PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 89 



members of the board some of, what I would call, the natural scenic 

 beauty of the Upper Des Moines river as well as the lower. 



"In Mr. Price's letter he refers to the Herbert Pratt and Hudson Farms. 

 I have known the Pratt and Hudson families for almost thirty years and 

 the Black, he refers to, for at least forty years. I would not anticipate 

 any difficulty in acquiring the property permitting access to Woodman's 

 Hollow." 



This region is an interesting one. The carboniferous sandstone outcrops 

 of the Des Moines are a continuation of these occurring along the lower 

 Des Moines to Ottumwa. Cordova, Red Rock in Marion county, Des 

 Moines, the Ledges in Boone and at Frasier, where they are but slightly 

 exposed. At Woodman's Hollow there are steep bluffs and narrow gorges 

 and the Des Mocnes river h'ows along the sandstone rock outcrops. The 

 hills are heavily wooded with black, red, white and bur oak. There are 

 two hickories, the pignut and shellbark hickory. The black walnut grows 

 along the streams of the Des Moines and the butternut on the sides of the 

 gorges. The slippery American and corky bark elm are common as well 

 as the basswood and black maple. The soft or silver maple, American 

 elm and cottonwood are common in the alluvial bottoms. The ironwood 

 and large toothed aspen are common in the hills. Of the vines, moonseed, 

 wild grape, bitter sweet, and Virginia creeper may be mentioned. Box 

 elder, service berry, black, choke and pin cherry, American plum and wild 

 crab apple, smooth sumach, poison ivy, honey locust, and 'coffee beans are 

 not uncommon. Common elder and several haws are common. The hills 

 are covered with wild roses and prickly ash. Lead plant occurs on the 

 sandstone rocks and the wild indigo along the river. The red cedar oc- 

 curs in considerable numbers on the exposed sandstone outcrops along 

 the Des Marines. Swamp ash, red ash, alternate leaved dogwood, the silky 

 cornel and panicled dogwood, and black haw, as well as arrowwood may 

 also be mentioned. The region abounds in ferns, like the spleenwort, 

 ostrich, maiden hair, walking leaf, cliff brake, the small bladder fern, 

 several rare species of sedges also occur. Of the other herbaceous plants 

 mention may be made of the lungwort, mandrake, bloodroot, hepatica, 

 wind flower, prairie cone flower, black eyed susan, everlasting, Philadel- 

 phia fleabane, silky leaved aster, hory gentian, sweet cicely, zizia, pim- 

 pinella, meadow parsnip, polytaenia, evening primrose, sweet willuam, 

 alum root, wild strawberry, the common and the vesca, hog pea, vetch, 

 two kinds of bush clover, tick trefoil, milk vetch, prairie clover, false in- 

 digo, seneca snake root and the bastard toad flax, yellow violet, common 

 bluebird foot violet. 



Many rare birds and mammals find refuge in this area. The region offers 

 unusual facilities for the lover of plants. Owing to intensive grazing and 

 the removal of the ostrich fern for cultivation, the region is apt in time, 

 to Ipse its prairie aspect. The region is not far removed from Ft. Dodge 

 and would give a large population easy access to spend a few pleasant 

 hours away from the busy toil of modern commercial life. 



