History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 14

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 574

USA > Iowa > Buchanan County > History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 14

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Deer were at first so numerous and so bold that they would occasionally come into the settlement. Asa Blood, jr., killed one on the spot where the Independ- ence flouring-mill now stands. The animal had just swam across the river and landed near a saw-mill which was then standing close by the site of the present mill. He used to kill from ten to twenty-five every year, with- out going out of the county. After a while, however, they began to grow scarce and hunters had to go further north and west to find them.

It is about ten years since deer disappeared entirely from the county. Asa Blood, jr., and his brother, Amos

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

R., killed the last that were seen in this region in De- cember, 1871. There were three of them-two does and a fawn, first seen in Ezra Wilson's fields, about two miles southeast from Independence. The brothers heard that they were there and went out after them with rifles, but taking no dogs with them. Coming in sight of them the two hunters, choosing each an animal, fired, bringing down the two old ones; but the fawn es- caped for that day. They returned the next day and followed the track of the fawn-finally overtaking and killing it on the premises of Ephraim Miller, about two miles from the place where the others were taken. These animals, it is believed, were the remnants of the native deer of the county, and the last that have been killed within its limits-unless one or two stragglers may have been taken since, just across the northern line.

Bears were never numerous in this county. A forest- covered land is the favorite habitat of bruin; and, when found in a prairie region at all, he confines himself to the larger bodies of timber. The flesh of the bear has always been considered a great luxury by old hunters. Dr. Brewer says that he knew personally of the killing of but one bear after he came into the county; and that was killed in 1843 or 1844 by his fellow-pioneer, Rufus B. Clark, in the woods of the Wapsie, in Newton town- ship, just below Quasqueton. Of course his old friend sent him a nice portion of the steak. His father hap- pened to be with him at this time, on a visit from the east. As the father had never tasted bear's meat, the son contrived to have it brought upon the table without his being aware of what kind of meat it was, that he might see if he would notice any peculiarity in its flavor. The meat was, therefore, brought upon the table and served without comment. The old gentleman partook of it heartily and with evident relish; and, when he had finished the first piece, inquired: "Is this the kind of pork you raise here? It is the finest I ever tasted." And when they told him it was bear's meat, he replied, smacking his lips: "Very well; give us another slice;"

THE GAME BIRDS

found here by the first white settlers, were the wild tur- key, prairie chicken, partridge or pheasant, quail, wood- cock, snipe, wild goose, brant, swan, white crane, pelican, sandhill crane, and ducks of several species. Of these, the last seven are water fowl, and birds of passage. They fly north in the spring and south in the fall, usually be- yond gunshot range; at which seasons their cries (espec- ially those of the goose and swan) have a peculiar, weird effect, more particularly when heard in the night.

The pelicans probably never had their nesting grounds here, and are now never known to light. Still they pass over, more or less, every season, and sometimes fly so low as to be reached by bird shot. An acquaintance of ours in Marshall county, being out hunting with his bird gun, in early spring a few years ago, fired at what he took to be the leader of a flock of geese. To his great sur- prise he brought him down, and to his still greater sur- prise, he found on reaching the place where he fell, that instead of a goose, he had actually killed a magnificent

white pelican, measuring full eight feet from tip to tip of wings. Probably none of the other water fowl mentioned now breed here, except some of the duck species; but they all occasionally light in our waters for rest and food.

The wild turkey is getting scarce, and will probably disappear in the course of a few years. The history of this magnificent bird is very remarkable. It is well known to be a native of this country. But so well adapted is it to domestication, and such are the excellent qualities of its flesh for food, that it has been introduced into nearly all the civilized countries of the world; the only game bird of America that has hecome cosmopoli- tan. Its color has become variable by domestication (the wild bird being black or very dark) but its size has not increased, nor the quality of its flesh improved.

The mallard duck is the same as our principal tame species, and can hardly be distinguished from it; but the wild goose, though easily domesticated, is an entirely different species from our common tame goose. And when the two species cross, as they sometimes do, the product, like the mule, is incapable of reproduction.

The quail, partridge, prairie chicken, snipe, and wood- cock, are said to be more plentiful now than when the county was first settled; but the prairie chicken is now rapidly disappearing, both from a lack of safe hatching grounds, and from the fearful slaughter to which it has been subjected.

THE FUR ANIMALS

of this county, when the white settlers first came, were the otter, beaver, mink, raccoon, muskrat, wolf, fox (rare then but more frequent since) badger, occasionally a fisher, lynx or wild cat, and (rarely) a panther.

Of these the only ones that remain, are the muskrat, mink and wolf-with an occasional otter, wild cat, rac- con and badger.

The otter is a short legged, long bodied animal-the legs being about five inches, and the body about thirty or forty in length, from tip to tip of nose and tail. It lives on fish almost exclusively-which it must take alive -pursuing its game by swimming under water; and out- swimming (it is said) any fish that ever swam in the Wapsie.

The otter is taken in a steel trap, that has to be made for his especial accommodation. The jaws of the trap must be low (about two and a half inches) on account of the animal's short legs. The trap must be heavy, and furnished with a stout spring, as the otter is as strong as a bull-dog. Its fur is of the finest and most valuable- eight dollars being the average price for otter skin.

An "otter slide " is a place where an otter habitually brings its fish out of the water to eat them, and then slides down into the water for more. It is generally on a bank three feet high. Here the traps are set, buried in sand, dried leaves and grass. To bring the animal more certainly to the place where the trap is concealed, it is frequently scented with the perfume of the skunk, diluted with alcohol-an odor which seems to have an ir- resistible attraction for the otter. The trap is fastened by a long and strong chain to a small sapling, from six to ten feet high, cut down and thrown into the water. Ash

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

is preferred for this purpose, since it is easily split at the but and then wedged, after the ring of the chain is slipped over it.

When taken in the trap, the otter plunges at once into the stream, dragging the trap after him. By the weight of the trap and his entanglement in the chain, the animal is very soon drowned. The sapling seldom gets out of reach from the bank; and, by means of it, the trap and its occupant are drawn safe to land.

The beaver is a much larger animal than the otter, and · frequently weighs eighty or ninety pounds. Its shape is almost precisely that of the muskrat. Its tail is from ten inches to a foot in length, an inch in thick- ness, and five or six inches wide-the appendage being flattened horizontally. They live on the bark of the willow, ash and aspen trees. They cut down these trees when from four to six inches in diameter, trim off the tender branches and drag them away to be stored up for food in the pond, about which their homes are con- structed, much in the manner of muskrats. The Bu- chanan beavers made their ponds by damming the small streams emptying into the Wapsie. Their dams were constructed mainly from the branches of the trees which they had cut down for food. These they placed across the stream in a very scientific manner, mix- ing in moss, leaves, mud, and even stones-some of the latter weighing as much as twenty-five pounds.

The force of the adage, "Working like beavers," may be appreciated by considering a fact vouched for by Mr. Blood from personal knowledge. But a short distance below Independence, near the mouth of a small stream emptying into the river, stood a grove of young ash trees averaging about six inches in diameter, and thickly cov- ering about an acre of ground. All these trees were cut down in about six weeks time, from the middle of August to the end of September; and the most of the limbs were cut off and dragged into the beaver pond near by. Mr. Blood's method of catching beavers was as follows: He would cut holes in the dam to let out the water; and about these holes he would plant his traps, prepared in the same way as for otters. The beavers would come in force to mend the dam, and some of them would be sure to get caught.

The legs of the beaver are even shorter than those of the otter. The trap, therefore, has to be made after the same general fashion as that of the otter trap, though it must be about twice as heavy, on account of the greater weight and strength of the animal to be caught in it.

Although the beaver is caught principally for its fur, which is much sought after and of great value, yet its hind quarters (and especially the tail) are regarded by epicures as a great luxury.

The mink, whose fur is highly prized, especially for muffs and boas, burrows in the ground on the banks of streams. Each individual has its own peculiar home, to which it adheres with great tenacity. It lives on fish, frogs and small birds; and sometimes, like the weasel (to which it is nearly related) it is bold enough to invade hen roosts.

In catching the mink a small trap, with only one spring

is ordinarily used. A place is cut in the mouth of its hole (or burrow) and the trap is placed in it, covered with leaves and grass. The mink is easily caught, as it has no cunning to avoid the trap. Small as the animal is, compared with the beaver or otter, its skin is very valua- ble, having been sold as high as six dollars.

The fisher is an animal somewhat resembling the mink, of similar habits, and taken in the same way. It is much more rare, and its fur is quite as fine.

The muskrat sometimes burrows in the banks of streams, having the entrance to its burrow beneath the surface of the water, and coming up into the bank above high water mark; and sometimes it builds conical houses, composed of grass and weeds, in shallow ponds, the en- trance, as in the case of a burrow, being below the sur- face, and the house being built high enough to afford the animal a dry nest above the water. It lives on roots, and the trap in which it is taken is set near its burrow or house, and baited with parsnip, of which it is very fond. The animal is very prolific, and, like its troublesome namesake, hard to exterminate. Its fur is common and cheap, but profitable to the trapper on account of its abundance. Mr. Blood has taken as many as three or four hundred muskrats in this county in a single season ; while if he secured here, in the same time, ten otters, as many beavers, and twenty or thirty minks, he thought he was doing pretty well.

THE PREDATORY ANIMALS

which the county is at present seeking to exterminate by offering a bounty for their destruction, are the wolf, the wild-cat and the lynx. The State fixes the bounty at one dollar, but permits the supervisors of any county to in- crease it to five dollars. The Buchanan county supervis- ors are at present paying three dollars for each scalp ("with the ears attached") of any one of the above named species, provided sufficient proof is furnished that the animal was killed in the county, and within a specified time before presenting the scalp. The skins of these an- imals are very valuable, especially those of the lynx, whose fur is highly esteemed for muffs, etc. Wolf skins are much sought after for sleigh robes and winter over- coats.

It is doubted by some whether the lynx and the wild- cat, as found here are really different species. Many maintain that they are only different varieties of the same species. However this may be, it is certain that the names are frequently confounded.

At first there were found here three species of wolves; the yellow, prairie wolf (much the smallest), the gray, timber wolf, and the black (sometimes called the blue) wolf. The last two species were never numerous, and have almost entirely disappeared. They were large and powerful animals, and quite disposed to be friendly with the settlers' dogs-sometimes coming among the houses to play with them. The prairie wolves are much less numerous than at the first; but, in spite of the bounty, they have decreased but little, if any, during the past ten years. In June, 1873, the supervisors paid the bounty on thirty-five wolves ; in January, 1879, on twenty-three;

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

and, in June, 1880, on forty-eight. During the whole of the last mentioned year, they paid the bounty on sixty- seven wolves, two wild cats and one lynx. In 1862 bounty was paid on eight lynxes; and, in 1863, on eight wild-cats. These animals are sometimes killed with poison ; sometimes they are caught in traps, and some- times (which is by far the most huntsman-like) they are shot with rifles.

No bounty was ever offered here for the killing of bears, foxes, or panthers. The first of these disappeared before the county was organized. The second never became sufficiently numerous to make their extermination a matter of importance; and it is doubtful if an individual of the third-named species was ever seen in the county, after the advent of the first white settler. Mrs. Heman Morse, who, as Mrs. Frederick Kessler, was one of the earliest pioneers of the county, states that, soon after the settlement was begun at Quasqueton, some of the men who had lived among the mountains of Pennsylvania, and had there often heard the scream of the panther (said to be unmistakable by any one that has ever heard it) declared that they had heard one at night, in the timber near the Wapsie. This is the nearest we can come to a panther story-but the animal was never seen.

The supervisors also attempted, for a number of years, to exterminate those destructive little burrowers, the "pocket gophers," by offering a bounty of ten cents each for their scalps. It afforded a good deal of fun, as well as profitable employment, to the boys, who sometimes brought in as many as a hundred thousand scalps in a single year. But a thousand dollars a year was quite a tax- especially as there seemed to be no prospect of its dimin- ishing. So the supervisors, concluding that the gophers, like Sampson, were more destructive in their deaths than in their lives, withdrew the bounty. We have never heard that gopher skins were ever turned to any economic account.

FISHING IN THE WAPSIE,

was most abundant at the time the settlers first came, and continued good until dams were built, interrupting the free passage of the fish.

The principal kinds of fish at first found here, together with their usual weight, were as follows: Black-bass, from two to eight pounds; pike, from two to eighteen pounds ; pickerel, from one to twenty-five ; mullet (or red horse), from one to ten pounds; suckers, two pounds; sunfish, half a pound; rock-bass, from one-half to a pound; bull- pout, from a half to a pound and a half ; catfish, ten pounds; striped-bass, from one to two pounds; muskal- longe, from five to forty pounds. These are all found here now (in reduced numbers) except the catfish and muskallonge. One of the former was taken three or four years ago; but it is ten or twelve years since the lat- ter disappeared.

The usual method of taking all these kinds of fish, is with a hook. The spear, however, is sometimes used; and formally many were taken in nets. But as this threatened extermination to the fish, it is now forbidden by law. For taking the bass, pike, and pickerel, the hook is usually baited with a minnow-or an artificial

minnow, or fly, or "spoon," may be used. These all dart upon their prey, and seize it when in motion. The sucker and mullet take their food from the bottom of the stream. The hook therefore, is usually baited with a worm and dropped down before them.

Some have regarded the catfish as a large bullpout, and the muskallonge as a large pike. If this were really so (and we are not scientific enough to say whether the theory is correct or not), the fact would account for the disappearance of those large fish-the only ones, in fact, that have disappeared. From the constant capture of the fish, it may be that those two species, the pike and the bull-pout, do not get time enough to develop into muskallonge and catfish.

Rufus B. Clarke, whose name appears so often in this narrative, who was one of the pioneers of the county at Quasqueton, and the first settler in Independence, was, so far as we can learn, the only man in the county that ever devoted himself so exclusively to the business of fishing, hunting and trapping. He made a good deal of money at these callings, but beyond supporting, in toler- able comfort, his family consisting of himself, his wife, and two children, he had little to show for it all. He was a born pioneer, and felt like a fish out of water as soon as the institutions of civilized life began to cluster about his home. It would seem that he came naturally by his love of frontier life; for as Judge Roszell informs us, he "was the first white child born in what is now the city of Cleveland, Ohio." The same writer graphi- cally draws the following outline of his wanderings: From Ohio "he wandered to the mines of Wisconsin ; then here; then northwest toward the headwaters of the Cedar; thence further northwest into the wilds of Min- nesota ; thence across the continent to the west of the Sierra Nevadas, and at last lies sleeping in death on Whitby's Island in far Puget Sound." While here his reputation as a pioneer sportsman had become known far and near-as may be seen from the following ac- count of

A HUNTING, TRAPPING AND FISHING EXCURSION.

As stated in the sketch of his life, which is given elsewhere, Asa Blood, jr., first came to Iowa in the fall of 1844, just after reaching his majority. He came from Wisconsin, accompanied by a party of five other young men, of similar tastes and about the same age, named as follows: A. Brown, Charles Abbott, Leander Keyes (afterward sheriff of Buchanan county), William Ham- mond, and Titus Burgess, who subsequently became a settler at Quasqueton. They had heard of the fame of Rufus B. Clark, the great pioneer hunter of that place, and came there to secure his services as guide and cap- tain of the party. He consented to accompany them ; and they set out, the latter part of October, the captain on horseback and the rest of the party in a two-horse wagon, carrying their necessary utensils.

They proceeded as far as Clear lake, in Cerro Gordo county, hunting, trapping and fishing along the streams and lakes, and capturing, in about four weeks, nineteen beavers, sixteen otters, thirty or forty raccoons, and plenty of other kinds of game for the sustenance of the

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

party. On their return, they struck the Cedar river in Bremer county, near the place where the town of Wav- erly now stands. Here the party divided. Clark returned home with his horse; Blood and Keyes followed with the wagon, and the rest of the party decided to come down the river in canoes, which they had managed to secure, and which they intended to abandon at the point of the river nearest to Quasqueton. But soon after this separation, the weather grew suddenly cold. The ice became so thick in the river that our four voy- ageurs were compelled to abandon their boats and take to the land. Game disappeared, and, in addition to the intense cold, they suffered all the pangs of hunger. For two entire days their only 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 and blankets at night, they managed to keep themselves from serious freezing, though their noses, fingers and cars were badly frost- bitten. At length, after five days' heroic endurance, they reached Sturgis' rapids (now Cedar Falls) in a half- famished condition. As good fortune (or, rather, Provi- dence) would have it, Mr. Sturgis had just slaughtered a fine beef, and had left the quarters hanging from the limbs of an oak tree near his house. The feelings of the boys, on suddenly coming in sight of this plentiful supply of meat, can better be imagined than described. With a yell which made the frightened Sturgis think that the Indians were coming, they rushed forward and surrounded the prize with the most grotesque antics and cries of grateful exultation. As soon as the proprietor, having assured himself from a window that they were not really savages, presented himself at the door, one of them called out, with a tone of mingled supplication and command : "Cook us some of this, as soon as the Almighty will let you!" This the hospitable man, see- ing and comprehending their starving condition, was not slow to do; and the thankful boys were soon regaling themselves right sumptuously.

The next day, anxious to put an end to the painful suspense of their friends, they set out for Quasqueton, and were met at Pilot Grove, a little west of the Black- hawk county line, by two men with a team sent out by Clark for their rescue. The coldest night was that of the twenty-fourth of November, and the one previous to the arrival of Blood and Keyes at Quasqueton. They made a fire and wrapped themselves in their blankets under the wagon. By these means they managed to keep them- selves from freezing, but got very little sleep. It was a joyful meeting, we may well believe, when the friends all got together again, safe and sound, at Quasqueton. In a few days they started on their return to Wisconsin, and all reached their homes without further mishap or ad- venture.

Thus ended an exciting and memorable excursion. It was undertaken mainly from the love of adventure, but proved to be quite remunerative in a financial point of view, for the furs taken during the trip were disposed of at Fort Atkinson for about three hundred and fifty dol- lars.

IN AFTER YEARS,

Asa Blood, jr., and his brother, Amos R., together with T. J. Marinus and Alexander Hathaway, all of Buchanan county, constituted a sort of

OLD HUNTERS' GUILD,

the members of which, for more than twenty years, never failed on each recurring autumn to make a long trip to gether, north or west, for the purpose of hunting and fishing. Their last excursion of this sort was made in 1877, a little while before Mr. Blood removed to Colo- rado to reside. They went north, and spent several weeks roaming over the prairies, through the forests, and about the lakes and streams of Minnesota. While out they killed thirty-two deer, and took three thousand three hundred pounds of fish. All this was sent by express from St. Paul to Independence. It was stored in what is now Asa Clark's grocery, and was disposed of at wholesale and retail, realizing for the hunters about four hundred dollars.

We will finish up our general chapter on Buchanan game, with a brief section on

THE RETURN OF THE BEARS.

As an evidence that bar-barism is not easily uprooted, and that savagery often lingers in the lap of progress and enlightenment, may be mentioned the fact that in the autumn of 1859 several visits from members of the bruin family werereported in different portions of northern Iowa. Two were arrested and stopped short in their porcine pursuit in Delaware county; one in Fayette; a fourth was killed near Dyersville, Dubuque county, by a Mr. Smith; and the fifth, weighing over two hundred pounds, met the fate which, sooner or later, is sure to overtake all who set at defiance the principles which underlie the institutions of civilized society, in Jones county, near Anamosa. The historian regrets to be compelled to acknowledge the truth of the assertion, if it should be made, that no positive testimony exists that either of these animals ever trod the soil of Buchanan county; but, as no one will venture to claim that there is, on the other hand, the least evidence to the contrary, and as this county cannot well afford to lose the distinction en- joyed by her sister neighbors, of having been favored in this farewell visit from members of this classic race, so long renowned in song and story, there seems to be the utmost propriety in assuming that at least the last named did pass through Buchanan on his way to Jones. The reasons on which this probability is based may be briefly stated thus: Bears are only one species of northern barbarians. An incursion of Goths, Vandals, or bears, from any other point of the compass would be an anomaly in history, or in any other department of literature. The bear is also remarkable for longevity, for a tenacity of memory, and for a preference for night operations and the additional protection afforded by a proximity to rocky forests, not often venturing far from their sombre re- cesses. In the vicinity of Anamosa, Jones county, which lies to the southeast of Buchanan, and shares with it the Wapsipinicon river, just such a region exists, and that, too, in a continuation of a belt of woodland bordering

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History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 14

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers Number of Pages: 574

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 574