Walnut, Illinois 1872-1972 Centennial Book: Part 5
Standing in Line with Loads of Corn
The first settlements were on higher ground where there was good timber for homes, fuel, posts and rails. Much of the land around Walnut was swamp ground which was covered with willow and soft wood trees. This land was to be settled later.
Because the land needed a lot of drainage serious flooding was a common situation. Only the higher ground was broken for crops. Wlid hay grass was grown on the lower ground and the lowest ground was idle - a home for wild life. Rabbits, prairie chicken, quail, wild duck and geese were plentiful.
Drainage was very difficult as there was no good outlet. Green River outlet was deep enough to drain only the higher ground as it was in its natural state winding its way along thorough the prairie.
Green River's tributaries: Walnut Ditch, Red Oak Ditch, Bass Ditch, Erickson's Ditch - these all in natural state served only to take high water; but neither Green River nor its tributaries were deep enough to serve for draining all land.
The Green River north of Walnut was hindered by some higher ground in the area where Green River is crossed by Route 92 - now known as Erickson's land. In about 1890 this area of the river was deepened with scrapers and teams of horses. This newly deepened channel was quite narrow, but eventually it let enough water through to help drain a few more acres. This of course let more water into the next section of Green River which brought about the setting up of Drainage Districts because of flooding.
The Union Drainage District for the swamp land north of Walnut was set up to end at the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad bridge west of Deer Grove. A separate district was set up for the Bass and Red Oak Ditches, and other smaller ditches to be dug later.
G.M.D. Legge Poultry House - 1896. Eleven tons live and dressed poultry in the house.
Organizing these districts was no small job in those early days. Some land owners were readily convinced to join a district although not totally convinced it would be a success. Border line cases with natural drainage except for a few small sloughs vigorously opposed it. Other problems hindered organization for dredging and excavating equipment were very primitive which were also hampered by poor transportation due to lack of good roads. In addition success could not be completely assured. It took a lot of pioneer spirit and determination to carry the project through with the limited funds they had to work with.
Three men, Adolph Dahl, Pete Erickson, and Ben Munsen were the pioneers of the Green River Special Drainage District. They first opened the channel with teams and scraper through the afore mentioned high ground in the vicinity of the present Route 92 bridge over Green River. Later they envisioned the need for a Drainage District. Since some owners were in favor, some opposed, and owners on high ground very much opposed, today there is a lot of land on higher ground that have tiled sloughs into the system and yet are not in the district. But in order to get a district compromises had to be made.
The promoters of the District organization engaged attorney George Skinner, grandfather of the present George Skinner of Princeton, lllinois, to do the legal classification of the land. He came out and with these men walked the area, (over 13,000 acres) for days classifying each forty acres to determine the percentage of benefits derived. The land varied so much that many forty acres had to be broken down to 20-10, and even five acre tracts. In its natural state the percentage of benefits could be very accurately determined. The accuracy of these classifications can be verified by the fact that very few of the percentages have been challenged and very, very few have been changed in the 80 years of the operation of the district. The total cost of the legal classification was $500.00
The watershed of Green River is enormous. It starts in the Inlet Swamp northeast of Amboy. This swamp is transversed by alternated Route 30 and gathers water from close to the southwest corner of DeKalb County. Ditches are constantly being dug bringing water from a good part of the Rochelle area. Ohio, lllinois is about the dividing line for Green River and Bureau Creek. The Winnebago Ditch brings in drainage from 40,000 acres, and Walnut Creek another 30,000 acres, making a toal of close to 260,000 acres of land all told. Over a quarter million acres of water to be channeled through.
Peter Magnuson rendering lard - 1920
The river has been dredged twice by floating dredges and twice by drag lines. The tributaries have been cleaned many times more, and both need constant maintainence with an annual levy. However, were these acres to return to their natural state, deplorable conditions would exist, not only for land owners and farmers, but also for business, and all community affairs.
Along with the constant threat of floods, expense of preparing an outlet and tiling the land,there were other problems for the early settlers.
The land was extensively convered with soft wood trees which had to be removed with ax, spade, cross-cut saw, and perhaps a little dynamite, along with a strong back and plenty of determination. Times were quite different then - no power saws, bull-dozers and drag lines.
Another big problem was the alkalinity of the soil in this swamp land. Corn planted in some fields would come up and later turn yellow. These areas would produce small soft nubbins, or none at all. The simple solution of using potash was unknown for many years.
In 1902 or '03 one of the farmers was offered an 80 acres next to the river for rent. He refused the owner saying it wouldn't pay its way. The owner a professor at University of Illinois told him not to stop for that as he would send enough potash to cover it. The farmer was skeptical but agreed to try it.
The potash came - so did the corn which was evenly tasseled by the Fourth of July. That night the water came, too - the River broke - corn was flooded, completely destroying the entire crop. Although there was no corn he had learned a lesson about potash.
The next year he used K20 on his own land with the same results but fortunately the river held. A large land owner, R. B. Stottard from Minonk, owned adjacent land to this farm, and asked why the corn was so flourishing. He not only used K20 the following year on his fields, but sold his neighbor his potash at cost.
Mobile Grocery in 1916
Getting the grain to market was a problem because of poor roads and the distance. Chicago, was reached from Wyanet, from Sterling, then from Walnut, finally from Normandy.
Corn shelling meant up at 4:00, do chores, get to the town with corn. Many drove one team and wagon and led another outfit. Wagons lined up in Walnut from all directions. Sometimes tempers flew for positions. Each farmer had one or more teams on the road about every day regardless of cold or snow. There was good business for blacksmiths, wagon repairing, and tire setting. And also for Bill Frederick's restaurant.
The early farmer had no riding equipment. It was walk-walk-walk after a 16" walking plow - or a three section 15 foot harrow - walking a one row corn plow. The horses were on a small binder, no bundle carrier at first, shocking by hand. Large threshing runs, long days, big meals. Home after dark, then chores, few hours sleep to another day.
Next year's seed was gathered from the corn fields and stored on hangers or piled in open sided rows for drying.
Then came corn picking by hand and shoveling. There was the pride of large loads. The bountiful early breakfast, and getting in the field before daylight. Load by 10:20, shovel off, dinner and back tofield before noon, a few hours and another load to be shoveled off, some three loads a day.
In the earliest days the corn sheller had no drag. Corn had to be carried to the sheller which was driven by horse power. (8 horses, I think.) Later there was a steam engine with a drag. A tractor replaced it and today the combine does the entire job.
Elmer Wedding's load of husked corn by hand
Even if farmers hadn't been too busy to go to town the condition of the roads kept them at home. Rainy weather and winter's snows made them impassable. A common saying was "the bottom's out." They were buggy box deep in places. Good traces (tugs) and strong single trees in the buggy were important for if either broke one might be left in the buggy with no escape but wading in mud and water. This happened more than too often. One case remembered was of two young lassies dressed in their best!
Speed! The fastest horse of yesteryear was held by many young men with the same envy of the fastest car today. Likewise the niftiest and most shiny outfit was the ideal for any young man and a help in getting a date. Distance was not too great a problem for young people. They, as today, went about as fast and as far as they could.
A trip to Princeton in a buggy was not considered impossible. An early start and a day at the fair, a stage show at the opera bouse and a long drive bome was quite common. A trip to Sheffield for coal was not all fun but is a pleasant memory. An early start, about 2:00a.m. with arrival at the mine with a cup of coffee and a snack from your lunch box.
Miners arrive and the old blind horse hitched to the windlass lowers them into the mine. The windlass locks against the end of the cable, horse stops turns around ready to lift