Des Moines River LocksNo. 5 and No. 7 - Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Des Moines River LocksNo. 5 and No. 7 - Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Des Moines River Locks No. 5 and No. 7, also known as the Bonaparte and Keosauqua Locks, comprise a discontinuous historic site located along the Des Moines River in Van Buren County, Iowa, United States. Lock No. 5 is located in a riverfront park in Bonaparte, and lock No. 7 is located near Keosauqua. The locks are the only structures that are known to exist for the Des Moines River Improvement Project. with Steamboats were the primary means of transportation into the interior of Iowa, but the river was only navigable at certain times of the year and that made the shipping season too short and unpredictable. In 1846 the Iowa Legislature conceived a plan to build a lock and dam system along the Des Moines River to make it navigable from the Mississippi River to the city of Des Moines. These two locks and a third at Bentonsport, non extant, were the only locks of the 28 planned locks and dams that were completed. The project ended in 1858 because it was mismanaged, and the Keokuk and Des Moines River Railroad was being developed to cover the same territory at the same time. Two dams had also been completed, but they have since been removed. Even though the project was never completed, navigation was possible via the locks as far upriver as Keosauqua. Read more on Wikipedia
Source: en.wikipedia.org