History of Cherokee County |
History of Cherokee County |
| CHEROKEE COUNTY IN EARLY DAYS - REMINESINCES OF AN OLD SETTLER The 20th day of August 1858, the writer first saw Cherokee county and was pleased with all except the scarcity of timber. Came to the Sioux river where Bliss mill now stands. The river was bank full and there was no mode of crossing except in canoes, and as it was late we had to camp until the next morning and that night I shall never forget, we had to lie awake nearly all night owing to mosquitoes. Next morning some of the citizens came down to help us across. Taking a rope, they pulled over the oxen and wagon, each separately, and took our household good over in a canoe. All the long way we traveled from Ida Grove, there was no trail – quite a contract compared with the present appearance of that long prairie. At that time, there was probably not a bridge or culvert in Cherokee county. We found in the county at that time, living in and about Cherokee: A. Phipps and family, Benjamin Holbrook and family, S. B. Parkhurst and wife, G. W. Lebourveau, L. Parkhurst and family, James Hammond and family, A. Haynes and family, James A. Brown and family, R. Hammond, C. Corbett, B. W. Sawtell, Mr. Hubbard and W. Bachelor. Judge Sherwin, who afterwards figured largely in the local affairs of the county, was at that time camped on his place – the old Parshat farm. He was elected County Judge that fall and soon put county affairs in running order. As my business at that time was that of a Methodist preacher, I soon started to explore the valley, going to the vicinity of Peterson and preaching there on the 22 of August. Returning, I arranged my affairs during the week, and on Sunday, Aug 29th, 1856, preached probably the first Methodist sermon at the house of Mr. Lebourveau, from the text, “Strive to enter in at the straight gate,” after which Mr. Whitney gave an abolition lecture. Sometime after I visited the lower settlement and found some seven families there. Enoch Taylor was then living on or near the place now owned by L. H. Moore. He was afterwards killed in an affray about six miles above Peterson, about the 1st of June, 1860. In all there were about 22 voters in the county when I came here. The cabin I wintered in had a sod roof and ground floor – our nearest saw mill being about 40 miles away, lumber was hard to get, so we split puncheons and made floor. Sometime in February a small band of Indians came with their families and located in Cherokee. Not long after, a small band of soldiers, under Sergeant Wilcox, exercised their military powers by capturing and taking them to Minnesota, which was truly a heroic undertaking. It is sad to think of the conditions of the Indians and the way they have been treated by unprincipled men; there is no doubt but that the Spirit Lake massacre in 1858 and the massacre in Minnesota in 1862, were largely caused by white men and yet the white men were much irritated because the Indians did so much stealing. The winter of 1858 and 1859 was on the average a mild one, although it set in rather harsh. Author: Orange S. Wight (Source: Iowa Independent, Cherokee, IA., Thurs, Jan 11th, 1877, pg. 1) |
