After  building  his  cabin,  as  above  stated,  he  leased  his  claim  for  a  term  of  years  to  Otis
Reynolds  and  John  Culver,  of  St.  Louis,  and  went  to  La  Pointe,  afterward  Galena,  where  he
practiced  his  profession  for  ten  years,  when  he  returned  to  Keokuk.  His  Indian  wife  bore  to
him  four  children — Louise  (married  at  Keokuk,  since  dead),  James,  (drowned  at  Keokuk),  Mary
and  Sophia.  Dr.  Muir  died  suddenly  of  cholera,  in  1832,  but  left  his  property  in  such  condition
that  it  was  soon  wasted  in  vexatious  litigation,  and  his  brave  and  faithful  wife,  left  friendless  and
penniless,  became  discouraged,  and,  with  her  children,  disappeared,  and,  it  is  said,  returned  to
her  people  on  the  Upper  Missouri.
Messrs.  Reynolds  k  Culver,  who  had  leased  Dr.  Muir's  claim  at  Keokuk,
subsequently  employed  as  their  agent  Mr.  Moses  Stillwell,  who  arrived  with
his  family  in  1828,  and  took  possession  of  Muir's  cabin.  His  brothers-in-law,
Amos  and  Valencourt  Van  Ansdal,  came  with  him  and  settled  near.
His  daughter,  Margaret  Stillwell  (afterward  Mrs.  Ford)  was  born  in  1831,
at  the  foot  of  the  rapids,  called  by  the  Indians  Puch-a-she-tuck,  where  Keokuk
now  stands.     She  was  probably  the  first  white  American  child  born  in  Iowa,

In  1831,  Mr.  Johnson,  Agent  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  who  had  a
station  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids,  removed  to  another  location,  and,  Dr., Muir
having  returned  from  Galena,  he  and  Isaac  R.  Campbell  took  the  place  and
buildings  vacated  by  the  Company  and  carried  on  trade  with  the  Indians  and
half-breeds.  Campbell,  who  had  first  visited  and  traveled  through  the  southern
part  of  Iowa,  in  1821,  was  an  enterprising  settler,  and  besides  trading  with  the
natives  carried  on  a  farm  and  kept  a  tavern.
Dr.  Muir  died  of  cholera  in  1832.
