CHAPTER XII.
TRAVEL, TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION.
MAIL AND MAIL ROUTES.
Mails did not arrive regularly in the western part of the state from the East until about 1852 or 1853. In 1852 a single team and a small hack made the round trip from IX^s Moines to Council Bluffs, taking a week to ten days' traveling by day. The first station out of Council Bluffs was Silver Creek, the second Wheeler's Grove (near Macedonia. Pottawattamie county), the third. Indian Town (in the vicinity of Lewis, Cass county). Council Bluffs, as it was the first trading point for Shelby county pioneers, was likewise their postoffice, whither they went to get tidings from home "hack."
The Iowa Legislature, in a joint resolution approved January 13, 1855, directed their representatives in Congress to use their influence with Congress to procure additional mail facilities over a road "from Peoria, in Guthrie county, via Caplan's Grove. Carroll, Galland's Grove, in Crawford county, (evidently a mistake) to Sargent's Bluff; in Woodbury county, once a week on horseback.
Under date of January 25, 1862, the United States government was advertising in the Council Bluffs Xonpurcil for bids for carrying the mails over the following routes from July 1, 1862, to June 30, 1866: From Adel. by Greenvalc, Panora, Guthrie Center, Bear Grove, Exira, Botany (at Bowman's Grove), Harlan, Shelbyville, Manteno, Olmstead and Woodbine, to Magnolia, one hundred and twenty-one miles and back, twice a week; leave Adel Monday and Thursday at 6 a. m., arrive at Magnolia next Thursday and Sunday at 6 a. m.; leave Magnolia Mondays and Thursdays at 6 a. m., arrive at Adel next Thursday and Sunday by 6 a. m. Another route from Council Bluffs ran by way of Crescent City, Harris' Grove, Jcddo City, Woodbine, Olmstead, Manteno, Denison, Rover River and Lake City to Fort Dodge, one hundred and fifty miles and back, once a week. Bids for two trips per week were also asked.
The General Assembly of Iowa, by joint resolution approved March, 1862, asked the United States senators and representatives from Iowa to use their influence to have established "a tri-weekly mail route from Des Moines, Iowa, via Boone, Adel, Redfield, Panora, Guthrie Center, Bear Grove, Exira, Harlan, to Magnolia, in Harrison county."
The twelfth General Assembly of Iowa, in joint resolution approved April 7, 1868, urged the United States senators and representatives of Iowa to use their influence to have established a mail route and weekly service thereon, from Council Bluffs, via Beard's Grove and Newtown (situated a mile or so below the present town of Avoca), to Harlan, in Shelby county.
During the first week of October, 1870, two new mail routes were opened up in which Shelby county was interested. One ran from Harlan to Logan, Harrison county, and another from Harlan to Wcstside, Crawford county, on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad.
Touching mail routes and facilities, the Shelby County Record of February 19, 1874, contains this local news:
"A petition has been forwarded by the citizens of the western part of the county asking the establishment of a mail route from this place west through the Bosley settlement by way of the Magnolia bridge to the Crandall settlement, through Shelbyville and on to Dunlap, with postoffices on the route at convenient distances. We hope the petition will be favorably acted upon, as the route is much needed, many on the proposed line being compelled to go from twelve to fifteen miles for their mail."
The mail routes that were established by 1875 running to various points in the county are shown by the advertising of the United States government on February 1, 1875, wherein bids were sought for carrying the mails over the following routes:
1. From Atlantic to Elkhorn, fifteen miles and return, once a week. This schedule required the carrier to leave Atlantic on Friday morning at 7 a. m. and arrive at Elkhorn at noon, and to leave Elkhorn at 1 p. m. and arrive at Atlantic at 6 p. m.
2. From Harlan to Avoca, fourteen miles, six times a week. This schedule required the carrier to leave Harlan daily, except Sunday, at 7 a. m., arrive at Avoca at noon, leave Avoca, except Sunday, at 1 p. m. and arrive in Harlan by 6 p. m.
3. From Logan, by Reeder's Milk Monday morning, on horseback, to Shelby, twenty-five miles, twice a week: to leave Logan Monday and Friday at 10 a. m., arrive at Shelby bv 6 p. m. and leave Shelby Tuesday and Saturday at 6 a. m. and arrive at Logan by 2 p. m.
4. From Manteno, by Dunlap, Soldier, Saint Clair and Castana, thirty-five miles and back, twice a week. Carrier was required to arrive at Castan at 5 p. m., leave Castana on Tuesday and Saturday at 6 a.m., and arrive at Manteno at 5 p. m.
5. Prom Harlan to Manteno. twenty miles and back, once a week. Carrier was required to leave Woodbine on Saturday at 8 a. m. and arrive at Manteno at noon, leave Manteno at 1 p. in. and arrive at Harlan at 7 p. m.
6. From Woodbine to Shelby, thirty miles and back, once a week. Carrier was required to lease Woodbine on Saturday at 8 a. m. and arrive at Shelby by 6 p. m., and to leave Shelby at 8 a. m. and arrive at Woodbine by 6 p. m.
7. From Denison to Harlan, thirty miles and back, once a week. Schedule required the carrier to leave Denison at 8 a. m., arrive at Harlan at 6 p. m. and leave Harlan at 8 a. m. and arrive at Dcnison by 6 p. m.
A Harlan paper of December 6, 1877, contains this advertisement, which surely carries one back to the early days:
"Harlan & Dunlap--Mail and Passenger Route. Our hack leaves Harlan Tuesdays and Fridays in the morning and returns Wednesdays and Saturdays. Passengers should remember that this is the most convenient route to the Chicago & Northwestern railroad."
This advertisement, of 1879, is likewise interesting:
"Denison-Harlan Stage Route, Tri-weekly. The Denison-Harlan Stage Route will start every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 11 a. m. It will make close connections with the express train east. Fare. $1.50. Good team and outfit. Stage returns every Monday. Wednesday and Friday."
In the spring of 1882 arrangements had been made whereby a tri-weekly mail would be run from Harlan to Defiance and a semi-weekly mail from Defiance to Denison.
The coming of the railroads ended the work of the men who carried the mail on horseback, or by hack or stagc. These men were very useful in their day and saw much privation. Among their names one recalls C. C. Redfield, George D. Ross and others.
The handling of the mail at the early postoffices was as primitive and informal as the means by which it was conveyed over the winding ridge roads traversing the county. At Harlan during the earliest days it is said that the mail was kept in a dry goods box, to which anyone inquiring for mail had access in any search he cared to make for mail addressed to him. The postmaster, therefore, took the responsibilities of his office lightly. From that day to this, when the mail is carried daily to practically every farm home in the county, is a far cry. It is no longer necessary to ask a neighbor going to market or mill to inquire for one's mail, which the pioneer with a true neighborly spirit was glad to do, often bringing back with him tidings of joy, misfortune or sorrow, for the members of a whole neighborhood, written, perchance, from New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, New England, the South, or from some kingdom across the Atlantic. We would not return to those days, but there will ever be in our community life the call for that fine comradeship and helpfulness so well exemplified, fostered, as it was of course, to some extent, by the common need and privation of the early times.
Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, February, 2024 from the Past and Present of Shelby County, Iowa, by Edward S. White, P.A., LL. B.,Volume 1, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Co., 1915, pp. 284-287.
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