USA > Iowa > Dickinson County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 29
USA > Iowa > Emmet County > History of Emmet County and Dickinson County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 29
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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 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
Everyone lived in the hopes that the close of the Civil War would bring with it a renewal of the emigration to this part of the country, and so it did, though it brought very little improvement in the county of Dick- inson. Indian apprehensions were largely quieted by the improved polic-
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ing of the border and this in greater part ceased to be a factor in the calcu- lations of the settlers. Those who had left the county for the war went in other directions when they were mustered out of service, believing that they saw better opportunities elsewhere than in Dickinson County. The construction of the Union Pacific Railroad held forth a tempting course to others. The homestead law had been passed by Congress and poor settlers thought by taking advantage of it they could make a fortune easily and quickly. In this, as history sadly states, they were disap- pointed, as they hardly realized the sacrifice and labor necessary to make paying ground out of the barren prairie. These reasons were a few of the many obstacles in the way of rapid emigration just after the war.
`NEW HOPES
By the spring of 1866 Dickinson County was again favored by a band of incoming settlers. At that time Joshua A. Pratt, George W. Pratt, Joseph A. Green, A. Price and others came in and made their first settle- ment at Lakeville. Another party composed of George Wallace, James Heldridge, F. C. and Israel Doolittle took claims upon the open prairie. They did not spend the winter months in the open, but purchased a lot in the timber of Okoboji Grove, built log cabins, and there hibernated. E. J. Davis, Jerry Knowlton, A. D. Inman and Wallace Smith came into the county during the same season. That these settlers had a hard time dur- ing the first year goes without saying. Supplies could be procured only at Fort Dodge and Mankato; the wet season had flooded much of the land and the streams were raging; no bridges were then built; lack of crop cultivation had inflated prices for grain to a high figure; corn reached $2 a bushel and wheat $13 per hundred; and roads were impassable. These were a few of the hardships encountered.
Other settlers who drifted in to augment the colony were: John and James Skirving, W. S. Beers, Joseph Austin, John and Miles Strong, in the south part of the county ; L. W. Waugh, K. C. Lowell, George C. Bel- lows, O. Crandall, Curtis Crandall, A. A. Mosher, Lauriston Mead, A. D. Arcy, William and John Uptagraft, Nelson and Chauncey Read; in the north portion of the county. Rev. Seymour Snyder made a claim on the west side of West Okoboji, the first on that side, and Rev. W. A. Richards located at the north end of the lake.
The years 1868 and 1869 brought a full tide of emigration once more to Dickinson County. The open prairie began to be settled and claims were taken away from the streams and timber, which hitherto had been the favorite, and in fact the only, location desired by the settler. In 1869 and 1870 Winneshiek County, Iowa, supplied quite a large number of new residents, prominent among them being: A. M. Johnson, W. W. Stowe,
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William Vreeland, L. J. and L. W. Vreeland, John and James Robb, H. C. and E. Freeman, C. E. West, T. Pegdon, R. C. and John Johnson, A. G. and C. E. Sawyer, L. E. Holcomb, Samuel Allen and Wiley Lambert. Most of these located in the northeast part of the county, and stayed there until the grasshopper raid a few years later, when many of them decamped.
About the same time another movement was made from Mitchell County. In this party were: James and John Kilpatrick, R. B. and Clark Nicol, G. S. Needham, Leonard and Ellis Smith, James H. Beebe, Benjamin Peck, Samuel Walker, Richard and Samuel Campbell, D. C. Moore and a score of others. From other localities came G. Anderson, J. Sid, W. H. Anderson, R. K. Stetson, Robert Middleton, Samuel Bartlett, Henry, S. P. and George H. Middleton (sons of Robert), and H. H. Camp- bell. H. J. and Daniel Bennett were making their second trip to Dickinson County, having been here previously in 1860-1.
Quite a large community was formed at Lakeville and a postoffice established, with H. J. Bennett as postmaster. This settlement was near the meeting point of four townships-Lakeville, Excelsior, Okoboji and Westport. A schoolhouse was built, the largest one in the county at that time.
The remainder of the early history of settlement in the county will be reserved for the chapters on the respective townships and towns.
FIRST EVENTS
The first white child born in the county was Robert Wheelock Howe, son of Mr. and Mrs. O. C. Howe, his birth occurring in February, 1858. The first girl, and the second child born in the county, was Dena Bark- man, daughter of Henry Barkman and wife, born in the summer of 1858.
The first funeral services in the county were held at Okoboji in the spring of 1858, for Daniel Poorman, a blacksmith from Newton, who was drowned in the lake. He was buried near the south end of the east shore of West Okoboji Lake.
The first marriage was that of William E. Root and Addie Ring, of Okoboji, in the spring of 1859. Doctor Prescott performed the ceremony. The second marriage was that of Abel Keene, of Mankato, and Carrie Doughty, of Center Grove, also in the spring of 1859, at the residence of W. B. Brown, R. Kingman officiating.
PIONEER CUSTOMS AND HARDSHIPS -
The first hardship encountered by the pioneer settler, while traveling overland to the new country, was the difficulty of travel. Mention has
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been made before of the condition of the prairie country, particularly in the season of 1858, when the streams were swollen out of their banks, the land in large part inundated, and a total lack of bridges and passable roads. Add to these obstacles the slow ox-team, the cumbersome wagons and the trouble of getting the "outfit" over streams and across bottom- less sloughs, and some idea of the task may be obtained. Oxen were the popular motive power of the early wagon train, because they required less care and feed than horses. Each wagon was drawn usually by two to four teams of oxen, and in a train there were from two to twelve wagons. Many of the wagons were so heavy that when a slough or stream had to be crossed the oxen from all the wagons were hitched to one wagon and it was drawn across. This was done in turn with each of the other wagons, many of which had a long rope attached for that pur- pose. Mr. R. A. Smith describes the process rather humorously: "In traveling, whenever a party reached a slough or marsh, or other place difficult to cross, it was customary to 'double up' and help each other over. This was done by driving up as near to the slough as could be done with- out miring down, and then one or more boys would take two or three yoke of cattle, or as many as were needed, and cable enough to reach to solid ground on the other side and cross over. The cables were then rigged from the team and wagon on the one side to the teams that had crossed over, and as soon as everything was in readiness the signal was given to start, when by dint of much yelling and whipping, and some swearing, which, under the mitigating circumstances, wasn't usually con- sidered a very serious offense, the other side was usually reached without any mishap other than a general bespattering of everything with mud and water. It was absolutely necessary after once starting to keep going until solid ground was reached on the other side, since if by any unforeseen accident, a wagon should 'mire down' it would keep settling and the black, sticky mud would settle in around the wheels until it would be impossible to extricate it in any other manner than by unloading and prying out, and this in two or three feet of mud and water was no picnic. The pro- cess had to be repeated with variations until every wagon was over.
"In crossing streams that were too deep for fording, the method of procedure was somewhat different. It was customary to take the best wagon box in the outfit and caulk it, making it as nearly water-tight as possible. Cattle are natural swimmers and they seem to like it when they get used to it. They soon learn, upon arriving at a stream, to strike straight across and make a landing upon the farther side without any delay whatever. Upon arriving at a stream too deep for fording the wagon box that had been fitted up for the purpose would be taken off and transformed into a ferry boat. A cable would be rigged to each end
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of it, when a boy would mount one of the oxen that had been trained for that kind of work, and swim the stream, holding the rope in his hand. Arriving at the opposite side, he would make fast his rope, turn his cattle loose and proceed at once to business, which was to ferry the balance of the party across. The first load to go over would of course be men enough to manage the ferry and take care of the goods as they were sent over. The wagons would now be drawn up to the bank of the stream, where they would be unloaded and their contents placed aboard the improvised ferry boat, and drawn over to the farther side by the men who had pre- viously crossed over, and there unloaded again. The wagon box would then be drawn back and loaded and again sent over. This operation would be repeated and repeated until the contents of the wagons were over. Then the wagon boxes would be lashed down to the running gear and the wagons floated over. The cattle would then swim across, the balance of the party was ferried over and the labor of crossing the stream was finished."
It is easy to understand that this operation took from one to three days for completion, and that progress across the country was burden- some and slow.
Clothing and shoes were of the most primitive kind. Luxuries, such as tea, coffee and sugar, were unknown, and ordinary staple groceries were enjoyed by few, while corn, wheat and barley were offered as a sub- stitute for coffee. "Prairie tea," as it was known, brewed from the leaves of the red-root so common on the prairie, was a favorite drink. Raw- hide, sacking and skins of animals were the materials chiefly used for clothing. Comfort was the main consideration.
Fuel and the obtaining of it was an important item in the settler's account. There was timber in Dickinson County; but in groves and along the streams. Ofter a settler, upon claiming a bit of land, would purchase a portion of a timber grove for the wood alone, caring nothing for the ground. An owner of a wood lot would divide it up more or less syste- matically and legally among several of the nearby settlers and after the wood was taken from it, it was again sold for a very small sum. It is said that the three acres of the Okoboji Cemetery were once sold for $2.50.
Other settlers, however, were so unfortunate as to take claims many miles from a patch of timber and thus were compelled to adopt some sort of substitute for fuel. This led to the use of prairie hay for fuel. One writer claims that the use of this hay in this way originated in Dickinson County and was practiced as late as 1870. "In a short time the art of twisting hay for fuel came to be an acknowledged accomplish- ment. After throwing a lock of coarse slough hay upon the ground, placing the left foot upon it, and then with the right hand taking enough of the coarse grass to make a rope of the required size, twisting it hard and
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drawing it out at the same time until it had reached the required length, then it was coiled back upon itself and the ends neatly secured, thus resembling in shape an enormous old-fashioned New England doughnut. In many families it came to be a part of the daily routine to twist hay enough in the evening to answer for the following day's fuel. The litter which the use of it caused was something to which it was difficult for the neat and thrifty housewife to accustom herself, but in the language of a sturdy boy of that period, 'It was a heap better than freezing'."
Some clever inventions were made for the use of hay as a fuel. One man figured out a mechanical hay-twister; another a stove for burning the hay under pressure. Corn on the cob was also used for burning, as it made an excellent fire. On many a farm today corn-cobs are used for fuel, the heat from the blaze being exceedingly hot.
Iowa and Nebraska are known as the states of the sod house. It is true that in Iowa, in Dickinson County to be exact, they were not used to a great extent and then not for long, but they were here and assumed every form from a common hole in the side of a hill to a really preten- tious structure for the kind. Braces were erected to hold the sod in place. The house usually took the shape of a "lean-to". They were substantial, but had a faculty of poorly resisting water. One settler described how a miniature rivulet coming down the side of the hill during one stormy night had gradually moistened the sod upon the roof and about morning precipitated it to the ground, covering everything, including himself, with a layer of moist earth.
Log cabins were the principal homes of the settlers. They were strong, weather-proof and comfortable, although small. A detailed descrip- tion of the art of constructing a log house is printed in another part of this volume.
TRAPPING
One of the chief occupations of the early residents, particularly during the time of the Civil War, was trapping. Fur was valuable at this time as it meant gold, which in itself was a very scarce medium in those days. During the '60s, it is said, Spirit Lake was the center of the largest fur business between Mankato and Sioux City. Otter, beaver, mink, musk- rat and fisher were the animals sought for their valuable hides. The trappers usually made their plans and outlined their season's work about the first of September, usually two going into partnership. They had practically limitless territory in which to trap and hunt, the many lakes, sloughs and streams making a productive field. Each person tended and accounted for forty to sixty traps, a task which necessitated long marches each day across the prairie and through the sloughs. It is recounted that some hunters made thirty miles regularly every day to visit their traps.
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Traps had to be set, others moved, the "catch" skinned and likely places for "setting" found. The men usually lived in tents, which could be moved quickly from place to place. "A small tent, the smallest possible supply of bedding, a few indispensable cooking utensils, a generous supply of ammunition, together with a little flour and a few necessary groceries, completed the outfit. During the winter these camps were moved from place to place on large handsleds. A favorite method for trappers travel- ing over the prairie, especially during the fall and spring or any other time of high water, was to have a small, strongly built boat mounted on two light wheels, such as hayrake or cultivator wheels, and load their luggage in the boat. By this means they were enabled to take a direct course across the prairie, regardless of swollen streams and impassable marshes."
Spirit Lake became a great starting point for the trappers and also a collecting and buying point. Henry Barkman was in the fur business there for over twenty years and handled and shipped vast quantities of furs. Most of the fur was gathered in the winter months. John P. Gilbert and James S. Johnson, of Spirit Lake, were the chief employes of Mr. Barkman and did most of the collecting. These men would go on long journeys across the prairie, lasting from ten days to two weeks, visiting solitary trappers' camps and buying the furs. Other trappers preferred to hold their season's catch until spring and then sell it all at once. The fur, after being assorted at Spirit Lake, was packed and sent to St. Paul, where it was again inspected and assorted and shipped to London and Leipsic.
The rapid settlement of the counties to the north and west caused the fur business to decline, but even now, as ever since the early days, trap- ping is one of the favorite occupations of the people. Muskrat trapping, beginning December 1st of every year, is carried on very extensively, the other animals having largely disappeared. The skins of the muskrat are sold for a price ranging from fifteen cents to a dollar and a half apiece, according to size and quality.
HOMESTEAD AND PREEMPTION
The homestead and preemption laws, although practically dead stat- utes now, were at one time quite a boon to the new settler. Under the former the settler filed an affidavit with a register at the nearest land office that he entered upon his claim at a certain date and intended to improve the same. He was given six months to settle upon the claim and after five years' .continuous residence could perfect his title and own the land. Under the preemption law he was required to send a dollar to the land office and on stating that he had entered upon and improved a tract of government land he could claim the ground under the preemption
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law. He was entitled to one year in which to prove up his claim and make payment on the land if it was offered for sale in the market; otherwise he could hold the land until it was offered for sale. The price was $1.25 per acre, but others, with soldier's warrants or college scrip, bought for seventy-five cents or one dollar an acre.
The first settlers in Dickinson County utilized the preemption law, as the homestead law had not yet been passed. After the passage of the latter many changed to it. The nearest land office, and the one which was used, was located at Sioux City.
Open sales were held, lasting for several days, when land could be secured in no way except by bidding, the highest bidder getting the ground. These sales were started by the commissioner of the general land office, under orders from the President. After the close of the sale any unpur- chased land could be had for the regular price of $1.25 per acre.
Practically all of the land now in Dickinson County, with the excep- tion of Center Grove and Spirit Lake townships, was ordered on sale during the administration of President Johnson. It was kept open for sale by private entry until 1870. Then it was withdrawn, in order that the railroads, whose grants reached into the county could file their plats and receive the land promised them by grant. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul (then the McGregor and Sioux City) and the St. Paul, Minne- apolis & Omaha, then the St. Paul & Sioux City, were the ones to profit by this arrangement.
The Iowa Agricultural College located a few sections under grant in this county and Ringgold County located the indemnity land received in place of her swamp land here. These grants thus took over two-thirds of the county, leaving the remaining third for the settlers to preempt and homestead.
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CHAPTER XIX. ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT OF DICKINSON COUNTY.
ORGANIZATION-C. F. HILL'S LETTER-JUDICIAL ELECTION-FIRST TERM OF THE DISTRICT COURT-THE COUNTY JUDGE SUPERVISORS-GOVERN- MENT SURVEYS COUNTY OFFICERS: COUNTY JUDGES, TREASURER AND RECORDER, TREASURERS, RECORDERS, DISTRICT COURT CLERKS, AUDITORS, SHERIFFS, COUNTY ATTORNEYS, SURVEYORS, SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS, CORONERS, SUPERVISORS-THE COURT HOUSE-JAIL-THE COUNTY HOME-SWAMP LANDS.
ORGANIZATION
At first Dickinson County was attached to Woodbury County for judicial purposes and was nominally a part of that civil division. In the fore part of the year 1857 the settlers began to talk of organizing the county of Dickinson, electing their own officers and deciding here the questions which arose among them. The August election was decided upon, which election was held the first Tuesday in the month at the home of J. S. Prescott. It was necessary for the voters to send a petition, signed by fully two-thirds of the legal voters, to the county judge of the county to which Dickinson was attached, and permit him to pass upon the ques- tion as to whether or not they were entitled to separate county organi- zation. Twenty voters signed the petition and delegated C. F. Hill to carry the document to Judge John K. Cook, of Woodbury County. After perusing the petition Judge Cook issued an order for an election, which was held on the date above designated. The first officers were: O. C. Howe, county judge; M. A. Blanchard, treasurer and recorder; B. F. Parmenter, Prosecuting attorney ; R. A. Smith, clerk of the district court; C. F. Hill, sheriff; Alfred Wilkins, county surveyor, W. B. Brown, coroner ; R. U. Wheelock and R. A. Smith, justices of the peace. The next step was the carrying of the returns to Sioux City. Also, either the county judge, clerk of the district court or district attorney, had to appear before Judge Cook and give bonds for approval and be sworn in. R. A. Smith,
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the newly elected clerk of the district court, was chosen for this hard journey. He writes: "These trips to Sioux City were no holiday affairs. The route by which they were made was to strike out in a westerly direc- tion to the head of the Floyd and follow the stream to Sioux City. There were no settlements on the route until within eight miles of the city. The time required for making the trip was seven days; the distance one hundred and twenty miles each way, or two hundred and forty miles in all. Let a person imagine himself taking a trip that distance alone on horseback, drinking from the streams he might chance to cross, eating a dry lunch from his portmanteau, at night rolling up in a saddle blanket with the saddle under his head as a pillow, his horse picketed by his side, and with no probability of seeing a human being for the next three days, and he can form some idea of what those trips were. Add to this the ever-present danger of roving bands of Indians were continually hovering along the border, ready at any moment to waylay any luckless adventurer who may have ventured beyond the line of the settlements, and it will be understood that no slight amount of courage and hardihood were exhib- ited in their successful accomplishment."
C. F. HILL'S LETTER
The following letter, written by the first sheriff of Dickinson County, was originally published in the Sioux City Journal of June 10, 1900, and later by R. A. Smith :
"Hazleton, Pa., June 4, 1900 .- Neil Bonner, Sioux City, Iowa. Dear Sir: Yours of May 30th, referring to my early visit to Sioux City, is received. In the spring of 1857 I located at Spirit Lake, shortly after the massacre took place under Inkpadutah, and I helped bury some of the dead that had been overlooked by the soldiers sent down from Fort Ridg- ley. About the month of May, 1857, the settlers at Spirit Lake decided to organize Dickinson County, which before that had been attached with all northwestern Iowa to Woodbury County, and I was designated to go to Sioux City and get an order from the court there to hold an election and organize the county.
"I started out on my mission mounted upon an Indian pony which had both ears badly burned in a prairie fire, and accompanied by a young man by the name of Barnum, a relative of P. T. Barnum, the great show- man. Barnum was on foot, and as he was a good fellow, I shared my pony with him and allowed him to ride half of the time. After we left Spirit Lake we did not see a white man until we reached the Floyd River in Plymouth County, where we met a party of surveyors, who were stak- ing out Plymouth City. Barnum and I were glad to meet these men, and we begged the privilege of camping near them, which they reluctantly
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granted. The next day we reached Sioux City, and put up at the Sioux City House, a story and a half building, and to my great surprise I found it kept by the Trescott brothers, Wesley and Milo, who were from near Shickshinny, Pa. I knew them well, but I had some little trouble in making myself known to them, as my camp life, my leggings, Indian pony and other Indian fixings led them to believe that I was a half-breed, which amused my companion very much.
"Next day I looked up his honor, the judge of Woodbury County, and in a day or two had matters all arranged to start the wheels of govern- ment for Dickinson County. While I remained at Sioux City I heard much talk that the remains of Sergeant Floyd were exposed by the action of the Missouri River, and the citizens were about .to remove the remains to another bluff, where the aggressive Missouri River could not reach them. A man by the name of Brughier, a Frenchman, lived at the mouth of the Big Sioux River, and he had two squaw wives.
"Sioux City at that time was an unpretentious village of one story and one story and a half frame houses. The town was hemmed in closely by bluffs, which were so numerous and so close together as in some cases to admit only of a wagon road between them. I remember many interest- ing incidents while in the city, regarding the Indians who came there. I remember a one-story clothing store on the wharf which had a large picture on canvas of an elephant, which the boys called the 'land elephant.' The land elephant was the great animal of those days, and woe to the fellow who indulged in too much land and allowed the elephant to lie down upon him.
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