PREFACE 



The following' pages consist mainly of ^'nature 

 notes," with such incidental attention to human 

 affairs as seemed appropriate for this type of 

 writing. 



A reasonably extensive literature, aside from 

 purely scientific work, has been produced in this 

 field by Iowa writers. From L — 's Journal of 

 Marches, written in 1834-35, to the recent excel- 

 lent essays of Mr. Lazell, one may find many re- 

 corded observations of outdoor life in Hawkeye- 

 land. Among works of notable value with which 

 the writer happens to be acquainted, the article 

 on The Old Prairie Slough, by the late beloved 

 Charles Aldrich, seems very suggestive and a 

 worthy model for other essayists; while Hamlin 

 Garland's Boy Life on the Prairie should be con- 

 sidered a classic in every patriotic Iowa home. 

 William Savage, with a certain propriet}^, has been 

 called ''The Iowa Thoreau," Unfortunately his 

 extensive diaries are as yet accessible only in 

 manuscript form. For permission to examine 

 them and to include a few selections in this vol- 

 ume, the author is indebted to Hon. Edgar R. 



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