USA > Iowa > Allamakee County > History of Winneshiek and Allamakee counties, Iowa > Part 18
USA > Iowa > Winneshiek County > History of Winneshiek and Allamakee counties, Iowa > Part 18
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"It is related as a fact that in early days a hardy backwoodsman was elected Justice of the Peace. He was accredited to know more of hunting, fishing and trapping than of the law, but being deemed honest, and in the lack of better material was elected to the office. His statute-book had not yet arrived, when an anxious couple visited his house for the purpose of being married. In vain he plead ignorance of any knowledge of the marriage ceremony. They would not take 'no' for an answer. 'Well, then, I will do the best I can,' said the officer, and the couple stood up before him. There the wits of the backwoodsman forsook him, and he tried in vain to recall some words that he had heard on like occasions. At last in sheer desperation he blurted out: "Take her by God. She's yours- she's yours for life, and I am Justice of the Peace." He had managed to bring in the name of the Deity in the only way with which he was at all familiar. The marriage was considered legal."
JUMPING CLAIMS.
Much of the land was settled before it was properly surveyed, or came into market. And even when regularly entered, it some- times happened that when a survey was made, two men would be found to have made improvements on the same land, their claims having overlapped. This often gave rise to bitter feuds, and occasionally tragedies. Sometimes a man would come into the county poor, pre-empt a piece of land, and make some im- provements, intending to buy the land of the government before the time of pre-emption expired. There were unprincipled men who would not hesitate to deposit money at the land office against these claims, and if the settler failed to be on hand at the time the pre-emption expired, the land with all its improvements would pass into his hands and he could demand any price he chose from the settler, and the law gave the latter no redress. This was called jumping a claim. So much injustice was done that this jumping of claims was considered a heinous crime, and the pioneers
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banded themselves together, and resorted to mob violence to pro- tect themselves, homes, and families; so that the jumping of claims came to be dangerous and liable to cause the offender to be brought before "Judge Lynch," when justice was often summary and severe. Judge Burdick thus describes a case of this kind:
"A trivial difficulty arises between two settlers which results in a law suit. The one is well-to-do and has the title to his land- the other is poor and holds his land by the uncertain tenure of a claim. The one, smarting under supposed grievances, enters the other's house and takes the home from under him. This is an in- dignity the sturdy settlers will not brook. They call a meeting, wait upon the refractory settler and ask his attendance. He res- ponds and agrees to submit matters in controversy to three disin- terested men. A trial is had and the land is awarded to the claimant. They give the aggressor a week in which to execute the deed. Before the week expires, his antagonist is called away, and with two or three friends he forciby enters the house and turns the family out of doors in a fearful winter storm. The news is carried on the wings of the wind. There is a spontaneous gather- ing of the people together. Three hundred strong, they repair to his house and bear him away. The land is demanded but he declines to comply. They treat him to the luxury of riding on a rail, and again ask a deed of the land. Again refused, it is sug- gested that perhaps he would like to fly away. The hint suffices. Tar and feathers are produced and in the usual manner applied. Unyielding still, some one remarks that he is transformed into a goose, and that gozlings swim before they fly. The rail is again produced and he is borne to an adjacent pond. They demand the land again, but his iron will remains unshaken. They cut a hole in the ice and quietly introduce him to the cooling element. The goose is allowed to swim. He still defies them. An Irishman re- marks, 'did ye's ever see a goose swim so long widout divin'?' And suiting the action to the word, he commences 'divin" him in true goose style. Twice he is submerged and then asked to com- ply. 'I'll die before I'll yield,' is his reply. 'Then die you shall,' is the response, and he is plunged beneath the wave and held there longer than before. He kicks and flounders and is taken. out. He catches his breath and with accents broken and subdued he says, 'I will, I will give it up.' It was well he yielded, else he there had found a wintry grave. The purchase money was raised and paid by the settlers, the deed was executed and the poor man's home was secured to him."
CONSIDERABLY CROWDED.
We read and hear much of the crowded tenement houses in the large cities, but even in this a genuine pioneer's dwelling can sometimes discount them-but with the redeeming feature that there is plenty of fresh air and out door room. Here is a case
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which was not by any means a solitary one in pioneer life here. The house was a lone one, with a roof sloping from the front to the back and was without a chamber. There were two rooms, 12x14, each. Now for the inmates. There were three families living in these rooms, and included in these three families were seventeen children, nine of whom were under the age of nine years. There were three infants in cribs. If this large family could not live in harmony in the house, there was plenty of room out of doors. These families wanted to buy a sewing machine (an apparently necessary article) and the agent who visited them thought the house and family remarkable enough to mention, but those who have been conversant with pioneer life can remember many similar ones.
LOST IN THE WOODS.
The scene of the following thrilling narrative, which is no fic- tion, was partly laid in the present territory of Winneshiek County, and is taken from the sketches of pioneer life already referred to in process of publication, in the Decorah Journal:
Two boys, whom we will call Willie and Johnnie, lived with their parents, in a wild, unsettled region in the Northeastern part of Iowa. Willie was aged nine years, an active, self-reliant boy, and Johnnie was seven years old, large for his age, but less strong and enduring than his elder brother. These boys were al- ways together, Willie being the leader in all the sports and amuse- ments which boys would naturally find in a wild country, without schools or companions.
One Sabbath morning in the autumn of 1843, the parents of these boys started on horseback to attend a religious meeting several miles distant, leaving the boys at home to amuse them- selves as best they might. Having soon exhausted all their re- sources at home, they set out for a ramble in the woods accom- panied by two large dogs, their inseparable companions in all their rambles, and without which, they had been cautioned not to leave the house, for savage wild animals were numerous, and sometimes troublesome.
It was no unusual thing for these boys to take long rambles in the woods, with only the dogs for their companions, they, having always lived in a wild region, and all their education and train- ing tending to make woodsmen of them, besides, the elder was somewhat vain of his accomplishments in this direction, never having been 'lost,' and being often praised for his ability to keep a true course in the woods anywhere. This Sabbath morning was clear and cool. The boys took a course north from their home. They found plenty to interest and amuse them. Squirrels chat- tered and leaped from limb to limb. A few belated birds were gathered in flocks, preparatory to a flight southward; acorns dropped to the ground at their feet. The drum of a partridge in
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the distance drew them further on. In this way they had wan- dered about a mile and a half from home, when the loud and ex- cited barking of the dogs led them to hasten their steps, to find out the cause. On arriving at the spot they discovered that the dogs had 'treed' some large animal, and upon nearer approach saw that it was a large panther. They had seen a good many pan- thers, and had often heard their unearthly screech, (which resem- bles the cry of a woman in distress), but they had never before seen a live one, and their curiosity was aroused for a nearer view.
According to all stories I have ever read of the nature of this animal, the panther should have attacked and speedily dispatched both the dogs and children, but truth compels me to record that the beast behaved in a most cowardly manner. He not only showed his fear of the dogs, but seemed to have obtained a knowledge of how human beings use their guns, and seemed intent on keeping the tree between his body and the place where the boys were. In their eagerness to obtain a good view of the panther, the boys kept running around the tree, first in one direction, then in an- other, the panther all the time changing his position to keep out of their sight. In this manner considerable time was consumed, but at last our boys were satisfied with the occasional glimpses they had been able to obtain, and were ready to go home.
In passing so many times around the tree, absorbed with look- ing up into its branches, they had failed to observe the direction by which they came, or to note how many circuits they had taken, and although they set out with full confidence that they were go- ing in the direction of home, they took an entirely different course.
This was, as near as they could afterward judge, about noon, when they commenced their perilous journey. The elder boy took the lead, as was his custom, and they chatted gaily of their adventure, and of the many sights that met their gaze, for an hour or more, when suddenly turning to his companion, with something of a look of fright in his face, Willie said:
"Johnnie, we are not going home! We are LOST!'
At this the younger and less heroic brother cried a little, but in the feeling that he must act as protector and guide, the courage of the oldest was aroused-a courage that never deserted him through all the trials that awaited them.
He tried to comfort and encourage his brother that they would soon find their way out, and all the while the two hurried on as fast as their short footsteps would take them, as if in haste lay their only hope.
About four o'clock, as near as they could tell, they came to a traveled road. Instead of following it, as an older person would have done, they crossed it. Willie insisting that it was a road with which he was familiar, and that their home was about three-
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fourths of a mile distant and that by taking a near route, with which he was certain he was familiar, they would soon reach their father's house.
This road, however, lay about seven miles north of their home, and when they had crossed it, keeping, as they did, a northward course, they were in a dense forest.
In an hour or more they came to a small stream. Here they were divided in their opinions as to the course to pursue. For the first and only time during their journey, Johnnie put in a plea. He wanted to follow the stream downward. In his anxiety to do so, he offered to give his knife, his sled, and all the few playthings he possessed to Willie, if he would take the route down the stream. On being refused he made the crowning offer of all, said he :-
"If you will go this way with me, I'll give you a million dollars when I get to be a man."
The answer was characteristic of the esteem in which the other held himself, said he :---
"When I get to be a man I will have all the money I want, and shall not need any of yours," and as usual, his will conquered. As was afterward learned, had they taken the downward course of the stream, they would have soon come to settlements, and would have found their way out that night, but crossed it instead, and soon lost its course entirely.
They wandered on and on, and at length, night began to cast its shadows around them. The stars seldom looked down upon a sadder or more lonely sight than that of these two children, hardly past the age of babyhood, alone in a deep, dense forest, inhabited by beasts of prey, and in a spot where the foot of white man, had perhaps never trod. The two faithful dogs still kept them com- pany, and watch and guard over them.
One of the boys was provided with a knife, a flint, and a piece of "punk," the common means of producing a fire in those days and in that region, for although matches had been invented they did not find their way often into that unsettled, western region. As the shadows grew dark, they found the shelter of a fallen tree-top, and gathering sticks they built a fire, and laid down. Johnnie slept the sleep of weary childhood, but Willie was watch- ful, and kept the fire burning all night, with only a few snatches of slumber, his main care to keep his brother warm and comfortable.
The parents had returned home late in the day, and learning from the other children that the two boys had gone into the wood early in the morning and had not yet returned, the wildest alarm was felt. The few neighbors within reach were aroused, and search commenced. But no one could have had the slightest idea as to the distance to which the little wanderers had rambled. Fires were built, and men watched by them all night, and were ready to resume the search early next morning.
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The morning dawned clear and cold. The lost children were awake at the first break of day. Their one idea was to hasten on -to find home if possible, and to do so they must bend every ef- fort. Over trees and logs, through briars and brush, they never knew what course they took, or how far they wandered. They had not tasted food since the morning before, and had put forth exertions that would have tried the strongest man, yet they never felt hunger or weariness, so great was their excitement. They never once stopped to rest or set down to murmur.
The previous day the two had kept up a steady conversation, but to-day they pressed on in an almost unbroken silence. The forenoon passed without incident. There was the same monto- nous stretch of woods, the silence unbroken, save by the fall of nuts or acorns, the tread of their own feet and the dry leaves, the breaking of a dry stick now and then, which lay in their path, and the occasional barking of the dogs when they espied wild game. The sun mounted higher and higher in the sky. About noon they reached a large stream of water. As was afterward learned, this was the head waters of the Yellow River, a stream which flows into the Mississippi. A large tree had fallen across this stream, and formed a bridge, over which the boys crossed to the opposite side. They were plunging deeper and deeper into the forest, and their case now seemed hopeless indeed, for no one would suppose it possible for such children to cross so large a stream, (unless they had come upon this particular spot,) or would think of look- ing for them on the opposite side.
An hour or two rapid traveling, and our little wanderers began to ascend a steep ridge, covered with wild grape vines, from which the luscious fruit hung in great purple clusters. This was indeed good fortune. Never did fruit taste more delicious than did those grapes to the almost famished children. The tangled masses of vines made it difficult for the children to climb, so that although they never stopped or wasted time in their journey their appetites were well satisfied with the feast of fruit which they had gathered and ate in their ascent. But with a strange improvidence, for which it is not easy to account, they took not one of the thous- ands of drooping clusters with them for future use. Just over the hill the loud barking of the two dogs denoted that game of an un- usual kind had been sighted. Upon nearer approach. it was found that they were barking at the foot of a tree, in the branches of which, the animal, whatever it was, had taken refuge. Curiosity . led the boys to approach and upon getting a good view they knew the animal to be a large lynx, one of the most dangerous animals of the forest.
Willie cautioned his younger brother not go too near, lest the lynx should spring down upon him, but with the fearlessness of his boy-nature, he himself went directly to the foot of the tree for a closer view. The fierce animal, was, however, to much in-
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timidated by the dogs to venture an attack, and thus, for the see- ond time, did they, in a wonderful manner, escape from a danger- ous encounter with wild beasts.
Not long did they linger here, for a new hope had taken pos- session of them, born, perhaps, as much of the refreshing fruit of which they had partaken, as of any outward surroundings, but be that as it might, they now fancied themselves on familiar ground, and thought that a short walk would soon bring them out to a neighbor's field where they had often been-so, with this thought to cheer them, they kept bravely on, and the evening shadows had again began to darken before this hope entirely forsook them.
To-night an overhanging ledge of rock was found which offered them shelter, and again the knife and flint were produced, and a fire kindled for the night. As before, the younger was blissfully forgetful of his troubles, and slept a sound, refreshing sleep. With Willie it was different-his young mind, half-bewildered and crazed though it was, was away with the home and friends, whom, perhaps, he was never to see again. Most of all did he think of his mother's anxiety concerning the fate of her lost boys. Was he never te see her again? Never to look upon her dear face or to hear her voice again? And was he to never to bring her dar- ling Johnnie, her "pet," back to her, and to have her praise him for his manliness and his courage.
At home that mother was almost wild with grief. Once she had been found in the woods by a party of searchers, herself lost, and not knowing which way to go, but calling wildly the names of her lost children. She had been taken back and a guard left to prevent her again wandering away. To-night a mother's true in- stinct told her that her boys were still alive, and she was weeping and praying, as only a mother can weep and pray for her darlings. and who shall say that her prayers were not answered, and in a blind, uncertain way, still, as it seemed, in the only possible way a means of rescue was provided?
In the woods, watch-fires were kindled, and men were staying by them, but not to sleep, for many were thinking of their own little ones safe at home, and then of the little wanderers, and then every sense was alert, and every sound was noted, hoping that it might lead to a discovery of their fate. But these fires and watchers were all many miles away from the little blazing fire by the ledge of the rocks.
But it is the story of the lost children that I am to tell, so will return to them. As the younger boy lay calmly sleeping, the other was thinking-thinking. All the events of the past two days passed rapidly through his mind, and he began to won- der if there was no way or plan to be devised by which all the weary way could be retraced, until home was reached. With these questions a light seemed to break in upon him, and here ap- pears the strangest part of the story. Of course he knew, as
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every boy of his age, that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. But in his bewildered state he was incapable of reasoning, and even of distinct memory. He must have remembered some- time having heard it said the sun was in the south at noonday, and the idea that took possession of his young brain was this: 'The sun is in the south and we must travel toward it to reach home.' Over and over to himself he conned this lesson:
"The sun is in the south, and we must travel toward it if we would reach home.' "
As certain as though his mother had told him did he feel the truth of these words. Having them fully impressed upon his mind, he was calm and assured. It must have been long past midnight when he arrived at this state, but now he was content to sleep until morning, when they would set out on their homeward way. Accordingly he replenished the fire, and then laid down and was soon lost in dreamless slumber.
The sun was lighting the trees with its earlist rays when he awoke. The fire had burned low, and the air was cold and frosty. He looked at his sleeping brother, and pity made him hesitate for a moment to wake him; but not for long. Full of the hopeful thought that had filled his mind, he was eager to communicate it to his companion, so with a gentle touch he aroused him. The boy awoke from dreams of home, and looking around at the dark forest, and at the overhanging rocks, and as a realization of his present state broke in upon him, the tears filled his eyes and coursed down his cheeks.
"Don't cry," said Willie. "I have thought of a plan by which we can get home. You see the sun shining yonder? Well, the sun is always in the south, and we have been traveling from it. Now, if we go toward the sun we shall, of course, go towards home, so hurry, and let us be going, for we have no time to lose.'
Johnnie was too stupefied to notice the falsity of his brother's logic, as doubtless he would have done at another time, but, never- theless, the deprecating manner in which he received it dampened the ardor of Willie a little.
"I do not think much of your plans," said he, "and I do not believe we will ever see home or mother again.'
It was a blessed thing, as they afterwards knew, that their courage had not been destroyed by taking in the full horror of death by starvation, and fatigue in the woods, or the more blessed, because more speedy, but still terrible thought of being killed by wild beasts.
The little weary feet were soon on their way, and their little faces turned toward the rising sun. Until now, one of the boys had worn a pair of moccasins, and the other a pair of shoes, but thinking that they could travel faster without them, they were removed, and although the ground was hard and frozen, and the little feet were often torn by briers and sticks, they hastened on
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never minding the pain. Hope rose higher, as they thought at times they could recognize places they had passed the previous day.
It must have been noon when they again came to a large stream, and-wonderful to tell-there was the very same tree on which they had crossed the day before. They knew it by many unmistakable marks, and if any proof were wanting, there were the prints of their own feet, and also those of the dogs on the wet sand at the further shore. They recrossed this stream with more hopeful hearts than they had carried with them to the opposite shore.
An hour or two of rapid walking, and they came to a road- the same they had crossed on their first day out, but much farther from home. A short consultation was held, and they decided not to cross this road but to follow it-but in which direction? The sun was so nearly overhead that they scarcely knew how to follow its guidance. They however, concluded to take an easterly course. They had not traveled more than a couple of miles before they had made up their minds that they were wrong, so back over the same road pattered the little bare feet. This time they kept steadily on their course, until at last the low roof of a building met their view. This, be it remembered, was the first sight of a human habitation that had met their view for three days. An older person would have went directly to it and have sought food and rest. Not so did our young wanderers. Willie had once been at McGregor's Landing, and although McGregor was a flour- ishing young town, and this was only a solitary cabin, he was convinced in his own mind that he was at the former place. It seemed to him afterward, to have been a strange idea, but we have seen that neither of the boys were capable of reasoning.
"That," said he to his brother, "is McGregor's Landing. I know it because I have been there. The sun must now be about two hours high, and we are five miles from home. If we hurry, we can get there before dark."
Johnnie offered no objections, so back over the same road, for the third time that day did they hurry.
Dusk was gathering around their path, and they were still hur- rying on, Willie considerably in advance, and at times, waiting impatiently for his brother to come up, when they were met by some travelers. There were two men driving oxen, and with a wagon loaded with lumber. There were some traps for game, and a few other articles on the load-how well did the boys remem- ber every detail in after years.
It must have been a strange sight to these men-that of two tattered, weary, and wild looking boys on this lonely road, where seldom a human face was met.
They were hurrying on without speaking, but the men stopped their teams and enquired:
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