or on medicines with special usage. Doctors often come to their Thermopylæ, and must have recourse to the experience of others of the Spartan band who brave the dangers of disease, or endure the toil of the physician's life. Few are they who fully realize what these men, faithful in the hour of pain and danger, are required to endure, an endurance second only to the love that prompts them to their task. The society to which many of the physicians of this county belong, while not a distinctive county organization, has nevertheless a far-reaching influence within its limits, and thus directly affects the interest of the people in the matter of health.

THE EARLY FERRIES.

During the earliest days of the county's history, passage over the streams within its boundaries was accomplished by fords, at the best unreliable, and always, at certain seasons, impassible. In a prairie region like this, the banks of the streams are soft and yielding, and even their beds are continually changing, hence a ford is by no means permanently reliable. When the last obstacle to the colonization of this county, and indeed of western Iowa, had been removed, and the tide of immigration began to flow westward, increased facilities were demanded. Very many reached this county from sections farther north, having crossed the Nishnabotna so high up that a mere fording was all that was necessary. Many stopped, but others kept on their way. These passers-by were of two classes; very many of them were Mormons on their way to the New Jerusalem, and many others were adventurers, the news of the discovery of gold in California having filled every road with trains of fortune seekWith this increased travel came an increased demand for better and safer facilities by which to cross the streams that lay in the way of the emigrant.

ers.

One of the earliest ferries was that at White Cloud, across the Nishnabotna in the southeastern part of the county. It is not known whether this is the one kept by a Mr. Hill, but if not, he was the proprietor of one near that point at a very early day. The records and all authentic information with reference to this ferry have long since been destroyed. To operate these ferries a license was required from the board of county commissioners, who also fixed the rates of toll or passage. These ferry licenses were granted usually for a single year, but not infrequently for much longer periods. The keeping of the ferry was a public necessity, and those who were able to purchase a "flat-boat," turned it to good advantage by use in this manner. Some of the applications are in full

accord with other legal documents of early days.

Sometimes a notice was posted to the effect that the person whose signature was attached, intended applying for a license. The following is an instance wherein the intention was followed by the act:

NOTICE.

Is hereby given that I shall apply to the next term of the county court at Coonville, for a licence to establish and keep a ferry on the Misourie River at Plattsville in the County of Mills and State of Iowa December 12th, A. D. 1851.

SAM'L MARTIN.

To the Honerable Cort of Mills County:

PETITION.

I pray your Honor for license to establish and keep a ferry at Plattsville acrost the Misourie river in the county of Mills and State of Iowa, extending three-forths of a mild down the river and one and one-forth milds up said river from the town of Plattsville, for the term of ten years, January the fifth, A. D. 1852.

SAMUEL MARTIN.

This was the first establishment of a ferry at this point across the Missouri. There had previously been one in operation at Trader's point, conducted by Peter A. Sarpy.

Col. Sarpy was one of the first white men in this county, having come in 1836, and engaged in trade with the Indians. The boats used were the ordinary flatboats of the western rivers, and frequently the crossing was so uncertain, the boat would land a mile below its usual haven. Often the passengers were obliged to lend a helping hand to get across at all. Conscious of these disadvantages, in 1853, Col. Sarpy proposed to establish a steam ferry, and the result may be gathered from the following

extract:

APPLICATION OF PETER A. SARPY FOR FERRY LICENSE.

The court being satisfied that all the legal requisites on said application were complied with, and that a ferry was needed at the said point, and that the said Sarpy is a suitable person to keep said ferry. It is, therefore, ordered, that license be granted to the said Sarpy to keep said ferry as follows, to-wit:

Whereas, Peter A. Sarpy having made application to the county court for license to establish and keep a steam ferry boat during the spring emigration, and suitable flat boats, skiffs, etc., at other times across the Missouri river at that point where the east half of section 26, township 73, north, of range 44 west, borders on said stream, and having in all respects complied with the requisites of the law.

These are therefore authorizing the said Peter A. Sarpy to establish and keep for ten years a ferry boat as aforesaid, at the same point at the said river, and have the said privi

lege exclusive for the distance of one mile above the said point, and one mile below said point, and so far as the shore of the said river at the said point, within the limits of the said county is concerned, shall charge ferriage at the following rates, to-wit:

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name and affixed my private seal, (there being no seal of office yet provided by law), this the sixteenth day of April, A. D. 1853. H. P. BENNETT, [SEAL]. County Judge of Mills county, Iowa.

In the following year a license was granted to J. L. Sharpe to "keep a ferry" at Bethlehem. The following is the record in this case;

Upon application of Joseph L. Sharpe for a license to keep a ferry on the Missouri river at the town of Bethlehem, and it appearing to the satisfaction of the court that the said applicant is a suitable person to keep a ferry, and the keeper of the previous ferry at the same point, and it further appearing to the court that due notice of the application has been made, and all other requisites of the law being complied with, it is therefore ordered that so far as the shore of this state is concerned, license be and is hereby granted to the said Joseph L. Sharpe, for the term of ten years from the date hereof, as follows, to-wit:

STATE OF Iowa, SS.

MILLS COUNTY. S

To all whom these presents shall come, greeting:

WHEREAS, Joseph L. Sharpe having made application to the county court of Mills county for license to establish and keep a ferry at the town of Bethlehem, on the Missouri river, and having in all respects complied with the requisites of the law, these are therefore, authorizing the said said Joseph L. Sharpe to establish and keep, (so far as the shore of this state is concerned) for ten years, a ferry on the Missouri river at the said point, with the exclusive privilege of one mile each way therefrom, above and below said point, and he is authorized to charge and receive tolls for ferrying at the following rates, to-wit:

The time for ferrying is between sunrise and sundown, at all times when the river is within its banks and in boating order.

In testimony whereof, I, Hiram P. Bennett, county judge, have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said county at my office in Glenwood, this, the 1st day of May, A. D., 1854.

[SEAL.]

HIRAM P. BENNETT, County Judge of Mills county, Iowa.

These were all the ferries established in the county. The rates of ferriage in these days seem exorbitant, but they were hardly so then. There was no choice; either the rates current must be paid or there was no passage. The modern triumphs of engineering skill, by which the widest streams are readily bridged, have made the ferry a thing of the past, and they have, many of them, taken their places among the things that were.

RAILROADS.

Somebody once wrote a book, "The World on Wheels," the title of which, though not historical, is very suggestive of the conditions of progress. Communication with the outside world was neither ready nor pleasant, in the days of the lumbering coach. Two lines of these coaches formerly ran through the county, one, the St. Joseph and Council Bluffs line, running by way of Sidney, Tabor, Glenwood, and thence to Council Bluffs, and the route of the Western Stage company, through from one county seat to another, and these lines formed the only mode of public conveyance from one point to another. The trips of the stages were originally made weekly, then semi-weekly, and finally daily, as the growing business warranted such an increase of facilities. The life of the traveler in those days was by no means a pleasant one. When steep hills must be ascended, or muddy bottoms crossed, the passenger-wearied as he was by the swaying and rough usage of hard driving—was expected to descend and mount the hill or cross the bottom on foot. Passengers then became often travel-stained, in a sense which now no longer obtains. But like all companies whose business was of a public nature, the Western Stage company was often censured for carelessness and wanton abuse of public good nature. One such censure contains the cause of the trouble that so often led to delayed and damaged mail matter in the days before the railroad. It is as follows:

“The western stage company deserves the greatest credit for their untiring energy and perseverance in bringing every mail to this city, for the last three weeks in a wet and pulplike state, perfectly saturated with water and wholly unreadable. But for the mail brought from the south on Friday morning last, they deserve more than a high eulogy. There was one entire sack of near two bushels, which was not only saturated with water, but completely covered with mud, and every direction entirely obliterated. That sack full must prove a total loss, as it can never be forwarded to its destination. Our postmaster has on many occasions recently when the bundles were broken open, taken the pains and trouble to re-envelope them again and forward. For this he should receive the thanks of a gen erous people.

We are sickened at the sight of every mail that arrives. When the agent is asked why this repeated occurence of destroying the mail, they offer the same silly and stereotyped reply, that "the stage upset in the creek!" This western stage company have proved an

intolerable nuisance, and we should think it high time that the department at Washington were taking notice of these faults and the destroying of the mail matter.-Bugle, 1858.

But the days of the lumbering coach, of delayed mails* and freights, of toilsome travel have long since ceased to be in this county. The iron horse puffs its way over hill and through valley, from the extreme north of the county to its southern limits, on three distinct lines of road, and across the county from west to east by one of the greatest lines of the west. These lines afford ample means of communication, and ready facilities by which to carry the produce of the county to the great marts of the land. The first railroad scheme to engage the attention of the county, and which became the subject of a general ballot was the Council Bluffs & St. Joseph railroad. The company working under this style was organized May 18, 1858. The articles of incorporation were signed by Enos Lowe, A. D. Richardson, S. L. Nuckolls, A. A. Bradford, Ira D. Blanchard, William Street, Frank Street, L. Nuckolls, Addison Cochran, James A. Jackson, Samuel S. Bayliss, Samuel S. Curtiss, James D. Test, George Doughty, George Parks, Thomas H. Benton, Jr., Hadley D. Johnson, Martin W. Riden, Horace Everett, and Benjamin Rector. The capital stock of the company was to be one million dollars. The affairs of the company were to be managed by a board of nine directors, to be chosen by the stockholders, from among their own number, on the second Monday in July and annually thereafter. The directors were to elect *The difficulty of communicating news in the west at an early day, aside from the delay caused by irresponsible coachdrivers, may be judged of by the following extract from a letter by John Brown:

"An answer to your favor of the sixteenth of March, was, together with several other letters, put into the hands of one of General Harmar's officers, who set out in May last for the Ohio, and who promised to forward them to the district, but I fear they have been miscarried, as Í was a few days ago informed that his orders had been countermanded, and that he had been sent to the garrison at West Point. Indeed, I have found it almost impracticable to transmit a letter to Kentucky, and there is scarcely any communication between this place and that country. A post is now established from this place to Fort Pitt, to set out once in two weeks, after the twentieth instant; this will render the communication easy and certain."

In addition to the delays, the cost of transmitting a letter in those days was considerable. It is not generally known, though it ought to be, that cheap postage is of comparatively recent date. The rates from the formation of the American postal system in 1789 until 1816, were: for a single letter (i. e. one composed of a single piece of paper), under forty miles eight, cents; under ninety, ten cents; under three hundred, seventeen cents; under five hundred, twenty-five cents. In 1816 these rates were modified as follows: a single letter not over thirty miles six and a quarter cents; over forty and under eighty ten cents; over eighty and under one hundred and fifty twelve and a half cents; over one hundred and fifty and under four hundred, eighteen and three-quarter cents; and an additional rate for each piece of paper. If the letter weighed one ounce, four times the rates were charged. Again, in 1845 the rates were lowered: for a letter not exceeding half an ounce in weight, under three hundred miles, five cents; over three hundred, ten cents; and an additional rate for each additional half ounce or fraction thereof. The present rates of letter postage were adopted in 1863.

R. E. C.