Ocean to Ocean on Horseback Part 26

One Hundred an Forty-seventh Day.

_St. James Hotel_, IOWA CITY, IOWA, _October Fifth_.

Reached here at six o'clock P. M., fifty-five miles from Davenport.

Weather, most of the day, cold, cloudy and generally disagreeable. I learn upon inquiry that the land about here for miles is, for the most part, settled by a thrifty, intelligent and enterprising people, and is well adapted to all the wants of the agriculturist. The railroad brings all the produce into market and farmers and manufacturers have their labors rewarded. The soil is a rich, black loam, and often, I am told, from five to ten feet in depth.

Had supper and retired to my room to attend to my correspondence.

One hundred and forty-eighth Day.

_St. James Hotel_, IOWA CITY, IOWA, _October Sixth_.

The weather continued extremely cold. Babc.o.c.k completed necessary arrangements with the proprietor of Ham's Hall for my lecture the following evening. In the meantime I took a look at the city which was for many years the State capital. Its most salient feature appeared to be the State University, in which both s.e.xes continue their education with commendable zeal, under competent professors. There are also a high school, a female college, a commercial college and several common schools. Four or five daily and weekly newspapers keep up the interest of the people in local affairs and national politics; and four banks encourage the thrifty to place their spare cash with them at interest.

Woollen and flax manufactures give employment to a considerable number of young people, and the mills are said to be in a flouris.h.i.+ng condition.

The city has a large internal trade as well as with the several surrounding villages.

One hundred and forty-ninth Day.

_St. James Hotel_, IOWA CITY, IOWA, _October Seventh_.

The former State House is a fine and capacious building and an ornament to the city. On the removal of the seat of government to Des Moines, one hundred and twenty miles farther west, the building with its extensive grounds was granted by the Legislature to the State University.

I also noted several large places of business here, including dry goods, groceries and hardware. There are several lumber yards, flouring mills, plow factories, iron foundries, for manufacturing machinery; also due proportion to the population.

The newspapers published here are, according to all accounts, ably conducted and well sustained. The surrounding country is well adapted to all the wants of the agriculturist and is thickly settled.

In the evening I delivered my promised lecture to a very full house--Hon. G. B. Edmunds introducing me to the audience. The walls were covered with flags and a profusion of flowers greeted me on my arrival on the platform.

One hundred and fiftieth Day.

_Tiffin House_, TIFFIN, IOWA, _October Eighth_.

Mounted _Paul_ in front of the Saint James to continue my journey and felt the need of an overcoat. Drew rein at Tiffin, a few miles from Iowa City. Of Tiffin little more can be said than that it has a rustic population of about fifty souls. The accommodations at the Tiffin House I must leave to conjecture, as any description would fall short of the reality. The only guests were a Methodist parson, two farmers on an expedition in quest of apples, and an overland tourist. The nabob of the village came into the public room in the course of the evening--a farmer and former State senator. This "Hon." gentleman engrossed our attention for about three hours by a long-winded description of the varieties of the "genus hog"--how to breed, how to feed and fatten, and how to drive him to market; all of which would probably have been edifying and elevating to the average Tiffinite, but it made me and the parson drowsy and I retired to dream of hogs and fat bacon until awakened by the daylight.

One hundred and fifty-first Day.

_Grand Pacific Hotel_, MARENGO, IOWA, _October Ninth_.

In my journey from Tiffin I found it necessary to dismount several times and walk in order to drive away the sensation of cold. Reached Marengo in the evening and registered at the Grand Pacific Hotel. Winter seemed to be approaching with rapid strides at this time and I was warned that it was necessary to lose as little time as possible at the different resting-points.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN IOWA VILLAGE.]

Marengo is eighty-five miles from Davenport. There is a good bridge crossing the Iowa River here, which adds much to the facilities for doing business. A thriving community of farmers occupy the surrounding land. Among the most important villages and towns in this and adjoining counties, are Newton, Grinnell, Montezuma and Millersburg, all growing in size and importance. Marengo is the county-seat of Iowa County, and contains a population of nearly two thousand.

The State of Iowa, taken as a whole, is one of the most fertile in the United States. The native prairies are fields almost ready-made for the farmers' hands; their rich black soil returning him reward for his labor a hundred fold.

One hundred and fifty-second Day.

_Skinner House_, BROOKLYN, IOWA, _October Tenth_.

My ride to-day from Marengo has been over fine prairie land with occasionally a farm in the distance like an oasis in the desert.

Brooklyn is one hundred miles from Davenport and, as some evidence of its prosperous condition, has four hotels. I was fortunate in selecting the Skinner House, the proprietor of which knows how to make his guests comfortable. _Paul_ also seemed happy to-night when I shut him in a clean and well-appointed stable with his supper.

Brooklyn is a village of over twelve hundred inhabitants, and wears the impress of success. There are several grain elevators, foundries, flour mills and business houses of all kinds; also graded schools, banks, and daily and weekly papers. The streets are clean and well paved, which is more than can be said for its Eastern namesake. The surrounding farms are large and well cultivated, and the country presents a most attractive appearance.

One hundred and fifty-third Day.

_Moore House_, KELLOGG, IOWA, _October Eleventh_.

In front of the Skinner House, _Paul_ caused me some little anxiety by das.h.i.+ng up the street from the front where I had left him with loose rein for a moment while settling my bill. Coming back he gave me to understand, by a toss of his head, that he only wanted to shake a little dust from his feet. I was soon mounted and off at a gallop, covering thirty miles, when I stopped at a farm house for dinner.

On reaching the outskirts of Grinnell, I hailed a party of boys who were "playing _ball_." One bright little fellow gave me the time, two o'clock, and the distance to Kellogg. I then pushed on without stopping at Grinnell. Amused myself with some little boys in front of a country school house who were "playing _horse_." I inquired of the youngest if he went to school, and his brother answered for him in the affirmative.

I then asked, "What does he learn?" "He don't learn nothin'," answered the youth. "Then why do you take him to school?" I inquired. "So, when the boys go out, he can 'play _horse_' with us."

Have seen some of the finest scenery and grandest farms to-day that I have encountered along my journey. The day has been unusually bright and pleasant, and the country looks lovely in the extreme. Reached Kellogg to-night, half an hour after dark. Caught a young snipe about a mile from the village and offered it to a young girl if she could name its species. She could not, and a boy claimed the prize.

Amused some of the guests in the evening with incidents of my journey, and they, in turn, gave me some useful information about the Far West, North Platte, Green River, and Humboldt Valley.

One hundred and fifty-fourth Day.

_Pacific Hotel_, COLFAX, IOWA, _October Twelfth_.

Arrived at Colfax in the evening after a glorious ride over the prairie.

The grain on the farms waved in the breeze as the fields were pa.s.sed and numerous streams crossed finding their way to the rivers that intersect the State. This prairie is not entirely devoid of timber, for groves dot the extended landscape like islands in a green sea; while from the higher grounds I viewed the prairie decked with wild hay and autumn flowers.

--"Broad on either hand The golden wheat-fields glimmered in the sun, And the tall maize its yellow ta.s.sels spun."

The prairie here is from twenty to forty miles in width. A variety of minerals are found and mined to a limited extent. Time will work many changes. A quarter of a century hence, Colfax will probably be known as an important mining town with large and varied interests. Its growth will be gladly noted by many who have faith in its future.

One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Day.

_Jones House_, DES MOINES, IOWA, _October Thirteenth_.

Mounted _Paul_ at eight o'clock and rode twenty miles, which brought me to Des Moines. Most of the journey was over prairie land; the sun shone brightly and afforded me an agreeable warmth as _Paul_ stepped out bravely--cheered, possibly by the prospect of entering a large city and resting for a day or two. We know nothing of a horse's prevision. The country along my route is rich in fertility of soil, but its resources are not yet fully developed. I am told that but little snow falls on this prairie, the winter being made up of cool, suns.h.i.+ny days, and clear, frosty nights. There is nothing, I think, to hinder this part of Iowa from being one of the most healthy portions of the United States.

One Hundred and Fifty-sixth Day.

_Jones House_, DES MOINES, IOWA, _October Fourteenth_.