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Pioneer Life
In and Around Cedar Rapids, Iowa from 1839 to 1849
Rev. George R. Carroll

- Chapter VII -

(pages 39 - 43)

Chapters:
I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, X (cont), XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX

Wild Fruit and Game.

There were a few things that the country, even in its wildest state, supplied. There were plenty of plums and crab apples, which latter, although not quite up to our ideas of the most delicious fruit, nevertheless proved to be a good deal better than no fruit at all. But the plums were here in unlimited quantities; many of them large and luscious, and of a sweetness and delicacy of flavor that would tempt the appetite of the most dainty and fastidious. And then there were haws, black and red, that were prized by some; and there was a fine variety of black cherries that were large and juicy; and wild currants and gooseberries abounded everywhere in the woods. Then, too, late in the autumn, after the frosts came, the groves along the streams and on the islands of the river were festooned with wild grape vines, loaded with their purple clusters, inferior, of course, to the cultivated varieties, but nevertheless a very useful fruit to have in such exhaustless quantities.

Besides these we had several varieties of nuts which we enjoyed very much; such as hazel nuts, hickory nuts, black walnuts and butter nuts.

All of these we were accustomed to gather in large quantities to use during the winter as often and as freely as we desired.

And then there were blackberries and strawberries in their season, which were abundant and very delicious.

There was also an abundance of wild game. Deer were everywhere to be found roaming through the woods and over the prairies. There were no hunters in our family, and old Indian gun with flint lock being the only fire-arms about our premises. Occasionally, however, they would make a mistake and bring down something with it, but it could not be depended on at all for the supply of our table. Fortunately for us, however, Mr. N. G. Niece, Mr. Lewis’ son-in-law, of whom mention has already been made, was a splendid marksman and an experienced hunter. He would bring us one or two deer at any time as often as we needed venison. He never failed. He knew were to find them, and whenever he leveled his rifle upon one he was a doomed deer.

I remember very well one Sabbath day to have counted twenty-seven deer in one flock on the north side of the boulevard near twentieth street. This was after we had fenced and broken up the ground. We could often see groups of two or three or more. Some moonlight evenings they could be seen browsing within a few rods of the house.

We never saw any buffalo or elk in this part of the State, though both were found a few miles west of us. Elk were to be found in the western part of the State up to 1860 or possibly later.

Wild turkeys were also very plenty. They would sometimes come quite near the house in flocks, and then they would reveal their whereabouts by their gobbling and other sounds familiar to the hunter, and so become an easy prey to his trusty rifle. Prairie chickens, and pheasants, and quails were abundant, and often formed an important part of our bill of fare. This looks like quite luxurious living, but the trouble was we had too much of that kind of fare. Thinking now of the exceeding delicacy and deliciousness of a dish of quail on toast, we can hardly imagine how the Israelites of old could have ever become so disgusted with this palatable kind of flesh. The trouble was that it was too abundant. And that was the difficulty with our wild game. However, in those times of extreme scarcity of provisions, it was a great blessing that, in the woods, and on our prairies, there was so much that we could obtain that would sustain life and materially add to our comfort.

I must not forget to add also that the river and the creeks in the vicinity afforded an abundance of fine fish. There were pickerel, black and white bass, buffalo, salmon, catfish and many inferior varieties of fish, that could be caught, and which made an important addition to our food supplies.

Some of the fish were very large. I have seen catfish caught in Cedar River that weighted fifty pounds, and pickerel that measured three feet long and weighed thirty pounds.

The Sportsman’s Paradise.

In those primitive days this was really the sportsman’s paradise. The people who lived here at that time, however, had but little time to indulge in sport for its own sake. When they hunted it was not, as a rule, to gratify a morbid desire to kill some poor bird, or some timid animal, for the sport it afforded, but to get something upon which to subsist. It was no uncommon spectacle in the fall and winter, to see flocks of prairie chickens fly over by the hundred at a time. Often they would light on the trees in such numbers as to make the limbs bend under the heavy weight of their fat, plump bodies.

Then the corn was left out after the snow came, which often occurred, the prairie chickens would always help themselves to such an extent as to demonstrate their ability to destroy no insignificant part of the crop that had cost such hard labor to produce.

In the spring time they could be seen in great flocks sporting on the prairies, while the air would become vocal with their shrill notes, and their strange cackle, and the peculiar booming sound for which they are so distinguished.

The pheasants, too, were often seen timidly skulking through the brush, or at the evening tide their weird drumming sound could be heard in the groves near by, like the low mutterings of distant thunder.

Source: Pioneer Life In and Around Cedar Rapids from 1839 to 1949 by Rev. George R. Carroll. Pub. Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Times Printing and Binding House, 1895.

Transcribed by Terry Carlson for the IAGenWeb. For research only. Some errors in transcription may have occurred.

Chapters:
I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, X (cont), XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX

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