Iowa Heritage Illustrated

Burton, William Lee

The Main Street I Remember: Corydon, Iowa

A Ferocious, 
Horrible Thing
Mary E. Kirkendall knew well the fury of the Missouri River. Her great-grandparents An­nie and George Hunter had farmed near
Sloan, south of Sioux City and not far from the river.■/
Eventually the couple moved a few miles away be­
cause the Missouri was slowly taking their 80 acres. 
"The river cut it away," according to Kirkendall. "It 
was cutting it back and it would only be a few years 
before [the farm] would all be in the river."
In 1978, Kirkendall related her own memories of 
the Missouri, when she and her husband, Jim, farmed 
near Sloan. "As late as 1952... the whole town moved 
out because there was danger of flood. There was a 
possibility that the whole town would be eight feet 
under water. At that time we had 50 head of feeder 
cattle and 50 head of sheep which we had to truck 
up to the hills and get that out. Then the town put 
up a dike around the farm to try and save the town.
"My father, hard headed as he was, said, 'Never, 
never—I'll drink all the water that runs down Main 
Street.' And he wouldn't move out. As it happened, 
the river flooded over the other side. . . .
"I have a deathly fear of that river. I remember as 
a child going out there for what we called the June 
Rage. That river was a vicious, mean—you'd see it 
and it would have big eddies and whirlpools and 
big chunks as big as this house in it. When it was 
running high it would cut under the banks and big, 
huge trees would go in.
"It still is a river that demands a lot of respect 
but it's so much tamer now since they dammed 
up above and controlled the water flow. But in the 
spring, when all the [snow] melted, all the water 
that they hold up in the reservoirs now, would come 
down with a gush—it cut land terrifically. . ..
"The Missouri would always freeze, and in 
the spring we had huge ice floes that would pile 
way high. Then we'd have floods 'cause the water 
couldn't run through.
"You'd never recognize this river from what it 
used to be. It could be a ferocious, horrible thing."
In 1952, Missouri floodwaters bore down on 
farms like the Kirkendalls', towns like Sloan, and 
cities like Council Bluffs. The story of how Coun­
cil Bluffs fought the river starts on the next page.
—The Editor
U l C l '
P
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A
 F
erocious, 
H
orrible T
hing


English

A Ferocious, Horrible Thing

Holmes, C E

A Prize-Winning Baby of 1931

Captain Warner's Map: An Early Civil War Camp in Iowa

Kaufman, Peter

Iowa Incendiary

Swaim, Ginalie

Reaping the Bounty
In th e  1890s, Io w a  b o a s te d  o f  its  a g r ic u ltu ra l p ro d u c t iv i ty  by 
c o n s tru c t in g  e la b o ra te  th o u g h  e p h e m e ra l e x p o s it io n  pa laces 
and e x h ib its , o rn a m e n te d  w ith  fe s to o n s  o f  g rasses, m o sa ics  
o f  g ra in , and p y ra m id s  o f  p ro d u c e . A s  o n e  e x h ib it  p ro c la im e d , 
“ T h e  p ra y e r  [o f ]  ‘G ive  us th is  day o u r  d a ily  b re a d ’ is a n s w e re d  
b e s t in Io w a .”
A lth o u g h  th e s e  e x u b e ra n t c e le b ra t io n s  o f  th e  s ta te ’s fe r t i l i t y  
fe ll o u t  o f  s ty le  a f te r  a fe w  yea rs , Io w a ’s p ro d u c t iv i ty  c o n t in ­
ued , e v e r d e p e n d e n t o n  th e  w o rk e rs  w h o  p la n te d , c u lt iv a te d , 
and g a th e re d  in Io w a ’s annua l h a rv e s t.
H e re , th e n , a re  a fe w  o f  th e  o rd in a ry  p e o p le  w h o  ye a r a f te r  
y e a r re a p e d  Io w a ’s b o u n ty . — The Edito r
SHSI (IOWA CITY) FOSTER COLLECTION
A b o v e : G le n  F o s te r  c a rr ie s  John F o s te r  
(c . 1 9 0 0 ) a m id s t  a g a rd e n  in Io w a  Falls. 
R ig h t: M rs . R a lp h  M a n n  o f  Jefferson  
C o u n ty  poses by shelves o f  c a n n in g  and  
a b in  o f p o ta to e s  (c . 1940s).
10 loica Heritage Illustrated
Spring 2010 11
nui ilim i il
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D r iv e rs  o f seven w ag o n s  a w a it  th e  lo a d in g  o f cabbages  
in to  r e f r ig e r a t e d  b o x c a rs  in A u g u s t  1 9 1 6  in  N ic h o ls ,  
Io w a . J. W . R u m m e lls  f irs t  g re w  c ab b ag e  in I 9 I 2 on five  
acres  n e a r  N ic h o ls . W it h in  a fe w  years  he w as sh ip p in g  
10 ,000  to n s  o f  c ab b ag e  f ro m  s o u th e a s te rn  Io w a  and  sup ­
p ly in g  th e  M id w e s t ’s m a jo r  p ro d u c e  m a rk e ts . F e llo w  h o r ­
t ic u ltu r is ts  d u b b e d  h im  th e  “ C a b b a g e  K in g .”
E v e ry  F e b ru a ry , w o rk e rs  h ire d  by R u m m e lls  u n ­
lo a d e d  to n s  o f ra ilro a d  cars  o f m a n u re  and  to p s o il to  p re ­
p a re  seed b ed s  in h o th o u s e s  and  co ld  fra m e s . T h o u s a n d s  
o f  seed lings  w e re  s e t o u t  w h e n  th e  w e a th e r  w a rm e d .  
H e a d s  w e re  h a rv e s te d  and  sh ip p ed  f ro m  June th ro u g h  
O c to b e r . A n  ice  p la n t, c ra te  fa c to ry , and  ra ilro a d  sid ing, 
all c o n s tru c te d  to  a c c o m m o d a te  th e  h eavy  y ie lds , p ro ­
v id e d  a d d it io n a l jobs in th e  N ic h o ls  a re a .
12 looa Heritage Illustrated



A lth o u g h  c o rn  p ro v e d  to  be b e t ­
t e r  s u ite d  to  Io w a ’s soil and  w e a th e r ,  
w h e a t  w as s till a m a jo r  c ro p  in Io w a  in 
th e  19 th  c e n tu ry . B u t th e  n u m b e r  o f  
acres  o f w h e a t  s te a d ily  d e c lin e d , f ro m  
3.4  m ill io n  in 1880, to  less th a n  h a lf  a 
m illio n  acres  in I 9 3 0 . R e g ard less  o f th e  
d e c lin e , sh o ck in g  even  a s ingle a c re  o f  
w h e a t  w as s till la b o r  in te n s iv e  in th e  
1930s and  ’40s, w h e n  th is  p h o to  w as  
ta k e n .
14 Iowa Heritage Illustrated

16 loiva Heritage Illustrated
D w a r fe d  by a g ra in  e le v a to r  a n d  s tacks  
o f  c lay t i le ,  a  h a n d fu l o f  m e n  o v e rs e e  
th e  lo a d in g  o f  s u g a r b e e ts  in to  ra ilro a d  
cars  a t  K a n a w h a , c. 1 9 1 0 - 1 9 1 5 .
P ro cess in g  s u g a r b e e ts  w as a n e w  
in d u s try  in n o r th e r n  Io w a  e a r ly  in th e  
c e n tu ry . A t  h a rv e s t t im e ,  fa r m e rs  t ra n s ­
p o r te d  th e  b e e ts  by w a g o n  to  a n e a rb y  
“ s u g a r d u m p ” like  th is  o n e  in K a n a w h a . 
F ro m  th e r e  th e y  w e re  sh ip p ed  to  p ro ­
cessing p la n ts  in Io w a , w h e re  th e  b e e ts  
w e re  re f in e d  in to  sugar.
W h i le  p la n t  o w n e rs  p ro v id e d  th e  
c a p ita l, an d  fa r m e rs  th e  la n d , M e x ic a n s  
a n d  M e x ic a n  A m e r ic a n s  p ro v id e d  th e  
s to o p  la b o r. In  1926 , fo r  in s ta n c e , o v e r  
2 ,0 0 0  M e x ic a n  n a tio n a ls  la b o re d  in th e  
s ta te ’s s u g a r b e e t  fie lds .
Spring 2010 17
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A  g o o d  c ro p  o f  a p p le s  m e a n t  a g o o d  
su p p ly  o f  c id e r  fo r  th o s e  w ith  a c id e r  
press, m u s c le  p o w e r, an d  s p a re  jugs an d  
ja rs . H e r e ,  th e  M c C a b e s  d e m o n s tr a te  
h o w  it  w as  d o n e .
In  1910,  th r e e  o u t  o f  fo u r  Io w a  
fa r m  fa m ilie s  had  a p p le  o rc h a rd s , an d  
th e  s ta te  ra n k e d  s ix th  n a tio n a lly  in 
a p p le  p ro d u c tio n . B u t s e v e re  w in te rs  
f re q u e n t ly  je o p a rd iz e d  o rc h a rd s . O n  
A r m is t ic e  D a y  in 1940 , d a y t im e  t e m ­
p e ra tu re s  p lu n g e d  50  d e g re e s ,d ro p p in g  
to  b e lo w  z e ro . O rc h a rd s  in s o u th e rn  
Io w a  w e re  e s p e c ia lly  h a rd  h it .
F o r tu n a te ly ,  Io w a  S ta te  p o m o lo -  
g is t T. J. M a n e y ’s e x p e r im e n ts  w ith  
g ra ft in g  d e s ira b le  v a r ie t ie s  o n to  h a r ­
d ie r, w in te r p r o o f  s to cks  soon  m e t  th e  
c h a lle n g e  o f  b ru ta l  w in te rs .
Spring 2010 19

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B u rla p  sacks b u lg e  w ith  b lack  w a l­
nu ts . P e rh ap s  th e  d r iv e r  is c a lc u la -  
ta t in g  w h e th e r  th e  sacks and  th e  
c h ild re n  w ill a ll f i t  in th e  a u to .
A t  th e  t im e  o f s e t t le m e n t ,  
b lack  w a ln u t  tre e s  th r iv e d  in Io ­
w a ’s r ic h  r iv e r  b o t to m s . U s e d  fo r  
b a rn  t im b e rs  in th e  19th  c e n tu ry ,  
and  s till used fo r  fin e  fu rn itu r e ,  th e  
w o o d  has lon g  b e e n  v a lu e d  fo r  its  
s tre n g th  and  b e a u ty .
T h e  a c tu a l w a ln u ts , h o w ever, 
a re  a bonus fo r  th o s e  w illin g  to  
h u ll, c ra c k , and  te d io u s ly  p ick  o u t  
th e  n u t m e a t— c h o re s  th a t  re s u lt  
in s ta in e d  hands and  p re c io u s  l i t t le  
re w a rd  fo r  w a ln u t  lovers .
22 Iowa Heritage Illustrated

F a rm e rs  d e liv e r  sh e lled  c o rn  to  C o r w ith  on a fr ig id  day in Ja n u a ry  
1913.  W i t h  th e  h e lp  o f h ire d  m e n , fa rm  fa m ilie s  s ta r te d  p ick in g  
c o rn  in O c to b e r , h o p in g  to  fin ish  by th e  en d  o f D e c e m b e r  if  th e  
w e a th e r  c o o p e ra te d .
A n  a u to  re p a ir  business sits across fro m  th e  C o r w ith  g ra in  e l­
e v a to r . A lth o u g h  Io w a  fa rm e rs  a d o p te d  a u to m o b ile s  fa ir ly  early , 
t ra c to rs  d id  n o t re p la c e  w o rk h o rs e s  u n til th e  I 940s , w h e n  th e  w a r  
d re w  fa r m  la b o re rs  in to  th e  a rm e d  serv ices  and  d e fen se  jobs. ♦>
' 1 lozoa Heritage Illustrated
Spring 2010 25
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Reaping the Bounty

From Emancipation to Equality: Alexander Clark's Stand for Civil Rights in Iowa

SHSI (OES MOINES) D ES M O IN E S  R E G IS T E R  A N D  TRIBUNE
The press photographs the Drake Relays on a rainy April day in 1937.
The places where records are broken
T r a c k  a n d  f i e ld  e v e n t s  w e r e  o r i g i n a l l y  h e ld  o n  m o w n  
a r e a s  o r  d i r t  t r a c k s  in  p a s t u r e s  a n d  a t  f a i r g r o u n d s .  In  
t h e  e a r l y  2 0 t h  c e n t u r y ,  h o w e v e r ,  i t  b e c a m e  t h e  n o r m  
t o  h o ld  m e e t s  in  f o o t b a l l  s t a d iu m s ,  g y m n a s iu m s ,  
a n d  f ie ld  h o u s e s .  T h e s e  s t r u c t u r e s  c h a n g e d  o v e r  t h e  
y e a r s .
O n ly  a  f e w  p r o p e r t ie s  in  Io w a  a s s o c ia te d  w i t h  t r a c k  
a n d  f ie ld  r e t a in  s u f f ic ie n t  p h y s ic a l e v id e n c e  t o  b e  c o n ­
s id e r e d  h is t o r ic a l ly  s ig n if ic a n t .  O n e  is o n  t h e  c a m p u s  
o f  D r a k e  U n iv e r s i t y  in  D e s  M o in e s .  A n o t h e r  is a t  L o ­
ra s  C o l le g e  in  D u b u q u e .T h e s e  s t r u c t u r e s  a n d  s ite s  s til l  
e v o k e  a  s e n s e  o f  t i m e  a n d  p la c e .
Adapted from "Survey of Buildings. Sites, Structures. Objects, and Districts Related to 
the Development of Team Sports in Iowa, 1850-1960.” by i_eah D. Rogers and Clare L 
Kemek, Tallgrass Historians LC., (2003).
72 loica Heritage Illustrated
taL:\L
Top: Best known as the site of the world-famous Drake Relays, Drake Stadium in Des Moines is the oldest of three 
major Iowa stadiums designed in the 1920s by Proudfoot, Rawson and Souers, then the state’s leading architectural firm. 
The firm also designed the Drake Field House (above) for indoor track events and basketball. Photographed in 2003, 
the ticket booth and the curved walkway under the seating contribute to a sense of time and place.
Designed by C. I. Krajewski and built in 1939-1940. the Loras College Stadium in Dubuque was carved into a natural limestone bluff. Notable 
features include the original limestone entry gates and wood-and-concrete bleachers built on a natural limestone foundation. Called the Rock 
Bowl, the stadium is also used for football.
Summer 2010 73


The Places Where Records Are Broken

Berrier, Galin

Aunt Polka by Galin Berrier
Keosauqua, seat of Van Bu- ren County in southeastern 
Iowa, has about 1,000 residents 
today. In 1873, it had a population 
of 772, of whom 102 were A fri­
can Americans, down from a high 
of 21 I in 1870. No black people 
live in Keosauqua now, but in the 
1870s the African American com­
munity supported three or four 
churches, as well as an active Ma­
sonic organization.
Most of Keosauqua’s blacks 
probably came from Missouri 
during or after the Civil War, but 
a few may have come earlier, as fu­
gitive slaves. One such was “ Aunt 
Polka,” found hiding in a cornfield 
by five elders from Keosauqua’s 
African American churches who 
had searched for and found her 
in the snow.Thinking at first that 
her rescuers were slave catchers, 
she was said to have leaped on 
a tree stump, pulled a long knife, 
and threatened the deacons with 
it. She had her baby in her arms 
and a toddler at her side.
Aunt Polka told a remarkable 
tale of having fled from Mississippi 
with her 14 children. She said the 
two oldest boys and two oldest 
girls had been left with a black 
family along the way. Eight others 
had died from lack of food, sick­
ness, or exposure, only the baby 
girl and the toddler having sur­
vived to reach Iowa.
I told this story once at a 
meeting of a county historical so­
ciety and expressed more than a 
little doubt that it could be true. 
It seemed improbable to me that
the two youngest and most vul­
nerable children were the ones 
who survived. A woman in the 
back spoke up, saying, “ I can tell 
you’ve never been a mother,” 
and I couldn’t deny that! She ar­
gued that Aunt Polka would have 
been especially protective of her 
youngest children.
That may be, and there are 
a few documented cases of such 
long escapes from slavery succeed­
ing. William and Ellen Craft trav­
eled 1,000 miles to freedom from 
Macon, Georgia, to Philadelphia in 
four days in December 1848.Josiah 
Henson (said to be the model for 
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “ Uncle 
Tom” ) escaped from Kentucky 
with his wife and children in 1830 
and eventually reached Canada. But 
such well-publicized escapes were 
very unusual.
We now know that the great 
majority of runaways— about 75 
or 80 percent— were young men, 
healthy and strong, either unmar­
ried or at least w ithout any chil­
dren. Young slave women were 
less likely to run away because by 
their late teens or early twenties 
they had often begun to raise a 
family. Running away as a family, 
especially with children, was very 
risky and usually unsuccessful. ❖
Galin Berrier is an adjunct instructor in his­
to ry  at Des Moines Area Community College 
in Ankeny. He wrote the underground railroad 
chapter in Outside In: African American History 
in Iowa, 1838-2000. He volunteers with Iowa 
History Day. serves on the Humanities Iowa 
Speakers Bureau, and conducts interactive ses­
sions for school classes for Iowa Public Television.
Summer 2009 65
MAP COURTESY OF THE IOWAN MAGAZINE. S3 3. WITH ALTERATIONS BY IOWA HERITAGE ILLUSTRATED
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Aunt Polka

ening to turn Charlotta and her children over to 
slave traders if she refused.
Gordon complied,and the party continued north 
through Missouri.They were stopped frequently, but 
allowed to proceed each time because of the pres­
ence of two white men and a white woman. By the 
time they reached the Des Moines River and crossed 
into Iowa at Keokuk, the weather had turned cold, 
so they decided to settle there. Harry Pyles, who 
was a carpenter and stone mason as well as a leath­
er worker, built a small brick house for them all on 
Johnson Street. Their oldest son, Barney, who had 
done most of the driving on the trip from Kentucky, 
found work driving a freight wagon overland from 
Keokuk to Des Moines.
To ease the financial burden of supporting this 
large household, Charlotta resolved to obtain the 
freedom of her sons-in-law in Kentucky so they 
could come to Iowa and help. W ord came from Ken­
tucky that the cost would be $1,500 each. To raise 
the needed funds, Charlotta went east and made 
antislavery speeches in Philadelphia. Here she met
prominent antislavery leaders, including Frederick 
Douglass. In six months she had raised the needed 
$3,000 and returned to Iowa and then to Kentucky, 
where she bought Julias and Emily’s husbands from 
their owners.
According to Charlotta’s granddaughter, in later 
years her home in Keokuk became an early stop 
on the underground railroad. “ Many a slave, coming 
from Kentucky,Tennessee, and Missouri,found at the 
gateway into Iowa an enthusiastic member of their 
own race in the person of Grandma Pyles. She re­
ceived them into her own home and ... helped them 
to make their escape to Canada.”
Charlotta died in Keokuk in 1880 at the age of 
74. Her story demonstrates that most of the initia­
tive and the risk of escaping enslavement were borne 
by the freedom seekers themselves. They were not 
simply the passive, helpless recipients of the kind­
ness of strangers. They took their fate in their own 
hands, and when successful often became “ conduc­
tors" and “ agents" themselves on the underground 
railroad. ❖
tually made their way to Newton, 
where they were sheltered for 
a time at the W ittenberg Man­
ual Arts College north of town, 
founded by “ free Presbyterians" 
from Ohio and a known stop on 
the underground railroad in Jas­
per County. The next day, John 
hired out to work for a man 
named Richard Scherer and took 
the name “John Scherer.” Under 
this name he enlisted in the First 
Regiment, Iowa Colored Infantry,
known later as the 60th Regiment. 
U.S. Colored Troops.
When the war was over, 
John returned to Missouri and 
brought his parents, Paulice and 
Clarissa Miller, to live in Newton. 
Three sisters— Clem, Lettie, and 
Lizzie Miller— had already been 
brought there in 1862 by Aleck 
Nichols. From the war’s end until 
his death, John Graves, alias John 
Scherer, was known as “John Ross 
Miller.”
John’s story reminds us that 
fugitive slaves were often aided 
by other African Americans, both 
free and slave. Only near the end 
of their ordeals were they assisted 
by the agents of the underground 
railroad. ♦>
Galin Berrier teaches history at Des Moines Area 
Community College in Ankeny. Among his many 
activities related to  the underground railroad, 
he conducts interactive sessions for school 
classes for Iowa Public Television over the Iowa 
Communications Network.
Summer 2009 83


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