Hooverfest! - August 2nd
Free admission, live entertainment and fireworks!

Laura Ingalls Wilder Remembered: Prairie Heritage Day - September 1st
Celebrate the author of the Little House books and her life on the prairie walks.
(Just a quick note, this is the event I speak at. Every year I put together a brand new program and this year's "Laura Ingalls Wilder: What a Doll!" will feature dolls in Laura's life and fandom, in addition to a strong introduction on her life.)

Constitution Day - September 17th
A naturalization ceremony of applicants for U.S. citizenship.

A Very Elvis Christmas - November 22nd-January 4th
The museum's annual holiday exhibit of decorated Christmas trees.

Holiday Open House - December 7th
Free admission, refreshments, entertainment and Santa Claus!

Stop by and visit real soon!

The rest of this message is from their acting director.
Sarah Uthoff

First, I want to thank all of you for the tremendous outpouring of support and concern we have received from our wonderful Iowa library community.  Moral support has been sorely needed, and you have all been very generous to us.  Thank you!

Second, I want to update you on our library’s progress.  It’s been a pretty wild month, but we have been bolstered by fantastic support from our Board, support groups, city government & community.  I’ll boil it down to the basics:  Our facility received about 5 feet of water on the main floor.  It was unsafe for us to enter for a couple weeks after the flooding, which limited what we were able to save. We estimate (very roughly) that about 2/3 of our collection was lost.  The children’s illustration collection is safe, as are the 2^nd floor books (mostly children’s books.)

We are currently operating out of our West Side Branch in Westdale mall.  Bear in mind that our Main library is about 85,000 square feet, and West Side is 2,600 square feet. That will give you an idea of the tight quarters.  The mall management has generously donated a couple extra empty storefronts that approximately double the space we have there (around 5,000 SF with the addition.)  We are planning to open our “West Side Annex” with a Grand Opening celebration on August 1. 

Many of our staff has been assigned to help other city departments during this emergency. We’re grateful for this opportunity to keep our people employed until we are able to re-open in a larger space (as yet to be determined.)  Our downtown library will probably not be useable for at least a year. Our staff is fantastic!

Five of our own staff members suffered significant flood damage to their homes; two people lost their homes completely.

The library’s email server is still down. I have re-subscribed to this listserv using a city email address, so please use this address if you need to contact me.

We’re truly lucky in so many ways.  A third of our collection is intact, our building appears to have survived, our staff remains with us, and people have been wonderful to us.  We’re counting our blessings every day.

We’ve mourned our losses, and we’re ready to move ahead.  Readers rebuild!!

Tamara Glise

Family Relationship Chart (who's a second cousin and who's a first once removed?)
Be sure to follow their link to an online calculator which is slick, although the static chart they show explains it more clearly.
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/nowwhat/How+Are+We+Related.aspx

Free Forms
They really have some nice ones here. Besides the normal charts they have things like blank census forms to copy your information into, tombstone recorders, and a form to record where family heirlooms came from.
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/forms/download.html

They also list a soundex-code generator, but it seems to be a broken link. I'll have to check on it again later at:
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/soundex

Here are some reports I have picked up:

This is the State Library of Iowa report on libraries that were damaged.
http://www.statelibraryofiowa.org/archive/2008/08June/flood08
I wanted especially to promote where you can donate if you'd like to help these devastated institutions get back on their feet.
Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation
500 First Street Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA. 52401

Friends of New Hartford Public Library
P O Box 292
New Hartford, IA. 50660
http://wpl-reference.blogspot.com/2008/06/aftermath-of-new-hartford-flood.html

National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library
30 Sixteenth Avenue Southwest
Cedar Rapids, IA. 52401-5904
www.ncsml.org

 Some of the things I had hoped were beyond the water still sustained damage. Some of these things are my words, some snippets are from other sources.

The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art suffered over $250,000 worth of damage and the water didn't really get any further than the basement, most of the art, including the Grant Wood and Marvin Cone pieces were moved upstairs. They hope to get the first floor open again by Labor Day, the Grant Wood studio (in its original location and only restored in the last couple of years) by mid-July, but the second floor where the entire collection is now stored will take longer to get back to public viewing space.

The University of Iowa arts campus is still having trouble with water and classes have been moved. At least Clapp and the Voxman Musuic building will be closed in the fall.  This is an area that floods to some extent almost every year and yet the University keeps building there. It was considerably higher this year than normal.

The Paramount had been recently renovated again. Most of the furniture had been moved to the second floor. The theater's front doors were knocked over by the force of floodwaters. The Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ, installed when the theater opened in 1928, was tipped over and in pieces. It will have to be rebuilt or replaced. These organs haven't been built since 1932.

Ushers Ferry reports that water came up to the roof of the hotel's porch, rose about 4 feet inside the shoolhouse and came up to the new Visitors Center, but not inside. On a side note I was in the school taking a last few photos for my school lunch program the Monday before the flood. 4 feet would have basically wipe out most of the school collection. I doubt much was removed because they were thinking a shallow surround of this level of buildings (as the village climbs the hill). There was water in all but about 3 of the 30 buildings in the village. The log cabin was washed downstream and the Grandfather's barn was knocked off its foundation. Many artifacts were removed from the lower end of the village where flooding was expected. They are still debating whether anything will be rebuilt there or not. Although there are some positive signs that they are not giving up on it yet.

 The following message is a little over a week old, but I think a good damage report.
"First, I want to thank everyone for your prayers and concern about the African American Museum of Iowa. The Museum has taken a tremendous hit from the flooding on the Cedar River in downtown Cedar Rapids. The Museum took every precaution it could to safeguard its collection, and as a result, a number of historic treasures have been saved. The Museum has implemented its disaster plan, and will continue to implement the plan as events unfold.

Second, I ask that at this time you please do not attempt to call the Museum. The Museum has lost telephone service and electricity. We have cancelled events through next Thursday, including the Museum’s Legacy Golf Classic. We are hoping to have our annual Juneteenth Celebration--more word will follow. Please do not attempt to visit the Museum or view the flood damage--it is just not possible or safe.

Third, please remember that a Museum is more than a building. The Museum has built an incredible community of friends throughout the state of Iowa, and we will continue to work to preserve and promote the African American heritage of our state. If you would like to support our clean-up efforts--it is impossible at this time to know how much will be needed, but we know we will need tremendous support--please visit our website, www.blackiowa.org to make an online donation. We appreciate all of you and we want you to know that we will continue to accomplish our mission--no disaster can dampen our passion to preserve our past to enlighten our future."

 Find a list of all businesses, government agencies, and nonprofits damaged here:
http://www.kcrg.com/floodwatch/coverage/22825954.html

What have we learned?
-Move stuff out don't just sandbag.
-Make copies of things and share with relatives so no single copies of family photos, etc. will be lost.
-Don't rent bank boxes below ground level. Some of the banks around here (including at least one flooded out) say contents are not insured on their safety deposit leases. Double check yours now.

Anyway their perspectives were interesting. Billie Ray was the head of getting Terrace Hill (the mansion used in the movie "Cold Turkey") into a functioning home and Governor's Mansion with next to no budget. (At first she had to go back to their regular house and to round up plates and silverware for important dinners and even borrow some from her sister-in-law.) She also had plenty of stories of the conditions they faced. It was really impressive.

After a break (and most of the first group of speakers left), two historians took the stage talking about the two Presidential First Ladies Iowa has produced, Lou Henry Hoover and Mamie Eisenhower. They were both really interesting. I knew more about Lou Henry to begin with, so I learned more about Mamie and I will have to look up the book sometime because it sounded really interesting.

Read more about the conference here:
http://www.tiptonconservative.com/article.php?viewID=1404

The best news here for Laura fans is that Hoover has started having more conference type events again. (They had one last year on Iowa baseball.) I hope this is a sign another Wilder conference is more likely than it was a couple of years ago when they had really stopped sponsoring much in the way of this type of event.

I also really like their antique show/flea market. I've gotten several things there I really liked including a Missouri extension service pamphlet that I think Laura used to move the spring. All the steps she describes in her article are there.  Check out the schedule.

http://www.whatcheerfleamarket.com/opera-house-schedule.html

On a happier note, I missed the Laura Days in Burr Oak, but they went on as scheduled. Bad weather didn't really hit until mid-afternoon on Sunday, so I don't think it caused too much trouble. As many of you may know, the Burr Oak Laura museum lost one of its best friends last summer. Bob Brimacomb was the husband of Ferneva Brimacomb, the former director of the site, who did such an outstanding job. Bob was with her every step of the way. He always helped them with the Days celebration and often lent a hammer or an idea when something was needed around the museum. He traveled with Ferneva to many Laura events, including the big DeSmet event of a couple of years ago where some of you may have met him. He was a Laura fan and a local historian. He was a big loss to the Burr Oak bus trip out to Malone last year and to the community every day since. To honor Bob ,the Burr Oak Laura Days parade this year featured a riderless horse, with backwards boots in the stir-ups, a symbol of a rider lost. A similar tribute was part of the JFK Presidential funeral procession. I'm sure Bob appreciated it. Ferneva shared this photo with me and gave me permission to share it.

I'm speaking at a conference tomorrow and things lined up so I decided to go. The hardest part was getting around Iowa City (only 2 bridges still open this morning and 1 due to close soon). Then we had to get out of Iowa without using I-80 (2 feet of water over the road in Cedar County). Illinois was fine, but we had a terrible time getting around the flood again in Indiana, but finally got here! Hope I can get back home!

The entire downtown is underwater up to the top of the first floor. Smulekoff's furniture store had furniture floating around in it yesterday.  The Czech museum is in water about up to its roof. The first floor of the public library is gone.  Water has reached Mercy Hospital, which is blocks out of the 500 year flood plain, has been reached by water and been evacuated.

Upstream Vinton, home of the state School for the Blind, has been having terrible trouble. Much of the town has been evacuated. Water got into the power substation and they have been without power. Bridges going into and out of Vinton are closed. There is a shelter in the Blind School gym.

Water is 4 feet over the spillway and pouring down. The lowest parts of Iowa City are already under deep water and the water won't crest there for four days at least.

Our farm is well out of the water because it was one of the things my grandmother insisted on when she picked it out. Several family members have lost power temporarily. A neighbor on a different power company now has a good share of one of our freezers.

Read about it in the New York Times. Find that link and more information about the ride on their official website.

http://dev.wmtradio.com/cc-common/mainheadlines2.html?feed=119017&article=3104227
Old Tractors Don't Die, They Just Ride in Parades

The second part of Memorial Day celebrations is the services at the cemetery. It's always haunting to hear taps come floating back over the hill. As a further memory to our soliders who have given their lives for our freedom we always plant a flower on the memorial marker of Junior Herring who attended the same high school as my grandmother and who's photo appeared in their annual with a gold star she pasted on the year she graduated. (She kept track of her fellow City Highers with gold stars for killed in the war and silver stars for wounded in action.) Junior was on the Arizonia during the attack on Pearl Harbor and never made it back home. May he rest in peace.

 Then having remembered family and soliders we have a family picnic. I hope you had a happy Memorial Day and if you'd like to read more about Memorial Day in small towns, I suggest the chapter on it in John E. Miller's (also author of Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder) Looking for History on Highway 14. 

Thank you for joining me at my new blog address.

   note to self:  I need to get in touch with someone in Solon to see if there is a B and B locally or something similar  From Solon to Mt Vernon it is approx. 10.5 miles.  I already have an offer to spend the night in Mt Vernon by a friends' mom.  If I leave Iowa City on Monday, that would put me in Mt Vernon Tuesday night.

From Mt Vernon to Martelle it is 6.9 miles.    We might have some type of small reception when I get to Martelle...If I left by 8 AM that should put me in Martelle by 10:30   Martelle has a historical marker for Dillon's Furrow. 

     From Martelle to the East Edge of Anamosa  (through Fairvew)  it is 8.9 miles.  (That would be a Wednesday night)...I am thinking of staying @ the Super 8 motel that night....unless between now and September I find out about a B and B in Anamosa or stay with some friends that live in Anamosa...we'll see....

    From Anamosa to the edge of Langworthy it is 6.2 Miles  Hannah B. who teaches an Alternative High School program locally, approached me last year about  having her class join me when I get to this point in the walk.  There is an original portion of Military road just East of Langworthy in a farmer's pasture  It is also the  location where the husband and wife and infant got caught in a blizzard  (last name of Wade) leaving behind 10 children.

     If I get a good start Thursday morning from  Anamosa I could get to this point in the walk late morning, give a presentation to the class  and finish the day on the East side of Monticello...staying at a local B and B. (Thursday night) 

    If someone happens to read this before September 2008 and has any suggestions for lodging in the Solon area...please let me know. !  Thanks

 We don't often have earthquakes in the Midwest, but we do sometimes. The famous one was out of New Madrid, Missouri when the area was just being settled in 1811-1812. They say it made the Mississippi run backwards and rang church bells in Boston. They keep predicting another big one, but no sign yet. There is a museum to the New Madrid, Missouri today (pronounced Mad - rid, not like the Spanish capitol) which really does a very nice job telling the story. I recommend a visit for anyone in the area. http://www.newmadridmuseum.com/ For Laura fans it's roughly on the same line of counties as Mansfield and just a couple over.

While I was there, I stayed at the Blue Belle Inn, a bed and breakfast that also serves as a tearoom at lunch time. The outside is painted in the colors of the blue belle flowers(probably closer to the Virginia variety which is what we grow at home rather than the Texas version). The rooms are decorated after classic children's books. If you only go for tea, you can tour any unrented rooms.

I stayed in "Anne's House of Dreams," after the book by L.M. Montgomery. Although the owners style of decoration seems to fall closer to buying things related to rather than creating a setting from the book, I did enjoy it. I should warn you if you want to stay in that room that it is in a smaller house behind the main victorian which has some advantages, but it is also the room that designated handicapped accessible, including the shower (which can be a wet surprise if you haven't used one before).

The big news is that they have a Laura Ingalls Wilder themed room. They call it "Plum Creek" and besides many of the books scattered around they have a framed orginal Sewell book jacket and their version of Laura's red velvet dress (not a very close one) on a dressmaker's dummy in the corner. Plus several versions of quilts mentioned in the series are used as quilts, pillow, and wall hangings. You can see their page for the room here:

http://www.bluebelleinn.com/html/plum_creek.html

A final room of special note for Laura fans is the one for "Heaven to Betsy" named for the book by Maud Hart Lovelace, another SW Minnesota author who is also enjoyed by many Laura fans.

This is the third b and b I've found with a Laura room (the other two are in Tracy, MN and Springfield, MO) if you know of any others please let me know!

info@trundlebedtales.com

Anyway, I was giving a program recently over in Audubon, Iowa and I wanted to let everyone know who much I enjoyed the trip. First, I should explain that we raise Hereford cattle (they are beef cattle, red with a white face, blaze down the back, belly, and stockings). So it's long been a lifelong dream to see Albert the Bull, the largest Hereford in the world. This giantic statue sits outside of Audubon in it's own park. I thought I had seen some large cement Hereford bulls before (there is a lovely one in Minnesota on the way to Pepin), but I was wrong. They wouldn't even look like calves next to Albert. He's HUGE! The informational display lets you push a button and he'll talk to you. It's great, well worth the wait.

Another thing I crossed off my life list was the Plow in the Oak. The story goes that a farmer left for the Civil War and left his plow leaning up against the oak tree. He never came back and over the years the tree grew around it. Whether the story is true or not, generations of Iowans have trouped to see this wonder, but it was actually more interesting when the oak was smaller and you could see more of the plow. I was surprised by how few photos this pulled up in an image search since I've seen lots of them in various publications over the years, but you can see one at the attraction link below.

Also, down the road in Kimballton is a replica of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid that was made in his honor in Copenhagen. I always figured I may not see the original, but I hoped one day to get to this copy honoring the town's Danish heritage.

Those I knew about before, but I was surprised how well Audubon honored its namesake John James Audubon. There is a statue of him in the town square. Many copies of his prints hang in the town library and this spring over 400 tiles showing his art will be in the sidewalks around the park. They have done a great job and I was pleasantly surprised. 

You can see some of the sites of Audubon here: http://www.auduboncounty.com/attractions.asp

I should also thank the Lodge where we stayed. A converted 19th century barn served as the bed and breakfast. It's situated on a century farm about 5 miles outside of Audubon. They really did a nice job with it. There were 6 rooms with baths connecting in between. I should mention it's probably someplace you enjoy more with a group or at least one other person. There are trophy heads from an African safari and if I was all alone I might have found it just a little creepy, in the deep, dark night. However, it was a beautiful view during the day and a nice breakfast in the morning. It was still a frozen tundra when I was there, but when the garden is in full flower in must be breathtaking. If I was looking for a good central place for a family reunion, this would be perfect.

Visit their website at: http://thlodge.com/
 

        Today is March 31 2008.  It's been raining off and on all day....thought it would be a good time to post an update on our research project of Lyman Dillon. 

     I got the picture of Lyman Dillon (above) from our friends Larry and Kathy.  Along with his photo, I also got one of his wife  Charlotte, who are both buried in the Protestant section of the Cascade Iowa Cemetery.  There will be more photo's in my book...this one is just a teaser so there will be a photo on the Internet of Lyman Dillon.  As far as I know, this is the only one you will find on-line (I've looked)

     Through a chance conversation with Pam  at her antique store, I was able to look through her dad (Gus Norlin's )  research on Lyman Dillon which as far as I know was never formally published.   Gus was the president of the local Historical society for several years...he had several pieces of research I had not seen before.  Pam was gracious enough to let me take everything home and scan and make copies before I returned it to her...THANK YOU PAM!!!  

     Gus had tracked down a  Granddaughter believe it or not of Lyman Dillon in California in the 1980's....She (Florence Cordelia Parrott Lippert) was born 7/3/1885 in Cascade Iowa daughter of Lima Dillon (Parrott)

     Florence Lippert eventually donated a highchair to the Jones County Historical Society in Edinburg Iowa where it resides today.  The chair was built by Lyman Dillon himself from lumber from his sawmill which used to exist North of Cascade Iowa on the North Fork of the Maquoketa River.   The sawmill was located West of Lyman's home.  We have been out there to take pictures..nothing remains of the sawmill which was owned by several people...originally the Delong Brothers, then Dillon,  at some point was a paper mill, still later converted into a flouring mill known as Myer's.

       I have additional material from the Norlin papers, which  I am hoping to include in my book if the family gives me permission to include it....stay tuned!

      Winston Churchill had a love for pigs in later life.  I've heard 2 accounts of him and his love for them...when he wanted to unwind he would  go out  and talk to his pig, and feed him apples....he'd also took his grandson out to see his pig,  and made the above mentioned quote.

      We're thinking about getting a pig (or two)...for several reasons.   There are several things about pigs you probably don't know unless you've been around them.  They are highly intelligent.  They are NOT messy creatures...when you hear about pigs and mud..what they're doing is trying to stay cool...they don't sweat so in the Summer heat, they will try to find a water hole.  They are social creatures (that's why I"d get two instead of just one...so they could keep each other company)  They make great pets.  I had one when I was growing up..they love to have you scratch them behind their ears.  They are not naturally smelly...they just start smelling if you don't clean out their living quarters.   We have a couple of spots on the farm that I don't mow.   I'm thinking the pigs can spend their summer under the trees,  keeping down the weeds...it's a win-win situation.   My wife suggested this morning if we do get a pig, one of them needs to be named "Winston". 

     My brother Steve had a pig a few years ago, let him just grow..see how big he'd get.  Normally, you take the pig to market when he get's 220 pounds...well, Steve's pig got up to over 900 pounds :-)..started having knee problems..wonder why?.

     Anyway, if you do come to see us this Summer, there is a very  good chance you will get to meet Winston....Ah, one of the joys of living in the Country....coming up with a weird idea and then being able to act on it.

    I have in my possession the perfect gift for your special person.  Here's the deal...I am doing a research project on local history.  You can read more about it here and here .   

      I decided to pick up empty beer cans as part of my adventure....and then parlay them  into something grand...hence the bigger and better idea was born.   I started out with $3.35 worth of empty beer cans..which I traded for a pewter like ice/beer stein....I parlayed that for a deer head wicker basket....which in turn I swapped for a commemorative baseball stamp collection :

     I just received the double matted stamp collection on Friday....Check it out.  It was a series of US postage stamps issued in 2000 commemorating Baseballs' legendary Playing Fields....approx. value: $55.00-$60.00.  Rather than send me $ I am looking for something of greater value you'd be willing to trade me....preferably this item would be small if you have to send it in the mail, although if you live locally, I would consider something larger....I'm sure you have something  of value we could  switch.  Just think...if you take me up on this offer, you will most probably get mentioned in the book that I'm planning to publish about my adventures...think about it. 

     This bigger and better game has been stalled in the water for almost 3 months...I do need to pick up the pace on the trades...so I'm hoping by the 1st of April to find someone who  will step forward with an offer.

update 3/23/08  It looks like I may have made a trade last night ...for a 19 inch color TV and remote....will let you know shortly.

http://www.blackiowa.org/aamuseum/index.html

Also, the Field Museum is also doing an exhibit right now. Visit their web version here:

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/carver/highlights.asp

It's so great that George Washington Carver is being remembered so much. His museum outside of Diamond, Missouri has been re-done since our visit in 1999, so I hope I can visit it again sometime soon.

       Today we're in the middle of another Winter storm.  At 6 AM this morning it was rain changing to ice- the thermometer said it was 20 degrees.  By 9 the rain was changing into large snow flakes. which we're due to get between 4 to 10 more inches of along with the winds.   

      As I sit here, my mind keeps going back to the accounts of life in Iowa from 1837-1880.  Last night I read the following excerpt to my wife from  the book  Iowa Sketches- by  John Newton Hughes -edited by Michele Shover.   The author  talks about the Hughes Family in Rural Nineteenth Century Scotch Grove, Jones County Iowa in the 1800's:

        ” In the dead of winter, when skies were clear and snow deep, farmers were then getting their year’s supply of wood for fuel, their timber for posts and rails, their dimension timbers for framing of farm buildings….A procession of bobsleds with axes for cutting and chains for binding the logs, and poles and timbers tied securely to the bobsleds for the journey homeward.  With well-matched teams of spirited horses, trim and slick and glossy from good feed and early winter’s rest.  Here, a pair of dapple greys, their check-reins taut, their silver mane and tail waving in the morning breezes.  Next a team of blaze-faced, white-footed sorrels; then a span of blacks, each girdled with his string of bells that made sweet music, or so we thought, at every move of those nimble limbs.  Witness the scene as the procession moved gently and firmly on.  No roar of engine or blur of gear or clash of clutch or honk of horn; only the hoof of horses and steel of sled runner on the noiseless snow, and the bells always jingling and pealing in the crisp, frost air;  only these and their merry jingle, jingle, jingle.  A thousand notes medlied, mixed and confused, yet always in harmony, always sweet; always stirring…often a half-dozen bobsleds might be seen approaching our highway from the west; sometimes even more, all in one silent company and driving as close as comfort and safety would permit….

     In the afternoon or early evening the whole picture was changed.  The journey reversed.  They were bound homeward.  Then the woods empty themselves as by magic and from narrow trails, the teams appeared, moving, seemingly from nowhere, into the prairie.  They were headed homeward.  The sleds were heavily loaded.  there were groaning now, and screeching and barking as the iron runners sank into the hard packed snow, and crunched and smoothed out every hummock or irregular surface.   Some were loaded with logs, others with cord wood, still others with long poles suitable for dimension timbers.  Others laden with wood of many lengths and when suitably dried from the summer’s sun would find its way in the cook-stove.  The men were tired after a long day at work in the woods.  There is not much gaiety and little thought for the pipes.  The horses are tired too.  But they have pep and courage; they lean forward in their collars, the harness creaks under the strain- you feel that the traces must surely snap.  Their hoofs dig into the snow, though by much travel it is as hard as ice.  Their fine legs twist and tremble as they feel for footing in the ice and snow.  The whole picture was that of rugged individualism that has made its mark on he economy of our age.”

___________________________________________
Note:  A special thank you to  Michele Shover for helping us get a copy of this  book.

     As I sit here waiting for my pretzels to bake in the oven, thinking about my warm bed with the mattress heating pad turned on low,  the full spectrum reading light I have that simulates sunshine- the fact that I can take a hot bath with the twist of a handle/ the fact I don't have to go out doors to use the "privy"...  I have to tell you we have it pretty good.     My grandpa used to say this about the "good old days" before he died:

"The good old days- ha- you can have them!"

    What do you do to stay encouraged in the Winter months?

      Saturday February 16th 2008 I headed to Mt Vernon Iowa with L. and K. P. to interview R. P.  a local historian.  He had agreed to let me bring my camcorder .  He's 87 yrs old - sharp as a tack.  Names of people and places rolled off his tongue.   We talked about a horse thief ring that had operated in the 1800's out of some caves West of Mt.Vernon.   We talked about he and his dad paving Hwy 1 for $.50 an hour.   I came home with 2 hrs of conversation  and an old photo of the first bridge over the Cedar River by Ivanhoe.    We tried to go to Sutliff for lunch but it was standing room only- ( a snowmobile convention had beat us there). 

     It was at this point, I remembered something L.P.'s mother-in-law D had mentioned about possibly  making us lunch...we'd turned her down thinking we were going to be in Sutliff....Well, it was 1:15, no place to go except Hardees and her offer sounded awesome. A cell phone call later and we were making a bee line for Mt. Vernon.... we sat down to home made soup, fresh bread and cheese, black coffee and German Chocolate cake.    Boy did that taste good!!!!!

___________________________________________

   Painting depicting Scottish emigrants coming to Scotch Grove Iowa...from the collection of Bill and Jane Corbin

     The second big thing that happened this week was receiving Iowa Sketches- John Newton Hughes -edited by Michele Shover in the mail.  It is a limited edition... talks about the Hughes Family in Rural Nineteenth Century Scotch Grove, Jones County Iowa.  Here's an excerpt from the book describing what it was like in the winter:

        " In the dead of winter, when skies were clear and snow deep, farmers were then getting their year's supply of wood for fuel, their timber for posts and rails, their dimension timbers for framing of farm buildings....A procession of bobsleds with axes for cutting and chains for binding the logs, and poles and timbers tied securely to the bobsleds for the journey homeward.  With well-matched teams of spirited horses, trim and slick and glossy from good feed and early winter's rest.  Here, a pair of dapple greys, their check-reins taut, their silver mane and tail waving in the morning breezes.  Next a team of blaze-faced, white-footed sorrels; then a span of blacks, each girdled with his string of bells that made sweet music, or so we thought, at every move of those nimble limbs.  Witness the scene as the procession moved gently and firmly on.  No roar of engine or blur of gear or clash of clutch or honk of horn; only the hoof of horses and steel of sled runner on the noiseless snow, and the bells always jingling and pealing in the crisp, frost air;  only these and their merry jingle, jingle, jingle.  A thousand notes medlied, mixed and confused, yet always in harmony, always sweet; always stirring...often a half-dozen bobsleds might be seen approaching our highway from the west; sometimes even more, all in one silent company and driving as close as comfort and safety would permit....

     In the afternoon or early evening the whole picture was changed.  The journey reversed.  They were bound homeward.  Then the woods empty themselves as by magic and from narrow trails, the teams appeared, moving, seemingly from nowhere, into the prairie.  They were headed homeward.  The sleds were heavily loaded.  there were groaning now, and screeching and barking as the iron runners sank into the hard packed snow, and crunched and smoothed out every hummock or irregular surface.   Some were loaded with logs, others with cord wood, still others with long poles suitable for dimension timbers.  Others laden with wood of many lengths and when suitably dried from the summer's sun would find its way in the cook-stove.  The men were tired after a long day at work in the woods.  There is not much gaiety and little thought for the pipes.  The horses are tired too.  But they have pep and courage; they lean forward in their collars, the harness creaks under the strain- you feel that the traces must surely snap.  Their hoofs dig into the snow, though by much travel it is as hard as ice.  Their fine legs twist and tremble as they feel for footing in the ice and snow.  The whole picture was that of rugged individualism that has made its mark on he economy of our age."

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Note:  A special thank you to  Michele Shover for helping us get a copy of this  book...and for the Corbin's for letting us see their picture.  DM

    This account comes from the History Of Johnson County  page 305

      "Early in the summer of 1838, Patrick Smith moved into the claim cabin whch stood on the bank of the Iowa river, in the town site of Napoleon, the first county seat.  Mrs Smith was the sister of Philip Clark, and she gave birth to a daughter sometime in August 1838 in that cabin.  It is remembered that her delivery was lingering and tedious; that she lay in great suffering about two days;  Mr. Towbridge had got onto his horse and started to Bloomington (Muscatine) for a doctor, but was called back by the news that the child was born.  Some Indian women of Wapashasheik's village had heard that the "white squaw's" condition, and immediately gathered wild herbs or roots from which they made a deconction and gave her to drink;  and in a few minutes thereafter she was safely delivered.  When Towbridge was going to the stock range to catch his horse he met some of the Indian men and told them why he must hurry and get his horse and ride to Bloomington for a doctor; they told their midwife women about it- and the result was as above stated.

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   By the way, the picture is our family- we took it on our one and only family vacation.