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8/4/2005 |
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The River!
Marilyn Dodgen
Editor's note: The photos and history of the
river were provided by historians Pat
Baker of Humboldt and Arlene Tille of
Rutland.
As long as there has been human life in
Humboldt County, dating back to when Indian
tribes lived here, their existence depended
upon access to a river as a food and
water source for survival. The Sioux Indians
called the Des Moines River Mo-ing-o-nia
(river of the mounds), an English version of
the French adaptation of the name.
When Stephen H. Taft established his town of
Springvale (later re-named Humboldt), he
knew that a river location was vital
to the growth and very survival of the
pioneers he had brought from the east. As
their leader, one of the first steps he took
to assure that they had flour and meal was
to build a grist mill on the west branch of
the Des Moines River, and a dam
(located beside the present power plant
building), to provide water power to turn
the paddle wheel that was to provide power
for the grist grinder.
From the late 1860s, Mother Nature fought
him and the other men of the town who were
involved in the mill operation by sending
ice jams and flood water from up north that
repeatedly washed out or destroyed the dams,
which were of wooden construction. In Taft's
story of those early days, he told about the
1867 calamity that befell him and the town,
while accompanied by a priceless blessing of
the birth of his daughter, Mary, at that
same time. In April of that year, an ice
gorge took out the second dam to be built at
that location.
With the dam gone, farmers were compelled to
go afar to get milling done, creating an
extreme hardship on them. However, at the
same time this proved a blessing to scores
of families by reason of the jobs that were
created, being necessary in recovering
control of the river. Times were hard
and money was scarce.
Instead of re-building this second dam at
the same location, Taft found that by going
a half mile upstream, he could secure three
feet more of fall and also make the mill
safe from damage by future floods. This
required the digging of a canal a half mile
long, which involved an outlay of many
thousands of dollars.
Excavation commenced on the 6th day of June,
and he frequently had 50 men employed at a
time, together with many teams of horses,
since they were digging in rocky ground.
For a few weeks he paid the workmen on each
Saturday night, but this financial burden
was too much, so he paid them half,
promising them the remainder when the mill
was back in operation. This also was too
great a burden, so he told the men that the
best he could do was to furnish them bread
for their families, which was a great
necessity for people in those days and they
agreed to accept these conditions.
After his stock of flour was exhausted, he
borrowed from farmers all the grain he could
and sent it to Webster City to have it
ground into flour, but this source of supply
finally failed him.
He was at the place where only two more
weeks of work were needed to give him back
command of the river, as the dam was
in and the head gates were being installed,
which would have been to no avail without
completion of the canal. This was called
"Starvation Year" in northern Iowa.
Taft's friend, Mr. Rogers, temporarily
relieved the situation by taking a load of
his wheat to Tyson's Mill, located below
Fort Dodge.
Taft and a second driver then went into Fort
Dodge with two teams and wagons to try to
purchase a ton of flour on a 90-day note,
but the merchant there said he could only
sell for cash. Taft found an acquaintance in
Fort Dodge who was willing to co-sign a loan
so he could come up with the cash.
When the loads of flour bags reached
Springvale, men dropped their spades and
swarmed the wagons, taking bags of flour to
feed their families, many shedding tears
from relief and gratitude.
Two weeks later, the gates were opened and
water was let into the canal, which was made
an occasion of great rejoicing, attracting
hundreds of people from all parts of the
county and beyond. The local paper, "The
True Democrat," had announced the coming
event; The Good Templers were there in
force; and a brass band was on hand that
marched down the north side of the canal as
Mr. Taft was conveyed in a rowboat down the
river to the mill site. The cheering
crowd followed the procession.
In April of 1881, one of the worst floods to
ever occur in Humboldt County followed the
1880-1881 winter that had deep snow on the
ground from late October to April. The
melting snow north, along reaches of both
branches of the Des Moines River,
brought to Humboldt the highest water ever
recorded before or since. The dam and
gristmill washed out, leaving the residents
destitute.
The wooden dam was re-built along the west
side of the island. A flood several years
later washed out the land on the east side
of the island over by the mill race, and in
1911, the Humboldt Republican announced
that, "The West Fork of the Des Moines
River will be the site of two new
mammoth cement structures, using 3,000
barrels of cement." A small utility/flood
gate was installed as part of the dam
project. The millrace was widened and
straightened at this time.
These improvements were a project of the
Northern Iowa Power Company, who also built
a large, steel and cement fireproof
powerhouse, located at the south end of the
mill race. It contained three great water
wheels and three electric generators, with
an extra stall for a fourth unit of power,
if needed in the future. There was also a
steam auxiliary generator installed for
emergencies.
The town of Rutland, established in 1856 and
incorporated in 1857, being located about
six miles northwest of Humboldt, was having
its own problems fighting natural disasters
that impacted their dams on the same
river branch.
Their first dam had been built sometime in
the 1860s and washed out several years
later. A second dam was constructed of 16'
timbers that were held together with steel
shafts, in 1898.
A picture that hangs on the wall of the
Rutland Community Center shows a water tower
built beside the river to supply the
needs of the workers during that time, with
supports consisting of two trees and long
boards fastened together.
Ice took this dam out in 1916, and the Red
Rose Mill, in operation since it was built
in 1871, stood idle for a few years. An
older citizen, Harry Bonde, now deceased,
gave a talk at their Bicentennial
celebration and said that two kinds of flour
were bagged at that mill, named Red Rose and
White Rose, one being more expensive than
the other.
However, he watched the bags being filled on
several occasions and said that the same
flour went into both bags from one filling
spout. The owners, Boothroyd and Shafer,
hauled flour from the mill to all of the
surrounding towns.
He remembered when the river water
was so clear, being fed by springs, that a
person could see the pebbles on the bottom
of the stream, and also clearly see the fish
swimming downstream.
He also talked about the ice business that
belonged to Bine Locke and Wes Davenport.
They loaded up 15 to 18 train carloads a
day, in addition to the ice they loaded on
sleds and delivered to Bode and other
locations. They got $1 a day for ice work
and $1.25 if the worker had his own team of
horses to help with the job.
When the dam went out in 1916, that took
care of the major part of the ice business,
since the ice was cut from above the dam.
Locals were still able to get some ice from
the river.
The present dam was built of cement in 1922,
using horsepower and a lot of manpower to
build the dam and the large, brick power
plant that today stands idle. Residents
created a new park and campgrounds in the
year 2000, using volunteer workers for the
six-month project.
Rose Mill Park was dedicated that fall and
has been the center of camping and
picnicking activities every summer. Their
next project is the planned construction of
a shelterhouse.
The flood gates at the Rutland dam were
re-built from 1999 to 2000, at the request
of farmers north of Rutland, allowing for
adjustment of the water depth along the farm
fields.
Downstream, Humboldt had an icehouse that
sat north of the dam (approximately where
Paul and Sherman Silbaugh built their two
homes), that was operated by the Lucian
Willey family. Willey was the paternal
grandfather of Gordon Van Gronigan of Dakota
City.
His cousins, Donna Willey Marty of LuVerne,
and her brother, Charles Willey of Colorado,
also have fond memories of the icehouse.
Charles worked at the original icehouse when
he was a youngster and Gordon worked at the
second ice house when the ice business was
moved to the foot of the hill in Dakota City
(across from the New Coop. Elevator, Inc,).
The ice sold there was artificially made by
machines.
A tornado destroyed the original icehouse by
the river sometime in the early
1930s. It was summertime and Lucian Willey
kept his horse in a stall in the old
icehouse. The horse was used to pull his
milk route wagon. The horse was not injured,
but was pretty nervous for a while after the
tornado hit.
Howard Himrod tells a story about how a
weekly card game was held at the house
across from the power plant, and since the
electricity was turned off at 9 p.m. every
night, one of the card players would go
across to the power plant and slip the
operator a couple of dollars to leave the
lights on later into the night while they
continued playing cards.
A major catastrophe remembered by many of
today's Humboldt residents, was the flood of
1969, when the island between the two dams
broke loose and was carried away by the
floodwaters. It also drained the
recreational Lake Nokomis, a popular boating
area above the dams. The town was without
the lake until the island was replaced by
seven large, metal silos that were placed
across the opening and filled with riprap
(broken cement pieces).
Pieces of a passenger/steam paddle wheel
boat that had sunk above the dam around the
turn of the century were found while the
water was low. It had been sunk during a
storm after breaking loose from its moorings
and never recovered.
Over the years, the 20 to 24-foot pleasure
boat became buried eight feet under sand and
silt. At that time, there were three cabins
across the lake that belonged to the Pinney,
Russell and Sterns families, prominent names
from the town of Humboldt. A swinging bridge
was located south downstream, near the
present fish hatchery that gave access to
the west side cabins.
Longtime teacher and historian, Bernice
Smith, who died a year ago at 109 years of
age, related the story of those cabins and
how she remembered being a part of a group
of young people who spent the night at one
of them . . . well chaperoned, of course.
She also described Lake Nokomis as being the
social center for the young and old, with
ice skating in the winter and boating in the
summer.
Eugene Smith, retired Humboldt Junior High
School English teacher, has in his
collection of fine literature, a copy of
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Song of
Hiawatha," a 22-section collection of prose
woven together in 1855. Section three tells
of the childhood of Hiawatha and refers to
Nokomis, daughter of the moon.
In 1913, the high school yearbook was named
the Nokomis, after students were asked to
select an appropriate name for their
publication. Bernice Smith was listed as
editor of the first yearbook with that name.
He also has several small booklets printed
about the same time that were called,
"Nokomis."
Another of Humboldt's oldest citizens,
Merton Chantland, remembers a couple who
lived in one of the cabins in later years.
He said that the woman rowed across to the
east bank and walked a block east to buy
groceries, then got back in her canoe and
rowed home to the west side. This area was
called "Lazy Croft."
Joe Reasoner was honored at the dedication
of the Joe Reasoner Dam, in 1971, for his
diligence in soliciting $15,000 in matching
funds for the project, almost
single-handedly. Those funds were matched by
the Humboldt County Conservation Board.
His famous nephew, CBS Newsman Harry
Reasoner, and his family attended the event
that took place at the dam site. There is a
special historical marker next to the picnic
shelter there.
Members of the Conservation Board at that
time were Ernest Macha, Sherill Oppedahl,
Leslie McPherson, Mason Knight, and Everett
Andersen. Lake Nokomis was once more full of
water and available for boaters to enjoy.
Almost 35 years later, the river
between Rutland and Humboldt has acquired so
much silt that safe boating, except for
pontoon boats, is becoming a real problem.
The Humboldt dam has no working floodgate to
match the flow of water from the Rutland
dam. When the speed of water flow is
impeded, the silt starts settling and
eventually fills in the main channel,
narrowing the boating area.
The Humboldt Boat Club hired the Mohn
Surveying Company out of Lansing, who did a
silt study of the river at Humboldt
and recommended that two larger working
gates at the dam site would help solve the
problem. The price tag for two new gates was
approximately $651,500 at the time of their
study. The small gate in the present dam is
only a utility gate, used to lower the water
depth to allow work to be done on the dam.
Del Groth, from the J.F. Brennan Co. Inc.,
who works with dredging, gate and concrete
work on dams, estimated the need for a
300,000 cubic yards silt removal at $3 a
cubic yard, totaling $900,000 for the area
above the dam.
Kathy Wioda, geologist, and Doug Baker, an
engineer with the USDA Natural Resources
Consulting Service, have also contributed
their expertise on the problem.
Last spring, an informational meeting, lead
by facilitator Mark Jackson of the Quad
Cities, was held at the Oxbow Building,
generated ideas on how the river
could be returned to a recreational and
economic resource for the county. The result
was the forming of a central steering
committee that has been working on seeking a
solution to the existing problems on Lake
Nokomis, and eliminate the buildup of silt.
This will entail installation of two
floodgates and dredging out the silt-filled
channel.
This committee consists of concerned
citizens who are actively contributing their
time and efforts to raise funds and
awareness. The list includes Kay Kollmorgen
(Humboldt Co. Supervisor), Doug Wood
(Director of County/Municipal Disaster
Services), Steve Hoesel (MIDAS rep.), Howard
Himrod, Royce Humphreys, Mary Miner, Deborah
Martinez (City Parks & Recreation Director),
Don Olson, Mike Worthington, John Eveland,
Daniel Holste, David Lee (Mayor of Dakota
City), Ron Warren, and Bret Harklau.
Members of the committee have met with
legislators Dolores Mertz, Tom Latham, and
Grassley aid, Mike Steenhock, Director of
Economic Development for the State of Iowa.
Their input and support has been
encouraging.
Bob Moser, Prairie Partners Resource
Conservation and Development coordinator,
has also been a part of the study group. He
has helped them come up with a detailed
plan, divided into five areas: dredging of
the river; rehabilitation of the dam
gates; trail and park development; watershed
conservation; and Riverfest and other
county-wide events.
A second meeting was held July 13, at the
RC&D's office meeting room, with
legislators' representatives from the
offices of Congressmen Tom Latham (Jim
Oberhelman) and Tom Harkin (John Moreland),
Shirley Helgevold from MIDAS, Humboldt
County Supervisors Romaine Lee and Kay
Kollmorgen, Steering Committee members
Howard Himrod and Mike Worthington and
Senator Jack Kibbie.
Senator Kibbie reported on the successful
dredging project he has witnessed in
Emmetsburg in recent years.
Each year the price of dredging and dam
re-construction will increase. To raise
funds and inform the public of the urgency
of these projects, the steering committee is
holding a riverside spectacular, the
first annual Riverfest, on Aug. 13
and 14, with many fun and fund-raising
activities planned, with money raised going
towards the restoration of the Des Moines
River.
Several local sponsors have already
committed to support the first annual
Riverfest, including Super 8 Motel, Hog
Slat, Dodgen Industries, Johnson Marine,
Bank Iowa, Northwest Federal Savings Bank,
US Bank, The Rib Cage (Ft. Dodge), and
several individuals. More sponsors will be
adding their support by the time of the
actual event in the second week of August.
Special Riverfest T-shirts will be
sold to raise money and spread the word
about the event. The T-shirts will be for
sale at the Humboldt County Fair, US Bank,
Northwest Federal Savings Bank, Bank Iowa,
the Backseat Diner, and the Chamber of
Commerce office.
The Riverfest Committee members
include: Tammy Hock, Deborah Martinez, Jeff
Davis, Mike Worthington, Doug Wood, John
Eveland, Jaime Zweibohmer, Dr. Joyce Judas,
Angie Hefty, and Lee Inman. Anyone wishing
to be a sponsor is asked to contact a
committee member. A list of Riverfest
activities can be found in this week's
Independent and the Humboldt Reminder.
Soil erosion has been happening along the
Des Moines River for over 100 years,
starting back in the 1800s, when pioneers
started farming along the river. They
cut down trees and removed sod along the
banks, not knowing that those trees and sod
were an important means of controlling
erosion, resulting in silt build-up in the
river channel.
Man is also to blame for damming up the
river and interfering with the steady
flow of the water that carried that silt
downstream. However, trying to place blame
does nothing to solve the problem.
Taking action now is a positive move to
prevent further damage and will be a giant
step towards restoration of boating and
recreation along Lake Nokomis, improved
habitat for more diverse fish and wildlife,
education of this generation so they learn
to preserve and continue to respect nature's
gifts. It will also provide opportunities
for commercial ventures by re-establishing
and expanding river usage and water
quality in all of the Des Moines River
basin.
The past "glory days" of Lake Nokomis should
be brought back for future generations to
experience, and this will only be made
possible through the determination and
cooperation of people today, throughout the
area, who value the beauty of God's gift . .
. the Des Moines River. |
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