Historical Background of Camp Wakonda
By Fred B. DeWitt, circa 1948
Camp Wakonda is located about 2 1/2 miles northwest of Griswold, Iowa. The
tract is heavily wooded, except about 10 acres, near the west side, which is
being used as a building spot. From the original 80 acres purchased, it has
grown to 150 acres and in addition a one-half interest in another 10 acre tract.
After crossing the Nishnabotna river about a mile west of Griswold the road
forks in four different directions, and the north branch of this road leads to
the camp site. All of these roads wind around through the hills and follow very
closely old trails that were made by the Indians and had perhaps been used for
thousands of years. Many relics of the red men have been found in the vicinity
of the camp and every year more are unearthed by the elements. Some of them are
very crude and would indicate that very ancient tribes lived here at one time.
While the Pottawattamie tribes were the last to live here it is doubtful if
any of their dead were buried here, as they had a burial ground near their camp,
"Mi-au-Mise" about five miles northeast of here, on the Mormon Trail. Their
camp was near the first town to be established in this vicinity named, "Indian
Town." The main body of the Pottawattamies moved from here in the year 1848 but
many of them stayed for years to hunt and fish along the Nishnabotna river and
they would come back in the summer time and camp along the river. The last
large body to come back was in the year 1895.
The first white man to visit or live in this vicinity were hunters and
trappers and some remains of their rude cabins were found by the cattle herders,
who drove large herds from the south and grazed them on the valleys and prairies
around here as early as 1846. One of these men later returned and took up a
claim near here, and through him much of the early history of this region has
been learned. Some time before 1846 a fire destroyed most of the timber on
these hills, and only some small second growth timber was here then. The
Indians resented the cattle herders as it drove the game from the vicinity, and
they would sometimes set fire to the prairie and do every thing they could to
stampede the cattle.
The Indians must have loved these hills, as we do, for they were very slow
in giving them up. An...interpretation of their farewell talk reads as follows:
"We were told to farm the country here and hoe corn and live like white men, but
our hearts are heavy and we can not promote the string bean. We will do what is
right but we cannot hunt the potato bug when the deer and antelope are ripe. We
can not dig post holes in the hot sun when the chase calls upon us to go forth
into the forests. Here, where we have roamed through the tall grass and hunted
the deer and buffalo, and palefaces asks us to farm and plow the green earth
with a rebellious mule. Here, where our war cry has been answered back by the
hills, we were told to whack bulls and join the white man's church. They come
to us and tell us to go to school and wear pants. They ask us to learn their
language and go to Congress. They send men to us who want us to learn to spell
and wear suspenders. We can not do this for we are used to the ways of our
people and our customs are as old as the universe. We scratch our backs against
the trees as our people did a thousand years ago and we can not change. We can
leave this land, but we can not change our socks every spring and do as the
white man does. We can go away from our homes and live in a strange land, but
we can not wear open backed shirts and lead in prayers, so we go to the land our
white fathers has given us. We will take our squaws, our dogs and wigwams and
go beyond the big river to our new home."
Long before the railroads came through the most of the land in the vicinity
had been purchased by eastern speculators for a few dollars per acre, and many
land seekers who had passed through this part of the country on the Mormon trail,
a few miles to the north, had vowed that when the railroads were extended they
would return and settle here, but all did not wait on the railroads and the
first permanent settlers arrived in the year 1854 and built their log cabins
along the old Indian trails which leads to the Camp site.
This road which was used by the first settlers was later laid out from
Lewis to Sidney in Fremont county and was the first, north and south wagon road
was extended to St. Joseph, Missouri, and was used to haul freight to Indian
Town and other first settlements, then when a post office was established near
the Mewhirter Bridge a few miles south a stage coach carried the mail there and
used this road to connect with the Mormon trail. This road was also used as a
feeder for the"Underground Railway" and John Brown had traveled it many times.
His last trip to Canada with slaves was made over this road in February, 1859.
On this trip he and three other men brought twelve slaves, who were to have been
sold and their families separated, by way of Nebraska City, Tabot, Wheeler's
Grove, Lewis, Grove City, Dalmanuth, Redfield, Adel, Des Moines, and Grinnell,
thence to Canada.
A few years later the Great Army of the Potomac, of a hundred thousand men,
marched through Virginia, singing, "John Brown's body lies mouldering in the
grave, but his soul goes marching on. Appomattox had sealed the fate of slavery,
and the underground railway passed into history, only the old block and stone
house which was used as a station, west of Lewis, remains as a monument to those
dark days of the Civil War and the Underground Railway.
A description of this part of the country was found in an old letter,
written shortly after the Civil War by one who signed,"Old Traveler" and reads
as follows:
"Long before there were any towns or railroads my wandering feet had pressed the
grass along the verdant banks of the classic Nishnabotna river, and your wide
and luxuriant prairies and my eyes feasted upon the wide beauty of those
natural gardens, decorated and perfumed by thousands of flowers in all their
varied and rich profusion, just as they had been strewn by the hand of the
great Creator, and as I gazed upon their transcendent beauty, and thought of
their boundless capability to minister to the wants of man, my soul went out in
gratitude to the author of all good for the beautiful and pleasant inheritance
he had provided for his rebellious creatures, and I wonder much, how earth
could have been more beautiful."
While many of the wild flowers have vanished since that early day, many
survive, and a stroll along the river, which forms apart of the eastern boundary
of the camp site, in the spring of the year, will convince one that beauty still
exists and in the fall when the leaves turn from green to gold to red and the
bitter sweet is at its best, stately trees struggling in the grasp of twining
vines, chattering squirrels and the merry birds make up scenes that are not
outrivaled by western scenes. Both are picturesque and only different in their
style of beauty. Most trees that are native of Iowa can be found growing on the
camp site and many kinds of birds nest in their branches.
Timber tracts were in good demand when the settlers located father away on
the prairies, and many uses were made of the poles, such as pole barns, feed
racks, hay racks, fence posts, as well as fuel. A good portion of this camp
site was cut up into timber tracts and bought by these prairie farmers and
during the winter months it was quite a common sight to see a dozen or more bob
sleds loaded with wood leaving these tracts. Thousands of cords of wood have
been removed in the past 90 years, to serve the needs of the early settlers, and
those who came later.
When the first settlers arrived they found there were a few elk left in the
country and deer and antelope were plentiful, quail could be found anywhere in
the timber tracts and the "Boom Boom" of the prairie chicken could be heard from
the prairie land to the west, there were beavers near the river and the river was
well stocked with blue cats, channel cats, bull heads, carp and buffalo fish.
While the original stock of big game has been gone for years, occasionally
a stray deer or two may be seen streaking through the timber or feeding near the
river, and a few quail have survived through the years. The river is still
stocked with the same kind of fish and if you are an enthusiastic angler you may
be well repaid for the time spent in fishing. The most interesting natural land
mark located on the camp site is the old sand rock and no doubt had been a
"Ke-lan-e-ke," not for years, but for centuries by many different tribes of Indians.
(A "Ke-lan-e-ke" is an Indian word meaning, a place to camp and eat.) It
afforded a sheltered place from the cold winds of winter and cool, shady spot in
the summer. When the first settlers arrived, they found initials and some sign
language of the Indians carved on the face of this rock, and each year more
names and initials have been carved and now it is almost completely covered with
markings of some kind. Until the river was straightened a few years ago it ran
by this old rock, and boats were provided so one could row across, and steps
were cut in the rock so one could climb up to carve the rock or pick wild
flowers on the ground above the sand rock. It was a popular place as a picnic
grounds and as a camping place for fishermen in the early days, and it was
claimed by many of the early settlers that Jessie James and his bandit gang used
the place as a hideout after their train robbery at Adair, Iowa.
The nature lovers of Griswold and vicinity were very happy to learn that
the Boy Scout Organization had purchased these acres, as a permanent camp site,
for they knew that one of the finest timber tracts in this part of the country
would be preserved for future generations to enjoy, and we trust it will remain
a "Ke-lan-e-ke" not for years but for centuries to come.
[This was probably written in 1948, the year the camp was opened by the Boy
Scouts. Fred B. DeWitt was a renowned local historian.]
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