40°35′N 93°28′W / 40.58°N 93.46°W / 40.58; -93.46
26-522: The Honey War was a bloodless territorial dispute in 1839 between Iowa Territory and Missouri over their border. The dispute over a 9.5-mile-wide (15.3 km) strip running the entire length of the border, caused by unclear wording in the Missouri Constitution on boundaries, misunderstandings over the survey of the Louisiana Purchase , and a misreading of Native American treaties,
52-465: A line about 15 miles (24 km) into modern Missouri at the mouth of the Des Moines. Tax agents from Kahoka, Missouri , tried to collect taxes in what is now Van Buren County, Iowa , and Davis County, Iowa . The Iowa residents, allegedly carrying pitchforks , chased away the tax collectors who, legend has it, chopped down three honey bee trees in what is now Lacey-Keosauqua State Park to collect
78-690: A starting point 23 miles (37 km) west to the mouth of the Kansas River with the Missouri River in Kansas City, Missouri on the far bank opposite Kaw Point . In 1816 United States surveyor John C. Sullivan was instructed to survey a line north from the mouth for 100 miles (160 km) and then proceed east to the Des Moines River . In addition to being a round number, the 100-mile (160 km) line Indian Boundary Line (1816) also lined up in
104-564: Is a 65.7-mile-long (105.7 km) tributary that flows from southwest Iowa into the Missouri River in northwest Missouri. The river's name (as "Nodawa") first appears in the journal of Lewis and Clark , who camped at the mouth of the river on July 8, 1804, but who provide no derivation of the name. The name is an Otoe-Missouria term meaning "jump over water". The term would be spelled today in full as Nyi At'ąwe (nyi (water) + a- (on) + t'ąwe (jump)) and would be contracted in regular speech as Nyat'ąwe or Nat'ąwe. Lewis and Clark camped at
130-466: Is navigable only by shallow fishing and row boats although steam ships navigated just inside its mouth. The river was the primary route for white settlers including Amos Graham and Isaac Hogan following the Platte Purchase of 1836 which opened northwest Missouri for settlement. Nodaway County, which derives its name from the river, was by far the biggest county in the purchase and the fifth largest in
156-689: The Treaty of Washington (1824) , the Sac and Fox ceded their land in Missouri. The land below the Sullivan Line between the Des Moines and Mississippi was set aside as Half Breed Tract . In the Indian Removal Act of 1830, all tribes were moved west and south of the line, Sullivan had drawn. In 1834 Half Breed Tract was opened to public settlement. This, along with the transfer of the territory of modern-day Iowa to
182-658: The Wisconsin Territory , was to spur Missouri to reconsider its northern border, first by extending its border west to the Missouri River in the Platte Purchase in northwest Missouri and then by reconsidering the northeast corner. In 1837 the Missouri General Assembly ordered the line to be resurveyed. When Wisconsin Territory refused to participate in the survey, J.C. Brown began a survey in which he ignored
208-564: The East Nodaway. The East Nodaway River rises just west of Orient in Adair County and flows 72.8 miles (117.2 km) southwest past Prescott , Corning , Brooks , and Nodaway to its confluence with the West Nodaway. The Middle Nodaway River rises in Adair County south of Casey and flows 60.5 miles (97.4 km) southwest past Greenfield , Fontanelle , and Carbon to join
234-565: The West Nodaway just below Villisca, Iowa , 20.2 miles (32.5 km) above the West Nodaway's juncture with the East Nodaway. The East and West Nodaway join to form the Nodaway River four miles (6 km) north of the Iowa-Missouri border, and the river enters Missouri near Clearmont, Missouri . Elevations in the Nodaway system range from just under 1,400 feet (430 m) above sea level at
260-688: The east with the 2.4 feet (0.73 m) deep Des Moines Rapids on the Mississippi River just south of Fort Madison, Iowa , that was the northern end of navigation on the Mississippi and it also lined up with the westward adjusted boundary from the mouth of the Gasconade River the Sac had ceded in 1808. The land on the east side of the Des Moines River was the site of a Sac village which had not been ceded. Sullivan erected survey markers along
286-493: The honey for partial payment. Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs sent 11 mounted members of the 14th Division of the Missouri State Militia under Major General David Willock, from Palmyra, Missouri , to the disputed border to protect the tax collector. General Willock was unwilling to shed blood over an issue that should have been resolved peacefully by the governors or by Congress, and an Iowa mob succeeded in capturing
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#1732845438670312-614: The land. During the War of 1812 Native Americans sided with the British . When the war turned out to be a stalemate, the Treaty of Ghent in 1815 required that the tribes be returned to the same status they had before the war. Various tribes met with United States representatives at Portage Des Sioux, Missouri , in 1815 to formally end the war. While most of the Treaties of Portage des Sioux were innocuous treaties with wording about lasting friendship,
338-457: The line. The northwest corner of Missouri was established in a marker near Sheridan, Missouri . From there he continued east establishing the Sullivan Line to the Des Moines River just south of Farmington, Iowa , where he made no note of rapids and called it a "small river with shallow gentle water." He did continue his survey another 20 miles (32 km) to the Mississippi. Confusion over
364-516: The northeast, with the latter defining the boundary between the Missouri River and Mississippi River basins. The west side is bound by the Tarkio River basin and in the northwest by the Nishnabotna River basin. The Nodaway River basin is prone to extensive flooding and can contribute as much as 20% of the flood crest of the Missouri River near its mouth. At Graham, Missouri its normal flow
390-620: The river's mouth on Nodaway Island on July 8, 1804, by Nodaway, Missouri , on the border of Holt County, Missouri and Andrew County, Missouri and took note of the river. Lewis and Clark liked the spot enough that they recommended it for the winter headquarters of Astor Expedition of 1810–12 that discovered the South Pass in Wyoming through which hundreds of settlers on the Oregon Trail , California Trail , Mormon Trail were to pass. The river
416-571: The sheriff of Clark County, Missouri , and incarcerated him in the Muscatine, Iowa , jail. The Iowa militia was also called out by Iowa Territory governor Robert Lucas . Authorization for a total payment of $ 46 to the Missouri Militia was for 7 days in active service. According to one description about the Iowans: The two governors agreed to allow Congress to resolve the issue. An arbitrary line
442-620: The source of the Middle Nodaway, to 950 feet (290 m) at the beginning of the main stem, to 800 feet (240 m) at its mouth on the Missouri River in Nodaway, Missouri in Andrew County, Missouri . The Nodaway River is a sixth order river with a basin area of 1,820 square miles (4,700 km ). The Platte River basin is to the east and the Grand River and Des Moines River basins to
468-622: The state of Missouri. Major tributaries in the Nodaway River basin are Seven Mile Creek, West Nodaway River, East Nodaway River, Middle Nodaway River, Clear Creek, Mill Creek, Elkhorn Creek, Florida Creek , and Arapahoe Creek . The biggest town on the river is Clarinda, Iowa . The Nodaway begins near Shambaugh, Iowa at the confluence of the East and West Nodaway rivers. The West Nodaway River rises northeast of Massena in eastern Cass County, Iowa , and flows 73.8 miles (118.8 km) south-southwest past Villisca and Clarinda to its junction with
494-595: The terms of the Des Moines Rapids on the Mississippi and the phrase rapids on the Des Moines River was to contribute to the border skirmish. When Missouri applied for statehood first in 1818 various proposals for boundaries were put forth including a western boundary at the mouth of the Nodaway River about 30 miles (48 km) west and the mouth of the Rock River (Illinois) opposite Rock Island, Illinois . Missouri
520-537: The threat of violence usually seems very likely at the time. Intentional property damage, however, may still occur. Typically, these events are recorded in history as wars even though the term "war" generally implies violence. Therefore, the term "bloodless war" is somewhat of an oxymoron . Nevertheless, there have been many conflicts throughout history labeled as such. The following is a list of bloodless wars: The following wars are often labelled incorrectly as bloodless wars: Nodaway River The Nodaway River
546-424: The traditional definition of the rapids below Fort Madison on the Mississippi and instead looked for rapids on the Des Moines River itself and identified the rapids as being at Keosauqua, Iowa , about 9.5 miles (15.3 km) into modern Iowa. As the dispute heated up, Missouri was to note there were rapids on the Des Moines all the way to Des Moines, Iowa . Meanwhile, Iowa was to maintain its ownership extended to
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#1732845438670572-564: The treaties with the Sac, Fox and Osage also included a paragraph indicating agreement to abide by the earlier treaties. With that in place, the United States began plans to survey its territory. In the Treaty of Fort Clark, the Osage had ceded all land east of Fort Clark near Sibley, Missouri . The treaty permitted the United States to survey the new land and they were to "adjust" the boundaries for
598-459: Was already going to be the largest state in area when it entered the Union and there was concern about making it even bigger. Sullivan was a delegate to the convention that was to ultimately declare the boundaries to be the two lines he had drawn. The constitution defined the boundary as: The wording of the boundary "extending westward of the rapids of the river Des Moines" was to cause confusion. In
624-496: Was drawn between the two positions. When Iowa entered the Union in 1846, Congress ruled that the border was in fact at the Mississippi confluence, a position that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in State of Missouri v. State of Iowa , 48 U.S. 660 (1849). List of bloodless wars A bloodless war is generally a small conflict, crisis, or dispute between rival groups that is resolved without human death or injury, although
650-516: Was incarcerated, and three trees containing beehives were cut down. The first major Native American treaties following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 were the Treaty of St. Louis in 1804 in which the Sac and Fox ceded much of northeast Missouri as well as southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois and the Treaty of Fort Clark in 1808 in which the Osage Nation ceded most of Missouri and Arkansas. The United States made no formal efforts to survey
676-525: Was ultimately decided by the United States Supreme Court in Iowa's favor. The decision was to affirm a nearly 30-mile (48 km) jog in the nearly straight line border between southeast Iowa and northeast Missouri at Keokuk, Iowa that is now Iowa's southernmost point. Before the issue was settled, militias from both sides faced each other at the border, a Missouri sheriff collecting taxes in Iowa
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