The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1867-08-22

WA, THURSDAY !,
Correspondence Ottumwa Courier.l
DEAR CoURIER:-- lsa5 ,lsfe
J We ,bade you
adisu at Aarysville, Nodaway Co,
from whence we proceeded directly
west, : distance Of 40 long miles TO
Rockport, County Seat Of Atchison
county, the extreme northwest coun,,
lty in the State of No. The western
/ portion Of Nodaway County is gen.
orally beautiful rich prairie, with oc7,
casional small streams upon which
are groves Of good timber. The
county is destined to be one of the
best in north Mo. The eastern por.,
tion Of Atchison county is composed
Of rolling prairie, we'll supplied with
timber, and . very rich soil. We
passed,a great many fne farms adj,
jacent to the groves of timber, sever
al Of which were we'll stocked with
cattle, &c. The farther we 90 west
the richer and more productive the
soil Rockport is located upon and
al the base of the bluffs Of Rock
Greek, and contains : population Of
some 500 or 900, and was perhaps
better town before the war than now.
Several buildings werc burned du-
ring the rebellion, ard everything in
the way Of Improvement was, ct .
stand still, and like almost every
town we stopped in, they are waiting
for the railroad. There are the usn-
81 number Of tradesman, attorneys
&C., only one hotel, . very good COM
modious, school house, but not
, church building in the town. The
Court House is a large brick
structure situated on one of the high.
est bluffs commanding the city, and
considerably damaged blythe shock of
an earthquake q short time ago, the
same that was felt in Wanello coun-
ty. Atchison County, although new,
is rapidly settling up and is ii fact
8 fine farming county. The corn
crop 10 extremely good here. The
grasshoppers visited portions of the
county and destroyed some, fields of
grain entirely. We passed q field Of
what had once been q very heavy
crop of oats, but it has been thorough.
ly stripped Of grain, and was left .
field OF standing .straws. They dis
appeared some time time ago, gener-
ally travelling 9 northeast course
From Rockport we go southeast 40
miles to Oregon, county scat Of Holt
county, A considerable portion of
one road to this place was along the
foot of the bluffs Of the s.Big Muniy, !"
and along within 4 few miles Of Gro
lyon, could nee but little of the coun-
TRY. After leaving the bluffs
and entering Holt County, we
enter upon almost beautiful
tract of country, and some most
excellent farms, and we almost think
this thebest county we have visited.
The county is new yet, and contains
q population, of6, 900 to 5000. Ore
gon is much the best and handsom-
est town we have seen in North Mo.
The Public Square is the finest we
have seen either in Mo. or Iowa, and
contains about three acres. Ii is
lthickly shaded with 3 great variety
of trees, and is well set with blue
! grass. Tho Court House stands in
ltAc center Of the square, and is .
good substantial brick building
The tops of the fues werc thrown
down by, tho shock Of an earthquake
at the same time the Atchison Court
House was shaken. There are three
brick church buildings here built in
good style. Presbyterian, German,
| Methodist and Campbellite. The
Methodists are building frame to
cost about 5000, and very much At
ter the style Of the Presbyterian
lchurch III Ottumwa. They st pres
emit bold services ia tho basement
There are many fine residences sur
rounded with. fruit trees and various
kinds, Of shrubbery that tends to
!! make the town interesting to stran-
Igers, and the citizens are generally
good kind hearted people. We
think this portion of Mo. far super.
ior to the Southern portion OF Iowa,
both as to improvements and quail
ty of soil. 1t will undoubtedly be-
como ere long worthy county.
| From Oregon, we go southeast Is
Emiles 10 Savannah, county seat oi
] Andrew county. Almost the entire
distance through timber, and the
best timber we have seen in any
county in the State, both ~ to size
and variety. There is an abundance
of stone OF best quality. The soil ID
exceedingly rich, and ofsuch . nature
as to stand either dry or wet weath,
or. There is ia this county hundreds
4 Of acres Of corn of the best quality
The county'is quite thickly settled
land fast growing in..weal.h, and lande
are becoming valuable. Savannah ID
located ON the prairie but immedi
ately adjacent to immense bodies ol
timber. The location 10 : fne one
fora large town. Population 1900
J moro or less. Like most Missouri
! towns this too Suffered severely du
ring tho rebellion, and the rebel ele-
ment hSrc was strong. The old lows
Cd made some Of itsmarches through