Iowa History
Camp Hantesa: Oldest Camp in Iowa
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It was known as the oldest girls’ camp in Iowa and one of the oldest in the United States. Camp Hantesa was established by the Des Moines chapter of the Camp Fire Girls in 1919.
Iowa History
Snake Charmer Charms Man
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Ruth McCollough was paid to work her charms on snakes in a traveling carnival show. It’s not known how successful she was at her job. But there’s no doubt she worked her charms on Charles McCormick who came under her spell in the summer of 1914.
Iowa History
Rain and Snow Won’t Stop the Mail; But Thieves Will…
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Maybe rain and snow won’t stop the mail; but thieves will. People who were waiting for articles sent through the U.S. Mail via Council Bluffs in the fall of 1922 may have had a long wait for those items.
Iowa History
No More Alcohol for George
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It’s a pretty sure thing that saloon keepers in Davenport in the summer of 1872 wouldn’t be selling any more liquor to George Cook after they heard about an episode that took place at a saloon on Main Street just east of the Lindsay & Phelps mill.
Iowa History
Don’t Mess With Marquette And McGregor
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Customers at Johnson’s billiard hall in Marquette didn’t take kindly to two strangers who wandered into the establishment one July night in 1930. They wouldn’t identify themselves and that made the local crowd suspicious. They chased the two strangers out of town—one account reported they first kicked the lights out on their car and “did everything in their power to embarrass” the two. The two strangers were actually federal prohibition agents, R.H. Taylor and H.H. Kirchman. They were in Marquette investigating possible violations of the Volstead Act — which prohibited the sale, manufacture, or distribution of alcohol.
Iowa History
100 Years Ago, Iowa Hog Farmer Becomes University President
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In 1911 a group of State University of Iowa (University of Iowa) alumni started a petition to oppose the appointment of the new president of the university. John Gabbert Bowman was only 33 years old and was about to become the youngest college president in the country. The alumni petition failed, and Bowman accepted the position in March.
Iowa History
Gallant Girl Rescues Friend
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It was a lovely summer day in June 1901 when Caroline Jarvis’s heroic actions near the Coralville Dam caused her to make history at the University of Iowa in Iowa City where she was a student — a member of the class of ’02.
Iowa History
Prison Poet Predicts His End
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“The sun-kissed walls/ Are things of awful might;/ I may but look beyond, above/ With eyes that fill with tears.” The poet who wrote those words, James Gordon Stell, knew quite a bit about walls and could only dream about the world beyond them. He was known as the “Prison Poet.”
Iowa History
Goats Add Value to Iowa Farms
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In April 1910 the US Census Bureau reported 2,400 Iowa farmers raised over 20,664 goats and kids on their farms. But only 266 of those reported producing goat hair or mohair. If they weren’t raising the goats for the fleece, why did so many Iowa farmers have the animals?
Iowa History
Strangers In Buggy Rob Bank
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It was an early spring morning in 1895 when two strangers in a buggy made their way into town at Adel just west of Des Moines. By the time they left, two town folk lay close to death and the bank was short an undetermined amount of cash.