SOIL SURVEY OF LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA. 9 



streams crossing the terrace from the upland. Along the margin of 

 the terrace there is in some places, adjoining the bottom or a lower 

 l3dng terrace, an area that is very marsh}'^ as a result of seepage from 

 the lower strata underlying the terrace. These soepy areas generally 

 occur as narrow strips and are frequently mucky. 



Drainage conditions in the first bottoms are somewhat varied. In 

 the small narrow stream l)ottoms the land is generally wet and used 

 for pasture, but along the larger creeks the bottoms are in many 

 places sufRciently well drained to allow cultivation, as overflow 

 either does not happen during the crop season or occurs so rarely 

 that it does not make cultivation unprofitable. In the Iowa and 

 Mississippi first bottoms, though practically all the land is naturally 

 subject to overflow, levees and ditches have made it possible to 

 cultivate the greater part. 



The first white settlement in this territory was made in 1834, near 

 the mouth of the Iowa River. The early settlers came from Ohio, 

 Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York. Since 

 then the proportion of German settlers has become large, and there 

 have also been many settlers from the Scandinavian countries. 

 Most of the early settlers located on the edge of the forest, where the 

 sod was more easily broken, where fuel and building material were 

 available, and where there was j)rotection from the fires that swept 

 the prairies. As time passed settlement gradually spread to the 

 prairies. Tho early settlers came mostly by boat on the Mississippi 

 and Iowa rivers. From 1841 to 1S60 the Iowa Iliver was navigable 

 as far as Iowa City, a distance of about 90 miles. The population 

 of Louisa County in 1850 was 4,939, and in 1860, 10,805. Since the 

 latter year tho increase has been slower, with occasional setbacks. 

 The census for 1910 gives the population as 12,855, or 32.5 persons 

 per square mile. As none of the towns within the county exceed 

 2,500, the entire population is classed as rural. Outside the towns 

 the population is well distributed. 



Wapello, with a population in 1910 of 1,532, is the largest town 

 and the county seat. Columbus Junction is the next largest tovm., 

 with a population of 1,107. Morning Sun, Letts, Oakville, Grand- 

 view, Columbus City, and Fredonia are credited with populations 

 of 904, 456, 416, 375, 390, and 200, respectively. Cotter, Toolesboro, 

 Wyman, Cairo, Newport, Marsh, and Elrick are smaller towns. ^ 



Louisa County is well supplied with transportation facilities, five 

 lines passing through the county and no farm lying more than 6 miles 

 from a railroad. The wagon roads are generally in good condition. 



' Since this report was written the preliminary announcement of population of Louisa County, Iowa, 

 and its civil divisions in 1920 has been issued by the Bureau of the Census, as follows: Louisa County, 

 12,179; rural, 12,179: Columbus City, 346; Columbus Junction, 988; Cotter, 100; Grand view, 341; Letts, 

 417; Morning Sun, 751; Oakville, 466; Wapello City, 1,480. 



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