LIFE IN THE EARLY DAYS IN IOWA

Several of you have asked me to write about what our ancestors encountered in their early days in Iowa. What was their daily life like? How did they survive the extreme weather? Did they build churches and schools? What hardships did they face?

I've searched for information that I thought would be relevant to our Linn, Olofson, Barquist, Carlson ancestors; but it appears that none of our ancestors wrote much of anything to pass down. We were fortunate to have the story written by Daniel Peterson about the journey from Sweden to Iowa in 1849-50. And as I continued through my mother's notebooks, I came across more of Daniel's writing. This time, at the age of 39, he wrote his recollections of those early days in Boone County. His story is full of details that helps us understand the courage and strength of our early ancestors. Our Linn ancestors are mentioned throughout this piece. And, because of his writing, we can also learn what our other ancestors would have faced as they settled in Iowa nearly two centuries ago.

Like Daniel Peterson's other writing, this one is also long--10 page long. But I want to share it with you as he wrote it. I hope that you enjoy this look at life in early Iowa. We start with the Peterson family deciding to travel a bit north of Raccoon Forks to Boone County where they receive help from John Linn.

NOTE: In this first post, a mention is made of the Dragoon Trail. For those of you who don't know about this well-marked section of Iowa, I've copied from wikipedia a brief description:

In 1933, the State of Iowa opened the Dragoon Trail, a scenic and historic drive along the Des Moines River.

The trail follows the path of the 1st U. S. Dragoons, the country's first mounted infantry unit, on their historic march in the summer of 1835, to scout Iowa after the Black Hawk Purchase of 1832 put the area under U.S. control. The march lead to the establishment of outposts from present-day Fort Dodge and Webster City through Des Moines to Pella and Knoxville.

The Trail is about 200 miles long and passes cultural, historical, natural and scenic attractions including Lake Red Rock, Ledges State Park, the Kate Shelley High Bridge and Dolliver Memorial Park.

It starts with two branches originating from Fort Dodge and Webster City that join near Stratford; from there it runs through Boone and Des Moines to the Red Rock Dam between Pella and Knoxville.

Peter Linn has arrived in Iowa, living near his brother John. Love is in the air with George and Anna.

Don't you enjoy hearing about the excitement for the mail, especially the Harper's Magazine? And the dislike of a daily staple, corn bread, after having it at every meal? We also see that Gus Linn's family had arrived and established himself in the community as well.

We've learned in this first section about the early settlers, attending church services in their homes, John Linn's position as elder/bishop over Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, and a bit about how difficult courting could be with a language and cultural barrier.

I'll add the other part of Daniel Peterson's writing in a few days.