USA > Iowa > Audubon County > History of Audubon county, Iowa; its people, industries, and institutions > Part 3
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feet in height, and correspondingly proportioned, a young Apollo, and a skill- ful hunter, who had been out for game that day and had retired to rest for the night when the party arrived at camp. He was stretched out on the ground near the wall of the tent at repose, enveloped with a blanket, and presented an inviting prospect for a seat. Indians do not use chairs or seats, but usually squat down on the ground or on mats when inside their abodes. One of the young ladies present on that occasion, tired of standing, spied the "seat," as she supposed, and proceeded to appropriate and sit on it. Jo, good naturedly, stoically submitted, for a while, but finally moved and rolled over, which startled the lady, who sprang up with a scream, to receive a general shout of laughter at her expense, in which Jo heartily joined, to the chagrin of the victim of misplaced confidence.
About that period I. K. Johnson employed the writer to survey his land (in section 36, Lincoln township), which he was unable to find, and where he afterwards settled. It was late in the fall of the year and, while at work, I observed off to the east a strange performance which excited my curiosity. There was a scarlet object, surmounted by a black spot, moving along the ground and not far distant were two deer gazing at it, alternately approaching and retreating as if trying to discover the nature of the strange sight. I soon concluded that someone was trying to lure the deer within gun-shot. The hunter was enveloped with a red blanket with his black head showing above, a remarkable sight. I had known the trick to succeed with antelope decoyed in that way, but never before or since have seen it succeed with deer. But it worked all right in that case. The deer got into range and the hunter shot and killed one of them, a fine doe, but the other escaped. It was before the days of repeating rifles. I went over to the scene, when, lo and behold, the successful hunter was the Indian, Jo, who greeted me in a friendly manner. He prepared the deer by re- moving its entrails and bound its feet together, swung it upon his back with the legs across his breast, and started for camp several miles away, which we also reached the same night, it being located in a small grove where Mr. Ellsberry had settled, in Douglas township, and where Johnson and myself also camped. We heard the bells on the Indian ponies nearly all night. It snowed during the night, but we had improvised a shelter from a wagon-cover spread over a pole placed in the fork of a sapling near a large tree then recently blown down. Next morning I went to the Indian camp and got some venison for breakfast free of cost. When I arrived there the Indians were at breakfast, eating from a large pan of colored beans and
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corn, cooked with deer meat. One of the Indians performed a ceremony similar to saying grace before eating.
The first settlers found the place of sepulcher of an Indian chief named Pymosa, soon after coming here. Possibly he was known to history. If I ever knew, I have forgotten his tribe. The spot was in the timber on the land of Doctor Ballard, in section 31, Exira township, east of the Ballard bridge. The body was found in a sitting position on the ground, decorated with ear-rings, beads, trinkets, etc., enclosed with slabs of wood (puncheons), all being surrounded with a conical stack of saplings and logs to protect the body from wild animals. He had been dead long enough for the flesh to fall from the bones. His skull and some of the bones and decorations were carried away by the whites as souvenirs. His name is preserved in the name of the adjoining township of Pymosa, in Cass county, a fitting re- buke to the settlers of Audubon for the sacrilege and desecration of the red chief's sepulcher and remains.
WILD ANIMALS.
In the year 1870 the bones of a mastodon were found in the bank of a small stream near the west line of what is now Lincoln township. The writer obtained a portion of one of the ribs, nearly five feet in length, and a section of the vertebra, six inches in diameter. The early settlers found the horns, skulls and bones of buffalo here. William P. Hamlin killed a buffalo on Buck creek soon after he settled there. Bryant Milliman and John Crane, while traveling to Council Bluffs, about the same time, saw and chased buffalo a short distance west of where Atlantic is now situated. A wild buffalo was killed in Dallas county in the year 1865. It is well known that wild buffalo were found in the northwest part of Iowa as late as 1866.
When the first settlers came, there were bear, panther, lynx, bobcat, otter, beaver, mink, muskrat, gray wolf, coyote, elk, deer, fox and gray squirrel, and, occasionally, a white squirrel, chipmunk, weasel, gray and striped ground squirrel, pocket gopher. skunk, rabbit, sand hill crane, heron, wild turkey, swan, wild goose, brant, several varieties of duck, prairie chicken, quail, curlew. several varieties of snipe, plover, eagle, turkey buz- zard, several varieties of hawk, robin, meadow lark, blackbird, crow, wood- pecker, bluejay. yellowhammer, bluebird, sparrow. snowbird. several varieties of owl, oriole, catbird, bee martin, swallow, martin, chimneyswal- low, wren, bluebird. There were some small scale fish, sucker. chub, dace, silverside, sunfish; but they have all gone, and in their place have come bull-
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head, catfish and carp. Snakes were quite numerous, among them being rattlesnake, bullsnake, blue racer and gartersnake. The elk and deer abounded and settlers took them in large numbers for food, and for their skins, until the severe winter of 1857, after which they were not so plentiful. "Uncle" John Jenkins once said that he counted over one hundred elk in a band on the high point of land on what is now John I. Hensley's farm, west of the Botna, near West Exira. In the spring of 1866 the writer visited that spot and found there a large elk skull, with a noble set of antlers attached, nearly six feet in length, partly decayed and gnawed by wolves. Elk horns were found plentifully here at that time on the prairie, where they had been killed or where they had shed them. A large set of elk antlers would weigh as much as twenty-five pounds, and it is a fact that they were shed annually about February. A new set grew each year during the summer. They were at first about the consistency of cheese and very tender, being covered with a beautiful, delicate purple membrane, called the "velvet," which material it resembled. The deer had very much the same habit about the shedding and growth of horns.
There were some hunters who lived in what is now known as David- son's Grove, in section 18, Douglas township, who killed considerable num- bers of elk and deer about 1867-8. One of them was said to have been killed by lightning in the fall or early winter of 1867 in the west part of what is now Lincoln township, several miles north of their camp. His body was covered with snow and found the next spring, with his rifle near him. A thunderstorm was known to have occurred at the time he was lost and from the appearance of the body and gun, which was broken, it was reported that he was killed by lightning. It was said that he appeared to have been fol- lowing elk tracks when killed. There were also rumors that he met death by foul means. No legal proceedings were ever taken about the event.
The last bands of elks in the county were on Indian creek, Blue Grass and West Botna. Lone Willow was a favorite resort for them. They dis- appeared about 1870-1. The last hunters to kill elk were John Huntley, Edwin C. Wadsworth, Stephen Bowdish and Frank Harrington. Possibly Christ- opher C. Luccock and the Indians may have killed some about the same time. The deer gradually disappeared, though a few have been seen here almost to the present time ; possibly there may be a few yet. In 1868 the writer took thirty saddles of vension from Exira to Des Moines. The tracks of three deer were seen near the railroad depot at Exira in 1880. The writer killed several deer here before 1870. Being at "Uncle" John Jenkins's place in the fall of 1865, I went with George Jenkins to hunt for some cattle. In a
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brush patch we jumped up half a dozen deer, which scampered away. I had a Colts' revolver, but was so much excited at my first sight of deer that I forgot the gun entirely. Returning to the house, I related the experience to Mr. Jenkins, who consoled me by remarking: "Well, sir, it's a mighty pooty sight to the eye of a hunter-but you had the 'Buck Ager ;' I've had it myself before now and had to bite my finger till it hurt like the very devil to steady my nerves." I thought it a novel method of quieting nervousness, but do not remember ever practicing it. The theory seemed to be that the pain of the gnawed finger exceeded the nervousness produced at the presence of the game. It is a fact that old hunters sometimes become excited at the near proximity of wild game.
William Powell, who lived where Ad. Seibert now resides at Exira, while out hunting near "Towhead" (section I, Exira township), discovered some bear, but, being alone, feared to attack them. He came home and reported his find. Alex Kincaid, who lived in the Big Grove, south of the Burton place, John Jenkins, John Hoggard and Philip Arthur Decker took some dogs and went in pursuit. They found the bear and killed them, after the old bear had killed one of the dogs. This account was related by John T. Jenkins, of the hunters mentioned. A large bear skull was found many years ago in a small stream in the "big grove" on section 21, Exira town- ship, which is now in the museum of the State Historical Society. Howard J. Green, Folly Herrick and others have told about killing wild turkey here, saying that they were plentiful in early days. There was a well-defined beaver-dam a mile above Exira, on the Botna, in 1866. Perk Smith saw where the beaver had cut down trees there as large as a stove pipe. Swans, wild geese, brants, ducks and sandhill cranes were plentiful in the spring and fall for many years. Howard J. Green and Folly Herrick told the writer that they had killed wild turkey in the timber where Walter B. Temple now lives. Prairie chickens were very plentiful until after the railroad came in 1878, and large numbers of them were taken by sportsmen.
The following letter, written from Farrall, Wyoming, in 1909, by Mrs. Cymanthia A. Smith, daughter of William P. Hamlin, gives a fairly good picture of the early times here :
"I happened to see one of the Audubon County Journals, telling about the early settlement of Audubon county. You say you have never seen any one that claimed to have seen a panther there. There must have been several there, or in Cass county. My father and a man named John Prat saw one as they were going across the prairie from our place on Buck creek. They were in a wagon and when the panther saw them it dropped down on an
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ant-hill and witched them as they passed, only about ten steps from the road. Father said he could have shot it if he had had a gun. And, as for bears, they were plenty, at least on Buck creek. We lived at the lower grove, two miles below Barney Harris' grove, and there was another between them, called Middle grove. We used to hear the bears at night fighting and squall- ing in the Middle grove. Father went at one time to move a man to Nebraska, and Martha Johnston, afterwards Mrs. William Carpenter, stayed with our family while father was gone. One night during his absence, we heard something walking around the house and were greatly frightened. There was no door to the house, only a quilt hung up, with chairs set against it to shut the entrance. The next day we found bear tracks around the house, which proved who our visitor was. It made no attempt to enter the house. There were lots of wild turkeys in the Big grove; but father killed only the young ones, which were nice to fry. I have seen my father chasing hundreds of elk at a time, which came near our house. He killed nine elk one Christmas and brought home a large one alive. We kept it until the next summer, fattened and killed it to eat. There was a crust on the deep snow which enabled father to kill those on that Christmas. Something funny happened when we lived on the Goodale place. One night the hounds wakened us by chasing something around the house. Father jumped up to see what it was and just as he got out, a deer ran past him, which he caught by the horns. He called to mother to bring the butcher knife, and with it he killed the deer. One time, on Buck creek, when father was absent from home, five wolves came close to the house. Our dog would chase them a short distance; then the wolves would turn and drive him back faster than he had driven them away. When the dog got near the house he would get brave and go after them again. Mother and us children watched the per- formance from the yard.
"Father and Uncle Natty lived near each other on Skunk river, in Mahaska county. Ben and Ike Jenkins helped to move us from Mahaska to Cass county with an ox team in the fall of 1851. I was only three years old, but remember it well. There was but one house on the hill east of the. river at Des Moines, and I think only three houses on the west side.
"I remember the ferry boat was so old and rotten mother was afraid to go on it, and I think our only cow thought the same way, for she jumped . overboard and swam ashore.
"The first election in Cass county was held at our house on the old Goodale place. We moved to Exira in the fall of 1860 (from Buck creek). "MRS. W. F. SMITH."
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NAMES OF RIVERS AND PLACES.
The Nishua Botna river probably received its name lower down its course, near the Missouri river, into which it discharges. It is mentioned in the diary of Lewis and Clark, kept on their expedition from St. Louis to the Pacific ocean, as follows: "On the 14th (May, 1804) elk were seen for the first time. Passed the Nishua Botna and Little Nemahaw rivers, and found the former to be only three hundred yards from the Missouri at the distance of twelve miles from its mouth," indicating previous knowledge of the name. The writer is unable to recognize to what language it be- longs; perhaps it is an Indian word, or it may be from the patois of the old French voyageurs, who traversed the Missouri river country in earlier times. Doctor Ballard once said that the word Nishua Botna signified "To cross in a boat."
It has been said that the government surveyors gave the name to Troublesome creek. While surveying the land through which it flows, the water was high and they had frequent occasion to cross it, hence the name. It should be remembered that the streams carried more water in early times than at present.
Crooked creek, a tributary of Troublesome, undoubtedly received its name from the form of its channel.
Unexpected creek (or Pleasant run), in section 35, near Hamlin's, was named by the surveyors, who came upon it unexpectedly, and so gave it that name.
Sifford creek was named for John Seifford, who settled on its bank near where T. J. Essington lived.
The name of Buck creek was suggested from the large number of deer found there in early times, according to the account of Doctor Ballard.
David's creek was named for David Edgerton.
Anderson creek, at Exira, was named for David Anderson.
Four-mile creek was so called because it was four miles from Exira.
William. Brice, who lived in section 31, Greeley township, bestowed the name Honey creek upon the little stream there where he resided.
The early settlers discovered a patch of blue grass in the little grove on the present poorfarm in this county. It was supposed the seed was scat- tered there by Mormons in their journey westward. The place was called Blue Grass grove and the creek near it received the same name.
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East branch, in Melville township, received its name in early times from its direction from the principal river of which it was a tributary.
West Botna, in Lincoln and Douglas townships, takes its name from the principal river.
Indian creek and Little Indian probably received the name lower down on the stream. There was an old town on the stream near the town of Lewis, called Indian Town.
The name of Lone Willow, in Douglas township, suggests its origin.
Exira was named for Miss Exira Eckman. Her father, Judge John Eckman, from Ohio, was here visiting his relatives, the Cranes, at the time the town was laid out and platted. Mr. Edgerton, the proprietor, had in- tended to name the town Viola, for his daughter. Mr. Eckman proposed if Edgerton would name the town Exira, for his daughter, he would buy a town lot, which was agreed to.
Viola township was named for the daughter of Arthur L. Sanborn, who was a member of the board of supervisors when the township was organized.
Melville township was named for James Melville Graham, the lawyer at Audubon, a son of Samuel A. Graham, who was a member of the board of supervisors when the township was organized.
Leroy township was named for Leroy Freeman, a Union soldier, killed in the Civil War, and brother of our well-known citizen, Ethelbert J. Free- man, who was an early and prominent settler in that township. Leroyville postoffice, now obsolete, was named after the same manner.
Hamlin Grove postoffice, now obsolete; the old town of Hamlin, also obsolete; Hamlin township and Hamlin Station were all named in honor of the first settler, Nathaniel Hamlin.
Cameron township was named in honor of the Cameron family, sev- eral members of which were early settlers in Viola and Cameron townships.
Brayton was named for the civil engineer who worked on the rail- road during its construction, 1878-79.
Oakfield was named by Elam W. Pearl, a resident there, after a place of the same name in New York state.
Gray was named for its proprietor, George Gray.
Towhead was the name of the high point of land three miles east of Exira. Years ago there were two oak trees there, which served as a land- mark for miles around in most directions. The trees have long since van- ished and the name is nearly obsolete.
CHAPTER II.
ORGANIZATION OF AUDUBON COUNTY.
Audubon county was undoubtedly named in honor of the celebrated ornithologist, John James Audubon, who died in the year 1851.
At the time of its organization by the state Legislature, it formed part of Keokuk county, which embraced at one period the southern portion of lowa.
Audubon county was organized by provision of section 18, chapter 9, acts of the third General Assembly of Iowa, approved January 15, 1851, which provided: "That the following shall be the boundaries of a new county, which shall be called Audubon, to-wit: Beginning at the northwest corner of township 81 north, range 32 west ; thence west on the line between townships 81 and 82. to the northwest corner of township SI, range 36 west ; thence south on range line dividing ranges 36 and 37 to the southwest corner of township 78 north, range 36; thence east on the line between townships 77 and 78 to the southwest corner of township 78, range 32 west; thence north between ranges 32 and 33, to the place of beginning."
This boundary was changed a few days later by subsequent act of the Legislature, namely, chapter 81. acts of the third General Assembly, approved February 5, 1851, which provided : "That the following shall be the boundaries of the county of Guthrie, to-wit: Beginning at the north- west corner of township 81 north, of range 29 west; thence west on the township lines dividing townships 81 and 82, to the northwest corner of township 81 north, range 33 west: thence south to the southwest corner of township 78, range 33 west ; thence east on the township lines between town- ships 77 and 78, to the southwest corner of township 78, range 29 west ; thence north to the place of beginning."
The cause of this change was remote. To adjust the boundaries of Polk county in such manner as to make. Des Moines nearer the center of the county, a tier of townships was severed from the east of Polk and attached to Jasper county. To compensate for the change, a tier of townships was taken from the east of Dallas and attached to Polk county. Then a tier of townships was taken from the east of Guthrie and attached to Dallas county,
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and a tier of townships was taken from the east of Audubon and attached to Guthrie county.
There was no one living in Audubon county at that time, and its inter- ests were unprotected. The readjustment should have continued by adding a tier of townships to the west of Audubon taken from the east of Shelby county, and Shelby should then have received a like territory from the east of Harrison county, which would have fairly equalized the counties.
The time for correcting the injustice to Audubon county has long passed. To disturb the county boundaries, now that permanent county seats have been located and public records of long standing have been established, would work irreparable injury and damage to the people now residing where such changes could and should have been made many years ago. We have since lived to experience the many permanent disadvantages resulting from that act of injustice. The relative expenses of county government must always remain greater in a small than in a larger county. In political affairs, in the distribution of state and district officers, the rights of a small county have frequently been disregarded and denied. The people of Audubon county have repeatedly experienced such prejudice and injustice and will probably continue to do so.
Doctor Ballard and Peoria I. Whitted took an active part in procuring the organization of the county. At one time Mr. Whitted made a trip for that purpose to Iowa City and return, on foot. The expenses were paid prin- cipally by Doctor Ballard.
It was provided by section 10, chapter 8, acts of the fourth General Assembly of Iowa, approved January 12, 1853. "That the county of Cass shall be composed of three civil townships for the present organization, that is : all the territory embraced in Cass county shall constitute one civil town- ship; that which lies in the county of Audubon shall constitute one civil township; and all that which lies in the county of Adair shall constitute one civil township; the three for revenue, election and judicial purposes consti- tuting the county of Cass. The first election to be held at Boshaw's [Brad- shaw's] store, in Cass county, at Mr. Hamlin's in Audubon township, at the house of Alfred Jones in Adair township." It does not appear that any election was held in Audubon county under this law.
It was further provided by section 2, chapter 12, acts of the fourth General Assembly, approved January 12, 1853: "Whenever the citizens of any unorganized county desire to have the same organized, they may make application by petition in writing, signed by a majority of the legal voters of said county, to the county judge of the county to which such unorganized
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county is attached; whereupon such county judge shall order an election for county officers in such unorganized county. Notice of said election must be given, the election conducted and the returns thereof made to the organized county to which the same was attached, and canvassed in the manner pro- vided by law for filling vacancies in county offices."
We suppose the county was organized under this statute. Peoria I. Whitted bore the petition from the people of this county to the county judge of Cass county at Lewis, praying for an order for the organization of the county, and for the first election of county officers, as is supposed, in the early part of the year 1855. No record of the transaction is to be found at this time in this or in Cass county. It is traditional that the proper order was made by Mr. Benedict, county judge of Cass county. The first election was held at the house of John S. Jenkins, in section 29, Exira township, April 2, 1855. John S. Jenkins, Walter J. Jardine and Isaac V. D. Lewis were judges of election, and John W. Beers and Carlos E. Frost were clerks. The first officers elected were: Thomas S. Lewis, county judge; John W. Beers, clerk of court; Miles Beers, treasurer and recorder; David L. Ander- son, prosecuting attorney; Benjamin M. Hyatt, sheriff ; Robert Stansberry, coroner; John W. Beers, surveyor; Urbane Herrick and Carlos E. Frost, justices of peace; William H. H. Bowen, assessor and road supervisor.
In May, 1855, Hon. E. H. Sears, judge of the district court of Cass county, appointed T. N. Johnson, of Adair county; T. Bryan, of Guthrie county, and C. E. Woodward, of Cass county, commissioners to locate the county seat of Audubon county. The last two named members qualified as such, and reported on June 20, 1855, that they had located the county seat on the east half of the northwest quarter of section 22, in township 78, range 35. This land was then owned by Rev. Richard C. Meek, who con- veyed it to Audubon county, retaining a share of the lots to be laid out. Under provisions of the statute, it was laid out and platted for the county by Thomas S. Lewis, county judge, as the town of Dayton, July 9, 1855. It became the county seat only in name; but two houses were ever built there, those of Norman Archer and Rev. Mr. Baker. The public records were kept and business transacted at the places of residence of the officers until the removal of the county seat to Exira in 1861. The town of Dayton received some notoriety abroad, and quite a trade of its town lots was car- ried on in other states, until its true character became known.
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