USA > Iowa > Iowa County > The history of Iowa County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c. > Part 41
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Upon arriving at Keokuk Mr. M. concluded that the St. Louis market was preferable to that of Keokuk, so he chartered a boat, after dismissing all of his employes except a few trusted ones who were in the secret, put the hogs on board the boat, and giving final instructions set sail for St. Louis. Upon the return of the first drovers much uneasiness was shown by the merchant's note-holders-the drovers could give no satisfactory ac- count of Mr. M. and it was whispered about that he had failed.
After a few days the rest of the drovers returned, and upon being ques- tioned appeared to know as little of Mr. M. as those who had preceded. Soon it was whispered around that Mr. M. had failed, and most likely would not return. One by one came the persons of whom Mr. M. had bought hogs came, and turned in their notes for goods at the store, and soon the crowd became so numerous that they could not waited on by the force of clerks then employed; more clerks were employed, and Mr. M.'s establishment was so thronged that it resembled a rush at a savings bank in time of a panic. All styles of dry goods and clothing which had lain on the shelves for years were bought up with avidity; boxes, containing groceries which had not been opened for months were soon emptied and were leaned up in the rear of the building; all kinds of cutlery, musical instruments, jewelry, hardware and agricultural implements were carried away by the wagon load. In short there was a pressing demand for everything which farmers could eat, drink and wear, and at the end of the week the store-room was as empty as if it had been cleared by a force of constables armed with a writ of attachment.
At this supreme moment Mr. M. returned with a large stock of new
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goods and his pockets full of money. He pretended to be greatly sur- prised when he found his store-room empty, and manifested great indigna- tion when apprised of the rumors that were afloat; he even threatened to institute suit for damages against the persons who originated the libel. Mr. M., however, took no steps to prosecute his traducers, not so much as to discover who they were. It was not many days till his new goods were on the shelves, a good healthy trade had set in, and the proprietor regained his wonted cheerfulness and urbanity. He continued to sell hogs and buy goods for many years, but his customers never again made a run on his store.
Another incident is related by a gentleman who drove hogs to Burling- ton: He says that upon arriving there at that great center of trade and traffic he sold his hogs for $1.50 per hundred weight, and was compelled to weigh them on an old fashioned steelyard scales. In order to do that, he took the breeching off one of his horses, and from this constructed a sort of cage in which the hogs, one at a time, were suspended while being weighed. In those pioneer days the merchants at the different local trading points would prepare a list of the banks whose bills they would accept in payment for goods at par, what bills they would receive at a cer- tain discount and what bills would not be received at all. These lists were posted up at a conspicuous place in the store-room, and were revised each mail day. By consulting these lists the farmers could tell before trading just what stores would receive whatever "wild cat" they had on hand, and what discount would be made on each bill.
There were persons in every neighborhood who made it their particular business to make stated trips to Davenport and other river towns for the purpose of conveying thence farm produce, and bringing back for the mer- chants dry goods and groceries. In the absence of bridges and well im- proved roads these trips were attended with many difficulties. There was one favorable feature, there were no fences and the teamster had considerable latitude, and longitude too for that matter, in the selection of his route.
Of all the trading points located in the interior, Oskaloosa was the most popular. Although that ambitious little town not only aspired, at one time, to monopolize all the trade of the surrounding country, but also to become the capital of the State, yet accommodations to be found at the best tavern there were not always the most elaborate. It is related that on an occasion they had a very late breakfast at the Canfield House. It happened in this way: The landlord was aware that his supplies were ex- hausted the evening before, but was not particularly alarmed as he ex- pected a fresh supply during the night, his confidence being inspired by the assurance of the arrival of the team which he had dispatched some days previous to Keokuk for the necessary supplies to revictual his former threatened tavern. In vain did he remain awake awaiting the delayed wagon, and "oft in the stilly night" visit his bankrupt pantry. At length light broke forth in the east, and the crowing of the cocks announced the coming dawn, but to the ill-fated landlord appeared no provision wagon, nor was there borne on the morning air any sound of rumbling wheels or clatter of horses' hoofs. The landlord looked wistfully down the divide, but looked in vain. Finally, seized with that determination which despera- tion inspires, and knowing that his reputation as a landlord, and the future business of his tavern depended on one supreme effort, he mounted a horse and rode to a cabin situated on the outskirts of the town where he obtained
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some meal and a side of bacon and started back on a gallop. The half dozen hungry guests sat in front of the tavern pining for the meal which must be eaten soon or else the before breakfast dram would have lost its. virtues as an appetizer and would have to be renewed. Soon, however,. their eyes dilated and their mouths began to water for, far away to the south appeared the plucky landlord riding like a knight-errant hastening- to relieve a beleaguered castle, waving aloft as a sign of relief a juicy side- of bacon.
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.
An interesting comparison might be drawn between the conveniences. which now make the life of a farmer a comparatively easy one and the al- most total lack of such conveniences in early days. A brief description of the accommodations posessed by the first tillers of this soil will be now given. Let the children of such illustrious sires draw their own compari- sons, and may the result of these comparisons silence the voice of com- plaint which so often is heard in the land.
The only plows they had at first were what they styled "Bull Plows.'' The mould-boards were of wood as a general thing, but sometimes they were partly wood and partly iron. The man who had one of the latter kind was quite an aristocrat. A certain gentleman remarks that when he im- ported the first iron mould-board plow persons came from all over the country to see it.
But those old "bull plows" did good service, and they must be awarded the honor of first stirring the soil of Iowa county, as well as that of all the first-class counties of this State.
The amount of money which some farmers annually invest in agricultu- ral implements would have kept the pioneer farmer in farming utensils during a whole lifetime. The pioneer farmer invested little money in such things because he had little money to spare, and then again because the expensive machinery now used would not have been at all adapted to the requirements of pioneer farming. The bull plow was probably better adapted to the fields abounding in stumps and roots than would the mod- ern sulky plow have been, and the old-fashioned wheat cradle did better ex- ecution than would a modern harvester, under like circumstances. The
prairies were seldom settled till after the pioneer period, and that portion of the country which was the hardest to put under cultivation, and the most difficult to cultivate after it was improved, was first cultivated; it is well for the country that such was the case, for the present generation, familiarized as it is with farming machinery of such complicated pattern, would scarcely undertake the clearing off of dense forests and cultivating the ground with the kind of implements their fathers used, and which they would have to use for some kinds of work.
TRAPPING AND HUNTING.
The sports and means of recreation were not so numerous and varied among the early settlers as at present, but they were more enjoyable and invigorating than now. Hunters, nowadays, would be only too glad to be able to find and enjoy their favorable opportunities for hunting and fishing. They now travel hundreds of miles, counting it rare pleasure to spend a. few days among the lakes and on the wild prairies and woodlands, in hunt
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and chase and fishing frolics, where not nearly so good hunting and fishing sports are furnished as were in this vicinity thirty years ago. There were a great many excellent hunters here at an early day who enjoyed the sport as well as any do at the present.
Wild animals of every description known in the western country were here found in great abundance. The prairies, and woods, and streams, and thickets were thickly inhabited before the white man came, and for some time thereafter. Although the Indian slew many of them, yet the natural law prevailed here as elsewhere: "Wild man and wild beast thrive to- gether."
Serpents were to be found in such large numbers and of such large size that snake stories told by the early settlers would be incredible were it not for the large array of concurrent testimony which is to be had from au- thentic sources.
Deer, turkeys, ducks and geese were very plentiful, affording freely and at the expense of killing what are now considered the choice and costly dishes of the restaurant. The fur-bearing animals also were abundant, such as the otter, beaver, mink, muskrat, fox, wolf, wild cat and bear.
Deer and elk were quite numerous on these' prairies for some time after the first settlements were made. These various kinds of game af- forded not only pleasure but also profit for those among the early settlers who were lovers of hunt and chase, and skillful hunters were not scarce in those days in proportion to the number of inhabitants. Many inter- esting incidents and daring adventures occurred in connection with these hunting excursions which the old settlers who still remain never tire of re- lating.
A gentleman writing to friends in the East, at an early day, says:
" I am in the region of furs here. Mink, otter and beaver are plenty in their season. Possibly I may be able to bring some home with me. I wish you would give me the prices that I may rely upon getting for mink, otter and beaver. I know too little of furs to venture much in that line. I was talking with an old trapper here, who said he sold a silver gray fox skin last year for $1, but that he had heard they were worth $3 now; hadn't trapped much the last winter, as furs didn't sell well; that otter and beaver didn't sell, etc."
Again, in a letter written sometime later was the following showing that there was quite a trade in furs, and that the business of hunting and trap- ping was very remunerative. In speaking so frequently of deer skins we conclude that the supply of venison was abundant:
," Of furs, I have not been able to do anything worth speaking of. The winter has been so excessively severe in this region that the trappers could do nothing, and no furs of any importance have, so far as I can learn, been taken anywhere here. The stores here have had none brought in. The winter held on until the middle of March, and the spring rains came on, and the roads have been in an almost impassable state ever since, and the streams, from the melting of the snows north and rains, have been so high that crossing any otherwise than by swimming was out of the question, and we had here only about six inches of snow this winter, and that was blown into piles. The ground froze to the depth of four feet, and when the spring rains came on the mud was of the tallest kind. Travel- ing with loads was out of the question. Mails have much of the time been
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carried on horseback, the carrier riding one horse and leading another with the mail bags on.
"The operation here in deer skins was a grand one had I known when I came what I do now. I bought about two hundred pounds and soon after a man who was accustomed to come from below to buy skins wanted them. I was satisfied at twenty-five cents per pound, which was quite as good as I could expect to do with them taking into consideration the loss in drying and trimming. My profits were fifteen dollars.
" I have a young merchant, who just came to this town and opened store, now boarding with me. He has been two years in Iowa City, in trade there. He told me he made $150 last winter buying deer skins there as they were brought into the city, at eighteen cents per pound, and selling them at thirty one cents. Most of the deer skins here were brought up by steam- ers going to Keokuk at twelve and a half cents, and sold in Keokuk for eighteen cents. I now know what I can do in the fall. "
But it was not only valuable animals which were destroyed; there were many worthless noxious animals whose incursions on the barnyards and cornfields of the settler played havoc generally.
Wolves were very numerous and troublesome. It was impossible to raise sheep, and hogs as well as larger animals were not safe from the attacks of these gaunt and ferocious animals. On account of their many and persis- tent depredations, as well as the fact that the county offered a premium on their scalps, systematic and continued efforts were made by the people to capture them. In some instances poison was used, in other cases traps, and others had recourse to their guns and dogs.
A gentleman, who in early days lived near Skunk River, says that the grass and weeds along the river were. so tall and dense, and the wolves and rattlesnakes so plenty, that it was necessary to proceed with great care, and it was not prudent to start out to hunt the cattle without being provided with a large club, or some other weapon of defense. A gentleman who was traveling through an adjoining county stopped over night at a cabin where abode two lonesome and disconsolate old- bachelors. They prepared supper for their guest, but themselves ate none. Upon inquiry, the guest learned that during the afternoon the two men had killed two hundred and twenty-five rattlesnakes, and the remembrance of the slimy reptiles so re- cently slaughtered had taken away their appetite temporarily.
PIONEER BILL OF FARE.
A pioneer poetical genius after describing in rhyme certain other matters of historical interest, proceeds as follows to give a bill of fare provided at a certain old-time hotel.
"And Ives Marks's great chair factory, And his hotel on the corner, And his twenty-five cent dinners, With "corn bread and common doin's" -- And his half a dollar dinners, With " wheat bread and chicken fixin's," Giving to the hungry traveler Bill of fare and choice of dishes, And due notice as to prices."
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It is sometimes remarked that there were no places for public entertain - ment till later years. The fact is, there were many such places; in fact, every cabin was a place of entertainment, and these hotels were sometimes crowded to their utmost capacity. On such an occasion, when bed-time came the first family would take the back part of the cabin, and so con- tinue filling up by families until the limit was reached. The young men slept in the wagons outside. In the morning those nearest the door arose first and went outside to dress. Meals were served on the hind end of a wagon, and consisted of corn bread, buttermilk and fat pork, and occa- sionally coffee, to take away the morning chill. On Sundays, for a change, they had bread made of wheat "treed out" on the ground by horses, cleaned with a sheet, and pounded by hand. This was the best the most fastidious could obtain, and this only one day in seven.
Not a moment was to be lost. It was necessary that they should raise enough corn to take them through the winter, and also get as much break- ing done as possible. They brought with them enough corn to give the horses an occasional feed in order to keep them able for hard work, but in the main all animals had to subsist on the wild grass. Horses were not very numerous in early times and cattle were the main dependence.
Still further about the living in those days: If the average family had corn bread the boarders were well satisfied, and well they might be, for at first flour was very scarce, and in many families was an unknown commod- ity. And they had corn bread in those days "as was corn bread," such as many a resident of this county at the present time knows nothing of, and the pone made by the grandmothers of the young people of the county was something for pride.
MAIL FACILITIES.
Prior to March, 1846, there was no post-office in the county and the peo- ple had to go all the way to Iowa City for their mails. At the date just mentioned Robert McKee was commissioned postmaster of Marengo, and the people in the valley of the Iowa River had what then were considered excellent mail facilities. The mail to points along the route of the Western Stage Company was carried by stage, but from Marengo, both north and south, diverged mail routes upon which the mail was carried on horseback, and some times the mail-carrier went afoot. These inail-carriers had to make some perilous trips and it frequently occurred that rider, horse and mail became immersed in some treacherous stream or slough. Mr. Groff relates the following experiences in this direction:
"I had the contract of supplying mails from Marengo to Marietta, the old county seat of Marshall, to Toledo, county seat of Tama, Iowa. I frequently swam the Iowa River with my team, got sloughed before we had bridges or ferries; I lost the mail one time when Walnut Creek, twelve miles west of Marengo, in the spring freshet of 1858 had her " back up." The mail floated some eighty rods, grounded in a slough and laid there quietly three days, when it was fished out by the postmaster, Blake, carefully dried on a board and sent through next trip. I saw some bank bills and a decision of the superior court that had deep yellow color lines plainly scored on the folded paper."
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PECULIARITIES OF THE PIONEERS. 4
One of the peculiar circumstances of pioneer life was a strange loneliness. The solitude seemed oppressive. Months would pass during which time they would see scarcely a human face outside their own families. The iso- lation of those days worked upon some of the settlers an effect that has never passed away. Some of them say that they lived in such a lonely way when they first came here that afterward, when the county began to fill up, they always found themselves bashful and constrained in the presence of strangers. But when the people were once started in this way the long pent up feelings of joviality and sociability fairly boiled over, and their meetings frequently became enthusiastic and jovial in the highest degree. It seems singular to note bashfulness as one of the characteristics of the strong, stalwart settlers, but we are assured by the old settlers themselves that this was a prominent characteristic of the pioneers. And some of them declare that this feeling became so strong during the early years of isolation and loneliness that they have never since been able to shake it off.
But there were certainly some occasions when the settlers were not in the least degree affected by anything in the nature of bashfulness. When their rights were threatened or invaded they had "muscles of iron and hearts of flint." It was only when brought together for merely social pur- poses that they seemed ill at ease. If any emergency arose or any business was to be attended to, they were always equal to the occasion.
On occasions of special interest, such as election and holiday celebrations or camp meetings, it was nothing unusual for a few settlers who lived in the immediate neighborhood of the meeting, to entertain scores of those who had come from a distance.
Rough and rude though the surroundings may have been, the pioneers were none the less honest, sincere, hospitable and kind in their relations. It is true, as a rule, and of universal application, that there is a greater degree of real humanity among the pioneers of any country than there is when the country becomes older and richer. If there is an absence of refinement, that absence is more than compensated in the presence of gen- erous hearts and truthful lives. They are bold, courageous, industrious, enterprising and energetic. Generally speaking, they are earnest thinkers, and possessed of a diversified fund of useful, practical information. As a rule, they do not arrive at a conclusion by means of a course of rational reasoning, but, nevertheless, have a queer way of getting at the facts. They hate cowards and shams of every kind, and above all things falsehood and deception, and cultivate an integrity which seldom permits them to prostitute themselves to a narrow policy of imposture.
Such were the characteristics of the men and women who pioneered the way to the country of the Sac and Fox Indians. Many of them yet remain, and, although as a general thing they are among the wealthiest and most substantial of the people of the county, they have not forgotten their old- time hospitable and free and easy ways. In contrasting the present social affairs with pioneer times, one has well said:
" Then if a house was to be raised, every man turned out, and often the women too, and while the men piled up the logs and fashioned the primitive dwelling, the women prepared the dinner. Sometimes it was prepared by big log fires near the site of the house; in other cases it was prepared at
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the nearest cabin, and at the proper hour was carried to where the men were at work. If one man in the neighborhood killed a beef or a pig or a deer every other family in the neighborhood was sure to receive a piece.
" We were all on an equality. Aristocratic feelings were unknown, and would not have been tolerated. What one had we all had; and that was the happiest period of my life. But to-day, if you lean against a neigh- bor's shade tree he will charge you for it. If you are poor and fall sick, you may lie unnoticed and unattended, and then probably go to the poor- house; and just as likely as not the man who would report you to the authorities as a subject for county care would charge the county for making the report."
Of the old settlers some are still living in the county in the enjoyment of the fortunes they founded in early times, " having reaped an hundred fold." Others have passed away, and many more will not long survive. Several of them have gone to the far West and are still playing the part of fearless pioneers; but whatever or wherever they may be, and whatever fate may betide them, it is but truth to say that they were excellent men, as a class, and have left a deep and enduring impression upon Iowa county and the State. "They builded better than they knew." They were, of course, men of activity and energy, or they would never have decided to face the trials of pioneer life. They were almost invariably poor, but the lessons taught them in the early days were of such a character that few of them have remained so. They made their mistakes in business pursuits like other men. Scarcely one of them but allowed golden op- portunities, for pecuniary profit at least, to pass by unheeded. What are now some of the choicest farms in Iowa county were not taken up by the pioneers, who preferred land of very much less value. They have seen many of their prophecies fulfilled, and others come to naught. Whether they have attained the success they desired their own hearts can tell.
To one looking over the situation from the present standpoint, it cer- tainly does not seem very cheering, and yet, from the testimony of some old pioneers, it was a most enjoyable time, and we of the present have fallen on evil times.
At that time it certainly would have been much more difficult for those old settlers to understand how it could be possible that thirty-five years hence the citizens of the present age of the county's progress would be complaining of hard times and destitution, and that they themselves, per- haps, would be among that number, than it is now for us to appreciate how they could feel so cheerful and contented with their meager means and humble lot of hardships and deprivations during those early, pioneer days. The secret was, doubtless, that they lived within their means, however lim- ited, not coveting more of luxury and comfort than their income would af- ford, and the natural result was prosperity and contentment, always room for one more stranger at the fireside, and a cordial welcome to a place at their table for even the most hungry guest.
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