USA > Iowa > Hancock County > History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 1
USA > Iowa > Winnebago County > History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
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HISTORY
OF
WINNEBAGO COUNTY AND
HANCOCK COUNTY IOWA
3744
A RECORD OF SETTLEMENT, ORGANIZATION PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENT
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME I
CHICAGO THE PIONEER PUBLISHING COMPANY 1917
1 TV
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY 99260B
1.41
HAMMOND PRESS W. B. CONKEY COMPANY CHICAGO
CONTENTS
PART ONE
CHAPTER I. GEOLOGY OF WINNEBAGO, HANCOCK AND KOSSUTH COUNTIES.
INTRODUCTION-LOCATION-PREVIOUS GEOLOGICAL STUDY-PHYSIOGRA- PHY-TOPOGRAPHY-DRAINAGE - GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS - GENERAL DESCRIPTION-THE PLEISTOCENE SYSTEM-KANSAN DRIFT-THE WIS- CONSIN DRIFT-SOILS-ECONOMIC PRODUCTS-WATER SUPPLY-AC- .9 KNOWLEDGMENTS-FORESTRY NOTES.
CHAPTER II. THE FIRST INHABITANTS:
THE MOUND BUILDERS-DESCRIPTION OF THEIR RELICS-EARLY INVES- TIGATORS-MOUND BUILDERS DISTRICTS-WHO WERE THEY ?- THE IN- DIANS-DISTRIBUTION OF INDIAN GROUPS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY-THE IOWA-THE SAC AND FOX-BLACK HAWK WINNEBAGO AND HANCOCK COUNTIES
AND KEOKUK-OTHER SAC AND FOX CHIEFS-POTAWATOMI-WINNEBAGO -PRINCIPAL TRIBES OF THE SANTEE SIOUX-MDEWAKANTON-SISSETON -WAHPEKUTE-WAHPETON 40
CHAPTER III. THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION :
THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN-EARLY EXPLORATIONS IN AMERICA- STRENGTHENING SPANISH CLAIMS-WORK OF THE ENGLISH-FRENCH EXPLORATIONS-MARQUETTE AND JOLIET-LA SALLE'S EXPEDITIONS- SETTLEMENT OF LOUISIANA-CONFLICTING INTERESTS-FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR-CLARK'S CONQUEST OF THE NORTHWEST-NAVIGATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI-THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE-TREATY OF PARIS-EX- PLORING THE NEW PURCHASE-ACQUISITION OF THE INDIAN LANDS- TREATY OF 1804-THE NEUTRAL GROUND-TREATY OF 1830-TREATY OF 1832-TREATY OF 1842-TREATY OF TRAVERSE DES SIOUX. .61
iii
iv
CONTENTS
PART TWO
WINNEBAGO COUNTY
CHAPTER I. EARLY SETTLEMENT:
PROGRESS OF WHITE SETTLEMENTS IN IOWA-FIRST COUNTIES-WINNE- BAGO ORIGINALLY A PART OF DUBUQUE COUNTY-THE FIRST SETTLERS IN WINNEBAGO-SOME FIRST THINGS-PIONEER LIFE AND CUSTOMS- SWAPPING WORK-AMUSEMENTS AND PASTIMES. .87
CHAPTER II. WINNEBAGO COUNTY ORGANIZED:
PROGRESS OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER-TER- RITORY OF IOWA-STATEHOOD-THE ORGANIC ACT-BOUNDARIES OF WIN- NEBAGO COUNTY-PROVISIONS FOR ORGANIZING NEW COUNTIES-FIRST COUNTY ELECTION-LOCATING THE COUNTY SEAT-FIRST COURTHOUSE- PRESENT COURTHOUSE-THE POOR FARM. 98
CHAPTER III. TOWNSHIP HISTORY:
CONGRESSIONAL AND CIVIL TOWNSHIPS-ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP- EXTENSION OF THE SYSTEM WESTWARD-IOWA TOWNSHIPS-FIRST TOWNSHIPS IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY-PRESENT DAY TOWNSHIPS-BUF- FALO-CENTER-EDEN-FOREST-GRANT-KING -LINCOLN -LINDEN- LOGAN-MOUNT VALLEY-NEWTON-NORWAY-HISTORICAL SKETCH OF EACH-RAILROAD FACILITIES-SCHOOLS-POPULATION AND WEALTH. 107
CHAPTER IV. . FOREST CITY.
EARLY TOWNS-PLATTING OF FOREST CITY-FIRST SETTLER-FIRST EVENTS-EARLY BUSINESS-INCORPORATION-BANKS-FIRST LODGES- BUSINESS DIRECTORY FOR 1883-MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENTS-A SKETCH OF THE CITY, BY EUGENE SECOR-PUBLIC SPIRIT-THE LIBRARY. 124
CHAPTER V. OTHER TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
LAKE MILLS-THE OLD MILL-PLATTING-INCORPORATION-UTILITIES- BANKS-EARLY LODGES-BUSINESS DIRECTORY FOR 1883-RAILROAD INFLUENCE - MISCELLANEOUS-BUFFALO CENTER-PLATTING-INCOR- PORATION-BANKS-THOMPSON-PLATTING-INCORPORATION-BANKS - LELAND-RAKE-SCARVILLE-OTHER TOWNS. 138
CHAPTER VI. EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS-THE NEWS- PAPERS:
THE BEGINNING-STATISTICAL REVIEW OF EARLY SCHOOLS-REPORT FOR 1916-SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION-FIRST SCHOOLS-TEACHERS' ASSOCIA-
V
CONTENTS
TION-NORMAL INSTITUTES-COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS-HISTORY OF THE WALDORF LUTHERAN COLLEGE-NEWSPAPER HISTORY-THE WINNE- BAGO PRESS-NORTHERN IOWA GAZETTE-WINNEBAGO SUMMIT-THE WINNEBAGO CHIEF-WINNEBAGO WEEKLY REVIEW-THE INDEPENDENT -THE NORTH STAR-THE LAKE MILLS GRAPHIC-THE INDEPENDENT HERALD - - WINNEBAGO® REPUBLICAN - BUFFALO CENTER TRIBUNE - THOMPSON COURIER-RAKE REGISTER. 150
CHAPTER VII. RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
CHURCHES OF FOREST CITY-LAKE MILLS CHURCHES-OTHER CHURCHES -HISTORY OF THE NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN CHURCHES. . 166
CHAPTER VIII. MILITARY HISTORY.
SLAVERY-AGITATION IN THE UNITED STATES-BEGINNING OF SECESSION -FORT SUMTER-FALL OF THE FORT-PROCLAMATION-SENTIMENT IN IOWA-RESPONSE IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY-ROSTER-THOSE WHO DIED.169
CHAPTER IX. THE BENCH AND BAR.
BEGINNING OF CIVIL LAW-PURPOSE OF THE COURTS-TERRITORIAL COURTS-DISTRICT COURT-MENTION OF DISTRICT JUDGES-THE CIRCUIT COURT-LIST OF COUNTY ATTORNEYS-THE BAR-THE LAWYER AS A CIT- IZEN-SKETCHES OF PIONEER LAWYERS-THE PRESENT BAR. 179
CHAPTER X. THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
MEDICINE IN ANCIENT TIMES-THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH-EVOLUTION OF MEDICAL SCIENCE-HOME REMEDIES ON THE FRONTIER-THE PIONEER DOCTOR-HIS CHARACTER AND STANDING AS A CITIZEN-HIS METHODS OF TREATMENT-HARDSHIPS OF FRONTIER PRACTICE-EARLY PHYSICIANS OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY-PRESENT DAY PHYSICIANS-MEDICAL SOCIETIES.188
CHAPTER XI. STATISTICAL REVIEW.
POPULATION AS SHOWN BY THE UNITED STATES CENSUS, SINCE 1860- STATE CENSUS OF 1915-WEALTH AND PROGRESS-CONSTITUTIONAL CON- VENTIONS-VOTE FOR PRESIDENTS, SINCE 1864-OFFICIAL ROSTER-LIST OF COUNTY OFFICERS FROM 1857 TO 1917-IN THE LEGISLATURE-CON- GRESSMEN 196
CHAPTER XII. MISCELLANEOUS.
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY-CROP STATISTICS-REMINISCENCES BY DAVID SECOR-PIONEER ADVENTURES-MORE OF INDIANS-RECOLLECTIONS OF J. F. THOMPSON 205
vi
CONTENTS PART THREE
HANCOCK COUNTY
CHAPTER I. EARLY SETTLEMENT OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
THE COMING OF THE PIONEER-HANCOCK COUNTY PRIOR TO SETTLEMENT -THE FIRST SETTLEMENT-LATER SETTLEMENTS-FIRST VITAL STATIS- TICS-ESCAPE FROM GRASSHOPPERS-FIRST TAXPAYERS-A SUMMARY- CENSUS STATISTICS, INCLUDING POPULATION, AGRICULTURE AND STOCK RAISING IN DIFFERENT YEARS. 218
CHAPTER II. ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT.
ORGANIZATION-PETITION OF ORGANIZATION-THE COUNTY COURT- BOARD OF SUPERVISORS-COUNTY AUDITORS-TREASURER AND RECORDER -COUNTY TREASURERS-COUNTY RECORDERS-COURT CLERKS-COUNTY SHERIFFS-COUNTY SURVEYORS-COUNTY CORONERS-STATE REPRESEN- TATION-EARLY POLITICS-MARRIAGE RECORD - LAND AND PROPERTY VALUES-REGISTRY OF DEEDS. 228
CHAPTER III. COUNTY SEAT HISTORY.
NO COUNTY SEAT-FIRST LOCATION-FIRST COUNTY BUILDINGS-GARNER DONATES THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A COURTHOUSE-THE COUNTY SEAT FIGHT. 243
CHAPTER IV. ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT OF THE TOWNSHIPS-EARLY SETTLEMENT.
ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP SYSTEM- ORGANIZATION OF HANCOCK COUNTY TOWNSHIPS-TOWNSHIP SETTLEMENT-AMSTERDAM TOWNSHIP- AVERY TOWNSHIP-BINGHAM TOWNSHIP-BOONE TOWNSHIP-BRITT TOWN- SHIP-CONCORD TOWNSHIP-CRYSTAL TOWNSHIP-ELL TOWNSHIP-EL- LINGTON TOWNSHIP-ERIN TOWNSHIP-GARFIELD TOWNSHIP-GERMAN TOWNSHIP-MADISON TOWNSHIP-MAGOR TOWNSHIP-ORTHEL TOWN-
SHIP-TWIN LAKE TOWNSHIP. 255 CHAPTER V. TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
THE CITY OF GARNER-PLATTING-FIRST STORES-INCORPORATION-A RAILROAD PROMOTION-BANKS-POSTOFFICE-LIBRARY-EARLY LODGES -CITY OF BRITT-PLATTING-THE FIRST GLIMPSE-FIRST BUILDING- INCORPORATION-FIRST MERCHANT-BANKS-MUNICIPAL IMPROVE-
MENTS-FIRST LODGES-LIBRARY-CORWITH-FIRST BUSINESS-BANKS -KANAWHA-KLEMME-GOODELL-HAYFIELD-MILLER-CRYSTAL LAKE -WODEN-STILSON-HUTCHINS-DUNCAN-OTHER TOWNS NOW
DE- FUNCT 271
CHAPTER VI. MILITARY RECORD.
WAR TIMES IN HANCOCK COUNTY-ROSTER OF SOLDIERS FROM HANCOCK COUNTY-SKETCH OF THE SECOND IOWA CAVALRY-SKETCH OF THE THIRTY-SECOND IOWA INFANTRY. 293
vii
CONTENTS
CHAPTER VII. HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN HANCOCK COUNTY.
EARLY SCHOOLS-CONSOLIDATION-REPORT OF FIRST COUNTY SUPERIN- TENDENT OF SCHOOLS-STATISTICS OF 1860-REPORT OF COUNTY SU- PERINTENDENT FOR 1883-ROSTER OF COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS- SCHOOL STATISTICS OF THE PRESENT TIME. 302
CHAPTER VIII. RELIGION IN HANCOCK COUNTY.
ORIGIN OF DENOMINATIONS-HISTORY OF METHODISM-CATHOLICISM- - CONGREGATIONALISM-GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH-LUTHERANISM- UNITED PRESBYTERIANISM-UNITED BRETHREN-BAPTIST-CHURCHES IN GARNER-CHURCHES IN BRITT-OTHER CHURCHES IN THE COUNTY.310
CHAPTER IX. HANCOCK COUNTY JOURNALISM.
ORIGIN OF NEWSPAPERS-FIRST PAPERS IN THE UNITED STATES-THE COUNTRY EDITOR-THE FIRST PAPER IN HANCOCK COUNTY-THE GARNER SIGNAL, THE OLDEST PAPER NOW PUBLISHED IN THE COUNTY-THE HAN- COCK COUNTY DEMOCRAT-THE BRITT TRIBUNE-THE BRITT NEWS ---- OTHER COUNTY NEWSPAPERS AT CORWITH, GOODELL, KLEMME, KANAWHA AND WODEN, THE LATER DEFUNCT. .320
CHAPTER X. THE BENCH AND BAR.
EARLY LAWYERS-TIIE PRESENT BAR-THE DISTRICT COURT- THE DIS- TRICT JUDGE-THE CIRCUIT COURT-COUNTY ATTORNEYS-THE COUNTY JUDGE-COUNTY CLERKS. 328
CHAPTER XI. THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
THE FIRST DOCTORS AND THEIR PRACTICES-HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND SURGERY-PIONEER REMEDIES-EARLY DOCTORS IN HANCOCK COUNTY- THE PRESENT PHYSICIANS IN THE COUNTY. .335
CHAPTER XII. MISCELLANEOUS.
EARLY AGRICULTURE-EARLY FARM METHODS-A CYCLONE-DEATH OF JACOB WARD-THE HANCOCK COUNTY AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION, ITS ORGANIZATION-THE FIRST FAIR. 339
CHAPTER XIII. CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY.
IMPORTANCE OF DATES IN THE STUDY OF HISTORY-INFLUENCE OF EVENTS ON THOSE THAT FOLLOW-EXAMPLES-THE SUMMARY-LIST OF EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE ORGANIZATION OF WINNEBAGO AND HAN- COCK COUNTIES-IMPORTANT OCCURRENCES OF MORE MODERN TIMES- POSTSCRIPT, IN LIEU OF A PREFACE. 348
PART ONE
CHAPTER I. GEOLOGY OF WINNEBAGO, HANCOCK AND KOSSUTH COUNTIES. By Thomas H. MacBride.
INTRODUCTION-LOCATION-PREVIOUS GEOLOGICAL STUDY-PHYSIOGRAPHY- TOPOGRAPHY-DRAINAGE-GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS-GENERAL DESCRIP- TION THE PLEISTOCENE SYSTEM -- KANSAN DRIFT-THE WISCONSIN DRIFT-SOILS- ECONOMIC PRODUCTS - WATER SUPPLY - ACKNOWLEDG- MENTS-FORESTRY NOTES FOR KOSSUTH, WINNEBAGO AND HANCOCK COUNTIES.
The following geological report is taken from the Iowa Geological Survey, Volume XIII, Annual Report, 1902, pp. 80-122:
INTRODUCTION
LOCATION
The three counties of Iowa here discussed, Kossuth, Hancock, and Winnebago, constitute together an almost perfect square lying along the northern boundary of the State almost midway between the Missis- sippi and the Sioux. Kossuth is a double county in area, almost the largest county in the State. By our system of surveys the most north- ern townships and sections in any case bear the brunt of any defi- ciency in land-division; and so it happened that our square is not exactly perfect but measures only about forty-one miles in north and south directions as against forty-eight from east to west.
These three counties are prairie counties, remote from rivers or mountains or any great terrestrial features popularly believed to de- termine topography, and it would naturally be supposed that all three are just alike, just like fifty other such political divisions to be selected anywhere within our valley-prairies. But such is by no means the case. Greater contrasts are not to be found, within the limits of a re-
9
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WINNEBAGO AND HANCOCK COUNTIES
gion not mountainous, than are to be seen within the square before us. We have plains wide extended, so level that for the passing traveler no inequality can be perceived; towns may hail towns across the unbroken fields and houses dot the distant landscapes like blocks upon a sheet of cardboard. We have precipitons hills rising like miniature mountains directly out of the plain, some of them in groups two or three hundred feet high enclosing lakes, like mountain lakes far above the general level, mantled in native forest and looming blue along the prairie hori- zon visible for miles and miles; we have townships of alternating marshes and knobby hills without any natural drainage whatever, and we have valleys with gently flowing streams bordered by softly rounded, sloping hillsides perfectly adapted to every phase of agricul- tural effort.
These are the facts of the problem, facts patent to every comer. The farmers attempt to adapt themselves to the motley situation. Lands suitable to their purposes have been long in use, while only re- cently the ever increasing demand for farms has impelled men to at- tempt the tillage of the less tractable hills and swamps. Explanation of the situation is the last thing thought of. Men go doggedly to work to make the best of a difficult problem finding satisfaction in a practical solution, a triumph over physical hindrance, and care only for the ulti- mate return in wealth or comfort.
Nevertheless there is a solution for our problem, an explanation of these strange conditions,-explanation so simple that anyone may understand it and may safely apply its terms even to the last square yard of all this most singular and anomalous topography.
PREVIOUS GEOLOGICAL STUDY
It will not be supposed that such solution or explanation has always been at hand ready for each locality fitting thus to such varied local con- ditions. The facts which lend to our present story credibility have been coming rather rapidly to light during the last five and twenty years, not in Iowa only but in all parts of the northern world. The classifica- tion of these facts as set forth in these volumes is even more recent still. The earlier studies of the earth's surface were concerned in classifying the indurated rocky strata and discovering the history of organic life which these so clearly disclose. Inasmuch as our present field shows nowhere a trace of stratified rock in place these prairies were less attractive, indeed offered nothing to the elder students of the natural history of the State. David Owen about the middle of the last century was at work in this part of the world. He followed the Iowa River until the limestone exposures disappeared along its bor-
.
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WINNEBAGO AND HANCOCK COUNTIES
ders. Fifteen or twenty miles farther on he encountered the topog- raphy known since his writing as the "knobby drift."* Owen was thus in Franklin county and within a few miles of the territory now discussed. Prof. James Hall, who came next in the order of time, does not mention our counties even by name. They did not fall within the limited scope of his inquiry. It remained for Dr. Chas. A. White to introduce our territory to the world as he does in the second volume of his report .; Dr. White describes in some detail the peculiar topog- raphy of Kossuth and Hancock counties, and makes repeated refer- ence to the oft-recurring beds of peat in slough and marsh. It was at that time the opinion of Dr. White and others that peat in the prairie counties would form a very important source of fuel supply. The surface deposits in White's report are simply referred to as drift and no attempt whatever is made to explain either their presence or con- figuration.
In 1881 the present phase of the geological study of this part of Iowa may be said to take origin in Upham's discussion of the series of morainic hills which all along our northern border extend from Minnesota into Iowa at greater or less length.# Mr. Upham's de- scriptions are generally accurate and his map as much so as may be expected on the scale to which it is drawn. The morainic field in our particular locality is really much wider than Mr. Upham's map indi- cates, as will be pointed out in the descriptions here following. In connection with our present study the reader should also consult Pro- fessor Calvin's report on Cerro Gordo county.§
PHYSIOGRAPHY
TOPOGRAPHY
The topography of the area before us is, as already intimated ex- tremely varied; nevertheless, it is not confused. To the careful ob- server it will appear that all the at first apparently endless variety is reducible to no more than three distinct types and these are after all quite definitely limited; with respect each to the other mutually exclu- sive in a remarkable degree. These three topographic types are, first, the type of the level plain, second, that of the knobby drift, the un- eroded hills and swamps, and third the type of erosional flood plains and valleys.
The plain is that now familiar in all recent geological literature,
* Report of the Geological Survey of Wisconsin. Iowa, and Minnesota. David Owen, Phila., 1852, p. 104.
+ Report of Geological Survey of the State of Iowa. Charles A. White, M. D., Des Moines, 1870, Vol. II, pp. 246-9.
# See Ninth Annual Report of the Geographical and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, pp. 298- 314, Minneapolis. 1881, and Plate VI.
§ Volume VII of the Geological Survey pp. 119-193.
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WINNEBAGO AND HANCOCK COUNTIES
the plain of the Wisconsin drift. It marks the bed or path of an an- cient extension of arctic ice and snow which at one time descended to our latitude and covered to a large extent all the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakotas. The plain area in the three coun- ties we describe is comparatively limited but its characteristics are as unmistakable as in that region where first this remarkable deposit found distinct recognition and a name. In the first place it is gener- ally almost level. Certainly no one can traverse the southern half of Kossuth or Hancock county without being impressed with this topo- graphic characteristic. Nearly all the western part of Hancock county also is a plain so flat that it seems to show no variation in level what- ever. This is particularly the case about Hutchins, Kanawha, Cor- with and Luverne. Algona, Wesley, Woden, are on a similar plain but on a different level. As the traveler approaches Woden from the south the village is visible for miles across an unbroken plateau. The valley of Prairie creek, say in Luverne township, is no valley to ordi- nary vision but an absolute plain stretching to the horizon's rim. These are typical illustrations. Sometimes the plain is marked by here and there a ridge or hill, merely a low swell in the landscape, sometimes a succession of low inequalities may be encountered; but these are recognizable only as one carefully traverses the country roads. Sometimes, as just intimated, the plain breaks from one level to an- other. This is well shown along a line from Irvington to St. Benedict. In the second place, consequent upon the first characteristic, we have in the plain topography a country without efficient drainage. There has been in many places almost no erosion whatever. The water streams along in sluggish current in some winding depression, some- times as in the case of Prairie Creek south of St. Benedict for consid- erable distance without any channel at all; sometimes we find a chan- nel which is a mere ditch, tortuous, but only slightly eroded, as in the case of the tributaries of the Boone; sometimes the channel is deeper, a narrow valley has been formed and secondary streams break back in minor shallow receding swales and valleys approaching the erosional type. This is well illustrated by Lotts creek as seen in the township of the same name and in Whittemore township both in Kossuth county. The Wisconsin plains have yet another characteristic; they are everywhere spotted with "kettleholes," small depressions, wet places, an acre, less or more, undrained and grown up, where yet undisturbed by cultivation, to various forms of marsh vegetation, chiefly sedges and bulrushes whose dark colors contrast vividly with the paler vege- tation of the surrounding prairie. In dry years the water disappears from most of these marshes and many of them are today lost in corn- fields and meadows. But even after cultivation this remarkable sur-
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WINNEBAGO AND HANCOCK COUNTIES
face peculiarity may still be traced. On the beaten pasture field after a summer shower "the rain also filleth the pools" and shines in little shimmering ponds over all the landscape, and for a little the kettle- holes all come back again.
The topography just described passes more or less directly to the north and east into a second type quite as distinct and no less remark- able. As we pass across the plain the horizon is suddenly broken by rounded contours of low mound-like hills, rising to various altitudes, twenty, thirty, seldom exceeding forty feet. As we ascend one of the highest and look about us the significance of Owen's original expres- sion becomes vivid indeed. Here is the "knobby" drift. As far as eye can reach one knob succeeds another, hill after hill, at distances varying, without any relationship to each other or any regularity what- ever. They rise out of the plain; they are not carved from it. The larger are apt to occur in groups, and where the sides are steep as is frequently the case, the summits are barren, rocky and gravelly, un- fitted wholly for the plough. But if the knobs themselves are peculiar, no less so are the depressions between them. These, too, have little or no relation to each other. No streams run among hills like these; no radiating valleys acknowledge allegiance to these sloping sides. On the contrary, the streams of the country seem to be outside the hills altogether, and the depressions among the knobs are not valleys-they are cisterns, lakes, marshes, swamps or pools. Here and there an im- perfect drainage channel connects these nearly isolated swamps and we have a winding irregular slough as Mud creek in Kossuth County; sometimes, for reasons to be later on set forth, a considerable stream cuts through the ridges, hills and all, as Lime creek; but in general the depressions among these hills remain undrained or have waited the advent of the county ditch and the skill of the engineer.
Such in general is the topographie character of all the eastern part of Hancock county, nearly all of Winnebago county and the northern half of Kossuth county. If the flat plain topography represents the bed of the old ice sheet, the knobby drifts mark for us the margin or limits of its occupancy. These hills are moraines, piles of material unspread when the movement of the glacier stopped. In some locali- ties topography of this sort results in unusual features worthy of spe- cial description. Not infrequently the marshes are deepened into lakes and the knobs assume sometimes correspondingly commanding propor- tions. Thus there are lakes in all three of the counties we discuss. In Hancock county are found Twin lakes in the south and Crystal lake at the north and between them Eagle lake; all were at one time notable features of the prairie landscape. All seem to have been meandered and still preserve in large part their original identity. The Twin lakes
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WINNEBAGO AND HANCOCK COUNTIES
are small, the larger, eastern, occupying not more than two hundred acres. The western lake was at the time of our visit dry, a pasture-field occupied by herds of cattle. Nevertheless there are many indications that it was once a permanent body of water of considerable depth. The banks were in many places high and show the erosion resultant from wave action; on the north there is a distinct sandy beach with recessional ridges, diminutive terraces, etc., all indicating a lengthened history. Nevertheless the history now seems forever closed. The eastern lake contains today the waters of both. In this rainy year of 1902, the waters are by no means deep, and, if one may judge by the extended growth of aquatic plants, bulrushes, sedges and. cattails, the eastern lake is also passing and likely at no distant day to become a cultivated field.
Eagle lake is the largest body of water in the three counties. It is about two miles and a half long and half as wide and covers more than one thousand acres. This was at one time apparently much more attractive and lake-like than now. The greatest depth at present is said to be eight feet and the areas of open water are few and the greater part, as Twin lake, today grown up with rushes and sedges. Neverthe- less there are good beaches here, and cottages have been erected on the western shore. Crystal lake is a permanent body of water beautifully surrounded by groves and hills. It is said to be twenty feet deep; at any rate the depth is sufficient to shut out rushes over the greater part and its clear surface invites the pleasure-seeker's boat.
The lakes of Winnebago county are less important. Rice lake, extending across the boundary and lying chiefly perhaps in Worth county, is a widespread shallow marsh stretching a mile or two in each direction but with only a limited area of open water. Its waters sur- round an island lifted fifteen or twenty feet above the ordinary level of the water. The island affords a pleasant beach on which cottages have been erected. The lakes of Kossuth county are best described as sloughs or marshes and will no doubt eventually all be drained.
But if the marshes are thus sometimes lakes, the knobs are occa- sionally no less like mountains. They everywhere surprise us by their abruptness and steepness and in Ellington township of Hancock county, are found two or more which so far transcend all others that they have long been famous. The highest of the group is Pilot Knob* which as the barometer reads is nearly 300 feet above the waters of Lime creek at its base, 1450 feet above sea level. This is not only the finest morainic mound thus far described in Iowa, but is one of the
* To the pioneer the boundless prairies of the Mississippi valley seem to have come ever with irresistible suggestion of the sea. The endless meadows of dark grasses driven in waves before the wind established a more vivid likeness and, for the pioneer, any natural object which aided the traveler to find his way across the unmarked plain became a "pilot." Hence Pilot Rock and Pilot Mound and Pilot Knob, over the whole western country.
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