CHAPTER XXVI

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THE COUNTY FAIR

    The first fair held in Montgomery County was at the old town of Frankfort in 1859. It was held out on the prairie, with no fence or building of any kind excepting the schoolhouse which stood apart from the cluster of buildings composing the town. This building, without floral or other decorations and without any attempt at artistic arrangement, was called the "floral" hall. There were more flowers on the outside than on the inside of the small one-story structure. The only articles displayed were a cheese—the first in the county—made by A. P. Whittier; some butter and a few tin cans containing sorghum syrup. These were placed on the desks and benches and a fee of twenty-five cents was charged adults for admission to the exhibit.

    THe fair proper was enclosed with a rope supported on stakes. This was done to localize it. Within this enclosure was a reaper and mower—the old Kentucky harvester brought in wagons from St. Joe by J. H. Bean and A. P. Whittier, the latter the grandfather of Thad Whittier, now a resident of Red Oak. This was the first and only reaper in the county. John Bolt brought from the valley of the Nodaway two brood mares, and a few head of cattle. He took the premium on his horses. E. F. Murray had a span of work horses that took the premium. Mr. Whittier had six thoroughbred Durham (Shorthorn) cattle that he had just brought from Ross County, Ohio, the first fine stock brought to Montgomery County, Samuel M. Smith exhibited the only hogs at that fair. He hauled two from his home in Milford. In sport he said they were a mixture of Chester White and Suffolk, giving them a

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long pedigree. He did not take the trouble to unload them and place them inside of the enclosure. He also received a premium.

    Mrs. Whittier and Mrs. John Evans exhibited their skill in riding and managing their steeds. Mrs. Whittier carried off the honors and received a prize. The contest was on the unfenced prairie where there were no obstructions. Much merriment was caused by an improvised horse race. One of the horses was a thoroughbred which had carried an officer through the war with Mexico and had been given to Wm. Dunn at Keokuk. The other was a mustang owned by Mr. Packard. At the word "Go!" the war horse was off and soon came down the home stretch in good style, the rider holding him in, but the mustang, after much urging and with a gait that was a mixture of lope, trot and amble, arrived too late to receive the plaudits of the little group of onlookers. A man by the name of Montgomery wanted to bet that he had a horse that could beat the entire outfit. Bob Dunn took the bet, but as one of the parties insisted it should be a trotting and the other a pacing match, they came to no agreement and the affair was declared off.

    The fair was the first event that brought all the people together. Their social nature craved the society of others like situated, and now for the first time they could be counted to see how many there were of them. The principal entertainment of the day was a picnic dinner that had been prepared by the good women of the community. It is probable that no similar occasion has afforded so much pleasure as the first county fair in Montgomery County. The collector and distributor of funds to pay the premiums was almost lost sight of. The only compensation for exhibitors was largely in the public recognition of the superiority of their exhibits.

    A person approaching the little group from any direction might be reminded of shipwrecked and homeless people on a

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barren island, for the scene was bounded only by the distant horizon. It must be remembered that there was no human habitation, other than in the little village of Frankfort, to be seen from that outlook; but instead of these people being homeless and forlorn, their cabin homes were hidden away in the timber beside the streams and they were living in contentment and had simply met together for the day to lay the foundation for better things.

    The war came on and the minds of the people were diverted into other channels. The fife and drum called the men to arms and the women to anxiety and tears and a decade elapsed before another attempt was made to organize a county fair. In the meantime, Frankfort had become a memory and Red Oak the metropolis of Montgomery County. And there a fair, quite similar to the first but more pretentious, was held in the public square in the fall of 1869. Three years afterward the Southwestern Iowa Fair Association was organized. H. N. Moore was the principal mover in this enterprise; H. W. Otis was President, Richard Wadsworth, Treasurer and E. Kretchmer, Secretary. In the fall of 1873, this society held a fair on the open prairie north of the forty acre tract subsequently used for fair grounds. This was surrounded by a rope, like the first one. No permanent improvements were made. A controversy arose concerning the place to be selected for a permanent location, and, selfish and personal interests conspiring to hinder the enterprise auspiciously begun, it died a natural death.

    Another decade passed without any substantial progress being made in establishing a fair on a firm basis. But in July of 1879, a few enterprising citizens of Red Oak met to organize an agricultural society. The late Joseph F. Fisher, the father of M. E. Fisher of Red Oak, entered into this project with his characteristic enthusiasm, and he was made chairman of the meeting, W. H. Hunter acting as secretary. Articles of Incorporation were adopted and signed by the following named

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gentlemen: John Hayes, President; C. C. Plater, Vice President; W. H. Hunter, Secretary; A. C. Hinchman, Treasurer; and the board of five directors—J. A. Hysham, Wayne Stennett, A. J. Roach, O. E. Whittaker and J. F. Fisher. They immediately purchased forty acres of ground on which to hold the exhibitions, viz., the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 29, Township 72, Range 38, lying west of the City of Red Oak at the north side of Coolbaugh street. The entire capital stock of this company was fixed at $6,000, divided into shares of $100.00 each. Forty shares, more or less, were purchased by the progressive farmers of the county.

    The first fair under the auspices of the Association was held early in October in 1879. The grounds had just been put into first-rate condition and enclosed by a high board fence. Suitable buildings were erected for the display of live stock and a good half-mile track was laid out. The exhibition was a complete success. The receipts were sufficient to pay for all of the premiums offered and for the improvements, leaving a surplus of about $266.57 to begin business the following year. The total receipts for the first year were $8,972.31 and the expenditures $8,705.74. The next year, the receipts of the society aggregated between $5,000 and $6,000. The year following there was a change in some of the officers. Mr. Hayes continued as President and H. E. Deemer was elected Secretary. Premiums this year were $3,500; in the horse department alone, $1,300.

    In 1880, the society was enrolled as a member of the "National Trotting Association." Several members of the Fair Association were patrons of the turf. The Red Oak branch comprised most of the members of the parent society and was officered by the same men. These meetings were known as the June Races. The June meeting and the fall meeting were under the same management, the directors of both being J. F. Fisher, E. F. Leach, O. P. Whittier, A. P. Berryhill and O. E.

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Whitaker. A jockey club bearing the name of Red Oak Driving Park Association and composed of members of the Montgomery County Agricultural Society, was formed. The stock consisted of forty-eight shares at $100.00 per share. H. H. Palmer was President, C. F. Clark, Vice President, L. F. Ross, Treasurer, H. E. Deemer, Secretary. The directors were O. P. Whittier, W. C. Lockhart, A. J. Roach, Kennedy Packard and O. E. Whitaker.

    At the annual fairs there has always been a fine display of Clydesdale and Norman breeds of horses; of cattle, the established breeds such as Short Horns, Herefords, Polled Angus, Jerseys, etc. Competition has been open to all of the herds of Iowa and adjoining states, but exhibitors living in Montgomery County have always carried off a fair share of the premiums. T. R. Westrope of Milford usually had a large exhibit of the very best quality of Durhams. Wayne Stennett, A. P. Berryhill, A. P. West, J. F. Moates, Thomas Wall, John Hayes, C. C. Platter and many other stock breeders were at different times exhibitors. All the different breeds of swine have been represented—the Berkshire, Poland China and Jerseys always being in evidence. The agricultural exhibit was always creditable and the hall well filled with vegetables, grains and fruits. One drawback was lack of room for the display of the fancy department, the floral hall being filled to overflowing by the ladies and their fancy work.

    The important position of secretary of the fair has at different times been filled by H. E. Deemer, S. A. Henry, O. J. Gibson, J. E. Whelan and T. H. Lee. This organization continued in business sixteen years, with the usual experience of financial enterprises of this character. It had its successes and failures—more of the latter than the former—and when it voluntarily went out of business and the land, buildings and all other property sold, it was found that the stockholders had received about fifty per cent on their original investment. And

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yet, on the whole, it paid. It ended to promote the well being of the community. It paid in the increased interest in agriculture brought about by the interchange of ideas among the farmers concerning their business. It paid in the better quality of horses, cattle and hogs placed on the market by the farmers of Montgomery County, at prices greatly enhanced over what they would have been had not practical object lessons of the yearly fair been presented. All that has been said applies with equal force to the fair held at Villisca by the people on the east side of the county, in the forks of the Nodaway and in contiguous territory.

    During the fairs and for several years after, Montgomery County became a noted market for the best specimens of live stock—especially horses. The demand has been so great and prices so good that a part of those unsold are not of such marked superiority of quality.

    The Agricultural Society had gone out of existence, but Morris J. Jones did not propose to let so inviting a situation remain unoccupied, and he proceeded at once to build up an institution devoted to raising and training horses. It took money to start an enterprise of such considerable proportions. A suitable place was selected and purchased adjoining the city of Red Oak on the north, and named Pactolus Park in honor of a celebrated trotter owned by Mr. Jones. A part of the land purchased was divided into town lots—one hundred in number—and taken by citizens who favored the enterprise. Each of the lots were purchased at $100, the buyer agreeing to a selection by lot. The lots were all sold and in this way $10,000 was raised for the contemplated project. The other part was laid off and graded, and a regulation mile track, fully meeting the approval of the turfmen, was made. A spacious amphitheatre [amphitheater] was built, also suitable barns, and three hundred box stalls made ready for occupancy. The raising and training of fast horses and roadsters is a legitimate business,

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and Mr. Jones freed it as much as possible form the speculation feature. It is one of the principal sources of revenue, and the total value of these animals in the aggregate is very great.

    Mr. JOnes invited attention to his park by offering premiums of $20,000, divided into seventeen racing events. Entries to these races were from eighteen different states—including Texas, California and New York—and Canada. The first day, Marcus Daly's Lady Wilton made the fastest time, 2:15. The purse for the fastest pacer was won by Keen Cutter, time 2:14. Packet by Pactolus went in 2:14. the two year old pacer owned by Denver parties made a mile in 2:16 1/2. John R. Gentry broke all previous records. There was assembled a greater aggregation of those noble animals than had ever before been known—this is conceded by horsemen. There was Robert J., the then fastest pacer in the world; the little trotting queen Alix, the fastest trotter in the world, owned by Mr. Jones; Directum, the fastest trotting stallion; Fantasy, the fastest three and four year old mare; Joe Patchen, Azote, Nigthingale, Flying Jib, and three hundred other horses, not only good but the best in the world, and it is through no fault of Mr. Jones that the high class meeting he took so much pains to inaugurate was not continued. The day that the most notable events were to come off, there was present in Red Oak the largest number of people from surrounding cities and states ever assembled at one time. A drenching rain the night before, however, threw a damper on competitors and deprived the promotor [promoter] of many thousands of dollars that otherwise would have been gathered in. This fact, associated with other financial misfortunes, caused Mr. Jones to yield his park into other hands.

    The demise of the old fair association was hastened by promoting the horse breeding enterprise. It wa thought that as Red Oak was an ideal location in the blue grass section for an extensive and lucrative business in that line, that it would, in part at least, secure the general results sought by the fair

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and be a general benefit to the agricultural people of the country round about.

    In obedience to the universal law of progress, a new organization came into being. A few public spirited and competent gentlemen resolved to create a county fair association that would be a fair in spirit as well as in name. This was in 1901. The year previous, an experiment had been made in running a private fair. A prize was offered for every ticket sold, with a chance to get something for comparatively nothing. There was the usual display and a good attendance, and the financial results were said to have been satisfactory. The year 1901 marked a new era. G. M. Hull was made President and T. G. Haag Secretary. In 1902 and 1903 the important position of Secretary was filled by Dan Gunn, and E. M. Murphy was President for the same years, also for 1905. Dr. Schadel was Secretary for the years 1904 and 1905. The present officers are: Henry Peterson, President; (Mr. Peterson has been director of this and the old fair fifteen years) Henry Ebert, Vice President; E. A. Larson, Secretary; W. S. Ellis, Treasurer; The board of directors: Henry Peterson, Henry Ebert, W. S. Ellis, F. S. Schadel, A. R. Tracy, E. M. Murphy, Wm. Thomas, G. M. Hull and George T. Cooper.