CHAPTER V.

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THE PIONEERS

    The conditions surrounding them, their habits, manner of living, language, food and clothing, habitations, modes of travel, social and business affairs, romances and realities, are in such marked contrast with present day practices that one can hardly realize the vast changes that have taken place. It is a matter of absorbing interest to their descendants to consider life of the pioneers fifty years ago and to take note of the conditions which prevailed during the earliest history of the county~~conditions of life that will never again exist. The memory of these times will become less and less distinct and, unless made of record, much will be forgotten and lost. It is to be hoped that this history will, in a measure, perserve [preserve] in permanent form that which might otherwise be forever lost.

    No partition walls separated the pioneers. Though widely different in habits, intellect and moral culture, they met and mingled together. All class distinctions were done away with and party lines in church and state obliterated. Good fellowship, good cheer, contentment and good order characterized the community. "Live and Let Live," was their motto. There was nothing to encourage a secular spirit. Free from the tyranny of greed, ambition and fashion, there was little to mar the sweetness and freshness of this free life of the prairies. Pioneer society was a true democracy, dominated by the spirit of brotherhood. And this condition was not without an adequate cause; it was not because the pioneers were of a higher and better type of manhood and womanhood or were possessed of superior moral qualities or intellectual attainments, but rather that their

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social nature craved society and companionship and so few and far between were their neighbors that they could afford to neglect none of them. Isolation and loneliness drew them together in sympathy and fellowship and nothing human was indifferent to them. There was no caste nor aristocracy to separate man and man. The dark background, as in a picture, of everyday hardships brought out conspicuously their amiable qualities and they deservedly command our unlimited admiration. Yet much of this was due to environment and if the people of this generation could possibly be similarly situated, society would doubtless exhibit like traits. Many of our modern luxuries and conveniences were utterly unknown and, being unknown, they could not be missed. Notwithstanding this, the pioneer had many bitter experiences which today would be considered intolerable. They were often in peril, cut off from communication with the outside world, unprotected and poorly sheltered. With coarse diet and rough habit, their lot was hard indeed. Yet out of these surroundings have emerged the strongest characters; men who would never have risen above mediocrity had not hardship and stern necessity awakened their slumbering powers. Men in our state, in our own county, have attained positions of influence from their training in this school of rigorous experience. Had there been no obstacle to overcome, no danger to brave, there would have been no self-reliance, courage or skill to combat and surmount the difficulties which everywhere beset the pioneer.

    They broke away from many of the traditions of the past. They marked the way of progress and became prophets and leaders. They built wisely and well, seeing clearly that the strength and support of free government lies in an educated people and strict observance of the law and of righteousness. Their first act, after providing a roof for a home, was invariably to erect a schoolhouse~~a place serving the double purpose of instruction for the children and youth and for christian worship. They were moved by a common impulse, by the dictates of an enlightened

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self interest, to secure and maintain the best possible conditions, despite hardship and unfavorable environment.

    They were from New England, New York, Pennsylvania and from the Middle West. Whole neighborhoods came from Illinois and a smaller number from the South, but they were animated by a single purpose. It was highly creditable to their wisdom, forethought and sense of justice that their first voluntary associations were based on equity and "it is noteworthy that the evolution of our civil government was from claim regulation to written constitutions." Scornful of social and class distinctions, rank, keen, indomitable and patriotic, with strong faith in the future of their county, religious and political differences were suppressed for the common good. Measured by present day standards, they were very much out of fashion, for there were no established rules for the cut of one's clothes or conduct in public assemblies, except that women invariably sat apart from the men.

    The first habitations were the covered wagons or the "prairie schooners," which the emigrant resided until a cabin could be built~~parlor, kitchen, bedroom, combined. OUtside of the wagon cover was the great "withdrawing room." The furniture was a camp kettle and a few tin dishes on the inside; and the implements of husbandry on the outside were a breaking plow, axe, ox-yoke and chains. The overturned furrows contrasted strangely in its black lines with the prevailing color. The sturdy arm of the pioneer was nerved for service, for here he saw a field for action, occasion for effort, and the means of victory. He planned wisely. He executed his plans in hope. Another white wagon from the winding lanes of farther east trundles anon the "divide" and comes to a halt. Another cabin is erected two or more miles away and the pioneer wakes up some morning and finds a neighbor and rejoices. Another, and still another comes, and they in due time get together and establish a school on the hill.

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    The early settlers of Iowa built solidly, which places her today in the front rank of all the states in educational facilities, and her progress has been exceptional and marked in all these intervening years.

   Justly has the saying of a distinguished citizen of the state become a classic: "Of all that is good Iowa affords the best. Have not her people the genuine western spirit of generosity and essential kindness; are they not broad-minded, tolerant, big of frame, big of mentality and big of heart, thoroughly and sincerely democratic?" This is the product~~the outgrowth of the purpose and spirit of the pioneers who laid the foundation of our society so securely that it has grown like an oak tree, sending out great roots here and there, firmly buttressed below, broad branched above, able to withstand any shock of storm that may come against it~~a type of our future national security.

   The ox team and the breaking plow were the two most potent factors of pioneer civilization. The plow was constructed as follows: The settler would remove the front wheels from his wagon and place them on a rudely constructed axle made from an oak sapling six or eight inches in diameter and about the length of an ordinary wagon axle. The plow, which had a very long moldboard and prodigious wooden beam, was partially suspended between the two wheels of the truck by and upright frame resting on the axle. A long lever extended from the front end of the plow beam, back to the upright frame, where it was secured by a wooden pin, and there was a series of auger holes in the upright frame, so that the depth of the furrow could be regulated by simply removing the adjusting pin from one of the holes and lifting, or bearing down on the lever. There has never been a plow manufactured since so suitable for turning under wild sod, scrub oak and hazel bush as this rudely constructed break-plow of our fathers. It could not rise out of the furrow when it struck a root; it could be set to any desired depth, and it would stay there. With two or three yoke of oxen attached,

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it would cleave its way through almost anything. When it encountered a running oak it didn't "pass by on the other side like the Levite," but it went through it and turned it under.

    The first permanent habitation of the early settler was built of round logs, the space between the logs being filled in with split sticks of wood called "chinks," then daubed over, both inside and out, with clay mortar. The floor was commonly made of puncheons or split logs with the smoothest side turned upward.

   The roof was made by gradually drawing in the top to the ridge pole and on cross pieces laying the clap-boards which, being three or four feet in length, instead of being nailed were held in place by "weight" poles laid on them reaching the length of the cabin. The fireplace, about six feet in length, occupied one end of the single apartment and was situated in a projection like a modern bay window,~~some of the logs being cut for that purpose. The chimney was built on the outside, of split sticks laid one on another like a child's cob-house; this was plastered inside and outside with clay mortar and was sometimes lined with stone a few feet above the hearth. The door space was made by cutting out the logs to make room for a door of convenient size. The door itself was made of clap-boards secured by wooden pins to two cross-pieces. The settler would sometimes take a log to some saw-mill and exchange for boards for this purpose. Robert Johnson hauled a log from the St. Clair place to near Lewis, Cass county, and made a door which was a departure from the ordinary method.

    The door would be hung on wooden hinges and the fastening consisted of a wooden latch, catching on a wooden lock on the outside. A buckskin twang was attached to this latch and through a hole, made especially for that purpose, hung on the outside as a sign to the neighbor or stranger that he might enter and receive such hospitable treatment as the pioneer home afforded. If the latch string was withdrawn it was also notice

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that for some reason or other, which the occupant felt under no obligation to divulge, the stranger's presence was not desired. This was so unusual, however, that the customary manner of invitation from one settler to another was "the latch string always hangs out." The cabin usually consisted of one room which answered all purposes. Upon entering one would see suspended rings of dried pumpkin and a string of red peppers, while the ever present rifle and powder horn were in a convenient place ready for use. Sometimes a loom might be seen; the wife, or mother, busily engaged weaving cloth to be made into garments for family use.

    In well-to-do families the "loft" was in evidence, and if not used for the storage of "traps," took the place of the more modern spare room. This apartment was approached by a ladder secured to the wall. When prosperity overtook them a double log-cabin was erected or, as was more usually the case, another cabin was built beside the old one with a space or hall between them, the entrance to the new structure being from the hall.

    The articles in the kitchen corresponded with the room and were few and simple, a "dutch oven," a skillet, or long handled frying pan, an iron pot or kettle were the usual utensils. Later came a long iron crane so arranged that it could be swung out from the fireplace. Suspended from the crane was the "pot-hook" with which the kettle was carried to and from the fire at will. the style of cooking was as simple as the utensils used. Corn meal was the staple article of food and was made into "pone," "corn dodger" or "hoe cake." The first tow were baked in the dutch oven which had first been placed on a bed of glowing coals. The lid having also been heated, the prepared dough was put in the oven and the whole covered by smoking embers and hot ashes. For the "hoe cake" there was sometimes added to the dough stewed pumpkin to give additional flavor. The dough was moulded into suitable form and flattened by placing it upon a board or stone. It was

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then placed at a suitable angle before the fire and when baked was ready for eating. Wild game and hominy were the other principal articles of food. The occupants of these rude homes were kind hearted, generous people, and it is among the pleasantest recollections of the writer that he was privileged to enjoy their friendship and esteem, which was genuine, spontaneous~~from the depths of the heart.

    The days of hardship and privations fled fast away. A few years sufficed to remove all semblance of pioneering. Wealth accumulated, comforts abounded, and now as a reward of industry and privation and years of patient waiting, form the raw material we see the finished but not perfect product. Today there are quiet, human, happy homes on hilltop and in our valleys where once was wildness and apparent desolation. Happy childhood, youth with his ruddy cheek, manhood with his sinewy arm, and hoary-headed age rejoice alike in the gifts of a bounteous Providence poured out upon us with a liberal hand.

    For long years we were practically excluded from the outside world and a new and better day dawned when communication was established. The railroad gave impetus to every enterprise. New hopes were kindled, new enterprises undertaken, and new forms of vanity noticed, and what before were deemed luxuries soon became necessities.

     "Primitive man hand no house, no tools, no government; not a breakfast laid up for tomorrow, no science, law, literature, customs, habits, manners, or even language. Out of him was material nature, within him rude human nature." And now after ages he has become rich in material, intellectual and spiritual possessions. From lower to higher, form barbarism to civilization, from civilization to Christianity, is the upward flight of man's ascent. Our pioneer had a house, but it was a rude log cabin of one room and a fireplace to cook his food. The primitive man had no tools. The pioneer had an ox-yoke and chain, a breaking plow and gun. Primitive man had no garments. The pioneer~~well

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the tariff on them was not a burdensome tax. The pioneer had the advantage of the primitive man in this: He called to his aid Science to enable him to subsist; Law to secure and preserve his rights of person and of property; LIterature yielding him exalted pleasures; Habits, Manners, and Language, enabling him to utilize, arrange, assort and communicate all that he received as an inheritance from the past.

    In all these things that distinguishes a civilized and enlightened man he could show quite an inventory of good qualities suitable for founding institutions of religion, education and charity, which has been faithfully done under his guiding hand. He has smoothed the pathway for us, and now after a lapse of years, we have better houses, better food, better tools; the sewing machine in the house and the self-binder in the field; better clothes; food provided for tomorrow; customs, habits, manners improved.

    And to all whom credit is due there are none entitled to more honor or esteem than the pioneer women of our country. What long days of loneliness and hunger for a sight of the old homestead with its restful shade to relieve the tired eyes from the monotony of the endless billowy landscape. "Men must work but women must wait," and the waiting is often harder to endure than the working. We lift our hats and pay homage to the pioneer women who by their helpfulness and patience have done their full part in binging on the comfort and civilization now prevailing everywhere in our country.

(NOTE: I'm not sure where these photos are suppose to be placed in the book, as the page was loose, and their is no page number. I am placing them here, as they seem appropriate for the above chapter. Click on the images for larger sizes.)