CHAPTER XVI
The Sibley
Gazette in its starting out, although
published by Ren Barker, was made to
sparkle with the wit, the genius and all kinds
of advice and suggestions, from Nellie
Granger. She wrote many articles of well
constructed sentences, under the name of Nellie
F. Granger, and the hard and pointed hits
she distributed around in the community are
remembered by tradition, while the files of
the paper have been laid on the shelf for
years, and nearly obliterated by carelessness
and misuse. Barker himself seemed to
struggle against some criticisms, and was
foolish enough to notice them, for we see
by his early issues occasional items, like
the following:
“May be some people
know our biz better than we do. If so they
are invited to take charge of the machine.”
The January 24, 1873,
number of the Gazette, announces that
the Rock Rapids Review has been started
by O. A. Cheney, and that the Sheldon
Mail has started out on the sea of
journalism. It also says that the January
blizzard has dome somebody good, as the homesteaders
have found work shoveling snow, which will
enable them to live through the winter. It
also expresses fears that E. R. Hazen
was lost in the storm, in the following item:
“Nothing has been
heard of Elmore R. Hazen, who worked
in Sibley last fall, at carpentering, and
who owned a claim in this county, and who
started, as we have learned, on the morning
of the great storm, to go to Ocheyedan river
for wood. It is feared that he has perished.”
Hazen, however,
is still in the land of the living. In January
of 1873, the following mail routes were established:
From Cherokee to Sibley,
48 miles and back, once a week.
From LeMars, by Orange
City, Ocheyedan and Sibley, to Worthington
Minn., 74 miles and back, once a week.
From Spirit Lake, by
Melrose, Silver Lake, Sibley and Doon, to
Beloit, 92 miles and back, once a week.
From Sibley to Beloit,
48 miles and back, once a week.
The reader knows how
the progress of the county has long since
abolished these routes for more speedy transportation.
The cold snap of January 28, sent the thermometer
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down to 32 degrees below zero,
and at Sioux City 23 below. That kept the
homesteaders of Osceola County bushy twisting
hay. The January 7, 1873, blizzard so blocked
the Sioux City and St. Paul road, now the
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha,
that the train was not got through until Feb.
14. In February 12, 1873, the following announcement
through the columns of the local press was
made to the people:
“REPUDIATION.—All
the citizens that are in favor of repudiating
the indebtedness of Osceola County, for the
year 1872, about $20,000, are requested to
meet at the court house on Saturday, March
1st. McCaffery & Harmon
will guarantee a clear case. Let there be
full attendance.”
This movement it seems
died a “borning,” as the following
minutes of the meeting will show:
REPUDIATION MEETING.
Proceedings of
mass meeting called to consider the propriety
of repudiating the county indebtedness, above
that allowed by law, held at the court house
in Sibley, March 1, 1873.
At half past one o'clock
the meeting was called to order by J. McCaffery,
of the firm of McCaffery & Harmon.
On motion W. A. Spencer was elected
chairman and M. J. Campbell secretary.
At the request of J.
McCaffery, J. F. Glover made a statement
of the amount of warrants issued in excess
of the amount by law in 1872 and 1873, as
follows: In 1872, $14,696.24, and in 1873,
up to March 1st, $432.19.
J. McCaffery
opened the meeting by a speech in favor of
repudiation, and was replied to by J. T.
Barclay, H. Jordan, et al.
The following resolution
was passed:
“Resolved, That
a committee of one be appointed to wait upon
the Board of Supervisors at their next session,
to request them not to issue any warrant's
for attorney's fees, in any case whatever
except in criminal cases or to an attorney
employed by the year.”
Motion was made by D.
M. Shuck that the vote of the house be
taken on the question of repudiation; and
the vote was unanimous against repudiation.
On motion of J. F.
Glover, J. McCaffery was allowed ten minutes
more in which to present his case more fully.
The following resolution
was then adopted, viz:
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“Resolved,
That a committee of three be elected by
the house to confer with the attorneys of
this place in reference to making a contract
with one or more of them to become the people's
attorney for the year, and that we authorize
them to make such contract, in case it can
be done upon satisfactory terms. O. Dunton,
D. M. Shuck and D. F. Curtis were
then elected as said committee.
On motion of J. F.
Glover, J. McCaffrey received a vote of
thanks for calling this meeting.
W. A. SPENCER, Chairman.
M. J. CAMPBELL, Secretary.
In July, 1873, the postoffice
was established at the house of L. G. Ireland,
with Mr. Ireland as postmaster. This
was long before Ocheyedan was thought of .
At the same time a postoffice was established
at Silver Lake, Dickinson county, at the house
of C. B. Knox, with Mr. Knox as
postmaster. These were on the Sibley and Spirit
Lake route, with Orren Jones as mail carrier.
CHAPTER XVII
Horton township's first settler came
in 1871. In 1870 Seymour Coyour, then
under age, came to Minnesota with his father,
and lived just over the line of Horton in
Minnesota. When Seymour came of age
he made contest of the northwest quarter of
Section 24 and succeeded in obtaining the
land, which he filed upon and still lives
on the same place. The first settler in Horton
Township was L. G. Ireland, who is
elsewhere mentioned as coming from Clayton
County, Iowa, with A. B. Elmore and
E. N. Moore. Mr. Elmore was
also one of Horton's first settlers, on Section
34, but he did not long remain in Horton,
as he soon after took a claim in Ocheyedan.
Mr. Ireland took the southeast quarter
of Section 34, and turned the first furrow
of the soil of that township. He was also
a lawyer, but he was not a distinguished member
of that profession and did not claim to be.
He was politically ambitious, and was once
a candidate for the Legislature on an independent
ticket. He has since died. His claim is now
owned by Dick Wassman. So far as we
can learn there were no other settlers in
Horton Township in 1871 except Mr. Elmore
and Mr. Ireland.
In 1872 there were
many who settled in this township N. W.
Emery, who is elsewhere mentioned, came
that year. W. R. Boling, mentioned
also in another chapter, came in 1872. Mr.
Boling had two brothers, J. T.
and E. W., who lived in Horton, but
have since moved away. E. W. moved
from the township into Ocheyedan and resided
there until about two years ago, when he moved
to Powshiek County, Iowa, where he now resides.
J. T. was justice in that township
several years,and is now an evangelist and
lives in Illinois. In 1872 also C. M. Richards,
W. Bisby, W. W. Herron, Henry and Dan
Gibson and Jacob Brooks settled
in Horton, coming from Butler County, Iowa.
Richards left about eight years ago,
and now resides in Pipestone, Minnesota. Bisby
went to Butler County. Herron is in California.
Mr. Brooks is now a merchant at Sibley.
Also H. B. Clemens came that year to
the township, and a few years ago went to
Washington. During the residence of these
Butler County people Richards was one
of the township trustees, and in the fall
went to Butler
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Since the earlier settlements
in Horton Township quite a number of German
families have moved into the township, and
these Germans are considered as some of its
most substantial and industrious citizens.
In 1882 Henry Wassmann with his son
Dick, Charles Griep and several others
of their neighbors left Indiana and bought
tickets to Chicago, from there to Glendive,
Montana. They were simply going west as men
do go, without knowing exactly where until
they looked it over. They got to Bismarck
in North Dakota, when the elder Wassmann
thought that any more west was too much for
him, and told the rest of the party they could
go on, but as for himself he should look over
a part of Iowa. This caused the three parties
above named to return to St. Paul, where they
bought tickets to Sheldon. They drove from
Sheldon to Bigelow, Minn., and not desiring
to settle there, were returning, when, by
parties at Sibley, they were induced to settle
in Osceola County, which they did. The Wassmann's
bought several pieces of land, among which
was the L. G. Ireland place on Section
34, where Dick Wassmann now lives.
His correct name is Diedrich Wassman,
but is commonly called Dick.
There is no better farm in the county than
Dick Wassmann's, and no better place
for a home than right there among the large
variety of forest trees, set out by the lamented
Ireland and later by Dick himself.
About one hundred different kinds of trees
stand there in the gorgeous grandeur of their
green foliage and as the leaves rustle in
the breeze, they seem to whisper a voice of
contentment, of thrift
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and independence which mark
the surroundings, and are expressed in the
hospitality of the occupant, for Dick Wassmann
is no more diminutive in heart and soul than
he is in stature. There are kinds of trees
on this farm that probably couldn't be found
anywhere else in the state, and fruit trees
in abundance. Henry Wassman returned
to Indiana where he still resides. Charles
Griep bought the northeast quarter Section
27 where he still lives and is a successful
farmer.
The coming of these parties
here was the means of other Germans following
them and buying land in Horton.
Henry Pinkenburg
took a part of Section 25, also did Conrad
Hattendorf; Henry Rusche the northwest
quarter of Section 14; Fred Glade a
part of Section 23; William Lick a
part of Section 21, and Conrad Oldendorf
a part of Sections 23 and 25. W. H. Noehren
bought the northeast quarter of Section 22,and
still lives there. Mr. Noehren has
been prominent in township matters, and at
present is a member of a good class of 
people, and among its other substantial farmers
not otherwise mentioned are the three Piscators,
father and two sons, who we believe are on
Section 8, Gustav Johnson on Section
10, William Rehborg on Section 11,
and August Polinski on Section 13.
On Section 14, besides
Henry Rusche, lives August Bremer
on the northeast quarter, and John Estabrook
on the southwest quarter. Conrad Bremer
is on Section 15, William Filk and
John Farragher on Section 18, and Peter
Wickland on Section 19. On Section 20
is Vaclave Sixty, also John Maske,
Joseph Rhomatko and Joseph Cload.
On Section 22 we find Chris Bremer
and Henry Redeker.
John Robertson
has the southeast quarter of Section 24, and
John Gielow and William Grave are
on Section 26. On Section 27, besides Mr.
Griep, are Charles Schmidt and
William Sehr. Mr. John Thompson
lives on a quarter of Section 28, and Mr.
I. B. Titus owns a part of Section
30, and is the only resident on that section.
Frank Engle is on Section 31, and William
Maske on Section 32. Chris Wassmann
is on Section 35 and has recently built there
a house and barn. On Section 36 William
Carney has a quarter, also A. V. Randall
formerly lived on this quarter, but is now
in business at Ocheyedan. J. T. Boling's
place is now owned by Herman Bauermeister,
who lives in Worthington, Minn.
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GRASSHOPPER
PERIOD.
The history
of the great world itself recognizes certain
distinct periods which have marked the ages
with their different characteristics. Osceola
County is but a small part of this mighty
universe, but its brief history has it periods
which are readily recognized by those of its
citizens whose residence here reaches back
even for only a decade.
The first was its filing
period, when settlers made record in the government
office, that they claimed certain pieces of
land for residence and occupation. The next
was the grasshopper period, and the last period
of general contentment and prosperity. This
part of the history is devoted to the grasshopper
period, and following this, the relief campaign
which followed in the wake of destroyed crops
and destitution. The writer himself went through
this “reign of terror” and knows
all about it by personal contact and experience.
The grasshopper itself was a curiosity; we
call it grasshopper because then among settlers
it bore no other name, while the books designate
the pest as the “Rocky Mountain locust.”
The natural home of these
insects was on the barren table lands along
the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains. There
they deposited their eggs every year. In Wyoming
Territory, Western Nebraska, Texas, the Indian
Territory and New Mexico, the broods were
annually hatched. In their native haunts they
attained an enormous size, many specimens
being three inches in length. Scientific men,
who have studied the habits of the grasshoppers
state that each succeeding brood degenerates
in size, and after three or four generations
the weaker are obliged to swarm and seek other
quarters, being driven out by the larger and
stronger insects.
These exiles rise and
go with the wind, keeping the direction in
which they first start, stopping in their
flight for subsistence and depositing eggs
in a prolific manner during the incubating
season, which lasted from the middle of June
to the middle of September.
This region had been
visited by grasshoppers before, but did not
excite a great deal of attention for the reasons
that the county was sparsely settled and but
a small area of land under cultivation, and
they came so late in the season that small
grains were generally out of their reach,
but extreme Northwestern Iowa then was not
settled, so that their ravages were further
east. Their first appearance at Sibley was
on the 5th day of June, 1873. The first seen
of them was a huge black
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cloud,
which was none other than a swarm of grasshoppers,
and which sent out a raring sound that terrified
the ears. Where there was any grain to cut
even before its maturity, the settlers went
at it to save what they could, but the grasshoppers
were not bad reapers themselves, and the modern
and latest improved of agricultural machinery
cut but little figure in the race, when that
swarm of grasshoppers came down and went to
work. They were possessed of great vitality
and enormous appetites; their first appearance
was alarming and their devastations were appalling.
It introduced to the settlers a serious problem;
they were new to the country, or rather the
country was new to them, and this strange
visitation raised the question as to whether
or not this grasshopper business was a part
of the country itself, and that the pests
would remain off and on indefinitely in the
future. This thought, aside from their coming
and the destruction they did in 1873, caused
much concern and consternation.
These grasshoppers had
crossed the Missouri River and commenced foraging
in the bordering Iowa counties, and devoured
the crops as they went to a greater or less
extent. In this season of 1873 some of the
Osceola County settlers lost what crop they
had by the grasshoppers, and others their
crops were partially destroyed. Some saved
a small garden patch by means of “shooing”
them off and keeping the patch free from them,
although the task was tedious and difficult.
The early part of the
season was extremely dry. No rain fell from
the first of May to the middle of June. Grain
did not grow much, but the grasshoppers did,
and before the drouth ended, the crops were
eaten and parched beyond all hope of recovery.
About the middle of June, however, considerable
rain fell, and outside of the before mentioned
counties the prospect was generally favorable
for good crops. The young grasshoppers commenced
to get wings about the middle of June, and
in a few days they began to rise and fly.
The prospect seemed good for a speedy riddance
from the pests. The perverse insects were
waiting for an easterly wind, but the wind
blew from the southwest for nearly three weeks,
so they staid and visited, and eat and continued
their ravages.
Early in the spring of
874, the eggs deposited the season before,
commenced hatching, and the soil looked literally
alive with insignificant looking insects,
a quarter of an inch in length but of enormous
eating qualities. As if by instinct, their
first movements were toward the field where
tender shoots of grain were making their modest
appearance. Sometimes the
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first
intimation a farmer would have of what was
going on would be from noticing along one
side of his grain-field a narrow strip where
the grain was missing. At first, perhaps,
he would attribute it to a “balk”
in sowing, but each day it grew wider and
a closer examination would reveal the presence
of young grasshoppers.
The settlers of Osceola
County in the spring of 1874 did their sowing
and planting under a feeling of apprehension.
They were here and the work must go, even
with the grasshopper difficulty staring them
in the face. Many got out of the country,
owing to the grasshoppers of 1873, but they
who remained had nought else to do but to
work on. The grasshopper ravages were the
worst in 1874 and 1875, and from then on the
pests degenerated in size and did less mischief
each year, but were still here until 1879
when they did but little damage and in 1880
the county felt itself well rid of them.
All sorts of suggestions
and devices were made with reference to the
destruction of grasshoppers during these years,
and it was much of a topic of discussion how
to get rid of them. Judge Oliver, in
a communication to the Sioux City Journal,
said: “Farmers should not be discouraged.
Crops, especially wheat and corn, should be
put in as early as possible, so as to get
a start while the hoppers are small. Late
potatoes and beans may be planted as late
as is safe, so as not to get up until the
hoppers are gone. Young trees and shrubs may
be protected by a sack of thin cloth drawn
over them and tied at the bottom. I desire
to impress on farmers, where the eggs are
unhatched, the absolute necessity of early
seeding. One week's difference in the time
of seeding may make all the differences between
a good crop and a failure.”
The Sioux City Journal
said: “The grasshopper deposits its
eggs at the roots of the grass in the latter
part of summer or early autumn. The eggs hatch
out early in spring, and during the months
of April, May and June, according as the season
is early or late; they are wingless, their
sole power of locomotion being the hop.
“To destroy them,
all that is needed is for each county, town
or district to organize itself into a fire
brigade, throughout the district where their
eggs are known to be deposited.
“This fire brigade
shall see that the prairies are not burned
over in the fall, and thus they will have
the grass for the next spring and to be employed
upon the pests while they are yet hoppers,
the means of sure death. To apply it, let
all
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agree upon a certain day, say
in early April or May or at any time when
they are sure all the hoppers are hatched
and none are yet winged. All being ready let
every person, man, woman and boy, turn out
with torches and simultaneously fire the whole
prairie, and the work, if well done, will
destroy the whole crop of grasshoppers for
that year, and none will be left to “soar
their gossamer wings” or lay eggs for
another year.”
The Gazette of
July 10, 1874, had the following:
“Grasshoppers are
being successfully chased by many people in
this county. There is usually a slight wind
blowing, and people take ropes one or two
hundred feet in length, and, stretching them
out, walk or ride across the fields, the trailing
rope disturbing the grain, which causes the
'hoppers' to fly up, and then the friendly
wind carries them off the field.
“Mr. Dunton,
who has been saving his wheat by the use of
ropes, finds it useful to tie rags, newspapers,
etc., to them on account of the greater rustle
the rope makes as it trails over the grain
with these attached.”
As the grasshopper years
went on, the people themselves, scientific
men and even the halls of legislation were
discussing the important question of how to
drive the “hoppers” from the country.
Many and varied were the experiments. They
tried smudging, burning the prairie, burning
tar, digging ditches and every conceivable
thing that the ingenuity of man could suggest,
even to a huge trap in which to share and
catch them. Minnesota offered a bounty of
a certain amount per bushel for them, and
actually paid out quite a sum, which helped
the people along, but the idea of delivering
a crop of grasshoppers for a consideration,
strikes us now as bordering on the ridiculous.
These pests lasted about seven years, and
the latter years of the seven they were much
less troublesome than the first. The grasshopper
business, too, had its humorous side, and
there was much wit grew out of it, and the
eastern papers made much fun of us, and not
only that, but seriously charged us with being
a country liable to such things, and hence
unfit to live in. The county papers around
in Northwestern Iowa would each claim that
the other county was the worst. The Gazette
said in one issue they were mostly in
Dickinson County, and the Beacon gives
this assertion the lie and says they are on
the border of Osceola “peeking”
over. Some agricultural house printed a card
bearing the picture of a grasshopper sitting
on a board fence gazing at a wheat field,
and underneath the words: “In this s(wheat)
by
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and bye.” The poet was
also at work, and the following one of the
numerous productions:
CHARGE OF THE GRASSHOPPER
BRIGADE
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
Right from the West they came,
More than six hundred—
Out from forest and glade;
“Charge for the corn!” they
said
Then for the fields they made—
More than six hundred.
Fields to the right of them,
Fields to the left of them;
Fields in front of them,
Pillaged and plundered;
Naught could their numbers tell,
Down on the crop they fell,
Nor left a stalk or shell—
More than six hundred.
Flashed all their red legs bare,
Flashed as they turned in air,
Robbing the farmers there,
Charging an orchard, while
All the world wondered!
Plunged in the smudge and smoke,
Right through the corn they broke,
Hopper and locust;
Peeled they the stalks all bare,
Shattered and sundered;
Then they went onward—but
More than six hundred. |
Since these
grasshoppers days the old settlers can see
what they missed by the following, recently
published:
“Some very important
uses for grasshoppers have recently been discovered.
There would seem to be no reason why they
should not be applied to commercial advantage
in the event of a plague this year. Not long
ago four quarts of liquid, expressed from
half a bushel of “hoppers” under
a cheese press, were shipped in a glass from
Spirit Lake, Iowa, to Professor William
K. Kedzie, of the Kansas State Agricultural
College. He made a complete analysis, and
by distilling the juice with sulpheric acid
obtained a colorless, limpid solution of formic
acid. Now, this acid is very valuable, having
a present market quotation of sixty cents
an ounce. It is not only employed in medicine
to a considerable extent, but it is also utilized
in the laboratory to reduce salts of the noble
metals, gold, silver and platinum. Hitherto,
it has always been extracted from red ants,
but the possibility of getting it in large
quantities from grasshoppers suggests a
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method for employing these insects
to an unlooked-for advantage. An interesting
feature of the analysis was the discovery
of a certain amount of copper in the liquid.
This metal has been found in the blood of
other animals, particularly in that of the
horeshoe crab, which always furnishes a trace
of it. It is not suggested, however, that
grasshoppers would assay a sufficient amount
of copper to the ton to make it worth while
to smelt them.
A while ago, Professor
C. V. Ripley, United States entomologist,
sent a bushel of grasshoppers, freshly caught
and scalded, to Mr. Bonnet, a St. Louis
caterer. The latter made a soup of them,which
was pronounced perfectly delicious by many
people who were afforded an opportunity of
tasting it. It closely resembled bisque. Mr.
Bonnet declared that he would gladly
have it on his bill of fare every day if he
could only obtain the insects. His method
of preparing the dish, as described by himself,
was to boil the hoppers over a brisk fire,
seasoning them with salt, pepper and grated
nutmeg, and occasionally stirring them. When
sufficiently done they were pounded in a mortar
with bread fried brown; then they were replaced
in the saucepan and thickened to a broth,
which was passed through a strainer before
being served. Professor Riley some
friends of his on one occasion to curry of
grasshoppers and grasshopper croquettes without
informing them as to the nature of the banquet,
but an unlucky hind leg, discovered in one
of the croquettes,revealed the secret.”
RELIEF
In January,
1873, there was organized at Sibley what they
called the “Citizen's Farmers' Club.”
This was before the “Grange” swept
over the state, but both of these had the
usual conditions of existence. They had their
birth, maturity and death. The Citizen Farmer's
Club was organized December 7, 1872, and its
object as declared by a resolution was for
the purpose of mutual protection, assistance,
encouragement, in- struction and social intercourse
generally. Meetings were held every Friday
afternoon at one o'clock, and no doubt many
an ambitious orator, after the fame of Cicero,
electrified and delighted the audience. This
organization had quite a number of meetings,
but soon as the Grange was introduced into
Osceola County, the Citizen Farmers' Club
began to decline and last, in the language
of the illustrious Cleveland, went into “Innocuous
desuetude.” Following these and really
as a
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basis upon which to secure relief
for the people by reason of grasshoppers,the
following announcement appeared in a September
number of the Gazette:
“HOMESTEADER'S PROTECTIVE
ASSOCIATION.— There will be a meeting
of the citizens of Osceola County, on fair
grounds, near Sibley, at 1 o'clock p.m., September
25, 1873, for the purpose of organizing a
Homesteader's Protective Association, the
object and aim of which, will be to look after
the interests of all true homesteaders. It
is hoped that there will be a general turnout,
that the organization may be made permanent
as long as it may be needed in this locality.
In union there is strength.
MANY HOMESTEADERS.”
The meeting was held
according to announcement and the following
is a report of it:
HOMESTEADER'S PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION.
A large
number of homesteaders were present at the
meeting held at the Court house on Saturday
last. D. L. Riley was chosen temporary
Chairman, and F. M. Robinson temporary
Secretary. Appropriate and earnest remarks
were made by D. L. Riley and H.
Jordan. A committee on resolutions, consisting
of J. H. Douglass, H. Jordan and A.
W. Clark, was appointed. Remarks were
made by J. L. Robinson, W. Rea, A. Halstead
and Allen Garvin.
The committee on resolutions
reported a preamble and resolutions which
were adopted. We have not space for them,
but the gist of them is as follows: After
setting forth as reasons for the forming of
an association, the fact that many homesteaders,
owing to the failure of their crops, would
be compelled to leave the county for a time
to obtain work in order to provide for their
families; also that fears were entertained
of their claims being unjustly contested,
thereby causing them expense which they were
unable to bear; “therefore, be it
“Resolved, That
we, the undersigned, band ourselves together
for the purpose of protecting ourselves in
our rights.”
A series of resolutions,
fifteen in number, establishing the number
of officers as one President, one Vice President
from each range of townships, a Secretary
and Treasurer; appointing a regular meeting
on the first Saturday of each month, at 1
o'clock P.M., in the court house; establishing
certain committees, defining their duties;
giving the terms of admission to the association;
and making it necessary for the Treasurer
to give bond, etc., were adopted. The officers
elected were as follows:
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President,
D. L. Riley; First Vice President,
C. W. Wyllys; Second Vice President,
C. M. Bailey; Third Vice President,
A. Garvin; Secretary, H. Jordan;
Treasurer, J. L. Robinson.
Any resident of Osceola
County may become a member of this organization
by subscribing his or her name to the preamble,
resolutions and by-laws, and paying the sum
of fifty cents.
Any one wishing to examine
the by-laws, etc., or to become a member of
the association, can do so by calling at Jordan's
office.
This meeting was the
foundation of a call for relief. Grasshoppers
had devastated the county, and what crops
there were had generally been ruined by the
pest. On the start, the people were divided
on this relief question, as many were opposed
to it on the ground that it would give the
county a bad reputation and retard settlement.
Several men in Sibley offered to carry such
families as were extremely needy, through
the winter and furnish them the necessaries
of life. Others, of those opposed to relief,
thought the county had better make provision
for its own, but the relief party was numerically
the stronger, and finally its opposers had
to fall into line. It is often the case when
some sudden catastrophe has fallen upon a
community, like the Chicago fire or the Johnstown
flood, that the community itself is unable
to take care of its unfortunates. Where hundreds
of families are left homeless and thrown upon
the charities of others, then, indeed,it is
well to call upon other parts of the country
for contributions. But there is always more
or less fraud connected with it, and it is
apt to be the case that the modest people,
but more deserving, get but little of the
relief goods, while the “cheeky”
ones get the most. It was a question then,
and is now, whether the relief movement for
Northwestern Iowa was advisable, but the people
had it, organizations were effected to handle
it, the state was solicited particularly,
and the country generally, for supplies. Adjutant-General
Baker was the state manager, and each
county, and indeed each township had its committees.
At a meeting of the Sibley
Grange, held the evening of the 7th of October,
1873, the following among the proceedings
was had:
“On motion, J.
F. Glover, H. C. Hungerford and F.
M. Robinson were authorized and instructed
to prepare an address to the Master of the
National Grange, and to the State
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and Subordinate Granges of Iowa,
soliciting supplies of grain for seed, to
be used by the farmers of Osceola County in
the spring of 1874, who are and will be unable
to purchase the same on account of the almost
total failure of crops the past season.”
The Gazette notes
one weeks receipts as follows: “Two boxes,
three sacks, eight barrels of flour and tow
carloads of coal. General Baker reports
nine more carloads of coal which will make
seventeen in all. About $200 in cash have
been received, which will be used to procure
seed grain.”
The relief business soon
fell into controversy and the newspapers were
wrangling over the question.
The Gazette of
December 19, 1873, had the following article:
“THE RELIEF QUESTION.—We
notice that some of the papers in this part
of the state are attributing all the destitution
to this county; some of them even intimate
that all the supplies which come to this place
are distributed to the people of this county.
In order to correct this impression, we have
obtained from J. L. Robinson, the secretary
of the distributing committee, the following
figures:
“From the 10th to
the 16th, inclusive, of this month, only six
days,there has been filled sixty-seven orders
for families of Lyon County, and thirty-four
from Rock and Nobles Counties, Minnesota.
Sixty-seven orders in six days from a county
whose prominent men boasted in the Sioux City
Journal that they could take care of
their own poor, does not look much as if they
were backing up their talk by deeds. It should
be remembered that these orders are not for
single articles, but are from half a ton of
coal to provisions and clothing for a whole
family, and in many instances all combined.
The above explanation will also apply to the
Minnesota applicants.
“We publish elsewhere
a communication form Minnesota men in regard
to the matter.
“While we have not
denied the need of aid in this county,we think
it hardly fair that we should have to bear
the whole odium, especially when we are giving
out supplies to people whose own county was
going to take care of them, and to inhabitants
of another state where there is no more than
ordinary destitution. No doubt some have obtained
supplies who did not really need them, but
we should hesitate to call all those thieves
who get aid, and they certainly would be such
if they had taken when not deserving. As we
understand the matter, the supplies were sent
for the needy homesteaders
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of the northwestern part of
the state, and all received at this place
have been so distributed, except those furnished
destitute people in Minnesota. The distributing
people are faithful careful men, and have
done their work well; they may have been deceived,
but we think that what complaint there may
be, has come from those who have been refused
when it was ascertained that they did not
need.
“We hope that the
papers of these neighboring counties will
at least give us credit for what we have done,
and not try to shove all their destitution
off onto Osceola County, because it might
injure their future prospects—especially
in the face of the above mentioned facts.”
On November 14, 1873,
the following appeal was issued:
“AN APPEAL, FOR
AID.—To the People of the State of
Iowa: We, the undersigned, a committee
appointed by the Homesteaders' Protective
Association of Osceola County, an organization
effected for the purpose of looking after
the extreme and urgent necessities of the
people of said county, caused by the almost
total failure of the crops, do deem it just
and proper that we let our sister counties,
who are in affluent circumstances, have positive
knowledge of the situation of a very large
proportion of the citizens of this county.
The most of the settlers
came here last spring with little or no means,
and depending entirely on their own efforts
during the summer to carry them through the
winter; honestly and faithfully have they
toiled. A very large amount of ground was
sown and planted in the spring—more than
sufficient to raise subsistence for all for
the coming winter, if it had not been for
an extremely wet, backward spring, and the
invasion of a vast army of grasshoppers, which
caused almost a total failure of corn and
small grain crops, so that they now find themselves
on the eve of a long, cold winter, worse off
than in the spring; without food of the plainest
kind, and without means to purchase fuel to
protect themselves and families during the
coming winter. There are hundreds of families
who have not sufficient clothing, and know
not where the bread that they will eat ten
days hence is coming from, or their fuel.
These same people relying on their crops to
carry them through the winter, have labored
diligently through the summer, and thousands
of acres of the prairie have been turned over
ready for a crop next spring.
“Now, therefore,
be it known to the people of the State of
Iowa, that without liberal assistance from
some source, a very large portion of the citizens
of this county will be without
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the necessaries to sustain life,
and also fuel to keep them from freezing,
and unless, from some source, seed is furnished
to these people to sow and plant in the spring,
many of the broad acres that are now ready
will have to lie idle the coming season.
“We therefore appeal
to the liberal, christian hearted people of
this state for assistance in the shape of
money, clothing, fuel and staple articles
of food.
“At the present
writing there are at least two hundred families
in the county needing immediate assistance.
“All consignments
will be made to
“C. M. BAILEY,
Agent H. P. A.,
“Sibley, Osceola County, Iowa.
“(For relief.)
“ALLEN GARVIN,
“ROBT. STAMM,
“W. W. CRAMM,
“J. L. ROBINSON,
“J. H. DOUGLASS,
“ Committee.”
At a joint
meeting of the Relief and Grange Committees,
held Saturday, January 3, 1874, the following
township committees were appointed to canvass
the several townships and ascertain the actual
necessities of the inhabitants:
| Township 98, Range 42—S. Hanley,
A. H. Miller and A. W. Mitchell. |
| Township 98, Range 41—C. Thompson,
J. Mandeville and W. Rea. |
| Township 98, Range 40—N. D.
Bowles, J. C. Moar and D. W. McCullam. |
| Township 99, Range 42—Wm. Anderson,
F. Townsend and E. Huff. |
| Township 99, Range 41—W. S.
Westcott, W. A. Spencer and Curtis. |
| Township 99, Range 39-40—C.
Boyd, W. A. Waldo and F. Thayer. |
| Township 100, Range 42—N. I.
Wetmore, F. Reynolds and S. Cram. |
| Township 100, Range 41—Wm. Thomas,
P. Piesley and A. Shapley. |
| Township 100, Range 40—W. W.
Herron, Q. E. Cleveland, J. F.
Pfaff. |
| Township 100, Range 39—J. S.
Flint, C. M. Richards and Ira Stevens. |
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The State
Senate of 1873-74 appointed a committee to
visit Northwest Iowa with reference to legislative
action for the purpose of securing a loan
with which to buy seed grain. December 3,
1874, Geo. D. Perkins, Senator from
Woodbury County, and Samuel Fairall,
Senator from Johnson County, went to Sibley
and held a conference with the people. They
examined the Auditor's books in order to ascertain
the financial condition of the county, and
the feasibility of the county issuing warrants
for the purchase of grain, and ascertained
that the county could not obtain the supply
needed from its own resources. These men expressed
themselves as wishing that the entire General
Assembly might be there and see for themselves,
and promised that they would make the appeal
for its sympathy, and to its patriotism for
action in the matter. A bill was presented
by Mr. Perkins asking an appropriation
of $105,000 for the purchase of seed grain
and expenses of three commissioners to purchase
and distribute; $5,000 out of the amount appropriated
to be paid for expenses. Under this bill the
money was to be in the nature of a loan, which
the parties were to pay back. After a discussion,
a bill was agreed upon to donate, instead
of loan, $50,000 to the northwest counties,
and this bill passed both houses and became
a law. Out of this donation Osceola County
got about $8,000.
The Legislative Committee,
Messrs. Brown and Tasker, arrived
in Sibley March 12, 1874, and “opened
court.” They were armed with blanks,
requiring the settler to state where he lived,
whether he was owner or renter, and how many
acres he had broken; also that he had no seed
for sowing. They also required testimony where
one's word was not considered good, and admonished
each and all that the penitentiary stared
them in the face if they swore falsely. This
Legislative tribunal did their work and went
home.
On March 27, 1874, after
the relief business had undergone its usual
trial and vexations, and charges of fraud
had gone around, and considerable discontent
and dissatisfaction the following instructions
were issued by General Baker to committee:
“In the distribution
of all supplies the utmost caution and care
must be exercised, and only the really needy
must be supplied, and they must be careful
to save something in reserve for emergency
or in case of sickness.
“In order to conform
to the above instructions the committee
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will require each applicant
for aid to take and subscribe the following
oath:
"Sibley, Iowa......1874
"I,_____________________do solemnly swear, so help me God, that
I have not flour or other provisions sufficient to last my family
one week, and that I have no means, on hand or at my command, to
procure subsistence for my family.
"________________"
Soon after
this, which was in March, 1874, the relief
business was ended.
On March 12, 1874, the
state committee issued the following:
DES MOINES, MARCH 12, 1874.
"To the Public: The undersigned would state for the
information of all concerned, that all supplies in our possession
for Northwestern settlers, will be distributed by April 1st.,
1873. There may be a small amount left on hand at that date but
hardly worth consideration. The settlers and committees must now
act most cautiously and govern themselves in accordance with the
existing condition of supplies. Any Grange or other benevolent
people who have anything to forward should do so at once. All our
advantages on railroad lines will probably cease by the date
above designated. And here in conclusion, we wish to thank the
railroads, express companies and the telegraph companies for all
the great favors they have done to the Northwestern settlers, in
forwarding the generous donations of our benevolent people.
N. B. BAKER
J. D. WHITMAN,
R. R. HARBOUR,
D. W. PRINDLE,
State Grange Committee.
March 23,
1873, after an extended announcement, the
people gathered in the courthouse at Sibley,
crowding the house to its utmost capacity,
to listen to General Baker and others, and
to have sort of a speaking love feast over
the winding up of the relief department. General
Baker told them that he had done what he could
for the people, that the supplies would soon
end and that they were now thrown upon their
own resources and must view it in that light
and act accordingly. Messrs. Jordan, Glover
and Riley also spoke to the people, and with
three cheers and tigers for Baker the meeting
dispersed. Thus ended the great relief campaign
of 1873 and 1874.
