Oskaloosa, Iowa

Dave Carr, one of the members of Alonzo’s company, had left the group at Burlington and gone down river; the plan was to meet again at Oskaloosa on the Des Moines River. Alonzo commented on the city, “Put up in Oskaloosa, rains very hard, quite a little place.” Since Oskaloosa wasn’t technically on the trail they were following, I was undecided about taking the detour north and then turning south again. When I checked the weather on Tuesday, June 16^th it was overcast and had rained in the night. That and the fact that he did spend four days there, including the fourth of July, made my decision, and a fortunate decision it was. 

As I drove into town one of the first things that caught my eye was a town square with a lovely band shell so I found a parking spot, grabbed my camera, and headed for the center of the square. While working out the best angle for a photo, a gentleman passed by and I asked if he lived there. I wanted to know if this square had always been the town center. It seemed likely that the celebration on the 4^th that Alonzo mentioned would have centered on the square. 

Band shell in the square and the current Court House

Not only was Randy Wright from Oskaloosa, he was a knowledgeable history buff involved in several interesting projects related to the city. After I explained my mission he invited me to his office just across the square where he had many, many photos of old Oskaloosa. He emailed me six of the earliest photos, all taken around the square and related to times around 1849, and you can see them below. The Court House in the first photo would have been there in 1849 when Alonzo and his company were in town. 

Court House under "E" and "r" in the photo title

Former Oskaloosa Court House restored

Young trees in the Town Square

Shops around the square

"Northeast corner of the square looking west"

Early Oskaloosa near the Town Square

Chief Mahaska on the square

Randy Wright and the Trail Monument

From Alonzo’s diary, “Morning yet in Oskaloosa waiting for Carr. Stage came in and no Carr. Meeting of the company was called this evening to take into consideration our situation by my greatest appeal to the company it was finally agreed to so that I accomplish my views. That is to dispose of our wagons for carts so that we could [accomplish] our journey with greater speed. The 4^th all join in to pass the day merrily. A bower erected, an address delivered, marching through town, firing the anvil, etc. Some fine girls, some not so fine, some worse.” 

They started the next day with one four-horse wagon and eight carts, and crossed the Des Moines River at Farmers Ferry. I never could locate Farmer’s Ferry although I had an idea where it ought to be. Randy Wright consulted an old timer who knew the area well, and by the time I was an hour down the road he called on my cell phone with the answer.  It was near Tracy at Bellefountain, a little south of the location of the modern bridge on Hwy 92. 

Des Moines River west of Oskaloosa