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The first settler in what is now Pella was Thomas Tuttle, who came to the state in 1838, and settled in Jefferson county the year following. On the 13th day of May, 1843, he came to the present site of Pella. Not having any children or other help, Mrs. Tuttle assisted him to build a cabin in the edge of the timber where north Pella is now located. Soon after they made a claim of part of the plat of Pella and put up a claim pen, or log cabin, in what is now the Garden Square, a little west of the center.
When this pioneer couple took up their residence here they were not aware of the existence of any other family of white people within a radius of twenty miles. After living here a month or so it was found necessary to replenish their stock of breadstuff which was running very low; so it was decided to go to Ft. Madison for a supply. Mrs. Tuttle had to choose between going with her husband on the hard and hazardous trip, through forests and prairies, with no trails, roads or bridges, or of spending the lonesome days and still more lonesome nights, with no company other than a big cat, and seeing no human beings except Indians as they passed and repassed, occasionally entering the house without first announcing their presence or uttering any kind of salutation. With true pioneer courage Mrs. Tuttle chose to remain in the little cabin home. For nine days and nights, that must have seemed like so many months, she was alone. It is beyond the power of our imagination to conceive what such an experience must have been for this lonely woman, or to draw a mental picture of her surroundings, familiar though we are with the location now.
Think of that lonely little cabin, built of logs chinked with mud, the only evidence of the presence and handiwork of man, set there on the native prairie, surrounded on all sides by the vast, dim solitude of the primeval forest. Think of the long nights with the solemn, brooding silence broken only by the wild howl of the wolves, the blood-curdling scream of the panther, or the death cry of a stricken deer, the first band concert ever heard by a white person in the Garden Square. What a contrast with the present. Where then the cold stars of heaven were the only illumination, is now a blaze of electricity. The lone cabin is replaced by a beautiful and ornate band stand, the deer trails by wide, winding cement walks, and where the wild crab tree bloomed in fragrance, now a magnificent fountain reflects the multitude of electric lights. The shadowy forests have given way to the palatial homes of our fair city; and where one poor, lonely woman kept her vigil almost four score years ago, now thousands of happy, prosperous citizens gather to meet their friends in this magnificent park, and enjoy the strains of music rendered by our excellent band.
Most prominent of those who first settled in Lake Prairie township were Wellington and Levi Nossaman, William and John Welsh, Wilson Stanley, George Gillaspy, John B. and Robert Hamilton, Dr. James L. Warren, Asa and Jasper Koons, John Gillaspy, John and William George, William Clayton, Ose Mathews, William Bainbridge, Jacob C. Brown, I. C. Curtis, and Green T. Clark.