CHAPTER XXII ________ ANOTHER CHAPTEROF EARLY INCIDENTS A COLD WINTER IN 1866 "The winter of 1866-7 was the coldest I ever saw," said E. P. Milner of Sherman Township in a newspaper interview. "Early in December, 1866, I killed a lot of hogs and with two teams, Aaron Milner driving one and myself the other, we hauled fresh pork, 8,800 pounds to Denver. Very little money was made on the pork, but we came out even. "We were fifty-six days making the round trip, and when we left my house in Sherman Township, where I now live, there was about eight inches of snow on the ground. On our return the same wagon tracks in the snow were still to be seen. We drove right across the prairie, there being no road. "We were a whole week getting out of Iowa," he continued, "There was no chance to cross at Plattsmouth, so we drove to Nebraska City. The ice was too thick to run the ferry boat and not strong enough to drive on. After waiting for some time we were able to get across by means of the ferry boat, we were the last ones to cross. That very night the boat froze fast and I don't know how long it stayed so. "It was our intention to get in with a wagon train made up at Kearney, so as to have company and be freer from molestation by Indians, but a blizzard delayed us a day and we had to drive fifteen miles one night after leaving Kearney to overtake them. "The cold was extreme. One night we slept in a sod house in which there was a fair fireplace. We had a good fire all Page 185 night, lying wrapped in our blankets in front of it on the dirt floor. In the morning the ice was two inches thick in a water bucket that stood not more than three feet from the fire. There was ice in a thirty-foot well and we had to drop an iron weight tied to a rope down into the well before we could draw water sufficient to water our mules. "While traveling near Julesburg, Colo., we saw one morning two "sun dogs" that never disappeared during the entire day and at sundown the "dogs" formed a corona over the sun and made as perfect a rainbow as I ever saw. "At one point on the route we were overtaken by a band of Pawnee Indians. A terrific blizzard was blowing at the time. We were able to get shelter at a ranch, but the Indians slept out of doors in the snow, apparently not suffering a particle from the cold. "On our return trip we found the Missouri river frozen over so we could drive across at Nebraska City. It was nearly night when we got there, but for fear something might happen to break the ice up before morning we crossed at once and found a place to stay over night in Iowa. "After getting back into Montgomery County we had an experience in crossing Walnut creek, near the Wax place. The hill leading to the creek was very steep and a perfect glare of ice. OUr mules had worn out their shoes, so it was impossible to get the wagons down with the mules hitched to them. "After some investigation we found that we could get our mules down one at a time, and afterwards went to work to let the wagons down by attaching a chain to them and making a rough lock. The first wagon went down all right. The next one was heavier, it being loaded with our effects and provisions. It went down so rapidly that when it struck the bridge it upset and fell bottom upwards into the creek. I jumped into the ice-cold water which was waist deep and succeeded in saving most of our stuff. There was no opportunity for three or four hours Page 186 to get to a place to put on dry clothing or to get warm, but I kept on moving and never felt any evil effects from the cold bath. "The eight weeks of travel in the extreme cold weather had hardened us until we were like the Indians. There were weeks at a time when we never got near to a fire, except what we had in a little tin stove with which we made coffee by the roadside." A POLITICAL INCIDENT OF 1860 W. W. Merritt was nominee of the Republican party for Clerk of the District Court, but declined the nomination for reasons given by his friend, J. B. Packard, at a subsequent time. D. C. Powell, a young gentleman of fine qualities, was elected and made a faithful and efficient officer. His death while in the army was greatly lamented. Following is the published article of J. B. Packard in referring to Mr. Merritt's nomination: "The attempts and experiments in 'Civil Service Reform' which have received some attention throughout the country of late, may have had their beginning in Montgomery county. This cannot be denied on account of the awkwardness of the attempts, for all beginnings as a rule are awkward. The commencement was upon Mr. Merritt. He was the nominated candidate for County Clerk, but upon examination made before the day of election, it was found that his view of the Spiritual Government of the Universe, and of the existence, spiritual interests and destiny of mankind was incorrect, he being too near-sight or cross-eyed to see it right, and was compelled to withdraw from the canvass on account of this obliquity of vision, which was discovered by some words that he had spoken. The mistake we made on the start came very near throwing the 'Civil Service Reform' off the track. The country changed, for we have elected Mr. Merritt several times since that, to the same office, although it is not perceptible that his vision has been reformed. Mr. Powell was thereupon elected to the office. J. B. P." Page 187 A VISION OF DRY BONES In the spring of the year 1857, the writer, a footman traveling from Topeka, Kansas, on what was known as the Jim Lane Emigrant Route to Nebraska City, Nebr., crossed what had been the great route of travel from the Missouri River at St. Joe to the far off Eldorado, California. Here, at this time of year, horses, oxen and mules could subsist on the native grasses—a fact which lessened to some extent the difficulties of traveling. One caravan was seen, averaging four teams abreast, hauling great wagons laden with provisions, tools and camp equipment. Necessarily, there was great hardship and much suffering and many beasts perished. Some men fell b the way and were buried by their companions in shallow and unmarked graves. The animal were left the prey of the scavengers of the prairies—the prairie wolves. A man, met by chance at the intersection of these routes, called attention to the blackened prairies, recently burned over, and to a lighter streak plainly marking the route to the west. He explained that the light color to be seen as far as the eye could reach was caused by the bleached bones of animals and men who perished by the way in that great hegira. The foregoing was not only the only route traveled in that great rush for gold and during the subsequent discovery of this precious metal near Pike's Peak, Colorado. The main route through Southern Iowa was through the tier of counties north of Montgomery County, crossing the Missouri River at Council Bluffs and following up the Platte River. Some part of the travel, however, was diverted southward, passing through our county and crossing the Missouri River at Plattsmouth and Nebraska City, where a ferry boat was in operation. Frequently large herds of animals were forced into the water and compelled to swim. A daring cowboy with his bronco would plunge into the river and the herd would follow, the strong Page 188 current often carrying them down a long distance before they could make a landing on the opposite shore. At all times of the day, prairie schooners, as the canvas-covered wagons were called, could be seen trundling along on their circuitous way, following the divide, or ridges, from Sciola to Carr's Point on Walnut Creek, the usual camping places being near some stream. They traveled usually in groups and in the summer season, near the crossing of the Nodaway, Nishna and Walnut, it was no unusual sight to see men, young or middle aged—seldom was a woman among them—gathering fuel, preparing food and caring for the animals, presenting a quaint and lively scene. The evening would be enlivened by the strains of violin or other musical instrument. In the morning after breakfast there would be a bustling time in preparing to start on or, to use the term generally employed, to "roll out" from two to four yokes of oxen hitched to stout wagons. ON one occasion the writer remembers a procession over a mile long leaving camp on the Tarkio, the forward teams having passed Frankfort before the last ones left camp. They were a jolly set, free from care and with bright visions of the future. One of them was driving a long string of oxen hauling an immense load. He was flourishing a long lash at the end of what appeared to be a fish pole and merrily whistling the tune, "The Girl I Left Behind Me." Suddenly, and with a countenance as sober as a judge, he inquired, "Stranger, is this the road to California?" He was reminded that following the star of empire, surely westward was the way.
The first white man known to have been buried on Iowa soil was a young soldier of the Lewis and Clark Expedition up the Missouri River in 1804. His name is Charles Floyd and his grave is on a bluff near Sioux City which is now called Floyd Bluff. It was marked by Capta[i]n Clark by planting a Page 189 red cedar post. A monument one hundred feet high and costing $20,000 now marks his resting place and a manuscript journal kept by Sergeant Floyd has recently been found. Little did his sorrowful companions realize that that cedar post would in a little more than a century grow into a monument of commanding proportions in his honor. THe first grave of a white person in Montgomery County is at the corner of the four townships of Frankfort, Pilot Grove, Sherman and Red Oak. It was at this point that Mrs. Haefflick, the wife of a pioneer just arrived in the county from the East, was buried in June, 1854. A roughly constructed coffin was made from a wagon box—the only boards obtainable for such a purpose. Her grave was made in what now is a public highway and is unknown and unmarked. There is scarcely a person in the county now living who was conversant with her sad history. PIONEER SAWMILLS Henry and Wm. Shank built the first sawmill on Red Oak Creek in 1857 near where Seventh street crosses the same. The single sash saw was propelled by an old fashioned water wheel and the neighbors could get sawing done for 50 cents a hundred. This mill fulfilled its mission, notwithstanding the fact that at times it had to be thrown out of gear to get sufficient motion to work its way through the log. One of its patrons facetiously suggested that it could be easily changed into a hazelnut huller. It was a hardy pioneer in its chosen field and was out of commission one day during a surging flood after about eight years' service. The reservoir was not large but it was deep and people on horseback crossed back and forth on the dam. On one occasion a townsman who had been vainly trying to catch his horse—his patience nearly exhausted in a fruitless attempt to capture the brute—took the horse at a decided disadvantage Page 190 and cornered him so that he could not escape from a narrow peninsula extending into the mill pond without either running over his master or indulging in a plunge bath. After an instant's reflection he chose the latter course, thinking—if a horse thinks—that since the place further down had been crossed so many times, he cold cross anywhere with perfect safety. After one jump, he was lost to sight and bubbles rose to the surface to denote the place where he disappeared. When he emerged on the opposite bank and looked back, it was with such a look of astonishment and chagrin as is seldom seen in the countenance of that noble animal. Another sawmill, propelled by steam, was built by Isaac Hendrie in the fall of 1857, the machinery being shipped up the Missouri River. After four or five years, a grist mill was added and became a very useful improvement to the entire community. The patrons came for twenty-five miles or more to mill. The financial crash of 1857 crippled all improvements and things were at a standstill. There being but little money in circulation, the business was conducted almost entirely by exchange of products. In the millers' day book, found among resurrected records, are the following entries: Credit: Page 191 People purchased lumber, giving in payment a given quantity of lumber in a log which was sold for such things as the people had to spare, which in turn was paid to the helpers in the mill. It was a current saying that cottonwood lumber in logs or sawed into lumber was a legal tender for all private debts. It was the custom of one Sam Campbell to find a tree "out on the bare prairie," meaning wherever he could find it, and sell the logs, without delivery, to the miller, who would employ another to haul them to the mill. ON one occasion, this question became mixed up in local politics. One Col. Sharp, a man from Mills Co., was candidate for the Legislature. Although blind in one eye and pock marked, he was of commanding presence, and called around him eight or ten voters of Red Oak and addressed them. Among other things, he said, "I am agent for the owner of this land, (pointing to Red Oak Grove, now known Hebard's Grove, then covered by many red oak trees) and I understand that much of the lumber that enters into the construction of these buildings—a few structures on the square—was taken from my principal's land. I did not come here to make you any trouble, but I think that under all of the circumstances, it would be a gracious act on your part to vote for me." I believe they all forgave him for his unkind insinuations and rolled him as they would a stolen log, into a snug seat in the Legislature. They were not thieves, but were foragers by necessity. Non-residents did not receive the same consideration at their hands as residents who were compelled to endure all of the discomforts of life to enhance the value of their holdings while the non-residents were perhaps living a life of ease and indulgence elsewhere. The law of social obligation was suspended until all alike should have its benefits. It is not the province of the historian to decide questions of morals but rather to state facts. Page 192 REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION AT IOWA CITY 1860 AND AFFAIRS AT FRANKFORT. Wm. Dunn and the writer were selected as delegates to the Republican State Convention at Iowa City in 1860. It was customary for delegates in this and adjoining counties to meet at some convenient place to hold congressional and district conventions and journey by carriage to state conventions, consuming many days in the trip and usually meeting the same persons from year to year, and mingling at the convention with men of state-wide reputation—Kasson, Nourse, Kirkwood, O'Connor, Grinnell, Allison and others equally noted. Lincoln's nomination for president was enthusiastically ratified in speeches by Stewart L. Woodford and Judge Porter of New York. THe county was in a ferment. A letter was received from J. B. Packard concerning happenings at Frankfort. He said, "Things are wearing away here in their usual style. The folks all left the county yesterday for Pike's Peak. I expect they are getting alarmed for fear that the Southerners with their negroes are going to dam up the Mississippi and overflow the northern country again as it was in Noah's time. Anyway, they are streaking it up the mountains on some account." Then follows a list of them, adding, "We live in desolate borders and have to wait for the day of redemption."
Mrs. Sophronia Dean Shank, the widow of the late H. C. Shank, of Red Oak, taught the first school in the county in August 1856. This was before the winter school in the same year in Jackson Township. The school was in a log cabin near Climax. The day of opening the school, there was absolutely no furniture whatever. A new sawmill had just commenced operation and the school had to wait until some slabs could be obtained for seats. These seats were made by boring holes through them to insert legs for support. All of the seats were of the same height and placed around the room. Page 193 The first regular train came into Red Oak on November 13th, 1869, and on that train were Mrs. H. A. McFatrich, Mrs. T. H. Alexander, Mr. W. H. Evans, L. H. Tonner and S. A. Henry and wife. Mr. T. H. Alexander and Dr. H. A. McFatrich arrived in Red Oak in August previous, and erected the old store building on Coolbaugh street, which was first occupied by Alexander & Carr and S. A. Henry & Co., on Lot 2, Block 43. The building was erected by Geo. West, now of Los Angeles, Cal., and the lumber was hauled from Corning, costing nearly one cent a pound.
From 1851 to 1861, the county was under the rule of an autocracy consisting of a single officer called the County Judge. Those who served as county judge were Amos G. Lowe and James R. Horton. Before 1851, in the organized counties of the state, the county government was under triumvirate of three officers known as the Board of County Commissioners. Their duties were identical with those of the Board of Supervisors of the present day.
The political history of the county dates from the regular election of August, 1853. The names of the voters are as follows: John Ross, James Ross, R. W. Rogers, James Carlisle, G. D. Connally, J. G. Romine, Wm. Nelson, Wells Sager, A. G. Lowe, Wm. Hannaway, J. H. Sager, Chauncy Sager, Robert Dunn, Samuel C. Dunn, A. Dunn, George P. West, John Harris and J. T. Patterson. Twelve of them were Democrats and six Whigs.
First tax list of Montgomery County, Iowa, being for the year 1854:
I, Amos G. Lowe, County Judge of Montgomery County, Iowa, do hereby authorize John Gilmore collector of said county to collect the within tax list. AMOS G. LOWE, County Judge.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
