![]() In 1812, American forces clashed with the British after around 30 years of uneasy peace. The third feature was quite a feat for a river, a 946-acre island at the base of the Rock Island Rapids that was rich in vegetation, lumber, and had impressive limestone faces that sprung from the river. The second was the Rock Island Rapids which stretched about seven miles from the foot of Rock Island to modern-day LeClaire, Iowa. The first among these features was the Des Moines Rapids, situated near modern-day Fort Madison, Iowa. Pike took notice of several natural features in his journey, breaking bread with the locals as he travelled. Zebulon Pike, an Army officer, led an expedition up the river in 1805 shortly after the more notorious Lewis & Clark expedition travelled west. Shortly after this purchase in 1805, the first American explorers navigated the Mississippi River looking for her headwaters. Rock Island was part of an 1804 treaty which ceded portions of Eastern Missouri, Western and Northern Illinois, and Southern Wisconsin from the Sauk and Meskwaki to the Americans. The purchase was recognized as a territorial purchase by European powers, but local tribes had separate treaties and purchases that accompanied them. ![]() The history of Rock Island Arsenal reaches back over 200 years, to 1803, when the United States completed the Louisiana Purchase.
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