The Coopers, Ch. 6

After the war, Richard Watson, “Wat,” healed from his wounds and settled near his parents in Henderson, IA and married Mary Elizabeth Evans, daughter of W. L. and Christiana Evans and granddaughter of Revolutionary War General Joseph Bartholomew.  To the Watson Coopers there were born four daughters and three sons, four of whom died before reaching adulthood.

Watson Cooper long resided on the old home farm by his father, two miles south of Henderson.  His wife Mary died in 1886 at the young age of 37, 11 days after Wat’s father, the patriarch of the Cooper Clan died; Watson never remarried.

  “Late in life he purchased a home in Henderson, and later one in Glenwood.  There at the home of his daughter, (Nellie Cook), who had preceded him in death by four months; he passed on March 24, 1924, and was laid to rest in Henderson cemetery, beside the beloved wife, so long gone on before.”

The story of Richard Watson Cooper is probably best told in his own words.  He was a prolific writer who appeared often in the newspaper of Council Bluffs, the “Nonpareil.”  Most of these articles were written in 1922 as memoirs when “Wat” was in his late 70’s.

The Grist Mill

I have noticed that you occasionally publish letters from old settlers, but I have never seen anything referring to the first grist mill in Council Bluffs.  This mill was located where Main Street comes in contact with the hills.  It might be thought strange that a water mill would be located at this site, but such is the case.  I will explain how it was.  There was a mill race dug from where the head of Broadway now is paralleling the high bluffs, leaving room for a road and a row of houses until Main street was reached, at which point there was almost a square turn to the west close to t h e foot of the hills toward where the Northwestern railroad yards are now located.  The water from Indian creek (formerly Lousy) was turned into this ditch and it ran the mill which had an overshot wheel, and not requiring much water, it had power to run a set of burrs.  This wheel, as I remember it, was about thirty feet in diameter.  There was a mill house, but the wheel was out in the weather .  I do not think it ground any wheat, only corn for meal.

A man by the name of Weeks built a grist mill on the Mosquito, about three miles from Council Bluffs, which put the overshot wheel mill out of business.  I first saw this overshot wheel mill in 1850.  It stood there several years, finally being torn down, but the water still ran in the mill race for several years afterward.  What a relic of pioneer days it would have been if Council Bluffs had preserved that structure.

Another of Wat’s letters is as follows:

The First School

Mr. Tinley in his excellent address at the dedication of Thomas Jefferson High School failed to mention the first school taught in Council Bluffs, J. B. Rue taught the first school in Council Bluff s .  If there was ever a school previous to this I never heard of it.  The reason I am positive of this, I was a pupil in the Rue school.  I boarded at the Samuel Bayliss home and worked for my board .  The school house was located, as well as I remember, about 100 yards southwest of the overshot wheel mill.  One of Rue's iron clad rules was not to play in the mill race, which was only a short distance away.  This school had forty of fifty scholars, only a few of which I will mention.  Miss Endamile Bayliss, Mary Bayliss, Elizabeth Bayliss, Lydia Cooper, Amelia Folsom, Miss McFadden, Victor Keller and John Bayliss.

Mr. Rue afterward conducted a furniture store on Broadway not far from the furniture store of Clavin Bebee.  Mrs. Rue taught music in her home.  My recollection is that there was a school taught in Hazel Dell township in 1854 by Mrs. Elkanah Hall.  There were about a dozen pupils who went to her home-two from each of the following families: Kings, Frost, Cooper, Nixons and Barretts, Benny and Naomi , and one from Valiers.  Mr. Barrett was frozen to death in the great storm of December 2, 1856.  I was acquainted with Mart Hugh, but do not think he attended the Hall school.

Mr. Tinley stated that Colonel Benton located in Council Bluffs after the civil war, but he was a resident there at least five years previous to the war.  My father's family were warm friends of the Bentons.  As I remember about his bank trouble, it was that the bank issued paper money with a guarantee of specie payment on demand.  Everything went lovely until the panic of 1857, that hit him hard.  Of all the state banks I heard of the bank of the state of Indiana was the only one that paid 100 cents on the dollar.

More letters to the editor:

Grand Hotel in Cornfield

In 1850 at the corner of Broadway and Pearl Streets there was a double log house surrounded by shade trees, I think they were cottonwood.  The forty acres lying south and west was all in corn.  That took in where the Grand hotel and Bayliss park now is.  The owner tried to trade it to my father for a wagon and three yoke of oxen, but father would not stay in town with a family of six boys.

There was no title as the government had not surveyed the land at that date.  If a party stayed on the land until the same came into market he could preempt it and prove up and get a patent from the government.  I think the government began surveying that land in 1852.  My recollection is that a man named Watts had the contract for surveying that part of the state.  It is my recollection that Thomas Tostevin, a civil engineer, located in Council Bluffs in 1854 and reside there the balance of his life.

A great many claims were traded, but if one left his claim someone would jump it as soon as vacated.  What is now Lake Manawa was the channel of the Missouri River.  It was the lower steamboat landing for Council Bluffs.  The only reason for this being a landing I ever heard was the channel was on the Iowa side and the large lower Mississippi steamboats could land there better than at the upper landing opposite where Omaha now is.  Omaha was laid out by Council Bluffs company.  My father was a Methodist minister and this company invited him to go with them to lay out the town and he accepted the invitation, and as soon as it was laid out by Surveyor Watts he preached a sermon, that being the first sermon preached in Omaha.  My father afterward got the contract for laying the first foundation in Omaha.  It was for the territorial capitol of Nebraska.  The names of the parties who worked on that foundation were Peter Cooper, Sr., Peter Cooper, Jr., Isaac Cooper, William A. Scott and William Jenkins.  I was not old enough to work on the foundation, but they used me as an errand boy .  All of that crew but myself have passed to their reward.

Indian Fight

The Indians were friendly with the whites and came over to Council Bluffs in droves from their reservation on the Nebraska side, to trade and beg for something to eat.  Their articles for sale were Buffalo robes, tanned deer skins, moccasins and bead work.  They seemed to set special dates for their pow-wows.  They would form a circle in front of a store and dance, and the merchant would roll out barrels of crackers for them.  They would take all the crackers and go on to the next store and repeat the dance until all the stores were visited.

One day I was watching them dance in front o f J. B. Stutsman's store when a covered wagon drove down the street within about four rods of the dance and halted.  A half-breed Sioux and Pawnee Indian got out of the wagon, dressed in Sioux costume.  The Pawnees gave their war hoop and started for him with their knives.  He made known before they reached him that he was their friend and that he had brought the news that a great band of Sioux Indians were coming down from the north to give them battle on the Nebraska side.  Within less than one hour there was not an Indian in Council Bluffs.  They laid and ambush and defeated the Sioux.

Dog Saved Him from Indian

The Indians never bothered me but once, that was as I went down on the river bottom after Samuel Bayliss' cows, when a big buck Indian caught me by my wrist and was taking me to the river.  I could not get loose from him until we were passing a shanty where there were some dogs, I knew Indians were afraid of strange dogs, so I whistled and called the dogs, the Indian turned to meet the dogs and let me go.  I ran for dear life and he did not follow me.  I have never attained such a speed record since that day.

In 1850 there was a corral containing a small herd of buffalo which was located about 100 yards west of Main street where it comes in contact with the hills and very close to the mill race, so as to secure water for the buffalo.  I often went there to watch them.

For some time Samuel Bayliss was landlord of a hotel in Council Bluffs, called the Pacific House, which was located where Beno's store now stands.  It had the reputation of being the best hotel west of the Mississippi river.  In the early fifties the three principal merchants were Tootle & Jackson, J. B. Stutsman and R. P. Snow.  The drug stores were [operated by] a Mr. Honn and J. B. Atkins.  The only doctor I remember was Dr. Shoemaker, with whom we were very well acquainted.

Now, in conclusion.  In a recent article to the Nonpareil contributed by Riley W. Briggs he said he believed Wat Cooper was not born at the time of the campaign of 1860.  I am the fellow alluded to, and as I was one of Lincoln's boys for more than three years under Gen. William T. Sherman, marched with him from Shiloh to the sea and served time in Andersonville prison, I necessarily must have been a very young soldier, according to Mr. Briggs' statement.

WATSON R. COOPER

Glenwood, Ia., Feb. 1, 1922