264 PUBLIC PARKS OF IOWA 



early history of the pilgrim fathers in their struggles for existence and 

 final triumph in the forests of New England and in the valley of the 

 James will demonstrate their value for in the sparcely wooded region at 

 St. Augustine, the oldest town in the country, little progress was made 

 and that is also true of the efforts at settlement in the barren section of 

 Santa Fe, and at Capistrano and Santa Barbara where the Franciscian 

 Friars tried to christianize and colonize the natives. It was only under 

 the fostering boughs of the friendly forests that the white race was able 

 to establish itself in the western continent; they supplied material to 

 build their cabins, for fences to protect their crops; fuel to keep them 

 warm and to cook their meal, and made it possible to secure game and 

 nutritious nuts for food. The same sentimerU dominated the pioneers 

 in Iowa and was the governing factor that impelled, if not compelled 

 them to locate in the forest along the streams in this state, until rapid 

 transportation facilities made it possible for them to secure the material 

 necessary for their comfort from a distance. In 1850 there were few roads 

 and scarcely any bridges, streams were crossed by ferry or at a ford. 

 A yoke or two of oxen supplied the motive power and the only vehicle 

 a farm wagon. Oxen were superior to horses for this purpose, though 

 slower, because they could subsist on the herbage during the journey 

 when their master took his noon siesta or nightly bivouac on the lone 

 prairies. 



Here is the pioneer with his ox team, board shanty, or sod house 

 covered with poles and thatched with long slough grass, and family in the 

 foreground. With him it was not a problem of aesthetics, but of neces- 

 sity. These pioneers were not Rothchilds or Rockefellers with millions 

 at their command; their dollars were few and often of doubtful value. 

 When neighbors came they must fence the land to save their crops, 

 plant trees to protect the home from fierce winds and secure shade 

 from the hot sun of summer, and to give a little privacy to 'the family. 

 Prior to 1850 black locusts were planted for this purpose, but in time 

 the borers came and destroyed them. They then planted soft maples in 

 rows as they did their corn and cultivated them in the same manner. 

 Boards were too expensive to use in building fences, they were too far 

 from the woods to haul rails and smooth wire would not restrain stock, 

 so they sought other material. In 1860 white willow and osage orange 

 were planted for this purpose. The white willow failed to make a fence, 

 but served for a windbreak and for posts. The osage orange hedge was not 

 a complete success because the farmers would not take time in the 

 summer to prune it properly and it went into discard when barbed wire 

 was invented in the late seventies, and when woven wire was introduced 

 the fence problem was solved. I believe sentiment in favor of forestry 

 was at ebb-tide from 1890 to the close of the century, then it turned 

 toward the flow with a greater appreciation of its economic and aesthetic 

 value. I cannot take time to mention the names of those who labored in- 

 cessantly to save the trees and to increase the planting of them for 

 decorative purposes and economic uses. It was through their untiring 

 efforts that the prairies of this state ' have been covered with groves. 

 Since 1900 a commission has been appointed, legislation secured, and 

 now there are more than 16,000 acres of forest reservations under the 



