Here is the text from this article in case you have a hard time reading it (above):

     Monticello man follows Dillon’s Furrow   by Doug Lindner Solon Economist

     Solon- In 1839, Iowa was on the edge of the western frontier.

     Aside from a few Indian and game trails, there was nothing but virgin prairie.

     That year, the U.S. Congress appropriated $20,000 for the construction of a military trail between the new capital, Iowa City, and the mining town of Dubuque.  After the route was surveyed, Lyman Dillon of Cascade was hired to bust the sod for the road with a team of oxen and a breaking plow.

     The military road eventually became Hwy 1, passing through Solon, Mt.Vernon  and Monticello.

     Last Spring, Monticello contractor Douglas Monk came upon an issue of The Palimpsest, a historic journal, in which two men retraced the original military trail in 1920.

     The account inspired Monk, who had grown up not  far from stretches of the old road, and he decided to take a walkabout along the trail, imagining the earthy origins of the area.

    “That’s kind of the reason I was  interested,”  Monk said after his walk was completed. “It went right past my stomping grounds.”

     Monk had been interested in the history of the region for several years, sparked by listening to the taped reminiscences of his grandfather.  He searched the web for historical references to the Monticello area and found the article from The Palimpsest.

     “My mind is always thinking of things I want to do in my life,” said the 50 yr -old father of four.  “I’m intentional about ideas like that.  This fit my list.”

     Married 29 years and with his own construction business, Monk has composed two books of letters and intends to write another on his experience walking Lyman Dillon’s trail.

     He began his journey on foot Monday September 8th (2008) from the former site of Butler’s Capital in Iowa City (about two blocks east of the Old Capital) and spent six days walking the 81 miles to Dubuque, where he arrived Saturday Sept.13th.

     Most of the way, he followed Hwy 1 passing through Solon the afternoon of his first day. As he did in most of the towns, he visited with interested historical groups or classrooms, sharing his research and his observations.

    In 1839, Iowa City wasn’t much of a town.

     Butler’s Capital was the first building in which the legislative meetings were held.  Monk said, but it doubled as a hotel and tavern.  Dubuque was a small mining town.  Monk said his research indicated the trail was military in name only, necessary for the congressional financing it received.

     Lyman Dillon was paid $3.00 a mile to break the trail with 10 oxen and a large plow.

     He also thinks Dillon probably had some help with the task.

      “He followed the ridges for the most part,”  Monk said. “That’s why (Highway) 151 snakes.  It’s following the contour of the ground.”

     Monk made no special preparations for the walk, and hadn’t been an avid walker prior to the trip, but suffered few ill effects from the journey.

     The hardest portion came walking downhill into Anamosa while the most scenic, he noted, was outside of Dubuque going through Key West.

    In a pasture near Langworthy, he found a part of the original road, a bridge with stonework still above ground.  ‘Most of it’s under the road,” he noted (editor’s note:  most of the original Old military road is under the new highways..where as this portion is still visible because it’s in a pasture on  the Elenore Jacobs farm just East of Langworthy)

     He also found Lyman Dillon’s tombstone in Cascade.

     Dillon was 39  and single at the time he plowed the furrow, owner of a local saw mill. (in cascade)

     Along the way, Monk imagined life in Iowa from 1839 to 1900, using accounts of Dillon’s furrow as a thread to follow the state’s history.  There are lots of interesting stories he picked up along the route, including those shared by Raphael Pisarik during Monk’s overnight stay in Solon.

     “There’s quite a bit of drama, ” he observed.

      Enough for a book, “On The Trail Of Lyman Dillon” which Monk has already started.  He’s still collecting stories, especially regarding Solon’s history.

     You can find out more about Monk’s walk by visiting http://onthetrailoflymandillon.wordpress.com/

     Wagon train from about 1980

     This will be a short post.  I’ve completed my first goal of walking Old Military Road/ Lyman Dillon’s furrow on foot, my next step is to write a book titled  “On The Trail Of Lyman Dillon”. 

     People love stories,  so this book will be filled with stories….

       One section of the book will be devoted to stories/ accounts of early life along the route from Iowa City to Dubuque before 1900.  My thought is, if someone else wants to follow this route, they can read this book ahead of time, or as they are traveling, and hear about the various things that have taken place here so many years ago…the horse thieves along the Cedar River, the 3 Brodie brothers who were caught and hanged within an hour, the Wade Family from Monticello, caught in a freak blizzard, leaving behind 9 children, the bears, wolves, elk, trading posts, grain mills, ghost towns  along the way..people and places that no longer exist except in out of print books…I think you get the idea….so if you happen to have photos/ stories along the route you’d be willing to copy/scan/ loan so I can include them in the book, I would love to hear from you…leave me a comment and I will get back to you.

      Several good things have been happening the past two weeks as far as research.  We conducted (2) additional Oral history interviews, have a 3rd on the calendar for Saturday, received a new book called A Prairie Almanac 1839-1919  by Jean Strong(picked up on Amazon off the internet).  It is the journal of Isaac N.Kramer who came to Iowa in 1839 and settled in the Linn Grove area (which is right between Cedar Rapids and Mt. Vernon). 

     I also got a call from a local woman whose dad had been researching Lyman Dillon and Old Military road for several years before he died.  She offered to let me look through her dad’s research…now that completely blew my socks off.

     This past Friday, we made a spur of the moment trip to Iowa City to check out the State  Historical Society  Original Manuscripts section.    We have been making regular “sleuthing” trips with a friend J.A. and this trip was one we had talked about and are still planning on making again….I only mention this here because if you J. A. are reading this  we need to make several more trips.  One of the highlights of our trip this past Friday (1/25/08) was to see some original photo’s from the Brigg and Hansen  trip taken in 1920 . They wrote about their trip here.  On Friday, I was able to see photos of both men as well as some of the things they saw when they walked.

     I came across several old newspaper articles about Lyman Dillon.  Here is a poem from one of them I’ll share with you on the blog

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Lyman Dillon And His Plow
Lyman Dillon is plowing tonight.  And he bends Far out into the ridgy Silence. Where the known world ends;  Far out into the weary wash of broken winds he goes a plowing  a black long furrow-  Over the hill, past the thicket  Or the burrow of foxes and wolves.  The prairie is bowing before the sight of Lyman Dillon.  Thin hands that never felt the air.  Since they were buried there before the civil war.  Are parting the sod in front of the plow;  Like ghostly knives they cut.  They have been reaping  for their God until now…..Someone else is weeping- but Dillon goes on ahead  Cleaving the prairie, instead  On to the place where the dark river shows….High out on the road that was made for the soldiers.  Lyman Dillon goes plowing  With a sway of his shoulders  and shadowy hips….the wind sings above,  and the breath of it’s unnoticed lips  Is sighing and soughing.

     Below is an excerpt from the Jones County Historical Review Volume 7 #1 1981.  On a previous post I mentioned  hearing about a mother, father and baby who had died on the portion of Old Military Road near Langworthy, Iowa having been caught in a surprise blizzard, leaving behind 10 children.  I came across this detailed account of the incident and thought I would include a portion of it now.

     It was December 3, 1856, and it was to be a day of tragedy, long to be remembered in Jones County.  On that day a killer blizzard struck Iowa, moving into the state from the northwest….

     A pioneer family by the name of Wade, consisting of Mother, Father and 10 children had homesteaded on a piece of ground some two years before slightly south and west of the then small village of Monticello.  The military trail passed directly in front of their cabin.

     The cabin, of more than average proportion had been constructed with a large rock fireplace at one end of the combination kitchen and eating area, and two large bedrooms, narrow but long at the other end.  The bedrooms were separated from the eating area and one another by log partitions.

    Crude bunks for beds had been fashioned against the outer walls, then covered with prairie grass “ticks” and in these two bedrooms, children of the family slept- boys in one room , girls in the other.  Brothers and sisters were almost evenly divided in number.

     Mr. and Mrs. Wade retired nightly to a made up “tick” in the kitchen area, so they might keep the fireplace stoked, especially in damp or cold weather….

      This early homestead was the first place on the left-hand  side of the “Lower Prairieburg Road,” from it’s intersection with today’s highway 151.  In 1856, this portion of the road…..was still part of the original military trail from Dubuque to Iowa City.

      Mr and Mrs Wade had business in Langworthy on that ill-fated day.  All of the children except the very youngest, a baby girl less than one year old, were left at home to fend for themselves, which for pioneer children wasn’t too difficult, and seldom was cause for anxiety to the parents..”

      The day had dawned bright, clear and relatively mild.  Not a great deal of snow lay on the ground; In fact, not enough to warrant taking the “bobsled”, rather than the farm wagon.  Very little traffic at that time assured that there would be bare spots which would require an exertion on the pulling ability of the team, should the sled be used.

     Heading out of the driveway, they turned left at the Military Road and progressed westward about a mile, where the trail then followed the land contour into a small gully, where the trail crossed a clear running stream.

     Mrs. Wade was probably in high spirits, for she was going to Langworthy, and it would give her an opportunity to bargain for a few of the simple niceties at the “Buckhorn,” a combination provisions store and tavern.”

     (Editor’s note:  At this particular time the settlement was not officially known as Langworthy, but was most often referred to as  “Spencers Place” due to the fact James Spencer had been the first to build a long cabin on the north bank of the stream.  It was also referred to as “Buckhorn,” although there were many other “Buckhorns” scattered throughout the area.)

(Editors note:  Evidence of the original route can still be found in this section for almost three-fourths of a mile, and is perhaps the ONLY clear cut portion of the “old military trail” still in existence between Dubuque and Iowa City)  (and as I DM type this account January of 2008 it is still there, having visited it myself this past Summer)  This portion is not only part of the military trail but is part of “Dillon’s Furrow” which pre-dated the military trail some six months, and which the Military engineers, under command of Jefferson Davis, later President of the Confederacy, followed in large part.)

       I’m going to stop there with the account.  In addition to this material there is additional information in the two volume Jones County History set which tells about what happened after it was discovered the parents had in fact died.  I’m intending to include all of the information from both of these sources in my book On The Trail Of Lyman Dillon  hopefully to  be published sometime in 2009.  Drop me a note if you have any specific questions or suggestions on anything you read on this blog.  Sincerely,  DM

     It’s been a while since I posted anything.      This Fall, I acquired 4 original maps from the 1879 Andreas Atlas of Iowa.  They are the counties of Dubuque, Jones, Linn and Johnson Counties.  Why?  Because they show  what Iowa looked like in 1879, including vast portions of native timber, towns that no longer exist and the route of Old  Military Road.

       Earlier this Fall I wrote on my “I Also Live On A Farm Blog “ about a cross stitch project I was working on.  You know how one thing leads to another…well I finished the project,  and decided I would  do a cross stitch of these original maps….they measure 12 inches by 18 inches .  I started working on the first map this past weekend (see photo above).    It is causing me to slowly memorize the map of Jones County as it looked in 1879.   If you were to ask me at this moment to describe the layout of Jones county I would have to say “I’m not sure” …but as I’m working my way North on the cross stitch project, I getting  an awesome grasp of the details.  I anticipate by the time I finish I will know the map of our county like the back of my hand…

     This morning when I woke up, I   the  map on my brain,   probably because  I was working on it right before I went to bed.  Martelle…what’s East of Martelle..I thought to myself…way to the East (and South) is Oxford Junction….then Hale.  Actually it’s called Hale City on the  map.   And the town of Olin, is not on the map…but there is a town called “Rome”.   The towns of both Oxford Junction and Center Junction  which both exist today were towns where the rail lines crossed.  A  North and South track intersecting with an East and West Track…hence… the term “Junction.”I know this is not rocket science, but for someone who has lived most of his life in this area and is just discovering these things about local history it has been enjoyable.  My goal is to finish as much of these for maps before the actual time I do my “walk about.”

      Langworthy Iowa.   Situated on the original route of Old Military Road.  I grew up 2 miles West of Langworthy.  Until starting this local history project I didn’t have a clue  where Langworthy got it’s name.   Well here’s where:

 Quoting from the Palimpsest Vol. 2 February 1921 # 2:

      ”The Langworthy brothers (James, Lucius and Edward) were given contracts for the construction of the road from Dubuque as far as the Cedar River.  Edward Langworthy states that after the surveys were made Tilghman (the project engineer) engaged Lyman Dillon to plow a furrow along the route, under his direction, for the guidance of the contractors.”

       The Langworthy brothers were big shakers and movers  back in the 1830-40’s.   That is who Langworthy is named after. The town of Langworthy is also where my family  set down roots , coming from Germany.    The family farm is  about a mile West of town.  Opa’s father ( Henry) was a hog buyer in Langworthy.  Farmers would come to town, my great grandfather would then buy them and then  ship them by rail to Chicago .  (That is one detail I will need to do some additional verification). 

     Opa is  low German for Grandpa.  My Opa was a large man growing up.  One of 8 brothers, he stood 6 ft  3 and in his prime weighed 240 pounds.        Opa was not yet married when this incident happened.  I supposed he was 19 or 20 yrs old.  A shy hard working farm boy.  It was a Saturday night,  Opa  had to stop at Clarence Heyen’s General store   which would have looked something like this:

  As grandpa recounts it, there were 4 or 5 young men hanging around outside the general store late on Saturday afternoon waiting for a dance to start.  Grandpa told the guys “hi” but all he got were a few grunts.   Grandpa was collecting $ for the Wayne Zion Lutheran Church and needed to talk to Clarence Heyen, owner of the general store.  When he came back out the door a few minutes later, someone hit him from behind, knocking him down, at which point the 4 or 5 young men all piled on.    Ever hear of the phrase…”Don’t mess with the bull or you’ll get the horn”?

    Well, obviously those guys hadn’t either, and you’ll have to read my book On The Trail Of Lyman Dillon   to find out what happens next  to be published upon the completion of my “walkabout” 2008

      Saturday August 18th found us heading to the Marion HY VEE coffee area to meet w/ C.P.  from the Iowa Office of Archaeology to hear about the “dig” @ Bowen’s Prairie before Hwy 151 went through the area.    She had e-mailed me several great documents on the project, plus another one pertaining to a dig they’d done over by Langworthy during the same time.  I was just as interested in meeting her as any information she might share.  I wanted to get a sense of her passion for history.  We had a great visit over coffee, with an offer to show us around the Historical archives in Iowa City maybe later this winter. 

      During our car trip to Marion J. A.   and I were talking about the account she’d told me about the family that had been  lost in the winter storm over by Langworthy Iowa.  She told me she’d read the story in a two volume set called   History Of Jones County Iowa  (Illustrated)  published in 1910.  “What” I said, you mean it has additional information the History of Jones County 1879   Doesn’t have???  “Oh yes” J.A.  said.  I’m thinking to myself…II have to get a copy of that set !!!!  I’d also heard from someone who’d purchased  A Centennial History Of Mount Vernon, Iowa 1847-1947   on e-bay.  After I’d heard there was such a book in existance, I wanted to get a copy of that as well.  I”m sure I could check some of these books out @ the local library, but it is such a hassle, and you never know when the “urge” (or free block of time) will happen to do some reading, so a personal copy is a priority for me.

      After we left HY Vee, we stopped @ an old book store/coffee shop called  The Sanctuary  in Marion Iowa.  Two hours later, we left w/ the book on Mt Vernon, plus A Glimpse of Iowa In 1846 (The Emigrant’s Guide),  and Iowa City an Illustrated History  by Gerald Mansheim.    I called an antique store in Anamosa called “The Gathering” , asking about the two volume Jones County History 1910.  She had it!!!  $160.00 later, it was mine.  (she only had the original set, and I’m hoping, I can recoop some of this after I publish a book my adventure)

    Here is an excerpt from History Of Jones County Iowa 1910 talking about that family who died near Langworthy I’d written about in post # 7″:
    

     ” I think it was the winter of 56 and 57 that we had a big blizzard.  Sunday morning was fair and warm for the time of the year.  The day turned out to be beautiful until about four o’clock in the afternoon.  Nearly every one that didn’t have company went some wheree.  We were at a neighbor’s that day, but got home just as the storm broke in its fury.  It was all my father could do to get from the stable to the house.  On what is now the Hosford farm on the main road, lived an Englishman by the name of Wade.  The farm was then owned by Mr. Walworth.  They were our neighbors to the South.  They had a family of ten children, the eldest a boy of nineteen and the youngest about a year old.  In the morning the father and mother drove out near Langworthy, taking the baby with them, to a Mr. Scriven’s to spend the day and also to bring one of the daughters home with them to do some sewing.  They started back while the sun was yet shining.  The storm came up so suddenly that in a few minutes it was impossible to see anything before  them.   Before they reached home they lost their way.  The horses couldn’t face the storm. ….”

     The account continues….but I need to wrap this up. 

     I’d like to include the complete account  in my yet to be published  book  On The Trail Of Lyman Dillon  

    August 5th 2007 , I called E. J.  to see if we could stop @ her house.    She and M.  were talking the week before about our plans to retrace Old Military Road and E.J.  mentioned that we were welcome to come to her house…there was a portion of the original road and bridge still in existance in her pasture.  The gravel road past her house is called Military Road…  is that what you mean I asked her?….No, E.J.  said, the Original road is in my pasture….several thousand feet East  of the gravel road, and there is even the remains of the bridge over Kitty Creek still standing  (see photo above). 

    We walked East through the cow pasture, and as we approached the area, you can still see the contour of the pasture shaped as a road bed and ditch.  It goes right up to Kitty Creek, there are still stone embankments on both sides of the creek.  The stone has been reinforced with a concrete wall on both sides, and the creek is starting to undermine the stonework. 

    EJ    proceeded to tell us, a story about this portion of the road.  She didn’t have any names or specfic dates, but she’d been told several years ago a mother and child perished on this portion of the road in the Winter.    We’d heard a similiar account from J.A.    A mother, father and small child had headed to Monticello one clear winter day to get something? (sewing supplies?)  they’d left the rest of the family home thinking it would be a quick trip, taking just the baby.  On their way home it started snowing, quickly lost visibility, dad decided to turn the wagon over to shelter the wife, and set out on foot to get help.    When the parents didn’t get home, the children got nervous and got a hold of some neighbors, they found both of the parents had died along with the small child.  (I got all of this from JA, a local historian) 

      I waded across Kitty Creek to get a close up view of the bridge.  It is very close to the South bound lane of Hwy 151 close to the rock cut by Langworthy.  In the past I’ve seen the cement retaining walls from a distance and just figgured they were all that remained of a railroad bridge that is also in this area.   Another fruitful day trip!