West Liberty History 1838-1938

Source: One Hundred Years of History
* Commemorating a Century of Progress in the West Liberty Community * WEST LIBERTY, IOWA
LOG CABIN HISTORY

Chapter XVI

THE HOME LIFE

The life of the pioneer was a rugged, laborious one, but also had its compensations in its freedom from conventionalities and its healthful, vigorous activity. But, as is often the case, the burden of time rested heavily on the wives and mothers. Nothing but the barest necessaries for household operations were obtainable, and the clothing for the family was fashioned by them by hand. As was common the material for that clothing and for bedding was of home manufacture. The spinning wheel and the loom were common adjuncts of the home and the hum of the wheel and the bang of the loom, the music of the household. Human kind is much the same in all conditions, and our pioneers sought for recreation in such ways as were congenial to their condition, as do their descendants of the present time. With the women, quilting parties offered occasion for social intercourse and much enjoyment, where they could compare notes as to how many " lambs" of yarn they had spun, or how many yards of flannel they had woven, and exchange small talk and recipes. What if they did go to these gatherings clad in their homespun dresses and on foot or horseback, many miles away, often carrying one or two small children, for pioneers were rich in children, if in nothing else. Kraut cuttings and sausage choppings were the occasions for the mingling of entire communities in a hilarious company. The entire family would load up in the farm wagon, often drawn by oxen, and set off for the place of meeting, over the trackless prairie or pathless woods. Or if it were in winter and snow was on the ground, the home-made sled was substituted for the wagon. These sleds were creatures of circumstances and something unique in their way. The only material used in their construction was at hand in the standing trees, and the only tools needed to fashion them, an ax and auger; but they well served their purpose. Another occasion for the gathering of the people was the erection of the log houses and stables. No sooner was there a new arrival in in the settlements and a location for building selected, than the men of the community would meet to assist in the erection of their necessary buildings. It was a laborious task but the labor was lightened by anecdote and joke, and sometimes by a lively fight by way of diversion. But these quarrels were not of a lasting nature, and when the effects of the whiskey, which had generally caused them, had passed off, the participants would shake hands and be good friends again.

The social dance was also of occasional occurrence, when the young people met for recreation. Nearly every settlement had its local " fiddler " who furnished the music, and the open fireplace and a few tallow dips, the lights, but they were none the less enjoyed because of these primitive accompaniments; and it did not detract from their enjoyment that the girls came in their " linsey woolsey " dresses and the boys in their flannel shirts and cowhide boots.

I asked one of the few remaining veterans of the thirties what were their recreations in those days. After reflecting for a time a smile overspread his face and he replied, " We had another ague shake." Hunting and fishing were not only pastime sports, but were a regular part of the occupations of the men and boys, as the fruits of the chase furnished an important part of the table menu. The country abounded with deer and smaller game, and the streams with fish. At least one black bear was captured on the upper waters of the east creek, and an occasional band of elk were met with, while many skeletons of the bison were to be seen; but that noble game had all disappeared before the advent of the white man. Deer remained plentiful for many years and were still quite common as late as 1855. About that date the Musquakie Indians made a large camp near the groves in section 30-79-4, just northwest of Downey, where they remained for some weeks hunting and begging. They ranged over the surrounding country for many miles in every direction, and killed, or drove away the deer, so that after that time but few were to be met with. The last to my knowledge, captured in the Wapsie valley, was not far from that date, and on the southeast quarter of section 35-79-4, just west of the barn on Wm. McFadden's farm. There were four in the band. They had become mingled with a herd of cattle on the prairie and were discovered by W. S. Chase and Milton Lewis, who were able to approach under cover of the cattle, and captured three of the four.

As late as 1876 a lone deer was seen crossing the country from the Cedar to the Iowa river and was reported to have been slain on the latter river below Iowa City. Occasional single animals were seen, but probably were some that had wandered from the newer parts of the state. Elk were never plentiful. Only at rare intervals were bands of them met with, and these probably only such as were driven from the north by stress of weather. But many large animals roamed over the prairies of the north part of the state, the last large band disappearing in 1871. This band consisted of four old bulls, ten cows, twelve yearlings and ten calves. They were a remnant of a much larger band that was known to feed and breed on the prairie and along the streams of northwestern Iowa, but they had been so harrassed, and their numbers so decimated by hunters, that they, like the Indians, decided to move on to the newer and wilder west. On a bright morning of July, 1871, the band was seen to emerge from their retreat among the tall grass and weeds of the Ocheydan river, an inconsiderable stream in Dickinson county, and take a course westward toward the timber along the Little Sioux. But the envious eyes of the white hunters saw them. A systematic hunt was hastily organized, and ere the band had reached the shelter of the timber, they were all slain. And thus passed forever from our state this noble game. Now had gone the buffalo, the elk and the deer, in the short space of thirty-five years, after the occupancy of the state by the white man.

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