USA > Iowa > Buchanan County > History of Buchanan County, Iowa, and its people, Volume I > Part 75
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at the first opportunity. After the Wild Girl's appeal to the Supreme Being to wreck vengeance on Bennett and his crew, Fulton and his companion slowly journeyed back through the cold moonlight, not to sleep and pleasant dreams, but to broken sleep and night-mares, and the next day Fulton took the lonely prairie trail to Davenport. Here he delivered the dingy roll of paper to Miss B., whom the Wild Girl addressed as "Good Sis." It was as the cowboy had said, a letter written on brown wrapping paper, and was fastened with a few stitches of black thread. Mr. Fulton begged permission to copy the mysterious letter in his diary. The epistle evidenced a peculiar style of literature, such as one might expect from a demented person; it was full of the vagaries of an unbalanced mind-yet this girl might be perfectly normal and only warped by her very extraordinary education and environments.
Her resourcefulness denoted a quick and active brain ; she had no ink hut took the juice from some dark berries, which, with proper evaporation, made a good substitute. She made her pens from the quills of a wild goose which she shot, and with the wrapping paper her writing accessories were complete.
Mr. Lambert produced a purchaser for the mills and lands. The applicant was a Mr. William W. Hadding, to whom he sold it for a mere bagatelle under power of attorney from Edwin R. Fulton, in whose name it was purchased. The deed of the sale is recorded in book 11, page 291, on file in Independence, although at that time the City of Independence was an untrodden wilderness. Soon after the Johnson's decamped (vamoosed as the cowboy called their departure) word was received that they had purchased a woodman's hut and stable in the timber on the Skunk River and settled there. But they had not been in their new quarters many days when a man by the name of Peck, the terror of Skunk River country, was out hunting deer (his chief occupation when not in some illegal practice) and saw smoke rising from the chimney of the recently vacant cabin. He straightway went on an investigating tour and when his eyes fell upon the queenly face and form of the Wild Girl, the Cleopatra of the Iowa frontier, his heart beat with astonishment and he became a vanquished desperado instanter. lle made too frequent wanderings to the home in the timber, his deer in the chase always brought up near that spot, and although the Wild Girl met his effrontery with cold disdain, his bravado led him to come back. Jolmson, rifle in hand, ordered him to immediately depart ; threatened him vengeance if he ever prowled around his domicile again. Peck was infuriated and shouted back in defiance, "You contemptible Camick, you have signed your death warrant, go and dig your grave."
The county records bear witness that within a week a coroner's jury reported that from the testimony taken-that it was a wild and dismal night, the wolves howled in the timber close by, Johnson sat on a rude stool before a log fire, smoking a corn-col pipe and the Wild Girl was seated at a rickety table reading Byron by the dim light of tallowdip, and several of her favorite books beside her. She had just closed her book to kneel and say her evening prayers when a bright flash of light, a sharp report of a rifle and Johnson fell prostrate on the floor, and the Wild Girl was left friendless and alone in the wilderness with only a corpse for companionship. What became of her, history does not state, and is only a matter of hope and conjecture. A hope that she found shelter and friends to protect her and that her after life might be less checkered than her
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yonth had been, and a conjecture that possibly she became the companion of an outlaw band.
Thus ends the most romantic and tragie story of Buchanan County's pioneer life.
One of the early pioneers, Mrs. Asa Clark, used to tell of the primitive way in which they lived and the substitutes and make shifts employed by them to obtain the commonest necessities and comforts of a home.
She first came here from Dubuque in a stage, and the vehicle carrying their furniture had not arrived and did not for some time. They had no table, but the Yankee genius of her husband soon surmounted this difficulty and a flour barrel covered with boards supplied the lack. Among the simple eatables which constituted their bill of fare was mince pie made of venison and wild crab apples, and which proved a delectable dish. An apple brought with them from the East graeed a shelf on the wall, remaining there for weeks to be looked at, but not for a moment to be eaten, for the shadow or image of such a thing as an apple could then only be indulged in as a reminder of a luxury. Still she maintained that those days, with all their privations, were among the happiest of their lives.
This item appeared in the February 1, 1865, papers: "Friends, countrymen, lovers," we who went to bed "Main-ites" wake up to find ourselves living with- out removal on Independence Street, and vice versa on the other side of town. Independence Street, so designated on the map of Independence, as published by Thornton & Ross, in 1858. ran from the bridge across the river to the west line of said city and soon was changed to Main Street, and what was formerly Main Street on the west side of the river was changed to Independence Street. First Street was changed to North Street, Second Street was changed to Court Street, Third Street was changed to Elizabeth and Fourth Street changed to Anna Street. Truth is, the honorable council has made a wonderful improve- ment in the street nomenclature of this growing metropolis.
In the same issue it told of a new city ordinance that had just been passed forbidding swine from running at large in the streets. The editor had just seen a portly, porkly thousand pounder perambulating down Main Street. "The ladies could thereafter promenade along without having to wallow among pigs and our garden path next summer can 'go to grass' and weeds without molestation from the 'poreine tribe.' "
Numerous ordinances were made and among them the following : Any theatri- cal performance or even a musical entertainment or concert for pay or com- pensation was charged a license of not less than five and not more than ten dollars for each and every performance. Anyone exhibiting statuary, paintings, wax figures or similar articles had to pay a like amount for each exhibition.
The Panorama of the Bible, a beautiful oil painting, had been on exhibi- tion at the courthouse for several days with a paid admission. Crowds of the citizens flocked to see it every afternoon and evening. It was customary for these fine paintings to be carried throughout the country for exhibition-we saw notices of several being shown here.
Half of the proceeds of this exhibition was donated to the Soldiers' Aid Society.
A curious phenomenon happened on a farm about three miles northeast of Independenee, in February, 1865. A mass of frozen ground, 20 feet long, 8 feet
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wide and some 2 feet thick, with a elump of small willows in the center of it and the roots perfectly intact, was in some unaecountable manner lifted bodily from its bed and moved about four feet away from the nearest point of the place it formerly occupied. This strange thing ocenrred in a level, unbroken prairie ; the mass was without fracture, its sides being straight and smooth as though cut out with a spade. People went to see this enriosity but no one was able to give a solution of its cause.
A most singular circumstance occurred in Homer Township, near the old Colonel Boon residence, in June, 1873. At a spot in the middle of the main road, traversed by heavily loaded teams for the previous fifteen years, apparently as hard and dry as any road in mid-summer, one of the wheels of an empty wagon passing suddenly sank to the hub. An investigation of the cause of the acci- dent revealed a circular cavity three or four feet in diameter with almost per- pendicular sides, and as was ascertained by measurement, about ten feet deep and filled with water as clear as from a spring.
A loaded wagon had passed over it a few minutes before, and. as was sup- posed, cracked the ernst. No outlet or inlet could be discovered. After a time the water disappeared and the bottom sank still further down, but the road, being one of much travel, the farmers proceeded to fill the eavity and some of the pioneers of that vicinity claim that whole trees disappeared like magic in the engulfing regions below.
Similar peculiar subterranean disturbanees have occurred just west of the Rock Island traek and near where the hospital stub branches off from the main line. One circular cavity about five feet in diameter fell just after a loaded freight car had gone over the track, and in the fall of 1913 another in the same vicinity fell. Both of these cavities fell to a depth of about ten feet and their perpendicular sides were as smooth and round as though carefully eut with a shovel, but no water or evidences of any were apparent. The general theory is that that strip of ground, which is rather low, covers a subterranean dry lake or one that has been drained dry and many predict similar occurrences in that strip of ground.
A sketch of Rufus B. Clarke, the original nimrod and fisherman, might be appropriate in this chapter; also a sketch of a hunting and fishing exeursion in which he participated.
He was the first settler in Independence and previously had been one of the first at Quasqueton, and was the only man of the settlement who devoted himself exclusively to fishing and hunting and trapping, and although he made eon- siderable money, he could only support his family, which consisted of a wife and three children in moderate comfort. He was a born pioneer and felt like a "fish out of water" when civilization began to surround him, and so would move on to evade it. He came naturally by this love of frontier life, having been the first white child born in what is now the City of Cleveland, Ohio. He roamed in many states ; from the mines of Wisconsin to this county, then north- west into the wilds of Minnesota, thence across the continent to the west of the Sierra Nevadas and at last lies sleeping in Whitby's Island in far off Puget Sound. While here his reputation as a pioneer sportsman became known far and near.
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Amos Blood, Jr., first came from Wisconsin to Iowa in the fall of 1844, just after he had reached his majority, with five other young men about his age, named as follows: A. Brown, Charles Abbott, Leander Keyes, afterwards sheriff of Buchanan County ; William Hammond and Titus Burgess, who later became a settler of Quasqueton. They had heard of the fame of Rufus Clarke, the great pioneer hunter of Quasqueton, and eame there to secure his services as guide and captain of a hunting, trapping and fishing excursion. He consented to accompany them and they set out the latter part of October, 1844, the guide on horseback and the rest of the party with a wagon and team, carrying all their necessary camp supplies. They proceeded as far as Clear Lake in Cerro Gordo County, hunting, trapping and fishing along the streams and lakes, capturing, in about four weeks, nineteen beavers, sixteen otters, thirty or forty raccoons, and plenty of other game for the sustenance of the party. On their return they struck the Cedar River in Bremer County, near where Waverly now is. Here the party divided, Clarke returning home with his horse. Blood and Keyes followed with the wagon, and the rest of the party decided to come down the river in eanoes as far as Quasqueton, but very soon the weather sud- denly turned cold, the ice became so thiek in the river that the four voyagers were compelled to abandon their canoes and take to land. Game disappeared and (besides suffering from the intense cold) they suffered the pangs of hunger. For two entire days their food consisted of a few fresh-water clams, which they succeeded in digging from the edge of the stream. Luckily, no snow fell and with vigorous exercise by day and fires at night they managed to keep from freezing, but their noses, fingers and ears were badly frost bitten. Finally, after five days' heroic struggle, they reached Sturgis' Rapids, now Cedar Falls, in a half famished condition. As good fortune or providence would have it, Mr. Sturgis had just slaughtered a fine beef and had left the quarters hanging in a tree near the honse. The feelings of the starving hunters upon seeing this plentiful supply of meat can well be imagined. They whooped and yelled like Indians and gathered about that enviable prize. The proprietor, having assured himself from a window that they were not savages, came to the door, whereupon they begged him to cook them some and he proceeded to do so as quickly as possible. The next day they set out for Quasqueton, anxious to relieve the painful suspense of their friends, but when they got as far as Pilot Grove they were met by two men, with a team, sent out by Clarke as a relief expedition. It certainly was a joyful reunion when they all got together again, safe and sound, at Qnasqueton.
In a few days they started on their return trip to Wisconsin, and all reached their homes without further mishap or adventure. Thus ended an exciting and memorable excursion, which was undertaken mainly for the love of adventure, but proved to be quite remunerative from a financial point of view, for the furs they got were disposed of at Fort Atkinson for about three hundred and fifty dollars.
In after years, Asa Blood, Jr., his brother Amos, T. J. Marinus and Alex- ander Ilathaway constituted an old hunter's guild, the members of which for more than twenty years, every autumn, without fail, took a long fishing and hunting trip together, either North or West. Their last excursion of this sort was made in 1877, a little while before Mr. Blood moved to Colorado. They Vol. I-39
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went North and spent several weeks roaming on the prairies, through the forests and about the lakes and streams of Minnesota. While gone they killed thirty-two deer and caught 3,300 pounds of fish, all of which they sent by express from St. Paul to Independence. It was stored in the old Asa Clark's grocery and was disposed of at wholesale and retail, realizing for the hunters about four hundred dollars.
A reminiscence which, although it cannot be substantiated, is nevertheless a good story. The usual big celebration was advertised for July 4, 1858, at Inde- pendence, and besides the customary attractions, a free dinner was advertised to be served, and this faet alone insured an immense crowd.
The celebration was held in the block where the Presbyterian church now stands. Tables were built all around the block, and in the center was a large platform for the speakers. The oration of the day was to be given by a merchant of the town. He wrote his speech on the back of a roll of wallpaper. The introduction of the speech was written by the merchant and he had everyone who came into the store add a few sentences, until the roll was completely filled. On the day of the celebration it was put on a windlass which had been built on the platform, and as one man turned the windlass the merchant read the "com- posite Fourth of July Euphony."
After the oration it was announced that dinner would be served immediately, and when the crowd was all seated at the table a drayload of potatoes was drawn up to the table and potatoes and salt were shoveled off the wagon onto the table in heaps. The guests waited patiently for more food to arrive, but they soon became aware that this was the extent of the free dinner. Of course, this was rather a disappointment to the expectant crowd and rather a dampener on future Fourth of July celebrations.
There is something so peculiarly familiar about the last sentence that in spite of wishing otherwise our mind reverts to a similar Fourth of July celebration just fifty years afterwards, which was advertised to occur; but, differing from the former, did not. And this, instead of a free dinner, was a head-on collision which failed to collide. Extensive advertising and excursions on all the rail- roads had brought thousands of people into town to see this hair-raising spectacle. The event was to take place on the fair grounds. There was such a crowd in town that it was evident that room would be at a premium in the amphitheater, so by 12 o'clock crowds could be seen wending their way to the grounds to get a good view, although the awful awe inspiring spectacle was not to ocenr until 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and although there was a ball game and other minor attractions, the expectant crowd showed no interest in anything but in those two dilapidated old serap engines, and could scarcely endure the interval. The track was laid on the infield and the rails pinned to the rolling ground with about as much care as carpet tacks are placed. The engines "Taft" and "Bryan" were on these tracks, the center of an admiring group of spectators and appar- ently everything but a little steam was ready for the great crash.
After several hours' wait the two engineers began to tinker around the big "Moguls," oiling, feeling their pulse, watering and preparing them for their final run. When the engineers entered the eabs and began firing up and real steam and smoke was issuing from the monsters, the enthusiasm of the crowd broke into an uproarious applause. But still the engines sat and smoked and
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occasionally whistled in pure enjoyment of the joke that no one could enjoy but those inanimate shacks. The crowd sat breathless and intense on the edges of their seats. This tension endured for a seemingly interminable loug after- noon, but nothing seemed to mar the serenity of the engines or the engineers. But after a time the latter left the scene of action, and the feeling of the crowd began to grow rancorous. Dark came on apace; crowds left the grounds; those living in town went home to feed and to recuperate, and then returned. All the time the mob spirit was accumulating weight, which finally determined to vent its spite on the someone responsible for the fizzle, and they selected the secretary, C. L. King, whom they would have probably hung or burned "to a steak" had not the vigilance committee, in the person of Dr. J. H. MeGready, borne him away with fleet horses. When the frenzy of the mob began to display itself in earnest, the master of the exchequer, Hon. C. E. Purdy, securely loaded into a gunny sack the "admission shekels" and toted them off to his strong box.
The real responsibility did not, however, rest upon the association. The secretary made a contract with a man by the name of Connelly, of Marshalltown, who proved to be a crook, for the exhibition and paid him $1,500. The engines and track were brought to Independence and everything was made ready for the "fatal run," but just before it was to be "pulled off" another man from Marshalltown appeared on the scene and claimed to be the owner of the engines and demanded $3,500 or a damage suit in case the exhibition took place without the payment being made.
Connelly took a tie ticket east and has never been seen in these parts since. King's pedal extremities chilled and he started for town, but the mob inter- cepted his retreat at the I. C. depot, where the doctor made the rescue. The unruly mob threatened to wreck the engines themselves, and the whole town included, but were persuaded to depart in peace. To right this injury, free tickets to the next county fair were distributed to all those who had indulged in them on the glorious Fourth, but Independence received such a "black eye" that it has taken all these years to retrieve, in a small degree, her former well- earned caption: "When Independence does things, she does them well."
And never since that day has she attempted more than family dinner parties and pienies to celebrate her independence.
EARLY MIGRATIONS
Many of the early settlers were of migratory will-o'-the-wisp disposition, always restless and unsatisfied. Every new discovery of gold attracted some of Buchanan County's population. In the early days never a day passed but great numbers of emigrants' wagons passed through Independence bound for the gold fields of the West, some California, others for Oregon, Montana, Idaho and Colorado. And this but added to the "wander lust" germ, already inherent in many of the pioneers. It not only attracted many who had settled here, but detracted the prospective settlers. Especially was this noticeable after the Cali- fornia gold craze in 1849. Prior to that there had been a great influx of people into Iowa, but at that time and for some years later the state population was practically at a standstill and in many counties it deteriorated. Buchanan was too far north to receive many of the returning emigrants, but some of those
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who had previously located here came back. Mr. Brockway came all the way from California on ponies-it took him seventy-four days to make the trip. The California fever had just subsided when an Oregon boom came on and several families left Qnasqueton for that destination. One day eleven covered wagons in one company, loaded with household goods and families, passed through Independence ; they were drawn by oxen and a large herd of cattle and sheep were driven behind. Another time a train of fifty-eight yoke of oxen went through on their way from Madison, Wisconsin, to the western part of the state and from there were to be used for hauling out mining machinery. Then discovery of gold at Pike's Peak probably affected our population the most. S. V. Thompson and D. S. Davis got up a company which started from Quasque- ton in May or June, 1865. About fifty joined this company, sold their farms and business interests and took all their stock and personal effects with them. With their covered wagons and horses, cattle and sheep following in the rear, it was an interesting spectacle. The company reached its destination in safety and many of them remained, and although they made no wonderful gold discoveries they prospered and are still residents of that locality.
HOTELS IN THE EARLY DAYS AND SOME STILL STANDING
The Empire House, on West Main Street, near Division Street, is one of the oldest buildings in the city. It was built in 1873. The hotel has rooms for eighteen guests, and is built of brick.
The Plunket Rooming House, on East Main Street, at the corner of Main and Court streets, is the oldest hotel standing, being built about 1856. It has twenty furnished rooms and possessed a fine stone barn to accommodate the hack drivers. This old barn stood until 1913, when part of it fell down and the remaining part was removed in the summer of 1914. The past three years the hotel has been used strictly as a rooming house.
The Central Ilouse, now known as the Fisher, and many years as the Turner House, was built in 1876. It has thirty-five rooms. It was owned and operated by Mr. A. Hageman for many years.
The Chatham House, on North Chatham Street, near the Illinois Central Depot, was established in 1865 by S. Naylor, and for many years was known as the Naylor House. It had from time to time been enlarged until it had twenty-six rooms. For many years it had been occupied by several families as a home. In 1914 this property was sold to P. J. and J. F. Sheehan, who, on account of the building being in such a dilapidated state, decided to tear it down and contemplate building houses thereon.
The Globe Hotel, now called the Hotel Thill, on East Main Street, on the North Side, between Court and Elizabeth streets, is an old building and was rebuilt in 1879. It contains rooms for thirty guests. Mr. P. MeCorstin owned and operated it for many years.
The Burlington House is a wooden structure on West Main Street, near the Rock Island Depot. It was built soon after the completion of that road and is still in use as a hotel.
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CLIPPINGS FROM THE EARLY PAPERS
May 17. 1855
BRIDGE ACROSS THE WAPSIPINICON
It has long been apparent that a bridge aeross this river at this place was much needed. We are gratified to state that Mr. Samuel Sherwood is now engaged in getting out timber for the bridge, and will ereet it with all dispatch. It will be a great accommodation to the citizens who reside east and west of the river as they pass to and from the mills situated on the west side. The erecting of this bridge is owing to the individual effort among the public of Mr. Sherwood, to whom they are much indebted.
May 17, 1855
To Emigrants .- The undersigned proposed to present every other building lot to any person who will immediately erect thereon a house at the value of $500. This is a rare opportunity presented to emigrants who wish to settle in Independ- ence, to secure a permanent home.
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