Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/371



value of the improved farms of the State was $8,031,698; manufactories, $237,655. There were 27,180 horses valued at $992,946; 72,840 head of cattle, valued at $723,326; 114,623 sheep, worth $131,338; 170,445 swine, worth $215,361. Cattle and horses over two years old and sheep and swine over six months old, only were enumerated in this statement. The number of acres of improved land was 2,316,704. The total value of personal property subject to tax was $110,417, exclusive of money, notes, mortgages and bonds.

There was at this time gold and silver coin and bank notes to the amount of only $183,426 reported, while notes, mortgages, bonds and other securities were found to the value of $106,357. The number of watches in the State is given as 3,112, valued at an average of about $11.50 each. As the population at this time was 154,573, the poverty of the people can be realized when it is seen that the money in circulation was but one dollar and eleven cents per capita.

The report of the Board of Public Works on the progress made toward the improvement of the navigation of the Des Moines River showed facts of interest. The receipts from the sale of lands embraced in the grant up to November 30, 1848, amounted to $50,151.65. Each head of a family was allowed to take 320 acres of land at $1.25 per acre. Samuel R. Curtis, who had been appointed chief engineer, had made a survey of the river from its mouth for a distance of ninety-three miles to Ottumwa. The survey showed that, owing to the low banks near the mouth of the river, it would be necessary to construct a canal for a distance of ten miles. The plan proposed was that, above this canal, dams should be erected to raise the water in the shoals and rapids to sufficient depth to enable steamers of medium size, by a system of locks, to navigate the river up to the Raccoon Fork. A contract had been let for the construction of the canal, and the building of three dams and four locks to be completed by