The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1904-03-24
EARLY OSKALOOSA
Population Consisted ofFOur Cabins
and a Pet Grow.

Nv W II. Parker in the Harvey
yaws.-An old adage has it, "a poet
Is born-not made" The reverse
holds true of the pioneer. AS a pio-
nerr he has no pedigree, no ancestors.
He inherits nothing but takes and
makes his own position. He belongs
ID that aggressive class that pushes
ms world ahead in everything, hence
among the pioneers in any new coun-
Try YOU never find the drones aid lag
CARDS Of the genus homo, but the live
vide awake specimens. The ilrst
corners Of this class to Clay township
were no exceptions 10 the rule. The
writer lived for twenty-five years
among tnem,and their direct descend
ants. and never knew or a beggar.
pauper or meDdicant among them.
These, il they hail from this locality.
are later product So much for his
general make up, and his sterling Ia
dusty and independence. From
whence did he hail? Invariably from
the east and the older settled por-
tons of the country. Never from the
west-for westward the star Of en-
pire takes its way" Some came from
as far east as Maine-others from
Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.
The modes Of travelling sixty years
ago were vastly different from those
of the present day. Those coming
from the extreme eastern states
might start by rail. A little farther
west. and they had to resort to steam
ers on the rivers, or canal boats ON
the canals, drawn by mules or horses;
west of the Mississippi river they
must need resort invariably to what
is now known as the Prairie s ;hoon-
81" These were mostly drawn By
oxen-and for speed, well! let us re-
mark that an OK is the slowest thing
ON the road we ever heard Of--5dve
South American sloth. AS an Old eX-
pert with the gad-about two ana
one-half miles ON the road per hour
was about all we could ever get out
of these beasts. But to the pioneer,
they were as needful as the camel Of
the desert is to the Arab. Francis
Al. Barker, the writer's father, left
the state of Ohio by boat down the
Muskingum river, then down the
Ohio and up the Mississippi river by
the same ans-disembarking at
Burlington, Des Moines county, Iowa,
and from thence to New London, Her
ry county, and later on to Marion
county, and Clay township. ',y OK
teams This will give the reader a
fair idea of how the pioneer reached
his destination in those early dayss.
That the reader may get an idea or
the newness of the gentry at this
date-18f4-the write1 will say that
~ he passed throul Ish2, now four
htvihnDi- and county seau,Qf Ma Ma.
haska county Oskaloosa-it contain
ed only four log houses and a tame
crow. The latter was perched on a
rail fence, cawing Justify. Not an in
nabitant was to be seen, and this was
the only sign of life in the village.
This group of cabins-we afterwards
Iearned-had been erected by the In
dian agent at a time when trouble
had occurred with the Indians, and
were placed there as means of de-
fence, but fortunately were not
needed for that purpose. From this
point to Durnam's Ford, on the Des
MONIES river, was reached, the stream
forded and turning southwark the
old Indian trail was followed to what
was then known as THE Lower Set
tlement,' just north of where the
town of Tracy now stands. This was
also known as"The Tong Settlement"
Here. a few settlers were already
domiciled, among whom were the fol-
lowing, viz: A. c. Sharp, Matthew
Ripple, Nathan Gregory, Thomas Tong
and perhaps two or three others. A
vacant log cabin was found on what
Is now Sec "a, Clay township, which
was occupied at once by the afore-
mentioned settler and mis- family and
where the writer began his expert
ence as a pioneer Of Clay township
and the west.
The log hut was not more than
I2xI4 feet, contained an opening for
a door (closed by hanging up quilt,
one for window and one at the end
for an open fire place, a puncheon
floor, clogs split in the center, the up
per side dressed smooth), and these
resting On stills formed the floor. This
was a typical log cabin-and happy
was the newcomer who could even
boast a shelter SO good as this.
Think Of one small room accommo-
dating family of eight. Thus shell
tered, and housed, at least one pio-
neer of Clay township began the
struggle fora foothold in its wilds.