WOODBURY COUNTY.

CHAPTER X.

BENCH AND BAR.
THEIR SAXON ORIGIN-FIRST TERM OF COURT IN WOODBURY COUNTY-THE JUDICIARY-PRESENTATION TO THE HON. C. H. LEWIS-EARLY MEMBERS OF
THE BAR AND THEIR STRUGGLES-LAND-GRANT AND OTHER LITIGATION.

THE judicial records of Woodbury county verify the claim that the Anglo-Saxon race carries its institutions wherever it locates. Hard by the relics of barbarism, and while yet the moccasin track was fresh upon the trails of the red man, tribunals of justice were opened, and men, who for a quarter of a century had relied upon the revolver and knife for the assertion of their rights or redress of their wrongs, gladly submitted their affairs to the arbitrament of law.

The early records of Woodbury county are filled with the names of those who formed the connecting link between civilization and barbarism. Years ago, almost the entire race who furnish so much business for the courts, followed the red man as he disappeared before the march of civilization, and the familiar names of August Traversier, Henry Goulet, Francis Bercia, Amable Gallenaux, and a host of other names which are as familiar as household words to the diligent reader of the early records of the county, have entirely disappeared from the later records, and are heard of no more in the community.

Until 1857 Woodbury county was a part of the Seventh judicial district. The first term of the district court was held September 3, 1855, the Hon. Samuel H. Riddle, judge of the Seventh judicial district, presiding. J. K. Myers was clerk, and Frank Chappel was sheriff. Charges of willful neglect of duty as clerk were preferred at this term against Theophile Bruguier, but no action appears to have been taken upon the charges.

The case of the State of Iowa vs. William B. Thompson appears upon the docket, charging him with the crime of manslaughter. The record recites that he appeared in person, and demanded a fair and

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speedy trial. From the character of this frontier man, we have no doubt the suggestion had weight with the court. He was one of the first settlers of the county, and proprietor of the town of Floyd's Bluff, the first county seat of Wahkaw, now Woodbury county. He was a man of giant stature, who had long been engaged in traffic with the Indians, and many stories of his desperate encounters and slain enemies were current in the community, and if armed, as he frequently was, with knife, revolver and rifle, when he stalked into the court-room in search of justice, we can very readily see that the court might be inclined to grant the request. To one acquainted with the circumstances and the man, much can be read between the lines of the journal entry. The trial commenced, but the names of the witnesses not appearing upon the back of the indictment, the state entered a nolle, the defendant giving bond to appear before the next grand jury.

A. C. Ford, of Council Bluffs, and H. C. Bacon, of Sioux City, were admitted to practice in the district court upon the presentation of certificates showing they had been admitted to practice in other courts, This closed the business of the first term of a court now almost constantly in session in this county.

Of the April term of court, which was previously held in a log building on the corner of Pierce and Third streets, no record was ever made. Several blank pages appear where the journal entries should be. E. D. Thompson is said to have been clerk, but no evidence of his labors appears upon the records. John Currier was appointed prosecuting attorney, Frank Chappel sheriff, John Braden and William B. Tredway deputies, Judge Riddle presiding. A grand jury was empaneled, of which Curtis Lamb was foreman and our distinguished townsman, George Weare, clerk. Indictments were returned against Elias Shook and William B. Thompson. Shook, who lived near Correctionville, had trouble with a young man who lived alone in a cabin near him, about a land claim. A few days after, the young man was found dead in his cabin, having been shot and, instantly killed. For this murder Shook was indicted. Thompson, at a dance near Sergeant's Bluff, at which a large number of French, half-breeds and Indians participated, and fighting whisky flowed freely, got into a quarrel with a white man and in the general row that followed, beat him with a gun, inflicting wounds from which he soon after died. For this crime he was indicted at the first term of court for man-

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slaughter, at this term for murder. Both Thompson and Shook were desperate characters. The county had no jail, and, while nominally in the hands of the sheriff, they were about at large, no one caring to enter a protest. A change of venue was taken to Harrison county. At the appointed time defendants appeared for trial, but neither were convicted, but why not, is one of the mysteries of those far-off days. It was rumored that the officers of the state were not very zealous in the prosecution, influenced, perhaps, by defendants' suggestion of what might happen in case of a conviction.

The record of this term discloses the fact that the traffic in whisky was a fruitful source of grief, even then, and true bills were found against several citizens for selling the forbidden article. In the unrecorded records of this term, lay the foundation for the title of "high deputy sheriff" of 'Woodbury county, by which our townsman, William B. Tredway, was known for many years.

The fall term of court commenced on November 24, 1856, Judge Riddle presiding. A grand jury was empaneled, of which Thomas J. Stone was foreman.

The first case upon the civil docket is that of Henry Goulet vs. August Traversier. The first judgment in a contested case was rendered in the suit of Joseph Robideau vs. Francis Lachartre and Francis Bercia for $378.64 and costs. And the first jury trial was in the case of Marshall Townsley vs. August Traversier. The first recorded evidence of domestic infelicity is the case of Mary F. Cloud vs. John M. Cloud. The title is suggestive of the weakness of the race, and that the silken bonds of matrimony had become galling chains from which the gentle Mary sought and obtained release.

The result of the labors of the grand jury are found in the State of Iowa vs. Frank Gardner and four other indictments, three of which were for selling, intoxicating liquors contrary to law. The ardent believer in the great inalienable right to traffic in the forbidden article, looking backward, does not see the pathway strewn with roses. The traffic was surrounded with perils even in those good old days.

The following are Mr. Joy's own words:

The next term provided by law was not held. I remember well the keen disappointment felt by the bar at the failure to hold this term of court. To several of us it was to have been our first experience in the courts or the state. Anxious days and nights had been spent in ex-

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ploring the mysteries of the code practice and preparing cases for trial. But when the judge arrived, instead of opening court, he repaired to the saloon with A. C. Ford, of Council Bluffs, an attorney who practiced extensively at the bars outside of the court-room, and there, with congenial spirits, spent the time allotted for the term, in giving the infant city a crimson tint. To those of us accustomed to the dignified and formal proceedings of a New England court, where the judge was attended in his walks to and from his chambers to the bench, by a liveried and armed attendant, such proceedings sadly marred one of the idols of our early days, and taught us that even those in high positions are of the earth, earthy.

In 1857 this portion of Iowa was very sparsely settled. Most of the unorganized counties in northwestern Iowa were attached to Woodbury for revenue and judicial purposes, and whatever law business there was in this vast region of country was done at Sioux City. It was also the outfitting post for all the trains leaving for the forts and agencies on the upper Missouri, and quite prominent in the early days as a steamboat landing, and afterward as headquarters for the boat lines running on the upper Missouri. It was also the point at which the returning miners from the Black Hills country first reached civilization. They came down the Missouri in large, open boats, constructed upon the Yellowstone, carrying from twenty to fifty men, who brought back to civilization many of the reckless and unrestrained customs of the mining camp. This all contributed largely to the volume and variety of the business transacted in the courts, and gave to the attorneys a wider range of business than is usual in a frontier town. Then, too, the United States district court for the northern district of Nebraska territory, was held at Dakota City for several years. Many of the counties in northeastern Nebraska were attached to Dakota county for judicial purposes. The most of the business for northeastern Nebraska was done at Dakota City. Here the bar of Woodbury county for many years brought most of the important cases. At both Sioux City and Dakota City were United States land offices, at which, from time to time, almost every kind of land contests were tried.

During the war, Sioux City was military headquarters for the Army of the Northwest, operating against the Indians, and while the troops were in camp during the winter, the military tribunals furnished many interesting cases in which the attorneys of the city took a prominent

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part. The proceedings before the different tribunals gave variety to the practice, and required of the attorneys constant study and extensive reading, and familiarity with many branches of the Law.

The first term of court held in 1857, was at Dakota City in the fall of that year; Hon. E. Wakely, United States district judge for the northern district of Nebraska, presided. A large hotel had been built during the spring and summer of that year. The lower portion of the building had been finished. The fourth story was all in one room. Sticks, shavings and refuse lumber were scattered over the floor. At one end of the room, upon a board resting upon two nail casks, with a work-bench for a table, sat the presiding judge. The attorneys were seated upon planks laid across saw-horses alongside of another work-bench, while the grand and trial jurors and spectators, who composed a large portion of the male population of northern Nebraska, were seated upon planks placed across nail casks, and industriously employed the time, while the court was transacting business, in manufacturing into every conceivable form the sticks and strips of lumber covering the floor. At times it looked as though every man in the audience, except the judge on the bench and the attorney addressing him, was engaged in whittling. And the jurors while listening to the arguments of counsel, fashioned from the soft pine lumber, images which had the likeness of nothing in the heavens above, or earth below, or in the regions beneath. Primitive as were the surroundings, we soon felt we were in the presence of one whose patient, dignified bearing, skill in presiding, clearness in the statement of his views, and knowledge of the law, made him one of the ablest trial judges before whom it has been my fortune to practice.

An incident occurred that shows under what difficulties the judgments of the court were enforced in those early days. The punishment inflicted upon some of the offenders, was fine and imprisonment in the county jail. The sheriff promptly suggested that the county had no jail, and he could not confine the prisoners. "Picket them out, then," responded the judge, and the business of the court went on. The attorneys soon became convinced that the laws were as faithfully administered and justice as nearly attained in the unfinished and unfurnished garret, as amid the forms, pomp and splendor of eastern tribunals.

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In the fall of 1857, M. F. Moore, an attorney of Sioux City, was elected judge of the Twelfth judicial district, which had been formed, embracing all northwestern Iowa, and held the first term in the new district on December 7, of that year. T. Ellwood Clark was clerk, F. M. Hubbell, deputy, and S. A. Ayers, sheriff.

At this time appeared the two famous cases which aroused the veterans of the two parties, and arrayed them in support of the respective claimants for the offices. The State of Iowa ex rel. J oIln L. Oampbell vs. John K. Cook, was a contest over the office of county judge. John L. Campbell claimed to have been elected to the office. John K. Cook was the incumbent, and sought to hold another term. But, TIpon the trial, the court went behind the returns of the canvassing board, and declared John L. Campbell entitled to the office, into which he was duly installed, but was afterward compelled to resign at the point of a revolver, The other case, the State of Iowa ex rel. Charles E. Hedges vs. Samuel H. Cassady, was a contest for the office of county treasurer, which was also decided in favor of the claimant, Charles E. Hedges.

John Hagy
(click image for full size)

At the February term of court, 1858, our distinguished townsman, J. C. C. Hoskins, appears as sheriff; at the April term; George I. Tacket; at the December term, William H. Frame, showing that the tenure of office was somewhat uncertain, even among men who filled the office with credit and ability.

Judge Moore's term expired December, 1858. The duties of judge interfered with his gay and festive ways of life, and he gladly put off the ermine which he had worn for a brief term. He was a man of integrity, a graduate of Yale college, and had a fair knowledge of elementary law, but knew little of what the courts had held, and did not remain long enough upon the bench to learn much about the decisions of other courts. .

At the fall election of 1858, Hon. A. W. Hubbard was elected judge, and held his first term of court in August, 1859. J. N. Field was clerk, and S. A. Ayers, sheriff. With this term of court began a new epoch in the judicial proceedings of northwestern Iowa. Judge Hubbard brought to the discharge of his duties, the knowledge and experience gained by many years of active practice, and a familiarity with the code practice and the decisions of the courts, that was of great value in settling the practice under the code of 1851 and

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revision of 1860. Rules of court were adopted, and something like order took the place of the chaotic proceedings of the earlier terms, and the foundations were laid for a legitimate practice. The bar and community owe more to Judge Hubbard than they realize, for his labors in shaping the practice, expediting the transaction of court business, and giving dignity to the tribunal, that compelled respect for the court and its decisions. It was fortunate for northwestern Iowa that a man of his experience, knowledge of law and ability, was prevailed upon to take the position, from which he retired, all too soon for the good of the district, when elected to congress in the fall of 1862. His clear and fearless exposition of the law, his desire that justice be done under its forms, his recognition of, and adherence to, the cardinal truth that all judicial proceedings should be conducted with a view to the attainment of justice, and protection of the rights of the citizens, left their impress upon the court and bar of northwestern Iowa.

Hon. Isaac Pendleton was Judge Hubbard's successor. He was elected in the fall of 1862, and entered upon the discharge of his duties with a limited experience in the practice of his profession, and, following Judge Hubbard upon the bench, the contrast between age and experience and youth and beauty was very great. It was a hard place to fill, but the business of the courts was very light. We were then in the midst of the excitement and turmoil of the Civil war, and here, as elsewhere, amid the clash of arms, the laws were silent. For some time but few litigated cases were tried. This gave the judge an opportunity for study and preparation for the more arduous duties that came with the return of peace. Judge Pendleton had the advantage of a collegiate education, was accustomed to mental labor, and possessed fine ability. But he never delighted in the technicalities of the law. He saw clearly the right of a case, and endeavored to do justice between litigants. The manner of attaining the end was of minor importance. The judge improved and developed, becoming more familiar with the practice, until, during the last part of his term, the ground of complaint was his habit of never doing to-day what could be done to-morrow. On the whole he exceeded the expectations of his friends upon the bench, but was not as well adapted for the discharge of the duties of a judge, as of the advocate. In the presentation of questions of fact to a jury, and in the knowledge of

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what influences and controls men, he had but few superiors. "Here Richard was himself again." His term of office expired in January, 1867, when he returned to the practice of his profession in Sioux City, where he had for many years an extensive criminal practice.

In the fall of 1866, Henry Ford, of Harrison county, who had been district attorney, was elected to succeed Judge Pendleton. He held his first term of court in April, 1867. F. J. Lambert was clerk and John Hagy was sheriff. After his election he removed to Sioux City, and held the office for two terms and until 1875. Judge Ford had a fine presence, and presided with dignity; had a good legal mind, was never very industrious, making it necessary for the attorneys to make a full presentation of the authorities upon legal questions involved in the case. If these were fully presented, his judgment upon questions of law was very accurate. He had many of those traits of character which made him warm friends and followers, and had he not become demoralized and made reckless by whisky, there was no office in the gift of the people of his district to which he might not have attained.

C. H. Lewis, of Cherokee, who had also been district attorney, was elected judge in the fall of 1874, and has now nearly completed his sixteenth year of consecutive service upon the bench. During the latter part of his term he has lived in Sioux City. The repeated election to the office which he has so well filled, speak more clearly than words, of the esteem and regard in which he is held, as a man and jurist, by those whom he has so long and faithfully served.

Judge Lewis commenced the discharge of his official duties just as he was entering upon the vigor of manhood, and for sixteen years wore the judicial ermine without stain. The proceedings of the Woodbury county bar upon the last day of the last term held by him, when an elegant gold watch and chain with appropriate inscriptions, was presented to him by the bar, were very impressive, and the resolutions then adopted show the kindly regard and esteem in which he was held, by those over whom he had so long presided. Upon that occasion, William L. Joy, on behalf of the bar, presenting the watch and chain, spoke as follows:

"The revolving days have brought us to the last hour of the last term in the sixteen years that your honor has served this district upon the bench, and it is well for the court and bar at this milestone, to pause for a moment in the busy cares of the day, and review the path

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along which we have traveled so pleasantly, and, we trust, profitably together. Many of us remember the day upon which your honor put on the judicial ermine, and from that day on we have toiled, each in our chosen paths, and from the lessons of the past we may gain some consolation for the present and inspiration for the future. We have rejoiced as we saw the firm grasp that the years of toil and labor were giving your honor upon those great principles that underlie our jurisprudence; we have admired the skill and the wisdom that came with years and experience in your application of those great principles to the affairs of our every-day life. It is not customary--it is rare indeed--that so long a period of service is rendered a people, as your honor has rendered. Although, at the time you put on the judicial ermine, you were in the vigor of manhood, just entering upon its active duties, yet I imagine that your most sanguine expectation, as you looked down the future, could have hardly mapped out such a course of usefulness as it has been your honor's privilege and lot to confer upon this people and upon this bar, though at that time all the valleys were lit up with sunshine, and the mountain peaks were radiant with hope.

"The lot that has fallen to you, to have so successfully administered the judicial affairs of this district for such a length of time, is certainly a great commendation, and but few men attain unto that honor. Then, too, your honor, the territory over which you have been called to preside was then in its infancy; the embryo cities were springing up along the great thoroughfares of travel, but the country was sparsely settled, only here and there the smoke curled up from the cabin of the early settlers, when you commenced your duties upon the bench. But how changed! Your honor has applied the principles that underlie our jurisprudence, to the affairs of life in the infancy of this great country. It is an honor to have thus had a hand in shaping the jurisprudence of this vast region—vast to-day, vaster in the future, the home of millions yet to be, that shall refer to the record of your life and your work that you have left in the different counties in which your honor has presided, and they shall find written there, evidence, that in the earlier days, in the infancy of these different counties, the laws were faithfully, honestly and fairly administered. Your honor will pardon the suggestion, and I make it for the benefit of the younger members of the bar, that by earnest, persevering toil

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in the God-given paths of industry, your honor has been able to achieve that wonderful success that has been yours; it is here, and in these paths alone, by these painstaking, careful and earnest labors, that men achieve that which is lasting, that which is worthy of attaining. The monuments that the court and bar leave to posterity, are largely the judicial records of the courts in which it is their duty to preside or practice. Your honor, through northwestern Iowa, has left a record more enduring than marble or brass. You have recorded in the records of these counties, that which shall .be read by your children's children; for sixteen years your honor has stood in the fierce light that beats around the throne; your honor has stood where your every act, and where all the weaknesses of our common humanity are brought out in the strongest light, and yet you may point to that record and challenge investigation. Few, few, can lay down the ermine unspotted and untarnished after having worn it for the length of time that it has been your lot to wear it. And now, in behalf of the bar of Woodbury county, we desire to present some slight token of our appreciation and regard, and ask that your honor wear it as a slight memento of the warm hearts, and the affectionate regard of those over whom it has been your duty so long to preside, and we present it with the hope on the part of each, that it may mark for you only pleasant hours."

E. H. Hubbard, presenting the following resolutions, said:

"May it please the court and gentlemen of the bar: We do not willingly part with a dear friend with one farewell. We rather linger in our parting clasp and say 'farewell and hail,' again and again. And so, dear judge, in these hours of parting between us, as judge and members of the bar, it seems fitting that we should express to you, not alone ill this personal memento, but in other ways that may endure to later generations, the appreciation that we have for an upright and just judge. For sixteen years you have sat in this place of honor. Most of us here are your children in the law. We have grown up under your administration; we have learned not alone to admire, but to love you as well, and it is nothing unseemly I think, at this time, but entirely fitting, that we should ask that there be placed among the records of this court, which have been in so large a part made by yourself, resolutions that may express our sense of your worth. I beg to offer to the members of the bar, resolutions as follows, and later, to move their adoption:

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"WHEREAS, After sixteen years of faithful service as judge of the district court of the Fourth judicial district of Iowa, Hon. C. H. Lewis is about to leave the bench, it is fitting that the bar of the court over which he has so long presided, should express to him their feelings of regret at his retirement, and of respect for him as man and judge; therefore be it

Resolved, 1. That the bar of Sioux City and Woodbury county tender to Judge Lewis their cordial and affectionate respect, recognizing in him those qualities which make a great judge; that unerring sense of justice which seeks for the rig-ht under whatever cloud of technicality; that promptness which takes from the law the reproach of delay; that benevolent spirit which knows how to temper justice with kindness; that firmness which acts and fears not; that impartiality which looks with equal eye upon all men and all causes, measuring them only with the standard of truth.

2. That as a lasting memorial of our regard, and as a fitting testimonial to one worthy of honor, we ask that these resolutions be spread upon the records of the district court"

O. C. Tredway, seconding the resolutions, said:

"My Brethren: With the single exception of the Hon. S. T. Davis, I believe I am now the longest in practice at the Woodbury county bar of any of its members, and I may say that my sands of professional life are nearly, if not quite, run out, and I have no wish on this occasion to utter words except words of candor and of truth.

"I have, therefore, passed through, in active professional life, the whole official life of him whom we have here assembled on this occasion to bid farewell to, as an honored official, and yet, at the same time, welcome back into the private walks of life, in our midst with pride and pleasure.

"For twenty years Judge Lewis has held within his hand, the wand of power in connection with the due administration of the laws of our county, delivered to him by the sovereign power of the land the voice of the people-devolving upon him the duty in part, of public prosecutor in behalf of the state, and in part as judicial interpreter of the rights between the state and the citizen, and between the citizen and the citizen.

"No higher places of weighty responsibility have been created by the sovereign people in the formation of their government. No place, more than that of public prosecutor, calls for exact justice in action by the representative of the sovereign power of the state. No place more than that which he occupies, who is wrapped about by the sacred folds of the judicial ermine, calls for purity of heart and wisdom of' head.

"In these trying places of power and trust, Judge Lewis has long

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been tested, and now that he is about to resume the place of a private citizen, no murmur, charging tyranny, comes up from those over whom he has presided as public prosecutor, nor is a whisper heard against the integrity of his judicial decrees.

"It is, therefore, eminently fit and proper, in my humble judgment, that this gift be bestowed and accepted, and that these resolutions be spread upon the records of the court as a lasting monument of the high esteem in which an able, pure and upright judge is held by the Woodbury county bar."

J. S. Lawrence, George Argo, L. S. Fawcett, W. G. Clarke, S. M. Marsh, of the Woodbury county bar, and H. C. Curtis of the Le Mars bar, followed with appropriate and eloquent remarks.

Judge Lewis in response said:

"I trust that to-day, as in all the years of the past, I am thankful for the courtesy and kindness of the members of this bar and the officers of this court. Twenty years ago I began the work of district attorney in the Fourth judicial district of Iowa, a district then composed of twenty-two counties, and for two years served in that capacity. At the expiration of that time, the district was reduced to twenty counties, and for the balance of my term, two years, I served as district attorney in those twenty counties. After that time, sixteen years ago, it then being the 1st of January, 1875, I became the presiding judge of the Fourth judicial district of Iowa, a district then composed of twenty counties. For two years I presided as sole presiding judge of that district as then constituted; at the expiration of that time the district was divided and a new district was organized, composed of the nine counties now constituting the district. For a portion of the time since 1877, I have been sole presiding judge of the district, and later, when relief came, I have been one of the presiding judges of the district. The position has been to me one of pleasure, of duty and of work. Not a few of the members of the bar who were in the district then and in practice, are still here in the practice of their profession; some have gone to other counties, and from them we have good reports; others have gone to the beyond; they are away from the kindly words of friends, they are beyond the bitterness of enemies. The time has come when our relations as members of the bar, as officers of the court and as presiding judge must cease. You have seen fit, in this parting hour, to speak kindly

Allen Armstrong
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words of praise to me and to present tokens of friendship. I accept these in the same kindly spirit that they have been presented. For them you have my kindly, my appreciative and my cordial thanks. You have seen fit to present to me this beautiful watch. I look upon its rich and its shining cases; in it are embedded the friendships of years, the friendships of the older and the friendships of the younger. I think of its springs, of its wheels and of its movements, and then I think of that power which moves heart to heart and soul to soul; I look into its open face and out of the avenues of years come the familiar faces which have so often appeared before me; I listen to its musical tick and from all along the memory of years come the voices that have been present to explain, to assist in the intricate problems of the law which have been before us.

"And now, gentlemen, as I go from this bench, as I go out of the doors of this court-house, as I leave the business of this district to go, I know not where, I go feeling that you have faithfully performed your duties to your clients; I go with the consciousness and thought that in all my years of work upon the bench I have each day and each hour sought to do the best I could; that I have never intentionally wronged or injured any person; that I have endeavored to keep myself free from all of those associations and combinations which in any way might effect my judgment on such questions as might come before us, and that to some of you in your work I may have been helpful, and to those whom you have so faithfully represented, I have been fair.

"It has been said that words are leaves, that deeds are fruits. Words are apples of gold when fitly spoken, and deeds are noble when rightly done and when rightly performed. . I have endeavored in all my judicial career, to be a man and officer of deeds rather than words, and as I go now from the bench, I go with the full consciousness that I have attempted to faithfully discharge my duty, and this, I trust, may ever abide and continue with me. My heart, gentlemen, is full of thankfulness to all of you and to each of you. Good-bye."

The watch which the judge received is one of the best ever made by the Elgin National Watch Company. The movement is the finest made, and is enclosed in a solid gold Louis XIV case, with an enameled dial, illuminated with diamonds and rubies, filigree gold hands and gold figures. On the inside cap is the inscription: "Presented Hon. O. H. Lewis, Judge of the Fourth Judicial District, by

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Members of the Sioux City Bar." Attached to the watch is a very heavy 14-carat gold chain, and a plain, square, satin-finish gold locket, with a large diamond in the center.

In 1868 the circuit court was established. Hon. Addison Oliver, of Monona county, was the first circuit judge, and held his first term of court in Woodbury county in February, l869. This position he held until the fall of 1874, when he was elected a member of congress. Judge Oliver brought to the discharge of his duties as judge, a well-cultivated mind, a good knowledge of law, fearlessness in its execution, and an earnest desire to do justice. He had but little use in his court for forms and ceremonies which did not accomplish this end, and swept away the refuges of lies in language sometimes more forcible than polite.

At one time, when a druggist reported to his court, under the statute, the amount of liquor sold during the quarter, an amount assuming gigantic proportions, the judge inquired if there had been any epidemic in the community, and, when assured that it had been a season of unusual health, informed the astonished druggist, in language more forcible than elegant, that his court could not be made a partner in the saloon business."

While holding court at Sioux City, an application was made by a defendant for a change of venue, in a case pending before him, on the ground of the prejudice of the judge, and in support of the motion, the affidavits of disreputable hangers-on of one of the dives on Second street, of whom the judge had never before heard, and who, from the very circumstances of the case, could know nothing of his knowledge or feelings in the matter, were read. As the attorney proceeded with the reading, it was apparent to the lookers-on that the judge was taking in the magnitude of the falsehood. As soon as the reading ceased he ordered the venue changed, remarking that he "should hate the d--dest that anyone should think he was prejudiced in favor of the defendant." At another time suit had been brought in O'Brien county, upon county warrants that were a fraud upon the county, and for which no consideration had been paid, to which the county was making but a feeble defense. Plaintiff's attorney, in proving up his case, offered the warrants ill evidence, claiming the presumption of law to be that they were valid and made a prima facie case. The court held, that while such was the general rule in O'Brien county,

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in furtherance of justice, a different doctrine was established and fraud was presumed. Plaintiff failed to obtain a judgment.

In the fall of 1875 J. R. Zuvier, then of Harrison county, afterward of Sioux City, was elected Judge Oliver's successor, and held the position two terms. He brought to the bench a limited experience and knowledge -of the law, and such a mental make-up, that at first he could not see a lively fight go on before him without taking a hand in it His zeal was often so great that he became a dangerous ally for the party whose cause he espoused. The judge had a good mind, and a desire to do right; was a hard worker, and gave the litigants the best of his judgment in the matter before him. Experience corrected many of the errors of his early career, and untiring industry brought its reward. The judge was becoming a strong man in his position, when disease blighted all his further prospects, and drove him from the bench and the practice of his profession.

George W. Wakefield, of Sioux City, succeeded Judge Zuvier upon the circuit court bench, and held his first term in June, 1885. Upon the abolition of the circuit court, he became one of the district judges for the Fourth judicial district, which position he now holds, Judge Wakefield entered upon the discharge of his duties in the vigor of manhood, with a good knowledge of law, and a habit of patient thought and industry, indispensable to one who would attain distinction upon the bench, In the faithful discharge of duty, he is growing in the estimation of the bar and community. All are justly proud of the merited distinction he has attained upon the bench.

By an act of congress passed in 1882, Sioux City was designated as one of the points at which the terms of the district and circuit courts of the United States should be held, O. p, Shiras, of Dubuque, Was appointed district judge, and held his first term of court at Sioux City, February 13, 1883. A large amount of important business is transacted in this court. Judge Shiras is recognized by the bar as a clear-headed judge, an able lawyer and jurist, and already in the front rank of the district judges of the land.

The bar and community have been fortunate in the class of men who have presided in the courts of the county. They do not suffer in comparison with the bench in other localities. With meager compensation for the ability and services rendered, they have discharged the duties of the positions faithfully and well, and are justly entitled to

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the esteem and regard in which they have been, and are held, by the bar and the community.

The early bar of Woodbury county was composed largely of young men who had received their education and legal, training in eastern colleges, and came to their work well prepared by the training of the schools. The supposition that the extensive land grant made in 1856 to the state of Iowa, to aid in the construction of a railroad from Dubuque to Sioux City, would secure its early completion, induced a large number of young men of more than ordinary ability and energy, to locate at Sioux City, and commence here the practice of their profession. To-day one can hardly realize under what difficulties they labored. The code practice was in its infancy, and very few of its provisions had been passed upon by the courts. The county had no court-house, and libraries were very small. Their field of labor embraced northwestern Iowa, northeastern Nebraska, and afterward the southern portion of Dakota territory. Between many of the county seats where courts were held, there were no public conveyances, no bridges across the streams, and but a dimly marked trail guided the legal pilgrims in their journey over more than fifty miles which intervened between county seats, without a house or other evidence of civilization.

During the winter time, and in seasons of high water, these journeys, across the wide prairies and swollen streams, were fraught with many dangers. The early toilers in the profession, John Currier, O. C. Tredway, S. T. Davis, William L. Joy, N. C. Hudson, Isaac Pendleton, Patrick Robb and others frequently made these trips. Many of the early members of the bar recall nights spent wandering upon the bleak prairie, searching amid blinding snow and piercing winds for the dim trail; days and nights spent in wet clothing, journeying through drenching rains and swollen streams, crossing the almost trackless prairies; trips on foot made through mud and water to Dakota City and back; crossing the Missouri in skiffs and dug-outs amid floating ice and angry waves, when the chances of reaching the shoreless land were better than those of making the home port. Then, too, for many years the possibility was ever before them in their journeys that the red man might be lurking for them in every ravine and clump of trees. This constant exposure to danger made them fearless almost to recklessness.

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Whatever the dangers to be overcome, and hardships to be endured, the attorneys were always present at the terms of court; and often without reward and with but little hope of receiving anything like an adequate compensation, tried the cases with a care, skill and earnestness that entitled them to far greater reward than they ever received here. But let us hope that under the benign law of compensation, somewhere in the great future they may receive an adequate reward for their labors and toils. Nowhere were the interests of clients more carefully guarded, and their rights protected, than by the Sioux City bar.

Though the bar has largely increased of late years, and many worthy and promising men have been added to its numbers, and a suitable and convenient court-house with appropriate furnishings and extensive libraries have taken the place of the school-house, church and ha11 in which the early courts were held, it is doubtful whether cases are tried with more skill or are more clearly and eloquently presented to court or jury than in those early days. Excessive zeal in the interests of clients often induced attorneys to pass the boundaries of decorum and use very vigorous language with reference to opposing counsel and their clients. But in their professional relations a high sense of honor and integrity characterized their intercourse. In those days the word of an attorney was as good as his bond, and was taken and acted upon without hesitation, by his brother attorneys, in matters of the greatest importance.

Most of the important cases tried in northwestern Iowa and northeastern Nebraska, for many years, were conducted in whole or in part by Sioux City attorneys, and an extended statement of their labors would be almost a recital of what the court records contain. In those days the contest frequently commenced in the justice court, and while our distinguished citizens, J. C. C. Hoskins and John P. Allison, held the justice courts, legal questions were presented and discussed before them with all the care bestowed upon their discussion in a court of record, and their decisions upon questions of law and fact were regarded by the bar as entitled to almost equal authority as those of a court of record. Cases were tried before them, the hearing of which continued for days, and the ground was fought over inch by inch.

The county warrant and bond litigation, which grew out of the fraudulent issue of vast numbers of bonds and warrants by the counties and school districts of northwestern Iowa, furnished many suits in

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both the state and federal courts, which involved large amounts, and deeply interested the inhabitants of the respective counties. The holding of the courts, both state and federal, relieved the counties from burdens that would have taxed the energies of generations to have paid.

Extensive litigations have grown out of the land grants made to the state of Iowa to aid in the construction of the numerous railroads which traverse northwestern Iowa, and the swamp-land grants. Sioux City attorneys have always taken a conspicuous part in the preparation and presentation of the cases in the state and federal courts. This class of litigation in its various phases, involved large tracts of land, the homes of thousands of the hardy pioneers of northwestern Iowa, and deeply interested the citizens of the district.

Before the railroads drove the steamboats from the upper Missouri, the admiralty practice had become an important branch of litigation. The first case reported in the Dakota reports is the celebrated case of the steamer "Cora," libeled and seized by the government, for selling whisky to the Indians upon the reservation. The successful defense was conducted by Sioux City attorneys. The noted case of the Mollie Dozier, tried in the district court of Woodbury county, was conducted by them, in which the supreme court settled adversely to the provisions of the state law, the question of the jurisdiction of the state courts, in the seizure of a boat under process similar to the provisions of the admiralty statutes.

In almost every phase of railroad litigation, from the trial of personal injury and other cases for and against the railroads, and in the general management of the legal business of the roads, members of the Sioux City bar, have held prominent positions. The ordinary civil and criminal business of the county, has been conducted mostly by the Sioux City bar, with care, skill and ability, and wherever the members of the bar have been called upon to act, whether in state, or federal courts, they have proven themselves worthy of the trust and confidence reposed in them.

The records of the courts are the monuments of the labor, skill and care of the bar. And let us hope that the toilers of the coming days will, under more favorable circumstances, build upon the foundations laid by the toils of the members of the early bar of Sioux City, a monument which shall be a worthy memento of the past, the pride of the present and an inspiration for the future.