436 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK, 



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Neola House, 



Neola, Iowa, 



October Twentieth. 



A drizzling rain on leaving Avoca made the pros- 

 pect of my ride to this point somewhat gloomy. Over 

 the interminable prairie again my journey lay, as it 

 had done ever since I entered the State of Iowa, but a 

 more magnificent sight I never saw than presented 

 itself before me this afternoon on reaching the summit 

 of an extensive table-land between Avoca and Minden. 



Halted a few minutes for lunch at Minden, and met 

 a gentleman there who hud attended my lecture at 

 Detroit, upon which he was pleased to compliment me. 

 Neola is a small prairie settlement of about three 

 hundred inhabitants and is surrounded by several good 

 farms. Of the Neola House I can only say that I 

 shall not easily forget it and its proprietor — especially 

 the nocturnal serenade of all the cats of Neola — which 

 deprived me of sleep throughout the night; and the 

 extremely scant accommodations provided for the guests. 



The soil here is inferior in quality to that of no 

 other section of the State. The land is well watered 

 and was gradually filling up with an industrious class 

 of citizens. 



Atlantic Hotel, 



Omaha, Nebraska, 



October Twerdy-first. 



Left Neola at eight o^clock and reached Council 

 Bluffs at three p. M. Found the road on approaching 



