88 The Wilson Bulletin^ — No. 83. 



had no lack of domestic animals for food, hence the destruc- 

 tion of the Wild Turkey did not have its origin in the needs 

 of mankind. The great abundance of this species in its neigh- 

 borhood gave the name Turkey River to a stream that takes 

 a southeasterly course almost diagonally across the county. 

 This refers to its present boundaries, not to its early ones 

 in the days of magnificent distances, when Clayton County 

 stretched for unnumbered miles to the westward, and was 

 bounded on the north by the Dominion of Canada — then 

 called British America. In pioneer days all the land in the 

 southeastern part of the county , upward of two hundred 

 scjuare miles, was covered with a heavy forest of hardwood 

 trees, except the bottom lands at the mouth of the Turkey 

 River, where it is said " horse-weed " grew in rank profus- 

 ion, yielding a black, oily seed that was a favorite food of 

 the Wild Turkeys. 



Very few of the people are now living who came to this 

 region in the late thirties ; but ten years ago there were others, 

 some of whom were contributors to " The Old Settlers Edi- 

 tion " of the North Iowa Times, published February 19, 1903. 

 From its columns are taken the following excerpts from the 

 story told by Mrs. Ann Dickens, who moved to Clayton 

 County in April, 1836 : "A view of Turkey River and its 

 surrounding bluff at this time would hardly bring to mind 

 what it was in the days of 1836. When I arrived there, the 

 hills were covered with immense timber and no undergrowth, 

 owing to the Indians' custom of burning the ground every 

 fall to help the growth of feed for deer. The woods were 

 full of panthers, bears, wild cats, wolves, foxes, deer and 

 wild turkey ; and I have often wondered how those wild tur- 

 keys lived and multiplied to such a great extent, where the 

 woods were full of wild animals, for whom the eggs and the 

 turkey's young would be such a toothsome meal. 



" The Indians' name for the Turkey River was Sesick, 

 Anashungara. 



"At stated times during the year a regular trail was formed 

 by the wild turkeys crossing the river, which, from this fact, 



