USA > Iowa > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, Iowa : its people, industries and institutions, with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 13
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The Soldier river, the Boyer river and others were valleys of unsur- passed fertility, but about two out of every five years (sometimes more frequently ), the valleys were covered by waters from these streams, which were so meandering in their course from north to south, to the Missouri river into which they naturally fell. that it was impossible to sow and reap and cut the native grass crops that, in dry seasons, were a great source of wealth to the owners. Agitation, science, experiment and "lots of high taxes" had to be made to serve as forerunners of the great system that now is looked upon with general public favor and pride. While there is always some expense that comes to the landowner who is not especially benefited by such gigantic internal improvements, but on the whole, every man who has been taxed for these improvements, in Harrison county and the adjoin- ing territory, has been benefited to a greater extent than was his original thought. None would care to have thousands of acres of waste land. full
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of ponds and swamps and lakes, standing in numerous portions of this county, as was the condition before these water-ways were opened up. In the ease of the main ditches-the Boyer and Soldier rivers have been less- ened from thirty to fifty per cent in their lengths. Where the waters of the Boyer used to run forty miles, these straight-cut canals have reduced the stream to abont one half that distance. and where the Soldier river ran ram- pant, overflowing thousands of acres of crops and hay-land, the waters are now conveyed by a short-ent ditch, directly into the Missouri river, while in places, the old river bed is cultivated, or at least. is dry enough for agricul- tural purposes.
This county has profited by the system begun years before in Monona county. Lakes and morasses have been drained into these big ditches, and now one may see corn growing in a soil that would rival the valley of the famous old Nile. Again, as a sanitary means, these drainage ditches have been the means of lessening the malaria, and cutting short the mosquito erop, which in earlier days was such a pest as cannot be described by one not having to fight the winged pests both by day and by night. The landscape scene is all changed. the green scum of pond and swamp, the stagnant pool in the river and creek, have all disappeared since these drainage ditches have been excavated. And still the work goes forward, and this year more such improvements are being contracted for by the county authorities.
It was about 1903 that the first great channels were cut in this county, the Monona-Harrison section. The veteran civil engineer. J. S. Wattles, of Missouri Valley, was the first man in charge of the work, and was suc- ceeded by a Mills county expert drainage engineer, Seth Dean. These ex- pert civil engineers have produced a system not excelled in all Iowa. There are now eight separate drainage districts in this county, with a total mileage of ninety-three miles of open ditches, or eanals, which have cost the county and its citizen tax-pavers the sum of six hundred forty-eight thousand three hundred eighty-nine dollars and eighty cents. Others are being made, but not of such great mileage. The subjoined tables show in detail the facts concerning the various drainage districts, and they may be relied upon as substantially correct, for the figures have been carefully compiled by that highly efficient county anditor, Mr. Albertson, who has consulted the records. as well as the field notes of the engineers in charge. While this is in no sense an official report, it contains such facts as were asked for by the author and will serve the purpose of giving general information to the readers concern- ing a great modern internal improvement :
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HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA.
DRAINAGE DISTRICTS.
Upper Boyer Section- Length of ditch in miles. 19.53: width of right of way in feet. 150; bottom width of ditch in fect, 20; side slopes of chan- nel, 12' to 1': mean ent in feet, 12; rate of fall in feet per mile, 3.3': arca in acres taxed, 10,895: mean rate, $10.71: 34 miles of railroad track taxed, $19.153.00; 20 miles of county road taxed, $1.641.02. Total cost. $139.700.35.
Latta Section-Length of ditch in miles, 2.96; width of right of way in feet, 150; bottom width of ditch in feet, 20; side slopes of ditch, I' to I'; mean cut in feet. 12: rate of fall in feet per mile, 3; area in acres taxed, 1,621 ; 614 miles of railroad track taxed, $7.000.00; I mile of county road taxed, $100.00; mean rate, $10.90. Total cost, $36.776.94.
Boyer Sub-Section-Length of ditch in miles, 6.42; width of right of way in feet. 150; bottom width of ditch in feet, 30; side slopes of ditch, l' to 1'; mean cut in feet. 9: rate of fall per mile in fect, 2.35; area in acres taxed, 6,883: 1314 miles of railroad track taxed, $12,000.00; 61/2 miles of county road taxed, $800.00; mean rate per acre, $8.01. Total cost, in- cluding 22,000 feet of lateral ditchies, $71,375.91.
W'ilson Sub-Section-Length of open ditch in miles, 5.05; width of bot- tom of ditch from 4 to 6 feet ; width of right of way in feet, 50, 60 and So; 7 lateral branches consisting of 30,000 feet of tile drain from 10 to 24 inches in diameter and 34,700 feet of open ditches; area in acres taxed, 6,024; mean rate, $6.29; railroad track taxed. $500.00; county road taxed, ȘI.500.00. Total cost, $40,248.05.
Monona-Harrison Section-Length of ditch in miles, 4.1; width of right of way in feet, 150; area in acres taxed, 6,753; mean rate per acre, $6.52: railroad tax. $83.04; county road tax, $2.311.28. Total cost, $46,392.13.
Soldier Valley Section-Length of main ditch in miles, 6.66; bottom width of ditch in feet, 40 and 35; side slopes of ditch, i' to i'; width of right of way in fect, 200.
. Spooner Ditch-Length of ditch in miles, 9.20; bottom width of ditch in feet, 12 and 16; width of right of way in feet, 50.
East Soldier Ditch-Length of ditch in miles, 4.35; bottom width of ditch in feet. S; side slopes of ditch, I' to I'; width of right of way in fect. 50.
IFest Soldier Ditch-Length of ditch in iniles, 2.50; bottom width of ditch in fect, 6; side slopes of ditch, I' to I'; width of right of way, 50.
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Nelson Ditch-Length of ditch in miles, 2.25; width of right of way in feet, 50: bottom width of ditch in feet, 8; side slopes of ditch, I' to I'.
Burcham Ditch -- Length of ditch in miles, 5; bottom width of ditch in feet, 6; side slopes of ditch, I' to i'; width of right of way in fect, 70.
Pratt Lake Ditch -- 4,000 feet of 12" tile; 4,000 feet of open ditch; bottom width of ditch in feet, 3: side slopes of ditch in feet, i' to I'; area in acres taxed, entire district, 29,000; railroad track taxed, $6,300.00; county road taxed, $2,332.31 ; lands taxed. $106,631.33 ; town lots taxed, $2.497.99; mean rate per acre, $3.63. Total cost. $119.543.63.
Harrison-Pottawattamie Section-Boyer Cut-Off No. 1. Length of ditch in miles, 1:54; bottom width of ditch in feet, 45; side slopes of ditch, I' to I'; width of right of way in fect, 200. Allen Creek Ditch : . Length of ditch in miles, 12.62; side slopes of ditch, i' to i'; bottom width of ditch in feet, 16; mean cut in feet, 7; rate of fall in feet per mile. 1.88; width of right of way in fect, 100. Willow Creek Ditch: Length of ditch in miles, 7.86; bottom width of ditch in feet, 18; side slopes of ditch, i' to I'; rate of fall in feet per mile, 1.88; mean cut in feet, 9; width of right of way in feet, 150; mean rate per acre, 3.93. Total cost. $189, 147.29.
Coc Sub-District-Consists of 11,800 feet of tile, drain from 8, 10, 12, 14, 18 and 24 inches in diameter ; average cost per acre, $S.32; area in acres taxed. 625. Total assessment, $5.198.50.
The average cost per acre of lands in the several districts amounts to $6.98.
The total number of acres in districts is 60,800.
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CHAPTER XI.
AGRICULTURE AND COUNTY FAIRS.
Harrison county is among the counties of Iowa where agriculture, stock-raising and fruit growing is the chief occupation of the thrifty resi- dents. In 1885 this county ranked third in the state in the item of com acreage, bushels and average yield. Polk being first and Fremont county second in the list. During that year Harrison county had an average of thirty-six bushels per acre of corn. As early as 1858 Hon. Stephen King raised wheat that averaged him forty bushels per acre, on a forty-acre field. It was sold for milling purposes at old Calhoun village. That was spring wheat. but for many years winter wheat has been grown here. Harrison county does not raise large amounts of either fall or spring wheat of late, but runs almost entirely to corn and tame grasses.
Thirty-one years ago, in 1884, the state census reports for Iowa gave the following concerning the products of Harrison county soil: Acres of corn, 116,763; bushels harvested, 4,282,223; spring wheat, acreage, 16,556; bush- els harvested, 232,577; oats, acreage, 13,529; bushels harvested. 353.061; pounds of sorghum sugar, 30.633 : pounds of honey, 19,414; number bear- ing apple trees, 31,194; bushels, 27,410; pounds grapes raised, 130,718; pounds butter, 662,485 ; cattle sold, 9,691; hogs sold, 46,519; number dogs in county, 2,344. At that date the average size of farms in this county was two hundred and sixty-one and one-fourth acres; average monthly farm hand wages, $19.00 ; average value of farms, $6,873.
Coming down to the census taken by the state authorities in 1905, the following is found concerning the products of Harrison county :
Acres of corn, 149,000; bushels raised, 5.265,626; value, $1.694,000; wheat, 25.187 acres; 235.394 bushels; value, $226.000; oats, 19,000 acres; 547,000 bushels; barley, 1,600 acres; bushels. 44,000; rye, 205 acres ; bush- ers; 2,886; buckwheat, 20 acres; bushels, 397; clover, 2,700 acres; timothy, 12,404 acres: millet, 4,000 acres; alfalfa, 1,238 acres; wild hay, 16.382 acres; other forage, 5 .- 187 acres.
Stock :--- Milk cows, 12,638; value, $286,000; total number cattle, 49.000, valued at $881,000. Total horses and mules, 15.000. Total number
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swine. 95.000. Sheep, total, 4,000. Number chickens, 267,000; eggs pro- duced, 1,150,487 dozen; dairy products, $320,000.
FERTILITY OF THE SOIL.
Unlike many portions of lowa, the rough land and hillsides of Harri- son county all possess soil of that geological formation that produces crops and grasses in great abundance. Lands that forty years ago were consid- ered hardly worth paying the taxes on, have come to be a profitable invest- ment. . The transformation in the county, speaking agriculturally, has in- deed been wonderful in twenty-five years. "Cheap land." rough land, high land, low land, bottom and ridges alike all come in for their own share of use in making up the sum total of Harrison county's great annual crops. Prices of farm land have gone higher than was ever conceived of in the seventies and eighties. Now, farms sell from seventy-five dollars to one hundred and seventy-five dollars per acre, some even reaching the two hun- dred dollar mark. A better, and more scientific method of farming, which puts to blush all former methods employed now obtains here. The motto is: "How much per acre can I produce, and not how many acres can I farm?" With the change in farming methods, prosperity has come upon the hus- bandmen and it is the exception and not the rule, to find shiftless farmers and run-down lands within Harrison county at this date. Farmers' clubs and institutes and the Harrison County Experimental Station, a branch of the work carried on at Ames College, have each and all contributed their share toward bringing about present agricultural conditions, which, of course, have been aided materially by the high prices that have been paid for farm produce in the last dozen or more years throughout the entire country. It is believed that fifteen-cent corn and three-cent hogs are things of the past in the United States. Again, the rural free delivery and parcel post system; the telephone and automobile, have all been potent factors in advancing the methods of farm life in Harrison county. These, at first, were counted as luxuries, but today are looked upon as necessities in and about the farm-houses in this county.
The dairy industry, in conjunction with farming in this county, is quite extensive and profitable. Creameries and cream and milk stations are found in every town and hamlet in the county. The live stock branch of farm indus- try has suffered more or less of recent years on account of too many farmers going exclusively to corn and grain and not being careful to breed cows and rear calves, as once was the rule here. There are not so many farmers who
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make a special business of raising cattle and feeding them as there used to be. As a matter of fact. all that can be produced and cared for on the farm should be kept, for the keeping of good, fertile soil depends upon turning back the elements that enter into cattle and hogs and sheep. The most up- to-date farmers here practice feeding all the corn and hay produced on their own land and some purchase from their neighbors, thus enriching and pay- ing back to mother earth what the crops have taken from it. This is science and prosperity.
TIME-SAVING MACHINERY.
Times have materially changed on the farms of Harrison county since the long-ago times when markets were far from the farm, when oxen were used, when government land was still for sale within the county, and when milling was a thing to be dreaded. The log house and the better abode of a small frame residence, have gone with the flight of years. The neat. mod- ern farm house is the rule in this county today. The electric light, electric motor for propelling washing machinery, pumping water, grinding feed, etc., have made the labor of the farmer much easier. The days have been shortened from twelve or sixteen hours, to eight or ten. One of the difficulties encountered at this date is the securing of good help to conduct the farms in a proper manner. The attractions of the nearby towns and cities, with their factories and various new industries, have called many a young man to these centers, and left the farm without enough help. Hence better wages are paid, and the man who is sober and willing and capable, can now hire out to farm at from $25 to $40 per month, and be assured of a place where he need not work long weary hours, but, aided by machin- ery, can accomplish as much in eight hours as our fathers could by hard work in twelve. Again, the farmer has come to be counted as important in politics. His vote is what seals the fate or success of any political party. Once the farmer was only counted on election day. but not so now-he is counted for the brains and intelligent methods he follows the year round. Law-makers have come to recognize the agriculturist as of a class that must not be neglected in this country. When the farmer suc- ceeds, all are well fed and happy, but when he is unsuccessful, by reason of poor, unjust laws, then the entire nation suffers, and "hard times" come on.
Joe H. Smith in his history of Harrison county in 1888, gave the fol- lowing concerning agriculture in this county, and the same throws light
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on the subject and is well worth reading and preserving for future gen- erations :
"Ninety-hundredths of the people of this county use agriculture as a means of livelihood. This, though not affording the greatest, readiest way to financial success, without question is the most honorable as well as the most certain. The wealthy men of this county today are they who have ceaselessly toiled from day to day for the past quarter of a century, at each returning spring preparing the surface of mother earth for the reception of the seed intended to bring forth the golden harvest, and by careful ap- plication to husbandry duty, in the way of proper tillage, have reaped abundant harvests. The little granger of today would smile at the sim- plicity of the implements used in the early days of settlement. Then the present fancy improved gang-plow. the double drag. corn planter, harvester and binder, mower and separator were not known in these parts, but in lieu thereof the old-fashioned wooden mold-board and bull-tongue plow, a crotch- tree and wooden-pin surface drag; the corn planter was a man with double team inrrowing out the rows, a man or woman to drop the corn by hand and then followed by boys with great nigger hoes, or a man with a 'go-devil,' covering the corn as dropped.
"GO-DEVIL" DESCRIBED.
"How many of my readers know what a 'go-devil' is? It was an im- plement of husbandry made in the following manner: A straight piece of wood for a beam three or more feet long; to this was attached two handles, then underneath was a strong piece of wood ten or twelve inches long, mor- ticed into the beam, and to this was securely fastened a single shovel plow. A horse was hitched to this and the man operating the same followed along in the furrow just made by the man with the team, the corn being dropped as aforesaid: this 'go-devil' was raised and lowered so as to strike the soil immediately in front of each hill so that the same being lifted covered the corn. These kinds of plows, drags, corn-covering machines, as well as the old 'armstrong' mowers and grain cradles would somewhat indicate to the present farmer, who never used such implements, the difficulty under which farming was carried on in the early days. At that time there was no neces- sity for improved machinery of the present day, because there then was only necessity for a sufficiency for local use and the demands for the products of field or herd did not extend beyond the limits of the immediate neighbor- hood. The yield then was as great as at the present per acre, but the lim-
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ited quantity under cultivation served to supply all demands except in, and during. the winter of 1856-57 at. and during, which time there was such an extraordinary fall of snow in the early days of this ever-to-be-remem- bered winter that stock could not subsist on the rushes along the Missouri bottoms and, there being little or no hay prepared for stock, the entire corn crop in the county was wholly inadequate to supply provender for the thou- sands of starving cattle then at the mercy of the storm. wolf, Indian and man. During this winter the entire corn crop of the county was consumed in a great measure in supplying feed for these starving herds and as a se- quence in the early spring this, 'King of the Slope' was readily sold at $2.50 per bushel. I might be permitted this remark right here: That with the railroad facilities which this county now possesses such a condition of things would not happen, from the fact that relief could now be furnished which under the old order of things could not be provided.
"What would our young farmers think of tramping out a grist of wheat for milling purposes by using four or six horses, having them go around and around in a circle until the grain was separated from the straw in order to have a biscuit for breakfast? How many of these young scions of farm- er lineage could stand in front of the cylinder of an old chaff-piler and rake away the straws from the machine and keep this well up for two or more days at a time? How kindly would they take to the old manner of separat- ing the wheat from the chaff and straw by working an ordinary sheet so as to produce a sufficiency of wind to drive the chaff and straw from the pure golden grains? This was, under the circumstances existing at that time, necessitated from reason of the fact that this was the only means at hand for the accomplishment of the end and they of the fifties accepted the con- ditions as readily as they of the present, who load into the wagon the well cleaned wheat, cart the same to the nearest railroad station, sell the same for cash and then, at the nearest provision store, purchase the prime flour made at the mill in Minneapolis, Dakota or Kansas. Suppose there was neither railroad nor mill within fifty or a hundred miles of the neighborhood -the last particle of flour or meal had been used for their breakfast; how ancient would it appear for our people to take an old piece of tin-say six inches by ten inches-perforate the same by the use of some sharp-point- ed instrument, and then attach this to some board or other substance and, when this was completed, go to work and, by rubbing over the surface of this tin mill, grate a sufficient quantity of corn on the cob to provide for a small family of six or ten and the usual amount of visitors, say half a dozen-would not this seem a hardship that few would like to undertake in
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these days of advancement? Such was the every day occurrence in this county thirty-six years ago."
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES.
Being an agricultural county, it was but natural that among the first societies to be organized within its limits was an agricultural association, in 1858. This was styled the Harrison County Agricultural Society. It was formed by the following pioneers : Henry Olmstead, president : John G. Downs, secretary; Dr. J. S. Cole. J. H. Farnsworth, William Dakan, Henry Reel. Robert McGavren. Stephen Mahoney, Lucius Merchant, Wil- liam T. Raymond, John M. Raymond, Patrick Morrow, John Noyes. Jacob S. Fountain, Daniel Brown, W. S. Meech. H. M. Huff and others, directors.
The first annual exhibit was held in the old court house, and near it, at Magnolia, in the autumn of 1858, and continued to be held there for eight years. Those early fairs had none of the demoralizing attractions, such as gambling devices, soap fiends, patent right dealers. etc .. but the at- tractions were the products of soil and barn-yard, with a sprinkling of home- made wares and domestic articles. The horse-race and foot-race were also in evidence to amuse both old and young. Even they whom we remember so well as the personification of modesty and dignity, Hon. Stephen King ran a foot-race with B. C. Adams at Magnolia at the fair of 1859. to the merriment of all present.
At the second annual exhibit of this pioneer society the premiums awarded included the following items: Best vegetables, A. Servis; best horseback rider, Mrs. Phineas Cadwell: best braided straw hat, fifty cents, Mrs. S. Rice; best stallion. A. Servis. $3.00; best pair horses, Phineas Cad- well, $3.00; best pair two year old steers, James Hardy, $2.00; best plowing, Thomas Chatburn. $3.00; best seed corn, O. V. Brainard, $1.00; best fresh butter, Mrs. Phineas Cadwell. $4.00; best cheese, G. MI. Brown, $1.oo; best stockings, Mrs. H. M. Irish, fifty cents ; best embroidery, Mrs. G. W. Ilarris, fifty cents.
In 1866, just after the close of the Civil War, a proposition was made to locate the fair grounds at any point within the county that would fur- nish the best set of buildings and grounds for the use of the society. Little Sioux outrivalled all other contesting points, and the change from Magnolia was at once made. In 1867 the people of Little Sioux had enclosed twenty acres of land, provided a good race track, built excellent buildings, includ- ing a neat floral hall and substantial shedding for stock. But, as a joint
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fair was held with Monona county for a few years, things did not suit some parts of Harrison county, and it was planned to remove the fair grounds to Missouri Valley, whose enterprising people donated good fenced grounds, built good buildings, and provided a good race course. Since 1872 the an- nual exhibits have been made at Missouri Valley, except during seasons when the floods and rains descended loo strong to make it practicable. Dur- ing 1887 a new and beautiful floral hall, thirty by one hundred feet. was erected on the fair grounds. The new building cost one thousand two hun- dred dollars. Unlike most Iowa county fairs, this one in Harrison county has always been a financial success, with few years as the exception to the general rule. In 1887 the gate receipts amounted to over one thousand seven hundred dollars, besides other sources of revenue, making a grand total of two thousand seven hundred dollars. Fine arts, fruits, flowers. grains, vegetables and fancy grades of stock and poultry have annually at- tracted thousands of people, who have come to look forward to "fair time" as among the most enjoyable occasions of the entire year. In fact, the two big days of each returning season are the-Old Settlers' Day, at Magno- lia, and the county fair at Missouri Valley. At both of these gatherings men, women and children meet and exchange greetings and gain new in- spiration for the work of bettering life's conditions. Intelligence is for- warded by these gatherings. Men become better acquainted, and an inter- change of thoughts does much to bring about a higher condition among the farming classes and business men of the county.
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