USA > Iowa > Kossuth County > History of Kossuth County, Iowa > Part 21
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door. With such favorable inducements as then existed for cattle raising, it seems strange now that so few made any move towards starting herds.
The farmer with nothing but a little grain and a few head of stock to dispose of was always placed at a disadvantage when he tried to convert his stock into cash; for stock buyers seldom bought except from those who had herds of considerable size. It was the farmer who was compelled to drive his few head of stock off to a distant market that felt the sting of hard times, perhaps the most. Several instances of this kind occurred during or just prior to the war period that are well remembered. Richard Hodges in the fall of 1861 drove thirteen cows all the way to Iowa City and was forced to sell them for ten dollars per head. That was a hard blow to poor Dick at that time. There were others in the Irvington community who met with similar experi- ences about that time. Thomas Robison, D. W. Sample and Jacob C. Wright took their hogs to Cedar Falls and sold them dressed for $2.15 per hundred pounds. Capt. Joe Hewitt had three hogs and he was in need of the cash for them, but could not take the time to take them to market. He employed Doctor Armstrong to dress them and find a place where they could be sold. The Doc- tor drove to Forest City with an ox team hitched to a sled, camping out one night on the way. The price he received for his pork was $3.00 per hundred, thus doing a little better than his neighbors who had gone to the Cedar Falls market. Settlers of the Algona and Cresco vicinities had similar experiences, but the dates, prices and names are not known to the writer. From these accounts it will be observed that times then were very different from those at the present. While this chapter was being prepared for the press in the summer of 1912, live hogs in the Chicago market were bringing $7.80, and thoroughbred cows at home selling at startling prices, Judge Quarton having sold one of his for $700.
During the Civil war, substitutes were sometimes furnished for those who had been drafted to go into the army, but that never occurred in this county. During the same period, however, substitutes were procured for many articles that were expensive. Chewing tobacco was so high that only the more well- to-do could afford to buy it ; so calamus or sweet flag root was used instead. A mixture of red sumac bark and leaves and the bark of the red willow answered the purpose very well for smoking tobacco. If plug tobacco was used at all it was used very sparingly. The writer well remembers how his old German neighbor, John K. Fill, used to take his big, black navy plug and cutting a thin shaving from it, placed the tiny quid between his left cheek and his gums. This he did three times each day-once after each meal. There was a severe penalty for anyone else who dared to touch the navy plug, but in spite of that fact he was sometimes surprised and angered to find that a semicircular chunk had been bitten out of it by some daring robber. There were more substitutes for coffee than for any other article. Among them were corn, that had been scorched and ground, which no one ever liked; ground, browned barley, which was but little better; browned bread crumbs mixed with sorghum, which filled up but never satisfied; sliced carrots that had been browned, which with the hot water in which it was steeped made a drink that was never offered to visitors and that was often spurned with contempt by the members of the family; and sliced beets prepared in the same way. While this latter drink was sweet and some-
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what enjoyable, its stimulating qualities were by no means noticeable. Sage was used as a substitute for tea by some families for years, but leaves of the redroot were extensively used by most settlers during that period. It was a common sight to see women and children hunting over the prairie for these leaves. When thoroughly cured and properly taken care of they furnished a basis for a beverage that was relished. Many families today would have much better health if they used tea of this kind. It would be far more agreeable than any of the many substitutes for coffee and tea, now on the market.
WILD ANIMAL LIFE
The advancement of civilization, that has transformed all northwestern Iowa from the home and hunting grounds of the savages to a garden of Eden, since the first settlements began to form along the timbered streams, has necessarily pushed out of the way the old order of things to make place for the new. To the old settler who is still among us, but who is treading down the western slope of life with hoary head and bended form, no change has taken place which is more striking than that pertaining to the wild animal life which in the early days was so abundant and so exciting to behold. Contrasting the conditions, he feels that he settled in some far-away world and is now living in another. A sadness comes over his heart at times when he yearns to once more look upon old-time scenes, which he realizes are gone forever. Nowhere in this part of the state has the change been more marked during the past fifty-eight years, in regard to wild animal life, than right here in Kossuth. The prairies over which the buffaloes, elk and deer roamed, are in farms on which many of the owners are living, sur- rounded by all the comforts that wealth can procure; the groves through which the bear and timber wolf prowled are deserted of every animal of which a school boy need to be afraid; and the streams flow onward unobstructed by the ingenious beaver dams.
All those who came to locate in the fall of 1854, or those who were here prospecting or on business missions saw evidence that buffaloes were inhabiting or roving over the county. In the marshy lands their foot-steps could be traced, and leading to some of the springs were trails where they came to slake their thirst. Although it was known that this kind of large game roamed somewhere not far away, it is not known that anyone attempted to locate them, the settlers being too busy about selecting claims and building their cabins to bother about what animals were grazing in other parts of the county.
Some idea of the number of buffaloes that were in this vicinity about that time may be formed from the reports of those who caught a glimpse of them. While D. A. Haggard was camping with his father's surveying party on the banks of the north branch of Buffalo Fork, on the morning of August 26, 1854, he and the rest of the party, saw by actual count, forty-seven buffaloes in one herd, strung out in line. Ambrose A. Call has gone on record as saying that he knew of a herd of sixteen or seventeen that made their home in 1855 some distance up the Black Cat. This report is confirmed by the fact that buffalo bones in recent years have been found buried in the marshes where the animals probably went in to drink and sank in the mud so they could not get out. Ingham and Seeley, whose cabin was near the mouth of that creek, never happened to see any of
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those animals in that region. If they had there would have been a merry chase. It doesn't appear that either of the Call brothers ever chased any buffaloes in this county, though they knew where their grazing ground was. In the summer of 1855 W. H. Ingham, A. L. Seeley and Thomas C. Covel, while out on a hunting trip, saw seven near Buffalo Grove in the northwest corner of Hancock county and chased them over the line into Kossuth, but did not get a chance to kill any of them. A couple of weeks later the same parties gave chase to forty or fifty over the prairie, in what is now Buffalo township, killing one of the herd not far from the creek. These were the last wild buffaloes ever. seen by that party in the county. After the cold winter of 1856-7, which drove out or froze out the large game, not a single wild buffalo was ever reported by anyone to have been seen. It is not the purpose in this chapter to tell the story of the experience the hunters had in giving chase to the buffaloes, for these accounts appear in detail in the chapter "Interesting Historic Events." Buffalo heads, buffalo horns and other buffalo bones were quite frequently found on the prairie before the war. In 1859 the complete bones of a buffalo lay in a swamp near where Perry Burlingame lives, but no settler ever saw one in that part of the county.
The number of elk that fattened on Kossuth county grass in those early days cannot be so easily estimated. They were quite numerous and were frequently seen by those who ventured out on the prairie away from their cabins, especially if they were trying to locate this line of antlered game. Most all the parties passing between Algona and Fort Dodge in the fall of 1854 saw elk grazing in quite large herds in the distance. November 27th, of that year, W. H. Ingham and D. E. Stine, who were returning to Cedar Rapids after a prospecting tour to this county, saw a herd west of the old Jones place in Riverdale and succeeded in killing one by a ball from Ingham's rifle, when near the center of Cresco town- ship. That was the first elk to be slain by any settler.
On the 29th of August, 1854, D. A Haggard and his fellow surveying crew came in sight of what he estimated to be about two hundred elk, standing in a bunch, some distance west of where they had seen the buffaloes. Their antlers, high in air, gave the appearance of a little forest on a mound. All who ever saw them bunch in this way say that no more beautiful picture of wild animal life was ever witnessed on the frontier. Standing on the high bluffs overlooking Prairie creek, elk could be seen with a field glass feeding leisurely on the great bottom, now known as the "flat." It took experienced hunters to run these elk down so that they could be slaughtered. They moved not only swiftly away in their pacing gait, but kept at it mile after mile, tiring out the ordinary horses that were in the chase. On the eastern edge of the county, towards the head waters of the Boone, they had a favorite feeding place that was well known, at least to the early settlers of the southern part of the county. In northern Kossuth where there were no settlements the elk grazed in herds, and were seldom molested. Sometimes a young elk was captured by the settlers and tamed. The occupants of the Ingham cabin had one that became the pet of the household. Elk meat made the principle dish at many a frontier banquet. When roasted over the fire in the cabin fire- places, no steak at the Waldorf-Astoria could rival it for flavor and juicy tender- ness. The elk hides were valuable and much prized. In later years they used to be seen frequently in farmers' homes after they had been thoroughly tanned. They were used mostly to make cattle whips and crackers.
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The settlers sometimes had hard experience when passing over the creeks or prairies, looking for elk and other big game. This was more especially true when they were out on a hunt with a team and wagon, and not on fleet-footed horses. In October, 1855, Thomas C. Covel hitched up his little mule team to his covered wagon, and taking on board A. L. Seeley, W. H. Ingham and Charles E. Putnam, left the Ingham cabin on the Black Cat in search of elk which they discovered had recently crossed the creek but a short distance away. Their ponies being too tired to go were left to rest until their return. The covered-wagon party soon struck the trail and following it up, crossed over to the east of the river, above the mouth of Buffalo Fork, and then went in a northwesterly direction far beyond the headwaters of the creek near Bancroft (Mud creek). The party not getting in sight of their pacing game, camped over night and then started back home, believing the elk were traveling as fast as the mules and hence could not be overtaken. When the long-eared team came to the bank of the creek, which was dry at that point, they refused to go down so steep a place. They shook their heads and balked at the idea. By actions they told their driver they didn't have to cross. Covel being an experienced "mule whacker," as the term is under- stood out on the plains, convinced the mules that he was boss, and then over the bank they went. Then was presented a picture of frontier life which by no means was beautiful to behold by those who had helped to make it. The mules on their knees with their noses buried in the mud, the forewheels mired nearly to the hubs, the hind wheels still on the bank, and a mixture of humanity piled up in a bunch in the front end of the box, made up the interesting situation. Getting the team out of the mud, and then drawing the wagon out by means of a long rope to which the team was attached next occupied the attention of the party. Rubbing off the mud from their clothes with wisps of grass and weeds was the next order of exercises. The creek was nameless when the mules went over the bank, but the incident caused the party to apply the name of Mud creek to the brook, a name that it still retains. Two of this party-Ingham and Seeley- found out some time later that elk hunting in the winter was exceedingly fatigu- ing. After the three-days' raging blizzard in November, 1856, they started on snow shoes, they had made the winter before, going up the Black Cat country to see if the storm had driven the elk into the groves and imprisoned them. At the north edge of the Frink timber, some thirty rods back from the creek, they saw a buck with a pair of the finest antlers they had so far seen. These ornaments they very much desired, and decided to have if possible. Having observed that the buck could be shot if they could manage to creep up to a certain tree unnoticed, they planned their movements to get behind that tree. They went around the creek channel some distance on the leeward side, then walking down it as far as thought advisable, they then began creeping on the smooth ice, which the wind had swept clean, until the selected three stood between them and the buck. In creeping down on the ice they observed over the bank several other elk and on beyond, on the ice, they saw many does around the bend. Not seeing any desirable antlers they made no attempt to kill any of them. These elk having noticed the approach of the two hunters, it was feared the buck might take fright and leave his position. A rush up the steep bank and on towards this lone monarch before he could get beyond gun shot, was decided upon. They made the rush up the bank, but both slipped backward and landed on the ice with a thud.
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The elk then on every side went crashing through the brush and the big antlers were seen disappearing over the ridge not far away with some forty young bucks and does following. Night coming on, the two hunters returned to their cabin fully determined to resume the hunt the next day and if possible capture those magnificent antlers which were last seen going over the ridge and out of sight. Starting out in the morning by moon-light, on their snow shoes, and trudging over the snow, they found a lot of elk closely bunched together on the prairie, not more than two miles from the place where they were first located the day before. The old buck was standing sentinel on the windward side. As the herd started to flee, two shots fired at long range brought down a young buck which was not wanted. How to get those big antlers was a problem yet to be solved. The dog, Watch, was started after the game to scatter them. In a short time he had overtaken the bunch and killed another young buck. The hunt being again aband- oned, each dragged back to the cabin over the snow a young buck as a trophy of the day's work. In relating this incident in after years Seeley often stated that dragging his young elk home was the hardest work he ever performed in all his life. Ingham wanted to resume the hunt, by taking along handsleds with blankets and provisions, so that they could camp out until the prize buck could be killed. Seeley, however, was too badly used up to go, so the big antlers were never secured by them, much to their disappointment. At another time, a little later, Thomas C. Covel and William S. Campbell were along with Mr. Ingham on an elk hunt and got caught out in a blizzard many miles away from their cabin. Seeley had gone to Benton county to spend the winter, but Campbell, whom Ingham had met at Fort Dodge in February, 1857, was induced to come up and join the others at the Ingham cabin (on the Dan Rice place in Plum Creek). Soon after his arrival the three started on snow shoes for Buffalo grove, each dragging behind him a hand sled on which were his blankets, eatables, and other camp necessaries. The reader must remember that these men, on the search for elk at so distant a point, and traveling with the luggage above described, went during one of the severest winters-1856-7-known in the history of this county. In doing so they took the security of their lives in their own hands. They took the wise precaution to let each go with an independent outfit, so that in case of separation each could have a fighting chance to save his life. They waited for a pleasant day and then got started about eleven o'clock. Going eastward, they traveled in comfort until about three o'clock, for the weather so far that day had been warm. Suddenly there burst upon them a terrific blizzard. Hastily Mr. Ingham with a pocket compass noted the direction of the grove, just as it dis- appeared from view on account of the flying snow. There they were on a great prairie without hope of reaching home that night, floundering and trudging along with their sleds and cumbersome snow shoes. There were seven or eight miles yet to go before the grove could be reached, a place where they already knew no one was living. They managed to keep their course by going at a right angle with the way the wind was blowing and by crossing the ridges of snow at the same angle. Their sleds blowing over frequently, gave them much trouble and annoy- ance. When within a few miles of the grove, Covel became confused by the blinding snow and, like many others in later years in the same situation, got the notion that the party was not going in the right direction; he wanted to go with the wind, and declared he would do so. As this was his first experience on snow
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shoes it is not surprising that he preferred to have the wind blow squarely on his back in such a howling storm. As he was bound to have his own way, Ingham and Campbell bade him good-bye and left him to his fate. He soon changed his mind, and was seen falling into line after the other sleds. At eight o'clock they entered the grove before they knew they were near it. Before starting they had been informed that a new cabin on the east side of the grove had been built, but that it was vacated. This they soon found and took possession of for the night. The dirt floor was covered about two feet deep with snow. After shoveling this out they built a fire against one end for a back log and then fed it with logs from the gable ends and shakes from the roof until morning to keep from freezing. When daylight came the log cabin was a wreck, but the men were alive and ready for a hunt. They found that no elk, as had been reported in the early winter, were making that grove their home. While they got no game they did get some valuable experience which they never forgot. They left next morning westward for Buffalo Fork to hunt down that stream and stayed over night at the Moll cabin, East of where Burt is located. Covel, declaring that he had had all the fun he wanted in traveling with snow shoes in such weather, went no further with his companions.
Wounding a big buck was always attended with danger, for it turned frequently upon the hunter with a vengeance and with great force. Campbell and Ingham after leaving the Moll cabin that day came to this conclusion. While bearing off toward the lower end of the timber on the river above Mud creek, they saw foxes and wolves on the prairie in different places, and felt sure that large game was in the vicinity. While Campbell was fixing his snow shoe a pair of antlers was seen above the bank of the river about forty rods away. As he had never seen an elk, Ingham told him that one was for him (Campbell) to kill. This so excited him that he could hardly get his snow shoe repaired. In his nervousness his thumbs were mixed up with his fingers and his fingers were all thumbs. As they started on the elk paced down the river on the ice at a lively gait. The dog being turned loose soon brought the buck to bay. Getting close to him Campbell fired. The ball entering the jaw low down made him furious and he charged for the hunter who barely escaped by dodging behind a tree just as the great antler struck with tremendous force. Campbell escaped injury by only a narrow margin. Catch- ing a glimpse of Ingham close by, the buck made a furious charge for him, and would have done him severe injury had not Ingham at that instant dodged behind a small tree. The prisoner saw antlers on both sides of him which he might have caught with his hands and held until Campbell had fired the fatal shot. He didn't undertake that task, although he enjoyed hunting where there was an element of danger. Campbell fired the second time, the ball striking near where the first entered. The buck was far from being dead, and all the more furious. Ingham wanted Campbell to have the credit of killing the buck and told him to fire again. This he would not do, believing he had fired his full share of times. As it was getting late and there was much to do in preparing to camp, Ingham went up close and brought down the game with a bullet from his revolver, just as it was about ready to fall. While the elk was being dressed the wolves and foxes began to gather around and howled for the meat. A fallen tree close by had lodged in a crotch of another about eight feet from the ground. Campbell climbed up the slanting tree and cut off small branches
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leaving a few inches near the tree for hooks. On these, after climbing up, he hung the quarters. The head and hide he carried still farther up and hung as he supposed beyond the reach of the hungry pests. While getting the camp fire ready two wolves passed close by and one of them Ingham shot, but the pack still hung around for the feast. The wolves kept up a hideous howling all night, and barked and fought each other. Several shots were fired at them at random but still they howled and barked. In the morning, hide, quarters and the meat from the head were all gone. The pack, which included at least one lynx, had gone evidently in a circle taking turns in running up the slanting tree and grabbing a mouthfull as they jumped at the hanging meat. These two hunters were out for big game and were not going to stop till they got it; so the next day they killed another elk near Armstrong Grove and then went to the timber at Mud lake in Emmet county where they were overtaken by another storm which kept them in camp for one day and two nights. During the very height of the storm they crossed the prairie, some five miles, to the West Branch, keeping linked together for fear that separation might prove fatal to both. After reach- ing the timber they camped, but did not dare to sleep for fear of freezing to death. Going from that camp down the river they saw many elk trails, but learned the Indians had slaughtered all the large game. As this was only about three weeks before the Spirit lake massacre they were in a dangerous country.
There were no elk herds ever seen in the county after the cold winter of 1856-7. The deep snow starved most of them out, and the Indians slaughtered the remainder. One lone straggler appeared on the eastern edge of the county, south of Wesley, on Prairie creek, in November, 1867, and was killed after being chased many miles by a hunting party consisting of John G. Smith, Abe Hill, A. L. Seeley and A. K. Kennedy. With that event elk chasing in Kossuth ended. But very few settlers coming to the county after 1855 ever saw an elk, and only a few who lived here, in 1854 and 1855, took any interest in hunting and chasing big game, because of the hardships and fatigue connected with the sport, especially in the winter. What a few found to be the most enjoyable sport, the others would have considered the hardest drudgery if they had been taking a hand in the hunt.
The abundance of deer in the early days was somewhat thinned as the re- sult of the cold winter, but they refused to become extinct. They multiplied rapidly and continued to be seen and hunted in large numbers far into the 70's. They presented a beautiful sight on the prairies in the north part of the county where they were little molested by the settlers and their dogs. There are some fine farms now on their former grazing grounds in that section. Women, in the absence of their husbands, sometimes managed to kill them. That was the case with Mrs. Samuel Sands who lived by the river, south of Bancroft. During the winter of 1868 a terrible snow storm came when her husband was absent and when she was out of provisions. Looking out of the window into the dark night she observed a deer close to the house seeking shelter from the storm. Out of doors she ran with the butcher knife in her hand and then urged her two dogs on to the shivering beauty. After they had seized the deer she ran up and cut its throat. Necessity drove her to do this courageous act in the storm. It is needless to say that the family had plenty of meat for some time.
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