Chapter 9 cont. BUFFALO FIRST TOWN PLATTED Buffalo was the first town platted in what is now Scott county, and was laid out in May, 1836, by Captain Benjamin W. Clark, Captain E. A. Mix and Dr. Pillsbury, of Buffalo, New York, and named in honor of the latter place.  At the time of laying out it had the widely known Clark ferry which enjoyed the trade of a large extent of territory, being in a direct line with southern Illinois and Dubuque and the lead regions.  Here all the first settlers with teams crossed the river into Black Hawk's Purchase, and on their way to Muscatine, Linn, Cedar and all the western portion of Scott county, Buffalo, being situated in a fine timbered section of country with coal creeping out of almost every creek, a flouring mill in process of erection (by Benjamin Nye), good roads to Moscow and Rochester, also to the groves, namely, Center, Hickory, Allen's Big and Little Walnut, Poston's, Red Oak, Stuart Mason, and all the Cedar river valley, the whole western country was brought tributary to Buffalo, which was having a fine trade with all these western settlers. Davenport was laid out later, also Rockingham, Montevideo, Iowa, Montpelier, Salem, Wyoming, Geneva, and Bloomington, being ten towns in twenty-nine miles, each clamoring for supremacy over the other.  This was then Michigan territory; our first delegates met at Detroit.  The central position of Buffalo gave us advantages over all the other places, and how it override our natural advantages and give supremacy to some on of the rival towns, was the seemingly untiring object of our rivals.  We had the most beautiful locality in the Black Hawk purchase, where the river front was of gravel and stone with a gradual rise for 100 to 300 rods to every gently rising hills; on the second level was most fertile farm land, covered with a heavy growth of timber, white oaks predominating; coal underlying the whole country for many miles; fine springs and creeks with great quantities of limestone and fire clay gives ony a partial description of Buffalo in 1836. Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L