In May of this year, the city of Davenport received a grant from the State Historical Society of Iowa to conduct an archaeological study of one of the Mississippi River islands near the Iowa shoreline.\u00a0 The eventual goal is to get Credit Island listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<\/p>\n
And what makes this particular patch of\u00a0river real estate\u00a0historically significant?<\/p>\n
A couple of things.<\/p>\n
Name aside, the War of 1812 actually ended in 1815 and spread out farther west than one might think.\u00a0 In August of 1814, future president Zachary Taylor battled British troops on or around the island.\u00a0 The archaeological study will try to determine whether any part of the battle was fought on land.\u00a0 Regardless, Taylor and his men were outnumbered and lost badly.*<\/p>\n
It may be that the Sac chief Black Hawk took part in that battle\u2014it took place in his people\u2019s territory, and although Black Hawk had promised the United States to remain neutral in exchange for winter supplies on credit, no supplies were forthcoming.\u00a0 The British stepped in with supplies and promises to get the Americans out of the area, and Black Hawk agreed to fight with them.\u00a0\u00a0 The partnership didn\u2019t last for long—according to Black Hawk\u2019s autobiography, the Sac warriors didn\u2019t think much of British battle tactics.<\/p>\n
Once the war ended, a trading post was established on the island.\u00a0 It offered credit to the local tribes to be repaid during hunting seasons and when the crops were harvested.<\/p>\n
Much later, the island was purchased by private owners, renamed Suburban Island, and was used as a recreational spot for swimming and sports prior to World War I.\u00a0 The city of Davenport bought the island in 1918, and held a naming contest:\u00a0 Credit Island was the clear winner.\u00a0\u00a0 A golf course eventually replaced the picnic grounds and swimming facilities.**<\/p>\n
It seems obvious to us that Credit Island should be included in the National Register and perhaps eventually placed in the American Battlefield Protection Program.\u00a0\u00a0 We hope that this will be obvious to the National Park Service as well.<\/p>\n
The grant was the brainchild of the late Ken Oestreich, a city-employee and friend of the Special Collections Staff.\u00a0 He will be missed.<\/em><\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n *For those who are keeping track, the Americans lost just as badly to Black Hawk\u2019s men at the nearby Battle of Campbell\u2019s Island about a month earlier.\u00a0<\/p>\n **Originally, this was an 18-hole course, until flooding drowned the back nine in 1965.<\/p>\n Sources:<\/em><\/p>\n Black Hawk.\u00a0Autobiography of Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak or Black Hawk<\/em>.\u00a0(Rock Island, Illinois: J. B. Patterson), 1833.<\/p>\n Gaul, Alma. \u201cCredit Island: A Battlefield Trading Post.\u201d Quad-City Times<\/em>, July 13, 2010, C1.<\/p>\n Svendsen, Marlys A.\u00a0 Davenport, a pictorial history 1836-1986.<\/em>\u00a0 ([S.L.]: G. Bradley Publishing Inc.), 1985.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In May of this year, the city of Davenport received a grant from the State Historical Society of Iowa to conduct an archaeological study of one of the Mississippi River islands near the Iowa shoreline.\u00a0 The eventual goal is to … Continue reading