OLDEST PIONEER OF COUNTY DIES
G.W. BANISTER HAD LARGE PART IN ORGANIZING AND RULING CHEROKEE
WAS TRAIL-BLAZER
As Homesteader He Bore Brunt with Other Hardy Spirits in Winning the Great West
G.
W. Banister, oldest surviving pioneer of Cherokee county, died at his
home at 6:30 o'clock, Thursday morning, after practed illness
incidental to the enfeebling effects of age. The funeral will be held
at 2:30 pm Saturday, and will be conducted by Rev. E. C. McDade.
G.W.
Banister was born in Ashtabula county, extreme northeastern Ohio, Sept.
12, 1835 and was there fore past 87 years of age. He came to Illinois
at the age of 9. His mother died soon after and he was left largely on
his own resources. He came from Illinois to Dubuque, Iowa and then to
Hardin county, Iowa, where he became the owner of a farm, selling his
farm there he came to Cherokee county June 17, 1856 and preempted
a quarter section of land in Pilot township, now owned by A. D.
Bushlow. There he built a log cabin on the bank of the creek near where
the present dwelling stands.
He returned to Hardin county where
on Oct 7, 1856, he was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Allison.
The "wedding trip" of this young couple , the groom 21 years of age and
the bride 17, was a journey westward to the new home in Cherokee
county, their "going away" equipment consisting of a covered wagon and
two ox teams. All alone they made the trip across the wild prairies,
fording the Little Sioux river near the present site of what is known
as the Scurlock bridge, and arriving here Nov. 3, 1856.
Mr. Banister
was the eighth white man to locate within the bounds of Cherokee
county, and was the only surviving one. The Milford colony had located
earlier in the year near where Perry, father of Banks Perry, was the
first white settler.
Distances were long in those days and the
marketing points were Fort Dodge, Panora and Denison. There was a
plentiful supply of food but wheat flour was scarce and to secure a
supply necessitated a long journey to market. After being some time
without it, their craving for wheat flour bread finally prompted a trip
to market for a supply and Mr. Banister set our for Denison, leaving
his young wife alone in their cabin home. The round trip consumed three
weeks and during the entire time of her husband's absence Mrs. Banister
did not see a single human being.
Their first winter on the western
prairies was a long hard one. The first snow came December 1, 1856, and
during the winter snow was several feet deep on the level, with great
mountains of drifts scattered here and there. Some of these drifts
remained until the following April. There were but few trees to
interrupt the fierce sweep of the winds and the intense cold and the
great piles of snow left a vivid picture of their first winter on the
prairies of northwest Iowa.
The early settlers found the
Indians friendly and they experienced little difficulty with them. In
the early part of 1857, however, a hunting party of Indians who had
passed down the Little Sioux was stopped by whites at Smithland, who
took away their guns. This enraged the red men, who under Inkpadutch,
chief of the outlaw band of Sioux, retaliated with numerous
depredations, which finally culminated in the famous Spirit Lake
massacre. However, they did not disturb the Banister household except
to kill an ox in the timber on the farm, probably for the purpose of
securing meat.
Mr. Banister assisted in the organization of
the new county, which previously had been a part of Woodbury and
participated actively, as a republican, in the politics of the new
division of the state. In 1867 he was elected judge, which office he
held for two years. For two terms he was sheriff and was also coroner.
To many of the offices of his township he gave attention and was a
respected and active member of the community.
He enlisted,
October 1862 in Co. E. Sixth Iowa cavalry and was assigned to frontier
service with the command. It was part of his duty to hold in check the
Indians who had been incited to rise as a diversion in incidental to
the secession of the southern states, a demonstration of old world
diplomacy, engaged for the time being in an effort to destroy the union
of states. Mr. Banister was engaged against the hostiles at Whitestone
Hills, Kildeer Mountains and in the Bad Lands of Dakota. He was
honorably discharged in 1865.
In 1856 he pre-empted 160 acres of
land, and at one time owned 480 acres. Pre-emption and ownership of
land in Cherokee county in 1856 did not mean plenty, comparative
comfort and all the advantages of schools, society, business and
entertainment. It mean raising the Flag over a new homestead and
keeping it there despite adversities and personal hardships. It meant
that another young trail-blazer for the republic had arrived and
established an outpost on the confines of administered territory. His
lie and the life of his wife and family in those years were parts of
the greatest of all American romances. "The Winning of the West" - a
battle when in progress, an epic since their victory was won and
confirmed.
Six children were born to Mr and Mrs Banister: Eugene
A. Banister, for several years a successful merchant of Cherokee;
Trephina E., wife of W. M Little; Nettie, at home; George Dwight;
Charles Allison and Wellington, deceased. Mrs. Banister survives.
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