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 XXVII

CANADA

The early settlers of this prairie region, coming mostly from densely wooded sections, had, perhaps an abnormal idea of the future value of the body of timber lying on either side of the Wapsie, and the land on which it grew was early preempted by them, not only for their immediate needs but as an investment, which they were very sure would return them many percent of profit in the near future, when the adjacent prairie tracts were taken up for homes. So, when later settlers arrived and proceeded to open up farms out on the prairie they found that they were badly handicapped, as they must have fuel and fencing, and these necessities were in the hands of a few men, as they were only to be obtained at that time from the native timber. Many were the loads of wood hauled between sunset and sunup, and that without the knowledge of the owners of the timber. In 1839, Richard Barrett entered the north half of section 4-78-4. This tract was mostly heavy timber. Later he sold this land to Edward Conley, a man of a family, who later died and left his estate to a number of heirs. It was a number of years before the estate was settled and a clear title made to the land. In the meantime some unauthorized person or persons sold portions of the land, it is said, the same portion to different parties, and in the loose manner in which much of the legal business was then transacted. It was some time before the sharp practice was discovered, and then the estate was thrown into litigations which lasted through many years. In the meantime, with no one in authority to watch the property, and no legal owner to protect it, the timber on the tract became a common prey to the residents out on the prairie, and hundreds of loads of wood and thousands of rails were hauled away without let or hindrance. Those who had bought parts of the land in good faith, discovering they could get no good title and fearing they would lose the purchase price, proceeded to clear the land of its timber and sell it to the settlers; and in an incredibly short time the entire tract was denuded of its valuable timber. And when the slow progress of law had settled the title, the heirs found they had the land but the timber was gone, and the task of ferreting out the numerous parties who had despoiled the timber was a too hopeless task to be undertaken. From this condition of affairs---the possibility of obtaining their wood and fencing free of cost and escaping the penalty of their trespass---the tract became known in neighborhood parlance as " Canada," from a felicitous supposition that there was an analogy in thus escaping the penalty of timber stealing from this tract and the escape of many bigger rascals from greater transactions into the sheltering protection of our border country of Canada. There was something about these transactions that seemed to cling to this tract of land, for in later years its title passed under a deeper cloud, which resulted in a well known citizen becoming a fugitive from justice. But all these depressing circumstances could not destroy the value and stability of real estate in the Wapsie valley, and this tract now lies in the summer sun, with clear title, clothed in rustling fields of corn and luxuriant meadows and pastures through which the Wapsie winds its meandering way.

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