Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1903-12-02
PIONEER DAYS IN IOWA.
EXPERIENCES OF EARLY SETTLERS
An Interesting Story Containing Remin'
isences of the Early Days in
North Iowa.

Mrs. Blanchard of Postvillc is one
of the oldest people now living who
was born in Iowa. She was born near
the present site of Burlington in 1886
and her sister. Mrs. T. @. Barclay, of
Oelwein, is undoubtedly the oldest
living person horn within the borders
OF the state for she was born one year
preceding her sister. Practically her
entire life has been spent In Iowa, the
greater part of it III Clayton and ALA
makee counties. She. if any one does,
knows what the privations of pioreer
life in Iowa were. Recently she re-
lated to the Register and Leader of
Des Moines the following experience
in the state when it was first being
reclaimed T. 'om tine Indians:
SIN the spring of lSlS we moved
from Wapello county, to which place
we had gone from Burlington some
years before, to Galena. ILL.,. and
father rented ten acres of land on Mr..
Metcalf's place and put it in and he
left the family consisting of myself.
mother, three sisters and brother, SO
we children could 60 to school.
That was the first schooling l had ex-
cept thee days in Wapello county,
when was taken with the black
tongue and coula not go any more for
that term. Father left us and he and
my brother and man by the name of
Hack came to Clayton county, taking
up claims mile and half east Of
Postville OH the old military road be-
tween McGregor and Fort Atkinson.
He broke M some ten or fifteen acres
and built two log cabins near Post
Vile. The reason father did not build
on his own claim at this time was, he
was afraid that the Indians would
come back and that they would
frighten mother. The Indians were
taken away that year and father i'm
inediately came after us to move there.
We loaded what little furniture we
could take. and mother. my youngest
brother and my brother-in-law all
came up to Clayton county. We could
no. carry any bedstead or stove and
only two chairs. We cooked all our
meals out doors until it got so cold
in Nov ember we could not stand it.
Then we cut hole through the roof
of the house in one corner and made q
fire inside and oh, my, when the wind
blew, the house was full Of smoke and
then we would have to put out the
fire, and when it got so cold We could
not stand it any longer. we would
build fire and shut our eyes until
we got warm. Father put four logs
in one corner of the house for our beds
and put OH some hazel brush and cut
some hay and put that on and then
mother put on our feather beds and we
slept nicely. We had neither cup
board nor table, so father bored some
holes in the logs at one end Of our
cabin and drove in some pins of
stakes of wood and on these some
boards were laid for shelves, to eat off
from and to set our dishes on. We
lived in that way until the 2lst Of
November. Father went back to
gather our crop near Galena and he
worked in the mines till the crops
were all matured and when through
with this work he brought my younger
sister and the stove home, ard oh, you
can't think how glad We were to see
that old cook stove. 1t was brought
in the same night and set mp and you
can't imagine how glad we were.
II tell you We had some.good times
then, for we didn't have to scrub any
floors because we didn't have any to
scrub. Father and my brother and
brother-in-law hauled supplies from