EARLY TRAVEL IN IOWA

LINDSEY

Posted By: Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert (email)
Date: 2/5/2002 at 17:13:20

Decatur County Journal
September l7, l9l4

In l858 two English Quakers, ROBERT and SARAH
LINDSEY, made a visit
among the Quaker communities in Iowa. The
following quotation from the
diary of SARAH LINDSEY, printed by the State
Historical Society of Iowa
in the July number of the Iowa Journal of
History and Politics,
illustrates the difficulty of traveling
across Iowa at that time:

On account of bad roads and swollen creeks,
we returned to Indianola;
but finding it difficult to obtain either a
guide or horses, at last we
borrowed an old carriage and hired horses
from a hotel; the landlord
drove us, but the roads were worse than ever.
We had not proceeded half
way, before we plunged into a deep slough
where the horses broke their
singletrees, and we had to borrow harness
from a farmer who lived near.
After we had gone a few miles, a like
accident befell us, but
fortunately being near a house we obtained
assistance and went on our
way. Before reaching the town our carriage
pole nearly broke in two,
but with repairing we reached the Raccoon
River which lay between us and
the town, about 8 p.m., but on looking for
the bridge, it was not to be
seen.
The river had risen several feet and spread
over the land.

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Copied February 3, 2002
*I thought this was interesting--and is
probably obtainable from the
Iowa State Historical Library. N