a superior article of cement can be made is evident from the fact that during the last few years the cement manufacturers' trust has sent its experts to examine and report on all of the stone bearing territory from Amazonia to the northern part of Holt County.

the mining enthusiasts busy for a spell. There were many who believed that gold in limited quantities was actually found, but others who had never known the lure that leads the prospector on, ridiculed the idea of there being any such thing as a gold mine in Holt County.

Levi Crouser, John H. McIntyre and J. Ham comprised a joint stock company which operated a gold mine on Swank ^Branch, a tributary of Little Tarkio, about two and a half miles due south of Oregon. The first discovery was made by McIntyre in digging a well. With the other two mentioned, he began prospecting and, encouraged by the hope of wealth, they began mining operations in real earnest. At one time five men were employed and a tunnel was dug into the hillside a distance of two hundred and thirty feet. Specimens taken from the mine were declared by Dr. Hays, of Boston, a celebrated assayist, to be the richest that had come under his observation. But notwithstanding the good prospects at the beginning the mines did not make their owners rich and the property finally passed into the hands of Ira Stocking, at one time a jeweler and watchmaker in Oregon.