Many more people cam into the county that
spring and summer, and the greater share of them settled in the
western part, for it was here that the railroad was to be built.
The early settlers knew their nearest neighbors, but they had no
way of knowing how many other families there were scattered about
throughout the county. They were to busy with the building of
their new homes to go calling on remote settlers or to welcome
newcomers to the land.
Some of the families brought meager supplies of lumber with them
and erected small shacks similar to the one Captain Huff had
built. Others, having no room within their wagons for lumber,
were forced to build temporary homes of sod like that of A.H.
Lyman.
Still others made dugouts or caves in the glacial moraines that
happened to be upon their claims, or erected shelters that were
half dugout and half sod house, or dug caves and covered them
with tents fashioned from the tops of their covered wagons - -
anything was done that would serve as a shelter for the family,
for there was another important work that had to be started at
once.
Most of the settlers had been able to bring with them only small
supplies of food, and if the ground were not broken and crops
planted right away, they had a hungry winter to look forward to.
Breaking the tough sod of the prairie grass was a Herculean task.
It was deep with large fibrous roots. The early pioneer soon
found that a single team of oxen was not equal to the task. In
order to pull one of the heavy plows through the stubborn sod, it
was necessary to yoke from two to five pairs of the sturdy beasts
together. None of the early settlers owned this many oxen, so
neighbors pooled their teams and went from field to field
breaking sod.
The plow itself was a heavy, cumbersome affair. The beam was of
tough wood and the mold board was stripped with iron to prevent
undue wear. The share was of soft steel and had to be sharpened
frequently while in use. By means of a lever and the front
wheels, or trucks, the depth of the furrow could be regulated.
But even with all the combined oxen, the going was slow. A man
could consider himself quite fortunate to break as many as 30
acres of land during the plowing season.
There were a few crews who hired out from farm to farm during the
summer, but the settlers were for the most part jobless veterans
of the Civil War, and had little or no money with which to hire
anyone. Planting was done by poking a hole into the soil with a
pointed stick and dropping in the seed. Corn, beans, pumpkins,
squashes, and various garden vegetables were planted in this
manner.
But there were still other tasks that had to be accomplished. The
nearest points for supplies were LeMars and Cherokee, each 30 or
40 miles away. This meant a three-day trip for an ox team, and
very few early settlers could afford this much time away from
their new claims.
A partial solution to the problem came when T.J. Shaw brought in
a large stock of needed supplies and opened a store on Otter
Creek near the site that was later to become Ashton. This store
soon became a meeting place for the scattered settlers. Here they
could visit, obtain supplies and gather news from around the
surrounding county. Here they sat, on barrel heads or boxes,
discussing the future of the region and making their plans.
Another thing to be thought of at this time was the church.
Several families got together June 5, 1871, at the Elbridge
Morrison place, two-and a-half miles northwest of the site that
was later to become Sibley. Here the first Methodist sermon was
preached by the Reverend John Webb, and plans were made for
church work and organization in that part of the county.
Another meeting of people took place at the Abraham Miller place
near Sibley, for the purpose of establishing mail facilities
between LeMars and Shaw's store.
A meeting was held at A.M. Culcer's July Fourth, 1871, to
nominate county officers. H.G. Doolittle presided. As a result of
this gathering the following officers were chosen: A.M. Culver,
treasurer; D.L. McCausland, recorder; F.M Robinson, auditor;
Cyrus M. Brooks, clerk of the courts; M.J. Campbell, surveyor;
J.D. Hall, coroner; Delily Stiles, superintendent of schools;
John Beaumont, drainage commissioner; J.H. Winspear, George
Spaulding, and H.R. Fenton were supervisors. Grading was begun on
a railroad during the year, and now that people were certain that
the railroad was actually coming through, still more settlers
came into the county.
Some did not try to "tough out" the winter. John H.
Douglas removed his family to Allamakee County for the cold
months and several others followed his example. Those who decided
to remain faced the very serious problem of what to do for fuel.
The closest timber was along the Big Rock River in Lyon County
and along the shores of West Okoboji Lake in Dickinson County.
Either supply was 25 or 30 miles away over dim trails and marsh
lands.
The housewives found a solution however. Through the summer
months they had learned that the long prairie grass, when twisted
into tight knots, would produce sufficient heat for cooking. Why,
then, would it not also serve to heat a house?
Practical tests showed that it would, and almost immediately
hay-twisting became the vogue of the day. Hay was plentiful and,
as one pioneer youth put it, "it was heap better then
freezing."
Hay-twisting was done in the following manner: a handful of the
long hay was taken in both hands, twisted until it resembled a
thick rope, then bent back upon itself and allowed to coil
double, like a rope. After that, the loose ends were tucked
together securely, and the "twist" was ready for use.
Hay twisting was costly in time at first, but soon a simple
machine was developed to do the task more quickly. It was claimed
that with this machine affair a man could twist enough hay in a
day to last longer than the amount of would he could have chopped
from logs during the same length of time.
One large sackful of twisted hay was enough to do a big baking or
to supply heat enough for a wintry evening, or sometimes both. It
was during a comfortable evening around a hay fire, perhaps, that
a local bard, whose name was lost in time, "twisted up"
the following:
AN OSCEOLA TONGUE-TWISTER
The hay-twister twisted his hay-twisted
twist,
A wrist-twisted, fist twisted, hay-twisted twist.
He twisted this hay-twisted twist with his fist;
He twisted it, twisting a hay-twist …. You try 'er!
He twisted a hay stack right into the fire !
During that winter H.K. Rodgers built a
store upon the future site of Sibley. He had a good trade from
surrounding settlers, and hired William Mitchell to drive an
overland trade route between the store and Cherokee. Mitchell
drove his ox team and wagon regularly over that trail regardless
of the weather.
The deep snow of the winter halted work on the railroad, but it
was resumed as soon as the melting of the snow permitted. That
spring the Sioux City and St. Paul Railroad Company laid out the
town sites of Sibley and Gilman. Sibley was section 13 and
included only the resident shack of F.M. Robinson and the store
that had been built by W.H. Rogers. But as soon as the site was
located, others flocked in.
D.L. McCausland hauled in lumber from Mountain Lake Minnesota,
and erected a two-story building that turned out to be a
combination residence and boarding house. The building was put up
in such a hurry that the builders completely forgot about putting
in any stairs until after it was finished. As a remedy for this,
cleats were nailed to the studding at one side of the house and a
hole was cut out in the floor of the second story above.
Work was begun on the Sibley courthouse, the schoolhouse, the
Sibley Hotel, and a large barn to shelter the horses belonging to
the hotel guests. Ward built a saloon at about this time. A grain
elevator was put up along the railroad grading.
June 1, 1872, the railroad was completed to Sibley and the first
train came chugging into town. This was a great occasion for the
people of Osceola County. It meant that at last they were
connected with the outside world, and had an outlet for their
harvests.
Sibley grew rapidly during that year. Levi Shell built a
lumberyard. David Littlechild started a livery business. There
followed a harness shop, a drugstore, a furniture store, and a
dry goods store. J.T Barclay, Hugh Jordan, J.F. Glover, and R.J.
Chase set up law offices. Dr. J.M. Jenkins, Dr. Gurney, and Dr.
Churchill were practicing physicians.
All trails led to Sibley, the center of a great new agricultural
area. Overland freight routes were established between Sibley and
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, by way of Rock Rapids in Lyon County.
Large fleets of wagons hauled supplies from Sibley to the west,
and brought back loads of grain on the return trip. So much wheat
came to the Sibley market that at times there were as many as 50
wagons waiting in line to be unloaded at the elevator. Other
trails came in from Cherokee, LeMars, Spirit Lake, and
Worthington. Stage routes were established and regular schedules
maintained.
More buildings began to go up. There were more stores and more
residences. By the end of the year 1872 there were three general
stores, three coal yards, two warehouses, one flour and feed
store, four implement dealers, a blacksmith shop, a harness shop,
butcher shop, drug store, two restaurants, one saloon, a livery
barn, a hardware store, and a furniture store. Six law offices
and three real estate offices were listed and the Sibley
Gazette was established.
The hotel began advertising that it had "a pleasant parlor
with rich carpet, a piano, and up-to-date parlor furniture
conducive to enjoyment for transient drummers (salesmen) for the
new stores." It was reported to have sleeping rooms with
"bright and lively carpets" and a third floor with a
bed capacity for 46 persons.
Compiled by the Iowa Writers' Program for WPA in Iowa
Transcribed by Kevin Tadd