PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 211 



have no art, no music, no literature. Economics and politics are but 

 the outgrowth of the past social organization of life. 



Plainly, indeed, it seems to me we of Iowa can well afford time and 

 money to place before our coming generations visible evidence of our 

 faith in those who bore and suffered the trials of conquering the untrod- 

 den and untried problems of placing civilization in what is now the state 

 of Iowa. 



Being a native daughter of Iowa and having been taught state patriot- 

 ism through the recital of the struggle of pioneer days, I know of places 

 individually I would like to see preserved by some sort of mark. Not 

 long ago a friend who has grown up with the same sort of inspiration 

 as I have, wrote to me asking what I thought of marking certain places 

 on the farm of his childhood, places which have had an important part to 

 play in local history of that community, (Bennington township, Black 

 Hawk county). One of the places I will mention is a group of immense 

 boulders one of which has a flat top perhaps ten or more feet in diameter, 

 which stands on the crest of a hill. On account of its location, this 

 place was a camping place for pioneers and settlers crossing the flat 

 plains over the untried road of fortune and home finding. My reply was: 

 By all means have that place marked it may be half a mile from the road, 

 but a flat plate imbedded in concrete and placed in the top of the rock, 

 telling of the fact and mentioning names of those who camped there 

 would create an interest in that place that the grandchildren and great 

 grandchildren of those selfsame settlers will go to see. It will inspire 

 within them something I am sure they never knew or thought of before, 

 and that something will be a truer state patriotism as they begin to ask 

 why it was done and read the names of their ancestors on that plate. 



Last year a friend of mine spent time in trying to excavate a mound 

 near Nevada, Story county, but bad weather and frost prevented further 

 investigation. The removal from the state of this person has precluded 

 further investigation from that source unless others duly investigate. 

 On our own state college campus, the one or two reliable remaining 

 authorities tell me there are two places which can well be preserved; one 

 is the old trail which crossed the prairie to Boone, another is the place 

 near our college cemetery where the barbecue and picnic were held 

 celebrating the giving of the grant of land for the Iowa State College. 



In and around Ames itself are several 'spots of local interest which I 

 feel should be marked if we are ever to create an atmosphere of local 

 history. One is the placing of a plate, either on the wall of the North- 

 Western station or in the sidewalk, containing the authentic date of the 

 arrival of the first passenger train through Ames. Hundreds of pas- 

 sengers go through here every day, and why can't Ames, the center of 

 so great an educational institution, help inspire thoughts of historical 

 interest as well as thoughts of commercial activity? 



One cannot visit the state university without feeling the atmosphere 

 of historical interest which permeates that place. The very fact of that 

 beautiful old state capitol upon its grounds gives impetus to historical 

 preservation. I am a believer in "History beginning at home," and my 

 heart is rapt in methods of inspiring local preservation. In that spirit 

 several hundred questionnaires have been mailed to pioneers and their 



