USA > Iowa > Washington County > The history of Washington County, Iowa, its cities, towns, and c., a biographical directory of its citizens > Part 15
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Okoboji lies immediately south of Spirit Lake, and is of very irregular shape. Its whole length is at least fourteen miles, but it is nearly separated into two parts. The two parts are called, respectively, East and West Okoboji. A wooden bridge has been erected across the straits, on the road from the village of Spirit Lake to that of Okoboji, the water here being ordinarily not over a couple of hundred feet wide and about fifteen feet deep. West Okoboji is much the larger body of water, stretching west and northwest of the straits some eight miles, and varying in width from one to two miles. As you pass around this lake, the scene constantly changes, and from many different points the observer obtains new views, many of which might furnish inspira- tion to the pencil of the artist. The water has a deep sky-blue appearance, and the surface is either placid or boisterous, as the weather may happen to be. The dry land slopes down to the margin on all sides.
Iluge boulders are piled up around the shores several feet above the water, forming a complete protection against the action of the waves. These rocks embrace the different kinds of granite which are found scat- tered over the prairies, with also a large proportion of limestone, from which good quick-lime is manufactured. This rock protection seems to be charac- teristic of all that portion of the lake-shore most subject to the violent beat- ing of the waves. But there are several fine gravel beaches, and one on the north side is especially resorted to as being the most extensive and beautiful. IIere are immense wind-rows of pebbles, rounded and polished by the vari- ous processes that nature employs, and in such variety that a single handful taken up at random would constitute a miniature cabinet for the geologist. Agates, cornelians, and other specimens of exquisite tint and beauty, are found in great profusion, being constantly washed up by the water. The east end of West Okoboji, at the straits, is some five miles south of Spirit Lake, but the extreme west portion extends up to a point west of Spirit Lake. East Okoboji is not so wide or deep as the other part, but is nearly as long. It extends up to within a quarter of a mile, or less, of Spirit Lake, and is now connected with it by a mill-race, being some four or five feet
lower than that lake. At a narrow place near the upper end of this lake, a bridge some three hundred feet long has been erected on the road leading to Estherville. The Okoboji outlet heads at the south end of East Okoboji, and in its passage flows through three lakes called Upper, Middle and Lower Gar Lakes. These little lakes are so named because large quantities of the peculiar long-billed fish designated by that name, are found therein. This outlet has a rapid fall all the way to its junction with the Little Sioux river, somne five miles below, and is about being turned to good account by the erection of machinery on it. This outlet is also the greatest of the fishing resorts about the lakes
The groves around Lake Okoboji embrace over one thousand acres of good timber. The larger groves are found on the south side, where the principal settlement was at the time of the Indian massacre. There are two or three fine bodies of timber on the north side of West Okoboji, and a narrow fringe of timber borders nearly all the lake shore between the larger groves. On the north side of West Okoboji, near the west end, is a splendid grove of hard maple, of large size, while none of this kind of timber is found else- where about the lake. On the same side. in another grove, we observed many red cedars of large growth. We noticed one nearly three feet in
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diameter, and a fine crop of young cedars, from three to ten inches high, have taken root along the shore. Burr oak seems to predominate among the various kinds of timber, and the groves on the south side are mainly composed of this kind, with considerable ash, elm and walnut. In many places the ground is covered with a dense growth of wild gooseberry and wild currant bushes, all now giving promise of a fine yield of fruit. Many plum groves are scattered about the lake, and grapes also grow in profusion. We noticed, however, that the wild crab-apple, so plentiful in other parts of the State, was wanting.
The land rises from the lake nearly all the way round, with a gradually sloping bank, to the height of some thirty feet, and then stretches away in undulating prairie or woodland, as the case may be. In some places, the unbroken prairie extends to the beach without a tree or shrub. A splendid body of prairie, embracing several thousand acres, lies in the peninsula formed by Lake Okoboji with its outlet and the Little Sioux river. Between Okoboji and Spirit Lakes, there is also a good body of prairie with some well improved farms. A lake of considerable size, called Center Lake, with a fine body of timber surrounding it, lies between Okoboji and Spirit Lakes.
In point of health, as well as in the beauty of its natural scenery, this locality far surpasses many others that have become fashionable and famous resorts. A month or two in the summer season might be spent here with constant change, and a pleasing variety of attractions. The invalid or pleasure seeker might divide the time between hunting, fishing, driving, bathing, rowing, sailing, rambling, and in various other ways adapted to his taste or fancy. He could pay homage to Nature in her playful or her milder moods; for sometimes she causes these little lakes to play the role of miniature seas by the wild dashing of their surges against their rocky shores, and then again causes them to become as calm and placid as slumbering infancy.
Clear Lake .- Clear Lake, in Cerro Gordo county, is among the better known lakes of the State, on account of its easy accessibility by rail, as well as its many and varied attractions. It is a beautiful little sheet of water, and as a pleasure resort has for several years been constantly growing in favor. This, and Storm Lake, in Buena Vista county, as well as some others, are deserving of special description, but what is already given will afford some idea of the lakes of Northern Iowa.
Timber .- One of the peculiar features of the topography of the north- west, is the predominance of prairies, a name of French origin, which sig- nifies grass-land. It has been estimated that about nine-tenths of the sur- face of Iowa is prairie. The timber is generally found in heavy bodies skirt- ing the streams, but there are also many isolated groves standing, like islands in the sea, far out on the prairies. The eastern half of the State contains a larger proportion of timber than the western. The following are the leading varieties of timber: White, black and burr, oak, black walnut, butternut, hickory, hard and soft maple, cherry, red and white elm, ash, linn, hackberry, birch, honey locust, cottonwood and quaking asp. A few sycamore trees are found in certain localities along the streams. Groves of red cedar also pre- vail, especially along Iowa and Cedar rivers, and a few isolated pine trees are scattered along the bluffs of some of the streams in the northern part of the State.
Nearly all kinds of timber common to Iowa have been found to grow rap-
8
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
this grove, after the massacre, that the Indians peeled the bark from a tree, and with a dark paint, made a picture-record of what they had done. The killed were represented by rude drawings of persons in a prostrate position, corresponding with the number of victimns. Pictures of cabins, with smoke issuing from their roofs, represented the number of houses burned. In the murder of Marble and his child, and the capture of Mrs. Marble, the Indians completed the annihilation of the settlement at the lakes, and thus left a record of their fiendish work. "Marble Grove" at that time was doubtless a scene of savage rejoicing over the perpetration of deeds which cast a gloom over all Northwestern Iowa, and which the lapse of years only could remove.
From the south end of " Marble Grove" to the village of Spirit Lake, the road passes over undulating prairies for some three or four miles, with several new farms now being improved on either side. The principal groves of timber about this lake are at the west side and the north end, while a narrow belt extends around the other portions. The water is deep, and the wind often dashes the waves against the banks with great violence. At other times the surface is smooth and placid.
There is a legend which we give briefly, for the benefit of those who may be curious to know the origin of the name of Spirit Lake. Many moons before the white man took up his abode or built his cabin on the shores of the lake, a band of Dakota warriors brought a pale-faced maiden here, a captive taken in one of their expeditions against the whites who had ven- tured near their hunting grounds. Among the warriors was a tall young brave, fairer than the rest, who had been stolen from the whites in infancy by the wife of Um-pa-sho-ta, the chief. The pale-faced brave never knew his parentage or origin, but the chief's wife called him Star of Day, and he knew not but that she was his own mother. All the tribe expected that he would sometime becoine their chief, as no warrior had proved so brave and daring as he. Star of Day, only, had performed deeds which entitled him to succeed to the honors of the aged Uin-pa-sho-ta. But all the distinctions or titles that his nation might bestow, possessed no attraction for him while he beheld the grief of the beautiful pale-faced captive. He therefore deter- mined to rescue her, and also made up his mind to flee with her from the tribe and make her his wife. The maiden had recognized in the blue eyes and fair face of her lover, something which told her that he, like herself, was a captive. One night, while all the warriors were asleep in their lodges, Star of Day and the maiden slumbered not. He silently unbound the thongs which fastened her to the lodge frame. Only a few paces through the thick forest brought them to the lake shore, where, under the willows, his light canoe was in readiness. Soon the lovers were midway across the lake, but the Great Spirit who ruled in the wind and the water, as well as in the forest, willed that their home should be together beneath the waters where no Dakota should henceforth ever disturb them. And so a breath of the Great Spirit in the wind dashed a wave over the little canoe, and it went down with the lovers. Since that time no Indian's canoe has ever dared to venture upon the lake. Only the white man's canoe is always safe, for the spirits of Star of Day and the maiden still abide under the water, in a beautiful cave of shells, guarding only the white man's canoe from danger, as spirits ever know their own. From that time the Dakotas called the lake Minne-Waukon, or Spirit-Water.
Okoboji .- Okoboji is the most beautiful of all the lakes of Northwestern Iowa. Walter Scott could not invest the historic lakes of Scotia with more
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idly when transplanted upon the prairies, or when propagated from the plant- ing of seeds. Only a few years and a little expense are required for the settler to raise a grove sufficient to afford him a supply of fuel. The kinds most easily propagated, and of rapid growth, are cottonwood, maple and wal- nut. All our prairie soils are adapted to their growthi.
Prof. C. E. Bessey, of the State Agricultural College, who supervised the collection of the different woods of Iowa for exhibition at the Centennial Exposition, in 1876, has given a most complete list of the native woody plants of the State. Below we present his list. When not otherwise stated, they are trees. The average diameters are given in inches, and when the species is a rare one, its locality is given:
Papaw-shrub; 2 to 3 inches.
Moonseed-climbing shrub; }2 inch. Basswood, Lynn or Linden-20 inches.
Prickly Ash-shrub; 2 inches.
Smooth Sumach-shrub; 2 inches.
Poison Ivy-climbing shrub; 1 inch. Fragrant Sumach-shrub; 2 inches. Frost Grape-vine; 2 inches.
River Bank Grape-vine; 2 inches.
Buckthorn-shrub; river bluffs; 2 to 3 inches.
New Jersey Tea-low shrub; 12 inch.
Red Root-low shrub; 12 inch.
Bitter-sweet-climbing shrub; 1 inch. Wahoo-shrub; 2 inches. Bladder Nut-shrub; 2 inches. Buckeye-20 to 30 inches.
Sugar Maple -- 20 to 24 inches.
Black Maple-12 to 18 inches.
Silver or Soft Maple-20 to 30 inclies.
Box Elder-3 to 12 inches. False Indigo-shrub; 12 inch. Lead Plant-low shrub; 12 inch. Red Bud-6 to 8 inches.
Kentucky Coffee Tree-3 to 12 inches.
Honey Locust-12 to 20 inches.
Wild Plum-shrub or tree; 2 to 5 inches.
Wild Red Cherry-shrub or tree; 2 to 6 inches.
Choke Cherry-shrub; 2 to 3 inches.
Wild Black Cherry-12 to 18 inches.
Wine Bark-shrub; 12 inch.
Meadow Sweet-shrub; 12 inch.
Wild Red Raspberry-shrub; 12 inch.
Wild Black Raspberry-shrub: 12 inch.
Wild Blackberry-shrub; 12 inch.
Dwarf Wild Rose-low shrub; 12 inch.
Early Wild Rose-low shrub; 12 inch.
Black Thorn-3 to 5 inches.
White Thorn-3 to 5 inches. Downy-leaved Thorn-2 to 3 inches. Wild Crab Apple-3 to 5 inches. Service Berry or June Berry-3 to 5 inches. Small June Berry-shrub; 2 to 3 inches. Prickly Wild Gooseberry-shrub; 12 inch. Smooth Wild Gooseberry-shrub; 12 inch. Wild Black Currant-shrub; 12 inch. Witch Hazel-shrub; 1 to 2 inches; said to grow in N. E. Iowa. Kinnikinnik-shrub; 2 inches.
Rough-leaved Dogwood-shrub; 1 to 3 inches.
Panicled Cornel-shrub; 2 inches.
Alternate-leaved Cornel-shrub; 2 inches. Wolf berry-low shrub; 1/2 inch. Coral Berry-low shrub; 12 inch.
Sınall Wild Honeysuckle-climbing shrub; 12 inch. Blackberried Elder-shrub; 1 to 2 inches.
Red-berried Elder-shrub; 1 to 2 inches. This one I have not seen, but feel quite sure that it is in the State.
Sheep Berry-shrub; 2 inches. Downy Arrow-wood-shrub 2 inches.
High Cranberry Bush-shrub; 1 inch.
Button Bush-shrub; 1 inch.
Black Huckleberry-low shrub; 12 inch; near Davenport, according to Dr. Parry. White Ash-12 to 18 inches.
Green Ash-8 to 12 inches. There is some doubt as to the identity of this species, Black Ash-12 to 16 inches.
Sassafras-3 to 18 inches. Said to grow in the extreme southeastern part of the State.
Spice Bush-shrub; 1 inch. Said to grow in Northeastern Iowa. ..
Leatherwood or Moosewood-shrub; 1 to 2 inches. In Northeastern Iowa.
Buffalo Berry-shrub; 1 to 2 inches. Possi- bly this may be found on our western borders, as it occurs in Nebraska.
Red Elm-12 to 14 inches.
White Elm-18 to 30 inches.
Corky Elm-10 to 15 inches. I have seen no specimens which could certainly be re- ferred to this species, and yet 1 think there is little doubt of its being a native of this State.
Hackberry-10 to 16 inches,
Red Mulberry-6 to 10 inches.
Sycamore, or Buttonwood-10 to 30 inches.
Black Walnut-24 to 48 inches.
Butternut -- 12 to"20 inches.
Shell-bark Hickory-12 to 24 inches.
Pecan Nut-12 to 20 inches.
Large Hickory Nut-18 to 24 inches. Pig Nut Hickory-12 to 20 inches.
These three last species I have not seen in the State, but from their known dis- tribution, I have no doubt that they are to be found in the southern portions of the State.'
Butternut Hickory-12 to 18 inches.
White Oak-20 to 30 inches.
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
Burr Oak-24 to 36 inches.
Chestnut. Oak-5 to 10 inches.
Laurel Oak-5-to 10 inches.
Scarlet Oak-12 to 16 inches. .
Red Oak-15 to 20 inches.
Hazel Nut-shrub; 1 inch.
Iron Wood-4 to 7 inches.
Blue Beech-3 to 4 inches.
White Birch-3 to 6 inches. Said to grow in Northeastern Iowa.
Speckled Alder-shrub or small tree; 2 to 3 inches. Northeastern lowa.
Prairie Willows-low shrub; 12 inch.
Glaucous Willow-small tree; 2 to 3 inches.
Petioled Willow-shrub; 2 inches. i Heart-leaved Willow-small tree; 3 to 4 in- ches.
Black Willow-3 to 12 inches. 1
Almond Willow-3 to 8 inches.
Long-leaved Willow-shrub; 2 to 3 inches.
Aspen-6 to 12 inches.
Cottonwood-24 to 36 inches.
White Pine-a few small trees grow in North- eastern Iowa.
Red Cedar-6 to 8 inches.
Ground Hemlock-trailing shrub; 1 inch.
Green Briar-climbing shrub; 72 inch.
Total number of species, 104; of these, fifty-one species are trees, while the remaining ones are shrubs. The wood of all the former is used for economic purposes, while some of the latter furnish more or less valuable fuel.
Climate .- Prof. Parvin, who has devoted great attention to the climatol- ogy of Iowa, in a series of observations made by him at Muscatine, from 1839 to 1859, inclusive, and at Iowa City, from 1860 to 1870, inclusive, deduces the following general results : That the months of November and March are essentially winter months, their average temperatures rising but a few degrees above the freezing point. Much of the former month is indeed mild and pleasant, but in it usually comes the first cold spell, followed generally by mild weather, while in March the farmer is often enabled to commence his spring plowing. September has usually a summer temperature, and proves a ripening season for the fall crops, upon which the farmer may rely with safety if the spring has been at all backward. May has much more the character of a spring month than that of summer, and "May day" is not often greeted with a profusion of flowers. The average temperature of May during thirty-two years was 59.06 degrees, while that of September was 63.37 degrees. Prof. Parvin states that during thirty-five years the mercury rose to 100 degrees only once within the region of his observations in Iowa, and that was during the summer of 1870. It seldom rises above ninety-five degrees, or falls lower than fifteen degrees below zero. Tlie highest temperature, with very few exceptions, occurs in the month of An- gust, while July is the hottest month as indicated by the mean temperature of the summer months. January is the coldest month, and in this, only once in thirty-two years did the mercury fall to thirty degrees below zero. The prevailing winds are those of a westerly direction, not for the year alone, but for the several months of the year, except June, July, August and Sep- tember. August is the month in which the greatest amount of rain falls, and in January the least. The greatest fall of rain in any one year, was in 1851-74.49 inches, and the least in 1854-23.35 inches. The greatest fall of snow for any one year, was in 1868-61.97 inches. The least was in 1850-7.90 inchies. The earliest fall of snow during twenty-two years, from 1848 to 1869, inclusive, was October 17thi, 1859, and the latest, April 29th, 1851. The greatest fall was December 21st, 1848-20.50 inches." During that time no snow fell during the months of May, June, July, August and September, but rain usually occurs in each of the winter months.
The clear days during the time embraced in Prof. Parvin's observations, wore thirty-two per cent; the cloudy twenty-two per cent, and the variable forty-six per cent.
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IIISTORY OF IOWA.
The year 1863 was very cold, not only in Iowa, but throughout the coun- try, and there was frost in every month of the year, but it only once or twice during thirty years seriously injured the corn crop. When the spring is late the fall is generally lengthened, so that the crop has time to mature. The mean time for late spring frosts is May 4th; that of early fall frost is September 24th. The latest frost in the spring during thirty-one years, from 1839 to 1869, inclusive, was May: 26th, 1847; and the earliest, August 29th, 1863.
Prairies .- The character of surface understood by the term prairie, is not a feature peculiar to Iowa, but is a characteristic of the greater portion of the Northwest. Dr. C. A. White, late State Geologist of Iowa, in his re- port says :
" By the word prairie we mean any considerable surface that is free from forest trees and shrubbery, and which is covered more or less thickly with grass and annual plants. This is also the popular understanding of the term. It is estimated that about seven-eighths of the surface of Iowa is prairie, or was so when the State was first settled. They are not confined to the level surface, but are sometimes even quite hilly and broken; and it has just been shown that they are not confined to any particular variety of soil, for they prevail equally upon Alluvial, Drift, and Lacustral soils. Indeed, we sometimes find a single prairie whose surface includes all these varieties, portions of which may be respectively sandy, gravelly, clayey or loamy. Neither are they confined to the region of, nor does their character seem at all dependent upon, the formations which underlie them, for within the State of Iowa they rest upon all formations, from those of Azoic to those of Cre- taceous age inclusive, which embraces almost all kinds of rocks, such as quartzites, friable sandstone, magnesian limestone, common limestone, im- pure chalk, clay, clayey and sandy shales, etc. Southwestern Minnesota is almost one continuons prairie upon the drift which rests directly upon, not only the hard Sionx quartzite, but also directly upon the granite.
"Thus,.whatever the origin of the prairies might have been, we have the positive assurance that their present existence in Iowa and immediate vicin- ity is not due to the influence of climate, the character or composition of the soil, nor to the character of any of the underlying formations. It now remains to say without the least hesitation, that the real cause of the pres- ent existence of prairies in Iowa, is the prevalence of the annual fires. If these had been prevented fifty years ago Iowa would now be a timbered instead of a prairie State.
"Then arises questions like the following, not easily answered, and for which no answers are at present proposed:
" When was fire first introduced upon the prairies, and how? Conld any but human agency have introduced annual fires upon them? If they could have been introduced only by the agency of man why did the forests not occupy the prairies before man came to introduce his fires, since we see their great tendency to encroach upon the prairies as soon as the fires are made to cease ? The prairies, doubtless, existed as such almost immediately after the close of the Glacial epoch. Did man then exist and possess the nise of fire that he might have annually burnt the prairies of so large a part of the continent, and thus have constantly prevented the encroachments of the forests ? It may be that these questions will never be satisfactorily an- swered; but nothing is more evident than that the forests would soon occupy a very large proportion of the prairie region of North America if the prai-
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HISTORY OF IOWA.
rie fires were made to cease, and no artificial efforts were made to prevent their growth and encroachment."
Soils .- Dr. White has separated the soils of Iowa into three general di- visions, viz : the Drift, Bluff, and Alluvial. The drift soil occupies the greater portion of the State, the bluff next, and the alluvial the least. The drift is derived primarily from the disintegration of rocks, to a considerable extent perhaps from those of Minnesota, which were subject to violent gla- cial action during the glacial epoch. This soil is excellent, and is generally free from coarse drift materials, especially near the surface.
The bluff soil occupies an area estimated at about five thousand square miles, in the western part of the State. It has many peculiar and marked characteristics, and is believed to be lacustral in its origin. In some places the deposit is as great as two hundred feet in thickness, all portions of it being equal in fertility. If this soil be taken from its lowest depth, say two hundred feet below the surface, vegetation germinates and thrives as readily in it as in the surface deposit. It is of a slightly yellowish ash color, ex- cept when mixed with decaying vegetation. It is composed mainly of si- lica, but the silicious matter is so finely pulverized that the naked eye is un- able to perceive anything like sand in its composition. The bluffs along the Missouri river, in the western part of the State, are composed of this ma- terial.
The alluvial soils are the " bottom" lands along the rivers and smaller streams. They are the washings of other soils mixed with decayed vege- table matter. They vary somewhat in character and fertility, but the best of them are regarded as the most fertile soils in the State.
As to the localities occupied by each of these different soils, it may be stated that the drift forms the soil of all the higher plains and woodlands of the State, except a belt along the western border, which is occupied by the bluff soil, or bluff deposit, as it is generally called. The alluvial occu- pies the low lands, both prairie and timber, along the streams. It may be remarked that the alluvial soil composing the broad belt of "bottom " along the Missouri, partakes largely of the bluff soil, owing to continued wash- ings from the high lands or bluffs adjacent.
GEOLOGY OF IOWA.
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