Iowa TV Schooltime: Landmarks in Iowa History- Knoxville

it's TV school time nubbins buh-bye TV an association with Iowa State Teachers College presents another program in the Iowa TV school time series landmarks in the elbe history today's topic is Knoxville your teachers are herb Hague and Irving heart of Iowa State Teachers College hello boys and girls I just found a piece of Red Rock came right off this Bluff back here this is the rent rock it's called Red Rock because this whole Bluff here is made up of red sandstone and it's quite red those red is brick if this were a color television you can see that this is the Red Rock that I'm holding in my hand now the announcer said that we were at Knoxville but we're really a little north of Knoxville this is near the settlement of Red Rock on Iowa 14 that goes north from Knoxville to Marshalltown and this red rock of which this is a piece was at one time the westernmost limit of white settlement and mr. Hart is going to tell you about that in a minute but first I'd like to have you take a look at this Red Rock and compare it with an ordinary Rock here is a piece of ordinary Rock that I picked up somewhere else and if I hold the two together you can see that this one here which I'm moving is the Red Rock and how much darker it is and the other piece you see this is just an ordinary piece of sandstone there's a piece that I'm rubbing with my thumb here see how much darker it is if I put one on top of the other it's almost a difference of night and day isn't it well this is the Red Rock and this made in a convenient place to mark a line because there is only one place on the Des Moines River where this Red Rock is to be found and so when this line was drawn across the map it went right Spang through this red sandstone Bluff and went south all the way to the Missouri border let me show you where that line was I have the map already set up over here and I have a brand new pointer isn't that a beauty mr. Bork our directory names sent this pointer to me he said that the pointer I have been using was so thick at least bald back whenever I used it on the map so let's see how this one is going to look oh my that knife you know them graceful that is well this line right here is the Redrock line and it got this name because it goes right through this Red Rock Bluff here on the Des Moines River this Bluff is on land owned by mr. Joel Templeton mr. Templeton and his son and son-in-law worked the land of the farm of course there isn't any growing to be done on this red rock itself but there is some fine farmland beside it and then you see the line goes through the edge of Knoxville this is Knoxville this white spot here and the line went right straight south all the way to the Missouri border now you'll notice on this map there are some other dotted lines and all of those lines represent lines that separated the white settlers from the Indians and they were put there by treaties the historian at the Iowa State Teachers College I'm always glad to have mr. Hart with me you tell the boys and girls about that mr. Hart very glad you boys and girls before 1832 the time of the Blackhawk war all Iowa was Indian land there were no white settlement except to that up at Dubuque you've heard about the big settlement up there all the rest of it was Indian land then as a result of the Blackhawk war in which the Saxon party led by Blackhawk were defeated they were compelled to give up a some land west of the river and this area in here mounted on the west by this line is the part of our Ella the early eye above which was known as the first Blackhawk frigate then some years later about five years later a second Blackhawk purchase was made which added to their in the original area this part in here but when the first Treaty of Accession was made a reservation of 400 square miles was made on both sides of the Iowa River for theatres and his band of Saxon poxy ticket you may remember did not join in the war against the white men he was given that that land well now later in 1837 this reserve was bought from the Indians by the United States government I never could remember figures but I think I'm destined to be what the government paid for that yes the government paid Ketchikan Eve and one hundred and seventy eight thousand dollars one hundred seventy eight thousand four hundred fifty eight dollars eighty seven and a half cents maybe seven and a half cents eighty seven and a half ten why that's the fraction in there you've ever heard of a bit oh you mean like in two bits two-bit two bits is a quarter six bit is seventy five cents oh this was seven bit seven bits is eighty seven and a half cent head state he's have an Advent that's the old shilling how they happen to figure out that pulse probably because all of these treaties of purchase involves the payment of debts that the Indians had acquired to the traders and I suppose some sacrifice Indian I bought some of their costing seven bit well they 1842 the pressure of white movement West became so serious that the government made another treaty with the section pocket this time involving their section of all that they owned in all of this man's lying between this line on the east and this line on the west but in order to make it a little easier on the Indians the treaty provided that this fly in this Red Rock line the mr. hateful cub should be the boundary for white settlements until 1845 and on the night of the 12th of October 1845 the white people who had moved clear up here and we're waiting for the signal they were given permission by the soldiers of the United Sarma to cross over and settle this part of Iowa and this part of Iowa by the way would include was the park where we are today at the Red Rock and would include the area the land on which woi TV stands at Ames this western boundary was the boundary between the two river systems to the east of that then a rivers which flow to innovation city and to the west are those that flow into the in the Mazurek later by later treaties this territory to the west was secured by treaties with the Potawatomi and the zoos and by 1851 the Indian had given up all claim to the land in Iowa they got for it varying amounts the first Blackhawk purchase the amount per acre was about 10 cents and the second Blackhawk purchased it was about 30 cent land had gone up in the meantime in those five years I I'd like to buy some of that land over in there even at 30 cents an acre how much do you suppose you'd get all a handful I think I should probably put 30 cents worth of that land in life I'm sure you could alright well thank you very much mr. Hart thank you for returning this beautiful pointer that's through mr. port sent me I think this is a wonderful pointer I hope I don't break it in the course of the year very very thin and fragile and very dainty now let me show you some pictures that I took last summer it's always better to take pictures in the summer than it is in the wintertime or even when the weather is cool as it is now and so in making preparations for all of these programs in the Landmarks series I usually go to these places in the summer and take pictures when the leaves are on the trees and everything looks nice the light is good and then of course I make arrangements at that time to have the program at the time that it is scheduled for the TV school time series so let's look at some of these pictures that I took last summer here is a view of the Des Moines River as you see it from this block in front of which we're standing today now the Des Moines River is not much of a river and at the time I took this picture the water was very low and you can see all this sandy beach here this goes all the way up to the bluff which is on this side over here and it's outside the picture but it would be back to this line here that I'm indicating with the pointer and the the bluff in front of which we're standing can't be seen in this picture but notice how narrow this stream is it just a creek and be very easy just a way to cross it at times when the Des Moines River is in flood all of this is covered and many years ago this was quite a torrent and it was a big enough River to cut away this Red Rock which forms the bluff in front of which we're standing in the courthouse square in Knoxville is this stone which was placed there by the Marion Marion chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and this bronze plaque on here tells about the red rock line I don't think you can read it on the screen there so I'll read it for you as white men advanced their habitations across Iowa they were retarded from 1842 to 1846 at the Red Rock line fixed by the Indian treaty at the agency in Wapello County 1842 this line was established and marked by George W Harrison in 1842 by beginning at Red Rock on the Des Moines River running Vence south to the Missouri state boundary passing near the Graceland Cemetery West from this stone 530 rocks and this bronze marker was erected by the Mary Marion chapter of the DAR now several times in the course of this series I have remarked upon the fact that the DAR has preserved many of the landmarks and has placed bronze markers at the sites of landmarks we are greatly indebted to the DAR for doing this because otherwise many of our historic sites would no longer be seen and we wouldn't even know where they were at one time and the Marion Marion chapter of the DAR in Marion County has done a great deal to preserve important landmarks throughout that County and I'm grateful to the chapter for having made it possible to find so many of these places that we are showing you today in the post office in Knoxville there is this mural above the door which enters the post masters office this is not a picture of the post masters family this is a picture of the settlers who crossed the Red Rock Line at midnight on October 12 1845 and staked their claims to the new land which the Indians had vacated here you see a man holding a pine torch as another man the farmer unloads a moldboard plow there's a great deal of excitement here the horses are almost stampeding because of all the excitement here's a boy here who is look and wonder as all these things are happening here's a child who has just awakened by all the noise and the mother is trying to comfort the child here's another farmer who is handing out a steak that is to be driven in the ground to mark the claim and there must have been a great deal of excitement like this after midnight when the line was abolished of course this line was an imaginary line it's easy enough to draw a line on the map but I imagine it was very difficult to actually know where that line actually was on the ground at the time that the line was abolished by law but they had a pretty good idea and they were all lined up there at midnight on October 12 1845 and then a gun sounded and people in wagons dashed across to the west and staked out their claims by the light of torches here is another historic site marked by the Marian chapter of the DAR this is a marker on Iowa 14 on the way to Red Rock about halfway between Knoxville and Red Rock and this marker which was dedicated in June of 1957 has this message here past the Dragoon trail blazed in 1835 by the first u.s. dragoons under Colonel Stephen W spurning var June 11 1957 and as you drive into Knoxville either from the east of the West you will see a sign like this welcome to Knoxville birthplace of the Iowa flag you ever seen that flag before boys and girls that is the official state flag of Iowa designed by mrs. Dixie Gebhardt lived in Knoxville here is a picture Oh mrs. Gebhardt I'm indebted to mrs. John roorda who lives near Knoxville for permission to use this picture this is a copy of the picture that mrs. rora has mrs. rora and mrs. Gebhardt were both very active in the Marion chapter of the DAR and this picture the original of this picture was autographed by mrs. Gebhardt - mrs. rora it was a very good friend this is mrs. Gebhardt who was at one time the state regent of the DAR and in 1917 the members of the Iowa Guard who were stationed on the Mexican border wrote back to Iowa and said all the other state regiments have flags we don't even have a flag in order to identify our regimental headquarters we have to put up just a sign saying Iowa and these soldiers said why can't we have a flag and mrs. Gebhardt who was regent of the DAR state Regents of the DAR at that time said we should have a flag and so she sent out word to all the chapters in Iowa asking for suggestions and when these came in mrs. Gerhardt sat down and put all these ideas together plus her own ideas and designed the Iowa flag Iowa State play that was a 1917 four years later in 1921 the Iowa General Assembly voted to make this flag design the official Iowa state flag and so to mrs. give heart goes the credit for designing the Iowa State flag and Knoxville which was her home town is known as the birthplace of the Iowa play here is the house at 409 West Montgomery Street in Knoxville where a mrs. Gerhardt lived and here in 1955 he had a very serious fall and injured her hip and died shortly afterwards at the age of 88 and at her funeral her casket had the Iowa flag which she had designed placed upon it here is a replica or an exact model of the original design of the Iowa State flag that hangs in the Belknap Museum this is a room at the back of the Belknap jewelry store in Knoxville off the square there in Knoxville and mr. Belknap has made a back room available for an historical museum this particular flag was given to mrs. rora and mrs. rora in turn has loaned it to the Belknap museum so that it may be displayed there and many people may see it and take pride in the fact that Knoxville is the home or the birthplace of the Iowa flag the flag itself that is the original flag may be seen in the Iowa State Historical building in Des Moines so when you go to Des Moines you look for the original Iowa flag mr. hike I almost forgot that the you are a former resident of Knoxville is that right that is correct I lived there when I was about 10 years old well you don't remember a great deal about it I suppose my most vivid recollection of Knoxville is the fact we had three coasting Hills and had a name for each of them one was greasy one or slippery and when it was bumpy I suppose greasy was the best hill to use if you want to go fast those those hills are still there I imagine the hills are there I don't know whether the name is there still attached to them or not well I asked a 10 year old boy in Knoxville alright we'll make some inquiries before we go back to Cedar Falls how large was Knoxville at the time you were living there Oh a ten-year-old boy doesn't know much about population I actually do is the county seat I should guess it had 1,500 to 2,000 people well it's quite larger now but even then it was larger than it was back in 1846 let's say yes I picked up a very interesting book came to me from the State Historical Society just this week it's called a glimpse of Iowa in 1846 the year Iowa was admitted to the Union and the writer tells something about Marion County and about Knoxville MU boys new girl be interested in having a description of Knoxville in 1846 Knoxville is the seat of Justice of Marion and is situated within one mile of the geographical center on a high ridge of Prairie it has just commenced improving and presents a favorable and promising appearance a merchant or two would do well to locate in Knoxville as there was not in April last a store in the county and what is still more remarkable but one lawyer they had more than that when you were there they're decidedly more I don't know whether the office thought that was an advantage or a disadvantage huh well it was frontier country in those days I suppose people who would take law into their own hands pretty much and one lawyer could take care of most things by the way when you were living there as a boy was there mining activity in Marion County yes that was my first experience of living in if they that place where there were mines and I remember very vividly one afternoon a group of Busboys stood on the sidewalk and what's a wagon come by with which carried the body of a man the man who had just been killed in us a fall of slate I suppose safety devices were out as common than today are they not but mr. Hart you're a veteran of World War one and that's about the time when the iowa state flag was designed do you have any recollection of seeing the iowa state flag used by any of our soldiers in World War one I don't remember having seen it and I doubt very much whether the Iowa State flag was displayed in any army camp in the First World War well I suppose it was too early and often yet well boys and girls I know many of you have seen the Iowa State flag but I would like to call your attention to it again today since we are talking about the lady who designed it and I'd like to ask mr. Hart to tell something about the symbolism of the flag here is a three by five state flag which I borrowed from leta's store in Cedar Falls which sells the Iowa State flag this is about the size that you would use on a flagpole and of course this would always be displayed under the flag of the United States the flag of the United States on top and then this one down below we do describe this flag to the boys and girls mr. Hart boys and girls this flag means several things in the first place it indicates that when Iowa land came became a part of the United States it belonged to France because this flag is a reproduction of the French tricolour the blue white and red not red white and blue blue white and red and in the center we have taken from the Iowa State seal the eagle with the streamers in his beak which have our state motto our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain and another thing which we remember from all they said the flags which have these three colors is that the blue stands for loyalty the white for purity and the red for courage what thank you very much mr. Hart now boys and girls if you do not have an iowa state flag in your school I hope that you'll get one it isn't just because where he happened to be in Knoxville today and that we're telling you the story about mrs. Gebhardt who designed it but I think every school should have an Iowa State flag as well as a United States play sure your pride in the fact that you are citizens of Iowa now let's have a little review with our chalkboard mr. Hart told you the story of the Red Rock Line the fact that it was held by the Indians until midnight of October 12th 1845 in a way this line was something like a football line the Indians were holding that line and the white settlers were hitting the line of course the outcome was never in doubt it wasn't like a football game in that respect because everybody knew who would win but let's just assume that this was a sort of a football game let's draw a football player here who is about to hit that line this is a fullback that's about as full of back as I can draw here see he's kneeling down to seat of his pants they're just about ready to hit that line and here is a spike backing here and here is the grass digging his feet in now of course all of us know who lost this game but let's see if we can get a little different picture out remember the Indians were holding that line and the white settlers were hitting that line and after we had a few more lines here and turn the whole thing over we'll see who lost the game see the Indians lost the game they were unable to hold that line and the history of Iowa tells a lot many such games in which the Indians tried to hold one line after another and the government came along and said no we have to move you back a little further west and the land was purchased some times it was paid for in full sometimes they paid on it for a year or two and then forgot about paying the Indians any more money all we need to remember is that the Indians by slow degrees were pushed back back back back until they were completely out of Iowa and that's a very interesting story I'm sorry we don't have time to tell it to you completely but there's been a series of these lines each one of which has been lost through the course of Iowa history the other thing that we emphasize today was the Iowa State play which of course was designed much later than the Red Rock line was abolished but I think we might remember something about that to remember mr. Hart told you about the Eagle from the state seal which is at the center of the design well here is the Eagle now the Eagle is also a symbol of the United States of course the eagle is on the United States seal but we're concerned about it here because it is the figure on the state seal now how can we remember which is which well this Eagle which is on the state flag on the state seal can be considered to be a symbol of the Iowa I mean didn't get very much free scorn almost looks as unhappy as the as the Indian a moment ago but of course he isn't the Iowa farmer isn't a much better situation and the Indian ever was it has much more wealth and he's likely to keep it next week boys and girls were going to Nauvoo Illinois and we're going to see the place which was left by the Mormons when they began their trek across Iowa in 1846 until next week goodbye the day your teacher has been her fake and Irving heart of Iowa State Teachers College landmarks in Iowa history has produced for Iowa Steve a school time by wo YTV an association where Biola State Teachers College the TV school time is presented daily Monday through Friday at 1:30 p.m. by the Iowa Joint Committee for educational television you