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UNIV.  OF 
TORONTO 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 

ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE 
HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OP  IOWA 


VOLUME  I 

JULY  TO  DECEMBEE 

1920 


PUBLISHED   MONTHLY  BY 

THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

IOWA  CITY  IOWA 

1920 


COPYRIGHT  1920  BY 
THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 


P3 
v.  1-2. 


CONTENTS 
NUMBER  1  —  JULY  1920 

The  Vision                               BENJ.  F.  SHAMBAUGH  1 

Palimpsests                                        JOHN  C.  PARISH  2 

White  Beans  for  Hanging                JOHN  C.  PARISH  9 

Comment  by  the  Editor  29 

NUMBER  2 —  AUGUST  1920 

Newspaper  History         BERTHA  M.  H.  SHAMBAUGH  33 

An  Editorial  Dialogue                     JOHN  C.  PARISH  47 

Three  Men  and  a  Press                    JOHN  C.  PARISH  56 

Comment  by  the  Editor  61 

NUMBER  3  —  SEPTEMBER  1920 

A  Romance  of  the  Forties        WILLIAM  S.  JOHNSON  65 

Benjamin  Stone  Roberts             RUTH  A.  GALLAHER  75 

The  Execution  of  Patrick  O'Connor 

ELIPHALET  PRICE  86 

Comment  by  the  Editor  98 


iv  CONTENTS 

NUMBER  4  —  OCTOBER  1920 

Father  Mazzuchelli  JOHN  C.  PARISH  101 

A  Few  Martial  Memories          CLINTON  PARKHURST  111 

Comment  by  the  Editor  129 

NUMBER  5  —  NOVEMBER  1920 

A  Geological  Palimpsest  JOHN  E.  BRIGGS  133 

The  Iowa  Home  Note       BERTHA  M.  H.  SHAMBAUGH  143 

Through  European  Eyes 

BELTRAMI,  MURRAY,  BREMER,  AND  STEVENSON  144 

Comment  by  the  Editor  166 

NUMBER  6  —  DECEMBER  1920 

Crossing  the  Mississippi          WILLIAM  S.  JOHNSON  169 

Clint  Parkhurst  AUG.  P.  EICHTER  183 

Comment  by  the  Editor  193 

Index  197 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED   BY  JOHN  C.   PARISH 
ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  I  ISSUED  IN  JULY  192O  No.  1 

COPYRIGHT  192O  BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL.  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

The  Vision 

In  imagination  let  us  picture  the  history  of  Iowa 
as  a  splendid  drama  enacted  upon  a  giant  stage 
which  extends  from  the  Father  of  Waters  on  the 
right  to  the  Missouri  on  the  left,  with  the  Valley  of 
the  Upper  Mississippi  as  a  background. 

Let  us  people  this  stage  with  the  real  men  and 
women  who  have  lived  here  —  mysterious  mound 
builders,  picturesque  red  men  and  no  less  interesting 
white  men,  Indians,  Spaniards,  Frenchmen,  explo- 
rers, warriors,  priests,  fur  traders,  adventurers, 
miners,  settlers,  country  folk,  and  townspeople. 

Let  the  scenes  be  set  among  the  hills,  on  the 
prairies,  in  the  forests,  along  the  rivers,  about  the 
lakes,  and  in  the  towns  and  villages. 

Then,  viewing  this  pageant  of  the  past,  let  us 
write  the  history  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Iowa  as 
we  would  write  romance  —  with  life,  action,  and 
color  —  that  the  story  of  this  land  and  its  people 

live-  BENJ.  F.  SHAMBAUGH 


Palimpsests 

Palimpsests  of  a  thousand  and  two  thousand  years 
ago  were  parchments  or  other  manuscript  material 
from  which  one  writing  had  been  erased  to  give 
room  for  another.  The  existence  of  these  double 
texts  was  due  chiefly  to  the  scarcity  of  materials. 
Waxen  tablets,  papyrus  rolls,  parchment  sheets,  and 
vellum  books  each  served  the  need  of  the  scribe.  But 
they  were  not  so  easily  procured  as  to  invite  extrava- 
gance in  their  use  or  even  to  meet  the  demand  of  the 
early  writers  and  medieval  copyists  for  a  place  to 
set  down  their  epics,  their  philosophies,  and  their 
hero  tales. 

And  so  parchments  that  were  covered  with  the 
writings  of  Homer  or  Caesar  or  Saint  Matthew  were 
dragged  forth  by  the  eager  scribes,  and  the  accounts 
of  Troy  or  Gaul  or  Calvary  erased  to  make  a  clean 
sheet  for  the  recording  of  newer  matters.  Some- 
times this  second  record  would  in  turn  be  removed 
and  a  third  deposit  made  upon  the  parchment. 

The  papyrus  rolls  and  the  parchments  of  the  early 
period  of  palimpsests  were  merely  sponged  off- 
the  ink  of  that  time  being  easily  removable,  though 
the  erasure  was  not  always  permanent.  The  later 
parchments  were  usually  scraped  with  a  knife  or 
rubbed  with  pumice  after  the  surface  had  been  soft- 
ened by  some  such  compound  as  milk  and  meal. 


PALIMPSESTS  3 

This  method  was  apt  to  result  in  a  more  complete 
obliteration  of  the  text. 

But  there  came  men  whose  curiosity  led  them  to 
try  to  restore  the  original  writing.  Atmospheric 
action  in  the  course  of  time  often  caused  the  sponged 
record  to  reappear ;  chemicals  were  used  to  intensify 
the  faint  lines  of  the  old  text;  and  by  one  means  or 
another  many  palimpsest  manuscripts  were  de- 
ciphered and  their  half-hidden  stories  rescued  and 
revived. 

On  a  greater  scale  time  itself  is  year  by  year 
making  palimpsests.  The  earth  is  the  medium.  A 
civilization  writes  its  record  upon  the  broad  surface 
of  the  land:  dwellings,  cultivated  fields,  and  roads 
are  the  characters.  Then  time  sponges  out  or 
scrapes  off  the  writing  and  allows  another  story  to 
be  told.  Huge  glaciers  change  the  surface  of  the 
earth;  a  river  is  turned  aside;  or  a  flood  descends 
and  washes  out  the  marks  of  a  valley  people.  More 
often  the  ephemeral  work  of  man  is  merely  brushed 
away  or  overlain  and  forgotten.  Foundations  of  old 
dwellings  are  covered  with  drifting  sand  or  fast 
growing  weeds.  Auto  roads  hide  the  Indian  trail 
and  the  old  buffalo  trace.  The  caveman's  rock  is 
quarried  away  to  make  a  state  capitol. 

But  the  process  is  not  always  complete,  nor  does 
it  defy  restoration.  The  frozen  sub-soil  of  the  plains 
of  northern  Siberia  has  preserved  for  us  not  only 
the  skeletons  of  mammoths,  but  practically  complete 
remains,  with  hair,  skin,  and  flesh  in  place  —  mum- 


4  THE  PALIMPSEST 

mies,  as  it  were,  of  the  animals  of  prehistoric  times. 
In  the  layers  of  sediment  deposited  by  the  devas- 
tating water  lie  imbedded  the  relics  of  ancient  civili- 
zations. The  grass-grown  earth  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  covers  with  but  a  thin  layer  the  work  of  the 
mound  builders  and  the  bones  of  the  workmen 
themselves. 

With  the  increasing  civilization  of  humanity,  the 
earth-dwellers  have  consciously  and  with  growing 
intelligence  tried  to  leave  a  record  that  will  defy 
erasure.  Their  buildings  are  more  enduring,  their 
roads  do  not  so  easily  become  grass-grown,  the 
evidences  of  their  life  are  more  abundant,  and  their 
writings  are  too  numerous  to  be  entirely  obliterated. 

Yet  they  are  only  partially  successful.  The  tooth 
of  time  is  not  the  only  destroyer.  Mankind  itself  is 
careless.  Letters,  diaries,  and  even  official  docu- 
ments go  into  the  furnace,  the  dump  heap,  or  the 
pulp  mill.  The  memory  of  man  is  almost  as  evanes- 
cent as  his  breath ;  the  work  of  his  hand  disintegrates 
when  the  hand  is  withdrawn.  Only  fragments 
remain  —  a  line  or  two  here  and  there  plainly  visible 
on  the  palimpsest  of  the  centuries  —  the  rest  is  dim 
if  it  is  not  entirely  gone.  Nevertheless  with  diligent 
effort  much  can  be  restored,  and  there  glows  upon 
the  page  the  fresh,  vivid  chronicles  of  long  forgotten 
days.  Out  of  the  ashes  of  Mount  Vesuvius  emerges 
the  city  of  Pompeii.  The  clearing  away  of  a  jungle 
from  the  top  of  a  mountain  in  Peru  reveals  the 
wonderful  stonework  of  the  city  of  Machu  Picchu, 


PALIMPSESTS  5 

the  cradle  of  the  Inca  civilization.  The  piecing 
together  of  letters,  journals  and  reports,  newspaper 
items,  and  old  paintings  enables  us  to  see  once  more 
the  figures  of  the  pioneers  moving  in  their  accus- 
tomed ways  through  the  scenes  of  long  ago. 

The  palimpsests  of  Iowa  are  full  of  fascination. 
Into  the  land  between  the  rivers  there  came,  when 
time  was  young,  a  race  of  red  men.  Their  record 
was  slight  and  long  has  been  overlain  by  that  of  the 
whites.  Yet  out  of  the  dusk  of  that  far  off  time 
come  wild,  strange,  moving  tales,  for  even  their 
slender  writings  were  not  all  sponged  from  the  face 
of  the  land.  Under  the  mounds  of  nearly  two  score 
counties  and  in  the  wikiups  of  a  few  surviving 
descendants,  are  the  uneffaced  letters  of  the  ancient 
text. 

And  the  white  scribes  who  wrote  the  later  record 
of  settlement  and  growth,  read  the  earlier  tale  as  it 
was  disappearing  and  told  it  again  in  part  in  the 
new  account.  These  new  comers  in  turn  became  the 
old,  their  homes  and  forts  fell  into  decay,  their 
records  faded,  and  their  ways  were  crowded  aside 
and  forgotten. 

But  they  were  not  all  erased.  Here  and  there 
have  survived  an  ancient  building,  a  faded  map,  a 
time-eaten  diary,  the  occasional  clear  memory  of  a 
pioneer  not  yet  gathered  to  his  fathers.  And  into 
the  glass  show  cases  of  museums  drift  the  countless 
fragments  of  the  story  of  other  days.  Yet  with  all 
these  survivals,  how  little  effort  is  made  to  piece 


6  THE  PALIMPSEST 

together  the  scattered  fragments  into  a  connected 
whole. 

Here  is  an  old  log  cabin,  unheeded  because  it  did 
not  house  a  Lincoln.  But  call  its  former  occupant 
John  Doe  and  try  to  restore  the  life  of  two  or  three 
generations  ago.  It  requires  no  diligent  search  to 
find  a  plow  like  the  one  he  used  in  the  field  and  a 
spinning  wheel  which  his  wife  might  have  mistaken 
for  her  own.  Over  the  fireplace  of  a  descendant 
hang  the  sword  and  epaulets  he  wore  when  he  went 
into  the  Black  Hawk  War,  or  the  old  muzzle-loading 
gun  that  stood  ready  to  hand  beside  the  cabin  door. 
And  perhaps  in  an  attic  trunk  will  be  found  a 
daguerreotype  of  John  Doe  himself,  dignified  and 
grave  in  the  unwonted  confinement  of  high  collar 
and  cravat,  or  a  miniature  of  Mrs,  Doe  with  pink 
cheeks,  demure  eyes,  and  fascinating  corkscrew 
curls. 

Out  of  the  family  Bible  drops  a  ticket  of  admission 
to  an  old  time  entertainment.  Yonder  is  the  violin 
that  squeaked  out  the  measure  at  many  a  pioneer 
ball.  Here  is  the  square  foot  warmer  that  lay  in  the 
bottom  of  his  cutter  on  the  way  home  and  there  the 
candlestick  that  held  the  home-made  tallow  dip  by 
the  light  of  which  he  betook  himself  to  bed. 

In  the  files  of  some  library  is  the  yellowed  news- 
paper with  which  —  if  he  were  a  Whig  —  he  sat 
down  to  revel  in  the  eulogies  of  "Old  Tippecanoe" 
in  the  log  cabin  and  hard  cider  campaign  of  1840,  or 
applaud  the  editorial  which,  with  pioneer  vigor  and 


PALIMPSESTS  7 

unrefined  vocabulary,  castigated  the  "low  scoun- 
drel" who  edited  the  "rag"  of  the  opposing  party. 

But  most  illuminating  of  all  are  the  letters  that  he 
wrote  and  received,  and  the  journal  that  tells  the 
little  intimate  chronicles  of  his  day  to  day  life. 
Hidden  away  in  the  folds  of  the  letters,  with  the 
grains  of  black  sand  that  once  blotted  the  fresh  ink, 
are  the  hopes  and  joys  and  fears  and  hates  of  a  real 
man.  And  out  of  the  journal  pages  rise  the  inci- 
dents which  constituted  his  life  —  the  sickness  and 
death  of  a  daughter,  the  stealing  of  his  horses,  his 
struggles  with  poverty  and  poor  crops,  his  election 
to  the  legislature,  a  wonderful  trip  to  Chicago,  the 
building  of  a  new  barn,  and  the  barn  warming  that 
followed. 

Occasionally  he  drops  in  a  stirring  tale  of  the 
neighborhood:  a  border  war,  an  Indian  alarm,  a 
street  fight,  or  a  hanging,  and  recounts  his  little  part 
in  it.  John  Doe  and  his  family  and  neighbors  are 
resurrected.  And  so  other  scenes  loom  up  from  the 
dimness  of  past  years,  tales  that  stir  the  blood  or 
the  imagination,  that  bring  laughter  and  tears  in 
quick  succession,  that,  like  a  carpet  of  Bagdad, 
transport  one  into  the  midst  of  other  places  and  for- 
gotten days. 

Time  is  an  inexorable  reaper  but  he  leaves  glean- 
ings, and  mankind  is  learning  to  prize  these  gifts. 
Careful  research  among  fast  disappearing  docu- 
ments has  rescued  from  the  edge  of  oblivion  many 
a  precious  bit  of  the  narrative  of  the  past. 


8  THE  PALIMPSEST 

It  is  the  plan  of  this  publication  to  restore  some 
of  those  scenes  and  events  that  lie  half -hidden  upon 
the  palimpsests  of  Iowa,  to  show  the  meaning  of 
those  faint  tantalizing  lines  underlying  the  more 
recent  markings  —  lines  that  the  pumice  of  time  has 
not  quite  rubbed  away  and  which  may  be  made  to 
reveal  with  color  and  life  and  fidelity  the  enthralling 
realities  of  departed  generations. 

JOHN  C.  PARISH 


White  Beans  For  Hanging 

The  tale  that  follows  is  not  a  placid  one,  for  it  has 
to  do  with  the  sharp,  dramatic  outlines  of  one  of  the 
bloodiest  struggles  that  ever  took  place  between 
whites  within  the  bounds  of  Iowa.  Therefore  let 
those  who  wish  a  gentle  narrative  of  the  ways  of  a 
man  with  a  maid  take  warning  and  close  the  leaves 
of  this  record.  The  story  is  of  men  who  lived 
through  troublous  days  and  circumstances  and  who 
at  times  thought  they  could  attain  peace  only  by 
looking  along  the  sights  of  a  gun  barrel. 

The  facts  are  given  largely  as  they  were  related 
by  Sheriff  Warren.  It  is  more  than  three  quarters 
of  a  century  since  the  events  occurred,  and  Warren 
and  the  others  who  took  part  have  long  since  left 
this  life.  There  have  been  those  who  tell  in  some 
respects  a  different  story,  but  it  seems  probable  that 
the  sheriff,  whose  business  led  him  through  every 
turn  of  the  events,  knew  best  what  happened.  And 
his  long  continuance  in  office  and  the  widespread 
respect  and  admiration  that  was  his,  even  from 
those  who  qualify  his  account,  lead  one  to  feel  that 
he  did  not  greatly  pervert  the  record. 

Warren  was  a  Kentuckian  by  birth  and  a  resident 
for  some  years  at  the  lead  mines  of  Galena ;  but  he 
crossed  the  Mississippi  and  located  at  Bellevue,  in 
Iowa  Territory,  when  that  town  was  a  mere  settle- 


10  THE  PALIMPSEST 

merit  on  the  western  fringe  of  population.  Active 
and  courageous,  this  young  man  was  appointed 
sheriff  of  the  County  of  Jackson  and  held  the  posi- 
tion for  nearly  a  decade. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  there  came  to  Bellevue  a 
group  of  settlers  from  Cold  water,  Michigan.  Among 
them  was  William  W.  Brown,  a  tall,  dark  complex- 
ioned  man,  who  bought  a  two-story  house  and  opened 
a  hotel.  Brown  was  a  genial  host,  full  of  intelligence 
and  pleasing  in  his  manners,  and  he  won  imme- 
diate popularity  among  the  people  of  the  county. 
His  wife,  too,  a  little  woman  of  kindly  ways  and 
sturdy  spirit,  was  a  general  favorite. 

Brown  also  kept  a  general  store  and  became  a 
partner  in  a  meat  market.  In  this  way  he  came  in 
touch  with  a  large  number  of  the  pioneers,  and  the 
liberality  with  which  he  allowed  credit  and  his  gener- 
osity to  the  poor  endeared  him  to  many.  The  hotel 
was  a  convenient  stopping  place  for  men  driving 
from  the  interior  of  the  county  to  Galena.  They 
came  to  Bellevue  to  cross  the  Mississippi,  stopped 
off  at  Brown's,  ate  at  his  far  famed  table,  drank  of 
his  good  liquor,  and  listened  to  his  enlivening  talk. 
And  usually  they  went  away  feeling  that  the  friendly 
landlord  was  a  most  valuable  addition  to  the  com- 
munity. 

When  winter  came  he  hired  a  number  of  men  and 
put  them  at  work  on  the  island  near  the  town  cutting 
wood  to  supply  fuel  to  the  Mississippi  steamboats. 
At  the  approach  of  spring,  and  before  the  ice  broke 


WHITE  BEANS  FOR  HANGING  11 

up,  the  woodcutters  became  teamsters,  and  long  lines 
of  teams  might  be  seen  hauling  the  cords  of  wood 
across  the  ice  to  the  Iowa  side  where  they  were  piled 
up  on  the  shore  of  the  river. 

Bellevue  in  1837  was  less  than  five  years  old.  On 
a  plateau  overlooking  the  Mississippi  a  few  houses 
had  sprung  up ;  then  came  stores  and  a  hotel.  Along 
the  river  and  off  in  the  outlying  districts  other  small 
settlements  began  to  appear.  Eoads  and  common 
interests  united  them  and  they  formed  a  typical 
group  of  pioneer  communities.  Warren  found  the 
preservation  of  order  in  this  new  county  somewhat 
of  a  task.  Conditions  of  life  were  primitive  and  so 
also  were  the  habits  of  the  pioneers.  Derelicts  and 
outcasts  from  older  settlements  found  their  way  to 
the  new.  Petty  thieving  was  not  uncommon,  and 
travelers  were  often  set  upon  as  they  passed  from 
town  to  town  —  sometimes  they  disappeared  un- 
accountably from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Men  found 
themselves  in  possession  of  counterfeit  money; 
horses  and  cattle  were  stolen;  and  pioneer  feuds  or 
drunken  brawls  now  and  then  ended  in  a  killing. 
Yet  Jackson  County  was  without  a  jail. 

For  some  years  the  whole  northwest  had  suffered 
from  the  operations  of  gangs  of  horse  thieves  and 
counterfeiters,  and  it  began  to  look  to  Warren  and 
others  as  if  one  of  these  gangs  had  particular  asso- 
ciations with  Jackson  County.  Horses  and  cattle, 
stolen  in  the  east,  turned  up  at  Bellevue  with  curious 
frequency ;  bad  money  became  common  and  thieving 


12  THE  PALIMPSEST 

grew  more  bold.  Again  and  again  circumstantial 
evidence  associated  crimes  with  one  or  another  of 
the  men  who  worked  for  Brown  or  made  their  head- 
quarters at  his  hotel. 

One  of  these  men  was  James  Thompson,  a  son  of 
well-to-do  Pennsylvania  parents  and  a  man  of  some 
education.  Twice  he  was  arrested  for  passing 
counterfeit  money  and  once  for  robbing  stores  in 
Galena,  but  in  each  case  he  was  cleared  on  techni- 
calities or  on  the  testimony  of  his  associates.  Two 
other  members  of  the  suspected  group  were  William 
Fox,  charged  with  a  part  in  the  Galena  robbery,  and 
one  Chichester  who,  together  with  Thompson,  was 
implicated  in  the  robbing  of  an  old  French  fur  trader 
named  Bolette. 

The  people  of  the  county  were  particularly  irri- 
tated by  the  fact  that  seldom  was  any  one  punished 
for  these  crimes.  The  aggrieved  parties  often  found 
Brown  appearing  as  counsel  for  his  men  when  they 
were  brought  to  trial;  and  almost  invariably  alibis 
were  proven.  At  one  time  Thompson,  arrested  on 
the  charge  of  passing  counterfeit  money  near  Ga- 
lena, was  released  on  the  testimony  of  Fox  and  three 
others  of  his  associates  that  at  the  time  mentioned 
he  was  attending  the  races  with  them  in  Davenport. 
At  another  time  a  man  was  cleared  by  the  state- 
ments of  his  friends  that  they  had  played  cards  with 
him  throughout  the  night  in  question. 

Brown's  constant  connection  with  the  suspects 
and  his  assistance  in  case  of  their  trial  caused  his 


WHITE  BEANS  FOR  HANGING  13 

own  reputation  to  suffer.  Many  people  came  to  be- 
lieve that  he  was  in  reality  the  very  shrewd  and 
clever  leader  of  an  organized  gang  of  criminals. 
Others  felt  that  he  was  a  man  unjustly  accused  and 
wronged. 

Among  those  of  his  early  friends  who  lost  faith  in 
him  was  Thomas  Cox,  a  veteran  of  the  War  of  1812 
and  the  Black  Hawk  War  and  a  man  of  magnetic 
personality  and  dominant  will.  Over  six  feet  tall 
and  weighing  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  he  was 
vigorous  enough  even  when  well  beyond  the  half- 
century  mark  to  place  his  hands  on  the  withers  of  a 
horse  and  vault  into  the  saddle  without  touching  the 
stirrups.  In  1838  he  had  been  chosen  to  represent 
his  county  in  the  Territorial  legislature  and  in  1839 
he  wished  greatly  to  succeed  himself  in  the  office. 
At  the  time  of  nominations  Cox  was  absent  from 
home  attending  to  his  duties  at  the  capital,  but  he 
counted  on  his  friend  Brown  to  support  him.  What 
was  his  surprise  then  to  find  that  Brown  had  been 
nominated  in  his  place.  He  immediately  announced 
himself  as  an  independent  candidate  and  was  elected. 
But  from  that  time  forth  he  distrusted  and  opposed 
the  hotel  keeper. 

Brown's  charm  of  manner  and  apparent  sincerity, 
however,  kept  friends  and  adherents  for  him  among 
many  of  the  best  people  of  the  county.  A  number  of 
the  men  of  the  vicinity,  anxious  to  help  matters, 
finally  decided  to  call  a  meeting,  put  the  case 
squarely  to  Brown  and  see  if  he  would  not  do  some- 


14  THE  PALIMPSEST 

thing  to  rid  the  neighborhood  of  its  reign  of  crime. 

Brown  appeared,  but  with  him  came  the  notorious 
Thompson.  James  Mitchell,  a  fiery  opponent  of  the 
suspected  gang,  jumped  to  his  feet  at  once,  charac- 
terized Thompson  as  a  robber  and  counterfeiter  and 
demanded  his  withdrawal.  Thompson,  infuriated, 
drew  his  pistol,  but  was  seized  by  the  bystanders 
and  hustled  out  of  the  room,  breathing  threats 
against  the  life  of  Mitchell.  Outside  a  group  of  his 
friends  gathered.  They  broke  the  door  and  stormed 
into  the  room,  and  only  the  efforts  of  Brown  pre- 
vented a  bloody  conflict. 

As  a  result  of  the  meeting  Brown  agreed  to  do 
what  he  could  and  the  next  day  most  of  his  boarders, 
shouldering  their  axes,  crossed  over  to  the  island 
where  they  set  to  work  chopping  wood.  The  relief, 
however,  was  only  partial.  Bobberies  continued 
and  raids  upon  the  island  disclosed  much  plunder. 

So  things  ran  on  till  the  winter  of  1839.  Warren 
tells  us  that  under  the  dominant  influence  of  Brown's 
men  the  holidays  were  marked  by  drinking  and  dissi- 
pation rather  than  the  usual  dancing  and  feasting. 
The  better  citizens  determined  to  celebrate  Jack- 
son 's  victory  at  New  Orleans  by  a  ball  on  the  evening 
of  January  8.  Furthermore,  upon  the  suggestion  of 
Mitchell,  who  was  one  of  the  managers,  it  was  agreed 
that  none  of  Brown's  men  should  be  allowed  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  occasion. 

After  many  preparations  the  night  came.  The 
flower  of  Bellevue  womankind,  bewitching  with 


WHITE  BEANS  FOR  HANOING  15 

smiles  and  curls  and  gay  attire,  and  the  vigorous 
men  of  that  pioneer  town  gathered  at  a  newly  built 
hotel  to  enjoy  the  music  and  bountiful  refreshments 
and  to  engage  in  the  delights  of  the  quadrille  and  the 
Virginia  reel.  Mitchell  was  there  with  his  wife  and 
daughter  and  two  sisters.  Sheriff  Warren,  because 
of  sickness,  was  unable  to  attend ;  and  Thompson  and 
the  other  men  upon  whom  the  company  had  learned 
to  look  with  such  disfavor  were  nowhere  to  be  seen. 

Around  and  around  on  the  rude  puncheon  floor 
went  the  dancers,  moving  with  slow  and  graceful 
steps  through  the  stately  figures  of  the  quadrille  or 
quickening  their  pace  to  a  more  lively  measure  of 
the  tireless  musicians.  Suddenly  came  a  strange 
commotion  by  the  door  and  excited  men  and  women 
gathered  about  a  young  woman  who  had  reached  the 
ball  room,  half  clad  and  almost  spent  with  fright  and 
exhaustion.  It  was  Miss  Hadley,  a  young  relative 
of  Mitchell's  who,  too  sick  to  attend  the  ball,  had 
been  left  alone  at  his  home.  When  she  could  speak 
the  dancers  learned  that  Thompson  and  some  of  his 
friends  had  taken  advantage  of  Mitchell's  absence 
to  plunder  his  house,  and  the  indignities  at  the  hands 
of  Thompson  from  which  Miss  Hadley  had  with 
difficulty  escaped  formed  a  climax  that  stirred  the 
spirit  of  murder  in  Mitchell's  heart.  Borrowing  a 
pistol  from  Tom  Sublett,  he  left  the  ball  room  and 
went  out  into  the  night  in  search  of  his  enemy. 

The  night  well  served  his  purpose.  The  moon  — 
clear  and  full  —  hung  high  in  the  heavens,  opening 


16  THE  PALIMPSEST 

up  to  his  view  long  stretches  of  village  street.  The 
frosty  air  rang  with  every  sound.  His  quest  was 
short.  There  swung  into  sight  down  the  otherwise 
empty  street  two  men,  and  the  quiet  of  the  night  was 
shattered  by  drunken  curses.  Mitchell  strode  on  to 
meet  them.  One  of  the  two  called  out  to  him  in 
warning.  The  other  came  on  as  steadily  as  did 
Mitchell.  In  one  hand  was  a  pistol,  in  the  other  a 
bowie  knife,  and  influenced  by  drink,  his  purpose 
matched  that  of  the  man  he  met. 

Scarcely  three  feet  separated  the  men,  when 
Thompson  attacked  with  pistol  and  knife  at  once. 
His  gun,  however,  at  the  critical  instant  missed  fire 
and  a  moment  later  a  ball  from  his  opponent's  pistol 
entered  his  heart.  Mitchell  seeing  Thompson  dead 
at  his  feet,  turned  and  retraced  his  steps  to  the  ball 
room,  where  he  gave  himself  up  to  the  deputy  sheriff 
and  asked  for  protection  against  the  mob  he  knew 
would  soon  appear. 

The  terrified  guests  of  the  Jackson  Day  Ball  scat- 
tered to  the  four  corners  of  the  night.  Women,  un- 
mindful of  wraps  or  dignity,  sought  the  safety  of 
home,  and  the  men,  hurrying  away  to  arm  them- 
selves, did  not  all  —  it  is  safe  to  say  —  return. 

Anson  Harrington  and  another  man  who  had 
weapons  remained  with  Mitchell  and  these  three 
with  the  devoted  women  of  his  family  took  refuge  in 
the  upper  story  of  the  hotel.  The  air  now  became 
vocal  with  the  tumult  of  Thompson's  friends  ap- 
proaching with  wild  cries  of  revenge.  The  deputy 


WHITE  BEANS  FOR  HANGING  17 

sheriff  tried  in  vain  to  stop  them,  then  dashed  off  to 
summon  Sheriff  Warren.  Upstairs  the  little  group 
had  taken  the  stove  from  its  place  and  poised  it 
near  the  head  of  the  stairway  ready  to  roll  it  down 
upon  the  heads  of  the  invaders. 

In  a  turmoil  of  rage  the  crowd  of  men  swarmed 
into  the  house  and,  headed  by  Brown,  reached  the 
foot  of  the  stairway.  But  the  muzzles  of  guns  look- 
ing down  upon  them,  and  their  acquaintance  with 
the  grim  nature  of  the  men  above  halted  them. 
Baffled,  they  began  calling  for  the  women  to  come 
down,  threatening  to  burn  the  house  and  punctu- 
ating their  threats  by  firing  bullets  up  through  the 
ceiling  into  the  room  above. 

Soon  Warren  appeared  upon  the  scene.  He  prom- 
ised to  be  responsible  for  Mitchell's  appearance  in 
the  morning  and  persuaded  Brown  to  quiet  his  in- 
flamed men.  They  dispersed  reluctantly  and  the  dis- 
turbed night  at  length  resumed  its  quiet.  In  the 
morning  Mitchell  was  taken  from  the  hotel,  ar- 
raigned before  a  court,  and  bound  over  for  trial. 
For  want  of  a  jail  he  was  held  under  guard  in  his 
own  house. 

The  friends  of  Thompson,  though  making  no  open 
demonstration,  were  nursing  their  desire  for  re- 
venge. William  Fox,  Lyman  Wells,  Chichester,  and 
a  few  others  —  unknown  to  Brown  —  laid  a  diabol- 
ical scheme  to  blow  up  with  gunpowder  the  house  in 
which  Mitchell  was  being  held.  Mitchell  had  killed 
their  comrade  —  only  by  his  death  could  they  be 


18  THE  PALIMPSEST 

appeased,  and  they  had  little  hope  that  the  process 
of  law  would  exact  from  him  the  death  penalty.  So 
one  night  they  stole  a  large  can  of  powder  from  one 
of  the  village  stores  and  repaired  to  Mitchell's 
house.  At  midnight  everything  was  quiet.  A  shed 
gave  access  by  a  stairway  to  the  cellar  and  the 
powder  was  soon  placed  by  Fox,  while  Wells  laid 
the  train  which  was  to  start  the  explosion.  Un- 
observed the  two  men  returned  to  their  comrades 
who  had  been  drinking  themselves  into  a  proper 
frame  of  mind.  The  question  now  arose  as  to  who 
should  apply  the  match.  And  at  this  midnight 
council  the  conspirators  agreed  to  cast  lots  for  the 
doubtful  honor.  It  fell  upon  Chichester  and  he 
stepped  to  the  task  without  hesitation.  A  few  mo- 
ments later  there  was  a  flash,  but  to  the  men  who 
had  fixed  their  hopes  on  this  instant  of  time  there 
came  a  great  disappointment  for  the  report  was 
strangely  feeble.  When  the  sun  from  across  the 
river  brought  another  day  to  the  distracted  town  the 
house  was  still  standing  and  Mitchell  and  his  family 
and  the  guard  were  unhurt. 

Among  the  conspirators  there  was  discussion  and 
probably  an  uneasy  curiosity  as  to  the  next  move  of 
Mitchell's  friends.  But  there  came  no  immediate 
sequel.  Sheriff  Warren  took  no  action,  although  he 
held  the  key  to  the  situation.  There  had  been  a  de- 
serter in  the  camp  of  the  plotters.  Lyman  Wells,  in 
laying  the  train  to  the  can  of  powder,  had  left  a  gap 
so  that  the  main  deposit  of  explosive  had  not  been 


WHITE  BEANS  FOR  HANGING  19 

reached.  The  next  day  he  told  the  whole  story  to  the 
sheriff  who  took  possession  of  the  powder  but  with- 
held from  Mitchell  the  news  of  the  attempt  upon  his 
life. 

The  weeks  that  followed  saw  no  cessation  of 
crime,  and  Warren,  unable  to  control  it,  realized 
that  the  situation  had  become  intolerable.  Men  in 
despair  of  proper  protection  from  the  law  were  try- 
ing to  sell  their  property  and  move  to  safer  com- 
munities. At  length  Warren  and  three  others  were 
appointed  as  a  committee  to  go  to  Dubuque  and  con- 
sult Judge  Thomas  Wilson  as  to  some  means  of 
checking  outlawry  in  the  county.  The  conference 
resulted  in  the  drawing  up  of  an  information  charg- 
ing Brown,  Fox,  Long,  and  a  score  of  their  associ- 
ates with  confederating  for  the  purpose  of  passing 
counterfeit  money,  committing  robbery  and  other 
crimes  and  misdemeanors.  The  information  was 
sworn  to  by  Anson  Harrington,  and  a  warrant  for 
the  arrest  of  the  men  named  was  put  into  the  hands 
of  Sheriff  Warren.  Everyone  knew  that  with  the 
serving  of  this  warrant  a  crisis  would  come  in  the 
history  of  Jackson  County. 

When  Warren  first  went  to  the  hotel  to  read  the 
warrant  to  Brown  and  his  men  he  found  Brown  in- 
clined to  be  defiant  —  disputing  the  legality  of  such 
a  general  instrument  —  and  his  associates  were 
ready  for  the  most  desperate  measures.  The  sheriff 
as  he  read  began  to  have  extreme  doubts  as  to  his 
safety  and  was  perhaps  only  saved  from  violence  by 


20  THE  PALIMPSEST 

the  sudden  anger  which  seized  the  crowd  when  Har- 
rington 's  name  was  read  as  the  one  who  had  sworn 
to  the  information.  On  the  instant  they  dashed  off 
to  wreak  vengeance  upon  him.  Brown  turned  at 
once  to  Warren,  urging  him  to  go  while  he  could,  for 
he  knew  that  Harrington  had  already  sought  safety 
on  the  Illinois  shore  before  the  warrant  was  served, 
and  that  the  mob  would  soon  return  disappointed 
and  vengeful.  Just  then  Mrs.  Brown  hurried  into 
the  room.  "Run  for  your  life",  she  cried,  "they 
are  coming  to  kill  you,"  and  she  led  him  to  the  back 
of  the  house. 

Warren  departed  in  haste,  thoroughly  convinced 
that  the  arrest  of  the  infuriated  gang  would  be  a 
desperate  task  and  one  requiring  careful  prepara- 
tion. He  determined  to  organize  an  armed  posse, 
and  turned  to  Thomas  Cox  for  assistance,  commis- 
sioning him  to  visit  certain  parts  of  the  county  and 
bring  in  a  force  of  forty  armed  men.  The  task  was 
no  doubt  a  welcome  one  to  Cox.  The  old  warrior 
spirit  in  him  had  been  aroused  by  the  defiant  atti- 
tude of  the  lawless  coterie,  and  he  believed  that 
radical  measures  alone  could  free  the  neighborhood 
from  the  plague  of  Brown  and  his  gang. 

Warren  and  Cox  set  out  in  different  directions 
through  the  county  to  gather  recruits.  Many  of  the 
settlers,  feeling  that  Brown  was  an  innocent  and 
much  abused  man,  refused  to  move  against  him. 
But  on  the  morning  of  April  first  a  considerable 
force  was  mobilized  in  the  town  of  Bellevue  ready 


WHITE  BEANS  FOR  HANGING  21 

to  help  the  sheriff  in  arresting  the  men  who  had 
made  life  in  the  county  almost  unendurable. 

At  the  hotel  meanwhile  there  was  a  similar  spirit 
of  battle.  A  desperate  and  reckless  defiance  seemed 
to  pervade  the  men.  In  front  of  the  hotel  a  red  flag 
fluttered  and  on  it  the  words  "Victory  or  Death" 
challenged  the  fiery  men  of  the  frontier  who  had 
gathered  there  to  help  make  their  homes  and  prop- 
erty safe.  Parading  up  and  down  beside  the  flag 
were  members  of  the  gang,  among  them  an  Irishman 
who  at  the  top  of  his  lungs  advised  the  posse  to 
come  on  if  they  wanted  Hell.  The  members  of  the 
posse  —  many  of  them  veterans  of  the  Black  Hawk 
War  —  did  not  take  kindly  to  such  words  of  defiance, 
and  there  was  high  feeling  between  the  two  parties 
when  the  sheriff  went  alone  to  the  hotel  to  read  the 
warrant  and  demand  a  surrender. 

The  men  listened  in  silence  while  the  sheriff,  alone 
among  desperate  men,  read  to  them  the  challenge  of 
the  law.  Then  Brown  asked  him  what  he  intended 
to  do. 

"Arrest  them  all",  replied  Warren,  "as  I  am 
commanded." 

"That  is  if  you  can",  said  Brown. 

"There  is  no  'if  about  it",  replied  the  sheriff. 
"I  have  a  sufficient  force  to  take  you  all,  if  force  is 
necessary;  but  we  prefer  a  surrender,  without 
force." 

He  talked  privately  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown,  and 
showed  them  letters  from  various  men  in  the  county 


22  THE  PALIMPSEST 

advising  Brown  to  surrender  and  trust  to  the  courts. 
This  the  hotel  keeper  finally  agreed  to  do  providing 
the  sheriff  and  four  other  men  (whom  he  named) 
would  come  and  pledge  that  he  and  his  men  should 
be  unharmed.  Warren  left  and  returned  shortly 
with  the  men  designated.  But  in  the  meantime 
Brown  seemed  somewhat  to  have  lost  control  of  af- 
fairs. The  four  men  were  ordered  away  and  the 
sheriff  alone  was  admitted  for  another  conference. 

The  men  in  the  hotel  were  now  restive  with  drink 
and  no  longer  inclined  to  submit  to  the  restraints  of 
their  leader.  Warren  was  to  be  held  as  a  hostage, 
they  told  him,  and  if  a  shot  were  fired  from  outside 
he  would  be  killed  at  once.  He  was  powerless  to 
resist.  Minutes  of  increasing  tension  went  by. 
Then  came  word  from  the  front  of  the  house  that 
Cox  and  his  men  were  forming  in  the  street  for  an 
attack.  In  a  last  effort  to  avoid  trouble,  Brown 
shoved  the  sheriff  out  of  the  house.  "Go  and  stop 
them  and  come  back",  he  said.  Warren  needed  no 
second  bidding. 

But  the  fight  was  now  inevitable.  An  attacking 
party  of  forty  men  was  chosen.  They  were  ad- 
dressed by  Warren  and  Cox,  told  of  the  seriousness 
of  the  occasion,  and  given  a  chance  to  withdraw,  but 
not  a  man  wavered.  It  was  now  early  afternoon. 
The  noon  hour  had  passed  with  scarcely  a  thought 
of  food.  The  town  waited  in  breathless  suspense. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  the  hotel  the  houses  were 
deserted,  and  far  from  the  scene  of  action,  women 


WHITE  BEANS  FOR  HANGING  23 

and  frightened  children  gathered  in  groups  listening 
intently  for  the  first  sound  of  a  gun.  And  to 
Mitchell,  confined  in  his  own  home,  the  acuteness  of 
the  moment  must  have  been  almost  unbearable.  His 
wish  to  join  the  posse  had  been  overruled,  but  he 
had  been  given  arms  so  that  he  might  not  be  help- 
lessly murdered  in  case  of  the  defeat  of  the  sheriff's 
force. 

In  the  street  the  posse  was  forming.  With  orders 
not  to  fire  until  fired  upon,  the  men  started  toward 
the  hotel.  Silently  and  steadily  they  moved  until 
they  were  within  thirty  paces  of  the  house,  then  came 
an  order  to  charge  and  with  a  rush  they  made  for 
the  building.  The  crack  of  a  gun  was  heard  from 
an  upstairs  window  and  one  of  the  forty,  a  black- 
smith, fell  dead.  Brown,  with  his  gun  at  his  shoul- 
der, was  confronted  by  Warren  and  Cox. 

"Surrender,  Brown,  and  you  shan't  be  hurt",  they 
called  to  him.  Brown  lowered  his  gun  evidently 
with  the  intention  of  complying  but  it  was  acciden- 
tally discharged  and  the  ball  passed  through  Cox's 
coat. 

Then  all  restraint  broke  loose.  The  guns  of  two  of 
the  posse  barked  and  Brown  fell  dead  on  the  instant 
with  two  bullets  in  his  head.  From  all  points  now 
bullets  drove  into  the  frame  building,  and  answering 
volleys  came  from  the  windows  of  the  hotel.  There 
were  more  than  twenty  men  in  the  house  and  with 
them  was  Mrs.  Brown  who  with  unswerving  loyalty 
had  stood  by  to  load  guns.  The  struggle  was  des- 


24  THE  PALIMPSEST 

perate.  Bursting  into  the  lower  floor,  engaging  in 
hand  to  hand  conflict,  the  sheriff's  men  drove  the 
defenders  upstairs  where  with  pitchforks  and  guns 
they  still  defied  capture. 

No  longer  was  sheriff,  or  legislator,  or  any  other 
man  in  the  posse  mindful  of  the  law.  The  primitive 
instincts  had  escaped  bounds  and  the  impulse  to  kill 
possessed  them  all.  One  after  another,  men  on  both 
sides  crumpled  up  under  fire  and  lay  still.  Warren, 
carried  away  by  the  excitement  and  unable  to  force 
the  upper  floor,  ordered  the  house  to  be  set  on  fire, 
and  the  torch  was  applied. 

Then  the  cry  arose  that  the  men  were  trying  to 
escape  by  jumping  from  a  shed  at  the  rear  of  the 
house.  Pursuit  was  on  at  the  instant  but  seven  of 
the  outlaws  escaped  from  the  hands  of  the  sheriff's 
men.  Thirteen  others  gave  up  and  were  taken  pris- 
oners, while  three  of  their  number  had  paid  the  toll 
of  their  lives. 

The  fight  was  over  but  not  so  the  intensity  of 
hatred.  A  number  of  the  invading  party  had  been 
severely  wounded  and  four  of  them  lay  dead.  The 
sight  of  their  inanimate  bodies,  when  the  firing 
ceased,  aroused  the  desire  of  the  posse  for  instant 
punishment  of  the  captives. 

Eopes  were  procured  and  the  awful,  unthinking  cry 
of  revenge  went  up.  But  saner  councils  prevailed 
and  the  prisoners  were  put  under  heavy  guard  while 
it  was  decided  what  their  fate  should  be.  Warren's 
desire  to  hold  the  men  for  trial  by  law  was,  however, 


WHITE  BEANS  FOR  HANGING  25 

overruled  on  the  ground  that,  the  county  being  with- 
out a  jail,  there  was  too  much  danger  of  the  prison- 
ers being  rescued  by  friends.  The  settlement  of  the 
case  was  finally  left  until  the  morning  with  the 
understanding  that  a  meeting  of  citizens  should  im- 
pose sentence  upon  the  prisoners. 

It  is  doubtful  if  sleep  rested  upon  the  eyelids  of 
many  in  the  town  of  Bellevue  that  night.  Thoughts 
of  the  toll  of  the  day  —  the  unburied  dead  —  and 
speculations  upon  the  possible  toll  of  the  morrow, 
must  have  made  the  morning  sun  long  in  coming. 
But  the  surface  of  the  Mississippi  reflected  its  rays 
at  last,  and  the  excited  villagers  tried  to  compose 
themselves  for  the  events  of  the  day. 

At  ten  o'clock  occurred  one  of  those  episodes  that 
rise  now  and  then  out  of  the  grim  frontier.  Men 
who  had  faced  a  fire  that  dropped  their  comrades 
dead  at  their  sides,  who  with  the  lust  of  animals  to 
kill  had  stormed  the  defenders  of  the  hotel,  now 
stood  possessed  of  the  men  whom  they  had  faced 
along  the  level  gun  barrel  but  a  few  hours  before; 
and  it  was  their  task  to  consider  what  should  be  done 
with  them. 

Thomas  Cox  presided  at  the  meeting  and  stated 
that  the  citizens  had  relieved  the  sheriff  of  his  duty 
and  had  taken  the  case  into  their  own  hands.  Chi- 
chester  gained  permission  to  speak  on  behalf  of  him- 
self and  his  comrades;  and  the  man,  now  greatly 
cowed,  made  a  pitiful  plea  for  mercy.  Others  spoke 
-  among  them  Anson  Harrington  who  favored 


26  THE  PALIMPSEST 

hanging  every  one  of  the  prisoners.  Fear  alone 
made  them  penitent  to-day,  he  said.  Revenge  he  saw 
depicted  on  all  their  faces.  Mercy  would  only  jeop- 
ardize the  lives  of  others.  But  he  closed  by  pro- 
posing that  a  ballot  should  be  taken  as  to  whether  the 
captives  should  be  hanged  or  merely  whipped  and 
exiled  from  the  region. 

Every  man  was  required  to  rise  to  his  feet  and 
pledge  himself  to  abide  by  the  decision.  Then  two 
men,  one  with  a  box  containing  red  and  white  beans, 
the  other  with  an  empty  box  to  receive  the  votes, 
passed  about  among  the  company.  The  man  with 
the  beans,  as  he  approached  each  individual,  called 
out  "  White  beans  for  hanging,  colored  beans  for 
whipping/'  and  the  voter  selected  his  bean  and 
dropped  it  into  the  other  box. 

To  the  thirteen  men  whose  lives  depended  on  the 
color  of  the  beans,  those  anxious  moments  while 
eighty  men  passed  sentence  upon  them  probably 
seemed  like  an  eternity. 

"White  beans  for  hanging'',  and  a  bean  rattled 
into  the  empty  box.  Those  first  four  words,  so  bru- 
tal and  so  oft  repeated,  must  have  crowded  the  com- 
panion call  out  of  their  minds.  Stripped  clear  away 
from  them  was  the  glow  and  excitement  of  the  life  of 
the  past.  The  inspiriting  liquor  was  not  there  to 
drown  out  the  stark  image  of  a  drooping  body  and  a 
taut  rope.  The  red  flush  of  battle  had  paled  to  the 
white  cast  of  fear.  No  longer  upon  their  faces 
played  the  contemptuous  smile  or  the  leer  of  defi- 


WHITE  BEANS  FOR  HANGING  27 

ance.  No  bold  words  came  to  their  lips.  Their  eyes 
scanned  the  set  faces  of  their  captors  and  into  their 
ears  dinned  the  cry,  over  and  over  repeated  like  a 
knell:  " White  beans  for  hanging ". 

The  beans  dropped  noiselessly  now  among  their 
fellows,  and  unrelieved  was  the  hush  of  the  men  who 
tossed  them  in.  How  long  it  was  since  the  wild 
events  of  yesterday  afternoon !  How  near  now  was 
the  choking  rope ! 

Yet  there  was  some  comfort  when  they  listened  to 
the  other  call.  ' '  Colored  beans  for  whipping. ' '  How 
welcome  such  an  outcome  would  be !  A  week  before 
they  would  have  drawn  guns  at  a  word  of  criticism ; 
now  they  were  ready  to  give  thanks  for  the  grace  of 
a  lashing.  But  they  had  robbed  these  men  and  given 
them  bad  money,  had  taunted  them  and  had  killed 
their  friends.  Could  there  be  any  mercy  now  in 
these  grim  avengers?  Were  the  " white  beans  for 
hanging"  piling  up  in  the  box  like  white  pebbles  on 
the  shores  of  their  lives! 

The  eightieth  man  dropped  in  his  bean.  The 
tellers  counted  the  votes  and  reported  to  Thomas 
Cox.  The  stillness  reached  a  climax.  Holding  in 
his  hand  the  result  of  the  ballot,  the  chairman  asked 
the  prisoners  to  rise  and  hear  the  verdict.  Again  he 
asked  the  men  who  had  voted  if  they  would  promise 
their  support  of  the  decision.  They  gave  their 
pledge  by  rising  to  their  feet.  Then  he  read  the  de- 
cision. By  a  margin  of  three  the  colored  beans  for 
whipping  were  in  the  majority. 


28  THE  PALIMPSEST 

The  voice  of  Anson  Harrington  rang  out.  Cox 
called  him  to  order  —  the  case  was  not  debatable. 
But  Harrington  replied:  "I  rise  to  make  the  vote 
unanimous."  Immediate  applause  showed  the  re- 
vulsion of  feeling.  Chichester,  who  was  near  him, 
took  his  hand  and  managed  to  blurt  out  his  thanks. 

The  whipping  followed  —  lashes  laid  upon  the 
bare  back  and  varying  in  severity  with  the  individ- 
ual. The  thirteen  men  who  had  so  narrowly  escaped 
the  rope  were  placed  in  boats  on  the  Mississippi, 
supplied  with  three  days  rations,  and  made  to  prom- 
ise never  to  return.  They  left  at  sundown  with 
expressions  of  gratitude  for  their  deliverance;  and 
with  their  departure  the  town  of  Bellevue  and  the 
County  of  Jackson  took  up  again  their  more  placid 
ways. 

And  the  thirteen  exiles  I  It  would  be  a  happy  task 
to  record  of  them  either  reformation  or  oblivion. 
Unfortunately  one  can  do  neither.  The  trail  of  Wil- 
liam Fox  and  two  others  of  the  Bellevue  gang  came 
into  view  five  years  later  when  they  were  implicated 
in  the  murder  of  Colonel  George  Davenport.  But 
thereby  hangs  another  tale  which  we  shall  not  here 
unfold  save  to  record  that  Fox  again  escaped  cus- 
tody, and  fared  forth  once  more  upon  adventures  of 
which  there  is  no  record  upon  the  parchment. 

C.  PARISH 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

JOUENALISM  AND  HISTORY 

"Our  historians  lie  much  more  than  our  journal- 
ists ' ',  says  Gilbert  K.  Chesterton.  This  puts  us  in  a 
bad  light  whatever  way  you  take  it.  In  order  to  de- 
fend the  historian  we  must  acquit  the  journalist  of 
mendacity,  and  we  fear  the  jury  is  packed  against 
him.  So  we  prefer  to  ask  to  have  the  case  thrown 
out  of  court  on  the  grounds  that  Mr.  Chesterton 
brought  the  charges  merely  for  the  sake  of  eulogizing 
a  third  individual  —  the  artist  —  as  a  true  recorder 
of  the  past.  Of  which  more  anon. 

In  spite  of  this  implied  indictment  of  journalism, 
we  wish  to  announce  that  the  next  issue  of  THE 
PALIMPSEST  will  be  a  Newspaper  Number,  wherein 
will  be  disclosed  some  of  the  words  and  ways  of  the 
early  editors.  They  were  often  more  pugnacious 
than  prudent,  and  since  prudence  sometimes  con- 
ceals the  truth,  perhaps  their  pugnacity  may  be 
counted  as  an  historical  asset.  At  all  events,  news- 
papers can  not  avoid  being  more  or  less  a  mirror  of 
the  times,  and  an  adequate  history  of  any  people 
can  scarcely  be  written  without  an  examination  of 
its  journalism. 

ART  AND  HISTORY 

But  to  return  to  Chesterton.  His  arraignment  of 
historians  and  journalists  occurs  in  an  introduction 


30  THE  PALIMPSEST 

to  Famous  Paintings,  in  the  midst  of  an  argument 
for  the  effectiveness  of  the  work  of  the  old  masters 
in  popular  education  and  the  value  of  the  canvas  in 
portraying  the  real  conditions  of  the  past.  Nor  will 
we  gainsay  him  in  this.  The  artist  who  goes  back  of 
his  own  era  for  subjects  must  make  a  careful  his- 
torical study  of  his  period.  The  style  of  clothes 
worn  by  his  subjects,  the  type  of  furniture  or  tapes- 
try, and  the  architecture  of  the  houses  and  bridges 
and  churches  of  his  backgrounds  must  be  accurate. 
He  is  in  that  sense  an  historian  as  well  as  an  artist, 
and  his  contribution  is  truthful  or  otherwise  in  pro- 
portion as  he  has  taken  the  pains  to  be  a  competent 
historical  student. 

Nevertheless  the  best  of  artists  and  the  best  of 
historians  make  mistakes.  We  remember  the  discus- 
sion that  arose  a  few  years  ago  when  Blashfield 's 
fine  canvas  was  placed  in  the  Capitol  at  Des  Moines. 
It  depicts  the  westward  travel  of  a  group  of  pioneers 
crossing  the  prairies  by  means  of  the  ox-drawn  prai- 
rie schooner.  It  is  a  splendid  piece  of  work,  but 
some  pioneer  who  had  lived  through  such  scenes  and 
knew  whereof  he  spoke  observed  that  Blashfield  had 
pictured  the  driver  of  the  oxen  walking  on  the  left 
side  of  his  charges,  whereas  in  reality  the  driver 
always  walked  on  the  other  side.  True  enough  as 
Mr.  Blashfield  himself  admitted.  Yet  there  were  dif- 
ficulties having  to  do  with  the  composition  of  the 
picture.  The  scene  was  arranged  with  the  caravan 
moving  toward  the  left  or  west  side  of  the  picture. 


COMMENT  31 

Therefore,  if  the  driver  had  been  properly  placed  he 
would  have  been  more  or  less  hidden  by  the  oxen  — 
an  eclipse  scarcely  to  be  desired  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  artist.  If  the  directions  had  been  reversed, 
the  canvas  would  have  been  criticised  as  showing  the 
group  coming  out  of  the  west  —  thus  defeating  the 
basic  idea. 

The  last  straw  of  criticism  was  added  when  an- 
other pioneer,  referring  to  the  symbolic  figures 
which  Blashfield  had  painted  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  picture  hovering  above  the  caravan  and  leading 
the  way  to  the  west,  remarked  that  when  he  went 
west  there  were  no  angels  hovering  over  /MS  outfit. 
So  we  hesitate  to  accept  Mr.  Chesterton 's  implica- 
tion that  the  artist  is  more  infallible  than  the  his- 
torian or  journalist. 

THE  REALM  OF  THE  HISTORIAN 

But  the  historian  is  vitally  concerned  with  the 
question  of  the  accuracy  of  the  artist  who  paints  of 
the  past,  the  essential  veracity  of  the  novelist  who 
chooses  historic  settings,  and  the  truthfulness  of  the 
journalist  who,  with  his  editorials,  his  cartoons,  and 
his  advertisements,  is  usually  the  first  to  write  the 
record  of  events.  In  fact  the  historian  must  con- 
cern himself  with  these  and  all  other  recorders,  for 
the  things  of  the  past  are  the  subjects  of  his  par- 
ticular realm  and  he  must  keep  them  in  order. 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED   BY  JOHN  C.   PARISH 
ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  I  ISSUED  IN  AUGUST  192O  No.  2 

COPYRIGHT  1920  BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

Newspaper  History 

What  is  the  value  of  yesterday's  newspaper?  In 
a  bygone  day  it  served  the  thrifty  housewife  as  a 
cover  for  the  kitchen  table,  or  in  company  with  its 
fellows  of  the  days  before  as  a  lining  for  the  ingrain 
carpet ;  and  if  the  good  husband  was  handy,  it  might 
on  a  winter  evening  be  cut  into  strips  and  deftly 
rolled  into  the  long  slender  tapers  that  stood  in  the 
tumbler  on  the  shelf  beside  the  Seth  Thomas  clock 
to  be  used  in  carrying  the  necessary  flame  from  the 
briskly  burning  hickory  wood  fire  in  the  air-tight 
stove  to  the  wick  of  the  kerosene  oil  lamp. 

But  in  these  ultra-modern  days  of  steam  heat, 
electric  light  and  power,  enamel  topped  tables,  and 
hardwood  floors,  the  newspaper,  like  the  grass,  "to- 
day is  in  the  field  and  tomorrow  is  cast  into  the 
oven  " ;  or  it  may  find  its  way  to  the  baler  in  the  base- 
ment and  presently  it  is  returned  to  the  paper  mills 
from  whence  it  came  in  the  endless  round  of  pulp 
and  paper  and  print. 


34  THE  PALIMPSEST 

The  average  subscriber  to  that  "largest  circula- 
tion ",  which  is  the  daily  boast  of  every  newspaper 
of  any  standing,  would  probably  scoff  at  the  sugges- 
tion that  there  is  anything  of  real  value  from  the 
standpoint  of  scientific  history  in  the  newspaper; 
and  yet  we  know  that  the  leading  historical  institu- 
tions of  the  country  are  piling  up  literally  tons  and 
tons  of  newspapers.  Although  their  rapid  accumu- 
lation presents  a  very  real  problem,  if  not  a  genuine 
embarrassment  to  every  great  historical  library, 
thousands  of  dollars  are  spent  annually  in  binding 
and  properly  shelving  the  newspapers  of  the  day  — 
for  the  use  of  the  historian  of  the  future. 

That  there  is  trouble  ahead  for  the  historian  we 
will  admit.  In  his  endeavors  to  retrace  the  foot- 
prints of  this  present  age  of  black-face  type,  what  is 
to  be  the  criterion  of  the  relative  importance  of 
news?  Does  the  120  point  headline  set  forth  public 
information  that  is  twice  as  consequential  as  the  60 
point,  and  four  times  the  public  concern  of  that  of 
the  30  point  I  Is  he  to  believe  as  he  turns  the  yellow- 
ing pages  of  the  Iowa  newspapers  that  the  news 
"Ames  Defeats  Iowa "  was,  in  the  public  mind  of  the 
period,  of  twice  the  importance  of  the  news  that 
"Wartime  Coal  Eegime  Begins ",  while  the  news 
that  "23/4  Beer  Gets  Hearing "  and  "Mary  Pickford 
Divorced ' '  was  of  twice  the  importance  of  the  Ames- 
Iowa  game  and  of  six  times  the  public  concern  of 
the  war  time  coal  regime? 

How  will  the  historian  winnow  out  the  pregnant 


NEWSPAPER  HISTORY  35 

facts  that  lie  buried  "under  bushel-heaps  of  worth- 
less assertion "  in  an  age  of  censored  dispatches, 
"doctored  stuff ",  "prepared  dope",  private  propa- 
ganda, camouflaged  news,  and  extravagant  advertis- 
ing! How  will  he  distinguish  the  work  of  the  com- 
petent, independent,  investigating  reporter  in  the 
record  of  current  topics  and  passing  events  from  the 
manipulated  news  of  the  clever  press  agent  attor- 
ney? How  will  he  treat  the  deliberately  scraped 
and  sponged  and  overlaid  palimpsests  of  this  news- 
paper epoch  that  they  may  tell  the  true  story  that  is 
there  recorded? 

With  due  allowance  for  the  extravagant  use  of 
120  point  type,  for  the  insidious  press  agent  and  the 
organized  manipulation  of  public  opinion  and  for  all 
the  "fecundity  and  fallibility  which  are  peculiar  to 
journalism ",  what  is  there  in  these  great  library 
files  of  daily  newspapers  that  justifies  their  preser- 
vation and  proper  classification?  Almost  every- 
thing that  the  student  of  history  wants.  For  in 
spite  of  "  slang-whanging ' '  and  editorial  vitupera- 
tion, and  the  sometimes  startling  results  of  "the 
carelessness  of  the  compositors  and  the  absent 
mindedness  of  the  readers  of  proof",  in  spite  of  its 
double  role  of  "universal  advertiser  and  universal 
purveyor  of  knowledge ' ',  the  daily  newspaper  is  the 
best  reflector  of  the  times  that  the  student  of  history 
can  find. 

In  our  own  day  it  has  become  something  of  a 
vogue  to  speak  contemptuously  of  the  "lurid  press", 


36  THE  PALIMPSEST 

the  " scandalous  gossip "  of  the  "brazen-faced  re- 
porter ",  the  "incurable  lying  habit  of  the  news- 
papers '  ',  ' '  the  millionaire-owned  press ' ',  and  of  the 
"A.  P."  as  "the  damndest,  meanest,  monopoly  on 
the  face  of  the  earth ' '.  Nevertheless,  the  daily  news- 
paper holds  the  mirror  up  to  modern  society  and 
reflects  with  unflattering  faithfulness  the  life  and 
psychology  of  the  times.  Old  records,  official  reports 
of  events,  and  the  more  carefully  written  and  lei- 
surely revised  monographic  and  book  literature  give 
us  the  "cabinet  picture "  of  the  times,  with  head 
clamped  in  place  "a  little  more  to  the  right,  please, 
and  chin  up",  with  the  "pleasant  expression"  pa- 
tiently held  while  the  photographer  counts  off  the 
requisite  number  of  seconds,  and  with  perhaps  a  final 
smoothing  out  of  wrinkles  in  the  retouching. 

The  newspaper,  on  the  other  hand,  gives  us  all  un- 
consciously the  natural  record  of  the  every-day  life 
of  a  community,  and  the  snapshots  of  the  times  in 
working  clothes  —  which  are  always  the  best  pic- 
tures. These  pictures  with  all  their  incongruities, 
vulgarities,  and  blemishes  may  not  always  be  pleas- 
ing ;  but  they  are,  for  the  most  part,  ' '  speaking  like- 
nesses" of  the  community,  with  all  of  its  "rough- 
ness, pimples,  and  warts". 

It  is  the  every-day  newspaper  snapshot  that  gives 
us  the  local  color  in  the  description  of  passing  events, 
the  dominant  passions  and  prejudices  in  the  discus- 
sion of  current  topics,  the  sudden  disclosure  of  pop- 
ular temper  and  sentiment  in  the  acceptance  or 


NEWSPAPER  HISTORY  37 

rejection  of  political  issues,  and  that  "preserves  im- 
perishably  the  fashion  prevailing  for  posterity  to 
look  upon  with  reverence  or  a  smile ".  The  testi- 
mony of  gossipy  letters  and  memoirs  no  longer  goes 
unchallenged  and  the  critical  reviewer  of  historical 
monographs  now  scrutinizes  the  footnotes  to  see 
whether  the  writer  has  made  use  of  the  newspapers 
of  the  period. 

For  a  concrete  illustration,  let  us  take  the  news- 
papers not  of  the  present  day  nor  of  the  remote  past, 
but  of  eighty  years  ago  in  our  own  Commonwealth. 
The  Iowa  newspaper  of  1840  was  a  very  modest  af- 
fair—  innocent  of  the  glaring  headlines  of  the 
"  extras  ",  innocent  of  cartoons,  half-tones,  the  won- 
drous depiction  of  "Wilson's  Boiled  Ham"  and 
"Sunshine  Biscuits",  or  the  adventures  of  Mr. 
Jiggs ;  but  we  find  abundant  material  in  every  four- 
page  issue  concerning  the  three  chief  phases  of  the 
life  of  the  people  which  constitute  their  history  — 
the  social  life,  the  political  life,  and  the  industrial 
life. 

Eighty  years  ago  Iowa  City  was  the  capital  of  the 
Territory  of  Iowa,  and  the  two  leading  newspapers 
of  the  early  forties  were  the  Iowa  Capitol  Reporter, 
the  Democratic  "organ",  and  the  Iowa  Standard, 
the  Whig  journal  —  the  Reporter  being  referred  to, 
by  the  Standard,  as  the  "Locofoco  Rag",  and  the 
Standard  being  referred  to,  by  the  Reporter,  as  the 
"  Whiggery  Humbug".  These  old  files  of  the  "Rag" 
and  the  "Humbug"  fairly  bristle  with  information 


38  THE  PALIMPSEST 

concerning  the  life  of  the  period  —  the  beginnings  of 
church  life,  the  character  of  the  schools,  the  amuse- 
ments, the  reading  matter,  the  follies,  hopes,  ambi- 
tions, and  ideals  of  the  people  of  the  community. 

We  read,  for  example,  that  on  two  Sundays,  in 
January,  1841,  the  Methodists  held  services  with 
frontier  camp  meeting  fervor  in  the  open  air  near 
the  post-office  on  some  lumber  belonging  to  John 
Horner.  The  Baptists  with  equal  fervor  "  buried  in 
baptism''  two  candidates  for  membership  beneath 
the  "limpid  waters  of  the  Iowa  River". 

The  opening  of  a  private  school  is  noted:  "Tui- 
tion per  Quarter  of  12  weeks  $3.50.  House  rent,  fuel, 
etc.  1.00  additional."  There  is  mention  of  a  school 
for  Young  Ladies  with  special  emphasis  on  instruc- 
tion in  "Beading,  Writing,  and  Mental  Arithmetic. 
History  —  Sacred,  Profane,  Ecclesiastical  and  Nat- 
ural. Natural,  Moral  and  Intellectual  Philosophy." 

We  note  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone  of  Mechan- 
ics 9  Academy,  which  afterwards  became  the  first 
home  of  the  State  University.  Both  Democratic  and 
Whig  papers  urge  special  training  for  agricultural 
and  mechanical  employment.  "Agriculture",  says 
the  editor  of  the  Reporter,  "is  the  noblest  pursuit  of 
man  and  we  deplore  the  fact  that  so  large  a  part  of 
our  new  country  has  given  itself  up  to  visionary 
projects  of  speculation." 

"A  course  of  lessons  in  Music"  is  announced  "ac- 
cording to  the  Pestallozian  system  of  instruction." 
A  Glee  Club,  it  is  said,  "will  bring  out  a  new  set  of 


NEWSPAPER  HISTORY  39 

glees  for  the  approaching  election. "  A  lecture  in 
the  Legislative  Council  Chamber  on  "  Astronomy " 
is  reported.  ' '  The  lecturer 's  remarks ' ',  we  are  told, 
"were  within  the  comprehension  of  the  humblest  in- 
tellect." There  are  notices  of  camp  meetings,  and 
lyceum  and  literary  association  meetings  which  the 
ladies  of  Iowa  City  and  its  vicinity  are  especially 
requested  to  attend. 

The  citizens  are  requested  "to  turn  out  and  attend 
a  meeting  of  the  Temperance  Society  in  the  school 
house  at  early  candle  light".  The  cause  of  temper- 
ance was  popular  in  the  pioneer  days  of  the  forties, 
and  there  are  many  notices  of  meetings  of  the  Wash- 
ingtonians  and  the  Total  Abstinence  Society. 

Public  dinners  were  given  to  honor  public  men, 
and  Fourth  of  July  celebrations  held  with  the  ladies 
four  abreast  taking  their  place  behind  the  officer  of 
the  day.  Cotillion  figures  are  described  and  balls 
recorded.  One  comes  upon  many  newspaper  apos- 
trophes "To  the  Ladies"  (who  were  scarce  on  the 
frontier) ;  and  there  was  much  writing  of  poetry. 

There  are  records  of  marriages  and  deaths,  elope- 
ments and  house-raisings,  and  a  list  of  river  acci- 
dents and  steamboat  disasters.  A  citizen  announces 
he  will  no  longer  be  responsible  for  his  wife  Hulda  's 
debts.  There  are  notices  of  claim  sales,  of  petitions 
for  bankruptcy,  and  of  the  foreclosures  of  mort- 
gages. In  short,  bits  of  the  sunshine  and  shadows  of 
the  every  day  life  of  the  period  are  recorded  with  an 
unconsciousness  that  gives  them  special  value. 


40  THE  PALIMPSEST 

The  political  life  of  eighty  years  ago  is  reflected 
far  more  than  it  is  to-day  on  the  editorial  page. 
This  page  has,  as  it  no  doubt  will  ever  have,  its  prob- 
lems for  the  student  of  history.  In  these  early  news- 
papers of  the  first  capital  he  finds  the  Whig  editor 
variously  referred  to  by  his  esteemed  contemporary 
as  "that  miserable  caricature  of  his  species",  "the 
contemptible  slang- whanger  of  the  Standard ",  and 
1  i  that  biped  of  the  neuter  gender  whose  name  stands 
at  the  mast  head  of  that  servile  truckling  organ  of 
Whig  skullduggery".  He  finds  numerous  references 
in  the  Standard  to  the  "Bombastes  Furioso"  and  to 
the  i  f  red  hair  and  spectacles  of  the  Loco-f oco  scrib- 
bler", to  the  "hybrid  politician  who  furnishes  the 
wind  for  the  Reporter",  and  to  "the  thing  which 
says  it  edits  that  filthy  and  demagogical  sluice  of 
Loco-f ocoism,  the  Reporter".  He  finds  national  as 
well  as  local  issues  treated  with  uncompromising 
thoroughness  and  partisanship.  He  finds  scorching 
editorials  on  "The  Tottering  Fabric  of  Federalism" 
on  the  one  hand,  and  bitter  denunciation  of  "Loeo- 
foco  Black-guardism "  on  the  other.  "Iowa"  is  re- 
ferred to  by  the  Reporter  as  "the  apex  of  the  Noble 
Pyramid  of  Democracy ' ' ;  and  the  Standard  replies, 
"Whew  dont  we  blow  a  shrill  horn".  The  Standard 
declares  that  Democracy  leads  logically  to  a  disso- 
lution of  the  Union,  to  which  the  Reporter  replies : 

Bow  wow  wow 

Whose  dog  are  thou? 

I'm  Henry  Clay's  Dog 

Bow  wow  wow. 


NEWSPAPER  HISTORY  41 

The  Legislative  Assembly  meets,  and  the  Standard 
calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  "Committee  on 
Public  Printing  is  composed  of  only  four  members 
and  every  one  of  them  most  bitter  and  uncompro- 
mising Locos  ".  "  Nothing  good ' ',  it  adds, 1 1  was  an- 
ticipated from  them  and  the  result  has  precisely 
answered  the  expectations. ' '  To  which  the  Reporter 
replies  that  '  '  the  people  of  Iowa  have  had  enough  of 
the  yelps  and  whines  of  the  Standard  puppy  on  the 
subject  of  Extravagance  in  Public  Printing". 

A  Whig  leader  in  the  Council  makes  a  speech  and 
the  Reporter  remarks  that  "it  is  the  poorest  wheel 
of  a  wagon  that  always  creaks  the  loudest. ' ' 

There  are  editorials  and  communications  on  Aboli- 
tion, Tariff  and  Free  Trade,  The  Bight  of  Petition, 
The  Preemption  Law,  State  Banks,  Betrenchment 
and  Beform,  Bribery  and  Corruption,  Besumption 
of  Specie  Payment,  Cider  Barrels  and  Coon  Skins. 
One  correspondent  thinks  too  much  pressure  is  being 
brought  upon  him  to  vote.  "I  do  not  like  to  be 
drove ' ',  he  explains  with  genuine  Iowa  independence, 
"I  can  be  led  but  can  not  be  drove." 

What  is  there  here  for  the  student  of  political  his- 
tory? A  mine  of  information.  No  miner  expects  to 
find  his  gold  ready  for  the  jeweler's  hands.  Much 
labor  is  required  to  free  it  from  base  metal.  And  so 
the  student  of  political  history  will  clear  away  vitu- 
peration and  partisanship,  personalities,  and  "the 
shorter  and  uglier  words",  and  find  nuggets  of  valu- 
able material  in  this  collection. 


42  THE  PALIMPSEST 

In  like  manner  advertisements  reflect  something  of 
the  industrial  life  of  the  period.  The  rise,  and  yea 
the  fall,  of  infant  industries  in  the  Territory,  the 
occupations  of  the  early  settlers,  the  degree  of  spe- 
cialization in  the  trades,  labor  organizations,  wages 
—  all  these  and  more  one  is  able  to  portray  from  the 
paid  advertisements.  Either  space  was  more  valu- 
able in  those  days  or  there  was  less  money  to  pay  for 
it,  for  with  very  few  exceptions  these  advertisements 
consist  of  from  five  to  eight  line  notices  to  the  public 
signed  by  the  merchant  or  mechanic  himself. 

The  public  is  informed  that  "a  ferry  across  the 
Mississippi  Eiver  at  Bloomington,  Iowa  Territory, 
has  been  established  and  as  soon  as  the  river  is  free 
from  ice  next  spring  a  boat  will  be  in  operation. " 
There  are  proposals  for  carrying  the  "mail  of  the 
United  States  from  Bloomington  to  Iowa  City  thirty 
miles  and  back  once  a  week."  Territorial  scrip  is 
taken  in  payment  (at  par)  for  all  articles  at  a  cer- 
tain store.  Elsewhere  Dubuque  money  will  be  ac- 
cepted at  five  per  cent  discount.  "Just  received  per 
Steamer  Rapids  the  following  Groceries ' ',  reads  one 
advertisement,  "6  Boxes  Tobacco.  40  bbls.  New 
Orleans  Molasses.  30  Sacks  Rio  &  Havana  Coffee 
13  bbls.  Eum,  Gin  &  Whiskey.  25  Sacks  Ground 
Alum  Salt  &  16  Kegs  Pittsburg  White  Lead."  A 
variety  of  1 1  spring  goods ' '  is  advertised  as  received 
by  the  "Steam  Boats  Mermaid,  Agnes  &  Illinois", 
including  "2  Bales  of  Buffalo  Eobes,  Jeans  &  Lin- 
seys,  Merinoes  &  Bombazines,  Fancy  and  Mourning 


NEWSPAPER  HISTORY  43 

Calicoes,  Boots  &  Brogans,  Salaratus,  Tobacco,  Loaf 
&  Brown  Sugar.  Fashionable  Hats  &  Crockery." 
"A  Eaft  of  Hewed  Oak  Timber "  is  offered  for  sale. 
A  remedy  for  fever  and  ague  is  recommended.  A 
hotel  with  the  "best  of  table  and  stables "  offers  its 
services.  So  does  a  '  *  Portrait  &  Miniature  Painter ' '. 
A  bricklayer  announces  that  he  has  arrived  in  the 
Territory.  A  partnership  is  formed  in  the  plaster- 
ing business.  Eight  lawyers  and  nine  doctors  re- 
spectfully call  the  attention  of  a  community  of  six 
hundred  souls  to  their  existence;  and  we  note  the 
beginnings  of  the  "Doctors'  Trust "  in  the  following 
published  rate  of  charges  as  adopted  at  a  meeting  of 
the  physicians  held  in  Bloomington  on  the  fifth  of 
February,  1841 : 

First  visit  in  town  in  the  daytime    1.00 
Every  succeeding  visit  .50 

Visit  in  the  night  time  1.50 

Bleeding  1.00 

Tooth  extracting  1.00 

Attention  on  a  patient  all  day  or 
night  by  request  5.00 

In  addition  to  the  "Doctors'  Trust "  there  were 
those  who  practiced  the  "healing  art";  and  one 
Botanic  Physician  advertises  that  "the  remedial 
agents  employed  for  the  removal  of  disease  will  be 
innocuous  vegetables. ' ' 

The  arrival  of  the  "Steamboat  Bipple",  the  first 
boat  to  reach  Iowa  City,  is  announced;  and  in  an 
editorial  it  is  learned  that  its  arrival  was  witnessed 


44  THE  PALIMPSEST 

by  a  delighted  throng  of  four  hundred.  The  event 
was  celebrated  by  "as  good  a  dinner  as  has  ever 
been  gotten  up  in  the  Territory. "  This  convincing 
proof  of  the  navigability  of  the  Iowa  Eiver  was 
prophesied  as  the  "turning  point  in  the  commercial 
life  of  the  first  Capital. ' ' 

An  enterprising  farmer  makes  eighty  gallons  of 
molasses  ready  to  sugar  from  corn  stalks,  and  this  is 
regarded  as  the  beginning  of  an  important  industry 
in  this  new  country.  A  "load  of  lead7'  fourteen  feet 
below  the  surface  is  discovered  on  the  banks  of  the 
Iowa  Eiver,  and  in  the  excitement  and  local  enthusi- 
asm which  followed,  the  editor  of  the  Standard  de- 
clares that  "Nothing  better  could  have  happened  to 
make  this  section  of  the  country  and  especially  Iowa 
City,  a  perfect  Eldorado,  than  the  discovery  which 
has  been  made  in  Johnson  County.  It  has,  ever  since 
the  settlement  of  this  county,  been  believed,  that  it 
abounded  with  immense  mineral  of  various  kinds. 
Several  townships  of  land  west  of  Iowa  City,  we  are 
told,  were  returned  to  the  General  Land  Office  as 
mineral  lands.  This  must  form  a  new  era  in  the  his- 
tory and  existence  of  Iowa  City. ' ' 

Incidentally  from  a  survey  of  news  items,  edito- 
rials, and  advertisements,  one  gathers  something  of 
the  early  history  of  the  press  itself  and  something  of 
the  trials  and  vexations  of  the  early  editor.  That  ye 
editor  of  eighty  years  ago  was  more  than  the  '  *  slang- 
whanger"  and  the  "biped  of  the  neuter  gender "  his 
contemporary  would  lead  us  to  believe,  we  learn 


NEWSPAPER  HISTORY  45 

from  the  versatility  of  his  weekly  contributions.  In 
addition  to  pointing  out  the  ' l  skullduggery ' '  and  the 
"  venom  and  impotent  malignity "  of  the  opposite 
party,  and  his  weekly  combat  on  Abolitionism,  Fed- 
eralism, Our  Legislature,  The  Public  Printing,  and 
Banking,  he  writes  of  Flowers,  Sympathy,  The  Wed- 
ding, The  American  Girl,  Winter  Evenings,  Setting 
Out  in  Life,  The  Progress  of  a  Hundred  Years,  The 
Bunker  Hill  Monument,  Christmas,  and  New  Year's 
Musings.  He  observes  that  "true  politeness  is  not  a 
matter  of  mere  form  of  manner  but  of  sentiment  and 
heart. "  He  maintains  that  "virtue  and  honesty  are 
better  recommendations  for  a  husband  than  dol- 
lars/' He  deplores  "the  senseless  rage  for  gentil- 
ity ",  "the  silly  ambition  of  figuring  in  a  higher 
station  than  that  to  which  we  belong ",  "  the  folly  of 
sacrificing  substance  to  show",  and  of  "mistaking 
crowd  for  society". 

The  editor  threatens  to  publish  the  list  of  delin- 
quent subscribers;  and  he  denounces  the  borrowing 
of  a  neighbor's  paper  as  unworthy  of  a  citizen  of 
this  promising  country.  The  scarcity  of  money  is  re- 
flected in  the  editor's  offers  to  take  produce  of  any 
and  every  kind  in  exchange  for  subscriptions  to  his 
paper ;  and  he  demands  the  delivery  of  the  wood  that 
"a  certain  gentleman  not  a  thousand  miles  from  a 
neighboring  town  promised  him  last  month  ".  "  It  is 
the  height  of  folly",  he  adds,  "to  tell  an  editor  to 
keep  cool  when  he  has  to  burn  exchange  papers  to 
keep  warm."  Finally,  the  editor  takes  a  bold  .stand 


46  THE  PALIMPSEST 

and  declares  that  "  candidates  for  office  who  wish 
their  names  announced  for  office  will  hereafter  ac- 
company such  notices  with  two  dollars  cash  for  trou- 
ble, wear  of  type,  etc." 

In  spite  of  times  being  "so  hard  that  you  can 
catch  pike  on  the  naked  hook",  the  paper  is  "en- 
larged at  several  dollars  extra  expense  but  will  be 
afforded  at  the  same  low  price  as  the  small  one  has 
been." 

A  Democratic  postmaster  is  warned  that  "the 
packages  of  Whig  papers  (which  we  ourselves  de- 
liver at  the  post  office  every  Friday  evening  at  6 
o'clock)  are  not  so  minute  as  to  be  imperceptible, 
and  are  not  hereafter  to  be  delayed  by  party  malice. 
If  they  are,  just  wait  till  the  4th  of  March  —  that's 
all!" 

The  Iowa  Farmers  and  Miners  Journal  is  an- 
nounced ;  and  Godey's  Magazine  is  noted  by  the  press 
of  Iowa  as  "the  only  magazine  intended  for  the 
perusal  of  females  that  is  edited  by  their  own  sex." 

Such  are  some  of  the  glimpses  we  get  of  the  life, 
of  the  politics,  and  of  the  industries  of  eighty  years 
ago  —  of  the  hopes  and  ambitions,  the  prejudices  and 
animosities,  the  plans  and  activities,  the  successes 
and  disappointments  of  the  early  lowan  —  gleaned 
from  a  file  of  old  newspapers.  And  so  we  make  our 
acknowledgments  to  the  newspapers  of  to-day  and 
lay  them  carefully  away  in  fire-proof  quarters  for 
the  student  of  another  generation. 

BERTHA  M.  H.  SHAMBAUGH 


An  Old-Time  Editorial  Dialogue 

PROLOGUE 

Pied  long  ago  was  the  type  that  first  carried  this 
exchange  of  civilities.  And  many  years  have  passed 
since  the  two  principals  in  the  wordy  duel  were  laid 
away  to  rest,  each  with  his  vocabulary  at  his  side. 
But  the  ghost  of  the  duel  still  flutters  in  the  old 
sheets  of  the  newspaper  files.  Let  the  ghost  tell  its 
tale. 

SCENE 

The  frontier  town  of  Iowa  City,  capital  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Iowa. 

TIME 

The  early  forties,  when  men  wore  their  politics 
like  chips  upon  their  shoulders  and  established 
arsenals  beneath  their  coat  tails  —  with  reference  to 
the  printing  office,  the  good  old  days  when  the  mili- 
tant editor  got  out  a  weekly  four  page  sheet,  with 
the  assistance  of  an  industrious  but  soiled  and  un- 
washable  printer's  devil,  a  ditto  towel,  a  dog-eared 
and  now  vanished  dictionary  of  classical  vitupera- 
tion, and  a  "hell  box"  where  the  used-up  type,  ex- 
hausted by  being  made  the  vehicle  of  ultra  vigorous 
language,  fell  into  an  early  grave. 

CHABACTEES 

WILLIAM  CBUM  —  a  young  editor  of  twenty-two 
years  —  possessed  of  a  hair-trigger  pen  and  an  ink- 
well full  of  expletives,  a  vast  admiration  for  the  pil- 

47 


48  THE  PALIMPSEST 

la-rs  of  the  Whig  party,  and  no  respect  at  all  for  the 
Democratic  editors  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa.  Under 
his  supervision  the  Iowa  City  Standard  upholds  the 
views  of  William  Henry  Harrison  and  Henry  Clay 
and  hurls  peppery  paragraphs  at  the  awful  record 
of  the  Democrats  who  happen  to  hold  the  whip  hand 
in  the  Territory. 

VER  PLANCK  VAN  ANTWERP  —  educated  at  West 
Point  and  by  courtesy  called  General  —  dignified  and 
serious,  arrayed  in  boiled  shirt  and  starched  collar 
and  gold  spectacles  —  an  old  school  Democrat  of 
"an  age  now  verging  upon  the  meridian  of  life." 
He,  too,  is  an  editor  and  has  in  his  time  pealed  out 
sonorous  messages  through  long  columns  of  the 
Democratic  press. 

Enter  MR.  CRUM  followed  some  time  later  by 
the  GENERAL 

Using  the  words  of  one  of  his  exchanges,  Mr. 
Crum  soliloquizes: 

11  There  is,  somewhere  in  the  Territory  of  Iowa, 
one  'General'  V.  P.  Van  Antwerp,  who  ....  is 
much  in  the  habit  of  making  long-winded  speeches, 
as  frothy  as  small  beer  and  as  empty  as  his  head." 

Soon  he  becomes  aware  that  the  said  General  Van 
Antwerp  has  arrived  at  Iowa  City  and  become  the 
editor  of  the  Iowa  Capitol  Reporter,  and  the  solil- 
oquy becomes  a  dialogue.  In  somewhat  over  two 
columns  the  General  makes  his  announcement  and 
closes  with  this  glowing  peroration: 


AN  OLD-TIME  EDITORIAL  DIALOGUE        49 

"To  every  tenet  in  the  Democratic  faith  as  promul- 
gated by  Jefferson,  Jackson,  Van  Buren,  and  Benton, 
the  four  most  shining  lights  among  the  multitudes  of 
its  distinguished  advocates,  /  heartily  subscribe;  and 
stand  ready  now,  as  I  have  ever  done,  to  devote  my 
best  energies  to  their  support. 

"In  those  tenets  I  have  been  taught  from  early 
childhood,  with  it  instilled  and  impressed  upon  my 
mind,  to  consider  their  effects  upon  the  destinies  of 
mankind  as  second  in  importance  to  naught  else  save 
the  Christian  religion  itself;  and,  resting  firmly 
under  this  belief,  regardless  of  the  consequences,  or 
of  the  course  of  others,  and  come  what  may,  adver- 
sity or  prosperity,  gloom  or  glory,  weal  or  woe,  I 
shall  continue,  while  God  spares  my  life,  to  do  battle 
in  the  good  and  glorious  cause !" 

Mr.  Crum  falls  upon  this  bit  of  oratory  with  great 
glee  and  satire:  "an  inaugural,  and  signed  by  My 
Lord  Pomposity,  Ver  Planck  himself ";  and  with 
alternate  quotations  and  jeers  he  pokes  fun  at  his 
new  rival,  "this  West  Point  dandy  in  gold  specta- 
cles !" 

The  General  is  aroused,  and  in  his  second  issue 
proclaims  that  "any  charge  in  the  slightest  degree 
implicating  our  character,  will  not  be  suffered  to 
pass  by  unheeded. 

"But  in  regard  to  the  wretched  demagogical  slang, 
which  is  the  sole  aliment  upon  which  a  certain  class 
of  men  subsist,  we  laugh  to  scorn  both  it  and  its 
authors,  confident  that  they  can  no  more  affect -us, 


50  THE  PALIMPSEST 

with  those  whose  respect  we  value,  than  would  the 
Billingsgate  of  the  fisherwomen,  in  whose  school  they 
were  bred,  and  whose  style  they  copy." 

Crum  is  happy.  He  heads  his  columns  with  the 
quotation  from  Van  Antwerp  in  regard  to  "any 
charge  in  the  slightest  degree  implicating  our  char- 
acter", and  then  proceeds  to  make  charges  which 
would  seem  to  come  within  the  category  indicated. 
He  arraigns  his  record  as  a  printer  of  the  legislative 
records  and  says,  when  it  stirs  the  General  to  wrath : 

"That  little  < ThumdomadaP  [a  term  Van  Ant- 
werp had  applied  to  Crum]  might  point  its  finger  of 
condemnation  to  his  false  Democracy,  and  hold  up 
to  public  gaze  his  rotten  and  corrupt  political  form, 
which  shone  through  the  veil  of  assumed  dignity  like 
rotten  dog-wood  in  pitch-darkness;  but  let  it  touch 
his  pocket,  although  replenished  from  the  People's 
money,  and  hyena-like  growls  will  issue  in  rabid 
fury,  and  in  maniac-like  distraction,  from  his  trou- 
bled spirit.  The  jackall,  an  indigenous  animal  of 
Africa,  noted  for  his  want  of  sagacity  and  his  innate 
predatory  disposition,  it  is  said  will  yell  most  furi- 
ously to  his  fraternal  flock  at  a  distance,  whilst  he  is 
in  the  poultry  coop  of  the  farmer  committing  his 
usual  havocs,  and  thereby  rouse  to  his  own  great 
danger  the  farmer  and  the  neighborhood,  who  repair 
to  the  coop  and  relieve  the  poultry  of  their  fell  de- 
stroyer. So  it  is  with  this  West  Point  jackall,  in 
relation  to  the  public  printing."  He  ends  by  saying 
that  the  military  gentleman  has  not  learned  any 


AN  OLD-TIME  EDITORIAL  DIALOGUE        51 

branch  of  the  merchanic  arts  "and  has  therefore 
taken  to  the  trade  of  LYING". 

But  Van  Antwerp  is  inclined  to  stand  upon  his 
dignity.  He  answers  one  outburst  of  the  Standard 
by  saying, l '  of  course  our  sheet  shall  not  be  polluted 
by  replying  to  it. ' '  And  again  the  doughty  General 
remarks : 

"We  would  be  the  last  to  reproach  the  memory  of 
the  mother  who  bore  him  in  an  unlucky  hour,  with 
the  frailties  of  her  worthless  son.  Here  we  take 
leave  of  him  before  the  public  forever 

' '  It  would  be  ungenerous,  after  the  heavy  battery 
has  been  silenced,  the  guns  spiked  and  the  carriages 
broken,  to  transfix  the  trembling,  blackened  form  of 
the  inoffensive  powder-monkey.  When  the  larger 
hound  bays  still  deeper  in  the  forest  the  feeble  cur 
will  receive  very  little  attention." 

Meanwhile  other  editors  have  interjected  a  word 
or  two  into  the  dialogue  and  been  editorially  cuffed 
by  Crum  or  the  General.  The  Burlington  Gazette, 
hurrying  to  the  rescue  of  Democracy,  observes : 

"The  public  are  generally  ignorant  of  the  fact, 
that,  under  the  title  of  the  'Iowa  City  Standard,'  a 
sickly,  little  blue  sheet,  of  the  thumbpaper  size,  by 
courtesy  called  newspaper  ....  is  weekly  is- 
sued at  the  seat  of  government ;  yet  it  is  even  so. ' ' 

Then  after  commenting  on  the  insignificance  of 
the  Standard,  the  editor  falls  back  upon  the  popular 
canine  metaphor : 

"It  will  do  well  enough  on  proper  occasions  to 


52  THE  PALIMPSEST 

notice  the  federal  mastiffs ;  but  the  curs,  whose  voca- 
tion it  is  to  do  the  barking,  should  be  passed  by  with 
neglect  akin  to  that  usually  extended  to  their  canine 
prototype. ' ' 

The  "cur"  turns  aside  only  long  enough  to  utter 
this  philosophic  bark:  "The  mere  shadow  of  a  man 
who  clandestinely  presides  over  the  editorial  depart- 
ment of  the  Burlington  Gazette,  attempts  to  be  very 
severe  upon  us  for  our  notices  of  that  Bombastes 
Furioso  of  the  Eeporter.  Now,  we  consider  the  hu- 
mid vaporings  of  this,  or  any  other,  individual,  who 
so  far  descends  from  the  dignity  of  a  man  as  to  fol- 
low, puppy  like,  at  the  heels  of  Ver  Planck  Van 
Antwerp,  as  too  contemptible  to  notice". 

Upon  the  editor  of  the  Bloomington  Herald  he 
wastes  even  less  attention. 

' 1  The  editor  of  the  above  print  is  greatly  troubled 
about  the  editorials  of  the  Standard.  Get  out  of  the 
way,  man !  You  are  not  worth  the  ammunition  that 
would  kill  you  off. ' ' 

A  little  later,  however,  he  gives  voice  to  his  con- 
tempt for  the  whole  array  of  Democrats. 

1 '  Why  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  sensible,  don 't  the 
Loco-foco  papers  here  and  hereabouts,  shut  up  shop 
—  retire  —  back  out  —  or  float  down  the  Mississippi 
on  a  shingle  ? —  ....  Such  another  unmitigated 
set  of  vegetables  ....  we  imagine  could  not  be 
raked  up  in  any  other  quarter  of  the  land.  Here  is 
the  'Iowa  Capitol  Reporter' — bless  your  soul,— 
with  a  title  that  rolls  over  ones  tongue  like  the  tones 


AN  OLD-TIME  EDITORIAL  DIALOGUE        53 

of  a  big  bass  drum;  a  bloated,  empty,  echoing  thing, 
that  hasn't  been  guilty  of  propagating  an  original 
idea  for  the  last  three  months  ....  And  then 
there  is  the  'Bloomington  Herald/  a  little  fiddling 
fice-dog  affair,  to  which  the  *  Reporter  *  tosses 
parched  peas  and  pebble  stones,  to  be  flung  back  at 
us.  That  establishment  never  had  an  idea  at  all  .  . 
.  .  Next  we  have  the  ' Territorial  Gazette,'  with 
seven  editors  and  two  ideas  —  both  unavailable. 
But  the  Hawkeye  must  attend  to  that  concern. — 
Then  there  is  the  'Sun' — a  little  poverty  stricken 
affair,  'no  bigger  as  mine  thumb' — at  Davenport. 
It  was  for  a  long  time  published  on  a  half  sheet,  and 
now  it  is  a  size  less  than  that  ....  Again  we  re- 
peat, what  do  they  live  for?  Is  it  because  their 
friends  won't  be  at  the  cost  of  a  coffin?  Die,  bank- 
rupts —  die.  You  are  '  stale,  flat  and  unprofitable ' — 
worse  than  cold  corn  dodger  without  salt. ' ' 

The  duel  of  words  at  Iowa  City  becomes  constantly 
more  spirited.  The  proud  aloofness  of  the  General 
gradually  gives  way  before  the  constant  and  wasp- 
like  attacks  of  William  Crum.  Especially  does  he 
become  wrought  up  by  a  charge  that  he  rolled  about 
in  a  coach  that  should  go  to  pay  his  debts.  The  ref- 
erence to  the  debts  makes  comparatively  little  im- 
pression; but  the  coach,  that  is  a  different  matter. 
With  great  vigor  the  exponent  of  Democracy  denies 
that  he  ever  rolled  in  a  coach  except  perhaps  at  the 
invitation  of  some  friend  or  in  a  common  stage  coach. 
Likewise  the  charge  that  he  is  in  the  habit  of  wear- 


54  THE  PALIMPSEST 

ing  silk  gloves  disturbs  Mm.  He  never  wears  silk 
gloves,  he  maintains,  except  at  public  balls  or 
parties ;  and  even  these  are  knit  by  a  member  of  his 
family,  out  of  common  saddlers  silk. 

One  can  imagine  him  writhing  uncomfortably,  and 
nervously  adjusting  his  cravat  and  his  gold  spec- 
tacles as  he  reads  these  terrible  charges.  Piqued  by 
William  Crum's  constant  use  of  the  term  "My  Lord 
Pomposity"  and  other  such  nicknames,  he  retorts  by 
characterizing  the  editor  of  the  Standard  as  "Silly 
Billy "  and  "the  last  crum  of  creation ". 

Both  men  in  the  heat  of  the  controversy  lose  sight 
of  the  rules  of  grammar. 

"We  were  not  aware,"  says  Van  Antwerp,  "until 
the  last  Standard  appeared,  that  it  looked  suspicious 
for  any  one  to  visit  the  capitol  as  often  as  they  seen 
fit." 

And  Crum  bursts  forth  in  answer  to  an  item  in 
the  Reporter: 

"The  black  hearted  villain  who  composed  it  knew 
that  it  was  a  lie  when  he  done  so. ' ' 

Finally  the  stings  of  his  twenty-two  year  old  oppo- 
nent so  enrage  Ver  Planck  Van  Antwerp  that  he 
throws  dignity  to  the  winds.  The  "slang-whanging 
and  blackguard  articles  of  'The  Standard'  "  have 
made  a  demand  "of  anybody  who  may  at  this  time 
answer  for  the  editorship"  of  the  Reporter.  And  in 
elephantine  fury  he  replies  : 

"Now  we  tell  the  puppy  who  wrote  that  article 
that  he  knows,  as  every  body  else  knows  here,  who 


AN  OLD-TIME  EDITORIAL  DIALOGUE        55 

are  the  Editors  of  this  paper;  and  that  they  are 
ready  at  all  times  to  answer  any  l demand'  (?)  that 
he  or  his  fellows  may  think  proper  to  make  of  them 
....  But  how  is  it  with  regard  to  the  vagabond 
concern  that  thus  alludes  to  them?  Who  is  the 
author  of  the  mass  of  putridity,  and  villainous  scur- 
rility, that  is  weekly  thrown  before  the  public 
through  the  columns  of  that  blackguard  sheet? 

' t  That  it  is  not  its  nominal  proprietor,  the  gawkey 
boy  Crum,  who  is  a  pitiful  tool  in  the  hands  of  others, 
and  incapable  of  framing  together  correctly  three 
consecutive  sentences,  is  of  course  notorious  to  every 
body  here ;  as  is  the  additional  fact  that  it  does  not 
proceed  from  the  other  milk-and-water  creature 
recently  imported  into  the  concern  .  .  .  ." 

And  he  charges  wildly  along,  in  his  wrath  stum- 
bling into  language  that  is  not  here  printable. 

But  it  is  the.  General's  swan  song.  About  a  month 
later  his  name  disappears  from  the  head  of  the  sheet. 
Now  and  again  in  the  history  of  early  Iowa  we  see 
his  form  stalking  through  other  roles,  but  his  duel 
with  "  Silly  Billy "  Crum  is  over. 

That  young  man  remains,  triumphant,  but  per- 
haps, too,  a  little  disconcerted  at  the  removal  of  his 
friend  the  enemy,  for  not  again  will  he  find  a  foe  who 
will  make  so  admirable  a  target  for  his  jests,  his 
epithets,  and  his  satire.  Pen  in  hand  he  moves  o1? 
stage  to  the  right  seeking  whom  he  may  attack. 

CURTAIN 

JOHN  C.  PARISH 


Three  Men  and  a  Press 

On  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi  where  Julien 
Dubuque,  lead  miner  of  the  "  Mines  of  Spain ",  had 
lived  and  died  there  grew  up  about  1830  a  settlement 
known  as  the  Dubuque  Lead  Mines.  In  the  midst  of 
miners'  cabins  and  saloons  appeared  stores  and 
churches,  and  finally  one  enterprising  citizen  de- 
cided that  the  town  needed  a  newspaper. 

So  this  man,  John  King,  went  back  to  Ohio,  whence 
he  had  come,  and  bought  a  printing  press.  And  he 
hired  two  assistants.  One  was  William  Gary  Jones, 
a  Whig,  who  was  to  help  him  edit  the  paper.  The 
other  was  Andrew  Keesecker,  a  typesetter  and  a 
Democrat. 

The  three  men  and  the  press  mobilized  in  a  two- 
story  log-house,  and  on  May  11, 1836,  they  issued  the 
first  newspaper  in  what  is  now  Iowa.  It  bore  the 
name  of  The  Dubuqne  Visitor  and  carried  the  head- 
ing "Dubuque  Lead  Mines,  Wisconsin  Territory ", 
-which  announcement  was  more  progressive  than 
truthful  for  Wisconsin  Territory  had  not  yet  been 
born.  The  little  settlement  was  still  a  part  of  the 
Territory  of  Michigan,  although  a  bill  to  create  the 
Territory  of  Wisconsin  was  before  Congress  when 
the  sheet  appeared. 

History,  however,  soon  vindicated  their  prophecy 
and  the  heading  stood.  Being  the  only  paper  in  the 

56 


THREE  MEN  AND  A  PRESS  57 

region  it  served  all  factions.  King  himself  was  a 
Democrat,  while  both  parties  were  represented  by 
his  assistants.  In  the  columns  of  the  Visitor  ap- 
peared the  announcements  of  rival  candidates  for 
office,  long-winded  and  labored.  "A  Voter"  and  "A 
Candidate "  took  opposite  stands  on  the  question  of 
holding  a  nominating  convention.  "  Incognito  "  and 
"Curtius"  and  " Hawk-Eye"  and  other  less  modest 
contributors  ran  the  gamut  of  newspaper  eulogy 
and  denunciation.  Altogether  this  four  page  sheet 
was  a  unique  and  interesting  organ  and  a  worthy 
pioneer  in  the  field  of  newspaperdom.  In  1837  the 
name  was  changed  to  the  Iowa  News  and  it  became 
a  Democratic  journal.  Later  it  was  succeeded  by 
the  Miners'  Express,  whose  lineal  descendant  is  the 
Dubuque  Telegraph-Herald. 

But  let  us  follow  a  little  further  the  fortunes  of 
the  three  men  and  their  faithful  servant,  the  press. 
John  King  remained  in  Dubuque,  a  newspaper  man, 
a  judge,  and  later  a  retired  and  prosperous  burger. 

William  Gary  Jones,  who  had  been  hired  by  King 
at  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  "with  suitable 
board  and  lodging  during  one  year",  passed  on  to 
other  fields.  He  edited  and  published  a  paper  in 
New  Orleans,  and  later  practiced  law  in  San  Fran- 
cisco. He  served  in  the  Civil  War  as  a  captain  in 
the  Union  Army  and  was  captured  and  held  in 
prison  for  some  time  at  Selma,  Alabama.  He  and 
his  fellow  prisoners,  not  content  with  the  Selma  Re- 
porter, which  was  smuggled  in  to  them  nearly  every 


58  THE  PALIMPSEST 

day  by  a  friendly  cook's  assistant,  decided  to  edit  a 
paper  of  their  own,  which  they  printed  by  hand  upon 
the  walls  of  one  of  the  rooms.  Jones  was  the  editor 
and  he  was  assisted  by  talented  artists  among  his 
fellow  officers.  The  paper  had  an  elaborate  vignette, 
composed  of  a  Southerner,  a  slave,  King  Cotton, 
and  numerous  reptiles.  Each  number  had  an  illus- 
tration, articles,  and  advertisements,  all  of  which 
furnished  much  amusement  to  men  who  were  pun- 
ished more  by  ennui  than  by  their  captors. 

Andrew  Keesecker,  like  his  patron  John  King,  re- 
mained in  Dubuque.  He  served  on  various  news- 
papers, setting  type  for  over  a  third  of  a  century. 
He  was  one  of  those  rare  individuals  who  could  com- 
pose an  editorial  as  he  set  it  up  in  type,  without 
reducing  it  to  manuscript;  and  he  acquired  a  great 
reputation  as  a  rapid  typesetter.  Once  he  engaged 
in  a  typesetting  contest  with  A.  P.  Wood,  another 
Dubuque  printer  and  publisher. 

With  a  printer's  devil  as  umpire  they  began  at  a 
signal  to  set  up  the  words  of  the  Lord's  Prayer. 
Keesecker  finished  first  and  according  to  arrange- 
ments, started  to  announce  his  success  by  calling  out 
the  last  word.  Unfortunately  he  had  a  curious  habit 
of  stuttering  which  seemed  to  increase  under  excite- 
ment. So  while  he  was  vainly  endeavoring  to  bring 
out  the  triumphant  word,  Wood  also  finished  and 
cut  into  his  stumbling  efforts  with  an  incisive 
"Amen";  whereupon  Keesecker,  recovering  his 
voice,  insisted  that  he  had  been  trying  to  say  that 


THREE  MEN  AND  A  PRESS  59 

word  for  half  an  hour.  The  perplexed  referee  finally 
gave  the  award  to  Kee  seeker. 

There  remains  the  story  of  the  press  itself.  It  was 
a  Washington  hand  press,  made  in  Cincinnati  by 
Charles  Mallet.  For  about  six  years  it  did  yeoman 
service  in  Dubuque.  Then  it  was  removed  to  Lan- 
caster in  western  Wisconsin  where  H.  A.  Wiltse  used 
it  in  printing  the  Grant  County  Herald.  A  few  years 
later,  J.  N.  Goodhue  determined  to  print  the  first 
newspaper  in  Minnesota,  and  he  bought  the  press, 
carried  it  by  ox  team  up  the  Mississippi  on  the  ice  to 
St.  Paul  and  used  it  to  print  the  Minnesota  Pioneer. 

From  this  point  on,  the  press  seems  to  have  had  a 
dual  personality.  In  two  different  States  its  re- 
mains are  reverently  guarded,  and  two  State  His- 
torical Societies  cling  firmly,  each  to  its  own  story 
of  the  later  career  of  the  old  iron  pioneer. 

In  accordance  with  one  story  the  press  had  in  its 
varied  life  acquired  a  wanderlust  and  leaving  the 
haunts  of  comparative  civilization  it  went  westward 
in  1858,  by  ox  team  again,  across  the  prairies  and 
through  the  woods  to  the  settlement  at  Sioux  Falls 
on  the  Big  Sioux  Eiver  where  it  printed  the  Dakota 
Democrat,  the  first  newspaper  in  Dakota.  But  its 
end  came  in  1862.  In  that  year  the  Sioux  Indians 
were  on  the  war  path.  They  raided  and  burned  the 
town,  and  the  deserted  old  press,  warped  and  twisted 
by  the  fire,  found  its  career  of  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ended  in  a  typically  pioneer  fashion.  And  to-day  in 
the  Masonic  Museum  at  Sioux  Falls  can  be  seen  the 


60  THE  PALIMPSEST 

remnants  of  an  old  hand  press  that  Dakotans  point 
to  with  pride  as  the  one  which  printed  the  first  news- 
paper in  three  different  Commonwealths. 

But  the  Minnesota  Historical  Society  maintains 
that  the  press  which  migrated  to  South  Dakota  was 
an  altogether  different  press  from  the  one  which 
printed  the  Dubuque  Visitor  and  the  Minnesota 
Pioneer,  and  that  John  King's  old  iron  servant 
remained  to  the  end  of  its  days  in  Minnesota.  Ac- 
cording to  this  version,  when  the  Pioneer  became  a 
daily,  the  hand  press  was  supplanted  by  a  power 
press ;  and  it  moved,  in  1855,  from  St.  Paul  to  Sauk 
Eapids,  Minnesota,  where  it  produced  the  Sauk  Rap- 
ids Frontiersman,  and  later  the  New  Era.  In  after 
years  it  printed  the  St.  Cloud  Union,  the  Sauk  Cen- 
ter Herald,  and  various  other  papers  of  central 
Minnesota.  From  1897  to  1899  it  served  the  pub- 
lishers of  a  Swedish  paper  at  Lindstrom,  Minnesota. 
Finally,  in  1905  the  old  press  was  purchased  by  the 
Pioneer  Press  Company  and  presented  to  the  Minne- 
sota Historical  Society,  where  it  can  be  seen  by  those 
who  love  historic  antiques. 

Whichever  may  be  the  correct  version  of  the  later 
years  of  this  veteran  press,  its  career  is  a  notable 
one ;  and  the  fact  remains  undisputed  that  the  jour- 
nalism of  at  least  two  different  States,  Iowa  and 
Minnesota,  began  with  the  movement  of  the  lever  of 
the  old  hand  press  that  John  King  brought  out  from 
Ohio  in  1836  to  the  lead  mines  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  Mississippi.  JOHN  C.  PAEISH. 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

UNCONSCIOUS  HISTORIANS 

Blessed  is  the  man  who  writes  history  uncon- 
sciously—  who  has  other  occupations  and  other 
purposes  in  life,  yet  leaves  without  realizing  it  a 
record  often  more  illuminating,  because  more  direct, 
than  that  of  the  formal  historian. 

To  a  large  extent  the  newspaper  man  falls  in  this 
class.  His  mind  is  preoccupied  with  the  present. 
Day  before  yesterday  is  out  of  his  realm  —  so  is  the 
day  after  tomorrow.  It  is  for  his  evening  sub- 
scribers that  he  writes  his  editorials,  recounts  his 
news,  and  sets  forth  his  advertisements ;  but  the  his- 
torian a  half  century  later  rejoices  as  he  reads  in 
the  old  sheets  the  political  spirit  of  the  time,  the 
fresh  account  of  current  events,  and  the  intimate 
presentation  of  the  food  and  clothing  and  accesso- 
ries of  life  of  his  grandfather. 

Most  pamphleteers  and  many  propagandists  and 
some  diarists  are  unconscious  historians.  In  letters 
preserved  in  attics,  in  old  photographs  and  views  of 
buildings  and  towns,  in  railroad  time-tables  and  in 
maps  and  advertising  literature  we  find  history  un- 
consciously and  invaluably  recorded. 

AN  OLD  ATLAS 

The  other  day  we  came  across  an  old  atlas  of 
Iowa,  published  in  1875.  We  remember  the  book 

61 


62  THE  PALIMPSEST 

from  our  boyhood  days  when  we  used  to  pore  over 
it  by  the  hour.  Dog-eared  was  the  leaf  where  spread 
the  map  of  the  old  home  county,  with  every  creek 
and  patch  of  wood  and  swamp,  and  every  jog  in  the 
road  clearly  shown.  All  the  farm  houses  were  indi- 
cated by  tiny  rectangles  with  the  name  of  the  farmer 
alongside.  Here  and  there  were  microscopic  draw- 
ings of  schoolhouses  and  churches;  and  mills  and 
blacksmith  shops  and  cemeteries  each  had  their  sym- 
bols until  the  whole  page  was  luminous  with  land- 
marks. These  maps  were  meant  for  contemporary 
use,  not  for  the  historian  of  years  to  come.  Yet  how 
graphic  is  this  record  of  the  countryside  in  1875. 

And  how  we  fed  our  eyes  upon  the  pictures  with 
which  these  pages  of  maps  were  interlarded.  Here 
the  artist  and  lithographer  had  nobly  portrayed 
Iowa.  We  found  the  residences  of  the  leading  citi- 
zens of  our  town  —  and  of  other  towns.  There  were 
pictures  without  end  of  farm  residences  in  every 
county  in  the  State.  Everywhere  trim  wooden 
fences  enclosed  those  gabled  houses  of  half  a  century 
ago,  and  almost  everywhere  the  lightning-rod  sales- 
man had  made  his  visit. 

Then  there  were  the  pages  that  showed  forth  the 
State  institutions.  The  three  modest  buildings  of 
the  State  University  of  Iowa  were  far  outshone  by 
the  magnificent  facades  of  the  insane  asylums. 
Happily  in  the  intervening  years  the  State  has  come 
to  realize  that  it  pays  to  put  better  stuff  in  the 
making  of  a  citizen  and  so  save  on  repair  work. 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  63 

The  book  was  listed  as  an  historical  atlas  because 
of  the  pages  of  formal  history  in  the  back.  But  this 
material  is  easily  found  in  other  places.  The  his- 
torical data  of  prime  importance  was  that  which  the 
atlas  makers  presented  with  no  idea  of  recording 
history  —  the  detailed  maps  of  the  counties  in  1875, 
and  the  pictures  of  the  homes  and  business  houses 
and  public  institutions  of  a  day  that  is  gone. 

IDEALS  OF  1875 

To  be  sure,  one  must  make  allowance  for  certain 
distortions  due  to  State  and  community  pride.  For 
example,  in  the  pictures  of  Iowa  farms  there  were 
pigs,  large  and  round,  who  did  not  wallow  or  lie 
asleep  in  the  mud,  but  stalked  about  in  stately  and 
dignified  fashion  or  gazed  reflectively  at  the  gigantic 
cows,  who,  disdaining  the  grass,  stood  at  attention 
in  the  foreground.  The  horses  were  of  the  prancing 
variety  with  upraised  hoof  and  everflowing  mane 
and  tail.  They  drew  brand  new  wagons  up  the  road, 
or  buggies  in  which  rode  be-parasolled  and  curiously 
dressed  ladies. 

I  used  to  wonder  why  cattle  and  horses  and  hogs 
were  always  drawn  with  their  fat  profiles  toward 
the  front  of  the  picture  —  as  if  a  strong  wind  had 
blown  straight  across  the  page  lining  them  up  like 
weather  vanes.  Now  I  know  that  the  glorified  live 
stock  was  an  expression  of  Iowa  ideals  in  1875  — 
and  that  fact  in  itself  is  of  historic  importance. 

J.  C.  P. 


I 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED   BY  JOHN   C.   PARISH 
ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  I  ISSUED  IN  SEPTEMBER  192O  No.  3 

COPYRIGHT  1920   BY  THE  STATE   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 


A  Romance  of  the  Forties 

It  was  Sunday,  and  most  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
little  Iowa  village  of  Quasqueton  were  assembled  at 
the  town  boarding  house  for  their  regular  exchange 
of  gossip  and  stories.  On  this  particular  occasion 
the  ordinary  town  talk  was  probably  superseded  by 
a  more  absorbing  topic,  namely,  the  unsuccessful  elk 
hunt  of  the  day  before.  Again  and  again  in  the  past 
weeks  a  lone  elk  had  been  chased  in  vain  by  the 
hunters  of  Buchanan  County.  Many  and  varied 
were  the  theories  devised  by  these  pioneer  Nimrods 
to  explain  the  failure,  one  being  that  the  elusive  elk 
was  only  a  phantom  of  its  departed  race  and  kind. 

Breaking  abruptly  into  the  midst  of  their  discus- 
sion, rode  a  man  and  a  girl,  both  on  spirited  black 
horses ;  and  the  attention  of  the  group  shifted  imme- 
diately to  these  newcomers.  The  man  was  a  com- 
manding figure,  tall  and  well  built.  He  had  about 
him  an  air  which  strongly  impressed  one  with  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  person  not  to  be  trifled  with — 

65 


66  THE  PALIMPSEST 

yet  the  sprinkling  of  gray  in  his  black  hair  lent  dig- 
nity and  charm  to  his  appearance.  The  girl,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  as  striking  in  point  of  loveliness  as 
her  companion  was  in  general  appearance  and  bear- 
ing. She  was  fair  in  feature,  graceful  and  bewitch- 
ing in  manners,  attractive  in  form  and  speech.  With 
the  advent  of  this  unusual  couple  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  everyone  speedily  lost  interest  in  the  elk  hunt. 

Upon  being  asked  the  customary  pioneer  question 
—  whence  he  came  and  where  he  proposed  to  go  - 
he  made  the  startling  declaration  that  he  was  Bill 
Johnson,  the  far-famed  Canadian  patriot  of  the 
Thousand  Isles  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River.  A  gasp 
of  wonder  followed  this  remarkable  revelation,  for 
in  the  early  forties  the  daring  exploits  of  the  re- 
nowned Canadian  were  fresh  in  the  minds  of  all 
frontiersmen.  But  a  few  years  had  elapsed  since 
the  so-called  "  Patriot  War  of  1838 ",  which  was  a 
revolt  of  certain  Canadians  against  the  administra- 
tion of  Sir  Francis  Bond  Head,  then  Governor- 
General  of  Canada.  And  by  far  the  most  conspicuous 
figure  in  the  revolt  was  Bill  Johnson,  whose  adven- 
tures, deeds,  and  escapades  in  the  region  of  the 
Thousand  Isles  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  where  he  had 
been  compelled  to  flee  from  justice,  would  fill  a  vol- 
ume. So  it  is  little  to  be  wondered  at  that  this 
abrupt,  unexpected  appearance  of  the  notorious 
rebel  should  have  affected  the  villagers  as  it  did. 

Before  they  had  time  to  recover  from  their  sur- 
prise, he  plunged  into  his  tale.    He  told  how  he  had 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  FORTIES  67 

long  been  a  terror  to  the  British  Dominion,  how  he 
and  his  family  had  lived  on  and  indeed  owned  many 
of  the  islands  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  how  he  had 
been  forced  to  flee  from  place  to  place  to  escape  the 
British.  He  concluded  by  saying  that  since  his 
daughter  and  he  were  now  the  only  living  members 
of  his  family,  and  having  tired  of  the  dangerous 
fugitive  life  on  the  islands,  they  had  decided  to  leave 
Canada  and  settle  down  in  Iowa.  Interest  changed 
to  wonder,  and  wonder  to  awe,  as  he  fluently  recited 
his  tale  of  daring  adventures  and  hair-breadth 
escapes ;  and  by  the  time  he  had  finished,  admiration 
was  written  on  the  faces  of  all. 

Johnson  purchased  a  farm  within  two  miles  of 
Quasqueton ;  and  for  some  time  the  social  life  of  the 
community  centered  about  him  and  his  daughter. 
While  he  probably  came  and  went  in  every  day  life 
like  the  other  pioneers,  one  can  easily  imagine  the 
effect  he  had  on  his  neighbors :  how  the  story  of  his 
arrival  spread  from  cabin  to  cabin;  how  the  loud 
talk  in  the  village  grocery  store  toned  down  to  a 
subdued  whispering  behind  his  back  when  he  stepped 
up  to  the  counter  to  buy,  only  to  break  out  again 
stronger  than  ever  the  moment  he  left;  and  how  lie 
was  followed  by  admiring  glances  and  busy  tongues 
wherever  he  went.  It  is  even  possible  that  the  chil- 
dren in  their  daily  games  played  at  the  daring  ex- 
ploits of  the  heroic  figure. 

It  came  as  a  rude  shock  to  many  in  the  surround- 
ing community,  therefore,  when  they  learned  that 


68  THE  PALIMPSEST 

their  prominent  neighbors  had  been  made  the  vic- 
tims of  an  unspeakably  cruel  outrage.  According  to 
Johnson's  version,  a  party  made  up  of  about  eight 
white  men  and  a  band  of  Indians,  entered  his  house 
on  a  wintry  night,  dragged  him  from  his  bed  out 
into  the  bitter  cold,  tied  him  to  a  tree  and  gave  him 
some  fifty  lashes  on  the  bare  back.  Then  they  or- 
dered him  and  his  daughter  to  pack  up  their  belong- 
ings and  leave  the  county  within  two  hours.  Since 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  obey,  into  the  bleak 
night  they  went,  with  twenty-five  miles  of  windswept 
prairie  between  them  and  refuge.  It  was  cold,  so 
cruelly  cold  that  one  of  the  rioters  is  said  to  have 
frozen  to  death,  another  froze  his  feet,  while  many 
others  of  the  party  were  frost  bitten  before  they 
reached  their  homes.  To  Johnson,  when  he  learned 
this,  it  must  have  seemed  that  poetic  justice  had 
overtaken  his  persecutors  who  had  driven  him  from 
his  home  into  the  cold  with  an  unmerciful  beating. 
In  Dubuque,  Johnson  commenced  proceedings 
against  the  rioters.  The  trial  proved  to  be  a  lode- 
stone,  for  hundreds  of  spectators  crowded  into  the 
court  room,  no  doubt  as  much  to  view  the  famous 
Canadians  as  to  see  justice  done.  Nor  is  it  to  be 
overlooked  that  the  charms  of  Kate  proved  irre- 
sistible —  she  captivated  the  court  from  the  judge 
to  the  janitor.  So  enamoured  with  her  beauty  and 
charm  was  the  judge  that  he  is  said  to  have  forgot- 
ten the  dignity  of  his  position  in  that  he  left  his 
elevated  station  and  escorted  her  to  the  door.  And 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  FORTIES  69 

we  are  told  that  "The  cohort  of  loungers  mounted 
the  tables  and  benches,  the  bald  headed  jurors  and 
the  phalanx  of  attorneys  stood  with  amazed  counte- 
nance and  open  mouths  at  the  unprecedented  pro- 
ceedings. ' ' 

The  trial  went  hard"  against  the  offenders.  Four 
of  them  —  Spencer,  Evans,  Parrish,  and  Eawley  — 
were  convicted,  one  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary 
for  two  years,  and  the  others  fined  two  hundred  dol- 
lars each.  Stern  justice  must  be  meted  out  to  those 
who  dared  encroach  upon  the  rights  of  law-abiding- 
people  taking  up  residence  in  Iowa. 

One  of  the  absurd  sequels  of  this  trial  was  the 
effect  on  the  young  men.  Although  everyone  at  the 
trial,  including  the  judge,  was  completely  bewitched 
by  the  lovely  Kate,  it  was  the  young  bloods,  and 
especially  the  editorial  gallants  who  were  most 
sorely  smitten.  After  the  trial  they  vied  with  one 
another  in  showering  compliments  and  sweet  flat- 
tery upon  her  through  the  editorial  columns. 
Andrew  Keesecker  of  the  Dubuque  Miner's  Express. 
carried  away  in  his  ecstasy,  wrote  a  rhapsody  in 
which  she  was  pictured  as  having  i  l  heavenly  charms, 
deep  blue  eyes,  matchless  grace,  piercing  glances, 
queen-like  dignity,  soul-subduing  countenance  ".  As 
a  result,  he  was  made  the  laughing  stock  of  the  whole 
press  of  the  West,  a  fact  he  deeply  resented.  The 
ridicule  of  John  B.  Russell,  editor  of  the  Blooming- 
ton  Herald,  he  must  have  regarded  as  a  personal 
affront,  for  he  came  very  near  fighting  a  duel  with 


70  THE  PALIMPSEST 

him  over  it.  Apparently  what  prevented  these  pio- 
neer knights  from  entering  the  lists  for  a  deadly  tilt 
over  the  fair  lady  was  disagreement  as  to  place  of 
meeting. 

From  Dubuque,  Johnson  and  Kate  went  into  Ma- 
haska  County,  settling  near  the  Skunk  River.  There 
a  new  turn  of  affairs  took  place  in  their  ever  event- 
ful lives.  Heretofore  the  famous  Canadian  had  not 
been  bothered  much  by  the  love-stricken  admirers  of 
his  fair  daughter,  for  they  had  been  content  to  gaze 
and  admire  from  a  distance.  But  now  a  new  prob- 
lem confronted  him  when  a  man  actually  dared  to 
make  love  openly  to  Kate. 

Job  Peck  was  the  long  reputed  rowdy  and  terror 
of  the  Skunk  Eiver  country.  One  day  when  he  was 
hunting  deer,  he  saw  smoke  curling  up  from  the 
chimney  of  a  recently  vacant  cabin.  Curious  to 
learn  who  its  new  occupants  were,  he  proceeded  to 
reconnoitre,  and  when  his  eyes  fell  upon  Kate  —  the 
Cleopatra  of  the  Iowa  frontier  —  it  is  reported  that 
he  immediately  shed  his  desperado  characteristics. 
One  can  almost  picture  his  desperate  efforts  to  live 
down  his  doubtful  reputation,  break  from  his  swag- 
gering habits,  and  make  a  favorable  impression  on 
the  "new  girl".  And  hereafter,  he  made  frequent 
wanderings  to  the  little  cabin  in  the  timber ;  his  deer 
in  the  chase  seemed  always  to  lead  him  to  that  local- 
ity. But  even  though  Kate  seemed  disposed  to 
return  his  affections,  the  old  man  would  have  none 
of  their  foolishness.  And  one  day,  rifle  in  hand,  he 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  FORTIES  71 

ordered  young  Peck  off  his  premises,  threatening 
him  dire  vengeance  if  he  ever  prowled  about  the 
place  again. 

These  threats  probably  kept  the  love-smitten  Peck 
well  out  of  the  range  of  Johnson's  rifle  in  the  day 
time,  but  evidently  did  not  cause  him  to  abandon  the 
dictates  of  his  heart.  For  one  evening  when  John- 
son was  away,  Peck  eloped  with  Kate  to  Benjamin 
McClary's  place  in  Jefferson  County,  where  they 
were  married.  When  the  father  came  home  and 
learned  what  had  happened,  he  followed  in  hot  pur- 
suit and  arrived  at  McClary's  cabin  just  after  the 
young  couple  had  gone  to  bed. 

With  drawn  pistol  he  entered  the  cabin  and 
climbed  up  into  the  loft  where  they  had  retired  for 
the  night.  At  the  point  of  his  gun  he  forced  his 
daughter  to  get  up  and  dress  and  descend  the  ladder. 
Then  he  followed,  put  her  on  a  horse  and  rode  away 
with  her.  Peck,  meanwhile,  suffered  the  humiliation 
unresisting.  It  was  hopeless  to  remonstrate  or 
argue  with  an  armed  man.  And  was  not  this  the 
fearless  rebel  who  had  struck  terror  into  the  hearts 
of  many  a  Britisher  in  the  Thousand  Isles? 

Several  days  passed.  Then  came  a  wild  dismal 
night  with  the  wolves  howling  a  blood  curdling  cho- 
rus in  the  timber  near  Johnson's  cabin.  The  Cana- 
dian himself  sat  on  a  rude  stool  before  a  log  fire, 
puffing  away  at  a  corn  cob  pipe.  There  was  a  flash  of 
light,  a  sharp  report,  and  he  fell  to  the  floor  shot 
through  the  heart.  Suspicion  pointed  toward  young 


72  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Peck,  and  he  was  arrested  and  held  for  the  murder  in 
a  Washington  County  jail.  But  though  it  was  gener- 
ally conceded  that  he  was  guilty  of  the  crime,  in  the 
trial  he  was  acquitted. 

Eecently  there  had  come  unexpected  developments. 
For  some  time  Bill  Johnson  and  his  bewitching 
daughter  had  given  new  zest  and  color  to  the  ordi- 
narily hard  life  of  the  pioneers  of  Iowa.  Unthought 
of  events  had  followed  each  other  in  such  rapid  suc- 
cession that  the  people  hardly  knew  what  to  look  for 
next.  Then  came  the  news  out  of  the  East  that  the 
man  who  had  passed  himself  as  Bill  Johnson  the 
Canadian  patriot  was  not  that  noted  character,  but 
rather  was  the  degenerate  son  of  a  worthy  Welsh 
Canadian  —  that  he  was  a  criminal  and  an  impostor, 
and  a  man  of  low  repute.  The  real  patriot  Johnson, 
it  was  learned,  was  held  in  high  esteem,  even  by  his 
enemies.  Then  it  was  learned  that  in  the  Dubuque 
trial,  Johnson  and  Kate  had  perjured  themselves; 
and  upon  this  discovery,  the  Governor  remitted  the 
penalties  laid  upon  the  assailants  in  the  winter  night 
attack.  These  men  set  out  to  arrest  Kate  for  having 
committed  perjury ;  but  she  was  aided  by  those  who 
were  still  subject  to  her  charms,  and  made  her 
escape. 

That  the  person  whom  they  had  accepted  and  en- 
tertained so  royally  should  turn  out  to  be  an  impos- 
tor was  a  fact  bitterly  hard  for  the  lowans  to  accept. 
But  the  evidence  was  not  to  be  doubted.  The  first 
clear  intimation  that  the  Bill  Johnson  dwelling 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  FORTIES  73 

among  them  was  not  the  Canadian  patriot  came  in 
the  form  of  a  statement  in  a  New  York  newspaper, 
denying  that  the  Johnson  of  Canadian  memory  had 
been  lynched  in  Buchanan  County,  for  he  was  at  that 
time  residing  in  New  York  State,  and  was  in  good 
health.  Shortly  afterward  a  letter  followed,  from  a 
number  of  inhabitants  of  Greenville,  Maine,  which 
revealed  the  facts  that  Iowa's  hero  had  at  one  time 
resided  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Canadian  patriot  and 
learned  all  about  him;  that  while  in  Maine  he  had 
variously  passed  as  Killey,  Willis,  and  Salone,  and 
had  been  engaged  for  the  most  part  in  swindling 
schemes.  And  finally,  an  lowan,  A.  C.  Fulton,  while 
in  Canada,  looked  up  the  record  of  the  individual 
who  had  claimed  to  be  the  hero  of  the  Thousand 
Isles,  and  found  that  he  was  an  impostor  and  would 
have  been  welcomed  back  by  the  Canadian  authori- 
ties with  open  arms  and  a  rope  halter.  So  the  people 
in  Clayton,  Buchanan,  Dubuque,  and  Mahaska  coun- 
ties had  to  swallow  their  disappointment  and  admit 
that  a  rogue  had  hoodwinked  them. 

There  are  several  versions  of  the  later  career  of 
Kate  and  Peck,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  which  is  cor- 
rect. But  there  is  one  of  them  —  and  it  sounds  as 
plausible  as  any  —  that  brings  the  romance  to  a  nat- 
ural and  happy  ending.  However,  there  were  long 
and  unhappy  days  for  Peck  during  his  imprison- 
ment, and  for  several  months  following  his  release, 
when  he  knew  nothing  of  his  wife's  whereabouts. 
No  doubt  his  darkest  hour  came  when  he  searched  in 


74  THE  PALIMPSEST 

vain  for  a  trace  of  Kate,  trying  bravely  to  fight  off 
the  fear  that  perhaps  she  was  lost  to  him  forever. 
Finally  he  learned  that  from  Iowa  she  had  fled  to 
Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania ;  whereupon  he  set  out  for 
the  East.  At  his  journey's  end  he  found  Kate  living 
with  refined,  cultured  people,  in  whose  home  she  de- 
lighted him  with  a  display  of  her  accomplishments 
upon  the  piano.  From  Pittsburgh,  the  happy  couple 
moved  back  to  Iowa,  settling  at  a  point  near  Oska- 
loosa,  where  they  lived  several  years;  later  they 
moved  still  further  west.  In  California  they  lived 
happily  together  until  Peck's  death.  And  the  last 
heard  of  the  one  time  vampire  of  the  Iowa  frontier 
was  that  she  was  again  married  and  to  a  devoted 
husband. 

WILLIAM  S.  JOHNSON 


Benjamin  Stone  Roberts 

One  day  in  the  summer  of  1835  a  buzz  of  excite- 
ment broke  the  monotony  at  Fort  Des  Moines:  a 
strange  officer  had  arrived  at  this  frontier  post  on 
the  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi  River.  The 
newcomer  was  Benjamin  Stone  Roberts  who  had 
been  graduated  from  West  Point  on  the  first  day  of 
the  previous  July,  brevetted  second  lieutenant,  and 
assigned  to  duty  with  the  First  Dragoons.  A  strange 
face  was  an  unusual  sight  in  this  out-of-the-way 
cantonment,  and  the  soldiers  watched  the  young 
lieutenant  curiously  as  he  entered  the  log  cabin 
which  served  as  the  headquarters  of  Colonel  Stephen 
Watts  Kearny,  the  commanding  officer  of  the  post. 

At  this  time  Lieutenant  Roberts  was  about  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  had  never 
before  been  farther  west  than  New  York,  for  he  had 
been  born  in  Vermont  and  educated  at  West  Point. 
Feeling  that  he  must  do  credit  to  his  military  train- 
ing he  had  dressed  himself  in  the  full  regimentals  of 
his  rank  —  dark  blue  double-breasted  coat  with  many 
gilt  buttons,  bluish  gray  trousers  trimmed  in  yellow, 
elaborate  cap,  epaulettes,  gold  lace,  orange  colored 
sash,  and  cavalry  sabre.  But  Colonel  Kearny,  the 
veteran  frontier  fighter,  refused  to  be  dazzled  by  the 
brilliant  raiment  of  his  subordinate.  After  careful 
inspection  he  decided  that  the  hair  and  beard  of  the 

75 


76  THE  PALIMPSEST 

man  before  him  did  not  conform  to  army  regulations 
and  he  gruffly  ordered  the  young  officer  to  get  a 
shave  and  a  hair  cut. 

The  next  lesson  in  the  school  of  frontier  army  life 
was  a  problem  in  construction.  Lieutenant  Roberts, 
with  a  detail  of  men,  was  sent  to  build  a  log  cabin. 
Cabin  construction  had  not  been  covered  in  the  West 
Point  curriculum,  but  the  men  were  experienced  in 
such  work  and  the  walls  of  the  cabin  were  soon 
raised.  At  this  point  the  officer  discovered  that  no 
openings  had  been  made  for  windows  and  doors; 
and  considering  this  an  irreparable  mistake,  he 
ordered  the  men  to  tear  down  the  partially  completed 
cabin  and  cut  out  the  necessary  openings. 

In  vain  the  soldiers  pointed  out  to  their  inexperi- 
enced but  theoretically  infallible  superior  that  log 
cabins  were  always  built  thus,  with  notches  in  the 
logs  where  the  openings  were  to  be  made  later  by 
means  of  a  crosscut  saw.  An  officer  must  be  obeyed ; 
and  it  was  only  after  a  part  of  the  log  structure  had 
been  torn  down  that  Captain  Jesse  B.  Brown  hap- 
pened to  pass  that  way,  inquired  the  cause  of  the 
demolition,  and  ordered  the  construction  continued 
—  much  to  the  disgust  of  the  lieutenant  and  no 
doubt  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  soldier  work- 
men. 

Lieutenant  Roberts  was  really  a  good  soldier,  and 
experience  soon  made  him  an  efficient  officer.  He 
received  his  permanent  commission  as  second  lieu- 
tenant on  May  31,  1836,  and  was  made  first  lieuten- 


BENJAMIN  STONE  ROBERTS       77 

ant  on  July  31, 1837.  During  at  least  a  part  of  1836 
he  served  as  post  adjutant  at  Fort  Des  Moines,  but 
in  some  way  he  became  involved  in  financial  difficul- 
ties —  due,  it  is  said,  to  the  depreciation  of  paper 
money  entrusted  to  him  by  the  government.  As  a 
result  of  this  embarrassment  he  resigned  his  com- 
mission on  January  28,  1839. 

Civil  life,  however,  did  not  prove  dull  and  prosaic 
to  the  young  man  for  soon  after  he  left  the  military 
service  he  was  appointed  chief  engineer  of  the 
Ogdensburg  and  Champlain  Railroad  by  the  Gov- 
ernor of  New  York,  and  in  1840  he  became  assistant 
geologist  of  that  State.  Next  the  young  West 
Pointer  turned  his  attention  to  the  study  of  law,  but 
before  he  had  completed  his  preparation  for  admis- 
sion to  the  bar  adventure  once  more  called  him ;  and 
in  1842  he  went  to  Russia,  having  been  assured  by 
the  Russian  Minister  that  his  services  would  be  ac- 
cepted in  the  railroad  construction  work  then  under 
way  in  that  country.  When  Mr.  Roberts  arrived  in 
Russia,  however,  he  found  that  an  oath  of  allegiance 
was  required  from  all  foreigners  employed  in  such 
service,  and  considering  that  to  become  a  subject  of 
the  Tsar  was  too  great  a  price  to  pay  for  employ- 
ment, he  refused  the  terms  and  returned  home  in 
February,  1843. 

Having  finally  completed  his  studies  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1843,  the  former  lieutenant  of  Fort  Des 
Moines  began  the  practice  of  law  at  Fort  Madison  in 
Lee  County,  not  far  from  the  site  of  the  old  fo'rt. 


78  THE  PALIMPSEST 

In  addition  to  his  duties  as  a  lawyer  Roberts  was 
also  justice  of  the  peace.  Here,  too,  he  maintained 
his  reputation  for  originality.  It  is  said  that  on  one 
occasion,  when  he  desired  to  transfer  a  lot  to  a  pur- 
chaser, he  made  out  the  deed,  signed  it,  secured  his 
wife's  signature,  and  then  as  justice  of  the  peace 
certified  to  the  acknowledgment  of  the  signatures. 

Scarcely  had  he  become  established  in  the  prac- 
tice of  law  before  the  sound  of  guns  in  the  southwest 
recalled  Lieutenant  Roberts  to  military  duty.  As 
soon  as  the  Mexican  War  began  he  offered  his  ser- 
vices to  the  United  States,  and  on  May  27,  1846,  he 
received  a  commission  as  first  lieutenant  and  was 
assigned  to  the  Mounted  Rifle  Regiment.  The  fol- 
lowing February  he  was  raised  to  the  grade  of  cap- 
tain. Indeed,  he  was  promoted  in  line  as  if  he  had 
not  been  out  of  the  service  and  received  the  arrears 
of  pay  from  the  date  of  his  dismissal  or  resignation 
as  if  he  had  remained  in  the  service.  Evidently  the 
matter  of  the  depreciated  paper  money  had  been 
cleared  up  by  this  time. 

The  career  of  Captain  Roberts  in  the  Mexican 
War  furnishes  one  of  the  romantic  incidents  associ- 
ated with  the  story  of  Iowa  and  war.  He  was  pres- 
ent at  the  siege  of  Vera  Cruz,  and  led  his  regiment 
in  storming  the  heights  of  Cerro  Gordo  on  April  18, 
1847.  The  Mexicans,  who  referred  to  the  Mounted 
Rifle  Regiment  as  the  "Cursed  Riflemen ",  met  the 
charge  of  the  Americans  with  a  shower  of  bullets 
but,  as  Captain  Roberts  put  it,  "when  dangers  thick- 


BENJAMIN  STONE  ROBERTS       79 

ened  and  death  talked  more  familiarly  face  to  face, 
the  men  seemed  to  rise  above  every  terror. ' ' 

Again  on  the  tenth  of  August,  Captain  Roberts 
led  the  assault  on  the  town  of  San  Juan  de  los 
Llanos.  Eight  days  later  he  participated  in  the  bat- 
tles of  Contreras  and  Churubusco,  and  on  the  thir- 
teenth of  September  he  commanded  the  storming 
party  which  captured  the  castle  of  Chapultepec. 
The  following  day  he  led  the  advance  of  Quitman's 
army  into  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  to  him  was  as- 
signed the  honor  of  raising  the  first  American  flag 
over  the  palace  of  the  Montezumas.  Justin  H.  Smith 
thus  describes  the  scene: 

"As  a  triumphal  procession  the  command  looked 
rather  strange.  Quitman  and  Smith  marched  at  its 
head  on  foot  —  the  former  with  only  one  shoe ;  and 
behind  them  came  troops  decorated  with  mud,  the 
red  stains  of  battle  and  rough  bandages,  carrying 
arms  at  quite  haphazard  angles.  Not  less  astonish- 
ing looked  the  city,  for  sidewalks,  windows,  balco- 
nies and  housetops  were  crowded  with  people. 
Except  for  the  silence,  the  countless  white  handker- 
chiefs and  the  foreign  flags,  it  might  have  been 
thought  a  holiday.  Before  the  palace,  which  filled 
the  east  side  of  the  plaza,  the  troops  formed  in  line 
of  battle.  Officers  took  their  places  at  the  front,  and 
when  Captain  Roberts  hoisted  a  battle-scarred 
American  flag  on  the  staff  of  the  palace  at  seven 
o'clock,  arms  were  presented  and  the  officers  sa- 
luted/' 


80  THE  PALIMPSEST 

The  following  day  Captain  Roberts  was  sent  out 
with  five  hundred  men  to  drive  the  straggling  forces 
of  Santa  Anna  from  the  streets  of  the  capital.  In 
October  he  was  transferred  to  the  command  of  the 
United  States  cavalry  iforces  in  the  District  of 
Puebla  and  here  on  November  10, 1847,  he  surprised 
and  defeated  seven  hundred  Mexican  guerrillas 
under  General  Torrejon,  captured  their  supplies, 
and  recovered  a  large  merchant  train  which  the  ban- 
dits had  captured  en  route  to  the  City  of  Mexico. 
The  sword  of  the  guerrilla  chief  which  became  the 
prize  of  Captain  Eoberts  was  presented  by  him  to 
the  State  of  Iowa,  and  was  later  deposited  in  the 
office  of  the  Adjutant  General  at  Des  Moines. 

A  suit  of  ancient  Mexican  armor,  said  to  have  been 
taken  from  the  palace  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  was 
also  presented  to  the  State  of  Iowa  by  Captain 
Roberts.  This  souvenir,  consisting  of  a  helmet  of 
brass  similar  to  those  worn  by  the  Spanish  military 
explorers,  with  a  crest  ornamented  with  stiff  black 
hair  from  a  horse's  mane  or  tail,  and  a  breastplate 
and  backplate  of  steel  covered  with  burnished  brass, 
the  whole  weighing  about  thirty-five  pounds,  was 
presented  by  the  State  officials  to  the  State  His- 
torical Society  of  Iowa  and  may  still  be  seen  in  the 
library  of  the  Society. 

The  gallant  conduct  of  the  young  officer  did  not  go 
unrewarded.  He  was  brevetted  major  on  September 
13,  1847,  for  "gallant  and  meritorious  conduct "  in 
the  battle  of  Chapultepec  and  lieutenant  colonel  on 


BENJAMIN  STONE  ROBERTS       81 

November  24,  1847,  for  his  part  in  the  actions  at 
Matamoras  and  the  Pass  Gualaxara. 

But  nowhere  were  the  gallant  exploits  of  the 
young  captain  more  appreciated  than  in  the  newly 
admitted  State  of  Iowa.  Comparatively  few  citi- 
zens from  this  frontier  Commonwealth  had  taken 
part  in  the  battles  in  Mexico  and  the  patriotic  people 
of  Iowa  were  sincerely  proud  of  those  who  served  in 
the  front  ranks.  The  legislature,  indeed,  expressed 
this  appreciation  of  the  achievements  of  the  Fort 
Madison  attorney  in  two  joint  resolutions.  One  of 
these  —  adopted  on  January  15,  1849  —  was  a  vote 
of  thanks  and  read  as  follows : 

"Whereas,  Capt.  Benjamin  S.  Roberts,  of  the 
United  States  Army  has  presented  to  the  State  of 
Iowa,  a  suit  of  armor,  taken  as  a  prize  of  war ;  and  a 
sword  captured  from  General  Torrejon,  in  the  late 
war  with  Mexico,  designed  to  commemorate  the  part 
borne  in  the  late  struggle  by  the  officers  of  this  State. 
Therefore 

"Resolved  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State 
of  Iowa,  That  Capt.  Benj.  S.  Roberts  of  the  United 
States  Rifles,  for  his  gallantry  and  heroism  during 
the  late  war  with  Mexico,  has  won  for  himself  a 
brilliant  distinction,  which  reflects  a  lustre  upon  the 
character  of  the  American  soldier,  and  an  honor 
upon  this  State.  And  for  this  evidence  of  his  patri- 
otism and  attachment  to  his  adopted  State,  he  de- 
serves and  is  hereby  tendered  the  cordial  thanks  of 
the  Representatives  of  the  people." 


82  THE  PALIMPSEST 

The  second  resolution  was  approved  on  the  same 
day  and  provided  that  the  Treasurer  of  State  be 
authorized  "to  procure  a  finely  wrought  sword  and 
scabbard,  not  to  exceed  in  cost  the  sum  of  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  with  the  proper  inscriptions,  to  be  pre- 
sented by  the  Governor  to  Captain  Benjamin  S. 
Roberts,  of  the  Rifle  Regiment,  as  a  memento  of  the 
pride  of  his  fellow  citizens  of  this  State  in  the 
soldier-like  patriotism  and  deeds  of  valor  performed 
by  him  in  the  late  war  with  Mexico. " 

This  sword,  elaborately  inscribed,  was  presented 
to  Captain  Roberts  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington  by 
the  Iowa  representatives  in  Congress.  No  other 
similar  honor  has  been  bestowed  by  the  State  of 
Iowa. 

Captain  Roberts  was  a  leader  in  organization  as 
well  as  in  battle.  On  March  20,  1860,  he  submitted 
to  the  Secretary  of  War  a  plan  for  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  militia,  but  there  is  nothing  to  indicate 
that  this  plan  received  much  notice.  Indeed',  the 
advent  of  the  Civil  War  soon  made  necessary  the 
training  of  all  available  men.  Early  in  1861  Captain 
Roberts  was  sent  to  Fort  Stanton,  New  Mexico,  to 
join  Colonel  George  B.  Crittenden  who  was  organ- 
izing an  expedition  ostensibly  against  the  Apaches. 
After  the  expedition  started,  however,  Captain  Rob- 
erts became  convinced  that  the  real  object  of  Colonel 
Crittenden  was  to  aid  the  Confederate  cause.  He 
refused  to  obey  treasonable  orders,  and,  procuring  a 
furlough,  hastened  to  Santa  Fe  to  inform  Colonel 


BENJAMIN  STONE  ROBERTS  83 

Loring  of  the  situation ;  but  to  his  astonishment  and 
chagrin  he  was  reproved  and  ordered  back  to  Fort 
Stanton.  It  transpired  soon  after  this  that  Critten- 
den  and  Loring  were  both  disloyal. 

For  a  time,  following  the  battle  of  Valverde  and 
the  rout  of  the  Texans,  Colonel  Roberts  was  in  com- 
mand of  several  military  districts  in  New  Mexico, 
but  on  June  16,  1862,  he  was  made  brigadier  general 
of  volunteers  and  transferred  to  the  staff  of  General 
John  Pope  as  chief  of  cavalry.  In  May,  1863,  Gen- 
eral Eoberts  was  transferred  to  the  Department  of 
the  Northwest,  and  a  month  later  was  put  in  com- 
mand of  the  Iowa  District  with  headquarters  at 
Davenport.  Here  he  was  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
place  where  twenty-eight  years  before  he  had  re- 
ported for  duty  to  Colonel  Kearney. 

In  honor  of  the  distinguished  general  and  former 
lowan,  the  camp  of  the  Eighth  and  Ninth  Iowa  Cav- 
alry companies  at  Davenport  was  at  first  named 
Camp  Eoberts.  Later  the  name  was  changed  to 
Camp  Kinsman,  and  toward  the  close  of  the  war  the 
Federal  government  donated  this  military  establish- 
ment to  the  Iowa  Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home. 

Although  Iowa  was  a  loyal  State  it  appears  that 
some  complaints  of  disloyalty  were  made  to  General 
Roberts,  and  that  he  attempted  to  forestall  resist- 
ance to  the  government  and  especially  to  the  draft 
by  the  seizure  of  arms  belonging  to  certain  citizens. 
General  Pope,  the  department  commander,  did  not 
approve  of  the  action  taken  for  in  July,  1863,'  he 


84  THE  PALIMPSEST 

wrote  to  General  Roberts  from  Milwaukee,  Wiscon- 
sin: 

"I  regretted  much  to  receive  your  dispatch  stating 
that  you  had  seized  arms,  &c.,  the  personal  property 
of  the  citizens  of  Iowa.  I  don't  desire  you  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  such  matters.  I  have  carefully 
refrained  from  allowing  such  things  to  be  done  here, 
though  I  have  been  repeatedly  urged  to  do  them. 
.  .  .  .  I  confine  myself  strictly  to  my  military 
duty.  I  hope  you  will  do  the  same  ....  Surely 
the  seizure  of  personal  property  on  suspicion  merely 
that  it  might  hereafter  be  used  in  resisting  the  laws 
was  out  of  place  by  a  military  commander  in  loyal 
States,  and  can  only  lead  to  ill-feeling  and  disagree- 
able and  unnecessary  complications,  which  it  has 
been  my  steady  purpose  to  avoid. " 

General  Pope  urged  that  no  action  of  this  kind 
be  taken  by  the  military  authorities  in  loyal  States 
except  upon  the  request  of  the  civil  authorities. 
Within  a  short  time  this  contingency  occurred  in 
Iowa,  for  on  August  6,  1863,  Governor  Kirkwood 
wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War  that  because  of  a  mob 
of  armed  men  in  Keokuk  County  he  had  asked  Gen- 
eral Roberts  to  detain  the  six  companies  of  the  Sev- 
enth Iowa  Cavalry  until  the  danger  was  passed. 
This  request  was  complied  with.  In  a  letter  to  Gen- 
eral Roberts  General  Pope  commended  his  handling 
of  this  tense  situation  and  added:  "It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  inform  the  people  of  Iowa  that  troops  will  be 
used  to  enforce  the  draft  nor  to  hold  out  to  them  anv 


BENJAMIN  STONE  ROBERTS  85 

such  threat  in  advance  of  execution  of  laws,  which 
it  is  only  apprehended  they  may  resist. '  ' 

On  December  2,  1863,  General  Roberts  was  re- 
lieved of  his  command  of  the  Iowa  District  and  was 
transferred  to  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  where  he 
served  during  the  remainder  of  the  war.  He  was 
mustered  out  of  volunteer  service  on  January  15, 
1866,  remaining  in  the  Regular  Army  as  lieutenant 
colonel  of  the  Third  Cavalry. 

During  the  years  immediately  following  the  Civil 
War  General  Roberts  devoted  his  energies  to  the 
invention  and  improvement  of  military  equipment. 
He  retired  from  the  army  in  December,  1870,  to  take 
up  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  a  rifle  he  had  de- 
signed, but  it  does  not  appear  that  he  was  successful 
in  securing  the  orders  he  anticipated  during  the 
Franco-Prussian  War.  He  died  at  Washington, 
D.  C.,  on  January  29,  1875. 

RUTH  A.  GALLAHER 


The  Trial  and  Execution  of  Patrick 

O'Conner  at  the  Dubuque  Mines 

in  the  Summer  of  1834 

[Eliphalet  Price,  an  eyewitness  of  the  hanging,  wrote  the  follow- 
ing account  in  the  early  fifties.  In  October,  1865,  this  account  was 
published  by  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Iowa  in  the  Annals  of 
Iowa,  from  which  it  is  here  reprinted.  Price's  spelling  of  the  name 
O  'Connor  has  been  retained  in  the  article. —  THE  EDITOR] 

In  giving  a  detailed  historical  account  of  the  trial 
and  execution  of  Patrick  O'Conner,  at  the  Dubuque 
mines,  in  the  summer  of  1834,  we  are  aware  that 
there  are  many  persons  still  living  who  participated 
in  bringing  about  a  consummation  of  justice  on  that 
occasion;  as  well  as  many  who  were  witnesses  of  the 
stern  solemnity  attending  its  closing  scene;  which 
may  subject  this  reminiscence  to  a  criticism  which 
we  believe  will  not  extend  beyond  the  omission  of 
some  minutia,  which  did  not  come  under  our  per- 
sonal observation. 

Soon  after  the  treaty  between  the  United  States 
and  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians  at  Rock  Island  in  1832, 
which  resulted  in  the  extinguishment  of  the  Indian 
Title  to  the  lands  embraced  in  the  present  State  of 
Iowa,  permanent  mining  locations  and  settlements 
began  to  be  made  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  city 
of  Dubuque ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  winter  of  1834, 
Congress  attached  the  country  acquired  under  the 

86 


THE  EXECUTION  OF  O'CONNOR  87 

treaty,  to  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  for  election  and 
judicial  purposes.1 

Up  to  that  period  no  judicial  tribunals  existed  in 
the  country,  except  those  created  by  the  people  for 
special  purposes.  Difficulties  of  a  civil  character 
were  investigated  and  settled  by  arbitrators;  while 
those  of  a  criminal  character  were  decided  by  a  jury 
of  twelve  men,  and,  when  condemnation  was  agreed 
upon  the  verdict  of  guilty  was  accompanied  by  the 
sentence.  Such  was  the  judicial  character  of  the 
courts  which  were  held  at  that  time,  in  what  was 
known  as  the  "Blackhawk  Purchase." 

Patrick  O 'Conner,  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was 
born  in  the  year  1797  in  the  county  of  Cork,  Ireland, 
—  came  to  the  United  States  in  the  year  1826,  and 
soon  after  arrived  at  Galena,  in  the  State  of  Illinois, 
where  he  embarked  in  mining  operations.  Having 
fractured  his  left  leg  in  the  fall  of  1828,  on  board  of 
a  steamboat,  in  Fever  River,  it  was  found  necessary 
to  amputate  the  limb,  which  operation  was  per- 
formed by  Dr.  Phileas  of  Galena.  In  this  situation 
0 'Conner  became  an  object  of  public  charity.  The 
citizens  of  Galena,  and  the  mines  in  that  vicinity, 
promptly  came  forward  and  subscribed  liberal  sums 
of  money  for  his  support  and  medical  attendance 
and  in  the  course  of  time  he  was  enabled  to  get  about 
with  the  assistance  of  a  wooden  leg,  when  he  began 
to  display  a  brawling'  and  quarrelsome  disposition, 
which  soon  rendered  him  no  longer  an  object  of  pub- 

i  This  act  of  Congress  was  approved  June  28,  1834.  —  The  Editor. 


88  THE  PALIMPSEST 

lie  sympathy.  In  this  situation  he  endeavored  to 
awaken  a  renewal  of  public  charity  in  aid  of  his  sup- 
port, by  setting  fire  to  his  cabin  in  Galena,  which 
came  near  destroying  contiguous  property  of  great 
value.  This  incendiary  act,  and  the  object  for  which 
it  was  designed,  being  traced  to  0 'Conner,  and  ex- 
posed by  Mr.  John  Brophy,  a  respectable  merchant 
of  Galena,  0 'Conner  soon  after,  while  passing  the 
store  of  Mr.  Brophy  in  the  evening,  fired  the  contents 
of  a  loaded  gun  through  the  door  with  the  view  of 
killing  Brophy.  Failing  to  accomplish  his  object, 
and  being  threatened  with  some  of  the  provisions  of 
lynch  law,  he  left  Galena  and  came  to  the  Dubuque 
mines  in  the  fall  of  1833,  where  he  entered  into  a 
mining  partnership  with  George  O'Keaf,  also  a  na- 
tive of  Ireland.  O'Keaf  was  an  intelligent  and  in- 
dustrious young  man  about  22  years  old,  and  much 
respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  They  erected  a 
cabin  upon  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  river,  near 
the  present  smelting  furnace  of  Peter  A.  Lorimier, 
about  two  miles  south  from  Dubuque;  while  their 
mining  operations  were  conducted  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood. 

On  the  19th  of  May,  1834,  O'Keaf  came  up  to 
Dubuque  and  purchased  some  provisions,  when  he 
returned  to  his  cabin  about  2  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, accompanied  by  an  acquaintance.  Upon  ar- 
riving at  his  cabin  and  finding  the  door  fastened 
upon  the  inside,  he  called  to  0 'Conner  to  open  it. 
0 'Conner  replied: 


THE  EXECUTION  OF  O'CONNOR  89 

" Don't  be  in  a  hurry,  I'll  open  it  when  I  get 
ready. ' ' 

O  'Keaf  waited  a  few  minutes  when  he  again  called 
to  0 'Conner,  saying:  "It  is  beginning  to  rain,  open 
the  door  quick. ' ' 

To  this,  0 'Conner  made  no  reply;  when  O'Keaf, 
who  had  a  bundle  in  one  hand  and  a  ham  of  bacon  in 
the  other,  placed  his  shoulder  against  the  door  and 
forced  it  open.  As  he  was  in  the  act  of  stepping  into 
the  house,  0  'Conner,  who  was  sitting  upon  a  bench 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  room  in  front  of  the  door, 
immediately  leveled  a  musket  and  fired  at  O'Keaf. 
Five  slugs  entered  his  breast  and  he  fell  dead.  The 
young  man  who  accompanied  O'Keaf  immediately 
ran  to  the  smelting  furnace  of  Roots  &  Ewing,  about 
a  mile  distant,  and  gave  information  of  what  had 
transpired.  In  a  short  time  a  large  concourse  of 
miners  were  assembled  around  the  cabin,  when 
0  'Conner  being  asked  why  he  shot  0  'Keaf ,  replied, 
"That  is  my  business",  and  then  proceeded  to  give 
directions  concerning  the  disposition  of  the  body. 
Some  person  present  having  suggested  that  he  be 
hung  immediately  upon  the  tree  hi  front  of  his  cabin, 
a  rope  was  procured  for  that  purpose.  But  the  more 
discreet  and  reflecting  portion  of  the  bystanders  in- 
sisted that  he  should  be  taken  to  Dubuque,  and  the 
matter  there  fully  and  fairly  investigated.  Accord- 
ingly 0 'Conner  was  taken  up  to  Dubuque.  And  on 
the  20th  of  May,  1834,  the  first  trial  for  murder,  in 
what  is  now  known  as  the  State  of  Iowa,  was  held  in 


90  THE  PALIMPSEST 

the  open  air,  beneath  the  wide-spreading  branches  of 
a  large  elm  tree,  directly  in  front  of  the  dwelling 
then  occupied  by  Samuel  Clifton.  A  large  concourse 
of  people  had  assembled  and  stood  quietly  gazing 
upon  the  prisoner,  when  upon  the  motion  of  some 
person,  Captain  White  was  appointed  prosecuting 
attorney,  or  counsel  in  behalf  of  the  people.  0  'Con- 
ner being  directed  to  choose  from  among  the  by- 
standers some  person  to  act  as  his  counsel,  observed : 
" Faith,  and  I'll  tind  to  my  own  business",  and 
appeared  perfectly  indifferent  about  the  matter.  At 
length  he  selected  Capt.  Bates  of  Galena,  who  hap- 
pened to  be  present,  and  in  whose  employ  0 'Conner 
had  formerly  been  engaged.  The  two  counsel  then 
summoned  from  among  the  bystanders  twenty-four 
persons,  who  were  requested  to  stand  up  in  a  line; 
when  Capt.  White  directed  0 'Conner  to  choose  from 
among  those  persons  twelve  jurors.  He  accordingly 
chose  the  following  persons,  calling  each  by  name-.- 

Woodbury  Massey,  Hosea  L.  Camp,  John  McKen- 
sie,  Milo  H.  Prentice,  James  Smith,  Jesse  M.  Harri- 
son, Thomas  McCabe,  Nicholas  Carrol,  John  S. 
Smith  and  Antoine  Loire. 

The  names  of  the  other  two  jurors,  who  were  trav- 
eling strangers,  cannot  after  a  period  of  thirty  years 
be  discovered.  It  was  known,  however,  at  the  time 
of  the  trial,  that  six  of  the  jurors  were  Americans, 
three  of  them  Irishmen,  one  Englishman,  one 
Scotchman  and  one  Frenchman.  The  jury  being- 
seated  upon  some  house  logs  Capt.  White  observed 


THE  EXECUTION  OF  O'CONNOR  91 

to  0 'Conner,  "Are  you  satisfied  with  that  jury?" 
0 'Conner  replied,  "I  have  no  objection  to  any  of 
them:  ye  have  no  laws  in  the  country,  and  ye  cannot 
try  me. ' ' 

Capt.  White  continued,  "you,  Patrick  0 'Conner, 
are  charged  with  the  murder  of  George  O'Keaf,  do 
you  plead  guilty  or  not  guilty  1 ' ' 

0 'Conner  replied,  "I'll  not  deny  that  I  shot  him, 
but  ye  have  no  laws  in  the  country,  and  cannot  try 
me." 

Three  or  four  witnesses  were  then  examined; 
when  Capt.  White  addressed  the  jury  for  a  few 
minutes  and  was  followed  by  Capt.  Bates,  who  en- 
deavored to  urge  upon  the  jury  to  send  the  criminal 
to  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  there  have  him  tried  by 
a  legal  tribunal.  Capt.  White  replied  that  offenders 
had  been  sent  to  Illinois  for  that  purpose,  and  had 
been  released  upon  "Habeas  Corpus,"  that  state 
having  no  jurisdiction  over  offences  committed  upon 
the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi  Kiver.  After  this, 
the  jury  retired,  and  having  deliberated  for  an  hour, 
returned  to  their  seats,  upon  the  logs,  with  Wood- 
bury  Massey  as  their  foreman,  who  read  from  a 
paper  the  following  verdict  and  sentence  : 

"We  the  undersigned,  residents  of  the  Dubuque 
Lead  Mines,  being  chosen  by  Patrick  0  'Conner,  and 
empanneled  as  a  Jury  to  try  the  matter  wherein 
Patrick  0 'Conner  is  charged  with  the  murder  of 
George  O'Keaf,  do  find  that  the  said  Patrick  0 'Con- 
ner is  guilty  of  murder  in  the  first  degree,  and  ought 


92  THE  PALIMPSEST 

to  be,  and  is  by  us  sentenced  to  be  hung  by  the  neck 
until  he  is  dead;  which  sentence  shall  take  effect  on 
Tuesday  the  20th  day  of  June,  1834,  at  one  o'clock 
P.  M."2 

Signed  by  all  the  jurors,  each  in  his  own  hand 
writing. 

There  was  a  unanimous  expression  of  all  the  by- 
standers in  favor  of  the  decision  of  the  jury.  No 
dissenting  voice  was  heard,  until  a  short  time  before 
the  execution,  when  the  Eev.  Mr.  Fitzmaurice,  a 
Catholic  priest  from  Galena,  visited  0 'Conner  and 
inveighed  against  the  act  of  the  people,  denouncing 
it  as  being  illegal  and  unjust.  Immediately  the 
Catholic  portion  of  the  Irish  people  became  cool 
upon  the  subject,  and  it  was  evident  that  they  in- 
tended to  take  no  further  part  in  the  matter. 

Up  to  this  time  we  did  not  believe  that  0 'Conner 
would  be  executed.  It  was  in  the  power  of  the  Eev. 
Mr.  Fitzmaurice  to  save  him,  and  he  was  anxious  to 
do  so.  Had  he  appealed  to  the  people  in  a  courteous 
manner,  and  solicited  his  pardon  upon  the  condition 
that  he  would  leave  the  country,  we  confidently  be- 
lieve that  they  would  have  granted  it ;  but  he  impru- 
dently sought  to  alienate  the  feelings  of  the  Irish 
people  from  the  support  of  an  act  of  public  justice, 
which  they,  in  common  with  the  people  of  the  mines, 
had  been  endeavoring  to  consummate.  This  had  the 
effect  of  closing  the  avenues  to  any  pardon  that  the 
people  might  have  previously  been  willing  to  grant. 

2  The  20th  of  June,  1834,  occurred  on  a  Friday.—  The  Editor. 


THE  EXECUTION  OP  O'CONNOR  93 

They,  however,  up  to  this  time,  would  have  recog- 
nized a  pardon  from  the  Governor  of  Missouri  or  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  Application  was 
made  to  the  Governor  of  Missouri  to  pardon  him; 
but  he  replied  that  he  had  no  jurisdiction  over  the 
country,  and  referred  the  applicants  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States.  President  Jackson  replied  to 
an  application  made  to  him,  that  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  had  not  been  extended  over  the  newly 
acquired  purchase,  and  that  he  had  no  authority  to 
act  in  the  matter ;  and  observed,  that  as  this  was  an 
extraordinary  case,  he  thought  the  pardoning  power 
was  invested  in  the  power  that  condemned.  A  few 
days  before  the  execution,  a  rumor  got  afloat  that  a 
body  of  two  hundred  Irishmen  were  on  their  way 
from  Mineral  Point,  intending  to  rescue  0 'Conner 
on  the  day  of  execution.  Although  this  report  proved 
not  to  be  founded  in  truth,  it  had  the  effect  of  placing 
the  fate  of  0 'Conner  beyond  the  pardoning  control 
of  any  power  but  force.  Runners  were  immediately 
dispatched  to  the  mines  to  summon  the  people  to 
arms ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  20th  of  June,  1834, 
one  hundred  and  sixty-three  men,  with  loaded  rifles 
formed  into  line  on  Main  street  in  front  of  the  old 
"Bell  Tavern,"  where  they  elected  Loring  Wheeler 
Captain  of  the  Company,  and  Ezra  Madden,  Wood- 
bury  Massey,  Thomas  E.  Brasher,  John  Smith  and 
Milo  H.  Prentice,  Marshals  of  the  day.  The  com- 
pany being  formed  six-a-breast,  marched  slowly  by  a 
circuitous  route  to  the  house  where  O 'Conner  was 


•94  THE  PALIMPSEST 

confined,  while  the  fif  &  breathed  in  lengthened  strains 
the  solemn  air  of  the  Dead  March,  accompanied  by 
the  long  roll  of  the  muffled  drum.  The  stores,  shops 
and  groceries  had  closed  up  their  doors  and  life  no 
longer  manifested  itself  through  the  bustling  hum  of 
worldly  pursuits.  All  was  silent  as  a  Sabbath  morn, 
save  the  mournful  tolling  of  the  village  bell.  Men 
whispered  as  they  passed  each  other,  while  every 
countenance  denoted  the  solemnity  and  importance 
of  the  occasion.  Two  steamers  had  arrived  that 
morning  from  Galena  and  Prairie  Du  Chien,  with 
passengers  to  witness  the  execution.  The  concourse 
of  spectators  could  not  have  been  less  than  one  thou- 
sand persons. 

The  company  having  marched  to  the  house  occu- 
pied by  0  'Conner,  now  owned  by  Herman  Chadwick, 
halted  and  opened  in  the  center,  so  as  to  admit  into 
the  column  the  horse  and  cart  containing  the  coffin. 
The  horse  was  driven  by  William  Adams,  who  was 
seated  upon  the  coffin,  and  was  employed  as  execu- 
tioner. He  had  on  black  silk  gloves,  and  a  black  silk 
handkerchief  secured  over  and  fitted  to  his  face  by 
some  adhesive  substance,  which  gave  him  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  negro.  The  Marshals  soon  came  out 
of  the  house,  followed  by  0  'Conner  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Fitzmaurice.  The  two  latter  took  a  position  directly 
behind  the  cart,  while  the  former  mounted  their 
horses  and  rode  to  the  front  of  the  column,  which 
now  moved  slowly  to  the  smith-shop  of  Thomas 
Brasher,  where  the  irons  were  stricken  from  O'Con- 


THE  EXECUTION  OF  O'CONNOR  95 

ner  by  Henry  Becket.  Our  position  in  the  column 
being  in  the  front  rank,  following  the  priest  and 
0  'Conner,  we  were  enabled  to  observe  the  bearing  of 
the  latter.  He  seemed  to  have  abandoned  all  idea 
of  being  released,  and  was  much  distressed,  wring- 
ing his  hands  and  occasionally  ejaculating  detached 
parls  of  some  prayer,  "Will  the  Lord  forgive  me?" 
he  would  frequently  ask  of  Mr.  Fitzmaurice,  who 
would  reply,  "Whosoever  believeth  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  shall  be  saved, "  together  with  other 
like  scriptural  expressions.  After  he  returned  from 
the  smith-shop,  the  Captain  of  the  company  desired 
him  to  get  into  the  cart,  when  the  priest  observed, 
"No,  I  wish  to  talk  to  him;  let  him  walk."  Capt. 
Wheeler  replied  that  he  had  orders  to  place  him  in 
the  cart;  but  would  go  and  state  his  request  to  the 
Marshal.  Accordingly  he  advanced  to  where  Mr. 
Madden  was  sitting  upon  his  horse,  who  observed  in 
a  loud  tone  of  voice,  "  No ;  if  that  gentleman  wishes 
to  talk  with  him,  let  him  ride  upon  the  cart  with  the 
murderer."  This  was  spoken  harshly  and  con- 
temptuously by  Mr.  Madden,  who,  we  learned  after- 
wards, was  deeply  offended  at  some  remarks  previ- 
ously made  by  Mr.  Fitzmaurice  concerning  himself, 
and  imprudently  took  this  opportunity  to  retaliate, 
which  we  have  reason  to  believe  he  afterwards  re- 
gretted. 

The  Captain  of  the  company  delivered  the  message 
as  he  received  it,  though  in  a  more  pleasant  tone  of 
voice,  Fitzmaurice  bowed  respectfully  to  the  mes- 


96  THE  PALIMPSEST 

sage,  but  made  no  reply.  O  'Conner  being  now  seated 
upon  the  coffin,  the  column  commenced  moving  for- 
ward, to  quarter  minute  taps  of  the  drum,  and  ar- 
rived about  twelve  o'clock  at  the  gallows,  which  was 
erected  on  the  top  of  a  mound  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
present  Court  House.  The  company  here  formed 
into  a  hollow  square,  the  cart  being  driven  under 
the  arm  of  the  gallows,  at  the  foot  of  which  the  grave 
was  already  dug.  The  Captain  immediately  ordered 
the  company  to  ground  arms,  and  uncover.  Even 
many  of  the  spectators  removed  their  hats,  while  the 
priest  offered  up,  in  a  clear  and  distinct  tone  of 
voice,  a  fervent  and  lengthy  prayer,  parts  of  which 
were  repeated  by  0 'Conner,  who,  at  the  close  of  the 
prayer,  addressed  a  few  remarks  to  the  people,  say- 
ing that  he  had  killed  0  'Keaf ,  that  he  was  sorry  for 
it,  and  he  hoped  that  all  would  forgive  him.  Then 
pausing  for  a  moment,  he  observed,  "I  wish  Mr. 
Lorimier  and  Gratiot  to  have  my — "  here  he  was 
interrupted  by  the  priest,  who  observed,  "Do  not 
mind  your  worldly  affairs ;  in  a  few  minutes  you  will 
be  launched  into  eternity ;  give  your  thoughts  to  your 
God."  The  hangman  now  spoke  to  0 'Conner  and 
assisted  him  to  reascend  the  cart,  when  he  adjusted 
around  his  person  a  white  shroud ;  then  securing  his 
arms  behind  him  at  the  elbows,  he  drew  the  cap  over 
his  face,  fixed  the  noose  around  his  neck,  and  lastly, 
he  removed  his  leg  of  wood ;  then  descended  from  the 
cart,  and  laid  hold  of  the  bridle  of  his  horse  and 
waited  for  the  signal,  which  was  given  by  one  of  the 


THE  EXECUTION  OF  O'CONNOR  97 

Marshals,  who  advanced  into  the  open  area,  where 
he  stood  with  a  watch  in  one  hand  and  a  handker- 
chief at  arm's  length  in  the  other.  As  the  hand  of 
the  watch  came  around  to  the  moment,  the  handker- 
chief fell,  and  the  cart  started.  There  was  a  con- 
vulsive struggling  of  the  limbs  for  a  moment, 
followed  by  a  tremulous  shuddering  of  the  body,  and 
life  was  extinct.  The  body  hung  about  thirty  min- 
utes, when  Dr.  Andros  stepped  forward,  felt  of  his 
pulse,  and  said,  "He  is  dead."  The  body  was  then 
cut  down  arid  placed  in  the  coffin,  together  with  his 
leg  of  wood,  and  deposited  in  the  grave.  The  com- 
pany now  marched  in  single  file  to  the  front  of  the 
Bell  Tavern,  where  a  collection  was  taken  up  to  de- 
fray the  expenses,  when  the  company  was  disbanded. 
Immediately  after  this,  many  of  the  reckless  and 
abandoned  outlaws,  who  had  congregated  at  the  Du- 
buque  Mines,  began  to  leave  for  sunnier  climes.  The 
gleam  of  the  Bowie  knife  was  no  longer  seen  in  the 
nightly  brawls  of  the  street,  nor  dripped  upon  the 
sidewalk  the  gore  of  man;  but  the  people  began  to 
feel  more  secure  in  the  enjoyment  of  life  and 
property. 

ELIPHALET  PRICE 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

AN  EYEWITNESS 

In  the  July  number  thirteen  border  criminals  came 
within  a  few  beans  of  hanging.  Instead  they  were 
merely  whipped  and  exiled,  with  the  result  that  one 
of  them  at  least  returned  to  take  a  prominent  part  in 
the  murder  of  Colonel  George  Davenport.  In  the 
present  number  a  man  is  actually  hanged.  The  af- 
fair was  a  noteworthy  one,  but  it  occurred  at  so  early 
a  date  that  there  are  few  records  of  it.  Fortunately 
Eliphalet  Price  was  there  as  an  eyewitness.  He  had 
come  to  the  lead  mining  regions  by  way  of  New 
Orleans  about  the  time  of  the  Black  Hawk  War.  In 
fact  one  writer  credits  him  with  having  had  a  part  in 
that  war,  capturing  twelve  redskinned  prisoners. 

However  that  may  be,  Price  was  in  Dubuque  in 
1834,  and  w^as  a  prominent  figure  in  northeastern 
Iowa  for  nearly  forty  years  thereafter.  He  held 
various  offices  and  was  influential  in  State  politics, 
partly  by  reason  of  his  unusual  ability  as  a  speaker 
and  a  writer.  In  the  sixties  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Curators  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of 
Iowa  and  wrote  many  graphic  articles  for  the  Annals 
of  Iowa  which  the  Society  was  then  publishing. 

IOWA  IN  1834 

When  Patrick  O'Connor  killed  his  partner,  George 
O'Keaf,  in  1834,  the  country  that  is  now  Iowa  was 

98 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  99 

without  a  local  constitutional  status.  It  was  a  part 
of  no  State  or  organized  Territory.  Missouri,  of 
which  it  had  been  a  part,  became  a  State  in  1821  and 
the  land  north  of  it  to  the  Canadian  boundary  and 
west  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Missouri  River  was 
left  without  organized  government.  No  legal  courts 
sat  within  its  borders;  no  sheriff  or  constable  pro- 
tected its  inhabitants.  For  a  long  time  these  inhab- 
itants consisted  only  of  Indians  and  fur  traders. 
Settlement  was  prohibited  by  act  of  Congress. 

In  1830  a  group  of  lead  miners  crossed  to  what  is 
now  Dubuque  and  began  to  work  the  mines.  They 
met  beside  a  cottonwood  log  on  the  shore  and  drew 
up  a  set  of  rules  for  their  own  government.  But 
Zachary  Taylor,  in  command  of  United  States  troops 
at  Fort  Crawford,  sent  a  detachment  of  soldiers 
under  Lieutenant  Jefferson  Davis  to  drive  them  out. 
After  the  Black  Hawk  War  miners  and  settlers 
crossed  the  river  in  numbers  and,  although  still  tech- 
nically trespassers,  developed  a  pioneer  community 
into  which  0  'Connor  and  0  'Keaf  came  and  settled. 

The  murder,  according  to  Price's  account,  took 
place  on  May  19,  and  the  hanging  on  June  20,  1834. 
Eight  days  later  an  act  of  Congress  was  approved 
which  placed  the  tract  of  land  including  modern 
Iowa  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Territory  of 
Michigan. 

"YE  HAVE  NO  LAWS" 

The  hanging  was  extra-legal,  but  under  the  condi- 
tions it  was  essentially  an  act  of  authority.  Justice 


100  THE  PALIMPSEST 

is  not  always  dependent  upon  the  citation  of  stat- 
utes and  the  functioning  of  commissioned  officials; 
in  fact  justice  is  sometimes  accomplished  more  truly 
where  it  is  not  trammelled  by  legal  technicalities. 
O'Connor's  punishment  was  the  deliberate,  care- 
fully-weighed act  of  a  people  who  exercised  the  judi- 
cial function  because  they  had  no  legal  machinery 
to  serve  them.  He  was  tried  before  a  jury  of  his 
peers ;  he  was  given  the  benefit  of  a  counsel  to  plead 
his  cause;  and  a  month's  time  elapsed  between  his 
sentence  and  his  execution.  Looking  upon  it  in  an- 
other light,  his  hanging  was  the  logical  answer  of 
the  people  of  a  community  to  a  man  who  said:  "I'll 
not  deny  that  I  shot  him,  but  ye  have  no  laws  in  the 
country,  and  cannot  try  me." 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED   BY  JOHN  C.   PARISH 

ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  I  ISSUED  IN  OCTOBER  192O  No.  4 

COPYRIGHT  1920  BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL   SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 


Father  Mazzuchelli 

A  young  Italian  stood  clinging  to  the  mainmast  of 
a  sailing  vessel  that  plunged  desperately  in  the  midst 
of  a  gale  upon  the  Atlantic.  His  imagination  was 
stirred  by  the  spectacle  of  the  sea  in  its  turbulence 
and  he  held  his  perilous  position  and  watched  the 
waves  vent  their  wrath  upon  the  boat  and  toss  their 
crests  across  the  deck,  while  overhead  the  wind 
howled  through  the  rigging  and  the  thunder  crashed 
in  the  darkened  sky. 

Wide-eyed  and  fascinated  he  gazed  at  the  storm 
about  him,  and  with  the  same  wide-eyed  eagerness  he 
looked  forward  to  the  quest  upon  which  he  was  em- 
barked. Samuel  Charles  Mazzuchelli  was  answering 
a  call  that  had  come  to  him  at  Eome.  Since  he  was 
seventeen  he  had  been  preparing  for  the  life  of  a 
Dominican  priest,  but  when  he  was  about  twenty-one 
and  not  yet  ordained  he  had  heard  a  man  from 
America  tell  of  the  need  of  preachers  and  churches 
on  the  far  western  edge  of  that  new  country.  And 

101 


102  THE  PALIMPSEST 

with  hardly  more  ado  than  a  trip  to  Milan  to  bid  his 
parents  farewell,  he  had  set  out  for  the  land  of 
possibilities. 

In  France,  on  a  two  months'  sojourn,  he  had 
picked  up  a  little  knowledge  of  French,  but  he  spoke 
no  English.  He  had  no  companion,  nor  was  any  one 
to  meet  him  in  New  York.  He  only  knew  that  some- 
how he  was  to  get  to  Cincinnati  where  he  was  to  be 
taught  English,  ordained,  and  assigned  to  a  mission. 
And  somehow  he  did  get  there  and  began  the  last 
round  of  preparation  for  his  life  work. 

Two  years  later,  in  1830,  Mazzuchelli  appeared  at 
Mackinac  Island  in  the  northern  part  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Michigan.  This  island  in  the  straits  between 
Lakes  Huron  and  Michigan  was  one  of  the  posts  of 
the  American  Fur  Company.  During  the  winter  it 
was  comparatively  quiet  but  in  the  summer  when  the 
fur  traders  accompanied  by  their  boatmen  and 
clerks  came  in  with  their  loads  of  furs  —  the  result 
of  a  winter's  work  upon  a  hundred  rivers  and  lakes 
in  the  northwest  —  the  island  sw^armed  with  a  motley 
population  of  Americans,  French  Canadians,  half- 
breeds  and  Indians. 

Here  the  young  priest  began  his  labors.  At  first 
he  was  the  only  Catholic  priest  within  hundreds  of 
miles,  and  he  tried  to  make  this  whole  vast  region 
his  parish.  He  spent  his  time  for  five  years  travel- 
ing over  wide  spaces  to  celebrate  mass  and  preach  to 
Indians  and  scattered  fur  trading  settlements.  In 
a  trader's  boat  he  crossed  Lake  Michigan  to  Green 


FATHER  MAZZUCHELLI  103 

Bay,  and  there  he  designed  a  church  and  managed  its 
erection.  He  visited  again  and  again  the  far  off 
Winnebago  village  on  the  Wisconsin  River,  and  he 
trailed  across  country  to  the  Mississippi  and 
preached  to  the  settlement  at  Prairie  du  Chien. 
Menominee,  Ottawa,  Chippewa,  and  Winnebago  In- 
dians as  well  as  American  and  French  traders  and 
their  half-breed  assistants  came  to  know  and  like 
this  slender  young  Dominican.  He  was  not  a  rugged 
man,  but  small  of  stature  and  delicate  of  physique. 
Yet,  though  he  never  spared  himself,  the  brightness 
of  his  eyes  and  the  rich  color  of  his  cheeks  remained 
with  him  to  the  end  of  his  days. 

He  journeyed  on  foot,  by  canoe  and  on  horseback, 
and  in  winter  on  snow-shoes  and  by  sledge  over  the 
deep  snows  or  up  and  down  the  frozen  rivers.  His 
memoirs  read  like  pages  from  the  Jesuit  Relations 
of  a  century  and  a  half  before.  He  held  services 
sometimes  in  the  open  under  the  trees,  sometimes  in 
lodges  made  of  bark  and  mats  brought  and  set  up 
for  the  occasion  by  the  Indian  worshippers.  He 
lived  at  times  in  the  cabins  of  Indian  tribes,  eating 
with  them,  trying  to  master  their  languages,  and 
sleeping  upon  their  mats  at  night. 

Nature  never  ceased  to  delight  him.  In  his 
memoirs,  in  which  he  always  spoke  of  himself  in  the 
third  person,  he  tells  of  a  journey  to  Arbre-Croche 
on  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan. 

"  Taking  advantage  of  ten  Catholic  Indians  leav- 
ing for  Arbre-Croche  in  a  bark  canoe  one  evening  he 


104  THE  PALIMPSEST 

crossed  the  Straits  of  Mackinac  with  them,  and  spent 
the  first  night  in  a  dense  forest,  under  a  little  tent 
cheered  by  a  crackling  fire  close  by, —  which  was 
supplied  with  fuel  by  the  company.  Who  will  forget 
the  sweet  canticles  sung  in  their  own  native  tongue 
by  the  pious  oarsmen  while  crossing  the  Lake?  The 
starry  vault  above,  the  calm  of  the  limpid  waters, 
their  immensity  lost  in  the  western  horizon,  the 
pensive  stillness  of  the  shores  far-off  yet  barely  dis- 
cernible, all  seemed  to  echo  the  sweet  reverent  tones 
of  the  simple  good  Ottawas". 

During  these  five  years  other  priests  had  come  to 
the  Territory  of  Michigan,  and  the  trading  posts  and 
Indian  villages  became  accustomed  to  the  sight  of 
the  long  black  mantle  of  the  Dominicans.  Mazzu- 
chelli  began  to  think  of  new  fields  of  labor.  In  the 
spring  of  1835  he  made  a  trip  to  Cincinnati  by  way 
of  St.  Louis  and  the  Ohio  Eiver,  and  as  he  went  down 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  he  visited  for  the  first 
time  the  town  of  Galena  on  the  Fever  Eiver  in 
Illinois  and  the  little  settlement  at  Dubuque  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Mississippi. 

In  these  two  lead  mining  towns  were  many  Cath- 
olics, without  either  church  or  pastor,  and  following 
the  visit  of  Mazzuchelli  they  petitioned  his  superiors 
to  allow  the  priest  to  give  his  services  exclusively  to 
that  section  of  the  frontier.  Thus  began  a  new 
period  in  his  life.  His  work  was  now  almost  entirely 
among  the  white  settlers  of  the  towns  along  the 
Mississippi,  but  it  was  none  the  less  a  life  of  cease- 


FATHER  MAZZUCHELLI  105 

less  activity.  He  became  more  definitely  a  church 
builder.  In  the  town  of  Dubuque  he  stirred  the 
people  to  make  subscriptions  for  a  building ;  he  drew 
up  the  plans  himself,  hired  the  workmen,  and  laid 
the  corner-stone.  The  church  was  built  from  the 
native  rock  of  the  vicinity  and  under  the  zealous  eye 
of  the  priest  it  grew  slowly  but  steadily  to  com- 
pletion. 

In  that  same  year,  1835,  Mazzuchelli  began  a 
church  at  Galena.  Here  again  he  was  architect  and 
superintendent  and  it  took  long  months  to  complete 
the  work.  In  the  meantime  he  built  a  little  wooden 
chapel  with  a  confessional  on  one  side  of  the  altar 
and  a  closet  on  the  other,  six  feet  by  five,  in  which 
he  slept.  He  alternated  between  Galena  and  Du- 
buque ;  and  in  the  latter  town  while  the  church  was 
going  up  he  made  his  home  in  a  little  room  under  the 
Sanctuary,  with  unplastered  walls  and  with  the  bare 
earth  for  a  floor. 

Eliphalet  Price,  who  furnished  the  stone  for  a  part 
of  the  Dubuque  church,  wrote  of  him : 

"  We  never  transacted  business  with  a  more  honor- 
able, pleasant  and  gentlemanly  person  than  the  Eev. 
Mr.  Mazzuchelli.  We  left  him  seated  upon  a  stone 
near  the  building,  watching  the  lazy  movements  of  a 
lone  Irishman,  who  was  working  out  his  subscription 
in  aid  of  the  church. ' ' 

Just  so  he  must  have  been  remembered  by  the  in- 
habitants of  many  a  frontier  town  —  seated  upon  a 
stone  with  the  skirts  of  his  mantle  tucked  up  about 


106  THE  PALIMPSEST 

him,  overseeing  the  work  upon  a  church  that  owed 
to  him  not  only  the  inspiration  for  its  erection  but 
the  practical  details  of  its  architecture  as  well. 

In  1839  the  arrival  of  Bishop  Loras  to  take  charge 
of  the  newly  created  Diocese  of  Dubuque  relieved 
greatly  the  burden  of  Mazzuchelli 's  work  and 
widened  the  scope  of  his  energies.  Wherever  he 
went  churches  sprang  up.  He  made  trips  up  and 
down  the  river  in  every  kind  of  weather  and  over 
every  kind  of  road.  A  little  frame  church  was  the 
result  of  his  work  at  Potosi,  Wisconsin;  and  at 
Prairie  du  Chien  he  drew  plans  and  superintended 
the  erection  of  a  stone  church  a  hundred  feet  in 
length. 

He  carried  his  religious  ministrations  to  Antoine 
Le  Claire  upon  the  site  of  Davenport  before  that 
town  existed.  Not  many  years  later,  in  conjunction 
with  Le  Claire,  he  made  arrangements  for  the  build- 
ing of  a  brick  church  in  the  new  town.  He  had  com- 
plete charge  of  the  building  of  the  first  Catholic 
church  in  Burlington,  and  when  it  was  finished  but 
not  yet  consecrated  he  rented  it  for  one  session  to 
the  Legislative  Council  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa  and 
was  paid  three  hundred  dollars  for  its  use  —  suffi- 
cient to  finish  paying  the  debt  incurred  in  its  con- 
struction. 

When  Iowa  City  became  the  capital  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Iowa  and  the  government  offered  free  sites 
in  the  town  for  churches  if  they  were  built  within  a 
given  time,  the  energetic  priest  hurried  over  to  the 


FATHER  MAZZUCHELLI  107 

inland  town  and  made  preparations  for  building  a 
church.  And  when  Bishop  Loras  came  in  1841  to 
lay  the  corner  stone,  Mazzuchelli,  standing  on  a 
mound  of  earth  thrown  up  by  the  excavators,  gave 
the  address  of  the  occasion. 

So  this  pioneer  priest  passed  from  town  to  town, 
celebrating  mass,  visiting  the  sick  and  everywhere 
leaving  brick  and  stone  monuments  to  his  energy. 
Churches  at  his  inspiration  raised  their  crosses  to 
the  sky  at  Maquoketa  and  Bellevue  and  Bloomington 
(now  Muscatine)  in  the  Territory  of  Iowa  and  at 
Shullsburg  and  Sinsinawa  in  the  Territory  of  Wis- 
consin. One  who  knew  him  well  credits  twenty 
churches  to  this  far-wandering  priest. 

Father  Mazzuchelli  took  a  keen  interest  in  things 
political  as  well  as  religious.  In  1836  he  officiated  as 
chaplain  at  the  first  Fourth  of  July  celebration  in 
the  town  of  Dubuque.  In  the  fall  of  that  same  year 
he  responded  to  an  invitation  to  open  with  prayer 
the  meeting  of  the  Territorial  Legislature  of  Wis- 
consin at  Belmont ;  and  he  never  ceased  to  praise  the 
wisdom  of  the  framers  of  the  Federal  Constitution 
for  allowing  religion  to  exist  free  from  the  trammels 
of  the  political  state. 

In  February  of  1843,  having  heard  much  of  the 
sect  of  Mormons,  he  determined  to  visit  in  person 
their  prophet,  Joseph  Smith,  at  Nauvoo.  Being  then 
at  Burlington  he  journeyed  to  Fort  Madison,  and 
from  there  passed  down  the  river  on  the  ice  and 
across  to  the  Mormon  town  on  the  Illinois  side, 


108  THE  PALIMPSEST 

where  the  prophet  talked  to  him  at  length  but  un- 
convincingly  of  the  many  times  he  had  conversed 
with  God  in  person,  of  the  revelations  he  had  re- 
ceived from  St.  Paul,  and  of  the  golden  Book  of 
Mormon  whose  whereabouts  an  angel  had  revealed 
to  him. 

A  few  weeks  later  he  started  on  a  long  journey 
back  to  Italy.  While  there,  largely  to  enlist  funds 
for  his  missionary  enterprises,  he  wrote  and  pub- 
lished in  Italian  his  Memoirs  dealing  with  the  fifteen 
years  of  his  life  in  America.  With  characteristic 
modesty  he  invariably  used  the  third  person,  speak- 
ing of  himself  as  the  Missionary  or  the  Priest,  and 
nowhere  in  the  book,  not  even  upon  the  title-page, 
does  his  name  appear.  In  1915,  over  fifty  years 
after  his  death,  the  volume  was  re-published  in  an 
English  translation. 

Mazzuchelli  did  not  stay  long  in  Italy,  but  returned 
to  devote  nearly  a  score  of  years  to  additional  ser- 
vice in  the  Upper  Mississippi  Valley.  His  later  life 
was  spent  largely  in  southwestern  Wisconsin,  and 
since  there  were  many  priests  now  in  the  field  his 
labors  were  less  arduous.  But  he  passed  down  the 
years  with  busy  feet,  founding  schools  and  colleges, 
teaching  and  preaching  and  raising  new  buildings, 
visiting  the  sick  and  dying,  and  now  and  then  with 
unflagging  devotion  attending  the  victims  of  an  epi- 
demic like  that  of  1850  when  the  ravages  of  cholera 
swept  over  southwestern  Wisconsin. 

A  man  of  wide  interests  and  versatile  talents  was 


FATHER  MAZZUCHELLI  109 

Father  Mazzuchelli.  His  ability  as  an  architect  has 
been  mentioned.  Aside  from  the  building  of 
churches,  Archbishop  Ireland  credits  him  with  hav- 
ing drawn  the  plans  of  the  first  court  house  in  Ga- 
lena, and  although  he  himself  makes  no  mention  of 
it  in  his  writings,  he  is  said  to  have  designed  the  Old 
Stone  Capitol  at  Iowa  City.  The  carving  of  a  beau- 
tiful altar  in  a  chapel  in  Dubuque  is  attributed  to 
him  by  Archbishop  Ireland.  If,  as  seems  probable, 
the  maps  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  Great  Lake 
region  which  accompany  his  Memoirs,  and  the 
frontispiece  depicting  the  habitation  and  family  of  a 
Christian  Indian,  are  his,  he  must  have  had  unusual 
skill  with  the  pen.  His  memoirs  themselves  show  a 
fine  command  of  language,  a  genuine  love  of  the 
beautiful  in  nature  and  life,  and  an  intense  patriot- 
ism for  his  adopted  country. 

He  died  in  1864,  not  yet  old,  and  still  busy  serving 
his  fellow  men.  A  sister  in  Santa  Clara  College, 
which  Mazzuchelli  founded  in  southwestern  Wiscon- 
sin, writes  of  his  death : 

"One  bitter  night  he  spent  laboring  from  one 
death  bed  to  another,  and  dawn  overtook  him  creep- 
ing to  his  poor  little  cottage,  no  fire,  no  light,  for  he 
kept  no  servant,  and  benumbed  and  exhausted,  he 
was  glad  to  seek  some  rest.  When  morning  came, 
unable  to  rise,  they  found  him  stricken  with  pneu- 
monia, and  in  a  few  days  his  hardships  were  at  an 
end  forever.  He  who  had  served  the  dying  in  fever- 
haunted  wigwams,  in  crowded  pest  houses,  in  -the 


110  THE  PALIMPSEST 

mines,  and  on  the  river,  added  this  last  sacrifice  to 
the  works  of  his  devoted  life. ' ' 

Ardent  but  gentle,  inspiring  yet  practical,  this 
energetic  Dominican  played  an  unusual  part  in  the 
development  of  the  West.  His  life  was,  throughout, 
one  of  service,  but  perhaps  the  keynote  lies  in  those 
early  years  of  wide  and  weary  travel  and  church 
building.  Here  he  was  in  very  truth  a  pioneer;  and 
wherever  canoe  or  sled  or  his  own  tireless  feet  car- 
ried him,  men  of  varying  and  of  mixed  races,  of  all 
.creeds  and  of  no  creed,  were  better  for  the  sight  of 
his  kindly  face,  the  sound  of  his  cheering  words,  and 
the  unceasing  labors  of  his  hand  and  mind. 

JOHN  C.  PAEISH 


A  Few  Martial  Memories 

i 

OFF  TO  THE  WARS" 

0,  Johnnie  has  gone  for  to  live  in  a  tent  — 
They  have  grafted  him  into  the  Army. 

In  the  spring  of  1862,  Camp  Benton,  just  west  of 
St.  Louis,  was  a  rallying  point  for  the  volunteers  of 
the  Northwest.  Fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  new 
troops  occupied  it,  in  tents  and  barracks;  brass 
bands  paraded;  raw  cavalrymen,  with  unstained 
sabres,  stood  in  long  lines  learning  to  cut,  thrust  and 
"let  the  enemy  parry";  infantry  with  glittering 
weapons  were  drilling  in  companies  and  in  regi- 
ments; the  silver  ringing  of  bright  ramrods  in  still 
brighter  gun-barrels  was  heard  on  every  hand;  staff 
officers,  who  had  been  clerks  or  unfledged  lawyers  a 
few  weeks  previously,  galloped  about  with  an  air  of 
immense  responsibility,  as  though  a  battle  were  in 
progress.  All  was  glitter,  bustle  and  excitement. 
"Now,  this  is  war",  I  said  to  myself,  leaning  against 
a  cannon  that  had  never  been  fired,  and  folding  my 
arms  in  the  fashion  of  Napoleon. 

In  a  couple  of  days  a  great  number  of  boxes  some- 
what resembling  coffins,  were  hauled  to  the  front  of 
our  quarters,  and  we  turned  out  with  loud  cheers  to 
"draw  guns".  They  were  beautiful  Springfield 

111 


112  THE  PALIMPSEST 

rifles,  as  bright  as  silver,  and  of  the  best  pattern  used 
in  either  army  during  the  war.  It  was  an  exciting 
moment.  When  the  orderly  sergeant  handed  me  one, 
together  with  a  belt,  a  bayonet  and  sheath,  a  cap-box 
and  cartridge  box,  and  a  brass  "U.  S."  to  put  on 
the  cartridge  box,  I  felt  that  a  great  trust  was  being 
reposed  in  me  by  the  United  States  government. 
Many  a  man  has  gone  to  Congress  or  received  a 
Major-General's  commission  with  less  actual  mod- 
esty and  solemn  emotion  than  I  experienced  on  that 
occasion.  And  that  burnished  rifle,  so  beautiful  that 
it  seemed  fit  only  to  stand  in  the  corner  of  a  parlor, 
or  repose  in  a  case  of  rosewood  and  velvet,  subse- 
quently had  an  obscure  but  worthy  history.  In  the 
course  of  the  war,  from  its  well-grooved  barrel,  I 
hurled  more  than  eight  hundred  Minie  balls  in  pro- 
test against  a  Southern  Confederacy,  and  on  my  last 
battlefield  I  smashed  it  against  the  side  of  an  oak 
tree,  that  it  might  never  fire  a  shot  for  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Union.1 

Still  other  things  were  rapidly  given  to  us.  We 
received  those  horrible-looking  regulation  felt  hats 
which  somebody  decreed  we  must  wear;  also  black 
plumes  to  adorn  them;  a  brass  eagle  that  resembled 
a  peacock  in  full  feather,  for  the  side  of  a  hat;  a 
brass  bugle  for  the  front ;  brass  letters  and  figures  to 
denote  each  man's  company  and  regiment;  leather 
"dog  collars"  to  span  our  necks,  and  much  other 

i  Practically  the  entire  Sixteenth  Iowa  Infantry  was  captured  be- 
fore Atlanta  on  July  22,  1864. —  The  Editor. 


A  FEW  MARTIAL  MEMORIES  113 

trumpery  —  all  of  which  we  threw  away  eventually, 
except  the  hat.  The  latter,  in  time,  we  lowered  a 
story  or  two,  by  an  ingenious  method,  and  it  served 
us  well  in  storms  of  rain,  and  in  the  fierce  heats  of 
Southern  summer.  Buttoned  and  belted  and 
strapped,  and  profusely  ornamented,  we  felt  we  were 
soldiers  indeed,  and  we  pined  for  gory  combat. 
Now  and  then  a  straggler  would  arrive,  and  after 
gazing  on  our  splendid  paraphernalia,  he  would  be 
in  a  fever  of  anxiety  until  he,  too,  had  secured  the 
last  gewgaw  to  which  he  was  entitled  at  the  hands  of 
a  generous  Government.  "Have  you  drawed  your 
bugle  yet?"  became  the  slang  salutation  of  the  camp, 
the  original  inquiry  having  been  propounded  by  an 
alarmed  rural  volunteer  to  one  of  his  belated  com- 
panions. After  strutting  about  with  our  new  weap- 
ons, like  so  many  boys  in  their  first  new  boots,  we 
were  ordered  to  the  drill-ground  to  learn  how  to 
handle  them  without  impaling  one  another. 

Early  the  next  morning  the  drums  rattled  furi- 
ously, and  orders  came  to  pack  up  instanter  and  get 
ready  to  leave  for  the  seat  of  war.  The  wildest 
commotion  ensued.  Every  other  matter  was  for- 
gotten, and  with  eager  haste  we  got  into  line  on  the 
parade  ground.  There  we  learned  the  most  annoy- 
ing duty  of  a  soldier  —  to  stand  in  his  place  like  a 
hitching  post,  perhaps  for  hours,  simply  awaiting 
orders. 

We  finally  stacked  arms  and  had  breakfast,  but  at 
eleven  o'clock  we  marched  out  of  Camp  Benton  wifh 


114  THE  PALIMPSEST 

drums  beating  and  colors  flying,  going  we  knew  not 
where.  Three  batteries  and  three  regiments  of  in- 
fantry followed  us.  The  people  of  St.  Louis  cheered 
us  vociferously  all  along  the  route.  At  2  o  'clock  we 
reached  the  steamboat  levee,  and  our  regiment  (16th 
Iowa)  was  packed  and  crowded  on  board  a  miserable 
old  craft  called  the  Crescent  City.  The  other  regi- 
ments embarked  on  other  boats,  and  more  troops  and 
batteries  were  swiftly  ferried  across  from  East  St. 
Louis  and  embarked  on  still  other  steamers.  At 
dusk  our  somewhat  imposing  flotilla  swung  off,  and 
amid  the  roar  and  clatter  of  martial  music,  and  the 
cheering  of  soldiers  and  people,  we  steamed  down 
the  Mississippi.  It  was  the  1st  of  April,  and  our 
commanders  told  us  we  would  smell  gunpowder  soon. 
At  ten  o'clock  the  next  morning  we  reached 
Cairo,  and  saluted  the  beautiful  Ohio  with  a  round 
of  cheers.  Our  fleet  turned  up  the  Ohio,  and  on  still 
the  next  day  we  came  to  Paducah,  Kentucky,  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Ohio  and  Tennessee  rivers.  Taking 
on  plenty  of  coal,  we  moved  up  the  Tennessee  river 
to  join  Grant's  army,  flushed  with  its  recent  victory 
at  Fort  Donelson.  The  voyage  was  enchanting.  I 
shall  remember  those  lofty  bluffs,  robed  in  green 
foliage,  bright  with  blossoms  and  flowers,  to  the  last 
days  of  my  life.  Wild  and  picturesque  scenes  lay  on 
either  side,  and  strains  of  music  floated  on  every 
breeze.  The  weather  was  balmy  and  delightful.  The 
air  was  fragrant  with  the  breath  of  Southern  spring, 
We  seemed  only  on  a  pleasure  excursion.  We  passed 


A  FEW  MARTIAL  MEMORIES  115 

Fort  Henry  without  stopping,  but  close  to  its  battle- 
rent  works,  constructed  on  land  little  above  the  river 
level,  "Old  Glory "  floated  peacefully  above  the  rid- 
dled ramparts,  sentries  paced  back  and  forth,  and 
troops  were  encamped  near  by. 

On  the  evening  of  April  5th  we  arrived  at  Pitts- 
burg  Landing.  No  wharves,  warehouses  or  dwell- 
ings lined  the  shore.  Not  even  a  clearing  was  visible. 
We  saw  only  a  wooded  wilderness.  On  the  east 
shore  were  richly  timbered  low  lands,  subject  to 
overflow.  On  the  west  side  abrupt  bluffs  rose  from 
the  water's  edge  to  a  height  of  .150  feet.  They  were 
broken  by  deep  ravines  that  came  down  to  the  river. 
These  towering  green  highlands  were  covered  with 
magnificent  oaks  and  elms  in  full  foliage,  decorated 
here  and  there  by  dark  mistletoe.  In  Egyptian 
darkness  we  disembarked  on  the  west  shore,  and 
climbing  nearly  to  the  summit  of  the  bluff,  we 
formed  in  line  and  stacked  arms.  The  other  regi- 
ments and  the  artillery  companies  also  disembarked 
and  climbed  the  hill.  A  very  large  army  seemed 
scattered  about.  We  could  see  innumerable  camp- 
fires  far  to  the  front,  and  martial  music  floated  for 
miles  through  the  woods.  Worn  out  with  a  voyage 
of  hundreds  of  miles,  we  spread  our  blankets  and 
went  to  sleep.  Jt  was  the  night  before  the  battle  of 
Shiloh  —  one  of  the  bloodiest  engagements  of  the 
whole  war. 


116  THE  PALIMPSEST 

II 
THE  OPENING  GUNS  OF  SHILOH 

So  long  as  there's  truth  to  unfetter, 
So  long  as  there 's  wrong  to  set  right, 
So  long  as  our  march  is  upward, 
So  long  will  the  cry  be— "Fight". 
So  I  drink  —  to  defeat  or  to  conquest ; 
To  the  laurel  —  or  cypress  and  scar ; 
To  danger,  to  courage,  to  daring  — 
To  the  glory  and  grandeur  of  War. 

Irene  F.  Brown. 

Early  in  the  morning  —  very  early  — I  became 
aware  that  something  unusual  was  occurring.  Rous- 
ing with  an  effort,  I  staggered  to  my  feet  and  found 
that  other  men  had  also  been  awakened,  and  far 
away  through  the  woods  we  faintly  heard  bugles 
sounding  and  heard  the  distant  dull  roll  of  drums, 
mingled  with  the  discharge  of  fire  arms.  Interro- 
gating members  of  a  regiment  near  by,  we  got  the 
answer : 

"Why,  it's  the  long  roll  beating. " 

1 '  And  what 's  the  long  roll  1 "  we  inquired. 

They  explained  that  it  was  a  peculiar  roll  of  the 
drum  that  is  only  beaten  at  a  time  of  great  danger 
to  an  army.  Like  a  fire  bell  at  night,  it  was  a  note  of 
alarm.  It  signified  the  enemy's  presence,  and  called 
the  soldiers  to  arms,  in  haste.  This  was  news  in-, 
deed,  and  a  presentiment  of  impending  momentous 


A  FEW  MARTIAL  MEMORIES  117 

events  seemed  for  a  moment  to  possess  me.  Every 
drummer  who  heard  the  roll,  snatched  his  drum  and 
repeated  it.  The  weird  note  sounded  in  every  direc- 
tion. We  listened  intently  and  were  soon  startled  by 
the  roar  of  artillery,  somewhat  distant,  but  frequent 
and  heavy.  Presently  the  cannonading  became 
"nearer,  clearer,  deadlier  than  before/'  The  crash 
of  musketry,  in  volleys,  was  heard,  far  away  to  the 
front.  Staff  and  field  officers  began  to  appear,  many 
of  them  mounted  and  "riding  in  hot  haste";  and  the 
drums  of  many  of  the  regiments  around  the  landing 
beat  the  assembly. 

The  idea  that  some  kind  of  a  battle  was  com- 
mencing, had  been  ridiculed  at  first,  but  it  was  now 
certain  that  heavy  fighting  was  being  done  on  the 
outer  lines.  Our  drums  beat  and  our  regiment 
hastily  formed,  after  which  baggage  was  brought  up 
from  the  landing,  ammunition  was  issued,  and  we 
were  shown  how  to  bite  and  use  cartridges.  We  got 
orders  to  cook  breakfast,  eat  it,  and  get  back  into 
line.  As  the  roar  over  in  the  woods  waxed  nearer, 
louder,  deeper  and  more  terrible,  wounded  men  be- 
gan to  appear  in  great  numbers  along  the  road  lead- 
ing to  the  river.  The  first  of  them  who  reached  us 
gave  a  partially  correct  but  exaggerated  statement 
of  affairs.  The  army  had  been  surprised  by  an  im- 
mense force  of  Confederates,  they  said ;  soldiers  had 
been  shot  or  bayonetted  in  their  tents ;  whole  regi- 
ments had  been  captured  or  massacred;  our  lines 
had  been  broken  and  driven  back ;  many  of  our  bat- 


118  THE  PALIMPSEST 

teries  had  been,  captured,  and  affairs  were  growing 
worse  every  moment.  Presently  a  new  class  of  men 
began  to  arrive  from  the  field,  in  limited  numbers. 
They  were  totally  uninjured,  and  some  of  them  had 
no  muskets.  In  reply  to  any  questioning,  they  said 
their  regiments  "were  all  cut  to  pieces, "  and  that 
there  was  no  use  for  them  to  stay  there  any  longer. 
As  time  dragged  by  this  class  of  men  became  more 
numerous,  and  the  number  of  regiments  that  were 
all  cut  to  pieces  struck  me  as  being  quite  appalling. 

The  great  battle  meantime  waxed  fiercer  and 
fiercer,  and  appeared  to  be  extending  over  miles  and 
miles  of  ground ;  more  artillery  was  getting  into  line ; 
the  concussion  of  guns  grew  heavier  and  more  fright- 
ful; and  volleys  of  musketry  broke  in  tremendous 
explosions,  one  overlapping  and  drowning  the  other 
in  rapid  succession;  the  leaves  on  the  trees  and  the 
very  air  seemed  to  vibrate  with  repeated  shocks; 
and  listening  volunteers,  fresh  from  the  North,  some 
of  them  slightly  pale,  abandoned  their  long  cher- 
ished fear  that  the  war  might  end  before  they  would 
ever  do  any  fighting. 

The  preceding  night  we  had  slept  for  the  first 
time  on  a  soldier's  couch  —  the  ground  —  little 
dreaming  that  before  we  should  sleep  again  the 
surge-like  tide  of  an  awful  battle  would  sweep  to 
within  twenty  paces  of  that  spot.  It  was  a  Sabbath 
morning,  warm,  sunny,  and  with  a  cloudless  sky.  I 
thought  of  the  ringing  of  the  church  bells  in  my  na- 
tive State,  and  then  I  listened  with  awe  to  the  ter- 


A  FEW  MARTIAL  MEMORIES  119 

rible  roar  of  the  mighty  conflict  raging  a  few  miles 
away.  It  swelled  into  smooth  thunder,  varied  by 
volleys  of  artillery,  and  then  broke  into  redoubled 
violence,  lashing  and  clashing  with  spasmodic  rage. 
It  seemed  that  some  vast,  devouring  force  of  Nature 
was  approaching;  that  some  furious  ocean  had  been 
poured  upon  the  land,  and  was  leaping  and  crashing 
its  way  through  crags  and  abysses  to  the  scene 
where  we  stood.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river 
the  lowlands  were  basking  in  the  sunshine  that 
streamed  through  the  fresh  foliage  of  the  trees,  and 
blossoms  and  flowers  were  plainly  discernible.  It 
was  a  picture  of  perfect  tranquillity.  The  river  was 
like  a  sheet  of  glass.  Two  heavily  armed  gunboats 
moved  slowly  back  and  forth  like  restless  monsters 
fretted  with  unavailing  ire ;  and  the  many  transports 
lying  along  shore  were  rapidly  getting  up  steam  as 
though  to  fly  from  a  region  of  disaster. 

Fugitives  and  wounded  men  poured  past  our 
bivouac  by  hundreds.  We  had  ceased  to  interrogate 
them,  for  the  reply  was  invariably  the  same.  A  fear- 
ful struggle  was  in  progress.  The  Union  army 
was  literally  fighting  for  existence.  It  was  being 
steadily  driven  back,  and  had  met  with  enormous 
losses.  The  attack  had  been  made  with  consummate 
skill,  at  the  earliest  break  of  dawn.  At  many  por- 
tions of  the  field,  not  even  picket  lines  had  been  sta- 
tioned in  front  of  the  Union  encampments,  and  these 
troops  were  taken  by  complete  surprise.2  Men  were 

2  The  question  of  whether  or  not  Grant  'B  army  was  taken  by  sur- 


120  THE  PALIMPSEST 

actually  killed  on  their  cots.  Eebel  soldiers  after- 
wards told  me  that  they  "  fired  into  the  tents  and  the 
Yankees  came  buzzing  out  like  bees. ' '  At  other  por- 
tions of  the  field,  pickets  were  properly  stationed. 
Where  the  blame  lies  is  immaterial.  Generals, 
colonels  and  soldiers  knew  little  about  actual  war  — 
especially  on  a  large  scale.  The  enemy  rushed  on  in 
three  heavy  lines  of  battle,  and  won  everything  at 
the  outset,  but  that  the  battle  raged  for  forty-eight 
hours  afterwards,  and  ended  in  a  rebel  defeat,  is 
one  of  the  wonders  of  history. 

Albert  Sidney  Johnston  fell  that  day,  just  after 
leading  a  victorious  charge,  and  at  the  very  moment 
he  was  waving  his  thanks  to  his  wildly  applauding 
soldiers.3'  Just  before  the  battle  he  had  issued  to 
them  a  stirring  address,  in  which  he  said: 

I  have  put  you  in  motion  to  offer  battle  to  the  invaders 
of  your  country.  With  the  resolution  and  disciplined  valor 
becoming  men  fighting,  as  you  are,  for  all  worth  living  or 
dying  for,  you  can  but  march  to  a  decisive  victory  over 
agrarian  mercenaries,  sent  to  subjugate  and  despoil  you  of 

prise  has  been  for  many  years  a  subject  of  controversy.  For  a  refu- 
tation of  the  surprise  theory  see  Rich 's  The  Battle  of  Shiloh. —  The 
Editor. 

a  There  has  been  much  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  manner  of  the 
death  of  General  Johnston.  The  story  recounted  by  Parkhurst  is  to 
be  found  in  many  of  the  earlier  books  dealing  with  the  battle.  Later 
writers  have  in  several  cases  maintained  that  General  Johnston  was 
engaged  in  forming  the  reserves  behind  the  lines  when  he  was  hit  by 
a  stray  ball.  See  Rich's  The  Death  of  General  Albert  Sidney 
Johnston  on  the  Battlefield  of  Shiloh  in  The  Iowa  Journal  of  History 
and  Politics,  Vol.  XVI,  pp.  275-281.—  The  Editor. 


A  FEW  MARTIAL  MEMORIES  121 

your  liberties,  property,  and  honor.  Remember  the  pre- 
cious stake  involved.  Remember  the  dependence  of  your 
mothers,  your  wives,  your  sisters,  and  our  children  on  the 
result.  Remember  the  fair,  broad,  abounding  lands,  the 
happy  homes,  and  ties  that  will  be  desolated  by  your  defeat. 
The  eyes  and  hopes  of  8,000,000  of  people  rest  upon  you. 
You  are  expected  to  show  yourselves  worthy  of  your  valor 
and  lineage:  worthy  of  the  women  of  the  South,  whose 
noble  devotion  in  this  war  has  never  been  exceeded  in  any 
time.  With  such  incentives  to  brave  deeds  and  with  the 
trust  that  God  is  with  us  your  generals  will  lead  you  confi- 
dently to  the  combat,  assured  of  success.4 

After  breaking  a  Union  line,  and  driving  it  back  in 
rout,  Gen.  Johnston  was  receiving  the  clamorous 
applause  of  his  soldiers.  Three  fugitives  turned 
around  to  see  what  new  calamity  impended,  and  they 
guessed  him  to  be  a  general.  Loading  their  muskets 
as  quick  as  they  could,  they  fired  simultaneously.5 
He  fell  in  his  saddle,  and  died  a  few  moments  after- 
wards in  the  arms  of  a  surgeon.  His  death  caused  a 
temporary  cessation  of  the  enemy's  activity.  After 
some  delay,  that  proved  valuable  to  the  Union  forces, 
Beauregard  assumed  command.  He  swore  he  would 
"  water  his  horse  in  the  Tennessee  river  before  sun- 
set/' and  he  nearly  kept  his  word.6  The  enemy's 

*  This  address  by  General  Johnston  to  his  soldiers  is  printed  in  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion:  Official  Records,  Series  I,  Vol.  X,  Pt.  II,  pp. 
396-397.— The  Editor. 

«  See  footnote  on  p.  120. —  The  Editor. 

6  This  famous  declaration  was  made  at  the  beginning  of  the  battle 
by  General  Johnston,  not  by  General  Beauregard. —  The  Editor. 


122  THE  PALIMPSEST 

frantic  efforts  continued.    By  this  time  every  Union 
regiment  was  in  action. 

Gen.  Lew  Wallace  left  Crump's  Landing,  some- 
where down  the  river,  that  morning,  with  about  ten 
thousand  men,  with  rush  instructions  to  reach  the 
field  promptly,  but  he  got  lost  in  the  woods.  Had  he 
made  the  march  in  proper  time,  he  might  have  won 
imperishable  glory.  He  could  have  hit  the  left  flank 
and  rear  of  the  rebel  army,  and  changed  a  disastrous 
field  into  a  victorious  one.  As  matters  went,  he  ar- 
rived when  the  crisis  was  over  —  the  next  morning.7 
All  day  long,  hour  after  hour,  the  battle  raged,  and 
the  victory  seemed  to  be  Beauregard's. 

Ill 
SUNDAY  EVENING  AT  SHILOH 

Their  toast  to  the  smoke  of  the  peace  pipe, 
As  it  curls  over  vintage  and  sheaves; 
Over  war  vessels  resting  at  anchor, 
And  the  plenty  that  Peace  achieves. 
I  drink  to  the  sword  and  the  musket ; 
To  Battle's  thunder  and  crash  and  jar; 
To  the  screech  and  the  scream  of  the  bullet  — 
To  onset,  to  strife  and  to  War.     . 

Irene  F.  Brown. 

It  was  close  to  evening.  From  the  hilltop  where  I 
stood,  stretching  down  the  long  abrupt  slope  to  the 
river's  edge,  and  off  to  the  left  for  half  a  mile,  and 

7  General  Wallace  arrived  after  dark  Sunday  evening  and  during 
the  night  disposed  his  troops  for  battle. —  War  of  the  Rebellion :  Of- 


A  FEW  MARTIAL  MEMORIES  123 

perhaps  a  mile,  was  the  wreck  of  a  terribly  beaten 
army.  Thousands  and  thousands  of  men,  in  the 
apathy  of  despair,  awaited  an  apparently  inevitable 
calamity.  BuelPs  army  was  known  to  be  close  at 
hand,  hurrying  toward  us,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  and  officers  of  every  rank  from  general  down, 
were  passing  through  this  vast  mob  and  appealing 
to  them  by  everything  that  civilized  men  hold  sacred 
to  get  into  line  and  keep  the  enemy  back,  if  only  for 
ten  minutes,  till  Buell  could  save  them  from  mas- 
sacre. I  even  saw  a  girl  of  eighteen  stand  on  a 
stump  like  another  Joan  of  Arc,  and  deliver  a  pas- 
sionate harangue.  She  was  in  Zouave  uniform  — 
some  "daughter  of  a  regiment " — and  her  burning 
words  produced  astonishing  effect. 

We  had  but  a  little  ways  to  go,  and  barely  a  mo- 
ment to  take  in  the  situation.  A  long  line  of  artillery 
stretched  off  to  the  right,  some  of  the  pieces  being 
heavy  enough  to  shatter  the  walls  of  a  fortress  at 
one  discharge.  The  enemy  was  throwing  a  few 
shells. 

At  once  there  rose  so  wild  a  yell, 
It  seemed  that  all  the  fiends  that  fell 
Had  pealed  the  banner  cry  of  Hell. 

Thousands  and  thousands  of  infuriated  men  poured 
in  to  sight  with  fixed  bayonets,  yelling  like  demons. 

ficial  Eecords,  Series  I,  Vol.  X,  Pt.  II,  pp.  170,  176,  188,  193,  196, 
197.  For  a  discussion  of  General  Wallace's  march  to  the  battlefield, 
see  Eich's  General  Lew.  Wallace  at  Shiloli  in  The  Iowa  Journal  of 
History  and  Politics,  Vol.  XVIII,  pp.  301-308.—  The  Editor. 


124  THE  PALIMPSEST 

It  seemed  that  the  earth  had  vomited  forth  a  new 
rebel  army.  "Bull's  Run!  Bull's  Run!  Bull's 
Bun!"  they  shrieked  at  the  tops  of  their  voices. 
They  hoped  to  stampede  us  in  sheer  terror.  We  fired 
by  instinct.  Almost  at  the  same  time  our  massed 
park  of  artillery  hurled  barrels  of  grape  and  can- 
ister into  their  naked  ranks.  Their  yells  were 
drowned  in  the  roar,  but  on  they  came,  the  living 
trampling  over  the  dead.  No  commands  were  given 
us.  No  man's  voice  could  have  been  heard.  Every 
man  loaded  and  fired  with  frantic  haste.  Smoke  rose 
before  us,  in  clouds.  Suddenly  a  tempest  of  musket 
balls  flew  hissing  around  us.  We  knew  we  had 
checked  the  charge,  for  troops  on  a  charge  seldom 
fire.  The  combat  deepened.  A  terrific  and  super- 
natural noise  alarmed  me.  It  seemed  like  some 
enormous  projectile  ripping  the  air  open.  I  in- 
stinctively crouched  to  the  earth.  It  passed  in  the 
direction  of  the  enemy,  diagonally,  and  fell  among 
them.  I  imagined  I  heard  it  bursting,  and  that  I  saw 
the  flames  of  its  explosion.  It  was  a  huge  shell  from 
one  of  the  gunboats.  Others  followed  in  swift  suc- 
cession, scattering  death  and  havoc  wherever  they 
fell.  They  were  thrown  with  astonishing  precision. 
An  unusual  crash  of  musketry  to  the  left  caught 
my  attention.  Glancing  across  the  road  I  saw  that  a 
long  double  line  of  infantry  had  just  poured  a  volley 
into  the  foe.  Where  I  fought,  our  line  was  ragged 
and  disordered.  Some  were  standing  erect,  some 
were  lying  down,  some  were  fighting  on  one  knee, 


A  FEW  MARTIAL  MEMORIES  125 

and  some  were  behind  logs,  stumps  and  trees.  But 
every  man  of  that  line  stood  erect,  in  splendid  order. 
They  were  fresh  troops  from  BuelPs  command.  The 
rest  was  like  a  horrible  dream.  We  loaded  and  fired 
and  smoke  enveloped  us.  The  ground  trembled  be- 
neath our  feet.  We  were  in  a  whirlwind  of  smoke, 
fire  and  missiles.  It  was  so  near  night  that  our 
muskets  flashed  fire.  Our  cannons  belched  forth 
streams  of  fire.  At  times  I  saw  gunners  standing 
erect,  ramrods  in  hand,  like  silhouettes  against  a 
background  of  fire.  At  length  bullets  ceased  to  fall 
among  us.  I  dreaded  a  new  charge.  Then  the  fire 
began  to  slacken  all  along  our  line,  we  began  to  hear 
cheers,  we  ceased  firing,  and  knew  that  the  conflict 
had  ended.  Then,  amid  the  lifting  clouds  of  smoke, 
and  amid  the  dead  and  dying,  powder-grimed  and 
streaming  with  perspiration,  we  snatched  off  our 
hats  and  cheered  and  yelled  like  maniacs.  We  had 
repulsed  the  foe,  and  the  first  day's  carnage  at  least 
was  over. 

As  I  was  getting  into  place  at  the  line  of  battle, 
just  before  the  enemy's  onset,  T  hastily  viewed  a 
most  melancholy  circumstance.  On  the  left  hand 
side  of  the  road,  on  the  summit  of  the  hill  stood  an 
old  log  cabin,  and  around  it  were  innumerable  tents 
- 1  cannot  say  how  many,  for  they  stretched  to  the 
left  —  and  every  one  of  those  tents  was  filled  with 
wounded  soldiers.  Musket  balls  were  already 
piercing  the  canvas,  and  I  saw  men  running  with 
stretchers  to  remove  the  wounded.  All  that  stood 


126  THE  PALIMPSEST 

between  those  tents  and  the  storming  columns  of  the 
foe  was  a  hurriedly  forming  and  ragged  line  of 
battle.  The  line  must  have  been  within  a  yard  of  the 
tents,  or  may  have  been  formed  down  through  them, 
the  outer  tents  being  torn  down.  Imagine  the  agony 
of  a  man  with  a  shattered  leg  or  with  a  Minie  ball 
through  his  lungs  being  jolted  off  in  a  stretcher  by 
two  excited,  rough  and  incompetent  men.  Imagine 
this  being  done  under  a  fire  of  musketry,  with  shells 
bursting  plentifully  around,  and  tremendous  excite- 
ment prevailing.  Or  worse  yet,  suppose  he  had  been 
left  behind,  shorn  of  the  strength  he  possessed  an 
hour  before,  and  must  lie  helpless  on  his  blood- 
drenched  couch  with  screaming  missiles  rending  his 
tent  to  tatters,  and  inflicting  additional  wounds.  I 
did  not  see  the  result,  but  great  numbers  of  those 
men  must  have  been  killed  on  the  cots  where  they 
were  lying. 

We  had  no  sooner  reached  the  line  of  battle  than  a 
shell  came  shrieking  through  the  air,  and  fell  not 
twenty  feet  in  front  of  us.  It  whirled  there  a  mo- 
ment and  exploded.  A  soldier  fell  forward  on  his 
breast,  and  a  comrade  ran  to  his  side,  and  taking  him 
by  the  shoulders,  lifted  him  up.  Then  we  saw  that 
his  face  and  throat  were  blown  or  cut  off,  and  the 
blood  spurted  in  great  jets  or  streams  from  the 
veins  and  arteries  of  his  neck,  and  his  friend 
dropped  the  quivering  trunk  to  the  ground  with  a 
look  of  horror.  It  was  the  ghastliest  sight  I  saw  in 
the  war.  We  hear  orators  rant  about  men  spilling 


A  FEW  MARTIAL  MEMORIES  127 

their  blood  on  the  altar  of  their  country.  That  man 
literally  poured  out  all  the  blood  in  his  veins  on  the 
barren  soil  of  a  Tennessee  hill,  that  the  flag  that 
floats  in  triumph  today  might  continue  an  emblem 
of  nationality  and  power. 

Immediately  after  the  repulse  of  the  foe,  and  when 
triumphal  cheers  were  ceasing,  we  began  to  hear 
different  and  more  piteous  sounds.  They  were  the 
moans  of  the  wounded  and  dying.  I  even  heard 
horses  sending  forth  sounds  that  seemed  like  ap- 
peals for  human  sympathy  and  assistance.  Indis- 
tinctly seen,  but  all  around  us,  was  blood  —  on  the 
ground,  on  the  trees,  on  the  guns  that  had  swept  the 
foe  so  terribly,  on  the  prostrate  forms  of  the  slain, 
and  even  on  men  who  were  walking  about,  glowing 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  victory. 

Troops  were  pouring  up  the  road  from  the  land- 
ing. They  were  soldiers  of  BuelPs  army.  The 
steamers  were  ferrying  them  across  the  river  as  fast 
as  possible,  and  bands  of  music  were  playing  on  the 
steamers.  These  men  had  been  in  the  service  some 
little  time,  and  betrayed  evidence  of  training  and 
discipline.  They  passed  us,  and  deployed  in  line  of 
battle  some  distance  beyond  us,  for  the  enemy's 
forces  had  retired  about  half  a  mile.  The  Buell 
troops  that  got  into  action  that  evening  numbered 
only  a  few  thousand,  but  they  rendered  invaluable 
aid  at  a  critical  moment.8  They  were  led  by  the  im- 

s  Only  a  part  of  Colonel  Ammen's  brigade  of  General  Nelson's  divi- 
sion actually  got  into  the  fight  on   Sunday  evening.     These  troops 


128  THE  PALIMPSEST 

petuous  General  Nelson,  who  was  afterwards  killed 
in  a  Louisville  hotel  by  one  of  our  own  generals. 
Nelson  was  a  proud,  arrogant,  overbearing  man,  but 
he  was  a  most  heroic  military  leader  —  utterly  with- 
out fear.  I  saw  him  on  horseback  at  the  road,  under 
the  full  fire  of  the  enemy,  but  did  not  know  until  the 
next  morning  who  he  was. 

A  rapid  re-organization  of  Grant 's  forces  ensued; 
the  rolls  were  called,  arms  were  stacked  in  line; 
those  of  us  who  had  any  rations,  ate  them,  after 
which,  exhausted  with  the  day's  toils  and  intense 
excitement,  we  spread  our  blankets  on  the  ground 
and  were  soon  sleeping  soundly. 

Our  bugles  sang  truce  —  for  the  night  cloud  had  lowered, 
And  the  sentinel  stars  set  their  watch  in  the  sky; 
And  thousands  had  sunk  to  the  ground  over-powered, 
The  weary  to  sleep  and  the  wounded  to  die. 

CLINTON  PABKHURST, 
Co.  C,  16th  Iowa  Infantry. 

could  doubtless  be  numbered  in  hundreds  rather  than  thousands. — 
War  of  the  Rebellion:  Official  Records,  Series  I,  Vol.  X,  Pt.  II,  pp. 
328,  333-334,  337.—  The  Editor. 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

A  MOSAIC 

History  is  made  up  of  mosaics  with  many  pieces 
gone.  For  some  days  we  have  been  trying  to 
put  together  the  fragments  of  a  biographical  mosaic, 
but  there  are  still  more  vacant  places  than  there  are 
colored  stones.  Probably  some  of  the  readers  of 
THE  PALIMPSEST  can  supply  the  missing  pieces.  Back 
in  the  thirties,  when  the  name  of  Antoine  Le  Claire 
was  one  to  conjure  with,  the  town  of  Le  Claire  was 
laid  out  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  above  Daven- 
port. And  alongside  of  it,  about  the  same  time, 
Eleazer  Parkhurst  and  T.  C.  Eads  began  another 
village.  It  was  named  Parkhurst  after  Eleazer  who 
was  its  first  settler,  its  first  postmaster,  and  its  lead- 
ing citizen.  After  him  came  Lemuel  Parkhurst  and 
Waldo  Parkhurst  and  others  of  the  clan  who  built 
houses  and  opened  stores  and  helped  keep  up  the 
rivalry  with  the  adjacent  village  of  Le  Claire. 

After  various  fortunes  and  misfortunes,  including 
the  change  of  the  name  of  their  town  to  Berlin,  the 
followers  of  Eleazer  agreed  to  join  the  rivals  across 
the  way,  and  in  1855  a  new  town  of  Le  Claire  was 
incorporated  which  included  the  original  Parkhurst. 

From  the  town  of  Le  Claire  on  February  12, 1862, 
an  eighteen  year  old  boy,  Clinton  Parkhurst,  en- 

129 


130  THE  PALIMPSEST 

listed  in  the  Sixteenth  Iowa  Infantry.  It  was  a  new 
regiment  and  did  not  receive  ammunition  until  the 
morning  of  April  6,  when  it  entered  the  Battle  of 
Shiloh.  Clinton  Parkhurst 's  impressions  of  this 
conflict  are  told  in  A  Few  Martial  Memories  in  this 
number. 

Other  battles  followed,  and  between  the  times  of 
desperate  fighting  there  was  foraging  and  skirmish- 
ing, long  days  in  camp  and  on  the  march,  and  weary 
night  watches.  A  year  passed  —  two  years  —  then, 
one  summer  day  in  1864  in  the  Atlanta  campaign, 
the  gallant  Sixteenth  Iowa,  fighting  to  the  last,  was 
surrounded  and  practically  the  entire  regiment  was 
forced  to  surrender.  So  Clinton  Parkhurst,  after 
swinging  his  rifle  against  a  tree  to  put  it  out  of  com- 
mission, ceased  fighting  for  a  time  and  became  an 
inmate  of  Andersonville  Prison.  But  after  a  few 
months  the  men  of  the  Sixteenth  were  exchanged 
and  returned  to  combat  service. 

In  the  summer  of  1865,  Parkhurst  was  mustered 
out  at  Clinton,  Iowa.  He  was  still  hardly  more  than 
a  boy,  but  the  years  in  camp  and  battle  line  and 
prison  had  deepened  his  life  and  given  him  a  heritage 
of  experiences  which  he  never  lost. 

More  than  fifty  years  had  gone  by  since  the  Battle 
of  Shiloh.  The  lusty  young  soldiers  who  had  gath- 
ered at  reunions  after  the  war  and  sung  " We're 
Tenting  Tonight  on  the  Old  Camp  Ground" — just 
as  the  boys  of  the  American  Legion  today  sing 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  131 

4  *  Pack  Up  Your  Troubles  in  Your  Old  Kit  Bag"— 
were  fewer  in  number  and  their  voices  were  begin- 
ning to  quaver  as  they  sang.  Their  blue  uniforms 
which  had  been  the  emblem  of  youth  were  now  the 
garments  of  age.  In  June,  1913,  there  came  to  the 
State  Historical  Society  an  envelope  containing  the 
manuscript  of  A  Few  Martial  Memories  written  out 
painstakingly  in  longhand  and  signed  by  "  Clint 
Parkhurst,  16th  Iowa  Infantry".  There  was  some- 
thing almost  startling  in  the  fresh  vividness  of  the 
account  coming  to  light  a  half  century  after  the 
event.  No  letter  accompanied  the  manuscript.  The 
only  clue  to  an  address  was  the  postmark  on  the  en- 
velope: "Marshalltown,  Iowa".  A  letter  addressed 
to  Mr.  Clint  Parkhurst  at  that  place  brought  no  re- 
ply. A  friend  living  in  Marshalltown  reported  no 
trace  of  such  a  person.  Sometime  afterward  a  letter 
written  to  the  Commandant  of  the  Iowa  Soldiers* 
Home  at  Marshalltown  was  answered  as  follows : 

"Clinton  Parkhurst  was  admitted  to  this  Home 
November  15,  1895  and  he  deserted  this  Home  on 
August  22,  1913,  and  we  have  heard  nothing  of  him 


The  rest  of  the  mosaic  is  missing.  What  did  he  do 
in  those  thirty  years  between  his  mustering  out  in 
1865  and  his  entering  the  Soldiers'  Home  in  1895? 
They  were  the  prime  of  his  life  —  from  his  twenty- 
first  to  his  fifty-first  years.  The  List  of  Ex-Soldiers, 
Sailors  and  Marines  Living  in  Iowa,  published  -in 


132  THE  PALIMPSEST 

1886  by  the  Adjutant  General  of  the  State,  does  not 
contain  his  name.  Probably  he  had  moved  out  of  the 
State.  He  served  throughout  the  war  as  a  private 
and  perhaps  took  similar  rank  in  civil  life.  The 
chances  are  that  his  comings  and  goings  were  little 
noted.  Yet  we  have  not  had  from  the  pen  of  any 
officer  on  either  side  any  more  vivid  glimpses  of 
Shiloh  than  these  Feiv  Martial  Memories  by  Clinton 
Parkhurst. 

And  then,  after  eighteen  years  in  the  Iowa  Sol- 
diers' Home,  he  " deserted".  Somewhere,  still,  he 
may  be  alive,  dreaming  oftentimes  perhaps  of  the 
beauty  of  the  Sabbath  morning  when  the  long  roll 
stirred  the  air  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  of  the  calmness 
of  the  Tennessee  Eiver  lying  "like  a  sheet  of  glass" 
between  the  highlands  where  the  battle  was  raging, 
and  the  opposite  shore  where  "the  lowlands  were 
basking  in  the  sunshine  that  streamed  through  the 
fresh  foliage  of  the  trees,  and  blossoms  and  flowers 
were  plainly  discernible."  The  boy  who  listened 
that  day  to  the  increasing  roar  of  the  conflict  and 
thought  of  the  ringing  of  the  Sabbath  morning 
church  bells  in  his  native  State  would  now  be  sev- 
enty-six years  old.  We  hope  he  is  still  living  and  we 
take  this  means  of  thanking  him  for  the  opportunity 
to  preserve  his  impressions  of  Shiloh. 

J.  C.  P. 


' 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED   BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 

ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  I  ISSUED  IN  NOVEMBER  192O  No.  5 

COPYRIGHT  1920  BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL   SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

A  Geological  Palimpsest 

Iowa  is  very,  very  old  —  as  old  as  the  hills,  and 
older.  So  old,  in  truth,  is  this  fair  land  that  no  mat- 
ter at  what  period  the  story  is  begun  whole  eternities 
of  time  stretch  back  to  ages  still  more  remote.  Sea- 
sons without  number  have  come  and  gone.  Soft 
winds  of  spring  have  caressed  a  dormant  nature  into 
consciousness;  things  have  lived  in  the  warmth  of 
summer  suns ;  then  the  green  of  youth  has  invariably 
changed  to  the  brown  and  gold  of  a  spent  cycle ;  and 
winter  winds  have  thrown  a  counterpane  of  snow 
over  the  dead  and  useless  refuse  of  departed  life. 
For  some  creatures  the  span  of  life  has  been  but  a 
single  day;  others  have  witnessed  the  passing  of  a 
hundred  seasons ;  a  few  giant  plants  have  weathered 
the  gales  of  four  thousand  years :  but  only  the  rocks 
have  endured  since  the  earth  was  formed.  To  the 
hills  and  valleys  the  seasons  of  man  are  as  night  and 
day,  while  the  ages  of  ice  are  as  winter,  and  the  mil- 
lions of  years  intervening  as  summer. 

133 


134  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Through  stately  periods  of  time  the  earth  has 
evolved.  Mud  has  turned  to  stone,  the  sea  has  given 
place  to  land,  mountains  and  molehills  have  raised 
their  heights,  and  tiny  elams  have  laid  down  their 
shells  to  form  the  limestone  and  the  marble  for  the 
future  dwellings  of  a  nobler  race.  Since  the  first 
soft  protozoan  form  emerged  in  the  distant  dawn  of 
life,  myriads  of  types  from  amoebas  to  men  have 
spread  their  kind  through  endless  generations.  By 
far  the  greater  number  have  lived  true  to  form ;  but 
a  few  have  varied  from  the  normal  type  the  better  to 
maintain  themselves;  and  slowly,  as  eons  of  time 
elapsed,  old  species  died  and  new  ones  came  into 
existence.  Thus  mice  and  mastodons  evolved. 

"All  the  world's  a  stage "  for  the  drama  of  life 
wherein  creatures  of  every  kind  —  large  and  small, 
spined  and  spineless,  chinned  and  finned  —  have  had 
"their  exits  and  their  entrances "  along  the  streams, 
on  the  plains,  among  the  mountains,  in  the  forests, 
and  on  the  floor  of  the  ocean.  The  theme  of  the  play 
has  been  strife,  and  all  through  the  acts,  be  they 
comic  or  tragic,  two  great  forces  have  always  con- 
tended. The  one  has  aimed  at  construction,  the 
other  has  sought  to  destroy.  The  air  and  the  water 
were  ever  at  odds  with  the  earth,  while  the  principal 
objects  of  animal  life  have  always  been  to  eat  and 
escape  being  eaten.  No  one  knows  when  the  play 
began,  no  one  knows  the  end;  but  the  story  as  told 
by  the  rocks  is  as  vivid  as  though  it  were  written  by 
human  hand.  This  drama  of  life  is  the  history  of 
Iowa  before  the  advent  of  man. 


A  GEOLOGICAL  PALIMPSEST  135 

The  record  begins  at  a  time  when  Iowa  was  under 
the  sea.  The  only  inhabitants  were  plants  and  an- 
imals that  lived  in  the  water.  Very  simple  in  struc- 
ture they  were :  it  was  the  age  of  the  algae  in  plant 
life  while  in  the  animal  kingdom  the  noblest  creatures 
were  worms.  The  duration  of  time  that  the  sea  re- 
mained is  altogether  beyond  comprehension.  Slow- 
ly, ever  so  slowly,  the  dashing  waves  crumbled  the 
rocks  on  the  shore  and  the  rivers  brought  down  from 
the  land  great  volumes  of  sand  to  be  laid  on  the  floor 
of  the  ocean.  Ten  millions  of  years  elapsed,  per- 
haps more,  until  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  there  lay 
the  sediment  for  thousands  of  feet  of  proterozoic 
rock.  This  is  the  story  as  told  by  the  Sioux  Falls 
"granite"  in  northwestern  Iowa. 

After  a  great  while  the  sea  over  Iowa  receded. 
Then,  for  possibly  two  million  years,  the  rocky  sur- 
face of  the  land  was  exposed  to  wind  and  rain.  Over 
the  vast  expanse  of  barren  territory  not  a  sign  of 
life  appeared.  No  carpet  of  grass  protected  the 
earth  from  the  savage  attacks  of  the  water ;  no  clump 
of  trees  broke  the  monotony  of  the  level  horizon :  the 
whole  plateau  was  a  desert.  As  the  centuries  passed 
deep  gorges  were  carved  by  the  streams,  and  at  last 
the  down-tearing  forces  succeeded  in  reducing  the 
land  almost  to  the  sea  level. 

Gradually  from  the  south  the  sea  encroached  upon 
the  land  until  all  of  Iowa  was  again  submerged.  Its 
history  during  the  next  ten  thousand  centuries  or 
more  is  told  by  sandstone  cliffs  in  Allamakee  County. 


136  THE  PALIMPSEST 

All  sorts  of  spineless  creatures  lived  in  the  water. 
Crab-like  trilobites  swam  to  and  fro,  ugly  sea  worms 
crawled  in  the  slime  of  Cambrian  fens,  the  prim- 
itive nautilus  "spread  his  lustrous  coil"  and  left 
his  "outgrown  shell  by  life's  unresting  sea",  while 
jellyfish  and  sponges  dwelt  in  quiet  places  near  the 
shore. 

At  last  a  new  age  dawned.  The  all-pervading  sea 
still  held  dominion  over  nearly  all  of  North  America. 
So  small  was  the  area  of  land  that  the  sand  carried 
away  by  the  streams  was  lost  on  the  bed  of  the  ocean. 
The  principal  upbuilding  forces  were  the  primeval 
molluscs  that  deposited  their  calcium  carbonate 
shells  in  the  shallow  arms  of  the  ocean.  By  imper- 
ceptible accretions  the  Ordovician  limestones  of 
northeastern  Iowa  were  formed.  Gradually  the 
water  receded  and  the  newly  made  rocks  were  ex- 
posed to  the  weather.  As  the  floods  from  summer 
showers  trickled  into  the  earth  during  the  ages  that 
followed  some  of  the  minerals  were  dissolved  and 
carried  away  to  be  stored  in  cavities  and  crevices  to 
form  the  lead  mines  for  Julien  Dubuque.  That  was 
millions  of  years  ago. 

Centuries  elapsed  while  the  Iowa  country  was  a 
desert-like  waste.  Then  again  the  sea  invaded  with 
its  hosts  of  crabs,  corals,  and  worms.  Thousands  of 
years  fled  by  while  shell  by  shell  the  Anamosa  lime- 
stone grew.  But  as  the  world  "turned  on  in  the 
lathe  of  time"  the  sea  crept  back  to  its  former  haunts 
and  the  land  once  more  emerged. 


A  GEOLOGICAL  PALIMPSEST  137 

No  longer  was  Iowa  a  desert.  The  time  had  ar- 
rived when  living  things  came  out  of  the  water  and 
found  a  home  on  the  land.  The  ferns  were  among 
the  first  of  the  plants  to  venture  ashore  and  then 
came  the  rushes.  Forests  of  gigantic  horsetails  and 
clubmosses  grew  in  the  lowlands.  Slimy  snails 
moved  sluggishly  along  the  stems  of  leafless  weeds, 
while  thousand-legged  worms  scooted  in  and  out  of 
the  mold.  Dread  scorpions  were  abroad  in  the  land. 
^  It  was  the  age  of  the  fishes  when  the  ocean  re- 
turned and  the  process  of  rockmaking  was  resumed. 
Endless  varieties  of  fish  there  were,  some  of  them 
twenty  feet  long,  and  armed  with  terrible  mandibles. 
Enormous  sharks  infested  the  sea  where  now  are  the 
prairies  of  Iowa.  The  crinoids  and  molluscs  were 
also  abundant.  It  is  they,  indeed,  that  have  pre- 
served the  record  of  their  times  in  the  bluffs  of  the 
Cedar  and  Iowa  rivers.  He  who  will  may  read  the 
chronicles  of  those  prehistoric  days  in  the  limestone 
walls  of  the  Old  Stone  Capitol. 

Then  came  a  time  when  the  climate  of  Iowa  was 
tropical.  Vast  salt  marshes  were  filled  with  rank 
vegetation.  Ugly  amphibians,  scaled  and  tailed, 
croaked  beneath  the  dripping  boughs  and  left  their 
trail  in  the  hardened  sand  as  they  fed  on  the  primitive 
dragonflies  millions  of  centuries  ago.  Cockroaches 
and  spiders  were  plentiful,  but  not  a  fly  or  a  bee  had 
appeared.  Giant  trees,  enormous  ferns,  and  ever- 
present  rushes  stored  up  the  heat  of  summer  suns 
and  dying,  fell  into  the  water.  As  thousands  of 


138  THE  PALIMPSEST 

years  went  by,  the  reedy  tarns  turned  into  peat  bogs 
and  slowly  decomposition  continued  until  little  but 
carbon  remained.  Such  is  the  story  the  coal  mines 
tell. 

But  the  old  earth  heaved  amain,  the  Appalachian 
mountains  arose,  and  here  and  there  a  great  salt  lake 
or  an  inland  sea  was  formed.  The  supply  of  fresh 
water  was  exceeded  by  evaporation  and  so  at  the  end 
of  a  long  period  of  time  only  a  salt  bed  remained  or 
an  extensive  deposit  of  gypsum.  So  it  has  come  to 
pass  that  in  the  age  of  man  stucco  comes  from  the 
Fort  Dodge  gypsum  mines  that  were  prepared  at  the 
end  of  the  Paleozoic  era. 

Enormous  segments  of  geologic  time  elapsed  dur- 
ing which  the  sea  had  receded  and  Iowa  was  exposed 
to  erosion.  At  first  the  climate  was  arid  so  that 
plant  life  was  scarce,  but  as  humidity  increased  veg- 
etation developed  apace.  In  the  animal  kingdom 
the  reptiles  were  dominant.  Crocodiles,  lizards,  and 
queer  looking  turtles  were  here  in  abundance.  Gi- 
gantic and  ungainly  monsters  called  dinosaurs 
roamed  over  the  land,  while  from  the  flying  Jurassic 
saurians  the  birds  were  slowly  evolving. 

During  countless  ages  the  wind  and  water  were 
engaged  in  their  persistent  work  of  destruction. 
Gradually  the  land  was  reduced  to  the  sea  level  and 
the  ocean  crept  in  over  Iowa.  This  time  the  water 
was  muddy  and  shale  and  sandstone  resulted.  As 
sedimentation  progressed  great  marshes  appeared 
by  the  seashore  and  finally  the  ocean  receded,  never 


A  GEOLOGICAL  PALIMPSEST  139 

again  to  encroach  upon  Iowa.    In  the  west  the  lofty 
peaks  of  the  Rockies  were  rising. 

Permanently  disenthralled  from  the  sea  and  pos- 
sessed of  a  favorable  climate  Iowa  became  the  abode 
of  the  flora  and  fauna  of  Tertiary  times.  To  the  east 
the  Mississippi  Eiver  probably  followed  its  present 
course,  though  its  mouth  was  much  farther  north, 
but  the  streams  of  interior  Iowa  were  not  in  all 
cases  where  we  find  them  at  present.  The  valleys 
were  young  and  the  drainage  was  very  imperfect. 
Luxuriant  forests  of  oak,  poplar,  hickory,  fig,  willow, 
chestnut,  and  palm  trees  covered  the  hills,  while 
moss-mantled  cypresses  grew  in  the  marshes. 
There  were  flowers  for  the  first  time  in  Iowa, 
and  with  them  came  the  bees  and  the  butter- 
flies. The  ancestors  of  squirrels  and  opossums 
busied  themselves  among  the  branches  while  below 
on  the  ground  there  were  creatures  that  took  the 
place  of  beavers  and  gophers.  Giant  razor-back 
swine  and  something  akin  to  rhinoceroses  haunted 
the  banks  of  the  streams.  In  the  open  spaces  there 
were  species  that  closely  resembled  cattle,  while 
from  others  deer  have  descended.  An  insignificant 
creature  with  three-toed  hoofs  passed  himself  off  for 
a  horse.  All  sorts  of  dog-like  animals  prowled 
through  the  forests  and  howled  in  the  moonlit 
wastes.  Stealthy  panthers  and  fierce  saber-toothed 
tigers  quietly  stalked  their  prey,  while  above  in  the 
branches  large  families  of  monkeys  chattered  defi- 
ance to  all.  Bright  colored  birds  flitted  in  the  sunny 


140  THE  PALIMPSEST 

glades  or  among  the  shadowy  recesses.  Snakes,  liz- 
ards, and  turtles  basked  on  half-submerged  logs  or 
fed  upon  insects. 

The  majestic  sweep  of  geologic  ages  finally 
brought  to  an  end  the  era  of  temperate  climate  in 
Iowa,  and  after  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years 
ushered  in  the  era  of  ice.  It  may  have  been  more 
than  two  million  years  ago  that  the  climate  began  to 
grow  rigorous.  All  through  the  long,  bleak  winters 
the  snow  fell  and  the  summers  were  too  cool  to  melt 
it.  So  year  by  year  and  century  after  century  the 
snow  piled  higher  and  higher,  until  the  land  was  cov- 
ered with  a  solid  sheet  of  ice.  The  plants  and  ani- 
mals suffered  extinction  or  migrated  southward. 

As  this  ponderous  glacier  moved  over  the  surface 
of  Iowa  it  ground  down  the  hills  and  filled  up  the 
valleys.  Slowly  the  ice  sheet  moved  southward, 
crushing  the  rocks  into  fragments  and  grinding  the 
fragments  to  powder.  At  length  there  came  a  time 
when  the  climate  grew  milder  and  the  ice  was  grad- 
ually melted.  Swollen  and  turbid  streams  carried 
away  the  water  and  with  it  some  of  the  earth  that 
was  frozen  into  the  glacier,  but  much  of  the  debris 
was  left  where  it  lay.  Even  with  the  slow  movement 
of  glaciers,'still  there  was  time  during  the  ice  age  for 
huge  granite  boulders  to  be  carried  from  central 
.Canada  to  the  prairies  of  Iowa. 

The  first  glaciation  was  followed  by  an  interval 
of  temperate  climate  when  vegetation  flourished  and 
the  animals  returned  as  before.  But  the  age  of  the 


A  GEOLOGICAL  PALIMPSEST  141 

glaciers  was  only  beginning.  Again  and  again  the 
ice  crept  down  from  the  north  and  as  often  disap- 
peared. Twice  the  glacier  extended  all  over  Iowa, 
but  the  three  other  invasions  covered  only  a  part  of 
this  region.  Elvers  were  turned  out  of  their 
courses.  At  one  time  an  ice  sheet  from  Labrador 
pushed  the  Mississippi  about  fifty  miles  to  the  west- 
ward, but  in  time  the  river  returned  to  its  old  course, 
and  the  abandoned  channel  was  partly  appropriated 
by  the  Maquoketa,  Wapsipinicon,  Cedar,  and  Iowa. 
Again,  as  the  ice  retreated  great  lakes  were  formed, 
and  once  for  hundreds  of  years  the  waters  of  Lake 
Michigan  flowed  into  the  Mississippi  along  the  course 
of  the  Chicago  drainage  canal. 

The  earliest  glaciers  laid  down  the  impervious 
subsoil  of  clay  while  the  later  ones  mingled  powdered 
rock  with  the  muck  and  peat  of  the  inter-glacial 
periods  to  form  the  loam  of  the  fertile  Iowa  farms. 
Probably  a  hundred  thousand  years  have  fled  since 
the  last  glacier  visited  north-central  Iowa,  but  the 
region  is  still  too  young  to  be  properly  drained,  so 
nature  is  assisted  by  dredges  and  tile.  It  was  dur- 
ing the  glacial  period  that  mankind  came  into  ex- 
istence, but  no  man  trod  Iowa  soil  until  after  the  last 
glacier  was  gone.  Compared  with  the  inconceivable 
eons  of  time  since  the  first  Iowa  rocks  were  formed, 
it  was  only  as  yesterday  that  the  ancient  mound 
builders  flourished. 

Such  is  the  geological  history  of  Iowa.  No  one 
can  say  when  the  first  record  was  made,  but  the 


142  THE  PALIMPSEST 

story  through  all  of  the  ages  is  indelibly  carved  in 
rock  by  the  feet  and  forms  of  the  mummied  dead  that 
lie  where  they  lived.  Age  after  age,  as  the  sea  and 
the  land  contended  and  the  species  struggled  to  live, 
the  drama  of  the  world  was  faithfully  recorded. 
Sometimes,  to  be  sure,  the  story  is  partly  erased, 
sometimes  it  is  lost  beneath  subsequent  records,  but 
at  some  place  or  other  in  Iowa  a  fragment  of  each 
act  may  be  found.  The  surface  of  Iowa  is  a  palimp- 
sest of  the  ages. 

JOHN  E.  BBIGGS 


The  Iowa  Home  Note 

Hark !  the  meadow-lark  is  singing 

From  the  weathered  haycock's  ledge, 
And  the  robin  in  the  orchard 

Blithely  carols  forth  his  joy; 
While  the  turtle-dove  is  calling 

From  the  tangled  osage  hedge, 
And  the  cardinal  is  whistling 

Like  a  happy  barefoot  boy. 

And  the  song  that  floats  triumphant 

From  the  meadow  and  the  lane 
Is  the  song  of  rustling  cornfields 

Where  the  winds  of  midday  sigh, 
"Tis  the  song  of  Iowa  prairies  — 

Gilded  seas  of  waving  grain 
When  the  round  red  sun  is  setting 

In  a  glowing  opal  sky. 

'Tis  the  song  of  Iowa  rivers 

With  their  sunlit  wooded  hills, 
And  of  roadsides  decked  with  blossoms 

That  would  grace  a  hallowed  shrine. 
"Tis  the  throbbing  Iowa  Home  Note 

That  reverberates  and  thrills 
In  the  farm  and  village  echoes  — 

Just  as  in  your  heart  and  mine. 

BEETHA  M.  H.  SHAMBAUGH 


143 


Through  European  Eyes 

An  exiled  Italian  traveller,  an  English  master  of 
the  Queen's  household,  a  Swedish  novelist,  and  a 
Scotch  writer  known  the  world  over,  are  among  the 
many  who  have  visited  the  Iowa  country  and  writ- 
ten, their  impressions.  And  since  it  is  well  to  "see 
oursels  as  ithers  see  us",  we  are  presenting  here 
the  comments  of  Giacomo  Constantino  Beltrami, 
Charles  Augustus  Murray,  Fredrika  Bremer,  and 
Eobert  Louis  Stevenson. 

GIACOMO   CONSTANTINO  BELTEAMI  —  1823 

Of  these  four,  Beltrami  was  first  upon  the  scene. 
In  1823  he  came  into  the  Upper  Mississippi  Valley 
by  the  route  best  known  in  those  days  —  down  the 
Ohio  Eiver  and  up  the  Mississippi.  His  Latin  imag- 
ination was  stirred  and  in  his  writings  he  waxed 
eloquent  over  the  Mississippi  Eiver,  even  while  he 
was  voyaging  along  that  stretch  of  water  lying  be- 
tween Cairo  and  St.  Louis  which  Charles  Dickens 
later  spoke  of  as  "the  hateful  Mississippi"  and  "a 
slimy  monster  hideous  to  behold". 

William  Clark,  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition, 
was  a  boat  companion  as  far  as  St.  Louis,  and 
Major  Taliaferro,  Indian  agent  at  Fort  St.  Anthony, 
accompanied  Beltrami  up  the  river  to  that  pioneer 
post.  After  brief  sojourns  at  St.  Louis  and  Fort 
Edwards  the  travellers  reached  the  rapids  near  the 

144 


THROUGH  EUROPEAN  EYES       145 

mouth  of  the  Des  Moines  Eiver  and  began  their 
observation  of  the  edge  of  the  land  that  was  to  be 
Iowa,  but  whereon  at  the  time  there  was  not  a  soli- 
tary white  settlement.  Beltrami's  account  follows:1 

"The  next  day  we  ascended,  though  not  without 
difficulty,  these  rapids,  which  continue  for  the  space 
of  twenty-one  miles,  when  we  saw  another  encamp- 
ment of  Saukis  upon  the  eastern  bank. 

"Nine  miles  higher,  on  the  western  bank,  are  the 
ruins  of  the  old  Fort  Madison. 

"The  president  of  that  name  had  established  an 
entrepot  of  the  most  necessary  articles  for  the  In- 
dians, to  be  exchanged  for  their  peltry.  The  object 
of  the  government  was  not  speculation,  but,  by  its 
example,  to  fix  reasonable  prices  among  the  traders ; 
for,  in  the  United  States,  everybody  traffics  except 
the  government.  Fearing,  however,  the  effect  of  any 
restraint  on  the  trade  of  private  individuals,  it  has 
withdrawn  its  factories  and  agents,  and  left  the  field 
open  to  the  South  West  Company,  which  has  been 
joined  by  a  rival  company,  and  now  monopolizes  the 
commerce  of  almost  the  whole  savage  region  of  the 
valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri.  Its  two 
principal  centres  of  operations  are  St.  Louis  and 
Michilimakinac,  on  lake  Huron. 

"At  a  short  distance  from  this  fort,  on  the  same 
side,  is  the  river  of  the  Bete  Puante,  and  farther  on, 
that  of  the  Yahowas,  so  called  from  the  name  of  the 

i  Beltrami  'a  A  Pilgrimage  in  Europe  and  America,  Vol.  II,  pp. 
150-152. 


146  THE  PALIMPSEST 

savage  tribes  which  inhabited  its  banks.  It  is 
ninety-seven  miles  from  Fort  Edward,  and  three 
hundred  from  St.  Louis. 

"The  fields  were  beginning  to  resume  their  ver- 
dure;, the  meadows,  groves,  and  forests  were  re- 
viving at  the  return  of  spring.  Never  had  I  seen 
nature  more  beautiful,  more  majestic,  than  in  this 
vast  domain  of  silence  and  solitude.  Never  did  the 
warbling  of  the  birds  so  expressively  declare  the 
renewal  of  their  innocent  loves.  Every  object  was 
as  new  to  my  imagination  as  to  my  eye. 

"All  around  me  breathed  that  melancholy,  which, 
by  turns  sweet  and  bitter,  exercises  so  powerful  an 
influence  over  minds  endowed  with  sensibility.  How 
ardently,  how  often,  did  I  long  to  be  alone ! 

"Wooded  islands,  disposed  in  beautiful  order  by 
the  hand  of  nature,  continually  varied  the  picture: 
the  course  of  the  river,  which  had  become  calm  and 
smooth,  reflected  the  dazzling  rays  of  the  sun  like 
glass ;  smiling  hills  formed  a  delightful  contrast  with 
the  immense  prairies,  which  are  like  oceans,  and  the 
monotony  of  which  is  relieved  by  isolated  clusters  of 
thick  and  massy  trees.  These  enchanting  scenes 
lasted  from  the  river  Yahowa  till  we  reached  a  place 
which  presents  a  distant  and  exquisitely  blended 
view  of  what  is  called  Eocky  Island,  three  hundred 
and  seventy-two  miles  from  St.  Louis,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  from  Fort  Edward.  Fort  Armstrong, 
at  this  spot,  is  constructed  upon  a  plateau,  at  an  ele- 
vation of  about  fifty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  river, 


THROUGH  EUROPEAN  EYES      147 

and  rewards  the  spectator  who  ascends  it  with  the 
most  magical  variety  of  scenery.  It  takes  its  name 
from  Mr.  Armstrong,  who  was  secretary  at  war  at 
the  time  of  its  construction. 

"The  eastern  bank  at  the  mouth  of  Eocky  River 
was  lined  with  an  encampment  of  Indians,  called 
Foxes.  Their  features,  dress,  weapons,  customs, 
and  language,  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Saukis, 
whose  allies  they  are,  in  peace  and  war.  On  the 
western  shore  of  the  Mississippi,  a  semicircular  hill, 
clothed  with  trees  and  underwood,  encloses  a  fertile 
spot  carefully  cultivated  by  the  garrison,  and  formed 
into  fields  and  kitchen  gardens.  The  fort  saluted  us 
on  our  arrival  with  four  discharges  of  cannon,  and 
the  Indians  paid  us  the  same  compliment  with  their 
muskets.  The  echo,  which  repeated  them  a  thousand 
times,  was  most  striking  from  its  contrast  with  the 
deep  repose  of  these  deserts." 

A  day  was  spent  with  the  polite  "gentlemen  of  the 
garrison "  and  in  visiting  the  Sac  Indians  on  the 
Illinois  shore.  As  the  voyagers  proceeded  north- 
ward, they  passed  a  Fox  village  on  the  western  bank. 
At  one  point  Beltrami  went  ashore  and  succeeded  in 
shooting  a  rattlesnake.  He  visited  Galena  and  then 
passed  on  to  "the  mines  of  Dubuques".2 

"A  Canadian  of  that  name  was  the  friend  of  a 
tribe  of  the  Foxes,  who  have  a  kind  of  village  here. 

a  Beltrami '»  A  Pilgrimage  in  Europe  and  America,  Vol.  II,  pp. 
163-165. 


148  THE  PALIMPSEST 

In  1788,  these  Indians  granted  him  permission  to 
work  the  mines.  His  establishment  flourished;  but 
the  fatal  sisters  cut  the  thread  of  his  days  and  of 
his  fortune. 

1  'He  had  no  children.  The  attachment  of  the  In- 
dians was  confined  to  him ;  and,  to  get  rid  as  soon  as 
possible  of  the  importunities  of  those  who  wanted  to 
succeed  him,  they  burnt  his  furnaces,  warehouses, 
and  dwelling-house;  and  by  this  energetic  measure, 
expressed  the  determination  of  the  red  people  to 
have  no  other  whites  among  them  than  such  as  they 
liked.  .  .  . 

"The  Indians  still  keep  exclusive  possession  of 
these  mines,  and  with  such  jealousy,  that  I  was 
obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the  all-powerful  whiskey 
to  obtain  permission  to  see  them. 

"They  melt  the  lead  into  holes  which  they  dig  in 
the  rock,  to  reduce  it  into  pigs.  They  exchange  it 
with  the  traders  for  articles  of  the  greatest  neces- 
sity; but  they  carry  it  themselves  to  the  other  side 
of  the  river,  which  they  will  not  suffer  them  to  pass. 
Notwithstanding  these  precautions,  the  mines  are  so 
valuable,  and  the  Americans  so  enterprising,  that  I 
much  question  whether  the  Indians  will  long  retain 
possession  of  them. 

"Dubuques  reposes,  with  royal  state,  in  a  leaden 
chest  contained  in  a  mausoleum  of  wood,  which  the 
Indians  erected  to  him  upon  the  summit  of  a  small 
hill  that  overlooks  their  camps  and  commands  the 
river. 


THROUGH  EUROPEAN  EYES      149 

* '  This  man  was  become  their  idol,  because  he  pos- 
sessed, or  pretended  to  possess,  an  antidote  to  the 
bite  of  the  rattle-snake.  Nothing  but  artifice  and 
delusion  can  render  the  red  people  friendly  to  the 
whites:  for,  both  from  instinct,  and  from  feelings 
transmitted  from  father  to  son,  they  cordially  de- 
spise and  hate  them." 

CHAELES  AUGUSTUS  MUEEAY  — 1835 

A  dozen  years  later  the  Honorable  Charles  Augus- 
tus Murray,  who  announced  his  English  blood  in 
every  line  of  his  charming  * '  Travels  in  North  Amer- 
ica ",  came  up  the  Mississippi.  According  to 
Thwaites,  Murray  was  a  "  grandson  of  Lord  Dun- 
more,  last  colonial  governor  of  Virginia,  and  him- 
self master  of  the  Queen's  household ".  At  the  foot 
of  the  rapids  which  Beltrami  had  noted,  he  found  a 
white  settlement.  He  comments  as  follows:3 

"This  village  of  Keokuk  is  the  lowest  and  most 
blackguard  place  that  I  have  yet  visited :  its  popula- 
tion is  composed  chiefly  of  the  watermen  who  assist 
in  loading  and  unloading  the  keel-boats,  and  in  tow- 
ing them  up  when  the  rapids  are  too  strong  for  the 
steam-engines.  They  are  a  coarse  and  ferocious 
caricature  of  the  London  bargemen,  and  their  chief 
occupation  seems  to  consist  in  drinking,  fighting,  and 
gambling.  One  fellow  who  was  half  drunk,  (or  in 
western  language  'corned')  was  relating  with  great 
satisfaction  how  he  had  hid  himself  in  a  wood  that 

s  Murray  Js  Travels  in  North  America,  Vol.  II,  pp.  96-97. 


150  THE  PALIMPSEST 

skirted  the  road,  and  (in  time  of  peace)  had  shot  an 
unsuspecting  and  inoffensive  Indian  who  was  pass- 
ing with  a  wild  turkey  over  his  shoulder:  he  con- 
cluded by  saying  that  he  had  thrown  the  body  into  a 
thicket,  and  had  taken  the  bird  home  for  his  own 
dinner.  He  seemed  quite  proud  of  this  exploit,  and 
said  that  he  would  as  soon  shoot  an  Indian  as  a  fox 
or  an  otter.  I  thought  he  was  only  making  an  idle 
boast ;  but  some  of  the  bystanders  assured  me  it  was 
a  well-known  fact,  and  yet  he  had  never  been  either 
tried  or  punished.  This  murderer  is  called  a  Chris- 
tian, and  his  victim  a  heathen !  It  must,  however,  be 
remembered,  that  the  feelings  of  the  border  settlers 
in  the  West  were  frequently  exasperated  by  the  rob- 
beries, cruelties,  and  outrages  of  neighbouring  In- 
dians ;  their  childhood  was  terrified  by  tales  of  the 
scalping-knife,  sometimes  but  too  well  founded,  and 
they  have  thus  been  brought  to  consider  the  Indian 
rather  as  a  wild  beast  than  as  a  fellow-creature. ' ' 

At  Keokuk  three-fourths  of  the  cargo  was  trans- 
ferred to  a  keel  boat  to  lighten  the  load  so  that  the 
boat  could  ascend  the  rapids.  Murray  continues : 

"The  rapids  are  about  fourteen  miles  long,  and  at 
the  top  of  them  is  a  military  post  or  cantonment 
called  Fort  des  Moines.4  This  site  appears  to  me  to 
have  been  chosen  with  singularly  bad  judgment;  it  is 
low,  unhealthy,  and  quite  unimportant  in  a  military 
point  of  view :  moreover,  if  it  had  been  placed  at  the 

*  Murray's  Travels  in  North  America,  Vol.  II,  pp.  98-100. 


THROUGH  EUROPEAN  EYES      151 

lower,  instead  of  the  upper  end  of  the  rapids,  an  im- 
mense and  useless  expense  would  have  been  spared 
to  the  government,  inasmuch  as  the  freightage  of 
every  article  conveyed  thither  is  now  doubled.  The 
freight  on  board  the  steamer,  from  which  I  made 
these  observations,  was  twenty-five  cents  per  hun- 
dred weight  from  St.  Louis  to  Keokuk,  being  one 
hundred  and  seventy  miles,  and  from  St.  Louis  to 
the  fort,  being  only  fourteen  miles  farther,  it  was 
fifty  cents. 

"I  landed  at  Fort  des  Moines  only  for  a  few  min- 
utes, and  had  but  just  time  to  remark  the  pale  and 
sickly  countenances  of  such  soldiers  as  were  loiter- 
ing about  the  beach;  indeed,  I  was  told  by  a  young 
man  who  was  sutler  at  this  post,  that  when  he  had 
left  it  a  few  weeks  before,  there  was  only  one  officer 
on  duty  out  of  seven  or  eight,  who  were  stationed 
there.  The  number  of  desertions  from  this  post  was 
said  to  be  greater  than  from  any  other  in  the  United 
States.  The  reason  is  probably  this:  the  dragoons 
who  are  posted  there  and  at  Fort  Leavenworth,  were 
formed  out  of  a  corps,  called  during  the  last  Indian 
war  '  The  Eangers : '  they  have  been  recruited  chiefly 
in  the  Eastern  States,  where  young  men  of  some 
property  and  enterprise  were  induced  to  join,  by  the 
flattering  picture  drawn  of  the  service,  and  by  the 
advantageous  opportunity  promised  of  seeing  the 
'Far  West.'  They  were  taught  to  expect  an  easy 
life  in  a  country  abounding  with  game,  and  that  the 
only  hardships  to  which  they  would  be  exposed, 


152  THE  PALIMPSEST 

would  be  in  the  exciting  novelty  of  a  yearly  tour  or 
circuit  made  during  the  spring  and  summer,  among 
the  wild  tribes  on  the  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Platte, 
&c. ;  but  on  arriving  at  their  respective  stations,  they 
found  a  very  different  state  of  things :  they  were 
obliged  to  build  their  own  barracks,  store-rooms, 
stables,  &c. ;  to  haul  and  cut  wood,  and  to  perform 
a  hundred  other  menial  or  mechanical  offices,  so 
repugnant  to  the  prejudices  of  an  American.  If  we 
take  into  consideration  the  facilities  of  escape  in  a 
steamboat,  by  which  a  deserter  may  place  himself  in 
a  few  days  in  the  recesses  of  Canada,  Texas,  or  the 
mines,  and  at  the  same  time  bear  in  mind  the  feeble- 
ness with  which  the  American  military  laws  and  cus- 
toms follow  or  punish  deserters,  we  shall  only 
wonder  that  the  ranks  can  be  kept  as  full  as  they 


Murray  made  little  comment  on  Fort  Armstrong 
but  the  lead  mines  of  Galena  and  Dubuque  interested 
him  greatly.  Since  Beltrami's  trip  the  whites  had 
crossed  to  the  west  bank  of  the  river  and  had  begun 
a  vigorous  young  mining  settlement  at  Dubuque. 

"I  reached  Dubuques  without  accident,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  the  only  tavern  of  which  it  can  boast.5  The 
landlord,  whom  I  had  met  in  the  steamer,  on  ascend- 
ing the  Mississippi,  promised  me  a  bed  to  myself;  a 
luxury  that  is  by  no  means  easily  obtained  by  travel- 
lers in  the  West.  The  bar-room,  which  was  indeed 

5  Murray's  Travels  in  North  America,  Vol.  II,  pp.  151-157. 


THROUGH  EUROPEAN  EYES      153 

the  only  public  sitting-room,  was  crowded  with  a 
parcel  of  blackguard  noisy  miners,  from  whom  the 
most  experienced  and  notorious  blasphemers  in 
Portsmouth  or  Wapping  might  have  taken  a  lesson ; 
and  I  felt  more  than  ever  annoyed  by  that  absurd 
custom,  so  prevalent  in  America,  of  forcing  travel- 
lers of  quiet  and  respectable  habits  into  the  society 
of  ruffians,  by  giving  them  no  alternative  but  sitting 
in  the  bar-room  or  walking  the  street. 

"It  may  be  said  that  I  am  illiberal  in  censuring 
the  customs  of  a  country,  by  reference  to  those  of  a 
small  infant  village;  but  the  custom  to  which  I  al- 
lude, is  not  confined  to  villages ;  it  is  common  to  most 
towns  in  the  West,  and  is  partially  applicable  to  the 
hotels  in  the  eastern  cities.  They  may  have  dining- 
rooms  of  enormous  extent,  tables  groaning  under 
hundreds  of  dishes;  but  of  comfort,  quiet,  and  pri- 
vacy, they  know  but  little.  It  is  doubtless  true,  that 
the  bar  of  a  small  village  tavern  in  England  may  be 
crowded  with  guests  little,  if  at  all,  more  refined  or 
orderly  than  those  Dubuques  miners,  but  I  never 
found  a  tavern  in  England  so  small  or  mean,  that  I 
could  not  have  the  comfort  of  a  little  room  to  myself, 
where  I  might  read,  write,  or  follow  my  own  pur- 
suits without  annoyance. 

"I  sat  by  the  fireside  watching  the  strange  and 
rough-looking  characters  who  successively  entered 
to  drink  a  glass  of  the  nauseous  dilution  of  alcohol, 
variously  coloured,  according  as  they  asked  for 
brandy,  whisky,  or  rum,  when  a  voice  from  the  door 


154  THE  PALIMPSEST 

inquiring  of  the  landlord,  whether  accommodations 
for  the  night  were  to  be  had,  struck  my  ear  as  fa- 
miliar to  me.  I  rose  to  look  at  the  speaker,  and  our 
astonishment  was  mutual,  when  I  recognized  Dr.  M. 
of  the  United  States  army,  who  is  a  relative  of  its 
commander-in-chief.  He  is  a  very  pleasant  gentle- 
manly man,  from  the  state  of  New  York,  whose 
acquaintance  I  had  made  in  my  trip  to  Fort  Leaven- 
worth,  to  which  place  he  was  now  on  his  return. 
After  an  exchange  of  the  first  expressions  of  pleas- 
ure and  surprise,  I  assisted  him  in  getting  up  his 
baggage  from  the  canoe  in  which  he  had  come  down 
the  river,  and  in  despatching  a  supper  that  was  set 
before  him.  We  then  returned  to  the  bar ;  and  after 
talking  over  some  of  our  adventures  since  we  parted, 
requested  to  be  shown  to  our  dormitory.  This  was 
a  large  room,  occupying  the  whole  of  the  first  floor, 
and  containing  about  eight  or  nine  beds ;  the  doctor 
selected  one  in  the  centre  of  the  wall  opposite  the 
door;  I  chose  one  next  to  him,  and  the  nearest  to  me 
was  given  to  an  officer  who  accompanied  the  doctor. 
The  other  beds  contained  two  or  three  persons,  ac- 
cording to  the  number  of  guests  requiring  accommo- 
dation. 

"The  doctor,  his  friend,  and  I,  resolutely  refused 
to  admit  any  partner  into  our  beds;  and,  notwith- 
standing the  noise  and  oaths  still  prevalent  in  the 
bar,  we  fell  asleep.  I  was  awakened  by  voices  close 
to  my  bed-side,  and  turned  round  to  listen  to  the 
following  dialogue: — 


THROUGH  EUROPEAN  EYES       155 

Doctor  (to  a  drunken  fellow  who  was  taking  off 
Ms  coat  and  waistcoat  close  to  the  doctor's  bed). — 
1  Halloo!  where  the  devil  are  you  coming  to?' 

Drunkard. — "To  bed,  to  be  sure!' 

Doctor.— '  Where?' 

Drunkard. — 'Why,  with  you.' 

Doctor  (raising  his  voice  angrily). — 'I'll  be  d d 

if  you  come  into  this  bed ! ' 

Drunkard  (walking  off  with  an  air  of  dignity). — 

'Well,  you  need  not  be  so  d d  particular; — I'm  as 

particular  as  you,  I  assure  you ! ' 

"  Three  other  tipsy  fellows  staggered  into  the 
room,  soon  after  midnight,  and  slept  somewhere: 
they  went  off  again  before  daylight  without  paying 
for  their  lodging,  and  the  landlord  did  not  even  know 
that  they  had  entered  his  house. 

"It  certainly  appears  at  first  sight  to  be  a  strange 
anomaly  in  human  nature,  that  at  Dubuques,  Galena, 
and  other  rising  towns  on  the  Mississippi,  containing 
in  proportion  to  their  size  as  profligate,  turbulent, 
and  abandoned  a  population  as  any  in  the  world, 
theft  is  almost  unknown;  and  though  dirks  are  fre- 
quently drawn,  and  pistols  fired  in  savage  and 
drunken  brawls,  by  ruffians  who  regard  neither  the 
laws  of  God  nor  man,  I  do  not  believe  that  an  in- 
stance of  larceny  or  housebreaking  has  occurred. 
So  easily  are  money  and  food  here  obtained  by 
labour,  that  it  seems  scarcely  worth  a  man's  while 
to  steal.  Thus,  the  solution  of  the  apparent  anom- 
aly is  to  be  found  in  this,  that  theft  is  a  naughty 


156  THE  PALIMPSEST 

child,  of  which  idleness  is  the  father  and  want  the 
mother. 

"I  spent  the  following  day  in  examining  the  mines 
near  Dubuques,  which  are  not  generally  so  rich  in 
lead  as  those  hitherto  found  on  the  opposite  shore, 
towards  Galena.  However,  the  whole  country  in  the 
neighbourhood  contains  mineral,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  diggings  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
town  will  be  productive  of  great  profits ;  at  all  events, 
it  will  be,  in  my  opinion,  a  greater  and  more  popu- 
lous town  than  Galena  ever  will  become. 

'  *  The  next  day  being  Sunday,  I  attended  religious 
service,  which  was  performed  in  a  small  low  room, 
scarcely  capable  of  containing  a  hundred  persons. 
The  minister  was  a  pale,  ascetic,  sallow-looking  man, 
and  delivered  a  lecture  dull  and  sombre  as  his  coun- 
tenance. However,  it  was  pleasant  to  see  even  this 
small  assemblage,  who  thought  of  divine  worship  in 
such  a  place  as  Dubuques.  In  the  evening,  there 
was  more  drunkenness  and  noise  than  usual  about 
the  bar,  and  one  young  man  was  pointed  out  to  me  as 
'the  bully '  par  excellence.  He  was  a  tall  stout  fellow, 
on  whose  countenance  the  evil  passions  had  already 
set  their  indelible  seal.  He  was  said  to  be  a  great 
boxer,  and  had  stabbed  two  or  three  men  with  his 
dirk  during  the  last  ten  days.  He  had  two  com- 
panions with  him,  who  acted,  I  suppose,  as  myr- 
midons in  his  brawls.  When  he  first  entered,  I  was 
sitting  in  the  bar  reading ;  he  desired  me,  in  a  harsh 
imperative  tone,  to  move  out  of  the  way,  as  he 


THROUGH  EUROPEAN  EYES       157 

wanted  to  get  something  to  drink.  There  was  plenty 
of  room  for  him  to  go  round  my  chair,  without  dis- 
turbing me ;  so  I  told  him  to  go  round  if  he  wished 
a  dram.  He  looked  somewhat  surprised,  but  he  went 
round,  and  I  resumed  my  book.  Then  it  was  that 
the  landlord  whispered  to  me  the  particulars  re- 
specting him  as  given  above.  I  confess,  I  almost 
wished  that  he  would  insult  me,  that  I  might  try  to 
break  his  head  with  my  good  cudgel  which  was  at 
hand ;  so  incensed  and  disgusted  was  I  at  finding  my- 
self in  the  company  of  such  a  villain.  However,  he 
soon  after  left  the  room,  and  gave  me  no  chance 
either  of  cracking  his  crown,  or,  what  is  much  more 
probable,  of  getting  five  or  six  inches  of  his  dirk 
into  my  body. 

"I  could  not  resist  laughing  at  the  absurdity  of 
one  of  his  companions,  who  was  very  drunk,  and 
finding  that  his  head  was  burning  from  the  quantity 
of  whisky  that  he  had  swallowed,  an  idea  came  into 
it  that  would  never  have  entered  the  brain  of  any 
man  except  an  Irishman,  or  a  Kentuckian:  he  fan- 
cied that  his  hat  was  hot,  and  occasioned  the  sensa- 
tion above  mentioned ;  accordingly,  he  would  not  be 
satisfied  till  the  landlord  put  it  into  a  tub  of  cold 
water,  and  filled  it;  he  then  desired  it  might  be 
soaked  there  till  morning,  and  left  the  house  con- 
tented and  bare-headed. 

"I  was  obliged  to  remain  here  yet  another  day, 
as  no  steamboat  appeared.  At  length  the  Warrior 
touched,  and  took  us  off  to  Galena.  We  stopped  a 


158  THE  PALIMPSEST 

short  time  at  a  large  smelting  establishment  a  mile 
or  two  below  the  town:  on  a  high  bluff  which  over- 
looks it  is  the  tomb  of  Dubuques,  a  Spanish  miner 
from  whom  the  place  derives  its  name.  The  spot  is 
marked  by  a  cross,  and  I  clambered  up  to  see  it. 
With  a  disregard  of  sepulchral  sanctity,  which  I 
have  before  noticed  as  being  too  prevalent  in  Amer- 
ica, I  found  that  it  had  been  broken  down  in  one  or 
two  places;  I  picked  up  the  skull  and  some  other 
bones.  The  grave  had  been  built  of  brick,  and  had 
on  one  side  a  stone  slab,  bearing  a  simple  Latin  in- 
scription, announcing  that  the  tenant  had  come  from 
the  Spanish  mines,  and  giving  the  usual  data  re- 
specting his  age,  birth,  death,  &c.  The  view  from 
this  bold  high  bluff  is  very  fine,  but  unfortunately 
the  day  on  which  I  visited  it  was  cloudy. " 

FEEDRIKA  BBEMER  — 1850 

The  Swedish  novelist,  Fredrika  Bremer,  made  a 
trip  to  America  in  1849  and  spent  nearly  two  years 
in  this  country.  Her  impressions,  embodied  in  let- 
ters written  at  the  time,  were  published  in  Sweden 
and  also  in  an  English  translation  in  New  York 
under  the  title  The  Homes  of  the  New  World.  In 
the  fall  of  1850  she  took  a  steamer  from  Buffalo  to 
Detroit,  and  reached  Chicago  by  rail.  From  here 
she  went  by  steamer  to  Milwaukee  and  then  trav- 
elled by  stage  across  Wisconsin  and  south  to  Galena, 
Illinois.  In  a  letter  written  from  this  town  she  gave 


THROUGH  EUROPEAN  EYES       159 

the  following  hearsay  account  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  land  on  the  other  side  of  the  Mississippi:6 

"I  heard  an  interesting  account  from  a  married 
couple  whom  I  received  in  my  room,  and  who  are 
just  now  come  from  the  wilderness  beyond  the  Mis- 
sissippi, of  the  so-called  Squatters,  a  kind  of  white 
people  who  constitute  a  portion  of  the  first  colonists 
of  the  Western  country.  They  settle  themselves 
down  here  and  there  in  the  wilderness,  cultivate  the 
earth,  and  cultivate  freedom,  but  will  not  become 
acquainted  with  any  other  kind  of  cultivation.  They 
pay  no  taxes,  and  will  not  acknowledge  either  law  or 
church.  They  live  in  families,  have  no  social  life, 
but  are  extremely  peaceable,  and  no  way  guilty  of 
any  violation  of  law.  All  that  they  desire  is  to  be  at 
peace,  and  to  have  free  elbow-room.  They  live  very 
amicably  with,  the  Indians,  not  so  well  with  the 
American  whites.  When  these  latter  come  with  their 
schools,  their  churches,  and  their  shops,  then  the 
Squatters  withdraw  themselves  further  and  still 
further  into  the  wilderness,  in  order  to  be  able,  as 
they  say,  to  live  in  innocence  and  freedom.  The 
whole  of  the  Western  country  beyond  the  Mississippi 
and  as  far  as  the  Pacific  Ocean,  is  said  to  be  inhab- 
ited by  patches  with  these  Squatters,  or  tillers  of  the 
land,  the  origin  of  whom  is  said  to  be  as  much  un- 
known as  that  of  the  Clay-eaters  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia.  Their  way  of  life  has  also  a  resem- 
blance. The  Squatters,  however,  evince  more  power 

*  Bremer  's  The  Homes  of  the  New  World,  Vol.  I,  pp.  650-651.' 


160  THE  PALIMPSEST 

and  impulse  of  labor;  the  Clay-eaters  subject  the  life 
of  nature.  The  Squatters  are  the  representatives  of 
the  wilderness,  and  stand  as  such  in  stiff  opposition 
to  cultivation." 

Later,  however,  when  Miss  Bremer  had  crossed 
the  river  and  travelled  in  the  land  of  the  "squat- 
ters ' ',  she  wrote  her  own  impressions : 7 

"The  journey  across  the  Iowa  prairie  in  a  half- 
covered  wagon  was  very  pleasant.  The  weather  was 
as  warm  as  a  summer >s  day,  and  the  sun  shone  above 
a  fertile,  billowy  plain,  which  extended  far,  far  into 
the  distance.  Three  fourths  of  the  land  of  Iowa  are 
said  to  be  of  this  billowy  prairie-land.  The  country 
did  not  appear  to  be  cultivated,  but  looked  extremely 
beautiful  and  home-like,  an  immense  pasture-mead- 
ow. The  scenery  of  the  Mississippi  is  of  a  bright, 
cheerful  character. 

"In  the  afternoon  we  reached  the  little  town  of 
Keokuk,  on  a  high  bank  by  the  river.  We  ate  a  good 
dinner  at  a  good  inn ;  tea  was  served  for  soup,  which 
is  a  general  practice  at  dinners  in  the  Western  inns. 
It  was  not  till  late  in  the  evening  that  the  vessel  came 
by  which  we  were  to  continue  our  journey,  and  in 
the  mean  time  I  set  off  alone  on  a  journey  of  dis- 
covery. I  left  behind  me  the  young  city  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, which  has  a  good  situation,  and  followed  a 
path  which  led  up  the  hill  along  the  river  side.  The 
sun  was  descending,  and  clouds  of  a  pale  crimson 

7  Bremer 's  The  Homes  of  the  New  World,  Vol.  II,  pp.  81-83. 


THROUGH  EUROPEAN  EYES       161 

tint  covered  the  western  heavens.  The  air  was  mild 
and  calm,  the  whole  scene  expansive,  bright,  and 
calm,  an  idyllian  landscape  on  a  large  scale. 

' '  Small  houses,  at  short  distances  from  each  other, 
studded  this  hill  by  the  river  side ;  they  were  neatly 
built  of  wood,  of  good  proportions,  and  with  that 
appropriateness  and  cleverness  which  distinguishes 
the  work  of  the  Americans.  They  were  each  one  like 
the  other,  and  seemed  to  be  the  habitations  of  work- 
people. Most  of  the  doors  stood  open,  probably  to 
admit  the  mild  evening  air.  I  availed  myself  of  this 
circumstance  to  gain  a  sight  of  the  interior,  and  fell 
into  discourse  with  two  of  the  good  women  of  the 
houses.  They  were,  as  I  had  imagined,  the  dwellings 
of  artisans  who  had  work  in  the  town.  There  was  no 
luxury  in  these  small  habitations,  but  every  thing 
was  so  neat  and  orderly,  so  ornamental,  and  there 
was  such  a  holiday  calm  over  every  thing,  from  the 
mistress  of  the  family  down  to  the  very  furniture, 
that  it  did  one  good  to  see  it.  It  was  also  Sunday 
evening,  and  the  peace  of  the  Sabbath  rested  within 
the  home  as  well  as  over  the  country. 

"When  I  returned  to  my  herberg  in  the  town  it 
was  quite  dusk;  but  it  had,  in  the  mean  time,  been 
noised  abroad  that  some  sort  of  Scandinavian  ani- 
mal was  to  be  seen  at  the  inn,  and  it  was  now  re- 
quested to  come  and  show  itself. 

"I  went  down,  accordingly,  into  the  large  saloon, 
and  found  a  great  number  of  people  there,  prin- 
cipally of  the  male  sex,  who  increased  more  and  more 


162  THE  PALIMPSEST 

until  there  was  a  regular  throng,  and  I  had  to  shake 
hands  with  many  most  extraordinary  figures.  But 
one  often  sees  such  here  in  the  West.  The  men 
work  hard,  and  are  careless  regarding  their  toilet; 
they  do  not  give  themselves  time  to  attend  to  it ;  but 
their  unkemmed  outsides  are  no  type  of  that  which 
is  within,  as  I  frequently  observed  this  evening.  I 
also  made  a  somewhat  closer  acquaintance,  to  my 
real  pleasure,  with  a  little  company  of  more  refined 
people;  I  say  refined  intentionally,  not  better,  be- 
cause those  phrases,  better  and  worse,  are  always 
indefinite,  and  less  suitable  in  this  country  than  in 
any  other ;  I  mean  well-bred  and  well-dressed  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  the  aristocracy  of  Keokuk.  Not  be- 
ing myself  of  a  reserved  disposition,  I  like  the  Amer- 
ican open,  frank,  and  friendly  manner.  It  is  easy  to 
become  acquainted,  and  it  is  very  soon  evident 
whether  there  is  reciprocity  of  feeling  or  not." 

EGBERT  LOUIS   STEVENSON  — 1879 

It  was  nearly  thirty  years  later  that  Eobert  Louis 
Stevenson  visited  Iowa.  In  1879  he  crossed  the 
ocean  in  an  emigrant  ship,  and  started  across  the 
continent  toward  San  Francisco  in  an  emigrant 
train,  loaded  down  with  a  valise,  a  knapsack,  and  - 
in  the  bag  of  his  railway  rug  —  six  fat  volumes  of 
Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States.  He  left 
the  following  record  of  a  day  of  travel  between  Bur- 
lington and  Council  Bluffs.8 

s  Stevenson's    Across    the    Plains    (Scribner    Edition,    1912),    pp. 
24-28. 


THROUGH  EUROPEAN  EYES       163 

"Thursday. —  I  suppose  there  must  be  a  cycle  in 
the  fatigue  of  travelling,  for  when  I  awoke  next 
morning,  I  was  entirely  renewed  in  spirits  and  ate  a 
hearty  breakfast  of  porridge,  with  sweet  milk,  and 
coffee  and  hot  cakes,  at  Burlington  upon  the  Missis- 
sippi. Another  long  day's  ride  followed,  with  but 
one  feature  worthy  of  remark.  At  a  place  called 
Creston,  a  drunken  man  got  in.  He  was  aggressively 
friendly,  but,  according  to  English  notions,  not  at 
all  unpresentable  upon  a  train.  For  one  stage  he 
eluded  the  notice  of  the  officials ;  but  just  as  we  were 
beginning  to  move  out  of  the  next  station,  Cromwell 
by  name,  by  came  the  conductor.  There  was  a  word 
or  two  of  talk;  and  then  the  official  had  the  man  by 
the  shoulders,  twitched  him  from  his  seat,  marched 
him  through  the  car,  and  sent  him  flying  on  to  the 
track.  It  was  done  in  three  motions,  as  exact  as  a 
piece  of  drill.  The  train  was  still  moving  slowly, 
although  beginning  to  mend  her  pace,  and  the 
drunkard  got  his  feet  without  a  fall.  He  carried  a 
red  bundle,  though  not  so  red  as  his  cheeks ;  and  he 
shook  this  menacingly  in  the  air  with  one  hand,  while 
the  other  stole  behind  him  to  the  region  of  the  kid- 
neys. It  was  the  first  indication  that  I  had  come 
among  revolvers,  and  I  observed  it  with  some  emo- 
tion. The  conductor  stood  on  the  steps  with  one 
hand  on  his  hip,  looking  back  at  him;  and  perhaps 
this  attitude  imposed  upon  the  creature,  for  he 
turned  without  further  ado,  and  went  off  staggering 
along  the  track  towards  Cromwell,  followed  by  a 
peal  of  laughter  from  the  cars.  They  were  speaking 


164  THE  PALIMPSEST 

English  all  about  me,  but  I  knew  I  was  in  a  foreign 
land. 

1 '  Twenty  minutes  before  nine  that  night,  we  were 
deposited  at  the  Pacific  Transfer  Station  near  Coun- 
cil Bluffs,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Missouri  Eiver. 
Here  we  were  to  stay  the  night  at  a  kind  of  caravan- 
serai, set  apart  for  emigrants.  But  I  gave  way  to  a 
thirst  for  luxury,  separated  myself  from  my  com- 
panions, and  marched  with  my  effects  into  the  Union 
Pacific  Hotel.  A  white  clerk  and  a  coloured  gentle- 
man whom,  in  my  plain  European  way,  I  should  call 
the  boots,  were  installed  behind  a  counter  like  bank 
tellers.  They  took  my  name,  assigned  me  a  number, 
and  proceeded  to  deal  with  my  packages.  And  here 
came  the  tug  of  war.  I  wished  to  give  up  my  pack- 
ages into  safe  keeping;  but  I  did  not  wish  to  go  to 
bed.  And  this,  it  appeared,  was  impossible  in  an 
American  hotel. 

'  '  It  was,  of  course,  some  inane  misunderstanding, 
and  sprang  from  my  unfamiliarity  with  the  lan- 
guage. For  although  two  nations  use  the  same 
words  and  read  the  same  books,  intercourse  is  not 
conducted  by  the  dictionary.  The  business  of  life  is 
not  carried  on  by  words,  but  in  set  phrases,  each 
with  a  special  and  almost  a  slang  signification.  Some 
international  obscurity  prevailed  between  me  and  the 
coloured  gentleman  at  Council  Bluffs ;  so  that  what  I 
was  asking,  which  seemed  very  natural  to  me,  ap- 
peared to  him  a  monstrous  exigency.  He  refused, 
and  that  with  the  plainness  of  the  West.  This  Amer- 
ican manner  of  conducting  matters  of  business  is,  at 


THROUGH  EUROPEAN  EYES       165 

first,  highly  unpalatable  to  the  European.  When  we 
approach  a  man  in  the  way  of  his  calling,  and  for 
those  services  by  which  he  earns  his  bread,  we  con- 
sider him  for  the  time  being  our  hired  servant.  But 
in  the  American  opinion,  two  gentlemen  meet  and 
have  a  friendly  talk  with  a  view  to  exchanging 
favours  if  they  shall  agree  to  please.  I  know  not 
which  is  the  more  convenient,  nor  even  which  is  the 
more  truly  courteous.  The  English  stiffness  unfor- 
tunately tends  to  be  continued  after  the  particular 
transaction  is  at  an  end,  and  thus  favours  class  sep- 
arations. But  on  the  other  hand,  these  equalitarian 
plainnesses  leave  an  open  field  for  the  insolence  of 
Jack-in-office. 

"I  was  nettled  by  the  coloured  gentleman's  re- 
fusal, and  unbuttoned  my  wrath  under  the  similitude 
of  ironical  submission.  I  knew  nothing,  I  said,  of 
the  ways  of  American  hotels ;  but  I  had  no  desire  to 
give  trouble.  If  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  get 
to  bed  immediately,  let  him  say  the  word,  and  though 
it  was  not  my  habit,  I  should  cheerfully  obey. 

"He  burst  into  a  shout  of  laughter.  'Ah!'  said 
he,  'you  do  not  know  about  America.  They  are  fine 
people  in  America.  Oh !  you  will  like  them  very  well. 
But  you  mustn't  get  mad.  I  know  what  you  want. 
You  come  along  with  me.' 

4 'And  issuing  from  behind  the  counter,  and  taking 
me  by  the  arm  like  an  old  acquaintance,  he  led  me  to 
the  bar  of  the  hotel. 

"  'There,'  said  he,  pushing  me  from  him  by  the 
shoulder,  'go  and  have  a  drink!' 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

THE  MEANING  OF  IOWA 

Why  should  Iowa  mean  anything  to  us  1  It  is  not 
the  greatest  State  in  the  Union  in  size,  in  numbers, 
or  in  wealth.  It  has  no  large  city  —  no  mecca  for  the 
pilgrimages  of  mankind.  Its  shores  are  not  washed 
by  the  sea  as  are  those  of  California  and  Florida. 
Its  hills  do  not  rise  into  the  blue  like  the  mountains 
of  Colorado.  It  does  not  look  out  toward  the  island 
empire  of  either  Great  Britain  or  Japan.  Its  people 
can  not  talk  across  the  fence  to  the  Canadians  or  feel 
the  stir  of  excitement  along  the  prickly  border  of 
Mexico. 

But  it  is  the  heart  of  America.  Its  shores  are  the 
two  greatest  rivers  of  the  continent.  Its  rolling  hills 
and  fertile  plains  smile  in  the  sun  —  well  content 
with  the  task  of  making  manna  for  millions.  It  has 
woods  and  winding  streams  and  blue1  lakes,  and 
towns  with  shady  streets  and  green  lawns  and  alert 
and  friendly  people. 

And  it  has  traditions.  We  are  young  in  the  land, 
but  the  land  is  old.  Its  story  runs  back  of  the  days 
when  glaciers  slipped  down  across  it;  back  to  the 
times  when  the  sea  covered  the  Mississippi  Basin. 
Into  the  long  story  come  the  red  men,  and  after 
many  generations  the  whites.  The  songs  of  French 
boatmen  echo  upon  its  streams ;  Spanish  fur  traders 
trail  its  western  shore.  Julien  Dubuque  and  Manuel 
Lisa  move  through  the  misty  past.  Builders  of 

166 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  167 

homes  arrive  and  out  of  the  border  land  a  State 
comes  into  the  Union.  Congressmen,  soldiers,  and 
farmers,  lawyers,  business  men^  and  wide-visioned 
women  play  their  parts;  and  so  our  heritage  has 
grown. 

And  yet,  probably  it  is  the  associations  of  a  more 
immediate  past,  the  memory  of  more  intimate  and 
homely  things  that  makes  up  for  us  the  thought  of 
Iowa.  It  is  where  we  live  —  perhaps  where  we  have 
always  lived.  Its  people  are  our  people,  and  Iowa  is 
our  State.  We  frame  its  laws  and  try  to  obey  them. 
It  is  we  who  build  its  institutions  and  make  its  his- 
tory and  look  forward  to  the  enjoyment  of  its  future. 
The  familiar  scenes  of  the  land  between  the  rivers 
have  woven  themselves  into  our  lives.  And  so  Iowa 
means  a  thousand  things  to  us  —  the  rush  of  water 
in  the  gutters  in  the  spring  time,  and  the  smell  of 
burning  leaves  in  the  fall;  the  tang  of  early  frost 
and  the  sight  of  oaks  still  clinging  to  their  rusty 
foliage  on  the  hill  tops;  the  sound  of  birds  in  the 
early  summer  morning,  and  the  stillness  graven  on 
the  marble  of  a  winter  night.  It  means  black  mud  in 
the  bottom  road  and  red  sumac  along  the  fence; 
small  towns  and  large  corn  fields;  Wallace's  Farmer 
and  Ding's  cartoons;  the  clack  of  the  mower  and  the 
memory  of  boys  going  off  to  war. 

Iowa  has  its  faults;  but  so,  perhaps,  have  our 
parents,  our  wives,  and  our  children  —  to  say  noth- 
ing of  ourselves.  And  after  all,  we  can  not  explain 
the  charm  of  the  things  we  love.  Let  us  then  not.  so 


168  THE  PALIMPSEST 

much  boast  of  Iowa  as  be  happy  in  it.  Let  us  look 
with  seeing  eyes  upon  its  beauties,  and  with  friendly 
eyes  upon  its  people  —  our  neighbors.  Let  us  know 
its  story  and  make  sure  that  we  ourselves  play  in  it 
a  worthy  part;  for  what  we  make  it  mean  to  us,  that 
will  it  mean  to  those  who  come  hereafter. 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED   BY  JOHN  C.   PARISH 
ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  I  ISSUED  IN  DECEMBER  192O  No.  6 

COPYRIGHT  1920  BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

Crossing  the  Mississippi 

In  the  early  movement  of  settlers  to  Iowa,  the 
Mississippi  River  played  a  double  role.  To  the 
emigrants  from  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  other 
States  bordering  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  it 
served  as  an  invaluable  highway.  To  those  who 
came  overland  from  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  or  any 
point  in  Illinois,  on  the  other  hand,  it  loomed  up  as 
an  almost  impassable  barrier.  Either  as  an  aid  or  a 
hindrance  to  travel,  it  was  a  factor  all  early  emi- 
grants had  to  reckon  with. 

The  difficulties  to  be  encountered  by  travel  in  a 
white-topped  emigrant  wagon  in  those  early  days 
can  hardly  be  over-emphasized.  There  were  few 
roads  and  no  bridges.  Broken  traces  and  mired 
wheels  were  the  common  happenings  of  a  day's 
journey.  Rivers  proved  to  be  an  unfailing  source  of 
trouble.  The  small  streams  were  crossed  by  ford- 
ing; the  larger  ones  by  swimming  the  teams,  wagons 
and  all.  But  when  the  Father  of  Waters  was 
reached,  these  methods  were  out  of  the  question: 

169 


170  THE  PALIMPSEST 

here  apparently  was  an  insurmountable  obstacle. 
However,  these  eager  home  seekers  were  not  willing 
to  be  deprived  of  the  hard  earned  fruits  of  their 
trying  journey  —  now  lying  within  sight  —  by  a 
mere  river.  And  out  of  this  situation  came  the 
ferry. 

The  earliest  type  of  ferry  to  operate  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  was  the  canoe.  It  served  the  Indians 
as  a  means  of  crossing  long  before  the  whites  pene- 
trated as  far  west  as  the  Mississippi.  When  the 
white  explorers  finally  reached  the  valley  region, 
they  also  adopted  the  customary  mode  of  crossing 
long  followed  by  their  red  predecessors.  At  a  still 
later  period,  the  canoe  answered  the  more  frequent 
and  pressing  demands  of  the  hunters  and  trappers 
on  their  way  to  and  from  the  country  then  regarded 
as  the  far  west.  It  even  survived  till  the  day  when 
occasional  homeseekers  in  their  emigrant  wagons 
found  their  way  into  that  pioneer  region. 

Only  the  ordinary  difficulties  and  risks  of  canoeing 
attended  the  crossing  of  the  river  by  the  Indians, 
white  explorers,  and  trappers;  but  with  the  emi- 
grants it  was  different.  For  as  a  pioneer  account 
relates,  "wagons  had  to  be  unloaded  and  taken  to 
pieces,  and  both  they  and  their  loads  shipped  in 
small  cargoes  at  a  voyage,  till  all  were  over;  then 
the  teams  had  to  be  unharnessed  or  unyoked  and 
made  to  swim,  the  horses  being  led  by  the  halter  at 
the  side  of  the  canoe,  and  the  oxen  by  the  horns. " 
A  still  more  hazardous  undertaking  was  the  crossing 


CROSSING  THE  MISSISSIPPI  171 

in  winter,  and  in  the  springtime  when  huge  cakes  of 
ice  raced  along  on  the  swift  current,  ready  to  smash 
into  splinters  any  luckless  craft  that  might  get  in  the 
way.  But  this  was  not  always  taken  into  account  by 
travellers  eager  to  reach  their  destination,  and 
sometimes,  in  the  face  of  imminent  peril,  they  in- 
sisted on  being  ferried  over. 

An  example  of  this  is  afforded  by  the  story  of  a 
New  Englander  —  a  young  college  graduate  wholly 
unfamiliar  with  the  stern  conditions  of  pioneer  life. 
He  arrived  at  a  point  on  the  Illinois  shore  opposite 
Burlington,  in  December,  1840.  Being  very  anxious 
to  get  across  the  river  that  evening,  he  tried  to 
engage  the  services  of  the  ferryman,  who,  however, 
flatly  refused  to  venture  on  the  river  in  the  dark, 
giving  as  his  reason  that  the  floating  ice  made  it  far 
too  perilsome.  Nothing  daunted  by  the  ferryman's 
dark  and  foreboding  picture,  the  easterner  still  de- 
manded to  be  taken  over,  but  it  proved  futile.  So 
instead  of  the  hoped  for  conveniences  of  a  Burling- 
ton hotel,  he  was  forced  to  accept  the  more  scant 
offerings  of  a  one-roomed  cabin,  and  submit  to  the 
discomfort  of  sleeping  in  the  same  room  with  thirty 
others  —  men,  women,  and  children.  But  the  next 
day  when  the  canoe  landed  him  safely  on  the 
Burlington  side  of  the  river  after  an  hour's  trying 
struggle  among  the  floating  cakes  of  ice,  he  probably 
felt  less  bitter  toward  the  stubborn  ferryman. 

While  the  canoe  met  very  satisfactorily  the  needs 
of  the  early  explorers,  stray  travellers,  and  occa- 


172  THE   PALIMPSEST 

sional  homeseekers,  it  proved  wholly  inadequate  for 
the  stream  of  emigrants  which  followed  the  opening 
of  the  Black  Hawk  Purchase.  Imagine  the  situation 
when  a  group  of  twelve  or  more  emigrant  wagons 
lined  up  on  the  Illinois  shore  to  be  ferried  over- 
the  confusion,  the  frenzied  haste  to  get  the  wagons 
unloaded  and  taken  to  pieces,  the  long  disheartening 
wait  while  the  total  tonnage  of  the  wagons  was  being 
taken  over,  bit  by  bit,  when  the  hours  dragged  and 
even  the  best  natured  grew  surly.  Hence,  to  meet 
this  situation  brought  about  by  the  onrush  of  set- 
tlers to  the  Iowa  country,  regular  public  ferries 
equipped  to  carry  whole  wagonloads  at  a  time  came 
into  use. 

The  regular  public  ferries  passed  through  several 
well  defined  stages  of  evolution,  easily  distinguished 
by  the  type  of  motive  power.  Flat-boats  and  skiffs 
marked  the  initial  stage.  The  craft  generally  spoken 
of  as  "  flat-boats "  were  huge  barge-like  affairs,  so 
constructed  as  to  hold  wagon,  team,  and  other 
equipment.  They  were  steered  by  huge  sweeps, 
often  as  long  as  the  boats  themselves.  By  some 
these  boats  were  designated  as  "mud  scows ".  The 
distinguishing  characteristic  of  this  type  was  that 
man  supplied  the  motive  power.  Propelled  in  some 
cases  by  oars,  in  others  by  poles,  in  still  others  by 
huge  sweeps,  it  was  nevertheless  human  strength 
that  furnished  the  moving  force. 

Although  a  marked  improvement  over  the  canoe, 
the  flat-boat  did  not  do  away  with  the  trials  of 


CROSSING  THE  MISSISSIPPI  173 

ferrying.  A  large  element  of  risk  still  remained: 
the  craft  was  always  at  the  mercy  of  the  current  and 
was  carried  well  down  stream.  After  dark  the  haz- 
ards of  crossing  multiplied  and  ferrymen  charged 
accordingly.  And  in  many  cases  it  still  took  an  hour 
or  more  to  cross  the  river. 

While  it  is  very  likely  that  the  first  flat-boat  ferry 
to  operate  on  the  Mississippi  within  the  borders  of 
Iowa  was  one  established  at  Keokuk  to  serve  the 
early  settlers  in  the  Half  Breed  Tract,  there  appears 
to  be  no  recorded  evidence  to  show  it.  So  far  as  can 
be  gathered  from  available  records,  Clark's  Ferry 
at  Buffalo  marks  the  opening  of  flat-boat  ferrying  in 
Iowa.  The  ferry  was  established  by  Captain  Benja- 
min W.  Clark  in  1833  while  he  was  still  living  at 
Andalusia,  Illinois.  For  a  number  of  years  it  held 
the  distinction  of  being  the  most  noted  ferry  between 
Burlington  and  Dubuque.  Indeed,  one  writer  went 
so  far  as  to  state  that  it  was  "the  most  convenient 
place  to  cross  the  Mississippi  ....  anywhere 
between  Balize  and  Prairie  du  Chien."  And  prob- 
ably a  major  portion  of  the  traffic  passing  from  the 
direction  of  the  Illinois  Eiver  to  the  mining  region 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  or  toward  the  interior, 
crossed  the  river  at  this  point. 

However,  this  reputation  was  short  lived,  and 
later  developments  lead  one  to  believe  that  it  was 
based  more  on  the  conspicuous  absence  of  other  fer- 
ries than  on  any  intrinsic  qualities.  In  1836,  Antoine 
Le  Claire  established  a  ferry  at  Davenport  —  a  few 


174  THE   PALIMPSEST 

miles  below  Buffalo  —  and  he  gradually  drew  away 
most  of  the  travel  that  had  heretofore  passed  over 
Clark's  Ferry. 

As  the  stream  of  emigrants  heading  for  the  Iowa 
country  increased  in  volume,  the  process  of  carrying 
it  over  the  Mississippi  in  man-propelled  craft  soon 
became  inadequate.  Probably  some  ingenious  indi- 
vidual saw  the  absurdity  in  having  humans  sweat 
and  toil  away  at  the  poles  and  oars  while  veritable 
reservoirs  of  power  rested  on  the  ferry  boat,  and 
struck  upon  the  happy  idea  of  making  the  horses 
furnish  the  power.  At  any  rate,  a  transition  did 
take  place  wherein  the  crude  flat-boat  gave  way  to 
the  horse  ferry,  an  affair  moved  by  horse  power 
rather  than  by  man  power.  However,  the  transition 
was  not  a  complete  one ;  in  many  cases  this  stage  was 
not  present,  the  flat-boat  being  directly  followed  by 
the  steam  ferry. 

In  a  newspaper  published  in  Bloomington  (Mus- 
catine)  in  1841  the  following  notice  appears : 

"A  new  boat,  propelled  by  horse  power,  has  lately 
been  placed  upon  the  river  at  this  place,  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  ferry;  and,  though  hastily 
made,  all  of  green  oak,  and  clumsy  in  its  exterior,  it 
swims  like  a  swan  and  will  cross  in  eight  minutes 
with  ease  and  safety.  We  may  flatter  ourselves  that 
a  ferry  is  now  permanently  established/' 

The  third,  and  by  far  the  most  vital  step,  was  the 
introduction  of  steam  as  a  motive  power.  And  while 
very  little  record  is  to  be  had  of  the  actual  results  of 


CROSSING  THE  MISSISSIPPI  175 

the  change  from  human  to  horse  strength,  evidence 
as  to  the  effects  of  the  transition  to  steam  is  abun- 
dant. Whole  streams  of  immigration  were  diverted 
from  their  customary  avenues  of  travel  to  seek  the 
conveniences  offered  by  steam  ferries.  Nor  is  this 
to  be  wondered  at.  Eegular  trips  were  now  made 
every  hour,  in  some  cases  every  fifteen  minutes. 
Moreover,  in  sharp  contrast  to  the  time  it  took  to 
cross  in  a  flat-boat  —  sometimes  several  hours  —  the 
crossing  could  now  be  made  in  five  minutes.  This 
spurt  in  speed  of  crossing  was  closely  paralleled  by 
a  tremendous  leap  in  carrying  capacity.  For  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  crude  flat-boat  capable  of  carry- 
ing a  single  wagon  had  now  grown  to  a  gigantic 
affair  which  could  carry  eighteen  or  more  teams  at 
once,  and  even  whole  trains.  As  in  other  industries, 
the  introduction  of  steam  marked  a  new  era  in  the 
ferry  business. 

The  extent  to  which  steam  power  revolutionized 
ferrying  is  also  revealed  in  the  following  comment 
from  a  Dubuque  newspaper:  " Bogy's  splendid  new 
steam  ferryboat  is  doing  the  most  rushing  business 
of  the  season.  She  is  puffing  and  blowing  all  the 
time.  She  is  a  perfect  Godsend  to  California  emi- 
grants. If  the  number  of  wagons  that  she  brings 
across  in  a  day  had  to  abide  the  tardiness  of  the  old- 
fashioned  horse  boat,  they  would  not  reach  this  side 
in  a  week." 

Probably  the  first  steam  ferry  to  operate  on  the 
Mississippi  within  the  borders  of  Iowa  was  estab- 


176  THE  PALIMPSEST 

lished  by  Captain  John  Wilson  in  1852.  It  is  said 
that  he  launched  the  steam  ferry  as  early  as  1843, 
but  it  was  found  to  be  too  far  in  advance  of  the  times 
and  so  was  taken  off  the  river  until  1852.  This 
ferry  plied  across  the  river  at  Davenport. 

John  Wilson  was  unusually  energetic,  enterpris- 
ing, and  capable,  as  a  ferryman.  In  1837  he  pur- 
chased Antoine  Le  Claire's  ferry  business,  and 
immediately  began  building  new  flat-boats.  By  1841 
he  had  a  horse  ferry  boat  in  operation  and  his  steam 
ferry  was  launched  in  1843.  Moreover,  he  made  an 
arrangement  with  the  Eock  Eiver  ferry  located  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Green  Eiver,  whereby  one  fare  paid 
the  way  over  both  ferries. 

A  more  novel  contribution  to  .ferrying  at  Daven- 
port accredited  to  the  enterprising  Wilson  was  the 
ferry  alarm.  The  conditions  leading  to  the  adoption 
of  the  alarm  have  been  ably  told  by  a  contemporary 
writer  as  follows:  "In  primitive  times  in  order  to 
arouse  the  ferryman  on  the  opposite  shore  the 
Stephensonites  (now  Eock  Islanders)  who  had  been 
over  here  in  Davenport  to  attend  evening  services 
and  overstayed  their  time,  or  zealous  Davenporters 
who  after  dark  had  occasion  to  visit  Stephenson  in 
a  missionary  cause,  had  to  raise  the  ' war- whoop'. 
In  order  to  discourage  relics  of  barbarism  Mr. 
Wilson  introduced  the  ferry  triangle,  an  ungainly 
piece  of  triangular  steel  which,  when  vigorously 
pounded  with  a  club,  sent  forth  from  its  gallows  tree 
a  most  wretched  clanging  noise.  But  it  brought  the 
skiff  though  it,  awakened  the  whole  town. 9 ' 


CROSSING  THE  MISSISSIPPI  177 

No  account  of  ferries  in  Iowa  would  be  complete 
without  some  mention  at  least  of  tolls,  and  cost  of 
franchises.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  these  are  but  spe- 
cial phases  of  the  general  subject,  and  they  illumi- 
nate it  materially.  In  the  early  days  when  the  Mis- 
sissippi was  crossed  in  ferries,  money  was  not  so 
plentiful  as  it  is  to-day.  Hence,  ferry  fees  were 
often  paid  with  goods.  The  circumstances  under 
which  Clark  collected  his  first  ferriage  afford  an  in- 
stance, and  they  also  show  something  of  the  man's 
temper.  A  company  of  French  traders  on  their  way 
from  the  Iowa  River  to  the  Trading  Post  on  Bock 
Island  encamped  one  evening  at  Buffalo.  The  in- 
formation that  Clark  intended  to  establish  a  ferry 
across  the  river  at  this  point,  they  received  as  a 
huge  joke,  ridiculing  the  whole  enterprise.  Never- 
theless, they  called  loudly  for  the  ferry-boat  to  carry 
their  drove  of  cattle  across,  little  dreaming  that  it 
would  appear.  Nor  is  it  very  likely  that  they  real- 
ized the  type  of  man  they  were  dealing  with. 

Captain  Clark,  his  flat-boat  completed  and  ready 
for  service,  gathered  enough  men  and  boys  to  oper- 
ate the  boat,  and  in  no  pleasant  frame  of  mind  set 
out  into  the  dark  to  offer  his  services  to  the  noisy 
Frenchmen.  "When  the  traders  noticed  the  flat-boat 
approaching,  however,  they  burst  into  uproarious 
laughter,  aiming  to  turn  the  whole  matter  off  as  a 
joke;  and  they  told  the  Captain  they  had  nothing  to 
ferry  and  that  he  might  return.  But  he  was  not  so 
easily  disposed  of,  for  his  temper  was  now  thor- 


178  THE   PALIMPSEST 

ouglily  aroused.  He  landed  his  boat,  marched  into 
the  camp  of  the  Frenchmen  with  his  small  crew,  and 
angrily  demanded  ten  dollars  as  his  ferriage  fee. 
The  whole  affair  speedily  lost  its  comical  aspects, 
and  the  traders  saw  that  the  infuriated  Captain 
would  brook  no  further  trifling.  But  to  their  great 
embarrassment,  they  had  not  ten  dollars  in  money 
among  them.  So  they  offered  him  two  bolts  of  calico 
which  he  accepted. 

Another  incident  arising  out  of  the  scarcity  of 
money  is  related  of  Antoine  Le  Claire  who  estab- 
lished his  ferry  at  Davenport  in  1836.  As  his  fee  for 
ferrying  a  number  of  sheep  over  the  river,  he  ac- 
cepted their  fleeces,  the  owner  having  had  them 
sheared  prior  to  the  crossing.  This  wool  he  kept  for 
a  while,  but  failing  to  find  any  particular  use  for  it, 
he  finally  burned  it  to  get  rid  of  it. 

But  it  must  not  be  understood  that  it  was  the 
daily  occurrence  for  a  party  to  pay  its  way  over  the 
river  in  calico  or  in  raw  wool.  These  were  the  un- 
usual and  striking  incidents.  Ordinarily,  of  course, 
fares  were  paid  in  money.  The  County  Commis- 
sioner's Court  at  Rockingham  in  May,  1838,  fixed 
the  following  ferriage  rates  for  the  Mississippi 
Eiver : 

Footmen  $  .18% 

Man  and  horse  .50 

One  vehicle  and  driver  .75 

Two  horses,  vehicle  and  driver     1.00 
Each  additional  horse  or  mule      .18% 


CROSSING  THE  MISSISSIPPI  179 


Meat  cattle,  per  head 
Sheep  or  hogs  .05 

Freight  per  hundred  .06% 

From  sunset  to  sunrise,  double  rates  were  allowed. 

The  puzzling  feature  of  this  table  stands  out  in 
the  apparent  difficulty  of  making  change  in  %  cents 
and  %  cents.  And  for  both  explanation  and  solu- 
tion one  must  go  back  to  a  day  when  money  was 
nearly  non-existent.  Says  a  writer  of  that  early 
day,  "  During  alljthis  time  there  was  no  money  of 
any  description.  Talk  about  scarcity  now  a  days! 
Then  the  only  change  aside  from  barter  consisted  of 
bits  and  picayunes  —  the  former  a  piece  of  the 
eighth  part  of  a  Spanish  milled  dollar,  cut  with  a 
chisel  into  eight  equal  parts  when  the  operation  was 
fairly  and  honestly  done,  but  the  skilful  and  design- 
ing often  made  nine  bits  and  even  ten  out  of  one 
dollar  piece.  The  picayune  in  like  manner  wras  a 
Spanish  quarter  cut  into  four  equal  parts,  hence 
the  origin  of  these  two  terms  bits  and  picayunes.  " 

The  table  then,  was  based  on  the  actual  circulation 
of  the  crude  bits  of  chiseled  coin  which  survived  a 
day  when  money  was  very  scarce.  Not  infrequently, 
however,  one  party  or  the  other  had  to  surrender 
the  half  or  fourth  cent  in  making  change. 

While  the  ferries  of  early  days  rendered  prac- 
tically the  same  public  service  that  the  bridges  of 
to-day  do,  they  were,  for  the  most  part,  established 
for  private  profit.  And  when  one  considers  the 
striking  similarity  between  crossing  the  Mississippi 


180  THE   PALIMPSEST 

in  a  ferry-boat  and  crossing  it  over  a  bridge,  it  seems 
odd  that  a  toll  should  have  to  be  paid  in  the  one  case 
and  not  in  the  other.  Nevertheless,  free  ferries  were 
as  conspicuously  absent  then  as  free  bridges  are 
prevalent  to-day. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  idea  of  a  free  public  ferry 
was  not  altogether  unheard  of.  By  legislative  act 
the  commissioners  of  Louisa  County  were  author- 
ized to  establish  and  keep  a  ferry  across  the  Iowa 
Eiver  which  was  to  render  its  services  free  to  all  the 
citizens  of  the  county.  And  at  the  extra  session  of 
the  First  General  Assembly  the  Mayor  and  Alder- 
men of  Ft.  Madison  were  authorized  to  provide  for 
"the  free  carriage  across  the  Mississippi  river  for 
one  year,  of  all  persons  with  their  property  coming 
to  Ft.  Madison  for  the  purpose  of  trading  with  its 
inhabitants,  and  bringing  marketing  and  produce  to 
the  place ' '.  Moreover,  there  was  considerable  agita- 
tion for  the  free  ferry  in  a  number  of  the  larger 
towns. 

License  fees  kept  pace  with  the  rapid  development 
of  the  ferries  in  general  —  the  increase  in  carrying 
capacity,  the  substitution  of  steam  in  the  place  of 
horse  or  man  power,  and  the  increase  in  volume  of 
business.  Beginning  with  the  humble  figure  of  $2.00 
per  year  or  less,  the  cost  of  franchises  leaped,  in  the 
course  of  time,  to  the  striking  figure  of  $1000  an- 
nually. Before  the  formal  granting  of  ferry  fran- 
chises through  legislative  action,  licenses  were  not 
required.  There  appears  to  be  no  written  evidence 


CROSSING  THE  MISSISSIPPI  181 

that  either  Captain  Clark  or  Antoine  Le  Claire  or 
Captain  John  Wilson  paid  license  fees.  But  with 
the  establishing  of  ferries  through  legal  processes, 
charges  were  made  for  the  right  to  carry  on  the 
business. 

The  County  Commissioner's  Court  which  met  at 
Rockingham  in  May,  1838,  fixed  the  following  sched- 
ules for  licenses  on  the  Mississippi:  Davenport, 
$20.00;  Buffalo,  $10.00;  Rockingham,  $8.00;  and  all 
others  $5.00.  How  long  these  schedules  remained  in 
force  we  are  not  told;  very  likely  it  was  not  many 
years.  Gregoire's  ferry  established  at  Dubuque  was 
required  to  pay  $100.00  annually.  And  the  Council 
Bluffs  and  Nebraska  Ferry  Company  was  charged 
$1000  annually  for  the  right  to  operate  on  the  Mis- 
souri at  Council  Bluffs. 

In  the  course  of  time  the  steamboat  replaced  the 
steam  ferry,  and  this  marked  the  last  stage  of  water 
transportation.  Then  came  the  bridges  and  wher- 
ever they  appeared  the  ferries  became  an  insignifi- 
cant factor  in  crossing  the  Mississippi.  In  1855  the 
first  bridge  across  the  Mississippi  at  Davenport  was 
completed ;  eighteen  years  later  a  second  bridge  fol- 
lowed. The  Illinois  shore  was  linked  to  the  Iowa 
shore  at  Clinton  in  1864.  Four  years  later  work  was 
in  full  sway  on  a  bridge  at  Dubuque.  And  in  1891 
the  so  called  "high  bridge"  was  opened  at  Mus- 
catine. 

It  is  needless  to  further  catalogue  these  Missis- 
sippi crossings.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  since  the  nine- 


182  THE   PALIMPSEST 

ties  all  the  important  river  towns  have  built  bridges. 
And  although  water  crossings  still  exist  and  doubt- 
less always  will,  it  is  apparent  that  the  spanning  of 
the  Mississippi  with  mighty  bridges  sounded  the 
death  knell  of  the  once  prosperous  trade  of  ferrying. 

WILLIAM  S.  JOHNSON 


Clint  Parkhurst 

Henry  Clinton  Parkhurst,  a  man  of  brilliant  mind, 
a  prolific  author  of  fine  prose  and  poetry  produc- 
tions, has  in  consequence  of  a  tangle  of  circum- 
stances, almost  sunk  into  oblivion,  yet  the  memory 
of  him  is  fresh  in  the  minds  of  a  few  of  his  former 
acquaintances  who  have  made  unavailing  efforts  to 
learn  his  recent  whereabouts. 

It  was  a  happy  incident  that  THE  PALIMPSEST  pub- 
lished in  a  recent  number  a  few  of  Parkhurst 's 
Martial  Memories,  in  which  the  private  of  the 
Sixteenth  Iowa  Infantry  tells  the  graphic  details  — 
spiced  with  humor  and  some  self-mockery  —  of  the 
terrific  Battle  of  Shiloh  where  he  received  his  first 
and  lasting  impressions  of  war,  for  by  that  publica- 
tion the  interest  in  the  author  has  been  revived. 

Where  Clinton  Parkhurst  is  living  —  at  an  age  of 
76  or  77 —  the  present  writer  does  not  know. 
Neither  has  he  much  knowledge  of  his  doings  after 
he  left  the  Iowa  Soldiers '  Home  at  Marshalltown,  of 
which  he  is  reported  to  have  been  an  inmate  since 
1895.  As  a  matter  of  fact  he  probably  spent  com- 
paratively few  years  at  the  Home  for  during  that 
period  he  was  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time  in  various 
parts  of  the  country  —  East,  West,  and  South.  But 
of  the  earlier  years  much  can  be  told  and  the  follow- 
ing account  is  an  attempt  to  contribute  some  of  the 
missing  fragments  of  the  "  biographical  mosaic ". 

183 


184  THE  PALIMPSEST 

The  village  of  Parkhurst  in  Scott  County,  where 
Clint  was  born  in  1844,  and  the  neighboring  village 
of  LeClaire,  which  in  1855  were  consolidated  under 
the  name  of  LeClaire,  have  been  centers  of  intel- 
lectual life  from  their  earliest  days,  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lemuel  Parkhurst,  the  parents  of  Clinton,  were 
prominent  in  that  society.  His  mother  early  recog- 
nized the  bright  qualities  of  her  son  and  granted 
him  every  advantage  for  their  cultivation.  In  later 
years  he  wrote  of  his  mother : 

Ignore  the  common  goal,  she  said, 

Leave  fools  to  gather  rubbish  vile ; 
Lift  thou  thine  eyes  to  heights  o'erhead, 

And  seek  to  bask  in  Glory's  smile. 
The  sluggard  perishes  in  shame, 

The  Shylock's  pomps  with  him  expire. 
The  hero  leaves  a  deathless  name 

For  countless  ages  to  admire. 
Strong  be  thy  will  —  as  iron  strong, 

To  cleave  a  path  to  grand  renown, 
And,  peerless  in  the  fields  of  song, 

To  millions  shall  thy  name  go  down. 
Let  proud  ambition  sway  thy  mind,  — 

To  live,  that  when  thy  race  is  o'er, 
Resplendent  tracks  shall  glow  behind. 

Clint  had  his  early  training  in  a  select  school  in 
LeClaire,  taught  by  a  Mrs.  Mary  Marks,  a  highly 
educated  English  lady,  the  wife  of  an  Episcopal  min- 
ister. In  Davenport  he  first  attended  the  public 


CLINT  PAEKHURST  185 

school,  then  Iowa  College,  and  after  its  removal  to 
Grinnell,  the  Griswold  College.  He  is  said  —  and 
probably  truthfully  —  to  have  been  full  of  harmless 
pranks.  He  had  a  peculiar  way  of  translating 
phonetically  some  silly  Latin  sentences :  for  instance, 
"Pastor  ridebit"  he  would  give  in  English  "Pastor, 
ride  a  bit",  and  for  "Puer  juraverat"  he  would  say 
"The  poor  jury  Ve  a  rat".  This  sort  of  linguistic 
sport,  however,  was  not  always  appreciated  by  the 
teacher.  From  early  youth  he  evinced  a  remarkable 
gift  for  beautiful  prose  writing  and  also  for  versifi- 
cation which  augured  a  great  future. 

In  February,  1862,  at  a  little  over  seventeen  years 
of  age,  he  enlisted  in  Co;  C  of  the  Sixteenth  Iowa 
Infantry  and  on  March  20th  was  sent  with  his  regi- 
ment to  St.  Louis.  There  the  raw  recruit  was 
equipped  with  a  glittering  rifle  and  other  parapher- 
nalia and  was  sent  a  few  days  later  to  war,  the  hor- 
rors of  which  he  immediately  experienced  in  the 
bloody  Battle  of  Shiloh.  Never  shirking  from  duty, 
or  avoiding  the  perils  of  battle,  he  participated  in 
all  the  important  events  of  the  various  campaigns 
up  to  the  battles  around  Atlanta,  when  he  with  the 
greater  portion  of  the  gallant  regiment  was  cap- 
tured and  held  a  prisoner  by  the  Confederates. 

From  the  beginning  of  his  military  service  he  kept 
a  daily  record  of  all  he  saw  and  participated  in,  con- 
tinuing it  till  the  war  ended,  not  ceasing  to  write 
secretly  in  the  deadly  stockades  of  Anders onville, 
Millen,  and  Florence.  Thus  he  accumulated  much 


186  THE  PALIMPSEST 

highly  valuable  material  which  was  later  elaborated 
in  a  large  number  of  war  sketches  and  also  fur- 
nished a  delicate  coloring  for  his  different  epical 
works. 

Parkhurst  was  mustered  out  of  service  in  July, 
1865,  and  became  a  reporter  on  the  Davenport  Demo- 
crat, but  soon  shifted  to  a  paper  in  Le  Claire,  thence 
to  Eock  Island,  Moline,  Muscatine,  Des  Moines,  and 
other  places.  In  one  or  two  of  these  papers  he  had 
even  acquired  a  pecuniary  interest.  He  never 
stayed  long  in  one  position,  nowhere  finding  an  op- 
portunity that  would  suit  his  particular  ideals  of 
journalism,  and  he  quit.  He  turned  to  writing  maga- 
zine articles  and  other  forms  of  literary  work.  For, 
as  he  says  of  himself: 

From  his  very  boyhood  days 
Fame  had  been  his  constant  dream. 

It  is  difficult,  almost  to  the  verge  pf  impossibility, 
to  follow  Clint  Parkhurst 's  much  twisted  meander- 
ings.  One  month  he  might  be  in  Chicago  or  New 
York,  and  the  next  in  San  Francisco,  St.  Louis,  or 
Tacoma,  doing  for  a  short  time  some  editorial  or 
other  literary  work,  or  he  would  spend  weeks  and 
months  in  the  Sierras  to  gather  new  inspirations. 
In  1874  and  1875  he  was  in  Mexico  and  Nicaragua, 
and  the  fruit  of  this  jaunt  was  an  extensive  epos 
entitled  "Sun  Worship  Shores ".  In  1876  he  came 
from  California  back  to  Davenport,  where  in  De- 


CLINT  PARKHURST  187 

cember  of  that  year  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
Scott  County. 

The  subjects  of  his  writings  were  almost  exclu- 
sively historical  —  biblical  or  secular.  Numerous 
sketches  from  the  Civil  War  have  been  published  in 
the  San  Francisco  Chronicle,  the  Chicago  News,  the 
Davenport  Democrat,  the  Davenport  Times,  the 
Davenport  Leader,  the  Omaha  Bee,  the  Galveston 
News,  the  Boston  Investigator,  the  Marshalltown 
Register,  etc.,  either  over  his  real  name  or  the  nom 
de  plume  "Free  Lance ".  Several  of  the  above 
named  papers  printed  also  large  extracts  from  his 
epics,  "Shot  and  Shell ",  " Judith ",  "Voyage  of 
Columbus ",  "In  Custer's  Honor",  "Pauline", 
"Sun  Worship  Shores",  "Death  Speech  of  Eobert 
Emmett",  and  others.  As  a  sample  of  his  mode  of 
treatment  of  biblical  themes  the  following  para- 
phrase, entitled  "Solomon's  Lament",  may  find  a 
place : 

0  Shiilamite  return,  return  — 
My  heart  is  lone,  no  joys  can  cheer; 
The  very  stars  have  ceased  to  burn 
With  wonted  rays,  and  chill  and  drear 
The  breezes  come  from  mountains  bare 
To  moan  to  me  in  low  despair. 
They  miss  thee  as  the  stars  have  done, 
Thy  roses  swoon  beneath  the  sun ; 
All  nature  sighs,  all  fair  things  yearn 
For  thee  —  0  Shulamite  return. 


188  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Keturn,  return,  0  Shulamite — 
I  cannot  stay  my  grief  with  wine ; 
I  cannot  through  the  day  or  night 
These  wasting  thoughts  of  thee  resign ; 
No  more  my  wonted  joys  delight, 
No  more  I  bow  at  Pleasure's  shrine, 
Nor  bask  in  halls  of  glory  bright  — 
How  long,  0  sweet,  must  I  repine  ? 

A  kindred  one  I  cannot  meet 

'Mong  all  Judea's  joyous  throng; 

0  whither  stray  thy  joyous  feet, 

Thou  princess  of  my  mournful  song? 

0  peerless  idol  of  my  mind, 

Thou  sweeter  than  the  breath  of  dawn ; 

0  fairest  of  all  womankind  — 

Queen  of  my  heart,  where  hast  thou  gone  ? 

Hath  love  yet  lore  thou  hast  not  taught, 

Or  lore  I  have  not  deigned  to  learn? 

Then  be  all  lore  save  thine  forgot  — 

0  Shulamite  return,  return. 

Several  times  Parkhurst  lost  large  parts  of  his 
manuscripts,  in  two  instances  a  whole  book.  Por- 
tions of  them  lie  resurrected  from  newspaper  files, 
and  in  filling  the  gaps  he  also  improved  these  works. 
In  the  winter  of  1904,  in  his  old  home  city,  and  with 
many  of  his  literary  notes  and  treasures  around  him, 
he  again  prepared  his  writings,  including  a  new  epos 
of  about  1200  lines  entitled  "  Tamerlane  Victorious 
or  the  World's  Desolation ",  for  a  book.  When  com- 


CLINT  PARKHURST  189 

pleted,  it  went  up  with  other  matter  in  flame  and 
smoke. 

Newspapers  generally  are  not  inclined  to  print 
much  rhyme,  or  long  poetry.  They  view  original 
verse  with  disfavor.  But  they  were  generous  to 
Clint  Parkhurst,  giving  much  space  to  extensive  ex- 
tracts from  his  works,  and  these,  at  least,  could  be 
lifted  out  of  their  graves. 

With  book  publishers  he  was  much  less  successful. 
Byron  once  gave  his  publisher  a  splendidly  bound 
Bible,  and  the  recipient  was  proud  of  it  until  he 
happened  to  discover  that  his  friend  donor  had 
altered  the  last  verse  of  the  18th  chapter  of  St.  John 
(Now  Barrabas  was  a  robber)  so  as  to  read:  "Now 
Barrabas  was  a  publisher." 

Parkhurst  came  to  the  conclusion  that  most  of  the 
American  publishers  were  Barrabases.  He  has 
named  many  a  publishing  house  of  prominence 
which  has  injured  him.  He  has  also  publicly  pil- 
loried several  distinguished  authors  who  have  ap- 
propriated, literally  or  with  slight  changes,  large 
portions  of  his  manuscripts  when  temporarily  in 
their  possession.  In  this  respect  he  fared  worse 
than  the  poor  devils  of  young  Frenchmen  who  wrote 
good  stories  for  the  great  Dumas,  who  put  his  name 
upon  their  front  pages.  But  they  were  paid,  how- 
ever miserably,  for  their  slave-work.  Clint  did  not 
get  a  cent  for  the  productions  stolen  from  him,  but 
was  treated  with  abuse  when  he  remonstrated. 

In  newspapers  may  often  be  seen  advertisements 


190  THE   PALIMPSEST 

like  this:  "Cash  paid  for  bright  ideas. "  When  a 
writer  without  a  name  subjects  such  ideas  to  the 
advertiser  they  are  kept  for  awhile  and  then  courte- 
ously declined,  but  after  some  little  time  they  ap- 
pear, somewhat  masked,  in  a  book,  perhaps,  winder 
some  famous  person's  name.  Clint  once  replied  to 
an  advertisement  in  a  New  York  paper  offering  liter- 
ary employment,  and  was  invited  to  an  interview,  in 
the  course  of  which  a  bulky  manuscript  was  pro- 
duced, which  he  was  only  permitted  to  glance  at  for 
a  few  minutes.  He  could  only  gather  that  it  was  a 
maritime  narrative.  The  advertiser  said: .  " The 
material  is  good,  but  the  book  doesn't  suit  us  ex- 
actly. We  want  it  reproduced  in  a  little  better  style. 
What  can  you  do  the  job  for?"  Clint  was  very  poor 
and  needed  a  little  money  badly;  but  he  declined  to 
"do  the  job";  he  did  not  want  to  assist  a  leech  to 
suck  another  poor  fellow's  heartblood. 

In  1896,  in  his  temporary  Tusculum,  the  Soldiers ' 
Home  of  Virginia,  he  wrote  an  historical  romance 
concerning  the  Black  Hawk  War,  entitled  "A  Mili- 
tary Belle".  It  was  a  book  of  love  and  adventure, 
and  inwoven  was  the  story  of  the  proverbial  unlucky 
man,  for  whom  the  author  himself  was  the  model. 
Under  disadvantages  and  persecuted  by  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Home,  who  attributed  to  him  certain 
derogatory  newspaper  letters  which  he  never  wrote, 
the  manuscript  was  finished  after  about  a  year.  A 
publisher  was  found  in  New  York,  and  the  outlook 
was  fine.  Because  of  some  one's  blunders  several 


CLINT  PARKHURST  191 

letters  of  the  publisher  did  not  reach  the  author  who 
never  saw  a  proof,  and  the  publication  was  long  de- 
layed. Parkhurst  finally  went  to  New  York,  where 
he  learned  that  the  book  had  already  been  stereo- 
typed. But  it  abounded  in  grievous  errors,  and  nu- 
merous plates  had  to  be  cut  and  cast  over.  At  last, 
in  1899,  the  Military  Belle  made  her  bow,  and  an 
encouragingly  large  number  of  books  were  sold. 
But  the  publisher  failed,  and  Clint  got  only  about  $9 
from  the  debacle. 

The  last  and  probably  the  greatest  of  his  many 
literary  misfortunes  was  blended  with  the  one  of  the 
city  of  San  Francisco.  In  Davenport  he  had  gath- 
ered from  many  newspaper  columns  a  large  portion 
of  his  poetical  writings,  which  he  re-arranged,  care- 
fully improved,  and  incorporated  in  a  manuscript 
ready  for  the  printer.  This  manuscript  he  sent  in 
1905  to  his  daughter  Mabel  in  San  Francisco  —  as 
usual  without  keeping  a  duplicate.  On  the  18th  day 
of  April,  1906,  that  beautiful  city  was  visited  by 
earthquake  and  conflagration.  His  daughter  did 
well  enough  to  save  her  life,  but  all  her  belongings 
and  the  manuscript  of  her  father  were  destroyed. 

Parkhurst  outlived  "this  shock  as  he  had  many 
previous  minor  ones.  In  January,  1908,  a  Daven- 
port friend  received  from  him  a  hopeful  letter  out 
of  the  Missouri  mountains.  He  wrote  that  he  had 
taken  up  the  life  of  a  literary  hermit.  "I  came  to 
the  wilds  of  the  Ozarks  last  summer/'  he  wrote, 
"and  the  venture  has  been  a  success.  I  own  an  acre 


192  THE   PALIMPSEST 

of  ground,  have  a  good  house  on  it,  have  a  library  of 
fifty  choice  volumes,  and  several  dozen  magazines 
and  daily  papers,  and  have  every  want  supplied. 
My  pension  has  been  increased  to  $12  per  month/* 
He  was  enthused  over  the  "glorious  sceneries"  and 
the  " incomparable  climate."  His  health  was  good; 
for  " anybody's  health  is  good  here."  But  the  soli- 
tude there  could  not  suit  him  for  any  great  length  of 
time.  He  returned  to  the  Iowa  Soldiers'  Home, 
where  he  was  in  company  with  his  old  commander, 
Col.  Add.  lEL  Sanders.  From  that  place  he  dis- 
appeared in  August,  1913,  after  having  spent  there, 
off  and  on,  periods  of  various  duration.  Nothing 
has  of  late  been  heard  of  any  more  literary  work 
of  his. 

AUG.  P.  EICHTEK 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

CLINTON  PAKKHUKST 

Somewhere  on  the  shore  of  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
Clinton  Parkhurst  is  apparently  still  living.  Since 
the  publication  of  the  October  PALIMPSEST  we  have 
had  many  letters  about  the  writer  of  A  Few  Mar- 
tial Memories.  Some  of  these  letters  were  from 
readers  who  did  not  know  Parkhurst  but  whose  in- 
terest was  aroused  by  his  graphic  descriptive  pow- 
ers. Others  have  come  from  men  and  women  who 
have  known  Clinton  Parkhurst  at  different  times  in 
his  career  —  and  they  have  supplied  many  of  the 
missing  fragments  of  the  mosaic. 

We  have  heard  from  friends  of  Clinton  Parkhurst 
in  his  schoolboy  days,  from  neighbors,  from  his 
fellow  journalists,  from  his  brother,  and  from  his 
daughter.  We  can  now  definitely  connect  him  with 
the  early  ParkhurSts  of  the  town  of  that  name.  His 
father,  Lemuel  Parkhurst,  was  the  son  of  Sterling 
Parkhurst  and  a  nephew  of  Eleazer  Parkhurst,  the 
founder  of  the  town.  Here  he  was  born  in  1844,  in 
the  same  township  where  two  years  later  "Buffalo 
Bill"  Cody  first  saw  the  light  of  day. 

The  most  complete  account  of  Parkhurst  that  has 
come  to  us  is  that  of  Aug.  P.  Richter,  for  many  years 
editor  of  Der  DemoJcrat  of  Davenport ;  and  it  is  this 
story  which  is  printed  in  the  present  number  of  THE 

193 


194  THE   PALIMPSEST 

PALIMPSEST.  The  letters  and  accounts,  however, 
whether  from  friend  or  relative,  are  alike  in  one 
respect.  They  fail  to  answer  the  question:  Where 
is  Clinton  Parkhurst?  With  all  of  them  the  trails 
run  out  and  stop.  We  have  heard  that  two  of  his 
friends  say,  in  identical  phraseology,  that  he  is 
"basking  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific ",  but  they  do 
not  say  where. 

Probably  we  could  find  his  address  by  writing  to 
the  Pension  Department  at  Washington.  But  this 
we  do  not  intend  to  do.  The  biographical  mosaic  is 
nearly  complete.  If  the  subject  of  the  portrait 
wishes  to  keep  the  corner  piece  in  his  pocket  during 
his  last  few  years,  it  is  his  right  and  we  shall  respect 
it.  We  are  happy  to  have  read  some  of  his  writings, 
and  to  know  something  of  the  man,  and  we  shall 
wish  him  many  happy  days  on  the  sunset  shores  of 
America. 

THE  EIVER 

It  will  soon  be  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  since 
the  canoes  of  Marquette  and  Jolliet  swept  out  of  the 
Wisconsin  into  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  in 
those  long  years  the  river  has  had  a  wonderful  his- 
tory. Full  of  romance  are  the  days  when  explorer 
and  fur  trader  paddled  their  slender  barks  up  and 
down  the  stream.  Upon  its  broad  highway  the  set- 
tlers of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  arrived.  Primitive 
steamboats  laid  their  course  along  the  beautiful 
shores  of  the  prairie  land  of  Iowa,  while  busy  fer- 
ries laced  their  way  back  and  forth  across  the  cur- 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  195 

rent.  Then  came  the  heyday  of  the  paddle  wheel  — 
those  adventurous  times  when  the  roar  of  the  whistle 
and  the  sound  of  the  pilot 's  bell  were  heard  on  every 
bend  of  the  river;  when  captains  and  crews  raced 
their  boats  with  a  high  spirit  of  sport,  feeding  the 
fires  with  barrels  of  resin  till  the  flames  sometimes 
blazed  from  the  tops  of  the  stacks.  Snags  and  ex- 
plosion and  fire  took  a  heavy  toll,  but  it  was  not 
these  accidents  that  spoiled  the  game  and  made  Mark 
Twain's  river  a  thing  of  the  past.  Just  as  the  fer- 
ries gave  way  to  the  bridges,  so  the  steamboat  traffic 
declined  with  the  extension  of  railroads.  The  river 
still  runs  past  our  borders.  Its  banks  are  as  beauti- 
ful as  ever.  The  " wooded  islands"  and  "enchant- 
ing scenes"  of  Beltrami 's  day  are  still  there. 

Last  summer  we  wanted  to  do  as  Beltrami  and  so 
many  others  had  done  —  travel  by  boat  up  the  river 
to  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony  and  see  the  beauties  of 
the  Upper  Mississippi  by  night  and  day  from  a 
steamer 's  deck.  But  we  were  told  that  there  was  no 
steamship  line  now  making  the  trip.  Beltrami, 
nearly  a  hundred  years  ago,  had  the  advantage  of 
us.  We  can  only  travel  alongside  and  see  the  river 
from  a  car  window  or  catch  fleeting,  smoke-veiled 
vistas  as  we  slip  across  on  the  bridges.  However,  if 
the  old  adventurous  days  are  denied  us  in  the  pres- 
ent and  if  the  scenic  highway  is  closed  we  can  at 
least  enjoy  the  glories  of  the  past  and  we  intend  to 
tell  in  THE  PALIMPSEST  during  the  coming  year  some 
of  the  stories  of  the  days  when  the  Steamboat  was 
King.  J.  C.  P. 


INDEX 


[NOTE  —  The  names  of  contributors  of  articles  in  THE  PALIMPSEST  are 
printed  in  SMALL  CAPITALS.  The  titles  of  articles  and  of  all  other  publications 
are  printed  in  italics.] 


Adams,  William,  part  of,  in  execution 

of  O'Connor,  94,  96 
Advertisements,   early,   42 
Agriculture,    early  training  for,    38 
Allamakee   County,    geological   records 

in,    135,    136 
Americans,    characterizations   of,    144- 

165 

Amusements,   early  forms  of,   39 
Anamosa  limestone,  formation  of,  136 
Andersonville        (Georgia),        Clinton 

Parkhurst    a    prisoner    of    war    at, 

185 

Andros,  Dr.,  97 
Arbre-Croche,    journey   of   Mazzuchelli 

to,    103,    104 
Armor,    description    of    Mexican,    80 ; 

gift  of,  to   State,   80,   81 
Armstrong,  Secretary,  fort  named  for, 

147 
Artists,     historical    accuracy    of,     29, 

30,   31 

Astronomy,  early  lecture  on,   39 
Atlas   of  Iowa,    notes   concerning,    61- 

63 

Ballots,  taking  of,   26,   27 

Balls,  announcements  of,   39 

Baptists,  services  of,  in  Iowa  City,  38 

Barrabas,   mention  of,    189 

Bates,  Captain,  O'Connor  defended 
by,  90,  91 

Beans,  use  of,  for  voting,  26,  27 

Beauregard,  P.  G.  T.,  troops  in 
charge  of,  121,  122 

Becket,    Henry,    95 

Bellevue,  story  of  fight  with  outlaws 
in,  9-28;  description  of,  11;  crime 
in,  11,  12;  celebration  at,  14,  15; 
trial  of  outlaws  at,  24-28;  erection 
of  Catholic  church  at,  107 

Beltrami,  Giacomo  Constantino,  ac- 
count by,  of  trip  up  Mississippi 
River,  144-149;  mention  of,  195 

Berlin,  name  of  Parkhurst  changed 
to,  129 

Bete  Puante,  river  named,   145 

Black  Hawk  Purchase,  trials  in,  87; 
rush  to,  172 

Black  Hawk  War,  romance  dealing 
with,  190,  191 


Blashfield,  Edwin  H.,  discussion  of 
painting  by,  30,  31 

Bloomington  (Muscatine),  ferry  at, 
42,  174;  erection  of  Catholic 
church  at,  107  (see  also  Musca- 
tine) 

Bloomington  Herald,  attack  on,  52, 
53;  editor  of,  69 

Bogy's  ferry,   175 

Brasher,  Thomas  R.,  part  of,  in  exe- 
cution of  O'Connor,  93,  94 

Bremer,  Fredrika,  comments  of,  on 
Iowa  country,  158-162 

Bridges,   number  of,    181,    182 

BEIGGS,  JOHN  ELY,  A.  Geological 
Palimpsest,  133-142 

Brophy,  John,   attempt  on  life  of,   88 

Brown,  Irene  F.f  quotations  from, 
116,  122 

Brown,  Jesse  B.,  order  of,  concerning 
log  cabin,  76 

Brown,  William  W.,  story  of,  10-23; 
description  of  activities  of,  10,  12, 
13 ;  character  of  employees  of,  10, 
11,  12,  13;  exclusion  of  employees 
of,  from  celebration,  14,  15;  share 
of,  in  fight,  14,  17-23 ;  warrant  for 
arrest  of,  19,  20,  21,  22,  23;  kill- 
ing of,  23 

Brown,  Mrs.  William  W.,  10,  20,  21, 
23 

Buchanan  County,  arrival  of  Bill 
Johnson  in,  65,  66 

Buell,  D.  C.,  arrival  of  army  under 
command  of,  123,  125,  127,  128 

Buffalo,  ferry  at,  173,  177;  fee  for 
operating  ferry  at,  181 

Buffalo  robes,   receipt  of,   42 

Burlington,  erection  of  Catholic 
church  at,  106;  Robert  Louis 
Stevenson's  visit  to,  162,  163;  fer- 
ry at,  171 

Burlington  Gazette,  editorial  attack 
on  Iowa  City  Standard  by,  51,  52 

Byron,  Lord,   anecdote  of,   189 

Calico,  ferry  fees  paid  in,   178 
Camp,  Hosea  L.,  service  of,   on  jury, 

90 
Camp     Benton      (Missouri),      Clinton 

Parkhurst  at,   111,   113 

197 


198 


THE   PALIMPSEST 


Camp  Kinsman,  gift  of,  to  Iowa,  83 

Camp  Roberts,  change  of  name  of,  83 

Camp  meetings,   notices  of,   39 

Canadian  revolt,    66 

Candidates,  charges  for  announce- 
ments of,  46 

Canoes,  use  of,  as  ferry  boats,  170, 
171,  194 

Carrol,  Nicholas,  service  of,  on  jury, 
90 

Cattle,   stealing  of,    11 

Cedar  -  River,  prehistoric  channel  of, 
141 

Chadwick,  Herman,  house  of,  94 

Chesterton,  Gilbert  K.,  quotation  from, 
29,  30 

Chichester,  Mr.,  arrest  of,  for  rob- 
bery, 12;  attempt  of,  to  kill  Mitch- 
ell, 17,  18;  plea  by,  25 

Churches,  work  of  Mazzuchelli  in 
building  of,  105,  106,  107,  108, 
109 

Cincinnati  (Ohio),  Mazzuchelli  at, 
102,  104 

Civil  War,  career  of  B.  S.  Roberts  in, 
82-85;  reminiscences  of,  by  Clinton 
Parkhurst,  111-128,  187;  Clinton 
Parkhurst's  career  in,  185 

Clark,  Benjamin  W.,  ferry  established 
by,  173,  181;  fees  of,  177,  178 

Clark,    William,    144 

Clark's  ferry,  establishment  of,  173, 
174 

Clay-eaters,    159,    160 

Climate,   prehistoric,    133-142 

Clinton,  first  bridge  at,   181 

Clothing,    advertisement   of,    42,    43 

Coldwater  (Michigan ),  settlers  from, 
10 

Colored  beans,  use  of,  in  voting,  26, 
27 

Comment  by  the  Editor,  29-31,  61-63, 
98-100,  129-132,  166-168,  193-195 

Council  Bluffs,  Robert  Louis  Steven- 
son at,  164,  165;  ferry  at,  181 

Council  Bluffs  and  Nebraska  Ferry 
Company,  license  fee  of,  181 

Counterfeit  money,  passing  of,  in  vi- 
cinity of  Bellevue,  11,  12 

Cox,  Thomas,  description  of,  13; 
quarrel  of,  with  William  W.  Brown, 
13;  posse  led  by,  19,  22,  23;  trial 
of  outlaws  in  charge  of,  25;  ver- 
dict announced  by,  27 

Crescent  City  (steamboat),  Iowa 
troops  on,  114 

Creston,    163 

Crittenden,  George  B.,  disloyalty  of, 
82,  83 

Cromwell,    163 

Crossing  the  Mississippi,  by  WILLIAM 
S.  JOHNSON,  169-182 


Crum,    William,    description    of,    47; 

editorials  by,    48-55 
Crump's  Landing,   march  from,    122 

Dakota  Democrat,  press  used  in 
printing  of,  59 

Davenport,  George,  murder  of,  28,  98 

Davenport,  James  Thompson  said  to 
have  been  in,  12 ;  early  newspaper 
at,  53 ;  Benjamin  S.  Roberts  on 
duty  at,"  83,  84,  85 ;  erection  of 
Catholic  church  at,  106;  ferry  at, 
173,  174,  176,  178;  fee  for  oper- 
ating ferry  at,  181;  bridge  at,  181 

Davenport  Democrat,  Clinton  Park- 
hurst  as  reporter  for,  186 

Davis,  Jefferson,  miners  removed  by, 
99 

Democrats,  attacks  on,  47 

Desertions,  frequency  of,  at  Fort  Des 
Moines,  151 

Des  Moines,  painting  in  capitol  at, 
30,  31;  Clinton  Parkhurst  in,  186 

Dickens,   Charles,    quotation  from,  144 

Dinners,  giving  of,  for  public  men,  39 

Disloyalty,  fear  of,  in  Iowa,   84,   85 

Doctors,  charges  of,  in  early  times, 
43 

Dragoons,   account  of,   151,   152 

Drinking,  prevalence  of,  153,  155, 
157 

Dubuque,  Julien,  home  of,  56;  lead 
mines  of,  136;  G.  C.  Beltrami's 
story  of,  147-149;  grave  of,  148, 
158 

Dubuque,  money  issued  by,  42 ;  trial 
at,  for  attack  on  Bill  Johnson,  68, 
69;  mining  at,  86,  148;  trial  and 
execution  of  Patrick  O'Connor  at, 
86-97;  conditions  at,  in  1834,  99, 
100;  work  of  Mazzuchelli  at,  104, 
105;  Fourth  of  July  celebration  at, 
107;  visit  of  G.  C.  Beltrami  to, 
148 ;  white  settlements  at,  152 ;  C. 
A.  Murray's  visit  to,  152-158;  re- 
ligious services  in,  156;  steam  fer- 
ry at,  175;  bridge  at,  181;  license 
fee  for  ferry  at,  181 

Dubuque  Lead  Mines,  settlement 
known  as,  56 

Dubuque  Visitor,  The,  establishment 
of,  56,  60 

Dumas,  Alexandre,   employees  of,   189 

Dunmore,  Lord,  relation  of  Charles 
Augustus  Murray  to,  149 

Eads,  T.  C.,  village  founded  by,   129 
Editor,    Comment   by    the,   29-31,    61- 

63,   98-100,   129-132,   166-168,   193- 

195 
Editorial   Dialogue,   An   Old-Time,   by 

JOHN  C.  PARISH,  47-55 


INDEX 


199 


Editorials,  examples  of,  40,  41;  quo- 
tations from,  47-55 

Editors,  opinions  of,  40,  41;  com- 
ments of,  44,  45,  47-55 

Elk,   chase  of,    65 

Emigrants,  difficulties  of,  in  crossing 
rivers,  169,  170,  171,  194,  195 

Evans,  Mr.,  sentence  of,  for  attack 
on  Bill  Johnson,  69 

European  Eyes,   Through,    144-165 

Europeans,  visits  of,  to  Mississippi 
Valley,  144-165 

Ferries,  description  of,  169-182 ;  kinds 
of,  170,  171,  172,  174,  175,  176, 
181;  dangers  of,  171,  172,  173; 
alarms  for,  176;  tolls  for,  177, 
178,  179;  profits  of,  179,  180; 
fees  for  franchises  for,  180,  181 

Ferry  alarm,    176 

Ferrying,    end  of  trade  of,    182 

Few  Martial  Memories,  A,  by  CLIN- 
TON PARKHURST,  111-128 

First  Dragoons,  location  of,  at  Fort 
Des  Moines,  75 

Fitzmaurice,  Rev.,  O'Connor  aided  by, 
92,  93,  94,  95,  96 

Flag,  raising  of,  in  City  of  Mexico, 
79 

Flat-boats,  use  of,  for  ferry  boats,  172 

Florence  (South  Carolina),  Clinton 
Parkhurst  a  prisoner  of  war  at, 
185 

Fort  Armstrong,  location  of,  146, 
147:  origin  of  name  of,  147 

Fort  Crawford,  work  of  troops  from, 
99 

Fort  Des  Moines  (No.  1),  Benjamin 
S.  Roberts  at,  75,  76,  77;  C.  A. 
Murray's  description  of,  150,  151, 
152 ;  freight  charges  on  goods  for, 
151 

Fort  Edwards  (Illinois),  G.  C.  Bel- 
trami  at,  144 

Fort  Dodge,   gypsum  deposits  at,    138 

Fort  Madison  (town),  Benjamin  S. 
Roberts  at,  77,  78;  provision  for 
free  ferry  at,  180 

Fort  Madison    (fort),  ruins  of,   145 

Fort  Stanton  (New  Mexico),  Benja- 
min S.  Roberts  assigned  to,  82 

Fourth  of  July,  early  celebration  of, 
39 

Fox,  William,  arrest  of,  for  robbery, 
12 ;  testimony  of,  12 ;  attempt  of, 
to  kill  James  Mitchell,  17,  18;  war- 
rant for  arrest  of,  19 ;  part  of,  in 
murder  of  Colonel  Davenport,  28 

Fox  Indians,   encampment  of,    147 

France,   Mazzuchelli  in,    102 

Franchises  for  ferries,    177,    180,   181 

"Free  Lance",  use  of  by  Parkhurst, 
as  nom  de  plume,  187 


Freight,  early  charges  for,  on  Mis- 
sissippi River,  151 

French,  ferry  tolls  paid  by  party  of, 
177,  178 

Fulton,  A.  C.,  news  of  Bill  Johnson 
secured  by,  73 

Galena  (Illinois),  robbery  at,  12; 
counterfeit  money  passed  near,  12 ; 
Patrick  O'Connor  at,  87,  88;  work 
of  Mazzuchelli  at,  104,  105;  first 
court  house  in,  109;  G.  C.  Beltrami 
at,  147;  Fredrika  Bremer's  visit 
to,  158;  C.  A.  Murray's  visit  to, 
158 

GALLAHER,  RUTH  AUGUSTA,  Benja- 
min Stone  Roberts,  75-85 

Geological  Palimpsest,  A,  by  JOHN  E. 
BRIGGS,  133-142 

Geology,  palimpsest  made  by,  3,  4; 
work  of  Benjamin  S.  Roberts  in, 
77;  records  of,  in  Iowa,  133-142 

Glaciers,  prevalence  of,  in  Iowa  coun- 
try, 140,  141 

Glee  clubs,  38,  39 

Godey's  Magazine,  advertisement  of, 
46 

Goodhue,  J.  N.,  newspaper  founded 
by,  59 

Grant  County  Herald  (Wisconsin), 
press  used  in  printing  of,  59 

Green  River,  ferry  at,   176 

Gregoire's  ferry,  license  fee  of,   181 

Griswold  College,  attendance  of  Clin- 
ton Parkhurst  at,  185 

Groceries,  advertisements  of,  42,  43 

Gun  boats,  shells  from,   124 

Guns,   6 

Hadley,  Miss,  indignities  to,   15 
Harrington,     Anson,     James     Mitchell 

defended    by,    16,    17;    information 

sworn  to  by,   19,  20;  escape  of,  20; 

death   penalty   favored  by,    25,    26; 

verdict   approved  by,    28 
Harrison,    Jesse    M.,    service    of,    on 

jury,   90 
Head,      Sir      Francis      Bond,      revolt 

against,    66 
Headlines,  relation  of,  to  news  value, 

34,    35 

Historian,   realm  of,   31,   61 
Historical  materials,   destruction  of,   4 
History,      comparison     of     journalism 

with,  29 

Homes  of  the  New  World,  The,  publi- 
cation of,  158 

Horse  ferry,    adoption   of,    174 
Horses,    stealing   of,    11 ;    transporting 

of,    across   rivers,    170;    use   of,    to 

propel  ferry  boats,    174 
Hospitals,   destruction  of,    125,    126 
Hotels,  advertisement  of,  43 ;   descrip- 


200 


THE   PALIMPSEST 


tion    of,     in    early    days,     152-158, 
160,    161,    164,    165 

Incas,   relics  of  civilization  of,   5 

Indian,  murder  of,   150 

Indians,  records  of,  5 ;  government 
trade  with,  145;  canoes  used  by, 
in  crossing  Mississippi,  170 

Industries,    early,   42 

Iowa,  dramatic  story  of,  1 ;  palimp- 
sests of,  5-8 ;  early  newspapers  of, 
37,  38,  39,  40,  41;  first  printing 
press  in,  56,  60;  atlas  of,  in  1875, 
61-63 ;  Benjamin  S.  Roberts  on 
duty  in,  83,  84,  85;  attachment 
of,  to  Michigan  Territory,  86,  87; 
lack  of  courts  in,  87,  91,  99,  100; 
conditions  in,  in  1834,  98,  99, 
100;  climate  of,  133-142;  geolog- 
ical records  in,  133-142 ;  descrip- 
tions of,  by  European  travelers, 
144-165;  visit  of  Fredrika  Bremer 
to,  160-162;  significance  of,  166- 
168;  ferries  on  Mississippi  River 
in,  169-182 

Iowa  Capitol  Reporter,  description  of, 

37,  38;    editorials   in,    40,    41,    48- 
55;   attack  on,   52,   53 

Iowa    City,    early   newspapers   of,    37, 

38,  39,    40,    41,    47-55;    arrival    of 
steamboat  at,   43,   44;    discovery  of 
lead  near,   44;   erection  of  Catholic 
church    at,    106,    107;    Old   Capitol 
building  at,   109 

Iowa  City  Standard,  editorials  in,  48- 
55  (see  also  Iowa  Standard) 

Iowa  College,  attendance  of  Clinton 
Parkhurst  at,  185 

loiva  Farmers  and  Miners  Journal, 
announcement  of;  46 

Iowa  Home  Note,  The,  by  BERTHA 
M.  H.  SHAMBAUGH,  143 

Iowa  News,  change  of  name  of  Du- 
bugue  Visitor  to,  57 

Iowa  River,  steamboat  on,  44;  pre- 
historic channel  of,  141 ;  provision 
for  free  ferry  over,  180 

Iowa  Soldiers  Home,  Clinton  Park- 
hurst  in,  131;  departure  of  Clin- 
ton Parkhurst  from,  183,  192 

Iowa  Standard,  description  of,  37, 
38;  editorials  in,  40,  41;  com- 
ment of,  44  (see  also  Iowa  City 
Standard) 

Ireland,   Archbishop,    109 

Jackson,  Andrew,  refusal  of,  to  inter- 
fere in  O'Connor's  behalf,  93 

Jackson  County,  story  of  fight  with 
outlaws  in,  9-28 ;  prevalence  of 
crime  in,  11,  12,  19 

Jackson  Day,   celebration  of,   14-16 


Jail,  lack  of,   11,   17,  26 

Johnson,  Bill,  story  of,  65-74;  attack 
on,  68;  move  of,  to  Mahaska  Coun- 
ty, 70;  murder  of,  71,  72;  discov- 
ery of  perjury  of,  72,  73 

Johnson,  Kate,  story  of,  65-74;  at- 
tack on,  68;  charms  of,  68,  69; 
move  of,  to  Mahaska  County,  70; 
elopement  of,  71 ;  warrant  for,  72 ; 
later  career  of,  73,  74 

JOHNSON,  WILLIAM  S.,  A  Romance 
of  the  Forties,  65-74;  Crossing  the 
Mississippi,  169-182 

Johnson  County,  discovery  of  lead  in, 

Johnston,  Albert  Sidney,  death  of, 
120,  121;  speech  of,  120,  121 

Jolliet,  Louis,  194 

Jones,  William  Gary,  newspaper  work 
of,  56,  57,  58;  career  of,  57,  58 

Journalism,  historical  accuracy  of,  29 
(see  also  Newspapers) 

Jurors,  list  of,  90;  verdict  of,  90,   91 

Kearny,  Stephen  Watts,  Benjamin  S. 
Roberts  under  command  of,  75,  76 

Keesecker,  Andrew,  newspaper  work 
of,  56,  57;  career  of,  58,  59;  eulo- 
gy of  Kate  Johnson  by,  69 

Keokuk,  0.  A.  Murray's  description 
of,  149,  150;  freight  charges  from 
St.  Louis  to,  151;  visit  of  Fred- 
rika Bremer  to,  160,  161,  162; 
first  ferry  at,  173 

Keokuk  County,  mob  in,   84 

King,  John,  newspaper  published  by, 
56,  57,  60;  career  of,  57 

Kirkwood,  Samuel  J.,  military  guard 
requested  by,  84 

Labrador,  glacier  from,   141 

Lake  Michigan,  outlet  of,    141 

Lancaster  (Wisconsin),  removal  of 
printing  press  to,  59 

Lead,  discovery  of,  44 ;  mining  of, 
148 

Le  Claire,  Antoine,  friendship  of, 
Mazzuchelli,  106;  ferry  established 
by,  173,  174,  181;  ferry  sold  by, 
176;  fees  of,  for  ferrying,  178 

Le  Claire,  early  settlers  in,  129 ;  con- 
solidation of,  184;  newspaper  work 
of  Parkhurst  at,  186 

Legal  notices,  publication  of,  39 

Legislative  Council,  lecture  in  hall  of, 
39 

Letters,  historical  materials  in,   7 

Licenses,   fees  for,   180,   181 

Lindstrom  (Minnesota),  press  used 
at,  60 

Log  cabin,  historical  materials  from, 
6;  construction  of,  76 


INDEX 


201 


Loire,    Antoine,    service   of,    on   jury, 

90 

Long,   Mr.,  warrant  for  arrest  of,    19 
Loras,    Bishop,    appointment   of,    106, 

107 
Lorimier,    Peter   A.,    smelting  furnace 

of,    88 

Loring,   Colonel,  disloyalty  of,   83 
Louisa     County,     provision     for     free 

ferry  in,    180 

McCabe,  Thomas,  service  of,  on  jury, 
90 

McClary,  Benjamin,  eloping  couple  at 
cabin  of,  71 

Machu  Picchu,   relics  of,   4,   5 

McKensie,  John,  service  of,  on  jury, 
90 

Mackinac  Island,   Mazzuchelli   at,   102 

Madden,  Ezra,  part  of,  in  execution 
of  O'Connor,  93,  94,  95 

Mahaska  County,  settlement  of  Bill 
Johnson  in,  70 

Mail,    carrying  of,    42 

Manuscripts,  loss  of,  by  Clinton 
Parkhurst,  188,  189 

Maps,  making  of,  by  Mazzuchelli,  109 

Maquoketa,   Catholic  church  at,   107 

Maquoketa  River,  prehistoric  channel 
of,  141 

Marks,  Mrs.  Mary,  school  taught  by, 
184 

Marquette,  Jacques,    194 

Marriages,    notices   of,    39 

Martial  Memories,  A  Few,  by  CLIN- 
TON PARKHURST,  111-128;  refer- 
ence to,  183 

Massey,  Woodbury,  service  of,  on 
jury,  90;  verdict  read  by,  91,  92; 
part  of,  in  execution  of  O'Connor, 
93,  94 

Mazzuchelli,  Father,  by  JOHN  C.  PAR- 
ISH, 101-110 

Mazzuchelli,  Samuel  Charles,  sketch 
of  career  of,  101-110 

Mechanics'  Academy,  laying  corner 
stone  of,  38 

Memoirs,  publication  of,  by  Mazzuch- 
elli, 103,  108;  maps  in,  109 

Methodists,  services  of,  in  Iowa  City, 
38 

Mexico  City,  Benjamin  S.  Roberts  in, 
79 ;  flag  raising  in,  79 

Mexican  War,  career  of  Benjamin  S. 
Roberts  in,  78,  79,  80 

Michilimakinac,  Indian  trade  center 
at,  145 

Military  Belle,  A,  publication  of,  190, 
191 

Militia,  plan  of  Benjamin  S.  Roberts 
concerning,  82 

Milieu  (Georgia),  Clinton  Parkhurst 
a  military  prisoner  at,  185 


Miners'  Express  (Dubuque),  found- 
ing of,  57;  eulogy  of  Kate  Johnson 
in,  69 

Minnesota,   first  newspaper  in,   59 

Minnesota  Historical  Society,  claim 
of,  to  Goodhue  press,  60 

Minnesota  Pioneer  (St.  Paul,  Minne- 
sota), press  used  in  printing  of, 
59,  60 

Mississippi  River,  outlaws  sent  down, 
28;  prehistoric  channel  of,  139, 
141;  trip  of  G.  C.  Beltrami  up, 
144-149;  description  of  banks  of, 
146,  147;  trip  of  C.  A.  Murray  up, 
149-158;  transportation  on,  150, 
151;  travel  on,  169;  ferries  on, 
169,  170,  171,  172,  173,  174,  177, 
178 

Mississippi  Valley,  prehistoric  records 
in,  4 

Missouri,  refusal  of  Governor  of,  to 
aid  O'Connor,  93 

Missouri  River,   ferry  over,   181 

Mitchell,  James,  James  Thompson  de- 
nounced by,  14;  Thompson  killed 
by,  15,  16;  arrest  of,  16,  17;  at- 
tempt to  kill,  16,  17,  18,  19 

Molasses,   making  of,   44 

Moline  (Illinois),  Clinton  Parkhurst 
at,  186 

Money,  territorial,  42 ;  scarcity  of, 
177,  179 

Mormons,  visit  of  Mazzuchelli  to,  107, 
108 

Mound  builders,  works  of,  4,  5 

Mount  Vesuvius,  relics  from  ashes  of, 
4 

Mounted  Rifle  Regiment,  Benjamin  S. 
Roberts  assigned  to,  78 

Mud  scows,    172 

Murder,  prevalence  of,  around  Beile- 
vue,  11 

Murray,  Charles  Augustus,  comment 
of,  on  Iowa  country,  149-158 

Muscatine,  high  bridge  at,  181;  Clin- 
ton Parkhurst  at,  186  (see  also 
Bloomington) 

Music,    early   education   in,    38 

Nauvoo   (Illinois),  visit  of  Mazzuchel 

li  to,  107,  108 

Nelson,    General,   troops  led  by,    128 
New  Englander,  story  of,   171 
New  Era   (Sauk  Rapids,   Minnesota), 

press  used  in  printing  of,   60 
New  Mexico,  Benjamin  S.  Roberts  in, 

83 
Newspaper    History,    by    BERTHA    M. 

H.   SHAMBAUQH,   33-46 
Newspapers,  historical  materials  from, 

6,    7,    29,    33-46,    61;    difficulties   in 

use  of,   for  historical  purposes,    34, 

35,    36;    editorials   in,    40,    41,    47- 


202 


THE   PALIMPSEST 


55;  delay  in  distribution  of,  46; 
work  of  Clinton  Parkhurst  for, 
186,  187,  188,  189,  190 

O'Conner,  The  Trial  and  Execution 
of  Patrick,  at  the  Dubuque  Mines 
in  the  Summer  of  1834,  by  ELI- 
PHALET  PRICE,  86-97 

O'Connor,  Patrick,  story  of,  86-97; 
early  life  of,  87,  88;  murder  of 
O'Keaf  by,  89;  trial  of,  90,  91; 
execution  of,  92-97;  comment  on 
execution  of,  98-100  (see  also 
O'Conner) 

Ogdensburg  and  Champlain  Railroad, 
Benjamin  S.  Roberts  employed  on, 
77 

Ohio  River,  G.  C.  Beltrami's  journey 
on,  144 ;  description  of  b.xcks  of, 
146 

O'Keaf,  George,  murder  of,  88,  89, 
98,  99 

Old  Capitol  (Iowa  City),  designer  of, 
109;  limestone  used  for,  137 

Ordovician  limestone,  formation  of, 
136 

Oskaloosa,  Job  Peck  at,  74 

Outlaws,  trial  of,  at  Bellevue,  24-28; 
punishment  of,  24-28 

Oxen,  transportation  of,  across  riv- 
ers, 170 

-Ozark  Mountains,  residence  «f  Clin- 
ton Parkhurst  in,  191,  192 

Palimpsests,   account  of,  ?-8 

Palimpsests,  by  JOHN  C.  PARISH,  2-8 

Papyrus  rolls,   use  of,   for   writing,   2 

Parchment,   writings   on,    2-8 

Parish.  John  C.,  editorial  comments 
by,  29-31,  61-63,  98-100,  129-132, 
166-168,  193-195 

PARISH,  JOHN  C.,  Palimpsests,  2-8; 
White  Beans  for  Hanging,  9-28; 
An  Old-Time  Editorial  Dialogue, 
47-55:  Three  Men  and  a  Press,  56- 
60;  Father  Mazzuchelli,  101-110 

Parkhurst,  Clinton,  war  experiences 
of,  111-128,  185,  186;  comments 
on  career  of,  129-132,  193,  194; 
wanderings  of,  183,  186,  190,  191, 
192;  sketch  of  life  of,  183-192; 
birth  of,  184;  education  of,  184, 
185;  writings  of,  186,  187,  188, 
18,9,  190 ;  admission  of,  to  bar, 
187;  manuscripts  lost  by,  188, 
189:  disappearance  of,  192;  letters 
concerning,  193 

Parkhurst,  Clint,  by  AUG.  P.  RICH- 
TER,  183-192 

PARKHTJRST,  CLINTON,  A  Few  Mar- 
tial Memories,  111-128 

Parkhurst,  Eleazer,  village  founded 
by,  129,  193 


Parkhurst,    Lemuel,    129,    184,    193 

Parkhurst,  Mrs.  Lemuel,  character  of, 
184 

Parkhurst,  Mabel  (Mrs.  H.  I.  Krick), 
191 

Parkhurst,    Sterling,    193 

Parkhurst,    Waldo,    129 

Parkhurst,  village  of,   129,    184,    193 

Parrish,  Mr.,  sentence  of,  for  attack 
on  Bill  Johnson,  69 

Patriot  War  of  1838,  leader  of,  66 

Peck,  Job.,  marriage  of,  to  Kate 
Johnson,  70,  71;  arrest  of,  for 
'  miirder  of  Bill  Johnson,  72 ;  later 
life  of,  73;  74 

Peru,  historical  relics  in,   4,   5 

Pestallofcian    system,    mention    of,    38 

Phileas.   Dr.,   operation  by,   87 

Pioneer  Press  Company,  printing 
press  given  to  Minnesota  Historical 
Society  by,  60 

Pioneers,  relics  of,  6,  7;  picture  of, 
30,  31 

Pittsburg  Landing  (Tennessee),  ar- 
rival of  Clinton  Parkhurst  at,  115; 
description  of  vicinity  of,  115;  de- 
scription of  battle  of,  116-128 

Pittsburgh  (Pennsylvania),  Kate 
Johnson  in,  74 

Politics,  reflection  of,  in  newspapers, 
40,  41 ;  editorial  dialogue  concern- 
ing, 47-55 

Pompeii,   relics   of,   4 

Pope,  John,  B.  S.  Roberts  under 
command  of,  83,  84 

Posse,  organization  of,  in  Jackson 
County,  20,  22;  fight  of,  23,  24 

Potosi  (Wisconsin),  erection  of  Cath- 
olic church  at,  106 

Prairie  du  Chien  (Wisconsin),  Maz- 
zuchelli at,  103 ;  erection  of  church 
at,  1.06 

Prentice,  Milo  H.,  service  of,  on  jury, 
90 ;  part  of,  in  execution  of  O'Con- 
nor, 93,  94 

Press,    story   of,    56-60 

Price,  Eliphalet,  sketch  of  life  of,  98  ; 
Mazzuchelli  described  by,  105 

PRICE,  ELIPHALET,  The  Trial  and 
Execution  of  Patrick  O'Conner  at 
the  Dubuque  Mines  in  the  Summer 
of  1834,  86-97 

Printing  press,  story  of,  56-60;  dis- 
pute over,  59,  60 

Privacy,  lack  of,  in  pioneer  hotels, 
152-156 

Public  ferries,   establishment  of,    172 

Public  printing,  early  committee  on, 
41 

Publishers,  difficulties  of  Clinton 
Parkhurst  with,  189,  190 

Quasqueton,  arrival  of  Bill  Johnson 
at,  65,  66,  67 


INDEX 


203 


Quitman,  J.  A.,  army  led  by,   79 

Railroads,  steamboats  displaced  by, 
195 

Rangers,  recruits  for,  151 

Rawley,  Mr.,  sentence  of,  for  attack 
on  Bill  Johnson,  69 

Resolutions  in  honor  of  Benjamin  S. 
Roberts,  81,  82 

Richter,  August  P.,  account  of  Park- 
hurst's  career  given  by,  183-192, 
193,  194 

RICHTER,  AUGUST  P.,  Clint  Park- 
hurst,  183-192 

Ripple  (steamboat),  arrival  of,  at 
Iowa  City,  43,  44 

Rivers,  difficulties  in  crossing,  169, 
170,  194,  195 

Roberts,  Benjamin  Stone,  early  life 
of,  75;  cabin  built  by,  76;  promo- 
tion of,  76,  77,  78,  80,  81;  resig- 
nation of,  77;  journey  of,  to  Rus- 
sia, 77;  law  practice  of,  77,  78; 
part  of,  in  Mexican  War,  78,  79, 
80;  honor  paid  to,  by  Iowa,  81, 
82 ;  plan  of,  concerning  militia, 
82;  career  of,  in  Civil  War,  82- 
85;  career  of,  after  Civil  War,  85 

Roberts,  Benjamin  Stone,  by  RUTH 
A.  GALLAHER,  75-85 

Rockingham,  ferriage  rates  fixed  by 
court  at,  178,  179,  181;  fee  for 
operating  ferry  at,  181 

Rock  Island  (Illinois),  location  of, 
146:  Clinton  Parkhurst  at,  186 

Rock  River,  Indians  on,  147;  ferry 
over,  176 

Rolette,   Joseph,   robbery   of,    12 

Romance  of  the  Forties,  A,  by  WIL- 
LIAM S.  JOHNSON,  65-74 

Russell;  John  B.,  Andrew  Keesecker 
ridiculed  by,  69 

Russia,  trip  of  Benjamin  S.  Roberts 
to,  77 

Sac    and    Fox    Indians,    treaty    with, 

86:   camp  of,    145,    147 
St.    Cloud    Union    (Minnesota),    press 

used   in   printing  of,    60 
St.    Lawrence   River,    revolt   in   vicin- 
ity  of,    66 
St.  Louis    (Missouri),   Iowa  troops  at, 

114,    185;   G.  C.   Beltrami  at,    144; 

Indian      trade      of,      145;      freight 

charges  on  goods  from,   151 
San    Francisco     (California),    loss    of 

Clinton    Parkhurst's    manuscript    in 

fire  at,  191 
Sanders,    Add.    H.,    residence    of,    at 

Iowa  Soldiers'  Home,    192 
Santa  Clara  College,   founding  of,  109 
Saul:     Center.    Herald      (Minnesota), 

press  used  in  printing  of,  60 


Sauk  Rapids  (Minnesota),  press 
moved  to,  60 

Sauk  Rapids  Frontiersman  (Minne- 
sota), press  used  in  printing  of, 
60 

School,  early,   38 

Selma  (Alabama),  William  Gary 
Jones  imprisoned  at,  57 

Seventh  Iowa  Cavalry,  guard  duty 
of,  84 

SHAMBAUGH,  BBNJ.  F.,  The  Vision,  1 

SHAMBAUGH,  BERTHA  M.  H.,  News- 
paper History,  33-46;  The  Iowa 
Home  Note,  143 

Shiloh  (Tennessee),  description  of 
battle  of,  116-128,  183;  part  of 
Clinton  Parkhurst  in,  116-128, 
185 

Shullsburg  (Wisconsin),  erection  of 
Catholic  church  at,  107 

Siberia,   prehistoric  records  in,    3,   4 

Sinsinawa  (Wisconsin),  erection  of 
Catholic  church  at,  107 

Sioux  Falls  (South  Dakota),  print- 
ing press  at,  59 ;  press  in  museum 
at,  59 

Sioux  Falls  granite,  evolution  re- 
vealed by,  135 

Sioux   Indians,   outbreak  of,    59 

Sixteenth  Iowa  Infantry,  war  ex- 
periences of,  111-128,  130,  185 

Skiffs,  use  of,  for  ferry  boats,  172 

Skunk  River,  settlement  of  Johnsons 
near,  70 

Smith,  James,  service  of,  on  jury,  90 

Smith,  John,  part  of,  in  execution  of 
O'Connor,  93 

Smith,  John  S.,  service  of,  on  jury, 
90 

Smith,  Joseph,  visit  of  Mazzuchelli 
to,  107,  108 

Smith,   Justin  H.,  quotation  from,   79 

Smith,  P.  F.,   army  led  by,   79 

Soldiers'  Orphans'  Home,  Iowa,  lo- 
cation of,  83 

Solomon's  Lament,  quotation  from, 
187,  188 

South  Dakota,  claim  of,  to  printing 
press,  59,  60 

Spencer,  Mr.,  sentence  of,  for  attack 
on  Bill  Johnson,  69 

Spinning  wheel,    6 

Squatters,   description  of,    159,    160 

State  Historical  Society  of  Iowa,  ar- 
mor presented  to,  80;  manuscript 
sent  to,  131 

Steam  ferries,  establishment  of,  174, 
175 

Steamboats,  disasters  to,  39,  195; 
use  of,  on  the  Mississippi,  181, 
194,  195 

Stephenson  (Illinois),  people  from, 
176 


204 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


Stevenson,  Robert  Louis,  comments 
of,  on  trip  through  Iowa,  162-165 

Sublett,  Tom,  pistol  of,   15 

Sword,  presentation  of,  to  State  of 
Iowa,  80,  81;  gift  of,  to  Benjamin 
S.  Roberts,  by  State  of  Iowa,  82 

Taliaferro,      Lawrence,      Beltrami     in 

company  of,    144 
"Tamerlane  Victorious  or  the  World's 

Desolation",   loss  of  manuscript   of, 

188,    189 
Taylor,    Zachary,    miners    driven    out 

by,   99 

Telegraph  Herald    (Dubuque),   57 
Temperance  Society,  meeting  of,  39 
Tennessee  River,   description   of,    114, 

115 
Theft,    prevalence    of,    around    Belle- 

vue,  11,  12;  infrequency  of,  in  pio- 
neer settlements,   155,   156 
Thompson,    James,    character    of,    12 ; 

arrest  of,   12 ;  denunciation  of,   14 ; 

killing  of,  15,   16 
Thousand   Isles    (Canada),    refuge    of 

Bill  Johnson   in,    66 
Three  Men  and  a  Press,  by  JOHN   C. 

PARISH,   56-60 

Tolls,   collection  of,   177,   178,    179 
Torrejon,    General,    defeat  of,    80 
Total  Abstinence   Society,   meetings  of, 

39 

Travel,   difficulties  of,    169,    170 
Troops,    equipment   of,    in   Civil   War, 

111,   112;   sickness  of,  at  Fort  Des 

Moines,    151 
Twain,    Mark,    195 

Uniforms,  description  of,  in  Civil 
War,  112,  113 

Van  Antwerp,  Ver  Planck,  descrip- 
tion of,  48,  49,  52;  editorials  by, 
48,  55 ;  sale  of  paper  by,  55 

Vellum,  use  of,  for  writing,   2 

Virginia  Soldiers  Home,  Parkhurst 
in,  190 

Vision,  The,  by  BENJ.  F.  SHAM- 
BAUGH,  1 


Wagons,  transportation  of,  across, 
rivers,  170 

Wallace,  General  Lew.,  march  of,  122 

Wapsipinicon  River,  prehistoric  chan- 
nel of,  141 

Warren,  Sheriff,  account  of,  9,  10; 
story  of  border  incident  told  by,  9^ 
14 :  difficulties  of,  in  preserving 
order,  11;  difficulties  of,  in  pre- 
venting crime,  19;  attempt  of,  to- 
arrest  outlaws,  19,  20,  21,  22,  23,. 
24;  part  of,  in  fight,  17-24;  pris- 
oners defended  by,  24 

Warrior   (steamboat),   157 

Washington  hand  press,  story  of,  59, 
60 

Washingtonians,   meetings  of,    39 

Waxen  tablets,  use  of,   for  writing,   2 

Wells,  Lyman,  attempt  of,  to  kill 
James  Mitchell,  17,  18,  19 

West  Point  Academy,  Benjamin  S. 
Roberts  educated  at,  75 

Wheeler,  Loring,  part  of,  in  execu- 
tion of  O'Connor,  93,  94,  95 

White,  Captain,  part  of,  in  execution 
of  O'Connor,  90,  91 

White  beans,  use  of,  in  voting,  26,  27 

White  Beans  for  Hanging,  by  JOHN 
C.  PARISH,  9-28 

Whipping,  vote  for,   26,   27,   28 

Wilson,  John,  steam  ferry  established 
by,  175,  176,  181 

Wilson,  Thomas,  warrants  issued  by, 
19 

Wiltse,  H.  A.,  press  used  by,  59 

Wisconsin  Territory,  first  newspaper 
in,  56 

Wood,  A.  P.,  contest  of  Andrew  Kee- 
secker  with,  58,  59 

Wood,  Brown's  men  employed  in  cut- 
ting, 10,  11 

Wool,  payment  of  ferry  tolls  with, 
178 

Writings,  old  forms  of,  2 ;  destruction 
of,  4,  5 

Yahowas,  river  of,   145 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 

ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OP  THE   STATE 
HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OP  IOWA 


VOLUME  II 

JANUARY  TO  DECEMBER 

1921 


PUBLISHED   MONTHLY   BY 

THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

IOWA  CITY  IOWA 

1921 


COPYRIGHT   1921   BY 
THB  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 


CONTENTS 
NUMBER  1  —  JANUARY  1921 

Lost  in  an  Iowa  Blizzard  IRA  A.  WILLIAMS          1 

Early  Cabins  in  Iowa  MILDRED  J.  SHARP        16 

Comment  by  the  Editor  3Q 

NUMBER  2  —  FEBRUARY  1921 

The  Old  Military  Road  THE  EDITOR  33 

Phantoms  on  the  Old  Road  MARCUS  L.  HANSEN  35 

Along  the  Old  Military  Road  JOHN  E.  BRIGGS  49 

Comment  by  the  Editor  60 

NUMBER  3  —  MARCH  1921 

Bradford  —  A  Prairie  Village      H.  CLARK  BROWN        65 

The  Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Vale 

CHARLTON  G.  LAIRD        72 

The  English  Community  in  Iowa 

RUTH    A.    GrALLAHER  80 

Comment  by  the  Editor  #5 


iv  CONTENTS 

NUMBER  4  —  APRIL  1921 

Icaria  and  the  Icarians               RUTH  A.  GALLAHER  97 

The  Ripple                                         JOHN  C.  PARISH  113 

A  Reminiscence                                       JNO.  P.  IRISH  123 

Comment  by  the  Editor  125 

NUMBER  5  —  MAY  1921 

The  Underground  Railroad  in  Iowa    JACOB  VAN  EK  129 

Big  Game  Hunting  in  Iowa       CHARLES  A.  MURRAY  144 

Comment  by  the  Editor  158 

NUMBER  6  —  JUNE  1921 

Michel  Aco —  Squaw-Man                JOHN  C.  PARISH  161 

A  Colored  Convention                 RUTH  A.  GALLAHER  178 

The  Pacific  City  Fight             DONALD  L.  McMuRRY  182 

Comment  by  the  Editor  190 

NUMBER  7  —  JULY  1921 

Amana                             BERTHA  M.  H.  SHAMBAUGH  193 

Comment  by  the  Editor  229 


CONTENTS  v 

NUMBER  8  —  AUGUST  1921 

Perils  of  a  Pioneer  Editor                JOHN  C.  PARISH  233 

The  Coming  of  the  Railroad    SARAH  ELLEN  GRAVES  240 

A  River  Trip  in  1833                 CHARLES  J.  LATROBE  244 

Comment  by  the  Editor  264 


NUMBER  9  —  SEPTEMBER  1921 

The  Cardiff  Giant  RUTH  A.  GALLAHER  269 

Pike's  Hill  BRUCE  E.  MAHAN  282 

Magnolia  BLANCHE  C.  SLY  290 

Comment  by  the  Editor  298 


NUMBER  10  —  OCTOBER  1921 

The  Way  to  Iowa  BRUCE  E.  MAHAN  301 

From  New  York  to  Iowa  LYDIA  A.  TITUS  311 

A  Study  in  Heads  JOHN  C.  PARISH  322 

Comment  by  the  Editor  328 


vi  CONTENTS 

NUMBER  11  —  NOVEMBER  1921 

Old  Fort  Atkinson                          BRUCE  B.  MAHAN  33& 

The  Beginnings  of  Burlington  351 

Comment  by  the  Editor  366 

NUMBER  12  —  DECEMBER  1921 

A  Race  Riot  on  the  Mississippi    RUTH  A.  GALLAHER  369 

An  Indian  Ceremony  379 

Augustus  Caesar  Dodge                        JNO.  P.  IRISH  382 

Comment  by  the  Editor  386 

Index  38& 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 
ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  II  ISSUED  IN  JANUARY  1921  No.  1 

COPYRIGHT  1921   BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 


Lost  in  an  Iowa  Blizzard 

The  setting  down  of  this  experience  of  the  earlier 
years  of  Reuben  and  David  Williams  has  sprung 
from  a  desire  to  place  on  record,  while  they  may 
yet  be  told  by  one  of  the  participants,  the  details  of 
what  has  always  been,  in  our  immediate  family  cir- 
cle^ an  exceedingly  thrilling  incident  of  my  father's 
boyhood  days.  The  dates,  places,  and  other  facts  of 
the  story  are  historically  accurate.  David  Williams 
is  now  76  years  old  and,  retired,  lives  in  Gridley, 
California.  Eeuben  Williams  died  in  October,  1898, 
at  Trosky,  Minnesota,  in  his  62nd  year. 

The  vast  grassy  prairies  of  northern  Iowa  which 
have  since  made  it  famous  as  an  agricultural  State, 
were  at  first  shunned  by  the  early  settlers.  No 
doubt  the  chief  reasons  for  avoiding  the  prairies 
was  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  fuel,  and  the  absence 
of  protection  against  the  cold  winds  of  winter.  As 
settlements  became  closer,  the  more  venturesome 
began  to  establish  prairie  homes.  Across  the  miles 


2  THE  PALIMPSEST 

of  bleak  plain,  then  essentially  destitute  of  obstruc- 
tion of  any  kind,  the  winds  had  opportunity  to  gain 
their  full  force.  In  winter  the  deeply  drifted  snow 
obliterated  all  landmarks.  Travel  from  one  point  to 
another  was  often  possible  only  on  snow-shoes, 
although  at  times  the  solid  icy  crust  of  the  snow 
would  carry  the  weight  of  a  horse. 

Blizzards  were  of  common  occurrence  and  fatali- 
ties not  infrequent.  In  the  face  of  a  blinding  whirl 
of  snow  all  familiar  objects  vanished.  Dependence 
on  sheer  Indian  instinct,  an  intuitive  sense  of  dis- 
tance and  direction,  was  often  the  only  chance  of 
safety.  And  especially  real  was  the  danger  if  night 
came  on.  Reliance  on  native  instinct,  however,  was 
not  always  assurance  of  a  safe  return  to  shelter. 
From  these  early  days  have  come  down  vivid  ac- 
counts of  suffering  endured  and  lives  lost.  The 
story  that  follows,  however,  is  of  two  boys  who 
passed  a  night  in  the  teeth  of  a  bewildering  snow- 
storm and  yet  escaped  with  their  lives.  I  have  heard 
it  told  by  my  father  many  times  and  I  give  the  de- 
tails here  in  his  own  words.1 

IKA  A.  WILLIAMS 

PORTLAND,  OREGON,  DECEMBER,  1920 


The  winter  of  1856-57  was  the  hardest  the  settlers 
then  in  Iowa  had  ever  seen.  Father  had  a  large 
family  and  was  poor.  We  boys  all  had  to  work  at 

i  This  account  in  a  slightly  longer  form  appeared  in  The  Eegister 
and  Leader  (Des  Moines)  February  23,  1913. 


LOST  IN  AN  IOWA  BLIZZARD  3 

whatever  we  could  get  to  do.  Eeuben,  who  was  the 
oldest,  had  hired  out  to  Mr.  Horace  Green  for  a  few 
months.  Green  lived  over  on  Willow  Creek  some 
three  miles  from  our  place  and  about  four  miles 
northwest  of  Masonic  Grove  (now  Mason  City). 
Willow  Creek  is  the  outlet  to  Clear  Lake  and  runs 
through  Mason  City.  Mr.  Green  kept  a  lot  of  cattle 
and  always  had  several  pairs  of  big  oxen.  His  house 
was  on  the  open  prairie,  without  a  sign  of  a  tree  or 
other  windbreak  for  protection.  Nor  had  he  yet 
even  been  able  to  build  any  sheds  for  his  cattle. 

It  was  late  in  December  and  Mr.  Green  had  gone 
to  Dubuque  to  get  a  load  of  supplies.  Halfway 
across  Iowa  and  back  by  team  in  the  middle  of  win- 
ter in  those  days  was  a  long  trip  and  a  hard  and  in- 
definite task.  Even  Mrs.  Green  did  not  know  when 
he  might  return.  Green's  going  left  her  and  Reuben 
to  take  care  of  things  and  look  after  the  stock,  and 
although  Eeuben  was  man-grown,  I  think  eighteen 
or  nineteen,  he  had  his  hands  more  than  full.  I  was 
only  twelve  years  old,  but  was  fully  accustomed  to 
doing  outdoor  work,  so  I  went  over  to  help  until 
Mr.  Green  came  back. 

We  had  had  some  real  hard  blizzards  before  that 
and  there  was  lots  of  snow.  One  of  our  biggest  jobs 
was  watering  the  cattle.  The  house  was  on  a  spring 
branch  some  distance  from  where  this  stream  joined 
the  main  Willow  Creek.  There  had  been  plenty  of 
water  here  all  along,  but  the  snow  had  finally  drifted 
in  so  deeply  that  it  became  impossible  to  keep  it 
open  longer  for  the  stock  to  get  down  to  drink. 


4  THE  PALIMPSEST 

I  had  been  there  a  few  days.  It  was  December  28, 
1856.  The  sun  rose  bright  that  morning  and  the 
atmosphere  was  as  clear  as  a  bell.  It  was  cold  but 
there  was  no  reason  whatever  for  us  to  expect  any 
great  change  before  night.  Reuben  and  I  did  up  the 
chores  and  along  about  11  o'clock  Mrs.  Green  said 
she  thought  it  would  be  best  to  take  the  cattle  across 
to  Willow  Creek  to  water  them  that  day.  The  old 
watering-hole  in  the  yard  was  drifted  full  and,  as 
the  day  was  pleasant,  we  would  save  time  and  easily 
be  back  by  noon,  we  thought. 

To  get  to  the  creek  we  had  to  go  down  the  branch 
a  way  and  then  over  the  point  of  a  ridge  between 
the  two  streams.  This  ridge  was  covered  with  new 
breaking  and  the  snow  on  it  was  not  very  deep.  We 
got  the  cattle  across  all  right  and,  after  a  half  hour's 
hard  shoveling  and  chopping,  had  a  large  hole  in  the 
ice  open  where  they  could  get  down  to  the  water. 
Naturally,  busy  as  we  were,  we  paid  no  attention  to 
the  sky  nor  thought  anything  about  the  weather. 
We  were  out  of  sight  from  the  buildings  yet  not 
over  one  half  or  three  quarters  of  a  mile  from  the 
house. 

We  had  worked  hard  and  were  nearly  through 
watering  the  last  of  four  or  five  calves  that  were  in 
the  herd.  It  must  have  been  about  one  o  'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  Eeuben  was  down  dipping  out  water 
for  the  calves  with  a  pail  we  had  carried  with  us. 
Without  warning  of  any  kind  the  storm  burst  upon 
us.  A  blast  of  wind  swept  down  the  bank  behind 


LOST  IN  AN  IOWA  BLIZZARD  5 

which  we  were  working  and  in  a  second  we  were 
completely  enveloped  in  the  whirling  snow  that  filled 
the  air  full. 

This  didn't  frighten  us  any  for  it  was  a  common 
enough  experience.  Our  first  thought  was  to  get  the 
cattle  back  to  the  house.  Buttoning  tight  our  short 
coats  and  picking  up  the  shovel  and  ax,  we  tried  to 
drive  them  back  the  way  they  had  come.  It  was 
straight  against  the  wind,  which  was  already  so 
stiff  we  could  scarcely  stand  in  the  face  of  it,  and 
penetratingly  cold.  They  refused  to  go.  We  knew 
that  if  only  some  of  the  big  steers  would  make  a 
start  towards  home,  the  rest  would  follow.  But 
each  time  we  managed  to  get  them  headed  about 
they  would  veer  this  way  and  that,  and  finally  come 
to  a  determined  standstill,  their  tails  to  the  wind. 

If  there  had  been  a  nice  warm  barn  at  home,  or 
even  a  shed  awaiting  them,  it  would  have  been  dif- 
ferent. But  outside  of  the  low,  hay-covered  stable 
where  Green  kept  his  horses  there  was  nothing  there 
to  break  the  force  of  the  wind  in  the  least.  Behind 
this  and  in  the  lee  of  a  small  hay-stack  they  were  in 
the  habit  of  huddling  together,  though  little  more 
protected  than  in  the  open  field.  An  incentive  for 
the  animals  to  face  the  cutting  wind  across  the  bare 
field  in  the  direction  of  home  was,  therefore,  all  but 
lacking.  With  shelter  ahead  of  him  a  steer  will  put 
his  head  down  and  buck  almost  any  kind  of  a  wind 
that  does  not  actually  blow  him  backwards.  But  to 
convince  them  to  move  against  their  inclinations 
proved  quite  another  matter. 


6  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Next  we  undertook  to  get  the  oxen  started.  They 
were  well-broken  and  valuable  animals.  To  let  them 
stray,  of  all  times  in  Mr.  Green's  absence,  was  cer- 
tainly the  last  thing  to  be  thought  of.  Obedient  and 
willing  brutes  though  they  were  in  the  yoke,  our 
commands  in  the  face  of  the  blinding  blizzard  went 
entirely  unheeded.  It  seemed  like  hours  that  we 
toiled  with  those  cattle.  Eeuben  had  been  left  in 
charge  of  the  stock  and  felt  all  of  a  man's  responsi- 
bility for  their  safety.  He  was  determined  to  take 
them  back  to  shelter.  So  we  kept  doggedly  at  it 
until  we  were  both  tired  completely  out.  It  was  of 
no  use.  The  cattle  became  so  badly  scattered  and 
the  intensity  of  the  storm  had  increased  so  much 
that  we  were  compelled  to  give  up.  It  had  also  rap- 
idly grown  colder.  We  were  blinded  by  the  snow, 
and  pieces  of  ice  blown  from  the  old  snow  crust  cut 
our  faces  like  a  knife. 

So  we  struck  the  ax  and  shovel  in  the  snow  and 
left  them.  They  were  found  afterwards  out  there 
on  the  breaking.  From  there  I  am  certain  we  could 
have  made  our  way  against  the  storm  to  the  house. 
I  urged  Eeuben  to  go  home  and  let  the  cattle  take 
care  of  themselves.  But  he  wouldn't  hear  to  going 
back  without  them. 

A  short  distance  down  the  other  side  of  the  creek 
from  where  we  had  watered  the  stock  was  a  small 
grove  of  crab-apple  trees,  underbrush  and  willows. 
We  knew  we  could  get  to  this  and  there  be  protected 
from  the  wind.  In  the  hope  that  the  storm  might 


LOST  IN  AN  IOWA  BLIZZARD  7 

soon  break  so  that  we  could  go  out  and  round  up  the 
cattle  before  night,  we  made  for  this  crab-apple 
thicket.  To  reach  it  we  crossed  the  main  road  run- 
ning between  Masonic  Grove  and  Clear  Lake.  It 
was  plainly  marked  in  the  otherwise  unbroken  white 
by  the  flanking  lines  of  weeds  whose  tops  still  showed 
above  the  snow.  When  we  came  to  the  road  I  again 
remonstrated.  Knowing  that  Reuben  in  his  present 
frame  of  mind  could  not  be  persuaded  to  face  Mrs. 
Green  without  the  stock,  I  suggested  following  the 
road  to  Masonic  Grove  to  wait  until  the  blizzard 
eased  up  somewhat.  I  was  getting  fearfully  cold. 
He  said  "No",  that  we  would  be  all  right,  still  in- 
tending, he  confessed,  to  make  another  trial  with  the 
cattle  as  soon  as  we  warmed  up  a  bit  in  the  shelter 
of  the  grove. 

Within  the  thicket  the  air  was  quiet,  and  by 
"  strapping "  our  hands  and  jumping  about  we  were 
soon  warm  enough.  I  suppose  it  was  at  least  three 
or  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  by  this  time.  The 
storm  continued  to  increase  in  violence  outside.  To 
think  of  venturing  out  again  after  the  stock  would 
be  clearly  foolhardy,  yet  I  could  not  gain  Reuben's 

msent  to  go  back  without  them.  It  had  not  oc- 
mrred  to  either  of  us  then  that  we  ourselves  might 
be  in  any  danger. 

Hours  passed.  Daylight  began  to  fade  and  we 
knew  that  night  was  coming  on.  The  wind  did  not 
reach  us,  but  to  keep  up  circulation  in  the  biting 
cold  we  started  a  path  in  the  snow  around  a  clump 


8  THE  PALIMPSEST 

of  trees  in  the  center  of  the  thicket.  It  was  perhaps 
three  or  four  rods  around  the  circle.  We  took  turns. 
First  one,  then  the  other,  would  take  the  path  and 
walk,  or  trot,  or  run,  till  our  blood  tingled.  Between 
times  we  squatted  in  the  snow,  back  against  a  tree, 
until  beginning  numbness  warned  us  it  was  time  to 
run  again. 

After  darkness  came  on  we  could  tell  little  about 
the  progress  of  the  storm.  An  occasional  trip  to 
the  edge  of  the  thicket,  however,  was  sufficient  to 
assure  us  of  the  unabated  fury  of  the  wind,  and  we 
thought  the  temperature  was  still  going  down. 
Eeuben  was  finally  compelled  to  abandon  hope  of 
getting  any  of  the  stock  back  before  morning.  What 
with  our  continued  exercises  and  intermittent 
breathing  spells,  we  kept  ourselves  quite  comfort- 
able, and  the  soft  snow  was  soon  packed  solid  in 
our  little  circuit.  We  did  not  know  the  time,  but  it 
must  have  been  about  midnight  when  the  stars  shone 
out  straight  above  us,  and  it  looked  as  if  the  clouds 
were  clearing  away. 

Within  our  friendly  shelter  we  could  have  securely 
spent  the  rest  of  the  night.  But  at  the  farthest  the 
house  was  not  over  a  mile  away,  and  we  knew  Mrs. 
Green  would  be  exceedingly  anxious  over  our  long 
absence.  So  Eeuben  decided  that  we  should  leave 
the  grove,  the  thought  that  we  might  not  be  able  to 
go  straight  to  the  Green's  house  not  entering  either 
of  our  minds.  We  were  warm  to  start,  had  our  di- 
rections true,  and  knew  every  inch  of  the  ground. 


LOST  IN  AN  IOWA  BLIZZARD  9 

As  I  recall  it  now,  I  think  I  begged  Eeuben  to 
stay  where  we  were  until  daylight.  He  was  obdurate 
and  we  started  out.  No  doubt  discomfiture  over  the 
loss  of  the  cattle  still  rankled  within  him.  Outside 
of  the  thicket  was  a  raging  snowstorm.  Confident  of 
our  course,  we  floundered  through  the  drifts,  at  the 
start,  square  against  the  storm ;  the  sharp  hurtling 
scales  of  ice  cutting  our  faces  and  the  floury  snow 
filling  our  nostrils  and  eyes.  On  we  pushed  to- 
wards where  Mrs.  Green's  kindly  beacon  should 
have  guided  us  to  safety.  This  way  and  that  we 
turned  in  the  darkness,  the  sense  of  our  exact  where- 
abouts growing  more  and  more  vague,  yet  certain 
in  the  hope  that  intuition  would  soon  point  us  to  the 
door.  We  were  lost. 

Failing  to  find  the  house,  our  next  thought  was, 
of  course,  to  return  to  the  crab-apple  thicket.  But 
it,  too,  was  not  to  be  found.  The  wild  blackness  of 
the  night  had  swallowed  it  up.  Once  voluntarily 
scorning  its  kindly  protection,  it  now  eluded  us ;  and 
we  were  left  to  fight  alone  our  one-sided  battle  with 
the  elements. 

It  was  almost  impossible  for  us  to  realize  that  we 
were  actually  lost.  Here  we  were  in  a  region,  every 
foot  of  which  was  familiar  ground  in  time  of  calm. 
And  yet,  so  completely  was  the  recognition  of  all 
familiar  landmarks  closed  to  us  that,  in  our  bewil- 
derment, we  knew  neither  north,  south,  east,  nor 
west.  The  realization,  however,  that  shelter  must 
be  found  was  not  slow  in  coming,  for  the  exertion 


10  THE  PALIMPSEST 

of  merely  keeping  in  motion  was  rapidly  telling  on 
me,  and  the  gripping  cold  was  sinking  to  the  mar- 
row. To  stop  anywhere  within  the  sweep  of  the 
wind  we  knew  must  mean  certain  death.  To  go  aim- 
lessly on  and  on  in  the  face  of  the  storm  was  equally 
certain  to  mean  pure  physical  exhaustion,  and  then 
—  but  although  Eeuben 's  maturer  mind  may  have 
sensed  already  the  tragic  possibility,  through  his 
cheering  encouragement  no  thought  of  such  an  end- 
ing came  to  me. 

We  went  with  the  storm.  Long,  long  we  blun- 
dered ahead.  Eeuben  half  dragged,  half  carried 
me  on.  One  step  the  snow  bore  our  weight,  the  next 
we  floundered  in  it.  At  last,  after  what  seemed 
miles,  we  tumbled  down  a  steep  bank.  I  had  been 
begging  Eeuben  to  let  me  stop.  I  was  tired  out,  cold 
and  sleepy.  Only  too  well  did  my  big  brother  recog- 
nize these  symptoms.  He  had  urged  me  on,  talked 
to  me,  chaffed  me,  dragged  and  pushed  me  along,  all 
but  kicked  and  pommeled  me,  anything  to  ward  off 
and  stay  the  progress  of  the  cold  which  was  slowly 
but  surely  stiffening  my  very  blood. 

Behind  the  bank  where  we  had  fallen  the  wind  did 
not  reach  with  its  full  fury.  I  told  Eeuben  I  was 
going  to  rest  here.  I  could  go  no  further.  All  of 
his  arguments  were  of  no  avail.  My  feet  were  numb. 
I  was  completely  exhausted.  I  could  not  walk,  and 
he,  though  strong  as  an  ox,  saw  disaster  ahead  for 
both  of  us  if  he  undertook  to  carry  me.  I  wanted  to 
go  to  sleep. 


LOST  IN  AN  IOWA  BLIZZARD  11 

Out  of  the  wind  a  little  I  lay  down  in  the  snow. 
All  the  way  along  Reuben  had  clung  to  me  with  first 
one  hand  then  the  other.  I  do  not  think  I  had  any 
mittens.  I  know  I  tried  to  keep  my  hands  from 
freezing  by  walking  with  them  in  my  pockets. 
Reuben's  hands  were  bare.  While  he  was  dipping 
water  for  the  calves  he  had  soaked  two  fingers  of 
the  glove  on  his  left  hand  and  they  had  frozen  stiff. 
He  took  his  gloves  off  while  we  were  in  the  crab- 
apple  thicket  and  stuck  them  up  in  the  crotch  of  a 
tree.  We  found  them  there  afterwards  where  he 
had  placed  them. 

I  do  not  know  how  long  I  lay  there.  The  snow 
quickly  drifted  over  me.  Reuben  did  not  give  up, 
but  kept  moving  all  night  long.  He  paced  back  and 
forth  in  the  snow.  I  can  only  recall  that  he  con- 
stantly talked  to  me.  So  long  as  I  would  answer,  he 
knew  I  was  awake.  We  had  heard  of  persons  saving 
their  lives  by  burrowing  into  the  snow  out  of  the 
biting  wind.  In  my  benumbed  condition  I  did  not 
reason.  But  I  am  certain  that  Reuben  was  thor- 
oughly conscious  of  the  danger  of  this.  It  was 
plainly  now  a  drawn  battle  for  our  lives.  Chagrin 
over  the  loss  of  the  cattle  had  nerved  rather  than 
weakened  him  for  the  struggle.  And  an  indomitable 
pride  of  responsibility  for  me  bore  him  up  against 
the  almost  irresistible  desire  to  rest  and  to  sleep 
that  now  beset  him. 

Throughout  the  night  his  vigil  did  not  cease.  I 
must  have  fallen  asleep.  It  seemed  to  me  I  was 


12  THE  PALIMPSEST 

warm  and  comfortable.  The  snow  had  covered  me 
over  completely,  only  the  toe  of  one  of  my  boots 
remaining  in  sight  to  show  where  I  lay  buried.  They 
were  new  boots  with  red  tops  that  my  uncle  had 
given  me  when  I  started  to  walk  to  Iowa  from  our 
old  home  in  Illinois  the  summer  before. 

Daylight  slowly  came.  As  surroundings  began  to 
be  visible,  the  place  appeared  more  and  more  fa- 
miliar. Yet  it  was  not  until  near  sunrise  that 
Eeuben  could  make  out  that  we  were  within  calling 
distance  of  one  of  the  houses  in  Masonic  Grove  (now 
Mason  City).  It  was  fully  four  miles  back  to  the 
little  crab-apple  grove,  though  how  much  farther  we 
had  wandered  since  leaving  it  we  would  never  know. 

I  was  brought  back  to  a  drowsy  consciousness  by 
being  pulled  out  of  the  snow  by  Eeuben.  The  air  was 
so  cold  it  seemed  fairly  blue,  and  its  cutting  bitter- 
ness struck  into  my  flesh  like  steel.  The  rising  sun 
shone  large  and  the  guardian  sun-dogs,  one  on  either 
side,  betokened  the  keenness  of  the  opening  day.  I 
tried  to  walk,  but  my  feet  were  dead.  As  if  wooden, 
my  benumbed  body  refused  to  respond  to  a  still 
more  feeble  will.  Eeuben 's  efforts  to  get  me  to- 
wards the  house  were  fruitless.  The  last  I  recall 
was  hearing  him  shout  to  some  one. 

When  I  came  to  I  was  in  bed.  My  hands  were 
being  rubbed  with  snow.  My  new  leather  boots  had 
been  cut  from  my  feet  which  now  rested  in  melting 
ice.  As  full  consciousness  returned,  I  learned  how 
we  had  at  first  been  taken  for  Indians;  and  how, 


LOST  IN  AN  IOWA  BLIZZARD  13 

when  it  was  known  that  we  were  actually  in  distress, 
Mr.  James  Jenkins  and  Mr.  Tenure  had  come  out 
and  carried  me  in.  Dr.  Huntley  had  been  at  once 
sent  for.  Eeuben  had  followed  me  into  the  house 
and  had  gone  straight  to  the  fire.  Both  of  his  hands 
were  frozen  stiff,  as  were  mine,  and  his  feet  were 
clumps  of  ice.  I  have  heard  him  say  that  he  never 
again  suffered  such  anguish  as  the  soul-crazing 
pangs  of  returning  feeling  that  racked  his  chilled 
body  while  he  stood  there  beginning  to  thaw  out. 
All  attention  was  at  first  given  to  me,  of  course,  and 
it  was  only  after  I  was  seen  to  be  out  of  danger  that 
it  appeared  to  any  one  .that  Eeuben  might  be  at  all 
badly  frozen.  The  torpid  pallor  of  pain  and  ex- 
haustion already  showed  in  his  twitching  face  and 
he  reeled  at  every  step.  The  doctor  at  once  applied 
ice  to  his  hands  and  feet.  Though  belated,  this 
measure  probably  saved  to  him  the  use  of  these 
members.  Casings  of  solid  ice  formed  around  our 
feet,  then  slowly  melted  away  as  the  blood  slug- 
gishly gained  its  way  into  them  again. 

It  was  hours  before  the  frost  was  all  drawn  out. 
Much  of  this  time  I  was  in  a  partial  stupor.  I  think 
neither  of  us  suffered  much  severe  pain  after  the 
first  aching  paroxysms  were  over.  But  the  very  joy 
of  relaxation  after  the  terrible  strain  of  the  past 
night  was  in  itself  overpowering.  I  roused  repeat- 
edly from  a  disturbed  sleep  in  which  I  was  again 
struggling  with  the  raging  storm,  again  going 
through,  in  all  its  horror,  the  frightful  experience- 
of  the  night  before. 


14  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Word  was  at  once  sent  to  Mrs.  Green  that  we  were 
safe.  She  was  thus  prepared  to  break  the  news  to 
mother  and  father  who  happened  to  drive  over 
early  that  morning.  It  had  been  one  of  the  hardest 
storms  of  the  winter  and  they,  knowing  that  Mr. 
Green  was  away,  had  come  to  see  how  we  boys  were 
getting  on.  As  he  unfastened  the  ox-team,  father 
jokingly  called  out,  "Don't  see  anything  of  the  boys 
this  morning;  frozen  up,  are  they?"  "Guess  they 
must  be ' ',  Mrs.  Green  replied,  in  the  same  bantering 
tone,  "They've  been  since  eleven  o'clock  yesterday 
morning  watering  the  stock  over  on  the  Willow,  and 
they're  only  four  miles  away  in  Masonic  Grove 
now".  Even  she  was  not  then  aware  of  how  peril- 
ous an  experience  traversing  that  four  miles  had 
been  to  us. 

So  father  at  once  came  on  down  expecting  to  take 
us  back  to  Green's  to  hunt  up  the  lost  cattle.  Mrs. 
Green's  anxiety  was  one  of  genuine  motherly  inter- 
est in  us  boys,  as  much  as  of  responsibility  for  the 
security  of  her  husband's  property.  She  told  moth- 
er that  morning  how  she  had  kept  a  light  in  the 
window  the  night  through,  and  of  how  she  rang  the 
old  cow-bell  for  us.  When  darkness  came  on  and  we 
did  not  return,  she  knew  we  were  in  trouble.  All 
through  that  wild  night  she  kept  up  the  vigil.  She 
had  gone  out  into  the  storm  and  clanged  the  old  bell 
until  out  of  breath,  and  until  the  sting  of  the  frigid 
blast  drove  her  back  to  the  fireside.  Over  and  over, 
and  as  long  as  strength  held  out  had  the  plucky 


LOST  IN  AN  IOWA  BLIZZARD  15 

woman  kept  it  up.  We  have  never  wondered  that 
its  feeble  tones  failed  to  reach  our  ears  in  the  howl- 
ing storm,  though  how  close  to  its  call  we  may  really 
have  been  we  shall  never  know. 

The  days  that  followed  were  languishing  ones,  but 
physically  sturdy  as  we  were,  recovery  was  fairly 
rapid.  Medical  attention  was  of  course  necessary. 
Although  present  day  anaesthetics  were  then  un- 
known and  surgical  instruments  crude,  we  have 
never  attributed  to  their  absence  the  fact  that  we 
found  ourselves  crippled  for  the  rest  of  our  days. 
The  ministrations  of  a  devoted  mother  through  the 
long  days  of  convalescence,  and  encouragement  and 
care  from  a  father  of  stern  but  devoutly  religious 
temperament,  were  the  inspiring  influences  which 
made  seem  so  much  worth  while  the  life  that  had 
been  spared  us. 


Early  Cabins  in  Iowa 

A  creaking,  canvas-covered  wagon  slowly  came  to 
a  halt  as  the  oxen,  tired  from  the  long  journey, 
ceased  straining  at  the  yoke.  The  driver  looked 
about  him  at  the  expanse  of  prairie,  unbroken  except 
for  the  timber  which  fringed  an  occasional  water 
course.  Far  behind  lay  his  old  home.  Days  before 
he  had  crossed  the  Mississippi,  and  leaving  the  busy 
river  town  had  pushed  westward  until  he  had  passed 
all  signs  of  habitation  and  reached  this  virgin 
prairie.  Nowhere  was  a  sheltering  roof  to  be  seen 
except  the  covered  wagon  whose  protection  was 
given  to  the  women  and  children.  The  only  table 
upon  which  to  partake  of  the  plain  meals  of  corn 
bread  and  bacon  was  the  green  earth. 

But  this, sketch  is  not  biographical;  nor  does  it 
deal  with  the  unique.  All  up  and  down  the  Iowa 
frontier  this  scene  was  being  repeated.  Sometimes 
a  lonely  wagon  made  its  way  to  the  edge  of  the  un- 
known; sometimes  a  group  of  neighbors  or  related 
families  made  the  venture  together.  In  every  case 
the  pioneer's  first  thought  was  to  prepare  a  home. 
It  would  be  a  dwelling  place  for  his  family,  a  fortress 
against  the  Indians,  a  nucleus  for  civilization.  Under 
these  conditions  building  the  cabin  came  to  be  an 
event  of  great  importance  and  produced  a  thrill  of 
pleasure  that  could  hardly  be  understood  by  those 
who  had  never  suffered  the  same  privations. 

16 


EARLY  CABINS  IN  IOWA  17 

The  first  home  was  necessarily  a  simple  affair. 
In  the  prairie  country  where  wood  was  scarce  and 
sod  was  plentiful,  the  easiest  house  to  build  was  the 
sod  shanty.  The  materials  were  procured  by  taking 
the  breaking  plow  into  the  low  land  where  the  sod 
was  heavy  and  plowing  a  furrow  from  sixteen  to 
eighteen  inches  in  width.  This  was  cut  into  sections, 
eighteen  to  twenty  inches  long,  which  were  then  laid 
like  brick.  The  roof  was  usually  made  of  large 
rafters  covered  with  prairie  hay  or  grass  and  cov- 
ered again  with  sod.  Often  the  structure  had  a 
board  floor,  and  usually  one  door  and  one  window. 
It  is  surprising  the  amount  of  genius  that  could  be 
expended  in  the  construction  of  a  sod  shanty.  For 
this  reason,  there  was  great  difference  in  the  appear- 
ance and  arrangement  of  these  cabins.  Some  had 
an  air  of  comfort,  convenience,  and  even  neatness, 
which  gave  them  a  genuine  homelike  appearance. 
Others  remained  as  they  were  at  first  —  simply  holes 
in  the  ground. 

Even  in  the  wooded  districts  finished  lumber  was 
not  to  be  had  and  labor  was  dear.  As  a  result  the 
architecture  of  the  home  entered  very  little  into  the 
thoughts  of  the  early  settlers  —  it  was  shelter  they 
wanted,  and  protection  from  the  stress  of  weather. 
The  settler  had  neither  the  money  nor  the  mechan- 
ical appliances  for  building  himself  a  modern  house : 
he  was  content  in  most  instances  to  have  a  mere 
cabin. 

Of  dwellings  made  of  timber,  perhaps  the  most 


18  THE  PALIMPSEST 

primitive  were  the  "  three  faced "  camps.  These 
structures  —  sometimes  called  "cat  faced "  sheds  or 
"wickeups" — consisted  of  three  walls  made  of  logs 
in  their  rough  state  —  the  fourth  side  being  left 
open.  The  first  settler  in  a  community  who  had  to 
build  his  cabin  without  assistance  selected  small 
logs  that  he  could  raise  to  the  walls  alone,  but  after 
neighbors  came  larger  logs  were  used.  Across  these 
walls,  poles  were  laid  at  a  distance  of  about  three 
feet  apart,  and  on  these  was  placed  a  roof  of  clap- 
boards which  were  kept  in  position  by  weight-poles. 
The  only  floor  in  the  camp  was  the  earth,  and  the 
structure  required  neither  door,  window,  nor  chim- 
ney, for  the  open  side  answered  all  these  purposes. 
Immediately  in  front  of  the  cabin  was  built  a  huge 
log  fire  which  served  for  warmth  and  for  cooking 
purposes.  These  "three-faced  camps",  built  appar- 
ently in  a  hurry  to  afford  a  resting  place  for  a  family 
without  a  home,  were  temporary  in  most  cases  and 
were  soon  supplanted  by  more  complete  dwelling 
places. 

The  claim  cabins  proper,  which  followed  these 
first  buildings,  required  some  help  and  a  good  deal 
of  labor  to  build.  House  raisings  were  frequent  and 
became  social  as  well  as  industrial  events.  After 
the  logs  had  been  cut  into  the  desired  length  accord- 
ing to  the  dimensions  of  the  house,  they  were 
dragged  to  the  building  place  by  horses.  The 
neighbors  were  then  called  upon  to  assist.  Four 
men  were  selected  to  "carry  up  the  corners",  and 


EARLY  CABINS  IN  IOWA  19 

the  work  began.  As  the  logs  were  lifted  up  a 
"saddle"  was  hewn  upon  the  top  of  one  log  and  a 
notch  cut  in  the  underside  of  the  next  to  fit  upon  the 
saddle.  By  cutting  the  notches  in  the  larger  end  of 
the  log  a  little  deeper  and  alternating  the  butt  and 
top  ends  the  walls  of  the  cabin  were  carried  up 
approximately  level.  At  first  the  logs  were  put 
together  with  the  bark  on.  As  the  idea  of  decoration 
and  elegance  increased  a  place  was  chipped  along 
two  sides  of  each  log.  Finally  the  inside  and  out- 
side of  the  cabin  walls  were  hewn  so  as  to  present  a 
flat  surface. 

When  the  house-walls  had  reached  a  height  of 
seven  or  eight  feet,  two  gables  were  formed  by 
shortening  the  logs  gradually  at  each  end  of  the 
building  near  the  top,  and  fastening  each  log  to  the 
one  below  or  to  the  roof  logs.  The  roof  was  made 
by  laying  very  straight  small  logs  or  stout  poles 
from  gable  to  gable  at  regular  intervals  and  on  these 
were  fastened  the  clapboards  very  much  in  the  same 
manner  as  modern  shingles,  only  with  fewer  courses, 
as  the  clapboards  were  perhaps  four  feet  long  and 
generally  about  two  and  a  half  feet  to  the  weather. 
Weight  poles  were  laid  over  the  whole  and  were 
secured  by  long  wooden  pins,  driven  into  auger 
holes,  which  kept  them  from  slipping  down  toward 
the  lower  edge  of  the  roof. 

When  this  sheltering  roof  was  completed  the  small 
cracks  between  the  wall  logs  were  stopped  with 
"chinking".  The  spaces  were  filled  in  with  split 


20 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


sticks  of  wood,  called  "  chinks ",  and  then  daubed 
over,  both  inside  and  outside,  with  mortar  made  of 
clay  which  had  straw  or  hay  mixed  with  it  to  keep  it 
from  crumbling  and  falling  out.  In  this  way  the 
cabin  was  made  comfortably  warm  during  the  long 
cold  winter. 

Sometimes  an  opening  was  left  for  a  door  when 
the  logs  were  laid,  but  usually  the  door  space  was 
made  by  cutting  an  aperture  of  the  required  size  in 
one  side  of  the  room.  The  doorway  was  not  always 
provided  immediately  with  a  door,  but  instead  the 
most  simple  contrivances  that  would  serve  the  pur- 
pose were  brought  into  requisition.  In  some  cases  a 
quilt,  blanket,  or  skin  was  spared  for  the  purpose  of 
guarding  the  entrance.  There  is  an  instance  in 
which  a  table  is  said  to  have  served  as  a  door  also, 
being  taken  down  and  used  for  a  table,  and  rehung 
as  a  door  after  meals.  As  soon  as  convenient  a 
shutter  of  some  kind  was  provided.  Sometimes  this 
was  a  thatched  frame  work,  but  more  often  it  con- 
sisted of  two  large  clapboards  or  puncheons,  pinned 
together  with  cross  pieces  and  wooden  pins.  The 
door  was  hung  on  wooden  hinges  and  held  shut  by  a 
wooden  catch.  Through  a  hole  above  the  latch  a 
buckskin  thong  passed  which  when  pulled  lifted  the 
wooden  bar  thus  allowing  the  door  to  open.  For 
security  at  night  this  latch  string  could  be  drawn  in, 
hence,  as  an  expression  of  welcome,  there  arose  the 
saying:  "The  latch  string  is  always  hanging  out". 

Frequently  there  was  no  window  at  first.    Later 


EARLY  CABINS  IN  IOWA  21 

when  duties  became  less  pressing,  a  hole  about  two 
feet  long  was  cut  out  of  one  of  the  wall  logs.  When- 
ever possible  the  window  was  on  the  south  side  and 
could  be  left  open  during  the  summer  at  least. 
Greased  or  oiled  paper  pasted  over  sticks  crossed  in 
the  shape  of  a  sash  was  often  used  as  a  substitute 
for  window  glass.  It  admitted  the  light  and  ex- 
cluded the  air,  but  of  course  lacked  the  transparency. 
Even  greased  deer  hide  was  sometimes  used. 

The  chimney  of  the  western  pioneer's  cabin  was 
not  built  of  stone  or  brick,  but  in  most  cases  of  split 
sticks  of  wood  and  mortar  made  of  clay.  Space  was 
provided  by  leaving  in  the  original  building  a  large 
open  place  in  the  wall,  or  more  often  perhaps,  by 
cutting  one  after  the  structure  was  up.  The  fire- 
place —  at  least  six  feet  wide  and  frequently  of  such 
dimensions  as  to  occupy  nearly  the  whole  width  of 
the  house  —  was  constructed  in  this  opening.  It 
was  planked  on  the  outside  by  butts  of  wood  notched 
together  to  stay  it.  The  back  and  sides  were  built 
of  stone,  of  wood  lined  with  stone,  or  of  stone  and 
earth,  the  stone-work  facing  into  the  room.  A  large 
flat  rock  in  front  of  it,  called  a  hearth  stone,  was 
placed  level  with  the  floor  to  protect  the  puncheons 
from  brands  that  might  roll  out  of  the  fire.  For  a 
chimney,  or  flue,  any  contrivance  that  would  conduct 
the  smoke  upward  would  do.  Some  flues  consisted 
of  squares  of  sod,  laid  as  a  mason  lays  a  wall  of 
bricks  and  plastered  on  the  inside  with  clay.  Per- 
haps the  more  common  type  was  that  known  as  the 


22  THE  PALIMPSEST 

"cat  and  clay"  chimney.  It  was  built  of  small  split 
sticks,  two  and  a  half  or  three  feet  in  length,  carried 
a  little  distance  above  the  roof,  and  plastered,  both 
inside  and  outside,  with  a  thick  covering  of  clay. 
Built  as  they  were  the  burning  of  a  chimney  was  a 
frequent  occurrence  in  cold  weather. 

Other  accessories  were  added  as  soon  as  possible. 
The  clay  which  had  previously  served  as  a  floor  and 
which  had  been  beaten  hard  and  smooth  by  this  time 
was  overlaid  with  a  "puncheon"  floor  consisting  of 
slabs  hewn  from  logs.  After  the  floor  was  laid  the 
upper  surface  would  be  smoothed  off  with  an  adz. 
As  a  final  touch  of  elegance  a  few  more  logs  were 
sometimes  put  on  the  building  making  an  upstairs 
or  loft  which  was  reached  by  a  ladder  secured  to  the 
wall.  Other  families  built  a  better  roof  or  an  addi- 
tional room. 

During  all  of  this  building  process  there  was  ordi- 
narily no  sound  of  hammering  of  nails  or  rasping  of 
the  saw,  only  the  dull  thud  of  the  ax.  The  pioneer 
was  often  forced  to  build  his  cabin  without  nails, 
screws,  bolts,  bars,  or  iron  of  any  description. 
Wooden  pegs  were  hewn  from  the  logs;  the  hinges 
and  even  the  catch  for  the  door  were  wooden. 

The  living  room  was  of  good  size,  for  usually  it 
served  the  purpose  of  kitchen,  bedroom,  parlor,  and 
arsenal.  In  other  words  the  loom,  spinning  wheel, 
chairs,  beds,  cooking  utensils,  and  other  furniture 
were  all  arranged  as  snugly  as  possible  in  this  one 
room.  With  an  ax  and  an  auger  the  pioneer  met  all 


EARLY  CABINS  IN  IOWA  23 

pressing  needs.  The  furniture  varied  in  proportion 
to  the  ingenuity  of  the  occupants,  except  in  the  rare 
instances  where  settlers  brought  with  them  their  old 
household  supply. 

The  articles  used  in  the  kitchen  were  few  and 
simple.  Lacking  the  convenience  of  a  cook  stove,  the 
work  was  done  in  and  about  the  big  fireplace.  The 
utensils  of  a  well  furnished  kitchen  included  an  iron 
pot,  a  long-handled  frying  pan,  a  skillet,  and  some- 
times a  coffee  pot.  Often  a  later  improvement  was 
found  in  the  shape  of  an  iron  crane  swinging  from 
the  side  of  the  chimney  and  carrying  on  its  "pot 
hook"  the  kettles  or  iron  pots  used  in  cooking. 

Sometimes  a  mantel  shelf  was  made  by  placing 
clapboards  across  strong  wooden  pins  fitted  into 
holes  bored  in  the  wall  logs.  This  shelf  might  hold 
kitchen  or  table-ware,  the  candlestick  with  its  deer 
tallow  candle  and  possibly  an  old  clock.  If  the 
family  were  lucky  enough  to  have  an  abundance  of 
table-ware,  a  series  of  shelves  with  perhaps  a  cheap 
cotton  cloth  as  a  curtain  might  be  built  for  a  china 
closet. 

The  necessity  of  finding  a  more  convenient  and 
comfortable  place  than  the  ground  upon  which  to 
sleep,  produced  the  " prairie  bunk".  This  "one- 
legged"  bedstead,  now  a  piece  of  furniture  of  the 
past,  was  improvised  by  the  pioneer  in  a  unique 
manner.  A  forked  stake  was  driven  into  the  ground 
at  a  proper  distance  from  the  corner  of  the  room 
and  upon  it  poles,  usually  of  hickory,  were  laid 


24  THE  PALIMPSEST 

reaching  from  each  wall.  These  poles  where  they 
touched  the  walls  rested  in  the  openings  between  the 
logs  or  were  driven  into  auger  holes.  Upon  these 
poles  slats  of  clapboard  were  placed,  or  linden  bark 
was  interwoven  from  pole  to  pole.  Sometimes  an 
old  fashioned  "cord  bed"  was  made  by  using  bass- 
wood  bark  for  the  cord.  On  this  framework  the 
housewife  spread  her  straw  tick,  or  piled  the  lux- 
urious mound  of  her  home-made  feather  bed.  Such 
a  sleeping  place  was  usually  known  as  a  "prairie 
bedstead",  but  sometimes  it  was  called  a  "prairie 
rascal". 

Beds  of  this  sort,  however,  were  for  the  grown- 
ups. Children  were  stowed  away  for  the  night  either 
in  low,  dark  attics,  among  the  horns  of  elk  and  deer, 
or  in  trundle  beds  which  would  slip  under  the  larger 
bedstead  in  the  daytime. 

It  was  easy  enough  to  improvise  tables,  bureaus, 
and  chairs.  Often  a  packing  box  answered  the  pur- 
poses of  the  first  two,  while  smaller  boxes  of  the 
same  kind  served  as  chairs.  Real  chairs  were  seldom 
seen  in  the  early  cabins;  but  in  their  place  long 
benches  and  stools  were  made  out  of  hewn  planks. 
These  stools  were  often  three-legged  because  of  the 
difficulty  of  making  four  legs  so  that  all  would  touch 
the  uneven  floor  at  the  same  time.  The  benches  were 
but  hewn  slabs  with  a  couple  of  stakes  driven  slant- 
ingly into  each  end  on  the  under  side ;  and  the  tables, 
in  some  instances  were  simply  larger  and  higher 
benches. 


EARLY  CABINS  IN  IOWA  25 

In  one  corner  were  the  loom  and  other  implements 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  clothing;  while  the 
clothing  itself  was  suspended  from  pegs  driven  in 
the  logs.  As  there  was  no  storehouse,  flitches  of 
bacon  and  rings  of  dried  pumpkin  were  suspended 
from  the  rafters.  Over  the  door  was  usually  hung 
the  rifle  and  with  it  the  powder-horn  and  hunting 
pouch.  Luxuries  were  rare  even  among  well  to  do 
people  and  seldom  was  there  so  much  as  a  strip  of 
rag  carpet  on  their  floors  although  they  might  have 
large  tracts  of  land,  numerous  head  of  stock  and 
many  bushels  of  corn. 

Occasionally  one  found  on  the  frontier  a  cabin 
with  more  complete  and  comfortable  furnishings. 
Mrs.  Semira  A.  Phillips  describes  as  follows  her 
uncle's  cabin  in  M  aha  ska  County: 

Their  cabin  had  but  one  room,  but  that  room  was  larger 
than  cabins  generally  were.  I  think  now  it  was  eighteen 
feet  wide  and  twenty  feet  long.  I  know  they  had  in  it  four 
ordinary  sized  beds,  and  a  trundle-bed  which  was  kept 
under  one  of  the  big  beds  in  the  daytime  and  drawn  out  at 
night  for  the  children.  The  style  of  bedstead  used  then 
was  so  high  from  the  floor  to  the  bed  rail  that  there  was 
ample  room  under  a  bed  to  store  many  trunks  and  chests 
and  boxes  and  bundles.  It  was  customary  to  hang  a  valance 
around  which  hid  all  these  unsightly  things.  Women  in 
that  day  and  stage  of  the  country's  history  learned  how  to 
manage  and  utilize  room.  My  uncle's  cabin  had  a  very 
large  fire-place,  six  feet  wide  at  least.  That  fire-place  was 
built  up,  back  and  jambs  with  stone  and  mud.  The  top  of 
the  chimney  was  of  mud  and  split  staves  or  sticks.  The 


26  THE  PALIMPSEST 

floor  was  puncheon  and  the  roof  clap-boards.  There  was  a 
door  in  the  south,  a  small  window  in  the  west  end  by  the 
fire-place,  and  another  small  window  in  the  north.  My 
aunt  had  a  loom  and  all  other  necessaries  for  making  cloth. 
While  the  weather  was  warm  the  loom  was  kept  in  a  shed 
at  the  back  of  the  house.  That  shed  had  a  clap-board  roof, 
and  the  floor  was  of  elm  tree  bark  laid  flat  on  the  ground 
with  the  rough  side  up.  My  uncle  and  aunt  were  both  good 
managers  and  could  make  the  best  of  their  crude  sur- 
roundings. 

Another  account  tells  of  a  big  cabin  with  a  single 
immense  room  below,  with  whitewashed  walls  and 
carefully  scrubbed  puncheon  floor,  and  a  room  above 
for  sleeping  purposes.  An  interesting  feature  of 
this  home  is  described  as  follows : 

A  little  way  from  that  big  log  house  was  another  of  less 
pretentions  which  was  used  as  a  kitchen  and  dining-room. 
There  was  a  big  wide  fireplace  with  crane  and  hooks  and  a 
long  table  covered  with  a  snowy  cloth. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  first  three  United 
States  Senators  from  Iowa  spent  part  of  their  lives 
in  log  cabins.  George  W.  Jones  came  out  to  Sin- 
sinawa  Mound  in  what  is  now  southwestern  Wis- 
consin in  1827.  Eeturning  the  next  spring,  he  slept 
under  his  wagon  one  night  and  the  next  morning 
set  the  ten  or  twelve  men  whom  he  had  hired,  at 
work  chopping  down  trees.  Two  days  later  lie  slept 
in  the  log  cabin  that  had  been  completed  in  that  time. 
He  carried  up  two  corners  of  the  house  himself  — 


EARLY  CABINS  IN  IOWA  27 

the  first  manual  labor  he  had  ever  done.  The  cabin 
was  forty-nine  by  seventeen  feet,  having  an  entry  of 
fifteen  by  seventeen  feet.  Each  room  had  one  door 
and  one  window  only.  The  flooring  was  of  planks 
brought  from  St.  Genevieve,  Missouri.  When 
Augustus  Caesar  Dodge  was  a  boy  the  Dodge  family 
lived  for  eight  years  in  a  rude  log  cabin.  This  home 
was  built  entirely  from  hewn  timbers,  without  a 
particle  of  sawed  lumber,  and  was  equipped  with  a 
puncheon  floor  and  a  clapboard  roof. 

James  Harlan,  the  third  United  States  Senator 
from  Iowa,  has  given  us  a  description  of  his  boyhood 
home  in  Indiana  and  the  account  is  typical  of  the 
methods  of  house  building  throughout  the  Middle 
West.  Their  first  cabin  was  made  largely  from  a 
single  tree.  The  trunk  of  this  tree  was  five  or  six 
feet  in  diameter,  and  when  the  tree  was  felled, 
served  as  the  back  of  the  "camp".  A  few  feet  in 
front  two  forked  branches  were  driven  into  the 
ground,  a  beam  placed  across  the  forks,  and  smaller 
poles  were  laid  from  this  beam  to  the  trunk  of  the 
tree.  This  structure  was  then  covered  with  strips 
of  bark,  several  feet  in  length,  overlapping  like  shin- 
gles, and  the  sides  were  hung  with  bed-clothing.  This 
makeshift  was  replaced  in  about  a  week  by  the  more 
typical  log  cabin.  This  must  have  been  a  busy  week 
for  in  that  time  the  father  of  Harlan  had  not  only 
collected  the  materials  from  the  forest  and  with  the 
assistance  of  six  neighbors  raised  the  walls;  but  he 
had  completed  the  further  tasks  of  chinking  the  logs, 


28  THE  PALIMPSEST 

building  the  fireplace,  and  constructing  a  stairway 
to  the  loft. 

When  Robert  Lucas,  first  Governor  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Iowa,  visited  Iowa  City  in  1839,  the  most 
commodious  cabin  in  the  town  served  as  his  head- 
quarters. It  boasted  of  an  attic  for  a  lodging  room, 
and  into  this  loft  one  must  climb,  by  means  of  a 
primitive  ladder,  through  a  very  small  opening  in 
the  upper  floor. 

Among  the  historic  cabins  of  Iowa  which  are  still 
existing,  that  of  Antoine  Le  Claire  is  perhaps  the 
most  memorable  because  of  the  events  that  trans- 
pired there.  At  the  signing  of  the  treaty  with  the 
Sac  Indians  in  1832,  the  section  of  land  on  which  the 
treaty  was  signed  was  set  aside  and  given  to  Le 
Claire  on  condition  that  he  build  his  home  thereon. 
Soon  after,  while  there  still  was  no  city  of  Daven- 
port, Le  Claire  erected  what  was  then  a  most  pre- 
tentious home.  The  house  was  built  of  hewn  logs, 
boarded  over.  It  was  a  story  and  a  half  high  with 
three  gables.  To-day  the  house  stands  at  the  rear  of 
420  West  Fifth  Street  in  Davenport.  After  it  was 
moved,  a  second  story  was  added  and  the  roof  re- 
placed. This  building  might  not  be  recognized  as  a 
log  cabin  but  for  the  fact  that  here  and  there  the 
siding  has  been  torn  off  revealing  the  logs  of  the 
first  story. 

The  old  log  cabins  of  the  early  settlers  in  Iowa 
have  now  all  but  disappeared.  They  have  been  re- 
placed by  less  picturesque  though  more  practical 


EARLY  CABINS  IN  IOWA  29 

dwellings.  Once  in  a  while  a  vacated  cabin  is  to  be 
found  among  the  trees  along  the  river  or  on  the 
sheltered  slope  of  a  prairie  hill.  In  some  cases,  the 
old  houses  are  still  seen  among  the  farm  buildings, 
somewhat  away  from  the  present  house  and  now 
used  as  summer  kitchens  or  work  shops.  Others, 
after  three  quarters  of  a  century,  are  still  occupied 
—  standing  as  a  mute  testimony  of  work  well  done. 

MILDRED  J.  SHARP 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

WEATHER 

As  far  as  the  weather  goes  we  are  all  communists. 
It  rains  on  the  just  and  the  unjust,  and  the  sunshine 
has  no  favorites.  And  so,  being  the  common  pos- 
session of  mankind,  it  is  not  surprising  that  it  is  the 
common  topic  of  conversation,  and  that  "good 
morning",  "bon  jour",  "buenos  dias",  and  the  like 
furnish  the  customary  greeting  the  world  over.  As 
a  topic  it  has  its  good  points.  It  has  variety  and  is 
spiced  with  adventure  and  excitement  in  the  form  of 
cloudbursts,  tornadoes,  and  blizzards.  Its  future  is 
an  unfailing  subject  for  speculation;  its  present  is  a 
convenient  and  unresisting  object  for  our  curses, 
and  its  past  is  a  prime  field  for  reminiscence. 

Mr.  Williams '  story  of  an  early  Iowa  blizzard  has 
raised  in  our  mind  a  few  questions  we  have  often 
asked  but  never  have  had  answered  satisfactorily. 
Is  the  country  changing  its  climate?  Is  there  less 
snow  and  a  milder  temperature  than  in  the  good  old 
days  of  sleigh-riding  and  Thanksgiving  skating? 
Or  does  our  mellowing  memory  recall  only  the  high 
lights  —  the  occasional  drifting  of  snow  over  the 
fence  tops  and  the  dropping  of  the  mercury  into  the 
bottom  of  the  tube  —  until  we  think  of  these  phe- 
nomena as  the  ordinary  winter  program? 

To  try  to  satisfy  our  curiosity  we  have  spent  a 

30 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  31 

little  time  burrowing  among  the  early  meteorolog- 
ical reports  and  the  recent  reports  issued  by  the 
Iowa  Weather  and  Crop  Service.  We  have  not 
emerged  triumphant  but  here  are  a  few  facts: 
Professor  T.  S.  Parvin  published  in  the  Report  of 
the  Geological  Survey  of  the  State  of  Iowa  for  1870 
a  discussion  of  the  climate  of  Iowa  with  tables  based 
on  careful  records  kept  by  him,  first  at  Muscatine 
and  later  at  Iowa  City,  for  the  years  1839  to  1869. 
With  regard  to  temperature  he  states,  "During  a 
residence  of  more  than  thirty  years  in  central  east- 
ern Iowa,  I  have  never  seen  the  mercury  rise  to  100 
degrees  nor  fall  below  30  degrees ".  The  lowest 
temperature  he  records  as  — 30°,  on  January  18, 
1857,  during  the  same  bitter  winter  in  which  Mr. 
Williams'  blizzard  occurred,  and  in  which,  two 
months  later,  terrible  weather  prevented  Major 
William  Williams  and  his  relief  expedition  from  im- 
mediately following  up  the  band  of  Inkpaduta  which 
had  perpetrated  the  Spirit  Lake  Massacre. 

Professor  Parvin  makes  a  tabulation  of  annual 
and  monthly  snowfall  by  inches  for  a  period  from 
1848  to  1869  inclusive.  The  average  annual  snow- 
fall for  this  period  was  33.23  inches,  the  highest  was 
61.97  inches  in  1868,  the  lowest  7.90  in  1850.  The 
greatest  monthly  fall  of  snow  in  the  period  was  in 
December,  1848,  and  amounted  to  29.52  inches. 
Apparently  this  nearly  exhausted  the  supply  for  in 
the  two  years  immediately  following  (1849  and 
1850)  the  totals  for  the  entire  years  were  only  9.41 
and  7.90  respectively. 


32  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Turning  now  to  more  recent  times,  it  appears  that 
much  lower  temperatures  are  occasionally  to  be 
found.  The  Iowa  Weather  and  Crop  Service  re- 
corded in  December,  1917,  a  temperature  of  40  be- 
low zero,  and  in  January,  1912,  the  thermometer  at 
Washta  in  Cherokee  County  was  reported  as  regis- 
tering 47  below.  This  month  of  January,  1912,  was 
commented  upon  by  all  observers.  Professor  A.  J. 
Smith  at  Iowa  City  reported  it  to  be  the  coldest 
month  since  observations  began  at  that  station  in 
1858,  over  a  half  century  before.  The  average  an- 
nual quantity  of  snowfall  for  the  State  in  inches  is 
reported  by  the  Iowa  Weather  and  Crop  Service. 
For  the  ten  years  from  1909  to  1918  the  average 
annual  snowfall  never  was  less  than  23.4  inches  nor 
more  than  49  inches.  The  average  for  the  ten  years 
was  32.67  inches.  And  yet  the  Eeport  for  1912  states 
that  at  Earlham  in  Madison  County  the  station  re- 
corded a  total  amount  of  77.2  inches  for  the  year. 

But  these  are  only  sample  figures.  To  draw  con- 
clusions one  must  go  deeper  and  wider.  We  recom- 
mend the  subject  as  an  interesting  and  useful  one 
for  study. 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 
ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  II  ISSUED  IN  FEBRUARY  1921  No.  2 

COPYRIGHT  1921   BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

The  Old  Military  Road 

Trailing  diagonally  across  the  State  from  Dubuque 
to  Iowa  City  is  an  old  ridge  road.  It  was  laid  out 
more  than  eighty  years  ago  to  connect  the  little 
mining  town  on  the  river  with  the  new  Territorial 
capital.  The  United  States  government  was  then  fos- 
tering the  construction  of  military  roads  on  the  west- 
ern frontier,  and  in  March,  1839,  Congress  appropri- 
ated twenty  thousand  dollars  for  such  a  road  to 
begin  at  Dubuque  and  run  "to  such  point  on  the 
northern  boundary  of  the  State  of  Missouri  as  may 
be  best  suited  for  its  future  extension  by  that  State 
to  the  cities  of  Jefferson  and  St.  Louis ". 

The  road  was  ultimately  extended  beyond  Iowa 
City,  but  to  the  people  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa  in 
1839  the  opportunity  offered  by  the  government 
meant  simply  access  to  the  site  of  the  new  capital. 
The  road  from  Dubuque  as  far  as  Iowa  City  was 
immediately  surveyed,  a  United  States  army  engi- 
neer named  Tilghman  directing  the  work.  James, 
Lucius,  and  Edward  Langworthy,  the  first  two  of 

33 


34  THE  PALIMPSEST 

whom  had  crossed  the  Mississippi  to  the  deserted 
diggings  of  Julien  Dubuque  in  1830,  were  given  con- 
tracts for  the  construction  of  the  road  from  Dubuque 
as  far  as  the  Cedar  River.  Edward  Langworthy 
states  that  after  the  surveys  were  made  Tilghman 
engaged  Lyman  Dillon  to  plow  a  furrow  along  the 
route,  under  his  direction,  for  the  guidance  of  the 
contractors. 

Meanwhile  at  Iowa  City  the  town  had  been  platted 
and  the  capitol  building  begun.  A  temporary  tavern 
known  as  "Lean-back  Hall"  welcomed  the  travellers 
and  tried  to  rival  the  hospitality  which  they  had 
enjoyed  at  Tim  Fanning 's  famous  log  tavern  at  the 
other  end  of  the  road.  In  the  course  of  years  Tim 
Fanning 's  tavern  and  "Lean-back  Hall"  have  dis- 
appeared ;  nevertheless  incentive  was  not  lacking  for 
two  historically  minded  vacationists  to  retrace  the 
old  road  on  foot  in  September,  1920.  The  writers  of 
the  articles  that  follow  —  Marcus  L.  Hansen  and 
John  E.  Briggs  —  set  out  one  autumn  morning  from 
Iowa  City  equipped  with  stout  shoes  and  hearts,  a 
tiny  tent,  an  ancient  map,  and  all  the  information 
they  could  gather  about  the  old  highway.  Four  days 
they  walked  on  the  way  to  Dubuque,  their  feet  tread- 
ing the  modern  thoroughfare  while  their  minds 
were  busy  with  the  traces  of  deserted  villages  and 
the  ancient  secrets  of  living  towns,  with  the  signs  of 
departed  traffic  and  the  many  reminders  of  the  van- 
ished spirits  of  the  Old  Military  Road. 

THE  EDITOR 


Phantoms  on  the  Old  Road 

The  Old  Military  Road !  How  foreign  the  expres- 
sion to  the  peaceful,  early  autumn  calm  that  lay  over 
the  valleys  dropping  away  to  the  right  and  left  of 
the  ridge  along  which  the  road  wound.  My  comrade 
and  I  had  shouldered  our  packs  at  Iowa  City  and, 
setting  our  faces  toward  the  northeast,  had  begun 
with  ambitious  strides  to  walk  the  old  thoroughfare 
from  Iowa  City  to  Dubuque  —  our  only  motive  being 
that  furnished  by  the  old  books  which  told  us  that  so 
the  pioneers  of  Iowa  had  done.  We  could  well  be- 
lieve that  the  road  was  old  but  why  should  it  be 
called  military?  If  in  yonder  groves  where  now  one 
sees  the  red  barn  gables  shining  between  the  trees 
there  arose  the  battlements  of  European  fortresses, 
or  if  the  deeply  furrowed  crossroads  that  mark  the 
county  lines  were  international  boundaries  where 
armed  sentinels  scanned  the  passports  ere  we  pro- 
ceeded, then  we  might  declare  the  name  appropriate. 
But  harvest  fields,  many-tinted  woodlands,  and 
farmers  who  nod  cheerily  as  they  pass  are  not  mili- 
tary, and  the  name  is  only  the  heritage  of  other 
years. 

How  fain  we  would  escape  from  the  past!  Last 
season's  automobile  is  discarded  for  the  newer 
model  and  this  year's  clothes  will  be  the  derision  of 
next  year's  fashions.  But  geography  binds  us  with 

35 


36  THE  PALIMPSEST 

bands  that  only  under  the  most  unusual  circum- 
stances are  broken.  Long  after  the  mapmaker  is 
gone  the  names  that  he  sprinkled  over  the  sheet  are 
still  written  and  bear  mute  testimony  to  the  nature 
of  the  world  in  which  he  lived.  Wall  Street  has  no 
wall;  Back  Bay  has  no  bay;  and  the  Military  Road 
is  no  longer  military. 

Yet  military  it  once  was.  Soldiers  planned  it, 
surveyed  it,  and  used  it.  Eastern  Iowa  in  1839  was 
the  frontier;  the  site  of  the  territorial  capital  had 
just  been  chosen  on  the  wild  bluff  that  rises  above 
the  waters  of  the  Iowa.  The  Mississippi  Eiver 
towns  were  full  of  men  eager  to  venture  forth  into 
the  wilderness,  and  the  Indian  trails  on  the  prairies 
were  followed  by  the  ever-moving  pioneers.  That 
these  irrepressible  spirits  would  soon  come  into 
forcible  contact  with  the  Indians  who  only  reluct- 
antly had  left  their  homes  in  the  ceded  ' '  Forty  Mile 
Strip  "  seemed  inevitable,  and  in  order  that  the  iron 
hand  of  the  government  might  be  felt  in  the  remotest 
valleys,  roads  were  necessary  whereby  troops  might 
be  readily  sent  from  the  permanent  posts  to  the 
scene  of  any  disturbance.  That  one  of  these  should 
lead  from  Dubuque,  the  commercial  and  military 
center  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  to  Iowa  City,  the 
new  capital,  was  logical ;  and  by  Act  of  Congress  in 
1839  an  appropriation  was  made  to  pay  for  the  sur- 
veying, grading,  and  bridging  of  such  a  thorough- 
fare. Yet  even  from  the  first,  the  number  of  soldiers 
who  passed  over  it  was  surpassed  by  the  incoming 


PHANTOMS  ON  THE  OLD  ROAD  37 

swarm  of  settlers,  and  the  military  men  did  little 
more  than  leave  their  name  upon  their  work. 

And  as  such  it  is  known  to  this  day  by  all  who 
dwell  by  its  winding  course.  The  college  student 
who  was  painting  the  Ivanhoe  Bridge  laid  down  his 
brush  —  he  was  working  for  the  county  —  and  ex- 
plained to  us  who  pretended  ignorance,  that  the  real 
designation  of  the  trail  we  followed  was  the  Military 
Eoad.  The  gray-headed  sage  at  Monticello  who 
gossiped  with  us  as  we  stopped  to  rest  our  weary 
feet  at  the  Depot  Park  declaimed  on  the  sacrilege  of 
rerouting  a  few  miles  of  the  Military  Eoad  as  some 
moderns  favored;  and  at  the  Trappist  Abbey,  kind- 
hearted  Brother  Timothy,  he  of  the  twinkling  eyes, 
led  us  down  to  the  pasture  gate  and  with  his  walking 
stick  pointed  out  a  cross-cut  by  which  we  might 
regain  the  Military  Eoad.  All  knew  of  the  glory 
that  once  was  the  portion  of  the  old  highway. 

All  but  the  reporter  of  that  village  paper  into 
whose  town  we  hobbled  at  noon.  Jauntily  he  came 
out  to  interview  these  pedestrians  —  perhaps  they 
were  transcontinental  hikers  about  to  favor  the  town 
with  a  visit  and  the  paper  with  a  front  page  story. 
Disappointment  for  all.  To  him  the  Military  Eoad 
meant  nothing  and  when  he  heard  of  Iowa  City  — 
that  was  too  common.  Away  he  darted  to  the  nearby 
poolroom  where  he  was  sure  he  could  unearth  im- 
portant news. 

How  discouraging  it  was  thus  at  the  very  door  of 
publicity  to  have  it  slammed  in  the  face!  What 


38  THE  PALIMPSEST 

permanent  record  would  now  be  left  of  this  so  his- 
toric a  jaunt?  In  the  dust  of  the  road  we  left  no  trail 
over  which  investigators  could  puzzle  and  students 
write  theses.  And  when  the  voices  of  the  two  trav- 
ellers were  stilled,  who  then  would  take  up  the  tale 
of  the  intrepid  historians  who  not  only  essayed  to 
write  of  the  pioneers  but  to  live  like  them  as  well? 
This  thought  added  to  the  torments  of  legs  already 
weary,  and  the  brightness  of  our  spirits  faded  as  the 
September  afternoon  darkened  over  the  landscape. 

Misery  loves  company  and  to  console  ourselves  as 
the  darkness  gathered  from  the  already  gloomy  val- 
leys, we  conjured  up,  one  by  one,  the  shades  of  de- 
parted wanderers  to  accompany  us  —  a  procession 
of  phantoms  of  the  Old  Military  Road.  They  were 
travellers  whose  journeyings  have  already  been  for- 
gotten: Leather  Stockings  who  had  no  Cooper; 
black-robed  priests  without  their  Parkman;  frontier 
Ichabods  whose  singing  school  escapades  no  Irving 
has  recorded ;  horse-thieves  who  were  hanged  before 
the  first  dime  novel  was  penned ;  all  that  motley  band 
of  men  and  women  whose  yellowed  letters  are  still 
unread,  about  the  foundation  stones  of  whose  cabins 
the  roots  of  lofty  trees  are  now  entwined,  and  many 
indeed  who  never  wrote  a  letter,  who  never  built  a 
cabin  but  who,  living,  created  that  great  romance 
that  hovers  about  the  wooded  watercourses  of  East- 
ern Iowa,  felt  by  everyone  yet  related  by  almost 
none. 

Among  the  throng  are  Edmund  Booth  and  his  two 


PHANTOMS  ON  THE  OLD  ROAD  39 

companions  who  tell  of  how  they  passed  this  way 
long  before  the  rivers  were  bridged,  and  when  few 
features  marked  the  passage  across  the  seas  of 
waving  prairie  grass.  Leaving  Dubuque  to  make  a 
residence  in  the  West,  they  bid  adieu  to  the  sordid 
associations  of  "  Dirty  Hollow "  and  to  the  rippling 
waters  of  Catfish  Creek  with  its  busy  mill,  follow  the 
dim  trail  that  leads  to  the  falls  of  the  Maquoketa 
where  already  a  few  cabins  cluster  about  the  charm- 
ing Cascade.  Here  and  there  are  wagon  ruts  to 
guide  their  horses'  feet  along  the  winding  ridge  that 
like  a  huge  serpent  crawls  on  its  way  to  the  ford 
over  the  South  Fork  of  the  Maquoketa.  And  now  the 
lights  streaming  out  between  the  logs  of  the  cabin  of 
Daniel  Varvel  —  first  resident  of  Monticello  —  be- 
token a  supper  of  ham  and  eggs,  corn  dodgers  and 
coffee,  and  a  bed  in  the  fragrant  hay  piled  high  in 
the  rude  barn. 

Early  the  next  morning  they  are  off  again  for 
there  are  streams  to  be  crossed,  Kitty's  Creek  and 
Fawn  Creek,  before  the  site  of  Anamosa  is  reached 
on  the  banks  of  the  Wapsipinicon  River.  Booth  goes 
no  further  but  his  two  companions,  bound  for  Iowa 
City,  continue  their  way  over  the  rolling  prairie  that 
stretches  on  to  the  waters  of  the  Cedar  where  the 
lounging  inhabitants  of  Ivanhoe  point  out  the  route 
to  the  new  town.  By  hard  riding  they  reach  it  be- 
fore the  evening  of  the  second  day  and  are  soon,  no 
doubt,  at  the  tavern  recounting  their  experiences  by 
the  way  and  listening  perhaps  to  the  complaints  of 


40 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


those,  less  fortunate  than  they,  who  wandering  from 
the  ridge  had  found  themselves  lost  in  the  prairie 
swamps  or  whose  horses  tripped  over  the  protruding 
roots.  Glad  are  they  all  that  the  road  builders  are 
already  at  work. 

Yonder  in  our  procession  of  phantoms  is  one  driv- 
ing five  yoke  of  oxen  attached  to  a  plow.  Lyman 
Dillon  is  his  name,  and  if  the  story  of  Dillon  and  his 
furrow  had  not  been  somewhat  discredited  by  the 
historical  critics  his  would  have  been  the  most  hon- 
ored position  in  the  group.  For  the  old  tradition 
relates  that  it  was  he  who  first  rescued  travellers 
from  the  dangers  of  waywardness.  Employed  by 
citizens  of  Iowa  City,  with  his  oxen  and  plow  he 
threw  a  furrow  almost  a  hundred  miles  long  extend- 
ing from  the  capital  to  Dubuque,  and  the  wagons  and 
riders  that  followed  this  guide  beat  a  road  by  its 
side  which  was  the  predecessor  of  the  Military  Road. 
However,  though  the  records  have  made  mythical 
parts  of  this  tradition,  he  claims  a  role  among  these 
characters. 

Now  the  shade  of  the  real  maker  of  the  road,  a 
United  States  army  engineer  by  the  name  of  Tilgh- 
man,  joins  us.  Under  his  direction  the  surveys  were 
made  and  contracts  let  for  the  construction  of 
bridges,  the  grading  through  the  swamps,  and  the 
ditching  beside  the  road  which  cut  a  clean  swath 
forty  feet  wide  when  forests  or  bushes  were  en- 
countered. 

At  top  speed  one  of  Ansell  Briggs'  postriders 


PHANTOMS  ON  THE  OLD  ROAD  41 

dashes  by;  but  the  commerce  on  the  road  increases 
and  saddle  bags  can  no  longer  contain  the  cor- 
respondence of  prolific  scribes.  The  Western  Stage 
Company  puts  on  four-horse  coaches  one  of  which 
now  travels  along  silently  beside  us.  A  Concord 
Coach!  How  little  the  expression  means  to  us  who 
can  describe  vehicles  only  in  terms  of  cylinders. 
They  were  things  of  beauty  in  which  any  man  would 
be  proud  to  ride,  and  pride  our  fathers  did  not  lack. 
"How  they  looked  around  them  with  a  self-satisfied 
air  as  they  took  a  seat  and  waited  for  the  stage  to 
start ' '  declared  an  old  observer.  '  '  How  they  nodded 
their  heads  and  waved  their  hands  at  envious  friends 
as  the  driver  gathered  up  the  reins,  cracked  his  whip 
and  dashed  away." 

It  was  not  always  ease  and  splendor.  There  came 
mudholes  in  the  road  in  which  the  polish  of  boots 
was  lost  as  passengers  dismounted  and  struggled 
through  with  as  much  difficulty  as  the  lumbering 
coach.  Here  was  a  river  swollen  by  spring  rains 
and  no  longer  fordable,  so  passengers  crossed  the 
rushing  waters  in  skiffs  and  under  the  dripping 
trees  awaited  the  coming  of  the  other  stage  which 
would  discharge  its  load  and  turn  back.  And  in 
winter  there  was  the  cold  that  pierced  the  buffalo 
robes  and  the  blinding  snow  storms  when  all  the 
drifted  road  was  obliterated  and  the  driver,  lantern 
in  hand,  stumbled  before  in  search  of  uncovered 
landmarks,  his  shouted  words  carried  away  by  the 
swirling  gale. 


42  THE  PALIMPSEST 

What  a  brave  race  these  "knights  of  the  lash" 
were !  —  not,  it  is  true,  in  the  eyes  of  all  their  con- 
temporaries. Pious  Sunday  School  teachers  warned 
the  fidgety  boys  to  stay  away  from  the  "  barns " 
where  there  was  nothing  but  loafers,  rum  and  stories 
of  the  road ;  and  one  mother  lamented  the  wayward- 
ness of  her  prodigal  son,  saying,  "I'd  jest  as  soon 
let  that  boy  staid  in  that  old  printin'  office  as  to  had 
him  gone  to  runnin'  with  them  stage  drivers. "  Be- 
neath the  corduroy  suit,  however,  was  usually  as 
generous  a  soul  as  ever  crossed  the  western  plains. 
Stories,  indeed,  he  had,  and  whoever  climbed  up  on 
the  box  beside  him  and  first  judiciously  praised  the 
teams,  was  sure  to  be  a  sharer  in  them ;  and  many  a 
half-frozen  traveller  got  the  last  drop  from  the 
whiskey  bottle  even  though  the  nearest  tavern  were 
ten  miles  away.  The  valley  stretches  of  the  road 
that  once  reechoed  his  song  now  return  no  music  but 
the  strident  notes  of  the  klaxon,  and  a  whirring 
mechanism  covers  the  ground  once  trod  by  the  flying 
feet  of  the  gallant  four. 

But  look  at  the  passengers  who  gaze  from  the 
windows  of  this  spectre  carriage.  That  young  lady, 
with  fair  face  almost  hidden  by  bonnet,  ribbons  and 
curls,  who  seems  so  calmly  unconscious  that  her 
hoops-skirts  are  filling  a  much  larger  proportion  of 
the  seat  than  the  single  fare  entitles  her  to,  is  prob- 
ably the  daughter  of  some  frontier  politician  coming 
from  school  in  the  East  to  be  the  reigning  belle  of 
the  county  town  and  break  the  hearts  of  half  a  score 


PHANTOMS  ON  THE  OLD  ROAD  43 

of  backwoods  lawyers  before  she  discovers  which 
one  has  the  speediest  prospect  of  being  sent  to  Con- 
gress. Those  two  high-hatted  heads  borne  on  broad 
shoulders  over  which  capes  are  carelessly  flung  are 
filled  with  balanced  sentences  and  classic  perora- 
tions, for  they  are  members  of  the  Territorial  legis- 
lature proceeding  to  the  assembly  at  Iowa  City 
where  they  hope  to  deliver  their  sentiments  on  the 
wickedness  of  banks  and  the  lethargy  of  the  Indian 
agents  with  more  gusto  and  gesticulations  than  the 
cramped  quarters  of  the  coach  allow.  That  solemn- 
visaged  person  whose  eyes  rest  so  dreamily  upon  the 
passing  scenery  would  be  the  victim  of  one  of  the 
"river  gangs "  west  of  the  Mississippi  if  they  knew 
the  riches  hidden  in  his  carpet  bag,  riches  not  his  but 
funds  which  he  has  begged  in  the  counting  houses 
and  parlors  of  the  eastern  cities.  With  them  he  will 
build  a  college  for  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  pio- 
neers—  an  institution  from  which,  he  hopes,  will 
radiate  an  influence  that  will  make  of  these  prairies 
a  Utopia.  Already  he  sees  the  brick  walls  of  the 
"  Academy "  with  its  trim  cupola  rising  above  the 
tops  of  the  waving  trees,  the  paths  that  entwine  on 
its  campus  and  the  white  cottages  that  line  the  vil- 
lage streets.  The  college  was  built  and  is  now  gone. 
Cattle  graze  along  the  old  lanes  where  once  the 
daughters  and  sons  of  deacons  strolled ;  and  the  sur- 
rounding acres  are  as  far  from  Utopia  as  the  rest  of 
Iowa.  Still  it  is  fondly  remembered  by  some  gray- 
headed  men  who  remain,  recalling  not  the  lessons  in 


44  THE  PALIMPSEST 

moral  philosophy  imparted  within  its  chilly  walls, 
but  the  nights  in  the  literary  society  hall,  the  pranks 
played  during  prayers  and  solemn  promises  whis- 
pered where  the  campus  shadows  were  darkest. 

Other  builders  are  there  among  the  spirits  from 
the  phantom  world.  They  are  the  home  makers.  On 
foot  and  on  horseback  they  come,  sturdy  backwoods- 
men who  have  already  hewed  the  forests  in  Ken- 
tucky, Indiana  and  Tennessee,  and  wiry  Yankees 
from  the  States  of  granite  and  fish.  Some  bring 
nothing  but  rifle,  ax  and  stout  heart;  others  guide 
beside  them  the  oxen-drawn  wagon  with  tow-headed 
boys,  "hoopless"  girls,  and  panting  dogs  trailing 
behind.  Not  only  for  Iowa  are  they  bound ;  the  lure 
of  California  draws  many.  Eight  hundred  teams 
passed  over  the  road  in  the  years  1851-1852  des- 
tined for  the  Golden  State,  proceeding  as  solitary 
individuals  or  in  large  parties  of  men  and  women 
organized  and  captained  by  old  campaigners  who 
could  draw  up  the  ranks  to  deliver  two  hundred  shots 
in  ten  minutes  or  in  close  quarters  fall  upon  the 
lurking  redskins  and  with  revolvers  and  "Bowie" 
give  them  a  "Tennessee  fight ".  A  later  generation 
of  gold  hunters  follows,  those  who  seek  the  hidden 
treasures  of  Pike's  Peak.  Like  the  "Forty-niners", 
the  "Fifty-niners"  pass  clad  in  all  varieties  of  pic- 
turesque costumes  as  if  on  a  gay  pleasure  jaunt 
accompanied  by  bands  of  music  to  shorten  the  dreary 
stretches  of  the  westward  way.  Here  also  come  the 
shades  of  those  three  small  boys  of  Cascade  who, 


PHANTOMS  ON  THE  OLD  ROAD  45 

inspired  by  the  sight  of  the  passing  throngs  and 
fired  by  the  stories  of  the  "Peakers"  who  stopped 
to  ask  for  a  drink,  set  out  on  foot  for  the  Eldorado 
provided  only  with  high  hopes  and  a  dozen  and  a 
half  of  eggs,  and  were  overtaken  by  anxious  friends 
only  when  the  steeples  of  Anamosa  were  within 
sight. 

More  gorgeous  cavalcades  than  these  are  the 
troops  of  United  States  dragoons  who  pass  and  re- 
pass,  now  hot  on  the  trail  of  renegade  Indians  who 
have  broken  across  the  treaty  line  and  are  terrify- 
ing the  new  settlers,  now  returning  leisurely,  the 
manacled  offenders  in  their  midst.  Here  are  other 
avengers  of  the  law  that  travel  quickly  forward,  the 
energetic  county  sheriff  with  his  posse  of  farmers 
called  from  the  plow  and  flail,  scanning  the  muddy 
bottoms  for  traces  of  those  thieves  who  with  the 
frightened  led-horses  dragging  behind,  passed  this 
way  at  midnight. 

Who  is  this  proceeding  so  cheerfully  along  with  a 
smile  for  everyone  and  a  helping  hand  for  the  emi- 
grant who  is  repairing  his  broken  wheel  or  axle? 
He  is  the  frontier  minister  who  christens  the  cabin 
children,  rewards  the  patience  of  the  bachelor  home- 
steader with  a  bride,  terrifies  the  souls  of  chronic 
sinners  with  warnings  of  impending  doom  and  prays 
over  the  first  grave  dug  in  the  green  of  the  new  ceme- 
tery. Perhaps  it  is  the  shade  of  Brother  Taylor, 
Methodist  circuit  rider,  who  shed  so  many  tears  in 
the  pulpit,  that  his  hearers  knew  him  only  as  ' '  Weep- 


46  THE  PALIMPSEST 

ing  Jeremiah ";  or  it  may  be  the  spirit  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Swerengen  who  never  missed  his  fortnightly 
appointments  in.  summer 's  heat  or  winter 's  cold, 
though  he  often  ascended  the  platform  so  chilled  by 
his  struggle  through  the  wintry  road  that  the  over- 
coat was  discarded  only  after  the  discourse  had 
waxed  hot. 

Far  before  us  village  windows  begin  to  twinkle  and 
as  our  minds  turn  more  to  supper  and  bed  our 
ghostly  companions  become  dimmer:  lawyer  and 
land  agent  hand  in  hand;  pioneer  doctor,  dispenser 
of  pills,  expert  "  bleeder "  and  healer  of  man  and 
beast;  friendly  neighbors  on  their  way  to  a 
"raising";  their  sons  and  daughters  returning  from 
a  spelling  bee;  and  all  that  host  of  plain  men  and 
women,  good  and  bad,  who  compose  the  foundation 
upon  which  the  great  figures  of  any  generation  stand. 
This  passing  pageant  has  revealed  to  us  a  secret  of 
the  history  of  Iowa. 

What  manner  of  men  were  they  who  first  cut  the 
forests  and  broke  the  sod  of  the  Commonwealth! 
One  person  looking  into  the  past  sees  in  the  dark 
ravine  the  evening  rendezvous  where  about  the 
flaring  flames  are  gathered  the  ruffian  gang  who 
stole  the  horses  and  passed  the  bogus  money,  and  he 
says  the  original  lowans  were  cut-throats  and  ruf- 
fians. Another  sees  spire  after  spire  of  school  and 
church  rising  upon  country  lanes  and  village  streets 
and  he  declares  that  the  foundation  stone  of  the 
State  was  the  idealism  of  God-fearing  men.  A  third 


PHANTOMS  ON  THE  OLD  ROAD  47 

sees  the  curling  smoke  that  comes  from  the  hearths 
of  a  thousand  cabins  and  he  says  the  State  was  built 
about  the  home. 

Still  we  must  look  not  in  the  valley  or  on  the  plain 
or  in  the  clearing  to  find  the  touchstone  of  the  life  of 
the  State.  Look  upon  the  road  —  that  great  artery 
that  poured  in  all  the  elements  of  weakness  or 
strength,  of  lawlessness  or  order,  of  blasphemy  or 
godliness  that  struggled  for  the  mastery  and  whose 
conflict  constitutes  much  of  Iowa's  story.  Such  a 
vision  anyone  may  see  who  after  studying  the  way 
his  fathers  lived  will  venture  out  upon  the  road  to 
read  the  records  that  they  have  left. 

But  for  us  it  has  faded,  and  stretching  out  on  the 
road  before  is  a  yellow  shaft  of  light  growing  bright- 
er and  brighter.  There  is  a  warning  signal  sounded 
behind  and  we  gingerly  step  aside  as  an  automobile 
rushes  by,  its  gay  occupants  shouting  and  laughing 
and  singing.  How  like  the  present  generation,  we 
muse  as  the  dark  road  is  retaken.  How  devoid  of 
gratitude  they  unthinkingly  pass  over  the  highways 
whose  roughness  has  been  worn  smooth  by  the  pain- 
ful steps  of  predecessors  —  the  highways  of  law,  of 
learning,  of  religion  as  well  as  the  Old  Military 
Eoad. 

Again  there  is  the  piercing  warning  in  the  rear. 
Again  we  jump  to  right  and  left,  but  too  late  to 
escape  the  stifling  cloud  of  dust  that  fills  the  air  so 
lately  peopled  by  the  shades  of  the  wanderers  of 
yesterday.  Gone  now  are  the  bits  of  our  homely 


48 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


philosophy.  The  law  against  unlighted  motor  ve- 
hicles should  be  enforced,  we  angrily  declare,  and 
having  wiped  the  dust  from  our  faces  we  shake  our 
fists  at  the  departing  tumult  and  with  husky  throats 
consign  these  travellers  to  a  darker  oblivion  than 
has  ever  befallen  any  of  their  fore-runners  on  the 
Old  Military  Road. 

MARCUS  L.  HANSEN 


Along  the  Old  Military  Road 

During  the  four  days  that  Marc  and  I  walked  over 
the  Old  Military  Eoad  from  Iowa  City  to  Dubuque 
probably  no  less  than  twenty  sympathetic  people 
invited  us  to  ride  in  their  motor  cars.  Hundreds 
went  by  in  a  cloud  of  dust  with  never  a  sidelong 
glance.  Of  those  who  deigned  to  stop,  some  rode  in 
magnificent  touring  cars  and  some  in  one-seated 
Fords;  some  were  kind-hearted  farmers  on  an  er- 
rand to  town,  some  were  professional  tourists,  and 
once  near  the  end  of  a  thirty  mile  stretch  three  jolly 
girls  insisted  that  our  company  would  be  ever  so 
pleasant.  Not  once  did  we  condescend  to  accept, 
and  never  did  the  good  Samaritans  fail  to  wonder  at 
our  stupidity. 

So  as  we  trudged  along  we  were  many  a  time  com- 
pelled to  explain  to  ourselves  such  a  ridiculous 
method  of  traveling.  In  the  first  place,  we  reasoned, 
it  would  be  fun  to  discover  if  the  Representatives 
who  walked  to  the  Territorial  capital  earned  their 
three  dollars  for  every  twenty  miles  traveled.  We 
decided  they  did.  Another  excuse  that  we  tried  to 
accept  was  that  walking  afforded  the  very  best  phys- 
ical exercise  —  and  we  were  on  a  vacation. 

But  the  principal  justification  was  our  desire  to 
compare  the  old  road  as  we  found  it  with  the  one 
that  used  to  exist.  To  be  sure  the  route  is  almost 

49 


50  THE  PALIMPSEST 

identical,  but  the  landscape  has  changed  and  so  has 
the  traffic.  In  order  to  visualize  pioneer  scenes  one 
needs  to  go  slowly,  while  halts  and  repose  are  essen- 
tial if  one  is  to  sense  the  romance  of  primitive  travel 
and  of  the  picturesque  people  who  have  passed  that 
way,  of  legends  that  may  have  been  true,  and  of  vil- 
lages long  since  forgotten. 

At  one  end  of  the  trail  stands  the  Old  Stone  Cap- 
itol :  it  was  in  the  process  of  erection  when  the  road 
was  first  built.  Of  the  many  who  enter  the  old  build- 
ing there  are  only  a  few  who  are  reminded  by  the 
well-worn  steps,  that  they  tread  a  pathway  of  the 
founders  of  this  Commonwealth.  Governors,  con- 
gressmen, judges,  presidents,  far-sighted  lawmak- 
ers, rough-shod  pioneers,  and  travelers  from  the 
ends  of  the  earth  have  climbed  those  steps  and  worn 
away  the  solid  rock.  Those  hollowed  stones,  mute 
evidence  of  that  pageant  of  the  past,  are  what  make 
the  place  a  shrine.  To  mount  those  steps,  forgetting 
the  lapse  of  time,  and  to  walk  in  imagination  with 
the  notable  personages  of  long  ago  in  the  presence 
of  the  things  they  saw  is  to  be  thrilled  by  the  reality 
of  the  lives  they  lived. 

On  the  road  to  Dubuque  it  is  a  little  more  than  a 
four  hour  walk  from  the  Old  Stone  Capitol  to  the 
Cedar  Eiver  where  only  a  small  summer  shack  marks 
the  site  of  the  once  flourishing  village  of  Ivanhoe, 
Iowa.  Before  the  road  was  surveyed  a  venturesome 
trader  named  William  H.  Merritt,  who  pitched  his 
tent  on  the  bank  of  the  river  was  so  deeply  impressed 


ALONG  THE  OLD  MILITARY  ROAD     51 

by  the  "beautiful  scenery "  and  the  stillness  that 
'  '  seemed  to  pervade  the  whole  atmosphere ' ',  that  all 
through  his  life  the  village  that  later  developed  was 
held  in  tender  remembrance. 

Anson  Cowles  laid  out  the  town  at  the  intersection 
of  river  and  highway.  It  is  said  that  keel  boats  were 
built  at  this  point  for  the  shipment  of  grain  down 
stream  in  the  spring,  but  Cowles'  visions  were  not  of 
a  commercial  metropolis.  He  planned  to  establish  a 
great  university  to  be  governed  by  rules  of  his  own 
devising.  One-half  of  the  plat,  when  the  land  be- 
came valuable,  he  proposed  to  donate  as  a  perma- 
nent foundation.  Not  far  from  the  campus  was  to 
be  a  large  park  where  he  would  assemble  all  kinds  of 
birds  and  beasts  that  inhabited  Iowa,  and  teach  them 
to  dwell  in  harmony.  His  large  and  magnificent 
residence  was  to  be  by  the  side  of  the  road  where  he 
could  entertain  strangers  and  point  out  the  places  of 
interest.  In  the  garb  of  an  Indian  chieftain  he  was 
to  ride  in  a  curious  equipage  —  a  chariot  built  on  a 
marvelous  plan,  drawn  by  six  elk  in  trappings  of 
beaded  buckskin,  each  elk  to  be  ridden  by  an  Indian 
in  full  native  costume.  But  all  of  this  mental  frost- 
work was  dissolved  by  an  untimely  death,  and  noth- 
ing is  left  but  tradition  to  tell  of  the  foibles  and 
virtues  of  the  chivalrous  Cowles. 

Not  all  of  the  Ivanhoe  residents  were  imbued  with 
such  lofty  ambitions  but  some  of  them  won  recogni- 
tion in  other  ways.  One  of  the  earliest  physicians  in 
Linn  County  was  Dr.  Sam  Grafton  who  hung  but 


52  THE  PALIMPSEST 

his  shingle  in  Ivanhoe.  George  Greene  was  both 
lawyer  and  school  master  there  before  he  was  sent 
to  the  legislature  and  nearly  a  decade  before  he  be- 
came judge  of  the  State  Supreme  Court. 

Wherever  the  famous  old  thoroughfare  of  earlier 
years  intersected  a  river  there  a  village  was  founded. 
Every  one  of  those  pioneer  settlements  is  now  a 
prosperous  city  —  with  the  single  exception  of 
Ivanhoe.  For  some  unaccountable  reason  this  cross- 
ing was  never  a  popular  place.  The  principal  set- 
tlers either  died  or  moved  to  Mount  Vernon,  Cedar 
Eapids,  or  Marion.  The  timber  along  the  Eed  Cedar 
Eiver,  as  the  stream  was  then  called,  was  a  refuge 
for  horse  thieves  and  dealers  in  counterfeit  money. 
To  this  day  the  grandsons  of  pioneer  settlers  speak 
in  awed  tones  of  the  Ivanhoe  ruffians'  rendezvous. 
But  now  every  vestige  of  the  village  is  gone.  Not 
one  among  thousands  who  traverse  the  old  road  ever 
heard  of  the  village  of  Ivanhoe  and  if  inquiry  were 
made  perhaps  few  could  explain  why  the  Ivanhoe 
Bridge  was  so  named. 

The  three  other  river  towns  have  survived  — 
Anamosa,  Monticello,  Cascade.  There  were  only 
four  or  five  settlers  at  the  Buffalo  Fork  of  the 
Wapsipinicon  Eiver  when  the  Old  Military  Eoad 
was  surveyed.  The  following  year  Thomas  Cox  was 
engaged  to  lay  out  a  town  to  be  named  Dartmouth. 
The  place  was  later  called  Lexington,  but  when  the 
county  seat  was  transferred  from  the  village  of 
Newport  the  name  Anamosa  was  adopted. 


ALONG  THE  OLD  MILITARY  ROAD  53 

A  story  is  told  of  three  Indians  —  a  Winnebago 
chief,  his  squaw,  and  their  beautiful  daughter  — 
who  came  one  day  to  the  village  of  Dartmouth. 
They  attracted  attention  on  account  of  their  cheerful 
demeanor,  easy  dignity,  and  look  of  intelligence. 
The  name  of  the  chief  was  Nasinus  and  his  daughter 
was  called  Anamosa.  They  made  such  a  pleasant 
impression  and  the  name  of  the  girl  seemed  so 
proper  that  the  town  was  named  in  her  honor.  It  is 
said  that  she  afterward  fell  in  love  with  a  young 
engineer  and  rather  than  marry  the  Indian  her 
father  had  chosen  she  ended  her  life  by  jumping 
from  a  ledge  at  High  Bluff. 

There  is  an  air  of  romance  and  beauty  in  the 
Wapsipinicon  Valley  and  the  earliest  settlers  wrote 
to  their  friends  of  the  charm  of  the  hills.  It  was 
raining  the  day  that  we  entered  the  valley  but  in 
spite  of  the  inclement  weather  the  glimpses  we 
caught  of  turreted  walls  of  clean  gleaming  limestone, 
the  primeval  forest  that  seemed  to  close  in  on  the 
highway,  and  the  vistas  that  opened  down  enchant- 
ing ravines,  all  contributed  to  a  feeling  of  complete 
fascination. 

The  surroundings  lend  credence  to  the  old  legend 
concerning  the  name  of  the  river.  Long  ago  when 
the  red  men  roamed  over  Iowa  a  beautiful  Indian 
maiden  named  Wapsie  lived  with  her  father  on  the 
bank  of  the  river.  In  another  tribe  two  days  away 
toward  the  setting  sun  there  dwelt  a  Sioux  warrior 
named  Pinicon.  Now  it  came  to  pass  that  Pinicon 


54  THE  PALIMPSEST 

fell  in  love  with  the  beautiful  Wapsie  and  Fleet  Foot, 
his  rival,  determined  to  kill  him.  One  day  when  the 
two  lovers  were  canoeing  the  jealous  Fleet  Foot 
watched  from  the  shore.  Talking,  laughing,  and 
entirely  unconscious  of  danger,  Wapsie  at  some 
word  from  Pinicon  put  her  hand  to  his  lips.  Like  a 
flash  an  arrow  flew  from  a  thicket  and  pierced  the 
heart  of  the  unfortunate  Pinicon.  Wapsie  sprang 
to  his  side  and  in  doing  so  overturned  the  canoe. 
Together,  the  water  closed  over  them  —  Wapsie- 
Pinicon.  Their  voices  can  still  be  heard  in  the  rip- 
pling stream  that  bears  their  names. 

On  an  autumn  day  three  years  before  the  Old  Mili- 
tary Eoad  was  established,  Daniel  Varvel,  a  valiant 
native  of  Kentucky,  came  to  the  mouth  of  Kitty 
Creek  on  the  South  Fork  of  the  Maquoketa  Eiver. 
The  view  that  greeted  his  eyes  was  surpassingly 
beautiful :  then  and  there  he  decided  to  build  his  new 
home.  Jack  Frost  had  already  painted  the  well- 
wooded  hill  sides  with  gorgeous  splashes  of  crimson 
and  yellow  and  brown.  Over  the  hills  the  fertile 
prairie  extended  beyond  the  horizon.  No  home- 
seeker  had  appeared  there  before,  no  axe  had  dis- 
turbed the  wild  solitude,  no  plow  share  had  ripped 
through  the  sod. 

For  years  the  Varvel  log  cabin  was  a  landmark  in 
Jones  County.  The  wayfaring  traveler  stopped 
there  for  the  night,  it  served  as  headquarters  for  the 
men  who  laid  out  the  old  road,  the  mail  that  came 
once  a  week  was  thrown  off  there.  One  by  one  other 


ALONG  THE  OLD  MILITARY  ROAD     55 

cabins  were  built  in  the  neighborhood.  A  two-story 
hotel  about  twenty  feet  square  was  erected.  The 
settlement  grew  and  came  to  be  called  Monticello. 

The  traveler  who  now  visits  the  flourishing  city 
can  scarcely  imagine  such  humble  beginnings.  Gone 
long  ago  are  the  trails  of  the  Indian  and  the  smoke 
of  his  wigwam ;  gone  too  are  the  primitive  methods 
of  travel  and  with  them,  perhaps,  the  spirit  of  fine 
hospitality.  Instead  there  are  well  arranged  boule- 
vards and  industrious  factories,  the  sight  of  an  air- 
plane is  a  common  occurrence,  and  neighbors  are 
no  longer  acquainted. 

A  little  cascade  in  the  north  branch  of  the  Maquo- 
keta  Eiver  was  a  natural  allurement  for  millers.  As 
early  as  1844  two  pairs  of  burrs  made  of  limestone 
were  busily  grinding  ' i  very  superior  flour ' '.  Within 
a  few  years  Cascade  was  a  prosperous  village. 
While  the  stage  coach  stopped  for  an  hour  at  Steel's 
Tavern  the  enterprising  young  real  estate  dealers 
boomed  corner  lots  to  the  agents  of  eastern  investors. 
What  a  glorious  future  for  a  town,  they  said,  where 
the  power  from  a  waterfall  nine  feet  in  height  was 
available !  To  this  day  at  least  one  lot  is  owned  by 
the  heirs  of  those  early  speculators.  But  alas,  more 
than  water  is  needed  to  make  a  great  city.  No  rail- 
road came  to  Cascade  and  when  the  stages  stopped 
running  the  bright  prospects  were  ended. 

Transportation  is  the  magic  that  produces  great 
cities.  In  the  days  of  prairie  schooners  and  stage 
coaches  the  road  from  the  port  of  Dubuque  to  the 


56  THE  PALIMPSEST 

capital  of  Iowa  was  a  main  traveled  highway  of 
commerce.  When  the  weather  was  fair  in  the  fall  of 
the  year  huge  wagons  were  loaded  with  grain  and 
hauled  to  the  market.  Slowly,  ever  so  slowly,  the 
big  horses  or  oxen  pulled  their  creaking  and  cumber- 
some load  along  the  old  road.  Eeturning  they 
brought  household  supplies  for  the  winter.  The 
passenger  traffic  was  carried  in  fine  Concord  coaches 
or  in -"jerkies".  Gracefully  poised  on  the  strong 
leather  trusses  the  stage  coach  dashed  by  the  slow 
freighter  and,  enveloped  in  dust  with  the  team  at 
full  gallop,  drew  up  at  the  tavern  with  much  grind- 
ing of  hickory  shod  brakes.  The  doctors  and  preach- 
ers rode  horseback. 

As  towns  are  established  in  the  wake  of  a  newly 
built  railway,  so  the  pioneer  settlers  took  claims 
adjoining  the  Old  Military  Eoad.  The  most  de- 
sirable places  were  squatted  on  first,  so  that  instead 
of  homesteads  at  regular  intervals  along  the  whole 
distance,  several  families  lived  in  one  neighborhood 
miles  away  from  another  such  settlement.  Through 
the  efforts  of  George  Wallace  Jones  or  Augustus  C. 
Dodge  mail  routes  were  established  and  the  cabin  of 
some  prominent  settler  was  selected  for  a  post  office. 
Then  someone  would  begin  selling  dry  goods  and 
groceries,  a  blacksmith  would  come  to  shoe  horses, 
a  school  would  be  opened,  and  a  church  organized. 

The  village  of  Pamaho  affords  a  typical  instance. 
Four  miles  to  the  south  from  the  Wapsipinicon  River 
on  the  crest  of  a  hill,  a  site  for  a  town  was  selected. 


ALONG  THE  OLD  MILITARY  ROAD     57 

For  a  number  of  years  the  people  who  lived  in  the 
three  or  four  cabins  called  the  place  of  their  resi- 
dence Pamaho.  On  account  of  the  pleasant  location 
the  name  was  afterward  changed  to  Fairview.  In 
the  fifties  the  town  began  growing  and  though  handi- 
capped by  possessing  no  water  power  the  rich  agri- 
cultural region  promised  steady  development. 

But  the  builders  of  railroads  neglected  Fairview 
and  the  promise  was  never  fulfilled.  Without  trans- 
portation the  village  has  died.  Many  houses  that 
border  the  road  are  deserted  and  almost  all  are  in 
sad  need  of  repair.  The  lawns  have  been  seeded  to 
rag  weeds  and  dandelions.  Cornfields  overrun  the 
old  gardens.  Here  and  there  an  old  house  has  been 
left  to  decay:  with  the  window  panes  broken,  the 
clapboards  awry,  and  the  roof  fallen  in,  its  appear- 
ance is  well  nigh  sepulchral. 

The  silence  that  broods  over  the  village  seems  to 
indicate  plainly  that  the  people  have  all  gone  away. 
Throughout  the  whole  settlement  not  a  person  is 
stirring.  No  busy  housewife  is  hanging  out  clothes 
or  sweeping  the  porch,  no  gardener  looks  up  from 
his  hoeing,  no  loafer  is  sauntering  storeward,  no 
children  scamper  hither  and  thither,  and  even  the 
pigs  and  the  chickens  keep  out  of  sight.  Long  years 
have  elapsed  since  the  side  streets  resounded  with 
clattering  hoofs  and  the  rattle  of  buggy  wheels. 
Those  wheels  are  now  mounted  on  posts  at  the  street 
intersections  where  they  serve  the  convenience  of  the 
rural  mail  carrier.  The  post  office  that  was  main- 


58  THE  PALIMPSEST 

tained  for  sixty-four  years  has  been  discontinued 
for  nearly  two  decades. 

No  one  would  imagine  that  the  church  is  in  use: 
the  tall  grass  in  the  yard  is  untrampled  and  the  win- 
dows have  a  vacant  expression.  The  school  house, 
which  at  one  time  was  no  doubt  a  model,  now  seems 
to  be  outgrown  and  deserted.  The  bustle  of  business 
in  the  * '  Fairview  Store ' '  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  The 
board  awning  that  once  shaded  the  windows  is  fall- 
ing away  and  its  function  is  performed  by  numerous 
cobwebs.  Not  even  a  garage  is  maintained  in  the 
village.  As  the  curious  traveler  now  seeks  the  lost 
site  of  Bowen's  Prairie  and  Ivanhoe,  so  before  long 
Fairview  will  be  gone. 

It  was  noon  on  the  fourth  day  of  our  pilgrimage. 
For  eighty-five  miles  we  had  followed  the  path  of 
the  famous  old  furrow.  Only  the  route  is  the  same, 
we  were  thinking.  The  landscape,  the  methods  of 
travel,  the  habits  of  living  —  all  are  changed  and 
little  remains  of  the  past.  Then  away  to  the  left  far 
over  the  hill  tops  we  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  gleam- 
ing slate  roof  of  New  Melleray  Abbey.  All  is 
changed,  were  we  saying?  Ah,  no!  Within  yonder 
walls  men  are  living  to-day  by  the  old  sixth  century 
rule  of  Saint  Benedict. 

Ten  miles  from  Dubuque  over  a  macadamized 
stretch  of  the  Old  Military  Eoad  and  two  miles 
through  a  beautiful  forest  that  has  been  set  apart 
for  a  State  game  preserve,  these  pious  monks  live  in 
seclusion.  Afar  from  the  turmoil  and  strife  of  mod- 


ALONG  THE  OLD  MILITARY  ROAD     59 

ern  life  they  quietly  read  the  Lives  of  the  Saints  and 
follow  the  customs  that  have  prevailed  in  all  Trap- 
pist  Abbeys. 

In  summer  and  winter,  fair  weather  or  foul,  they 
arise  from  their  straw  ticks  at  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  spend  two  hours  in  prayer.  Then  an 
hour  and  a  half  is  devoted  to  mass  before  breakfast. 
They  work  in  their  fields  until  nearly  noon,  then  they 
sleep  until  two.  An  hour  is  allotted  for  dinner.  The 
rest  of  the  day  is  consumed  in  deep  meditation  and 
reading.  At  seven  o'clock  they  retire. 

By  an  ancient  rule  of  Saint  Benedict  the  brothers 
are  forbidden  to  speak.  Only  by  special  permission 
are  any  allowed  to  converse.  Their  clothing  consists 
of  a  long  gown  of  brown  wool :  rough  serge  is  worn 
next  to  the  skin.  Bread,  rice,  and  potatoes  are  their 
principal  diet :  they  never  eat  meat.  The  farm  land, 
the  buildings,  and  the  thoroughbred  live  stock  are  all 
owned  in  common. 

It  was  after  two  when  we  bade  adieu  to  the  old 
monastery,  and  the  sun  was  just  disappearing  when 
we  entered  Dubuque.  Behind  us  the  curtain  of  dark- 
ness was  falling  over  a  hundred  miles  of  the  famous 
old  highway  replete  with  the  memories  of  former 
times,  and  before  us  the  lights  of  Hotel  Julien 
Dubuque  awakened  no  thought  of  Tim  Fanning 's 
tavern.  We  had  arrived  at  the  end  of  the  trail. 

JOHN  E.  BRIGGS 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

THE  OPEN  ROAD 

Personally  conducted  excursions  into  the  past  are 
both  pleasant  and  profitable,  but  we  should  also 
like  to  recommend  to  adventurous  souls  that  now  and 
then  they  leave  the  easy  chair  and  the  book  beside 
the  fire  and  take  to  the  open  road  on  pilgrimages  of 
their  own  to  the  scenes  of  yesterday.  The  trail  may 
lead  across  country  on  a  four  days'  walking  tour  or 
it  may  lead  around  the  corner  to  some  historic  spot 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood.  East,  west,  north 
and  south  —  everywhere  there  are  shrines  of  the 
past. 

The  articles  in  this  number  present  a  kaleidoscopic 
view  of  the  Old  Military  Eoad  from  Dubuque  to 
Iowa  City.  But  there  were  other  military  roads  in 
Iowa,  and  there  were  roads,  unsurveyed,  where  the 
wheels  of  emigrant  wagons  followed  the  deep-worn 
paths  of  Indian  travel.  There  were  many  trails  of 
adventure  and  a  few  thoroughfares  of  suffering 
migration.  From  river  to  river  across  the  southern 
part  of  the  State  runs  the  old  Mormon  Trail,  beaten 
in  winter  and  summer  by  the  feet  and  the  wagons  of 
thousands  of  fugitive  followers  of  Joseph  Smith  and 
Brigham  Young,  fleeing  from  the  wrath  of  Illinois 
neighbors  in  long  processions  over  the  rolling  prai- 
ries and  hills  toward  the  West.  Children  were  born 

60 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  61 

on  the  way,  and  along  the  trail  hundreds  of  graves 
were  dug. 

Another  trail  went  east  across  the  State.  It  left 
no  beaten  path.  Its  traffic  was  a  hidden  traffic,  for 
the  travelers  passed  by  night,  slipping  furtively  from 
station  to  station  of  the  underground  railroad  or 
convoyed  in  covered  wagons  or  under  loads  of  pro- 
duce by  men  who  hated  the  institution  of  slavery. 
Tabor  was  the  first  station  of  the  main  road,  and 
Lewis  and  Des  Moines  and  Grinnell  and  Iowa  City 
and  Clinton  lay  upon  this  hidden  highway  toward 
freedom. 

TOWNS  — ALIVE  AND  DEAD 

Pilgrimaging  along  the  road  one  passes  inevitably 
in  and  out  of  towns  —  large  towns  and  small,  live 
towns  and  dying  towns,  and  spots  where  the  ghosts 
of  departed  towns  hover,  visible  only  to  those  who 
have  known  the  past.  Sometimes  the  old  towns  have 
almost  lost  themselves  in  the  heart  of  modern  cities. 
But  in  the  present  Davenport  it  is  not  difficult  to 
find  the  old  cabin  of  Antoine  Le  Claire,  nor  is  it  im- 
possible to  search  out  in  Council  Bluffs  reminders  of 
the  old  town  of  Kanesville  —  wild  outpost  of  pioneer 
days. 

Often,  however,  the  early  settlements  did  not  grow 
into  cities  but  remain  to  this  day  quiet  and  secluded 
villages.  Once  perhaps  they  were  possessed  of  the 
county  courthouse  and  a  high  sense  of  hope.  But 
untoward  events  happened.  A  rival  town  sprang  up 


62  THE  PALIMPSEST 

on  a  more  favorable  site.  The  magic  railroad  line 
diverted  settlement  and  then  came  a  struggle  over 
supremacy  in  the  county.  These  contests,  so  fre- 
quent in  the  counties  of  Iowa,  are  full  of  both  humor 
and  tragedy.  Sometimes  the  battle  was  decided  at 
the  polls  or  in  the  courts,  sometimes  justice  was 
aided  by  the  power  of  might,  which  carried  the  court- 
house off  bodily  to  its  new  surroundings.  The  dis- 
appointed towns  frequently  accepted  the  fate  in  dig- 
nified grace;  sometimes  they  lost  heart  and  shriveled 
to  cross  roads  proportions;  and  sometimes  they 
utterly  passed  away.  You  will  find  Magnolia  in 
Harrison  County  placidly  enjoying  its  seclusion, 
seven  miles  from  a  railroad.  You  will  be  able  to 
locate  Butler  Center  in  Butler  County  and  Marietta 
in  Marshall  County,  though  neither  one  has  a  post 
office.  But  you  will  hunt  long  to  find  Napoleon,  the 
first  county  seat  of  Johnson  County,  or  either  Edin- 
burg  or  Newport,  each  of  which  held  in  turn  the 
technical  honor  of  being  the  county  seat  of  Jones 
County. 

And  many  another  little  village  that  has  had  an 
historic  past,  though  never  a  courthouse,  is  well 
worth  a  pilgrimage  because  of  the  quiet,  quaint  flavor 
of  old  days  and  undisturbed  ways.  There  is  the 
village  of  Bradford  in  Chickasaw  County  with  its 
two  heirlooms,  the  old  Bradford  Academy  building 
and  the  "Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Vale"  where 
more  than  three  score  years  ago  the  song  was  first 
sung  that  has  been  heard  the  world  over.  And  in 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  63 

Cedar  County  there  is  Springdale,  quiet  town  of 
Friends  where  John  Brown  made  his  headquarters 
in  the  winter  of  1857-1858,  and  where  his  men  per- 
fected themselves  in  the  unfriendly  art  of  warfare. 

SHKINES  AND  EELICS 

Aside  from  roads  and  towns  there  are  many  other 
shrines  of  old-time  men  and  events.  Up  around  the 
lakes  of  Dickinson  County  are  the  scenes  of  the 
famous  Spirit  Lake  Massacre.  Here  and  there  over 
the  State  are  the  remains  of  old  forts  and  stockades. 
On  the  banks  of  one  river  is  the  grave  of  Julien 
Dubuque  who  came  to  Iowa  before  Washington  was 
President,  and  on  the  bluffs  of  the  other  river  near 
Sioux  City  a  monument  rises  above  the  bones  of 
Sergeant  Floyd  who  lost  his  life  with  the  Lewis  and 
Clark  Expedition  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago. 

In  Wapello  County  the  Indian  agent,  Joseph 
Street,  is  buried  on  the  site  of  the  old  agency 
grounds,  and  with  him  lies  Chief  Wapello,  buried  at 
his  own  request  by  the  side  of  his  white  friend. 
There  are  Indian  mounds  in  at  least  thirty-five  coun- 
ties in  the  State  and  the  refuse  heaps  of  factories  of 
arrowheads  and  axes;  there  are  sites  of  vanished 
Indian  towns  and  fields  where  Sioux  and  Winnebago 
and  Sac  and  Fox  Indians  waged  desperate  battle. 

WATER  TRAILS 

So  too  there  are  water  trails  to  tempt  the  pilgrim. 
Take  your  canoe  and  ascend  the  Missouri  River  with 


64 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


the  journals  of  Lewis  and  Clark  as  a  guide,  stopping 
and  camping  and  resting  where  they  did  along  the 
western  shore  of  Iowa.  In  1673  Marquette  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  River  and  entered  the 
Mississippi  at  what  is  now  McGregor  "with  a  joy  I 
can  not  express ' '.  Slip  your  canoe  into  the  Wiscon- 
sin and  follow.  Perhaps  even  after  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  you  will  still  catch  the  infection  of 
his  spirit.  Or  float  down  the  Iowa  Eiver  from  Iowa 
City  to  the  Mississippi,  remembering  as  you  drag 
your  canoe  around  the  dams  that  once  the  steamboat 
Eipple  came  up  the  river  to  Iowa  City  and  set  that 
young  town  in  a  ferment  of  excitement  over  the  com- 
mercial prospects  of  the  town  now  that  it  was  in 
direct  water  communication  with  St.  Louis  and  the 
Gulf. 

Wherever  you  may  choose  to  go  on  your  journey- 
ing and  whether  you  ride  or  walk  or  paddle,  you  will 
come  back  to  the  fireside  and  the  easy  chair  with  a 
keener  taste  for  the  stories  of  others  who  have  made 
pilgrimages  and  explorations  into  the  land  of  yester- 
day. 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 
ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  II  ISSUED  IN  MARCH  1921  No.  3 

COPYRIGHT  1921   BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

Bradford— A  Prairie  Village 

In  times  past,  the  rising  sun  each  morning  spread 
its  rays  over  the  great  expanse  of  undulating  grass- 
land, and  quickened  to  life  the  pulse  of  a  little  prairie 
village.  Bradford,  in  Chickasaw  County,  the  home 
of  "The  Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Vale",  was  a 
bit  of  old  New  England  set  down  on  the  prairies  of 
northeastern  Iowa.  The  village  was  far  from  new 
when  the  first  white  settler  discovered  it.  It  was  an 
early  habitation  of  the  Indians,  for  the  little  stream 
filled  with  silvered  life  which  had  cut  its  way  through 
the  very  marrow  of  the  land  of  this  region,  the  little 
glades  of  its  tributaries  with  their  shade,  their  wild 
life  and  their  willing  offerings  of  wild  fruit,  all  com- 
bined to  make  this  a  favored  spot  with  the  red  man, 
a  delectable  place  for  a  camping-ground.  Here  too, 
beside  the  stream,  were  the  bodies  of  their  dead. 

For  generations  the  Land  of  the  Passing  Ones 
kept  its  sacred  secret.  The  log  structures  above 
ground  were  placed  only  where  nature  could  best 
conceal  them.  And  the  bark-encased  bodies  which 

65 


66  THE  PALIMPSEST 

were  committed  to  the  keeping  of  the  oldest  of  the 
oak  children  where  they  might  ever  hear  the  whis- 
pered words  of  hope  and  lyrics  of  eager  life,  were 
only  found  in  the  most  interior  part  of  the  grove. 

Then  came  the  first  white  man,  and  here  at  the 
Indian  village,  a  trading  post  was  established. 
Little  did  the  forest  dwellers  realize  what  this  out- 
post of  the  white  man's  power  would  mean  to  them. 
But  the  time  came  when  it  seemed  as  though  their 
gods  had  entirely  forsaken  them;  and  discouraged 
and  saddened  with  the  thoughts  of  leaving  the 
camping-ground  of  their  ancestors  they  turned  one 
last,  long  glance  toward  the  land  of  their  memories, 
then  set  forth  to  a  new  home.  The  land  of  their 
dreams,  the  heritage  of  their  forefathers,  was  no 
longer  theirs.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  these  white 
intruders  were  looked  upon  with  such  bitterness! 

The  log  cabins  sprang  up  on  every  side  with  the 
departure  of  the  Indian,  for  the  white  man  also 
found  this  a  pleasant  vale  for  the  location  of  a  home. 
Great  trees  were  felled,  and  within  a  fortnight,  it 
almost  seemed  —  so  rapidly  was  the  prairie  silence 
broken  —  there  had  appeared  on  the  Iowa  prairies  a 
little  village.  In  the  course  of  time  it  became  a 
thrifty  place,  a  metropolis  of  the  prairies.  All 
stages  of  that  region  included  it  in  their  daily  routes. 
When  the  main  street  was  reached  the  horses  were 
driven  at  a  terrific  speed,  for  the  entrance  of  the 
stage  was  a  matter  of  great  importance.  It  was  the 
only  communication  with  the  outside  world  and 


A  PRAIRIE  VILLAGE  67 

many  of  the  town  worthies  made  it  a  point  to  be  on 
hand  when  it  arrived.  The  occasion  was  of  especial 
importance  to  the  small  boys  for  their  fancies  pic- 
tured a  wild  rush  from  one  bandit  holdup  to  another, 
with  towns  interspersed  to  make  the  dash  interesting. 

Down  the  long  main  street  of  the  village  the  stage 
came  madly  dashing  —  past  the  church,  the  school 
house,  the  Academy  (a  red  brick  structure  which  was 
the  pride  of  the  day),  past  the  old  log  courthouse, 
the  wagon-shop,  the  brewery,  the  saw-mill,  the  black- 
smith's, and  the  public  square.  At  the  Bronson 
House,  the  big  hotel  of  the  time,  it  stopped.  Here  it 
was  that  the  mail  had  to  be  left,  new  bags  taken  on, 
and  a  change  of  horses  made.  Then  it  was  free  to 
continue  on  its  way  over  the  prairie,  traversing  a 
distance  of  nearly  twenty  miles  before  the  next  vil- 
lage was  reached.  Occasionally  it  ran  parallel  to  the 
Indian  trail  which  was  worn  deep  in  the  prairie  soil, 
but  for  the  most  part  the  voyage  was  one  of  monot- 
ony, unless  the  driver  happened  to  be  awake  to  the 
wonders  of  bird  and  plant  life  about  him. 

Of  the  buildings  of  the  village,  the  church  became 
the  nucleus.  About  it,  the  lives  of  the  settlers  came 
to  a  focus.  And  such  a  church  as  that  was !  A  small 
brown  building  of  Puritan  severity  in  its  straight 
unornamented  architecture.  It  was  but  a  meeting 
house,  why  decorate  it?  From  this  building  and  the 
principles  for  which  it  stood,  the  spirit  of  the  people 
flowed  out.  Near  by,  just  over  the  little  hill  which 
arose  abruptly  from  Dry  Eun,  was  the  old  manse. 


68  THE  PALIMPSEST 

It  was  a  little  stucco  structure,  and  there  the  good 
"Brother  Nutting"  lived.  But  as  we  are  watching, 
the  door  opens  and  there  steps  forth  none  other  than 
the  minister  himself. 

His  long  parson's  cloak  and  stiff  hat  would  at 
once  proclaim  him  a  member  of  the  village  aristoc- 
racy. But  his  face  contains  nothing  of  scorn  or 
pride.  He  is  a  young  man,  filled  with  eagerness  and 
energy.  Only  such  a  man  could  have  started  these 
people  on  the  way  toward  the  building  of  a  new 
church,  at  a  time  when  they  had  been  worshipping  in 
an  old  shed  with  no  windows  and  doors  to  keep  out 
the  cold.  Well  known  is  he  in  these  days  for  his 
learning  and  his  wit.  He  startles  the  audience  with 
his  quick  flashes  of  humor.  His  eyes  never  dull. 
There  always  flames  in  them  the  fire  of  some  great 
enterprise,  some  worthy  undertaking.  They  twinkle 
in  the  joke  of  the  moment,  but  there  always  gleams 
beneath,  that  severity,  that  soberness  which  again  is 
Puritanic,  that  seriousness  which  comes  of  the  deeply 
thinking  theologian,  pointing  the  way  to  eternal  life. 
He  is  the  master  mind  of  the  people,  their  leader  in 
intellect.  But  when  the  service  is  over,  he  is  a  build- 
er, a  business  manager  who  knows  how  to  carry  on 
the  financial  affairs  of  enterprises  which  command 
the  fortunes  of  many  a  pioneer.  He  is  a  man  among 
men,  ever  ready  to  share  the  lot  of  the  poorest  mem- 
ber of  his  congregation.  He  accepts  vegetables  and 
harvest  products  in  pay  for  his  services  and  wedding 
fees  may  be  paid  in  apples. 


A  PRAIRIE  VILLAGE  69 

The  church  yard  is  rapidly  filling  with  people,  and 
carriages  are  constantly  arriving.  Country  people 
are  coming  in  from  the  district  around.  Here  comes 
a  pioneer  family  in  Sunday  attire.  Hoop  skirts  and 
small  bonnets  enter  the  church  and  bob  down  the 
aisle.  Stove-pipe  hats  and  swallow-tails  are  dis- 
played in  the  entrance.  And  when  these  aristocrats 
of  the  village  have  been  seated,  in  come  others.  A 
cheery,  pink-cheeked  little  mother  leads  her  brood  of 
five  down  to  one  of  the  front  seats,  while  behind  them 
comes  the  beaming  father. 

Ah,  here  is  the  renowned  Mrs. .  She  comes 

of  a  very  dignified  and  noble  Canadian  family,  and 
is  always  looked  upon  as  the  very  model  for  extreme 
nicety  of  taste  in  dress  and  manners.  Her  paisley 
shawl,  her  blue  satin  gown,  so  delicately  made,  her 
pearl  ear-rings,  and  shapely  hat,  all  bespeak  for  her 
the  very  best  of  style.  Her  face  is  filled  with  interest 
in  the  lives  of  those  about  her.  She  walks  in  a  half 
deliberate,  half  eager  manner.  She  receives  nods 
from  everyone  as  she  passes  down  the  aisle.  She  is 
a  distinguished  member  of  the  congregation.  Well 
indeed  may  the  tall,  straight,  high  browed,  intellec- 
tual gentleman  who  follows  her  be  proud  of  his  prize. 
They  live  some  little  distance  from  Bradford,  but 
are  stopping  with  friends  in  the  village.  They  left 
their  place  last  evening,  came  to  Bradford,  did  their 
Saturday  shopping,  stayed  with  a  friend  over  night, 
and  when  they  have  attended  the  sermon  by  "  Elder 
Nutting ",  and  eaten  a  perfectly  served  chicken  din- 


70  THE  PALIMPSEST 

ner  at  some  other  friends,  they  will  drive  back  to 
their  home  late  this  afternoon.  That  will  give  them 
time  to  do  the  chores  before  the  evening  comes  on. 

There  were  many  manners  represented  in  the  folk 
of  this  congregation,  but  it  was  the  best  manners  of 
the  town-folk,  the  nucleus  of  the  best  society  which 
here  gathered  every  Sabbath  for  worship.  Stern 
Scotch  Presbyterians,  former  Baptists,  critical  Meth- 
odists and  many  more  who  had  never  professed  faith 
in  any  denomination,  here  came  together  in  the 
common  interests  of  the  welfare  of  their  community. 
It  was  a  great  spirit  which  could  unite  this  group  of 
people  and  maintain  their  constant  interest  and  help 
in  any  enterprise,  but  Mr.  Nutting  seemed  to  possess 
just  that  spirit.  He  combined  sympathy,  tact,  and 
humor,  as  he  mingled  with  his  people,  in  quite  the 
proportion  needed  to  accomplish  the  best  results. 

One  element,  and  one  only,  was  lacking  from  the 
congregation  among  those  who  could  rightfully  be 
considered  the  personae  of  the  village.  There  is  no 
record  that  the  little  hunch-backed  saloon  keeper 
ever  entered  the  church.  And  with  him,  there  was  the 
group  of  the  rougher  element  such  as  always  estab- 
lishes itself  in  any  new  Western  outpost.  The  town 
worthies  might  bring  eternal  damnation  upon  this 
group,  for  all  it  mattered  to  the  men  comprising  it ; 
their  interest  was  in  the  saloon  and  not  in  the  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  some  vague,  uncertain  hereafter. 

From  the  pastor  and  Dr.  Pitts,  a  music-master  who 
came  over  from  Fredericksburg  to  conduct  the  sing- 


A  PRAIRIE  VILLAGE  71 

ing  school,  there  flowed  out  to  the  people  the  beauty 
of  the  holy  message  in  word  and  song.  Perhaps  the 
influence  of  this  young  doctor  who  conducted  music 
classes  when  he  was  not  actually  practicing  his  real 
profession,  was  greater  than  we  of  to-day  can  real- 
ize. Many  a  man  may  have  been  stirred  to  intense 
emotion  by  the  ardor  of  the  music-master 's  eager, 
well  modulated  voice.  The  man  was  tall,  dignified 
and  of  noble  appearance.  In  the  newly  built  church, 
nearly  sixty  years  ago,  he  sang  for  the  first  time  in 
public  the  song  "The  Little  Brown  Church  in  the 
Vale."  This  was  only  one  of  his  noble  efforts  to 
make  life,  the  real  life  of  song  and  beauty,  the  one 
which  should  become  the  prize  of  the  people.  The 
world  heard  the  echoes  of  that  simple  song,  and 
responded  to  it,  while  the  Doctor  lived  on  in  his  un- 
pretentious manner,  uplifting  those  who  needed  his 
cheery  word  and  song. 

In  the  spirit  of  these  two  men  —  pastor  and  singer 
-the  village  people  "lived  and  moved  and  had  their 
being. ' '  The  words  of  God  rang  continually  in  their 
ears  when  they  were  at  work,  and  their  life  was  a 
constant  association  with  the  beauty  of  the  region 
about  them.  So  a  sincerity  to  their  ideals  and  a 
loyalty  to  their  deepest  convictions  became  com- 
munity traits  of  the  prairie  village  of  Bradford. 

H.  CLARK  BROWN 


The  Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Vale 

At  the  edge  of  the  village  of  Bradford  stands  a 
little,  weather-beaten,  old  church,  painted  a  quiet 
brown  and  half  hidden  among  the  trees.  The  bit  of 
forest  that  civilization  has  left  clustering  about  the 
building  half  hides  and  half  discloses  it;  the  short 
square  belfry  is  only  partly  screened  by  the  boughs 
of  several  oaks  and  a  towering  pine.  This  is  the 
church  immortalized  in  Dr.  Pitts'  lyric  song  "The 
Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Vale". 

The  church  itself  is  very  plain  —  plain  in  a  simple, 
homely  way  that  gives  to  it  a  rare  charm  and  beauty. 
In  the  simplicity  and  dignity  of  the  structure  are 
reflected  the  New  England  ancestry  and  training  of 
the  architect,  the  Reverend  J.  K.  Nutting.  The  main 
gabled  building,  low  and  rather  broad,  is  fronted 
with  a  dignified  little  tower.  Everything  is  neat 
although  unadorned;  even  the  old  doors  of  the 
Gothic  portal  are  without  ornament. 

Little  and  plain  as  the  church  is,  it  represents 
courageous  undertaking  and  noble  sacrifice  on  the 
part  of  the  inhabitants  of  now  deserted  Bradford. 
It  was  built  just  after  a  panic  and  during  a  period  of 
inflated  war  prices.  Money  was  practically  un- 
known; Mr.  Nutting  indicates  this  when  he  writes 
that  his  cash  salary  for  1859  —  four  dollars  —  had 
been  brought  into  the  community  by  an  Easterner. 

72 


THE  LITTLE  BROWN  CHURCH  73 

In  the  year  1862  poverty  due  to  war  conditions  com- 
pelled the  parish  to  reduce  the  minister's  salary  from 
five  hundred  dollars  to  four  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars payable  in  goods.  With  his  characteristic 
energy,  the  young  pastor  not  only  accepted  the  re- 
duction, but  increased  his  already  heavy  burdens  by 
making  his  acceptance  conditional  upon  the  building 
of  a  church. 

The  young  men  were  in  the  army;  those  who  re- 
mained were  practically  penniless,  but  they  enthusi- 
astically undertook  the  task.  One  man  donated  the 
lots,  a  second  gave  logs,  and  a  third  sawed  them  into 
lumber.  A  1 1  bee ' '  quarried  the  stone,  which  Leander 
Smith  fitted  into  a  slanting  wall.  Since  his  knowl- 
edge of  masonry  came  from  experience  with  the 
fences  of  Massachusetts,  it  happens  that  the  founda- 
tion of  the  church  has  the  same  inward  pitch  that  he 
habitually  used  in  New  England.  The  Eeverend 
Mr.  Todd,  a  friend  of  Mr.  Nutting's  father,  now 
came  to  the  aid  of  the  little  church.  A  collection 
from  his  Sunday  school  at  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts, 
bought  the  finishing  lumber,  which  was  hauled  eighty 
miles  by  wagon  from  McGregor.  "And  so",  Mr. 
Nutting  says,  "we  finished  the  building." 

Meanwhile  the  words  of  the  song  "The  Little 
Brown  Church  in  the  Vale"  had  already  been  writ- 
ten. They  had  been  inspired  by  the  beauty  of  the 
spot  upon  which  the  church  stands,  but  the  picture 
of  the  building  itself  was  purely  imaginative.  Dr. 
William  Pitts,  while  visiting  Bradford  in  1857,  was 


74  THE  PALIMPSEST 

impressed  by  the  beauty  of  the  valley  that  sheltered 
the  little  village.  Leading  from  Bradford  to  Green- 
wood, a  shaded  nook  on  the  Cedar  River,  was  an 
inviting  path  that  became  the  haunt  of  the  young 
musician.  Nearly  every  afternoon  of  his  visit  found 
him  following  the  trail  up  through  the  grove  of  oaks 
and  out  across  the  plain  to  Greenwood.  Just  where 
the  verdure  of  the  forest  merged  into  the  blossoms  of 
the  prairie  was  a  little  glade  that  Dr.  Pitts  described 
as  "an  attractive  and  lovely  spot".  And  this  broad- 
ening of  the  wooded  lane  into  the  more  open  country, 
held  for  him  an  enchantment  that  found  expression 
in  his  famous  song.  The  place  was  also  a  favorite 
with  the  people  of  Bradford,  and  it  was  here,  a  few 
years  later,  that  they  built  the  Little  Brown  Church. 
The  song  was  written  at  Dr.  Pitts  *  home  in  Wis- 
consin, but  it  was  first  publicly  sung  in  the  church 
which  it  eventually  named.  A  passionate  lover  of 
beauty,  the  young  man  carried  home  with  him  a 
vivid  picture  of  the  little  prairie  valley,  and  em- 
bodied this  vision  in  what  the  world  knows  as  '  '  The 
Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Vale ' '.  Five  years  later, 
Dr.  Pitts  moved  to  Iowa  and  settled  in  the  neighbor- 
ing town  of  Fredericksburg,  but  twenty  miles  from 
the  Little  Brown  Church,  then  in  the  process  of  con- 
struction. In  taking  charge  of  the  musical  organiza- 
tions of  the  vicinity,  he  became  the  teacher  of  a  little 
singing  school  at  Bradford.  In  the  spring  of  1864, 
Mr.  Nutting,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Doctor's 
class,  led  the  party  to  the  church  which,  although 


THE  LITTLE  BROWN  CHURCH  75 

enclosed,  was  as  yet  unfinished;  and  here,  to  an 
audience  seated  upon  improvised  board  benches,  Dr. 
Pitts  sang  from  his  original  manuscript  the  song 
"The  Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Vale".  Thus  the 
bare,  unplastered  walls  that  the  lines  immortalized 
were  the  first  to  echo  their  sweet  melody. 

Published  by  the  H.  M.  Higgins  Company  of  Chi- 
cago, the  song  became  immensely  popular.  It  was 
sung  by  the  Fiske  Jubilee  Singers  throughout  the 
country  and  before  the  royal  courts  of  Europe. 
Bradford's  little  church,  already  closely  connected 
with  the  song,  soon  became  definitely  identified  with 
it.  The  building,  dedicated  on  December  29,  1864, 
only  a  few  months  prior  to  the  publication  of  the 
song,  had  been  appropriately  painted  brown.  Wheth- 
er this  was  due  to  the  cheapness  of  brown  paint  or 
whether  it  is  traceable  to  a  desire  to  conform  with 
the  unpublished  poem,  will  probably  never  be  known. 

The  building  that  we  know  as  the  Little  Brown 
Church  expresses  very  well  the  sentiment  of  the 
lyric  whose  name  it  bears.  It  may  be  interesting  to 
note  just  how  the  little  church  has  fulfilled  the  state- 
ments and  predictions  of  each  stanza  of  the  poem. 
Allowance  must  be  made,  however,  for  the  fact  that 
at  the  time  of  writing  the  nook  selected  by  Dr.  Pitts 
had  never  been  popularly  considered  as  the  site  for 
a  place  of  worship,  and  that  the  church  and  grave- 
yard of  the  song  are  the  product  of  an  idealistic 
imagination  that  felt  no  necessity  for  conformity 
with  the  real. 


76  THE  PALIMPSEST 

There's  a  church  in  the  valley  by  the  wildwood, 

No  lovelier  spot  in  the  dale. 
No  spot  is  so  dear  to  my  childhood, 

As  the  little  brown  church  in  the  vale. 

The  valley  that  shelters  the  church  is  charming  in 
its  simple  beauty.  The  building  stands  at  the  edge 
of  the  break  in  the  prairie.  To  the  east,  and  yet 
really  including  the  church  within,  its  borders,  lies 
the  vale,  scatteringly  wooded  and  appropriately  set 
with  the  old-fashioned  buildings.  To  the  west 
stretches  the  blossoming  prairie  until  it  ends  in  the 
wooded  skyline  along  the  Cedar  Eiver.  A  few  rods 
from  the  church,  a  wooden  bridge  spans  the  grassy- 
banked  creek  that  courses  through  the  valley.  It  all 
reminds  one  very  much  of  an  etching  of  an  English 
landscape.  Lofty  oaks  and  stately  pines  still  en- 
shrine the  little  church,  but  the  wildwood  of  the  poem 
has  gone  with  the  life  of  the  village  that  it  sur- 
rounded. In  the  days  when  Dr.  Pitts  described  the 
village  as  "a  veritable  beehive  for  industry ",  Brad- 
ford boasted  of  two  saw  mills,  and  these  were  so 
busy  that  the  logs  for  the  frame  of  the  church  had  to 
wait  several  months  before  there  was  room  for  them 
in  the  mill  yard.  The  size  of  the  forest  monarchs 
that  once  surrounded  the  church  is  indicated  by  a 
black  walnut  timber,  three  feet  square  and  forty  feet 
long,  which  supported  the  top  saw  in  one  of  these 
mills.  A  very  pretty  grove  still  clusters  about  the 
little  building,  and  though  it  is  but  a  suggestion  of 
the  former  wealth  of  verdure,  it  forms  a  glade  that 


THE  LITTLE  BROWN  CHURCH  77 

at  once  secludes  and  dignifies  the  structure.  The 
simple  little  church  has  sequestered  itself  among  the 
protecting  foliage,  and  there,  enshrined  in  memories, 
it  continues  in  its  quiet  homely  way. 

How  sweet,  on  a  bright  Sabbath  morning, 

To  list  to  the  clear  ringing  bell, 
Its  tones  so  sweetly  are  calling, 

Oh  come  to  the  church  in  the  dell. 

This  praise  of  the  bell  is  upheld  in  the  love  that 
the  community  bore  it.  Bells  play  a  prominent  part 
in  many  of  Dr.  Pitts'  songs,  but  no  other  ever  held 
for  him  the  charm  of  the  one  whose  soft  enticing 
tones  he  immortalized.  "The  Bells  of  Shandon" 
may  be  as  grand  as  the  poet  has  pictured  them,  but 
you  will  never  convince  an  old  Bradf  ordite  that  they 
can  rival  the  clear  sweet  tones  of  the  bell  that  calls 
from  the  Little  Brown  Church.  "The  bell",  it  was 
called  throughout  the  countryside,  for  it  was  the  only 
one  in  the  county  and  was  the  pride  of  all  Bradford. 
Cast  in  Meneeley's  famous  foundry  at  Troy,  New 
York,  it  was  personally  selected  by  Mr.  Nutting  be- 
cause of  its  clear  sweet  tone.  The  bell  was  obtained 
through  the  benevolence  of  the  young  pastor's  east- 
ern friends ;  the  inscription  proclaimed  it  the  gift  of 
Mr.  Thomas  Cole  and  Catherine,  his  wife.  Brought 
from  Dubuque  by  wagon,  the  bell  was  rung  almost 
the  entire  distance,  and  a  considerable  crowd  gath- 
ered to  view  its  entrance  into  the  village,  for  the 


78  THE  PALIMPSEST 

arrival  of  "the  bell"  was  an  event  in  Bradford's 
history. 

There  close  by  the  church  in  the  valley, 

Lies  one  that  I  loved  so  well. 
She  sleeps,  sweetly  sleeps  'neath  the  willow, 

Disturb  not  her  rest  in  the  vale. 

A  pretty  myth  to  the  effect  that  Mrs.  Pitts  was 
buried  at  the  Little  Brown  Church  has  grown 
around  the  sentiment  that  is  expressed  in  this  stanza. 
To  the  rear  of  the  church  is  a  little  swale  that  would 
have  been  beautiful  as  a  graveyard.  This  is  the 
mythical  resting  place  of  Mrs.  Pitts,  and  here  the 
willows  still  grow,  just  as  the  poet  described  them. 
But  there  are  no  signs  that  the  spot  was  ever  used 
as  a  burying  ground.  The  writing  of  the  lyric  seven 
years  before  the  dedication  of  the  church  accounts 
for  the  inconsistency  in  regard  to  the  graveyard.  At 
the  time  of  writing,  Dr.  Pitts  never  suspected  that  a 
house  of  worship  would  later  be  built  upon  the  very 
spot  on  which  he  erected  his  dream  church.  With 
his  usual  sense  of  aesthetic  fitness,  he  not  only  cre- 
ated the  church  for  which  nature  had  supplied  the 
setting,  but  he  added  the  churchyard  that  completed 
the  picture. 

There  close  by  the  side  of  that  loved  one 

'Neath  the  tree  where  the  wild  flowers  bloom, 

When  the  farewell  hymn  shall  be  chanted, 
I  shall  rest  by  her  side  in  the  tomb. 

The  sentiment  of  this  stanza  was  fulfilled  in  the 


THE  LITTLE  BROWN  CHURCH  79 

case  of  Dr.  Pitts,  though  the  burial  did  not  take  place 
at  the  Little  Brown  Church.  In  his  later  life  the 
Doctor  moved  to  Clarion,  Iowa,  and  then  to  Brook- 
lyn, New  York,  where  he  died  in  1918.  The  ceremony 
for  him  at  Fredericksburg  was  fittingly  simple ;  the 
singing  of  "The  City  Four  Square "  by  his  eight 
year  old  grandson  was  the  only  distinguishing  fea- 
ture. He  was  buried  beside  his  wife  in  the  local 
cemetery  at  Fredericksburg  where  at  last  he  l  '  rests 
by  her  side  in  the  tomb". 

The  very  simpleness  of  The  Little  Brown  Church 
endears  it  to  all  who  knew  old  Bradford.  After  all 
it  is  only  a  little,  very  plain,  storm-beaten  church. 
But  within  it  dwell  the  hope  and  love  of  God-fearing 
pioneers ;  around  it  cling  the  fondest  memories  that 
a  scattered  people  cherish  for  their  deserted  village. 

CHARLTON  Gr.  LAIRD 


The  English  Community  in  Iowa1 

The  usual  crowd  gathered  on  the  platform  of  the 
railroad  station  at  Le  Mars,  one  day  in  the  spring  of 
1881,  greeted  the  arrival  of  the  train,  and  gazed  curi- 
ously at  the  passengers  it  deposited  before  puffing 
its  way  on  across  the  prairies.  A  sprinkling  of  local 
farmers  and  merchants  who  were  returning  from 
business  trips,  a  drummer  or  two,  and  a  family 
coming  to  make  a  home  in  the  Northwest  attracted 
only  incidental  attention,  but  there  was  a  rustle  of 
curiosity  as  some  well-dressed  but  plainly  foreign 
travellers  appeared.  They  were  a  typical  group  of 
the  English  settlers  at  that  time  coming  into  north- 
western Iowa,  of  whom  a  local  editor  drew  this  com- 
posite picture: 

They  descend  from  the  recesses  of  the  Pullman  palace 
cars  dressed  in  the  latest  London  and  Paris  styles,  with 
Oxford  hats,  bright  linen  shining  on  their  bosoms,  a  gold 
repeater  ticking  in  the  depths  of  their  fashionably  cut  vest 
pockets  and  probably  carrying  in  their  hands  the  latest 
agony  in  canes.  If  ladies  accompany  the  party  their  grace- 
ful forms  are  shrouded  in  the  most  elegant  of  cloaks  or 
dolmans,  their  heads  being  surmounted  by  the  most  coquet- 
tish of  bonnets  and  their  fresh  countenances  beam  with  the 
ruddy  glow  of  health  and  good  nature.  .  .  . 

iMuch  of  the  material  from  which  this  account  has  been  com- 
piled was  collected  by  Mr.  Jacob  Van  der  Zee. 

80 


THE  ENGLISH  COMMUNITY  81 

The  scene  at  the  baggage  car  is  as  peculiar.  Stout  ja- 
panned and  heavy  leathern  boxes  and  trunks  are  tossed  on 
the  platform  by  the  inveterate  baggagesmasher,  who  seems 
to  make  a  final  effort  to  sunder  their  seemingly  invulner- 
able joints.  Box  after  box,  trunk  after  trunk,  until  a 
miniature  mountain  has  been  built  on  the  platform.  We 
recall  an  instance  last  summer  of  a  single  family  that  had 
eighty-two  pieces  of  baggage,  all  of  the  strong  and  de- 
sirable variety. 

They  are  by  no  means  so  dainty  as  they  seem.  In  a  day 
or  two  the  men  are  seen  on  the  streets  with  the  plainest  of 
stout  corduroy  suits,  with  knee-breeches  and  leather  leg- 
gings. Great,  strong,  hardy-looking  fellows  they  are,  and 
though  most  of  them  are  fresh  from  the  English  schools 
and  universities,  they  have  plenty  of  muscle  and  snap.  .  .  . 

The  question  will  be  asked,  what  kind  of  settlers  for  a 
new  country  do  these  dainty  and  wealthy  looking  persons 
make?  and  the  answer  is,  the  best  in  the  world. 

This  picture  is  representative  of  an  immigration 
that  brought  hundreds  of  settlers  and  millions  of 
dollars  to  assist  in  opening  up  the  new  lands  in  the 
frontier  corner  of  the  State.  The  vanguard  of  this 
peaceful  British  invasion  was  William  B.  Close,  a 
graduate  of  Cambridge  and  the  captain  of  the  uni- 
versity rowing  crew  of  1876,  who  came  to  the  United 
States  that  year  to  take  part  in  a  regatta  which  was 
one  of  the  features  of  the  centennial  celebration. 
The  young  man,  however,  was  interested  in  business 
as  well  as  in  sport,  for  the  Close  family  had  some 
money  to  invest  —  preferably  in  land  —  and,  hearing 
through  a  chance  acquaintance  of  the  lands  for  sale 


82  THE  PALIMPSEST 

in  northwestern  Iowa,  he  decided  to  investigate  that 
location. 

It  happened  that  for  a  number  of  years  the  grass- 
hoppers had  invaded  the  farms  in  the  Northwest  and 
swept  away  almost  everything  which  had  been 
raised,  leaving  the  settlers  destitute  and  discour- 
aged. Many  desired  to  sell  their  homesteads  and, 
partly  as  a  result  of  this  plague,  land  there  was 
cheap.  It  was,  however,  well  adapted  for  stock 
raising,  and  this  was  exactly  what  was  wanted. 
There  were  also  thousands  of  acres  of  railroad  lands 
which  might  be  secured  at  a  reasonable  price. 

A  trip  to  Le  Mars  and  vicinity  convinced  Mr. 
Close  that  here  was  an  opening  for  the  profitable 
investment  of  English  capital.  He  formed  a  com- 
pany with  his  brothers,  James  B.  Close  and  Fred 
Brooks  Close,  and  the  firm  purchased  some  30,000 
acres  in  Plymouth  County  for  about  $2.50  per  acre ; 
the  two  younger  brothers  came  to  Iowa;  and  the 
firm  of  Close  Brothers  and  Company  began  their 
farming  and  real  estate  business.  Thus  the  founda- 
tions were  laid  for  one  of  the  unique  social  experi- 
ments in  Iowa  history,  although  there  was  nothing 
socialistic  or  communistic  in  the  minds  of  the  Eng- 
lish settlers  who  followed  the  Close  brothers  to 
northwestern  Iowa. 

Some  of  the  land  was  farmed  directly  by  the  own- 
ers. William  B.  Close,  for  example,  had  a  farm  of 
2000  acres  at  West  Fork,  some  twenty  miles  west  of 
Le  Mars,  where  he  had  2000  sheep  and  some  1600 


THE  ENGLISH  COMMUNITY  83 

head  of  cattle.  His  two  brothers  had  a  farm  of  960 
acres  near  Le  Mars  with  a  three-story  frame  house 
and  stables  for  thirty  horses.  Tracts  of  1000  acres, 
belonging  to  other  wealthy  Englishmen,  were 
not  uncommon  and  many  of  these  farms  were  given 
such  names  as  " Gypsy  Hill",  "Inchinnoch",  and 
"Troscoed".  It  is  said  that  letters  addressed  to  a 
farm  by  name  but  not  having  the  town  and  State 
designated  were  always  sent  to  Le  Mars.  Stock 
raising  was  the  chief  activity  on  these  farms  and 
high  grade  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  and  hogs  were  im- 
ported. A  servant  of  William  B.  Close  is  reported 
to  have  made  eighty-five  trips  across  the  Atlantic  in 
charge  of  stock  for  the  Iowa  colony. 

The  greater  part  of  the  land  handled  by  the  firm, 
however,  was  laid  out  in  small  farms  of  80  or  160 
acres.  It  was  estimated  that  160  acres  of  this  un- 
improved land  cost  about  $1000.  A  small  house, 
stable,  well,  and  sheds  were  added,  costing  perhaps 
$500  additional,  and  usually  some  breaking  —  the 
first  plowing  of  the  tough  prairie  sod  —  was  done, 
for  which  the  firm  paid  about  $2.25  per  acre.  In  the 
summer  of  1881  the  arrangements  were  made  for 
breaking  30,000  acres  in  Lyon  and  Osceola  counties ; 
and  William  McKay  was  given  the  contract  for  the 
erection  of  90  houses  and  an  equal  number  of  stables. 
These  improved  farms  were  then  sold  outright  to 
any  persons  who  wished  to  buy  land  —  Americans, 
English,  Irish,  Dutch,  or  Scandinavians  —  or  they 
were  rented,  the  tenant  usually  providing  the  labor 


84  THE  PALIMPSEST 

and  stock,  and  giving  to  the  firm  one-third  or  one- 
half  the  crop  or,  in  some  cases,  a  cash  rent.  Three 
hundred  of  these  farms  were  advertised  in  Lyon  and 
Osceola  counties  in  1881  and  no  difficulty  was  found 
in  securing  purchasers  or  renters.  On  such  farms 
the  firm  frequently  made  as  much  as  fifty  per  cent 
profit,  while  the  settler  also  made  a  larger  profit  than 
he  would  have  been  able  to  make  on  unimproved 
land. 

The  English  firm  believed  that  this  plan  would 
require  less  supervision  and  was  less  likely  to  result 
in  serious  loss  than  the  system  followed  by  Oliver 
Dalrymple  of  St.  Paul  who  cultivated  some  seventy 
thousand  acres  in  Minnesota,  furnishing  the  ma- 
chinery, seed,  and  horses,  and  employing  the  neces- 
sary laborers.  An  English  newspaper  man  reported 
that  Dalrymple  had  one  hundred  and  twenty  reaping 
machines  and  twenty-one  threshing  machines.  The 
grain  was  hauled  directly  from  the  field  to  the  thresh- 
ing machines  and  from  there  to  the  market.  The 
large  amount  of  capital  needed  for  this  method  of 
farming,  the  danger  of  a  crop  failure,  and  the  diffi- 
culty of  securing  laborers  who  would  take  the  proper 
care  of  the  stock  and  machinery  were  the  chief  rea- 
sons for  the  decentralized  system  followed  in  the 
English  projects. 

The  Close  brothers  soon  made  plans  to  promote 
the  extensive  investment  of  English  capital  in  Iowa 
lands  and  to  encourage  the  emigration  to  Iowa  of 
men  from  England,  especially  those  with  at  least 


THE  ENGLISH  COMMUNITY  85 

$2500  to  $5000  capital.  Artisans,  mechanics,  and 
laborers  were  not  encouraged  to  emigrate,  unless 
sure  of  employment,  as  agriculture  was  practically 
the  only  industry  and  labor  was  cheap.  "A  man 
entirely  without  means  of  subsistence  is  worse  off  in 
the  United  States  than  in  England ",  they  were  told. 
Whether  the  people  in  England  were  considered 
more  charitable  or  death  by  starvation  less  painful 
there  we  are  not  informed. 

In  order  to  get  in  touch  with  the  people  who  had 
sufficient  capital  to  purchase  farms  in  Iowa,  William 
B.  Close  returned  to  England  to  take  charge  of  the 
publicity  work  there  and  to  direct  those  who  wished 
to  join  the  Iowa  colony.  A  commission  of  fifty 
pounds  was  charged  for  the  advice  and  assistance  of 
the  company  in  selecting  land  and  beginning 
farming. 

To  reassure  investors  who  had  had  dreams  of 
Indians  carrying  tomahawks  and  bad  men  shooting 
up  the  towns  for  recreation,  Mr.  Close  explained 
that  there  were  no  Indians  near  Le  Mars  and  the 
population  was  settled  and  orderly,  drawn  largely 
from  New  England  and  northern  Europe.  "The 
Negro  and  other  disturbing  elements  are  conspicu- 
ous only  by  their  absence ",  the  possible  emigrant 
was  informed.  "Fire-arms,  revolvers,  bowie  knives, 
and  such  playthings  are  never  carried  about  and  are 
not  wanted. "  The  possibility  of  invasions  by  the 
grasshoppers,  the  cold  of  the  winters,  and  the  heat 
of  the  summers  were  frankly  conceded  in  some  of 


86  THE  PALIMPSEST 

this  publicity  material.  Moreover,  though  the  re- 
spectability of  the  other  settlers  was  unquestioned, 
it  seems  that  their  social  status  was  not,  for  Mr. 
Close  added  this  reassurance:  "The  lack  of  society, 
which  is  inevitable  to  a  new  colony  and  which  the 
first  ladies  who  went  out  have  felt  a  little,  is  being 
rapidly  obviated  by  the  class  and  number  of  the 
people  going  out,  and  the  want  of  trained  servants, 
by  one  of  the  best  societies  in  Scotland  for  training 
young  girls  having  offered  to  supply  their  best  girls 
to  good  families  going  out." 

Just  how  much  land  this  English  firm  bought  and 
sold  in  Iowa  it  is  difficult  to  say,  but  purchases  of 
40,000,  18,000,  25,000,  19,000  and  14,000  acres  at 
various  times  indicate  that  their  real  estate  business 
was  extensive.  In  addition,  they  acted  as  the  agents 
for  the  sale  of  the  railroad  lands.  That  their  prop- 
erty holdings  were  large  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
in  1882  the  Close  interests  paid  taxes  to  the  amount 
of  some  $13,500  in  the  five  counties  of  Woodbury, 
Plymouth,  Osceola,  Sioux,  and  Lyon,  while  another 
English  land  company  paid  $10,000  in  taxes  in 
Osceola  County  alone.  This  was  the  Iowa  Land 
Company,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $2,500,000,  organ- 
ized largely  by  the  Close  brothers  and  the  Duke  of 
Sutherland  for  whom  the  town  of  Sutherland  in 
O'Brien  County  was  named. 

In  addition  to  the  real  estate  business,  there  was  a 
definite  attempt  to  establish  an  English  community 
in  northwestern  Iowa,  Some  five  or  six  hundred 


THE  ENGLISH  COMMUNITY  87 

English  people  came  to  the  vicinity  of  Le  Mars 
bringing  with  them  their  English  ideals  of  business, 
food,  living  conditions,  and  recreation.  These  peo- 
ple were  not  the  type  we  usually  visualize  as  immi- 
grants :  they  were  not  seeking  a  haven  from  religious 
or  political  persecution,  nor  were  they  driven  into 
exile  by  poverty.  They  were  educated,  well-to-do, 
and  self  reliant,  accustomed  to  comfort  and  even 
luxury  at  home.  There  was  even  a  sprinkling  of 
titles  among  the  newcomers,  and  university  gradu- 
ates were  not  uncommon.  "No  young  English 
gentlemen  could  work  hard  on  a  diet  of  beans  and 
bacon,  such  as  he  gets  in  the  house  of  the  Western 
American  farmer",  declared  a  visitor,  and  it  seems 
that  these  English  farmers  added  roast  beef,  marma- 
lade, plum  pudding,  and  tea  to  the  usual  frontier 
fare.  Pianos,  furnaces,  and  bathrooms  were  some- 
times mentioned  in  descriptions  of  the  houses  on 
the  larger  farms. 

Since  many  of  the  younger  men  who  came  to  Iowa 
knew  nothing  of  farming,  especially  under  Amer- 
ican conditions,  some  of  the  older  and  more  experi- 
enced residents  offered  to  receive  a  number  of  such 
young  fellows  into  their  homes,  teach  them  the 
fundamentals  of  stock  raising,  and  give  them  advice 
when  they  began  farming  for  themselves.  These 
agricultural  apprentices  usually  paid  a  certain 
premium  for  this  instruction  in  addition  to  working 
on  the  farms. 

This  plan  of  employing  the  younger  sons  of  well- 


88  THE  PALIMPSEST 

to-do  and  aristocratic  families  as  farm  laborers 
seems  to  have  struck  the  London  Punch  as  a  joke.  It 
published  a  picture  representing  two  young  women, 
designated  as  Lady  Maria  and  Lady  Emily,  dressed 
as  kitchen  maids,  busy  getting  dinner.  Lord  John 
and  Baron  Somebody  had  just  come  in  from  work 
loaded  with  shovels  and  picks.  The  picture  was 
entitled  "A  hint  to  younger  sons  of  our  aristocracy 
and  eke  to  the  daughters  thereof "  and  Lady  Maria 
was  represented  as  saying,  "How  late  you  are  boys : 
jour  baths  are  ready,  and  IVe  mended  your  dress 
trousers,  Jack.  So  look  sharp  and  clean  yourselves, 
and  then  you  can  lay  the  cloth,  and  keep  an  eye  on 
the  mutton  while  Emily  and  I  are  dressing  for 
dinner." 

That  a  sense  of  humor  was  not  lacking  among 
these  English  visitors  —  contrary  to  the  usual 
opinion  —  is  evident  also  from  a  letter  written  by  a 
young  Englishman  and  published  in  the  Manchester 
Courier  in  which  he  said:  "To  us  English  it  is  won- 
derful how  civil  all  Yankees  are,  nothing  could  be 
too  good  for  us.  •  They  opened  doors  for  us,  carried 
our  bags  and  never  took  a  'tip'  during  our  travels; 
but  there  the  English,  as  a  rule,  carry  revolvers  and 
now  and  then  use  them,  which  creates  respect." 

Among  the  gentlemen  who  joined  the  Close  broth- 
ers in  assuming  responsibility  for  these  young 
fellows  was  Captain  Reynolds  Moreton,  a  retired 
officer  of  the  English  navy  and  a  brother  of  Lord 
Decies.  Moreton 's  farm  was  a  short  distance  from 


THE  ENGLISH  COMMUNITY  89 

Le  Mars  and  an  English  newspaper  correspondent 
lias  left  the  following  description  of  the  activities 
there  on  the  day  he  visited  Le  Mars : 

Captain  Moreton  is  a  father  to  the  Colony,  a  good  reli- 
gious man,  with  great  influence  over  all  the  young  fellows. 
He  farms  about  one  thousand  acres  near  the  town,  and  has 
twenty-two  young  fellows  with  him,  on  the  same  principle 
as  the  Close  pupils,  and  these  Moreton  boys  are  taken 
especially  good  care  of;  but,  of  course,  admission  to  the 
captain's  establishment  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  procure. 
His  boys  do  all  the  work  of  the  farm.  Lord  Hobart,  when 
I  was  there,  was  mowing,  assisted  by  two  of  Lord  St. 
Vincent's  sons,  and  the  hon.  captain  was  feeding  a  thresh- 
ing machine.  It  was  hot,  but  every  one  looked  happy,  even 
young  Moreton,  who  was  firing  and  driving  the  steam 
engine. 

This  establishment  was  nicknamed  "  Moreton 's 
pup  farm"  by  the  neighbors  to  whom  the  escapades 
of  these  English  boys  were  a  constant  source  of 
criticism  and  amusement.  Many  were  the  stories 
related  of  " Moreton 's  pups"  and  the  other  young 
fellows  who  refused  to  take  life  as  seriously  as  fron- 
tier conditions  demanded.  Their  labor  must  not 
have  been  altogether  an  asset  for  they  sometimes 
used  the  handles  of  their  hay  forks  as  targets  for 
revolver  practice  or  ran  hurdle  races  in  the  field 
with  horses  hitched  to  hayrakes.  It  is  said  that  a 
group  of  these  boys  once  rode  their  horses  into  the 
saloon  in  Le  Mars,  popularly  known  as  the  "  House 
of  Lords".  This  establishment  seems  to  have  been 


90  THE  PALIMPSEST 

a  general  rendezvous  for  many  Englishmen  and  the 
local  editor  declared  that  the  first  rural  telephone  in 
the  vicinity  was  from  Captain  Moreton's  farm  to 
the  "House  of  Lords "  for  the  benefit  of  the  "pups". 

The  dangers  of  intemperance  were  recognized  by 
the  leading  men  in  the  English  colony  and  one  of  the 
advertising  pamphlets  contained  the  following  warn- 
ing :  '  '  The  great  drawback  to  English  settlers  is  the 
difficulty  they  experience  in  keeping  from  drink. 
Unless  a  man  will  keep  from  that  vice  he  had  better 
stay  in  England,  where  he  can  get  the  drink  he  is 
used  to,  for  a  drunkard  will  no  more  succeed  in  Iowa 
than  in  England. ' '  It  appears,  however,  that  despite 
this  warning  the  Le  Mars  colony  did  not  take  kindly 
to  prohibition  —  at  least  opponents  of  the  prohibi- 
tory amendment  of  1882  used  this  as  an  argument 
against  its  ratification.  They  asserted  that  English 
investors  would  cease  to  come  to  Iowa  and  that  the 
Close  brothers  would  transfer  their  business  to 
Minnesota  where  they  already  had  large  interests. 
The  vote  in  these  counties  on  the  prohibitory  amend- 
ment in  1882,  however,  reveals  no  pronounced  oppo- 
sition. 

To  counteract  the  tendency  to  dissipation  and 
maintain  the  traditions  of  English  life,  the  leading 
men  encouraged  and  fostered  sports  of  many  kinds. 
"We  have  started  a  cricket  club  and  a  new  clergy- 
man this  month,  and  both  of  them  are,  I  am  glad  to 
say,  a  success",  wrote  one  of  the  settlers  in  August, 
1881.  To  the  American  settler  or  the  hard-working 


THE  ENGLISH  COMMUNITY  91 

European  immigrant,  the  devotion  of  their  English 
neighbors  to  cricket  or  hockey  must  have  seemed 
incomprehensible,  but  the  English  middle  classes 
have  always  believed  that  "all  work  and  no  play 
makes  Jack  a  dull  boy"  and  these  young  English- 
men took  time  for  chess,  hockey,  cricket,  polo, 
lacrosse,  football,  and  deer  hunting.  Even  cock- 
fighting  was  occasionally  reported.  The  English 
football  was  described  as  "an  exciting  game,  re- 
sembling for  all  the  world  an  Arkansaw  rough-and- 
tumble  free  fight".  Some  of  the  young  men  with 
musical  talent  organized  the  Prairie  Minstrels  and 
gave  public  entertainments. 

Horse  racing  was  par  excellence  the  favorite  sport, 
however,  and  in  this  interest  the  Americans  joined. 
The  Le  Mars  derby  was,  for  several  years,  an  event 
of  some  importance  in  the  northwest.  Special  trains 
were  run  from  Omaha,  St.  Paul,  and  Chicago  and  a 
race  horse  valued  at  $25,000  was  sent  from  Europe 
to  take  part  in  the  races.  Some  international  compe- 
tition seems  to  have  developed  at  these  races  for  the 
local  paper  reported  that  in  all  races  to  which  Amer- 
ican owned  horses  were  admitted  they  carried  off 
the  honors.  General  satisfaction  with  the  fairness 
of  the  English  promoters  of  the  affair,  however,  was 
frequently  expressed. 

On  the  whole,  there  seems  to  have  been  the  most 
friendly  relations  between  these  English  settlers 
and  their  neighbors.  Some  criticism  resulted  from 
the  escapades  of  a  few  young  fellows  who  were  more 


92  THE  PALIMPSEST 

interested  in  a  good  time  than  in  agriculture;  and 
there  was  also  some  friction  over  naturalization,  for 
many  of  the  Englishmen  were  not  certain  that  they 
would  remain  permanently,  and  did  not  ask  for  citi- 
zenship. Resolutions  of  sympathy  for  Mrs.  Garfield, 
addresses  by  prominent  Englishmen  at  memorial  ser- 
vices in  honor  of  the  dead  president,  and  a  gift  of 
$200  from  the  Close  brothers  to  aid  flood  sufferers, 
in  keeping  with  their  "  reputation  for  generosity  and 
public  spirit",  however,  are  examples  of  the  sym- 
pathy which  did  much  to  allay  what  little  dissatis- 
faction arose  over  the  question  of  national  allegiance. 
A  Le  Mars  church  is  said  to  have  been  the  only  one 
in  the  United  States  where  prayers  were  offered  for 
the  Queen  of  England;  and  the  spirits  of  John 
Hancock  and  Thomas  Jefferson  must  have  marvelled 
at  the  sight  of  a  British  flag  raised  in  honor  of  the 
Fourth  of  July  on  the  prairies  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Eiver. 

Confidence  in  the  business  integrity  of  the  English 
firms  likewise  promoted  this  spirit  of  cooperation. 
A  Sibley  paper  congratulated  the  community  on  se- 
curing the  headquarters  of  the  Iowa  Land  Company 
and  added:  " Those  who  have  had  dealings  with 
Close  Bros.,  in  the  way  of  contracts  for  breaking, 
find  them  to  be  honorable  gentlemen  and  always 
ready  to  do  what  is  right.  And  as  James  B.  Close 
will  have  charge  of  the  business  of  the  Iowa  Land 
Company,  the  relations  of  our  people  with  it  will  be 
pleasant. "  Since  these  English  investors  improved 


THE  ENGLISH  COMMUNITY  93 

their  land  holdings  and  thus  raised  the  value  of  the 
property  in  their  vicinity  instead  of  merely  holding 
their  purchases  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  prof- 
its when  other  people  made  the  improvements,  they 
were  heartily  welcomed  in  all  sections  of  the  North- 
west. A  Eock  Eapids  paper  estimated  the  amount 
expended  by  the  Close  brothers  for  improvements  in 
Lyon  County  alone  at  $100,000  for  one  season.  As 
early  as  1881,  $600,000  in  English  capital  was  said  to 
have  been  brought  to  northwestern  Iowa. 

Business  and  sport,  however,  did  not  occupy  the 
exclusive  attention  of  these  English  settlers.  Epis- 
copal services  were  first  held  in  Apollo  Hall,  but  St. 
George's  church  was  dedicated  in  July,  1882.  In 
addition  to  the  rector,  Major  Nassau  Stephens  of  the 
Eoyal  Marine  Light  Infantry,  after  twenty-two 
years '  army  service,  arrived  in  Le  Mars  to  act  as  lay 
reader  in  the  church.  Captain  Moreton  was  an  active 
leader  in  religious  affairs  and  was  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
in  Le  Mars,  raising  some  $1500  from  friends  in  Eng- 
land for  that  purpose. 

How  cosmopolitan  was  this  little  group  of  English 
settlers  and  investors  is  revealed  by  newspaper 
items  concerning  them.  Lord  Hobart  returned  to 
England  to  enter  the  army  for  service  in  the  Soudan. 
Admiral  Farquhar  of  the  British  navy  arrived  to 
visit  his  sons.  Henry  and  Eeginald  Moreton  re- 
turned to  England  for  a  year.  Hugh  Watson,  who 
had  a  ranch  on  the  Big  Sioux  Eiver,  was  killed  while 


94  THE  PALIMPSEST 

hunting  in  Scotland.  A  tragedy  which  spanned  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  is  glimpsed  in  the  notice  of  the  death 
of  Hugh  Hornby,  a  son  of  Sir  Edward  Hornby  of 
Sussex,  who  died  at  Le  Mars  aged  twenty-three 
years.  It  was  a  world  outlook  which  most  of  these 
people  brought  to  the  wind-swept  prairies  of  north- 
western Iowa. 

The  home  ties,  indeed,  in  the  end  recalled  many  of 
the  members  of  the  colony  to  England.  Others 
moved  to  Minnesota,  when  headquarters  were 
opened  at  Pipestone,  following  the  cheap  lands  and 
the  extending  line  of  settlements  upon  which  they 
depended  for  the  success  of  their  real  estate  busi- 
ness. Those  who  remained  here  became  so  identified 
with  the  communities  in  which  they  lived  that  the 
English  colony  as  a  separate  social  unit  has  ceased 
to  exist,  and  only  here  and  there  in  these  northwest- 
ern counties  does  one  of  the  old  company  houses 
recall  the  events  of  forty  years  ago.  Similarity  in 
race,  speech,  ideals,  and  religion  has  easily  obliter- 
ated the  distinction  between  English  and  Americans. 

RUTH  A.  GALLAHEB 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

COSMOPOLITAN  ORIGINS 

Iowa  is  often  mentioned  as  a  region  of  homogene- 
ity, and  the  characteristics  of  its  landscape  are  said 
to  find  their  counterpart  in  the  "dead  level' '  of  its 
inhabitants.  It  is  true  that  there  are  few  very  poor 
people  and  few  very  rich  people  in  Iowa.  There  are 
no  very  large  cities  and  no  deserted  wilds.  And  in 
living  together  in  peace  and  prosperity  its  people 
have  become  somewhat  alike.  But  to  show  the  cos- 
mopolitan origin  of  the  people  of  the  State  we  only 
need  to  remind  the  reader  of  the  groups  of  people 
that  came  from  Canada,  from  New  England,  and 
from  the  Old  South,  as  well  as  from  all  parts  of 
Europe,  and  became  component  parts  of  the  popu- 
lation. 

The  present  number  of  THE  PALIMPSEST  tells  of 
the  knickerbockered  Englishmen  who  brought  Eng- 
lish capital  and  English  sports  to  the  prairies  of 
northwest  Iowa.  At  a  somewhat  earlier  date  there 
trailed  up  the  Des  Moines  Valley  wagon  trains 
driven  by  men  with  velvet  jackets  and  wooden  shoes, 
while  perched  high  up  on  astonishing  assortments  of 
boxes,  chests,  and  trunks  were  women  with  caps  in- 
stead of  bonnets  on  their  heads.  They  founded  the 
Dutch  town  of  Pella  in  Marion  County.  Villages 
with  long  streets,  for  all  the  world  like  German 

95 


96  THE  PALIMPSEST 

towns,  grew  up  in  Iowa  County  where  the  Amana 
people  lived  their  old  world  lives.  Count  Ladislaus 
Ujhazy,  friend  of  Kossuth,  led  his  Hungarian  exiles, 
shipwrecked  by  their  revolution  against  Austria  in 
1848,  to  Iowa  and  began  a  settlement  known  as  New 
Buda  in  Decatur  County.  And  in  Adams  County  the 
French  Icarians  built  their  log  cabins  about  a  com- 
mon dining  hall  and  tried  to  live  out  their  com- 
munistic ideas. 

The  long-robed  Trappist  monks  established  their 
monastery  and  are  still  practicing  their  vow  of  si- 
lence at  New  Melleray  near  Dubuque.  The  Amish 
Mennonites  with  hooks  and  eyes  on  their  garments 
and  whiskers  under  their  chins  drive  their  autos  into 
Iowa  City  for  their  Saturday  shopping.  Denmark 
and  the  other  Scandinavian  countries,  and  Ireland 
and  Switzerland  and  Bohemia  have  sent  their  contri- 
butions. Some  elements  have  been  transitory  but 
most  of  them  have  been  assimilated.  They  have  be- 
come a  part  of  the  homogeneity  —  a  population 
prairied  by  general  prosperity  as  the  land  was 
prairied  by  the  ancient  glaciers. 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 

ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  II  ISSUED  IN  APRIL  1921  No.  A 

COPYRIGHT  1921   BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

Icaria  and  the  Icarians 

On  the  morning  of  the  fifteenth  of  March,  1849, 
the  steamboat  American  Eagle,  on  its  way  up  the 
Mississippi  Eiver,  arrived  at  Nauvoo,  Illinois,  with 
some  260  representatives  of  a  French  socialist  party 
of  which  Etienne  Cabet  was  the  founder  and  leader. 
As  the  little  group  of  emigrants  disembarked  from 
the  crowded  boat  they  saw  before  them  the  almost 
deserted  city  from  which  the  Mormons  had  departed 
three  years  before  on  their  long  trail  to  Salt  Lake. 
Empty  houses,  dismantled  shops,  and  the  blackened 
walls  of  the  temple  were  all  that  remained  of  the 
former  glory  of  the  Mormon  center  which  in  1844 
with  a  population  estimated  at  14,000  had  been  the 
largest  city  in  Illinois. 

If  the  French  had  been  of  a  religious  turn  of  mind 
they  would  no  doubt  have  believed  that  this  empty 
city  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  was  the  work  of 
divine  providence.  It  was,  indeed,  a  welcome  refuge, 
for  they  were  weary,  sick,  and  discouraged.  They 

97 


98  THE  PALIMPSEST 

had  left  France  the  year  before  in,  several  detach- 
ments to  found  in  northeastern  Texas  an  ideal  com- 
munity which,  long  before  an  actual  site  had  been 
selected,  had  been  named  Icaria  —  a  title  derived 
from  a  romance,  Voyage  en  Icarie,  published  by 
Cabet.  The  site  of  this  Utopia,  however,  had  been 
badly  chosen.  The  long  journey  west  from  the  Bed 
Eiver  exhausted  even  the  hardy  advance  guard. 
Breaking  the  sod  and  building  houses  under  the 
scorching  July  sun  were  hardships  enough  to  dis- 
courage the  strongest  men;  and  to  these  difficulties 
was  soon  added  the  scourge  of  malaria. 

A  few  months  before  as  the  ship  left  the  harbor  at 
Havre  these  men  had  sung  of  the  Icarian  fatherland 
they  hoped  to  found.  Now,  realizing  the  impossi- 
bility of  providing  for  the  larger  delegation  soon  to 
arrive,  they  sadly  and  painfully  made  the  long 
march  back  to  New  Orleans.  Here  their  leader 
joined  them  in  January  of  1849  with  more  Icarians. 

The  hardships  narrated  by  the  advance  guard  and 
the  revolution  in  France  led  many  to  return,  but  the 
loyal  followers  of  Cabet,  280  in  number,  determined 
to  go  to  Nauvoo  where  homes,  at  least,  were  ready 
to  shelter  them.  Again  misfortune  dogged  their 
footsteps:  cholera  claimed  twenty  of  their  number 
on  the  trip  up  the  river;  and  it  was  with  sad  hearts 
that  the  exiles  disembarked  at  Nauvoo,  where,  for 
the  present,  they  hoped  to  establish  Icaria,  which 
they  fondly  hoped  and  fervently  believed  was  to  be- 
come the  new  world  order. 

Let  us  visit  Nauvoo  again  six  years  later  and  ob- 


1CARIA  AND  THE  ICARIANS  99 

serve  the  work  of  the  communists.  In  the  vicinity 
of  the  temple  ruins  some  500  of  the  Icarians  are 
living  and  working,  discussing  their  principles  and 
their  daily  tasks  in  the  French  tongue.  On  the 
square  surrounding  the  ruins  of  the  temple,  even 
the  walls  of  which  have  now  been  blown  down,  are 
the  community  buildings  of  the  Icarians.  A  large 
two  story  building  provides  a  combined  dining  hall 
and  assembly  room,  the  upper  floor  being  used  as 
apartments.  A  school  building  in  which  the  boys 
and  girls  are  taught  separately  has  been  constructed 
from  the  stones  of  the  temple,  and  a  workshop,  re- 
modeled from  the  old  Mormon  arsenal,  is  also  in 
use.  Two  infirmaries,  a  pharmacy,  a  community 
kitchen,  a  bakery,  a  laundry,  and  a  library  provide 
for  the  welfare  of  the  community.  Several  hundred 
acres  of  land  on  the  outskirts  of  Nauvoo  are  farmed 
by  the  communists,  while  the  men  who  are  not  occu- 
pied in  farming  work  in  the  flour  mill,  distillery,  and 
saw  mill,  or  are  busy  in  the  workshops  at  tailoring, 
shoemaking,  or  other  trades,  each  group  choosing 
its  own  overseer.  The  women,  with  a  few  excep- 
tions, work  in  the  kitchen,  laundry,  or  sewing  rooms. 
Each  family  has  its  own  apartment,  for  marriage 
and  the  family  relation  are  recognized  and  fostered. 
Suppose  we  observe  the  life  of  a  family  for  a  day. 
There  is  no  kitchen  in  these  homes,  and  the  mother 
does  not  get  the  breakfast  for  the  family:  instead 
all  go  to  the  community  dining  room  where  the  meal 
for  all  has  been  prepared  by  the  women  assigned  to 
this  work.  After  breakfast  the  father  goes  to  the 


100  THE  PALIMPSEST 

farm,  to  the  mill,  or  to  the  workshop.  The  mother 
perhaps  washes  the  dishes  or  prepares  the  veg- 
etables for  dinner.  The  boys  and  girls  are  sent  to 
school  where  they  are  taught  the  usual  branches  and, 
in  addition,  the  principles  of  Icaria  —  all,  of  course, 
in  French.  At  noon  they  again  assemble  in  the 
dining  hall  where  a  dinner  of  meat,  vegetables,  and 
fruit  is  served ;  then  after  a  rest  they  return  to  the 
farm  or  the  shop  until  the  signal  calls  them  to  sup- 
per. In  the  evening  there  may  be  a  meeting  to  dis- 
cuss and  decide  the  policies  of  the  community,  or 
the  young  people  may  dance.  Possibly  they  may 
visit  together  until  they  are  ready  to  return  to  their 
separate  homes.  On  Sundays  all  unnecessary  work 
is  suspended,  but  there  are  no  religious  services. 

If  you  are  of  a  legal  turn  of  mind  and  wish  to 
know  the  political  and  legal  status  of  these  French 
settlers,  you  find  that  the  society  has  a  constitution 
—  largely  the  plan  of  Cabet  —  which  regulates  their 
domestic  affairs.  The  decisions  within  the  com- 
munity are  settled  in  the  general  assembly  in  which 
all  are  expected  to  be  present  although  only  men 
over  twenty  years  of  age  may  vote.  The  relation  of 
the  community  to  the  State  of  Illinois  is  determined 
by  the  act  of  February  1,  1851,  incorporating  the 
"Icarian  Community".  Among  the  names  of  the 
incorporators  you  may  observe  one  well  known  in 
Iowa  and  Illinois,  A.  Piquenard,  the  architect  of  the 
capitol  buildings  at  Des  Moines  and  Springfield. 
Although  jealously  maintaining  their  French  lan- 
guage and  customs,  the  men  of  the  community  are 


ICARIA  AND  THE  ICARIANS  101 

for  the  most  part  naturalized  citizens  of  the  United 
States  and  their  relations  with  their  American  neigh- 
bors are  usually  friendly. 

To  the  visitor  who  understands  French  and  listens 
to  the  discussions  among  the  men  in  the  workshops 
and  the  women  in  the  kitchen,  it  is  evident  that  some- 
how the  serpent  of  dissension  has  entered  this  gar- 
den of  communism.  One  faction  represented  by 
some  fifty-four  voters  supports  Cabet  in  his  attempt 
to  revise  the  constitution  and  resume  his  former 
position  of  dictator ;  the  other,  with  eighty-one  votes 
in  the  assembly,  but  without  much  power  among  the 
administrative  staff,  opposes  this  revision  as  illegal. 
This  party  is  known  as  the  " reds'*.  Supporters  of 
Cabet  are  "whites",  " cabetistes ",  or  "furets". 

Friction  is  increased  by  the  social  groups  which 
have  developed  among  the  women  and  by  the  class 
feeling  which  has  appeared  among  the  various 
groups  of  workers.  The  men  who  work  at  a  dis- 
tance complain  that  those  who  work  near  the  dining 
hall  are  served  first  and  receive  the  best  food.  All 
these  currents  of  discontent  swell  the  tide  which 
seems  about  to  engulf  the  community.  Families  are 
divided  and  men  and  women  on  opposite  sides  no 
longer  speak  except  when  work  demands  it.  In  the 
dining  room  are  tables  of  the  "reds"  and  tables  of 
"cabetistes".  On  one  occasion  five  of  the  party  op- 
posed to  Cabet  enter  the  dining  hall  chanting  in  an 
undertone  from  the  Marseillaise : 

Centre  nous  de  la  tyrannic 
I/etendard  sanglant  est  leve. 


102  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Cabet,  now  an  old  man  of  68,  who  had  left  his  family 
in  France  to  found  this  community  on  the  soil  of  a 
strange  land,  is  indignant  at  this  charge  of  tyranny 
and  at  what  he  considers  the  ingratitude  of  his  fol- 
lowers. 

Finally  the  majority  party  obtain  control  of  the 
"gerance"  or  governing  board  as  well  as  of  the 
assembly.  Thereupon  the  "  cabetistes ' '  quit  work. 
Their  opponents,  taking  as  their  authority  the  words 
of  Saint  Paul  —  which  appeared  in  French,  by 
Cabet 's  orders,  on  the  walls  of  the  dining  hall  —  "If 
any  will  not  work,  neither  let  him  eat",  notify  the 
insurgents  that  unless  they  return  to  work,  food, 
clothing,  and  lodgings  will  be  refused  them.  Then, 
says  a  French  writer,  began  Homeric  battles  around 
the  tables  as  the  "  cabetistes "  attempted  to  force 
their  way  into  the  dining  hall,  to  the  great  damage 
of  the  Icarian  table  ware.  Cabet,  watching  from  his 
room  on  the  second  floor,  encourages  his  adherents ; 
but  they  are  finally  ousted.  A  fist  fight  occurs  when 
the  new  officials  attempt  to  secure  the  records  and 
keys  from  the  old  administration,  while  Cabet  looks 
on  with  a  smile,  a  situation  which  reminds  an  Icarian 
woman  —  in  the  opposition  of  course  —  of  Charles 
IX  at  Saint  Bartholomew.  The  climax  of  absurdity 
is  reached  when  the  new  authorities  attempt  to  re- 
move two  women  "  cabetistes "  who  teach  in  the 
school  for  girls.  One  of  the  teachers  resists  and  is 
dragged  out  "by  the  hair"  crying  for  help,  while 
the  terrified  little  girls  scream  and  weep  and  some 


ICARIA  AND  THE  ICARIANS  103 

neutral  American  neighbors  watch  the  scene  from 
the  vantage  point  of  the  temple  ruins. 

Again  and  again  the  sheriff  is  summoned  to  re- 
store order.  The  mayor  of  Nauvoo  urges  a  com- 
plete separation;  and  the  followers  of  Cabet  with- 
draw to  lodgings  outside  Icarian  jurisdiction  and 
soon  after  depart  for  St.  Louis,  leaving  the  "reds" 
in  possession  of  Icaria. 

Cabet,  disillusioned  and  broken  hearted,  died  on 
November  8,  1856,  a  few  days  after  his  arrival  at 
St.  Louis.  His  followers  began  a  new  Icaria  at 
Cheltenham,  near  the  city,  where  they  maintained 
the  struggle  for  eight  years.  Then  with  a  member- 
ship reduced  from  nearly  two  hundred  to  less  than 
thirty,  oppressed  by  debt  and  sickness,  the  com- 
munity turned  over  the  keys  of  the  buildings  to  the 
mortgagee  and  the  last  of  this  group  of  Icarians  re- 
turned to  the  world  of  individualism  and  compe- 
tition. 

What  of  the  group  left  behind  at  Nauvoo?  Sup- 
pose we  visit  them  some  twenty  years  later.  To  do 
this  we  must  travel  to  a  spot  some  four  miles  east  of 
Corning,  Iowa.  Here  is  Icaria,  a  little  hamlet  built 
on  a  hill  sloping  down  to  the  Nodaway  River.  In 
the  center  of  a  square  is  the  dining  hall  which  serves 
also  as  the  assembly  room.  On  the  sides  of  this 
square  are  rows  of  small  white  cottages  and  the 
shops,  laundry,  bakery,  and  similar  establishments. 
Beyond  are  some  log  cabins,  still  used  by  those  for 


104  THE  PALIMPSEST 

whom  frame  cottages  have  not  yet  been  provided. 
On  the  outskirts  are  the  barns,  gardens,  and  or- 
chards, while  a  magnificent  wood  forms  an  effective 
background  for  the  whole.  One  feature  of  the  usual 
Iowa  village,  however,  is  lacking:  no  church  spire 
breaks  the  sky  line  above  Icaria. 

Perhaps  you  ask  of  the  years  following  the  de- 
parture of  Cabet  from  Nauvoo.  What  have  been 
the  fortunes  of  the  group  left  behind  in  the  dying 
city?  At  first  confusion  reigned:  industry  was  dis- 
organized and  the  titles  to  the  property  held  in 
Cabet 's  name  could  be  transferred  only  by  action  of 
the  courts.  Crops  were  poor.  The  panic  of  1857 
was  already  in  the  air.  The  feud  had  alienated  their 
supporters  in  France  who  were  friends  of  Cabet,  so 
no  assistance  could  be  expected  from  the  mother 
land. 

The  community  had  for  several  years  owned 
about  3000  acres  of  land  in  Adams  County,  Iowa, 
where  they  hoped  at  some  future  time  to  establish 
the  permanent  Icaria.  To  this  remote  and  unsettled 
property  the  Icarians  decided  to  migrate.  The  sale 
of  their  property  at  Nauvoo  and  other  legal  tangles, 
however,  delayed  the  final  exodus  until  1860. 

At  Nauvoo  the  French  had  found  plenty  of  houses, 
cultivated  fields,  and  neighbors  who  were  friendly 
as  soon  as  the  suspicion  resulting  from  the  struggle 
with  the  Mormons  was  allayed.  In  Iowa  log  houses, 
some  without  floors  or  windows,  were  their  only 
shelter  against  the  biting  cold  of  winter.  Most  of 


ICARIA  AND  THE  ICARIANS  105 

their  land  was  unfenced  and  unbroken  prairie,  and 
there  was  not  a  settler  along  the  trail  for  forty  miles 
before  they  reached  Icaria.  Supplies  had  to  be 
hauled  some  hundred  miles  by  team. 

At  first  they  endured  real  hardships.  Only  the 
sick  had  white  bread,  sugar,  and  coffee.  Milk,  but- 
ter, corn  bread,  and  bacon  formed  the  menu  of  the 
others.  Little  by  little  conditions  improved.  With 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  the  price  of  wool 
soared.  The  Icarians  had  a  large  number  of  sheep 
and  wool  was  easy  to  transport  to  a  distant  market. 
Troops  passing  from  the  Missouri  to  the  Des  Moines 
Biver  and  emigrants  westward  bound  paid  gener- 
ously for  supplies.  The  war,  however,  was  not  en- 
tirely an  advantage,  for  it  is  said  that  every  Icarian 
man  qualified  to  enlist  was  enrolled  in  the  Union 
army. 

For  most  of  the  time,  however,  the  members  of 
the  community  were  engaged  in  a  constant  struggle 
against  debt  and  the  wilderness.  So  many  became 
discouraged  and  left  the  community  that  at  one  time 
they  numbered  only  thirty-five  persons.  Despairing 
of  paying  for  the  entire  tract  or  working  it  with  their 
depleted  forces,  they  had  sold  some  2000  acres  of 
land,  reserving  about  1100  acres  for  themselves. 
Thus  the  years  passed.  A  birth  or  a  death,  more 
rarely  a  wedding,  now  and  then  broke  the  monotony 
of  their  existence;  and  occasionally  an  old  Icarian 
family  returned  to  the  fold. 

By  1876  neighbors  have  moved  in  around  Icaria 


106  THE  PALIMPSEST 

and  the  railroad  has  brought  the  community  to  the 
doors  of  the  eastern  markets;  but  their  manner  of 
living  has  changed  very  little.  Each  morning  they 
assemble  in  the  common  dining  room  for  breakfast 
of  porridge,  bread  and  butter,  and  coffee.  For  din- 
ner and  supper,  meat,  vegetables,  marmalade,  cheese, 
and  fruit  may  be  served.  The  tables  are  without 
cloths  and  the  members  drink  from  tin  cups.  Wine 
is  produced  only  in  sufficient  quantities  for  solemn 
occasions.  Water  is  the  usual  drink;  and  even  this 
indispensable  commodity  has  to  be  hauled  from  a 
distance.  Many  of  the  men  smoke,  but  tobacco  is 
not  furnished  by  the  community  —  each  smoker  must 
raise  and  cure  his  own  supply  in  his  leisure  hours. 

If  you  knock  at  one  of  the  family  apartments  you 
will  be  received  with  the  courtesy  which  a  French 
man  or  woman  seldom  loses  no  matter  how  rough 
the  surroundings.  Below  are  two  rooms  —  a  living 
room  and  a  bedroom.  Upstairs  close  under  the  roof 
are  two  small  rooms  for  the  children. 

In  the  evening  when  the  community  assembles  in 
the  dining  hall  for  discussion  or  to  enjoy  music,  a 
program,  or  a  play,  some  idea  of  the  personnel  at 
this  time  may  be  obtained.  Gathered  in  this  rather 
bare  room  are  some  sixty-seven  persons,  twenty-four 
of  whom  are  voters.  Their  dress  is  plain,  but  neither 
peculiar  nor  standardized.  They  converse  in  French, 
for  almost  all  are  French.  Some  of  the  newcomers 
are  relating  stories  of  the  barricades  in  Paris  during 
the  Commune,  or  discussing  ways  and  means  of  en- 


ICARIA  AND  THE  ICARIANS  107 

larging  the  communistic  society.  The  men  and 
women  who  have  faced  the  hardships  of  establishing 
their  homes  in  the  wilderness  look  at  their  hands, 
calloused  and  work-roughened,  and  debate  the  ad- 
visability of  admitting  others  to  share  in  the  fruits 
of  their  toil.  Again  Icaria  is  split  into  factions.  On 
one  side  are  the  conservatives,  chiefly  older  people 
who  prefer  things  as  they  are  and  have  little  enthusi- 
asm for  converting  the  world ;  on  the  other  side  are 
the  radicals,  many  of  them  young  people.  In  this 
party  are  some  restless  agitators,  born  revolution- 
ists, who  demand  many  changes.  They  want  a  pro- 
gram of  industrial  expansion,  the  establishment  of 
workshops  in  nearby  towns,  and  greater  freedom  in 
the  admission  of  new  members.  They  demand  also 
that  women  be  permitted  to  vote  in  the  assembly, 
partly  perhaps  because  this  will  increase  the  vote  of 
their  party. 

In  these  discussions  there  is  constant  reference  to 
"the  little  gardens "  which  are  violently  condemned 
by  the  radical  party  and,  in  fact,  find  few  supporters. 
Earlier  in  the  life  of  the  community  each  family  had 
been  permitted  to  cultivate  a  little  garden  around  its 
log  house,  where  flowers  might  be  raised.  Some  had 
planted  vines  and  even  fruit  trees,  and  now  that 
these  were  bearing  fruit  the  radical  members  could 
not  tolerate  this  violation  of  their  rules  against  pri- 
vate property.  The  possessors  of  the  gardens,  how- 
ever, clung  to  their  little  plots  of  ground.  It  was 
not  much  but  it  was  theirs,  they  would  have  said  with 


108  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Touchstone.  The  authorities  tried  to  settle  the  quar- 
rel by  a  compromise.  As  each  family  moved  from 
their  log  house  to  a  new  frame  house,  the  little  gar- 
den was  to  be  given  up.  At  last  only  three  house- 
holds maintained  their  gardens  in  which  the  vines 
hung  loaded  with  grapes.  A  member  of  the  young 
Icarian  party  proposed  that  these  grapes  be  sold  by 
the  community,  but  his  motion  was  defeated. 

This  was  the  signal  for  open  hostilities.  The  rad- 
icals claimed  that  the  community  had  violated  its 
constitution  and  announced  their  intention  of  with- 
drawing. Over  the  division  of  the  community  prop- 
erty, however,  amounting  to  some  $60,000,  a  dead- 
lock developed.  The  young  Icarians  had  a  majority 
of  the  total  membership  but  they  were  outvoted  by 
the  conservatives  nineteen  to  thirteen.  They  could 
not  secure  what  they  considered  their  share  of  the 
property  but  neither  could  the  old  Icarians  expel 
the  malcontents  since  this  required  a  two-thirds  vote. 

At  last  the  insurgents,  some  of  them  participants 
in  the  Paris  Commune  and  all  advocating  more  ag- 
gressive communism,  appealed  to  the  Circuit  Court 
to  revoke  the  charter  granted  to  the  community  in 
1860  on  the  ground  that  Icaria  was  really  a  com 
munistic  establishment  instead  of  an  agricultu 
society  as  the  articles  of  incorporation  provid 
The  American  jury,  convinced  that  the  two  factions 
could  not  live  together  in  harmony  and  perhaps  sus- 
picious of  the  communistic  idea,  decided  that  the 
charter  had  been  violated;  and  in  accordance  with 


ICARIA  AND  THE  ICARIANS  109 

this  verdict  the  Icarian  community  was  dissolved  by 
a  court  decree  on  August  17,  1878. 

The  property  having  been  divided  on  the  basis  of 
the  number  of  members  and  the  contribution  of  each 
in  goods  and  work,  the  two  factions  prepared  to  set 
up  housekeeping  anew.  The  radicals,  more  aggres- 
sive than  their  opponents,  took  out  a  charter  under 
the  title,  "La  Communaute  Icarienne",  taking  care 
to  secure  all  the  rights  which  had  been  held  illegal 
under  the  old  charter,  such  as  establishing  schools 
and  manufacturing  establishments.  They  offered 
the  older  group  a  bonus  of  $1500  for  possession  of 
the  Icarian  village  and  this  was  accepted.  There- 
upon they  adopted  a  program  which  might  have 
been  expressed  by  the  modern  slogan,  "Watch  us 
grow",  framed  a  new  constitution,  increased  their 
agricultural  and  industrial  activities,  gave  women  a 
vote  in  the  assembly,  and  provided  for  the  admis- 
sion of  new  members.  Apparently  they  were  not 
very  discriminating  for  one  member  wrote  in  dis- 
gust that  they  had  freelovers,  Shakers,  nihilists,  an- 
archists, socialists,  and  cranks  of  all  kinds  —  the 
word  "  crank "  being  one  of  the  American  words 
adopted  by  the  French  Icarians. 

The  result  was  membership  indigestion,  and  it 
soon  became  evident  that  the  community  was  losing 
members  faster  than  it  gained  them.  Why  was  this  ? 
the  leaders  asked  in  dismay.  Some  said  the  with- 
drawals were  due  to  an  instinct  similar  to  that  which 
makes  rats  leave  a  sinking  ship.  This  diagnosis  was 


110  THE  PALIMPSEST 

not  far  wrong.  The  community  was  receiving  many 
improvised  Icarians  who  expected  to  live  at  ease  far 
from  the  degrading  "wage  slavery"  of  the  cities; 
and  they  were  both  unable  and  unwilling  to  cut 
down  trees,  build  houses,  or  plough  the  soil  which 
was  exasperatingly  full  of  rocks.  Moreover,  their 
families  also  had  to  be  supported ;  and  the  arrival  of 
two  skilled  mechanics  added  to  the  ration  list  nine 
additional  persons  who,  a  French  writer  says,  had 
lost  none  of  their  Alsatian  appetites  in  the  severe 
climate  of  Iowa. 

Face  to  face  with  failure  in  Iowa,  where  work  was 
hard,  the  new  Icarians  dreamed  of  a  center  in 
Florida,  Kentucky,  Texas,  or  California  where  the 
trees  would  produce  fruit  while  the  communists 
planned  the  further  extension  of  their  ideals.  It 
happened  that  some  ex-Icarians  were  already  in 
California  which  they  reported  as  a  second  Eden. 
The  temptation  proved  too  great  for  the  young 
Icarians.  They  decided  to  join  their  brethren  at  the 
community  called  Esperance  in  Sonoma  County, 
California,  the  land  of  leisure,  flowers,  and  fruit. 
The  united  community  was  christened  Icaria- 
Speranza.  Another  constitution  was  adopted  which 
was  a  compromise  between  communism  and  individ- 
ualism. Before  their  migration,  however,  dissen- 
sions among  the  Iowa  Icarians  brought  them  once 
more  into  the  courts,  and  in  1886  their  society  was 
dissolved. 

In  the  meantime  on  the  bank  of  the  Nodaway  the 


ICARIA  AND  THE  ICARIANS  111 

old  Icarians,  who  bad  lost  both  the  Icarian  name  and 
the  village  of  Icaria,  after  some  hesitation,  had  in- 
corporated as  "La  Nouvelle  Communaute  Icari- 
enne".  Thus  the  old  Icarians  became  the  new 
Icarians.  They  selected  a  spot  about  a  mile  south- 
east of  their  old  home  and  created  a  second  Icaria. 
Here  they  lived  in  peace  for  another  twenty  years. 
Debt  was  the  constant  spectre  which  haunted  the 
community.  The  monotony  of  the  life  and  a  desire 
for  more  individual  freedom  drove  many  of  the 
younger  people  out  into  the  world  where  the  strug- 
gle seemed  no  harder  and  the  possible  rewards 
greater. 

About  ten  years  after  the  schism  six  of  the  nine 
men  in  the  ' '  Nouvelle  Communaute  Icarienne ' '  were 
over  sixty-one  years  of  age.  One  of  these,  A.  A. 
Marchand,  had  been  with  the  first  advance  guard  in 
1848.  Another  was  Jules  Maillon  who,  after  thirty 
years  in  the  community,  had  returned  to  France 
hoping  to  die  in  his  native  land.  But  everything 
had  changed  in  France  and  his  relatives  looked 
coldly  upon  the  old  man  who  had  returned  with 
empty  hands.  Disillusioned  he  had  returned  to 
spend  his  last  days  at  the  peaceful  hamlet  on  the 
Iowa  prairie. 

As  the  years  passed,  the  maintenance  of  the  com- 
munity grew  more  and  more  difficult  for  these  old 
people,  and  it  became  evident  to  even  its  most  de- 
voted adherents  that  its  days  were  numbered.  The 
final  act  of  the  Icarian  community  as  a  whole  was 


112 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


the  vote  on  the  dissolution  of  the  society  in  Febru- 
ary, 1895.  The  hearts  of  those  who  had  toiled  and 
suffered  in  Texas,  at  Nauvoo,  and  on  the  prairies  of 
Iowa  must  have  been  heavy,  but  the  vote  was  unani- 
mous. The  execution  of  the  sentence  devolved  upon 
the  court  which  appointed  E.  F.  Bettannier,  one  of 
the  members,  receiver.  The  assets  were  distributed 
among  the  members  according  to  their  years  of  ser- 
vice in  the  community  reckoning  from  the  age  of 
twenty-one  in  the  case  of  men  and  eighteen  for  the 
women.  Each  orphan  minor  was  given  $850.  Three 
years  later,  on  the  22nd  of  October,  Judge  H.  M. 
Towner  accepted  the  report  of  the  receiver  and  de- 
clared "La  Nouvelle  Communaute  Icarienne"  legal- 
ly at  an  end.  Some  of  the  members  remained  as 
honored  citizens  in  the  vicinity  but  the  last  branch 
of  the  Icarian  tree,  which  was  to  have  flourished  and 
scattered  its  seeds  into  the  world  of  individualism, 
was  dead. 

EUTH  A.  GALLAHBE 


The  Ripple 

In  June,  1841,  the  roofless  stone  walls  of  the  new 
Territorial  capitol  rose  bare  and  open  to  the  sun  on 
the  crest  of  a  hill  overlooking  the  Iowa  River. 
Facing  the  unfinished  building  was  a  mushroom 
growth  of  houses,  stores,  and  inns  which  had  sprung 
up  within  two  years'  time,  ready  for  the  coming  of 
legislators  and  office  holders  and  the  attendant 
population  that  was  expected  in  the  newly  created 
seat  of  government. 

Iowa  City  was  resonant  with  building  activities  in 
those  days ;  but  on  the  twentieth  of  June  there  was 
probably  no  tapping  of  hammers  or  rasping  of  saws, 
for  it  was  Sunday.  Down  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  back 
of  the  new  capitol  was  a  ferry  landing  where  a  boat 
served  the  needs  of  travellers  on  the  Old  Military 
Road ;  and  here  was  staged  on  this  June  Sunday  an 
incident  that  is  best  left  to  the  descriptive  powers  of 
the  editor  of  The  Iowa  City  Standard,  in  a  news  item 
entitled  ' l  Arrival  Extraordinary ! ! ! ". 

"We  this  week  announce  an  event  which  in  our 
judgment,  is  of  more  importance  than  any  that  has 
happened  since  our  city  has  had  an  existence. 

"On  the  20th  instant  our  citizens  were  surprised 
by  hearing  the  puffing  of  an  approaching  Steamer. 
We  need  not  speak  of  the  astonishment  caused,  by 
such  unusual  sounds ;  —  sounds  which  were  for.  the 

113 


114  THE  PALIMPSEST 

first  time  heard  on  our  peaceful  river  —  nor  of  the 
many  conjectures  which  were  started  as  to  the  course 
from  whence  they  proceeded.  Our  doubts  were  soon 
dispelled  by  the  glorious  reality,  as  the  STEAMER 
RIPPLE  for  the  first  time  came  dashing  up  the  Iowa 
and  landed  at  the  ferry,  which  henceforth  is  only  to 
be  known  by  the  more  appropriate  name  of  the 
Steam  Boat  Landing. 

"The  hearty  cheers  which  hailed  the  arrival,  and 
the  warm  welcome  which  the  Captain,  crew  and  pas- 
sengers received  from  our  citizens,  showed  that  they 
appreciated  the  enterprise  and  determination  which 
had  originated  and  successfully  carried  out  such  an 
undertaking.  Among  the  passengers  on  board  we 
noticed  Messrs.  Wesley  Jones,  Moses  Cramer,  Jas. 
W.  Neally,  D.  W.  C.  Barron,  Jno.  Taylor,  of  Burling- 
ton, Maj.  Jno.  B.  Newhall,  the  talented  author  of 
'The  Sketches  of  Iowa,'  and  our  fellow  townsman 
James  Herron. 

"The  Ripple  arrived  at  the  conjunction  of  the 
Iowa  and  Cedar  river  on  Friday  evening.  On  Satur- 
day morning  she  started  and  ran  up  within  four 
miles  of  this  city  before  she  stopped  for  the  night. 
There  were  no  impediments  found  to  an  easy  and 
safe  navigation  of  the  river,  if  we  may  except  a  few 
snags  and  projecting  trees,  a  few  miles  below  the 
city,  which  will  be  removed  by  our  citizens  during 
the  present  week.  The  experiment  on  the  whole 
was  a  most  satisfactory  one.  The  present  compara- 
tively low  stage  of  water  will  effectually  silence  any 


THE  RIPPLE  115 

sneers  that  may  be  thrown  out  concerning  high  wa- 
ter navigation,  &c.,  and  we  now  have  the  fact  proved, 
beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  that  the  Iowa 
river  is  navigable  beyond  this  place  for  seven 
months  at  least  during  every  year. 

"This  arrival  has  effectually  changed  the  rela- 
tion in  which  we  formerly  stood  to  the  other  towns 
in  this  Territory.  We  are  now  no  longer  dependent 
on  the  towns  on  the  Mississippi  for  our  imports  — 
nor  are  we  subjected  to  the  labor  and  expense  of 
drawing  across  the  country  all  articles  brought  from 
abroad.  We  have  now  a  situation  in  many  respects 
superior  to  any  in  the  Territory. 

' l  The  advantage  of  being  the  furthest  point  in  the 
interior,  which  has  a  safe  and  easy  communication 
by  water  with  all  the  great  commercial  cities  in  the 
west,  is  too  manifest  to  need  remark.  Indeed  some 
of  our  neighboring  towns  on  the  Mississippi  have 
laid  claims  to  being  places  of  great  importance,  on 
this  ground  alone.  We  trust  we  have  settled  all  dis- 
putes on  this  point  and  that  they  will  now  at  once 
yield  the  palm  to  us,  and  surrender  all  claims  that 
they  may  have  on  this  score.  But  when  we  add  to 
these  advantages  our  acknowledged  superiority  in 
beauty  of  location  and  fertility  of  soil  and  call  to 
mind  our  almost  total  exemption  from  those  dis- 
eases, which  are  and  have  ever  been  the  scourges  of 
the  west,  we  can  confidently  demand  the  attention  of 
emigrants  and  others  to  a  situation  which  combines 
every  advantage  that  can  attract  the  merchant,  and 


116  THE  PALIMPSEST 

the  farmer,  'the  man  of  business  or  the  man  of 
pleasure.'  " 

It  was  a  day  and  an  occasion  worth  celebrating. 
The  citizens  calmed  themselves  sufficiently  to  retire 
for  the  night,  but  on  Monday  morning  they  held  a 
mass  meeting  at  the  City  Hotel  and  among  other 
things  appointed  a  committee  to  invite  the  captain 
of  the  Ripple  and  the  crew  and  passengers  to  a  pub- 
lic dinner  in  their  honor  to  be  given  by  the  people  of 
Iowa  City.  Another  committee  was  named  to  inter- 
view the  innkeepers  of  the  town  with  this  celebra- 
tion in  view.  And  it  was  resolved  "that  a  suitable 
person  be  selected  to  accompany  the  STEAM  BOAT 
EIPPLE  down  the  Iowa  Eiver  so  far  as  may  be  neces- 
sary to  ascertain  the  principal  obstructions,  and  the 
best  mode  and  the  probable  expense  of  removing 
said  obstructions."  Captain  Frederick  M.  Irish,  a 
prominent  settler  in  the  town,  who  had  run  away  to 
sea  in  his  youth,  shipped  on  a  three  years'  whaling 
voyage  to  the  northern  Pacific  and  elsewhere,  and 
later  became  a  New  York  harbor  pilot,  was  deemed 
a  suitable  person  and  was  so  deputized. 

By  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  arrangements  had 
been  made,  the  invitation  delivered  and  accepted, 
and  the  citizens  and  their  visiting  friends  sat  down 
to  a  sumptuous  dinner  at  the  National  Hotel.  The 
Iowa  City  Standard  prints  at  length  the  speeches 
and  toasts  that  enlivened  the  occasion. 

The  most  notable  of  the  passengers  who  came  up 


THE  RIPPLE  117 

with  the  Ripple  was  John  B.  Newhall,  a  Burlington 
resident,  who  bore  the  title  Major,  and  acted  as 
Iowa's  first  real  press  agent.  In  the  early  months 
of  1841  he  had  already  published  a  volume  entitled 
Sketches  of  Iowa,  or  the  Emigrant's  Guide.  Two 
years  later  he  was  lecturing  in  England  on  the  re- 
sources and  possibilities  of  "Western  America"; 
and  in  1844  he  published  in  London  an  Emigrant's 
Handbook  for  these  western  States,  and  followed  it 
by  A  Glimpse  of  Iowa  in  1846. 

His  was  the  principal  address  at  the  dinner  in 
honor  of  the  Ripple  and  we  give  it  here  in  part : 

"GENTLEMEN:  —  It  is  with  feelings  of  heartfelt 
gratification  that  we  return  our  thanks  for  the  cor- 
dial reception  with  which  we  have  been  honored  by 
our  friends  of  Iowa  City.  This,  is  indeed,  a  tri- 
umph; an  achievement  well  deserving  all  the  enco- 
miums so  justly  bestowed  upon  my  worthy  friend 
Capt.  Jones. 

"What  are  the  circumstances  under  which  we  are 
assembled?  Gentlemen,  we  are  here  this  day  to 
commemorate  the  fact  that  on  the  20th  of  June,  1841, 
the  first  Steam  Boat  moored  alongside  the  bluff  of 
your  City? 

"From  this  day  forward  the  practicability  of 
navigating  the  Iowa  river  remains  no  longer  the  sub- 
ject of  conjecture. —  From  this  day  henceforth,  a 
new  era  will  commence  in  the  destinies  of  your  City. 
The  most  skeptical  must  now  believe ;  for  here  is  the 
evidence  before  you  —  yes,  gentlemen,  ere  another 


118 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


month  shall  elapse  the  performance  of  the  gallant 
little  'Ripple'  shall  be  emblazoned  to  the  world  in 
letters  of  living  light. 

"I  know  the  farmers  of  Johnson  county  will  hail 
this  as  an  auspicious  omen.  Well  do  I  know  too, 
that  every  settler  upon  the  verdant  banks  of  the 
Iowa  looks  upon  it  as  an  era  pregnant  with  the  hap- 
piest results  of  the  future.  Would  you  know  how 
the  people  of  every  village  and  cabin  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Iowa,  hailed  our  arrival  with  the  spirit 
of  gladness?  Ask  the  passengers  of  the  ' Ripple/ 
They  will  tell  you  of  the  cheering  voice  of  welcome, 
not  only  the  loud  huzzas,  but  in  the  sharp  crack  of 
the  *  rifle'  which  the  sturdy  pioneer  loaded  in  the 
morning  for  the  fleetest  deer  —  little  dreaming  that 
ere  the  sun  should  sink  behind  the  western  prairie  — 
his  charge  was  to  salute  the  FIRST  steamer  that  had 
ever  dared  penetrate  the  serpentine  windings  of  the 
'Iowa  Fork'.  .  .  . 

"A  few  short  years  ago  *  Fulton  and  Rumsey' 
were  thought  to  be  insane  for  agitating  the  subject  of 
propelling  vessels  by  steam  across  the  ocean.  This 
too  —  in  the  intelligent  circles  of  enlightened  Paris. 
Now  gentlemen  28  days  will  bring  you  from  the 
Grey  Towers  of  Windsor  Castle  to  the  rude  Wigwam 
of  my  friend  Poweshiek. 

"Thirty  months  ago  and  what  was  the  condition 
of  your  country?  The  shrill  'puff'  of  the  steamer 
might  have  startled  the  wolf  from  his  lair;  or  per- 
chance the  Indian  hunter  returning  to  his  Wigwam. 


THE  RIPPLE  119 

The  impress  of  civilization  had  not  even  marked  its 
outline.  But  a  change  has  come  over  the  face  of  the 
wilderness.  But  yesterday  morning  —  and  250  in- 
telligent and  accomplished  citizens  of  both  sexes, 
were  embarking  on  a  pleasure  excursion  from  your 
landing,  up  the  Iowa  by  '  steam/  Johnson  County 
-from  nothing  two  years  and  half  ago,  now  con- 
tains a  population  of  about  2300  freemen!  —  And 
who  compose  this  population  on  the  frontier  of  the 
'far  west/  —  Is  it  that  renown  class  of  outlaws 
ycleped  the  ' Squatters?'  Let  us  analyze,  for  a  mo- 
ment the  character  of  our  population, —  gentlemen 
they  never  asked  me  'down  east'  if  you  were  actu- 
ally cannibals.  But  some  of  the  knowing  ones 
thought  you  were  ' mighty'  near  it.  I  only  wish 
those  respectable  personages,  who  view  the  world 
from  'Vauxhall  Garden'  to  the  'Battery'  could  sud- 
denly be  transported  to  your  firesides.  Could 
'drop'  into  your  rude  court  houses;  they  forget  that 
the  unshackled  and  mighty  mind  of  man,  soars  be- 
yond brick  walls  and  pavements.  That  the  concep- 
tions of  the  pioneer  are  tinged  with  sublimity.  Look 
at  him  as  he  grapples  with  the  surrounding  elements ; 
look  at  his  self  reliance.  His  sole  trust  in  his  own 
energies  that  subdues  the  forest  and  makes  the 
wilderness  blossom  like  the  rose.  The  man  who  lives 
and  dies  within  the  confines  of  his  native  country 
east  of  the  Alleghanies,  knows  not  the  character  of 
the  western  man.  But  to  these  traits  of  heroism,  of 
unshrinking  energies,  do  I  attribute  the  mighty  pow- 
er that  we  are  destined  to  wield. 


120  THE  PALIMPSEST 

"Such,  gentlemen,  are  the  wonders  of  the  19th 
century;  such  the  onward  march  of  the  freemen  of 
Iowa.  The  page  of  our  history  will  be  resplendent 
with  brightness,  so  long  as  intelligence  and  virtue 
are  the  basis  of  our  actions. 

"In  conclusion  allow  me  to  propose  the  following 
sentiment  to  which  I  believe  your  response  will  be 
amen. 

"The  gallant  little  'Ripple'  first  to  decide  the 
practicability  of  navigating  the  Iowa.  May  her  en- 
terprising commander  be  first  in  the  esteem  of  our 
citizens,  and  first  to  reap  the  rewards  of  his  tri- 
umphant achievement." 

Captain  D.  Jones,  whom  Newhall  so  warmly 
toasted,  was  a  Mormon  and  a  resident  of  Nauvoo, 
according  to  Captain  F.  M.  Irish.  He  went  out  with 
the  great  migration  to  Utah  some  years  later  and 
died  in  the  West.  For  information  on  his  earlier 
life  the  reader  is  referred  to  this  modest  response 
to  the  toast  of  Major  Newhall : 

' '  GENTLEMEN  :  —  I  am  neither  an  orator,  nor  the 
son  of  an  orator ;  but  merely  a  son  of  Neptune,  a  son 
of  the  Five  Oceans. 

"From  such  a  one  you  will  not  expect  a  fluent 
speech,  lest  you  be  disappointed.  Permit  me,  how- 
ever, to  make  one  or  two  plain  and  unvarnished  re- 
marks on  the  present  occasion.  Exploring  has  been 
my  study  and  delight  from  a  boy.  To  accomplish 
this  object,  I  have  sacrificed  the  comforts  of  the  so- 
cial hearth.  To  this  end  I  have  endured  the  rage  of 


THE  RIPPLE  121 

the  five  elements.  I  have  endured  the  smiles  and 
frowns  of  heathen  Monarchs.  I  have  grappled  with 
the  Lion  and  Tiger.  I  have  contended  with  the  can- 
nibals, warclub  and  tomahawk,  when  my  comrades 
were  cut  down  by  my  side.  I  have  also  been  an  al- 
most only  survivor  in  shipwrecks.  But  gentlemen, 
I  have  the  gratification  to  say  that  the  reverse  has 
been  my  fortune  in  exploring  the  Iowa  river.  Provi- 
dence smiled  on  this  enterprise. 

"Instead  of  the  red  man's  war  club;  I  have  been 
saluted  by  the  hunters  rifle,  echoing  from  bluff  to 
glen.  Instead  of  the  roaring  Lion,  the  loud  hurrahs 
of  my  well  wishers  welcoming  me  up  your  river. 

"Encouraged  by  the  generous  and  spirited  feel- 
ings of  my  passengers  and  officers,  with  confidence 
in  the  suitableness  of  my  boat, —  I  have  surmounted 
every  obstacle,  and  have  come  here  to  prove  beyond 
contradiction,  that  the  Iowa  river  is  navigable. 

"It's  true  gentlemen;  that  I  have  been  somewhat 
presumptions  in  thus  risking  my  all  to  the  accom- 
plishing of  this  object  without  a  guarantee  that  I 
could  clear  my  expenses,  or  that  I  should  be  able  to 
return  with  my  boat  out  of  your  river.  But  gentle- 
men, I  am  here  and  congratulate  you  on  this  occa- 
sion, in  this  beautiful  little  queen  of  Iowa,  hoping 
that  the  rising  generation,  who  so  beckoned  me  up 
your  river,  may  enjoy  the  benefits  of  this  enterprise, 
and  make  it  a  bright  page  in  the  annals  of  the  his- 
tory of  Iowa  City.  And  now,  gentlemen ;  your  river 
is  navigable.  The  boat  is  ready ;  your  obedient  ser- 
vant, is  at  your  service,  whenever  the  public  spirit, 


122  THE  PALIMPSEST 

and  generous  enthusiasm  of  your  growing  City  is 
ready.  Permit  me  to  acknowledge  the  honor  you 
have  done  me,  and  with  gratitude,  believe  me  to  be 
ever  your  obedient  servant." 

Following  this  effort,  various  citizens  toasted  the 
Ripple  and  its  Captain ;  and  wishing  them  both  many 
happy  returns,  the  company  broke  up. 

On  Thursday  morning  of  the  same  week,  citizens 
of  a  small  town  over  on  the  Cedar  River  were 
thrilled  by  the  cry  "She  comes,  she  comes !".  The 
Ripple  had  reached  Rochester  in  Cedar  County. 
And  straightway,  the  enthusiastic  citizens,  headed 
by  Dr.  S.  B.  Grubbs,  welcomed  and  toasted  Captain 
Jones  at  a  public  dinner,  and  indulged  in  visions  of 
a  great  future  for  the  town. 

But  alas  for  human  hopes.  Neither  Iowa  City 
nor  Rochester  owes  much  to  steamboat  commerce. 
Occasionally  in  later  years  a  boat  nosed  its  way  up 
to  Iowa  City  and  in  the  sixties  a  steamer  was  built 
and  launched  there.  But  the  river  commerce  failed 
to  develop. 

As  for  the  Ripple,  it  never  returned.  No  one 
seems  to  know  what  became  of  the  little  craft  that 
first  roused  the  community  hope.  And  though  hope 
was  rekindled  at  each  later  arrival  of  a  steamer,  it  is 
doubtful  if  the  people  of  Iowa  City  were  ever  again 
stirred  as  deeply  as  when  Captain  D.  Jones,  the  lion 
hunter,  moored  the  Ripple  at  the  ferry  landing  back 
of  the  rising  capitol. 

JOHN  C.  PARISH 


A  Reminiscence 

The  Blizzard  and  the  Early  Cabins,  in  the  PAL- 
IMPSEST of  January,  convey  to  the  reader  of  this 
generation  a  vivid  impression  of  the  courage,  initi- 
ative, and  self-dependence  of  the  Iowa  pioneers. 

My  father  built  82  years  ago  the  log  house  in 
which  one  of  my  brothers,  my  sister,  and  I  were 
born  and  reared.  It  was  a  two  story  structure,  the 
bed  rooms  above  were  reached  by  a  common  rung 
ladder.  The  roof  was  of  clapboards,  kept  in  place 
by  poles  secured  at  the  ends  by  wooden  pins.  This 
roof  shed  the  summer  rains  but  the  winter  snow  was 
sifted  in  by  the  keen  winds,  and  many  a  morning  I 
stepped  out  of  bed  into  several  inches  of  snow  on 
the  floor.  Later  on  my  father  had  the  cabin  weather- 
boarded  and  lathed  and  plastered  inside.  But  the 
original  logs  are  there  yet,  sound  as  ivory.  Mr. 
Boarts,  the  present  owner,  a  few  years  ago  had  oc- 
casion to  cut  an  opening  through  the  side  and  gave 
the  pieces  of  the  logs  to  my  brother.  They  were 
white  oak  and  hickory,  and  he  sent  me  canes  made 
of  each  kind.  The  cooking  was  done  by  the  fireplace 
by  my  mother  until  finally  a  stove  was  found  in 
Muscatine,  and  when  it  was  put  in  operation  the 
neighbors  came  to  see  it  as  a  curiosity  and  a  re- 
minder of  their  old  Eastern  homes. 

In  those  frontier  days  all  were  of  equal  fortune, 
all  worked  and  saved.  The  clothing  fabrics  were 

123 


124  THE  PALIMPSEST 

substantial.  My  father  wore  a  suit  of  Indian  tanned 
buckskin,  and  later  on  we  had  the  homemade  blue 
jeans  made  into  garments  by  my  mother.  I  would 
like  a  suit  of  it  now. 

There  was  a  story  told  of  one  of  those  pioneer 
women  and  her  granddaughter,  who  asked,  i  '  Grand- 
ma, you  were  here  in  the  early  days!"  "Yes,  I  was 
a  pioneer."  "Well,  were  you  poor?"  "Yes,  we 
were  all  poor."  "Couldn't  you  have  what  you 
wanted?"  "No,  I  could  not."  "Did  you  have  no 
meat?"  "No,  nothing  but  venison,  wild  turkeys, 
prairie  chickens  and  quails."  "Did  you  have  no 
sugar?"  "Nothing  but  maple  sugar."  "What  did 
you  want  that  you  couldn't  get?"  "It  was  New 
Orleans  molasses  and  salt  mackerel. ' ' 

The  blizzard  of  1856  swept  over  Johnson  County 
and  one  settler  in  Pleasant  Valley  froze  to  death  and 
one  in  Liberty  township  had  both  hands  frozen  off. 
Those  were  years  of  adventure,  stress,  strain,  and 
trial,  yet  the  pioneers  were  happy  and  I  do  not  recall 
a  single  expression  of  discontent,  envy,  or  repining. 

It  is  a  pity  that  the  frontiers  are  all  gone. 

JOHN  P.  IRISH 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

AN  IOWAN  IN  CALIFORNIA 

The  fragment  of  reminiscence  which  we  have 
printed  in  the  foregoing  pages  came  to  us  in  a  recent 
letter  from  Mr.  John  P.  Irish,  now  living  in  Oak- 
land, California.  Other  items  from  his  letter  will 
be  of  interest.  "I  built  on  my  ranch  in  the  moun- 
tains here  a  log  cabin ",  he  writes,  "and  dedicated  it 
to  the  memory  of  the  Iowa  pioneers,  and  it  was  the 
summer  home  of  my  family  for  20  years ".  He 
speaks  of  "the  time  when  we  slaughtered  our  pork 
in  December,  took  it  on  bob-sleds  and  sold  it  at 
Ogilvie's  packing  house  in  Muscatine  for  $1.00  per 
hundred  and  brought  back  the  money  to  pay  taxes 
and  letter  postage,  which  was  then  25  cents ".  And 
he  adds :  "  I  am  in  my  79th  year  and  hope  to  visit  my 
birthplace  again  before  I  go  to  join  the  hardy  souls 
of  the  frontier''. 

We  join  him  in  the  hope.  For  many  years  John 
P.  Irish  was  a  prominent  figure  in  the  political  his- 
tory of  Iowa.  He  was  a  son  of  Captain  Frederick 
M.  Irish  who  is  mentioned  in  the  article  in  this  num- 
ber on  the  steamboat  Ripple.  In  1864,  when  he  was 
but  twenty-one  years  of  age,  he  became  editor  of  the 
State  Press  at  Iowa  City  (the  successor  of  the  Iowa 
Capitol-Reporter),  and  for  nearly  twenty  years  his 
paper  was  a  power  in  Iowa  politics.  From  1869.  to 

125 


126  THE  PALIMPSEST 

1875  he  was  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
Iowa ;  he  was  largely  influential  in  the  establishment 
of  the  College  of  Law  and  the  College  of  Medicine  at 
the  State  University  of  Iowa,  and  next  to  John  A. 
Kasson  was  probably  the  greatest  influence  in  the 
movement  to  construct  the  present  State  House  at 
Des  Moines  —  a  project  which  was  fought  bitterly 
in  the  General  Assembly  and  throughout  the  State 
by  men  who  drew  pathetic  word-pictures  of  the 
" barefooted  women  and  children"  who  would  be 
still  further  crushed  to  earth  if  the  extravagant  new 
capitol  were  built.  He  was  nominated  for  Congress 
in  1868  and  for  Governor  of  the  State  in  1877,  but 
the  Democratic  party  was  unsuccessful  in  both  cam- 
paigns. 

In  1882  he  removed  to  California  where  he  has 
edited  several  newspapers,  held  civil  office,  farmed, 
and  been  nominated  for  Congress.  He  has  acted  as 
counsel  before  several  arbitration  courts  in  cases 
involving  international  law,  and  has  maintained  an 
unusual  interest  and  influence  in  political  affairs. 
At  the  present  time  he  is  engaged  in  an  active  con- 
troversy in  opposition  to  the  anti-Japanese  attitude 
of  United  States  Senator  Phelan  and  other  prom- 
inent Californians. 

BUILDERS  OF  THE  FAR  WEST 

Iowa  began  early  to  contribute  men  to  the  up- 
building of  the  West.  In  1849  Serranus  C.  Hastings 
—  who  had  served  a  number  of  years  in  the  Iowa 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  127 

Territorial  legislature,  had  been  one  of  Iowa's  first 
Congressmen  and  had  held  the  position  of  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  —  went 
out  with  the  gold  hunters  to  California.  He  served 
as  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  California, 
was  elected  Attorney-General  of  the  State,  and  for 
many  years  carried  on  a  very  successful  law  practice. 
William  W.  Chapman,  the  first  Delegate  to  Con- 
gress from  the  Territory  of  Iowa,  and  delegate  to 
the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1844,  travelled 
across  the  plains  by  ox  team  in  1847  to  Oregon.  In 
1848  he  worked  in  the  gold  mines  in  California,  but 
returned  to  Oregon  where  he  was  elected  to  the  leg- 
islature, edited  the  first  newspaper  in  the  State,  and 
served  as  Surveyor-General. 

IOWA  IN  THE  EAST 

Nor  has  the  East  lacked  inspiration  from  Iowa. 
Witness  those  two  remarkable  jurists,  John  F. 
Dillon  and  Samuel  Freeman  Miller.  Both  of  them 
studied  and  practiced  medicine  —  Miller  for  ten 
years  —  before  they  began  the  study  of  law.  Dillon, 
after  serving  as  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Iowa  and  Judge  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court, 
removed  to  New  York  City  to  become  a  member  of 
the  faculty  of  the  Columbia  University  Law  School 
and  general  counsel  for  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad. 
For  a  third  of  a  century  he  was  one  of  the  leading 
members  of  the  New  York  bar,  and  one  of  the  most 
eminent  of  American  law  authors.  Samuel  Freeman 


128  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Miller  after  ten  years  of  medical  practice  in  Ken- 
tucky and  twelve  years  of  law  practice  in  Iowa  spent 
the  rest  of  his  life  —  twenty-eight  years  —  on  the 
Supreme  Bench  of  the  United  States. 

IOWANS  AND  IOWA  COLONIES 

lowans  have  gone  east,  west,  north,  and  south. 
Herbert  Hoover,  born  in  Iowa,  goes  to  California 
and  from  there  becomes  an  international  figure. 
George  E.  Roberts  becomes  an  influence  in  financial 
affairs  in  Chicago,  Washington,  and  New  York. 
Frank  0.  Lowden  reaches  high  position  in  Illinois. 
Horace  Boies,  the  only  Democratic  Governor  of 
Iowa  in  two  generations,  is  living,  at  the  age  of 
ninety-three,  in  California. 

There  are  Iowa  colonies  everywhere  —  from  Se- 
attle to  Florida,  in  London,  in  China,  and  in  the 
Philippines.  Thousands  of  lowans  gather  in  a  pic- 
nic celebration  at  Los  Angeles  each  year  to  talk  of 
the  land  between  the  rivers,  and  at  the  other  end  of 
the  continent  the  Iowa  Club  of  New  York  City  has 
frequent  dinners.  We  send  greetings  to  the  mem- 
bers of  all  colonies  for  they  are  lowans  still;  and 
whenever  they  can  come  home  for  a  visit  to  the 
prairies  of  their  youth,  the  State  will  welcome  them. 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 

ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  II  ISSUED  IN  MAY  1921  No.  5 

COPYRIGHT  1921   BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

Underground  Railroad  in  Iowa 

The  ever-increasing  number  of  fugitive  slaves 
who  sought  to  cross  Iowa  on  their  way  to  freedom 
brought  the  Underground  Eailroad  into  existence. 
Needless  to  say,  it  was  not  a  subterranean  railroad 
with  high-speed,  well-equipped,  electric  trains.  The 
term  "underground'  'was  applied  to  the  railroad 
because  of  the  secrecy  of  its  operations  and  the  mys- 
tery with  which  the  whole  system  was  shrouded.  Its 
roadbed  was  the  ordinary  highway  of  traffic.  Its  roll- 
ing stock  consisted  of  the  buggies,  oxcarts,  wagons, 
and  other  vehicles  at  the  command  of  early  Iowa  set- 
tlers. Occasionally  it  was  possible  to  use  the  steam 
railroad  as  a  means  of  conveyance,  but  more  often 
passengers  travelled  from  station  to  station  on  foot. 

There  were  no  well  lighted  and  comfortably  fur- 
nished depots  at  frequent  intervals  along  the  line, 
nor  was  there  a  corps  of  persons  who  gained  their 
livelihood  by  promoting  the  road  or  by  serving  as 

129 


130  THE  PALIMPSEST 

conductors  and  engineers  on  the  trains.  No  fare 
was  charged  and  the  conductors,  in  many  instances 
the  most  influential  citizens,  rendered  their  services 
whenever  the  occasion  demanded,  without  thought 
of  compensation.  They  also  supplied  the  depots, 
which  varied  from  a  room  in  the  conductor's  home 
to  a  cave  in  his  back  yard. 

The  Underground  Eailroad  in  Iowa  was  only  a 
part  of  a  complete  system  with  trunk  lines  and 
branches  which  extended  through  practically  all  of 
the  northern  States.  The  main  line  entered  the 
State  in  its  southwest  corner  near  Tabor,  passed 
through  the  towns  of  Lewis,  Des  Moines,  Grinnell, 
Iowa  City,  West  Liberty,  Tipton,  DeWitt,  and  Low 
Moor,  and  crossed  the  Mississippi  River  at  Clinton 
to  connect  with  a  route  in  Illinois. 

Most  of  the  fugitives  who  came  from  Nebraska 
and  Missouri  and  entered  Iowa  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  the  State  first  boarded  the  Underground 
Eailroad  at  or  near  the  town  of  Civil  Bend  (now 
Percival),  about  five  miles  east  of  the  Missouri  River 
and  twenty-five  miles  north  of  the  northern  boun- 
dary of  Missouri.  From  this  point  fugitives  were 
conveyed  to  Tabor.  This  was  a  very  important  sta- 
tion because  here  the  entire  population  was  in  sym- 
pathy with  escaping  slaves  and  practically  every 
family  was  ready  to  do  anything  to  help  the  fugi- 
tives. Sometimes  the  slaves  were  escorted  to  the 
next  station  on  foot,  sometimes  they  were  driven  in 
buggies  or  oxcarts  or  wagons. 


UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD  IN  IOWA       131 

In  the  western  part  of  the  State  the  problem  was 
a  comparatively  simple  one.  The  population  was 
still  quite  sparse  and  the  chances  of  detection  cor- 
respondingly small.  But  it  must  be  remembered 
that  every  person  aiding  a  slave  to  escape  was  a 
violator  of  the  fugitive  slave  law  and  as  such  ren- 
dered himself  liable  to  fine  and  imprisonment.  So 
even  here  the  promoters  were  compelled  to  exercise 
continual  vigilance  lest  they  and  their  passengers  be 
apprehended.  It  was  necessary  to  have  agents 
promptly  at  their  posts  so  that  no  time  would  be 
lost  in  forwarding  the  passengers.  Notices  must  be 
sent  ahead  telling  of  coming  passengers,  warnings 
of  approaching  danger  must  be  given,  and  necessary 
funds  had  to  be  provided.  The  responsibility  for 
carrying  out  these  matters  devolved  upon  the  con- 
ductors of  the  road. 

All  along  the  route  of  the  Underground  Railroad 
were  families  willing  to  make  their  home  a  station 
for  the  refuge  and  forwarding  of  runaway  slaves. 
It  was  not  always  possible  to  dispatch  the  passen- 
gers to  the  next  station  immediately  and  in  such 
cases  they  were  concealed  in  the  homes  of  promoters, 
in  their  garrets  or  cellars,  sometimes  in  caves  on  or 
near  the  premises,  and  quite  frequently  in  outbuild- 
ings until  a  favorable  opportunity  for  a  "flitting" 
presented  itself.  Most  of  the  trains  were  dispatched 
at  night  and  indeed  the  darkest  and  stormiest  nights 
were  preferred  for  the  operations.  Sometimes  pas- 
sengers remained  at  a  station  for  days  at  a  time 


132  THE  PALIMPSEST 

until  an  opportunity  for  sending  them  on  should  pre- 
sent itself  or  be  created  by  the  conductor. 

In  this  manner  fugitives  passed  through  the  vari- 
ous towns  —  from  Percival  to  Tabor,  through  Lewis 
and  Des  Moines  to  Grinnell.  Here  it -was  almost 
certain  that  the  well  known  J.  B.  Grinnell  would  take 
care  of  the  fugitives.  He  had  a  room  in  his  home 
which  was  very  appropriately  called  the  "liberty 
room"  and  was  devoted  to  the  harboring  of  passen- 
gers on  the  Underground  Railroad.  No  doubt  this 
made  a  very  comfortable  station.  When  John 
Brown  came  to  Grinnell  with  his  band  of  fugitives 
from  Missouri  on  that  cold  night  in  the  winter  of 
1858-1859,  it  was  in  this  room  that  the  fugitives 
were  cheered  and  given  an  opportunity  to  rest.  Thus 
with  rests  at  frequent  intervals  the  fugitives  con- 
tinued their  journey  from  town  to  town.  After 
Grinnell  came  Iowa  City,  then  West  Liberty,  Tipton, 
Low  Moor,  and  finally  Clinton. 

In  the  eastern  part  of  the  State,  Underground 
Eailroading  required  great  care  and  precaution  in 
order  to  avoid  detection,  but  the  promoters  were 
equal  to  the  occasion  and  resorted  to  various  means 
for  forwarding  the  passengers.  On  one  occasion 
John  Brown  was  able  to  secure  railroad  passage  for 
his  band  of  fugitives.  Through  the  good  offices  of 
William  Penn  Clarke,  of  Iowa  City,  and  J.  B.  Grin- 
nell, a  box  car  was  obtained  and  held  in  readiness  at 
West  Liberty.  The  fugitives  were  then  dispatched 
to  this  place  from  Springdale  and,  after  spending 


UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD  IN  IOWA       133 

the  night  in  Keith rs  Mill  (an  old  grist  mill  near  the 
station),  were  loaded  into  the  empty  freight  car. 
The  car  was  then  attached  to  a  train  bound  for 
Chicago  on  the  Eock  Island  Railroad.  At  Chicago 
the  famous  detective,  Allen  Pinkerton,  took  the  party 
in  charge  and  dispatched  it  to  Detroit. 

All  passengers,  however,  were  not  as  fortunate  as 
this  band.  Most  of  them  had  to  go  from  station  to 
station  by  the  slower  methods  of  horse-drawn  con- 
veyance or  on  foot.  At  Iowa  City  William  Penn 
Clarke  and  Dr.  Jesse  Bowen  were  always  ready  to 
aid  the  cause.  It  was  in  the  latter 's  home,  situated 
on  Iowa  Avenue  between  Governor  and  Summit 
streets,  that  John  Brown  was  concealed  during  his 
last  night  in  Iowa  City  when  he  was  hard  pressed 
by  a  band  of  men  bent  on  capturing  him  because  of 
his  "  nigger  stealing  ". 

After  a  "  stop-over "  in  Iowa  City  passengers 
might  be  ticketed  to  one  of  several  stations.  Per- 
haps they  could  be  taken  to  Springdale  to  partake  of 
the  hospitality  of  the  Quakers,  and  from  there  to 
West  Liberty.  Perhaps  conditions  were  favorable 
for  making  a  longer  run  and  the  train  might  go 
directly  to  West  Liberty.  At  this  place  the  old  grist 
mill  which  harbored  John  Brown's  band  of  fugitives 
would  probably  serve  as  a  waiting  room. 

The  next  stop  was  generally  Tipton.  For  reasons 
known  to  the  operators  the  railroad  did  not  run  into 
the  town.  As  is  sometimes  the  case  with  the  steam 
railroads  of  to-day  the  depot  was  on  the  outskirts  of 


134  THE  PALIMPSEST 

the  village.  The  Humphrey  home  situated  about  two 
and  one-half  miles  south  of  Tipton  was  an  important 
station  on  the  Underground  Eailroad.  A  member  of 
the  family  has  related  that  it  was  not  unusual  for 
whole  families  of  colored  folk  to  remain  at  their 
home  over  night.  The  next  day  it  was  Grandfather 's 
task  to  carry  them  farther  on  their  way.  Daylight 
did  not  prevent  the  operations  of  this  conductor. 
He  would  load  the  human  freight  into  his  wagon 
and  cover  them  with  blankets,  thus  disguising  them 
as  bags  of  grain. 

Once  more  the  train  was  in  motion.  On  the  long 
lonely  stretches  of  the  road  between  the  Humphrey 
home  and  Posten's  Grove  —  a  distance  of  about  fif- 
teen miles  —  curly  heads  and  black  faces  often 
popped  out  from  among  the  "  grain  sacks  "  to  survey 
the  country  through  which  the  train  was  passing. 
When  strangers  appeared  the  command  was  to 
"duck".  Needless  to  say  the  order  was  promptly 
obeyed  and  the  passengers  became  part  of  the  load 
of  bags  of  grain  which,  to  all  appearances,  Grand- 
father was  hauling  to  the  grist  mill.  When  Posten  ?s 
Grove  was  reached  this  venerable  old  conductor  had 
completed  his  "run".  He  transferred  his  passen- 
gers to  the  care  of  other  conductors  who  in  turn 
relayed  them  to  DeWitt,  next  to  Low  Moor  and 
finally  to  Clinton  —  the  last  Iowa  station  on  the 
Underground  Eailroad. 

The  final  stages  of  the  trip  through  Iowa  were  the 
most  difficult  and  perhaps  therefore  the  most  inter- 


UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD  IN  IOWA       135 

esting.  In  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  population 
was  more  dense  and  hence  a  greater  number  of  per- 
sons were  opposed  to  the  Underground  Eailroad. 
This  necessitated  greater  vigilance  and  more  de- 
tailed and  complete  organization.  The  number  of 
persons  engaged  in  the  work  was  also  greater  in 
proportion  to  the  work  to  be  done.  Some  of  the 
prominent  agents  in  DeWitt  were  Captain  Burdette, 
Judge  Graham,  and  Mrs.  J.  D.  Stillman.  These 
people  could  be  trusted  to  take  care  of  the  fugitives 
and  to  send  them  on  to  Low  Moor  when  they  thought 
conditions  favorable.  In  this  latter  town  were  G.  W. 
Weston,  Abel  B.  Gleason,  B.  E.  Palmer,  J.  B.  Jones, 
Lawrence  Mix,  Nelson  Olin,  and  others  who  were 
anxious  to  tender  their  services. 

The  guiding  spirit  and  chief  promoter  of  the 
Underground  Eailroad  at  this  place  seems  to  have 
been  G.  W.  Weston.  It  devolved  upon  him  espe- 
cially to  see  that  agents  and  stations  were  in  readi- 
ness, to  provide  the  necessary  funds,  to  give  warn- 
ings of  approaching  danger,  and  to  advise  the  master 
of  the  next  station  about  coming  passengers.  On 
one  occasion  G.  W.  Weston  sent  the  following  letter 
to  C.  B.  Campbell  at  Clinton : 

Low  Moor,  May  6,  1859. 
Mr.  C.  B.  C. : 

DEAR  SIR —  By  tomorrow  evening's  mail,  you  will  re- 
ceive two  volumes  of  the  "Irrepressible  Conflict"  bound  in 
Hack.  After  perusal,  please  forward,  and  oblige 

Yours  truly,  G.  W.  W. 


136  THE  PALIMPSEST 

This  is  typical  of  the  correspondence  carried  on  be- 
tween stations.  Such  were  the  train  dispatches. 
They  served  the  purpose  of  telling  the  agent  at  the 
next  station  of  the  coming  of  fugitives,  together 
with  a  pretty  accurate  idea  of  the  number;  and  the 
peculiar  wording  in  which  the  information  was 
couched  often  told  of  the  age,  complexion,  and  sex 
of  the  comers. 

When  the  fugitives  arrived  in  Clinton  it  was 
usually  C.  B.  Campbell  who  sought  a  place  for  them 
to  stay.  Quite  frequently  he  would  secrete  them  in 
the  attic  of  his  home,  a  small  frame  building  near 
the  corner  of  Sixth  Avenue  and  Second  Street.  On 
other  occasions  fugitives  were  kept  in  a  cave,  used 
as  a  cellar,  in  a  garden  belonging  to  J.  R.  and  A. 
Bather,  or  in  the  garret  of  their  home  until  the  next 
train  was  ready  to  start.  It  happened  at  one  time 
that  two  fugitive  slaves  —  a  man  and  his  wife  — 
were  being  concealed  in  this  garret  when  a  message 
was  received  from  DeWitt  that  slave  catchers  were 
in  hot  pursuit.  This  place  of  concealment  was 
thought  to  be  too  much  suspected  and  it  was  deemed 
best  to  have  a  "flitting"  as  soon  as  possible. 

Andrew  Bather  undertook  to  convey  the  fugitives 
out  of  the  town.  He  procured  for  the  occasion  a 
covered  family  carriage  which  belonged  to  H.  P. 
Stanley.  In  this  he  transported  them  to  Lyons  to 
which  place  C.  B.  Campbell  had  gone  to  hire  a  skiff 
to  convey  them  across  the  river.  The  river  was  full 
of  ice  and  it  was  only  after  paying  a  high  price  that 


UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD  IN  IOWA       137 

the  owner  of  the  skiff  agreed  to  make  the  crossing. 
During  this  trip  the  woman,  whose  complexion  was 
so  fair  as  to  give  her  the  appearance  of  a  white 
woman,  represented  herself  as  the  owner  of  her 
husband. 

Not  all  of  the  fugitives  passed  through  the  sta- 
tions which  we  have  mentioned.  Many  never 
reached  any  of  them.  There  were  at  least  three 
parallel  lines  of  the  Underground  Railroad  branch- 
ing from  Tabor  and  running  eastward  to  the  Missis- 
sippi. Besides  these  main  lines  there  were  innumer- 
able branch  lines  and  "spurs"  which  connected  with 
the  main  lines.  The  presence  of  so  many  routes  was 
due  to  the  fact  that  not  all  of  the  escaping  negroes 
entered  Iowa  in  its  southwest  corner.  They  came 
into  the  State  at  various  points  along  the  southern 
border  wherever  the  opportunity  existed.  In  fact 
the  great  majority  of  the  slaves  effected  their  escape 
alone,  and  completed  the  first  and  in  many  respects 
the  most  difficult  part  of  their  journey  towards  free- 
dom unaided. 

Negroes  talked  among  themselves  of  the  land  of 
freedom  off  to  the  north  and  told  each  other  of  the 
Underground  Railroad.  They  knew  there  were 
hosts  of  friends  who  would  help  them  on  to  ultimate 
freedom  if  they  could  only  be  reached.  With  this 
knowledge  many  slaves  took  their  lives  in  their 
hands  and  escaped  from  their  masters,  hiding  in  the 
woods  or  caves  by  day  and  progressing  slowly  and 
cautiously  at  night  trusting  that  somewhere  they 


138  THE  PALIMPSEST 

would  reach  this  Underground  Railroad  of  which 
they  had  heard. 

Along  the  southern  border  of  Iowa  were  many 
negroes — some  of  them  slaves  and  some  of  them  free 
—  who  made  it  their  business  to  aid  their  escaping 
brethren.  Very  often  they  did  little  more  than  ferry 
them  across  a  stream  or  direct  them  to  the  home  of 
some  abolitionist  friend.  A  negro  could  render  such 
services  with  comparatively  little  risk  to  himself. 
Having  once  obtained  the  exact  location  of  the  first 
Underground  Eailroad  station  the  traveller  need 
only  exercise  precaution  against  being  seen  by  his 
enemies.  He  need  not  fear  a  lack  of  welcome,  re- 
gardless of  the  hour  at  which  he  might  present  him- 
self to  the  station  master.  The  timid  and  uncertain 
knocking  at  the  door  would  invariably  be  recognized 
by  the  family  as  the  signal  of  the  arrival  of  a  new 
passenger. 

In  the  southwestern  part  of  the  State  there  were 
several  short  routes  with  initial  stations  at  Croton, 
Bloomfield,  Lancaster,  and  Cincinnati,  all  of  which 
no  doubt  connected  with  some  main  line  and  had 
their  Iowa  terminals  along  the  Mississippi.  Farther 
east  was  the  Quaker  village  of  Salem,  conveniently 
surrounded  by  numerous  woods  and  streams,  which 
made  hiding  in  this  vicinity  quite  easy  for  the  ne- 
groes. At  night  they  could  proceed  to  almost  any  of 
the  Quaker  homes,  for  practically  without  exception 
the  Quaker  families  were  known  to  be  friends  of  the 
escaping  slaves.  Through  the  village  of  Denmark, 


UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD  IN  IOWA       139 

about  seventeen  miles  from  Burlington,  connection 
with  the  Underground  Railroad's  trunk  line  could 
also  be  conveniently  made.  Here  was  the  home  of 
Dr.  George  Shedd,  a  rather  bold  and  independent 
operator.  Practicing  medicine  was  his  chosen  pro- 
fession but  on  the  side  he  talked  abolition  quite 
openly  and  privately  worked  slaves  northward  to 
Canada. 

Not  all  the  slaves  who  set  out  to  seek  their  freedom 
attained  their  object.  Negroes  represented  a  con- 
siderable sum  of  wealth  and  naturally  southern 
slave-owners  were  very  reluctant  to  see  their  prop- 
erty disappear.  It  is  small  wonder  then  that  those 
who  suffered  loss  of  slaves  should  term  the  Under- 
ground Railroad  directors  ' '  nigger-stealers "  and 
exert  every  effort  to  recover  their  property.  In 
doing  so  they  very  often  resorted  to  methods  which 
put  them  in  unpleasant  positions.  The  story  is  told 
of  Mr.  Nuckolls  of  Nebraska  City,  Nebraska,  who 
lost  two  girl  slaves  in  December  of  the  year  1858. 
He  correctly  guessed  that  they  had  escaped  into 
Iowa  and  promptly  began  the  hunt  for  them  at 
Tabor. 

First,  he  took  precautions  to  guard  the  crossings 
on  Silver  Creek  and  Nishnabotna  River  over  which 
his  slaves  would  be  required  to  pass  on  their  way 
east.  Then  he  began  his  search,  but  a  train  had 
promptly  been  fitted  out  and  the  passengers  dis- 
patched before  Mr.  Nuckolls  arrived  at  Tabor  so  his 
quest  availed  him  nothing.  Knowing  Tabor  to  be  an 


140  THE  PALIMPSEST 

abolitionist  center  he  decided  to  make  a  more  thor- 
ough search  believing  that  his  slaves  were  hidden  in 
one  of  the  many  stations  in  the  town.  With  perhaps 
twenty  men  to  aid  him  he  began  a  systematic  investi- 
gation of  the  Tabor  homes  —  often  gaining  entrance 
only  by  force  and  violence.  At  one  home  he  met 
with  more  than  ordinary  rebuff  so  he  struck  the 
remonstrating  person  over  the  head,  inflicting  per- 
manent injury.  The  result  of  the  search  was  that 
Mr.  Nuckolls  did  not  recover  the  girls,  and  he  had 
several  thousands  of  dollars  worth  of  damages  to 
pay  besides. 

The  monotony  of  the  life  in  the  Quaker  village  of 
Salem  was  at  one  time  somewhat  relieved  by  the 
attempted  recovery  of  nine  escaped  slaves  belonging 
to  Euel  Daggs  from  Clark  County,  Missouri.  In  the 
beginning  of  June  of  the  year  1848  this  band  of 
slaves  was  successful  in  evading  the  patrols  which 
Missourians  maintained  on  the  roads  to  the  Quaker 
village,  until  they  were  about  a  mile  from  the  town. 
At  this  point,  while  hiding  in  the  bushes,  they  were 
discovered  by  Messrs.  Slaughter  and  McClure,  two 
slave  catchers.  Without  losing  any  time  these  two 
men  proceeded  to  lead  their  "  catch "  back  to  Mis- 
souri. They  had  scarcely  started  on  their  way  when 
they  met  Elihu  Frazier,  Thomas  Clarkson  Frazier, 
and  William  Johnson,  three  stalwart  Quakers  from 
Salem.  One  of  this  party  demanded  that  the  slaves 
be  taken  back  to  Salem  where  the  captors  would  be 
given  the  opportunity  to  press  their  claims  before 


UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD  IN  IOWA       141 

the  Justice  of  the  Peace.  Naturally  this  did  not  meet 
with  the  approval  of  Slaughter  and  McClure  but  the 
Quakers  persisted.  One  of  them  stood  his  ground  to 
the  extent  of  putting  aside  his  proverbial  Quaker 
passiveness,  and  declared  that  he  would  "wade  in 
Missouri  blood  before  the  negroes  should  be  taken. ' ' 
Before  such  determination  the  Missourians  agreed  to 
stake  the  outcome  on  "due  process  of  law",  and  the 
party  repaired  to  the  village. 

No  small  excitement  was  created  by  their  ap- 
proach. Every  citizen  joined  in  the  procession  to- 
wards Justice  Gibbs's  office  in  the  home  of  Hender- 
son Lewelling.  The  room  proving  too  small,  the 
court  adjourned  to  the  meeting-house.  After  a 
hearing  the  case  was  dismissed  because  the  plaintiffs 
were  unable  to  show  warrants  for  the  arrest  of  their 
captives.  For  a  moment  every  one  seemed  at  a  loss 
to  know  what  to  do  next.  Suddenly  Paul  Way  called 
out :  "  If  anybody  wants  to  f  oiler  me,  let  him  f  oiler. ' ' 
Two  of  the  negroes  evidently  did  want  "to  f  oiler" 
and  seized  the  opportunity.  In  a  few  moments  they 
were  on  horseback  and  on  their  way  to  freedom. 
The  remaining  negroes  in  the  party  were  taken  in 
charge  by  friends.  Slaughter  and  McClure  left  the 
village  in  great  anger  promising  to  return  to  wreak 
vengeance. 

A  few  days  later  a  large  number  of  well-armed 
Missourians  paid  Salem  a  visit.  They  veritably  be- 
sieged the  town  and  sent  searching  parties  to  every 
"nigger-stealing  house".  Thomas  Frazier's  home 


142  THE  PALIMPSEST 

was  the  first  to  be  singled  out  for  detailed  investi- 
gation. As  a  matter  of  fact  there  were  slaves  hidden 
here,  but  in  strict  accordance  with  Underground 
Railroading  methods,  he  was  warned  of  the  coming 
visit.  Before  the  party  came  he  "side  tracked"  his 
passengers  to  some  nearby  timber.  The  station 
master  and  his  family  were  quietly  eating  dinner 
when  the  Missourians  arrived  and  with  curses  and 
threats  announced  their  purpose  of  searching  his 
home.  In  true  Quaker  fashion  they  were  quietly  told 
to  do  so.  The  search  was  fruitless.  Other  homes 
were  visited  with  as  little  regard  to  the  rights  and 
feelings  of  the  owners  and  with  similar  results. 

It  is  possible  to  tell  only  a  part  of  the  story  of  the 
Underground  Railroad  in  Iowa.  All  the  methods 
used  in  the  transportation  of  fugitive  slaves  have 
not  been  described,  nor  have  all  the  stations  and 
their  agents  been  named.  To  do  so  would  be  an  im- 
possible task.  It  must  be  remembered  that  this  was 
an  Underground  Railroad.  Its  operations  were 
secret.  The  stories  that  have  come  down  to  us  con- 
stitute but  a  fragmentary  record.  Generally  the 
train  masters  kept  no  dispatch  books  or  records  of 
train  schedules  or  of  passengers,  for  should  such 
records  fall  into  the  hands  of  those  who  tried  to 
enforce  the  fugitive  slave  law  they  would  constitute 
most  incriminating  evidence.  Enough  of  its  story  is 
known,  however,  to  show  that  as  an  institution  the 
Underground  Railroad  has  played  its  part  in  the 
history  of  the  State.  Not  only  did  it  bridge  the  gap 


UNDERGROUND  RAILROAD  IN  IOWA       143 

between  slavery  and  freedom  for  thousands  of  fugi- 
tives, but  the  hazards  and  adventures  of  the  traffic 
served  to  lend  fascination  to  the  frontier  life;  and 
the  story  of  the  operation  of  the  system  gives  a  pic- 
ture of  the  ideals,  the  character,  the  resourcefulness 
and  the  fearlessness  of  the  early  settlers  of  the 
State. 

JACOB  VAN  EK 


Big  Game  Hunting  in  Iowa 

[The  following  account  of  a  hunting  trip  in  1835  in  northeastern 
Iowa  was  written  by  the  Englishman,  Charles  Augustus  Murray,  who 
wandered  widely  in  America  in  1834-1836  and  described  his  adven- 
tures in  a  two-volume  work  entitled  Travels  in  North  America.  The 
extract  here  printed  is  from  pages  110-129  of  the  second  volume. — 
THE  EDITOR.] 

I  found  that  two  or  three  of  the  officers  were  plan- 
ning a  hunting  expedition  towards  the  head  waters 
of  Turkey  Eiver  (which  runs  from  north-west  to 
south-east  and  falls  into  the  Mississippi  some  miles 
below  Prairie  du  Chien),  where  we  were  told  that 
pheasants,  deer,  elk,  and  other  game  were  in  the 
greatest  abundance.  I  requested  permission  to  join 
the  party,  as  my  object  was  to  see  the  country;  and  I 
could  get  no  steam-boat,  or  other  opportunity  of  vis- 
iting St.  Peter's  and  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony. 

We  accordingly  set  out  in  a  large  boat,  containing 
about  twenty  men,  a  light  cart,  a  pony,  plenty  of 
provisions,  and  a  due  supply  of  ammunition.  Being 
obliged  to  ascend  the  Mississippi  about  ten  miles, 
our  progress  was  extremely  slow ;  for  the  stream  was 
strong,  the  head  wind  blowing  pretty  fresh  (accom- 
panied by  an  icy  chilling  sleet) ;  and  the  boat  could 
only  be  propelled  by  being  pushed  up  with  long 
poles  along  the  shores  of  the  various  islands,  where 
the  current  was  the  least  formidable.  However,  as  it 
was  a ' '  party  of  pleasure, ' '  the  men  were  in  the  high- 
est spirits,  forgot  the  wet  and  the  cold,  and  the  boat 

144 


BIG  GAME  HUNTING  IN  IOWA  145 

echoed  with  jokes  and  laughter.  A  cap  was  blown 
overboard,  and  a  fellow  plunged  head  over  heels 
into  the  stream  after  it;  he  went  some  feet  under 
water,  rose,  swam  in  pursuit,  recovered  the  cap,  bore 
it  in  triumph  to  land,  and  running  up  along  the  bank, 
was  taken  again  on  board 

In  spite  of  wind  and  sleet,  we  were  soon  obliged  to 
resume  our  slow  ascent  of  the  river,  and  in  due 
course  of  time  arrived  at  Painted  Eock,  the  place  of 
our  debarkation.  We  pitched  our  tent  in  a  low 
marshy  hollow,  which  would  be  an  admirable  situa- 
tion for  a  temple  to  the  goddess  of  fever  and  ague. 
On  the  following  morning  we  commenced  our  march 
into  the  interior:  the  whole  party  (consisting  of 
three  officers,  four  soldiers,  myself,  and  servant)  was 
on  foot,  and  a  stout  pony  drew  our  baggage  in  a  sort 
of  springless  vehicle,  resembling  a  small  English  tax- 
cart.  After  a  tedious  march  over  a  high,  barren,  and 
uninteresting  prairie,  for  three  days,  at  the  rate  of 
twenty  or  twenty-five  miles  a  day,  we  arrived  at  the 
point  on  Turkey  River  at  which  our  grand  hunt  was 
to  commence. 

On  the  third  day,  in  the  forenoon,  an  Indian  came 
gallopping  down  with  a  loose  rein  towards  us.  On  a 
nearer  approach  he  proved  to  be  a  Winnebago,  who 
had  left  his  band  (which  was  distant  two  or  three 
miles)  to  reconnoitre  our  party.  We  soon  came  up 
with  their  main  body,  which  was  encamped  by  the 
side  of  a  wooded  hill,  and  presented  a  wild  and  pic- 
turesque appearance.  They  had  just  struck  their 


146  THE  PALIMPSEST 

lodges,  and  were  loading  the  horses  to  recommence 
their  march,  when  we  came  up  with  them.  Two  or 
three  of  the  chiefs,  and  the  principal  men,  were  sit- 
ting, as  usual,  and  smoking,  while  the  women  gath- 
ered the  bundles  and  packs,  and  the  boys  ran  or  gal- 
lopped  about,  catching  the  more  wild  and  refractory 
beasts  of  burthen.  The  officer  of  our  party  knew  the 
chief,  who  had  been  down  frequently  to  Fort  Craw- 
furd,  and  we  accordingly  sat  down  and  smoked  the 
pipe  of  peace  and  recognition. 

The  conversation  between  white  men  and  Winne- 
bagoes  is  almost  always  carried  on  in  Saukie,  Meno- 
menee,  or  some  other  dialect  of  the  Chippeway,  as 
their  own  language  can  scarcely  be  acquired  or  pro- 
nounced by  any  but  their  own  tribe :  it  is  dreadfully 
harsh  and  guttural;  the  lips,  tongue,  and  palate, 
seem  to  have  resigned  their  office  to  the  uvula  in  the 
throat,  or  to  some  yet  more  remote  ministers  of 
sound.  In  all  the  Upper  Mississippi  I  only  heard  of 
one  white  man  who  could  speak  and  understand  it 
tolerably;  but  their  best  interpreter  is  a  half-breed 
named  Pokette,  who  is  equally  popular  with  his 
white  and  red  brethren;  the  latter  of  whom  have 
granted  him  several  fine  tracts  of  land  in  the  Wis- 
consin territory,  where  he  resides.  I  am  told  that  he 
keeps  thirty  or  forty  horses,  and  has  made  a  fortune 
of  above  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

I  fell  in  with  him  at  Galena,  and  had  half  an  hour's 
conversation  with  him,  only  for  the  pleasure  of  look- 
ing at  him  and  scanning  his  magnificent  and  Hercu- 


BIG  GAME  HUNTING  IN  IOWA  147 

lean  frame.  I  think  he  is  the  finest  (though  by  no 
means  the  largest)  mould  of  a  man  that  ever  I  saw: 
he  is  about  six  feet  four  inches  in  height,  and  as  per- 
fectly proportioned  as  painter  or  statuary  could  de- 
sire. Perhaps  his  arms  and  legs  are  too  muscular 
for  perfect  beauty  of  form;  still,  that  is  a  defect 
easily  pardoned.  His  countenance  is  open,  manly, 
and  intelligent;  and  his  ruddy  brown  complexion, 
attesting  the  mingled  blood  of  two  distinct  races, 
seems  to  bid  defiance  to  cold,  heat,  or  disease.  He  is 
proverbially  good-natured,  and  is  universally  con- 
sidered the  strongest  man  in  the  Upper  Mississippi. 

He  is  said  never  to  have  struck  any  person  in 
anger  except  one  fellow,  a  very  powerful  and  well- 
known  boxer,  from  one  of  the  towns  on  the  river, 
who  had  heard  of  Pokette  's  strength,  and  went  to  see 
him  with  the  determination  of  thrashing  (or,  in 
American  phrase,  whipping)  him.  Accordingly  he 
took  an  opportunity  of  giving  a  wanton  and  cruel 
blow  to  a  favourite  dog  belonging  to  Pokette;  and, 
on  the  latter  remonstrating  with  him  on  his  conduct, 
he  attempted  to  treat  the  master  as  he  had  treated 
the  dog.  On  offering  this  insolent  outrage,  he  re- 
ceived a  blow  from  the  hand  of  Pokette  which  broke 
the  bridge  of  his  nose,  closed  up  both  his  eyes,  and 
broke  or  bruised  some  of  the  bones  of  the  forehead 
so  severely  as  to  leave  his  recovery  doubtful  for 
several  weeks. 

To  return  to  the  Winnebago  encampment.  As  the 
Indians  were  also  upon  a  hunting  expedition'  on 


148  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Turkey  River,  we  all  started  together,  and  went  a 
few  miles  in  the  same  direction;  but  we  soon  divided, 
and  they  proceeded  to  the  south-west,  while  our 
party  kept  a  north-west  course;  consequently,  on 
reaching  the  river,  they  were  camped  about  six  or 
eight  miles  below  us.  I  little  thought  that  these 
rascals  would  so  pertinaciously  and  successfully  en- 
deavour to  spoil  our  sport;  but  I  suppose  they  con- 
sidered us  intruders,  and  determined  to  punish  us 
accordingly.  We  had,  in  the  mean  time,  killed  noth- 
ing but  a  few  pheasants  and  grouse ;  but  our  object 
in  coming  to  Turkey  Eiver  was  to  find  deer,  elks, 
and  bears,  all  of  which  we  had  been  taught  to  expect 
in  abundance.  We  pitched  our  camp  in  a  well- 
wooded  valley  (called  here  "a  bottom ")  formed  by 
the  river;  our  wigwam  was  constructed,  after  the 
Menomenee  fashion,  of  mats  made  from  a  kind  of 
reed,  and  bound  firmly  in  a  semicircular  form  to  a 
frame-work  of  willow,  or  other  elastic  wood,  fastened 
by  strings  formed  from  the  bark  of  the  elm.  The 
soldiers  cut  an  abundance  of  firewood,  and  we  were 
well  provided  with  flour,  biscuit,  coffee,  and  pork ;  so 
that  we  had  little  to  fear  from  cold  or  hunger. 

The  day  after  our  arrival  we  all  set  off  in  different 
directions  in  search  of  game.  Some  of  the  party 
contented  themselves  with  shooting  ducks  and  pheas- 
ants; I  and  two  or  three  others  went  in  pursuit  of 
the  quadruped  game.  I  confess  I  expected  to  kill 
one  or  two  elk,  perhaps  a  bear,  and  common  deer  ad 
libitum;  however,  after  a  walk  of  six  or  eight  hours, 


BIG  GAME  HUNTING  IN  IOWA  149 

during  which  I  forded  the  river  twice,  and  went  over 
many  miles  of  ground,  I  returned  without  having 
seen  a  single  deer.  This  surprised  me  the  more,  as  I 
saw  numberless  beds  and  paths  made  by  them,  but 
no  track  of  either  elk  or  bear.  My  brother  sports- 
men were  equally  unfortunate,  and  no  venison  graced 
our  board.  I  had,  however,  heard  a  great  many 
shots,  some  of  which  were  fired  before  daylight,  and 
we  soon  perceived  that  our  Indian  neighbours  had 
laid  a  plan  to  drive  all  the  deer  from  the  vicinity  of 
our  encampment. 

We  continued  to  while  away  some  hours  very 
agreeably  in  bee-hunting,  at  which  sport  two  or  three 
of  the  soldiers  were  very  expert.  Of  the  bee-trees 
which  we  cut  down,  one  was  very  rich  in  honey;  the 
flavour  was  delicious,  and  I  ate  it  in  quantities  which 
would  have  nauseated  me  had  it  been  made  from 
garden  plants,  instead  of  being  collected  from  the 
sweet  wild  flowers  of  the  prairie.  Our  life  was  most 
luxurious  in  respect  of  bed  and  board,  for  we  had 
plenty  of  provisions,  besides  the  pheasants,  grouse, 
&c.  that  we  shot ;  and  at  night  the  soldiers  made  such 
a  bonfire  of  heavy  logs  as  to  defy  the  annoyances  of 
wet  and  cold. 

The  second  day's  sport  was  as  fruitless  as  the 
first ;  but  the  same  firing  continued  all  around  us,  for 
which  we  vented  many  maledictions  on  our  Indian 
tormentors.  On  the  third  day  I  contented  myself 
with  sauntering  along  the  banks  of  the  river  and 
shooting  a  few  pheasants:  evening  was  closing  in, 


150 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


the  weather  was  oppressively  warm,  and  I  lay  down 
at  the  foot  of  a  great  tree  to  rest  and  cool  myself  by 
the  breath  of  a  gentle  breeze,  which  crept  with  a  low 
whisper  through  its  leaves,  when  I  distinctly  heard 
a  plashing  noise  in  the  water  at  the  distance  of  a 
hundred  yards.  I  rolled  myself,  silently  and  stealth- 
ily as  a  snake,  towards  the  spot  —  the  plashing  still 
continued,  and  I  thought  it  must  be  an  Indian,  either 
performing  his  ablutions,  or  walking  up  the  bed  of 
the  stream,  in  order  to  conceal  his  footprints.  At 
length  I  reached  the  unwieldy  stump  of  a  fallen  tree, 
from  which  I  could  command  a  view  of  the  water; 
and  raising  my  head  cautiously,  saw  a  magnificent 
stag  bathing  and  refreshing  himself,  unconscious  of 
the  glittering  tube  which  was  pointed  straight  at  his 
heart. 

I  never  saw  a  more  noble  or  graceful  animal;  he 
tossed  his  great  antlers  in  the  air,  then  dipped  his 
nose  in  the  water  and  snorted  aloud;  then  he 
stamped  with  his  feet,  and  splashed  till  the  spray  fell 
over  his  sleek  and  dappled  sides.  Here  a  sportsman 
would  interrupt  me,  saying,  "A  truce  to  your  de- 
scription,—  did  you  shoot  him  through  the  brain  or 
through  the  heart  ?"  And  a  fair  querist  might  ask, 
"Had  you  the  heart  to  shoot  so  beautiful  a  crea- 
ture ?"  Alas!  alas!  my  answer  would  satisfy  nei- 
ther !  I  had  left  my  rifle  at  home,  and  had  only  my 
fowling-piece,  loaded  with  partridge  shot;  I  was 
sixty  yards  from  the  stag,  and  could  not  possibly 
creep,  undiscovered,  a  step  nearer,  and  I  had  not  the 


BIG  GAME  HUNTING  IN  IOWA  151 

heart  to  wound  the  poor  animal,  when  there  was 
little  or  no  chance  of  killing  him.  I  therefore  saw 
him  conclude  his  bath;  and  then  clearing,  at  one 
bound,  the  willow  bushes  which  fringed  the  opposite 
bank,  he  disappeared  in  a  thicket.  I  marked  well  the 
place ;  and  resolving  to  take  an  early  opportunity  of 
renewing  my  visit  under  more  favourable  circum- 
stances, returned  home. 

On  the  following  day,  I  sallied  forth  with  my 
trusty  double-rifle,  carefully  loaded,  each  barrel 
carrying  a  ball  weighing  an  ounce.  I  chose  the  mid- 
dle of  the  day ;  because  the  deer,  after  feeding  all  the 
morning,  generally  go  down  to  the  streams  to  drink 
previously  to  their  lying  down  during  the  warm 
hours  of  noon-tide.  I  crept  noiselessly  to  my  stump, 
gathered  a  few  scattered  branches  to  complete  the 
shelter  of  my  hiding-place,  and  lay  down  with  that 
mingled  feeling  (so  well  known  to  every  hunter) 
which  unites  the  impatience  of  a  lover  with  the  pa- 
tience of  a  Job !  I  suppose  I  had  been  there  nearly 
two  hours,  when  I  thought  I  heard  a  rustling  on  the 
opposite  side;  it  was  only  a  squirrel  hopping  from 
bough  to  bough.  Again  I  was  startled  by  a  saucy 
pheasant,  who  seemed  conscious  of  the  security 
which  he  now  gained  from  his  insignificance,  and 
strutted,  and  scraped,  and  crowed  within  a  few  paces 
of  the  muzzle  of  my  rifle.  At  length,  I  distinctly 
heard  a  noise  among  the  willows,  on  which  my  anx- 
ious look  was  rivetted;  it  grew  louder  and  louder, 
and  then  I  heard  a  step  in  the  water,  but  could  not 


152  THE  PALIMPSEST 

yet  see  my  victim,  as  the  bank  made  a  small  bend, 
and  lie  was  concealed  by  the  projecting  bushes. 

I  held  my  breath,  examined  the  copper  caps ;  and 
as  I  saw  the  willows  waving  in  the  very  same  place 
in  which  he  had  crossed  the  day  before,  I  cocked  and 
pointed  my  rifle  at  the  spot  where  he  must  emerge: 
the  willows  on  the  very  edge  of  the  bank  move, —  my 
finger  is  on  the  trigger,  when,  NOT  my  noble  stag,  but 
an  Indian  carrying  on  his  shoulder  a  hind-quarter  of 
venison,  jumps  down  upon  the  smooth  sand  of  the 
beach!  I  was  so  mad  with  anger  and  disappoint- 
ment, that  I  could  scarcely  take  the  sight  of  the  rifle 
from  the  fellow's  breast !  I  remained  motionless,  but 
watching  all  his  movements.  He  put  down  his  rifle 
and  his  venison ;  and  shading  his  eyes  with  his  hands, 
made  a  long  and  deliberate  examination  of  the  bank 
on  which  I  was  concealed;  but  my  faithful  stump 
was  too  much  even  for  his  practised  eyes,  and  I  re- 
mained unobserved.  He  then  examined,  carefully, 
every  deer  track  and  foot-print  on  the  sand  whereon 
he  stood;  after  which,  resuming  his  rifle  and  meat, 
he  tried  the  river  at  several  places  in  order  to  find 
the  shallowest  ford. 

As  it  happened,  he  chose  the  point  exactly  oppo- 
site to  me ;  so  that  when  he  came  up  the  bank,  he  was 
within  a  few  feet  of  me.  He  passed  close  by  my 
stump  without  noticing  me,  and  I  then  gave  a  sudden 
and  loud  Pawnee  yell.  He  certainly  did  jump  at  this 
unexpected  apparition  of  a  man  armed  with  a  rifle ; 
but  I  hastened  to  dispel  any  feelings  of  uneasiness 


BIG  GAME  HUNTING  IN  IOWA  153 

by  friendly  signs,  because  I  do  not  conceive  such  a 
trial  to  be  any  fair  test  of  a  man's  courage,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  that  if  he  had  given  me  a  similar  sur- 
prise, I  should  have  been  more  startled  than  he  was. 
He  smiled  when  I  showed  him  my  hiding-place,  and 
explained  to  him  my  object  in  selecting  it.  I  took 
him  home  to  our  wigwam;  and  as  my  companions 
had  met  with  no  success,  we  bought  his  meat  for 
some  bread  and  a  drink  of  whisky. 

On  the  following  day  I  determined  to  get  a  deer, 
and  accordingly  started  with  two  soldiers  to  a  large 
grove  or  bottom,  where  they  had  seen  several  the 
evening  before.  The  weather  was  dry;  and  as  our 
footsteps  on  the  dead  leaves  were  thus  audible  at  a 
great  distance,  the  difficulty  of  approaching  so 
watchful  an  enemy  was  much  increased.  As  the  In- 
dians had  driven  off  the  greater  part  of  the  game 
from  our  immediate  neighbourhood,  we  walked  ten 
or  eleven  miles  up  the  river  before  we  began  to  hunt ; 
we  then  followed  its  winding  descent,  and  saw  three 
or  four  does,  but  could  not  get  near  enough  to  shoot ; 
at  length  one  started  near  me,  and  gallopped  off 
through  the  thick  brushwood.  I  fired  and  wounded 
it  very  severely ;  it  staggered,  and  turned  round  two 
or  three  times;  still  it  got  off  through  the  thicket 
before  I  could  get  another  sight  of  it.  At  the  same 
time,  I  heard  another  shot  fired  by  a  soldier,  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  on  our  right.  I  looked  in  vain  for 
blood,  by  which  to  track  my  wounded  deer,  and  gave 
it  up  in  despair  when,  just  as  I  was  making  towards 


154  THE  PALIMPSEST 

the  river,  to  rejoin  my  companion,  I  came  upon  some 
fresh  blood-tracks :  after  following  them  a  hundred 
yards,  I  found  a  doe  quite  dead,  but  still  warm;  I 
thought  it  was  the  one  which  I  had  just  shot,  and 
hallooed  to  the  soldier,  who  returned  to  assist  me  in 
skinning  and  hanging  it  up  out  of  reach  of  the 
wolves.  On  examining  the  wound,  the  doe  proved  to 
be  the  one  which  he  had  shot,  as  the  ball  had  entered 
on  the  right  side,  and  I  had  fired  from  the  left;  he 
thought  he  had  missed  her. 

We  found  no  more  game  this  day,  and  returned  to 
the  camp.  The  other  sportsmen  had  met  with  no 
success.  The  Indians  now  set  fire  to  the  prairies 
and  woods  all  around  us,  and  the  chance  of  good 
sport  daily  diminished.  These  malicious  neighbours 
were  determined  to  drive  us  from  the  district ;  they 
evidently  watched  our  every  motion;  and  whenever 
we  entered  a  wood  or  grove  to  hunt,  they  were  sure 
to  set  the  dry  grass  on  fire.  Half  a  mile  to  the  wind- 
ward they  pursued  this  plan  so  effectually,  as  not 
only  to  spoil  our  hunting,  but  on  two  occasions  to 
oblige  me  to  provide  hastily  for  my  personal  safety : 
on  the  first  of  these,  they  set  fire  to  a  wood  where  I 
was  passing,  and  compelled  me  to  cross  a  creek  for 
fear  of  being  overtaken  by  the  flames ;  on  the  second, 
having  watched  me  as  I  crossed  a  large  dry  prairie, 
beyond  which  was  some  timber  that  I  wished  to  try 
for  deer,  they  set  fire  to  the  grass  in  two  or  three 
places  to  the  windward ;  and  as  it  was  blowing  fresh 
at  the  time,  I  saw  that  I  should  not  have  time  to 


BIG  GAME  HUNTING  IN  IOWA  155 

escape  by  flight ;  so  I  resorted  to  the  simple  expedi- 
ent, in  which  lies  the  only  chance  of  safety  on  such 
occasions:  I  set  the  prairie  on  fire  where  I  myself 
was  walking,  and  then  placed  myself  in  the  middle 
of  the  black  barren  space  which  I  thus  created,  and 
which  covered  many  acres  before  the  advancing 
flames  reached  its  border;  when  they  did  so  they 
naturally  expired  for  want  of  fuel,  but  they  con- 
tinued their  leaping,  smoking,  and  crackling  way  on 
each  side  of  me  to  the  right  and  to  the  left.  It  was 
altogether  a  disagreeable  sensation,  and  I  was  half 
choked  with  hot  dust  and  smoke. 

On  the  following  afternoon,  I  went  out  again  in  a 
direction  that  we  had  not  tried,  where  the  prairie  was 
not  yet  burnt.  I  could  find  no  deer,  and  the  shades 
of  night  began  to  close  round  me,  when,  on  the  oppo- 
site hills  to  those  on  which  I  stood,  I  observed  two  or 
three  slender  pillars  of  curling  smoke  arising  out  of 
the  wood,  which  was  evidently  now  fired  on  purpose 
by  the  Indians.  I  sat  down  to  watch  the  effect ;  for, 
although  I  had  seen  many  prairie  fires,  I  had  never 
enjoyed  so  good  an  opportunity  as  the  present;  for 
the  ground  rose  in  a  kind  of  amphitheatre,  of  which 
I  had  a  full  and  commanding  view.  Now  the  flames 
crept  slowly  along  the  ground,  then,  as  the  wind  rose, 
they  burst  forth  with  increasing  might,  fed  by  the 
dry  and  decayed  elders  of  the  forest,  which  crackled, 
tottered,  and  fell  beneath  their  burning  power ;  they 
now  rose  aloft  in  a  thousand  fantastic  and  pictur- 
esque forms,  lighting  up  the  whole  landscape  to  a 


156  THE  PALIMPSEST 

lurid  hue;  while  the  dense  clouds  of  smoke  which 
rolled  gloomily  over  the  hills,  mixed  with  the  crash  of 
the  falling  timber,  gave  a  dreadful  splendour  to  the 
scene.  I  sat  for  some  time  enjoying  it;  and  when  I 
rose  to  pursue  my  course  towards  home,  I  had  much 
difficulty  in  finding  it.  The  night  relapsed  into  its 
natural  darkness ;  the  prairie  at  my  feet  was  black, 
burnt,  and  trackless,  and  I  could  see  neither  stream 
nor  outline  of  hill  by  which  to  direct  my  steps. 

I  sat  down  again  for  a  few  minutes  to  rest  myself, 
and  to  recollect,  as  well  as  I  might  be  able,  any  or  all 
the  circumstances  which  should  guide  me  in  the  di- 
rection which  I  ought  to  take.  While  I  remained  in 
this  position  a  band  of  prairie  wolves,  on  an  opposite 
hill,  began  their  wild  and  shrill  concert;  and  I  was 
somewhat  startled  at  hearing  it  answered  by  the  long 
loud  howl  of  a  single  wolf,  of  the  large  black  species, 
that  stood  and  grinned  at  me,  only  a  few  yards  from 
the  spot  where  I  was  seated.  I  did  not  approve  of  so 
close  a  neighbourhood  to  this  animal,  and  I  called 
to  him  to  be  off,  thinking  that  the  sound  of  my  voice 
would  scare  him  away;  but  as  he  still  remained  I 
thought  it  better  to  prepare  my  rifle,  in  case  he 
should  come  still  nearer,  but  determined  not  to  fire 
until  the  muzzle  touched  his  body,  as  it  was  too  dark 
to  make  a  sure  shot  at  any  distance  beyond  a  few 
feet.  However,  he  soon  slunk  away,  and  left  me 
alone. 

Fortunately  I  remembered  the  relative  bearings  of 
our  camp,  and  of  the  point  whence  the  wind  came, 


BIG  GAME  HUNTING  IN  IOWA  157 

and  after  scrambling  through  a  few  thickets,  and 
breaking  my  shins  over  more  than  one  log  of  fallen 
wood,  I  reached  home  without  accident  or  adventure. 
The  whole  country  around  us  was  now  so  completely 
burnt  up  and  devastated,  that  nothing  remained  for 
us  but  to  resume  our  march  towards  the  fort. 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

OLD  AGE 

There  are  many  kinds  of  old  people.  There  are 
those  who  sit  on  quiet  porches  or  potter  about  gar- 
dens in  the  early  morning.  Occasionally  with  feeble 
steps  they  venture  upon  the  street.  They  are  beings 
apart  —  lingerers  from  yesterday's  throng.  Per- 
haps they  see  but  dimly  now  the  landmarks  they 
have  known  so  long,  and  there  is  a  deepening  hush 
for  them  in  the  street  which  yesterday  rang  with 
tumult.  Those  who  pass  them  by  see  only  the  ashes 
of  burnt-out  years  —  forgetting  that  there  must  be 
the  embers  of  fires  kindled  in  the  far-off  days  of 
youth.  They  are  waiting  now  for  the  time  when  the 
glow  of  the  spirit  shall  fade  utterly  and  they  shall 
slip  away  from  a  company  that  is  strange  to  them 
and  join  their  own  generation. 

There  are  others  whose  spirit  and  flesh  seem  to 
disregard  the  years.  They  say  goodbye  to  the 
friends  of  their  own  time  and  yet  they  make  them- 
selves a  part  of  the  newer  order.  They  go  down  the 
years,  wide  awake  but  serene ;  full  of  the  dignity  of 
experience,  and  enjoying  to  the  utmost  "the  last  of 
life  for  which  the  first  was  made ' '. 

The  minds  of  the  old  are  deep  pools  of  memory  - 
sometimes  opaque,  sometimes  murky,  often  clear  as 
crystal.     And  the  tales  that  old  people  tell  vary 

158 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  159 

accordingly.  Sometimes  they  are  mere  water, 
poured  out  endlessly;  often  they  have  a  rich  flavor 
of  old  times  and  strange  ways,  but  are  turbid  and 
confused;  sometimes  they  transport  us,  clear-vi- 
sioned  and  unprejudiced,  into  the  heart  of  yesterday. 
In  spite  of  weakness  of  flesh  and  memory,  these 
men  and  women  heavy  with  years  are  the  living  ties 
that  bind  us  to  the  past.  It  is  a  foolish  generation 
that  neglects  the  lingering  visitors  from  another 
day,  or  refuses  to  listen  to  the  tales  they  have  to  tell. 

MES.  JANE  CLARK  KIRKWOOD 

An  oil  painting  hangs  upon  the  wall  at  a  point 
which  I  pass  a  dozen  times  a  day.  It  is  the  picture 
of  an  old  woman  with  white  hair  surmounted  by  a 
lace  cap.  She  is  sitting  by  a  window  reading  a  book 
and  smiling,  and  outside  the  window  are  hollyhocks 
in  bloom.  A  few  days  ago  —  in  her  hundredth  year 
-  she  quietly  closed  her  book  and  left  the  hollyhock 
window  to  join  her  own  generation. 

She  was  not  a  native  lowan.  When  she  was  born, 
in  1821,  there  were  no  white  residents  in  Iowa.  She 
grew  up  in  Eichland  County,  Ohio,  and  was  doubt- 
less —  at  nineteen  —  somewhat  interested  in  the 
stirring  campaign  of  1840  when  the  favorite  son  of 
her  State,  William  Henry  Harrison,  was  elected 
President.  She  hardly  expected  then  to  live  to  see 
his  grandson,  nearly  half  a  century  later,  chosen  to 
the  same  position,  and  to  live  on  until  that  same 
grandson  had  become  a  part  of  a  bygone  generation. 


160  THE  PALIMPSEST 

She  married,  in  1843,  a  young  lawyer  —  Samuel  J. 
Kirkwood  —  and  came  out  with  him  to  Iowa  a  dec- 
ade later.  She  faced  with  him  the  difficulties  of  the 
war  governorship;  she  lived  at  Washington,  D.  C., 
while  he  was  in  the  United  States  Senate  and  while 
he  was  Secretary  of  the  Interior  under  President 
Hayes.  In  1883  they  took  a  trip  to  California  and 
the  Northwest;  then  they  settled  down  quietly  in 
the  house  they  had  built  in  1864  on  the  edge  of  Iowa 
City.  Governor  Kirkwood  died  in  1894,  but  Mrs. 
Kirkwood  continued  to  occupy  the  old  home  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  more. 

Ninety-nine  years  is  a  long  time  to  live;  it  is  an 
unusually  long  time  for  one  to  keep  an  interest  in 
living.  Mrs.  Kirkwood  was  a  mature  woman  when 
the  Mexican  War  was  fought.  It  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  she  took  part  in  the  Civil  War.  She  ob- 
served with  interest  the  Spanish- American  War,  and 
when  the  World  War  was  in  progress  she  knit  doz- 
ens of  articles  for  the  soldiers.  She  heard  the  fan- 
fare and  tumult  of  the  log  cabin  and  hard  cider 
presidential  campaign  of  1840.  Eighty  years  later, 
in  November,  1920,  she  went  proudly  to  the  polls 
herself  and  cast  her  vote  for  President. 

The  years  were  kind  to  her  and  spared  her  facul- 
ties, and  she  looked  with  sympathetic  and  intelligent 
eyes  upon  the  world.  Such  are  the  characters  that 
dignify  old  age,  that  make  life  seem  worth  while, 
and  that  give  to  history  a  sequence  and  a  meaning. 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 
ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  II  ISSUED  IN  JUNE  1921  No.  6 


*ICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 


Michel  Aco — Squaw-Man 

The  history  of  white  men  in  the  Upper  Mississippi 
Valley  runs  back  approximately  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years;  and  even  in  the  first  distant  quarter 
century  of  that  long  period  there  are  figures  which 
stand  out  clear  and  distinct  against  the  background 
of  prairie  and  stream  and  forest.  High  lights  rest 
upon  the  black  gown  of  Marquette  and  upon  the 
energetic  explorer  Jolliet,  upon  the  restless  La  Salle, 
full  of  visions,  and  upon  Henri  de  Tonty  with  his 
iron  hand.  The  Jesuit  Allouez  passes  from  village 
to  village,  and  the  mendacious  Friar  Hennepin 
moves  about  in  the  foreground. 

The  background  of  the  picture  is  indistinct.  One 
gets  glimpses,  among  the  dusky  Indian  camps,  of 
bearded  Frenchmen  bartering  for  the  peltry  of  the 
region.  One  sees  them  again  packing  canoes  over 
portages  or  joining  the  Indians  in  the  hunt  or  occa- 
sionally on  the  war  path.  One  even  sees,  now  and 

161 


162  THE  PALIMPSEST 

then,  among  the  more  southern  tribes,  a  man  naked 
and  tattooed  who  once  was  a  Frenchman  but  has 
reverted  to  the  life  of  the  wilds. 

They  are  the  lesser  breed  who  follow  their  leaders 
into  the  West,  or  make  their  way  apart.  Some  are 
faithful  and  fine  representatives  of  the  land  of  the 
lilies,  and  some  are  only  knaves,  but  though  as  indi- 
viduals their  ways  may  be  checkered  and  their  paths 
almost  lost  in  the  Valley,  nevertheless  they  deserve 
more  than  obscurity  for  they  are  France  itself  on  the 
far  edge  of  the  New  World. 

The  record  of  those  early  times,  a  hundred  years 
before  the  Eevolutionary  War,  is  voluminous.  The 
wandering  priests  made  long  reports  to  their  supe- 
riors ;  the  explorers  wrote  many  and  detailed  letters 
to  their  patrons  and  friends,  and  beguiled  numerous 
hours  telling  of  the  lands  and  peoples  they  visited, 
the  hardships  they  endured,  and  the  adventures  of 
themselves  and  their  comrades.  So  out  of  these 
thousands  of  pages  of  records  one  can  often  piece 
together  into  a  somewhat  connected  whole  the  story 
of  an  obscure  but  persistent  priest,  or  the  adventures 
of  a  French  fur  trader  —  little  known  to  fame  - 
who  trailed  the  woods  and  prairies  and  paddled 
along  the  streams  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  Valley 
back  in  the  time  when  Peter  Stuyvesant  with  his 
wooden  leg  was  still  stumping  about  the  streets  of 
the  little  village  of  New  York. 

Michel  Aco  —  writers  variously  spell  his  name 
Accault,  Accau,  and  Ako,  but  Aco  he  himself  signed 


MICHEL  AGO  —  SQUAW-MAN  163 

it  —  came  into  the  Valley  in  the  employ  of  La  Salle. 
A  vigorous  and  adventurous  fur  trader  and  ex- 
plorer, he  appears  again  and  again  for  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century.  And  his  experiences  in  the 
Valley  and  his  associations  with  its  people  were  so 
vital  and  intimate  that  they  reflect  vividly  the  life 
of  both  white  and  red  inhabitants. 

When  La  Salle  and  Tonty  made  their  memorable 
trip  into  the  Illinois  country  in  the  winter  of  1679- 
1680  they  brought  with  them  a  motley  group  of  men. 
There  were  priests  and  artisans,  courageous  woods- 
men and  arrant  cowards.  Early  in  January,  the 
party  landed  at  the  village  of  the  Peoria  Indians. 
La  Salle  was  on  his  way  to  the  sea,  but  he  must  make 
haste  slowly.  He  commenced  the  building  of  a  fort 
below  the  Peoria  village  and  beside  it  on  the  shore 
of  the  Illinois  River  his  men  began  the  construction 
of  a  ship  with  a  forty-two  foot  keel  and  a  twelve  foot 
beam.  With  this  he  hoped  ultimately  to  reach  the 
ocean  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  Eiver. 

In  the  meantime  there  were  preliminary  trips  to 
be  made.  La  Salle  determined  to  reconnoitre  the 
upper  Mississippi,  and  on  the  last  day  of  February, 
under  his  directions,  three  men  embarked  in  a  canoe 
loaded  with  provisions  and  trading  goods  and  start- 
ed down  the  Illinois  Eiver.  He  had  chosen  Aco  as 
leader  of  the  expedition  and  with  him  were  Antoine 
Auguel,  called  by  his  comrades  "the  Picard"  be- 
cause of  his  home  in  Picardy,  and  Friar  Louis 
Hennepin,  grey-robed  brother  of  the  Recollect  order. 


164  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Hennepin  was  a  man  of  big  frame  and  high  preten- 
sions, and  time  was  to  show  that  his  boastfulness 
ran  easily  into  mendacity.  His  account  is  almost 
the  only  source  of  information  about  the  important 
voyage  upon  which  he  was  embarking  and  as  he 
chose  to  represent  himself  as  the  leader  of  the  expe- 
dition and  to  refer  to  his  companions  as  "my  two 
men",  the  real  position  of  Aco  has  been  much  mis- 
understood. 

But  La  Salle  has  been  sufficiently  explicit  in  his 
writings  as  to  Aco's  leadership  and  the  reasons  for 
his  selection.  He  chose  Aco  to  ascend  the  Missis- 
sippi, he  said,  because  he  was  versed  in  the  lan- 
guages and  customs  of  the  tribes  which  lay  in  that 
direction.  He  knew  not  only  the  tongues  of  the 
Iroquois  and  the  Illinois  tribes  but  he  could  talk 
with  the  Iowa,  the  Oto,  the  Chippewa,  and  the 
Kickapoo.  He  had  visited  these  Indians  on  La 
Salle 's  orders  and  had  been  successful  in  his  mission 
and  well  received  by  the  villagers.  '  '  Furthermore ' ', 
said  La  Salle,  "he  is  prudent,  courageous  and  cool." 

In  another  letter  La  Salle  remarked  that  Aco  had 
spent  two  winters  and  a  summer  among  these  tribes. 
On  the  basis  of  these  comments  it  is  not  hard  to 
identify  Aco's  experience.  In  the  fall  of  1678 
La  Salle  had  sent  out  from  Fort  Frontenac  —  his 
post  at  the  east  end  of  Lake  Ontario  —  an  advance 
party  of  fifteen  men  with  supplies  and  orders  to 
proceed  to  the  Illinois  country,  trade  for  furs,  and 
collect  provisions.  A  year  later  when  La  Salle  him- 


MICHEL  AGO  —  SQUAW-MAN  165 

self  arrived  at  Mackinac  in  the  Griffon  —  the  first 
ship  on  the  upper  lakes  —  he  found  that  his  advance 
party  had  been  sadly  demoralized.  Some  of  the  men 
were  at  Mackinac;  some  had  deserted  and  he  sent 
Tonty  to  round  them  up  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie;  and 
some  he  found  at  the  entrance  to  Green  Bay.  These 
last  had  been  doing  some  real  trading  and  had  col- 
lected a  quantity  of  furs  which  La  Salle  loaded  upon 
the  Griffon  and  despatched  on  an  unlucky  voyage  to 
Quebec.  The  ship  and  its  crew  were  never  again 
heard  from. 

With  his  force  increased  by  the  reassembled  ad- 
vance party  La  Salle  had  come  down  into  the  Illinois 
country.  It  seems  exceedingly  probable  that  the 
years  of  experience  with  Indian  tribes  which  La 
Salle  credits  to  Aco  came  to  him  as  one  of  the  more 
faithful  members  of  the  advance  party  of  1678. 
Even  in  Hennepin's  biased  account  there  may  be 
found  indications  of  a  sturdiness  and  independence 
in  Aco 's  character,  but  in  what  the  friar  says  of  the 
Picard  there  is  no  evidence  of  such  qualities.  One 
only  gets  the  impression  that  the  Picard  was  a 
timorous  soul. 

Such  then  were  the  three  men  who  embarked  in 
the  spring  of  1680  on  an  expedition  into  a  largely 
unexplored  country.  They  found  adventures  almost 
at  once.  As  they  neared  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois 
Eiver  they  spoke  with  a  band  of  Tamaroas  who 
shortly  afterward  sought  to  ambush  them  from  a 
jutting  point  of  land.  But  the  smoke  of  the  Indian 


166  THE  PALIMPSEST 

camp  fire  gave  them  away  and  the  French  were  able 
to  elude  them. 

Soon  they  were  pushing  their  canoe  with  difficulty 
up  the  current  of  the  Mississippi  Eiver.  They  were 
the  first  white  travellers  who  are  known  to  have 
ascended  the  Mississippi  River  above  the  mouth  of 
the  Illinois  —  for  Marquette  and  Jolliet  seven  years 
before  had  turned  aside  into  the  Illinois  Eiver  on 
their  return  trip;  and  above  the  mouth  of  the  Wis- 
consin they  passed  shores  which  no  French  voyageur 
before  them  had  seen  and  described. 

As  they  paddled  northward  they  feasted  on  the 
fat  of  the  land.  There  were  wild  turkeys  to  be  had 
in  abundance  and  they  varied  their  diet  with  fish 
and  with  the  meat  of  buffalo  and  deer  and  even  with 
the  flesh  of  a  bear  which  they  killed  while  it  was 
swimming  across  the  river.  It  is  impossible  to  tell 
just  what  spots  they  visited  on  the  Iowa  and  Illinois 
shores,  but  they  must  have  made  many  camps  —  by 
night  to  sleep  and  by  day  to  hunt  and  cook  their 
food  —  for  they  were  weeks  upon  the  way. 

One  afternoon  the  three  men  were  on  shore,  some- 
where between  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  and  Lake 
Pepin.  Aco  and  the  Picard  were  cooking  a  wild 
turkey  over  a  camp  fire.  Beside  the  water's  edge 
Hennepin  was  busy  repairing  the  canoe,  when  he 
looked  up  to  see  a  fleet  of  thirty-three  canoes  full  of 
Indians  coming  rapidly  down  the  stream.  The 
Indians  began  to  let  fly  their  arrows  while  they  were 
some  distance  off,  but  soon  they  caught  sight  of  the 


MICHEL  AGO  —  SQUAW-MAN  167 

upraised  calumet  in  the  hands  of  Hennepin.  Sur- 
rounding the  Frenchmen,  however,  they  took  them 
captives  and  after  some  parleying  turned  back  up 
the  river  with  them  toward  their  own  country. 

They  were  Sioux,  and  Aco  could  not  speak  their 
language.  La  Salle  had  counted  on  there  being  al- 
ways an  intermediary  through  whom  Aco  could  talk 
if  he  came  upon  an  unfamiliar  tongue,  for  the  prev- 
alence among  all  Indian  tribes  of  slaves  or  adopted 
members  of  other  tribes  made  it  seem  likely  that 
Aco  could  find  one  whose  tongue  he  knew.  But  these 
warriors  were  all  Sioux.  The  sign  language  must 
serve,  therefore,  for  the  present,  but  it  was  not  long 
before  Aco  had  added  another  Indian  language  to 
his  repertoire. 

Up  the  Mississippi  for  nearly  three  weeks  the  In- 
dians and  their  captives  paddled  with  few  rests. 
For  many  days  the  French  constantly  expected 
death  at  the  hands  of  the  Sioux,  and  the  stores  of 
cloth  and  nails  and  pocket  knives  with  which  they 
had  hoped  to  buy  furs  were  doled  out  in  increasing 
quantities  to  save  their  own  skins.  Not  far  from 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  they  left  the  river  and 
struck  out  across  country  to  the  Sioux  villages  in  the 
Mille  Lac  region.  They  travelled  rapidly,  too  rap- 
idly for  the  friar  in  spite  of  his  big  frame,  and  he 
relates  that  to  keep  him  going  they  set  fire  to  the 
grass  behind  him  and  then  taking  him  by  the  hands 
hurried  him  along  in  front  of  the  flames.  He  was 
forced  to  wade  and  swim  the  streams  and  break,  the 


168  THE  PALIMPSEST 

thin  ice  sometimes  with  his  priestly  shins,  while 
Aco  and  the  Picard  being  smaller  and  unable  to 
swim  were  carried  over  on  the  backs  of  the  Indians. 
One  day  they  painted  the  face  and  hair  of  the  fright- 
ened Picard  and  forced  him  to  sing  and  rattle  a 
gourd  full  of  pebbles  to  keep  time  to  his  music. 

As  they  neared  the  villages,  the  bands  prepared 
to  separate;  and  the  three  captives  were  parcelled 
out  each  to  a  different  village.  The  Picard  came  to 
Hennepin  for  a  last  confession  before  they  parted, 
but  Aco  would  have  none  of  the  friar's  religious 
offices.  He  apparently  had  not  fared  badly  at  the 
hands  of  the  Sioux  and  probably  preferred  their 
company  to  that  of  the  boastful  friar. 

The  adventures  of  Aco  while  apart  from  the  friar 
have  not  been  related.  It  was  not  many  weeks  be- 
fore the  various  bands  came  together  again  and 
Hennepin  found  the  Picard  somewhat  friendly  but 
Aco  still  surly  and  aloof.  The  friar  secured  permis- 
sion to  go  down  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Wisconsin  to  look  for  messengers  whom  he  said  La 
Salle  had  promised  to  send  him  at  that  point.  The 
Picard  accompanied  him,  but  Aco  stayed  with  his 
new  Indian  friends  who  were  then  just  starting  out 
upon  a  buffalo  hunt. 

No  word  came  from  La  Salle,  but  in  the  meantime 
another  Frenchman  —  the  famous  coureur  de  bois 
Du  Lhut  —  who  with  four  companions  had  come  into 
the  Sioux  country  from  the  region  of  Lake  Superior, 
had  heard  with  astonishment  reports  from  the  In- 


MICHEL  AGO  —  SQUAW-MAN  169 

dians  as  to  the  friar  and  his  two  companions.  He 
came  to  investigate  and  late  in  the  summer  of  1680 
he  found  the  three  Frenchmen  returning  with  their 
captors  to  the  Sioux  villages. 

Du  Lhut  was  a  man  of  much  influence  with  the 
Sioux  and  made  vigorous  and  wrathful  protest  when 
he  learned  how  the  three  men  had  been  held  during 
the  summer.  In  fact  he  seems  to  have  ransomed 
them  from  their  captivity;  and  together  the  eight 
Frenchmen  set  out  down  the  river  bound  for  Canada. 
They  ascended  the  Wisconsin,  crossed  the  portage 
into  the  Fox,  and  made  their  way  to  the  Mission  of 
St.  Ignace  at  Mackinac  where  they  spent  the  winter. 
In  the  spring,  Aco  and  the  Picard,  together  with  the 
friar,  passed  on  eastward  through  the  lakes.  At 
Fort  Frontenac  Hennepin  was  able  to  refute  the 
story  that  the  Indians  had  hanged  him  with  his  own 
priestly  cord.  When  they  approached  Montreal, 
Aco  and  the  Picard,  having  valuable  furs  with  them, 
took  leave  of  the  friar  who  entered  the  town  alone  to 
recount  his  many  adventures  to  Frontenac,  the 
Governor  of  New  France. 

It  was  now  the  summer  of  1681.  For  several 
years  there  appears  no  trace  of  Aco.  He  was  not  a 
member  of  the  party  which  with  La  Salle  in  1682 
paddled  down  the  Mississippi  to  the  sea ;  nor  was  he 
with  La  Salle 's  unfortunate  expedition  by  sea  from 
France  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  But  the  lure  of  the 
West  brought  him  back  to  the  Valley  of  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  and  he  joined  Tonty's  forces  in.  the 


170  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Illinois  region.  By  the  year  1694  he  had  evidently 
been  for  some  time  in  the  Valley  for  he  signed  in 
that  year  a  statement  drawn  up  by  Tonty  and  the 
Illinois  Indians  to  the  effect  that  since  1687  the  Illi- 
nois had  killed  or  made  slaves  of  334  men  and  boys 
and  111  women  and  girls  of  the  Iroquois  tribes. 

But  it  was  the  preceding  year  which  was  perhaps 
the  most  important  in  Aco's  life.  By  1693  he  had 
become  more  than  a  mere  trader.  He  had  apparent- 
ly become  a  business  associate  of  Tonty  and  La 
Forest.  After  the  death  of  La  Salle,  his  two  faithful 
lieutenants,  Tonty  and  La  Forest,  were  granted  by 
the  King  of  France  a  trading  monopoly  in  the  Illi- 
nois region  on  the  same  conditions  which  had  ap- 
plied to  their  leader.  Thereupon  Tonty,  who  had 
been  commanding  Fort  St.  Louis  on  what  was  known 
later  as  Starved  Rock,  moved  down  the  Illinois 
River  and  built  a  new  fort  near  the  outlet  of  Lake 
Peoria. 

This  fort  —  called  also  Fort  St.  Louis  or  Fort 
Pimitoui  —  was  the  center  of  a  busy  fur  trade,  and 
connected  with  this  traffic  was  Michel  Aco.  That  he 
was  successful  is  apparent,  for  there  is  still  in  exist- 
ence an  ancient  deed  signed  by  La  Forest  and  "M. 
Aco"  by  which  the  former  ceded  to  Aco  one-half  of 
his  part  of  the  trade  monopoly  held  by  himself  and 
Tonty.  Aco  was  to  pay  for  this  concession  the  sum 
of  "six  thousand  livres  in  current  beaver ".* 

1  This  manuscript  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Chicago  Historical 
Society. 


MICHEL  AGO  —  SQUAW-MAN  171 

The  new  Fort  St.  Louis  was  not  only  the  center 
of  fur  trading  interests.  Like  most  of  the  frontier 
French  posts  it  was  also  closely  associated  with  In- 
dian missionary  enterprises,  and  this  fact  became 
one  of  great  significance  to  Aco.  In  the  same  month 
of  April  that  La  Forest  and  Aco  signed  their  deed 
of  sale,  Father  Jacques  Gravipr,  a  Jesuit  priest  who 
had  been  long  associated  with  Tonty,  dedicated  near 
the  new  fort  a  chapel  and  beside  it  a  cross  which  rose 
nearly  thirty-five  feet  in  the  air.  The  French  gar- 
rison at  the  fort  fired  four  volleys  with  their  guns 
in  honor  of  the  occasion,  and  the  Indian  looked  on 
with  interest  as  the  black-robed  priest  performed 
the  ceremonies  of  sanctification. 

The  Indian  village,  near  which  the  fort  and  chapel 
had  been  placed,  was  inhabited  for  the  most  part  by 
the  Peorias,  but  there  were  also  a  good  many  Kas- 
kaskias  under  the  chief  Rouensa.  The  efforts .  of 
Gravier  soon  bore  fruit.  Kouensa  was  disinclined 
to  accept  the  teachings  of  the  Jesuit,  but  the  chief 
had  a  daughter  seventeen  years  old,  who  became  a 
devout  convert  to  the  faith  of  the  French.  She  took 
for  herself  the  name  of  Mary,  after  the  mother  of 
the  white  men's  Christ  and  in  the  work  of  Father 
Gravier  she  became  an  enthusiastic  helper. 

And  it  so  happened  that  as  she  went  about  from 
chapel  to  village  Michel  Aco  saw  her  and  fell  in  love 
with  her.  He  went  to  the  Kaskaskia  chief,  Kouensa, 
and  asked  for  the  hand  of  his  young  daughter. 
Rouensa  was  delighted.  What  a  fine  son-in-law  this 


172 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


man  would  make.  Here  was  no  common  Frenchman 
but  a  woodsman  of  great  renown,  for  fifteen  years  a 
wilderness  rover  and  a  man  after  an  Indian's  own 
heart.  Furthermore  was  he  not  now  a  great  white 
chief  associated  with  Tonty  and  La  Forest  in  the 
control  of  the  fur  trade? 

That  Aco  had  led  more  or  less  of  a  wild  and  reck- 
less life  meant  little  to  Eouensa.  There  was  much 
of  this  recklessness  among  the  French  who  spent 
their  years  so  far  from  the  refinements  of  civiliza- 
tion and  Gravier  at  his  chapel  beside  the  Illinois 
found  this  a  handicap  to  the  success  of  his  mission. 
He  had  not  found  encouraging  response  from  the 
Indians  in  the  village.  Particularly  did  the  medicine 
men  fear  and  hate  him  and  oppose  his  teachings. 
Every  convert  meant  less  power  and  influence  for 
them.  If  this  priest's  teachings  spread,  there  soon 
would  be  no  call  for  them  to  suck  from  the  body  of 
the  sick  the  tooth  of  the  evil  spirit  that  plagued 
him.  Soon  their  incantations  would  be  no  more  to 
the  people  of  the  tribe  than  so  much  whistling  of  the 
wind  among  the  lodges. 

And  so  they  had  questioned  their  people.  "Why 
are  not  our  traditions  good  enough  for  you,"  they 
asked.  "Leave  these  myths  to  the  people  who  come 
from  afar. ' '  And  to  the  women  they  said :  ' l Do  you 
not  see  how  the  white  man's  faith  brings  death  to 
the  Indian?  Have  not  your  children  died  after  this 
black-robed  priest  has  baptized  them?  Has  this 
man  better  medicine  than  we,  that  we  should  adopt 


MICHEL  AGO  —  SQUAW-MAN  173 

his  ways?  His  fables  are  good  only  for  his  own 
country.  We  have  our  own  and  they  do  not  make 
us  die." 

Many  there  were  who  listened.  Their  children 
fell  ill.  Gravier  came  to  their  cabins  and  sprinkled 
water  upon  them.  Their  children  died.  Was  it  not 
his  doing?  They  began  to  fear  his  approach.  One 
old  woman  whose  grandchild  was  sick  drove  the 
priest  violently  from  her  lodge  lest  he  be  the  cause 
of  its  death. 

Slowly,  however,  Gravier  made  converts,  and  the 
medicine  men  increased  their  warnings.  Did  not  the 
people  know  that  the  black-robed  priest  kept  toads 
from  which  he  compounded  poison  for  the  sick?  He 
even  poisoned  them  with  the  smell  of  toads  whenever 
he  approached.  One  of  the  old  men  went  through 
the  village  calling  out  "All  ye  who  have  hitherto 
hearkened  to  what  the  black  gown  has  said  to  you, 
come  into  my  cabin.  I  shall  likewise  teach  you  what 
I  learned  from  my  grandfather  and  what  we  should 
believe."  So  Gravier  had  much  opposition  and 
many  discouragements. 

One  day  Father  Gravier  received  a  visit  from  the 
chief  Eouensa  and  his  wife,  who  brought  with  them 
their  daughter  and  Aco  who  had  sued  for  her  hand 
in  marriage.  The  mission  of  the  chief  was  soon  told 
but  the  interview  did  not  end  as  he  wished  for  Mary 
had  risen  in  revolt.  She  did  not  wish  to  marry. 
Her  heart,  she  said,  was  so  full  of  love  for  the  God 


174 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


of  the  white  men,  whose  mother's  name  she  bore 
that  there  was  no  room  for  love  of  anybody  else. 

Entreaties  proved  useless,  threats  only  increased 
her  determination.  Rouensa  appealed  to  the  priest. 
Gravier  replied  that  God  did  not  command  her  not 
to  marry,  but  that  she  could  not  be  forced  to  do  so. 
She  alone  must  decide.  Full  of  wrath  the  chief  de- 
parted, convinced  that  Gravier  had  prevented  Mary 
from  agreeing  to  the  marriage.  And  Aco,  bitter  in 
his  disappointment,  blamed  the  priest  with  no  less 
vigor  because  he  was  a  white  man. 

As  was  his  custom  Gravier  walked  over  to  the 
village  later  in  the  day  and  passed  among  the  lodges 
calling  the  Indians  to  prayer  at  the  chapel.  As  he 
passed  the  lodge  of  Rouensa  the  enraged  chief  came 
out  and  stopped  him.  "Inasmuch  as  you  have  pre- 
vented my  daughter  from  obeying  me",  he  said,  "I 
will  prevent  her  from  going  to  chapel ' ',  and  he  con- 
tinued to  scold  him  and  bar  the  way  to  those  who 
followed  the  priest. 

Gravier  returned  to  the  chapel  and  held  his  ser- 
vices. And  there  with  the  -others,  responding  to  all 
the  prayers  and  chants,  was  Mary.  At  the  close  of 
the  meeting  she  came  to  Gravier  and  said  that  her 
father  had  driven  her  in  wrath  from  his  lodge.  That 
night  Rouensa  the  Kaskaskia  chief  called  together 
all  the  other  chiefs  and  told  them  that  the  black 
gown  prevented  marriages  between  the  French  and 
the  Indians ;  and  he  urged  them  to  keep  their  women 


MICHEL  AGO  —  SQUAW-MAN  175 

and  children  from  going  to  the  chapel.  Most  of 
them  were  ready  enough  to  agree. 

In  spite  of  their  efforts  there  were  fifty  who  gath- 
ered in  the  chapel  the  next  day  and  Mary  was  among 
them.  The  chiefs  redoubled  their  efforts  and  at  the 
next  service  there  were  only  about  thirty  who  gath- 
ered with  Mary  at  Gravier 's  altar.  Hardly  had  the 
priest  begun  to  chant  the  mass  when  a  man  entered 
armed  with  a  club.  Seizing  one  of  the  worshippers 
by  the  arm  he  said  to  the  gathering : 

4 'Have  you  not  heard  the  chief's  orders?  Obey 
them  and  go  out  at  once." 

The  girl  he  seized  stood  fast.  Gravier  walked  up 
to  him. 

"Go  out,  thyself ",  he  said,  "and  respect  the  house 
of  God." 

"The  chief  forbids  them  to  pray",  spoke  the  man 
with  the  club. 

"And  God  commands  them  to  do  so",  replied  the 
priest. 

Finding  his  efforts  in  vain,  the  man  finally  with- 
drew and  the  chants  and  prayer  continued.  For  two 
days  Eouensa  alternately  wheedled  and  threatened 
his  daughter,  and  Aco  joined  in  maligning  the  priest. 

"I  hate  him",  said  Mary  of  her  suitor,  "because 
he  always  speaks  ill  of  my  father  the  black  gown. ' ' 

But  at  the  end  of  two  days  she  came  to  Gravier. 
'  '  I  have  an  idea ' ',  she  said, ' '  I  think  that  if  I  consent 
to  the  marriage,  my  father  will  listen  to  your  words 
and  will  induce  others  to  do  so."  And  Gravier 


176  THE  PALIMPSEST 

agreed  to  her  suggestion  though  he  cautioned  her  to 
make  it  clear  to  her  parents  that  it  was  not  their 
threats  which  had  brought  about  her  consent. 

She  told  her  parents  of  her  new  determination. 
And  they  and  Aco  came  to  the  chapel  to  find  out 
from  the  priest  if  it  were  true.  And  so  the  arrange- 
ments were  made;  and  sometime  apparently  in  the 
late  summer  or  early  fall  of  1693,  the  Indian  maiden 
and  the  French  fur  trader  were  married  by  Father 
Gravier  according  to  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the 
Catholic  church. 

It  might  be  easy  to  draw  the  curtain  here  and  as- 
sume that  they  lived  happily  ever  after.  But 
Gravier 's  account  in  the  Jesuit  Relations  is  so  full 
of  details  that  one  is  able  to  add  much  to  the  account. 
The  priest  relates  with  great  joy  that  Michel  Aco, 
moved  by  the  gentleness,  the  innocence,  and  the  de- 
votion of  his  wife,  and  ashamed  that  a  young  and 
almost  uninstructed  child  of  the  woods  could  teach 
him  so  much  that  was  good,  gave  up  his  evil  ways. 
He  hardly  recognized  himself,  he  told  the  priest. 

And  the  chief  Rouensa  and  his  wife,  persuaded  by 
Mary  and  her  husband,  came  asking  to  be  baptized. 
It  is  true  that  not  long  afterwards  Mary  found  her 
mother,  armed  and  revengeful,  setting  out  like  an 
Amazon,  in  company  with  her  husband,  to  take 
death  vengeance  upon  her  brother  who  in  a  spirit  of 
anger  had  killed  one  of  her  slaves.  "I  shall  go  to 
the  church ",  she  said,  "if  I  am  revenged ".  But 
even  in  the  face  of  this  plain  and  evident  call  to  the 


MICHEL  AGO  —  SQUAW-MAN  177 

duty  of  vengeance,  the  mother  finally  gave  up  to  her 
daughter's  entreaties,  let  her  brother  go  in  peace 
and  came  to  the  black  gown  to  confess. 

The  chief  gave  a  great  feast  and  announced  his 
allegiance  to  the  priest  and  his  teachings,  and  scores 
of  his  followers  came  to  be  baptized  at  the  wilder- 
ness chapel  beside  the  fort  and  the  river.  Mary 
helped  the  priest  in  teaching  the  children  and  the 
mission  flourished. 

A  register  of  baptisms  in  the  Kaskaskia  mission 
completes  the  story  of  Aco  and  Mary.  In  the  year 
1695  there  was  born  in  the  village  a  half-French 
papoose  whom  Father  Gravier  baptized  on  March 
20,  1695,  and  to  whom  the  proud  parents  gave  the 
name  Pierre  Aco.  The  records  show  numerous 
entries  in  which  Aco  and  Mary  acted  as  godfather 
and  godmother  at  the  baptism  of  children,  and  in 
1702  the  records  note  the  baptism  of  another  child 
of  Aco  and  Mary,  a  son  born  on  the  22nd  of  Febru- 
ary and  given  the  name  Michel  after  his  father. 
With  these  records  (which  are  themselves  begin- 
nings) comes  to  an  end  the  known  history  of  Michel 
Aco,  Frenchman,  and  Mary  Aramipinchicoue,  Kas- 
kaskia maiden. 

JOHN  C.  PAKISH 


A  Colored  Convention 

In  February,  1868,  a  series  of  amendments  elim- 
inating the  word  "white"  from  five  sections  of  the 
Iowa  Constitution  was  under  consideration  in  the 
legislature,  having  already  been  adopted  by  the 
Eleventh  General  Assmbly  in  1866.  Naturally  the 
colored  residents  of  Iowa  —  the  beneficiaries  of  the 
proposed  amendments  —  were  interested  in  the  suc- 
cess of  the  resolution,  and  a  call  was  sent  out  for 
what  was  probably  the  first  convention  of  colored 
people  held  in  Iowa.  This  invitation  was  signed 
by  twenty-two  representatives  of  that  race,  led  by 
Eeverend  J.  W.  Malone  of  Keokuk  and  the  Eeverend 
S.  T.  Wells  of  Des  Moines.  It  read  as  follows : 

FELLOW  CITIZENS  :  In  the  exercise  of  a  liberty  which  we 
hope  you  will  not  deem  unwarrantable,  and  which  is  given 
us  by  virtue  of  our  connection  and  identity  with  you,  as  an 
oppressed  and  disfranchised  people,  the  undersigned  do 
hereby,  most  earnestly  and  affectionately,  invite  you,  en 
masse,  or  by  your  chosen  representatives,  to  assemble  in 
Convention,  in  the  City  of  Des  Moines,  on  the  12th  day  of 
February,  1868,  at  10  o'clock  A.  M.,  for  the  purpose  of 
considering  the  question  of  our  enfranchisement,  which  is 
now  before  the  Legislature  and  will  soon  be  submitted  to 
the  voters  of  Iowa  for  their  votes.  All  in  favor  of  equal 
rights,  come !  Strike  for  freedom  whilst  it  is  day  ! 

The  date  set  for  the  convention  was  the  birthday 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  patron  saint  of  the  f reedmen ; 
and  on  that  day  over  thirty  delegates  appeared  at 
Burn's  Chapel  in  Des  Moines  where  the  meeting  was 

178 


A  COLORED  CONVENTION  179 

to  be  held.  Each  delegate  was  taxed  one  dollar  to 
defray  expenses.  While  a  few  failed  to  make  this 
contribution,  it  appears  that  five  delegates  not  only 
paid  their  own  share  but  added  two  dollars  as  the 
amount  credited  to  the  towns  from  which  they  came. 

The  convention  organized  in  due  form  with  J.  W. 
Malone  of  Keokuk  as  president.  Two  vice  presi- 
dents, a  secretary,  and  two  assistant  secretaries 
were  likewise  chosen.  A  resolution  in  honor  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  and  a  code  of  rules  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  convention  were  adopted;  and  a  com- 
mittee of  three  was  appointed  to  prepare  an  address 
to  be  presented  to  the  people  of  Iowa. 

This  address,  it  appears,  was  delivered  before  the 
assembly  by  Alex.  Clark,  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee. It  was  a  plea  for  the  enfranchisement  of 
colored  men  by  the  striking  of  the  word  "white" 
from  the  Constitution  of  the  State.  "Having  estab- 
lished our  claim  to  the  proud  title  of  American 
soldiers ",  reads  part  of  the  address,  "and  shared 
in  the  glories  won  by  the  deeds  of  the  true  men  of 
our  own  color,  will  you  not  heed  and  hear  our  ap- 
peal? ....  We  ask,  in  the  honored  name  of 
200,000  colored  troops,  five  hundred  of  whom  were 
from  our  own  Iowa,  who,  with  the  first  opportunity, 
enlisted  under  the  flag  of  our  country  and  the  ban- 
ner of  our  State  ....  while  the  franchised 
rebels  and  their  cowardly  friends,  the  now  bitter 
enemies  of  our  right  to  suffrage,  remained  in  quiet 


180  THE  PALIMPSEST 

at  home,  safe,  and  fattened  on  the  fruits  of  our 
sacrifice,  toil  and  blood. " 

At  the  evening  session  on  the  first  day  of  the  con- 
vention Alex.  Clark  —  apparently  considered  the 
Demosthenes  of  the  assembly  —  addressed  the  dele- 
gates "by  special  request".  Mr.  Henry  O'Connor, 
the  Attorney  General  of  the  State,  also  made  a 
speech  which  was  described  as  ' '  clear,  strong,  point- 
ed and  eloquent ".  Among  the  resolutions  adopted, 
the  first  two  read  as  follows : 

RESOLVED,  That  we  still  have  confidence  in  the  Repub- 
lican Congress  of  the  United  States  and  the  Republican 
party  of  Iowa,  and  rest  in  the  hope  that  they  will  do  all 
that  can  be  done  to  secure  us  our  full  rights  and  protect 
our  friends  in  the  South  from  wrong  and  oppression. 

RESOLVED,  That  the  tendency  toward  enlarged  freedom 
which  distinguishes  our  age,  which  in  England  bears  the 
name  of  Reform,  in  Ireland  the  title  of  Fenianism,  in 
Europe  the  name  of  Progress,  and  in  this  government  the 
name  of  Radicalism,  impresses  us  with  the  firm  conviction 
that  our  claims  to  universal  suffrage  and  impartial  justice 
at  home  and  abroad  will  soon  be  secured  to  all. 

The  convention  also  expressed  its  gratitude  to 
Attorney  General  O'Connor  "for  his  independent 
and  manly  opinion,  as  given  to  the  Legislature,  upon 
the  legality  of  submitting  the  question  of  suffrage 
by  the  present  Legislature  to  the  people  at  the  next 
general  election. ' '  Likewise  the  activities  of  one  of 
their  own  number  in  behalf  of  the  colored  people 
was  recognized  by  the  following  resolution : 


A  COLORED  CONVENTION  181 

RESOLVED,  That,  having  watched  with  much  diligence 
and  deep  interest  the  course  pursued  on  all  questions  af- 
fecting the  well  being  of  the  colored  people  of  Iowa  by  our 
friend  and  fellow  citizen,  A.  Clark,  that  he  has,  as  he  must 
ever  have,  our  full  confidence  and  grateful  thanks,  but  more 
especially  in  this  last  great  and  noble  act  in  defending  the 
rights  of  our  children  to  be  admitted  into  the  public  schools 
of  the  State,  as  the  Constitution  warrants. 

This  convention  may  be  commended  for  economy. 
The  finance  committee  reported  a  total  of  $38.44  in 
cash  collections;  the  expenses  were  $11.73;  and  the 
balance  was  appropriated  for  printing  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  convention. 

A  number  of  ten  minute  speeches  marked  the 
closing  session  on  the  evening  of  February  13th, 
although  an  exception  was  made  in  favor  of  J.  W. 
Malone,  the  president,  who  was  allowed  thirty  min- 
utes. At  the  close  of  the  meeting  the  members 
marched  around  the  room  shaking  hands  and  sing- 
ing "Blow  ye  the  trumpet,  blow!" 

In  due  time  the  amendments  were  adopted  by  the 
Twelfth  General  Assembly,  ratified  by  a  popular 
vote  of  105,384  to  81,119  on  November  3,  1868,  and 
proclaimed  a  part  of  the  Constitution  on  December 
8,  1868.  Thus  the  colored  men  of  Iowa  secured  the 
coveted  political  equality  two  years  before  the  adop- 
tion of  the  fifteenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States. 

EUTH  A.   GALLAHEK 


The  Pacific  City  Fight 

In  his  article  on  "The  Rise  of  Sports "  Professor 
Paxson  has  pointed  out  that  prize  fighting  in  the 
United  States  suffered  a  decline  after  the  famous 
Sayers-Heenan  fight  in  1860,  when  the  London  spec- 
tators broke  into  the  ring  to  prevent  the  American 
from  knocking  out  the  English  champion.  Boxing 
did  not  regain  its  popularity  until  the  early  eighties, 
when  John  L.  Sullivan  fought  his  way  to  notoriety 
with  his  bare  fists.  In  the  two  decades  that  inter- 
vened pugilists  seldom  knocked  each  other  out  to  the 
complete  satisfaction  of  the  sporting  public.  But 
there  were  champions  in  those  days,  and  challengers 
who  coveted  the  title,  and  it  was  during  this  period 
that  an  Iowa  village  became  the  scene  of  a  champion- 
ship "mill",  under  circumstances  that  help  to  ex- 
plain the  obstacles  to  be  overcome  before  the  sport 
could  flourish. 

The  contrast  between  the  fight  in  Iowa  in  an 
improvised  ring  on  the  turf  before  a  few  hundred 
fugitive  "  roughs ",  and  its  present  day  descendent, 
with  its  elaborate  preparations,  its  wide  publicity, 
and  its  enormous  stadium,  shows  a  growth  almost 
as  great  as  the  transition  from  the  prairie  schooner 
to  the  transcontinental  Pullman  train.  The  change 
in  public  sentiment  toward  affairs  of  this  kind  is 
equally  noticeable.  In  1873  the  contestants  met  only 
after  an  arduous  series  of  journeys  to  elude  the  vig- 
ilance of  the  constituted  authorities.  For  the  seri- 
ous minded  people  of  the  Missouri  Valley  demanded 

182 


THE  PACIFIC  CITY  FIGHT  183 

that  every  effort  be  made  to  prevent  the  desecration 
of  the  soil  of  their  States  by  such  a  scene  of  bru- 
tality The  day  when  society  ladies  were  to  patron- 
ize the  "pugs"  was  far  distant. 

In  November,  1873,  a  steamboat  with  an  unusual 
assortment  of  passengers  headed  upstream  from  St. 
Joe,  Missouri.  On  board  were  Allen,  who  held  the 
belt  for  the  heavy-weight  title,  and  Hogan,  the  chal- 
lenger, with  their  trainers  and  backers,  the  news- 
paper reporters,  and  the  fans  who  were  anxious  to 
see  the  fight  and  bet  their  money.  After  the  chal- 
lenge had  been  issued  and  accepted,  the  legal  incon- 
veniences attendant  upon  an  affair  of  this  kind  in 
the  Eastern  States  had  led  to  the  conclusion  that  it 
should  be  held  in  the  West.  Promoters  in  St.  Joe 
had  promised  "a  fair  field  and  no  favor"  and  im- 
munity from  interference  by  the  officers  of  the  law. 
But  the  special  train  from  the  East  brought  the 
followers  of  the  manly  art  to  a  scene  of  disappoint- 
ment. The  lid  was  on  in  Missouri,  and  the  governor 
was  sitting  upon  it.  An  attempt  to  stage  the  "mill" 
across  the  river  in  Kansas  ended  in  failure. 

Nothing  daunted  by  these  untoward  circum- 
stances, the  crowd  chartered  a  steamboat,  and  these 
strange  argonauts  started  up  the  river  in  search  of 
a  convenient  spot  upon  which  to  determine  the  cham- 
pionship of  the  world.  Nebraska  proved  inhospita- 
ble. The  governor  of  that  State  borrowed  some 
United  States  troops  to  maintain  order  while  the 
fighters  sojourned  in  Omaha,  and  their  stay  was 


184  THE  PALIMPSEST 

brief.     Thus  it  transpired  that  the  pugilists  sought 
the  soil  of  Iowa  as  a  last  resort. 

On  the  morning  of  Monday,  November  18,  1873, 
Governor  Cyrus  C.  Carpenter  received  a  telegram 
signed  by  a  number  of  the  prominent  citizens  of 
Council  Bluffs :  "The  Allen-Hogan  prize  fight  is  to 
take  place  Tuesday  in  Iowa,  and  the  men  are  here. 
We  are  powerless  to  prevent  it."  Fifteen  hundred 
roughs  were  reported  to  be  in  Omaha,  where  the  lo- 
cal authorities  were  unable  to  cope  with  the  situa- 
tion. Governor  Carpenter  was  requested  to  send 
military  companies  from  Des  Moines  to  prevent  the 
impending  disgrace  to  the  city  of  Council  Bluffs  and 
the  State  of  Iowa.  He  immediately  notified  the 
prominent  citizens  that  if  the  sheriff  would  inform 
him  officially  of  his  inability  to  enforce  the  law  with- 
out military  assistance,  the  troops  would  be  sent. 
He  received  the  prompt  response: 

I  am  advised  that  the  prize  fighters  will  come  into  the 
State  at  this  point  tomorrow.  From  their  number  I  know 
that  I  am  not  able  to  arrest  them.  If  the  fight  is  to  be  pre- 
vented it  must  be  done  by  stopping  them  here.  I  ask  the 
aid  of  the  State  in  doing  so.  There  is  no  armed  military 
company  here. 

GEORGE  DOUGHERTY 
Sheriff  of  Pottawattamie  County 

Within  three  hours  after  the  receipt  of  this  tele- 
gram the  available  contingents  of  the  Olmstead 
Zouaves,  commanded  by  Colonel  F.  Olmstead,  and 
of  the  Crocker  Veteran  Guards  under  the  command 
of  Captain  W.  L.  Davis,  were  ordered  out  for  imme- 


THE  PACIFIC  CITY  FIGHT  185 

diate  duty,  served  with  ammunition,  and  entrained 
for  Council  Bluffs.  They  arrived  late  that  night, 
and  were  placed  in  rather  uncomfortable  quarters, 
"but",  their  commander  reported,  "as  most  of  the 
men  were  old  soldiers,  there  was  no  complaint. ' J 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  visiting  sportsmen  on 
Tuesday  morning,  preparations  had  been  made  to 
receive  them.  Colonel  Olmstead's  report  to  the  Ad- 
jutant General  describes  the  situation.  "We  were 
ready  for  duty",  he  said,  "at  about  half -past  ten 
A.  M.,  on  the  18th  of  November,  subject  to  the  order 
of  the  Sheriff  of  Pottawattamie  County,  when  the 
train  arrived,  loaded  in  my  opinion  with  ' roughs' 
and  men  who  wished  to  see  the  Allen-Hogan  fight. 
The  sheriff  should  have  taken  possession  of  that 
train  and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  the  fight,  but  he  did 
nothing.  He  could  have  arrested,  in  my  opinion, 
participators  in  the  fight  at  any  rate,  and  there  were 
evidences  enough  for  him  to  do  that,  but  he  was  not 
backed  by  the  moral  influence  or  the  good  advice  of  a 
single  man  who  induced  the  Governor  to  order  you 
to  send  forward  my  command.  He  was  therefore 
weak  and  wavering.  He  would  do  nothing  .  .  .  ." 
The  sheriff  and  the  troops  were  unable  to  find  either 
Allen  or  Hogan  on  the  train.  The  stakes,  the  ropes, 
the  sledges  for  constructing  the  ring  were  thrown 
into  one  of  the  cars  in  full  view  of  the  officers,  but 
the  sheriff  still  hesitated.  Colonel  Olmstead,  whose 
orders  placed  him  under  the  command  of  the  sheriff, 
sent  a  telegram  to  the  Adjutant  General  asking  for 
instructions.  Various  explanations  were  offered  for 


186  THE  PALIMPSEST 

the  sheriff's  dilatory  tactics.  "The  roughs  on  the 
train, "  said  a  newspaper  report,  "were  respectful 
and  good-natured,  and  made  no  secret  of  saying  that 
the  sheriff  had  'been  sweetened V  Whether  that 
officer  acted  on  account  of  financial  considerations, 
or  (as  the  governor  charitably  told  the  legislature) 
because  of  his ' '  confusion  as  to  the  law  and  the  '  overt 
act ',  owing  to  the  difference  of  opinion  which  he  had 
heard  among  the  lawyers, ' '  may  be  a  matter  for  dis- 
pute. At  any  rate  the  train  pulled  out  unimpeded. 
The  conductor  refused  to  take  the  sheriff  and  the 
troops  along  unless  they  had  tickets,  which  no  one 
had  provided.  The  sheriff  showed  no  enthusiasm 
for  Colonel  Olmstead's  suggestion  that  a  special 
train  be  chartered  to  go  in  pursuit.  Before  the 
Colonel  could  obtain  telegraphic  orders  from  Des 
Moines  to  act  independently  it  was  too  late. 

The  occupants  of  the  train  had  shown  signs  of 
gleeful  amusement  when  informed  that  the  two  pu- 
gilists were  the  only  men  wanted,  for  they  knew  that 
the  principals  were  not  in  the  vicinity.  Early  in  the 
morning  Allen  and  Hogan,  with  their  trainers,  had 
left  Omaha  in  hacks,  had  crossed  the  ferry,  had  been 
driven  through  the  principal  streets  of  Council 
Bluffs,  and  had  disappeared.  No  attempt  had  been 
made  to  follow  them.  Six  miles  south  of  the  city 
the  train  stopped,  the  fighters  boarded  it,  and  the 
party  steamed  ten  miles  further  down  the  line. 

The  quiet  little  village  of  Pacific  City,  just  across 
the  Missouri  Eiver  from  the  mouth  of  the  Platte, 
had  been  one  of  those  frontier  enterprises  whose 


THE  PACIFIC  CITY  FIGHT  187 

promoters  had  expected  it  to  become  a  western  me- 
tropolis. A  few  years  of  boom  had  followed  its 
foundation  in  1857,  but  its  prosperity  had  declined : 
the  history  of  Mills  County  published  in  1881  noted 
that  its  formerly  numerous  churches  and  Sunday 
schools  had  been  reduced  to  a  single  Baptist  congre- 
gation of  eighteen  members,  and  that  its  brick  school 
house  had  a  capacity  more  than  ample  to  meet  all 
demands  likely  to  be  made  upon  it. 

The  peaceful  inhabitants  were  no  doubt  both  sur- 
prised and  interested  when  a  train  of  five  coaches 
pulled  in  and  stopped  on  the  siding,  and  three  hun- 
dred sports  debouched  upon  the  right  of  way.  A 
suitable  place  was  selected,  the  ring  was  staked  out, 
and  the  spectators  hastened  to  obtain  ringside  seats. 
A  diversion  was  created  when  the  sheriff  of  Mills 
County  attempted  to  arrest  the  wrong  men,  but  he 
and  his  small  posse  were  roughly  handled  by  the 
crowd,  and  told  to  go  about  their  business. 

The  champion  tossed  his  hat  into  the  ring  at  11 
o'clock.  The  challenger  was  not  ready  to  "shy  his 
castor"  over  the  ropes  until  1:15.  The  first  round 
opened  with  "  lively,  beautiful  sparring  by  both 
men."  Hogan  was  the  first  to  reach  his  opponent 
effectively.  At  the  end  of  this  round  he  scored  a 
clean  knock-down.  In  the  second  round  the  men 
clinched,  and  Hogan  got  Allen's  head  under  his 
arm  —  this  was  not  a  foul  in  those  days  —  which 
enabled  the  challenger  to  belabor  the  champion's 
physiognomy  at  his  leisure.  Allen  was  much-  em- 
barrassed. Unable  to  extricate  himself  by  fair 


188  THE  PALIMPSEST 

means,  he  suddenly  struck  Hogan  a  violent  blow  be- 
low the  belt,  which  doubled  him  up  like  a  jackknife. 

Eoars  of  "Foul!  Foul!"  came  from  the  excited 
crowd.  The  referee  ordered  the  fight  to  go  on. 
Another  blow  knocked  Hogan  down,  but  he  did  not 
take  the  count,  and  was  able  to  keep  his  feet  until 
time  was  called. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  third  round  Hogan  was 
evidently  groggy  from  the  effects  of  the  punishment 
he  had  received,  but  he  fought  gamely  until  the  final 
catastrophe.  Allen  struck  him  again  below  the  belt. 
This  was  too  much  for  the  challenger's  overwrought 
friends.  Bushing  in  with  a  free  display  of  knives, 
pistols,  and  profanity,  they  broke  down  the  ring,  and 
the  fight  ended  in  a  free  for  all  struggle.  Many  of 
the  spectators  were  knocked  down  and  trampled,  but 
the  weapons  appear  to  have  been  used  with  discre- 
tion, for  there  were  no  casualties. 

By  nightfall  all  the  participants  were  back  in 
Omaha,  and  the  fight  had  degenerated  into  a  series 
of  desultory  verbal  skirmishes  between  the  now  nu- 
merous supporters  of  Hogan,  who  considered  him 
unfairly  treated,  and  Allen's  adherents.  The  ref- 
eree declared  that  the  fight  was  a  draw  and  that  all 
bets  were  off.  The  stake  holder  said  that  the  men 
must  fight  again  for  the  money  in  his  possession  and 
he  was  arrested  for  trying  to  embezzle  the  stakes. 
The  financial  backer  of  the  fight  wanted  to  pay  the 
money  to  Allen,  but  a  compromise  was  reached  by 
which  each  of  the  pugilists  received  $1000. 

The  determination  of  the  responsibility  for  the 


THE  PACIFIC  CITY  FIGHT  189 

failure  to  suppress  the  bout  involved  difficulties. 
The  commander  of  the  troops  blamed  the  Sheriff  of 
Pottawattamie  County.  The  sheriff's  friends  ex- 
plained his  indecision  on  the  ground  of  inexperience 
rather  than  venality.  There  were  editors  who 
thought  that  the  military  authorities  might  have 
acted  more  vigorously,  and  that  the  affair  was  a 
"double  disgrace",  involving  both  State  and  local 
authorities.  The  governor,  when  he  told  the  legis- 
lature, in  his  message,  how  it  happened,  absolved  the 
officers  and  troops  of  all  blame.  He  informed  the 
lawmakers  that  the  ultimate  cause  of  the  fiasco  lay 
in  the  absence  of  any  law  prohibiting  prize  fighting 
in  Iowa.  He  urged  the  passage  of  a  statute  that 
would  be  preventive  as  well  as  punitive.  If  so  sal- 
utary a  measure  should  result  from  this  unfortunate 
occurrence,  he  said,  the  State  would  be  well  repaid 
for  the  otherwise  useless  expenditure. 

Allen  afterwards  succumbed  to  " Paddy"  Eyan, 
who  held  the  championship  until  he  was  knocked  out 
by  the  redoubtable  John  L.  Sullivan.  Hogan  in  af- 
ter years  became  an  evangelist,  in  which  capacity  he 
doubtless  fought  Satan  as  gamely  as  he  had  fought 
Allen.  And  the  quiet  village  of  Pacific  City,  after 
a  brief  period  of  publicity  almost  as  great  as  the 
promoters  of  the  would-be  metropolis  could  have 
anticipated,  relapsed  into  obscurity  and  pursued  the 
even  tenor  of  its  way  in  a  manner  more  befitting 
its  name. 

DONALD  L.  McMuBRY 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

THE  PAST 

Those  who  look  back  can  see  the  farthest  ahead. 
This  has  a  paradoxical  sound  but  it  is  none  the  less 
true.  Only  by  viewing  the  past  can  we  tell  what 
is  ahead  of  us  and  the  man  of  clearest  vision  is  the 
one  who  knows  well  what  has  already  happened. 
The  present  —  if  it  can  be  said  to  exist  at  all  —  is 
but  a  knife  edge  between  the  uncertain  and  onrush- 
ing  future  and  the  irrevocable  past.  We  stand  upon 
that  narrow  divide  and  look  both  ways,  and  by 
what  we  see  in  the  past  we  determine  how  we  shall 
meet  the  future.  Our  fears  and  our  hopes  people 
the  road  ahead  of  us ;  then  in  a  twinkling  they  have 
slipped  by  and  are  the  regrets  and  the  satisfied  mem- 
ories of  an  unchangeable  yesterday. 

It  is  unchangeable,  but  how  illuminating!  Into 
it  slip  all  facts  and  all  experiences  in  ordered  array. 
Every  color  and  movement  and  form  that  our  eyes 
have  noted,  every  sound  that  has  stirred  us  as  it 
went  whistling  or  rumbling  or  singing  by  into  the 
irrevocable,  every  smell  that  has  delighted  or  som- 
nified  mankind  is  a  part  of  the  past.  Every  act 
or  sequence  of  acts  that  we  and  our  forebears  have 
been  guilty  of  or  proud  of,  every  manner  and  type 
of  success  and  failure,  and  all  the  multifarious  back- 
grounds of  human  experience  lie  ready  for  our 
enlightenment  —  a  panorama  of  life,  sordid  and  sub- 

190 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  191 

lime,  with  its  interplay  of  motives  and  actions,  of 
loves  and  hates,  and  envies  and  sacrifices. 

THE   HISTOKIAN 

We  reach  back  for  these  experiences  with  faltering 
memory,  sometimes  with  distorted  vision,  often  with 
indifference.  Here  enters  the  historian.  It  is  his 
function  to  refresh  our  memory,  to  clarify  our  vis- 
ion, to  prick  us  into  a  keener  sense  of  the  tremendous 
reality  of  the  ages.  We  are  too  content  to  say: 
let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead.  It  is  not  dead;  it 
is  alive  and  poignant  and  its  personages  are  real. 
Why  then  should  any  historian,  like  a  black-frocked 
undertaker,  lay  away  in  funereal  winding  sheets, 
the  immortal  figures  of  the  past?  Why  should  dust 
of  the  ages  obscure  the  wilderness  trails  and  habita- 
tions, and  reduce  the  vivid  colors  of  historic  life 
to  a  drab  monotone! 

It  is  not  easy  to  ascertain  and  state  in  orderly 
fashion  the  bare  facts  concerning  past  events;  but 
it  is  much  more  difficult  and  requires  infinitely  more 
research  to  find  the  human  details  that  clothe  these 
facts  with  reality.  It  is  somewhat  of  a  task  to  un- 
earth and  list  the  articles  hidden  in  an  ancient  ruin ; 
but  it  requires  long  study  to  investigate  those  ar- 
ticles with  the  purpose  of  learning  just  how  the 
ancients  lived.  A  natural  history  museum  years 
ago  contained  long  rows  of  glass  cases  of  individual 
animals,  each  standing  beside  his  printed  label  and 
gazing  across  at  another  unrelated  specimen.  'To- 


192  THE  PALIMPSEST 

day  the  animals  are  surrounded  with  the  background 
they  are  accustomed  to,  and  the  visitor  sees  natural 
history  in  its  reality.  The  recorder  of  the  past  may 
well  take  note,  for  the  era  of  vital  background  in 
history  is  at  hand,  and  though  research  must  be  more 
extended  the  result  will  be  a  live  history. 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 

ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  II  ISSUED  IN  JULY  1921  No.  7 

COPYRIGHT  1921   BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

Amana 

WHAT  IS  AMANA 

In  one  of  the  garden  spots  of  Iowa  there  is  a 
charming  little  valley  through  which  the  historic 
Iowa  River  flows  peacefully  to  the  eastward.  A 
closer  view  reveals  seven  old-fashioned  villages 
nestling  among  the  trees  or  sleeping  on  the  hillsides. 
About  these  seven  villages  stretch  twenty-six  thou- 
sand goodly  acres  clothed  with  fields  of  corn,  pas- 
tures, meadows,  gardens,  orchards,  and  vineyards, 
and  seas  of  waving  grain.  Beyond  and  above, 
surrounding  the  little  valley,  are  richly  timbered 
hills  forming  as  though  by  design  a  frame  for  this 
quaint  picture  of  Amana  —  the  home  of  the  Com- 
munity of  True  Inspiration. 

And  what  is  Amana  I  To  the  traveller,  viewing 
the  fleeting  landscape  from  the  observation  car  of 
the  Eocky  Mountain  Limited,  it  is  a  singular  cluster 
of  unpainted  houses  and  barns  amid  battalions  of 
vine-covered  bean  poles  and  blossoming  onion  tops, 

193 


194  THE  PALIMPSEST 

surrounded  by  well  tilled  fields.  To  the  speeding 
motorist  on  the  River  to  Eiver  Road,  bent  on 
making  the  distance  between  Davenport  and  Des 
Moines  in  a  day,  it  furnishes  a  curiously  delightful 
stopping  place  for  rest  and  refreshment  and  a  fresh 
supply  of  gasoline.  To  the  historian  it  is  a  bit  of 
Europe  in  America,  a  voice  out,  of  the  past  on  the 
world's  western  frontier;  while  to  the  political  and 
social  philosopher  it  is  the  nearest  approach  in  our 
day  to  the  Utopian's  dream  of  a  community  of  men 
and  women  living  together  in  peace,  plenty,  and 
happiness,  away  from  the  "world"  and  its  many 
distractions. 

To  the  villagers  themselves,  with  their  aversion  to 
mixing  "philosophy  and  human  science  with  divine 
wisdom",  Amana  with  its  villages  and  gardens,  its 
orchards  and  vineyards,  its  mills  and  factories,  its 
rich  harvest  fields  and  wooded  hills,  and  its  abiding 
peace  and  cheerfulness  is  the  visible  expression  of 
the  Lord's  will:  to  them  the  establishment  of  vil- 
lages, the  growth  and  development  of  industries, 
and  the  success  of  communism  are  all  incidental  to 
the  life  and  thought  of  the  Community  whose  chief 
concern  is  spiritual.  Born  of  religious  enthusiasm 
and  disciplined  by  persecution,  it  has  ever  remained 
primarily  a  Church.  And  so  the  real  Amana  is 
Amana  the  Church  —  Amana  the  Community  of 
True  Inspiration. 

In  language,  in  manners,  in  dress,  in  traditions, 
as  well  as  in  religious  and  economic  institutions,  the 


AMANA  195 

Community  of  True  Inspiration  is  foreign  to  its 
surroundings  —  so  much  so  that  the  visitor  is  at 
once  impressed  with  the  fact  that  here  is  something 
different  from  the  surrounding  world.  In  the 
eighteenth  century  the  Inspirationists  paid  the 
penalty  in  the  Old  World  for  their  non-conformity 
to  established  customs  by  imprisonment  and  exile: 
in  the  twentieth  century  they  are  objects  of  curiosity 
to  their  neighbors  and  the  subject  of  no  little- specu- 
lation. The  Inspirationist  is  by  nature  and  by 
discipline  given  to  attending  quietly  to  his  own 
business ;  and  much  impertinent  inquiry  on  the  part 
of  visitors  has  intensified  his  reticence.  But  Amana 
has  no  secrets  to  hide  from  the  world.  To  be 
granted  full  liberty  to  worship  in  their  own  way 
and  to  work  out  their  own  salvation  is  all  that  the 
men  and  women  of  this  Community  have  ever  asked. 

There  is  much  in  the  life  of  the  people  of  Amana 
that  seems  plain  and  monotonous  to  the  outside 
world.  And  yet  we  are  compelled  to  acknowledge 
that  in  many  respects  theirs  is  a  more  rational  and 
ideal  life  than  that  which  is  found  in  the  average 
country  village.  It  is  more  genuine  and  uniform. 
There  is  less  extravagance;  no  living  beyond  one's 
means;  no  keeping  up  of  "appearances";  and  fewer 
attempts  to  pass  for  more  than  one  is  worth. 

But  of  more  fundamental  concern  than  plain 
living  is  the  fact  that  the  Community  of  True  Inspi- 
ration has  throughout  its  history  been  dominated  by 
a  spiritual  ideal  and  a  determined  purpose  to  realize 


196 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


that  ideal.  To  this  end  the  Inspirationists  perse- 
vered, suffered,  and  sacrificed  for  more  than  two 
hundred  years.  And  finally,  that  their  ideal  of  a 
simple  religious  life  might  prevail,  they  substituted 
a  system  of  brotherly  cooperation  for  one  of  indi- 
vidual competition. 

It  is  apparent,  however,  that  that  isolation  from 
the  "world"  for  which  the  Community  of  True 
Inspiration  has  so  earnestly  striven  and  which  it 
has  so  jealously  guarded  for  six  generations  becomes 
less  and  less  easy  to  preserve.  The  railroad  and 
airplane,  the  telephone  and  telegraph,  the  news- 
paper and  magazine,  the  endless  procession  of  auto- 
mobiles, and  the  great  World  War  have  at  last 
brought  the  Community  and  the  "world"  so  close 
together  that  marked  changes  are  taking  place  in 
the  customs  of  the  people  and  in  their  attitude  to- 
ward life.  Indeed,  it  is  the  intelligent  adjustment 
of  the  life  of  the  Community  to  the  new  order  that 
explains  the  "blessed  continuation"  of  Amana  in 
this  day  and  generation. 

WHENCE  CAME  THESE  PEOPLE 

To  the  German  Mystics  and  Pietists  of  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  centuries  the  Community  of 
True  Inspiration  traces  its  origin  —  developing  into 
a  distinct  religious  sect  about  the  year  1714.  Pro- 
testing against  the  dogmatism  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  and  refusing  to  conform  to  its  ritual,  the 
Inspirationists  were  persecuted  and  prosecuted. 


AMANA  197 

They  were  fined,  pilloried,  flogged,  imprisoned,  legis- 
lated against,  exiled,  and  stripped  of  their  pos- 
sessions. 

It  was  a  simple  faith  —  a  belief  in  guidance 
through  divine  revelation  —  that  held  together  the 
early  congregations  of  Inspirationists  despite  humil- 
iation and  torture.  "Does  not  the  same  God  live 
to-day  1",  they  said,  "and  is  it  not  reasonable  to 
believe  that  He  will  inspire  His  followers  now  as 
then?  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  God  has 
in  any  way  changed  His  methods  of  communication, 
and  as  He  revealed  hidden  things  through  visions, 
dreams,  and  by  revelations  in  olden  times  He  will 
lead  His  people  to-day  by  the  words  of  His  Inspira- 
tion if  they  but  listen  to  His  voice. "  And  so  from 
time  to  time  spiritual  leaders  arose  and  "prophesied 
like  the  prophets  of  old' ',  and  all  their  sayings  were 
faithfully  recorded  by  scribes  and  published  as 
sacred  "  testimonies  ".  It  was  this  simple  faith  that 
sustained  the  Community  through  years  of  perse- 
cution and  trial  in  the  Old  World  and  through  years 
of  suffering  and  sacrifice  in  the  New  World. 

Although  the  Community  has  enjoyed  the  spirit- 
ual leadership  of  a  very  considerable  number  of 
great  personalities  —  such  as  Eberhard  Ludwig 
Gruber,  Johann  Friederich  Eock,  Michael  Kraus- 
sert,  and  Barbara  Heinemann  —  it  is  to  the  religious 
zeal  and  practical  genius  of  Christian  Metz,  a  young 
carpenter  of  Eonneburg,  that  the  Community  owes 
its  greatest  debt.  Even  to  this  day  the  spell  of  the 


198  THE  PALIMPSEST 

influence  of  this  remarkable  leader  is  felt  through- 
out Amana. 

It  was  Christian  Metz  who  first  conceived  the  idea 
of  leasing  estates  in  common  as  a  refuge  for  the 
faithful;  and  while  the  original  intention  had  been 
to  live  together  simply  as  a  congregation  or  church, 
Christian  Metz  foresaw  that  a  system  of  com- 
munism would  be  the  natural  outcome  of  the  mode 
of  life  which  these  people  had  been  forced  to  adopt. 
And  he  foresaw  that  exorbitant  rents  and  unfriendly 
governments  in  the  Old  World  would  one  day  make 
it  necessary  for  the  Inspirationists  to  find  a  home  in 
the  New  World  "  where  they  and  their  children 
could  live  in  peace  and  liberty". 

Never  shall  I  forget  the  day,  some  years  ago, 
when  from  the  ruined  tower  of  Ronneburg  Castle 
I  looked  out  over  those  German  estates  which  had 
been  the  Old  World  home  of  the  Community  of  True 
Inspiration.  The  friendly  keeper  eagerly  called  my 
attention  to  eleven  villages  in  the  distance,  and 
apologized  for  a  gathering  rain  which  obscured  "oh 
so  many  more".  Then  he  pointed  with  pride  into  a 
mass  of  clouds  where  on  a  clear  day  and  with  a  field 
glass  one  could  see  Frankfurt.  But  through  the 
mists  I  seemed  only  to  see  the  beautiful  Iowa  Amana 
with  its  villages  and  vineyards,  its  gardens  and 
orchards,  its  fields  and  pastures  and  meadows 
"where  all  that  believed  were  together  and  had  all 
things  in  common".  I  seemed  only  to  hear  in  the 


AMANA  199 

rising  wind  the  hum  of  Amana's  varied  industries 
"  where  each  was  given  an  opportunity  to  earn  his 
living  according  to  his  calling  or  inclination ".  My 
thoughts  were  of  Christian  Metz,  the  carpenter 
prophet,  "who  kept  these  things  in  his  heart  and 
pondered  them  over".  And  I  thought  too  of  the 
splendid  young  men  of  Amana  of  my  own  day,  six 
generations  removed  from  the  worshiping  congre- 
gation on  the  hill  of  Ronneburg,  still  making  the 
ancient  sacrifice  for  a  spiritual  ideal  in  this  turbu- 
lent quarter  of  the  twentieth  century  when  brotherly 
love  arid  idealism  have  grown  timid  in  the  company 
of  selfishness  and  materialism. 

It  was  in  1842  that  a  committee  of  four  led  by 
Christian  Metz  set  out  to  find  a  new  home  in  Amer- 
ica, and  it  was  their  sincere  and  devout  belief  that 
the  journey  had  been  "ordained  and  directed  by 
divine  revelation ' '.    For  three  months  these  consci- 
entious Inspirationists,  ever  mindful  of  the  respon- 
sibilities that  rested  with  them,  suffered  the  winter 
wind  and  cold  of  the  region  of  the  Great  JLakes 
while  they  examined  tracts -of  land,  dealt. with  un- 
scrupulous land  companies,  and  weighed  the  advan- 
tages of  various  situations.     In  the  end  they  pur/- 
chased the  Seneca  Indian  Reservation  —  a  tract  'of 
five  thousand  acres  near  Buffalo,  Erie  County,  N.  Y. 
Within  four  months  of  the  purchase  of  tyhe  Reser- 
vation the  first  village  of  the  Community  was  laid 
out  and  peopled.    Five  others  were  soon  established, 


200 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


and  more  than  eight  hundred  members  crossed  the 
water  to  join  the  group  of  pioneers  at  "Eben-ezer" 
—  so  named  in  a  song  by  Christian  Metz  recorded 
before  the  final  purchase  was  made : 
Ebenezer  you  shall  call  it 
Hitherto  our  Lord  has  helped  us 
He  was  with  us  on  our  journey 
And  from  many  perils  saved  us 
His  path  and  way  are  wonderful 
And  the  end  makes  clear  the  start. 

Each  village  had  its  store,  its  school,  and  its 
church;  soon  there  arose  the  cheerful  hum  of  saw- 
mills, woolen  mills,  and  flour  mills.  A  temporary 
constitution  providing  for  "  common  possession " 
was  adopted,  and  the  Community  was  formally 
organized  under  the  name  of  "Ebenezer  Society". 
For  twelve  years  they  toiled  in  the  mills  and  facto- 
ries and  tilled  the  newly  broken  fields  when  it  be- 
came apparent  that  more  land  than  was  available  so 
near  the  growing  city  of  Buffalo  would  be  necessary 
to  accommodate  the  increasing  membership.  And 
once  more  a  committee  of  four,  with  Christian  Metz 
as  its  leader,  was  "ordained  and  directed"  to  go 
forth  to  "find  a  new  home  in  the  far  West".  To 
Kansas  they  went,  but  returned  discouraged  and 
disheartened.  Then  out  to  the  new  State  of  Iowa 
they  journeyed  to  inspect  the  large  tracts  of  United 
States  government  lands  that  were  still  available. 
Lands  in  Iowa  County  were  described  in  such  glow- 
ing terms  that  a  purchase  of  nearly  eighteen  thou- 


AMANA  201 

sand  acres  was  made  by  them  without  further  delay. 

A  better  location  or  more  valuable  tract  of  land 
than  the  new  site  in  Iowa  could  hardly  be  imagined. 
Through  it  ran  the  beautiful  Iowa  River  bordered 
with  the  wonderful  black  soil  of  its  wide  valley. 
On  one  side  were  the  bluffs  and  the  uplands  covered 
with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  timber  —  promising  an 
almost  limitless  supply  of  fuel  and  building  mate- 
rial. There  were  a  few  quarries  of  sandstone  and 
limestone  along  the  river ;  while  the  clay  in  the  hills 
was  unexcelled  for  the  manufacture  of  brick.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  river  stretched  the  rolling 
prairie  land.  To  the  Inspirationists,  who  had  been 
obliged  to  cut  heavy  timber  and  remove  stones  and 
boulders  from  the  Ebenezer  land  before  it  could  be 
tilled,  the  long  green  stretches  of  virgin  prairie 
" ready  for  the  plow"  seemed  the  most  wonderful 
feature  of  the  splendid  new  domain  on  which  all  the 
hopes  of  the  future  were  centered. 

But  it  takes  more  than  a  beautiful  location  and 
natural  resources  to  make  a  successful  community: 
it  takes  moral  earnestness  and  untiring  industry. 
These  the  Inspirationists  brought  with  them  to  their 
new  home.  Then,  too,  the  Ebenezer  experiment  had 
added  twelve  years  of  experience  in  pioneering. 
Unlike  Etienne  Cabet's  French  tailors  and  shoe- 
makers of  the  Icarian  Community,  the  Inspiration- 
ists knew  how  to  turn  the  matted  sod  of  t,he  prairie. 
Bountiful  harvests  rewarded  their  industry  and 
skill. 


202  THE  PALIMPSEST 

With  a  will  they  set  to  work  to  cut  the  timber  and 
quarry  the  stone  and  build  anew  houses,  shops,  mills, 
factories,  churches,  and  schoolhouses.  They  planted 
orchards  and  vineyards,  and  purchased  flocks  and 
herds.  They  revived  the  old  industries  and  started 
new  ones.  There  was  some  sickness  incident  to 
pioneering,  but  withal  they  felt  that  in  this  new 
home  to  which  "the  Lord  had  directed  them"  the 
fulfillment  of  all  the  early  prophecies  was  at  hand. 
Bodily  ills  are  more  easily  healed  than  spiritual 
ones;  and  so,  in  spite  of  the  malaria  and  the  ague 
the  Inspirationists  flourished  and  were  content  in 
their  new  home. 

There  was  no  rush  to  the  country  so  gloriously 
described  by  the  Iowa  fore-guards  —  though  no  one 
can  doubt  the  eagerness  with  which  every  member 
looked  forward  to  the  upbuilding  of  the  new  home. 
The  removal  from  Ebenezer  extended  over  a  period 
of  ten  years  and  was  carried  through  with  that  pru- 
dence, judgment,  and  common  sense  which  has 
always  characterized  these  people  in  the  conduct  of 
their  business  affairs. 

While  one  detail  of  members  prepared  the  new 
home  in  Iowa,  the  other  looked  to  the  profitable 
selling  of  the  old  estate  in  New  York.  As  they  found 
purchasers  far  the  latter,  they  sent  families  to  the 
former.  To  their  business  credit  it  is  recorded  that 
they  were  able  to  dispose  of  the  whole  of  the  eight 
thousand  acre  tract  in  the  State  of  New  York  with 
all  the  improvements  without  the  loss  of  a  single 


AMANA  203 

dollar,  notwithstanding  such  a  sale  presented  great 
difficulties  —  for  the  six  communistic  villages  and 
their  peculiar  arrangement  of  buildings,  with  mills, 
factories,  and  workshops  had  peculiarities  which  de- 
tracted from  their  value  for  individual  uses.  Much 
of  the  Ebenezer  land  had  been  surveyed  and  laid  out 
in  lots;  and  when  disposed  of  it  was  sold  piece  by 
piece,  a  task  which  required  much  time  and  patience. 

The  first  village  on  the  Iowa  purchase  was  laid  out 
during  the  summer  of  1855  on  a  sloping  hillside 
north  of  the  Iowa  Eiver,  and  it  was  called  "Amana" 
by  Christian  Metz  —  the  word  signifying  "remain 
true"  or  "believe  faithfully"  and  was  suggested,  it 
is  said,  by  the  resemblance  between  the  bluff  over- 
looking the  site  of  the  new  village  and  "the  top  of 
Amana"  described  in  the  Song  of  Solomon.  Five 
more  villages  were  laid  out  within  a  radius  of  six 
miles  from  Amana  and  were  named  in  accordance 
with  their  locations,  West  Amana,  South  Amana, 
High  Amana,  East  Amana,  and  Middle  Amana. 

Modelled  after  the  country  villages  of  middle 
Europe,  the  houses  of  the  "Amana  Colonies",  as 
they  are  commonly  called,  were  clustered  together 
on  one  long  straggling  street  with  several  irregular 
offshoots,  with  the  barns  and  sheds  at  one  end,  the 
factories  and  workshops  at  the  other,  and  on  either 
side  the  orchards,  the  vineyards,  and  the  gardens. 

Up  to  1861  the  nearest  railroad  station  had  been 
Iowa  City,  which  was  twenty  miles  distant;  but  in 
that  year  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  Railroad 


204  THE  PALIMPSEST 

was  completed  as  far  as  Homestead,  a  small  town 
south  of  the  Community's  territory.  All  goods  from 
the  East  would  now  be  unloaded  there,  and  it  would 
also  form  the  shipping  point  for  the  neighboring 
farming  population.  The  Community  saw  the  neces- 
sity of  owning  this  railroad  station,  and  so  the  entire 
village  of  Homestead  was  purchased. 

In  the  system  of  village  life,  which  has  been  the 
great  conservator  of  the  Community's  purity  and 
simplicity,  the  Inspirationists  have  shown  their  far- 
sightedness. The  villages  are  near  enough  to  one 
another  to  facilitate  superintendence  and  to  pre- 
serve a  feeling  of  unity.  At  the  same  time  they  are 
far  enough  apart  to  maintain  a  simplicity  of  living, 
which  would  probably  be  impossible  with  the  same 
number  of  people  congregated  in  one  place.  By  this 
means  the  Community,  while  taking  advantage  of 
every  progressive  step  in  the  methods  of  agriculture 
and  the  processes  of  manufacture,  has  been  able  to 
sustain  in  its  social,  political,  and  religious  life  an 
insular  position. 

By  the  time  the  sale  of  the  Ebenezer  land  had  been 
completed,  the  Community's  territory  in  Iowa  con- 
sisted of  twenty-six  thousand  acres  —  which  is  ap- 
proximately the  amount  owned  at  the  present  time. 
With  the  exception  of  some  seventeen  hundred  acres 
in  the  adjoining  county  of  Johnson,  all  of  the  land 
lies  within  the  boundaries  of  Iowa  County. 

Two  steps  of  great  importance  were  taken  by  the 
Community  soon  after  its  removal  to  Iowa.  One 


AMANA  205 

was  its  incorporation  under  the  laws  of  the  State  as 
the  "Amana  Society ";  and  the  other  was  the  adop- 
tion of  a  new  constitution. 

Unlike  some  of  its  contemporaries,  the  funda- 
mental law  of  the  Amana  Society  is  neither  a 
"Declaration  of  Mental  Independence "  nor  the  out- 
lines of  a  scheme  of  a  "World-wide  Socialistic 
Brotherhood ".  On  the  contrary,  it  provides  simply 
and  briefly  a  civil  organization  for  a  religious  soci- 
ety. It  is  worthy  of  comment  that,  unlike  Owen's 
New  Harmony  Society  which  adopted  seven  consti- 
tutions in  two  years,  the  Amana  Society  still  lives 
under  the  provisions  of  the  instrument  which  went 
into  effect  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1860,  and 
which  has  received  the  signature  of  every  member 
of  the  Society  since  its  adoption  in  December,  1859. 

Materially  all  of  the  fondest  hopes  of  the  little 
band  of  Inspirationists  in  the  Old  World  struggling 
to  pay  the  rent  of  their  first  estate  have  been  real- 
ized in  the  Iowa  home.  The  membership,  numbering 
eight  hundred  when  the  Community  migrated  to 
New  York  and  twelve  hundred  when  the  removal  to 
Iowa  took  place,  has  increased  to  fifteen  hundred 
at  the  present  day.  Bountiful  harvests  have  re- 
warded their  untiring  industry;  the  products  of 
their  mills  and  factories  have  found  a  market  from 
Maine  to  California;  and  in  the  books  of  the  Audi- 
tors of  Iowa  and  Johnson  counties,  their  real  and 
personal  property  was  listed  in  1920  at  $2,102,984. 

Communistic  societies  are  like  individuals :  many 


206  THE  PALIMPSEST 

have  been  able  to  stand  adversity,  but  only  the 
steadiest  minded  are  able  to  stand  prosperity.  The 
Amana  Society  belongs  to  the  extremely  small  class 
of  the  latter.  In  spite  of  the  continued  material  suc- 
cess of  the  last  half  century,  the  "  solidarity "  of  the 
Community  is  still  intact.  To  the  force,  patience, 
sagacity,  broad-mindedness  and  withal  the  faithful 
service  of  competent  leaders  the  Community  of 
True  Inspiration  owes  in  a  large  measure  its  suc- 
cess and  continuity.  And  the  difficulties  of  admin- 
istration of  so  human  an  institution  are  apparent. 
Six  generations  of  precept  and  practice  in  self- 
denial  and  brotherly  love  have  not  of  course  com- 
pletely annihilated  the  dissatisfied  and  troublesome. 
Nor  was  there  ever  a  congregation  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred souls  without  its  hampering  Brothers  —  those 
upon  whom  the  responsibility  of  protecting  the 
highly  cherished  good  name  of  the  organization 
rests  but  lightly,  those  who  enjoy  its  material  bless- 
ings and  benefits  but  are  reluctant  to  share  the 
burdens  and  cares  and  the  necessary  sacrifice. 

Under  the  terms  of  the  constitution  of  the  Amana 
Society  such  presumptuous  members  can  be  ex- 
pelled as  from  any  other  church  organization.  But 
such  an  expulsion,  however,  presents  baffling  com- 
plications since  it  involves  the  actual  turning  out  of 
house  and  home  of  the  disturbing  elements.  It  is  in 
the  successful  solution  of  such  problems  quite  as 
much  as  in  the  business  foresight  of  its  administra- 
tive officers  that  one  discovers  the  explanation  of 


AMANA  207 

the  Community's  long  life.  The  predominating 
spirit  is  still  the  spirit  of  the  forefathers.  Were  it 
not  so  the  Community  could  not  be  held  together, 
for  the  Amana  Society  is  after  all  simply  a  volun- 
tary association  depending  for  its  perpetuity  upon 
the  general  good  will  and  good  faith  of  its  members. 

TEMPOEAL  AND  SPIEITUAL  KULE 

Extreme  democracy  in  government  and  adminis- 
tration has  never  been  the  political  ideal  of  the 
Inspirationists,  but  rather  a  strong  central  author- 
ity wisely  administered  and  implicitly  obeyed.  The 
entire  conduct  of  the  affairs  of  the  Amana  Society 
rests  with  a  Board  of  Trustees  consisting  of  thir- 
teen members  who  are  elected  annually  by  popular 
vote  out  of  the  whole  number  of  Elders  in  the  Com- 
munity. Moreover,  the  members  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  are  the  spiritual  as  well  as  temporal  lead- 
ers of  the  Community,  and  as  such  are  known  as  the 
"  Great  Council  of  the  Brethren ".  Thus  there  has 
been  effected  in  the  Community  an  harmonious 
blending  of  temporal  rule  and  spiritual  authority, 
which  is  regarded  as  the  fulfillment  of  the  will  of  the 
Lord  as  revealed  through  Inspiration. 

The  Trustees  elect  annually  on  the  second  Tues- 
day of  the  month  of  December  out  of  their  own 
number  a  President,  a  Vice  President,  and  a  Secre- 
tary. The  incumbents  are  usually  reflected ;  for 
rotation  in  office  has  never  been  a  part  of  the  Amana 
theory  of  government. 


208  THE  PALIMPSEST 

There  has  always  been  a  strong  religious  senti- 
ment against  allowing  personal  ambition  to  play 
much  if  any  part  in  the  government  of  the  Com- 
munity. To  disregard  any  of  the  duties  entrusted 
to  a  member  is  to  *  *  break  the  sacred  covenant  which 
the  Brethren  have  made  with  the  Lord  and  with  one 
another."  The  officeholder  is  expected  to  accept 
office  not  for  its  honors  or  its  perquisites,  but  as  a 
sacred  responsibility. 

In  the  month  of  June  in  each  year  the  Trustees 
exhibit  to  the  voting  members  of  the  Society  (who 
comprise,  according  to  the  by-laws,  all  male  mem- 
bers who  have  signed  the  constitution,  all  widows, 
and  such  female  members  as  are  thirty  years  of  age 
and  are  not  represented  through  some  male  mem- 
ber) a  full  statement  of  "the  real  and  personal 
estate  of  the  Society".  In  matters  of  great  impor- 
tance special  meetings  of  the  whole  Society  may  be 
called.  But  in  general  the  Society  has  avoided  the 
mistake  (common  enough  in  many  contemporary 
communities)  of  too  many  mass  meetings.  It  took 
five  upheavals  of  the  Icarian  Community  to  teach 
the  lesson  of  leaving  routine  administration  to  com- 
mittees instead  of  discussing  every  detail  in  fre- 
quent meetings  of  the  assembly. 

The  Amana  Society  aims  to  keep  its  members 
informed  on  the  general  condition  of  affairs;  but 
there  is  a  decided  tendency  to  reduce  unnecessary 
discussion  to  the  minimum  by  "leaving  such  things 
to  those  that  best  understand  them."  The  Board  of 


AMANA  209 

Trustees  is  the  high  court  of  appeal  in  cases  of  dis- 
agreements, dissension,  and  complaints  within  the 
Society.  Owing- to  the  nature  of  the  Community 
there  are  no  lawyers  in  Amana.  However,  in  suits 
with  outside  parties  the  Society  does  not  hesitate  to 
employ  counsel. 

Each  village  is  governed  by  a  group  of  elders 
varying  in  number  —  not  necessarily  old  men,  but 
men  who  are  deemed  to  be  of  deep  piety  and  spirit- 
uality. At  the  same  time  the  Community  profoundly 
believes  that  "Days  should  speak  and  multitude 
of  years  should  teach  wisdom. "  By  that  nice 
adjustment  of  functions  that  necessarily  grows  up 
in  such  a  community,  the  highest  authority  in  the 
village  in  matters  spiritual  is  the  Head  Elder;  in 
matters  temporal,  the  resident  Trustee.  And  al- 
though the  Trustee  is  a  member  of  the  Great  Council 
itself,  which  is  the  spiritual  head  of  the  Community, 
in  the  village  church  the  Head  Elder  outranks  the 
Trustee. 

Each  village  keeps  its  own  books  and  manages  its 
own  affairs  in  accordance  with  the  resolutions  of  the 
Great  Council;  but  all  accounts  are  finally  sent  to 
the  headquarters  at  Amana  where  they  are  in- 
spected and  the  balance  of  profit  or  loss  is  discov- 
ered. It  is  presumed  that  the  labor  of  each  village 
produces  a  profit ;  but  whether  it  does  or  not  makes 
no  difference  in  the  supplies  allotted  to  the  village 
or  to  members  thereof.  The  system  of  government 
is  thus  a  sort  of  federation  wherein  each  village 


210  THE  PALIMPSEST 

maintains  a  certain  sphere  of  independence  in  local 
administration,  but  is  under  the  general  control  and 
supervision  of  a  governing  central  authority  —  the 
Board  of  Trustees  or  Great  Council  of  the  Brethren. 

THE  INSPIEATIONIST 

Generations  of  right  thinking  and  right  living 
seem  to  have  produced  a  distinct  type  in  the  Com- 
munity of  True  Inspiration.  The  older  men  and 
women  are  plain  and  direct  of  speech,  self-possessed 
and  sedate.  They  have  strong  faces  and  honest  eyes 
—  faces  refined  by  much  thought  upon  spiritual 
things  and  purified  by  sacrifice  and  high  aims. 
There  is  a  gentleness  in  their  demeanor  that  re- 
minds one  of  the  Quakers,  and  a  firmness  and  a  seri- 
ousness in  their  manner  that  bespeak  their  Pietist 
ancestry.  They  live  quiet  and  peaceful  lives  and  do 
not  like  to  admit  strangers  to  their  privacy.  They 
have  a  reputation  for  honesty  and  fair  dealing 
among  their  neighbors  and  wherever  their  products 
are  bought  and  sold.  "If  you  have  made  a  promise 
so  keep  it,  and  beware  of  untruthfulness  and  lies", 
is  one  of  the  fundamental  precepts  in  the  training 
of  the  Inspirationist. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  there  are  many  places  in 
the  world  outside  of  Amana  where  more  tender  care 
and  respectful  attention  are  given  to  the  aged  and 
infirm.  Unproductive  members  of  the  Community 
enjoy  all  the  privileges  and  comforts  that  the  Com- 
munity has  to  give.  When  the  dissolution  of  the 
corporation  was  suggested  in  a  recent  lawsuit,  it 


AMANA  211 

was  the  problem  of  the  old  people  that  caused  the 
greatest  concern  in  the  Community.  "It  would  be 
wrong  to  dissolve  our  brotherhood  ",  said  the  Elders, 
"for  if  this  should  happen,  what  would  become  of 
our  old  people?" 

There  is  no  prettier  picture  anywhere  than  an 
Amana  grandmother  with  her  knitting  (and  what 
wonderful  things  she  can  do  with  those  needles  with- 
out seeming  to  look  at  them!)  unless  it  is,  perhaps, 
the  homage  she  is  paid  by  the  younger  members  of 
the  household.  And  what  a  wealth  of  stories  the 
dear  grandmother  has  to  tell  the  eager  little  folks 
of  "our  forefathers  in  the  old  country",  of  the  early 
days  at  Ebenezer  and  the  trouble  with  the  Seneca 
Indians,  and  of  the  long,  long  journey  across  the 
country  to  the  Iowa  prairie !  And  grandfather,  his 
forefinger  marking  the  place  in  the  old  Bible  he  is 
reading,  looks  up  to  add  his  word  of  testimony  to 
the  fulfillment  of  the  "gracious  promise  of  the 
early  prophecies".  Who  can  estimate  the  influence 
on  the  younger  generation  of  the  memory  of  these 
"old  defenders  of  the  faith"  who  embody  in  their 
personalities  fourscore  years  and  more  of  the  most 
romantic  history  of  the  Community? 

While  the  Community  of  True  Inspiration  aims  at 
the  widest  possible  community  of  goods  there  is  in 
the  homes  of  its  members  a  fine  blending  of  individ- 
ualism and  communism  which  would  hardly  be  pos- 
sible in  a  community  established  with  communism 
alone  as  its  ideal.  The  Teutonic  instinct  of  indi- 


212  THE  PALIMPSEST 

vicinal  freedom,  coupled  with  an  intense  love  of 
home,  led  its  members  to  preserve  a  wholesome 
sphere  of  domestic  independence.  Each  family  lives 
in  a  house  which  is  the  property  of  the  Society.  But 
the  Amana  "home"  is  nevertheless  the  sanctuary  of 
its  occupants.  And  to  each  member  of  the  Com- 
munity there  is  allowed,  out  of  the  common  fund, 
enough  personal  property  to  assure  personal  com- 
fort and  to  satisfy  that  desire  of  every  human  heart 
to  have  something  of  its  very  own.  Indeed,  the 
separatism  of  the  Amana  home,  though  not  in  accord 
with  the  principles  of  complete  communism,  has  been 
an  important  factor  in  the  perpetuity  and  prosperity 
of  the  Community  of  True  Inspiration. 

The  cheerless  cloisters  of  the  Ephrata  Community 
(notwithstanding  the  religious  fervor  of  the  early 
Brothers  and  Sisters)  are  empty  to-day.  One  by 
one  the  i  '  Family  Houses ' '  of  the  True  Believers  of 
the  Shaker  Communities  have  been  closed.  Even 
the  great  five-storied  home  of  the  Centre  Family  of 
Lebanon  has  been  deserted;  and  the  United  Society 
of  Believers  is  represented  by  only  a  small  group  of 
the  old  guard.  The  Oneida  Community  with  its 
Mansion  House  "as  a  peculiar  form  of  Society",  to 
quote  one  of  its  own  members,  "is  practically  no 
more."  In  truth  the  whole  host  of  brotherhoods 
that  have  set  sail  on  the  communistic  sea  with  the 
"Unitary  Dwelling"  and  "Great  House"  ideal 
(despite  the  undeniable  saving  of  labor  and  expense 
of  such  a  plan)  have  miserably  failed.  The  devoted 


AMANA  213 

men  to  whom  the  management  of  the  Community  of 
True  Inspiration  has  been  entrusted  for  the  past 
century  may  not  have  been  students  of  social  sci- 
ence ;  but  that  they  have  been  profound  students  of 
human  nature  is  evidenced  on  every  hand. 

The  Amana  houses  are  substantially  built,  and 
quite  unpretentious.  It  has  been  the  purpose  of  the 
Community  to  construct  the  houses  as  nearly  alike 
as  possible.  There  is  no  hard  and  fast  rule,  but  the 
aim  is  to  make  one  as  desirable  as  the  other.  There 
is  in  the  private  homes  no  kitchen,  no  dining-room, 
no  parlor  —  just  a  series  of  sitting-rooms  and  bed- 
rooms, which  are,  almost  without  exception,  roomy 
and  homelike.  In  addition  to  the  general  family 
sitting-room,  each  member  of  a  household  has  as  a 
rule  his  own  individual  sitting-room  as  well  as  his 
own  individual  bedroom.  Here  he  is  at  liberty  to 
indulge  his  own  taste  in  decoration  —  provided  that 
he  does  not  go  beyond  his  allowance  or  violate  the 
rules  of  the  Community.  Here  he  may  ride  his  hob- 
bies or  store  his  keepsakes  without  being  disturbed 
—  which  accounts  in  part  for  the  general  content  of 
the  young  people. 

General  housekeeping  in  Amana  is  a  compara- 
tively simple  matter.  At  more  or  less  regular  inter- 
vals in  each  village  there  is  a  "  kitchen-house " — a 
little  larger  than  the  ordinary  dwelling  —  where  the 
meals  for  the  families  in  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood are  prepared  and  served.  From  sixteen  to 
fifty  persons  eat  at  one  kitchen,  the  number  depend- 


214  THE  PALIMPSEST 

ing  largely  upon  the  location.  The  places  are 
assigned  by  the  resident  Trustee  or  local  Council, 
the  chief  consideration  being  the  convenience  of 
those  concerned. 

The  kitchen-house  system  of  Amana  may  lack  the 
economy  of  the  communistic  ideal  —  the  unitary 
dining-room  —  but  there  is  much  to  be  said  in  its 
favor.  To  the  Great  Council  of  the  Brethren  the 
purity  and  simplicity  of  the  Community  have  ever 
been  more  important  considerations  than  minimum 
expenditure.  And  they  have  felt  that  these  could 
best  be  preserved  by  avoiding,  what  has  proved  to 
be  the  cause  of  the  downfall  of  so  many  communities, 
frequent  congregations  of  large  numbers  of  indi- 
viduals. Moreover,  the  mass  meeting  is  in  no  way  a 
part  of  the  working  scheme  of  the  Amana  Society. 
Even  in  the  church  there  are  separate  apartments 
or  meeting-rooms  for  the  young  men,  the  young 
women,  and  the  older  members.  Indeed,  if  Amana 
has  made  any  distinctive  contribution  to  practical, 
working  communism  it  is  in  the  combination,  or 
rather  the  nice  adjustment,  between  separatism  and 
communism  whereby  mutual  interest  is  maintained 
without  inviting  the  pitfalls  of  "too  much  getting 
together". 

The  Amana  kitchen  is  large  and  airy,  often  ex- 
tending through  the  full  depth  of  the  house.  Each 
kitchen  has  its  supply  of  hot  and  cold  water  and  its 
sink  and  drain.  Every  pan  and  kettle  has  its  shelf 
or  hook;  and  there  are  more  conveniences  for  paring 


AMANA  215 

and  slicing,  chopping  and  grinding,  than  the  average 
housewife  of  the  world  ever  dreamed  of.  But  the 
really  distinctive  feature  of  the  Amana  kitchen  is 
the  long  low  brick  stove  with  its  iron  plate  top.  This 
is  built  along  one  side  of  the  room;  and  back  of  it 
there  is  a  sheet  of  tin  several  feet  high  which  shines 
like  a  mirror.  From  its  upper  edge  hangs  a  most 
surprising  variety  of  strainers,  spoons,  dippers,  and 
ladles.  On  top  of  the  brick  stove  are  the  huge  cop- 
per boilers  and  kettles  which  a  community  kitchen 
necessitates.  In  recent  years  there  has  been  added 
to  each  kitchen  a  modern  cook-stove,  which  is  used 
during  the  winter  for  heating  as  well  as  for  cooking 
purposes. 

In  the  kitchen  everything  from  the  floor  to  ceiling 
is  as  clean  and  bright  as  can  be  made  by  soap  and 
water,  brooms  and  mops.  The  Amana  woman  knows 
none  of  the  vexations  of  the  village  housewife  of  the 
world,  in  whose  home  as  a  rule  proper  conveniences 
for  the  kitchen  are  the  last  to  be  provided.  Wood- 
sheds and  store-houses  are  built  in  the  most  con- 
venient places ;  there  are  covered  passage-ways  from 
the  house  to  the  "bake-oven"  and  outbuildings;  and 
there  is  commonly  a  hired  man  at  the  kitchen-house 
for  the  carrying  of  water  and  hewing  of  wood. 
There  is  absolute  system  in  every  detail  of  the  house- 
work. Everything  is  thoroughly  and  effectively 
done;  and  the  women  do  not  appear  to  be  over- 
worked. 

Each  kitchen  is  superintended  by  a  woman  ap- 


216  THE  PALIMPSEST 

pointed  by  the  Elders,  who  is  assisted  by  three  of  the 
younger  women,  each  taking  her  turn  in  attending  to 
the  dining-room,  preparing  vegetables,  cooking,  and 
washing  dishes.  As  a  general  rule  one  week  of 
"part  time"  follows  two  weeks  of  service  in  the 
kitchen  —  which,  it  must  be  admitted,  is  a  great  im- 
provement over  the  ceaseless  routine  of  the  life  of 
the  average  housewife  of  the  world.  The  older  wom- 
en do  not  work  in  the  kitchen  as  a  rule ;  hence  it  is 
sometimes  necessary  to  hire  help  from  the  outside. 
It  is  the  aim  of  the  Community  to  have  hired  help  in 
the  hotel  kitchens  in  order  to  shield  its  own  young 
women  from  too  close  contact  with  the  world.  The 
fact  that  the  average  summer  visitor  too  often  leaves 
his  manners  in  the  city  when  he  chances  to  take  an 
outing  makes  the  wisdom  of  such  a  rule  evident. 

Wagons  from  the  village  bakery,  butcher  shop, 
and  dairy  make  the  daily  rounds  of  the  kitchens. 
Cheese  and  unsalted  butter  for  table  use  are  made 
in  each  kitchen,  along  with  its  own  special  cooking 
and  baking.  Large  dryers  at  the  woolen  mills, 
where  steam  heat  can  be  utilized  are  now  used  for 
the  drying  of  vegetables  for  winter  use.  Ptomaine 
poisoning  and  adulterated  foods  have  little  chance 
to  do  their  deadly  work  in  Amana. 

It  is  the  aim  of  the  Community  to  produce  as  far 
as  practicable  all  the  food  consumed  by  the  mem- 
bers. At  the  same  time  the  Amana  people  do  not 
deny  themselves  any  comforts  which  are  compatible 
with  simplicity  of  life.  The  tables  are  bountifully 


AMANA  217 

laden  with  wholesome  food;  but  the  menu  is  prac- 
tically the  same  from  day  to  day,  except  as  varied 
by  the  presence  of  fresh  fruits  and  vegetables  in 
their  season.  The  Inspirationists  are  not  faddists 
in  their  diet;  they  have  no  theories  regarding  the 
effect  of  a  vegetable  and  fruit  diet  on  "the  health  of 
the  body,  and  the  purity  of  the  mind,  and  the  happi- 
ness of  society. "  They  have  no  decided  opinions 
regarding  the  relative  merits  of  lard  and  tallow,  and 
no  rule  against  the  "eating  of  dead  creatures/' 
Tea  and  coffee  are  commonly  used.  In  short  the 
food  throughout  the  Community  is  well  cooked  and 
substantial,  but  unmodified  by  any  modern  "di- 
etetic philosophy  ". 

Breakfast  is  served  in  the  Amana  kitchens  at  six 
o  'clock  in  the  summer-time  and  half  an  hour  later  in 
the  winter-time.  The  dinner  hour  is  11 :30  the  year 
round.  With  the  supper  bell,  which  rings  at  half 
past  six  in  the  winter-time  and  at  seven  o'clock  in 
the  summer-time,  the  day's  wojk  closes.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  three  meals  the  Inspirationist  takes  a 
lunch  in  the  middle  of  each  half  day.  Those  who 
work  at  considerable  distance  from  the  kitchen  carry 
their  lunches  with  them.  When  the  supper  things 
are  cleared  the  members  gather  in  small  groups  at 
different  places  in  the  villages  for  the  evening 
prayer-meeting. 

There  was  a  time  in  the  pioneer  days  of  the  Com- 
munity (when  all  energies  were  bent  to  the  building 
of  a  new  home  in  the  wilderness)  when  the  women, 


218  THE  PALIMPSEST 

in  the  manner  of  our  Puritan  grandmothers,  shared 
almost  equally  the  physical  labors  of  the  men.  But 
as  the  Community  prospered  the  lot  of  the  women 
became  easier;  and  to-day  the  woman  of  Amana 
knows  nothing  of  the  cares  of  the  average  house- 
mother who  is  expected  to  perform  the  combined 
duties  of  housemaid  and  nurse,  hostess  and  church 
worker. 

In  every  department  of  service  in  which  woman 
participates  the  work  is  carefully  apportioned  to  her 
strength.  The  woman  with  children  under  the  age 
of  two  is  not  required  to  take  part  in  the  general 
village  work,  and  her  meals  are  brought  to  her  home 
in  a  basket  from  the  nearest  kitchen-house.  There  is 
a  nursery  or  kindergarten  in  each  village  well  sup- 
plied with  sand  piles  and  the  variety  of  playthings 
deemed  necessary  to  keep  children  interested.  Here 
the  little  folks  between  three  years  and  school  age 
are  cared  for  when  necessary  to  enable  their  moth- 
ers to  take  part  in  the  village  work. 

In  connection  with  every  kitchen-house  is  a  veg- 
etable garden  of  from  two  to  three  acres.  The 
heaviest  of  the  garden  work  is  always  done  by  the 
hired  man,  but  the  superintendence  and  general  care 
of  the  garden  are  entrusted  to  the  women.  This 
work  is  lighter  than  the  kitchen  work  and  the  hours 
are  shorter;  and  so  the  garden  work  is  allotted  to 
the  middle-aged  and  older  women. 

Whoever  has  fared  on  the  produce  of  the  kitchen- 
house  garden  can  understand  the  feeling  of  the 


AMANA  219 

Amana  prodigal  who  returned  to  the  Community 
because  there  was  "  nothing  fit  to  eat  in  the  world. " 
There  is  fresh  lettuce  from  March  to  December, 
grown  in  hotbeds  at  one  end  of  the  season  and  kept 
in  sand  in  the  cellar  at  the  other.  There  is  ever- 
green spinach  that  is  delicious  the  whole  summer 
long;  and  the  garden  superintendent  knows  how  to 
lengthen  the  green  pea  and  wax  bean  season  to  the 
most  surprising  extent.  There  are  great  white 
cauliflowers  averaging  ten  inches  across;  there  are 
kale  and  salsify,  red  cabbage  and  yellow  tomatoes, 
and  much  more  that  the  visitor  from  the  world  does 
not  even  know  by  name.  At  one  end  of  the  summer 
the  kitchen  garden  brings  forth  huge  strawberries 
and  raspberries,  to  which  even  the  gorgeously  illus- 
trated seed  catalogues  can  not  do  justice ;  and  at  the 
other  end  a  marvelous  variety  of  apples,  and  pears, 
and  plums,  and  grapes. 

In  their  dress  (like  the  Shakers,  the  Mennonites, 
and  in  truth  all  of  the  communities  whose  religion 
prohibits  "a  life  of  vanity ")  the  members  of  the 
Amana  Community  are  "  plain ".  And  like  the 
Shakers,  too,  they  do  not  profess  to  adhere  to  a  uni- 
form, but  claim  to  have  adopted  and  retained  what 
they  find  to  be  a  convenient  style  of  dress.  This  is 
particularly  true  of  the  dress  of  the  women. 

There  is  nothing  distinctive  in  the  dress  of  the  men 
of  Amana  to-day.  While  there  is  still  a  great  aver- 
sion among  the  pious  to  "  looking  proud ",  there  is 
an  equal  dislike  on  the  part  of  the  younger  members 


220  THE  PALIMPSEST 

of  being  conspicuous  on  account  of  their  clothes. 
And  so  the  men,  particularly  those  who  come  in  con- 
tact with  the  world,  dress  in  much  the  same  fashion 
as  do  men  of  the  world  —  a  little  more  given  to 
"  plain  goods  ",  perhaps,  and  a  little  less  responsive 
to  the  latest  edicts  of  fashion. 

Formerly  the  village  tailor  made  all  of  the  clothing 
for  the  men,  but  it  was  found  to  be  cheaper  to  buy 
"  ready-made "  clothes  for  ordinary  wear.  The 
"best  clothes"  are  still  quite  generally  made  by  the 
Community  tailor ;  for  the  young  man  gets  his  goods 
at  cost  from  the  woolen  mills  and,  as  the  time  of  the 
tailor  belongs  to  the  Society,  he  is  thus  enabled  to 
dress  well  on  less  than  one-fourth  of  what  it  costs 
his  brother  in  the  world.  The  older  Brothers  are  a 
little  more  orthodox  and  still  wear  "Colony"  trou- 
sers and  a  Sunday  coat  without  lapels;  but  unlike 
the  Amishman,  with  whom  he  is  often  confused,  he 
does  not  regard  the  button  as  an  "emblem  of  van- 
ity", nor  cut  his  hair  in  "pumpkin-shell"  fashion. 
He  does,  however,  resemble  both  the  Amishman  and 
the  Shaker  in  the  cut  of  his  beard  and  in  the  absence 
of  a  moustache,  which  latter  is  regarded  as  a  badge 
of  worldliness. 

The  costume  of  the  women  might  almost  be  called 
a  uniform  two  hundred  years  old,  the  dress  of  to-day 
among  the  more  orthodox  being  practically  the  same 
as  at  the  founding  of  the  Community.  "Do  not 
adorn  yourself  in  dress  for  luxury's  sake",  reads 
one  of  the  precepts  of  the  Community,  "as  a  feast 


AMANA  221 

for  the  eyes  or  to  please  yourself  or  others,  but  only 
for  necessity's  sake.  What  you  seek  and  use  beyond 
necessity  is  sin."  For  mother  and  grandmother 
this  is  still  the  law  and  the  gospel ;  but  granddaugh- 
ter, in  the  manner  of  the  "growing-up-youth"  of 
all  ages,  is  less  inclined  to  follow  rules  and  regula- 
tions and  ofttimes  discards  the  "  shoulder- shawl" 
and  black  cap,  originally  designed  to  suppress  pride, 
changes  perhaps  the  cut  of  her  Quaker-like  gown, 
and  wears  a  bit  of  jewelry  or  a  pretty  slipper. 
Until  recently  the  summer  clothing  of  the  women 
was  made  largely  of  the  calico  printed  by  the  Com- 
munity and  known  from  Maine  to  California  as 
"Amana  Calico ".  The  printing  works,  however, 
were  closed  during  the  World  War  owing  to  the 
impossibility  of  obtaining  reliable  dyes  —  particu- 
larly the  indigo  for  the  Society's  best  known  " Col- 
ony Blue" —  and  up  to  the  present  time  the  industry 
has  not  been  resumed.  The  only  head  dress  in  the 
summer  time  is  a  sun  bonnet  with  a  long  cape;  a 
hood  takes  its  place  in  cold  weather. 

How  it  came  to  pass  that  the  planting  of  flowers 
escaped  condemnation  as  "a  pleasure  to  the  eye"  is 
more  than  the  "worldly  minded"  can  explain.  We 
only  know  that  it  is  so  and  are  thankful.  For  all  the 
pent  up  love  for  the  beautiful  in  the  Community  of 
True  Inspiration  for  six  generations  seems  to  find 
expression  in  the  cultivation  of  flowers,  which  are 
found  in  great  profusion  everywhere  —  around  each 
dwelling,  in  front  of  the  church,  and  even  in  the  hotel 


222 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


and  school  yards.  Indeed,  the  Amana  village  from 
June  to  October  is  one  huge  garden  all  aglow  with 
quaint  old-fashioned  flowers.  There  are  great  rows 
of  f our-o  'clocks  and  lady-slippers,  borders  of  candy- 
tuft and  six-weeks-stock;  gorgeous  masses  of  zin- 
nias, marigolds,  and  geraniums;  great  pansy  beds 
and  rose  gardens  —  all  laid  out  with  precision  and 
cared  for  with  such  devotion  and  such  genuine 
pleasure  that  the  visitor  too  rejoices. 

The  picturesqueness  of  the  Amana  estate  is  en- 
hanced by  a  mill-race  —  a  canal  seven  miles  long 
which  furnishes  the  water  power  for  the  mills  and 
factories.  This  mill-race  is  now  old  enough  to  be 
fringed  with  pickerel  weed  and  dwarf  willows  bent 
by  the  weight  of  wild  grape-vines.  Here  and  there 
the  race  is  spanned  by  quaint  wooden  bridges.  Half- 
way between  two  of  the  villages  the  mill-race  ex- 
pands into  a  lake  which  covers  about  two  hundred 
acres  and  is  now  almost  filled  with  the  American 
lotus  or  yellow  nelumbo.  In  July  when  the  lotus 
lifts  hundreds  of  great  buff  blossoms  above  the 
water,  the  quiet  Sunday  of  the  peace  loving  Inspira- 
tionist  and  his  family  is  sadly  disturbed  by  the  end- 
less procession  of  automobile  visitors  and  their 
attendant  noise  and  dust. 

THE  EEAL  AMANA 

"To  be  a  church  always "  is  the  essential  aim  of 
the  Community  of  True  Inspiration ;  and  it  is  in  the 
personal  service  and  the  practical  devotion  of  six 


AMANA  223 

generations  to  a  spiritual  ideal  that  we  find  the  real 
explanation  of  the  Amana  of  to-day.  The  dreams  of 
men  live  on  triumphantly  through  the  ages  when  the 
visible  structure  of  their  civilization  has  crumbled 
away.  The  old  feudal  castle  of  Eonneburg  is  an 
empty  echoing  shell,  but  the  spirit  of  "the  old  de- 
fenders of  the  faith ' '  who  there  strove  for  religious 
liberty  in  the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth  century 
still  lives  in  the  little  valley  of  the  Iowa  Eiver  which 
has  been  the  dwelling  place  of  their  descendants  for 
more  than  three  score  years. 

Sincerely  and  most  devoutly  do  these  people  be- 
lieve that  from  the  beginning  of  the  '  '  New  Spiritual 
Economy "  they  have  received  in  all  spiritual  mat- 
ters, and  in  those  temporal  affairs  which  concerned 
their  spiritual  welfare,  divine  guidance  through  spe- 
cially endowed  individuals.  They  believe  that  the 
beautiful  Amana  of  to-day  is  simply  the  expression 
of  the  Lord's  will  as  revealed  directly  to  them  from 
time  to  time  through  their  prophets.  They  believe 
they  were  commanded  by  "a  decisive  word  of  the 
Lord ' '  to  dwell  together  in  the  Fatherland ;  to  come 
to  America  where  they  might  "live  in  peace  and 
religious  liberty ";  to  adopt  communism  in  the  "new 
home  in  the  wilderness ";  to  leave  Ebenezer  and 
move  to  Iowa;  and  there  to  buy  land  and  establish 
factories  in  order  that  the  brotherhood  might  be 
maintained  in  "the  faith  which  has  love  and  the 
bond  of  peace  for  its  essence. " 

Since  the  death  of  Barbara  Heinemann,  who  re- 


224  THE  PALIMPSEST 

ceived  her  gift  of  inspiration  at  about  the  same  time 
as  Christian  Metz  and  who  outlived  him  by  sixteen 
years,  there  have  been  no  "  Instruments "  and  no 
new  revelations;  but  " still  living  witnesses "  and 
"well  founded  Brethren "  carry  on  the  work  as  of 
old,  and  much  inspired  literature  remains  for  the 
assurance  and  guidance  of  the  congregations  of 
to-day.  Of  testimonies  alone  there  are  forty-two 
printed  volumes,  besides  many  collections  of  poetry 
and  songs. 

The  stranger  in  the  Amana  villages  would  have 
some  difficulty  in  finding  the  church  buildings,  unless 
perhaps  his  attention  were  challenged  by  their  in- 
ordinate length ;  for  the  Amana  church  is  no  "  steeple 
house ' ',  but  simply  a  series  of  rooms  made  necessary 
by  the  fact  that  in  the  larger  villages  the  men  and 
women  of  certain  spiritual  orders  meet  separately 
on  Sunday  morning,  when  four  services  are  con- 
ducted simultaneously.  The  general  meetings  on 
Saturday  morning  and  Sunday  afternoon  are  held  in 
a  large  assembly  room  of  the  church. 

The  interior  of  the  Amana  meeting-house  is 
marked  by  its  plainness.  The  whitewashed  walls, 
the  bare  floors,  and  the  long  unpainted  benches  worn 
smooth  with  much  use  and  frequent  scrubbings,  all 
bespeak  the  character  of  the  service  which  is  simple, 
sincere,  and  deeply  impressive.  There  is  no  pulpit, 
but  instead  a  plain  table  where  the  presiding  Elder 
sits.  On  either  side  of  him,  facing  the  congregation, 
is  seated  a  row  of  Elders  who  possess  the  necessary 


AMANA  225 

" measure  of  enlightenment  and  discrimination"  to 
"  fulfill  the  calling  of  the  shepherd  of  souls. " 

In  the  general  meeting  the  men  sit  on  one  side  of 
the  church  and  the  women  on  the  other,  both  groups 
according  to  age  and  spiritual  rank  —  the  young- 
sters on  the  front  benches  under  the  watchful  eye  of 
the  Elders,  the  older  members  behind.  Each  mem- 
ber of  the  congregation  from  little  Wilhelm  and 
Johanna  to  the  presiding  Elder  comes  armed  with  a 
Bible  and  a  copy  of  the  ponderous  Psalter-Spiel  in  a 
pasteboard  case. 

The  religious  services  of  the  Community  of  True 
Inspiration  are  numerous  but  extremely  simple. 
There  is  no  attempt  at  rhetorical  effect  or  eloquence 
on  the  part  of  the  Elders,  the  hymns  are  chanted 
without  instrumental  accompaniment  and  ofttimes 
the  prayer  is  "unhindered  by  words".  The  service 
is  dignified  and  breathes  throughout  a  reverent  and 
devout  spirit,  and  ever  there  remains  the  sincere 
effort  of  the  forefathers  to  eliminate  all  that  is 
formal  and  bound  to  the  letter.  At  the  close  of  the 
service  the  congregation  quietly  files  out  of  the 
church.  If  it  chances  to  be  a  general  meeting  the 
women  all  leave  the  church  by  one  exit  and  the  men 
by  another.  This  no  doubt  is  calculated  to  prevent 
"silly  conversation  and  trifling  conduct".  There 
are  no  greetings,  no  good-byes,  no  visiting  on  the 
steps  of  the  church  —  nothing  in  fact  that  would  tend 
to  lessen  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion. 

The  religious  service  which  is  held  upon  the  death 


226  THE  PALIMPSEST 

of  a  member  is  conducted  in  the  church.  The  body, 
however,  remains  in  the  home.  The  service  is  the 
regular  church  service  with  the  lesson  drawn  from 
the  life  and  death  of  the  departed  Brother  or  Sister. 
After  the  service  the  entire  congregation,  including 
the  children,  are  permitted  to  go  to  the  home  to  view 
the  remains.  Then  the  plain  casket  is  placed  in  a 
light  open  wagon  and  the  little  procession  proceeds 
on  foot  down  the  flower-bordered  street  to  the  cem- 
etery. At  the  side  of  the  wagon  or  behind  it  are  the 
pall-bearers,  the  family  of  the  deceased,  and  the  rela- 
tives, who  are  followed  by  the  Elders,  the  school 
children  accompanied  by  their  teacher,  and  the 
members  of  the  Community.  There  is  no  service  at 
the  grave  save  a  hymn  and  a  silent  prayer  offered 
by  the  entire  congregation  with  bowed  heads  as  the 
body  is  lowered  into  the  earth. 

There  is  no  outward  mourning  for  the  dead.  In- 
deed, the  faith  of  the  Community  teaches  that  death 
is  but  "the  blessed  release  of  the  spirit "  from  the 
pain  and  suffering,  the  sorrow  and  trouble  which  is 
the  lot  of  man  during  his  "pilgrimage  on  earth. " 
The  unencumbered  spirit  passes  beyond  into  "a 
blissful  eternity"  where  other  souls  will  join  it  as 
they  in  turn  are  1 1  freed  of  their  burdens. ' ' 

BROTHERS  ALL 

Amana's  simple  doctrine  of  "Brothers  all  as 
God's  children"  is  maintained  even  in  death.  In 
the  cemetery  there  are  no  family  lots,  no  monuments. 


AMANA  227 

The  departed  members  of  each  village  are  buried 
side  by  side  in  the  order  of  their  death  in  rows  of 
military  precision,  regardless  of  birth,  family,  or 
spiritual  rank.  The  graves  are  marked  by  a  low 
stone  or  white  painted  head-board  with  only  the 
name  and  date  of  death  on  the  side  facing  the  grave. 

"Behold  how  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for 
Brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity ' ',  quoted  Gruber 
to  his  little  congregation  two  centuries  ago.  Elo- 
quently the  simple,  silent,  clover-scented  Amana 
cemetery  with  its  incense-breathing  hedge  of  cedar 
speaks  of  the  many  sacrifices  of  personal  ambition, 
of  material  prosperity,  and  of  individual  pleasures 
dear  to  the  human  heart  made  and  suffered  by  those 
who  have  endeavored  to  "remain  true",  to  "believe 
faithfully",  and  to  live  together  in  unity.  In  the 
center  of  that  quiet  solemn  place  the  men  whose 
wealth  made  possible  the  establishment  of  the  new 
home  in  the  West  sleep  beside  their  Brothers  who 
had  naught  to  give  to  the  Community  save  the  labor 
of  their  hands.  And  beyond,  resting  beside  the  least 
among  them,  lies  the  great-hearted  Christian  Metz, 
whose  head-stone  reads  simply:  CHRISTIAN  METZ  24 
JULI  1867.  The  rest  —  the  loving  tribute  of  his  fol- 
lowers —  is  graven  upon  the  heart  of  every  member 
of  the  Community. 

Two  generations  have  passed  since  that  gifted 
Brother  was  "recalled  from  the  field  of  his  endeav- 
or". One  by  one  the  "still  living  witnesses"  have 
joined  the  silent  Brotherhood  in  the  cedar-bordered 


228  THE  PALIMPSEST 

lot,  and  a  newer  generation  with  less  of  the  austere 
spirit  and  more  of  the  ways  of  the  world  have  quietly 
accepted  the  call  to  service.  The  casual  visitor  notes 
the  changes  and  asks:  "What  of  Amana  in  the  fu- 
ture? "  Were  Amana  simply  an  experiment  in 
communism  one  might  venture  an  opinion  as  to  its 
permanency.  But  the  real  Amana,  in  spite  of  modi- 
fications in  the  distinctive  life  which  characterized 
the  Community  in  an  earlier  day,  is  still  Amana  the 
Church  —  Amana  the  Community  of  True  Inspira- 
tion. 

The  Community  to-day  is  a  living  history  of  all  of 
the  work  and  character  and  ideals  that  have  been 
associated  with  it  in  the  past ;  and  when  we  look  into 
the  faces  of  the  splendid  young  men  and  women  to 
whom  it  has  been  handed  on  as  a  precious  inherit- 
ance, when  we  hear  the  chant  of  the  "primer  class " 
as  it  floats  out  of  the  vine-covered  school  window, 
we  know  that  in  spite  of  external  modifications  and 
adjustments,  in  spite  of  the  occasional  "emblem  of 
vanity"  and  "worldly  amusement ",  in  spite  of  the 
inevitable  "black  sheep"  in  the  fold,  much  of  the 
beautiful  spirit  of  "the  old  defenders  of  the  faith" 
still  pervades  the  Community.  The  history  of  man- 
kind teaches  that  "religion  often  makes  practicable 
that  which  were  else  impossible,  and  divine  love 
triumphs  when  human  science  is  baffled." 

BERTHA  M.  H.  SHAMBAUGH 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

As  this  number  of  THE  PALIMPSEST  goes  out  to 
its  readers  the  lotus  is  lifting  its  great  yellow  blos- 
soms above  the  placid  waters  of  the  lake  of  the 
Amanas.  They  are  now  wide  open  to  the  sky,  and 
their  long  stems  reach  deep  down  into  the  rich  soil 
at  the  bottom  of  the  lake.  But  when  torn  from  their 
roots  they  close  up  into  the  conventional  lotus  of 
ancient  Egyptian  architecture. 

Dwelling  in  contentment  in  the  vine-covered 
houses  of  the  Amana  villages  are  a  people  of  un- 
usual ways,  deeprooted  in  historical  traditions,  in 
religious  beliefs,  and  in  love  of  home  and  surround- 
ings. The  glimpses  which  Mrs.  Shambaugh  gives  of 
these  people  and  their  home  constitute  an  explana- 
tion of  the  Community  of  True  Inspiration:  here 
there  is  no  attempt  to  describe  the  more  obvious 
aspects  of  this  interesting  group  of  Iowa  villages 
and  villagers. 

These  glimpses  are  taken  largely  from  the 
author's  book  on  Amana:  The  Community  of  True 
Inspiration  published  by  The  State  Historical  Soci- 
ety of  Iowa  in  1908.  For  many  years  Mrs.  Sham- 
baugh has  been  interested  in  and  has  written  about 
the  Community  and  its  history.  It  is  a  noteworthy 
fact  that  her  first  contribution  to  the  literature  on 

229 


230  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Amana  appeared  in  1896  in  The  Midland  Monthly 
—  the  article  having  been  awarded  a  prize  by  Mr. 
Johnson  Brigham  who  was  then  the  editor  and  pub- 
lisher of  the  magazine. 

After  a  brief  but  noteworthy  career  The  Midland 
Monthly  was  discontinued,  but  the  stimulating  en- 
couragement given  by  Mr.  Brigham  to  many  young 
writers  led  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Shambaugh  not  only 
to  her  book  on  Amana  but  also  to  a  long  list  of 
articles  on  the  same  subject  —  the  last  one  of  which, 
entitled  Amana  the  Church  and  Christian  Metz  the 
Prophet,  appeared  in  The  Midland  edited  and  pub- 
lished by  Mr.  John  T.  Frederick. 

All  of  which  associates  these  two  literary  ideal- 
ists of  different  generations  in  a  way  which  seems  to 
us  worthy  of  comment.  When  the  literature  of  the 
Middle  West  comes  into  its  own  it  is  probable  that 
no  influence  in  the  history  of  its  development  will 
stand  out  more  clearly  than  the  devoted  work  of 
these  two  Iowa  editors  —  Johnson  Brigham  of  The 
Midland  Monthly  and  John  T.  Frederick  of  The 
Midland. 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 
ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  II  ISSUED  IN  AUGUST  1921  No.  e 


COPYRIGHT  1921   BY  THE 


Perils  of  a  Pioneer  Editor 

The  Old  Stone  Capitol  at  Iowa  City  seems  to  have 
been,  in  the  forties,  a  dangerous  place  for  Demo- 
cratic newspaper  men  to  frequent.  For  within  its 
halls  three  successive  editors  of  the  Iowa  Capitol 
Reporter  became  involved  in  physical  encounters 
with  irate  legislators. 

The  editor  in  1841  was  Ver  Planck  Van  Antwerp. 
Because  of  a  West  Point  training  he  was  dubbed 
" General' ',  and  among  his  enemies  he  received  the 
titles  of  "Old  Growler"  and  "My  Lord  Pomposity". 
He  was  a  man  of  high  dignity  and  pretentious  dress, 
an  aristocrat  in  tastes,  but  a  Democrat  in  politics. 

Van  Antwerp  was  an  early  comer  to  the  West  and 
had  held  several  political  positions.  In  1838  while 
Receiver  of  the  Land  Office  in  Burlington  he  experi- 
enced a  bit  of  real  frontier  life.  He  and  Stephen 
Whicher  were  walking  arm  in  arm  down  the  street 
one  day  when  pistol  shots  startled  them  and  a  bullet 
whizzed  past  apparently  between  their  heads.  Van 

233 


234  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Antwerp 's  account  of  the  affair  is  not  to  be  had,  but 
Whicher  in  a  letter  written  at  the  time  said  that  the 
General  "ran  like  an  affrighted  deer  about  ten  rods, 
when  he  stopped,  turned,  and  called  to  me  to  follow 
him". 

Whicher  stood  his  ground,  however,  and  there 
came  running  up  to  him  a  man  "without  a  hat,  with 
a  broken  head,  and  an  empty  pistol".  The  man  was 
a  prominent  lawyer  of  Burlington  who  had  just  shot 
and  fatally  wounded  Cyrus  S.  Jacobs,  a  member- 
elect  of  the  Territorial  legislature,  following  an  at- 
tempt of  the  latter  to  cane  him. 

Van  Antwerp  lost  his  office  in  1841  and  moved  to 
Iowa  City,  the  new  capital  of  the  Territory,  where 
he  began,  in  partnership  with  Thomas  Hughes,  the 
publication  of  a  Democratic  journal  known  as  the 
Iowa  Capitol  Reporter. 

In  the  session  of  1841-1842  a  considerable  discus- 
sion arose  at  Iowa  City  over  the  bestowal  of  the 
legislative  printing  —  a  matter  in  which  the  Re- 
porter was  vitally  interested.  The  Democrats  in  the 
Council  were  not  unanimous  in  favoring  the  Iowa 
Capitol  Reporter,  and  one  of  them  —  Mr.  Bainbridge 
—  evoked  much  wrath  and  condemnation  from  Van 
Antwerp,  who  denounced  him  in  his  paper  as  a 
"hybrid  politician".  Whereupon  Bainbridge  is  re- 
ported to  have  remarked  that  "if  Van  had  any 
friends  they  had  better  advise  him  to  be  cautious  in 
taking  liberties  with  his  name,  or  he  would  get  his 
face  slapped." 


PERILS  OF  A  PIONEER  EDITOR  235 

Further  difference  of  opinion  arose  over  the 
Miners'  Bank  of  Dubuque,  at  that  time  the  only 
bank  in  Iowa.  The  Iowa  Capitol  Reporter  and  the 
Democrats  generally  were  trying  to  force  an  imme- 
diate resumption  of  specie  payments  by  the  bank, 
which  was  —  in  the  minds  of  its  friends  —  equiva- 
lent to  bankrupting  the  concern.  Bainbridge,  repre- 
senting Dubuque  County,  endeavored  to  save  the 
institution.  Van  Antwerp  again  attacked  him  in  the 
columns  of  his  paper  with  language  that  completed 
the  dissolution  of  Bainbridge 's  patience. 

With  the  stage  thus  set,  Van  Antwerp  repaired 
one  morning  in  early  February  to  the  Council 
Chamber  in  the  Old  Stone  Capitol.  When  he  left  the 
room  Bainbridge  followed  him  into  the  hall  and 
there  occurred  the  incident  upon  which  witnesses 
and  near  witnesses  have  failed  to  agree. 

A  writer  in  the  Iowa  City  Standard  reports  that 
Bainbridge,  looking  Van  sternly  in  the  face  said 
" the  'hybrid  politician'  ....  conceives  you  to 

be  a  d d  scoundrel  and  a  puppy"  and  added  that 

if  he  ever  misrepresented  him  again  he  would  tra- 
verse the  Territory  from  one  end  to  the  other  to 
kick  him.  After  some  parleying  Van  Antwerp,  to 
use  his  own  expression,  "retorted  his  offensive  lan- 
guage, and  the  scuffle  between  us  ensued". 

According  to  the  Standard,  Bainbridge  struck 
Van  Antwerp  over  the  hat  and  head  with  his  cane, 
seized  a  pistol  which  Van  Antwerp  tried  to  draw, 
and  smote  him  upon  his  be-spectacled  face  with  his 
fist  so  vigorously  as  to  draw  blood. 


236  THE  PALIMPSEST 

"It  is  false  that  we  were  struck  at  all",  said  Van 
Antwerp.  "Our  assailant  ....  raised  a  stick 
which  he  held  in  his  hand,  as  if  intending  to  strike 
us  —  but  we  threw  up  our  arm  and  seized  it,  en- 
deavoring at  the  same  time  to  draw  a  pistol  with 
which  to  defend  ourself  in  case  he  did  strike.  .  .  . 
the  weapon  which  we  carried  was  wrested  from  us. 
....  An  exchange  of  weapons  thus  took  place 
between  us  in  the  affray;  and  when  other  persons 
came  forward  to  interfere  between  us,  we  held  the 
stick  of  our  assailant  in  our  left  hand,  with  our  right 
grappled  upon  the  collar  of  his  coat."  About  this 
time  Mr.  Stull,  the  Secretary  of  the  Territory,  ap- 
peared in  the  doorway,  and  seeing  the  pistol  in  the 
possession  of  Bainbridge,  is  said  to  have  roared  out 
"to  the  victors  belong  the  spoils". 

During  the  same  year  Van  Antwerp  dropped  out 
of  the  firm  of  publishers  and  was  succeeded  by  Jesse 
Williams.  The  Territorial  legislature  met  and  again 
took  up  the  question  of  the  Miners'  Bank  of  Du- 
buque.  Charges  were  made  by  the  Iowa  Capitol 
Reporter  that  members  had  been  influenced  by  the 
offer  of  bribes  to  support  the  bank.  An  investi- 
gating committee  was  appointed  with  George  H. 
Walworth  as  its  chairman.  The  committee  reported 
that  although  improper  advances  had  actually  been 
made,  no  legislator  had  been  influenced  in  his  vote, 
and  the  report  closed  with  a  recommendation  that 
the  editors  of  the  Reporter  justly  deserved  the  cen- 
sure of  the  House. 


PERILS  OF  A  PIONEER  EDITOR  237 

The  report  was  laid  upon  the  table,  but  Editor 
Williams  was  not  satisfied  to  let  the  matter  drop, 
and  wielded  an  acid  pen  in  criticism  of  Walworth, 
the  chairman  of  the  committee.  One  day  Walworth 
came  upon  Jesse  Williams  in  the  library  of  the  cap- 
itol  and  took  the  opportunity  to  vent  his  wrath  upon 
the  editor  in  a  personal  assault.  Being  a  powerful 
man  Walworth  soon  had  his  opponent  upon  the  floor 
where  he  proceeded  to  give  him  so  thorough  a  beat- 
ing that  blood  flowed  freely  and  began  to  form  a 
pool  on  the  carpet.  It  seems  that  the  carpet  was 
one  which  the  Secretary  of  the  Territory  had  but 
recently  purchased.  The  fight  was  on  in  full  swing 
when  the  ubiquitous  Stull  burst  into  the  room  and 
fell  upon  the  combatants. 

"You  d d  scoundrels !"  he  cried.    "What  are 

you  spoiling  my  carpet  for?"    And  he  threw  them 
both  out  of  the  room. 

Bout  number  three  occurred  at  the  first  session  of 
the  legislature  of  the  new  State  of  Iowa.  Jesse 
Williams  had  been  succeeded  on  the  editorial  staff 
of  the  Reporter  by  a  man  named  Palmer.  Another 
case  of  attempted  bribery  came  before  the  legisla- 
ture, this  time  in  connection  with  the  choice  of 
Iowa's  first  United  States  Senators.  The  close  divi- 
sion between  Democrats  and  Whigs  and  the  uncer- 
tainty as  to  how  several  of  the  members  would  vote 
made  an  exciting  situation  when  one  of  the  doubtful 
men,  Mr.  Nelson  King  from  Keokuk  County,  rose 
and  stated  that  he  had  been  approached  by  several 


238  THE  PALIMPSEST 

persons  and  offered  money  and  other  rewards  if  he 
would  cast  his  vote  for  the  Democratic  candidates. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  investigate  the 
case.  Mr.  King  gave  testimony:  "Finally,  about 
that  time/'  he  said,  "me  and  him  was  in  that  path 
between  the  House  of  Representatives  and  the  brick 
tavern  ....  he  offered  me  a  hundred  dollars, 
and  gave  me  to  understand  if  I  would  vote  for  Dodge 
I  should  have  it. ' ' 

But  Mr.  King  in  turn  found  his  character  ques- 
tioned by  the  legal  counsel  of  his  reputed  briber. 
Allusions  were  made  to  charges  of  assault  with  in- 
tent to  kill  and  of  stealing  bacon.  These  charges 
were  taken  up  by  the  press,  and  the  Iowa  Capitol 
Reporter,  among  other  remarks,  made  the  facetious 
observation  that,  whereas  King  was  supposed  to  be 
deficient  in  literature,  he  was  "evidently  familiar 
with  Lock  and  Bacon". 

King  was  disposed  to  ignore  these  personal  re- 
marks of  Palmer,  but  was  led  by  his  wife  —  so  said 
this  modern  Adam  —  to  believe  that  he  should  chas- 
tise his  maligner.  So  he  encountered  Palmer  one 
day  in  the  Capitol  and  with  true  backwoods  spirit 
undertook  to  thrash  the  editor.  Palmer  was  small 
and  unequal  to  the  struggle  but  presented  a  plucky 
resistance.  The  affair  assumed  serious  aspects 
when  King  drew  a  loaded  pistol.  Mr.  Stull  was  not 
this  time  upon  the  scene  of  conflict  but  there  were 
others  who  intervened  and  prevented  a  possible 
tragedy. 


PERILS  OF  A  PIONEER  EDITOR  239 

These  three  episodes,  wherein  the  editors  found 
their  pens  mightier  than  their  swords,  are  character- 
istic of  the  times.  Freedom  of  speech  (and  of  the 
press  was  limited  not  by  the  libel  court  but  by  the 
more  summary  physical  vengeance  of  the  libeled. 
Formal  duelling  was  rare  but  informal  encounters 
upon  the  streets  and  in  public  buildings  were  not  un- 
common. Canings  often  led  to  the  use  of  the  pistol 
and  not  always  was  the  outcome  so  free  from  trag- 
edy as  in  the  attacks  upon  the  editors  of  the  Iowa 
Capitol  Reporter. 

JOHN  C.  PARISH 


The  Coining  of  the  Railroad 

I  can  well  remember  Iowa  City  as  it  was  in  the 
days  long  before  the  Civil  War,  when  Gower  and 
Holt  and  the  Powell  Brothers  were  among  the  prin- 
cipal business  men  and  when  Crummy 's  Tavern  set 
out  good  cheer  for  the  stranger.  Those  were  the 
days  when  the  only  public  conveyance  between  towns 
was  the  slow  stage  coach  that  also  carried  the  mail. 
The  drivers  during  the  bitter  cold  weather  were 
often  so  numbed  when  they  reached  their  stopping 
place  that  they  had  to  be  lifted  from  their  seats  and 
carried  into  the  station  where  a  large  fireplace  was 
always  heaped  with  glowing  logs  to  welcome  all  who 
chose  to  enter. 

The  meeting  of  the  legislature  was  the  main  event 
of  importance  until  the  excitement  caused  by  the 
prospect  of  a  railroad  coming  into  the  city.  This 
brought  a  great  boom  to  Iowa  City  and  sent  the 
price  of  property  soaring.  In  those  days  everything 
the  railroads  asked  for  was  willingly  given  to  in- 
duce them  to  come  into  the  State.  Grants  and  privi- 
leges of  all  kinds  were  freely  offered. 

In  the  last  days  of  December,  1855, 1  came  up  from 
Louisa  County  to  Iowa  City,  a  distance  of  fifty 
miles,  with  C.  H.  Berryhill,  one  of  the  most  influen- 
tial citizens  of  the  town.  We  came  by  horse  and 
buggy  through  deep  snow  and  it  took  us  two  days. 

240 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  RAILROAD          241 

As  we  neared  the  city,  we  saw  off  to  our  right  huge 
bonfires  burning  to  afford  light  for  the  men  on  the 
railroad  construction  to  continue  their  work.  The 
business  men  and  others  were  out  there  helping  to 
complete  the  road  according  to  contract,  and  by 
twelve  o'clock  New  Year's  morning,  1856,  the  last 
rail  was  laid  and  the  last  spike  driven.  On  the  3rd 
of  January  followed  the  great  event  of  celebrating 
the  completion  of  the  railroad  to  Iowa  City.  It  was 
a  bitterly  cold  afternoon  when  the  whistle  blew  an- 
nouncing the  entry  of  the  first  passenger  train 
bringing  the  invited  guests  from  Chicago,  Rock 
Island,  Davenport,  and  Muscatine.  The  cannon 
roared  out  their  welcome,  and  the  rattle  of  omni- 
buses was  heard  over  the  hard  frozen  street,  as  they 
bore  the  invited  guests  to  the  homes  the  committee 
had  arranged  for  them. 

The  committee  on  arrangements  consisted  of 
thirty-five  ladies  and  as  many  gentlemen.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  C.  H.  Berryhill  were  of  this  number  and  I,  a 
schoolgirl,  being  one  of  the  family  at  that  time,  had 
the  opportunity  in  a  small  way  of  seeing  and  help- 
ing spread  the  four  tables  set  the  length  of  the  Rep- 
resentatives '  Hall.  For  instance,  I  had  the  privilege 
and  pleasure  of  helping  frost  with  real  loaf  sugar  (a 
thing  of  luxury  in  those  days)  the  thirty-two  pounds 
of  pound  cake  which  Mrs.  Berryhill  had  ordered 
from  her  baker  for  the  occasion.  We  were  told  that 
only  the  white  meat  of  the  turkeys  she  had  ordered 
would  be  used  and  must  be  sliced  very  thin.  But  the 


242  THE  PALIMPSEST 

supreme  time  to  me  was  when  on  the  last  day  of 
preparation,  I  went  with  Mrs.  Berryhill  to  the  Cap- 
itol and  saw  the  tables  and  hall  in  all  their  glory. 
Over  the  speaker's  stand  was  an  arch  that  the  ladies 
of  the  committee  had  covered  with  branches  of  ever- 
green in  the  midst  of  which  were  balls  of  cotton  to 
imitate  snow  balls.  In  one  corner  of  the  hall  was  an 
old  fashioned  cook  stove  where  the  committee  pre- 
pared and  served  hot  coffee  and  hot  fresh  oysters, 
as  the  coming  of  the  railroad  made  fresh  oysters  for 
the  first  time  possible  in  Iowa.  As  the  tables  were 
bountifully  spread  with  cold  food,  the  committee 
served  hot  coffee  and  oysters  all  night  "till  broad 
day  light  in  the  morning ". 

As  this  was  before  the  age  of  the  European  way 
of  serving,  everything  was  on  the  tables  in  abun- 
dance and  every  one  helped  himself.  Besides  the 
loaves  of  cake  supplied,  each  table  had  three  pyra- 
mids of  cake  from  three  to  four  feet  in  height  and  at 
the  head  of  one  table  was  one  of  popcorn  four  feet 
in  height.  I  remember  two  of  the  pyramids  of  cake 
in  particular  from  the  way  they  were  decorated.  In 
the  center  of  one  was  a  peach  tree,  of  wax  of  course, 
bearing  perfect  fruit  with  a  blackberry  vine  with 
green  leaves  and  black  fruit  starting  from  the  base 
and  winding  round  and  round  over  the  white  surface 
to  the  top.  The  other  one  bore  a  tree  of  leaves  and 
red  apples  with  a  vine  of  red  raspberries.  One  of 
the  trees  was  presented  to  the  president  of  the  road 
and  the  other,  I  believe,  to  the  Governor. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  RAILROAD          243 

Almost  everything  connected  with  this  event  was 
very  primitive  compared  with  to-day.  The  lighting 
for  the  halls  was  accomplished  by  means  of  two  rows 
of  chandeliers  hung  from  the  ceiling.  They  were 
made  of  rows  of  common  laths,  the  first  row  of  four 
laths  full  length,  then  the  next  row  of  shorter  length 
succeeded  by  row  after  row  until  the  apex  was 
reached  near  the  ceiling.  Each  row  of  laths  had 
nails  driven  in  about  three  inches  apart  on  which 
were  placed  common  lighted  candles. 

For  outside  illumination,  there  was  a  candle  at 
each  pane  of  glass  from  the  basement  of  the  Capitol 
building  to  the  cupola,  and  all  the  business  houses 
near  the  Capitol  grounds  were  illuminated  in  some 
way;  but  not  an  alarm  of  fire  was  heard  all  night. 
Well,  there  were  not  so  many  insurance  companies 
in  those  days. 

LeGrand  Byington,  that  silver  tongued  orator, 
was  President  of  the  Day  and  introduced  the  speak- 
ers. In  complimenting  the  ladies  of  the  committee 
on  the  dinner  or  supper  as  I  guess  it  was  called  at 
that  time,  he  said,  "it  was  too  good  for  kings, 
princes  and  potentates,  but  just  good  enough  for  the 
contractors  and  builders  of  our  western  railroads. " 

SARAH  ELLEN  GRAVES 


A  River  Trip  in  1833 

[The  following  glimpses  of  travel  on  the  Upper  Mississippi  are 
reprinted  from  The  Rambler  in  North  America,  Vol.  II,  pp.  266-314, 
written  by  the  Englishman,  Charles  Joseph  Latrobe,  who  travelled 
extensively  in  America  in  1832  and  1833,  and  who  here  describes  a 
trip  from  Fort  Crawford  to  Fort  Snelling  and  back  in  the  fall  of  the 
latter  year. —  THE  EDITOR] 

Two  hours  before  sun-set,  you  may  imagine  us 
fairly  packed  and  afloat;  our  lading  consisting  of 
eight  men,  one  woman  and  child,  to  whom  we  gave 
passage  for  some  distance,  and  our  three  selves  — 
in  all  twelve  adults,  besides  blankets,  buffalo-skins, 
arms,  and  provisions  for  twelve  days.  At  the 
village,  whence  we  made  our  final  start,  a  scene  of 
hugging  and  kissing  took  place  between  divers  of  our 
paddlers  and  their  cousins  and  friends  of  both 
sexes;  and  Bon  voyage!  Bon  voyage!  was  echoed 
from  the  shore,  as  pushing  into  the  stream,  the 
eight  paddles  were  plunged  simultaneously  into  the 
water,  and  we  began  to  stem  the  current.  At  the 
same  instant,  according  to  custom,  the  leader  com- 
menced screaming  with  a  singularly  tremulous  voice, 
one  of  the  innumerable  boat-songs  with  which  the 
Canadian  voyageurs  of  the  Upper  Lakes  and  rivers, 
beguile  their  long  and  monotonous  labours.  The 
burden  was  taken  up  and  repeated  by  his  comrades. 


244 


A  RIVER  TRIP  IN  1833  245 

Our  purpose  this  evening  was  merely  to  get  fairly 
afloat;  and  accordingly,  after  having  paddled  a  few 
miles,  we  encamped  upon  an  island  in  the  river,  a 
little  below  the  Painted  Rocks,  with  a  dry  starlight 
night  as  a  good  omen  over  our  heads ;  lulled  by  the 
howling  of  the  Indians  encamped  in  the  vicinity,  the 
barking  of  dogs,  and  other  sounds  which  betokened 
that  we  had  not  yet  passed  out  of  the  bounds  of  the 
farms  on  the  Prairie.  It  was  computed  that  unless 
prevented  by  unforeseen  accidents,  we  ought  to 
reach  the  Falls  in  six  days.  The  whole  of  this  time 
was  however  taken  up  in  advancing  as  far  as  Lake 
Pepin,  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles  above  the 
Prairie,  and  nearly  four  more  were  necessary  for 
the  attainment  of  our  object.  To  give  you  the  out- 
line of  our  excursion  at  once,  I  will  mention,  that  we 
paddled  forward  by  day,  and  nightly  sought  some 
snug  corner  of  the  forest,  either  on  the  main  or  in 
the  islands, —  pitched  our  tent,  raised  our  fire, 
cooked  supper,  sang,  conversed,  and  looked  at  the 
stars  till  we  were  sleepy,  and  then  betook  ourselves 
to  our  buffalo-robe  couch  till  dawn. 

The  whole  distance  to  Lake  Pepin,  the  mighty 
river  flows  through  a  deep  valley  of  perhaps  two 
miles  average  breadth,  among  innumerable  islands, 
and  under  steep  bluffs  which  rise  frequently  on  both 
sides,  with  precipitous  fronts  to  the  height  of  five 
hundred  feet.  Their  lower  slopes  near  the  river  are 
mostly  clothed  in  oak  forest,  and  many  of  the  sum- 
mits terminated  by  a  picturesque  pile  of  highly- 


246  THE  PALIMPSEST 

coloured  rock,  of  eighty  feet  or  upwards  perpendic- 
ular. Above  and  beyond  this  great  channel  hollowed 
out  in  the  country  for  the  passage  of  the  "Father 
of  Waters,"  the  country  on  both  sides  seems  to  be 
rolling  prairie. 

The  beauty  of  the  scenery, —  though  only  the  last 
colouring  of  autumn  lingered  on  the  forests  and 
prairies, —  quite  took  us  by  surprise;  and  nothing 
can  be  more  opposite  than  the  impressions  suggested 
by  the  scenery  of  the  Mississippi  above  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi below  its  junction  with  the  Missouri  —  here 
a  scene  of  beauty  and  romance,  there  a  terribly 
monotonous  turbid  and  swollen  stream.  .  .  . 

Our  progress  for  the  first  few  days  was  far  from 
being  what  we  had  expected.  The  canoe,  liable  to 
injury  at  all  times  from  its  extremely  fragile  nature, 
being  merely  a  light  framework,  covered  with  birch 
bark,  and  held  together  by  cross  splints,  and  to  be 
broken  and  snagged  by  running  foul  of  objects  in 
the  shallows,  or  to  be  strained  by  the  great  weight 
which  it  carried,  and  still  more  by  any  accident  in 
its  daily  conveyance  to  and  from  the  shore  on  the 
backs  of  the  men, —  stood  in  need  of  constant  repair. 

Besides,  we  soon  found  that  most,  if  not  all  our 
Crapauds,  as  these  French  Canadians  are  jocularly 
called,  were  in  league  with  the  boat  to  keep  us  as 
long  on  the  road  as  possible.  First,  because  they 
were  rogues  all.  They  had  been  born  without  con- 
sciences and  never  had  had  the  chance  of  acquiring 


A  RIVER  TRIP  IN  1833  247 

them  since.  Secondly,  because  they  were  paid  by  the 
day,  and  we  were  bound  to  feed  them  as  long  as  they 
were  in  our  service.  Thirdly,  because  they  saw  that 
we  were  honest  gentlemen,  travelling  for  amusement 
and  instruction  —  novices  in  the  arts  of  the  voy- 
ageurs,  and  of  very  different  habits  from  the  hard- 
grinding  traders  whom  they  usually  served,  who 
portioned  out  their  food  to  them  by  the  square  inch 
—  keeping  their  wages  back,  if  they  did  not  do  their 
duty.  You  will  own  that  here  was  a  little  too  much 
temptation  thrown  in  the  way  of  men  who  professed 
no  further  morality  than  would  be  of  very  easy  car- 
riage among  the  savages  by  whom  they  were  sur- 
rounded, and  no  religion  beyond  Indian  religion. 

Demaret  acted  as  pilot,  and  plied  the  stern-paddle, 
as  the  boat  was  his.  He  had  made  it  with  his  own 
hands,  and  all  his  life  had  been  a  voyageur.  His 
qualifications  and  the  natural  turn  he  had  for  this 
kind  of  life  were  so  marked,  that  we  found  his  very 
companions  used  to  twit  him  with  having  "been 
born  with  a  piece  of  birch-bark  in  his  hand."  He 
looked  like  no  class  of  human  beings  I  ever  saw,  and 
his  countenance,  which  was  chiefly  marked  by  the 
width  of  his  mouth,  bore  signs  of  both  Spanish  and 
Indian  blood.  When  he  sang,  he  sang  like  a  fox  with 
his  tail  in  a  trap. 

Garde-Pied,  an  old  Canadian,  was  our  bowman. 
Then  mention  we  Guillaume,  fat  and  handsome  — 
the  farceur  of  the  party  —  the  best  singer,  and,  I 
believe  in  fact  the  greatest  rogue  amongst  us,  and 


248  THE  PALIMPSEST 

the  one  who  both  set  the  roguery  agoing  and  sus- 
tained it.  Alexandra,  Eousseau,  and  Henri,  were 
common-place  rogues  —  that  is  to  say,  they  would 
be  honest,  if  other  people  would  be  honest  too. 
Pascal,  a  mulatto,  held  about  the  same  tenets,  though, 
I  recollect,  he  had  a  fragment  of  a  conscience ;  and, 
in  mentioning  old  Julian,  a  Neapolitan  by  birth,  who 
had  been  taken  by  the  British  —  incorporated  with 
the  Anglo-Swiss  Regiment  de  Meuron : —  seen  ser- 
vice in  India  and  subsequently  in  Canada, —  where 
he  had  been  discharged,  and  had  turned  Crapaud  in 
his  old  age  — I  may  say  that  he  was  the  best,  the 
most  sober  and  most  obliging  man  in  the  party,  and 
the  only  one  in  whom  real  confidence  could  be  placed. 

For  the  rest,  they  were  all  men  who  would  dance 
from  night  to  morning  at  a  Gombo-ball  —  sing  pro- 
fane or  pastoral  French  songs  hour  after  hour  on 
the  water, —  drink  and  smoke, —  cheat  their  cred- 
itors,—  live  for  months  in  the  woods, —  work  like 
slaves  without  grumbling,  when  they  could  not  help 
it. —  swim  like  otters, —  maintain  their  French  gai- 
ety of  character  on  most  occasions,  but  grumble 
incessantly  when  they  had  nothing  to  grumble  about. 
They  would  feed  like  so  many  hungry  wolves  as  long 
as  there  was  anything  to  eat,  knowing  no  medium; 
and  then  bear  the  pinch  of  hunger  with  the  stoicism 
of  the  Indian  with  whom  most  of  them  had  associ- 
ated from  infancy. 

They  measured  their  way,  not  by  miles,  nor 
leagues,  but  by  pipes ;  and  would  say, —  such  a  point 


A  RIVER  TRIP  IN  1833  249 

is  so  many  pipes  distant.  They  generally  sang  in 
their  peculiar  way  for  half  an  hour  after  a  halt,  solo 
and  chorus,  winding  up  with  an  Indian  yell,  or  the 
exclamation,  "Hop!  Hop!  Sauvons-nous!"  and 
would  then  continue  silently  paddling  with  their 
short  quick  stroke,  all  following  the  time  indicated 
by  the  bowman,  till  the  pipe  was  out,  or  till  they 
were  tired ;  when  at  a  signal,  they  would  throw  their 
paddles  across  the  boat,  give  them  a  roll  to  clear  the 
blade  of  the  water,  and  then  rest  for  a  few  minutes. 

A  compartment  in  the  centre  of  the  canoe  in  which 
our  buffalo-robes  and  mats  were  commodiously  ar- 
ranged, was  our  ordinary  couch.  Here  we  lay  in 
luxurious  ease,  reading,  and  chatting  hour  after 
hour. 

The  first  certain  light  which  broke  in  upon  us  as 
to  the  real  character  of  the  strange  race  with  whom 
we  had  to  do, —  though  the  singular  conduct  which 
we  had  remarked  in  them  at  the  Prairie  below,  had 
given  us  warning, —  was  early  on  the  sixth  day, 
when  approaching  a  lonely  trading-house,  near  the 
remarkable  mountain  called  "La  Montague  qui  se 
trempe  a  I'eau,"  scarce  a  hundred  miles  on  our  way; 
when  their  long  faces,  shrugs,  and  significant  ges- 
tures gave  token  that  something  was  wrong.  In 
effect  we  found  that  this  devouring  squad  had, — 
unaided  by  us,  as  we  had  lived  principally  on  water- 
fowl,—  actually  in  the  course  of  six  days,  made  away 
with  the  whole  of  the  provisions  laid  in  with  more 
than  usual  liberality  for  twelve  days'  consumption! 


250  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Upwards  of  a  hundred  pounds  of  bacon,  besides 
bread  and  potatoes  and  beans  in  six  days!  Think 
of  that !  We  had,  to  be  sure,  noticed  that  they  had 
brought  with  them  a  curiously  shaped  iron  pot; 
originally,  perhaps,  a  foot  in  depth;  but  which, 
having  had  the  original  bottom  burnt  out,  had  been 
furnished  by  some  frontier  tinker  with  a  fresh  one 
of  such  form  and  dimensions  as  gave  the  renovated 
vessel  an  added  profundity  of  six  or  eight  inches 
more.  We  had  observed  that  this  marvelous  bowl 
was  always  piled  up  to  the  very  edge  with  provi- 
sions: and  that  frequently  when  it  was  simmering 
and  bubbling  over  the  fire  in  the  camp,  our  rogues 
would  stand  round  shrouding  it  from  too  close  obser- 
vation. If  one  or  another  of  us  approached,  one  or 
two  of  the  Crapauds  would  turn  to  us  with  an  air  of 
perfect  famine  and  of  the  greatest  tribulation  —  and 
ejaculate,  " grande  miser e!"  or,  "il  fait  frait  icit!" 
—  giving  us  to  understand,  that  while  we  considered 
our  common  position  as  one  full  of  amusement,  they 
deemed  it  to  be  one  of  uncommon  trial. 

Moreover,  we  were  sometimes  awakened  hours 
after  supper,  when  all  had  appeared  to  retire  to  rest 
for  the  night,  it  might  be  about  one  in  the  morning, 
by  loud  talking  and  joyous  sounds;  and  peeping 
forth,  we  might  see  that  these  unhappy  mortals  were 
as  brisk  as  lions;  sitting  about  the  fire;  passing  the 
joke  from  one  to  another;  —  by  the  help  of  long 
sharply  pointed  sticks,  fishing  up  meat  from  the 
depths  of  that  fathomless  pot;  and  making  a  very 


A  RIVER  TRIP  IN  1833  251 

hearty  meal,  for  which,  as  to  our  certain  knowledge, 
a  hearty  supper  preceded  it,  and  a  no  less  hearty 
breakfast  followed  it  at  dawn  —  we  had  unfortu- 
nately no  name  in  our  vocabulary.  Still,  though  it 
might  cross  our  minds  that  they  were  a  little  lavish 
of  the  provisions,  yet  we  never  dreamed  of  a  famine 
before  we  should  reach  Fort  Snelling.  However, 
there  was  now  no  doubt  about  it,  and  it  was  in  vain 
to  murmur ;  and  here  at  the  last  trading  post  we  had 
still  to  lay  in  fresh  stock. 

Their  songs  were  very  interesting  to  us,  in  spite  of 
the  horrible  French  in  which  they  were  couched,  and 
the  nonsense  they  contained ;  as  we  detected  in  them 
many  signs  of  their  origin  on  the  plains  and  in  the 
vineyards  of  La  belle  France,  though  now  loaded 
with  allusions  to  the  peculiar  scenery,  manners,  and 
circumstances  of  the  country  to  which  they  had  been 
transplanted.  In  many  there  was  an  air  of  Arcadian 
and  pastoral  simplicity  which  was  almost  touching 
at  the  same  time  that  we  knew  that  the  singers  had 
no  simplicity  about  them,  and  that  their  character 
was  much  more  that  of  the  wolf  than  of  the  sheep. 
The  airs  were  not  unfrequently  truly  melodious,  and 
all  were  characteristic,  and  chimed  in  well  with  our 
position. 

I  may  elsewhere  have  given  you  sundry  assur- 
ances of  the  delights  of  Indian  Encampments  in  the 
forests.  From  the  pleasant  idea  that  these  may 
have  conveyed  I  would  take  nothing.  They  are 


252  THE  PALIMPSEST 

many  and  great;  and  far  advanced  as  the  season 
was,  we  were  yet  alive  to  them  for  a  month  to  come, 
even  in  weather  that  might  be  deemed  inclement 
elsewhere.  Lest,  however,  you  should  accuse  me  of 
a  disposition  to  paint  every  thing  "couleur  de  rose," 
and  to  throw  dust  both  in  my  own  eyes  and  those  of 
my  neighbours  —  here  follows  a  page  of  miseries. 
I  remember  one  camp,  which  we  called  "  Cross 
Camp,"  from  the  circumstance  of  all  going  wrong. 
It  was,  I  believe,  the  second  in  this  excursion.  The 
weather  had  not  yet  become  fairly  settled.  We  had 
got  entangled  among  the  low  islands,  and  not  meet- 
ing with  a  place  to  our  liking,  as  the  evening  was 
closing  in  raw  and  gusty,  we  had  been  obliged  to 
betake  ourselves  to  a  shore  covered  with  trees  and 
jungle  and  make  our  nest  just  where  we  should 
have  wished  to  have  avoided  doing  so. 

It  was  a  confined  situation,  among  thickets  of  tow- 
ering dry  grass  and  brushwood.  The  canoe  was  un- 
loaded, and  was  hauled  ashore ;  and  the  Crapauds 
as  usual  made  preparations  for  their  fire,  ten  or 
twenty  yards  from  that  of  our  trio.  The  difficulty 
of  fixing  the  tent  which  we  carried  with  us,  in  such 
a  direction  that  we  should  be  free  from  smoke,  was 
considerable,  as  the  wind  came  down  on  the  river  in 
flaws,  and  no  one  could  decide  from  what  quarter. 
Time  had  been  lost  in  seeking  a  good  camping- 
ground,  and  the  twilight  fell  on  us  before  all  was  in 
order  for  the  night.  The  tent  had  been  pitched  in 
the  midst  of  opposing  opinions :  —  when  suddenly 
the  crv  of  fire  was  raised.  We  saw  the  wind  scat- 


A  RIVER  TRIP  IN  1833  253 

tering  the  embers  among  the  brushwood,  and  all 
hands  were  necessary  to  put  out  the  flames,  which, 
had  they  got  a-head,  would  have  burnt  the  canoe  in 
the  first  place,  and  singed  us  out  of  our  hole  in  the 
next.  By  beating  them  down  with  our  coats  and 
blankets,  this  was  effected ;  and  having  broken  down 
the  brush  on  all  sides,  we  returned  to  our  labours 
near  the  fires.  Every  thing  was  mislaid,  having 
been  chucked  out  of  the  way  of  danger  in  the  hurry 
-the  axe  was  not  to  be  found,  and  to  collect  the 
various  articles  necessary  for  our  nightly  accommo- 
dation and  entertainment,  was  a  work  of  time  and 
patience.  Of  the  former,  we  had  plenty ;  of  the  lat- 
ter but  little,  in  the  night  in  question. 

Then  came  a  terrific  gust  from  the  overhanging 
bluffs,  and  we  found  that  the  tree  under  which  we 
had  carefully  pitched  the  tent,  was  rotten  at  heart, 
and  gave  decided  tokens  of  a  probable  fall.  The 
idea  was  not  a  pleasant  one.  All  went  wrong.  We 
had  not  yet  decided  upon  making  use  of  the  Cra- 
pauds  as  our  cooks. — "Nothing  easier, "  exclaimed 
I,  "than  to  boil  the  coffee." — "Nothing  easier,"  ob- 
served Pourtales,  '  '  than  to  make  a  handsome  fry  of 
potatoes,  and  to  roast  a  couple  of  wild  ducks  in  the 
French  style,  with  a  savoury  waistcoat  of  lard!" 
i '  Nothing  easier  than  to  make  a  beef-steak ! ' ' —  said 
M  'Euen !  So  to  work  we  went,  each  in  his  own  way, 
and  following  his  own  device,  while  he  snarled  at 
that  of  his  neighbour.  "Nothing  easier  than  to  find 
fault  with  what  one  does  not  understand ! ' '  thought 
each  and  every  one  of  us. 


254  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Well,  the  coffee  was  on  the  fire  and  "progressing" 
—  the  process  necessary  for  its  perfection  being 
after  all  the  most  simple  of  those  under  trial ;  —  the 
potatoes  were  washed,  peeled,  and  sliced ;  —  the 
beef-steaks,  skewered  on  long  sticks,  were  bent  to- 
wards the  embers ;  —  the  mallards  were  plucked, 
drawn,  and  spitted  —  how,  may  not  be  said, —  but 
exposed  to  the  hot  smoke  and  flame  their  waistcoats 
were  kept  in  a  constant  flare  and  frizzle.  Basting 
was  out  of  the  question,  except  with  cold  water ;  and 
the  office  of  dredging-box  was  performed  by  the  fre- 
quent gust,  which  covered  them  and  the  beef-steaks 
and  the  sliced  potatoes  with  snow-white  ashes. 

Now  imagine  the  consequences  of  being  all  cross, 
and  overwhelmed  with  misfortunes  —  the  miseries 
of  cooking  and  camping  on  a  windy  night  —  differ- 
ence of  opinion  —  smoke  in  the  eyes  —  fire  at  the 
finger  ends  —  shakes  —  overturns  —  wet  logs — mis- 
takes —  and  bitterness  of  spirit ! 

No  sooner  have  you  got  matters  into  something 
like  order,  but  the  wind  veers  a  point  or  two,  and  the 
smoke  which  had  hitherto  sailed  off  sideways  from 
your  tent,  leaving  your  night  quarters  warm  and 
smokeless,  as  it  always  ought,  is  now  driven  directly 
against  it,  and  you  have  no  alternative,  but  either  to 
bear  the  reverse,  or  to  strike  and  pitch  it  anew. 

You  hang  your  coat,  or  blanket,  or  buffalo  robe, — 
which  may  have  been  soaked  by  being  undermost  in 
the  leaking  canoe, —  on  a  forked  stick  to  dry,  placing 
it  to  the  windward  of  the  fire,  to  keep  it  out  of  the 


A  RIVER  TRIP  IN  1833  255 

smoke  and  sparks ;  —  and  next  time  you  look  at  it, 
you  see  it  singeing  among  the  glowing  embers,  into 
which  possibly  a  careless  friend,  or  more  probably 
the  wind,  has  precipitated  it.  In  utter  despair  you 
collect  a  number  of  very  indispensable  articles,  such 
as  straps  and  ropes,  not  to  be  replaced;  —  and  you 
go  hang  them  carefully  to  a  distant  sapling,  far 
away  from  the  ordinary  passage ;  —  when  you  next 
look  for  them  you  see  that  some  kind  friend  has  by 
chance  cut  the  tree  down  in  the  dark,  and  consigned 
it  and  its  charge  to  the  flames.  You  go  valourously 
forth  to  cut  a  tent-pole  or  another  log  for  the  fire,— 
and,  not  having  the  true  backwoodsman's  fling  with 
the  axe,  come  hopping  back  in  five  minutes  with  a 
neat  chip  in  your  shin. 

Jaded  and  gloomy,  while  the  supper  is  cooking, 
you  lie  down  with  a  book  in  your  hand,  say  for  ex- 
ample, "Burton  on  Melancholy/'  which  by  the  by, 
was  the  only  work,  beside  a  Bible,  that  we  had  with 
us.  You  stretch  yourself  on  your  blanket  in  your 
corner  of  the  tent,  but  find  that  besides  lying  on  an 
unfortunate  slope  which  makes  your  heels  ris"e  high- 
er than  your  head,  there  is  under  you  a  stubborn 
knot  of  hard  wood,  which  no  coaxing  of  yours  can 
extract,  and  which  nothing  but  a  complete  turn  out, 
and  a  forcible  application  of  the  axe,  will  rid  you  of : 
and  so  forth !  But  all  these  are  trifles  to  the  miseries 
of  carrying  on  a  partnership  in  cooking  in  a  dark 
windy  night. 

You  advance  to  shift  your  burning  supper  to  a 


256  THE  PALIMPSEST 

safer  place, —  are  maddened  by  the  puff  of  pungent 
smoke  that  fills  your  eyes  —  start  back, —  tread  on 
some  long  crooked  branch,  one  end  of  which  extends 
into  the  darkness  and  the  other  props  the  coffee-pot, 
when  to  your  extreme  surprise  and  the  undisguised 
wrath  of  the  superintendent  of  that  particular 
branch  of  the  duty,  the  vessel  makes  a  jump  into  the 
air  and  overturns  its  contents  into  the  tasty  dish  of 
potatoes  frizzling  below.  Then  follows  a  scene  of 
objurgation,  recrimination,  and  protestation. 

But,  n'importe  —  the  coffee  is  replaced  —  the 
beef-steaks  get  thoroughly  burned  on  one  side ;  — 
the  ducks  are  pronounced  to  be  cooked  because  the 
waistcoat  is  reduced  to  a  perfect  cinder,  and  be- 
cause the  birds  insist  upon  taking  fire.  The  "  medi- 
cine-chest, ' '  as  we  called  our  store  box,  is  brought 
out,  and  preparations  for  a  meal  seriously  attempt- 
ed. It  is  soon  found  that  notwithstanding  all  losses 
and  mischances  there  are  still  two  things  left,  appe- 
tite and  abundance;  and  though  nothing  perhaps  is 
done  with  real  gastronomic  nicety,  yet  after  a  day 
spent  in  the  open  air,  every  thing  has  a  relish  which 
no  sauce  could  give.  As  you  have  doubtless  experi- 
enced, nothing  predisposes  to  complacent  good 
humour  so  much  as  a  satisfied  appetite,  and  by  the 
time  supper  is  ended,  and  the  moon  has  risen,  and 
the  bright  embers  free  from  smoke  are  glowing  in 
the  wind, —  you  are  ready  to  laugh  together  at  every 
petty  vexation.  However,  we  learned  wisdom  at  the 
"Cross  Camp,"  and  forthwith  hired  Rousseau  to 


A  RIVER  TRIP  IN  1833  257 

look  to  our  cooking  at  his  own  fire  —  keeping  pos- 
session of  the  coffee-pot  alone,  and  henceforth  our 
"miseries"  were  very  sensibly  diminished.  .  .  . 

Towards  evening  we  descried  the  long  looked-for 
Fort  with  its  towers  and  imposing  extent  of  wall 
crowning  the  high  angular  bluff  at  whose  base  the 
upper  branch  of  the  St.  Peters  enters  the  Missis- 
sippi; and  paddling  swiftly  up  the  lower  channel,  a 
large  triangular  island  separating  the  two, —  we 
landed  and  were  most  hospitably  received  by  the 
officers  on  duty.  We  were  forthwith  furnished  with 
quarters  in  the  Fort  above,  while  the  Crapauds 
pitched  a  tent  under  the  shadow  of  the  bluff  by  the 
water's  edge,  got  their  canoe  on  shore,  and  set  their 
enormous  pot  a  boiling  forthwith.  I  believe  they 
never  saw  the  bottom  of  it,  nor  suffered  it  to  cool 
during  the  whole  week  of  their  stay.  They  did  not 
forget  whenever  we  visited  them  to  talk  a  great  deal 
about  "  miser  e";  at  the  same  time  that  they  had 
nothing  to  do  but  what  they  loved  best, —  eat  and 
sleep.  They  are  a  singular  race,  half  Indian,  half 
French,  with  a  dash  of  the  prairie  wolf. 

Meanwhile  we  had  been  admitted  to  full  participa- 
tion in  the  rites  of  hospitality  within  the  Fort,  and 
were  furnished  with  every  needful  accommodation. 
We  spread  our  buffalo  skins  and  blankets  in  an 
occupied  apartment,  and  slept  in  quiet;  not  forget- 
ting however  in  the  course  of  the  evening  to  ascend 
one  of  the  bastions,  and  listen  to  the  roar  of  .the 


258  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Great  Falls  rising  on  the  night  air  at  a  distance  of 
seven  miles.    .    .    . 

But  we  must  turn  our  faces  southward,  for  the 
Indian  summer  is  past  —  the  lagging  files  of  the 
water  fowl  are  scudding  before  the  wind,  and  an- 
other week  may  curb  the  mighty  Mississippi  with  a 
bridle  of  ice. —  Another  week  in  fact  did  so,  but  ere 
that,  paddle,  current,  and  sail  had  carried  us  far  on 
our  way  south,  as  you  may  now  hear. 

Our  intercourse  with  the  inhabitants  of  Fort 
Snelling  only  strengthened  that  feeling  of  good  will 
which  will  always  make  me  happy  to  meet  an  officer 
of  the  United  States'  army. 

The  signal  was  given  —  the  Crapauds,  who  had 
had  all  their  time  to  themselves,  packed  up  their  big 
kettle  with  many  a  shrug  and  exclamation  of 
"  miser e,"  grasped  their  paddles,  paid  their  compli- 
ments to  their  chums  ashore,  and  betook  themselves 
to  their  songs  and  their  pipes. 

In  returning,  both  wind  and  current  favoured  us 
so  far,  that  by  the  evening  of  the  second  day  we 
reached  Lake  Pepin,  across  the  upper  part  of  which 
we  careered  before  a  strong  north  wind  in  a  most 
marvellous  fashion,  under  a  broad  blanket,  double- 
reefed.  A  large  flight  of  snow-white  swans  rose 
from  a  shallow  cove  just  as  we  entered  it,  and, 
startled  by  our  approach,  hastened  with  their  trum- 
pet voice  and  broad  vans  flapping  to  the  southward. 
We  passed  the  Cape;  and  then  stood  over  for  the 


A  RIVER  TRIP  IN  1833  259 

Cap  a  la  fille,  which  rose  with  its  neighbour  prom- 
inently in  figure  and  height  from  the  long  line  of 
steep  bluffs  forming  the  eastern  boundary 

As  we  looked  forth  from  the  summit  early  in  the 
morning,  across  the  troubled  surface  of  the  lake,  of 
which  it  commands  a  wide  view;  a  dense  column  of 
smoke  from  the  opposite  side  gave  us  intimation 
that  the  Prairies  were  on  fire.  The  spread  of  the 
conflagration  on  the  low  grounds  directly  opposite, 
which  drew  our  attention  at  intervals  during  the 
day,  continued  unabated;  and  as  evening  ap- 
proached, other  columns  of  smoke  springing  up  in 
all  directions,  both  on  the  summit  of  the  opposite 
range  of  mountains  and  in  the  vallies  at  their  feet, 
showed  us  that  the  Indians  had  taken  advantage  of 
the  driving  wind  to  fire  the  country  for  a  great 
many  miles  inland.  The  scene  which  presented  it- 
self from  the  summit  of  the  rock  on  the  south  side 
of  our  dell,  when  the  sun,  which  had  been  hidden  all 
day,  just  before  setting,  peered  out  windy  and  red, 
between  long  bars  of  cloud  in  the  southwest  —  and 
from  that  time  till  long  after  dark,  was  one  of  the 
most  sublime  and  extraordinary  you  can  conceive, 
and  a  great  contrast  to  the  repose  which  reigned  in 
the  sheltered  glen  at  our  feet,  where  glistened  our 
little  tent  and  fires,  and  where  the  men  might  be 
seen  lying  under  the  shade  of  the  canoe. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  troubled  sheet  of  water 
in  the  middle  ground,  over  which  the  rock  impended, 


260  THE  PALIMPSEST 

the  range  of  western  bluffs  was  seen  to  incline  in- 
land, behind  the  Pointe  aux  Sables,  leaving  a  wide 
tract  of  country,  partly  forest  and  partly  prairie, 
between  their  foot  and  the  shore.  A  singularly 
conical  and  prominent  hill  rose  abruptly  from  the 
middle  of  this  plain.  Around  this  detached  emi- 
nence, which,  swathed  as  it  was  in  the  smoke  of  the 
burning  prairies  beyond,  seemed  like  a  volcano,  the 
fire  had  been  concentrating  itself  during  the  earlier 
hours  of  the  day,  now  advancing  in  one  direction  till 
checked  by  a  dense  tract  of  forest  or  a  river,  and 
then  rushing  on  in  another  and  rolling  over  the  sum- 
mit or  the  base  of  the  mountains.  At  sunset,  the 
flame  seemed  to  have  gathered  full  strength,  and  to 
have  reached  a  long  tract  of  level  grassy  prairie 
nearer  the  shore,  upon  which  it  then  swiftly  ad- 
vanced, leaving  a  black  path  in  its  trail.  Here  we 
saw  a  bright  red  line,  a  couple  of  miles  in  range, 
advancing  majestically  over  the  wide  prairie.  In 
one  place  the  progress  of  the  fire,  effectually  checked 
by  a  small  river  opposite,  died  away  or  edged  over 
the  country  with  slower  progress.  In  another,  after 
being  seemingly  choked,  it  would  burst  forth  with 
redoubled  fury,  sending  bright  jets  of  flame  far  on 
the  wind.  There  again  the  light-blue  smoke  was 
suddenly  changed  to  dark  brown,  as  the  conflagra- 
tion burst  upon  a  mass  of  grosser  materials  for 
destruction  than  the  dry  grass  of  the  prairie.  We 
calculated  at  this  time  that  the  fire  spread  over  a 
tract  of  nearly  twelve  miles  in  length,  while  the  dis- 


A  RIVER  TRIP  IN  1833  261 

tant  glare  upon  the  clouded  horizon  showed  that  it 
was  raging  far  inland.  The  whole  evening,  the  lake, 
the  Maiden's  Bock,  the  clouds,  and  the  recesses  of 
the  glen,  were  illuminated  by  the  flames,  while,  gain- 
ing the  rank  growth  on  the  border  of  the  lake  and 
the  brow  of  the  distant  mountains,  the  country  oppo- 
site blazed  like  tinder  in  the  wind;  and  from  the 
summit  of  the  Maiden's  Eock,  which  we  again 
ascended  before  we  retired  to  rest  —  the  scene  was 
fearfully  grand.  It  is  difficult  to  calculate  the  ad- 
vance of  the  flames  on  the  dry  level  prairie,  in  the 
van  of  a  strong  and  steady  wind,  but  we  should  think 
it  was  at  least  eight  miles  per  hour.  .  .  . 

Our  encampment  in  the  forests,  near  the  Bad  Axe, 
on  the  night  between  the  12th  and  13th  of  November, 
was  rendered  remarkable  by  one  circumstance. 

The  night  was  calm;  the  wind,  which  had  been 
northerly  the  foregoing  day,  chopped  about  early  in 
the  morning  to  the  south,  and  blew  with  some  force 
with  a  clear  sky.  Early,  it  might  be  between  two  and 
three  o'clock,  the  whole  heavens  became  gradually 
covered  with  falling  stars,  increasing  in  number  till 
the  sky  had  the  appearance  of  being  filled  with 
luminous  flakes  of  snow.  This  meteoric  rain  con- 
tinued to  pour  down  till  the  light  of  the  coming  day 
rendered  it  invisible.  Millions  must  have  shone  and 
disappeared  during  the  course  of  these  three  or  four 
hours.  They  appeared  to  proceed  from  a  point  in 
the  heavens,  about  fourteen  degrees  to  the  south- 


262  THE  PALIMPSEST 

east  of  the  zenith,  and  thence  fell  in  curved  lines  to 
every  point  of  the  compass.  Whether  they  remained 
visible  down  to  the  horizon  or  not,  we  do  not  know. 
There  were  some  in  the  shower  of  larger  size  than 
the  others,  but  for  the  greater  part,  they  appeared 
as  stars  of  the  first  or  second  magnitude.  Their 
course  in  falling  was  interrupted,  like  the  luminous 
flight  of  the  fire  fly.  ...  We  were  fortunate, 
you  may  suppose,  in  enjoying  for  hours  such  a  splen- 
did and  uncommon  phenomenon,  streaming  over  the 
river,  and  forests,  and  bluffs.  Fortunate  —  yes, 
truly!  what  will  you  say,  when  I  own  that  though 
all  I  have  related  is  strictly  true,  not  one  of  us  saw 
it  —  having  been  permitted  to  remain  prosaically 
sleeping  within  the  shelter  of  our  tent  till  all  was 
over.  Our  Crapauds,  it  is  true,  were  up  and  awake, 
and  could  not  but  notice  the  extraordinary  appear- 
ance of  the  heavens,  but  before  them  hung  their 
fathomless  kettle  filled  to  the  brim;  and  they  sat 
watching  it  simmering  on  the  blazing  logs  with  a 
philosophical  insensibility  to  every  thing  else,  which 
was  extremely  characteristic,  though  to  us  perfectly 
unaccountable.  What  was  it  to  them  if  the  stars  fell 
from  heaven,  or  the  skies  "  drizzled  blood  1" — that 
there  was  that  passing  over  their  heads  which  would 
make  the  very  wolves  of  the  forest  howl  as  their 
eyes  glared  upwards,  or  urge  the  Indian  to  kneel 
and  pray  to  the  Great  Spirit  —  as  long  as  their  be- 
loved camp-kettle  was  unmoved,  and  the  whiskey- 
keg  lay  undisturbed  in  its  bed  in  the  tangled  grass, 
what  was  that  to  them! 


A  RIVER  TRIP  IN  1833  263 

As  we  descended  the  river,  we  found  the  attention 
of  all  excited  by  the  phenomenon,  and  we  alone,  re- 
posing in  the  open  air,  in  the  best  possible  position 
for  observation,  were  not  witnesses  of  it ! 

Early  on  the  evening  of  this  day,  we  returned, 
blithely  singing  our  Chanson  de  retour,  down  the 
river,  to  the  little  village  of  Prairie  de  Chien,  where 
a  knot  of  wives,  daughters,  and  children,  awaited 
the  return  of  our  men;  and  after  a  few  moments 
spent  by  them  in  the  ordinary  compliments,  kissing, 
and  embraces,  we  were  conducted  to  the  landing  of 
the  Fort,  and  there  welcomed  as  old  friends. 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

THE    RAMBLER 

To-day  the  Mississippi  Valley  is  the  most  inland 
portion  of  the  country.  It  lies  farthest  from  the 
border,  and  is  butressed  not  only  by  its  mountain 
walls  but  by  the  settled  abodes  of  millions  of  people. 
But  the  time  was  when  the  valley  was  the  distant  and 
mysterious  goal  of  the  adventurous,  when  the  Upper 
Mississippi  ran  along  the  outer  edge  of  civilization 
and  out  of  the  West  came  only  tales  of  Indians  and 
wild  animals. 

In  the  twenties  and  thirties  of  the  last  century 
travellers  from  Europe,  if  they  were  sufficiently 
hardy  and  venturesome,  trailed  westward  on  the 
Ohio  and  ascended  the  Mississippi  to  Galena  or  Fort 
Crawford  or  Fort  Snelling.  They  brought  all  sorts 
of  predilections  and  prejudices.  A  few  came  with 
dyspepsia  or  with  a  monocled  mind,  some  —  as  La- 
trobe  puts  it  —  "with  their  eyes  shut  and  mouths 
open";  but  for  the  most  part  they  came  in  a  high 
spirit  of  adventure  and  with  keen  appreciation  for 
the  wild  charm  of  a  new  and  beautiful  country. 

The  course  of  the  Mississippi  below  St.  Louis  often 
received  the  curses  of  travellers  like  Dickens  who  did 
not  go  north  of  that  city  or  Captain  Marryat, 
another  Englishman  who  burst  out: 

264 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  265 

I  hate  the  Mississippi,  and  as  I  look  down  upon  its 
wild  and  filthy  waters,  boiling  and  eddying,  and  reflect 
how  uncertain  is  travelling  in  this  region  of  high-pressure, 
and  disregard  of  social  rights,  I  cannot  help  feeling  a  dis- 
gust at  the  idea  of  perishing  in  such  a  vile  sewer,  to  be 
buried  in  mud,  and  perhaps  to  be  rooted  out  again  by  some 
pig-nosed  alligator. 

But  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  the  sea-like  prairies 
that  stretched  away  on  either  side  captivated  them 
all.  They  sometimes  complained  of  the  barbarities 
and  primitiveness  of  the  frontier  towns  but  they  re- 
turned full  of  the  eulogies  of  the  natural  scenery. 
And  most  of  them  straightway  proceeded  to  write 
books,  which  made  pleasant  reading  for  the  stay-at- 
homes  and  provided  valuable  sources  of  information 
for  readers  of  later  generations. 

The  two  volumes  of  descriptions  by  Charles  Joseph 
Latrobe  are  among  the  most  entertaining  and  valu- 
able of  these  publications.  Under  the  title  The  Ram- 
bler in  North  America  he  drew  word  pictures  of  the 
scenes  and  peoples  of  the  time  that  are  unusually 
vivid  and  accurate.  Latrobe,  while  born  in  London, 
was  of  Huguenot  extraction  and  his  Latin  tempera- 
ment shows  at  every  turn  of  the  page. 

He  came  from  Europe  with  Pourtales,  a  young 
Swiss  count,  in  1832  and  on  shipboard  they  formed 
a  friendship  with  Washington  Irving  who  was  just 
then  returning  to  America  after  an  absence  of  seven- 
teen years.  They  travelled  in  New  England  with 
Irving  and  in  the  fall  made  a  tour  with  him  from, St. 


266  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Louis  to  the  southwest  into  the  Pawnee  hunting 
grounds.  Irving  has  described  this  expedition  in 
A  Tour  of  the  Prairies  and  he  introduces  Latrobe  in 
the  following  f ashon : 

Another  of  my  fellow-travellers  was  Mr.  L.,  an  English- 
man by  birth,  but  descended  from  a  foreign  stock; 
and  who  had  all  the  buoyancy  and  accommodating  spirit 
of  a  native  of  the  Continent.  Having  rambled  over  many 
countries,  he  had  become,  to  a  certain  degree,  a  citizen  of 
the  world,  easily  adapting  himself  to  any  change.  He 
was  a  man  of  a  thousand  occupations ;  a  botanist,  a  geol- 
ogist, a  hunter  of  beetles  and  butterflies,  a  musical  amateur, 
a  sketcher  of  no  mean  pretensions,  in  short,  a  complete 
virtuoso;  added  to  which,  he  was  a  very  indefatigable,  if 
not  always  a  very  successful,  sportsman.  Never  had  a  man 
more  irons  in  the  fire,  and,  consequently,  never  was  a  man 
more  busy  nor  more  cheerful. 

In  the  fall  of  1833,  Latrobe  with  two  companions 
visited  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  portions  of  his 
account  of  that  trip  are  reprinted  in  this  number  of 
THE  PALIMPSEST.  An  amiable  and  sympathetic  ob- 
server, he  caught  and  put  into  words  the  spirit  of 
the  French  and  Canadian  boatmen,  the  wild  beauty 
of  the  river  and  its  shores,  the  joy  of  primitive 
camps,  the  fantastic  glory  of  the  prairie  fire.  Per- 
haps it  was  the  spirit  of  adventure  that  took  Latrobe 
a  few  years  later  to  Australia  where  he  became  sup- 
erintendent of  the  district  of  Port  Phillip.  When 
that  district  was  organized  as  Victoria  he  adminis- 
tered its  affairs  as  lieutenant  governor. 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  267 

ROMANCE    AND   THE   PLOW 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  changes  in  the  Miss- 
issippi Valley  remarked  by  successive  travellers. 
The  early  voyageurs  passed  only  forts  and  Indian 
encampments.  Then  —  particularly  in  the  thirties 
-primitive  villages  sprang  up;  rough,  western 
towns,  picturesque  but  with  few  accommodations  for 
the  traveller.  As  migration  increased  these  towns 
took  on  more  of  the  trappings  of  civilization.  Order 
and  government  became  installed.  When  Latrobe 
passed  up  the  river  there  was  no  Wisconsin,  no  Iowa, 
no  Minnesota.  The  territory  of  Michigan  extended 
to  the  river,  and  beyond  it  was  no  organized  gov- 
ernment. Two  years  later,  when  Murray  came  by, 
Michigan  held  sway  over  the  entire  territory  but  a 
year  later  it  yielded  the  western  domain  to  the  Terri- 
tory of  Wisconsin.  The  territory  of  Iowa  was  formed 
in  1838  to  include  the  land  west  of  the  Mississippi 
running  north  to  the  Canadian  boundary;  and  not 
until  1846  did  Iowa  content  itself  with  its  present 
limits. 

Whites  came  with  increasing  numbers,  till  they 
filled  up  with  their  handiwork  the  wild  reaches  where 
the  red  men  had  followed  the  trail  of  the  bison,  where 
wolves  had  howled  at  night  outside  the  camp  of  white 
adventurers,  and  where  the  prairie  fire  had  swept 
its  course. 

The  travellers  now  stopped  at  village  taverns  and 
finally  at  city  hotels.  They  came  to  see  people,  not 
scenery,  and  each  year  they  observed  a  land  more  like 


268  THE  PALIMPSEST 

that  from  which  they  had  come  —  settled,  comforta- 
ble, and  conventional.  The  freshness,  the  untamed, 
bloodstirring  wildness  was  slipping  away.  Romance 
still  rested  in  the  valley  but  it  was  changing  its  form. 
It  was  now  the  romance  of  achievement,  of  subjuga- 
tion. Through  human  activities  the  bison  and  bear 
and  wolf  vanished,  and  in  their  place  stood  mild-eyed 
cattle,  subservient  horses,  and  countless  and  prosaic 
pigs  and  chickens.  The  beauty  of  the  river  bank  was 
broken  by  power  plants  and  warehouses  and  railway 
trackage.  Forests  dwindled  and  virgin  prairie  grass 
gave  place  to  far  reaching  acres  of  rippling  corn 
fields. 

It  is  a  romantic  story  —  this  change  —  and  a  story 
of  great  human  appeal,  for  to  mankind  the  story  of 
itself  is  always  the  most  interesting.  But  with  pros- 
perity often  comes  dullness.  The  magic  spirit  of 
romance  burns  high  when  the  struggle  is  on,  but  it 
pales  with  possession.  As  opulence  increases,  ro- 
mance dies.  Fortunate  it  is  that  nature  has  its  own 
defenses  and  clings  to  its  own  romance.  Eivers  still 
flow  in  their  downward  courses,  wooded  ravines  es- 
cape the  plow,  bits  of  original  prairie  survive,  and 
here  and  there  places  of  marked  beauty  so  engage 
the  deeper  appreciation  of  mankind  that  they  are 
preserved  as  parks.  And  so  mankind,  if  it  is  to  retain 
its  idealism,  must  find  in  literature  and  history  the 
spur  and  incentive  to  escape  the  plow  of  materialism 
and  hold  fast  to  the  romance  in  life. 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 

ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  II  ISSUED  IN  SEPTEMBER  1921  No.  9 

COPYRIGHT  t»21   BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL.  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

The  Cardiff  Giant 

One  Saturday  morning  in  October,  1869,  two  men 
were  digging  a  well  on  the  farm  of  William  Newell, 
some  three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  little  village 
of  Cardiff,  New  York.  The  spot  selected  for  this 
purpose  was  at  the  rear  of  the  barn,  near  a  swale  or 
marsh,  through  which  meandered  a  small  creek, 
When  the  excavation  had  reached  a  depth  of  about 
three  feet  one  of  the  workmen  struck  his  shovel 
against  some  hard  substance  embedded  in  the  loose 
gravel  soil.  Attempts  to  pry  out  the  object  were 
unavailing  and  the  curiosity  of  the  men  was  aroused. 
Perhaps  they  had  visions  of  a  buried  treasure  chest 
—  that  subconscious  memory  of  the  time  when  the 
pirate  is  the  hero  of  the  child's  imagination.  It  took 
only  a  short  time,  however,  for  the  shovels  to  reveal 
the  form  of  a  human  foot,  and  further  digging, 
under  the  personal  direction  of  Mr.  Newell,  soon 
uncovered  the  whole  of  a  gigantic  human  figure, 
composed  apparently  of  stone. 

269 


270  THE  PALIMPSEST 

The  mud-covered  diggers  and  the  farmer,  leaning 
on  their" shovels,  stared  curiously  at  the  figure  which 
lay  at  the  bottom  of  what  had  now  become  a  trench 
instead  of  a  well.  They  were  soon  joined  by  mem- 
bers of  the  family  and  by  neighbors.  What  was  this 
stone  giant!  Some  of  the  spectators  recalled  the 
finding  of  a  razor  in  a  hollow  tree  on  the  same  farm 
some  years  before;  perhaps,  they  whispered,  here 
was  the  body  of  a  man  who  had  been  murdered. 

Though  rural  telephones  and  the  now  ubiquitous 
Ford  cars  were  unknown  at  that  time,  the  news  of 
the  finding  of  the  colossus  spread  rapidly  and  peo- 
ple from  miles  around  jostled  each  other  on  the 
slippery  sides  of  the  muddy  trench  to  get  a  view  of 
the  stone  giant.  The  figure  which  lay  below  in  the 
mud  and  water  was  that  of  a  man  measuring  some 
ten  feet  two  and  one-half  inches  in  height,  with 
shoulders  three  feet  in  breadth,  and  other  measure- 
ments in  proportion.  The  right  arm  and  hand  lay 
across  the  body,  while  the  left  was  pressed  against 
the  back  directly  opposite.  The  lower  limbs  were 
slightly  contracted  as  if  by  pain,  the  left  foot  rest- 
ing partially  upon  the  right. 

There  was  much  speculation  as  to  the  origin  of 
the  giant  and  some  of  the  visitors  were  not  slow  to 
recognize  its  value  as  an  exhibit.  Offers  of  trade 
and  cash  were  soon  made,  but  the  farmer  preferred 
to  wait  until  the  real  value  of  his  prize  could  be 
determined. 

That  he  was  not  slow  to  realize  a  good  business 


THE  CARDIFF  GIANT  271 

proposition  is  evident  from  the  system  of  handling 
the  crowds  of  sight-seers.  A  tent  was  erected  over 
the  trench  where  the  colossus  still  lay  on  his  bed  of 
clay,  and  a  charge  of  fifty  cents  was  made  for  ad- 
mission. This  apparently  did  not  diminish  the  num- 
ber of  visitors,  for  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  crops 
were  not  yet  harvested  and  an  election  was  pending, 
the  farmer  found  himself  possessed  of  a  veritable 
Aladdin's  lamp  which  showered  half  dollars  upon 
him.  It  was  not  long  before  George  Hull,  a  relative 
of  William  Newell,  appeared  to  claim  a  share  in  the 
profits  and  this  aroused  some  gossip  since  there  was 
no  apparent  reason  for  his  participation.  A  sum  of 
money  amounting  to  twenty  thousand  dollars  was 
said  to  have  been  received  from  the  admission  fees 
to  the  tent  on  the  Newell  farm.  Later  J.  W.  Wood, 
a  professional  showman,  was  secured  to  manage  the 
exhibition. 

Andrew  D.  White,  President  of  Cornell  Univer- 
sity, who  at  the  time  was  in  Syracuse,  wrote  the 
following  description  of  his  visit  to  the  farm: 

The  roads  were  crowded  with  buggies,  carriages,  and 
even  omnibuses  from  the  city,  and  with  lumber-wagons 
from  the  farms  —  all  laden  >vith  passengers.  In  about  two 
hours  we  arrived  at  the  Newell  farm,  and  found  a  gather- 
ing which  at  first  sight  seemed  like  a  county  fair.  In  the 
midst  was  a  tent,  and  a  crowd  was  pressing  for  admission. 
Entering,  we  saw  a  large  pit  or  grave,  and,  at  the  bottom 
of  it,  perhaps  five  feet  below  the  surface,  an  enormous 
figure,  apparently  of  Onondaga  gray  limestone.  It  was  a 


272  THE  PALIMPSEST 

stone  giant,  with  massive  features,  the  whole  body  nude, 
the  limbs  contracted  as  if  in  agony.  It  had  a  color  as  if  it 
had  lain  long  in  the  earth,  and  over  its  surface  were 
minute  punctures,  like  pores.  An  especial  appearance  of 
great  age  was  given  it  by  deep  grooves  and  channels  in  its 
under  side,  apparently  worn  by  the  water  which  flowed  in 
streams  through  the  earth  and  along  the  rock  on  which  the 
figure  rested.  Lying  in  its  grave,  with  the  subdued  light 
from  the  roof  of  the  tent  falling  upon  it,  and  with  the 
limbs  contorted  as  if  in  a  death  struggle,  it  produced  a 
most  weird  effect.  An  air  of  great  solemnity  pervaded  the 
place.  Visitors  hardly  spoke  above  a  whisper. 

Newspaper  men  also  visited  the  farm  and  wrote 
thrilling  descriptions  of  the  "Cardiff  Giant"  or 
"Onondaga  Giant",  as  the  mysterious  figure  came 
to  be  called.  Scientists  studied  it  and  wrote  learned 
reports  of  its  origin  and  antiquity.  Most  of  these 
men  rejected  the  theory  of  petrification  but  they 
differed  widely  in  their  explanations  of  the  presence 
of  the  piece  of  sculpture  in  the  swamp. 

John  F.  Boynton,  a  graduate  of  a  St.  Louis  med- 
ical school  and  a  lecturer  on  geology  and  mineralogy, 
at  first  believed  that  it  was  the  work  of  the  Jesuit 
fathers  two  or  three  hundred  years  before.  The 
material  he  decided  was  Onondaga  gypsum.  Later 
lie  decided  that  the  statue  had  probably  not  been 
buried  more  than  three  years.  Another  of  the  sci- 
entific examiners  was  convinced  that  this  was  a 
petrified  body.  Experienced  quarrymen  of  the 
region,  he  declared,  did  not  believe  that  a  block  of 


THE  CARDIFF  GIANT  273 

gypsum  of  this  size  could  be  found  in  the  vicinity. 
Furthermore,  the  position  of  the  body  was  not  one 
an  artist  would  choose ;  it  was  rather  a  natural  mani- 
festation of  physical  pain.  Dr.  Amos  Wescott  of 
Syracuse,  in  a  letter  to  the  Scientific  American, 
supported  this  view.  There  were  no  chisel  marks 
upon  the  figure,  he  asserted.  Besides,  its  evident 
antiquity  was  proof  that  it  was  not  an  attempt  to 
impose  upon  "a  gullible  public*'. 

Among  those  who  examined  the  giant  was  James 
Hall,  State  Geologist  of  New  York,  who  some  years 
before  had  made  the  first  geological  survey  of  Iowa. 
He  was  positive  that  the  figure  was  a  statue  carved 
from  crystalline  gypsum.  In  a  letter  written  to  Dr. 
Wescott,  Mr.  Hall  emphasized  the  antiquity  of  the 
statue  and  called  attention  to  the  corroding  or  attri- 
tion of  part  of  the  under  sufface  of  the  body  by  the 
action  of  the  water.  "Such  a  process  of  solution 
and  removal  of  the  gypsum  —  a  mineral  of  slow 
solubility  in  the  waters  of  that  region  —  must",  he 
declared,  "have  required  a  long  period  of  years. " 
In  another  written  statement  he  expressed  the 
opinion  that  "to  all  appearances,  this  statue  lay 
upon  the  gravel  when  the  deposition  of  the  fine  silt 
or  soil  began,  upon  the  surface  of  which  the  forests 
have  grown  for  succeeding  generations." 

In  the  meantime  imagination  had,  as  usual,  out- 
stripped science,  and  a  number  of  myths  and  legends 
were  developed  to  explain  the  mystery.  According 
to  one  of  these,  an  Indian  squaw,  who  visited  the 


274  THE  PALIMPSEST 

statue,  declared  that  it  was  the  petrified  body  of  an 
Indian  prophet  who  many  centuries  before  had 
foretold  the  coming  of  the  palefaces  and  before  his 
death  promised  his  followers  that  their  descendants 
should  see  him  again. 

The  ordinary  visitors,  knowing  nothing  of  art  or 
archeology,  were  usually  content  with  the  belief  that 
this  was  a  petrified  human  being.  "Nothing  in  the 
world  can  ever  make  me  believe  that  he  was  not  once 
a  living  being ",  declared  a  woman  as  she  looked 
down  upon  the  colossus.  "Why,  you  can  see  the 
veins  in  his  legs." 

After  some  time  the  "Cardiff  Giant "  was  raised 
from  his  muddy  tomb  and  transported  to  Albany, 
much  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  Syracuse  business 
men  who  had  profited  largely  by  the  influx  of  tour- 
ists. It  is  reported  that  fifty  thousand  sight-seers 
visited  the  Newell  farm  while  the  giant  remained 
there. 

P.  T.  Barnum  tried  to  purchase  the  figure  but  a 
local  syndicate  had  already  secured  control  and  his 
offer  was  refused.  The  new  company,  one  of  whom 
is  said  to  have  been  the  original  from  which  the 
character  of  David  Harum  was  drawn,  paid  $30,000 
for  a  three-fourths  interest,  Newell  retaining  one- 
fourth.  A  pamphlet, ' t  The  American  Goliath ' ',  was 
issued  to  advertise  the  wonder,  but  a  great  deal  of 
publicity  was  furnished  by  newspaper  discussions 
concerning  the  various  theories  as  to  the  origin  and 
antiquity  of  the  image. 


THE  CARDIFF  GIANT  275 

The  success  of  the  exhibition  led  P.  T.  Barnum  to 
have  carved  a  similar  figure  which  was  likewise  ex- 
hibited as  the  "Cardiff  Giant ".  The  owners  of  the 
original  attempted  to  secure  an  injunction  to  pre- 
vent the  display  of  Barnum 's  giant,  but  it  was  re- 
fused. The  rival  did  not,  however,  at  once  diminish 
the  popularity  of  the  real  giant  which  was  taken 
about  the  country  and  exhibited  to  large  crowds. 

There  were  some,  however,  who  were  skeptical 
concerning  the  accidental  discovery  of  the  stone 
giant.  The  appearance  of  George  Hull  on  the  scene 
and  his  share  in  the  profits  were  not  sufficiently 
explained  by  his  relationship  to  William  Newell. 
Residents  of  Onondaga  County  began  to  recall  that 
about  a  year  before  a  mysterious  four-horse  team 
drawing  a  wagon  upon  the  running  gear  of  which 
rested  a  huge  iron-bound  box  had  been  seen  in  the 
vicinity  of  Cardiff  and  some  claimed  that  they  recog- 
nized George  Hull  as  the  man  who  had  been  in 
charge. 

Those  interested  in  the  stone  giant  explained  that 
the  box  contained  machinery  for  manufacturing- 
tobacco  products  and  possibly  some  contraband 
tobacco  —  a  fact  which  accounted  for  the  secrecy 
surrounding  its  movements.  Dr.  Amos  Wescott, 
who  was  one  of  the  owners  of  the  giant,  declared  in 
a  letter  to  the  Scientific  American  that  it  was  ab- 
surd to  suggest  that  the  statue  which  weighed 
slightly  less  than  3000  pounds  had  been  transported 
on  a  wagon  to  the  Newell  farm,  unloaded  by  the  two 


276  THE  PALIMPSEST 

or  three  men  in  charge,  and  lowered  to  the  place  from 
which  it  required  fifteen  men  to  remove  it  even  with 
the  aid  of  machinery. 

Andrew  D.  White  was  shown  a  piece  of  the  giant 
and  he  at  once  saw  that  the  material  was  not  Onon- 
daga  limestone  as  he  had  at  first  supposed  but  some 
kind  of  gypsum.  This  explained  the  point  which 
had  puzzled  him  —  the  attrition  on  the  under  sur- 
face of  the  figure.  Professor  Marsh  of  Yale,  a 
paleontologist,  examined  the  figure  and  asserted 
that  it  was  clearly  of  recent  origin  and  "a  most 
decided  humbug". 

Thus  was  the  reputation  of  the  "Cardiff  Giant." 
endangered  by  gossip  and  the  opinions  of  scientists. 
Its  fame,  however,  continued  and  still  the  curious 
thronged  to  view  it.  Among  those  from  afar  who 
visited  the  exhibit  was  Galusha  Parsons,  a  lawyer 
from  Fort  Dodge,  Iowa,  who  stopped  over  at  Syra- 
cuse to  see  the  "Petrified  Giant".  He  immediately 
wrote  back  to  a  Fort  Dodge  paper,  "I  believe  it  is 
made  out  of  the  great  block  of  gypsum  those  fellows 
got  at  Fort  Dodge  a  year  ago  and  sent  off  east." 

A  number  of  Fort  Dodge  citizens  at  once  began 
some  amateur  detective  work.  Skeptics  in  New 
York  added  their  testimony  and  gradually  the 
tangled  threads  were  unravelled  and  the  story  of 
the  "Cardiff  Giant"  was  revealed.  In  the  summer 
of  1868  two  men,  registering  at  the  hotel  as  George 
Hull  of  Binghamton,  New  York,  and  H.  B.  Martin 
of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  arrived  at  Fort  Dodge. 


THE  CARDIFF  GIANT  277 

The  latter,  however,  was  a  resident  of  Marshall- 
town,  Iowa.  They  were  so  secretive  concerning 
their  business  as  to  be  regarded  as  suspicious  char- 
acters, but  they  showed  special  interest  in  the 
gypsum  deposits. 

Finally  they  attempted  to  make  a  bargain  with 
C.  B.  Cummins  for  a  large  block  of  gypsum,  at  least 
12  x  4  x  2  feet,  explaining  that  they  wished  to  ex- 
hibit it  in  New  York.  They  also  told  one  of  the  men 
at  the  mines  that  they  intended  to  take  the  block  to 
Washington,  D.  C.,  as  Iowa's  contribution  to  the 
Lincoln  monument. 

Mr.  Cummins  refused  the  order,  but  the  two  men 
leased  some  land  and  employed  a  quarryman  named 
Michael  Foley  to  get  out  a  block  of  the  prescribed 
dimensions.  This  feat  was  finally  accomplished, 
Foley  receiving  fifteen  dollars  for  his  labor.  The 
next  problem  was  the  transportation  of  the  mam- 
moth block,  weighing  about  five  tons,  to  the  railroad 
station.  The  difficulties  were  found  to  be  so  great 
that  the  block  was  reduced  in  size  so  that  it  weighed 
less  than  seven  thousand  pounds. 

Its  owners  announced  that  it  was  to  be  shipped  to 
New  York,  but  the  records  of  the  freight  office  at 
Boone  —  formerly  Montana  —  showed  that  it  was 
billed  to  Chicago.  Here  a  German  stone-cutter 
carved  the  gigantic  figure  from  the  block,  Hull  him- 
self serving  as  the  model.  Pin  pricks  by  a  leaden 
mallet  faced  with  steel  needles  were  made  to  serve 
as  pores ;  and  the  whole  figure  was  carefully  treated 
to  give  it  a  semblance  of  age. 


278  THE  PALIMPSEST 

From  Chicago  the  statue,  boxed  and  labeled  "fin- 
ished marble ",  was  shipped  by  an  indirect  route  to 
Union,  New  York,  addressed  to  George  Olds.  Here 
the  mysterious  four-horse  team  appeared  and  the 
giant,  encased  in  an  iron-bound  box,  began  his  wan- 
derings in  search  of  his  temporary  tomb.  Reports 
from  various  places  indicate  that  the  route  was  cir- 
cuitous and  the  answers  of  his  guardians  to  ques- 
tions evasive  and  inconsistent.  Machinery,  iron 
castings,  a  soldier >s  monument,  and  "Jeff  Davis " 
were  among  the  replies  to  inquisitive  persons.  At 
one  place,  it  was  said,  a  small  boy  secured  an  auger 
and  attempted  to  do  some  prospecting  on  his  own 
account,  but  the  owners  of  the  box  foiled  his  project. 

Having  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Newell  farm, 
the  box  disappeared.  The  story  of  the  midnight 
burial  of  the  giant  must  be  left  to  the  imagination. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  picture  the  scene :  the  shadowy 
light  of  the  lanterns  revealing  the  figures  of  the  men 
busy  about  the  inert  figure,  the  rasp  of  iron  and  the 
splitting  of  wood  as  the  box  was  opened,  the  creak 
of  machinery  as  slowly  and  carefully  the  stone  figure 
was  lowered  into  its  waiting  grave,  and  the  water 
seeped  up  around  it.  The  earth  was  filled  in  and  the 
top  smoothed  off.  Probably  there  was  no  one  to 
repeat  the  burial  formula  but  the  future  develop- 
ments indicate  that  the  spectators  were  not  without 
a  belief  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body  they  had  so 
carefully  buried. 

And  so  the  mystery  of  the  "Cardiff  Giant M  was 


THE  CARDIFF  GIANT  279 

solved.  The  owners  made  frantic  efforts  to  refute 
the  evidence  but  in  vain,  for  in  the  midst  of  their 
protestations,  Hull,  who  apparently  enjoyed  the  joke 
and  who  had  realized  financially  on  the  scheme  be- 
fore the  gossip  about  the  planting  of  the  giant  had 
been  verified,  made  public  the  whole  story  of  the 
swindle. 

In  addition  to  confirming  the  main  points  of  the 
story  of  the  wanderings  of  the  gypsum  block  and 
the  stone  giant,  Hull  explained  where  he  received 
the  suggestion  of  the  plan.  While  on  a  visit  to  rela- 
tives at  Ackley,  Iowa,  he  had  entered  upon  a  discus- 
sion with  a  Methodist  revivalist  and  in  the  argument 
concerning  the  belief  in  Biblical  stories,  Hull  who 
was  himself  an  atheist  received  the  inspiration  of 
the  burying  and  resurrection  of  the  giant. 

These  revelations  would  seem  to  be  sufficient  to 
destroy  all  belief  and  curiosity  in  the  stone  giant, 
but  in  spite  of  them  a  graduate  student  of  Yale, 
named  Alexander  McWhorter,  made  a  study  of  the 
"Cardiff  Giant ".  He  discovered  on  the  figure  an 
inscription  in  ancient  Phenician  letters  and  evolved 
the  theory  that  here  was  a  Phenician  idol.  No  one 
else  was  ever  able  to  see  this  inscription,  but 
McWhorter  wrote  an  article  elaborating  his  theory 
and  had  it  published  in  a  prominent  magazine.  Dr. 
White  of  the  Yale  Medical  School  also  examined  the 
figure  and  of  the  discussion  between  these  two  men, 
Andrew  D.  White  says:  "Dickens  in  his  most  ex- 
pansive moods  never  conceived  anything  more  funny 


280  THE  PALIMPSEST 

than  the  long,  solemn  discussion  between  the  erratic 
Hebrew  scholar  and  the  eminent  medical  professor 
at  New  Haven  over  the  '  pores '  of  the  statue,  which 
one  of  them  thought  'the  work  of  minute  animals/ 
which  the  other  thought  *  elaborate  Phenician  work- 
manship,' which  both  thought  exquisite,  and  which 
the  maker  of  the  statue  had  already  confessed  that 
he  had  made  by  rudely  striking  the  statue  with  a 
mallet  faced  with  needles. " 

But  no  theories  could  restore  the  popularity  of 
the  "Cardiff  Giant".  Some  of  the  enterprising  citi- 
zens of  Fort  Dodge— W.  H.  Wright,  Dr.  McNulty, 
and  the  editor  of  The  Iowa  North  West  —  collected 
the  evidence  and  published  it  in  a  pamphlet  entitled 
The  Cardiff  Giant  Humbug,  concluding  with  a 
modest  advertisement  of  Fort  Dodge.  These 
pamphlets  were  sent  to  New  York  and  sold  in  the 
town  in  which  the  "Cardiff  Giant"  was  being  exhib- 
ited. The  promoters  made  frantic  efforts  to  stop 
their  sale,  but  enough  were  distributed  to  expose  the 
claims  of  the  giant.  Although  it  continued  to  be 
exhibited  for  some  time  in  spite  of  the  appearance 
of  a  rival  and  the  story  of  its  real  origin,  the  returns 
soon  diminished  and  the  colossus  was  finally  strand- 
ed at  Fitchburg,  Massachusetts,  where  it  was  held 
for  storage  charges.  It  was  put  on  exhibition  at  the 
Pan-American  Exposition  at  Buffalo  in  1901,  but  at 
the  close  of  the  Exposition  it  was  returned  to  Fitch- 
burg,  where  it  was  stored  in  an  old  barn. 

It  was  felt,  however,  that  the  old  giant  should  be 


THE  CARDIFF  GIANT  281 

returned  to  its  home  at  Fort  Dodge,  and  it  was  pur- 
chased by  Joseph  R.  Mulroney  from  the  heirs  of  the 
estate  to  which  it  belonged  and  brought  back  to  Fort 
Dodge,  where  it  has  been  exhibited  from  time  to 
time.  It  is  now  owned  by  Hugo  Schultz  of  Huron, 
South  Dakota,  but  it  remains  in  charge  of  the  Brady 
Transfer  and  Storage  Company  at  Fort  Dodge. 
Although  in  retirement,  the  "  Cardiff  Giant M  was 
the  chief  guest  at  a  "  wake  "  given  in  Fort  Dodge  to 
visiting  advertising  men  in  convention  there  in  the 
spring  of  1921 — an  honor,  indeed,  which  the  old 
giant  well  deserved. 

RUTH  A.  GALLAHEK 


Pike's  Hill 

Opposite  the  place  where  the  Wisconsin  River 
empties  into  the  Mississippi  rises  a  bold  promontory 
known  as  Pike's  Hill.  It  is  a  part  of  the  range  of 
steep,  almost  perpendicular  bluffs  cleft  here  and 
there  by  deep  ravines,  which  form  the  Iowa  shore  of 
the  Mississippi  Eiver  above  Dubuque.  Visited  by 
Lieutenant  Zebulon  M.  Pike  on  his  journey  up  the 
river  in  the  fall  of  1805,  and  selected  by  him  as  a  site 
suitable  for  the  erection  of  a  military  post,  it  has 
since  been  known  by  the  various  names  of  Pike's 
Peak,  Pike's  Mountain,  and  Pike's  Hill. 

Writing  of  this  spot  in  his  report  to  General 
James  Wilkinson,  Pike  said : 

I  therefore  pitched  on  a  spot  on  the  top  of  the  hill  on 
the  W.  side  of  the  Mississippi  which  is  [  ]  feet  high,  level 
on  the  top,  and  completely  commands  both  rivers,  the 
Mississippi  being  only  one-half  mile  wide  and  the  Ouis- 
cousing  about  900  yards  when  full.  There  is  plenty  of 
timber  in  the  rear,  and  a  spring  at  no  great  distance  on  the 
hill.  If  this  position  is  to  have  in  view  the  annoyance  of 
any  European  power  who  might  be  induced  to  attack  it 
with  cannon,  it  has  infinitely  the  preference  to  a  position 
called  the  Petit  Gris  on  the  Ouiscousing,  which  I  visited 
and  marked  the  next  day. 

Twenty-two  years  after  Pike  recommended  this 

282 


PIKE'S  HILL  283 

site  for  a  military  post,  another  officer  of  the  United 
States  Army,  Major  General  Edmund  E.  Gaines, 
then  in  command  of  the  Western  Department,  pro- 
posed that  a  fort  should  be  erected  on  Pike's  Hill  to 
replace  the  fast  decaying  Fort  Crawford.  Fort 
Crawford  had  been  erected  at  Prairie  du  Chien  dur- 
ing the  summer  of  1816,  and  was  occupied  continu- 
ously by  a  garrison  from  that  date  till  October,  1826, 
when  its  troops  were  withdrawn  and  sent  to  Fort 
Snelling.  In  August,  1827,  it  was  reoccupied  due  to 
the  threatening  attitude  of  the  Winnebago  Indians 
and  the  uneasiness  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  village 
and  the  nearby  settlers.  In  the  fall  of  1827,  General 
Gaines  after  inspecting  the  posts  in  his  department 
made  a  report  which  includes  the  following  state^ 
ments  in  regard  to  Fort  Crawford : 

Fort  Crawford,  consisting  of  block-houses  and  huts,  all 
of  wood,  is,  as  heretofore  reported,  so  much  decayed  as  to 
be  uninhabitable  without  extensive  repairs,  and  even  with 
repairs  the  barracks  cannot  be  rendered  sufficiently  com- 
fortable to  secure  the  health  of  the  troops.  The  floors  and 
lower  timbers  are  decayed  in  part  by  frequent  overflowing 
of  the  river,  which  has  left  the  wood  soaked  and  filled  with 
damp  sediment.  Orders  have  been  given  to  Major  Fowle, 
the  commanding  officer,  to  repair  the  barracks  in  the  best 
manner  the  means  under  his  control  will  permit.  Ten 
thousand  feet  of  plank  was  brought  from  Fort  Snelling, 
and  an  additional  supply  ordered  to  be  furnished  for  the 
purpose,  with  the  requisite  tools.  "With  these  supplies  it  is 
believed  that  the  mechanics  of  Major  Fowle 's  command  \5rill 


284 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


be  able  to  render  the  troops  tolerably  comfortable  until  the 
next  spring,  when  it  is  apprehended  that  the  usual  freshets 
in  the  river  will  again  overflow  the  place.  These  freshets 
have  often  brought  the  high  water  into  the  barracks  to  the 
depth  of  four  feet  for  several  days  in  succession.  This  has 
sometimes  occurred  in  the  months  of  June  and  July.  When 
this  is  the  case  bilious  diseases  are  sure  to  follow. 

At  the  time  of  his  visit,  Gaines  found  one  officer 
and  forty-four  enlisted  men  sick  out  of  a  total  force 
of  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven  officers  and  men — 
more  than  one-fourth  of  the  garrison.  In  addition 
to  this  several  women  and  children  in  the  families  of 
the  officers  were  ill. 

The  general  embodied  in  his  report  a  statement 
from  E.  M.  Coleman,  the  assistant  surgeon  of  the 
garrison,  to  the  effect  that  the  location  of  Fort  Craw- 
ford was  decidedly  unhealthy  and  that  a  site  across 
the  river  would  be  better  suited  to  the  health  of  the 
men.  Major  John  Fowle,  commandant  at  Fort 
Crawford,  confirmed  the  report  of  Doctor  Coleman 
in  respect  to  the  sickliness  of  the  place.  He,  too,  feltt 
that  the  health  of  the  garrison  would  be  improved  by 
its  removal  to  the  opposite  shore  and  recommended 
Pike's  Hill  as  the  best  site  for  the  post. 

Accordingly,  General  Gaines,  fully  convinced  of 
the  necessity  of  a  new  location  for  Fort  Crawford, 
not  only  because  of  the  unhealthfulness  of  the  place 
but  also  because  of  its  nearness  to  " tippling  shops'* 
in  the  adjoining  village,  recommended  the  erection 
of  a  new  fort  upon  Pike's  Hill  "on  the  right  bank 


PIKE'S  HILL  285 

of  the  Mississippi,  nearly  opposite  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Wisconsin,  about  four  miles  from  Fort  Craw- 
ford, and  in  full  view  of  the  fort  and  the  neighboring 
village. ' ' 

Against  his  proposal  he  foresaw  the  objection  that 
Pike's  Hill  did  not  afford  immediate  protection  to 
the  village  of  Prairie  du  Chien  and  that  the  expense 
of  transporting  supplies  to  the  top  of  the  hill  would 
be  greater  than  that  incurred  at  Fort  Crawford. 
However,  he  argued  that  this  expense  would  be  more 
than  offset  by  the  advantages  of  the  new  site  from 
the  standpoint  of  health  and  by  its  nearness  to  a 
supply  of  timber  for  building  and  fuel.  He  believed 
that  a  road  could  be  built  by  ten  men  in  the  course 
of  a  week,  which,  avoiding  the  precipitous  face  of 
the  bluff,  would  extend  in  a  series  of  grades  from 
the  top  of  the  hill  to  the  landing  below  at  a  distance 
of  about  a  mile.  A  spring  in  the  hollow  of  the  hill 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the  top 
would  furnish  an  ample  supply  of  excellent  water. 

The  top  of  the  site  consisted  of  about  five  acres  of 
almost  level  tableland  which,  Gaines  asserted,  would 
afford  sufficient  space  for  the  fort  with  room  for 
company  and  battalion  exercise.  Back  of  the  hill- 
top for  half  a  mile  stretched  a  field  sufficiently  level 
and  "well  adapted  to  all  purposes  of  cultivation  as 
should  occupy  the  attention  of  the  troops,  viz:  for 
gardening,  grass  lots  and  pasturage". 

Convinced  of  the  feasibility  of  his  proposal, 
Gaines  drew  up  and  incorporated  in  his  report  a 


286  THE  PALIMPSEST 

plan  for  a  fort  on  Pike's  Hill.  On  the  opposite  page 
this  plan,  slightly  reduced,  is  reprinted  from  a  cut 
which  appears  with  the  report  in  American  State 
papers:  Military  Affairs,  Vol.  IV,  p.  125.  The  fol- 
lowing descriptive  and  explanatory  matter  is  re- 
printed from  the  same  source: 

Ground  plan  of  a  fort  for  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
officers  and  men,  recommended  to  be  erected  on  Pike's 
Hill,  near  Prairie  du  Chien.  To  be  considered  with  a 
view  to  defense  against  small  arms  only. 

A. —  Stone  towers,  30  or  40  feet  in  diameter,  two 

stories  high. 

B. —  Barracks,  two  stories  high. 
C. —  A  passage  12  feet  wide. 
D.-^- Officers'  quarters,  two  stories  high. 
E.—  Kitchens. 
P.—  Storehouses. 
G. —  Magazine. 
H. —  Stone  wall  and  ditch. 

NOTE. —  The  stone  wall  need  not  be  more  than  2  feet  thick. 
The  ditch  4  feet  deep,  and  8  feet  wide ;  2  six-pounders, 
and  2  five-inch  howitzers  to  be  put  into  each  tower. 

The  work  to  be  constructed  should  consist  of  two  small 
stone  towers  or  castles  placed  120  feet  apart,  with  the  inter- 
mediate space  filled  up  with  a  block  of  stone  barracks. 
These  to  be  enclosed  by  a  wall  with  a  ditch,  terminating  at 
each  castle,  and  so  constructed  as  to  receive  the  support  of 
a  flank,  fire  from  each  castle.  This  work  should  not  be 
larger  than  to  accommodate  a  garrison  of  five  officers,  with 


PIKE'S  HILL 


287 


E 


288.  THE  PALIMPSEST 

one  hundred  and  twenty  non-commisioned  officers,  arti- 
ficers and  privates,  together  with  storage  for  their  supplies. 

This  report  together  with  others  picturing  the  un- 
fitness  of  the  old  site  convinced  those  in  authority 
in  the  War  Department  of  the  necessity  at  least  of 
relocating  and  rebuilding  Fort  Crawford.  An  ap- 
propriation for  this  purpose  was  secured,  and  Major 
General  A.  E.  Macomb,  wrote  from  Washington,  D. 
C.,  to  the  commanding  officer  at  Prairie  du 
Chien,  under  the  date  of  April,  2, 1829,  and  directed 
him  to  make  an  examination  of  the  "  Prairie,  or 
immediate  country,  and  select  a  site  for  the  contem- 
plated barracks ' '.  He  was  to  select  the  most  suitable 
position  taking  into  consideration  "health,  comfort 
and  convenience  to  the  water  courses ". 

Accordingly,  Major  S.  W.  Kearny  assisted  by 
Major  John  Garland  proceeded  to  select  a  site  which 
they  considered  best  adapted  for  the  new  barracks. 
They  chose,  ultimately,  a  spot  about  &  mile  south  of 
the  old  fort  on  an  elevation  of  the  prairie  above  the 
high-water  mark  of  the  river  and  near  a  suitable 
landing  place  for  the  keel  boats  which  brought  sup- 
plies for  the  garrison  from  St.  Louis.  Here  was 
erected  the  new  fort,  larger  and  more  formidable 
than  its  predecessor  whose  worthy  name  it  was  to 
bear.  The  site  proposed  by  Pike  in  1805  and  by 
Gaines  in  1827  was  disregarded,  primarily,  it  is  said, 
because  of  the  difficulties  involved  in  building  a  road 
up  the  hill  and  in  transporting  supplies  to  the 
summit. 


PIKE'S  HILL  289 

Pike 's  Hill  was  never  fortified,  but  even  to-day  the 
visitor  who  has  climbed  to  its  top  and  has  looked  at 
the  river  below  dotted  with  wooded  islands  and  at 
the  sweep  of  prairie  on  the  opposite  shore  is  struck 
with  the  advantages  of  this  spot  as  a  military  site. 

BRUCE  E.  MAHAN 


Magnolia 

Before  me  is  an  old  law.  Its  musty  legality  is 
softened  by  the  blunt  phrases  of  pioneer  days.  Its 
title  announces  its  purpose  as  "An  Act  organizing 
certain  Counties  therein  named ";  and  its  content 
provides  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  titular  promise. 
From  the  pedantic  diction  of  modern  legislation  it 
is  refreshing  to  turn  to  the  simple  instructions  that 
"Abram  Fletcher,  of  the  county  of  Fremont,  Charles 
Wolcott,  of  the  county  of  Mills,  and  A.  D.  Jones,  of 
the  county  of  Pottawattamie,  be,  and  they  are  here- 
by appointed  Commissioners  to  locate  the  seat  of 
Justice  of  the  county  of  Harrison' ';  that  they  are 
further  instructed  to  meet  "at  the  house  of  A.  D. 
Jones,  in  the  county  of  Pottawattamie ' '  and  proceed 
to  locate  the  proposed  county  seat  of  Justice  "as 
near  the  geographical  centre  ....  as  a  suitable 
site  may  be  found. "  What  unembarrassed  discre- 
tion was  granted  by  the  Fourth  General  Assembly ! 
How  delightfully  simple  were  the  directions  for  the 
creation  of  a  new  government !  But  if  one  turns  the 
page,  he  will  read  there  a  brief  restriction — "the 
county  seat  of  Harrison  shall  be  called  Magnolia". 

In  response  to  these  unquestionable  instructions, 
the  three  commissioners  met  on  the  first  Monday  in 
March,  1853,  to  discharge  the  duty  which  had  been 
laid  upon  them.  1853!  Less  than  seventy  years 

290 


MAGNOLIA  291 

ago !  But  there  were  no  railroad  tracks,  or  tele- 
phone or  telegraph  lines  within  the  State  at  that 
time,  and  Iowa  land  was  selling  for  $1.25  an  acre. 
The  tiny  hamlet  of  Kanesville,  which  grew  out  of  an 
encampment  of  Mormons  making  their  difficult 
exodus  to  the  West,  had  just  received  the  name  of 
Council  Bluffs.  Omaha  was  a  village  on  the  out- 
skirts of  civilization ;  Sioux  City,  scarcely  more  than 
a  name  used  to  designate  an  Indian  trading-post; 
Des  Moines,  a  cluster  of  small  cabins  known  as  Fort 
Des  Moines,  and  boasting  among  its  homes  the  civil- 
izing influence  of  a  brick  courthouse.  This  was 
western  Iowa,  when  Magnolia,  ' i  the  little  city  on  the 
hill",  had  its  birth. 

As  a  commercial  and  civic  center  Magnolia  was 
full  of  promise.  It  was  in  the  very  heart  of  Harri- 
son County;  it  was  the  authorized  seat  of  justice 
and  government;  and  it  soon  became  a  lively,  ener- 
getic, frontier  town.  At  Magnolia  the  first  district 
schoolhouse  in  the  county,  a  structure  of  hewed  logs, 
was  built.  The  first  mill  to  do  actual  business  was 
located  on  the  Willow  River,  not  far  from  the  county 
seat,  and  as  early  as  1858  Magnolia  possessed  a 
Masonic  Lodge,  the  first  in  the  county. 

The  first  post  office  of  the  county  was  established 
at  Magnolia.  Until  1855  the  nearest  post  office  was 
located  at  Council  Bluffs,  and  the  only  way  to  obtain 
letters  was  to  call  for  them.  Great  was  the  excite- 
ment when  some  fellow-citizen  journeyed  thence  and 
brought  home  the  village  mail  in  the  crown  of.  his 


292  THE  PALIMPSEST 

hat.  Then  a  stage  route  was  established  running 
from  Council  Bluffs  to  Sioux  City,  and  Magnolia 
became  one  of  the  important  stops.  The  town  was 
highly  indignant,  however,  when  after  barely  a 
dozen  trips,  the  Western  Stage  Company  was  subsi- 
dized by  citizens  of  the  rival  village,  Calhoun,  so  that 
Magnolia  was  "  star-routed "  and  supplied  by  a  side 
mail.  But  this  incident  did  not  have  the  effect  which 
Calhoun  had  expected,  for  Magnolia,  instead  of  be- 
ing disheartened,  bent  every  effort  toward  improv- 
ing itself  —  an  exertion  which  left  its  rival  in  the 
dim  background  of  inferiority.  Other  stage  routes 
came  to  the  town  and  thus  many  times  a  week  brief 
snatches  of  the  world's  news,  somewhat  belated  but 
of  unimpaired  interest,  were  brought  to  the  village. 
Within  a  few  years  it  numbered  some  three  hun- 
dred inhabitants  who  enjoyed  the  privileges  and 
endured  the  hardships  which  western  Iowa  offered 
to  her  sturdy,  self-reliant  children  during  the  middle 
period  of  the  West.  Three  dry-goods  stores  pro- 
vided a  part  of  their  food  and  the  bulk  of  their 
clothing.  A  tailor,  a  shoe  dealer,  two  jewellers,  ten 
carpenters,  and  one  plasterer  added  a  touch  of  devel- 
opment to  the  community.  Its  bodily  ailments  were 
healed  by  two  physicians,  one  of  whom  was  famous 
for  his  efficacious  remedies —  a  potion  with  speedy 
results  known  as  "Thunder  and  Lightning",  and  a 
mixture  of  herbs  called  "Bog  Hay",  which  was  pre- 
scribed—  it  is  easy  to  imagine,  with  varying  for- 
mula and  effect  —  for  fever  and  ague.  Two 


MAGNOLIA  293 

ministers  cared  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity, and  six  attorneys  supported  themselves  by 
tangling  and  untangling  legal  snarls.  An  earnest 
teacher  generously  distributed  instruction  and  dis- 
cipline among  the  children  in  a  room  which  meas- 
ured twelve  by  fourteen  feet,  described  as  being 
constructed  of  "cottonwood  boards  set  on  end",,  and 
possessing  *  '  one  window-opening  with  a  '  greased 
paper*  for  light ". 

For  the  sum  of  two  dollars  a  year,  the  early  set- 
tler might  read  of  the  world 's  events  as  published  in 
the  "Magnolia  Weekly  Republican",  "a  very  newsy, 
neatly  printed  journal",  founded  in  1859,  by  George 
R.  Brainard.  The  itinerant,  as  well  as  the  perma- 
nent resident,  was  well  cared  for  in  Magnolia.  If 
he  were  travelling  "a  horseback",  he  might  have  his 
horse  shod  at  any  one  of  the  four  blacksmith  shops, 
while  he  indulged  himself  with  one  of  the  famous 
meals  served  by  the  kind  old  landlady  at  Peter 
Barnett's  boarding-house  hotel — a  meal  such  as 
Magnolia  alone  remembers  how  to  serve  to-day.  If 
he  were  obliged  to  "stay  the  night",  the  traveller 
was  sure  of  a  merry  evening  and  "right  good  cheer" 
within  the  log  walls  of  the  Bates  House.  He  might 
even  visit  the  village  artist  and  have  his  daguerreo- 
type taken  as  a  surprise  for  the  folks  at  home. 

In  1858,  a  unique  gathering  assembled  in  Mag- 
nolia, for  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  the  Harrison 
County  Agricultural  Society  held  its  first  county 
fair.  It  was  not  the  kind  of  an  exhibition  which  goes 


294  THE  PALIMPSEST 

by  the  name  of  county  fair  to-day.  There  were  no 
gambling  games  or  soap-box  enthusiasts  in  evidence. 
The  objects  of  attraction  were  "the  products  of  soil 
and  barnyard,  with  a  sprinkling  of  homemade  wares 
and  domestic  articles  ".  It  was  a  wholesome  gather- 
ing amusing  itself  with  the  ever-popular  sports  of 
horse  and  foot  racing. 

In  pathetic  but  inspiring  contrast  to  this  merry- 
making was  the  county  celebration  held  in  Magnolia 
on  July  4, 1862,  during  the  agonizing  period  of  civil 
war.  Men,  women,  and  children  —  many  with  sad 
faces  and  sadder  hearts  —  assembled  from  all  the 
adjoining  counties  and  even  from  Nebraska,  bring- 
ing with  them  wagon-loads  of  food.  Harrison 
County  has  never  again  seen  such  a  dinner!  The 
air  was  filled  with  music  and  patriotism,  and  a  huge 
homemade  flag  flaunted  its  cambric  stars  and  stripes 
to  the  admiration  of  the  throng,  in  the  midst  of 
which  might  be  found  the  skillful-fingered  women 
who  had  bought  the  material  at  the  general  store, 
and  who  had  cut  and  fashioned  the  bright  banner 
which  symbolized  to  all,  their  stricken  and  conten- 
tious home  land. 

Who  will  deny  that  Magnolia  was  the  hub  of  activ- 
ity and  that  Magnolia  directed  the  affairs  of  the 
county!  The  shrewd  godfathers  of  the  little  village 
had  made  no  mistake  when  they  selected  this  cen- 
trally located,  thickly  wooded,  and  well-drained  tract 
for  the  seat  of  justice  of  Harrison  County,  but 
events  conspired  in  such  a  manner  as  to  check  its 
logical  growth  and  to  cause  it  to  evolve  not  into  the 


MAGNOLIA  295 

promised  civic  center,  but  into  a  tiny  inland  town. 
When  Magnolia  was  platted,  not  a  railroad  had  yet 
been  constructed  a  hundred  miles  west  of  Chicago, 
and  it  could  not  be  foreseen  that  within  a  few  years, 
indeed  by  1866,  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  line 
would  have  laid  its  tracks  across  the  State  in  such  a 
way  as  to  miss  Magnolia  altogether.  This  was  a 
death-blow  to  commercial  expansion  and  activity — 
the  little  city  was  cut  off  from  the  throbbing  artery 
of  trade,  as  a  consequence  of  which  came  the  ulti- 
mate transfer  of  the  courthouse  to  the  neighboring 
village  of  Logan.  All  of  this  did  not  take  place  at 
once,  nor  did  it  come  about  without  a  struggle. 
Many  contests  had  raged  between  Magnolia  and 
Calhoun,  Missouri  Valley,  and  Logan  at  various 
times  with  regard  to  moving  the  county  seat. 
Magnolia  had  retained  control,  however,  until  1875, 
when  Logan,  seizing  the  psychological  moment, 
again  proposed  a  transfer  to  her  own  city  and  won 
by  a  doubtful  majority  of  two  votes.  The  county 
records  were  moved  to  that  place  where  a  court- 
house was  built  in  1876. 

Magnolia  had  reached  her  prime,  the  apex  of  her 
growth.  One  would  expect  the  city  to  die  and  slowly 
disappear.  Contrary  to  all  expectations,  such  has 
not  been  the  case.  To  be  sure,  its  population  has 
remained  practically  constant  for  many  years  — 
the  census  of  1920  showed  299  inhabitants  —  but  the 
town  itself  has  undergone  many  changes.  Scarcely 
any  of  the  old  landmarks  remain ;  in  fact,  Magnolia 
has  been  practically  rebuilt  during  the  past  fifteen 


296  THE  PALIMPSEST 

years.  Many  of  the  store-buildings  are  made  of 
brick,  and  cement  sidewalks  line  the  most  important 
streets.  The  city  is  lighted  by  electricity,  and  at 
night,  its  cluster  of  street  lights  may  be  seen  for 
miles  around.  Since  the  persistent  intrusion  of  the 
automobile,  the  seven  miles  between  Magnolia  and 
the  nearest  railroad  have  become  a  negligible  dis- 
tance. A  motor-bus  makes  two  trips  daily  to  Logan 
and  back,  carrying  passengers  and  mail. 

The  pride  of  the  town  is  a  large  consolidated 
school-building,  modernly  equipped  in  every  way, 
where  all  the  children  in  a  district  of  twenty-five 
square  miles,  from  the  tiniest  primary  pupil  to  the 
young  men  and  women  preparing  themselves  for 
college,  receive  training  on  an  equality  with  that 
offered  in  our  city  institutions.  There  are  seven 
busses,  dubbed  "  kid-wagons "  by  the  juvenile  pas- 
sengers, which  transport  the  youngsters  to  and  from 
the  great  schoolhouse,  many  times  the  size  of  the 
next  largest  building  in  the  village. 

Magnolia's  spirit  is  one  of  loyalty  and  allegiance. 
Company  C,  29th  Iowa  Infantry,  was  organized 
there  in  1862  and  gave  splendid  service  during  the 
Civil  War.  A  few  of  the  veterans  who  still  live  in 
the  community  assemble  on  Memorial  Day  to  show 
reverence  for  their  comrades  who  have  gone  ahead. 
During  the  recent  war,  Magnolia  provided  her  quota 
of  men  for  the  army,  and  offered  her  services  in 
other  ways,  as  did  the  thousands  of  small  towns  and 
villages  throughout  the  United  States.  Her  war- 
record  is  one  to  be  proud  of. 


MAGNOLIA  297 

Once  a  year,  in  August  or  September,  Magnolia 
dons  festive  attire,  and  assumes  a  gala-day  appear- 
ance. This  day  is  known  as  "Old  Settlers  Day", 
and  is  the  time  when  the  pioneers,  their  children, 
and  their  children's  children  assemble  to  listen  to 
roll-call,  to  hear  speeches,  to  exchange  reminiscences 
and  to  feast  upon  the  fat  of  the  land.  This  is  the  day 
when  Magnolia  indulges  in  maternal  pride  of  her 
sons  and  daughters.  Like  other  towns,  she  has  her 
favorite  son.  Newell  Dwight  Hillis,  pastor  of  the 
Plymouth  Church  in  Brooklyn,  New  York,  was  born 
and  reared  here.  His  tribute  to  his  early  home  pro- 
vides a  fitting  conclusion  to  an  article  on  this  small 
pioneer  town  which  went  through  a  rapid  growth,  a 
more  or  less  rapid  decline,  but  which  seems  to  have 
settled,  at  last,  into  a  state  of  immortality: 

"Since  those  far  off  days  in  the  old  Magnolia  high 
school  I  have  seen  many  cities  and  countries,  and 
studied  and  lingered  in  many  libraries,  colleges  and 
universities.  I  owe  an  immeasurable  debt  to  certain 
great  books,  to  noble  authors  and  educators.  But 
my  chief  intellectual  debt  is  to  my  father  and  mother 
and  sisters  and  to  the  old  friends  and  students  in 
the  old  Magnolia  high  school.  For  neither  time  nor 
events  have  ever  lessened  my  conviction  that  the 
scholar  is  the  favorite  child  of  heaven  and  earth  and 
that  the  old  book,  and  the  old  scenes,  and  the  old 
friends  are  the  richest  gifts  that  God  has  vouch- 
safed to  me  in  my  earthly  career. " 

BLANCHE  C.  SLY' 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

TEETH  AND  CIVILIZATION 

A  few  days  ago  we  were  looking  over  some  Indian 
skulls  which  had  been  dug  up  from  the  mounds  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Lake  Okoboji,  and  we  were 
greatly  impressed  with  the  condition  of  the  teeth. 
They  were  sound  and  white  and  regular.  No  dentist 
would  have  been  needed,  for  there  were  no  holes  to 
fill.  True,  the  teeth  were  not  all  there,  and  it  may 
be  that  there  were  holes  in  the  ones  which  had 
dropped  out  in  the  course  of  a  few  hundred  years; 
but  we  are  inclined  to  think  that  in  general  the  prim- 
itive Indian  had  much  better  teeth  than  has  the 
modern  white  man,  and  that  the  difference  is  due  to 
a  civilization  that  has  had  for  its  aim  the  making 
of  life  —  and  eating  —  an  easy  and  pleasant  affair. 

The  dog  who  forages  for  his  own  food  seems  to 
have  good  teeth,  and  we  believe  the  cat  who  is  a 
mouser  is  likely  to  have  better  teeth  than  the  lap-cat 
of  an  effete  household.  We  hear  often  nowadays  of 
the  tigers  and  crocodiles  which  have  become  domes- 
ticated and  pampered  in  the  big  zoos,  needing  to 
have  their  teeth  attended  to  by  dentists,  but  we  have 
heard  of  no  dentist  going  to  Africa  to  fill  cavities 
for  tigers  and  crocodiles  in  the  wild  state.  Without 
doubt  this  is  because  animals  who  forage  for  their 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  299 

own  food  and  do  not  have  it  prepared  for  them,  need 
no  dentists. 

We  believe  that  the  pioneers  who  had  less  finely- 
ground  flour  than  we  have  to-day,  and  more  foods 
that  required  dental  exercise,  had  also  better  teeth. 
Theodore  S.  Parvin  tells  us  that  during  the  session 
of  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Territory  of 
Iowa  in  1840,  a  traveling  dentist  from  one  of  the 
New  England  States  first  crossed  the  river  and 
interviewed  members  of  the  legislature.  He  found 
so  little  need  for  his  services  that  he  gave  up  the 
profession  and  settled  down  to  the  occupation  of  a 
fruit-grower.  This  is  only  circumstantial  argument 
for  the  presence  of  good  teeth  in  1840,  but  we  give 
it  for  what  it  is  worth. 

In  like  manner  we  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  United  States  Census  for  1860  credits  Iowa 
with  a  population  of  nearly  675,000,  but  there  were 
only  76  dentists  to  serve  this  multitude.  Incidentally 
there  were  over  1400  physicians,  all  of  whom  prob- 
ably took  undue  pride  in  the  fact  that  the  Census 
showed  only  four  undertakers  in  the  State. 

TWO    MILES    A   DAY 

We  have  found  out  how  to  annihilate  time  and 
space,  and  offset  the  law  of  gravity  when  we  travel ; 
we  have  learned  to  eat  without  an  effort  and  have 
evolved  a  thousand  contrivances  to  minister  to  our 
bodily  comfort.  But  we  are  losing  our  teeth  and  our 
hair  and  our  contentment  at  one  end  and  our  powers 


30Q  THE  PALIMPSEST 

of  locomotion  at  the  other,  while  we  develop  too 
largely  in  between.  The  early  fur  trader  and  the 
explorer  could  go  into  the  wilds  with  a  gun  and  ax 
and  a  few  pounds  of  provisions  and  face  primitive 
conditions  with  equanimity.  How  many  could  do  it 
to-day!  The  pioneer  settler,  with  few  implements, 
broke  the  wilderness  and  established  a  home.  He 
made  little  ado  about  a  walk  of  ten  or  fifteen  miles ; 
but  to-day  a  Kansas  City  man  strives  to  better  man- 
kind by  organizing  a  walking  club  of  men  who  will 
exert  themselves  to  the  extent  of  walking  two  miles 
daily. 

We  sometimes  wonder  if  civilization  does  not  bring 
physical  degeneration,  and  if  man's  historic  struggle 
to  make  life  easy  has  not  simply  made  him  less  of 
a  man. 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 
ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  II  ISSUED  IN  OCTOBER  1921  No.  1O 

COPYRIGHT  1921   BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

The  Way  to  Iowa 

June  first,  1833,  saw  the  restraints  to  settlement 
in  the  Iowa  country  removed.  A  year  earlier  the 
treaty  of  the  Black  Hawk  Purchase  had  been  signed, 
by  which  the  United  States  secured  from  the  Indians 
the  cession  of  a  strip  of  land  approximately  fifty 
miles  wide  extending  along  the  western  bank  of  the 
Mississippi  Eiver  from  the  northern  boundary  of 
Missouri  to  the  southern  boundary  of  the  Neutral 
Ground.  In  the  meantime  the  Indians  had  with- 
drawn to  their  new  homes  and  the  soldiers  who  had 
patrolled  the  region  near  the  "  Mines  of  Spain "  had 
marched  back  to  Port  Crawford.  Then  the  white 
invasion  began.  True,  a  few  bold  adventurers  had 
crossed  the  river  at  Dubuque  to  mine  lead  before  this 
date,  but  they  were  trespassers  in  the  eyes  of  the 
government,  and  they  had  been  repeatedly  driven 
out. 

In  1832,  George  H.  Catlin,  artist  and  historian, 
had  foreseen  the  oncoming  rush  of  settlers,  and 

301 


302  THE  PALIMPSEST 

after  a  visit  to  the  Des  Moines  Eiver  Valley  had 
written  in  prophetic  vein : 

The  steady  march  of  our  growing  population  to  this  vast 
garden  spot  will  surely  come  in  surging  columns  and 
spread  farms,  houses,  orchards,  towns  and  cities  over  all 
these  remote  wild  prairies.  Half  a  century  hence  the  sun 
is  sure  to  shine  upon  countless  villages,  silvered  spires  and 
domes,  denoting  the  march  of  intellect,  and  wealth's  refine- 
ments, in  this  beautiful  and  far  off  solitude  of  the  West. 

Four  years  later  the  first  census  of  Wisconsin 
Territory  gave  the  two  Iowa  counties  a  population 
of  10,531.  Two  years  later,  in  1838,  a  census  taken 
in  May,  showed  a  total  of  22,859  inhabitants  west  of 
the  river.  The  population  had  doubled.  In  two 
years  more,  43,000  people  had  settled  in  the  Iowa 
country.  Between  1840  and  1850,  150,000  moved  to 
Iowa  and  the  next  decade  saw  a  tide  of  immigrants 
that  "was  to  sweep  over  the  waste  places  of  the 
State  and  to  inundate  the  valleys  and  hills  with  more 
than  sufficient  human  energy  to  build  up  a  Common- 
wealth of  the  first  rank". 

What  allurements  drew  this  flood  of  people  from 
their  far  off  homes  in  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania or  the  nearer  regions  of  Indiana,  Missouri, 
and  Illinois  1  At  an  earlier  date  her  supply  of  furs 
had  lured  the  hardy  frontiersman  and  trapper  to  the 
Iowa  land.  Then  her  veins  of  lead,  with  the  promise 
of  quick  wealth  in  the  hills  and  bluffs  about  Dubuque, 
drew  their  quota  of  adventurers.  But  the  fame 


THE  WAY  TO  IOWA  303 

of  Iowa's  bountiful  land  constituted  the  principal 
attraction  for  the  pioneer.  Speculators  flocked  to 
land  offices  hoping  to  enter  claims  and  to  re-sell  at  a 
profit;  mechanics  expecting  to  ply  their  trade  joined 
the  throng;  and  homeseekers  planning  to  obtain  fer- 
tile acres  at  a  low  price  made  the  migratory  move- 
ment an  annually  increasing  one.  There  came 
glowing  reports  of  bountiful  crops.  News  that  game 
was  plentiful  and  that  the  rivers  swarmed  with  fish 
was  sent  back  in  letters  to  the  old  home  and,  pub- 
lished perhaps  in  the  village  paper,  furnished  to 
friends  and  relatives  the  impetus  to  make  the 
journey. 

The  first  immigrants  to  Iowa  could  come  in  one  of 
three  ways :  by  boat  over  the  available  water  routes, 
by  wagon  over  roads  and  trails  and  in  part  over 
trackless  country,  or  by  a  combination  of  the  two. 
As  the  railroads  crawled  westward  they  came  to  be 
used  more  and  more  by  the  newcomers,  but  even  to 
the  end  of  the  migratory  period  the  Lake  route,  the 
Ohio-Mississippi  waterway,  and  the  overland  trails 
provided  a  way  of  transit  to  many  of  the  movers. 

Let  us  follow  the  fortunes  of  two  families,  one 
from  New  York,  the  other  from  Pennsylvania,  set- 
ting out  for  Iowa  by  the  water  route  in  1840.  One 
has  come  to  Buffalo  by  the  Erie  Canal,  passing 
through  Utica,  Eochester,  and  Lockport.  Here 
father,  mother,  and  the  children  embark  on  the 
steamboat  "  Constellation "  bound  from  Buffalo  to 
Chicago.  On  one  corner  of  the  deck  they  pile  their 


304  THE  PALIMPSEST 

few  possessions.  Soon  the  corner  is  a  promiscuous 
heap  of  chairs,  pots,  kettles,  and  bedding.  Nearby, 
an  emigrant  family  from  central  Europe  is  sitting 
on  a  pile  of  strange-looking  farm  implements  and 
large  chests.  They  are  on  their  way  to  Wisconsin. 
A  party  of  English  gentlemen  from  Canada  on  their 
way  to  a  hunting  expedition  in  the  West  comes  on 
board.  Tourists  for  pleasure,  and  speculators  going 
out  to  inspect  land  they  have  bought  but  have  not 
seen,  swell  the  passenger  list. 

The  boat  gets  under  way.  It  hugs  the  shore, 
gliding  swiftly  along  past  low  green  wooded  banks 
and  hills  on  one  side,  by  the  wind-tossed  waves  of 
Lake  Erie  on  the  other,  to  Dunkirk,  forty-five  miles 
from  Buffalo.  To  Erie  next,  thence  on  past  Con- 
neaut,  Ashtabula,  and  Fairport  to  Cleveland,  the 
boat  plows  its  way  —  about  one  hundred  and  ninety 
miles  in  a  day  and  a  half.  Here  the  travellers  to 
Iowa  disembark  to  take  the  Ohio  canal  to  Ports- 
mouth. 

Let  us  turn  our  attention  now  to  the  Pennsylvania 
farmer  who  has  decided  to  go  West.  He  holds  a  sale, 
then  hires  a  neighbor  to  take  him  and  his  family 
with  a  few  household  goods  to  Pittsburgh.  They 
engage  passage  on  the  steamboat  "Monsoon"  bound 
for  St.  Louis.  They  go  on  board  and  pile  their  be- 
longings at  the  end  of  the  lowest  deck  near  the  bow. 
Both  ends  of  this  deck  are  piled  high  with  freight 
and  the  possessions  of  those  who  can  not  afford  to 
pay  the  cabin  fare. 


THE  WAY  TO  IOWA  305 

Father  and  mother  settle  down  to  rest  and  await 
the  start,  but  the  twelve  year  old  son  begins  an  in- 
vestigation of  the  boat.  He  ascends  a  stairway  to 
the  deck  above  and  finds  a  narrow  piazza  from  which 
doors  enter  the  cabins.  At  the  rear  of  this  deck  he 
locates  the  ladies'  cabin  with  staterooms  grouped 
around  it,  in  the  center  he  finds  the  dining-room 
surrounded  by  the  cabins  for  gentlemen,  forward  he 
discovers  the  barroom  with  space  in  front  where  the 
men  can  smoke  and  chat.  He  climbs  another  stair- 
way to  the  hurricane  deck,  above  which  rise  the  twin 
smokestacks  and  the  hissing  steampipe.  Descending 
to  the  middle  deck  he  notices  a  sign  containing  the 
rules  of  the  boat.  Among  them,  four  read  some- 
what as  follows : 

No  gentleman  shall  go  to  table  without  his  coat. 

No  gentleman  must  pencil-work  or  otherwise  injure  the 
furniture. 

No  gentleman  shall  lie  down  on  a  berth  with  his  boots  on. 

No  gentleman  shall  enter  the  ladies  saloon  without  per- 
mission from  them. 

He  goes  below  to  rejoin  the  family  and  to  enjoy 
the  confusion  of  sights  and  sounds  as  the  boat  pre- 
pares to  get  under  way.  Drays  rattle  over  the 
wharf,  discordant  cries  of  the  workmen  loading  a 
late  consignment  of  freight  mingle  with  the  river 
songs  of  the  negro  boatmen.  The  hoarse  puffing  and 
panting  of  the  high-pressure  engine  adds  to  the  gen- 
eral din.  Finally  the  boatmen  loose  the  moorings, 


306  THE  PALIMPSEST 

the  steamer  slowly  wheels  around  to  start  down- 
stream on  its  twelve  hundred  mile  journey. 

The  first  stop  is  made  at  Wheeling,  ninety-five 
miles  distant,  to  load  and  unload  freight.  Here,  im- 
migrants from  Maryland  and  Virginia,  westward 
bound,  come  on  board.  Thence  the  steamer  follows 
the  winding  channel  of  the  river  past  tiny  islands, 
between  shores  lined  with  fields  of  grain,  with  alter- 
nating hills  and  gloomy  woods  to  Marietta,  eighty- 
three  miles  below  Wheeling.  Then  on  past  the 
villages  of  Belpre  and  Gallipolis,  stopping  perhaps 
at  one  or  the  other  to  replenish  the  wood  supply  for 
the  firebox,  the  "  Monsoon  "  comes  to  Portsmouth  on 
the  Ohio  shore.  Here  our  New  York  immigrant  and 
his  family  whom  we  left  at  Cleveland  embark  for 
St.  Louis. 

On  to  Cincinnati,  to  Madison,  and  to  Louisville 
the  boat  steadily  makes  its  way.  Here  it  enters  a 
canal  to  avoid  the  rapids,  returning  to  the  waters  of 
the  Ohio  at  the  small  town  of  Shipping  Port.  It 
leaves  Fredonia,  Eockport,  Evansville,  Golconda, 
and  Paducah  in  its  wake.  Halts  at  these  towns  to 
leave  or  take  on  freight,  or  to  purchase  cordwood  at 
the  woodyards,  allow  the  passengers  to  take  a  stroll 
and  the  immigrants  to  renew  their  supply  of  food. 

The  boat  plows  on.  Far  removed  from  the  heat  of 
the  fires  and  boilers,  from  the  chatter  of  the  deck 
passengers  or  the  jar  of  the  engines  a  group  of  trav- 
ellers sit  for  hours  on  the  upper  deck  watching  the 
rush  of  steam  from  the  pipe  above  their  heads  and 


THE  WAY  TO  IOWA  307 

the  passing  panorama  of  bluffs  and  hills,  of  prairies 
and  of  groves  of  beech,  walnut,  oak,  and  maple.  A 
returning  steamer,  the  "lone",  comes  in  view.  The 
bells  of  both  boats  ring  out  in  salutation.  Cairo 
appears  in  the  distance,  and  the  boat,  leaving  the 
glassy  waters  of  the  Ohio,  turns  its  prow  upstream 
on  the  turbid  bosom  of  the  Mississippi. 

Up  the  long  irregular  sweeps  of  this  river  to  Cape 
Girardeau,  Chester,  and  St.  Genevieve  the  journey 
continues.  Herculaneum  with  its  high  shot  tower 
and  Jefferson  Barracks  on  its  limestone  bluff  are 
reached  and  passed.  St.  Louis  comes  into  view. 

Here  our  Iowa-bound  travellers  take  passage  on  a 
smaller  boat  for  the  north.  A  month  has  passed 
since  they  set  out  from  Buffalo  and  Pittsburgh. 
They  move  upstream  past  long  stretches  of  prairie 
land;  they  reach  Iowa,  they  stop  at  the  landing  at 
Burlington.  A  motley  crowd  disembarks  —  our  two 
farmer  families  and  others  eager  to  push  on  to  a 
new  home,  mechanics  with  their  tools  and  personal 
effects  expecting  to  find  steady  employment,  the 
trader  with  goods  for  the  frontier  trade,  the  specu- 
lator with  his  money,  and  the  visitor  who  will  re- 
turn to  write  about  the  new  land. 

Turn  now  to  the  journey  of  the  overland  pioneer. 
Although  many  used  the  water  routes  to  Iowa,  travel 
by  wagon  predominated.  Of  this  migration,  John  B. 
Newhall,  Iowa's  early  press  agent,  has  left  a  clear 
picture. 


308  THE  PALIMPSEST 

The  "flood-gates"  of  emigration  were  now  opened,  and 
scarcely  had  the  "Red  Man"  set  his  footsteps  in  the  order 
of  march,  toward  the  "setting  sun",  ere  the  settler  began 
to  cross  the  Mississippi  with  his  flocks  and  herds,  to  make 
a  "new  home"  on  the  fertile  plains  of  Iowa.  .  .  .  The 
writer  of  these  pages,  frequently  having  occasion  to  tra- 
verse the  great  thoroughfares  of  Illinois  and  Indiana,  in 
the  years  of  1836-7,  the  roads  were  literally  lined  with  the 
long  blue  wagons  of  the  emigrant  slowly  wending  their  way 
over  the  broad  prairies  —  the  cattle  and  hogs,  men  and 
dogs,  and  frequently  women  and  children,  forming  the 
rear  of  the  van  —  often  ten,  twenty,  and  thirty  wagons  in 
company.  Ask  them,  when  and  where  you  would,  their 
destination  was  the  "Black  Hawk  Purchase". 

Imagine  the  start  of  the  journey.  An  Ohio  farmer 
sells  his  farm  and  stock.  He  builds  a  frame  on  the 
wagon  box  and  covers  the  bows  with  canvas  to  pro- 
tect the  inmates  from  the  sun  and  rain.  He  loads  in 
a  few  household  goods.  His  horses  are  hitched,  or 
the  oxen  yoked.  Sad  farewells  to  friends  are  made. 
The  family  is  stowed  away  inside,  the  cow  is  tied 
behind.  He  mounts  to  the  driver's  seat,  cracks  his 
whip  and  the  wagon  rolls  down  the  road.  High  are 
the  hopes  of  the  group  as  they  start:  visions  of  a 
new  home  and  big  crops  cheer  them  on  their  way. 

At  sunset  a  halt  for  the  night  is  made  by  the  road- 
weary  travellers.  Newhall  has  left  a  picture  of  such 
a  stop. 

I  well  remember,  one  beautiful  autumnal  evening  in 
1836,  crossing  the  "Military  Tract"  in  Illinois.  The  last 


THE  WAY  TO  IOWA  309 

rays  of  the  sun  was  gilding  the  tree  tops  and  shedding  its 
mellow  tints  upon  the  fleecy  clouds,  as  my  horse  turned  the 
short  angle  of  a  neighboring  "thicket",  I  encountered  a 
settler  " camped"  for  the  night.  .  .  .  The  "old  lady" 
had  just  built  her  "camp  fire"  and  was  busily  engaged  in 
frying  prairie  chickens,  which  the  unerring  rifle  of  her  boy 
had  brought  to  the  ground ;  one  of  the  girls  was  milking  a 
brindle  cow,  and  that  tall  girl  yonder,  with  swarthy  arms 
and  yellow  sun-bonnet,  is  nailing  the  coffee  mill  on  the  side 
of  a  scrub  oak  which  the  little  boy  had  "blazed"  with  his 
hatchet.  There  sat  the  old  man  on  a  log,  quietly  shaving 
himself  by  a  six-penny  looking-glass,  which  he  had  tacked 
to  a  neighboring  tree.  And  yonder  old  decrepit  man,  sit- 
ting on  a  low  rush  bottomed  chair,  is  the  aged  grandsire  of 
all ;  better  that  his  bones  be  left  by  the  way-side  than  that 
he  be  left  behind  among  strangers.  He  sits  quietly  smoking 
his  pipe  with  all  the  serenity  of  a  patriarch  —  apparently 
as  ready  to  shuffle  off  this  "mortal  coil"  that  very  night,  as 
to  sit  down  to  his  prairie  chicken  supper. 

They  go  to  bed  as  soon  as  it  grows  dark.  Early 
in  the  morning  they  are  up  and  on  their  way  again. 
Slowly  they  move  on  day  by  day,  week  by  week. 
They  join  others  bound  the  same  way.  They  travel 
together.  At  times  heavy  rains  make  the  road  bot- 
tomless and  the  wheels  mire  down  till  broken  traces 
halt  the  caravan.  Wagons  are  unloaded  and  all  help 
in  extricating  them.  Sometimes  a  stop  is  made  over- 
night at  a  tavern  along  the  way.  Ohio  and  Indiana 
have  been  left  behind,  the  canvas-topped  wagons  roll 
across  Illinois.  They  reach  Eock  Island  and  across 


310  THE  PALIMPSEST 

the  river  the  travellers  see  a  gateway  to  the  land  of 
their  dreams. 

They  gather  into  a  large  encampment,  each  family 
awaiting  its  turn  to  be  ferried  over  in  the  order  of 
arrival  at  the  camp.  Our  Ohio  farmer  is  next.  He 
drives  his  oxen  on  board  the  flat-boat,  a  huge  barge- 
like  affair  propelled  and  steered  by  long  sweeps. 
The  current  carries  barge  and  all  downstream  and 
it  must  be  towed  back  to  the  landing  on  the  Iowa 
side.  He  drives  on  shore.  He  has  reached  Iowa. 

Thus  they  came,  the  pioneers,  to  the  land  of  their 
vision.  They  crossed  the  river  at  the  points  where 
cities  grew  up  on  the  Iowa  shore,  at  Dubuque, 
Davenport,  Muscatine,  Burlington,  and  Keokuk. 
The  man-propelled  flat-boat  gave  way  to  the  horse 
ferry,  and  it,  in  turn,  to  the  ferry  propelled  by 
steam,  and  each  was  taxed  to  capacity  by  the  on- 
coming horde.  The  way  to  Iowa  was  open. 

BRUCE  E.  MAHAN 


From  New  York  to  Iowa 

The  following  account  of  a  progression  of  migra- 
tory steps  from  New  York  to  Iowa  was  related  by 
Mrs.  Lydia  Arnold  Titus  in  a  series  of  letters  to  her 
grandson,  Bruce  E.  Mahan.  It  is  a  story  that  runs 
through  several  generations,  for  the  movement  was 
a  halting  one  and  the  stops  along  the  way  were 
sometimes  rather  extended.  But  it  is  typical,  and 
to-day  most  of  the  men  and  women  of  the  Middle 
and  Far  West,  looking  back  along  the  line  of 
their  ancestry,  see  a  succession  of  events  which  at 
the  time  and  to  the  actors  themselves  appeared 
spasmodic  and  unrelated  but  which  to  us  seem  to  fit 
into  the  inexorable  working  out  of  the  westward 
migration  by  which  the  American  people  possessed 
themselves  of  the  continent. 

I  was  born  in  the  year  1840  about  thirty  miles 
from  Buffalo  and  three  miles  from  a  small  village  by 
the  name  of  Machias  Corners  in  New  York  State. 
My  home  was  a  log  cabin  on  a  farm  where  father  by 
hard  toil  made  a  living  for  himself,  my  mother,  and 
the  six  children. 

The  schoolhouse  where  I  started  to  school  at  the 
age  of  five  was  a  small  one-room  log  building  about 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  from  our  home.  On  my  way 

311 


312 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


to  school  lived  a  kind-hearted  old  lady  who  would 
often  come  to  the  door  of  her  cabin  and  call  for  me 
to  stop.  Then  she  would  fill  my  apron  pocket  with 
nuts  and  give  me  a  big  red  apple  or  some  cookies. 
Although  it  has  been  over  seventy-five  years  since 
this  happened,  the  kind  words  and  pleasant  smile  of 
this  dear  old  lady  are  as  real  as  though  the  meeting 
occurred  yesterday. 

My  first  book  was  a  speller.  We  had  to  learn 
every  letter  before  we  could  read  easy  words.  There 
were  no  maps  nor  blackboards,  and  the  seats  were 
merely  rough  planks  with  holes  bored  in  for  the  legs 
to  fit.  They  had  no  backs.  For  the  older  boys  and 
girls  who  studied  arithmetic  and  who  had  copy 
books,  desks  had  been  made  along  the  wall.  Every 
morning  the  teacher  would  take  the  copy  books  and 
write  a  line  at  the  top  of  the  page  for  the  day's 
lesson.  Then  the  scholars  would  take  their  goose- 
quill  pens  and  write  while  the  teacher  helped  the 
little  ones  with  their  letters.  Then  we  had  counting 
lessons.  After  we  had  learned  to  read,  the  teacher 
started  us  on  the  capitals  of  the  States.  It  was  a 
proud  day  for  me  when  I  was  able  to  name  every 
State  and  its  capital. 

At  recess  time  and  at  noon  we  would  play  a  game 
called  " Catch  the  Ball".  The  balls  used  were  made 
at  home  out  of  yarn  unravelled  from  old  stocking 
feet  and  covered  with  soft  leather  or  cloth.  On 
pleasant  days  when  wintergreen  berries  were  ripe, 
our  teacher  would  allow  us  to  go  and  gather  them. 


FROM  NEW  YORK  TO  IOWA  313 

How  we  did  enjoy  the  cool  sweet  flavor  of  the  winter- 
green!  In  the  winter  time  our  outdoor  sports  con- 
sisted of  skating  or  sliding  down  hill  on  sleds  made 
by  our  father  or  brothers.  There  were  no  sleds  for 
sale  at  the  store  in  Machias  Corners. 

In  those  days  father  always  made  his  own  maple 
sugar.  It  was  fine  fun  in  the  early  spring  to  go 
with  him  to  the  sugar  camp,  to  watch  him  tap  the 
trees,  gather  the  sap  in  pails,  and  boil  it  down.  My 
sisters  and  I  would  get  a  pan  of  clean  snow  and 
when  the  sirup  was  boiled  down  almost  to  sugar, 
pour  some  of  it  into  the  pan  of  snow.  As  the  sirup 
cooled  it  became  hard  and  brittle  and  we  had  the 
best  sort  of  maple  candy.  We  always  had  plenty  of 
pure  sugar.  On  our  farm,  too,  we  had  a  good  vari- 
ety of  fruit:  apples,  cherries,  currants  and  plums. 
Wild  blackberries  were  plentiful  also. 

In  the  year  1847,  my  mother's  health  began  to 
fail,  and  father,  thinking  that  a  change  of  climate 
might  help  her,  decided  to  go  West.  He  sold  our 
farm  and  stock  during  the  next  year  and,  packing  a 
few  things  into  a  wagon,  hired  a  man  to  take  them 
and  us  to  Buffalo.  There  we  loaded  our  goods  on  a 
boat  and  sailed  up  Lake  Erie  to  Toledo,  Ohio.  After 
a  short  trip  into  Michigan  to  visit  my  mother's  rela- 
tives who  had  come  West  some  years  before,  father 
decided  to  settle  down  on  a  farm  in  Williams  County, 
Ohio.  Mother  failed  to  improve  and  so  when  spring 
came  again  we  moved  to  another  farm  near  Adrian, 
Michigan.  After  living  here  a  short  time,  father 


314  THE  PALIMPSEST 

decided  to  try  the  climate  of  Illinois.  He  had  heard 
glowing  reports,  too,  of  its  crops  from  a  brother 
who  had  settled  there. 

Father  bought  a  yoke  of  oxen  and  a  new  wagon. 
On  this  he  built  a  frame  work,  fastened  bows,  and 
covered  them  with  canvas.  Then  we  loaded  our 
cooking  utensils  and  bedding,  an  ax,  a  log  chain,  and 
a  few  household  goods  and  set  out  in  the  year  1850 
for  Knox  County,  Illinois.  Before  we  came  to  the 
end  of  our  journey  both  oxen  became  sick,  so  we 
stopped  for  a  time  at  a  small  place  called  Aux  Sable. 
After  a  week  or  so  the  oxen  got  better  and  father 
sold  them.  There  were  no  railroads  in  that  part  of 
the  country  and  so  my  brother,  then  a  boy  of  sixteen, 
walked  from  there  to  Rio,  in  Knox  County,  to  get 
his  uncle  to  come  after  us  with  a  team.  Several 
days  passed  before  they  returned  to  take  us  to  our 
new  home.  On  this  journey  we  stopped  overnight 
at  taverns  along  the  way  as  mother  was  not  strong 
enough  to  stand  camping  out,  but  we  cooked  our 
meals  by  a  campfire.  One  day  each  week  we  stopped 
by  a  stream  or  near  some  farmhouse  to  do  our 
washing. 

After  we  arrived  at  the  home  of  my  uncle  near 
Eio  we  visited  with  his  family  for  a  few  weeks,  then 
father  rented  a  farm.  During  the  first  fall  he 
helped  pick  corn  for  his  neighbors,  getting  every 
third  load  for  picking  it.  The  next  year  he  raised  a 
big  crop  of  corn,  wheat,  and  oats ;  but  it  was  hard  to 
get  ahead  as  the  price  of  all  grain  was  so  low.  And 


FROM  NEW  YORK  TO  IOWA  315 

in  the  absence  of  railroads  in  that  part  of  Illinois  it 
was  difficult  to  get  the  grain  to  market.  I  have  seen 
corn  fenced  up  in  rail  pens  and  allowed  to  stay  there 
until  it  rotted.  It  could  not  be  sold  at  any  price. 
All  of  our  neighbors  had  come  from  the  East,  hoping 
to  get  a  new  home  at  a  low  price.  Some  liked  the 
new  country,  but  others  sold  out,  packed  up,  and 
returned  to  their  native  States. 

My  sisters  and  I  started  to  school  again  when  we 
settled  down  in  our  Illinois  home ;  and,  after  taking 
all  the  work  offered  in  the  country  school  at  that 
time,  three  of  us  started  to  teach.  My  salary  was 
eight  dollars  per  month  and  I  had  to  board  round  at 
the  homes  of  my  pupils,  a  week  at  each  place ;  and 
since  the  nearest  home  was  one  mile  from  the  school- 
house  I  think  I  earned  my  wages. 

One  event  that  happened  the  same  fall  that  I 
started  to  teach  school  stands  out  in  my  memory. 
Far  and  wide  the  news  spread  that  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  and  Abraham  Lincoln  would  hold  a  debate 
at  Galesburg  on  October  7, 1858.  The  girls  near  Rio 
decided  that  we  would  attend  the  debate  in  a  body. 
Accordingly,  we  decorated  a  hay  wagon  and  each 
girl  made  a  banner  to  carry  with  the  name  of  a  State 
on  it.  I  chose  New  York  as  that  was  my  native 
State.  We  limited  our  party  to  thirty-two,  the  num- 
ber of  States  in  the  Union  at  that  time.  As  most  of 
us  were  Eepublicans  we  made  one  large  banner  with 
the  slogan  "Rio,  Lincoln,  and  Liberty ". 

The  day  of  the  debate  dawned  bright  and  clear  and 


316 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


we  made  an  early  start  for  it  was  sixteen  miles  to 
Galesburg.  Each  of  us  was  dressed  entirely  in 
white,  and  each  carried  the  banner  inscribed  with 
the  name  of  the  State  which  she  represented.  Two 
men  drove  our  six-horse  team  and  a  third  carried 
our  large  banner.  Our  drivers  passed  every  team 
in  sight  for  most  of  them  were  only  two  or  four- 
horse  outfits,  and  with  all  of  us  yelling  and  shouting 
the  miles  rolled  past  rapidly.  When  we  had  gone 
about  seven  miles  on  our  way  we  overtook  three 
girls  walking,  who  seemed  glad  to  accept  our  invita- 
tion to  hop  aboard  the  "Lincoln  Express".  How- 
ever, they  proved  to  be  Democrats  and  before  we 
arrived  in  Galesburg,  they  said  they  wished  they 
had  walked.  We  stopped  just  outside  the  city  by  a 
stream  of  clear  cold  water  to  eat  our  lunch  and  to 
water  our  horses. 

Our  outfit  was  among  the  first  to  arrive  at  the 
park  where  the  debate  was  to  be  held.  A  short  time 
before  it  began,  we  marched  in  a  body  down  close  to 
the  small  platform  where  Mr.  Douglas  and  Mr. 
Lincoln  were  seated.  Lincoln  sat  in  a  splint-bot- 
tomed chair,  and  it  looked  as  if  his  knees  were  up  to 
his  chin,  the  chair  was  so  low  and  his  legs  were  so 
long.  When  he  saw  us  and  our  banners  he  arose 
and  stepped  down  from  the  platform  to  shake  hands 
with  each  girl  and  to  say  a  word  of  welcome  to  all. 

Soon  the  debate  began.  The  crowd  had  to  stand 
as  no  benches  had  been  provided.  Although  the  dis- 
cussion lasted  two  hours  and  a  half  or  three  hours 


FROM  NEW  YORK  TO  IOWA  317 

none  of  us  girls  left  our  place  down  in  front.  I  think 
Mr.  Douglas  was  the  better  orator,  but  of  course  I 
felt  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  right.  On  our  way  home 
we  laughed  and  sang,  and  arrived,  at  Rio  tired  but 
happy. 

I  taught  school  in  1858,  1859,  and  in  the  fall  of 
1860.  During  the  summer  of  the  latter  year  I  met 
Mr.  Francis  Titus  at  the  home  of  his  uncle,  and  in 
the  fall  we  began  to  keep  company,  as  it  was  called 
in  those  days.  He  had  moved  West  from  Pennsyl- 
vania to  Ohio,  living  there  for  a  time  near  Mt. 
Gilead,  and  from  there  had  come  to  Illinois  about 
the  same  time  that  father  was  making  the  trip  from 
New  York  to  Illinois.  We  lost  little  time  courting 
and  were  married  March  21,  1860,  just  a  little  more 
than  a  year  before  the  Civil  War  broke  out. 

On  a  rented  farm  a  few  miles  from  Eio  we  began 
housekeeping.  My  first  furniture  consisted  of  a  set 
of  plain  chairs,  two  wooden  bedsteads,  a  big  dry- 
goods  box  made  into  a  cupboard  with  a  curtain  hung 
in  front  of  it,  an  old  cook  stove  and  a  kitchen  table. 
My  dishes,  tub,  and  washboard  cost  six  dollars.  Of 
course,  I  forgot  to  buy  a  rolling  pin  and  in  a  few 
days  we  had  company  for  dinner.  I  wanted  to  make 
biscuits  but  for  the  life  of  me,  couldn't  think  of 
what  to  use  for  a  rolling  pin.  Finally  I  thought  of 
an  ear  of  corn,  so  out  I  went,  found  an  ear,  washed 
it  and  rolled  out  my  biscuits.  They  were  not  very 
smooth  but  they  tasted  good  just  the  same.  I  made 
all  our  bedding  and  paid  for  it  out  of  money  I  had 


318  THE  PALIMPSEST 

earned  teaching  school.  Father  made  me  a  potato 
masher  and  a  butter  ladle  out  of  hard  maple  and  I 
have  them  yet. 

Our  stock  consisted  of  two  horses,  a  cow,  and 
three  pigs.  About  harvest  time  one  of  our  horses 
died  and  my  husband  had  to  buy  another  one.  As 
all  his  money  was  tied  up  in  the  crop  he  had  to  give 
a  note  for  the  horse.  It  cost  him  $100  with  interest 
at  ten  per  cent.  When  the  year  was  up  he  had  no 
extra  money  after  paying  his  debts,  but  he  had  three 
hundred  bushels  of  corn  which  he  turned  over  to  the 
man  at  ten  cents  per  bushel.  The  next  fall  he  turned 
over  four  hundred  more  bushels  of  corn  at  ten,  cents 
a  bushel,  and  finished  paying  for  the  horse  the  fol- 
lowing year  with  corn  at  the  same  rate.  In  all,  the 
horse  cost  over  a  thousand  bushels  of  corn. 

We  rented  for  six  years  and  then  bought  eighty 
acres  nearby.  On  this  we  lived  three  years  more. 
Every  fall  while  we  lived  in  Illinois  my  husband 
went  with  a  threshing  machine  till  snow  fell.  The 
first  year  he  received  $1.50  per  day  for  himself  and 
team,  and  thereafter  was  paid  at  the  rate  of  $2.00 
per  day.  The  third  fall  after  we  were  married  he 
purchased  a  machine  and  horse  power  of  his  own, 
and  ran  this  every  fall,  oftentimes  up  to  December. 
With  the  money  he  made  threshing  we  later  pur- 
chased our  land  in  Iowa. 

In  the  year  1869  we  decided  to  sell  out  and  move 
to  Iowa  where  land  was  cheaper.  My  youngest  sis- 
ter and  her  husband  made  up  their  minds  to  go  with 


FROM  NEW  YORK  TO  IOWA  319 

us ;  and  so  we  sold  our  farms  and  livestock,  keeping 
only  a  wagon  apiece  and  four  horses.  My  sister 
had  a  baby  girl  six  weeks  old  and  I  had  three  chil- 
dren, the  youngest  a  girl  of  ten  months,  a  son  three 
years  old,  and  a  daughter  eight. 

Just  as  my  father  had  done  nineteen  years  before 
in  leaving  for  Illinois,  we  placed  a  covered  frame  on 
each  of  the  wagons,  loaded  our  bedding  and  a  few 
cooking  utensils,  and  started  for  Iowa.  It  was  a 
great  adventure  to  the  older  children  just  as  my  trip 
from  New  York  had  been  to  me,  but  the  babies  were 
too  young  to  care  much  about  it.  At  night  we 
camped  out,  cooking  our  meals  by  a  camp  fire.  We 
fried  home-cured  ham  or  bacon  with  eggs,  and  we 
boiled  potatoes  or  roasted  them  in  the  hot  ashes. 
Our  bread  we  purchased  from  farmers  along  the 
way.  At  night  we  slept  in  the  two  wagons  which 
were  roomy  enough  for  all. 

When  we  reached  the  Mississippi  Eiver,  we  found 
that  we  had  to  go  down  stream  to  a  little  town  called 
Shokokon  to  take  the  ferry.  It  took  half  a  day  be- 
fore we  landed  on  the  Iowa  side  at  Burlington  as 
the  boat  had  to  be  towed  up  the  river  some  distance. 

After  a  fifteen  days'  trip  overland  we  reached 
Bedford,  Iowa,  then  a  small  town  with  a  few  frame 
store  buildings  and  a  handful  of  small  houses.  We 
rented  a  two-room  house  in  town  until  we  could  buy 
our  land  and  build  on  it.  We  bought  200  acres  of 
fine  prairie  land  four  miles  west  of  town,  paying 
$6.25  an  acre  for  it.  To  get  lumber  for  a  house  it 


320  THE  PALIMPSEST 

was  necessary  to  haul  it  fifty  miles  from  Afton 
where  the  Burlington  railroad  then  ended.  Our  first 
house  on  the  farm  consisted  of  two  rooms,  one  for  a 
living  room  and  a  bedroom,  the  other  for  a  kitchen 
and  dining  room.  Sometimes  I  had  to  make  a  bed 
in  the  kitchen  when  company  stayed  overnight,  but 
although  we  were  crowded,  we  were  all  well  and 
happy  so  it  didn't  make  much  difference. 

Year  by  year  we  worked  hard  to  improve  our 
farm,  fencing  it,  planting  fruit  trees,  berry  bushes 
and  grape  vines,  and  setting  out  a  maple  grove  for 
shade.  In  a  few  years  we  had  an  abundance  of 
apples,  cherries,  peaches,  plums,  blackberries,  rasp- 
berries, and  grapes.  Our  twenty  acres  of  timber 
land  which  we  bought  in  addition  to  the  farm  fur- 
nished us  with  the  best  of  oak  and  hickory  wood  for 
fuel,  and  posts  for  fencing. 

We  saw  the  country  change  almost  overnight,  it 
seemed,  from  raw,  unbroken  prairie  to  a  settled 
community  with  schools  and  churches.  We  saw  the 
coming  of  the  railroad,  the  building  of  roads  and 
bridges,  and  the  growth  of  the  nearby  county  seat 
from  a  scraggly  village  to  a  thriving,  up-to-date 
town  with  all  the  improvements  of  a  city.  We  passed 
through  the  period  of  high  prices  following  the  Civil 
War  when  calico  cost  forty  cents  a  yard  and  flour 
$6.00  per  hundredweight,  then  the  period  of  low 
prices  and  money  scarcity  of  the  nineties.  Our  land 
constantly  increased  in  value  until  to-day  it  is  worth 
about  $300  per  acre. 


FROM  NEW  YORK  TO  IOWA  321 

Whenever  I  go  out  to  the  old  homestead,  I  picture 
in  my  mind's  eye  the  happy  days  when  we  were 
young  and  strong,  and  the  children  were  little  tots 
setting  out  across  the  fields  to  school.  My  husband 
passed  away  not  long  ago  at  the  age  of  eighty-two 
and  I  am  past  eighty.  I  am  waiting  now  as  patiently 
as  I  can  to  hear  the  call  once  more  "to  go  West". 


A  Study  in  Heads 

In  the  newspapers  of  the  decades  of  the  thirties 
and  forties,  among  the  advertisements  of  botanic 
physicians,  miniature  painters,  and  grocers  whose 
stock  consisted  of  liquid  refreshment,  are  frequent 
mention  of  phrenological  societies,  and  the  adver- 
tisements of  phrenologists  who  examined  human 
heads,  charted  the  bumps  and  depressions  and,  with 
the  wisdom  of  oracles,  appraised  the  talents  and 
temperaments  of  those  who  consulted  them. 

Their  so-called  science,  an  ancient  one  revived  and 
made  popular  by  Gall  and  others  at  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  was  in  considerable  vogue 
for  many  decades  in  both  Europe  and  America. 
Phrenological  societies  were  organized  and  phreno- 
logical journals  were  published.  The  science  was 
based  on  the  theory  —  now  generally  accepted  — 
that  different  parts  of  the  brain  are  the  seats  of 
different  faculties  of  the  mind.  But  those  who  de- 
veloped the  study  of  phrenology  too  often  had  little 
knowledge  of  anatomy  or  of  scientific  research ;  they 
went  too  far  and  claimed  too  much.  And  when  the 
idea  appealed  to  the  popular  fancy,  the  phrenolog- 
ical examination  of  heads  became  a  lucrative  but 
scarcely  a  scientific  investigation. 

Those  who  were  credulous  and  many  who  were 


A  STUDY  IN  HEADS  323 

merely  curious  allowed  the  phrenologist  to  apply  his 
calipers  to  their  craniums,  and  occasionally  the 
skulls  of  dead  men  were  measured  and  the  results 
tabulated.  There  have  been  preserved  the  results  of 
phrenological  examinations  of  the  heads  of  two  of 
Iowa's  most  famous  men  —  one  red  and  one  white  — 
and  their  charts  are  given  here,  not  for  their  his- 
toric value  but  because  of  the  interest  which  natur- 
ally adheres  to  the  personality  of  men  of  note.  The 
two  individuals  are  the  Sac  warrior,  Black  Hawk, 
and  the  United  States  Senator,  James  W.  Grimes. 

In  a  collection  of  pamphlets  collected  by  Senator 
Grimes  is  an  eight  page  leaflet  bearing  the  title  An 
Explanation  of  the  Fundamental  Principles  of 
Phrenology  and  written  by  Frederick  Ely.  Pasted 
inside  the  cover  is  a  double  leaf  containing  on  one 
side  a  "New  Pictorial  Phrenological  Chart".  The 
"pictorial"  part  is  a  view  of  the  profile  of  a  man's 
head  transformed  into  a  picture  gallery  with  the 
location  of  the  seats  of  the  various  functions  of  the 
mind  indicated  by  symbolic  scenes.  Amativeness, 
represented  by  a  fat  little  cupid  with  bow  and  ar- 
row, lies  at  the  base  of  the  brain.  Acquisitiveness, 
shown  by  a  miser  counting  his  bags  of  gold,  is  given 
a  place  above  the  ear,  while  near  the  top  of  the  head 
firmness  is  rather  ambiguously  pictured  by  a  mule 
and  a  man  pulling  in  opposite  directions  upon  the 
mule's  halter;  and  beside  this  scene  veneration  is 
shown  by  a  maiden  in  the  posture  of  prayer. 

Below  the  pictorial  exhibit  are  printed  in  columns 


324  THE  PALIMPSEST 

the  forty  traits  of  character,  with  blanks  opposite  in 
which  to  insert  the  results  of  examinations;  and 
here  is  found  in  numerical  grades  the  "Phrenolog- 
ical Character  of  Jas.  W.  Grimes "  as  determined 
and  recorded  by  Frederick  Ely  in  September,  1847. 
On  the  back  of  the  sheet  is  the  following  letter  writ- 
ten by  Ely: 

Burlington  Iowa  Sept  18th  1847 

Temperament  Sanguine  Nervous,  Brain  large  size  —  of 
the  three  classes  of  organs,  the  intellectual  predominates 
this  combination  of  Phrenological  developments,  will  give 
a  safe,  cautious,  prudent  character,  very  systematical  in 
all  Ms  affairs,  he  has  a  quick,  active,  enquiring  mind,  fond 
of  investigation,  incredulous  —  he  wants  the  why  and 
wherefore,  of  all  matters  —  memory  generally  good ;  enjoys 
music  much;  he  will  write  better  than  speak,  unless  he  has 
opposition.  Very  imaginative;  at  times,  melancholy  and 
gloomy,  friendly  and  social  in  his  manners,  desirous  of  the 
good  will  of  all ;  he  enjoys  a  small  circle,  more  than  a  large 
assembly;  quite  domestic;  a  great  admirer  of  the  opposite 
sex ;  a  true  friend,  restless  and  uneasy  without  employment 
—  whatever  he  has  to  do,  must  be  done  immediately  im- 
patient,—  very  particular  and  prudent 

Very  truly 

F  BLY 

The  head  of  the  Indian,  Black  Hawk,  has  excited 
much  comment.  It  was  measured  during  his  life- 
time and  his  skull  was  studied  after  his  death. 
Stevens  in  his  volume  on  The  Blade  Hawk  War  gives 
some  interesting  information  from  various  sources 


A  STUDY  IN  HEADS  325 

as  to  the  phrenological  character  of  the  famous  war- 
rior. The  editor  of  the  United  States  Literary  Ga- 
zette had  this  to  say  in  1838: 

We  found  time  yesterday  to  visit  Black  Hawk  and  the 
Indian  chiefs  at  the  Congress  Hall  Hotel.  "We  went  into 
their  chamber,  and  found  most  of  them  sitting  or  lying 
on  their  beds.  Black  Hawk  was  sitting  on  a  chair  and 
apparently  depressed  in  spirits.  He  is  about  sixty-five,  of 
middling  size,  with  a  head  that  would  excite  the  envy  of  a 
phrenologist  —  one  of  the  finest  that  Heaven  ever  let  fall 
on  the  shoulders  of  an  Indian. 

And  the  American  Phrenological  Journal  which 
quotes  the  above  item  gives  a  detailed  phrenological 
chart  of  Black  Hawk's  character.  This  chart  is,  in 
the  following  pages,  combined  with  the  chart  of 
James  W.  Grimes,  and  with  it  is  given  the  explana- 
tion from  Ely's  pictorial  chart,  which  will  serve  to 
reduce  adjectives  and  figures  to  a  common  measure. 

Explanation. —  The  numbers  extend  to  20,  on  a  scale  as 
follows;  No.  1,  very  small;  4,  small;  7,  moderate;  10,  me- 
dium; 13,  full;  16,  large;  20,  very  large.  The  written 
figures  denote  the  size  of  each  organ. 

GRIMES  BLACK  HAWK 

1  Amativeness  15  large 

2  Philoprogenitiveness  9  large 

3  Adhesiveness  16  large 

4  Inhabitiveness  7  large 


326 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


5  Concentrativeness 

6  Combativeness 

7  Destructiveness 

8  Alimentiveness 

9  Acquisitiveness 

10  Secretiveness 

11  Cautiousness 

12  Approbativeness 

13  Self-Esteem 

14  Firmness 

15  Conscientiousness 

16  Hope 

17  Marvellousness 

18  Veneration 

19  Benevolence 

20  Constructiveness 

21  Ideality 

22  Imitation 

23  Mirthfulness 

24  Individuality 

25  Form 

26  Size 

27  Weight 

28  Colour 

29  Order 

30  Calculation 

31  Locality 

32  Eventuality 

33  Time 

34  Tune 

35  Language 


GRIMES 

10 
14 

9 

12 
14 
11 
16 
15 

6 

13 
12 

8 

3 

9 
13 

8 

17 
15 
10 
17 

9 

8 

10 
16 
16 
15 
10 
12 
13 
12 
15 


BLACK  HAWK 

large 

very  large 

very  large 

average 

large 

very  large 

full 

very  large 

very  large 

very  large 

moderate 

small 

large 

very  large 

moderate 

small 

moderate 

small 

full 

very  large 

very  large 

very  large 

large 

large 

large 

large 

very  large 

very  large 

uncertain 

uncertain 

large 


A  STUDY  IN  HEADS  327 

GRIMES          BLACK  HAWK 

36  Causality  16  average 

37  Comparison  11  large 
B     Sublimity                                    17 

C     Suavity  15 

D    An  intuitive  disposition  to 

know  human  nature  16 

After  perhaps  half  a  century  of  popularity  phre- 
nology and  its  exponents  passed  into  a  decline, 
phrenological  societies  and  journals  ceased  function- 
ing, and  the  practitioners  folded  up  their  calipers 
and  pictorial  charts  and  sought  other  fields. 

While  we  read  with  curiosity  the  estimates  of 
Black  Hawk's  cranium  we  are  apt  to  judge  his  char- 
acter more  by  the  words  and  deeds  of  his  strenuous 
career.  And  though  we  can  find  much  of  interest  in 
a  phrenological  estimate  of  Grimes  in  the  years  of 
his  young  manhood,  when  he  was  as  yet  only  a  prom- 
ising lawyer  of  Burlington,  Iowa,  we  shall  be  more 
inclined  to  look  down  the  years  to  1868  when  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  the  trial  of  Andrew 
Johnson,  the  character  of  James  W.  Grimes  was 
subjected  to  the  supreme  test.  He  held  to  the  course 
of  his  convictions  in  the  face  of  the  practically 
unanimous  execration  of  his  constituents  and  col- 
leagues, but  to-day  the  results  of  that  test  of  a  public 
man's  character  form  one  of  the  proud  heritages  of 
the  State  of  Iowa. 

JOHN  C.  PABISH 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

WEST  IS  WEST 

"Oh,  East  is  East,  and  West  is  West,  and  never 
the  twain  shall  meet."  Kipling  had  in  mind  the 
Orient  of  the  world  and  we  will  not  dispute  him.  In 
America  the  West  has  been  on  the  move.  It  has 
travelled  steadily  from  Plymouth  Eock  to  the 
farthest  lighthouse  at  the  entrance  to  the  Golden 
Gate.  It  has  moved  with  a  sweep  and  a  vigor  that 
left  the  East  far  behind.  But  the  East  is  striving 
to  overtake  the  West,  and  we  are  inclined  to  think 
that  "the  twain  shall  meet". 

The  West  is  not  only  a  geographic  term  —  it  is  an 
idea,  a  spirit,  a  kind  of  life.  It  has  spaciousness  and 
wide-openness;  it  has  vigor  and  frankness  and  di- 
rectness; it  is  crude  but  not  crass,  unfinished  and 
incomplete  simply  because  of  the  big  things  it  has 
yet  to  do.  It  is  not  meticulous  and  highly  polished 
and  restrained,  and  it  has  few  atrophies  and  little 
decay. 

So  busy  has  it  been  with  the  stupendous  conquest 
of  the  continent  that  it  has  paid  little  attention  to 
the  East,  but  now  come  quieter  days,  and  the  ques- 
tion arises :  will  the  East  overtake  and  domesticate 
the  West,  or  will  the  West  turn  back  and  meet  and 
impulsate  the  East?  Each  has  much  to  give  the 

328 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  329 

other,  and  we  rejoice  as  greatly  at  signs  of  domesti- 
cation in  Chicago  as  we  do  when  we  watch  the  do- 
ings of  western  men  in  New  York. 

But  while  the  West  is  still  the  West  we  want  the 
story  of  its  early  achievements  to  be  preserved  and 
recorded,  and  we  want  the  literature  of  the  West  to 
find  its  place  in  the  sun.  The  Mississippi  Valley  is 
the  logical  meeting  ground  of  the  East  and  the  West 
and  there  is  a  growing  body  of  Middle  Western  liter- 
ature that  is  challenging  our  interest,  our  gratifica- 
tion, and  occasionally  our  protest. 

HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY 

A  four  volume  history  of  Minnesota  has  been  re- 
cently announced,  a  centennial  history  of  Missouri  is 
in  the  course  of  preparation,  and  in  Iowa  has  ap- 
peared during  the  present  year  a  noteworthy  volume 
covering  the  entire  history  of  the  State.  Cyrenus 
Cole's  History  of  the  People  of  Iowa,  is  the  work  of 
a  man  full  of  enthusiasm  for  his  task.  He  has  gath- 
ered his  facts  both  widely  and  faithfully  and  the 
story  he  tells  is  not  mere  historic  chronicling  of 
events  —  it  is  animated  by  the  spirit  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Middle  West. 

Another  book  that  will  be  welcomed  throughout 
the  State  is  an  Iowa  State  Geography  by  Miss 
Alison  Aitchison  (published  by  Ginn  and  Company). 
No  longer  will  the  school  children  in  the  intermedi- 
ate grades  have  to  search  through  the  back  pages  of 
general  geographies  for  a  modicum  of  information 


330  THE  PALIMPSEST 

upon  their  own  State,  for  here  is  a  book  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-eight  pages,  adequately  supplied  with 
maps,  profusely  illustrated  with  well  chosen  cuts, 
and  written  in  a  style  to  stimulate  interest  and 
further  investigation. 

MAIN  STBEET 

We  thought  for  a  long  time  that  since  every  one 
else  in  the  world  was  reading  Main  Street  we  would 
not  do  so  —  but  we  did:  at  first  with  chuckles  and 
appreciation,  then  with  a  sense  of  something  lack- 
ing, a  disappointed  expectancy,  and  finally  with  de- 
termination through  miles  of  unchanging  scenery  to 
the  fruitless  end  of  the  trail.  And  after  we  had 
finished  it,  and  had  heard  and  read  so  many  com- 
ments upon  it,  it  seemed  useless  to  add  anything 
more.  After  all,  hasn't  a  man  a  right  to  depict  any 
characters  he  wishes  I  There  are  surely  many  Carol 
Kennicotts  to  be  found.  With  a  little  more  satis- 
faction we  will  agree  that  there  are  many  country 
doctors  like  her  sturdy  husband.  And  in  all  towns 
there  are  drab  store-keepers  and  pious  old  ladies 
and  do-less  lawyers  and  contemptible  riff-raff.  His 
characterizations  are  true  to  the  life  and  drawn  by 
a  clever  hand.  But  why  limit  one's  self  to  such  a 
group? 

One  may  question  the  usefulness  of  the  collector 
who  assembles  upon  his  row  of  pins  only  the  com- 
monplace and  ugly  specimens  of  a  given  locality: 
but  no  one  can  question  the  authenticity  of  the  speci- 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  331 

mens  or  his  right  to  assemble  any  kind  his  fancy 
dictates.  When,  however,  such  a  collector  claims 
that  his  group  is  typical  and  representative,  he  stirs 
a  protest  from  those  who  love  truth.  Main  Street 
is  not  typical  or  representative  of  the  small  town, 
dwellers  in  large  cities  on  the  oriental  side  of  the 
Alleghanies  notwithstanding. 

By  reason  of  a  sort  of  mental  astigmatism,  the 
author  saw  certain  characters  with  the  utmost 
clarity,  while  others  were  so  indistinct  to  his  vision 
that  he  does  not  reproduce  them  in  his  story.  The 
typical  small  town  of  the  Middle  West  or  of  any 
other  portion  of  America,  contains  many  unattrac- 
tive individuals,  but  it  also  contains  a  leaven  of 
people  of  culture  and  character,  whose  portrayal 
would  have  brightened  while  it  made  more  truthful 
the  story  of  Gopher  Prairie. 

SONGS  OF  A  MAN  WHO  FAILED 

In  October,  1920,  we  published  A  Few  Martial 
Memories  by  Clinton  Parkhurst,  of  whose  where- 
abouts we  were  ignorant  and  of  whom  we  knew  so 
little  that  we  asked  our  readers  for  help  in  piecing 
out  his  biographical  mosaic.  During  the  next  two 
months  we  received  many  interesting  letters  about 
him  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  but  none  could 
tell  where  he  was,  though  several  intimated  that  he 
was  basking  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  In  the 
December  number  we  told  what  we  knew  and  printed 
a  biographical  sketch  by  August  P.  Eichter,  for- 


332  THE  PALIMPSEST 

merly  editor  of  Der  Democrat,  of  Davenport,  who 
had  known  considerable  of  the  ups  and  downs  of 
the  career  of  Clinton  Parkhurst. 

Some  time  later  we  learned  that  Mr.  Parkhurst 
was  living  in  Lincoln,  Nebraska,  and  finally  that  he 
was  publishing  there  a  book  of  verse  entitled  Songs 
of  a  Man  Who  Failed.  The  volume  has  just  ap- 
peared, issued  by  the  Woodruff  Press,  of  Lincoln, 
Nebraska.  In  it  he  has  collected  all  of  the  poems 
that  have  not  been  irrevocably  lost  in  the  course  of 
more  than  half  a  century  of  variegated  experiences. 
The  book  exhibits  —  particularly  in  the  longer  heroic 
poems  —  the  same  dramatic  power  over  the  English 
language  that  marked  his  prose  story  of  Shiloh.  But 
the  remarkable  thing  about  the  book  is  its  autobio- 
graphical, self-revealing  frankness.  He  has  written 
what  he  felt  without  regard  to  the  opinion  of  the 
world.  He  has  done  an  unusual  thing  —  namely, 
having  set  himself  a  title,  he  has  not  deserted  the 
self -portrayal  which  it  involved. 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 
ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  II  ISSUED  IN  NOVEMBER  1921  No.  11 

COPYRIGHT  1921   BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

Old  Fort  Atkinson 

On  a  high  bluff  overlooking  the  beautiful  valley 
of  the  Turkey  River  in  northeastern  Iowa,  the  re- 
mains of  historic  old  Fort  Atkinson  stand  as  a  monu- 
ment to  the  days  when  the  Winnebago  Indians  lived 
on  the  Neutral  Ground.  Below,  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
see,  stretch  the  fields  and  meadows  of  modern  farms, 
near  by  winds  the  lazily  flowing  water  of  the  Turkey 
River,  while  to  the  south  the  little  town  of  Fort 
Atkinson  perpetuates  the  name  of  the  frontier  post. 

For  almost  a  decade,  from  1840-1848,  Fort  Atkin- 
son protected  the  Winnebago  from  the  incursions  of 
their  hostile  neighbors  —  the  Sioux  on  the  north, 
the  Sac  and  Fox  on  the  south.  At  the  same  time  the 
soldiers  prevented  the  Winnebago  from  trespassing 
and  from  wandering  beyond  the  limits  of  their  res- 
ervation, while  they  also  stopped  the  whites,  eager 
for  land,  from  settling  upon  the  Indian  domain. 
With  the  removal  of  the  Winnebago  to  Minnesota  in 
1848,  the  need  of  Fort  Atkinson  as  a  military  post 

333 


334  THE  PALIMPSEST 

ceased  and,  abandoned  by  the  government,  it  passed 
into  the  limbo  of  obsolete  frontier  institutions. 
Eighty  years  after  its  erection,  the  friends  of  the 
old  fort  succeeded  in  bringing  it  out  of  its  period  of 
obscurity  by  purchasing  the  site  and  the  dilapidated 
buildings  from  private  owners  and  turning  the  prop- 
erty over  to  the  State  for  a  park. 

Fort  Atkinson  was  built  to  meet  an  emergency. 
As  early  as  1832  the  Winnebago  Indians  had  sur- 
rendered their  rights  to  their  land  south  and  east  of 
the  Wisconsin  River  and  had  agreed  to  take  in  ex- 
change certain  annuities  plus  the  Neutral  Ground  in 
the  Iowa  country.  However,  they  showed  little  in- 
clination to  move  west  of  the  Mississippi  and  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  who  had  crossed  the  river, 
they  continued  to  reside  in  Wisconsin,  causing  the 
white  settlers  considerable  annoyance  and  dissatis- 
faction. In  1837  a  delegation  of  Winnebago  chiefs 
in  a  conference  at  Washington  agreed  to  remove  to 
a  site  on  Turkey  River  within  two  years,  but  a  com- 
bination of  causes  led  them  to  neglect  their  promises. 
Their  love  for  their  home  in  Wisconsin,  a  passionate 
attraction  for  the  shores  of  the  Father  of  Waters, 
and  a  reluctance  to  leave  the  whiskey  venders  of 
their  old  haunts  retarded  their  migration.  More- 
over, a  genuine  fear  of  attacks  from  the  Sac  and 
Fox  and  the  Sioux  held  them  back.  By  the  autumn 
of  1839  part  of  the  Winnebago  had  crossed  to  the 
Iowa  side  but  the  majority  still  clung  to  their  homes 
east  of  the  Mississippi. 


OLD  FORT  ATKINSON  335 

Finally,  in  March,  1840,  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  impatient  at  the  delay,  passed  resolutions 
asking  the  Secretary  of  War  to  explain  why  the 
Winnebago  had  not  been  removed  to  the  home  in 
Iowa  Territory.  He  replied  that  the  delay  had  been 
caused  in  part  by  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  induce 
the  Indians  to  move  to  the  country  southwest  of  the 
Missouri  River,  but  added  that  Brigadier  General 
Henry  Atkinson  had  already  received  orders  to  re- 
move the  Winnebago  to  the  Neutral  Ground  and  was 
engaged  in  that  task.  General  Atkinson,  in  spite  of 
the  opposition  of  the  Indians,  succeeded  in  accom- 
plishing the  removal  peaceably  during  the  spring  of 
the  year  1840. 

To  reassure  the  Winnebago  who  were  apprehen- 
sive and  restless  in  the  new  land  between  their 
ancient  enemies,  and  to  prevent  their  straggling 
back  to  their  old  haunts,  Captain  Isaac  Lynde  with 
Company  F  of  the  Fifth  Infantry,  a  detachment  of 
eighty-two  officers  and  enlisted  men,  was  sent  from 
Fort  Crawford  into  the  Neutral  Ground.  They 
marched  to  a  point  on  the  Turkey  Eiver  in  what  is 
now  Winneshiek  County,  Iowa,  a  few  miles  north  of 
the  site  selected  for  the  agency  house  and  mission 
school.  Here  they  went  into  camp  May  31,  1840, 
naming  the  place  "Camp  Atkinson "  in  honor  of  the 
department  commander. 

Two  days  later,  mechanics  about  fifty  in  number, 
who  had  come  from  Prairie  du  Chien  under  the 
escort  of  Company  F,  began  the  erection  of  barracks 


336  THE  PALIMPSEST 

and  quarters  under  the  direction  of  James  Tapper, 
foreman.  Government  teamsters  hauled  part  of  the 
material  used  in  the  construction  of  the  buildings 
from  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Crawford  over  the  route 
later  known  as  the  old  military  trail.  Throughout 
the  summer  and  autumn  of  1840,  horses,  oxen, 
and  mules  stamped  their  way  over  the  fifty  miles  of 
prairie  drawing  heavy  loads  of  pine  lumber,  nails 
and  other  supplies.  A  sawmill  near  the  site  selected 
for  the  mission  turned  out  walnut  lumber  for  inte- 
rior use  while  blocks  of  limestone  were  quarried  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  fort. 

Carpenters  and  masons  completed  quarters  for 
the  accommodation  of  Captain  Lynde's  company 
during  the  summer.  At  the  same  time  other  work- 
men erected  a  storehouse  near  the  landing  on  the 
wrest  bank  of  the  Mississippi  opposite  Fort  Craw- 
ford for  the  storage  of  supplies  destined  for  the  post 
on  Turkey  Eiver. 

Autumn  arrived  with  its  wondrous  foliage  and 
work  on  the  buildings  continued.  Late  that  season 
a  teamster,  Howard  by  name,  set  out  with  a  load  of 
supplies  from  the  Mississippi  landing  and  stopped 
for  the  night  at  Joel  Post's  tavern,  now  the  site  of 
Postville,  half-way  on  his  journey.  A  heavy  snow- 
fall the  next  day  delayed  the  trip.  When  Howard 
departed  on  the  last  lap  of  the  journey  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning  the  temperature  had  dropped  and 
the  air  became  bitterly  cold.  A  party,  following  the 
trail  a  day  later,  came  upon  the  loaded  wagon  in  the 


OLD  FORT  ATKINSON  337 

road,  but  the  team  and  driver  were  gone.  Follow- 
ing the  tracks  in  the  snow  they  came  upon  the  body 
of  the  unfortunate  teamster  frozen  stiff. 

Month  by  month  the  stone  walls  took  shape,  and 
skilled  workmen  fitted  joists  and  rafters  and  laid  the 
floors.  During  the  next  spring  when  the  buildings 
began  to  assume  the  appearance  of  a  fortification  the 
post  received  the  more  dignified  name  of  Fort 
Atkinson. 

In  the  meantime,  rumors  of  a  warlike  attitude  on 
the  part  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians  led  Governor 
Henry  Dodge  of  Wisconsin  Territory  to  urge  the 
sending  of  a  mounted  force  to  the  Neutral  Ground 
to  protect  the  Winnebago  and  to  prevent  their  re- 
turn to  Wisconsin.  To  meet  the  situation  General 
Atkinson  ordered  troops  to  march  from  Fort  Craw- 
ford into  the  region  of  the  Bed  Cedar  and  Turkey 
rivers  until  it  was  expedient  to  send  mounted  troops. 
He  felt  that  it  would  be  unwise  to  send  the  dragoons 
before  the  middle  of  May  as  there  would  be  no  bar- 
racks nor  stables  for  their  accommodation  nor 
forage  for  their  horses. 

At  once  the  mechanics  at  Fort  Atkinson  began  to 
erect  additional  barracks  and  to  build  stables.  On 
June  24,  1841,  Captain  Edwin  V.  Sumner  arrived 
with  Company  B  of  the  First  United  States  Dra- 
goons and  joined  the  garrison,  making  the  force 
about  one  hundred  and  sixty  strong,  and  for  six 
years  Fort  Atkinson  continued  to  be  a  two  company 
post.  In  the  fall  Company  K  of  the  First  Infantry 


338  THE  PALIMPSEST 

with  Captain  J.  J.  Abercrombie  in  command  re- 
placed Captain  Lynde's  company. 

When  work  on  the  fort  was  completed  during  the 
next  year,  1842,  four  long  rectangular  barracks,  two 
of  stone  and  two  of  logs  hewn  flat,  enclosed  a  square 
parade  and  drill  ground  of  more  than  an  acre.  These 
buildings  were  two  stories  high  and  twenty  feet  from 
the  ground  to  the  eaves,  each  having  an  upper  porch 
along  its  entire  length,  with  the  one  on  the  officers ' 
quarters  screened  in  with  movable  wooden  blinds. 
Commissioned  officers  and  their  families  occupied 
one  of  the  stone  barracks ;  non-coms  and  their  fami- 
lies lived  in  one  of  hewn  logs;  while  the  private 
soldiers  used  the  other  two.  In  one  of  the  latter,  the 
stone  building,  the  lower  part  was  used  as  a  hospital 
while  in  the  other,  the  upstairs  section  was  fitted  up 
with  bunks,  the  lower  portion  divided  into  several 
living  rooms  and  one  large  room  which  was  equipped 
with  benches,  a  platform,  and  pulpit  to  be  used  as  a 
chapel  and  school. 

At  one  end  of  the  parade  ground  a  tall  flag-staff 
towered  above  the  works.  A  gunhouse  with  thick 
stone  walls  and  peaked  roof  occupied  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  works,  which  with  its  counterpart  in 
the  northeast  corner  guarded  the  approaches  to  the 
four  sides  of  the  stockade.  In  the  southeast  corner 
stood  the  stone  magazine  or  powder-house  while  in 
the  opposite  corner  was  located  the  quartermaster's 
store-house  adjoined  by  the  sutler's  store,  with  the 
guardhouse  nearby.  A  picket  fence  of  squared  logs 


OLD  FORT  ATKINSON  339 

twelve  feet  high  with  loop  holes  at  intervals  of  four 
feet  enclosed  the  buildings  and  with  the  two  block- 
houses made  a  rectangular  fort  of  formidable  ap- 
pearance. 

North  of  the  fort  and  across  a  street  were  located 
the  bakery,  the  blacksmith  shop,  and  carpenter 
shops.  The  stables  were  some  40  feet  wide  and  300 
feet  long  running  in  a  north  and  south  direction. 
Beginning  near  the  powder-house  and  extending 
nearly  the  entire  length  of  one  side  of  the  stockade 
was  the  sentinel's  beat  with  its  platform  about  three 
feet  below  the  sharpened  tips  of  the  logs.  At  one 
end  of  the  beat  a  small  shelter  protected  the  guard 
during  inclement  weather. 

To  complete  the  buildings  and  to  build  the  road 
from  the  Mississippi  required  a  total  appropriation 
of  about  $90,000,  a  sum  much  greater  than  the  cir- 
cumstances warranted  in  the  opinion  of  the  Quarter 
Master  General  of  the  Army  who  felt  that  the  pres- 
sure of  the  white  population  would  soon  drive  the 
Indians  north  or  south,  thus  making  the  fort  useless. 

While  the  clink  of  carpenters'  hammers  rang  out 
and  masons  plied  their  trowels  in  erecting  the  build- 
ings, military  duty  was  not  neglected.  Eegularly  in 
the  morning  the  flag  was  drawn  to  the  top  of  the  tall 
flag-staff  there  to  flutter  until  sunset  when  with  sol- 
emn ceremony  it  was  lowered  and  furled  for  the 
night.  In  the  gray  light  of  early  dawn  the  trumpet- 
ers took  their  stations  and  the  sharp  tones  of  reveille 
called  the  sleepy  garrison  to  the  duties  of  the  day. 


340  THE  PALIMPSEST 

Boll  was  called  in  front  of  the  barracks,  quarters 
were  put  in  order,  and  the  horses  fed  and  watered. 
Sick  call  furnished  patients  for  the  hospital  and 
gave  the  post  surgeon  a  chance  to  prove  his  skill. 

Breakfasts  of  fried  salt  pork,  bread,  and  hot  black 
coffee  being  finished,  there  followed  the  tasks  of  the 
day.  Squads  of  dragoons  in  brilliant  uniforms  sent 
out  to  patrol  the  reservation  blocked  the  way  of  wily 
Winnebago  braves  who  stealthily  sought  to  return 
to  the  old  hunting  grounds;  details  of  infantrymen 
despatched  to  the  agency  cooperated  with  the  agent 
sometimes  doing  the  work  on  the  farm  which  the 
Indians  neglected  at  every  opportunity.  Others  as- 
signed to  garrison  duty  walked  their  beats  as  senti- 
nels, cleaned  and  polished  arms  and  accouterments 
or  performed  the  detested  tasks  of  indoor  work. 
Frequent  drills,  maneuvers  and  inspections  at  which 
the  young  lieutenants  fresh  from  West  Point  per- 
fected their  commands  in  marchings,  manual  of 
arms,  and  target  practice,  made  up  a  part  of  the 
daily  program.  In  the  early  evening,  arms  were 
stacked  in  the  arm-racks,  horses  were  fed  and  bedded 
for  the  night,  and  sentinels  posted.  Then  the  garri- 
sons settled  down  to  rest,  to  smoke,  to  play  cards,  to 
sing,  to  swap  yarns  or  argue  till  tattoo  sounded, 
when  with  the  candles'  feeble  glow  snuffed  out,  the 
quiet  darkness  of  the  prairie  night  enveloped  the 
sleeping  soldiers  and  their  families. 

Patrol  duty  often  took  the  mounted  company  on 
long  tours.  Twice  during  1842  requisitions  from 


OLD  FORT  ATKINSON  341 

Governor  Chambers  of  Iowa  Territory  caused  Cap- 
tain Sumner  and  his  dragoons  to  spend  several  weeks 
in  the  saddle  driving  out  squatters  and  other  in- 
truders from  the  lands  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  to  the 
south.  Although  heavy  rains  often  pelted  the  march- 
ing column,  streams  had  to  be  forded,  and  sodden 
blankets  and  equipment  produced  many  a  cheerless 
night,  nevertheless  the  troopers  welcomed  the  chance 
to  get  away  from  garrison  life.  The  luckless  adven- 
turer, too,  who  had  settled  unlawfully  upon  the  In- 
dian domain  could  testify  to  the  energy  of  the 
dragoons  as  he  looked  back  upon  his  blazing  cabin, 
his  fences  destroyed,  and  his  crops  trampled  under 
hoof. 

Their  return  to  Fort  Atkinson  after  such  a  trip 
afforded  a  chance  for  them  to  enliven  the  monotony 
of  garrison  life  by  recounting  to  an  interested  circle 
of  infantrymen  lurid  tales  of  their  trips  by  day  and 
their  camps  at  night.  Great  was  the  excitement,  too, 
at  the  fort  when  in  August,  1842,  Captain  James 
Allen  with  forty-four  dragoons  arrived  after  a  long 
trip  overland  from  Fort  Leavenworth.  During  their 
short  visit  at  the  post  friendships  were  formed  which 
lasted  for  years  for  the  paths  of  the  two  companies 
later  crossed  and  recrossed.  Soon  Captain  Allen 
and  his  men  were  on  their  way  to  the  Sac  and  Fox 
Agency  on  the  River  Des  Moines  where  they  estab- 
lished the  temporary  post  called  Fort  Sanford. 

Again  in  the  fall  of  1844  considerable  interest  was 
aroused  at  the  fort  over  the  arrival  of  Eeverend 


342  THE  PALIMPSEST 

J.  L.  Elliot  who  came  to  fill  the  double  role  of  chap- 
lain and  schoolmaster.  In  the  same  room  he  exhort- 
ed the  men  on  Sundays  to  resist  the  temptations  of 
their  isolated  position,  and  during  the  week  instruct- 
ed the  sons  and  daughters  of  officers  and  men  — 
twenty  to  twenty-five  pupils  —  in  reading,  writing, 
and  arithmetic.  Occasionally  he  exchanged  pulpits 
with  Reverend  David  Lowry  who  supervised  the 
Winnebago  mission  and  school  to  the  south. 

Although  Captain  Sunmer  with  his  dragoons  pre- 
vented effectually  the  smuggling  of  liquor  into  the 
reservation  he  was  unable  to  stop  the  Indians  from 
visiting  the  whiskey  shops  set  up  just  outside  the 
boundary.  Two  of  these  known  as  "Sodom"  and 
"  Gomorrah "  did  a  thriving  business.  In  spite  of 
the  fact  that  hundreds  of  Indians  joined  the  sub- 
agent's  temperance  society,  they  soon  forgot  their 
pledge  and  were  drinking  as  heavily  as  before.  After 
the  Indians  received  their  annuities  at  the  agency, 
drunken  frolics  which  sometimes  resulted  in  blood- 
shed and  murders  doubled  the  work  of  the  soldiers 
until  the  period  of  dissipation  ended.  Officers,  too, 
found  it  difficult  after  a  pay  day  at  the  post  to  pre- 
vent the  soldiers  from  yielding  to  the  allurements  of 
"Whiskey  Grove",  a  popular  resort  a  few  miles 
away. 

To  the  dragoons,  perhaps,  the  summer  trip  in  1845 
to  the  northern  part  of  the  Territory  of  Iowa  into 
what  is  now  Minnesota  was  the  outstanding  event  of 
their  stay  at  Fort  Atkinson.  Filing  out  from  the 


OLD  FORT  ATKINSON  343 

gate  of  the  fort  on  June  3,  they  headed  northwest 
and  ten  days  later  came  in  contact  with  Captain 
Allen's  company  which  had  travelled  from  Fort  Des 
Moines  to  take  part  in  the  trip.  June  rains  and 
floods  delayed  the  march  so  that  the  cavalcade  did 
not  reach  Traverse  des  Sioux,  the  objective  of  the 
trip,  till  June  22.  Ahout  the  glowing  embers  of  the 
campfire  in  the  evenings  troopers  recounted  their 
adventures  and  exchanged  experiences  of  the  three 
years  that  had  elapsed  since  the  companies  had  met 
at  Fort  Atkinson. 

At  the  camp  —  a  double  row  of  tents  for  the  men 
with  the  horses  picketed  in  the  space  between,  the 
tents  of  the  officers  forming  a  cross  street  at  one  end 
-  Sumner  and  Allen  held  conferences  with  the  In- 
dians. They  arrested  certain  offenders  and  warned 
a  band  of  half-breeds  from  Canada  that  they  were 
trespassing  on  the  territory  of  the  United  States. 
Separating  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  on  August  11,  the 
two  companies  set  out  on  the  return  march.  By 
steady  riding  Captain  Sumner  ?s  company  accom- 
plished the  journey  in  eight  days,  but  the  dragoons 
rode  back  into  Fort  Atkinson  with  uniforms  badly 
worn,  horses  jaded,  and  the  men  weary  from  the  long 
hard  trip. 

When  war  with  Mexico  became  inevitable,  it  was 
apparent  to  government  authorities  that  the  regi- 
ments of  the  regular  army  should  be  assembled  and 
the  posts  occupied  by  their  separate  companies 
should  either  be  abandoned  or  reoccupied  by  volun- 


344  THE  PALIMPSEST 

teer  organizations.  Accordingly  the  regulars  were 
retained  at  Fort  Snelling  and  at  Fort  Leavenworth, 
Fort  Des  Moines  was  promptly  abandoned,  and  the 
troops  were  withdrawn  from  Fort  Crawford  and 
Fort  Atkinson  for  service  in  Mexico.  Both  the  gov- 
ernor of  Wisconsin  and  the  governor  of  Iowa  were 
called  upon  to  raise  volunteers  to  man  these  forts. 

To  James  M.  Morgan  with  a  commission  as  cap- 
tain, from  Governor  Clarke,  fell  the  task  of  enlisting 
a  company  for  service  at  Fort  Atkinson.  He  had 
been  editor  and  part  owner  of  the  Burlington  Gazette 
and  he  experienced  little  difficulty  in  securing  re- 
cruits. On  July  8,  1846,  fifty-four  men  had  enrolled 
at  Burlington,  twenty-two  of  whom  had  come  from 
down  the  river  and  from  the  country  thereabouts. 
Six  volunteers  arrived  from  Iowa  City  on  July  9, 
and  two  days  later  eight  came  from  Dubuque  and 
Galena.  Morgan,  a  man  of  slight  stature,  with  hair 
and  beard  of  so  bright  an  auburn  hue  that  he  ac- 
quired the  sobriquet  "  Little  Eed",  soon  won  the 
respect  and  affection  of  his  men. 

He  and  his  command  left  Burlington  on  the  steam- 
boat "Belmont",  which  conveyed  them  to  McGreg- 
or's Landing,  thence  they  marched  over  the  military 
trail  to  Fort  Atkinson.  One  unfortunate  member  of 
the  company,  William  Topp,  had  fallen  overboard 
on  the  up-trip  and  was  drowned.  At  the  fort  three 
more  men  enrolled  and  on  July  15,  1846,  the  entire 
company  was  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States  for  twelve  months.  In  Indian  Agent  Jona- 


OLD  FORT  ATKINSON  345 

than  E.  Fletcher  of  Muscatine,  Morgan  found  a 
former  associate  of  his  in  the  old  Territorial  militia. 

For  the  assistance  of  Captain  Morgan's  Independ- 
ent Company  of  Iowa  Volunteers  it  was  decided  to 
enlist  a  mounted  company,  and  to  John  Parker  of 
Dubuque  who  was  commissioned  captain  was  as- 
signed the  duty  of  enrolling  the  cavalrymen.  His 
task  proved  easy  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  mem- 
bers had  to  furnish  their  own  horses,  saddles,  and 
equipment. 

The  company  was  mustered  into  service  at  Fort 
Atkinson  on  September  9,  1846,  by  Brevet  Major 
Alexander  S.  Hooe  to  serve  for  twelve  months  unless 
sooner  discharged.  At  once  it  became  a  part  of  the 
garrison,  furnishing  troops  for  scouting  purposes, 
watching  the  wanderings  of  the  Winnebago,  keeping 
them  within  the  limits  of  the  reservation,  and  trying 
to  prevent  the  smuggling  of  liquor.  Handicapped  by 
want  of  arms  —  a  few  spare  muskets  from  Captain 
Morgan's  company  being  all  the  guns  they  had  — 
they  performed  their  duties  with  credit.  By  placing 
troops  on  the  trail  to  Sodom,  Morgan  and  Parker 
captured  many  a  barrel  of  whiskey. 

However,  much  to  the  indignation  of  the  officers 
and  men  of  Parker's  Iowa  Dragoon  Volunteers  and 
against  the  vigorous  protests  of  Governor  Clarke 
and  Augustus  C.  Dodge,  the  War  Department  de- 
cided that  the  service  of  the  troopers  could  be  dis- 
pensed with,  and  accordingly  the  company  was 
mustered  out  by  Major  Hooe  on  November  5,  1846, 


346  THE  PALIMPSEST 

after  only  sixty-nine  days  of  service.  Thus  the 
mounted  volunteers,  their  military  zeal  dampened  by 
resentment,  turned  the  heads  of  their  war  horses 
homeward,  and  guided  them  sullenly  back  to  log  cab- 
ins or  towns  there  to  resume  the  labors  of  farm  and 
shop. 

The  discharge  of  the  company  was  due,  doubtless, 
largely  to  the  report  to  the  War  Department  made 
by  Brigadier  General  George  M.  Brooke,  commander 
of  the  Western  Division  who  inspected  Fort  Atkin- 
son in  September,  1846.  The  nondescript  appear- 
ance of  the  raw  troops  apparently  offended  his 
military  taste,  and  seeing  no  necessity  for  the  main- 
tenance of  two  companies,  he  recommended  the  dis- 
charge of  the  mounted  unit  since  it  was  the  most 
expensive  to  maintain.  The  story  is  told,  however, 
that  a  squad  of  Parker's  company  was  stationed  on 
the  military  road  at  a  point  near  the  present  station 
of  Eidley  with  orders  to  prevent  the  smuggling  of 
liquor.  When  General  Brooke  reached  this  point  on 
his  way  to  Fort  Atkinson,  the  sergeant  in  charge  of 
the  squad  insisted  on  searching  his  baggage,  and 
confiscated  the  brandy  which  he  found  therein.  This 
so  incensed  the  general  that  he  recommended  the 
dismissal  of  the  company.  However,  verification  of 
this  story  is  lacking  and  therefore  it  must  be  taken 
with  a  grain  of  salt. 

When  Morgan's  company  had  served  twelve 
months  it  was  mustered  out  at  Fort  Atkinson,  and 
on  the  same  date,  July  15,  1847,  a  new  company 


OLD  FORT  ATKINSON  347 

formed  which  came  to  be  known  as  "Morgan's  Com- 
pany of  Iowa  Mounted  Volunteers.  Of  the  former 
company  all  the  commissioned  and  non-commis- 
sioned officers  and  twenty-eight  of  the  privates  re- 
enlisted.  As  an  inducement  to  join,  each  private  was 
offered  twenty  dollars  per  month,  forty-two  dollars 
in  advance  for  clothing,  and  the  promise  of  160  acres 
of  land  at  the  end  of  the  year.  It  was  felt  that  the 
difficulty  of  keeping  order  among  the  Indians  was 
too  great  a  task  for  infantry  alone,  hence  the  new 
company  was  mounted.  Furthermore,  the  plan  to 
remove  the  Winnebago  to  a  new  home  in  Minnesota 
was  already  under  way  and  a  cavalry  force  to  act  as 
escort  was  needed. 

When  the  time  came  for  the  removal  of  the  Winne- 
bago, adjustments  of  the  military  forces  were  made 
to  meet  the  situation.  Captain  Morgan's  mounted 
company  became  the  escort  while  a  detachment  of 
twenty-five  men  of  Captain  Wiram  Knowlton's  Wis- 
consin company  moved  over  from  Fort  Crawford  to 
garrison  Fort  Atkinson  during  Morgan's  absence. 

In  June,  1848,  the  cavalcade  set  out  headed 
straight  north  to  reach  the  Mississippi  Eiver  at 
Wabasha's  Prairie.  Between  two  and  three  thou- 
sand Indians  with  sixteen  hundred  ponies,  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-six  army  wagons  loaded  down  with 
supplies  and  belongings  of  the  Red  Men,  squalling 
papooses  hung  in  sacks  over  the  backs  of  ponies,  the 
lumbering  cannon  and  caissons,  the  Indian  Agent 
and  his  helpers,  the  cavalrymen  heavily  armed  with 


348  THE  PALIMPSEST 

carbine,  sword,  and  revolver  made  up  a  slow  moving 
and  picturesque  caravan.  When  Wabasha's  Prairie 
was  reached  a  conspiracy  on  the  part  of  the  Indians 
to  resist  further  progress  was  frustrated  by  an  over- 
whelming display  of  force,  for  here  Morgan  who  had 
learned  of  the  plot  received  reinforcements  by  the 
arrival  of  Captain  Seth  Eastman  with  a  company  of 
regulars  from  Fort  Snelling  and  of  Captain  Knowl- 
ton  with  his  company  from  Fort  Crawford. 

From  this  point  the  Indians  were  loaded  on  barges 
and  towed  by  steamboat  to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony 
where  the  land  journey  was  resumed.  On  July  30, 
1848,  the  caravan  reached  its  destination  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Watab  Eiver,  after  a  journey  of  310 
miles.  Morgan's  company  stayed  to  maintain  order 
during  the  erection  of  the  agency  buildings  on  Long 
Prairie,  then  set  out  on  the  return  trip  to  Fort  At- 
kinson in  September.  They  rode  back  to  Fort 
Snelling,  took  steamboat  to  McGregor's  Landing  and 
thence  followed  the  old  trail  to  Fort  Atkinson  where 
they  were  mustered  out  of  service  September  11, 
1848. 

From  September  25,  1848,  to  February  24,  1849, 
the  fort  was  garrisoned  by  Company  C,  Sixth  In- 
fantry, with  Captain  F.  L.  Alexander  in  command. 
The  need  for  Fort  Atkinson  having  ended  with  the 
removal  of  the  Winnebago,  the  War  Department 
ordered  its  abandonment  on  the  latter  date.  The 
teamsters  harnessed  the  mules  for  the  last  time  while 
privates  of  Company  C  loaded  their  supplies  on  the 


OLD  FORT  ATKINSON  349 

army  wagons;  and,  lowering  the  flag,  the  company 
marched  out  the  heavy  gate  of  Fort  Atkinson  leaving 
it  in  charge  of  a  single  caretaker,  Alexander  Faulk- 
ner. In  the  sleeping  quarters  of  the  soldiers,  tacked 
to  one  of  the  massive  black  walnut  bunks,  one  of  the 
departing  warriors  had  left  a  card  with  the  inscrip- 
tion "Farewell  to  bedbugs". 

The  property  was  never  again  occupied  as  a  fort 
although  for  a  time  it  was  looked  after  by  Josiah 
Goddard  and  then  by  George  Cooney,  who  were  ap- 
pointed to  act  as  caretakers  by  the  government. 
When  the  General  Assembly  of  Iowa  learned  that 
Fort  Atkinson  was  to  be  abandoned,  a  memorial  was 
presented  to  Congress  asking  that  the  buildings  and 
two  sections  of  land  be  donated  as  a  site  for  an  agri- 
cultural school  which  would  be  a  branch  of  the  State 
University.  This  appeal  went  unanswered.  A  sim- 
ilar request  in  1851  met  the  same  fate,  and  again  in 
1853,  when  the  General  Assembly  asked  Congress  to 
donate  the  grounds  and  buildings  of  the  fort  for  a 
"normal  manual  labor  and  military  institute"  to  be 
maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  State,  the  appeal 
fell  on  deaf  ears.  In  July,  1853,  the  government  sold 
the  buildings  of  the  fort  at  public  auction  for  $3,521. 

To  convert  this  historic  spot  into  a  State  park  and 
to  preserve  the  remains  of  the  post  as  a  reminder  of 
frontier  days  in  the  Hawkeye  State  was  urged  for 
twenty  years  before  definite  steps  were  taken  to 
accomplish  this  worthy  project.  Finally  the  pro- 
posal to  create  the  park  and  to  preserve  and  improve 


350  THE  PALIMPSEST 

the  Old  Military  Trail  from  McGregor  to  Fort  At- 
kinson came  to  a  head  during  the  past  two  years  and 
both  projects  are  under  way. 

To  a  visitor  with  imagination  who  makes  a  trip 
at  this  time  of  the  year  to  the  site  of  Fort  Atkinson, 
and  who  knows  the  early  history  of  the  spot  a  vision 
of  the  past  takes  form  and  substance.  The  shocks  of 
corn  in  the  fields  below  the  bluff  become  the  tepees  of 
the  proud  Winnebago  while  the  haze  of  late  Indian 
summer  suggests  the  smoke  of  many  council  fires. 
Down  the  last  stretch  of  the  old  military  trail  rum- 
bles an  army  transport  heavily  laden  with  barrels  of 
flour  and  pork,  boxes  of  soap  and  candles  and  bags 
of  beans.  The  teamster  guides  his  four  mule  team 
through  the  gate  of  the  fort  and  replies  to  the  rude 
quips  of  the  soldiers  with  a  rare  assortment  of  racy 
oaths.  The  thin  clear  notes  of  a  distant  bugle  an- 
nounce the  approach  of  a  dragoon  patrol,  returning 
from  a  successful  raid  upon  "Sodom".  The  belch- 
ing flame  and  re-echoing  boom  of  the  sunset  gun 
remind  the  Indian  wards  of  the  power  of  the  great 
White  Father  at  Washington. 

The  picture  fades  out  as  the  realities  of  the  present 
intrude  and  the  dilapidated  buildings  reproach  the 
visitor  with  the  neglect  of  years.  At  last  the  people 
of  Iowa  have  awakened  to  the  justice  of  making  this 
place  an  historic  shrine  and  a  mecca  for  those  who 
feel  that  Iowa's  landmarks  should  be  preserved. 

BRUCE  E.  MAHAN 


The  Beginnings  of  Burlington 

When  the  Black  Hawk  Purchase  was  opened  to 
settlers  in  1833,  there  grew  up  at  Flint  Hills  a  settle- 
ment which  took  the  name  Burlington  and  became  a 
thriving  village  and  an  important  ferry  crossing.  In 
1837  the  legislature  of  the  Territory  of  Wisconsin 
met  there  and  a  year  later  the  town  became  the  seat 
of  government  for  the  newly  created  Territory  of 
Iowa.  In  1839  a  site  was  chosen  for  a  new  capital  to 
be  known  as  Iowa  City,  but  the  legislature  continued 
to  meet  at  Burlington  until  1841.  The  story  of  the 
first  decade,  told  at  the  time  by  the  participants  in 
the  events,  is  available  to  us  because  there  were 
newspapers  in  the  early  days,  and  a  few  men  far- 
sighted  enough  to  preserve  the  yellowing  files. 

THE  EARLY  THIRTIES 

In  the  issues  of  The  Iowa  Patriot  for  June  6  and 
June  13,  1839,  "A  Citizen  of  Burlington "—  un- 
doubtedly William  E.  Eoss  —  wrote  the  two  follow- 
ing historical  sketches : 

"Ms.  EDWABDs1 — At  your  request  and  believing 
that  a  brief  sketch  of  the  first  settlement  of  our 

1  James  G.  Edwards  commenced  the  publication  of  the  Burlington 
Patriot  in  the  year  1838.  In  1839  he  took  the  name  The  Iowa 
Patriot,  which  title  was  later  changed  to  the  Hawk-Eye  and  Iowa 
Patriot,  then  to  the  Hawk-Eye.  The  newspaper  is  at  present  issued 
under  the  title  The  Burlington  HawTc-Eye. 

351 


352  THE  PALIMPSEST 

country  would  be  interesting  to  the  readers  of  your 
paper,  I  communicate  the  following :  —  I  arrived  at 
what  was  formerly  called  the  upper  end  of  Flint 
Hills,  now  the  City  of  Burlington,  in  August,  A.  D. 
1833,  at  which  time  every  thing  was  in  a  rude  state 
of  nature ;  the  Indian  title  of  these  lands  being  only 
extinguished  the  first  of  June  previous.  The  only 
white  persons  that  I  found  residing  on  or  near  the 
place  on  which  Burlington  has  since  been  laid  out, 
were  Messrs.  M.  M.  McCarver  and  S.  S.  White, 
who  had  ventured  here,  previous  to  the  extinguish- 
ment of  the  Indian  title,  with  their  families,  suffer- 
ing all  the  privations  and  difficulties  attending  the 
settlement  of  a  wilderness  country,  which  were  very 
great  and  not  a  few  of  them.  Frequently  without 
bread  or  meat,  only  such  as  the  God  of  Nature  sup- 
plied the  country  bountifully  with,  wild  honey,  ven- 
ison, fish  and  vegetables,  in  addition  to  which  they 
were  driven  from  their  newly  finished  cabin,  which 
was  fired  and  burnt  down  by  the  soldiers  from  Bock 
Island,  as  ordered  by  the  Government  to  remove 
the  settlers  from  lands  yet  owned  by  the  Indians. 
Much  credit  is  due  these  citizens  for  their  enterprize, 
having  made  the  first  claim,  and  established  the  first 
ferry  that  enabled  emigrants  to  cross  the  great  Mis- 
sissippi to  this  newly  favored  land,  and  in  endeavor- 
ing to  make  them  as  comfortable  as  circumstances 
would  admit.  A  short  period  after  they  had  made 
their  claim  they  sold  one  third  of  their  interest  to 
Mr.  A.  Doolittle,  who  went  on  to  improve,  but  did 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BURLINGTON         353 

not  become  a  citizen  until  the  early  part  of  the  year 
1834.  In  the  fall  of  A.  D.  1833,  Wm  B.  Koss  brought 
a  valuable  stock  of  goods  here,  with  his  household 
furniture  at  great  hazard  and  much  expense,  accom- 
panied by  his  aged  Father,  who  had  fought  through- 
out the  Revolutionary  war,  and  who  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  Lexington,  Ky.  Worn  down  with 
toil  and  age,  and  being  exposed  to  the  inclemencies 
of  a  new  home,  the  old  gentleman  was  carried  off 
the  same  fall  with  chills  and  fever,  and  now  lies 
beneath  the  clod  on  the  topmost  pinnacle  of  our  City ; 
the  first  white  person  buried  in  this  section  of  the 
'New  Purchase.' 

4  *  Late  in  the  same  fall  Major  Jeremiah  Smith 
landed  with  a  fine  stock  of  Goods,  having  sometime 
previously  settled  and  improved  the  farm  on  which 
he  at  present  resides,  about  one  and  a  half  miles 
from  Burlington.  Having  given  a  history  of  all  the 
permanent  settlers  of  what  is  now  called  Burlington, 
in  1833,  I  will  now  relate  a  few  circumstances  con- 
cerning the  natives.  Burlington  had  long  been  a 
great  point  of  trade  for  the  Indians,  as  would  ap- 
pear from  the  numerous  old  trading  houses,  root 
house,  and  number  of  graves  that  were  all  along 
the  bank  of  the  river,  together  with  several  that 
were  deposited  in  canoes  with  their  trinkets,  and 
suspended  in  the  trees ;  the  canoes  being  made  fast 
to  the  limbs  by  strips  of  bark.  Among  the  rest  was 
the  noted  French  or  half  breed,  M.  Blondeau,  who 
was  interred  immediately  in  front  of  the  old  store- 


354  THE  PALIMPSEST 

house  of  S.  S.  Eoss,  with  paling  around  his  grave, 
and  the  cross  with  his  name  cut  thereon,  he  being  a 
Roman  Catholic.  We  had  his  remains  removed  and 
re-interred  in  the  present  burying  ground  for  Bur- 
lington. Their  trade  was  somewhat  valuable  to  the 
merchants  in  1833,  but  Government  having  pur- 
chased all  their  lands  within  our  present  surveyed 
boundary,  and  their  natures  and  habits  of  life  being 
so  different  from  that  of  a  civilized  community  they 
have  entirely  removed  beyond  our  western  boun- 
dary, still  pursuing  the  wild  game  for  a  livelihood. 

"The  original  town  of  Burlington  (which  should 
have  been  called  Shok-ko-kon,  the  English  of  the 
Indian  title  Flint  Hill)  was  draughted  and  surveyed 
by  Benjamin  Tucker  and  Wm.  E.  Eoss  in  the  months 
of  November  and  December,  1833.  As  I  have  been 
more  lengthy  than  I  expected  in  the  outset,  I  will 
endeavor,  in  as  concise  a  manner  as  the  nature  of 
the  case  will  admit,  to  detail  a  few  particulars  in 
regard  to  the  settlement  of  the  country  by  that 
worthy  class  of  our  community  —  the  Farmers,  who 
deserve  the  greatest  applause  for  their  unexampled 
industry  and  perseverance. 

"In  October,  A.  D.  1832,  there  were  some  twelve 
or  fifteen  individuals  who  crossed  the  river  in  canoes, 
at  the  head  of  the  Big  Island,  and  landed  at  the 
claim  of  the  Messrs  Smith,  two  miles  below  Burling- 
ton, and  made  an  excursion  a  few  miles  around  the 
edge  of  the  timber  in  the  town  prairie;  laying  claims 
for  future  settlement.  But  little  was  done  by  them 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BURLINGTON         355 

until  February,  1833 ;  when  they  brought  over  their 
stock,  and  commenced  building  and  cultivating  the 
soil ;  but  to  their  great  detriment  and  suffering,  they 
were  driven  by  the  Government  Soldiers  from  Eock 
Island,  across  the  river  to  the  Big  Island,  taking 
with  them  their  implements  of  husbandry  and  their 
stock.  Their  cabins  and  fencing  were  set  on  fire  and 
entirely  consumed.  Notwithstanding  all  this  and 
still  resolved  to  hold  on  to  their  new  homes,  they 
held  a  council  and  it  was  pretty  unanimously  agreed 
by  vote,  to  strike  their  tents  and  build  a  flat  boat  to 
enable  them  to  cross  over  the  river  as  opportunity 
served,  to  pursue  the  culture  and  improvement  of 
their  claims.  Many  of  these  worthy  individuals, 
after  making  a  small  improvement,  have  sold  out  at 
a  trifling  advance,  to  such  as  were  more  able  and 
preferred  buying,  to  going  back  and  taking  up  wild 
lands  and  improving  them.  There  yet  remain  a  few 
families  of  those  that  first  settled  here,  who  have 
deeds  for  their  lands  from  Government ;  their  farms 
being  now  under  a  high  state  of  cultivation. 

"  Being  already  too  lengthy  I  defer  giving  you  the 
extent  of  improvement  made  by  some  of  the  settlers 
in  1833,  but  will  say  it  was  from  ten  to  fifty  acres  in 
corn,  and  as  the  by-laws  were  enacted  in  the  fall  of 
1833,  for  regulating  the  manner  of  improving  and 
holding  claims,  I  will  refer  you  to  them  for  names 
and  particulars. " 

"MR.  EDITOR, —  I  am  in  hopes,  Sir,  that  number 


356  THE  PALIMPSEST 

two  will  be  somewhat  more  interesting  to  your  read- 
ers than  the  former  number,  as  attention  to  the 
Black-Hawk  country  became  more  generally  excited 
in  1834.  After  a  close,  hard  winter  the  river  re- 
maining blocked  over  until  late  in  the  spring,  when 
Steam  Boats  began  to  ascend,  prospects  began  to 
brighten.  We  however  enjoyed  ourselves  through 
the  winter  very  comfortably  with  our  native  friends 
in  smoking  the  pipe,  and  talking  over  old  war  skir- 
mishes, and  having  a  chase  almost  every  day  with 
our  dogs  after  the  wolves  that  would  appear  oppo- 
site our  village  on  the  river.  I  recollect  well  on  one 
morning  there  appeared  five  or  six  wolves  on  the 
river;  we  gave  chase,  and  with  fair  running  one  of 
our  dogs  overhauled  and  killed  three  wolves  before 
we  reached  him,  and  then  put  in  pursuit  of  a  fourth, 
but  was  so  exhausted  when  we  overtook  him,  about 
two  miles  above  here  among  the  Islands,  that  he 
could  not  keep  his  hold,  and  the  wolf  disappeared 
after  the  loss  of  much  blood;  the  dog  belonged  to 
Mr  Isaac  Crenshaw,  our  worthy  friend,  who  had 
previously  settled  the  Barrett  farm,  and  was  one  of 
those  sufferers  by  the  soldiers  from  Rock  Island. 
Notwithstanding  we  were,  as  supposed  and  ex- 
pressed by  some  individuals,  beyond  the  Government 
of  the  United  States,  without  Law  or  Gospel,  we 
were  governed  by  that  principle  which  reigns  in  the 
breast  of  every  American  Citizen,  to  do  unto  others 
as  we  would  wish  they  should  do  unto  us ;  and  among 
other  particulars  I  would  notice  in  passing,  that 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BURLINGTON         357 

there  were  a  few  of  the  fair  sex  who  attracted  the 
notice  of  the  boys,  but  the  query  was,  how  could  the 
nuptials  be  performed?  As  for  my  own  part,  I  was 
willing  to  be  governed  by  the  custom  that  prevailed, 
but  not  being  satisfactory  to  all  parties,  we  crowded 
the  flat  boat  and  paddled  over  the  river  to  the  oppo- 
site shore,  and  there  saw  the  ceremony  performed  by 

Judge of  Monmouth,  111.,  which  was  on  the 

third  December,  A.  D.  1833.  The  parties  were  Wm. 
E.  Eoss  and  Matilda  Morgan,  I  presume  the  first 
couple  that  were  united  in  wedlock  in  the  Black 
Hawk  Purchase.  In  the  Spring  of  1834,  we  peti- 
tioned the  Post  Master  General  for  a  special  office 
to  be  established  at  Burlington,  recommending  Wm. 
E.  Eoss  for  P.  M. ;  our  wishes  were  gratified,  but  the 
P.  M.  at  Shok-ko-kon  P.  0.  refused  giving  up  the 
law,  books,  lock,  key,  &c. ;  his  excuse  was  that  he  had 
no  right  to  send  the  mail  out  of  the  United  States ;  it 
would  be  malfeasance  in  office;  but  by  hard  persua- 
sion he  established  a  branch  of  his  office  at  Burling- 
ton, receiving  the  profits  of  the  same,  and  appointing 
Wm.  E.  Eoss,  Deputy,  at  whose  expense  the  mail 
was  carried  once  a  week  for  six  months;  until  he 
was  ordered  by  the  proper  department  to  give  up 
the  packages  or  he  would  be  removed  from  office. 

"In  the  spring  of  1834,  the  Black  Hawk  Purchase 
was  attached  to  the  Territory  of  Michigan  for  Judi- 
cial purposes,  and  divided  into  two  Counties,  Du- 
buque  and  Des  Moines;  Dubuque  included  all  the 
country  north  of  a  line  due  west  from  the  lower  end 


358  THE  PALIMPSEST 

of  Eock  Island;  Des  Moines,  the  remainder  of  the 
country  south  of  said  line,  to  the  Missouri  line.  The 
same  Spring  public  documents  were  sent  Wm.  E. 
Eoss  from  the  Legislature  of  Michigan  at  Detroit, 
containing  instructions  to  notify  the  citizens 
throughout  the  county  to  hold  elections  for  their 
officers ;  elections  took  place  accordingly  in  the  fall, 
but  it  was  sometime  in  the  winter  before  we  could 
have  a  return  of  our  commissioners,  at  which  time 
there  being  no  sworn  officer  in  the  Government,  Wm. 
E.  Eoss  being  instructed  as  Clerk,  swore  the  Su- 
preme Judge  into  office;  and  he  in  turn  swore  him 
and  the  other  officers  to  faithfully  and  impartially 
discharge  the  duties  of  their  offices.  In  this  way 
the  wheels  of  Government  were  put  in  motion  in 
Black  Hawk  purchase ;  however,  there  was  no  court 
held  or  any  business  done  of  consequence  until  the 
Spring  of  1835. 

"In  the  fall  of  1833  there  was  a  school  house  built 
by  Wm.  E.  Eoss,  on  his  claim  immediately  back  and 
adjoining  the  town  claim,  as  originally  laid  out ;  and 
a  school  went  into  operation  in  the  Spring  of  1834, 
of  about  sixteen  or  eighteen  scholars,  taught  by 

Zadok  C.  Inghram We  were  likewise 

supplied  in  1834  with  a  minister  from  Illinois ;  spe- 
cially licensed  by  Elder  Peter  Cartright;  his  name 
was  Barton  Cartright,  a  young  man  of  promise ;  we 
were  also  visited  in  the  summer  by  Elder  P.  Cart- 
right,  W.  D.  E.  Trotter,  and  Asa  McMurtry,  who 
held  a  two  days  meeting  and  preached  under  a  shady 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OP  BURLINGTON         359 

Grove,  where  there  was  a  stand  erected  and  seats 
prepared  by  the  friends;  all  classes  uniting  in  the 
worship  of  Almighty  God. 

"In  regard  to  improvements  in  1834,  we  had  some 
accessions  to  our  village  of  very  good  citizens,  and 
several  frame  and  log  buildings  were  erected,  but 
our  farmers  went  far  ahead  in  improvement  of  any 
people  I  ever  saw  who  were  laboring  under  the  same 
disadvantages;  every  one  was  trying  to  excel,  who 
should  make  the  largest  improvement  and  plant  the 
most  grain.  I  scarcely  know  of  one  but  what  broke 
thirty  acres  of  Prairie,  many  of  them  fifty  or  sixty, 
and  Wm.  E.  Eoss  broke  eighty  acres  and  planted  the 
whole  of  it  in  Corn  and  Pumpkins,  he  commenced  in 
April,  and  finished  planting  the  twentieth  of  June; 
the  last  planting  made  the  best  corn.  Those  who 
had  the  largest  improvements  and  who  had  to  stand 
the  brunt  of  hardships  in  the  first  settlement  were 
Wm.  Stewart,  Eichard  Land,  Wm.  Morgan,  Lewis 
Walters,  Isaac  Canterberry,  E.  Smith,  Paris  Smith, 
P.  D.  Smith,  Isaac  Crenshaw,  B.  B.  Tucker,  E.  Wade 
and  Father,  and  some  few  others,  who  have  sold  out 
and  gone  farther  west,  or  left  the  country;  and  a 
few  that  have  died;  these  were  John  Harris  and 
William  Wright,  and  no  doubt  some  few  that  have 
slipped  my  memory." 

A  DESTRUCTIVE  FIRE 

During  the  night  of  December  12,  1837,  fire  broke 
out  in  the  building  which  Jeremiah  Smith  had  built 


360  THE  PALIMPSEST 

for  the  accommodation  of  the  legislature  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Wisconsin.  It  spread  to  other  buildings 
and  proved  disastrous,  as  the  account  given  by  the 
Wisconsin  Territorial  Gazette  and  Burlington  Ad- 
vertiser for  December  16,  1837,  clearly  shows : 

"  Wednesday  last  was  a  sad  day  for  Burlington, 
and  long  will  it  be  rememered  in  sorrow.  Its  matin 
light  opened  upon  the  ruins  of  the  fairest  portion  of 
our  village ;  and  now  the  Capitol,  and  five  of  our  best 
store  houses,  and  two  groceries,  are  piles  of  smoul- 
dering ruins.  The  whole  of  the  block  of  buildings 
on  Front  street,  from  the  corner  of  Lamson  &  Girvan 
up  to  the  Post  Office,  is  totally  destroyed,  embracing 
the  store  houses  of  Lamson  &  Girvan,  Chase  &  Kim- 
ball,  J.  Newhall  &  Co.,  George  W.  Kelley,  Jeremiah 
Smith,  and  the  State  House.  Little  merchandise, 
comparatively  speaking,  was  destroyed  by  the  fire, 
owing  to  the  active  exertions  of  our  citizens,  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature  and  strangers ;  but,  neverthe- 
less, much  of  it  was  greatly  injured  by  the  hasty 
removal.  The  immediate  loss  of  property  is  esti- 
mated at  $20,000,  but  it  must,  eventually  prove  to  be 
far  beyond  that  sum.  The  store  houses  destroyed 
were  among  the  best  buildings  in  the  town ;  and  the 
Capitol,  recently  finished,  cost  Major  Smith  $7,000. 
It  was  a  spacious  building,  and  very  well  adapted  to 
its  uses.  Thus,  in  a  few  short  hours,  has  our  thriv- 
ing town  met  with  a  disaster  which  months  and 
months  cannot  repair,  and  which,  for  the  present  and 
time  to  come,  will  press  heavily  upon  some  of  our 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BURLINGTON         361 

enterprising  and  worthy  citizens.  There  is,  however, 
a  buoyancy  and  elastic  spirit,  and  an  active  enter- 
prise among  our  people,  which  will,  we  feel  confi- 
dent, sustain  them  in  this  emergency,  and  which  in 
the  end  will  bring  them  triumphantly  out  of  all  diffi- 
culties. The  fire  originated  in  the  second  story  of 
the  Capitol;  from,  it  is  believed,  a  defectiveness  in 
the  hearth,  by  means  of  which  it  was  communicated 
to  the  beams  and  timber.  It  was  first  discovered 
about  2  o'clock  in  the  morning  by  the  engineer  of 
the  steamboat  Smelter,  which  was  then  lying  at  the 
wharf  nearly  opposite  the  scene  of  devastation.  The 
progress  the  fire  had  made  before  our  citizens  got 
the  alarm,  the  difficulty  of  getting  at  the  fire,  and  our 
total  destitution  of  engines  or  fire  apparatus,  gave 
the  flames  an  easy  triumph  over  every  exertion  that 
was  made  to  arrest  their  progress ;  and  it  was,  there- 
fore, soon  found  to  be  idle  to  attempt  it.  Every 
exertion  was  then  made  to  save  the  furniture  of  the 
capitol,  and  the  goods  and  merchandise  of  those 
stores  which  were  in  danger,  and  which  were  finally 
destroyed.  These  efforts,  as  we  have  said,  were  very 
successful,  but  still  many  articles  were  destroyed, 
which,  from  their  weight  and  situation,  could  not 
well  be  removed  at  the  time.  Some  of  the  merchants 
who  suffered  by  this  fire  have  already  made  arrange- 
ments to  pursue  their  business  in  other  houses; 
others,  we  fear,  will  not  be  able  to  do  so,  and  will 
have  to  store  away  their  goods  as  well  as  they  can, 
till  they  get  proper  rooms,  or  till  they  shall  be  en- 


362  THE  PALIMPSEST 

abled  to  rebuild  next  spring.  At  this  season  of  the 
year,  nothing  in  that  way  can  be  done ;  and  from  the 
fact  that  every  house  is  bespoken  almost  as  soon  as 
it  is  begun,  and  filled  before  it  is  finished,  it  is 
greatly  to  be  apprehended  that  suitable  rooms  can- 
not now  possibly  be  obtained. 

'  '  The  Council,  for  want  of  a  better  place,  now  holds 
its  sessions  in  the  west  room  of  the  upper  story  of 
the  house  occupied  by  the  editors  of  this  paper;  and 
the  House  of  Eepresentatives  is  comfortably  quar- 
tered in  the  upper  story  of  Webber  &  Remey's  new 
building. ' ' 

IN  THE  EAELY  FORTIES 

An  unknown  writer,  who  signed  his  name  "Veri- 
tas",  contributed  to  the  Hawk-Eye  for  September  7, 
1843,  an  interesting  account  of  conditions  in  Burling- 
ton at  the  close  of  its  first  decade  : 

"In  No.  7,  I  promised  to  give  the  statistics  of 
Burlington  in  the  present  number.  A  stranger  would 
not  fail  to  be  much  surprised  at  the  appearance  of 
this  place,  when  he  would  reflect  that  only  a  few 
years  ago  the  Iowa  country  was  owned  and  pos- 
sessed by  savage  tribes  of  Indians,  with  the  great 
Black  Hawk  as  their  head  chief.  The  Territory  was 
only  organized  under  a  territorial  form  of  govern- 
ment by  Congress  in  the  year  1838.  The  temporary 
seat  of  Government  for  the  Territory  was  placed  at 
Burlington,  but  has  since  been  removed  to  Iowa 
City. —  Burlington  is  the  largest  town  in  the  Terri- 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BURLINGTON         363 

tory,  and  is  situated  upon  the  west  bank  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  in  Fractional  Townships  69  and  70 
N.  E.  2  West,  and  extends  one  mile  along  the  River 
and  one  half  mile  back.     The  town  —  now  city  — 
was  laid  off  in  1834.    The  first  sale  of  lots  was  in 
1841.    The  present  population  is  about  2000.    The 
City  is  incorporated,  and  is  under  good  regulation 
of  city  police.    One  Mayor  and  eight  Aldermen  com- 
pose the  city  council.    The  city  is  also  the  county 
seat  of  Des  Moines  county,  which  contains  a  popula- 
tion of  8,500.     The  buildings  are  generally  good. 
Good  building  rock  of  a  superior  quality  is  very 
abundant  here,  some  of  the  houses  are  built  of  rock. 
The  city  contains  thirty  dry  goods  stores,  twelve 
groceries,  twenty  ware  houses,  three  iron  stores,  one 
iron  foundry,  four  drug  stores,  nine  doctors,  twenty- 
eight  lawyers,  four  black  smith  shops,  two  saddleries, 
three  bake  shops ;  three  brick  yards,  which  give  em- 
ployment to  forty  hands,  twenty  bricklayers,  twelve 
stone  cutters,  tailors,  carpenters  and  house  Joiners, 
ad  infinitum,  two  printing  offices,  three  livery  stables, 
one  post  office,  six  stage  routes  coming  into  the  city. 
Times  are  said  to  be  hard  here,  and  money  scarce. 
The  currency  is  made  up  of  Missouri,  Wisconsin, 
Indiana,  Kentucky  and  Ohio  bank  notes,  and  a  very 
fair  proportion  of  specie,  and  some  times  the  yellow 
Benton  boys,  alias  mint  drops,  are  seen  flowing  up 
the  river,  and  shining  through  the  interstices  of  the 
silken  purses;  but  these  sights  are  somewhat  rare, 
and  like  Angel's  visits,  few  and  far  between.    In  fact 


364  THE  PALIMPSEST 

there  is  not  one  half  of  the  money  in  circulation  here, 
that  ought  to  be,  for  this  city  is  the  great  point  of 
attraction,  for  the  whole  western  world,  and  will 
shortly  be  the  younger  sister  of  St.  Louis,  and,  if 
Congress  would  grant  an  appropriation  to  clear  out 
the  rapids  below  this  place,  which  is  hoped  will  be 
done,  she  will  one  day  be  the  rival  of  the  Missouri 
Mistress.  There  is  one  of  the  best  landings  for 
Steam  Boats  here  of  any  place  on  the  Upper  Mis- 
sissippi. Notwithstanding  the  hardness  of  the  times, 
the  city  is  improving  rapidly  and  presents  a  fine, 
thriving  appearance.  Last  season  about  eighty 
buildings  were  erected  within  her  corporation,  and 
about  as  many  more  have  been  erected  this  season. 
The  bluffs  here  are  very  high,  and  the  city  is  in  no 
danger  of  ever  being  overflowed  by  the  river. —  The 
conveniences  and  facilities  for  slaughtering  and 
packing  pork,  are  as  great  here  as  any  other  place  in 
the  west.  The  Steam  Ferry  Boat  at  this  place,  called 
the  Shockoquon,  owned  by  Thurston  and  Webb,  is 
safe  and  good  for  movers  and  others  going  to  Iowa 
to  cross  upon.  Her  age  is  about  four  years.  Her 
keel  is  one  hundred  feet,  her  beam  twenty-five  feet, 
her  guards  ten  feet.  She  has  two  engines  of  thirty 
horse  power  each,  she  is  well  manned,  and  is  safe 
and  speedy  in  crossing.  The  rates  of  Ferriage  are 
fixed  by  law  and  never  exceeded  in  any  case.  In  fact, 
though  the  rates  of  ferriage  are  raised  by  law,  when 
the  river  is  out  of  its  bank,  and  the  ferrying  is  then 
about  five  miles  down  to  a  little  village  on  the  east 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BURLINGTON         365 

bank  of  the  river,  yet  such  is  the  generosity  of  the 
owners  of  this  boat,  that  they  do  not  charge  any 
higher  rates  at  one  time  than  another.  The  rates  are 
as  follows: 

For  two  horses  and  a  wagon,  and  their  load,        $1.00 

For  each  additional  pair  of  horses  or  oxen,  25 

For  a  carriage  and  one  horse,  75 

"    man  and  horse,  25 

"    foot  passenger,  13 

"    each  head  of  loose  cattle  13 

"      "     head  of  sheep  and  hogs,  (sucklings 

excepted,)  6 

"Where  there  is  a  large  lot  of  stock,  wagons,  &c. 
ferried  over  at  one  time,  a  liberal  deduction  is  made 
from  those  rates. 

"The  route  from  the  central  parts  of  Illinois, 
Indiana,  and  Ohio,  to  the  Des  Moines,  Skunk  and 
Big  Cedar  settlements  in  Iowa,  is  direct  by  the  way 
of  Burlington.    The  country  east  and  west  of  this 
place  is  well  settled;  and  accommodations  for  trav- 
elers are  good  for  western  fare.    The  crossing  at  the 
Prophet's  town  is  too  low  down  the  river,  and  throws 
the  travel  to  Iowa  too  far  south,  and  in  the  half 
breed  tract  of  country,  where  the  roads  are  broken 
and  rough.    Those  going  to  the  north  part  of  Mis- 
souri, would  have  a  tolerably  direct  route  by  cross- 
ing at  Nauvoo.    I  will  give  the  routes  and  distances 
from   the   principal    starting   points    to   Iowa   via 
Burlington  in  my  next  number  as  my  sheet  is  filled. ' ' 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

DIARISTS 

"He  who  runs  may  read"  perhaps,  but  he  seldom 
has  time  to  write.  The  journals  of  exuberant  youth 
generally  cease  with  the  advent  of  business  and  pro- 
fessional struggles.  The  man  of  public  affairs  lives 
through  interesting  events,  but  his  midnight  oil 
usually  lights  up  the  conference  table,  rather  than 
the  desk  where  the  faithful  pen  scratches  off  a  record 
of  the  day's  doings.  The  soldier  sees  stirring  times, 
but  he  is  apt  to  be  so  tired  when  he  drops  his  sword 
and  reaches  for  his  pen  that  he  soon  finds  himself 
asleep. 

And  yet  whence  comes  the  material  of  the  com- 
mentator and  autobiographer —  the  detailed  inci- 
dent, the  fleeting  impressions,  the  vivid  associations 
with  the  background  of  the  moment  —  if  the  writer 
trusts  only  to  his  memory!  We  wonder  if  Caesar 
kept  a  diary.  He  says  at  one  point,  "All  these 
things  had  to  be  done  by  Caesar  at  one  time",  and 
thereupon  enumerates  an  incredibly  long  list  of 
duties.  Did  he  when  the  day  was  over,  pull  forth  an 
archaic  form  of  pocket  diary  and  record  his  deeds 
as  data  for  the  later  production  of  his  Commen- 
taries^ 

366 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  367 

George  Washington  kept  an  intermittent  diary, 
the  matter-of-fact  but  persistent  James  K.  Polk  suc- 
ceeded in  writing  a  daily  journal  throughout  most  of 
his  presidential  term,  and  John  Quincy  Adams  il- 
luminates the  events  of  half  a  century  with  his  very 
human  record.  More  often  diaries  have  been  kept 
by  men  of  less  arduous  and  exacting  duties,  by  men 
of  a  contemplative  nature,  and  if  these  writers  are 
observant  and  sincere  and  not  solely  interested  in 
weather  and  personal  ailments,  their  writings  are 
unparalleled  sources  of  historical  knowledge.  The 
daily  task  is  a  burden,  however,  and  the  real  and 
genuine  diarist  is  a  comparatively  rare  individual. 
Like  the  " purple  cow",  too  many  men  would  rather 
see  than  be  one. 

DIARIES  OF  THE   FRONTIER 

Yet  it  is  a  happy  fact  that  the  adventuring  west- 
erners often  kept  journals  of  their  migration  and 
their  new  experiences.  Overland  wagon  trips, 
steamboat  voyaging,  and  the  marchings  of  pioneer 
dragoons  and  volunteers  usually  had  their  faithful 
recorders,  who  recounted,  day  by  day,  in  language 
picturesque  but  graphic,  the  story  of  the  new  lands. 
What  matter  if  they  write  "korn  and  foreg"  in- 
correctly, overindulge  in  capital  letters,  and  forget 
punctuation  marks,  so  long  as  they  give  us  the  facts. 
Stout  little  notebooks  scrawled  all  the  way  through 
with  the  daily  experiences  of  a  forty-niner  or  a 
Pike's  Peak  traveller,  with  the  comments  of  a  pio- 


368  THE  PALIMPSEST 

neer  settler  upon  his  day-by-day  life  in  the  period  of 
log  cabins  and  Indian  alarms,  or  with  the  jottings  of 
a  soldier  patrolling  the  Northwest  Border  in  1865, 
have  survived  many  a  housecleaning  only  to  be  de- 
stroyed at  last  by  an  unthinking  worshipper  of  the 
things  of  to-day.  Diaries  do  not  die  of  old  age. 
They  last  as  long  as  they  are  cared  for  and  their 
value  improves  with  their  antiquity.  We  earnestly 
plead  for  their  preservation,  and  we  also  hope  that 
the  gentle  art  of  keeping  a  diary  will  not  pass  away 
in  the  hurly  burly  of  modern  life. 

J.  C.  P. 


THE  PALIMPSEST 

EDITED  BY  JOHN  C.  PARISH 

ASSOCIATE  EDITOR  OF  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

VOL.  II  ISSUED  IN  DECEMBER  1921  No.  12 

COPYRIGHT  1921   BY  THE  STATE  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY  OF  IOWA 

A  Race  Riot  on  the  Mississippi 

It  was  early  in  the  morning  of  the  29th  of  Julyr 
1869,  when  the  Northern  Line  steamer  "Dubuque" 
swung  slowly  away  from  the  wharf  at  Davenport 
and  with  many  puffs  and  snorts  from  the  remon- 
strating engine,  began  to  push  her  way  northward 
against  the  current.  The  shouting  of  orders,  the 
creaking  of  the  boat's  machinery,  and  the  bumping 
of  the  boxes  and  barrels  of  freight  as  they  were 
moved  about  were  in  marked  contrast  to  the  quiet  of 
the  river  slipping  interminably  on  its  way  to  the 
ocean,  and  the  peaceful  shores  dotted  here  and  there 
with  farm  houses. 

In  her  cabins  on  the  upper  deck  the  vessel  carried 
about  one  hundred  passengers,  and  on  the  deck  be- 
low where  the  freight  was  piled  high  were  twice  as 
many  steerage  or  deck  passengers,  who  shared  with 
some  horses,  also  bound  northward,  the  discomforts 
of  the  open  deck.  These  men,  rough  in  dress  and 
fluent  in  profanity,  included  many  lumbermen  wha 


370  THE  PALIMPSEST 

had  floated  huge  rafts  of  logs  down  the  river  and 
were  now  returning  to  the  harvest  fields  and  logging 
camps  of  the  north.  The  steamer  was  commanded 
by  Captain  John  B.  Rhodes  who  had  under  him  a 
crew  consisting  of  a  few  white  officers  and  about 
thirty  deck  hands,  most  of  whom  were  colored- 

A  little  after  eight  o'clock,  just  as  the  cabin  pas- 
sengers were  finishing  breakfast,  the  second  clerk, 
Theodore  Jones  by  name,  went  to  the  lower  deck  to 
collect  fares  and  examine  tickets.  This  was  no  easy 
task  for  the  space  was  crowded ;  and  the  officer  sta- 
tioned a  negro  deck  hand  named  Moses  Davis  at  the 
stairway  with  orders  to  permit  no  one  to  ascend 
while  the  fares  were  being  collected. 

Apparently  this  was  a  mistake  in  judgment  on  the 
part  of  the  clerk,  for  the  raftsmen,  accustomed  to 
submit  to  harsh  and  even  brutal  treatment  from 
their  white  bosses,  had  only  contempt  for  a  colored 
man.  It  was  not  long  before  an  Irish  lumberman 
known  as  " pock-marked "  or  "Mike"  Lynch,  who 
had  been  drinking  and  was  in  a  quarrelsome  mood, 
attempted  to  pass  the  guard  —  probably  to  secure 
more  liquor  at  the  bar  above.  An  altercation  fol- 
lowed which  was  interrupted  temporarily  by  the 
mate,  John  F.  Sweet.  Lynch  withdrew  but  gathered 
about  him  some  twenty-five  of  his  associates  and  be- 
gan to  threaten  the  negro.  It  was  suggested  that 
Lynch  and  Davis  fight  it  out  and  a  ring  was  formed, 
but  the  Irishman  refused  to  fight  a  negro  on  these 
terms  and  instead  led  a  rush  at  Davis. 


RACE  RIOT  ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI  371 

This  was  the  signal  for  pandemonium.  Other 
raftsmen  joined  in  the  assault  which  was  extended  to 
all  the  colored  employees  on  the  boat.  By  this  time 
the  steamer  had  reached  Hagy's  Landing  at  Hamp- 
ton, Illinois,  and  some  of  the  rioters,  running  to  the 
shore,  armed  themselves  with  pieces  of  coal,  rocks, 
and  billets  of  wood  with  which  they  bombarded  the 
luckless  colored  men.  Others,  led  by  Lynch,  began 
a  search  for  the  colored  deck  hands  who  made  fran- 
tic efforts  to  find  places  of  concealment.  Some  six- 
teen of  them  escaped  to  the  shore  followed  by 
scattering  revolver  shots  and  missiles  of  various 
kinds.  Others  were  not  so  fortunate.  In  the  melee, 
Davis  escaped  from  the  mob  and  secreted  himself 
under  a  lifeboat  on  the  hurricane  deck.  Two  other 
colored  hands,  beaten  and  cut  by  their  assailants, 
hurried  to  the  stern  and  in  despair  leaped  into  the 
river,  where  they  sank  immediately  leaving  the  water 
colored  with  their  blood. 

A  third  victim,  likewise  cut  and  beaten  until  partly 
unconscious,  was  then  seized  by  half  a  dozen  men 
and  thrown  into  the  river  where  he,  too,  disappeared. 
A  fellow  sufferer,  pursued  by  the  blood  crazed  mob 
and  frantic  with  fear  jumped  from  the  deck.  For  a 
while  he  struggled  in  the  current  but  chunks  of  coal 
and  sticks  of  wood  fell  thick  and  fast  about  him  and 
he  was  soon  engulfed  by  the  stream,  while  the  rioters 
shouted  in  exultation. 

After  these  four  murders,  the  mob  made  a  hunt 
for  more  "  niggers ",  searching  the  main  deck,  the 


372  THE  PALIMPSEST 

guards  of  the  cabins,  and  the  hurricane  deck.  At 
last  Lynch  spied  Davis  and  with  an  oath  pointed 
out  his  hiding  place  to  the  other  rioters.  The  negro 
sprang  up  knife  in  hand,  and  ran  toward  the  stairs 
slashing  one  of  his  pursuers  as  he  went  but  not  in- 
flicting a  fatal  wound.  He  too  was  forced  to  jump 
into  the  river.  Two  men  in  a  skiff  started  out  to 
rescue  him  but  before  they  could  reach  him  he  had 
been  hit  by  one  of  the  missiles  which  were  being 
hurled  at  him  and  was  drowned.  Some  days  later 
his  body  was  found  in  the  river  at  Muscatine  and 
given  burial. 

While  this  scene  of  bloodshed  was  being  enacted 
on  the  lower  deck,  many  of  the  cabin  passengers 
watched  the  riot  from  the  rail  of  the  deck  above, 
among  them  being  a  young  woman  named  Jane  Tea- 
garden  who  many  years  later  wrote  a  reminiscence 
of  the  experience.  With  her  were  some  children  and 
a  number  of  other  women.  Fortunately  for  the 
colored  men,  however,  many  of  the  cabin  passengers 
were  still  in  their  staterooms.  One  of  the  negroes, 
covered  with  blood  from  a  cut  in  his  throat,  ran  into 
the  cabin  occupied  by  Eev.  and  Mrs.  D.  C.  McCoy, 
exclaiming  < '  Save  me,  do  save  me,  Missis ! "  He  was 
kept  there  and  his  wounds  bandaged  while  rioters 
rushed  back  and  forth  in  the  corridor  outside  hunt- 
ing for  more  victims.  One  fugitive  was  hidden  by 
a  woman  passenger  in  her  stateroom  and  his  pur- 
suers were  given  to  understand  that  he  had  jumped 
into  the  river.  Several  of  the  colored  men  were 
secreted  by  the  officers  in  their  cabins. 


RACE  RIOT  ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI  373 

This  was  apparently  all  the  officers  of  the 
"Dubuque"  could  do,  for  none  of  them,  strange  to 
say,  were  armed.  In  twenty  minutes  there  was  not 
a  colored  deck  hand  to  be  seen  anywhere.  In  the 
midst  of  the  riot,  the  vessel  had  left  Hampton  and 
was  now  continuing  her  course  up  the  river,  the 
rioters  threatening  to  burn  the  boat  if  the  captain 
made  a  stop  for  assistance.  It  appears,  however, 
that  no  attempt  was  made  to  prevent  the  passengers 
from  going  ashore  and  these  were  requested  by  the 
officers  of  the  boat  to  telegraph  to  Rock  Island  for 
aid.  Some  of  the  raftsman  even  volunteered  to  act 
as  deck  hands  and  the  steamer  resumed  a  semblance 
of  order,  though  the  rioters  kept  a  lookout  for  any 
of  the  colored  men  left  on  the  vessel. 

At  Camanche,  the  ringleader,  Lynch,  and  a  man 
named  Butler  who  had  been  slightly  wounded  by 
Davis  in  his  unsuccessful  dash  went  on  shore  and 
failed  to  return-  They  escaped  just  in  time.  A  tel- 
egram had  reached  the  Sheriff  of  Eock  Island 
County  and  in  a  short  time  Deputy  Sheriff  Payne 
with  a  posse  of  about  sixty  men  started  to  intercept 
the  boat  at  Clinton  reaching  there  between  three  and 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  about  fifteen  minutes 
ahead  of  the  "Dubuque".  Here  the  steamer  pulled 
into  the  shore  and  threw  out  a  gang  plank,  for  the 
arrival  of  the  officers  was  unknown  to  the  rioters. 
As  the  boat  docked  a  number  of  the  raftsmen  started 
to  follow  Lynch 's  example  and  leave  the  vessel  but 
they  were  met  by  the  Deputy  Sheriff  backed  by  a 


374  THE  PALIMPSEST 

dozen  armed  men  and  compelled  to  return  to  the 
boat.  The  bluster  and  defiance  of  authority  which 
had  been  growing  weaker  now  disappeared  entirely 
and  it  was  without  much  difficulty  that  twenty  of  the 
men,  pointed  out  by  the  boat's  officers  as  implicated 
in  the  riot,  were  put  in  irons. 

Captain  Ehodes  decided  to  land  the  prisoners  at 
Eock  Island,  and  the  "Dubuque",  upon  which  there 
was  now  the  hush  of  tragedy  and  the  order  imposed 
by  armed  representatives  of  the  government,  was 
turned  southward  late  in  the  afternoon,  stopping 
only  to  pick  up  some  of  the  deck  hands  who  had  fled 
from  the  boat  at  the  beginning  of  the  attack. 

As  the  steamer  drew  up  to  the  landing  at  Rock 
Island  crowds  of  curious  people  were  kept  back  by 
ropes  which  had  been  stretched  about  a  part  of  the 
levee.  The  colored  deck  hands  who  had  escaped  the 
fury  of  the  mob  were  formed  in  two  lines  inside  this 
space  while  the  posse  stood  guard  with  drawn  revol- 
vers. Then  the  chief  rioters  in  irons  were  marched 
off  the  boat  and  the  remaining  deck  passengers  were 
ordered  to  pass  between  the  rows  of  negroes  to  be 
identified.  Over  forty  white  men  were  taken  to  jail 
to  await  a  preliminary  hearing  and  the  crowd  dis- 
persed. The  colored  witnesses  were  given  lodgings 
in  the  Court  House.  Mr.  Jones,  the  clerk  whose 
order  had  precipitated  the  riot,  and  Mr.  Sweet,  the 
mate,  remained  to  give  evidence  and  at  half-past 
nine  that  night  the  boat  again  started  northward. 

The  following  Friday  morning  the  preliminary 


RACE  RIOT  ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI  375 

hearing  was  begun  at  Eock  Island  before  Police 
Justice  E.  C.  Cropper.  The  prisoners  were  brought 
in  manacled  in  pairs  and  guarded  by  the  Deputy 
Sheriff  and  fifteen  assistants.  The  survivors  of  the 
colored  crew,  twenty-four  in  number,  were  seated 
inside  the  bar,  fronting  the  prisoners.  A  local  news- 
paper gives  the  following  description  of  the  scene: 

"The  negroes  were  then  called  up,  one  by  one,  and 
asked  to  take  a  careful  survey  of  the  prisoners. 
They  followed  instructions  to  the  letter.  The  objects 
of  their  searching  gaze  were  about  as  uneasy  a  set 
of  mortals  as  ever  occupied  the  prisoner's  box  in 
Eock  Island.  As  the  negro  would  point  to  a  rioter 
and  spot  him,  the  fellow's  breath  would  be  impeded 
by  a  thickness  in  his  throat,  and  his  face  gave  signs 
of  oppressive  fear." 

As  a  result  of  this  hearing  ten  men  were  held  for 
trial  and  the  rest  were  freed.  Among  those  held  was 
Timothy  or  "Ted"  Butler  also  known  as  William 
Jones,  who  had  left  the  "Dubuque"  in  company  with 
Lynch.  Butler  had  been  captured  by  the  Sheriff  of 
Clinton  County  and  turned  over  to  the  authorities  at 
Eock  Island.  The  prisoners  were  indicted  for  the 
murder  of  one  of  the  negro  deck  hands  known  as 
William  Armstead  or  William  Armstrong,  but  their 
trial  was  postponed  from  time  to  time  and  the  wit- 
nesses allowed  to  leave  on  their  own  recognizance. 

This  gave  rise  to  the  suspicion  that  the  authorities 
did  not  intend  to  prosecute  the  white  men  for  the 
murder  of  negroes.  '  '  The  long  and  short  of  the  bus- 


376  THE  PALIMPSEST 

iness  is  that  the  case  is  virtually  approaching  an  in- 
glorious fizzle",  was  the  comment  of  the  Rock  Island 
Argus  in  October,  1869.  "  A  pile  of  money  has  been 
expended  by  the  county  and  private  individuals,  and 
the  whole  affair  has  'ended  like  a  shepherd's  tale'. 
Justice  has  been  cheated  of  its  prey.  .  .  .  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  Lynch  will  not  be  caught,  and  an- 
other $500  saddled  on  the  county. ' ' 

To  this  the  Davenport  Democrat  replied:  "Such 
surely  cannot  be  the  case.  When  a  reckless  crowd 
of  rioters  will  murder  negroes,  drive  them  into  the 
river,  cut  and  shoot  them  down  for  no  other  offense 
than  color,  whether  drunk  or  sober,  they  should  be 
made  to  suffer  the  full  penalty  of  the  law.  .  .  . 
These  men  are  the  terror  of  river  travel,  and  now 
let  them  learn  well  the  lesson  of  obedience  to  law, 
and  of  respecting  the  rights  of  others. ' ' 

The  fact  that  the  crime  was  caused  by  race  preju- 
dice aggravated  by  drinking  gave  the  tragedy  some 
political  significance  in  the  opinion  of  a  Muscatine 
editor  who  published  the  following  comment : 

WHISKY  and  PREJUDICE — These  were  the  incentives 
to  the  late  terrible  affair  on  the  steamer  Dubuque,  whereby 
five  human  lives  were  sacrificed  and  the  persons  and  prop- 
erty of  hundreds  of  men,  women  and  children  placed  in 
imminent  peril  by  an  infuriated  mob.  .  .  .  For  the 
first  of  these  incentives,  whisky,  the  steamboat  company  is 
responsible,  at  least  to  the  extent  to  which  it  permits 
intoxicating  beverages  to  be  dealt  out  from  the  bars  of 
its  steamers  to  reckless  and  irresponsible  men.  .  .  . 


RACE  RIOT  ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI  377 

For  the  second  incentive,  prejudice,  the  leaders  of  the  Dem- 
ocratic party  are  mainly  responsible.  They  have  per- 
sistently taught  their  followers  to  hate  the  negro  and  look 
upon  him  as  one  having  "no  rights  which  a  white  man  is 
bound  to  respect." 

After  some  delay,  however,  arrangements  were 
made  for  the  trial  of  the  rioters ;  but  the  defendants, 
evidently  fearing  the  sentiment  in  the  community 
familiar  with  the  story  of  their  crime,  asked  for  a 
change  of  venue.  This  was  granted  and  the  case  was 
transferred  to  the  Circuit  Court  of  Henry  County, 
Illinois.  Here  nine  of  the  men  were  put  on  trial  at 
the  June  term  of  court  in  1870.  As  a  result  of  this 
trial  two  of  the  defendants  were  acquitted  and  seven 
were  found  guilty  of  manslaughter,  receiving  sen- 
tences of  from  one  to  three  years  in  the  penitentiary. 
The  case  against  Timothy  Butler  for  some  reason 
was  postponed  and  finally  dropped. 

In  the  meantime  Michael  Lynch,  the  chief  insti- 
gator of  the  crime,  remained  at  liberty  for  some 
months.  At  the  request  of  the  Northern  Line  Packet 
Company  a  reward  of  $500  was  offered  for  his  arrest 
but  he  had  apparently  disappeared  completely.  He 
was  finally  apprehended  in  a  lumber  camp  at  Clar- 
endon, Arkansas,  where  he  secured  work  in  a  saw 
mill.  Keports  as  to  the  agency  of  his  capture  differ. 
One  story  is  that  he  was  indemnified  by  a  former 
associate,  who,  knowing  that  Lynch  was  aware  that 
he  had  another  wife  still  living,  feared  that  the  Irish 
lumberman  would  make  known  this  fact  and  desired 


378  THE  PALIMPSEST 

to  get  Lynch  out  of  the  way.  Another  account  is 
that  Lynch  was  identified  by  a  travelling  agent  who 
had  been  on  the  i '  Dubuque ' '  during  the  riot. 

The  identity  of  the  person  who  received  the  $500 
reward  is  not,  however,  an  essential  point  in  the 
story.  Lynch  was  arrested  and  two  officers  went  to 
Clarendon  and  returned  bringing  with  them  the  for- 
mer rioter.  The  trip  was  made  by  boat,  the  steamer 
"  Minneapolis "  bringing  the  trio  from  St.  Louis  to 
Eock  Island.  At  various  stopping  places  curious 
and  sometimes  hostile  crowds  tried  to  get  a  glimpse 
of  the  pock-marked  face  of  the  prisoner,  but  Lynch 
was  kept  in  a  stateroom  in  irons  and  the  would-be 
spectators  were  disappointed. 

Lynch  was  put  on  trial  for  the  crime  of  murder  in 
the  Circuit  Court  of  Bock  Island  County  in  Septem- 
ber, 1870,  and  after  a  trial  lasting  six  days  was  found 
guilty  of  manslaughter  and  sentenced  to  ten  years  in 
the  State  Penitentiary  at  Joliet. 

And  while  these  men  served  out  their  sentences, 
the  steamer  "  Dubuque  "  plied  up  and  down  the  Mis- 
sissippi. The  riot,  unusual  only  because  of  the  num- 
ber of  the  victims,  was  almost  forgotten,  except  when 
in  the  evenings  the  colored  deck  hands  perhaps  re- 
lated to  newcomers  among  them  the  story  of  the  five 
men  of  their  race  who  lost  their  lives  that  July 
morning,  or  the  white  officers  pointed  out  to  favored 
passengers  the  places  on  the  boat  from  which  the 
hunted  negroes  jumped  into  the  river  which  on  that 
occasion  served  as  the  executioner  for  the  mob. 

RUTH  A.  GTALLAHEB 


An  Indian  Ceremony 

[Colonel  George  Davenport  was  murdered  by  a  band  of  robbers  on 
July  4,  1845.  The  following  account  of  a  ceremony  by  the  Indians 
who  had  known  him  as  a  trader  and  friend  for  nearly  thirty  years 
appeared  in  the  Davenport  Gazette  for  July  31,  1845,  and  presumably 
was  written  by  the  editor,  Alfred  Sanders. —  THE  EDITOR] 

On  last  Friday  afternoon  we  were  witness  to  a 
strange  and  interesting  ceremony  performed  by  the 
Indians  over  the  remains  of  Mr.  Davenport,  who 
was  murdered  at  his  residence  on  Bock  Island  on  the 
4th  inst.  Upon  proceeding  to  the  beautiful  spot 
selected  as  his  last  resting  place,  in  the  rear  of  his 
mansion  on  Rock  Island,  we  found  the  War  Chief 
and  braves  of  the  band  of  Fox  Indians,  then  en- 
camped in  the  vicinity  of  this  place,  reclining  on  the 
grass  around  his  grave  at  the  head  of  which  was 
planted  a  white  cedar  post  some  seven  or  eight  feet 
in  height. 

The  ceremony  began  by  two  of  the  braves  rising 
and  walking  to  the  post,  upon  which  with  paint  they 
began  to  inscribe  certain  characters,  while  a  third 
brave  armed  with  an  emblematic  war  club,  after 
drinking  to  the  health  of  the  deceased  from  a  cup 
placed  at  the  base  of  the  post,  walked  three  times 
around  the  grave,  in  an  opposite  direction  to  the 
course  of  the  sun,  at  each  revolution  delivering  a 
speech  with  sundry  gestures  and  emphatic  motions 
in  the  direction  of  the  north-east.  When  he  had 
ceased  he  passed  the  club  to  another  brave  who  went 

379 


380  THE  PALIMPSEST 

through  the  same  ceremony  passing  but  once  around 
the  grave,  and  so  in  succession  with  each  one  of  the 
braves.  This  ceremony,  doubtless,  would  appear 
pantomimic  to  one  unacquainted  with  the  habits  or 
language  of  the  Indians,  but  after  a  full  interpreta- 
tion of  their  proceedings  they  would  be  found  in 
character  with  this  traditionary  people. 

In  walking  around  the  grave  in  a  contrary  direc- 
tion to  the  course  of  the  sun,  they  wished  to  convey 
the  idea  that  the  ceremony  was  an  orginal  one.  In 
their  speeches  they  informed  the  Great  Spirit  that 
Mr.  Davenport  was  their  friend  and  they  wished  the 
Great  Spirit  to  open  the  door  to  him  and  to  take 
charge  of  him.  The  enemies  whom  they  had  slain 
they  called  upon  to  act  in  capacity  of  waiters  to  Mr. 
Davenport  in  the  spirit  land.  They  believing  that 
they  have  unlimited  power  over  the  spirits  of  those 
whom  they  have  slain  in  battle.  Their  gestures  to- 
wards the  north-east  were  made  in  allusion  to  their 
great  enemies,  the  Sioux,  who  live  in  that  direction- 
They  recounted  their  deeds  of  battle,  with  the  num- 
ber that  they  had  slain  and  taken  prisoners.  Upon 
the  post  were  painted  in  hieroglyphics,  the  number 
of  the  enemy  that  they  had  slain,  those  taken  prison- 
ers, together  with  the  tribe  and  station  of  the  brave. 
For  instance,  the  feats  of  Wau-co-shaw-she,  the 
Chief,  were  thus  portrayed.  Ten  headless  figures 
were  painted,  which  signified  that  he  had  killed  ten 
men.  Four  others  were  then  added,  one  of  them 
smaller  than  the  others,  signifying  that  he  had  taken 


AN  INDIAN  CEREMONY  381 

four  prisoners,  one  of  whom  was  a  child.  A  line  was 
then  run  from  one  figure  to  another,  terminating  in 
a  plume,  signifying  that  all  had  been  accomplished 
by  a  chief.  A  fox  was  then  painted  over  the  plume, 
which  plainly  told  that  the  chief  was  of  the  Fox  tribe 
of  Indians.  These  characters  are  so  expressive  that 
if  an  Indian  of  any  tribe  whatsoever  were  to  see 
them,  he  would  at  once  understand  them. 

Following  the  sign  of  Pau-tau-co-to,  who  thus 
proved  himself  a  warrier  of  high  degree,  were  placed 
twenty  headless  figures,  being  the  number  of  the 
Sioux  that  he  had  slain. 

The  ceremony  of  painting  the  post  was  followed 
by  a  feast,  prepared  for  the  occasion,  which  by  them 
was  certainly  deemed  the  most  agreeable  part  of  the 
proceedings.  Meats,  vegetables  and  pies  were 
served  up  in  such  profusion  that  many  armsfull  of 
the  fragments  were  carried  off — it  being  a  part  of 
the  ceremony,  which  is  religiously  observed,  that  all 
the  victuals  left  upon  such  an  occasion  are  to  be 
taken  to  their  homes.  At  a  dog  feast,  which  are  fre- 
quently given  by  themselves  and  to  which  white  men 
are  occasionally  invited,  the  guest  is  either  obliged 
to  eat  all  that  is  placed  before  him,  or  hire  some 
other  person  to  do  so,  else  it  is  considered  a  great 
breach  of  hospitality. 

With  the  feast  terminated  the  exercises  of  the 
afternoon,  which  were  not  only  interesting  but 
highly  instructive  to  those  who  witnessed  them. 


Augustus  Caesar  Dodge 

The  interesting  article  on  Governor  Kirkwood  in 
the  Year  Book  of  the  Old  Settlers'  Association  of 
Johnson  County  for  1921,  and  Mr.  Lathrop's  book 
on  the  Life  and  Times  of  Samuel  J.  Kirkwood ,  in 
which  Augustus  Caesar  Dodge  is  called  an  aristocrat 
with  no  sympathy  for  the  life  and  interests  of  the 
common  people,  may  make  it  timely  to  restate  the 
facts  about  that  estimable  pioneer.  Israel  Dodge,  a 
soldier  of  the  Revolution,  left  Kentucky  in  1788  or 
1789  and  crossed  the  Mississippi  into  the  Spanish 
province  of  the  Upper  Louisiana,  settling  near  Ste. 
Genevieve  now  in  the  State  of  Missouri.  After  the 
purchase  of  Louisiana  from  Napoleon  Bonaparte  he 
witnessed  at  St.  Louis  in  1804  the  unfurling  of  the 
American  flag  as  a  signal  of  our  sovereignty  over 
the  new  domain.  At  Ste.  Genevieve,  his  grandson 
Augustus  C.  Dodge,  son  of  Henry  Dodge,  was  born 
in  1812.  The  boy  had  brief  and  insufficient  school- 
ing, a  few  months  in  a  log  school  house  with  windows 
of  oiled  paper,  using  pencils  made  of  leaden  bullets 
hammered  to  a  point,  quill  pens,  and  ink  made  by 
boiling  butternut  bark  with  gun  powder.  When  he 
was  fifteen  years  old,  the  family  moved  to  Wiscon- 
sin, travelling  on  the  steamboat  "  Indiana "  as  far 
as  the  Eapids  of  the  River  Des  Moines  and  the  bal- 
ance of  the  way  on  a  keel  boat  pulled  by  some  forty 
oarsmen  in  small  boats.  Landing  near  what  is  now 

382 


AUGUSTUS  CAESAR  DODGE       383 

called  Galena,  the  settlers  were  found  in  a  panic 
from  hostile  acts  of  the  Winnebago  Indians.  Henry 
Dodge  was  requested  to  take  command  and  organ- 
ized the  settlers  for  protection.  His  son,  A.  C. 
Dodge,  joined  this  force,  in  the  company  of  Captain 
Wm.  S.  Hamilton,  son  of  Alexander  Hamilton. 

After  the  Indians  were  subdued  Henry  Dodge 
settled  in  Iowa  County,  Wisconsin,  where  father  and 
son  worked  in  the  lead  mines.  From  there  the  son 
moved  to  Burlington,  Iowa,  in  1838.  The  father  be- 
came Governor  of  Wisconsin.  The  son  was  elected 
Delegate  to  Congress  from  the  Territory  of  Iowa, 
serving  from  1840  to  1846,  and  became  one  of  Iowa's 
first  United  States  Senators,  being  the  first  member 
of  that  body  who  was  born  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
From  the  Senate  he  went  as  our  Minister  to  Spain. 
His  erect  carriage  and  much  of  his  personal  manner 
were  due  to  association  with  the  Indians,  for  he 
knew  Black  Hawk,  Mahaska,  Keokuk,  Wapello,  and 
Poweshiek,  the  great  Sac  and  Fox  leaders.  Born  a 
frontiersman,  such  he  remained  with  not  a  trace  of 
aristocracy  about  him.  He  was  a  Democrat  in  pol- 
itics and  in  his  sympathies,  the  favorite  of  the  Iowa 
pioneers.  In  the  Senate  he  urged  the  Homestead 
Bill,  to  give  the  public  domain  to  the  settlers,  and 
took  leadership  in  the  measures  that  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  the  State. 

One  incident  in  his  senatorial  career  completely 
discloses  his  statesmanship  and  his  philosophy  of 
life.  The  Southern  Senators  had  provoked  a  debate 


384  THE  PALIMPSEST 

in  which  they  nagged  the  Northern  members.  On 
their  side  the  debate  was  closed  by  Brown  of  Mis- 
sissippi in  a  speech  full  of  contempt  and  ridicule  for 
the  Northern  people.  He  said  that  no  gentleman 
would  do  himself  or  others  the  personal  service  and 
manual  labor  for  which  the  negro  was  fitted  by 
nature. 

Then  Senator  Dodge  took  the  floor  in  reply.  The 
Philadelphia  Press  described  the  scene.  His  father, 
Henry  Dodge,  was  present  as  the  Senator  from  Wis- 
consin. The  Press  said: 

His  straight  Indian  figure,  strong  features  and  defiant  air 
gave  effect  to  his  tones  which  rang  out  like  a  trumpet  call. 
He  said:  "I  have  never  permitted  myself  to  believe  that 
there  can  ever  be  civil  war  between  the  North  and  South. 
But  today  I  have  heard  with  mingled  astonishment  and 
regret  in  the  speech  of  the  Senator  from  Mississippi  such 
views  of  life  and  its  duties  that  I  differ  from  him  as  widely 
as  the  poles  are  asunder.  If  his  views  are  those  of  his  sec- 
tion, civil  war  is  possible.  I  say  on  the  floor  of  this  Senate, 
in  the  presence  of  my  father,  the  Senator  from  Wisconsin, 
who  will  attest  its  truth,  that  I  have  performed  and  do  per- 
form, all  these  services  denounced  as  menial.  I  saw  my  own 
wood,  I  have  worked  in  the  mines,  and  driven  teams  of 
horses,  oxen  and  mules,  and  consider  myself  as  respectable 
as  any  senator  on  this  floor. ' ' 

When  sent  as  Minister  to  Spain,  he  immediately 
acquired  complete  use  of  the  Spanish  language,  and 
years  later  told  me  that  he  found  his  command  of 
Indian  dialects  useful  in  his  study  of  the  new  tongue. 
But  while  absent  from  the  State  Iowa  had  changed 


AUGUSTUS  CAESAR  DODGE  385 

in  its  politics  and  population.  The  pioneers  who 
fellowshipped  him  were  in  a  minority,  and  the 
newer  settlers  knew  him  not.  Now  Kirkwood  was 
not  a  frontiersman  nor  a  pioneer.  Born  in  Mary- 
land, he  was  reared  in  Washington  City.  He  moved 
to  an  old  settled  community  in  Mansfield,  Ohio,  and 
thence  to  Iowa,  where  he  settled  at  the  close  of  our 
pioneer  period. 

I  knew  Dodge  intimately  from  my  childhood  and 
Kirkwood  as  well  later  on  in  my  life,  and  they  were 
both  my  friends.  The  actors  in  that  time  long  gone 
by  should  not  be  judged  nor  disparaged  now  by  im- 
porting into  this  age  the  spirit,  the  prejudices,  and 
hasty  judgments  of  the  partisan  politics  of  the  past. 

JNO.  P.  IEISH 


Comment  by  the  Editor 

WHAT  IS  A  PIONEER? 

The  sketch  of  Augustus  Caesar  Dodge  by  Mr. 
Irish,  which  is  printed  in  this  number,  raises  some 
interesting  questions.  Just  who  is  entitled  to  be 
called  a  pioneer?  And  when  did  the  pioneer  period 
end  in  Iowa!  The  answers  are  not  easy,  for  the 
terms  are  relative.  According  to  the  dictionary,  a 
pioneer  is  "one  who  goes  before,  as  into  a  wilder- 
ness, preparing  the  way  for  others".  Taken  liter- 
ally, then,  only  the  very  first  arrivals  in  a  geographic 
location  could  be  classed  as  pioneers;  but  such  re- 
strictions never  have  been  adhered  to.  Bather  have 
we  spoken  of  men  and  women  as  pioneers  who  lived 
in  what  we  call  pioneer  conditions  —  which  involves 
further  definition.  Log  cabins  and  linsey-woolsey 
clothes,  puncheon  floors,  broad  axes,  and  gourd  dip- 
pers —  these  we  think  of  as  the  natural  background 
of  those  who  went  before,  preparing  the  way  for 
others.  But  it  is  hard  to  draw  a  line  and  say:  up 
to  this  time  men  were  preparing  the  way,  thereafter 
men  were  simply  followers. 

And  it  can  not  be  said  that  Iowa  shed  its  pioneer 
conditions  on  any  certain  date.  Burlington  in  1835 
was  less  of  a  pioneer  town  than  Iowa  City  in  1840,  or 
Webster  City  in  1850,  or  Sioux  City  in  1855.  The 
frontier  was  moving  westward  and  the  pioneers, 

386 


COMMENT  BY  THE  EDITOR  387 

though  they  might  not  class  themselves  as  frontiers- 
men, were  never  far  from  that  border  line.  Dodge 
was  no  doubt  more  distinctly  a  pioneer  than  Kirk- 
wood.  He  was  born  on  the  frontier  and  his  various 
moves  always  took  him  to  a  newer  fringe  of  civiliza- 
tion, while  Kirkwood,  in  1855,  though  he  came  upon 
other  conditions  which  were  to  try  his  mettle,  at 
least  found  log  cabins  and  the  gourd  dipper  no 
longer  in  vogue  in  Iowa  City. 

NEWCASTLE 

An  intimate  presentation  of  pioneer  conditions  in 
Iowa  is  found  in  the  Reminiscences  of  Newcastle, 
Iowa  (Webster  City)  dictated  by  Mrs.  Sarah  Brewer 
Bonebright,  written  out  by  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
Harriet  B.  Closz,  and  published  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Historical  Department  at  Des  Moines.  The 
parents  of  Mrs.  Bonebright  came  to  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Webster  City  in  1848,  and  were  the  founders 
of  the  town  which  at  first  was  called  Newcastle. 
Fragments  of  memories  of  details  of  life  and  bits  of 
local  color,  difficult  things  to  resurrect  in  historical 
work,  have  been  pieced  together  into  a  book  that  is 
illuminative  of  the  daily  existence  of  the  pioneers  - 
their  clothes  and  their  food  and  habits  of  eating, 
their  homes  and  furniture  and  the  tools  with  which 
they  were  made,  their  work  and  their  entertain- 
ments. Material  of  this  kind  can  not  but  be  useful 
in  the  understanding  and  interpretation  of  pioneer 
life. 

J.  C.  P 


INDEX 


[NOTE  —  The  names  of  contributors  of  articles  in  THE  PALIMPSEST  are 
printed  in  SMALL  CAPITALS.  The  titles  of  articles  and  of  all  other  publications 
are  printed  in  italics.] 


Abercrombie,  J.  J.,  company  in  com- 
mand of,  337,  338 

Ackley,  George  Hull  at,  279 

Aco,  Michel,  story  of,  161-177;  name 
of,  162 

Aco,  Michel, —  Squaw-Man,  by  JOHN 
C.  PARISH,  161-177 

Aco,    Pierre,    177 

Adams  County,  French  settlers  in,  96 ; 
removal  of  Icarians  to,  103,  104 

Adjutant  General  of  Iowa,  report  to, 
on  prize  fight,  185 

Agricultural  apprentices,  system  of, 
87,  88,  89 

Agricultural  school,  request  of  Port 
Atkinson  site  for,  349 

Aitchison,  Alison  EM  book  by,  329, 
330 

Alexander,  F.  L.,  Fort  Atkinson  un- 
der command  of,  348 

Allen,  James,  dragoon  expedition  un- 
der command  of,  341,  343 

Allen,  Tom,  participation  of,  in  prize 
fight,  183-189 

Along  the  Old  Military  Road,  by  JOHN 
E.  BRIGGS,  49-59 

Amana,  definition  of,  193-196;  life  in, 
195,  196,  210-222;  origin  of,  196- 
207;  religious  beliefs  of,  197,  222- 
228;  coming  of,  to  America,  199, 
200;  move  of,  to  Iowa,  200,  201; 
meaning  of  name  of,  203 ;  land 
owned  by,  204;  membership  of, 
205 ;  products  of,  205 ;  property  of, 
205,  206;  homes  of,  212,  213; 
meals  at,  216,  217,  218,  219; 
housekeeping  in,  213,  214,  215, 

216,  217,  218,   219;   life  of  people 
of,    210,    211,    213,    214,    215,    216, 

217,  218,   219;    dress  of  people  at, 
219,    220,    221;    churches    of,    224, 
225;   cemeteries  of,  226,   227;   diffi- 
culties  of,   228 

Amana,  by  BERTHA  M.  H.  SHAM- 
BAUGH,  193-228 

Amana  calico,  closing  of  mills  for, 
221 

Amana  Society,  incorporation  of,  205 ; 
constitution  of,  205,  206;  govern- 
ment of,  207,  208,  209;  electors  in, 

388 


208;  financial  statements  of,  208, 
209,  210 

Amana  villages,  description  of,  193, 
194,  200,  201;  construction  of,. 
199,  200,  202,  203;  names  of,  203; 
plan  of,  203;  description  of  life  in, 
204,  205 

Amana:  The  Community  of  True  In- 
spiration, glimpses  from,  229 

Amana  the  Church  and  Christian 
Metz  the  Prophet,  article  on,  230 

"American  Eagle"  (steamboat), 
French  settlers  on,  97 

American  Phrenological  Journal,  chart 
of  Black  Hawk  given  in,  325 

Amish  Mennonites,  coming  of,  to  Iowa, 
96;  dress  of,  220 

Anamosa   (Indian  girl),  legend  of,  53 

Anamosa,  travellers  at,  39;  early  his- 
tory of,  52,  53 

Armstead,  William,  indictments  for 
murder  of,  375 

Armstrong,  William,  indictments  for 
murder  of,  375 

Arnold,  Lydia  A.,  early  life  of,  311- 
317;  marriage  of,  317;  housekeep- 
ing equipment  of,  317,  318 

Arnold  family,  journey  of,  311-321 

Atkinson,  Henry,  Winnebago  Indians 
removed  by,  335;  troops  ordered  to 
Neutral  Ground  by,  337 

Auguel,  Antoine,  part  of,  in  expedition, 
163,  165,  166;  capture  of,  by  In- 
dians, 167,  168,  169;  rescue  of,  169 

Automobiles,  presence  of,  on  Old  Mil- 
itary Road,  47,  48;  invitations  to 
ride  in,  49 

Bad  Axe  River,   camp  at,   261 
Bainbridge,  Mr.,  fight  of,  234,  236 
Banquet,   description  of,  241-243 
Barnett,  Peter,  hotel  of,  293 
Barnum,    P.    T.,    attempt   of,    to   pur- 
chase  Cardiff   Giant,    274;    copy  of 
Giant  exhibited  by,  275 
Barren,  D.  W.  C.,  114 
Bates  House,  hospitality  of,  293 
Bather,  Andrew,  slaves  aided  by,  136. 

137 
Bather,  J.  R.,  slaves  aided  by,  136 


INDEX 


389 


Bears,  hunting  of,  148,  149,  166 
Bedford,  settlement  of  Titus  family  at, 

319,   320 
Beds,   description  of,   in  early  cabins, 

23,  24,   25 
Bee-hunting,  149 
Bell,  praise  of,  at  Bradford,  77 
"Belmont"  (steamboat),  troops  carried 

by,  344  , 

"Benton  boys",   363 
Berryhill,  C.  H.  journey  of,  240,  241 ; 

service  of,  on  committee,  241 
Berryhill,    Mrs.    C.   H.,   service  of,   on 

committee,  241,  242 
Bettannier,   E.  F.,   appointment  of,   as 

receiver,    112 

Biff  Game  Hunting  in  Iowa,  by 
CHARLES  AUGUSTUS  MURRAY,  144- 
157 

Big  Sioux  River,  ranch  on,  93 
Black    Hawk,    phrenological  study   of, 
323-327;  description    of,    325;     In- 
dians in  command  of,  362 
Black  Hawk  Purchase,   effect  of,    30; 
coming     of    settlers    to,    308,     351; 
judicial  organization  of,   357 
Blizzard,  description  of,  1-15 ;  difficul- 
ties  of   travelling   in,    2 ;    beginning 
of,  4,  5;   victims  of,   124 
Blizzard,  Lost  in  an  Iowa,  by  IRA  A. 

WILLIAMS,   1-15 
Blondeau,   M.,   burial    place  of,     353, 

354 

Bloomfteld,  Underground  Railroad  sta- 
tion at,  138 

Bly,    Frederick,    pamphlet    by,     323 ; 
phrenological  chart  for  J.  W.  Grimes 
made  by,   324,  327 
Boies,  Horace,   128 
Bonebright,  Mrs.  Sarah  Brewer,  book 

dictated  by,  387 
Boone,    gypsum    block    shipped    from, 

277 

Booth,  Edmund,  journey  of,  38,   39 
Bowen,  Jesse,  slaves  aided  by,  133 
Bowen's  Prairie,  disappearance  of,  58 
Boynton,    John    F.,    opinions    of,    con- 
cerning Cardiff  Giant,   272 
Bradford,    points     of   interest   in,    62 ; 
story     of,     65-71 ;     description     of 
church  in,    72-79 
Bradford  —  A  Prairie  Village,  by  H. 

Clark  Brown,  65-71 
Brady  Transfer  and  Storage  Company, 

Cardiff  Giant  in  charge  of,  281 
Brainard,  George  R.,  newspaper  pub- 
lished by,  293 

Bribery,  charges  of,  237,  238 
Briggs,  Ansel,  40,  41 
BRIGGS,    JOHN  ELY,    Along    the    Old 

Military  Road,  49-59 
Brigham,  Johnson,  prize  awarded  by, 
230 


British  flag,  raising  of,  on  Fourth  of 
July,  92 

Bronson  Hotel,  stage  coach  at,  67 

Brooke,  George  M.,  report  by,  on  Fort 
Atkinson,  346 ;  story  concerning, 
346 

Brother  Timothy,  meeting  with,  37 

Brown,  Senator,  work  ridiculed  bv, 
384 

BROWN,  HOWARD  CLARK,  Bradford  — 
A  Prairie  Village,  65-71 

Brown,  John,  headquarters  of,  63 ; 
slaves  aided  by,  132 ;  pursuit  of, 
133 

Buffalo,  killing  of,   166 

Buffalo  (New  York),  Amana  villages 
near,  199,  200;  Cardiff  Giant  ex- 
hibited at,  280;  settlers  at,  303,  313 

Burdette,  Captain,  slaves  aided  by, 
135 

Burlington,  land  office  at,  233;  arri- 
val of  immigrants  at,  307,  310,  319, 

352,  353,  354,  355,  356,   359;  com- 
pany enrolled   at,    344;    naming   of, 
351,  354;  ferry  at,  351;  capital  at, 
351,    362;    description   of,    in    early 
days,  351-359,   362-365;  burials  at, 

353,  354;  survey  of,  354,  363;  first 
marriage  at,  356,  357;  post  office  at, 
357;    school  at,    358;    church  servi- 
ces at,   358,   359;   fire  at,   359-361; 
location     of,    363 ;     population     of, 
363;    government    of,    363;    indus- 
tries    at,    363;     removal     of    A.    C. 
Dodge   to,    383 ;    pioneer   conditions 
in,  386 

Burlington,    The    Beginnings  of,  351- 

365 

Burlington  Gazette,  editor  of,  344 
Burlington    Hawk-Eye,    The,    publica- 
tion of,   351 
Burlington     Patriot,     publication     of, 

351 

Burn's  Chapel,  meeting  at,  178,  179 
Butler,     Timothy,     escape     of,     373; 
names  of,  375;  arrest  of,  375;  case 
against,    dropped,    377 
Bugler  Center,  location  of,   62 
Byington,  Le  Grand,    speakers    intro- 
duced by,  243 

Cabet,  Etienne,  communistic  party 
founded  by,  97;  book  by,  98;  arri- 
val of,  in  America,  98 ;  insubordin- 
ation against,  at  Nauvoo,  101,  102; 
departure  of,  from  Nauvoo,  103 ; 
death  of,  103 ;  disadvantages  of 
community  of,  201 

Cabins,  description  of,  17-20,  26-28, 
123,  124 

Cabins  in  Iowa,  Early,  by  MILDRED  J. 
SHARP,  16-29 

Cake,  description  of,  241,  242' 


390 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


Calhoun,  contest  with,  for  county  seat, 

295 
California,  emigrants  to,   44;   removal 

of  Icarians  to,  110;  lowans  in,  125, 

126,   127 

Camanche,   escape  of  Lynch  and  But- 
ler at,    373 

Camp  Atkinson,  construction  of,  335 
Campbell,  C.  B.,  slaves  aided  by,   135, 

136 
Camps,   description  of,   145,   148,   166, 

245,  252,   253,  254,   255,   256,  257, 

308,  309,  310,  319 
Canoe,  description  of,  246,  249 
Canterberry,     Isaac,  settlement    of,   at 

Burlington,   359 
Capital,  sites  of,  351 
Capitol,  burning  of,  360,  361 
Cardiff     (New     York),     Giant    found 

near,  269 

Cardiff  Giant,  story  of,  269-281 
Cardiff  Giant,  The,  by  RUTH  A.  GAL- 

LAHKR,  269-281 
Cardiff  Giant  Humbug,  The,  pamphlet 

entitled,  280 
Carpenter,     Cyrus  C.,   troops    ordered 

out  by,  to  prevent  prize  fight,  184 
Cartright,    Barton,    religious     services 

held  by,  358 
Cartright,  Peter,  minister  licensed  by, 

358 ;  visit  of,  to  Burlington,  358 
Cascade,    settlement   at,    39;    runaway 

boys  from,  44,  45;  early  history  of, 

55 
"Cat   and   clay"    chimney,    description 

of,   21,    22 

"Cat  faced"  sheds,   description  of,   18 
Catlin,   George  H.,  prophecy  of,    301, 

302 
Cattle,  watering  of,   3,  4,  5;  behavior 

of.   in  blizzard,   5,  6 
Cedar   River,   road  to,    34;    settlement 

on,  50:  thieves  along,  52;  scene  on, 

74:    steamboat  on,    122 
Cemeteries,  description  of,  226,  227 
Centre  Family,  failure  of,  212 
Chambers,     John,   troops    ordered  out 

by,  340,  341 

Change  of  venue,  request  for,  377 
Chapman,  William  W.,  career  of,   127 
Chase  &  Kimball,  loss  of,  in  fire,  360 
Chicago   (Illinois),  special  train  from, 

91;    slaves    aided    at,    133;    Cardiff 

Giant    carved    at,    277;    settlers    at, 

303.  304 
Chicago    and    Northwestern    Railroad, 

coming  of,  to  Iowa,  295 
Children,     sleeping    quarters    of,     24; 

care  of.  at  Amana,  218 
Chimneys,      description    of,     in     early 

cabins,  21,  22,  25 
"Chinking",  description  of,   19,  20 
Cholera,   death  of  Icarians  from,   98 


Churches,  description  of,  67-70,  224, 
225 

Cincinnati,  Underground  Railroad  sta- 
tion at,  138 

Circuit  Court  of  Henry  County,  trial 
of  rioters  in,  377 

Circuit  Court  of  Rock  Island  County, 
trial  of  Lynch  in,  378 

Circuit  rider,  description  of,  45,  46 

"City  Four  Square,  The",  singing  of, 
79 

Civil  Bend,  slaves  at,   130 

Civil  War,  Bradford  men  in,  73 ;  part 
of  Icarians  in,  105 

Clarendon  (Arkansas),  Michael  Lynch 
at,  377,  378 

Clark,  Alex.,  speech  by,  179,  180 ;  ap- 
preciation to,  181 

Clark  County  (Missouri),  escape  of 
slaves  from,  140,  141 

Clarke,  James  M.,  troops  raised  by, 
344 ;  discharge  of  troops  opposed 
by,  345 

Clarke,  William  Penn,  slaves  aided  by, 
132,  133 

Climate,  comment  on,  30-32 

Clinton,  Underground  Railroad  station 
at,  61,  130,  132,  134,  136;  arrival 
of  "Dubuque"  at,  373 

Clothing,  disposition  of,  in  frontier 
cabins,  25 ;  account  of,  123,  124 

Close,  Fred  Brooks,  share  of,  in  firm, 
82 

Close,  James  B.,  share  of,  in  firm,  82; 
business  of,  92,  93 

Close,  William  B.,  coming  of,  to  Iowa, 
81,  82;  farm  of,  82;  visit  of,  to 
England,  85,  86 

Close  Brothers,  gift  from,  to  flood  suf- 
ferers, 92;  business  integrity  of,  92, 
93 

Close  Brothers  and  Company,  organi- 
zation of,  82 ;  plans  of,  82,  83,  84, 
85 ;  land  business  of,  86 

Closz,  Mrs.  Harriet  B.,  book  by,  387 

Cole,  Mrs.  Catherine,  bell  donated  by, 
77 

Cole,   Cvrenus,   history  by,   329 

Cole,  Thomas,  bell  donated  by,   77 

Coleman,  R.  M.,  opinion  of,  concern- 
ing Fort  Crawford,  284 

Colored  Convention,  A,  by  RUTH  A. 
GALLAHER,  178-181 

Comment  by  the  Editor,  30-32,  60-64, 
95,  96,  125-128,  158-160,  190-192, 
229,  230,  264-268,  298-300,  328- 
332,  366-368,  386,  387 

Communism,  description  of,  at  Amana, 
211,   212,  214,  215,  216,   217,   218, 
219;  failure  of,  212 
Community    of   True   Inspiration    (see 
Amana) 

Company  B,  First  United  States  Dra- 


INDEX 


391 


goons,  sending  of,  to  Fort  Atkinson, 
337,  338 

Company  C,  Sixth  United  States  In- 
fantry, service  of,  at  Fort  Atkinson, 
848,  349 

Company  C,  Twenty-ninth  Iowa  Infan- 
try, organization  of,  296 

Company  F,  Fifth  United  States  In- 
fantry, expedition  of,  335 

Campany  K,  First  United  States  In- 
fantry, sending  of,  to  Fort  Atkin- 
son, 337,  338 

Concord  coaches,  description  of,  41; 
use  of,  56 

Consolidated  school,  description  of, 
296 

Constitution  (Iowa),  negro  suffrage 
amendment  to,  178-181;  ratification 
of  amendment  to,  181 

Cooking,  methods  of,   123 

Cooney,  George,  Fort  Atkinson  in 
charge  of,  349 

Cord  bed,  description  of,  24 

Corn,  lack  of  market  for,  314,  315 

Corning,  Icarian  community  at,  103- 
112 

Council  Bluffs,  early  name  of,  61;  mil- 
itia at,  185;  naming  of,  291 

Cowles,  Anson,  Ivanhoe  laid  out  by, 
51;  plans  of,  for  university,  51 

Cox,  Thomas,  Anamosa  laid  out  by,  52 

Crenshaw,  Isaac,  settlement  of,  at 
Burlington,  356, .359 

Crocker  Veteran  Gfuards,  service  of, 
184 

Cropper,  E.  C.,  hearing  before,  375 

Cross  Camp,  description  of,  252,  253, 
254,  255,  256,  257 

Croton,  Underground  Railroad  station 
at,  138 

Crummy's  Tavern,  hospitality  of,  240 

Cummins,  C.  B.,  refusal  of,  to  furnish 
gypsum  block,  277 

Daggs,  Buel,  escape  of  slaves  of,  140, 

141 
Dalrymple,  Oliver,  land  speculation  of, 

84 
Dartmouth,    founding  of,   52;    change 

of  name  of,  52 
Davenport,    George,    murder  of,    379; 

Indian  ceremonial  at  grave  of,  379- 

381 
Davenport,    cabin  at,    28,    61;    settlers 

at  310;     departure    of    "Dubuque" 

from,   369 
Davenport  Democrat,  quotation  from, 

376 
Davenport    Gazette,    burial    ceremony 

described  in,  379-381 
Davis,   Moses,   duty  assigned  to,   370; 

attack    on,   370;     escape    of,     371; 

death  of,  372 


Davis,  W.  L.,  militia  company  in  com- 
mand of,  184,  185 

Deck  hands,  number  of,  370;  attack 
on,  370,  371,  372;  murder  of,  371, 
372;  return  of,  to  "Dubuque",  374; 
rioters  identified  by,  374,  375;  story 
of  riot  told  by,  378 

Deer,  hunting  of,  91,  144,  148,  149, 
150,  151,  152,  153,  154,  166 

Democrats,  contests  of,  233,  237,  238- 

Denmark  (town),  Underground  Bail- 
road  station  at,  138,  139 

Dentists,  lack  of  work  for,  299 

Derby,  description  of,   91 

Des  Moines,  Underground  Railroad- 
station  at,  61,  130,  132 ;  colored 
convention  at,  178-181;  early  days 
in,  291 

Des  Moines  County,  establishment  of, 
357,  358 

Des  Moines  River,  prophecy  concern- 
ing valley  of,  301,  302;  fort  on, 
341;  settlements  on,  365 

Des  Moines  River,  Rapids  of  the,  382 

Des  Moines  Valley,  Dutch  settlers  in, 
95 

De  Witt,  Underground  Railroad  sta- 
tion at,  130,  134,  135 

Diaries,  importance  of,  366,  367 

Dickens,  Charles,  visit  of,  to  Mississip- 
pi River,  264 

Dickinson  County,  historic  sites  in,  63 

Dillon,  John  P.,  career  of,  127 

Dillon,  Lyman,  furrow  made  by,  34,, 
40 

Dodge,  Augustus  Caesar,  early  life  of, 
27,  382;  mail  routes  secured  by, 
56 ;  discharge  of  troops  opposed  by, 
345;  birth  of,  382;  education  of, 
382;  frontier  experiences  of,  382, 
383;  election  of,  to  Senate,  383; 
democratic  spirit  of,  383,  384,  385; 
defence  of  manual  labor  by,  384; 
appointment  of,  as  Minister  to* 
Spain,  description  of,  384,  385; 
right  of,  to  name  of  pioneer,  386, 
387 

Dodge,  Augustus  Caesar,  by  JNO.  P. 
IRISH,  382-385 

Dodge,  Henry,  mounted  troops  advo- 
cated by,  337;  son  of,  382;  lead 
mines  worked  by,  383 ;  appointment 
of,  as  Governor  of  Wisconsin,  383 

Dodge,  Israel,  settlement  of,  in  Louis- 
iana, 382 

Dog  feast,  etiquette  of,  381 

Doolittle,  A.,  settlement  of,  at  Burling- 
ton, 352,  353 

Doors,  provision  for,  in  early  cabins, 
20,  27 

Dougherty,  George,  efforts  of,  to  pre- 
vent prize  fight,  184,  185,  186,  189 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  debate  of,  315, 
316,  317 


392 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


Dragoons,  marches  of,  45,  342,  343 ; 
sending  of,  to  Fort  Atkinson,  337, 
338 

Dress,  rules  of,  at  Amana,  219,  220, 
221 

Drinking,  prevalence  of,  among  Eng- 
lish, 90;  part  of,  in  riot,  376,  377 

Dubnque,  Julien,  mines  of,  34;  grave 
of,  63 

Dubuque,  trip  to,  for  supplies,  8 ; 
road  to  33,  34,  36,  50,  55,  56,  60; 
mines  at,  301,  302;  settlers  at,  310 

"Dubuque"  (steamboat),  freight  car- 
ried by,  369;  passengers  of,  369, 
370;  story  of  riot  on,  369-378; 
crew  of,  370;  rioters  in  control  of, 
373;  arrival  of,  at  Clinton,  373; 
return  of,  to  Rock  Island,  374; 
causes  of  riot  on,  376,  377 

Dubuque  County,  establishment  of, 
357,  358 

Du  Lhut,  rescue  of  French  captives 
by,  168,  169 

Earlham,   snowfall  at,   32 

Early  Cabins  in  Iowa,  by  MILDRED  J. 
SHARP,  16-29 

Eastman,  Seth,  reinforcements  in 
command  of,  348 

Ebenezer,  Amana  community  named, 
199,  200;  removal  from,  202;  sale 
of  land  at,  202,  203,  204 

Editor,  Comment  by  the,  30-32,  60- 
64,  95,  96,  125-128,  158-160,  190- 
192,  229,  230,  264-268,  298-300, 
328-332,  366-368,  386,  387 

Editors,   altercations  of,    233-239 

Edwards,  James  G.,  newspaper  pub- 
lished by,  351 

Elk,  hunting  of,   144,    148,    149 

Elliot,  J.  L.,  service  of,  at  Fort  Atkin- 
son, 341,  342 

Emigration,  encouragement  of,  84,  85 

Emigrant's  Handbook,  publication  of, 
117 

English,  life  of,  in  Iowa,  80-94;  hunt- 
ing trip  of,  304 

English  Community  in  Iowa,  The,  by 
RUTH  A.  GALLAHER,  80-94 

Ephrata  Community,  failure  of,   212 

Episcopal  Church,  organization  of,  at 
Le  Mars,  93 

Esp4rance  (California),  Icarians  at, 
110 

Fair,  description  of,  293,  294 

Fairview,   history  of,   56-58 

Falls    of    St.    Anthony,    expedition    to, 

244-263;      Indians     taken      to,    on 

barges,   348 

Fanning,  Tim,   tavern  of,    34,   59 
Farming,    teaching    of,     87,     88,     89; 

conditions  of,   318,   319 


Farms,  description  of,  82,  83 ;  names 
of,  83 

Farquhar,  Admiral,  visit  of,  to  Iowa, 
93 

Faulkner,  Alexander,  Fort  Atkinson 
in  charge  of,  349 

Ferries,  changes  in,  310;  description 
of,  310,  364,  365;  charges  on,  364, 
365 

Fire,  description  of,  at  Burlington, 
360;  361;  origin  of,  361 

Fireplace,  description  of,  in  early 
cabins,  21,  26 

Fiske  Jubilee  Singers,  "The  Little 
Brown  Church  in  the  Vale"  sung 
by.  75 

Fitchburg  (Massachusetts),  Cardiff 
Giant  stored  at,  280 

Fleet  Foot    (Indian),  legend  of,   54 

Fletcher,  Abram,  appointment  of,  as 
commissioner,  290 

Fletcher,  Jonathan  R.,  acquaintance 
of,  with  James  M.  Morgan,  344, 
345 ;  presence  of,  with  Indians, 
347 

Flint  Hills,  settlement  at,  351,  352; 
names  of,  354 

Floors,  description  of,  in  early  cabins, 
22.  26,  27 

Flowers,  description  of,  at  Amana, 
221,  222 

Floyd,    Sergeant,   grave  of,   63 

Foley,  Michael,  gypsum  block  fur- 
nished by,  277 

Food,  description  of,  100,  101,  216, 
217,  218,  219,  313,  319,  352;  con- 
sumption of,  249,  250,  251 

Fort,  plan  of,  286,  287,  288 

Fort  Atkinson,  story  of,   333-350 

Fort  Atkinson,  Old,  by  BRUCE  E. 
MAHAN,  333-350 

Fort  Atkinson  (town),  name  used 
for,  333 

Fort  Crawford,  visitors  to,  146,  264; 
history  of,  283 ;  description  of,  283, 
284;  disadvantages  of  site  of,  283, 
284,  285;  rebuilding  of,  288; 
troops  from,  301,  335,  337,  347, 
348;  materials  from,  336;  with- 
drawal of  troops  from,  344 

Fort  Des  Moines,  troops  from,  343; 
abandonment  of,  344 

Fort  Dodge  (town),  origin  of  Cardiff 
Giant  at,  276,  277;  return  of  Car- 
diff Giant  to,  280,  281 

Fort  Frontenac,  expedition  from,  164; 
French  at,  169 

Fort  Leavenworth,  troops  from,  341; 
troops  at,  344 

Fort  Snelling,  Latrobe's  party  at,  257, 
258;  visitors  to,  264;  lumber  from, 
283 ;  troops  at,  344 ;  troops  from, 
348 


INDEX 


393 


Fort  Sanfprd,  establishment  of,  341 
"Forty  Mile   Strip",   departure  of  In- 
dians from,   36 

Fourth  of  July,  celebration  of,  92,  294 
Fowle,     John,     Fort      Crawford    com- 
manded by,  283,  284 
Fox  Indians,    memorial    ceremony    of, 

for  George  Davenport,  379-381 
Frazier,  Elihu,  slaves  aided  by,  140 
Frazier,  Thomas  Olarkson,  slaves  aided 

by,   140;   attack  on,   141,   142 
Frederick,    John  T.,  magazine    edited 

by,  230 
Fredericksburg,    settlement  of  William 

Pitts  at,  74 ;  burial  of  William  Pitts 

at,  79 
French,    colony   of,    in   Iowa,    97-112 ; 

life  of,  with  Indians,  161,   177 
French  language,  use  of,  by  Icarians, 

100,  106 
Frontier,     experiences    of  editors    on, 

233-239;     diaries     of,     367,     368; 

movement  of,  386,  387 
Funerals,    description    of,    at    Amana, 

226 
Furniture,     description    of,    in     early 

cabins,   23-26  , 

Furs,    buying  of,    165 ;    attraction   of, 

302 

Gaines,  Edmund  P.,  hill  selected  by, 
for  fort,  283 ;  Fort  Crawford  in- 
spected by,  283,  284,  285;  report 
of,  283,  284,  285,  286;  plan  of  fort 
presented  by,  286,  287,  288 

Galena  (Illinois),  meeting  at,  146; 
visitors  to,  264;  Dodge  family  at, 
383 

Galesburg  (Illinois),  Lincoln-Douglas 
debate  at,  315,  316,  317 

Gall,  phrenology  popularized  by,  322 

GALLAHER,  RUTH  AUGUSTA,  The  Car- 
diff Giant,  269-281 

GALLAHER,  RUTH  AUGUSTA,  A  Colored 
Convention,  178-181 

GALLAHER,  RUTH  AUGUSTA,  The  Eng- 
lish Community  in  Iowa,  80-94 

GALLAHER,  RUTH  AUGUSTA,  Icaria 
and  the  Icarians,  97-112 

GALLAHER,  RUTH  AUGUSTA,  A.  Race 
Riot  on  the  Mississippi,  369-378 

Game,  abundance  of,  144 

Gardens,  dispute  over,  107,  108;  des- 
criptions of,  at  Amana,  218,  219 

Garfield,  James  A.,  memorial  service 
for,  92 

Garfield,  Mrs.  James  A.,  resolutions  of 
sympathy  for,  92 

Geological  Survey  of  the  State  of 
Iowa,  Report  of  the,  statistics  from, 
31 

Gibbs,  Justice,  trial  before,   141 


Gleason,  Abel  B.,  slaves  aided  by,  135 

Goddard,  Josiah,  Fort  Atkinson  in 
charge  of,  349 

"Gomorrah",  visits  of  soldiers  to,  342 

Gopher  Prairie,  reference  to,  330,  331 

Grafton,  Sam,  practice  of,  at  Ivanhoe, 
51,  52 

Graham,  Judge,  slaves  aided  by,  135 

Grain,  price  of,  314,   315 

Grasshoppers,  land  values  decreased 
by,  82 

GRAVES  SARAH  ELLEN,  The  Coming  of 
the  Railroad,  240-243 

Gravier,  Jacques,  influence  of,  on  In- 
dians, 171-177 

"Great  Council  of  the  Brethren",  re- 
ligious authority  of,  207,  209,  210 

Green,  Horace,  Reuben  Williams  em- 
ployed by,  3 ;  location  of,  3 ;  trip 
made  by,  3 

Green,  Mrs.  Horace,  experiences  of, 
in  blizzard,  3,  4,  8,  9,  14,  15 

Greene  George,  early  activities  of,   52 

"Griffon"    (boat),  trip  of,  165 

Grimes,  James  W.,  pamphlet  collection 
of,  323 ;  phrenological  study  of,  323- 
327 

Grinnell,  J.  B.,  slaves  aided  by,  132 

Grinnell,  Underground  Railroad  sta- 
tion at,  61,  130,  132 

Grubbs,  S.  B.,  celebration  managed 
by,  122 

Gruber,  Eberhard  Ludwig,  influence 
of,  197 

Gypsum,  size  of  blocks  of,  272,  273; 
quarrying  of,  276,  277 

Hagy's  Landing,  "Dubuque"  at,  371 

Half-breeds,  warning  to,  343 

Hall,  James,  opinion  of,  concerning 
Cardiff  Giant,  273 

Hamilton  Wm.  S.,  company  com- 
manded by,  383 

Hampton  (Illinois),  "Dubuque"  at, 
371,  373 

Hansen,  Marcus  L.,  trip  of,  34,  35, 
49 

HANSEN,  MARCUS  LEE,  Phantoms  on 
the  Old  Road,  35-48 

Harlan,  James,  experience  of,  in  log 
cabin,  27 

Harris,  John,  settlement  of,  at  Bur- 
lington, 359 

Harrison,  William  Henry,  election  of, 
159,  160 

Harrison  County,  location  of  county 
seat  of,  290;  Agricultural  Society 
fair  held  by,  293,  294;  Fourth  of 
July  celebration  in,  294 

Hastings,  Serranus  C.,  career  of,  126, 
127 

Hawk-Eye      (Burlington),     name     of, 


394 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


351;  description  of  Burlington 
printed  in,  362-365 

Hawk-Eye  and  Iowa  Patriot,  name  of, 
351 

Heads,  A.  Study  in,  by  JOHN  C.  PAR- 
ISH, 322-327 

Heinemann,  Barbara,  influence  of, 
197,  223,  224 

Hennepin,  Louis,  mention  of,  161; 
part  of,  in  expedition,  163,  164, 
165,  166;  description  of,  164;  cap- 
ture of,  by  Indians,  167,  168,  169; 
rescue  of,  169;  report  of,  169 

Henry  County  (Illinois)  trial  of  rio- 
ters transferred  to,  377 

Higgins  Company,  H.  M.,  song  pub- 
lished by,  75 

Hi^h  Bluff,  tragedy  at,  53 

Hillis,  Newell  Dwight,  tribute  of,  to 
Magnolia,  297 

History,  relation  of,  to  geography, 
329,  330 

Hogan,  Joe,  participation  of,  in  prize 
fight,  183-189;  failure  to  arrest, 
185,  186;  later  career  of,  189 

Homestead,  incorporation  of,  with 
Amana,  204 

Hooe,  Alexander  S.,  company  mus- 
tered in  by,  345 

Hoover,  Herbert,  career  of,   128 

Horse  racing,  description  of,  91 

"House  of  Lords",    89,   90 

House  of  Representatives  (Wisconsin 
Territory),  meeting  place  of,  362 

House  raisings,   18 

Howard,  Private,  death  of,  in  storm, 
336,  337 

Hughes,  Thomas,  newspaper  edited  by, 
234 

Hull,  George,  part  of,  in  Cardiff  Giant 
hoax,  271,  275,  276,  277,  278, 
279;  confession  of,  279 

Humphrey,  Mr.,  slaves  kept  at  home 
of,  134 

Huntley,  Dr.,  blizzard  victims  treated 
by,  13 

Icaria,  story  of,  97-112;  comparison 
of,  with  Amana,  201,  208 

Icaria  and  the  Icarians,  by  RUTH  A. 
GALLAHER,  97-112 

Icaria-Speranza,  organization  of,  110; 
dissolution  of,  110 

Icarian  community,  incorporation  of, 
100;  dissolution  of,  108,  109 

Icarians,  coming  of,  to  Iowa,  96 ; 
number  of,  97,  98,  99,  105,  106, 
108,  109,  111;  departure  of,  from 
France,  98;  difficulties  of,  in  Texas, 
98;  life  of,  at  Nauvoo,  98-102;  com- 
munity life  of,  99,  100,  104-112; 
naturalization  of,  100,  101;  amuse- 
ments of,  100,  106;  food  of,  100, 


101,  105,  106,  107,  108;  dissen- 
sions among,  101,  102,  104,  106- 
110;  division  of,  103;  end  of  St. 
Louis  community  of,  103 ;  hard- 
ships of,  in  Iowa,  104,  105; 
homes  of,  104,  105,  106,  107,  108; 
dress  of,  106;  policy  of,  106,  107, 
108,  109,  110,  111;  property  of, 
108,  109 

Icarienne,  La  Nouvelle  Communaute, 
incorporation  of,  111;  site  of,  111; 
difficulties  of,  111,  112;  dissolution 
of,  112 

Illinois  Indians,  language  of,  164; 
persons  killed  by,  170 

Illinois  River,  French  on,  163,  164, 
165 

Immigrants,  coming  of,  to  Iowa,  302, 
303,  304,  305,  306,  307,  308,  309, 
310 

Indian  Ceremony,  An,  379-381 

Indiana,  log  cabin  in,  27;  bank  notes 
from,  363 

"Indiana"  (steamboat),  Dodge  family 
on,  382 

Indians,  protection  from,  36;  relics 
of,  63;  early  settlement  of,  65,  66; 
burial  places  of,  65,  66,  353,  354; 
meetings  with,  145,  146,  152,  153; 
description  of,  146,  147,  347,  348; 
opposition  of,  to  hunting  party,  148, 
149,  153,  154;  languages  of,  164; 
capture  of  French  by,  167,  168, 
169;  legend  of,  concerning  Cardiff 
Giant,  273,  274;  cession  of  land  by, 
301;  withdrawal  of,  308,  347,  348; 
intemperance  of,  342 ;  trade  with, 
353,  354;  memorial  ceremony  of, 
for  George  Davenport,  379-381;  pic- 
torial writings  of,  380;  feast  of, 
381 

Individualism,  description  of,  at 
Amana,  211,  212 

Inghram,  Zadok  C.,  school  taught  by, 
358 

Iowa,  climate  of,  30-32 ;  early  travel- 
lers in,  33-60;  English  settlers  in, 
80-94;  people  of,  95,  96,  302;  Un- 
derground Railroad  in,  129-143; 
prize  fight  in,  182,  189;  location  of 
Amana  in,  200,  201;  changes  in 
territory  of,  267;  immigrants  to, 
301,  302,  303,  386,  387;  purchase 
of  land  in,  318,  319;  history  of, 
329;  removal  of  Winnebago  Indians 
to,  334,  335;  troops  raised  by  Gov- 
ernor of,  344;  routes  to,  365;  repre- 
sentative of,  in  Congress,  383;  pio- 
neers of,  386,  387 

Iowa  Territory,  capitals  of,  351,  362; 
organization  of,  362 

Iowa,  From  New  York  to,  by  LYDIA 
ARNOLD  TITUS,  311-321 


INDEX 


395 


Iowa,  The  Way  to,  by  BEUCK  E. 
MAHAN,  301-310 

Iowa  Capitol  Reporter,  encounters  of 
editors  of,  233-239;  policy  of,  234, 
235;  charges  made  by,  236,  237, 
238 

Iowa  City,  description  of  cabin  in,  28; 
weather  at,  31;  road  to,  33,  34,  36, 
55,  56,  60;  beginnings  of,  34,  36; 
travel  to,  39,  40,  240;  Underground 
Railroad  station  at,  61,  130,  132, 
133;  Mennonites  near,  96;  arrival 
of  steamboat  at,  113-122;  celebra- 
tion at,  116-122,  240-243;  comple- 
tion of  railroad  to,  240-243 ;  choice 
of,  for  capital,  351,  362;  pioneer 
period  in,  386 

Iowa  City  Standard,  The,  description 
of  steamboat's  arrival  taken  from, 
113-116;  account  in,  of  dinner, 
116-122;  report  of  fight  given  by, 
235 

Iowa  City  State  Press,  editor  of,   125 

Iowa  County,  Amana  colonies  in,  96, 
200,  201,  204,  205 

Iowa  Land  Company,  organization  of, 
86,  92,  93 

Iowa  Patriot,  The,  change  of  name  of, 
351;  description  of  Burlington 
printed  in,  351-359 

Iowa  River,  navigation  of,  115,  117, 
118;  location  of  Amana  on,  193, 
201 

Iowa  Weather  and  Crop  Service,  re- 
ports of,  32 

Irish,  Frederick  M.,  invitation  deliv- 
ered by,  116;  mention  of,  120,  125 

Irish,  Jno.  P.,  reminiscences  by,  123, 
124,  125;  work  of,  125,  126 

IRISH,  JNO.  P.,  Augustus  Caesar 
Dodge,  382-385 

IRISH,  JNO.  P.,  A  Reminiscence,  123, 
124 

Iron,  absence  of,  in  early  cabin  build- 
ing, 22 

Irving,  Washington,  acquaintance  of, 
with  Latrobe,  265,  266;  description 
of  Latrobe  given  by,  266 

Ivanhoe  Bridge,   37,  52 

Ivanhoe,  settlement  at,  39 ;  location 
and  history  of,  50,  51,  52;  disap- 
pearance of,  52,  58 

Jacobs,  Cyrus  S.,  murder  of,  234 

"Jerkies",  use  of,  56 

Johnson,  William,  slaves  aided  by,  140 

Johnson  County,  blizzard  in,  124 ; 
Amana  property  in,  204,  205 

Jones,  A.  D.,  appointment  of,  as  com- 
missioner, 290 

Jones,  D.,  sketch  of  life  of,  120; 
speech  of,  120-122 

Jones,    George  Wallace,    early  life   of. 


26,    27;    cabin    of,    26,    27;    mail 
routes  secured  by,  56 
Jones,  J.  B.,  slaves  aided  by,  135 
Jones,  Theodore,  order  of,   370;  pres- 
ence of,  at  hearing,  374 

Kanesville,  change  of  name  of,  61, 
291 

Kansas,  opposition  to  prize  fight  in, 
183 

Kaskaskia  Indians,  Catholic  mission- 
ary among,  171 

Kearny,  S.  W.,  Fort  Crawford  rebuilt 
by,  288 

Keel  boats,  building  of,  at  Ivanhoe, 
51 

Keith's  Mill,  slaves  concealed  in,  133 

Kelley,  George  W.,  loss  of,  in  fire, 
360 

Kentucky,  bank  notes  from,  363 ;  re- 
moval of  Israel  Dodge  from,  382 

Kickapoo  Indians,  Aco's  knowledge  of, 
164 

King,  Nelson,  attempted  bribery  of, 
237,  238;  fight  with,  238 

Kirkwood,  Mrs.  Jane  Clark,  comment 
on  life  of,  159,  160 

Kirkwood,  Samuel  J.,  marriage  of, 
160;  reference  to,  382,  385;  pro- 
gressive spirit  of,  387 

Kitchen-houses,  description  of,  214, 
215,  216 

Kitchens,  utensils  used  in,  in  early 
days,  23 ;  description  of,  at  Amana, 
214,  215,  216 

Knowlton,  Wiram,  company  command- 
ed by,  347,  348 

Kraussert,  Michael,  influence  of,  197 

La  Forest,  deed  signed  by,  170;  fur 
trade  operations  of,  170,  172 

LAIRD,  CHARLTON  G.,  The  Little 
Brown  Church  in  the  Vale,  72-79 

Lake  Pepin,  arrival  of  Latrobe  at, 
245,  258,  259 

Lamson  &  Girvan,  loss  of,  in  fire,  360 

Lancaster,  Underground  Railroad  sta- 
tion at,  138 

Land,  Richard,  settlement  of,  at  Bur- 
lington, 359 

Land,  division  of,  into  farms,  83,  84; 
purchase  of,  86 ;  sale  of,  105 ;  value 
of,  291,  319;  fertility  of,  302,  303 

Langworthy,  James,  share  of,  in  road 
construction,  33,  34 

Langworthy,  Lucius,  share  of,  in  road 
construction,  33,  34 

La  Salle,  mention  of,  161,  163;  ar- 
rival of,  at  Mackinac,  164,  165; 
expedition  of,  169 

Latch  string,  significance  of,  20 

Latrobe,     Charles     Joseph,     book    by, 


396 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


265;   trip  of,  265,  266;   description 
of,  266;  offices  of,  266 
LATROBE,  CHARLES  JOSEPH,  A  River 

Trip  in  1833,  244-263 
Lawyers,    absence    of,    from    Amana, 

209 

"Lean-back  Hall",   travellers   at,    34 
Le  Claire,  Antoine,  cabin  of,  28,  61 
Le  Mars,  scene  at  railroad  station  of, 
80,   81;   coming  of  English   settlers 
to,    82,    83 ;    description    of    people 
near,  85,  86;  derby  at,  91;  prayers 
for  Queen  at,  92;  Episcopal  Church 
at,  93 
Lewis,   Underground  Railroad  station 

at,   61,   130 

Lewis  and  Clark,  journey  of,  63,  64 
Lexington,   change  of  name  of,  52 
Lincoln,    Abraham,    tribute    to,     178, 
179;  debate  of,  315,  316,  317;  ap- 
pearance of,  316 
Linn  County,   early  physician  in,   51, 

52 

Little  Brown  Church,  site  of,  65,  74, 
76;  description  of,  67-70;  building 
of,  72,  73;  singing  in,  75;  painting 
of,  75 ;  dedication  of,  75 ;  bell  of, 
77 

"Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Vale", 
mention  of,  62;  singing  of,  71,  74, 
75;  setting  of,  73,  74,  76,  77,  78; 
writing  of,  74;  publication  of,  75; 
success  of,  75 :  suggestions  for,  75- 
78;  words  of,  75-78 
Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Vale, 
The,  by  CHARLTON  G.  LAIRD,  72- 
79 

"Little  Red",  nickname  of,   344 
Log  cabins,  description  of,  18,  19,  26- 
28,    123,   124;    United  States   Sena- 
tors born  in,  26-28 
Logan,  county  seat  secured  by,  295 
Loom,  place  of,  in  frontier  cabins,  22, 

25,   26 
Lost  in  an  Iowa  Blizzard,  by  IRA  A. 

WILLIAMS,   1-15 
Lotus,  abundance  of,  at  Amana,  222, 

229 
Louisiana,  settlement  of  Israel  Dodge 

in,   382 

Low  Moor,  Underground  Railroad  sta- 
tion at,    130,    132,    134,   135 
Lowden,   Frank  O.,  position  of,    128 
Lowry,  David,  sermons  by,  342 
Lucas,  Robert,  lodging  place  of,  28 
Lumbermen,     passage     of,     on     "Du- 
buque",    369,    370    (see   also   Rafts- 
men) 

Lynch,  Michael,  names  given  to,  370; 
attempt  of,  to  pass  guard,  370;  at- 
tack of,  on  Davis,  370;  part  of,  in 
riot,  370,  371,  372;  escape  of,  373, 
376;  reward  for,  377,  378;  cap- 


ture of,  377,  378;  trial  and  sen- 
tence of,  378 

Lynde,  Isaac,  expedition  in  command 
of,  335;  quarters  for  troops  of, 
336:  withdrawal  of  company  com- 
manded by,  338 

Lyon  County,  breaking  of  land  in,  83, 
84;  English  land  company  in,  86; 
land  business  of  English  company 
in,  93 

Lyons,  slaves  taken  to,   136,   137 

McCaryer,    M.    M.,    settlement    of,    at 

Burlington,    352 
McClure,     Mr.,     slaves     captured    by, 

140,    141 

McCoy,  D.  C.,  negro  aided  by,  372 
McGregor,    Marquette   at   site   of,    64; 

lumber  from,    73 ;    road  to,    350 
McGregor's  Landing,  troops  landed  at, 

344 
McKay,   William,    breaking  of  prairie 

by,  83 
MCMURRY,    DONALD    LECRONE,    The 

Pacific  City  Fight,  182-189 
McMurtry,  Asa,  services  conducted  by, 

358,    359 

McNulty,  Dr.,  pamphlet  issued  by,  280 
Macomb,  A.  E.,   order  given  by,  288 
McWhorter,     Alexander,     opinion     of, 

concerning  Cardiff  Giant,   279,  280 
Magnolia,  story  of,  290-297 
Magnolia,  by  BLANCHE  C.   SLY,  290- 

297 
Mahan,    Bruce    Ellis,    letters   to,    311- 

321 
MAHAN,   BRUCE  ELLIS,   Old  Fort  At- 

Jcinton,   333-351 
MAHAN,    BRUCE    ELLIS,    Pike's    Hill, 

282-289 
MAHAN,   BRUCE   ELLIS,    The   Way   to 

Iowa,  301-310 
Maiden's  Rock,  fire  at,   261 
Maillon,  Jules,  return  of,  111 
Main  Street,  discussion  of,  330,   331 
Malone,    J.    W.,    call    for    convention 

signed    by,     178;     office    of,     179; 

speech  by,   181 
Manslaughter,  rioters  found  guilty  of, 

377,  378 

Maple  sugar,  making  of,   313 
Maquoketa  River,   falls  in,   39;  settle- 
ment on,  54 
Marchand,   A.   A.,    service   of,   to   Ica- 

rians,  111 

Marietta,  location  of,    62 
Marriage,  account  of,  356,  357 
Marryat,     Charles,     Mississippi    River 

described  by,  264,  265 
Marsh,  Professor,  opinion  of,  concern- 
ing Cardiff  Giant.  276 
Martin,    H.    B.,    part    of,    in    Cardiff 

Giant  hoax,   276,   277 


INDEX 


397 


Mary    (Indian    girl),   marriage   of,    to 

Michel   Aco,    171-177 
Masonic  Grove    (Mason  City),  settlers 

at,   3 ;   road  to,   7 ;   blizzard  victims 

at,    12,    14 

Medicine  men,    opposition    of,    to   mis- 
sionaries,  172,   173 
Meneeley  foundry,  bell  made  in,  77 
Merritt,  William  H.,   camp  of,  50,  51 
Meteors,  shower  of,   261,  262,  263 
Methodist  circuit  rider,  description  of, 

45,  46 
Metz,     Christian,     influence     of,     197, 

198,  199,  200,  201;  name  given  by, 

203;     inspiration    of,     224;     burial 

place  of,  227 
Mexican  War,  effect  of,  on  location  of 

troops,    343,   344 
Midland,  The,   article  in,   230 
Midland     Monthly,     The,     article     on 

Amana   published   in,    230 ;    discon- 
tinuance of,  230 
Military    Road,    Along     the     Old,     by 

JOHN  E.   BRIGGS,  49-59 
Military   Road,    articles    on,    33-59 
Military  Road,  The  Old,  by  JOHN  C. 

PARISH,  33,  34 

"Military  Tract",  camp  in,  308,   309 
Military    Trail,    material    hauled    over, 

336;  marking  of,  350 
Mill  race,  description  of,   222 
Miller,    Samuel    Freeman,    career    of, 

127,   128 
Mills  County,  prize  fight  in,  187,  188, 

189 
Miners'    Bank    of    Dubuque,    dispute 

over,   235,    236 

Mines   of   Spain,   troops   at,    301 
Minnesota,  English  in,  94 ;  history  of, 

329 

"Mint  drops",  363 
Mississippi,   A    Race   Riot   on   the,   by 

RUTH  A.  GALLAHER,  369-378 
Mississippi     and     Missouri     Railroad, 

coming  of,   to  Amana,   203,   204 
Mississippi  River,  expedition  up,    163, 

164,    166,    167,    168,    169;    French 

on,    169,    170;    description   of,    245, 

246,    264,    265;    travellers   on,   264- 

268;    ferries   over,    310,    319,    351; 

blocking   of,    by    ice,    356 ;    obstruc- 
tions in,   364 
Mississippi    Valley,    visitors    to,     264- 

268;  changes  in,  267,  268 
Missouri,   opposition  to  prize  fight  in, 

183;    history    of,    329;    bank    notes 

from,    363V 
Missouri   Valley,    efforts   of,    to   secure 

county  seat,  295 
Missourians,    attempts    of,    to    recover 

slaves,    139,    140,    141;    attack   by, 

141,    142 
Mix,  Lawrence,  slaves  aided  by,  135 


Money,  lack  of,  72,  73,  363,  364;  in- 
terest on,  318 

Monks,   description   of,   59 

"Monsoon"  (steamboat),  Iowa  immi- 
grants on,  304,  305,  306;  descrip- 
tion of,  304,  305,  306 

Montana    (see  Boone) 

Monticello,  stop  at,  37;  first  resident 
of,  39;  early  history  of,  54,  55 

Moreton,  Henry,  visit  of,  to  England, 
93 

Moreton,  Reginald,  visit  of,  to  Eng- 
land, 93 

Moreton,    Reynolds,    establishment    of, 

88,  89,  90;  church  work  of,  93 
"Moreton's  pup  farm",  description  of, 

89,  90 

Morgan,  James  M.,  company  raised 
by,  344;  description  of,  344;  mili- 
tary service  of,  344,  345,  346,  347, 
348 

Morgan,  Wm.,  settlement  of,  at  Bur- 
lington, 359 

Morgan's  Company  of  Iowa  Mounted 
Volunteers,  formation  of,  346,  347 ; 
military  service  of,  347,  348 ;  mus- 
ter out  of,  348 

Morgan's  Independent  Company  of 
Iowa  Volunteers,  service  of,  344, 
345,  346;  muster  out  of,  346 

Mormon  Trail,   description  of,    60,    61 

Mulroney,  Joseph  R.,  purchase  of 
Cardiff  Giant  by,  281 

Murray,  Charles  Augustus,  mention 
of,  267 

MURRAY,  CHARLES  AUGUSTUS,  Big- 
Game  Hunting  in  Iowa,  144-157 

Muscatine,  weather  at,  31;  body 
found  at,  372;  comment  in  paper 
of,  376,  377 

Napoleon,  location  of,  62 

Nasinus   (Indian  chief),  legend  of,  53 

Naturalization,  friction  over,  92 ;  atti- 
tude of  Icarians  toward,  100,  101 

Nauvoo  (Illinois),  arrival  of  Icarians 
at,  97,  98;  description  of,  97,  98- 
102 ;  dissensions  among  French  at, 
101,  102,  104;  crossing  at,  365 

Nebraska,  opposition  to  prize  fight  in, 
183,  184 

Negroes,  slaves  aided  by,  138;  at- 
tempts to  recapture,  139,  140,  141, 
142;  convention  of,  178-181;  at- 
tack on,  370,  371,  372;  search  for, 
371,  372;  murder  oft  371,  372; 
rioters  identified  by,  374,  375;  pro- 
test against  murder  of,  376;  work 
of,  384 

Neutral  Ground,  301,  333 ;  removal 
of  Winnebagoes  to,  334,  335 ; 
troops  sent  to,  335,  337 

New  Buda,  settlement  of,   96 


398 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


New  Harmony  Society,  constitutions 
of,  205 

New  Melleray  Abbey,  description  of, 
58,  59,  96 

New  York,  settlers  from,  303,  306, 
307,  311-321 

New  York  to  Iowa,  From,  by  LYDIA 
ARNOLD  TITUS,  311-321 

Newcastle,  Iowa,  Reminiscence*  of, 
information  in,  concerning  life  of 
pioneers,  387 

Newell,  William,  Giant  found  on  farm 
of,  269;  Giant  exhibited  by,  270, 
271,  272,  274 

Newhall,  Jno.  B.,  arrival  of,  at  Iowa 
City,  114,  116,  117;  publications 
of,  117;  address  by,  117-120;  de- 
scription of  overland  travel  given 
by,  307,  308,  309 

Newhall  &  Co.,  J.,  loss  of,  in  fire, 
360 

"Nigger-stealers",  hatred  of,   139 

^Normal  manual  labor  and  military  in- 
stitute, request  of  Fort  Atkinson 
site  for,  349 

Northern  Line  Packet  Company, 
steamer  of,  369;  prosecution  of 
rioters  urged  by,  377 

Northwest  Border,  patrol  of,   368 

"Nuckolls,  Mr.,  search  made  by,  for 
slaves,  139,  140 

Nutting,  J.  K.,  description  of,  68, 
70;  work  of,  in  Little  Brown 
Church,  72,  73 ;  bell  selected  by,  77 

O'Brien   County,   English   investments 

in,   86 

O'Connor,   Henry,   speech  by,   180 
•Officers,    number   of,    on    "Dubuque", 

370;    negro    deck    hands    concealed 

by,     372;     inability    of,    to    handle 

rioters,   373 
Ohio,  Iowa  immigrant  from,  302,  308- 

310;  bank  notes  from,   363 
Old  age,  comment  on,    158-160 
Old  Fort  Atkinson,  by  BRUCE  E.  MA- 
HAN,    333-350 
Old    Military    Road,    Along     the,    by 

JOHN  E.  BRIGGS,  49-59 
Old  Military  Road,  The,  by  JOHN  C. 

PARISH,  33,  34 
Old  Stone  Capitol,  historic  appearance 

of.    50;    altercations    in,    233,    235, 

236,    237,    238;    banquet    in,    241- 

243 ;    illumination  of,   243 
Olds,  George,  Cardiff  Giant  consigned 

to,  278 

Olin,  Nelson,   slaves  aided  by,   135 
Olmstead,    F.,    company    in    command 

of,   184,  185 
Olmstead    Zouaves,     service    of,     184, 

185,   186.    189 
Omaha      (Nebraska),      special      train 


from,    91;    troops    at,     183;     early 

days  in,  291 
"One  legged"  bedstead,  description  of, 

23,   24 

Onondaga   Giant    (see   Cardiff   Giant) 
Osceola   County,   breaking  of  land   in, 

83,    84;    English   land  company   in, 

86 
Overland   travel,    description   of,    307- 

310 
Oxen,  behavior  of,  in  blizzard,  6 

Pacific  City,  location  of,  186,  187; 
description  of,  187;  prize  fight  at, 
187,  188,  189 

Pacific  City  Fight,  The,  by  DONALD  L. 
McMuRRY,  182-189 

Painted  Rock,  arrival  of  hunting 
party  at,  145;  camp  near,  245 

Palmer,  Mr.,  newspaper  edited  by, 
237;  fight  with,  238 

Palmer,  B.  R.,  slaves  aided  by,   135 

Pamaho,  history  of,  56-58 

Paris  Commune,  participants  in,  106, 
108 

PARISH,  JOHN  CARL,  Michel  Aco  — 
Squaw-Man,  161-177 

PARISH,  JOHN  CARL,  Perils  of  a  Pio- 
neer Editor,  233-239 

PARISH,  JOHN  CARL,  The  Old  Mili- 
tary Road,  33,  34 

PARISH,  JOHN  CARL,  The  Ripple,  113- 
122 

PARISH,  JOHN  CARL,  A  Study  in 
Heads,  322-327 

Parker,  John,  mounted  company  en- 
rolled by,  345 

Parker's  Iowa  Dragoon  Volunteers, 
service  of,  345;  discharge  of,  345, 
346 

Parkhurst,  Clinton,  account  of,  331, 
332;  book  of  poems  by,  332 

Parsons,  Galusha,  opinion  of,  con- 
cerning Cardiff  Giant,  276 

Parvin,  Theodore  S.,  meteorological 
reports  by,  31;  comment  by,  299 

Passengers,  number  of,  369,  370;  riot 
witnessed  by,  372;  negroes  aided 
by,  372;  sheriff  notified  by,  373 

Pau-tau-co-to,  feats  of,  381 

Payne,  Deputy  Sheriff,  posse  in 
charge  of,  373;  rioters  arrested  by, 

373,  374;    prisoners    in   charge   of, 

374,  375 

Pella,  founding  of,  95 

Penitentiary,     rioters     sentenced     to, 

377,    378 

Percival,  slaves  at,   130,   132 
Perils  of  a  Pioneer  Editor,  by  JOHN 

C.  PARISH,  233-239 
Petrified   Giant    (see   Cardiff  Giant) 
Phantoms  on  the  Old  Road,  by  MAR- 
CUS L.  HANSEN,  35-48 


INDEX 


399 


Pheasants,   hunting  of,   144,    148,   149 
Phenician    statue,    Cardiff    Giant    ex- 
plained as,   279,    280 
Phillips,    Mrs.    Semira   A.,    description 

of  cabin  given  by,   25,   26 
Phrenological    Chart,    readings    from, 

323-327 

Phrenology,  interest  in,  322-327 
Phrenology,    An    Explanation    of    the 
Fundamental    Principles    of,     men- 
tion of,   323 

Pike,  Zebulon  M.,  hill  named  for,  282 
Pike's   Hill,   description  of,   282;   pro- 
posal   to    erect    fort    on,    282,    283, 

284,  285,    286,    287,    288;    advan- 
tages   of,    285;     disadvantages    of, 

285,  288 

Pike's  Hill,  by  BRUCE  E.  MAHAN, 
282-289 

Pike's   Mountain    (see  Pike's   Hill) 

Pike's  Peak,  journey  to,  44,  45,  367 
(see  also  Pike's  Hill) 

Pinicon    (Indian),   legend  of,   53,   54 

Pinkerton,  Allen,  slaves  aided  by,  133 

Pioneers,  experiences  of,  in  blizzard, 
1-15;  coming  of,  16;  cabins  of,  16- 
29 ;  description  of,  44 ;  early  life  of, 
123,  124,  312,  313,  320,  352,  387; 
attractions  for,  302,  303 ;  overland 
travel  of,  307-310;  coming  of,  to 
Iowa,  311-321;  furniture  of,  317, 
318;  crops  of,  359;  diaries  of, 
367,  368;  definition  of  term,  386, 
387 

Piquenard,  A.,  relation  of,  to  Ica- 
rians,  100 

Pitts,  William,  singing  classes  con- 
ducted by,  70,  71,  74,  75 ;  visit  of, 
to  Bradford,  73,  74;  settlement  of, 
in  Iowa,  74;  death  and  burial  of, 
79 

Pitts,  Mrs.  William,  burial  place  of, 
78,  79 

Plymouth  County,  English  land  com- 
pany in,  86 

Pokette  (half-breed),  description  of, 
146,  147 

Pork,   price  of,    125 

Post,  Joel,  tavern  kept  by,   336 

Post  office,  early,  291,  292 

Posten's  Grove,  slaves  taken  to,   134 

Postville,  origin  of  name  of,   336 

Pourtales,  Count,  trip  of,  253,  265, 
266 

Prairie  bedstead,  description  of,  24 

Prairie  bunk,   description  of,   23,   24 

Prairie  du  Chien  (Wisconsin),  re- 
turn of  Latrobe's  party  to,  263; 
fort  at,  283,  286,  288;  workmen 
from,  335 

Prairie  fire,  description  of,  154,  155, 
156,  259,  260,  261 

Prairie  Minstrels,  organization  of,   91 


Prairie  rascal,  bedstead  known  as,  24 
Prairie    Village,    A,    by     H.     CLARK 

BROWN,   65-71 
Priest,   work  of,  among  Indians,    171- 

177 

Printing,  dispute  over,  234 
Prize  fight,   description  of,    182-189 
Prize  fighting,  opposition  to,   182,   183 
Prohibition,     attitude    of    English    to- 
ward,  90 

Prophet's  town,   crossing  at,   365 
Puncheon  floor,  making  of,   22 

Quakers,  slaves  aided  by,  133,  138 
Queen  of  England,  prayers  for,   92 

Race  prejudice,  part  of,  in  riot,  376, 
377 

Race  Riot  on  the  Mississippi,  A,  by 
RUTH  A.  GALLAHER,  369-378 

Raftsmen,  service  of,  on  "Dubuque", 
373  (see  also  Lumbermen) 

Railroad,  The  Coming  of  the,  by 
SARAH  ELLEN  GRAVES,  240-243 

Railroads,  lack  of,  55,  56,  57;  sale  of 
lands  by,  82 ;  coming  of,  to  Icaria, 
106 ;  slaves  carried  by,  132,  133 ; 
coming  of,  to  Amana,  203,  204 ; 
celebration  for,  240-243 ;  effect  of, 
on  Magnolia,  295 ;  settlers  carried 
by,  303 

Rambler  in  North  America,  The,  de- 
scription taken  from,  244-263 ; 
mention  of,  265 

Red  Cedar  River,  thieves  along,  52; 
troops  sent  to,  337 

Religion,  lack  of,  among  Icarians, 
100,  104 

Reminiscence,  A,  by  JNO.  P.  IRISH, 
123,  124 

Representatives'  Hall,  banquet  in, 
241-243 

Republican  party,  tribute  to,  from 
colored  convention,  180 

Rhodes,  John  B.,  "Dubuque"  com- 
manded by,  370 ;  rioters  sent  to 
Rock  Island  by,  374 

Richter,  August  P.,  biographical 
sketch  by,  331,  332 

Rifle,  place  of,  in  frontier  cabin,  25 

"Rio,  Lincoln,  and  Liberty",  slogan 
of,  315 

Riot,  description  of,  on  "Dubuque", 
370-374,  378;  condemnation  of, 
376;  causes  of,  376,  377 

Rioters,  negroes  attacked  by,  370, 
371,  372;  boat  in  control  of,  373; 
arrest  of,  373,  374;  preliminary 
hearing  of,  374,  375;  indictment  of, 
375;  trial  of,  375,  376,  377;  sen- 
tences of,  377 

"Ripple"  (steamboat),  trip  of,  64; 
toasts  to,  122 


400 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


Ripple,  The,  by  JOHN  C.  PARISH,  113- 
122 

River  Trip  in  1833,  A,  by  CHARLES 
JOSEPH  LATROBE,  244-263 

Rochester,   steamboat   at,    122 

Bock,  Johann  Friederich,  influence  of, 
197 

Rock  Island  (Illinois),  Iowa  immi- 
grants at,  309,  310;  soldiers  from, 
352,  355,  356;  assistance  request- 
ed from,  373;  arrival  of  "Du- 
buque"  at,  374;  trial  of  Lynch  at, 
378 

Rock  Island,  murder  of  George  Dav- 
enport at,  379;  Indian  ceremony 
at,  379-381 

Roclc  Island  Argus,  quotation  from, 
375,  376 

Rock  Island  County,  change  of  venue 
from,  377 

Ronneburg  (Germany),  development 
of  Amana  at,  197,  198,  199,  223 

Roof,  material  of,  in  early  cabins,  26, 
123 

Ross,   S.  S.,  grave  near  home  of,  354 

Ross,  William  R.,  description  of 
Burlington  by,  351-359;  arrival  of, 
at  Flint  Hills,  352;  goods  brought 
by,  353;  death  of  father  of,  353; 
Burlington  surveyed  by,  354;  ap- 
pointment of,  as  post  master,  357; 
marriage  of,  357;  part  of,  in  or- 
ganizing Des  Moines  County,  358; 
farming  operations  of,  359 

Rouensa.  story  concerning  daughter 
of,  171-177;  conversion  of,  176, 
177 

Ryan,   "Paddy",  defeat  of,   189 

Sac  and  Fox  Agency,  troops  sent  to, 
341 

Sac  and  Fox  Indians,  treaty  with, 
28;  need  of  protection  from,  333, 
337 

St.  Genevieve  (Missouri),  lumber 
from,  27;  Dodge  family  at,  382 

St.  Louis  (Missouri),  water  route  to, 
64;  Icarians  at,  103;  steamboat  to, 
304;  arrival  of  immigrants  at,  307; 
boat  from,  378;  raising  of  Amer- 
ican flag  at,  382 

Saint  Paul,  quotation  from,  102 

Salem,  Underground  Railroad  station 
at,  138;  attempt  to  recover  slaves 
at,  140,  141;  attack  on,  141,  142 

Saloon  keeper,  position  of,  in  Brad- 
ford, 70 

Sanders,  Alfred,  scene  described  by, 
379-381 

Sayers-Heenan  fight,   mention  of,   182 

School,  description  of,  at  Icaria,  99, 
100,  102,  103 ;  description  of,  293, 


312,  313,  382;  opening  of,  at 
Burlington,  358 

Schultz,  Hugo,  Cardiff  Giant  owned 
by,  281 

Scientific  American,  letters  in,  con- 
cerning Cardiff  Giant,  273,  275 

Senate  (United  States),  resolutions 
passed  by,  335;  election  of  A.  C. 
Dodge  to,  383 

Senators  (United  States),  experiences 
of,  in  log  cabins,  26-28 

Seneca  Indian  Reservation,  purchase 
of,  199 

Servants,  provision  for,   86 

Settlers,  description  of,  44;  location 
of,  56;  experiences  of,  in  blizzard, 
124;  coming  of,  to  Iowa,  302-310, 
311-321;  camps  of,  319;  expulsion 
of,  from  Indian  lands,  341 

Shaker  Communities,  failure  of,   212 

Shambaugh,  Bertha  M.  H.,  articles 
by,  229,  230 

SHAMBAUGH,  BERTHA  M.  H.,  Amana, 
193-228 

SHARP,  MILDRED  J.,  Early  Cabins  in 
Iowa,  16-29 

Shedd,  George,  slaves  aided  by,  139 

Sheriff  of  Clinton  County,  Butler  ar- 
rested by,  375 

Sheriff  of  Mills  County,  efforts  of,  to 
prevent  prize  fight,  187 

Sheriff  of  Pottawattamie  County,  ef- 
forts of,  to  prevent  prize  fight,  184, 
185,  186,  189 

Sheriff  of  Rock  Island  County,  aid 
sent  by,  373,  374 

"Shockoquon"  (ferry  boat),  descrip- 
tion of,  364 

Shokokon  (Illinois),  ferry  at,  319; 
meaning  of  name  of,  354;  post  of- 
fice at,  357 

Sioux  County,  English  land  company 
in,  86 

Sioux  Indians,  capture  of  French  by, 
167,  168,  169;  protection  from, 
333;  relations  of,  with  Sacs,  380; 
killing  of,  380,  381 

Slaughter,  Mr.,  slaves  captured  by, 
140,  141 

Slaves,  escape  of,  through  Iowa,  129, 
143 ;  transportation  of,  134 ;  at- 
tempts to  recapture,  139,  140,  141, 
142 

SLY,  BLANCHE  C.,  Magnolia,  290-297 

Smith,  A.  J.,  meteorological  records 
of,  32 

Smith,  E.,  settlement  of,  at  Burling- 
ton, 359 

Smith,  Jeremiah,  settlement  of,  at 
Burlington,  353 ;  capitol  building 
furnished  by,  359,  360;  loss  of,  in 
fire,  360 

Smith,  Joseph,  mention  of,  60 


INDEX 


401 


Smith,  Leander,  stone  for  church 
quarried  by,  73 

Smith,  P.  D.,  settlement  of,  at  Bur- 
lington, 359 

Smith,  Paris,  settlement  of,  at  Bur- 
lington, 359 

Smith,   Messrs.,  claim  of,   354 

Snow,  amount  of,  in  Iowa,  31,  32 

Sod  shanty,  description  of,   17 

"Sodom",  visits  of  soldiers  to,  342, 
345,  350 

Soldiers,  drill  of,  339,  340;  food  of, 
340;  expeditions  of,  340,  341; 
temptations  of,  342 

Songs  of  a  Man  Who  Failed,  publica- 
tion of,  332 

Specie,  scarcity  of,  363,  364 

Spirit  Lake  Massacre,  reference  to, 
31,  63 

Sports,  fostering  of,  in  English  com- 
munity, 90,  91 

"Sports,  The  Rise  of,"  mention  of, 
182 

Springdale,  headquarters  of  John 
Brown  at,  63;  slaves  at,  132,  133 

Squatters,  expulsion  of,  from  Indian 
lands,  341,  352,  355 

Stag,  description  of,   150,   151 

Stage  coaches,  passengers  on,  41,  42, 
43,  44;  description  of,  56;  arrival 
of,  66,  67;  travel  on,  240 

Stage  drivers,   description  of,   42 

Stage  routes,   41,  42,   292 

Stanley,  H.  P.,  carriage  of,    136 

State  House,  construction  of,  126; 
burning  of,  360,  361 

State  park,  Fort  Atkinson  site  to  be- 
come, 349,  350 

State  University  of  Iowa,  colleges  of, 
126;  proposed  agricultural  branch 
of,  349 

Steamboat,  arrival  of,  at  Iowa  City, 
113-122;  description  of,  303,  304, 
305,  306 

Steamboat  Landing,  origin  of  name 
of,  114 

Steamboats,  arrival  of,  356;  landings 
for,  364 

Steel's  Tavern,  55 

Stephens,  Nassau,  church  work  of,  93 

Stewart,  Wm.,  settlement  of,  at  Bur- 
lington, 359 

Stillman,  Mrs.  J.  D.,  slaves  aided  by, 
135 

Study  in  Heads,  A,  by  JOHN  0. 
PARISH,  322-327 

Stull,  Mr.,  fight  witnessed  by,  236, 
237 

Sullivan,  John  L.,   182,    189 

Sumner,  Edwin  V.,  company  in  com- 
mand of,  337,  338,  341,  343 

Sutherland,  Duke  of,  company  organ- 
ized by,  86 


Sweet,  John  F.,  altercation  interrupt- 
ed by,  370;  presence  of,  at  hear- 
ing, 374 

Swerengen,  Reverend,  work  of,  46 

Tableware,  provision  for,  23 

Tables,  descriptions  of,  in  early  cab- 
ins, 24;  decorations  of,  242,  243 

Tabor,  Underground  Railroad  station 
at,  61,  139,  140;  slaves  at,  130, 
132,  137 

Tapper,  James,  construction  work  in 
charge  of,  336 

Taverns,   hospitality  of  early,    34 

Taylor,  Reverend,  description  of,  45, 
46 

Teachers,  pay  of,  315 

Teagarden,  Jane,  riot  watched  by, 
372 

Teeth,   deterioration  of,   298,  299 

Temperature,  comparison  of,   31,   32 

"Three  faced"  camps,  descriptions  of, 
18 

Threshing,  pay  for,  318 

Thurston  and  Webb,  ferry  operated 
by,  364 

Tilghman,  Mr.,  road  surveyed  by,  33, 
34,  40 

Tipton,  Underground  Railroad  station 
at,  130,  132,  133,  134 

Titus,  Francis,  marriage  of  Lydia 
Arnold  to,  317 

Titus,  Lydia  Arnold,  early  life  of, 
311,  312 

TITUS,  LYDIA  ARNOLD,  From  New 
York  to  Iowa,  311-321 

Tobacco,  use  of,  by  Icarians,  106 

Todd,  Mr.,  church  aided  by,  73 

Tonty,  Henri  de,  mention  of,  161; 
expedition  of,  163,  165;  Aco  in 
party  of,  169,  170;  fur  trade  oper- 
ations of,  170,  172 

Topp,  William,   death  of,  344 

Tour  of  the  Prairies,  A,  quotation 
from,  266 

Towner,  H.  M.,  report  accepted  by, 
112 

Towns,  disappearance  of,  50,  51,  52, 
56,  57,  58,  61,  62 

Trappist  Abbey,  stop  at,  37;  descrip- 
tion of,  58,  59;  establishment  of, 
96 

Travels  in  North  America,  reprint 
from,  144-157 

Travelling  agent,  Lynch  identified  by, 
378 

Traverse  des  Sioux,  parting  of  com- 
panies at,  343 

Troops,  calling  of,  to  prevent  prize 
fight,  183,  184,  185,  186,  189 

Trotter,  W.  D.  R.,  visit  of,  to  Bur- 
lington, 358 

Trundle  beds,  use  of,  for  children,  24 


402 


THE  PALIMPSEST 


Trustees,  Board  of,  organization  and 
powers  of,  at  Amana,  207,  208, 
209 

Tucker,  Benjamin  B.,  Burlington  sur- 
veyed by,  354;  settlement  of,  at 
Burlington,  359 

Turkey  River,  hunting  expedition  on, 
144-157;  Fort  Atkinson  on,  333, 
335,  336,  337;  removal  of  Winne- 
bagos  to,  334,  335;  troops  sent  to, 
337  , 

Turkeys,  hunting  of,  166;  provision 
for,  241 

Ujhazy,  Count  Ladislaus,  coming  of, 
to  Iowa,  96 

Underground  Railroad,  stations  on, 
61,  129,  130,  138,  139;  equipment 
of,  129;  workers  in,  129,  130; 
lines  of,  130,  137,  138,  139;  oppo- 
sition to,  135,  136,  137,  139 

Underground  Railroad  in  Iowa,  by 
JACOB  VAN  EK,  129-143 

United  Society  of  Believers,  number 
of,  212 

Van  Antwerp,  Ver  Planck,  descrip- 
tion of,  233;  offices  of,  233,  234; 
removal  of,  to  Iowa  City,  234; 
newspaper  edited  by,  234,  235; 
fight  of,  234-236 

Van  der  Zee,  Jacob,  material  collect- 
ed by,  80 

VAN  EK,  JACOB,  Underground  Rail- 
road in  Iowa,  129-143 

Varvel.  Daniel,  travellers  at  cabin  of, 
39;  settlement  of,  54 

"Veritas",  description  of  Burlington 
by,  362-365 

Voyageurs,  description  of,  244,  245- 
247,  248,  249;  food  consumed  by, 
249,  250,  251;  songs  of,  251; 
camp  of,  257;  lack  of  interest  of, 
in  meteoric  shower,  262 

"Wabasha's  Prairie,  Indians  and 
troops  at,  347,  348 

Wade,  E.,  settlement  of,  at  Burling- 
ton, 359 

Walking,  lack  of  practice  irf,  299, 
300 

Walters,  Lewis,  settlement  of,  at  Bur- 
lington, 359 

Walworth,  George  H.,  fight  of,  236, 
237 

Wapello    (Indian  chief),   grave  of,   63 

Wapsie  (Indian  girl),  legend  of,  53, 
54 

Wapsipinicon  River,  mention  of,  39; 
description  of,  53 ;  legend  concern- 
ing, 53,  54 

Washington,   George,   diary  of,   367 


Watab  River,  arrival  of  Indians  at, 
348 

Watson,   Hugh,    death   of,   93,   94 

Wau-co-shaw-she,    feats   of,    380 

Way,   Paul,   slaves  aided  by,   141 

Way  to  Iowa,  The,  by  BKUCE  E.  MA- 
HAN,  301-310 

Weather,  comment  on,  30-32 ;  de- 
scription of,  144,  145,  240 

Webber  &  Remey,  building  of,  362 

Webster  City,  pioneer  period  of,  386, 
387 

"Weeping  Jeremiah",    45,    46 

Wells,  S.  T.,  call  for  convention 
signed  by,  178 

Wescott,  Amos,  opinion  of,  concern- 
ing Cardiff  Giant,  273;  explana- 
tions by,  concerning  Cardiff  Giant, 
275,  276 

West,  meaning  of,    328,   329 

West  Fork,   English  farm  at,   82,   83 

West  Liberty,  Underground  Railroad 
station  at,  130,  132;  slaves  kept  at, 
133 

Western  Stage  Company,  coaches  of, 
41;  route  of,  292 

Weston,   G.  W.,   slaves   aided  by,   135 

Whicher,  Stephen,  frontier  experience 
of,  233,  234 

Whiskey,  capture  of,  345;  part  of,  in 
causing  riot,  376 

"Whiskey  Grove",  visits  of  soldiers 
to,  342 

White,  Andrew  D.,  description  of 
Cardiff  Giant  given  by,  271,  272; 
opinion  of,  concerning  Cardiff 
Giant,  276,  279,  280 

White,  S.  S.,  settlement  of,  at  Bur- 
lington, 352 

"Wickeups",   description   of,    18 

Wilkinson,  James,  report  to,  by  Pike, 
282 

Williams,  David,  experiences  of,  in 
blizzard,  1-15;  work  of,  for  Horace 
Green,  3,  4 

WILLIAMS,  IRA  A.,  Lost  in  an  Iowa 
Blizzard,  1-15 

Williams,  Jesse,  newspaper  edited  by, 
236,  237;  fight  of,  236,  237 

Williams,  Reuben,  death  of,  1;  ex- 
periences of,  in  blizzard,  1-15 ;  em- 
ployment of,  by  Horace  Green,  3 

Willow  Creek,  settlement  on,  3 ;  wa- 
tering cattle  in,  4,  5,  14;  first  mill 
on,  291 

Windows,  description  of,  in  early 
cabins,  20,  21,  26,  27 

Winnebago  Indians,  legend  concern- 
ing, 53 ;  difficulties  of  language  of, 
146;  fort  among,  333;  removal  of, 
333,  334,  335,  347,  348;  land 
ceded  by,  334;  protection  of,  337; 


INDEX 


403 


mission  for,  342;  resistance  threat- 
ened  by,  348;  fear  of,  383 

Winter,  pioneer  experiences  in,   1-15 

Wisconsin,  settlers  bound  for,  304; 
Governor  of,  344,  383;  bank  notes 
from,  363  ;  removal  of  Dodge  fam- 
ily  to,  382,  383 

Wisconsin  Territory,  first  census  of, 
302;  capital  of,  351;  burning  of 
capitol  building  of,  360,  361 

Wisconsin  River,  French  on,  169; 
promontory  opposite  mouth  of,  282 

Wisconsin  Territorial  Gazette  and 
Burlington  Advertiser,  description 
of  capitol  fire  given  in,  360,  361 

Witnesses,  holding  of,  374;  lodgings 
for,  374;  freedom  of,  375 

Wolcott,  Charles,  appointment  of,  as 
commissioner,  290 

Wolves,   156,   356 


Women,    right   of,    to    vote    in    Icaria, 

107,   109;   work  of,  at  Amana,  213- 

218;     negro    employees     aided    by, 

372 
Wood,  J.  W.,  exhibition  in  charge  of, 

271 
Wood,    use   of,   for   cabin    accessories, 

22,  23  ;  use  of,  as  fuel,  306 
Woodbury  County,   English  land  com- 

pany  in,   86 
Wool,  price  of,   105 
Wright,   W.    H.,   pamphlet   issued   by, 

280 
Wright,     William,     settlement    of,     at 

Burlington,    359 

Young,   Brigham,   mention   of,   60,   61 

Young    Men's    Christian    Association, 

organization  of,  at  Le  Mars,  93 


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