History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Francis M. Drake
FRANCIS M. DRAKE, fifteenth Governor of Iowa, was born at Rushville, Illinois, on the 30th of December, 1830, and removed to Iowa in 1837, locating at Fort Madison. Here he secured an education in the schools of that city and at the age of sixteen became a clerk in his father's store. Soon after the discovery of gold in California, he fitted out two ox teams to make the overland journey to the gold fields. At the Missouri River a caravan of several teams and twelve additional men was organized for mutual protection from hostile Indians. At a crossing of the Platte River the party was attacked by a band of Pawnees and a lively fight ensued, in which the emigrants were under the command of Mr. Drake. The Indians were finally defeated and the party, after several months on the plains, reached California in safety. He remained in California until the fall of 1852, when he returned to the States by water, crossing at Panama, where he was seized with a fever. In 1854 he again made the trip overland to Sacramento and, while returning by water, was shipwrecked. In 1861 he volunteered to help defend the Missouri border from invasion. Upon the organization of the Thirty-sixth Regiment of Iowa Infantry he was appointed lieutenant-colonel and served three years in the Union army. He commanded at the Battle of Mark's Mills where he was severely wounded and taken prisoner. After his return to service he was brevetted a Brigadier-General of Volunteers. After the close of the was General Drake became extensively engaged in railroad building, acquiring large wealth. He became one of the founders of a college at Des Moines, to which he made large donations at various times, and which was named Drake University. The school is under the direction of the Christians, of which denomination General Drake is a prominent member. In 1895, General Drake was elected Governor of Iowa, on the Republican ticket, serving one term.