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of horses or mules hitched to their decorated covered wagons, which were generally provided with stoves, and no one lacked firearms except the man who undertook the journey with a wheelbarrow whereon he bore his supplies. If we had not seen it with our own eyes, we should have doubted the truth of this. He had his place in the long train of wagons and made way for no one.
"We noticed later that the wheelbarrow man arrived in California. The train of wagons was often so long drawn out as to fill the entire street from east to west. The number of well-behaved persons among the trekkers was very small; most of them were coarse and disorderly."
Those who were not stampeded by the gold excitement, but remained on their farms, sold food and other articles to the gold seekers at immense profit to themselves. A Holland farmer who lived on the route of travel, stated:
"We sold the trekkers to California all we had, and bought up more from our neighbors who lived farther from the road. We sold a bushel of corn for one dollar, a bushel of oats for one dollar, a bushel of wheat for one dollar, 100 pounds of hay for one dollar, everything for one dollar; that was easy to remember. A yoke of oxen brought from $50 to $55; a cow from $20 to $25. The trekkers, however, could stand it. Some had cooks and negro servants. A man from Davenport came with 350 head of cattle. He has two more herds of the same size, altogether 1,000 head, on the way."
Thus it will be seen how the spirit and energy of our colonists was renewed by the emigrants from Holland and the "forty-niners" from the eastern states. The former not only brought much needed capital, but also the industry and ambition to make the most of the wonderful opportunities offered by the new country.
While the improvement in Pella was great, it was exceeded by the development in the farming communities. It was often remarked at that time that the town of Pella did not keep up with the progress of the surrounding country. We are glad to state that this is no longer true, and that Pella is known far and wide as one of the most beautiful, progressive and modern little cities in the great Mississippi Valley.
In the year 1850, E. F. Grafe and Dingeman de Haan Jr. opened a general store in Amsterdam. In anticipation of the importance this embryo village would attain when the Des Moines river should have been made navigable for traffic, many people had purchased lots there. J. A. Toom had started a brick kiln to which he later added a lime kiln. The unprecedented flood conditions of 1851, however, permanently discouraged the attempt to build an industrial center and shipping port at that place.
The flood conditions of 1851 are still known as the most destructive ever experienced in this locality. What added to the damage wrought was the fact that the floods came in the month of June, when growing crops gave promise of a rich harvest. As practically all fences were made of rails in those days, it is readily understood that many miles of fencing disappeared entirely. In that year there was a great surplus of corn in the colony, and Bousquet, Wolters & Smeenk, and H. Van Dam and Berkhout undertook the construction of a number of flat boats with which they hoped to carry this corn to the market at St. Louis. This would have been of great benefit to the entire colony. Everything was carefully figured out in advance, and on paper the project promised sure success. There were men like Mr. Kramer and Gerrit Jot, who had been experienced water traffic men in the Netherlands, and it was expected that they would have no difficulty in handling a fleet of flat boats. Unfortunately for the promoters as well as for