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Audubon County |
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Biographical History of Shelby and Audubon Counties
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"They have moved away out into western Iowa," is a phrase which does not now carry with it the meaning it did, when so commonly spoken, a quarter of a century ago, when the hopeful and adventurous pioneer had left his older home in some one of the thickly settled eastern States, and taken a "claim" in western Iowa, which was then little less than a desolate prairie-land and wilderness. At that date no network of railways, providing a royal highway over which the iron-hearted, steaming monster could speed his rapid way by day and by night, year in and year out, had been projected. The prairie sod was then unturned; the rivers and creeks were then unbridged, and almost impassable roads were the rule everywhere. Ox and mule trains, en route for Pike's Peak and California, had for a few years passed through this section and speculated, while camped along some one of its many beautiful little creeks, upon the future of this charming domain, which the pioneers have chosen to call Audubon County. But vague, very vague, indeed, was their comprehension of the richness of the soil and the wealth they were leaving behind when they passed on toward the setting sun, in search of homes and happiness. A few brave sons of toil had the hardihood to face the privations incident to frontier life, and come on in advance of railroads, high culture and fancy styles! They brought no better title to the lands they claimed than that they were numbered among American citizens, which had already come to mean much to him who sought to build for himself a home with naught save hard days' work. "They came, they saw, they conquered," and soon the ear of civilized life caught the inspiration and wended its way on to this goodly country, where men at once grew healthy and wealthy. The settlers multiplied; the soil produced far more than these first settlers could consume, and it was not long before capitalists saw money could be no better expended than in giving an outlet for the annually increasing crops, by the construction of systems of railroads. So it may be said that southwestern Iowa is marked by two special eras -- one the first settlement and the other the advent of the railroads. It is the purpose of this work to trace out the historic events from the date of the first settlers, on down through the railroad era, noticing the advancement on all hands, from the first step to the present day -- in brief, to survey the original, primitive wilderness, and the same domain after having been transformed into a garden spot, assuring the reader the contrast is, indeed, marked. The first thing to be taken into account is how this section of Iowa was left, when given over to many by the kindness of a wise Creator. We now come to speak of the GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY AND GENERAL FEATURES.From the summit of the great "divide," in the northern part of the county, a magnificent panorama of the surrounding country is commanded. In the west, southwest and south the eye scans the distant horizon which is bounded by a lofty prairie barrier, enveloped in the uncertain shimmering haze of a summer day, and seeming like a vast rim bounding the further outline of an immense shallow basin, whose middle portion is occupied by gracefully undulating prairie swells which rise and fall, one beyond the other, until distance blends the whole mass into lines of light and shadow. When one commands a view like the above, outstretched over a radius of thirty or forty miles, embracing a region, every acre of which is the finest arable land in the world, for the first time he gains an intelligent impression and a just appreciation of the grandeur of these undulating, treeless plains. The county is fairly estimated to contain 1,600 acres of timber. Hamlin's Grove and the forest near the village of Exira are the largest in extent of surface. Along the larger streams, narrow belts of timber occur at intervals, and upon the upland slopes, considerable areas are occupied by growths of burr and red oak. The general surface is quite rolling, yet it is seldom injured for agricultural purposes by "washing." It is entirely free from ponds or sloughs. The East Nishnabotna River rises in Carroll County, and flows southward through Audubon County, making a wide valley of unsurpassed fertility, that rises in gentle slopes from the bed of the stream to the upland prairies, which stretch away in graceful swells. The valleys of the smaller streams present the same features, while the high prairie land between these streams is, indeed, beautiful. The soil in the valley is a dark loam, mixed with a productive sand, while the "divides" are composed of a bluff deposit. Besides the East Nishnabotna River, which is the main stream of the county, may be mentioned its branches -- David's Creek, Troublesome Creek, Crooked Creek, Buck Creek, Little Indian Creek, in the southern and eastern part of the county, and the "east Branch" of West Nishnabotna River, Indian Creek, Bull Run and Blue Grass Creek, all of which are in the western part of Audubon County and flow toward the south and west, into Shelby County. Every township is drained with running water of the best and purest quality. |
| Index <=== Continue Reading ===> Next Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass August, 2014 from "Biographical History of Shelby and Audubon Counties", Chicago: W. S. Dunbar & Co., 1889, pg. 637-638. |
