Cherokee County IA Archives History - Books .....Cherokee County History  1882
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Book Title: History Of Western Iowa: Its Settlement And Growth

If there is any one class of men who deserve more than another to have their
names perpetuated in history, it is, perhaps, the hardy pioneers who left their
homes of comfort and luxury in the old Eastern States, and, voluntarily
abandoning all the comforts of home and civilized life, plunged boldly into the
unknown and limitless prairies that spread out beyond the great Father of
Waters, to explore the mysteries of this mighty region, and to open up new
fields of industry for themselves and their posterity. To the historian, no more
delightful task presents itself, than to recount their deeds of daring, to
chronicle their persistent self-sacrificing efforts, to recite their marvelous
achievements, to tell of the indomitable pluck, energy and determination that
characterized their movements, and then to make the wonderful transformation all
this has effected in one of the grandest countries the sun ever shown down upon.
To the individual who visits this section today, these recitals seem like fairy
tales. He cannot comprehend, as he sits in his elegant palace coach, and is
whirled from one city and village to another, almost with the speed of the wind,
or skims along the iron track through waving fields of the richest grain, that a
few short years ago this section was tenanted only by wild animals and the
equally wild and savage red-man; and his wonder is still further increased, as
he notes, on every hand, the commodious and even elegant farm buildings, and
sees the innumerable herds of fine cattle grazing on the nutritious grasses. The
transition has indeed been wonderful, but probably nowhere more marked than in
Cherokee County, where, a trifle over thirty-six years ago, no sign of
civilization could meet the eye throughout its entire length and breadth. But a
country of such surpassing beauty and unequalled richness could not always be
given over to painted savages, albeit they alone had enjoyed its fair skies and
beautiful scenery for so many years.

Cherokee County was formed in January, 1851, at which time most of her sister
counties were located and their boundaries defined. In January, 1853, it was
attached to the county of Wahkan -- now Woodbury -- for revenue, election and
judicial purposes. At this time, however, it was a county in nothing but name;
for its fertile prairies, beautiful rivers and clear, sparkling brooks had as
yet failed to attract the attention of the "vanguard of civilization." Finally,
in the Spring of 1856, Robert Perry, a hardy pioneer from the eastern part of
the State, visited this section and stopped for a short time near what is now
known as the city of Cherokee. The solitude proved altogether too unattractive,
and he soon took his departure for another and more thickly settled portion of
the State.

In the early part of the same year, a number of hard-working, intelligent men in
Milford, in the old commonwealth of Massachusetts, became fired with a desire to
visit this wonderful Eldorado, about which they had heard so much, and if
possible, to secure for themselves homes here. Under the leadership of Dr.
Russell, a prominent citizen of Milford, a joint stock company, known as the
"Milford Emigration Society," was formed, consisting of fifty-five members,
twenty-four of whom were heads of families, the design being to find homes
somewhere in Western Iowa. Just prior to the formation of this company, Carlton
Corbett and Lemuel Parkhurst, both stalwart, daring young men, had been sent out
by the citizens of Milford to explore this portion of the country, and select a
suitable location for colonists. Twenty persons, under the auspices of the
Milford Emigration Society, started on February 11th, 1856, for northwestern
Iowa, intending to meet Corbett and Parkhurst at Sioux City, that being the
objective point of the colony at that time.

On arriving at the mouth of the Big Sioux River, Messrs. Corbett and Parkhurst
discovered, much to their disappointment, that others were in advance of them.
Mr. Parkhurst remained here, but Mr. Corbett pushed on up the country for a
distance of fifty miles above Sioux City. Not finding what he considered a
desirable location, he again turned south with the determination of exploring
Cherokee County, of which he had heard very favorable reports from Mr. Perry,
who was then located at Sioux City. A thorough exploration of the county
convinced Mr. Corbett that it was altogether the finest section of country he
had yet visited. Hastening to Correctionville, he met the Milford colony, and
had but little difficulty in inducing that party to locate here. They proceeded
up the Little Sioux River, until they reached Cherokee County, where all were
amazed at the magnificent panorama nature had spread out, seemingly for their
benefit. The weary company arrived at a point on the Sioux, near the present
site of Cherokee, on a beautiful May morning. The river danced and sparkled in
the sunlight, as it dashed along its pebbly bed; the birds sang sweetly as they
flitted from bough to bough, through the thick growth of timber that then
skirted the high river banks at this point; the view on either hand was the most
enchanting mortal eyes ever beheld, and to the weary wanderers, many hundred
miles from home, and over one hundred miles from any settlement, it seemed that
all nature was bidding them "welcome" to the peerless county of Cherokee.

On every side were moderately high bluffs, beyond which, stretching away for
miles upon miles, was the rich rolling prairie-land, of which they had so long
been in search. The entire company consisted of twenty persons, some of whom are
still living in the county.

The colonists, among whom were G. W. Lebourveau, Carlton Corbett, B. W. Sawtell,
Lysander Sawtell, Robert Hammond, Albert Simonds, Asa Slayton, were undaunted by
the fact that there was no friendly roof to afford them shelter, and believing
that a bright and prosperous future awaited them if only the necessary pluck and
muscle were exercised, they immediately commenced the construction of a log
house, 17 by 18 feet, near the present site of Mill Creek Mill, and for some
time this small building, the first ever erected in Cherokee County, afforded
shelter and a home to the entire colony. The two teams belonging to the colony
were immediately put to work, and 150 acres were broken for a crop, of which
about thirty acres were planted with corn. They also raised 200 bushels of
excellent potatoes and a large quantity of small vegetables. During the season
four more houses were built, one by G. W. Lebourveau, one by the Sawtell
brothers, one by L. Parkhurst and one by William Holden, the two latter and
Albert Phipps having joined the settlers later in the season. The post-office
and the nearest trading point were sixty miles from the settlement, and nearly
all merchandise had to be hauled from Council Bluffs, 130 miles distant.

During the Summer, a village was planned; 320 acres were surveyed into town
lots, and all the land adjoining the village plat was made into twenty-acre
lots, though a few contained as many as sixty. The lands selected were
principally west of the Little Sioux River, and south of Mill Creek, and located
near the center of the county. An unusually severe winter followed, the snow at
one time lying three feet deep on the level prairie, and the colonists suffered
not a little.

On the 18th day of June, 1856, another colony from Hardin county, Iowa,
consisting of G. W. Banister, John Banister, John Moore, Charles Moore, Alfred
Moore, Jacob Miller, T. Lane, Marvin Alison and Martin Burns, arrived at this
place, and immediately started a settlement seven miles below the Milford
colony. Enoch Taylor and three others met with poor success in attempting to
start another settlement in the northern part of the county. Cold weather was
now coming on, and Mr. Corbett and L. Sawtell made a trip to Council Bluffs,
with ox teams, to procure winter provisions for the colony.

Thus far the Cherokee colony had been favored with uninterrupted prosperity, but
an Indian out-break in February, 1857, threatened for a time to overthrow all
the bright hopes of the settlers. In this month a party of Sioux Indians passed
down the river, but as they appeared very friendly to the Cherokee settlers, no
uneasiness was felt. At Smithland, the whites took the arms away from the
Indians, which so enraged the latter that they started back up the stream,
vowing vengeance on all the whites they should meet. They entered every house on
their way back, appropriating everything in the way of fire-arms they could lay
their hands on. With the arms thus obtained they arrived at Cherokee, and
scattered the settlers and captured their arms, provisions and other articles.
Cattle were stolen, provisions seized, and the unfortunate settlers forced to
cook them at the muzzle of a gun in the hands of an Indian who seemed more
anxious to shoot than otherwise. The savages remained three days, during which
there existed a regular reign of terror. On the night of the third day, Messrs.
Lebourveau and Parkhurst returned from a trip to Sac City, and the Indians,
thinking they had come from Smithland, and that the armed citizens of that place
would follow, left the next morning in great haste. Hurrying to Spirit Lake,
they massacred the entire colony, men, women and children.

When the horrible tale of the Spirit Lake massacre reached the Cherokee
settlers, they became thoroughly alarmed, and by the advice of friends in other
settlements, they abandoned their settlement entirely in the latter part of
February, some going to Ashland, some to Smithland and others to Onawa.

As no further outbreak took place, the fears of the settlers gradually subsided,
and in the following May most of the settlers returned and put in their crops.

The first school was taught during the summer in the old log house called the
Cherokee House, by Mrs. Parkhurst, the funds for its support being sent from
Milford, Massachusetts. Among those who attended that school, are Clara, George
and Thomas Brown; John, Frank and Addie Phipps, all of whom were long residents
of this county. Miss Phipps afterwards taught school herself in this county, and
was considered one of the most successful teachers in the county.

Up to this time, Cherokee had remained attached to Woodbury County for judicial,
election and revenue purposes. Sergeant's Bluffs was then the county seat of
Woodbury County, and as all business for Cherokee County had to be transacted at
that place, and as the distance was great, the inconvenience became so serious,
that, in August, 1857, the county was completely organized, and its independent
political life fully inaugurated by a special election. Twenty-three votes were
cast, and the following officers elected: County Judge, A. P. Thayer; District
Clerk, B. W. Sawtell; Prosecuting Attorney, C. Corbett; Recorder and Treasurer,
G. W. Lebourveau; County Sheriff, S. W. Haynes; Coroner, G. W. Banister.

Early in 1858, the first tax was levied, amounting to twelve and a half mills on
the dollar. The total valuation of property was $97,820. The first county
warrant ever issued in Cherokee County was drawn October 2d, 1858, for $4.30,
payable to D. N. Stoddard, on account of services as chainman on Road No. 1, to
Plymouth County line, and is signed by A. P. Thayer, County Judge. The first
bridge over the Sioux was built by Mr. Blair, he receiving therefore $1,000. To
pay this, the people voted a seven-mill tax, fourteen votes being cast for the
tax and one against it.

In the fall of 1857, a number of the colonists left, carrying with them dismal
stories of the rigorous winters and terrible Indians, and from the year 1858 to
the year 1863, there was but little cheering in the history of Cherokee County.

Isolated from all the privileges, comforts and conveniences of old communities,
Cherokee County became a little world of its own, albeit a rather gloomy one. A
land grant, made in 1856, had led the settlers to hope for an early completion
of the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad, but as time passed on without other
prospects of the road being built, the hopes of the settlers were extinguished,
and a general feeling of despondency took possession of all.

In the month of November, 1859, occurred the first marriage in the county, that
of Carlton Corbett, and Miss Rosabella Cummings.

For three succeeding years but little occurred in the county worthy of record.
In 1860, the population of the county was fifty-eight, but in 1863, this had
decreased to fifteen. In 1862, the Indian outbreaks assumed such formidable
proportions that the settlers were once more compelled to flee from their homes
and seek safety at other and better protected places. Mr. Corbett returned in
the fall, and he was followed by O. S. Wight, J. A. Brown, and Robert Perry, all
of whom were accompanied by their families.

During the civil war, Cherokee County furnished more soldiers in proportion to
her population than any other county in the Union. Among those who enlisted from
this county were G. W. Lebourveau, Silas Parkhurst, Joel Davenport, and Albert
Phipps. Eight in all entered the army for the Union, leaving but five men in the
entire county.

In 1863, a court house was built at the cost of $1,900, and this building is yet
being used by the county. In 1865, the first saw mill was erected on the site
now occupied by the Bliss mill. This year the population of the county was but
sixty-four, and the census of 1865 returned nine residents, with a population of
fifty-two, twenty-nine males and twenty-three females. There were twenty-one
horses and ninety-eight cattle, and only eighteen acres of spring wheat were
sown, twenty-three acres of oats, seven of barley, and thirty-eight of potatoes.

For some years, prior to 1866, the settlement had a monthly mail, which was
carried between Cherokee and Sioux City. During the year 1860, a weekly mail was
established, which was considered a wonderful step in advance, and then for the
first time the settlers began to realize that they were really a part and parcel
of the civilized world. Early in this year, G. W. Lebourveau, G. W. Banister and
Silas Parkhurst, three of the original settlers, returned to Cherokee county.
The developments of the county from this time until the year 1869, was very
slow, and but little worthy of record transpired. In 1868, the population
numbered 227. The general election was held in the fall of this year, at which
sixty-four votes were polled. Hon. Eli Johnson, of Cherokee, was elected to the
State Legislature by a handsome majority. Mr. Johnson is at present a resident
of Cherokee, where he is publishing a paper, the Cherokee Free Press. During
this session of the Legislature, the preliminary survey for the Dubuque and
Sioux City Railroad was run through Cherokee county, and the line established.
The work of building the road was immediately commenced, and pushed forward with
all possible vigor. In the Spring of 1869, immigration commenced to pour into
the county, and it seemed, indeed, that an era of prosperity had at last been
inaugurated. About this time a store was opened in the old village by a Mr.
Foskett. He was soon followed by Mr. Van Eps. A saw mill was also erected in
Pilot Township by Mr. Rodgers.

During the year work on the railroad progressed with great vigor, and in May,
1870, the road was completed, so as to admit of through trains, but as the road
left the village of Cherokee about a mile to the east, an effectual stop was put
to its growth. As soon as it was known exactly where the road would run, it was
decided to establish a new town site, and in March, of this year, Carlton
Corbett and G. W. Lebourveau laid out the new town of Cherokee in the immediate
vicinity of the site selected for the depot. The citizens of the old town
immediately removed their buildings to the new site, where all was bustle, life
and activity. The spring was one of remarkable activity; immigrants flocked in
by the hundreds, and busy industry soon converted the bleak prairie into a
thriving, prosperous village; and, by December, there were at least ninety new
buildings in the town. In June, of this year, there were in the county 1,244
cattle, 444 horses, thirty-six mules, thirty-nine sheep, and seventy swine. The
entire valuation of all personal property was $79,979.55.

At the opening of the year 1871, the prospects for Cherokee County were brighter
than ever before in her history. The many struggles of fifteen years to obtain a
foot-hold had at last brought forth their legitimate fruit, and from this time
forward, unparalleled prosperity has been the portion of Cherokee County.

New villages sprang into existence as if by magic, and the rich prairie land was
soon dotted over with well tilled farms and good farm buildings. In 1870 the
foundations were laid for the first building in Hazard, and in 1871, the first
house was erected in Marcus, and Aurelia was started in 1877.

We have thus sketched in brief the more important points in the history of
Cherokee County; have seen it transferred from a wild, unbroken prairie into one
of the richest and most thickly settled countries in all the great Northwest;
have noted the almost superhuman exertion necessary to accomplish this task;
have chronicled the repeated failures, the renewed efforts and the final
triumph. It is now proper to describe this, one of the most fertile and
picturesque sections in all the great State of Iowa.

Cherokee County is situated in the third tier of counties south of the Minnesota
line, and the second west of the Dakota line, lying between Plymouth and Buena
Vista counties; is twenty-four miles square, and contains 368,640 acres of rich
and fertile land. It is well watered by innumerable clear, sparkling brooks,
springs and dashing rivers, the largest river, the Little Sioux, passing
diagonally through the county, making its exit near the southwest corner. Every
township in the county has a stream running through it, and all of these streams
abound with fine fish. The Maple has its headwaters on the northeastern border
of the county. Along the banks of the Little Sioux considerable timber is to be
found. The general surface of the country is rolling; there are but few acres of
the land too broken to be tilled, and Cherokee ranks among the best agricultural
counties in the State. Its numerous valleys, formed by clear, running streams,
have a soil especially adapted to the cultivation of cereals. For stock raising
it is superior to most counties in the northwest, as its numerous running
streams afford an abundance of pure water, and the nutritious grasses, which
grow so luxuriantly, afford an excellent pasturage, and stock can be kept in
good condition the entire year with but little trouble or expense. The climate
is very similar to that of other counties in Northwestern Iowa— healthy and
invigorating; extremes of heat and cold are the exception, and not the rule,
mild weather generally characterizing the entire year. The air is dry and
bracing, and lung diseases are almost unknown. The soil is a drift deposit,
covered with a deep, rich vegetable mould. Along the streams, it is alluvial,
and everywhere capable of producing the most luxuriant vegetation. Cherokee
County has 1,085 acres of natural timber, and 1,275 of artificial. The
inhabitants embrace all nationalities, though the original stock from
Massachusetts and other Eastern states is largely in the ascendancy.

In 1874, the population was estimated at 5,000, while in the same year 80,000
acres were under crop. In this year about 1,100 cars of wheat were shipped from
the county, while the total assessable value of the property of the county
footed up in round numbers to $1,600,000. In this year there were 1,200 farms in
the county with an average cultivation of sixty-six acres, located in all the
townships in the county. During the same year there were sixty-four schools in
the county, the total value of the school houses being $32,241. Though
statistics are unquestionably rather dry reading, in this case, at least, they
show conclusively the rapid strides Cherokee County is making towards supremacy.

If the figures given above afford occasion for congratulation, those for 1881
are still more satisfactory. The taxable real estate of this county this year
amounts in round numbers to $1,800,000; personal property, $375,000, based as
near as possible on one-third their actual values. The bonded indebtedness of
the county is $48,300.

The educational interests, the criterion of a county's prosperity, are in a very
flattering condition. There are ninety-two frame school buildings in the county,
valued at about $50,000, while the value of the school apparatus is in round
numbers $3,000. One hundred and sixty-nine teachers are employed, and 3,200
children are enrolled, the averaged attendance being 2,110. Of the general funds
on hand, the last report has the following: School house fund, $4,500;
contingent fund, $5,500; teachers' fund, nearly $12,000.

The present officials of the county are: Hon. H. C. Lewis, District Judge; Hon.
J. R. Zuver, of Sioux City, Circuit Judge; R.L. Robie, Auditor; Eli Eshleman,
Treasurer; E. Miller, Recorder; W. C. Bundy, Clerk of Courts; R. J. Smythe,
Sheriff; Miss Ella M. Slater, Superintendent of Public Schools, and J. H.
Davenport, Surveyor.

With all the advantages we have cited, land can be purchased in this county at
from $5 to $15 per acre, according to location. As a general rule, the farmers
of the county are devoting unusual attention to stock raising, not because grain
cannot be grown successfully, but because stock pays better.

CHEROKEE.

The county seat of Cherokee county, much of whose history necessarily appears in
the above detailed county history, is in every respect a handsome, substantial
and growing city. It is located nearly midway between Fort Dodge and Sioux City,
in the midst of a prosperous and fertile county. As a writer in a former similar
work expresses it, "Cherokee has a surprisingly beautiful site, skirted on all
sides by gentle bluffs, that swell just enough to shield it from the blasts of
winter, yet not to impair the beauty of the landscape. Through the vale and to
the south of the village the Sioux River winds its devious way in search of the
great Missouri, where her crystalline waters are swallowed up in the current of
mud. The banks of the Sioux are lined with timber, the first of any consequence
that greets the eye of the traveler after leaving Fort Dodge. This greatly adds
to the picturesqueness of the scene, and prepossesses the traveler in its favor.

Cherokee was located in August, 1870, a small number of buildings having been
erected prior to that date, however, but of a character which admitted of their
being moved to the future county seat. The facts as to the settlement upon the
permanent location of the town appear elsewhere. The residence of E. Cowles is
stated to be the first building moved from the "old town," in March, 1870, and
was the first dwelling in the new village; but the farm residence of G. W.
Lebourveau, adjoining the village, was erected prior to that date. The growth of
Cherokee has been rapid and healthy, and to-day it is deservedly ranked among
the most substantially prosperous of Iowa's many prosperous villages.

The following as to the natural features of Cherokee and vicinity will prove of
interest:

"Cherokee county lies wholly in one large valley, the highest point on its
eastern border being 908 feet, and on its western border 877 feet; the city of
Cherokee being the center of the depression is only 565 feet. Through the center
of this valley from northeast to southwest flows the Little Sioux. This
peculiarity, nowhere else found in the west, gives the surface of the country a
slightly rolling appearance, and with gentle slopes to the river bed underlying
the prairie proper about 100 feet. The valleys formed by the river being
particularly rich, are very desirable. The soil is very loose and mellow, and
never 'bakes,' and is much easier cultivated than the soil of the eastern
states. It is what is particularly known as the 'bluff deposit,' varying in
depth from two to three feet. Being slightly tinctured with sand, it matures
crops rapidly. Read what eminent geologists say of it. Prof. Owen, in his
Geological Survey, says: 'It is a silicious marl closely resembling the 'loess'
deposit in the valley of the Rhine, famous the world over for its richness.' As
far as known this deposit covers an area of nearly two hundred miles drained by
the Missouri. Prof. White, in his Geological Survey of the State, says: 'The
fortunate admixture of soil materials gives a warmth and mellowness to the soil,
which is so favorable to the growth of crops that they are usually matured as
early as they are upon more clayey soils of the southern part of the state,
although the latter are more than 200 miles to the southward.' Impassable roads
are never known. A few hours of sunshine after the most severe storm, make a
road dry and passable for loads. The drainage is so good that 'muddy' roads are
impossible. The county has a most perfect water system. Through the center of
the county flows the Little Sioux; on the west Rock Creek and Willow Creek; on
the north Mill Creek and Gray Creek, and on the east the Maple, while on the
south is Silver Creek. All of these having more or less tributaries, give
bountiful supplies of water for stock-raising and other purposes. In fact there
is hardly a section of land but what there exists upon it flowing streams or
living springs. Pure, healthy water is obtained everywhere at a depth of fifteen
to thirty feet.'

Not the least of the attractions which Cherokee affords, is her famous

MAGNETIC SPRING,

one of the most remarkable curiosities in nature, the essential particulars
concerning which are as follows:

This spring was discovered in 1879, while prospecting for coal; when the depth
of 200 feet was reached, a stream of crystalline water two inches in diameter
flowed to the surface with a force that projected it several feet above the
level of the ground.

The stream was so great that the prospector had to abandon his work. Unaware
that he had tapped a spring superior in curative properties to any other in
America, be felt disappointed and dispirited. Several weeks afterwards, in
fastening an iron rod a quarter of an inch thick and ten feet long to a cord,
with the intention of sinking the rod to the bottom in order to raise the
sediment which had accumulated in the tube, to his astonishment the rod fastened
itself to the iron piping, and so far from sinking it required considerable
strength to detach it and bring it up.

This accidental discovery paved the way for future experiments, which resulted
in demonstrating that the water of this spring was heavily charged with
magnetism, so much so that by immersing a steel instrument in the waters it
shortly becomes a perfect magnet, capable of suspending needles, nails, watch
keys and iron substances of greater weight.

The sceptical at first said the magnetism was in the iron tubing, and that it
had been charged artificially, but as the pipes were those purchased to conduct
water by a hydraulic ram and re-purchased from a neighbor who knew nothing about
the spring, the doubters had to give that theory up. It was next charged that
any iron tube sunk in the earth to a great depth becomes charged with magnetism;
that the magnetism was not in the water. This was disproven by scientific tests,
viz: taking the water from the spring and immersing in it steel bars, tested by
a galvanometer and pronounced free from electricity; after a short interval of
time these were found charged with magnetism, capable of suspending other bodies
of iron. The mechanical action of the water upon the iron, is too obvious to be
denied, and so manifest that the most illiterate can readily see it. It requires
no theoretic demonstration to convince the observer that it must have an effect
upon living tissue which is well known to be an electrical conductor.

Invalids began drinking the water, and the results were at once of a highly
favorable character. Dyspeptics were greatly benefited by their use, they
afforded relief to every form of constipation, and their aerated qualities
proved an antidote to acidity and distention of the stomach. A demand for
bathing facilities was made on the proprietors, and the fame of these wonderful
healing waters spread to every State of the Union. Letters of inquiry poured in,
and the water became a standard article of export to hundreds of towns and cities.

Thus far the well had, by its inherent virtues, forced itself on the public, and
the public in return, by their urgent demands, in a manner compelled the
proprietors to fit up a bathing establishment, which they have added to from
time to time, until it now has a sufficient capacity to meet all ordinary
demands, while the surroundings have been improved and beautified so as to make
it a really interesting spot.

Like most other institutions, it had to encounter opposition. This mainly sprang
from the jealousy of the profession, since the many remarkable cures, and
general improvement of chronic sufferers, wholly due to a continued use of these
waters, seemed a rebuke to the ordinary methods of treatment, but opposition was
silenced by the voices of the many who drank health from this magnetic fountain.
Physicians found the waters had intrinsic, health-giving qualities, and soon
learned to recognize them among the potent agencies in the cure of a long train
of diseases.

For a considerable time the proprietors were reluctant to make a heavy outlay
for the benefit of invalids and health-seekers, as such a course was entirely
foreign to their original purpose—that of finding coal—but the representations
of the public were so continued and earnest, that all objections on this score
were waived, and the large investments made have been warmly seconded by an
appreciative public, whose liberal patronage is the safest guarantee that the
outlay has been wisely made.

The Bathing House is a commodious and well finished structure, one story and a
half high, with waiting rooms and ladies' parlor. The bath rooms are neat and
comfortable, and the baths are constructed on the most recent and approved plan,
and heated by steam. The ladies' rooms are reserved exclusively for their use,
and are in charge of polite and attentive female waiters. The ladies' and
gentlemen's bathing departments are separated by a suite of rooms insuring the
most perfect guarantee that nothing need offend the instincts of the most delicate.

The flow of water from the Spring is so great that an artificial lake of over
six acres in extent has been made, the waters of which average four feet deep,
and are almost transparent as the air above them. One side of this lake washes
the southern porch of the bath house, and flocks of wild ducks have, for the
past year, been continually about the lake in their season; they have become so
tame that persons may approach them within a few feet.

The grounds surrounding the Spring comprise sixty acres, have been laid out by a
skilled arborist and gardner, with a view to producing the best aesthetic
effect, and have been planted with native and ornamental trees and shrubbery,
the lake being skirted by choice varieties. Time alone is required to make this
park one of the handsomest and most interesting in the western states.

Another, and not the least interesting feature of this charming spot, is a
one-half mile race course, sixty feet wide, and as level as a lake, one side
bounded by the river bank, the other by the lake. A better race-course or a
prettier is not easily found. The proprietors have spared no expense to improve
and beautify the grounds, which have already earned the reputation of being the
most inviting known at any western watering place. In addition to the new park,
the proprietors have purchased an island in the Sioux river of about one hundred
acres in extent, heavily wooded with timber of large and small growth. A little
work could make this as romantic a retreat as river and forest can afford.

The waters of the Spring are so pure and free from inorganic matter that they
keep perfectly sweet and pure for two or three weeks after being drawn. Those
who have had them shipped for hundreds of miles have been astonished to find
that even after being kept for a month, no sign of putrefaction was discernible,
and that to the taste they were as pleasant as when drawn. This quality is of
incalculable advantage for shipping purposes. Those who, from weakness, or any
other cause, are unable to come to the Spring, can have the water shipped to
them at reasonable rates, with the assurance that it will remain sweet and pure
for a long time.

The boarding facilities at Cherokee are quite equal to those of any other city
of sixteen hundred inhabitants. There are four good hotels, and several good
boarding houses in the city. Fruits and every delicacy in its season may be had
here abundantly. No one need have any hesitancy in coming to Cherokee on the
ground of insufficient accommodation. The city has two excellent livery stables,
with horses and vehicles in abundance, so that with driving, shooting and
fishing the most pleasing and invigorating recreation may be had at all times
and seasons. In fact the city of Cherokee is sufficiently metropolitan to afford
an ample variety of sports, comforts and recreations.

There are in Cherokee Congregational, Presbyterian, Catholic, Methodist,
Baptist, Advent, Episcopalian and Universalist church organizations. The first
six have houses of worship. The church property of the county is in valuation
perhaps not less than $20,000. The officers of the Congregational church are:
Pastor, J. B. Chase; Deacons, J. W. Coombs, J. P. Dickey, H. C. Kellogg; Clerk,
W. C. Bundy; Treasurer, J. P. Dickey; Trustees, J. A. Risley, F. E. Whitmore,
Richard Opie; Ushers, Richard Opie, E. F. Coombs; Sexton, Fred Boddy.

The Presbyterian church society was organized in 1870. Rev. Alexander M. Darley
was the first pastor. The Union Sabbath School of Cherokee has a flourishing
membership of more than sixty members. The Children of Zion church organization
was perfected in the summer of 1880 by Bishop D. D. Patterson, of Grand Rapids,
and hold regular services, with a flourishing Sunday School. The Baptist society
dates its organization from the autumn of 1870. Services were first held in the
old brick school house. Rev. A. W. Hilton was the first pastor. The church
building was erected in 1873, and is 30x40 feet in dimensions. Among the pastors
at different times have been Revs. E. N. Jencks, W. H. Irwin, J. P. Cuffman,
John Edminister, George H. Brown. An addition, 14x22, was made to the church
edifice in 1881. The first sermon preached in Cherokee was delivered by Rev.
Alexander Darley. of the Presbyterian denomination, in the store of H. A. Fife,
in 1870.

On the 14th day of November in the same year, the first marriage license in the
county was granted to C. Corbett and Rosabella Cummings. A school was taught
during the summer in the old school house, by Mrs. Parkhurst, the funds to
defray the necessary expenses being sent from Massachusetts.

For a young city, having by the recent census only 1,522 population; Cherokee
has a large local trade, and does an extensive shipping business in grain and
stock. Its magnitude may be inferred from the following:

BUSINESS SUMMARY.

Abstracts.................3 | | Groceries...........................6
Agrl. Implements..........4 | | Hardware............................3
Attorneys (firms).........7 | | Harness Makers......................2
Bakeries..................3 | | Hotels..............................4
Banks.....................3 | | Insurance agencies..................15
Barbers...................2 | | Jewelers............................8
Blacksmiths...............6 | | Livery stables......................3
Books and stationery......3 | | Lumber..............................4
Boots and shoes (excl.)...8 | | Manuf. carrg's, wgn's, etc..........1
Boot and shoemakers.......4 | | Manuf. of sash, doors, blinds, etc..1
Brickyards................1 | | Meat markets........................2
Carriages.................2 | | Merchant tailors....................1
Clothing, etc., (excl.)...2 | | Music...............................1
Contractors and builders..4 | | Milliners...........................2
Creameries................1 | | News depots.........................2
Coal and wood.............5 | | Newspapers..........................3
Dentists..................1 | | Photographers.......................1
Drugs.....................3 | | Physicians..........................6
Dry goods.................1 | | Printers (job)......................2
Elevators.................4 | | Produce.............................1
Feed mills................1 | | Real estate and loans...............7
Flouring mills............1 | | Restaurants.........................3
Furniture.................1 | | Sewing machines.....................3
General merchandise.......6 | | Stock...............................6
Grain.....................4 | | 


Cherokee Lodge No. 322, I. O. G. T., was organized November 17th, 1879, with
seventeen charter members. Its first officers were: W. E. Hitchcock, W. C.; A.
C. Hobart, W. V. C.; Rev. R. C. Glass, Chaplain; H. H. Henry, Secretary; W. H.
Hall, F. S.: J. Boles, Treasurer; David Lynn, M.; W. Stebbins, I. G.; E. N.
Corbett, O. G.; C. P. Hobart, P. W. C. T.

The Masonic Lodge of Cherokee was instituted in 1871. Cherokee Lodge No. 188, I.
O. O. F., was organized in February, 1870, with five charter members. Its
present membership is forty-four. Its first officers were: C. E. Schofield, N.
G.; G. W. McCoun, V. G.; J. C. Hubbard. Secretary; Z. P. Herrick, Treasurer. The
following are the present officers: Thomas McCulla, N. G.; R. H. Gross, V. G.;
D. W. Benway, Secretary; R. J. Smyth, Treasurer.


The Advent Church Society was organized in 1873, in Afton Township, with a
membership of ten, and was moved to the town in the following year: In the
summer of 1875, a very successful series of revival meetings was held, and the
membership steadily increased, until the Society numbers nearly fifty. A church
was provided in the autumn of 1875, and Elder J. Ridley was secured as regular
pastor.

T. S. Steele & Son, bankers, of Cherokee, organized their business in 1874,
starting in a small wooden building. Their present building was erected in 1879,
is 24x40 feet, and two stories high. T. H. Steele is cashier, and is ably
assisted by D. T. Steele.

Scribner, Burroughs & Co.'s bank was organized in 1871, under the firm name of
Fulton & Scribner. Mr. Burroughs became interested June 12th, 1872, the business
having been started in a small and unpretentious building. The present building
was erected in 1875. The bank's surplus capital is now $100,000, its business
having increased proportionately to its capital. Mr. Burroughs came to Cherokee
from Adrian, Mich., locating permanently in Cherokee, after having successively
lived at Salt Lake and other sections of the western country. Mr. Scribner is a
native of Plattsburg, N. Y. and came to Cherokee in 1871. Mr. B. has a stock
farm of 660 acres adjoining town, and keeps an average of about seven hundred
cattle on his lands.

In 1874, Mr. Satterlee began the sinking of a coal shaft, and in the Spring of
1879, on Mr. Burrough's land, a depth of one hundred feet was reached, when, on
penetrating a rocky stratum, flowing water, strongly impregnated with sulphur,
was reached. At a further depth of fifty feet, another stratum containing
magnesia was found, and at two hundred feet the magnetic water, which is fully
described above was discovered. It is impossible to overstate the importance of
this discovery to Cherokee.

March 22d, 1879, Kellogg & Herrick organized the Cherokee Butter and Cheese
manufacturing Company. The building is 24x50 feet in dimensions, with an
addition twenty feet square. The firm buys cream from about 1,000 cows. This
industry bids fair to become a very important one.

The Cherokee Times was established October 21st, 1870, and is consequently now
in its twelfth year. It is in every sense a highly creditable publication.
Robert Buchanan is the editor and proprietor.

The Iowa Free Press, like the Times, is an eight-column folio, Robert Johnson
and Will P. Coldie, editors and proprietors; both papers are well sustained, of
good typographical appearance, and newsy.

The population of Cherokee may be set down as very nearly, if not quite, two
thousand. Its educational advantages are exceptionally good. The public schools
are on an unusually good footing, and a college is in contemplation, the
opportunities for such an institution in Cherokee being apparent.

The future prospects of Cherokee as to railroads are good. Already two different
companies are surveying through the southern part of the county, and strong talk
of a road running northeast and southwest, following the Little Sioux river,
connecting Omaha with St. Paul and Minneapolis by a more direct route, and
giving the vast lumber regions a new and more direct outlet to the Southwest;
also a new railroad is projected through Cherokee from Des Moines to the wheat
fields of Dakota. These roads secured will make Cherokee a town of 10,000
inhabitants, and an excellent manufacturing point.

MARCUS.

The town of Marcus is a substantial place, whose personal interests will be
found to be well represented in the biographies hereunto attached. The first
building was erected in 1871. I. M. Jackson and A. H. Dwight were the first
settlers. The first school was begun in 1873, and the first sermon in Marcus was
preached in 1875, by Rev. W. F. Rose, Congregational minister. The church
societies are well represented by the Catholic, Lutheran and Methodist
denominations.

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which has a flourishing lodge in Marcus,
had for its charter members I. Cask, S. W. Weaver, W. H. Skinner, M. I. Ames and
R. W. Heath. Its active members are eleven. The lodge meets at S. W. Weavers. A
Masonic lodge is also one of the prominent features in this connection.

The Good Templars' Society has fifty-nine members, and holds its meetings in the
school house. C. P. Kilburn is W. C.; Mrs. J. H. Sheldon, W. V. C.: T. W. P.
Clough, P. W.C.; J. H. Sheldon, S.; Miss N. Cleglow, F. S.

The Presbyterian Church Society was organized during the past season, by Rev.
George Knox, of Cherokee.

The population of Marcus is about 450, and is composed of a sturdy mixture of
nationalities, German, English, Swedish, Scotch, etc.

The depot was built in the winter of 1869-70, and is 30x79 feet in dimensions. A
grist mill with three run of stone, two elevators, warehouses and two hotels are
among the important acquisitions to the town. The first white man to settle in
the township is stated to have been H. Bowman, a native of Vermont. Mrs. Bowman
is still living in Marcus. The first female settler was Mrs. W. E. Rose, who
came in 1871. The first house was erected on section 36, by Mr. Bowman, in 1869,
the first soil in the township being broken that year.

In 1874, the first regular election occurred, the depot building being used as a
voting place. Fourteen votes were cast, that being the entire vote of the
township. The first officers elected were as follows: R. Wilmot, J. M. Sheldon,
E. Prunty, Trustees; W. E. Rose, Clerk; I. Bowman, Supervisor; A. H. Dwight,
Elion Prunty, Justices of the Peace; E. Gearon, Constable; I. M. Jackson,
Assessor. The first assessment was made in 1875, the number of families being
fourteen; population forty-four; number of houses, nineteen; cattle, fifty;
hogs, thirty-nine; acres improved, 620. The first person to locate in business
in Marcus was I. M. Jackson. C. Parkin built his grain house in 1873. A store
was opened by J. Hyndman in September, 1873. R. Wilmot opened the first hotel in
July, 1874. The school house was built in the same year. The first car of stock
was received by J. Clarkson in February, 1877.

Clarkson & Metcalf have a warehouse with a capacity of 15,000 bushels; L. Gund,
of a capacity of 10,000 bushels.

The village of Marcus has doubled in population in the past year. The receipts
at the depot for the twelve months just prior to this writing were $36,400. Five
hundred and fifty-six cars were sent out from the town during the same time.

A public hall 22x56 feet, with ceiling twelve feet high, adds greatly to the
convenience and advancement of the community. There is also a half-mile circular
track in excellent condition. The population of the county is closely estimated
at 10,000.

Among the noteworthy farms of this section is that of Theo. Groff, about a mile
northeast of Marcus. Mr. Groff came to this part of the country about four years
ago.

The first school in Marcus was taught in 1873-4, Miss Nina Sheldon being the
teacher. Nine pupils were enrolled.

The first birth was that of Elsie Bowman in April, 1874; the first death, a
brother of John Bird, Sr., in 1875; the first marriage, George Paactier and Miss
Nina Sheldon, in 1878; the first grain brought to market, by I. Gorner in
September, 1873; the first car of grain shipped, was in September, 1873, by C.
Parkin.

There are more than one hundred pupils enrolled in the public schools of Marcus.
There are three lumber yards in the town, each one of which is doing a thriving
business. H. D. Dwight is the postmaster, and the office is very satisfactorily
and systematically conducted. The business of the office has doubled within the
last year.


Additional Comments:
Sioux City: Western Publishing Company.


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