By Dwight D. McCarty
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Torch Press, 1910
Chapter III
The Irish ColonyIn July, 1856, another notable group of settlers came to Palo Alto County. This was a colony of Irishmen from Kane County, Illinois, who with brave hearts and steadfast purpose came on into the frontier wilderness in search of homes. There were seven families in this colony, and it consisted of the following persons: James Nolan, Anastasia his wife, Maria his daughter, and two sons, James and John F.; John Neary, and one daughter, Mary; Edward Mahan and Margaret his wife, Ann and Ellen his daughters, and two sons, John and Myles; Martin Laughlin, his wife Mary, three sons, Lott, J.T., and Patrick, and one daughter, Ellen; John Nolan and wife Bridget, and one son, Charlie; Thomas Downey and Ellen Downey his wife and Ellen his daughter; Orrin Sylvester and his wife Ellen. Patrick Jackman and Thomas Laughlin, both single, came with these settlers though not members of the families above enumerated. 1
There were six ox teams in the party and they wended their weary way toward the west. Their proposed destination was in the vicinity of Sioux City, Iowa, but at Fort Dodge they met a man by the name of Lynch, who had been with the government surveying party in 1855, and who told them of the splendid location for settlers along the west branch of the Des Moines River, where there was plenty of timber, abundance of good water, and the tall grass was ample evidence of the fertility of the soil. Some of the party went forward with Mr. Lynch and looked over the ground, returning with glowing accounts of the country. So the entire party started on the rough trail from Fort Dodge. They reached the Des Moines River at last and camped in the timber at which is now known as Murphy's Bayou. They stayed there nearly a week while the various members of the party prospected the country and selected their claims. While here these pioneers discovered the first traces of Indians. Two dozen slaughtered geese were found hanging in a large elm tree where they had been left by the redskins. But the incident scarcely more than awakened their curiosity, as they had not occasion as yet to know the treacherous savage nature that was later to spread terror throughout the settlement.
These pioneers soon moved up the river and settled on section 14, in Emmetsburg township, about two miles northwest from the present city of Emmetsburg. Such brave and sturdy settlers as these were good examples of the frontiersman. They commenced with what nature furnished them and began to build their homes from the prairie and the woods. Although it was getting late for plowing, the breaking up of prairie was at once begun by doubling up on their ox teams. The next task was to put up some hay for the cows and young stock, which they had brought with them in addition to their oxen. They built rough shelters for their stock, and as fast as possible constructed rude cabins out of logs, the bark still on, and the cracks chinked with mud. These cabins all had clay floors, and were roofed with "shakes" or thatched with hay, covered with sod. Most of the cabins had cellars or "root houses" as they were called, dug on the outside of the house, roofed with logs, and covered over with clay and sod. This "root house" had no outside opening and was entered by steps leading down from inside the cabin. The cabin fire would keep the frost out of the cellar and there was no danger of freezing. Several of the cabins had rough fireplaces built in the clay floor and under the side logs, well plastered with clay and with a piece of tin or sheet iron at the back. The chimney was usually a hole in the roof for the smoke to pass through and was in fact the most prominent feature of that sort of convenience in those days. Plain accommodations, hearty fare and plenty of hard work, characterized the daily life of the first settlers.
Little of interest transpired during the first six months in their new homes, and except for an occasional Indian or a hunt for wild game, there was little excitement to break the routine work on their claims. These settlers had come direct from a well settled community, and as yet little appreciated the full value of nature's gifts. Muskrat, beaver, mink, as well as wolves and foxes were plentiful. But the settlers knew little about hunting and practically nothing about trapping. It was not until 1858 when three professional trappers came and camped near them, and were offered over $7,000 for their winter catch, that the settlers began to realize the value of their pelts. Wild fowl of every kind was abundant. It was a common sight to see Medium Lake black with wild geese. Deer, antelope and elk were often seen and and two buffalo were sighted by some of the settlers that year. Nature's abundance was some compensation for pioneer hardships. Supplies and provisions were obtained from Fort Dodge though the settlers had to go to Iowa City for their corn meal and made several trips that fall. As the snow was very deep the first winter, the men were compelled to make trips to Fort Dodge on snow shoes in real Indian fashion. If it had not been for the furs for trade, they would have found it hard to subsist, as there was very little money in those far-off settlements.
James Hickey and wife joined the Irish colony in the early fall of 1856, and remained with the settlement during the first winter. Their daughter (Mrs. Patrick McNally), born in October of that year, was the first white child born in the county. The following spring the Hickeys took up a claim farther south across the river on section 35-96-33.
One of the early settlers who came to this county after the Irish colony settled here, was Jerry Crowley, Sr., and family, consisting of five children, J.P., Michael H., Katie, Ellen and John. They came in the fall of 1856 and settled in a picturesque grove of natural timber on the west side of the river in section 35, in what is now Walnut township, about five miles north of the Irish settlement. Mr. Crowley built a house that fall and then went to Fort Dodge to get supplies for the winter. He bought some sod corn from Shippey and potatoes from Evans. There were no white neighbors nearer than the Irish colony, but in the winter of 1856, some time in December, a band of fourteen Indians camped in the woods not over twenty-five rods from Crowley's house. The family could see the tepees plainly from their dooryard. They were good Indians, with Sleepy-Eye as their chief, and did not bother the Crowleys any during that winter. In fact they were given large quantities of flour and other supplies. There were three trappers who camped along the river that winter and traded somewhat with the Indians. These trappers got a great many valuable furs and took them to Fort Dodge, but the snow was so deep that they did not get back with the supplies in time to trade with the Indians before the Indians left. These same Indians left in the spring of 1857, at the time Inkpadutah's band perpetrated the Spirit Lake massacre. Michael H. Crowley, describing the band of Indians says: "They camped not over twenty or thirty rods from our house. I used to see the squaws chopping wood. They never tried to molest us. I was always afraid of them. One in particular I remember. He would come in with a great big club, all tacked full of brass tacks. It had a steel spear in the end of it and a skunk tail hanging to the end. He was a ferocious looking fellow and I never liked him, and was very glad when they left. The rest of the family did not seem to be afraid of them. Jerry used to go over to the tepees and play with the Indian children. They would slide down the hill together." 2
Roger Corcoran, his wife and three children, came with Jerry Crowley, Sr. They settled on the south side of the river in section 35. It was the intention of Mr. Corcoran and Mr. Crowley to take the same claim, buy it, and divide the timber. But this agreement was not carried out, as the former left the next spring and did not return.
There was a community of interest and helpfulness pervading this Irish colony. The seven original families had located close together in a compact little settlement for protection and social convenience. With stout hearts and willing hands these sturdy settlers together braved the trials of frontier life. This Irish colony, as it was called thus became the nucleus of the settlement in the central part of the county and exerted an important influence over the community.
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1 Interviews with J.F. Neary, Lott Laughlin, J.J. Mahan, Myles Mahan, Patrick Jackman, Charles Nolan and others.2 Interview with M.H. Crowley.
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