trappers or they had exhausted their food 

 supply in that valley and then emigrated 

 to some other stream. In the absence of 

 the builders, who must constantly make 

 repairs, the dam had broken and the 

 brush it contained had decayed. Only 

 the stones and dirt used in its construc- 

 tion remained to mark the spot where it 

 had once held back a beaver pond cover- 

 ing several acres. This space had re- 

 mained swampy for some years and trees 

 did not grow upon it. It was now cov- 

 ered with a rank growth of grass. 



Many such places are found in the 

 forest and they are always known as 

 beaver meadows. They unquestionably 

 mark spots where colonies of beavers 

 once lived, though it might have been 

 many years before. 



The far-sighted, fore-handed pioneers 

 who settled in the state of Iowa, with 

 prophetic wisdom and civic pride of hope, 

 loaded the labels of their communities 

 with the word "City." After the lapse 

 of eighty years, the last census showed 



6 



