Short post to let anyone who cares know where things are @ with my Lyman Dillon / Old Military Road research project…
#1 I am working on the rough draft of the book. I have completed the first chapter and have a few people perusing it to see if I want to continue the format I am using
#2 If you’re looking for a guest speaker to present a program on this topic I have done so a few times..and for a fee, I would love to continue to do so.
Posted August 1 2009 DM
There is 11 ft by 41 foot mural titled “Breaking the Prairie Sod designed by Grant Wood located at the Parks Library in Ames Iowa. I happen to have a post card of that mural. (see photo above) Last year my eye caught a small detail in the back of the mural…5 yoke of oxen breaking the praire sod….hummm, I thought to myself….I wonder…Grant Wood was born and raised in Eastern Iowa near Anamosa. Grant Wood have probably been familiar with the account of Lyman Dillon plowing the 80 some mile furrow, and he (Dillon) would have passed through Anamosa on his way to Dubuque.
Here is a close up of the detail I am referring to:
I still hope to travel to Ames to see this lifesize mural.
This coming Tuesday (December 16th 2008) I have been invited to speak at a local Questers group to talk about the walk.
Yesterday (Friday December 12th 2008) I got the most awesome DVD in the mail from Becky @ the Anamosa Local Access channel. She created a 30 minute DVD of my adventure. The day I passed through Anamosa I stopped by her office as she interviewed me. This DVD is a compilation of that interview, photos I took from my walk and a TV interview I did the week after the walk. I can’t say enough good things about Becky’s project…what an awesome keepsake for me!!!! Thank you Becky.
Here is the text from this article in case you have a hard time reading it (above):
Monticello man follows Dillon’s Furrow by Doug Lindner Solon Economist
Solon- In 1839, Iowa was on the edge of the western frontier.
Aside from a few Indian and game trails, there was nothing but virgin prairie.
That year, the U.S. Congress appropriated $20,000 for the construction of a military trail between the new capital, Iowa City, and the mining town of Dubuque. After the route was surveyed, Lyman Dillon of Cascade was hired to bust the sod for the road with a team of oxen and a breaking plow.
The military road eventually became Hwy 1, passing through Solon, Mt.Vernon and Monticello.
Last Spring, Monticello contractor Douglas Monk came upon an issue of The Palimpsest, a historic journal, in which two men retraced the original military trail in 1920.
The account inspired Monk, who had grown up not far from stretches of the old road, and he decided to take a walkabout along the trail, imagining the earthy origins of the area.
“That’s kind of the reason I was interested,” Monk said after his walk was completed. “It went right past my stomping grounds.”
Monk had been interested in the history of the region for several years, sparked by listening to the taped reminiscences of his grandfather. He searched the web for historical references to the Monticello area and found the article from The Palimpsest.
“My mind is always thinking of things I want to do in my life,” said the 50 yr -old father of four. “I’m intentional about ideas like that. This fit my list.”
Married 29 years and with his own construction business, Monk has composed two books of letters and intends to write another on his experience walking Lyman Dillon’s trail.
He began his journey on foot Monday September 8th (2008) from the former site of Butler’s Capital in Iowa City (about two blocks east of the Old Capital) and spent six days walking the 81 miles to Dubuque, where he arrived Saturday Sept.13th.
Most of the way, he followed Hwy 1 passing through Solon the afternoon of his first day. As he did in most of the towns, he visited with interested historical groups or classrooms, sharing his research and his observations.
In 1839, Iowa City wasn’t much of a town.
Butler’s Capital was the first building in which the legislative meetings were held. Monk said, but it doubled as a hotel and tavern. Dubuque was a small mining town. Monk said his research indicated the trail was military in name only, necessary for the congressional financing it received.
Lyman Dillon was paid $3.00 a mile to break the trail with 10 oxen and a large plow.
He also thinks Dillon probably had some help with the task.
“He followed the ridges for the most part,” Monk said. “That’s why (Highway) 151 snakes. It’s following the contour of the ground.”
Monk made no special preparations for the walk, and hadn’t been an avid walker prior to the trip, but suffered few ill effects from the journey.
The hardest portion came walking downhill into Anamosa while the most scenic, he noted, was outside of Dubuque going through Key West.
In a pasture near Langworthy, he found a part of the original road, a bridge with stonework still above ground. ‘Most of it’s under the road,” he noted (editor’s note: most of the original Old military road is under the new highways..where as this portion is still visible because it’s in a pasture on the Elenore Jacobs farm just East of Langworthy)
He also found Lyman Dillon’s tombstone in Cascade.
Dillon was 39 and single at the time he plowed the furrow, owner of a local saw mill. (in cascade)
Along the way, Monk imagined life in Iowa from 1839 to 1900, using accounts of Dillon’s furrow as a thread to follow the state’s history. There are lots of interesting stories he picked up along the route, including those shared by Raphael Pisarik during Monk’s overnight stay in Solon.
“There’s quite a bit of drama, ” he observed.
Enough for a book, “On The Trail Of Lyman Dillon” which Monk has already started. He’s still collecting stories, especially regarding Solon’s history.
You can find out more about Monk’s walk by visiting http://onthetrailoflymandillon.wordpress.com/
I’m home
6 days
81.8 miles
172,763 steps later.
Here are 5 photos of my last 6 days walking in the footsteps of Lyman Dillon and Old Military Road from Iowa City to Dubuque….
Sunrise North of Solon on day 2
Picture of my footsteps looking back near Langworthy
Looking back at our house as I leave for Cascade.
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Walking in the drizzle on day 6
Mrs DM and I at the end of the road
Here are just a few highlights of the trip.
While I am on my feet all day at work, I am not a “walker”, and yet, I did not get any blisters, my feet never hurt, only felt stiff at the end of day 3 as I was coming down a long hill into Anamosa.
I woke up refreshed every morning , 4 of the nights I stayed in homes of people I didn’t (or barely) knew.
It rained 2 of the 6 days, which only added to my sense of being on an adventure.
A couple of you mused there would be a spiritual component to this adventure and there definitely was. I’ll probably write more about that later.
My next goal (after writing thank you’s) is to contact the people I met in each town and work on my book “On The Trail Of Lyman Dillon“
When I’ve mentioned writing a book, I’ve encountered a few “Oh sure you are” looks. What the nay sayers don’t know is I already have 2 books in print. I realize I probably sound a little testy as I write this, but I have very little time for negative, pessimistic, people.
Here’s a quote by Theodore Roosevelt which comes to mind when I meet a nay sayer :
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
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As a side note, this adventure made it in (7) different newspapers, (1) TV clip (w/ a 2nd pending), a chance to talk w/(4) High School history classes and (3) history groups while on the walk. We finished the trip with a small reception in Dubuque @ Lot One- site of Tim Fanning’s Log Tavern….it was a full week.
A Walkabout: Australian term referring to a practice whereby young men retrace the path of ancestors, following a route they might have taken , and imitating (in a fashion), their heroic deeds. 
I have begun to plan a walkabout for myself for the Fall of 2008.
1839, Iowa is part of the Western frontier. Congress has just appropriated $20,000 to construct a military road , from the mining town of Dubuque (On the Mississippi River) to Iowa City, site of the new capital. A 100 mile stretch from Dubuque to Iowa City is surveyed, and Lyman Dillon is hired to mark the route by plowing a 100 mile furrow. You need to stop for just a moment and appreciate what his job is…. drive 5 head of oxen attached to a sod busting plow , 100 mile through virgin prairie and Western frontier.
I recently read an account of Marcus L. Hansen and John E Briggs who retraced this route 84 years after the fact (1923) : http://iagenweb.org/history/palimpsest/feb1921.htm
(If you enjoy local history you’ll want to read this article)
Here I sit, 84 years removed from their “walkabout” (2007) and something inside of me begins to stir. One of the goals of our local school system is to produce “life long learners“. What better way to appreciate the history of Eastern Iowa than to research the towns and people who once populated our area and then retrace the 100 mile route of Dillons Furrow/ Old Military road? Step back in time to an era of circuit riding preachers, stage coaches, river boat captains, horse thieves, Indians on the move, wagon trains headed West to California, Salt Lake City, and beyond.
My tentative plans at this point to make this walk about more enjoyable include:
1. Acquire a copy of the original Military Road map 2. Make a list of the settlements along the route (both those still in existance and those long gone) 3. Contact the Office of the State Archaeologist. 4. Read up on any significant people or structures from 1839 to 1899. 5. Take good notes and photos to document my project, from beginning to end.
The older I get, the more I recognize the value of a balanced life. There is more to life than $. This walkabout combines local history, exercise, adventure, intrigue, the opportunity to meet new people, and a wealth of research to work on over the Winter months as I would prepare for September 2008. I’m anticipating making the trip in 4 days. If you are at all interested, I am opening this trip up to whomever else would like to join me….just jot me a note on the comment section of my blog and we can talk more. And as always, Thanks for reading!
Today is March 31 2008. It’s been raining off and on all day….thought it would be a good time to post an update on our research project of Lyman Dillon.
I got the picture of Lyman Dillon (above) from our friends Larry and Kathy. Along with his photo, I also got one of his wife Charlotte, who are both buried in the Protestant section of the Cascade Iowa Cemetery. There will be more photo’s in my book…this one is just a teaser so there will be a photo on the Internet of Lyman Dillon. As far as I know, this is the only one you will find on-line (I’ve looked)
Through a chance conversation with Pam at her antique store, I was able to look through her dad (Gus Norlin’s ) research on Lyman Dillon which as far as I know was never formally published. Gus was the president of the local Historical society for several years…he had several pieces of research I had not seen before. Pam was gracious enough to let me take everything home and scan and make copies before I returned it to her…THANK YOU PAM!!!
Gus had tracked down a Granddaughter believe it or not of Lyman Dillon in California in the 1980’s….She (Florence Cordelia Parrott Lippert) was born 7/3/1885 in Cascade Iowa daughter of Lima Dillon (Parrott)
Florence Lippert eventually donated a highchair to the Jones County Historical Society in Edinburg Iowa where it resides today. The chair was built by Lyman Dillon himself from lumber from his sawmill which used to exist North of Cascade Iowa on the North Fork of the Maquoketa River. The sawmill was located West of Lyman’s home. We have been out there to take pictures..nothing remains of the sawmill which was owned by several people…originally the Delong Brothers, then Dillon, at some point was a paper mill, still later converted into a flouring mill known as Myer’s.
I have additional material from the Norlin papers, which I am hoping to include in my book if the family gives me permission to include it….stay tuned!
Saturday February 16th 2008 I headed to Mt Vernon Iowa with L. and K. P. to interview R. P. a local historian. He had agreed to let me bring my camcorder . He’s 87 yrs old - sharp as a tack. Names of people and places rolled off his tongue. We talked about a horse thief ring that had operated in the 1800’s out of some caves West of Mt.Vernon. We talked about he and his dad paving Hwy 1 for $.50 an hour. I came home with 2 hrs of conversation and an old photo of the first bridge over the Cedar River by Ivanhoe. We tried to go to Sutliff for lunch but it was standing room only- ( a snowmobile convention had beat us there).
It was at this point, I remembered something L.P.’s mother-in-law D had mentioned about possibly making us lunch…we’d turned her down thinking we were going to be in Sutliff….Well, it was 1:15, no place to go except Hardees and her offer sounded awesome. A cell phone call later and we were making a bee line for Mt. Vernon…. we sat down to home made soup, fresh bread and cheese, black coffee and German Chocolate cake. Boy did that taste good!!!!!
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Painting depicting Scottish emigrants coming to Scotch Grove Iowa…from the collection of Bill and Jane Corbin
The second big thing that happened this week was receiving Iowa Sketches- John Newton Hughes -edited by Michele Shover in the mail. It is a limited edition… talks about the Hughes Family in Rural Nineteenth Century Scotch Grove, Jones County Iowa. Here’s an excerpt from the book describing what it was like in the winter:
” In the dead of winter, when skies were clear and snow deep, farmers were then getting their year’s supply of wood for fuel, their timber for posts and rails, their dimension timbers for framing of farm buildings….A procession of bobsleds with axes for cutting and chains for binding the logs, and poles and timbers tied securely to the bobsleds for the journey homeward. With well-matched teams of spirited horses, trim and slick and glossy from good feed and early winter’s rest. Here, a pair of dapple greys, their check-reins taut, their silver mane and tail waving in the morning breezes. Next a team of blaze-faced, white-footed sorrels; then a span of blacks, each girdled with his string of bells that made sweet music, or so we thought, at every move of those nimble limbs. Witness the scene as the procession moved gently and firmly on. No roar of engine or blur of gear or clash of clutch or honk of horn; only the hoof of horses and steel of sled runner on the noiseless snow, and the bells always jingling and pealing in the crisp, frost air; only these and their merry jingle, jingle, jingle. A thousand notes medlied, mixed and confused, yet always in harmony, always sweet; always stirring…often a half-dozen bobsleds might be seen approaching our highway from the west; sometimes even more, all in one silent company and driving as close as comfort and safety would permit….
In the afternoon or early evening the whole picture was changed. The journey reversed. They were bound homeward. Then the woods empty themselves as by magic and from narrow trails, the teams appeared, moving, seemingly from nowhere, into the prairie. They were headed homeward. The sleds were heavily loaded. there were groaning now, and screeching and barking as the iron runners sank into the hard packed snow, and crunched and smoothed out every hummock or irregular surface. Some were loaded with logs, others with cord wood, still others with long poles suitable for dimension timbers. Others laden with wood of many lengths and when suitably dried from the summer’s sun would find its way in the cook-stove. The men were tired after a long day at work in the woods. There is not much gaiety and little thought for the pipes. The horses are tired too. But they have pep and courage; they lean forward in their collars, the harness creaks under the strain- you feel that the traces must surely snap. Their hoofs dig into the snow, though by much travel it is as hard as ice. Their fine legs twist and tremble as they feel for footing in the ice and snow. The whole picture was that of rugged individualism that has made its mark on he economy of our age.”
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Note: A special thank you to Michele Shover for helping us get a copy of this book…and for the Corbin’s for letting us see their picture. DM
This account comes from the History Of Johnson County page 305
“Early in the summer of 1838, Patrick Smith moved into the claim cabin whch stood on the bank of the Iowa river, in the town site of Napoleon, the first county seat. Mrs Smith was the sister of Philip Clark, and she gave birth to a daughter sometime in August 1838 in that cabin. It is remembered that her delivery was lingering and tedious; that she lay in great suffering about two days; Mr. Towbridge had got onto his horse and started to Bloomington (Muscatine) for a doctor, but was called back by the news that the child was born. Some Indian women of Wapashasheik’s village had heard that the “white squaw’s” condition, and immediately gathered wild herbs or roots from which they made a deconction and gave her to drink; and in a few minutes thereafter she was safely delivered. When Towbridge was going to the stock range to catch his horse he met some of the Indian men and told them why he must hurry and get his horse and ride to Bloomington for a doctor; they told their midwife women about it- and the result was as above stated.
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By the way, the picture is our family- we took it on our one and only family vacation.
Below is an excerpt from the Jones County Historical Review Volume 7 #1 1981. On a previous post I mentioned hearing about a mother, father and baby who had died on the portion of Old Military Road near Langworthy, Iowa having been caught in a surprise blizzard, leaving behind 10 children. I came across this detailed account of the incident and thought I would include a portion of it now.
It was December 3, 1856, and it was to be a day of tragedy, long to be remembered in Jones County. On that day a killer blizzard struck Iowa, moving into the state from the northwest….
A pioneer family by the name of Wade, consisting of Mother, Father and 10 children had homesteaded on a piece of ground some two years before slightly south and west of the then small village of Monticello. The military trail passed directly in front of their cabin.
The cabin, of more than average proportion had been constructed with a large rock fireplace at one end of the combination kitchen and eating area, and two large bedrooms, narrow but long at the other end. The bedrooms were separated from the eating area and one another by log partitions.
Crude bunks for beds had been fashioned against the outer walls, then covered with prairie grass “ticks” and in these two bedrooms, children of the family slept- boys in one room , girls in the other. Brothers and sisters were almost evenly divided in number.
Mr. and Mrs. Wade retired nightly to a made up “tick” in the kitchen area, so they might keep the fireplace stoked, especially in damp or cold weather….
This early homestead was the first place on the left-hand side of the “Lower Prairieburg Road,” from it’s intersection with today’s highway 151. In 1856, this portion of the road…..was still part of the original military trail from Dubuque to Iowa City.
Mr and Mrs Wade had business in Langworthy on that ill-fated day. All of the children except the very youngest, a baby girl less than one year old, were left at home to fend for themselves, which for pioneer children wasn’t too difficult, and seldom was cause for anxiety to the parents..”
The day had dawned bright, clear and relatively mild. Not a great deal of snow lay on the ground; In fact, not enough to warrant taking the “bobsled”, rather than the farm wagon. Very little traffic at that time assured that there would be bare spots which would require an exertion on the pulling ability of the team, should the sled be used.
Heading out of the driveway, they turned left at the Military Road and progressed westward about a mile, where the trail then followed the land contour into a small gully, where the trail crossed a clear running stream.
Mrs. Wade was probably in high spirits, for she was going to Langworthy, and it would give her an opportunity to bargain for a few of the simple niceties at the “Buckhorn,” a combination provisions store and tavern.”
(Editor’s note: At this particular time the settlement was not officially known as Langworthy, but was most often referred to as “Spencers Place” due to the fact James Spencer had been the first to build a long cabin on the north bank of the stream. It was also referred to as “Buckhorn,” although there were many other “Buckhorns” scattered throughout the area.)
(Editors note: Evidence of the original route can still be found in this section for almost three-fourths of a mile, and is perhaps the ONLY clear cut portion of the “old military trail” still in existence between Dubuque and Iowa City) (and as I DM type this account January of 2008 it is still there, having visited it myself this past Summer) This portion is not only part of the military trail but is part of “Dillon’s Furrow” which pre-dated the military trail some six months, and which the Military engineers, under command of Jefferson Davis, later President of the Confederacy, followed in large part.)
I’m going to stop there with the account. In addition to this material there is additional information in the two volume Jones County History set which tells about what happened after it was discovered the parents had in fact died. I’m intending to include all of the information from both of these sources in my book On The Trail Of Lyman Dillon hopefully to be published sometime in 2009. Drop me a note if you have any specific questions or suggestions on anything you read on this blog. Sincerely, DM
It’s been a while since I posted anything. This Fall, I acquired 4 original maps from the 1879 Andreas Atlas of Iowa. They are the counties of Dubuque, Jones, Linn and Johnson Counties. Why? Because they show what Iowa looked like in 1879, including vast portions of native timber, towns that no longer exist and the route of Old Military Road.
Earlier this Fall I wrote on my “I Also Live On A Farm Blog “ about a cross stitch project I was working on. You know how one thing leads to another…well I finished the project, and decided I would do a cross stitch of these original maps….they measure 12 inches by 18 inches . I started working on the first map this past weekend (see photo above). It is causing me to slowly memorize the map of Jones County as it looked in 1879. If you were to ask me at this moment to describe the layout of Jones county I would have to say “I’m not sure” …but as I’m working my way North on the cross stitch project, I getting an awesome grasp of the details. I anticipate by the time I finish I will know the map of our county like the back of my hand…
This morning when I woke up, I the map on my brain, probably because I was working on it right before I went to bed. Martelle…what’s East of Martelle..I thought to myself…way to the East (and South) is Oxford Junction….then Hale. Actually it’s called Hale City on the map. And the town of Olin, is not on the map…but there is a town called “Rome”. The towns of both Oxford Junction and Center Junction which both exist today were towns where the rail lines crossed. A North and South track intersecting with an East and West Track…hence… the term “Junction.”I know this is not rocket science, but for someone who has lived most of his life in this area and is just discovering these things about local history it has been enjoyable. My goal is to finish as much of these for maps before the actual time I do my “walk about.”
