H KOINES 1 by Flint creek ; area, 408 sq. m. ; 1870, 87,256, Limestone and-anthra-
- i,-ipul mineral productions.
- !pu-d liv prairies and tracts
T. The Mil i> fertile and well cul- ie HuHm-toa and Kisaouri River, < ,-,lar K.ipids, and Minnesota, andtl.. n "d Southwestern railroads hief productions in 1870
- wheat, 887,138 of In-
- "8,833 of oats, 98,269 of potatoes,
Of hay, 478,878 Ibs. of butter, and 69,869 of W.K.I. There were 8,350 horses, 6,558 milch cows, 10,981 other cattle, and 15,- 426 sheep; 2 flour mills, 4 planing mills, 3 manufactories of agricultural im-
- ita, 15 of carriages and wagons, 1 of
care, 3 of machinery, 2 of marble and stone i ..f iin-eed oil, 1 of sashes, doors, and 1 of tobacco and snuff, 4 of cigars, and woollen goods. Capital, Burlington. DES HOMES, a city and the capital of Iowa and county seat of Polk county, situated at the head of steam navigation on Des Moines river, inrtion with the Raccoon, about 300 m. Chicago; pop. in 1850, 502; in 1860, 3,965 ; in 1870, 12,035 ; in 1873, 15,061. The laid out in quadrilateral form, extending ', in. E. and W. and 2 m. N. and S. The Des Moines, flowing from the north, divides it a little E. of the centre, and the portion W. of this river, commonly called the " West Side," is again divided S. of its centre by the Raccoon. IV.. m the confluence of the rivers, on either i'le. the ground rises gradually toward the city limits to a height of about 160 ft. En- i-y the rivers on the south and east is a plateau about 1 m. long and m. wide, with rage elevation of 15 ft. above high win-re are situated the post office, court house, and city offices, the principal depots and hotels and the greater portion of the ' >n the higher ground beyond are some of the finest private residences. E. of Des Moines river is another business locality. rtion of the West Side S. of Raccoon la known as "South Park." Capital square, E. of the river, contains 10 acres, on itcd site, commanding a fine view. The OH capitol was erected by the city in 1856, at a coat of $60,000. Provision was made by the
- re in 1869 for the erection of a new
Capitol, to cost $1,500,000, of which the foun- en laid. The post office, which '...late* also the United States courts, ice, and other federal offices, was 1 S 7", at a cost of over $200,000. The
- -ark association possesses grounds,
100 acr.-s in extent, -ituau-d in a bend river, which !U -e provided with boDdiogi for holding the- state and vc. A pul.lic park in the X W 'ntainin- 40 acres of native tiAf r.-.vntly U-en set apart. The riv.-rs are spam,,-: .. T!ll . Chicago, Ivock Island, and Pacific, and the Des DES MOINES RIVER Valley railroads intersect here. A branch of the former is in operation to Indianola and Winterset, and several other roads are in pro- gress. Wood is abundant in the vicinity. There are also extensive coal mines, and de- posits of fire clay, potters' clay, lime, &c. The city contains a woollen factory, several plough factories, scale works, an oil mill, founderies, flour mills, two national banks with a capital of $200,000, and one life and two fire insur- ance companies. Gas works were constructed in 1865. Water works have been erected by a private corporation, with city aid ; the water is obtained from Raccoon river, and is dis- tributed through 10m. of mains. Des Moines is divided into seven wards. There are five public school houses ; the number of separate schools in 1872 was 22 (including a high school), having 24 teachers, and an average attendance of 1,018 pupils. The Baptists have a college, occupying a four-story brick build- ing, 80 by 250 ft., situated on an eminence af- fording a fine view of the city and the valleys of the rivers. The state library contains about 15,000 volumes, and there is a public library with about 3,000 volumes. Three daily news- papers, six weekly, and six monthly periodicals are published here. There are 13 churches, viz. : Baptist, Christian, Congregational, Epis- copal, Lutheran, Methodist (3), Presbyterian (8), Roman Catholic, and Universalist. The Spiritualists also have a society. Des Moines was laid out in 1846, and incorporated as the town of Fort Des Moines in 1851. A city charter, giving it its present name, was grant- ed in 1857, and the same year it became the capital of the state. DES MOINES RIVER, the largest river in Iowa, formed by the junction of two branches, known as the E. and W. forks, which rise in a chain of small lakes in S. W. Minnesota, and flowing S. E. unite in Humboldt co., Iowa. From the junction it flows S. E. through the middle of the state, and joins the Mississippi at the S. E. corner, about 4 m. below Keokuk, having for a short distance formed the bound- ary between Iowa on the N. E. and Missouri on the S. W. In its course of 300 m. the Des Moines drains 10,000 sq. m. in Iowa, passing through an undulating, fertile region, inter- spersed with tracts of prairie, rich in coal, and abounding in timber. There are many excel- lent mill sites along its banks. The fall from Fort Dodge, Webster co., toOttumwa, Wapello co., is 2 ft. 4 in. per mile, and from Ottumwa to its mouth, 1 ft. 11 in. per mile. Many towns have sprung up along its banks, among which is Des Moines, the state capital. The princi- pal tributaries from the west are the Raccoon, or Coon river, and North, Middle, and South rivers; the largest E. branch is the Boone, which rises in Kossuth and Hancock counties. Raccoon river rises in Buena Vista co., re- ceives several tributaries, and empties into the Des Moines at the city of the same name. An appropriation of lands to improve the naviga-
