The Charming Island Of Rock Island, Three Miles Long And Half A Mile
Wide, Belongs To The United States, And The Government Has Turned It
Into A Wonderful Park, Enhancing Its Natural Attractions By Art, And
Threading Its Fine Forests With Many Miles Of Drives.
Near the center of
the island one catches glimpses, through the trees, of ten vast stone
four-story buildings, each of which covers an acre of ground.
These are
the Government workshops; for the Rock Island establishment is a
national armory and arsenal.
We move up the river - always through enchanting scenery, there being no
other kind on the Upper Mississippi - and pass Moline, a center of vast
manufacturing industries; and Clinton and Lyons, great lumber centers;
and presently reach Dubuque, which is situated in a rich mineral region.
The lead mines are very productive, and of wide extent. Dubuque has a
great number of manufacturing establishments; among them a plow factory
which has for customers all Christendom in general. At least so I was
told by an agent of the concern who was on the boat. He said -
'You show me any country under the sun where they really know how to
plow, and if I don't show you our mark on the plow they use, I'll eat
that plow; and I won't ask for any Woostershyre sauce to flavor it up
with, either.'
All this part of the river is rich in Indian history and traditions.
Black Hawk's was once a puissant name hereabouts; as was Keokuk's,
further down.
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