MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY AND THE CONSERVA- 

 TION OF OUR NATURAL RESOURCES 



BY L. H. PAMMEL 



When I see the migratory birds passing over Iowa dur- 

 ing the chilly days of October or when I wander in the 

 forests of the Rockies, where the Sublime Artist has done 

 His handiwork, my thoughts go back to my friend, Major 

 John F. Lacey, the brave soldier who fought valiantly for 

 the Union cause, a statesman who had the whole country 

 at heart, not merely Iowa, but Colorado, New Mexico, and 

 California as well; one part of the country as well as the 

 other received his careful consideration. The great 

 cause, the protection of the forests, game, and the pres- 

 ervation of antiquities had little of interest to the average 

 citizen of Iowa, but to the nation, as a whole, in particular 

 to generations yet to come, it will mean much. A friend, 

 loyal in every sense of the word, my acquaintance 

 reached back a little more than twenty years, and in all 

 of these years we exchanged letters pertaining to a sub- 

 ject of great interest to him. My last visit was in Oska- 

 loosa, about a year ago, when he called my attention to an 

 interesting elm found near Tracy. In his conversation 

 he was lively, exact, and methodic, always displaying a 

 wonderful fund of information. A most remarkable man 

 in many ways. 



When the news dispatches announced the sudden death 

 of Major John F. Lacey, of Oskaloosa, it cast a shadow 

 over the hearts of many friends in this our great common- 

 wealth and the many friends in the nation at large. To 

 every man or woman interested in the conservation of 



