of
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume I, 1911, pages 258-259
THE HUNTSMAN'S PARADISE. With the completion of the Drury township (Illinois) levee, which can be readily seen from Muscatine's Water street, all that is left of one of the greatest hunting grounds and most primeval and greatly interesting large tracts or bodies of land in the Upper Mississippi valley passes from its wild native state to surpassing fertile farm lands.
When we first knew this tract of land it rivaled in wilderness any region we had ever seen, read or heard of. All along the Illinois bottoms from Drury's Landing to Boston Bay, dense underbrush and timber skirted the Mississippi's edge, which with wild grape vines and rank growth of weeds were for miles and miles well nigh impassable, while skirting the numerous sloughs and lakes further in toward the Illinois bluff land, grew the most luxuriant of bottom grasses, often reaching the height of ten or twelve feet and completely hiding, from a short distance view, men and cattle and even horses with their riders.
In the '70s of the last century one main road led from the old Muscatine ferry docks on the Illinois side to the bluffs. This was a typical bottom road with logs rolled into the low or wet spots and a few rudely made bridge crossing streams. Several roads branched from this but it was only a person familiar with the Illinois bottoms who could follow for even a mile these partial roads. The rest of this immense jungle had only cow paths or trails which the hunters followed, crawling under fallen trees and over flat lying logs or parting the tall weeds, rushes or taller grasses with their gun or hands, and should one stray fifty feet from the trail and not know general directions, it was a question, sometimes for hours, whether he could again find it. The older and experienced hunter would part the grasses with his hands to see the sun, or listen with his hand to his ear to catch the distant buzzing of the saws at Hershey sawmill in order to get his bearings.
This paradise for the hunter was known to many of our citizens and many others who lived miles from Muscatine. Here are some of the old landmarks dear to a thousand hunters from east to west, from north to south, most charming spots, known to them as the Molis Lake, Lone Elm, the Pin Oaks, Two Points, Blind Man's Lake, Murdock Lake, King Lake, Barrow's Point, Clapp's Island, the Bluff Slash, the Willow Tree, Brent's Slash and Goose Lake, which comprise a chain of lakes and hunting points from the toll road to Copperas Creek.
The mouth of the bayou known as the Fourth Slough, was a popular gateway or entrance from the river to these famous shooting grounds. This slough comes into the Mississippi about one mile below the sandy beach that gives color variety to the opposite shore when viewed from the city, known as Nestlebusch's Point. On the south bank of the Fourth Slough, about one hundred yards from the river, was the best landing for skiffs and small craft. This bank furnished the highest grounds, or ridge among the bottom lands, and was a most beautiful camping ground.
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