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To the reader of local history this chapter is of general interest, but to the pioneer himself it is more. Here he has himself and friends and neighbors, as in the days past they first sought these western wilds and fought for existence in wilderness. See him, as he takes the book in hand slowly, critically poring over every word, recalling in his mind the pictures of a vanished past at the mention of some well-known name, or smiling as recollection brings back some ludicrous adventure in the early days of his settlement. His old associations, the trials and tribulations incident to a new country, the battles against hunger and cold, while settlers were scattered thinly over a large expanse of country. All these rise up before him as he reads. Even now, in memory, he hears the wild moan round the humble cottage that first sheltered him, and hears the wolves howl as they did in days of yore. The picture of the past rises up vividly before him, and he once more rejoices in the pride of youth. Now the thought comes over him, that by through his efforts, he has helped to make this wilderness blossom as the rose, and emerge from a state of nature to a well-cultivated and thrifty land, and views with satisfaction the growing towns and villages and fertile farms that dot the landscape over. But perhaps the brow will cloud and the eye dim as memory's mystic voice recalls the dark and painful side of those early experiences. The loved wife of his bosom fading slowly away before the breath of the cold destroyer, or some laughing, prattling babe, the joy of the household, laid away under the sold, in solemn silence, by the hands of rough, but sympathizing neighbors. Time has closed these wounds, but to-day, as memory is fast unlocking the chambers of the mind, the silent tear will well itself to the surface and drop as a tribute to the loved and the lost of that by-gone time.

Notwithstanding the cares and adversities that clustered round the cabin door of the pioneer, these hardy Argonauts led a happy life. Here all were free and equal, and the absence of the restraining presence of wealth and position was to him a source of comfort and satisfaction. The rough hospitality, the hearty feelings of brotherhood, among these varguards of civilization were the spontaneous overflow of hearts full of regard for humanity, and was practiced more as the natural prompting of their nature than from and teaching of a Christian duty.

Prior to the advent of the permanent settlers in this settlers in this county, settlements were made by that singular sect know as MORMONS then on their way from Nauvoo to Utah. A short account of these religious enthusiasts will not be out of place to this connection, and before taking up the narrative of their settlement here, the following may be read with interest:

The Mormons, or as they call themselves, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, are a sect formed on a basis of religion founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith, at Manchester, New York. The distinguishing peculiarities of the sect are, in religious aspects, the belief in a continual divine revelation through the inspired medium of the prophet at the head of the Church; in moral respects, the practice of polygamy; and in social respects, a complete hierarchial organization. The government of the Mormons is a pure theocracy; its officers form a complete priesthood. The supreme power, spiritual and temporal, rests the first presidency, elected by the whole body of the church, and two co-adjutors. Then follows the office of the patriarch, the council of the twelve apostles, and the seventy disciples; then the order of high priests, bishops, elders, priests, teachers and deacons. Of all these one alone is head, the prophet--the seer-and he alone has the right of working miracles, and receiving revelations. This belief in a continual divine revelation through the prophet-a belief which enjoins absolute obedience to the commands of the revelation on the part of the persons who accept it, is the cornerstone of the social building of Mormonism, the only vita agency in its history, the whole secret of its success; and the day it dies out Mormonism is nothing but a heap of nonsense. The Mormons accept both the Bible and the Book of Mormons as divine revelations, but they hold them both subject to the explanations and corrections of the prophet. This Book of Mormon was the record by which Joseph Smith, the founder of the faith, first introduced himself to the world, the guaranty he gave the divine character of his vision. His story was that an angel from Heaven appeared before him and told him where this book, the Bible of the western continent, the supplement of the New Testament, was hidden. On the spot designated by the heavenly visitor, Smith found in a stone box a volume six inches thick and composed of, thin gold plates, eight inches by seven, held together by three gold rings. These plates were covered with characters in an unknown tongue, but beside the volume he also found Urim and Thummin, a sort of supernatural spectacles, which enabled him to read and understand the characters. Sitting behind a curtain drawn across the room, h then dictated a translation-for he could not write himself-to his secretary, Oliver Cowdrey, ad his translation was printed in 1830, accompanied by testimonials from eleven persons who had seen the golden plated before they unfortunately disappeared. It was soon proved beyond doubt that the Book Of Mormons was simply a sort of historical romance written in 1812, by one Solomon Spalding, who indulged in that kind of pseudo history, though he never succeeded in getting his productions published, and that the manuscript had been lost in a printing office in Pittsburg under the hands of an apprentice, Sidney Rigden, who in 1829 became an associated of Joseph Smith. The book pretends to give the history of America up to the fifth century of our era; the first settlement of the country after the destruction of the tower of Babel, and the dispersion of the nations; the second settlement in the sixth century, B.C. by Lehi and his sons, arriving directly from Jerusalem; the origin of the American Indians from the unfaithful Jews who were condemned to have dark skins; the arrival and preaching of Christ in America; the final destruction of the faithful; and the command of God to the prophet Mormon to write down an abridgement of all these events and hide the volume. With this book as the basis of his teaching, Smith began to preach, and in January 1831, he led the first Mormon congregation, consisting of thirty members from Manchester New York, to Kirtland, Ohio, which became the headquarters of the sect for the next seven years. The great body of these people then migrated to Missouri, but their conduct growing obnoxious to their neighbors, they kept in a state of actual warfare, and at the close of 1838, they were driven from State. They crossed the Mississippi, and founded the city of Nauvoo, in Illinois, where they lived for seven years. At Nauvoo the whole fabric came near dissolution. The conduct of Joseph Smith was such as to provoke the indignation of the settlers in that locality, and on a newspaper exposing his outrages and crimes, Smith, at the head of a large party razed the office to the ground and forced the editor to flee. A warrant for his arrest was served upon him, but he refused to obey, and sheltering himself behind his friends, the militia was called out to enforce the law. War was about to break out as the Mormons were arming at Nauvoo, but the Governor prevailed upon the prophet to surrender. On the 27th of June, 1844, he was taken to the jail at Carthage, but during that night was taken from the jail and shot by an armed mob. The situation of the Mormons now became so precarious that another emigration was determined on, and under the leadership of Brigham Young, began in 1846. Sixteen thousand poor wretches followed this false prophet across the desert wilderness to Utah, where they have established a strong empire of their own. On their onward march, in 1846, these people passed through, what is now Cass county. Mr. Young, in his short history of the county, says of them:

"Several thousand of them reached the Missouri river where Council Bluffs now is, in July and August of that year (1846) and after a short parley at that point they scattered up and down both sides of the Missouri river, and went into winter quarters. A small party, probably twenty families, got as far eastward as the Nishnabotna river and Indian creek in this county, and on those streams, in the neighborhood of the present town of Lewis, and not far from the deserted Indian village called Indiantown, built cabins, made 'dugouts' and fixed for the winter of 1846-7. This was a hard experience for tenderly nurtured women and frail children, and in their march, and while camped here they suffered terribly and many succumbed to the effects of the exposure."

The Mormon settlement in this county, at Indiantown, was merely a small branch of the main camp on the Missouri river. To quote again from Mr. Young:

"The first year they were in this county (and the same was true of all their settlements in western Iowa) they were almost destitute of provisions. No supplies could be had for one hundred miles in any direction. A.G. Pettengill, now a resident of Utah, and who resided at Indiantown during all the years that the Mormons were in the county, writes us from Salt Lake, in reply to in inquiry as to early days, that 'we ground corn, (some we brought with us,) in mills whose burrs were made of common boulders, picked up in Union county. Deer and elk were plenty and afforded us all the meat necessary.' Mr. Pettengill says they got some corn at St. Joseph, Missouri, where there was a ferry in operation across the Missouri. In 1847 they raised enough sod corn to feed themselves and their stock. In that year they secured the establishment of a postoffice at their settlement. The postoffice was called 'Cold Spring' although the settlement was known as Indiantown. Mr. Pettengill was the first postmaster, and from him we learn that the mail was carried to Cold Spring once a week from the main Mormon camp at Kanesville, (now Council Bluffs.) The mail carrier also went on to Union county and supplied the Mormon settlement at 'Mt. Pisgah' in that county, with mail facilities.

"In 1849, the Mormon settlers in Indiantown or Cold Springs had the privilege of voting for the first time after settling here. The 'Mormon vote' was worth having then, the population of the State being then, and the 'leaders of the church' were treated with great consideration by men seeking political preferment. At election mentioned, Orson Hyde, the leading Mormon at the Kanesville settlement, came out to tell the sovereigns at Cold Spring how to vote, but they let Orson say all that he had to say and then voted as they pleased. James Ferrin was the Bishop who took the tithings from brethren at Cold Spring. Messrs. Warner and Bunnell were the preachers.

"The Mormons did not devote themselves entirely to agriculture and religion. There were two violin players in the settlement, and the folks gathered in each other's houses every night or two and held social dances. One of the Mormon preachers would dance with his parishoners, while the other would not, but it is said that that other one's lack of sin in that respect was more than made up for in another respect. The joists in the cabins being low, the tall men would take positions when they danced, that would allow their heads to extend between the bass=wood poles that crossed over head."

Transcribed by Deb Lightcap-Wagner, January, 2014 from: "History of Cass County, Together with Sketches of Its Towns, Villages and Townships, Educational, Civil, Military and Political History: Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Citizens", published in 1884, Springfield, Ill: Continental Historical Co., pp. 240-244.